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Chapter 151 – True Samadhi Water
400th step!
Xu Disheng’s black hair flapped gently in the wind. The concentration of the primordial water energy surrounding him had already reached a maximum. He was pouring all of his control into the black drop of water at his fingertip, moving and channeling all of the primordial water energy into refining it.
BANG!
Suddenly, as if a certain restriction had been broken through, the primordial energy blew out with an ear-piercing explosion. The sound echoed deafeningly out throughout the staircase, drawing the gazes of the countless people sitting cross-legged in cultivation.
Hovering above his palm, the black droplet of water had now transformed into the shape of a pure black calligraphy brush. As Xu Disheng held onto what was previously the Imperial Demon Brush, his eyes trembled slightly and the barriers from the Smoky Cloud Screen and the Soul Suppressing Vestment faded away.
The drop of genuine Pure Oblivion Water had finally taken full form, but Xu Disheng couldn’t fully control the violent destruction intent on it. When he saw the incoming backlash from the Pure Oblivion Water, he made a split-second decision and took out the Imperial Demon Brush and broke down its spiritual core. Then, he had the Imperial Demon Brush suck in the Pure Oblivion Water. Only then was he able to forcefully suppress it.
If the Pure Oblivion Water were to really lose control and backfire, even the defenses of the Soul Suppressing Vestment and a top-grade Magic Treasure like the Smoky Cloud Screen wouldn’t be able to fully protect Xu Disheng.
A precious Magic Treasure was destroyed, but he acquired this…
In his hand was what was previously the Imperial Demon Brush. It had undergone huge changes and was now a shade of pure black. Xu Disheng could perceive that the calligraphy spell that was previously contained in it, which could suppress demons, had been completely erased. All that remained in it was an extremely violent destruction intent that seemed like it wanted to break out of the vessel at any moment.
Xu Disheng gave a casual swipe of the brush and a streak of black sheen dozens of meters long was made from the brushtip. It left a smear of pitch black across his surroundings that looked like a splash of concentrated ink. In the badly damaged realm of the Great Harmony Water Palace, this brushstroke even caused a minute spatial tear.
“The Imperial Demon Brush is already no more. From now on, I’ll call you ‘Disperse’,” Xu Disheng said, giving the pure black brush a somewhat odd name before putting it away.
Disperse.
When Xu Disheng set foot onto the 500th step, a massive amount of primordial water energy was absorbed into Disperse. The view before his eyes changed and he found himself in a new great hall.
When Xu Disheng’s figure appeared in the great hall, a few dozen people looked over at him. These people had already been waiting here for a while.
“Back when I was still small and insignificant, this water element cultivation method was the foundation for my rise to my current status. I don’t wish for it to gather dust and be forgotten. For this inheritance, there’s only one rule,” the flat voice once again resonated throughout the great hall. “Regardless of temperament, race, or inclination towards good or evil, all living beings who cultivate the water element have the qualifications to participate in this final trial.”
“The cultivation method is called Samadhi True Water.”
The moment these words reached the ears of the few dozen people present, their expressions all changed drastically.
“Samadhi True Water!”
“So this is the water element cultivation method that Vast Ocean Primordial Lord cultivated!”
“It’s said that Samadhi True Water is second only to the divine Pure Oblivion Water. Every drop can drip away at a person’s soul, and it can’t be blocked!”
There were some people who were familiar with the origins of the Samadhi True Water. One of them said, “This type of water is extremely malicious. There is another story about this type of water in the ancient myths and legends.”
Several people nearby turned to him. “Please, I’d like to hear the details,” someone said.
“An unknown number of years ago, there weren’t as many living beings in the Eastern Territory of the Human Realm as there are now, and even Buzhou Mountain, which was used for conferring divine posts, still hadn’t collapsed at the time,” the person narrated, a hint of excitement on his face. “It was said that there were many living beings who couldn’t bear being manipulated by the heavens and wanted to struggle free of their long preordained fate, so they gathered an extremely large force to resist the heavens.”
A person asked in a doubtful tone, “The heavens? Not the Heavenly Court?”
“At the time, the Heavenly Court didn’t exist yet. Only the Immortal Court existed then.”
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The moment that person said the two words ‘Immortal Court’, his complexion suddenly changed. Only after a long while did he let out a breath of relief, seeing nothing out of the ordinary happening.
“Immortal Court?”
“What is the Immortal Court?”
More and more people looked over, and many of them had a strong doubt in their expressions.
The person seemed to think of something and seemed a bit more at ease. He surveyed his surroundings and said, “This is a secret from an ancient era, so it’s only normal that you all wouldn’t know. I’m just a humble rogue cultivator, but I was able to reach the Dao Foundation stage by following a cultivation method passed down from my ancestor. There were also some extremely ancient texts passed down within.”
An unknown number of years ago, the three heavens and nine realms didn’t consist of three heavens and nine realms.
There was only the boundlessly vast Human Realm, the Nine Serenities Realm, as well as the three large suns and three silver moons hanging in the sky.
The only heaven realm at that time was the Floating Immortal Heaven, which was above all living beings. The beings of the Floating Immortal Heaven were referred to as ‘Immortals’.
The Immortal Court controlled the predestination of all living beings. They stripped countless living beings of their longevity to fuel the natural laws. They placed all kinds of rules and restrictions, making it so an immortal being would never appear in any of the realms.
Eventually, there came a day where some extremely powerful beings in the Human Realm became discontent with having to silently put up with being sent back to the cycle of reincarnation every time. They wanted a long life. They wished for authority; they desired immortality that could match the heavens, unable to be snuffed out even by thousands of calamities.
The ancient texts didn’t have any record of what happened after that point, but from that time on, the Immortal Court was overthrown and the Floating Immortal Heaven was eternally sealed.
From that point on, the countless living beings could all have long lives. If they managed to cultivate to the Divine Sea stage, they could live eternally and never have to worry about aging or dying.
Every living being gained control over their own destiny, and they were no longer bound by the Immortal Court. All of the living beings, as countless as grains of sand throughout the realms, received their own freedom from that day forth.
Samadhi True Water was something that was previously used in the Immortal Court to punish those who wanted to overthrow the law of predestination.
Samadhi True Water could be poured into a soul and cause them to experience a pain worse than death. That excruciating level of pain could only be imagined.
“No wonder Vast Ocean Primordial Lord never brought up what kind of cultivation method he cultivated.” There were people who sighed in admiration when they heard that person’s brief account.
“The Immortal Court dominated the heavens? When was that even? Why do you look so terrified of even mentioning those words?” Some people sneered when they heard what was said. They clearly hadn’t only heard of the Immortal Court from that person’s brief account just now. In the untold years past, although the word ‘Immortal’ had become taboo, there were still records of it secretly handed down in private, and these records were only becoming more and more common.
A screen of light appeared in the great hall, attracting the gazes of everyone present.
“The introductory scripture of the Samadhi True Water requires perception and meditation,” the cold, robotic voice said. “The person who can comprehend the most information about the Samadhi True Water from this picture scroll within two hours will receive the complete inheritance.”
“What is this diagram?”
“What is this even?”
“Did Vast Ocean Primordial Lord somehow make a mistake?”
Many people cried out in confusion, but they didn’t receive any response from the great hall whatsoever.
When Xu Disheng examined the massive screen of light, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.
There was indeed a picture scroll on the screen, but the only thing on it was a dark green lotus. There was nothing on it that seemed to have any connection with the Samadhi True Water at all.
“In the past, Vast Ocean Primordial Lord was only an ordinary Sea of Qi stage rogue cultivator. But because of this picture, he was able to comprehend the complete scripture for controlling the Samadhi True Water from within. At the time, he only meditated on this picture for a mere 7 years.” In the tone of the cold, robotic voice that spoke these words, there was surprisingly a hint of emotion within, which wasn’t there before.
But no one was listening to the voice. They were all staring at the picture scroll, at that dark green lotus, with their brows scrunched up in concentration.
However, Xu Disheng was able to perceive the difference in the voice’s tone. He also noticed what it said earlier about ‘comprehend the most information’.
Evidently, this trial wasn’t testing to see who could comprehend this picture, but rather who could figure out the most information about the Samadhi True Water within a two hour time limit.
The colossal great hall gradually became quiet as everyone silently meditated on the dark green lotus in the picture.
There were people whose brows were tightly furrowed, even exposing a hint of impatience in their eyes. They clearly were making no headway.
There was even one person who suddenly smiled and said, ‘I got it!’, drawing many peoples’ gazes.
Realizing that he blurted out something he shouldn’t have, he immediately shut his mouth and returned to meditating on the picture. But after this apparent revelation, the brightness of the faint glow surrounding him as he meditated was now a bit brighter.
A faint red and gold barrier of light appeared around everyone’s bodies. Vast Ocean Primordial Lord’s meaning was clearly to prevent any fighting in the Great Harmony Water Palace.
Xu Disheng internalized the picture of that dark green lotus into his mind and closed his eyes to meditate.
The time it takes for one incense stick to burn.
Two incense sticks.
Xu Disheng’s long eyelashes trembled slightly. He lifted his gaze and his brows slightly furrowed.
He hadn’t made the slightest headway.
The lotus was still a lotus, and the picture was still just a picture. Not even the shadow of the Samadhi True Water was anywhere to be seen.
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Wait, the shadow…?
Xu Disheng looked back up at the massive screen.
The dark green lotus was on a picture scroll, but it shook slightly as if it was being stirred up slightly by a passing wind. However, it didn’t have any shadow whatsoever.
A flash went off in Xu Disheng’s mind. He seemed to have thought of something, and above his head, the faint halo grew by several inches, emitting a brighter glow.
Above every person’s head was a small halo. The size of the radiant glow represented their degree of progress in meditating on the picture.
Suddenly, there was a large commotion.
“What?!”
“Someone from the Shangqing Sacred Sect?”
“There’s someone with such a level of comprehension?”
“Was Vast Ocean Primordial Lord’s inheritance this easy to just be taken away?”
Many people roared out in displeasure, unwilling to accept the result.
Xu Disheng followed everyone else’s gazes. He saw an extremely bright beam rush into the picture scroll. Then, the picture scroll suddenly flew in the direction of the beam’s origin.
A youth with a handsome face stood up and grabbed the picture scroll. The red and gold barrier of light became even brighter, to the point that it was hard for people to even look at him.
“Comprehension… 30%! You obtain the inheritance!” Unexpectedly, there was a hint of surprise in the cold, robotic voice as it announced the result.
“Senior Martial Brother He?” Xu Disheng murmured, looking at the youth holding the picture scroll.