Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme-Chapter 1201 - 720: Gathering Momentum

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Outside the forbidden zone, an eerie silence prevailed.

Within the forbidden zone, it was equally quiet.

For how long this lasted, one could not say, when suddenly, the heavens and earth began to change, the laws of nature restored to their usual state, resuming normalcy, and even more, golden light descended from the sky, falling into the Ten Thousand Dao Heavenly Palace. A large part vanished into oblivion, absorbed by the omnipresent Xuanyuan, with Heaven and Man in harmony, while a small portion fell upon the bodies of the Ten Thousand Immortals and cultivators of the Human Sect.

Instantly...

"Boom!!!"

The Immortal Spirit Light soared to the sky, reflecting the sun and moon in a contest of brilliance, with numerous junior cultivators within the Ten Thousand Dao Heavenly Palace breaking through, from Return to Void to Integration, from Integration to Mahayana, from Mahayana to the Tribulation Realm. Some Void Immortals even stepped into the Nine Tribulations Perfect Realm on the spot, coalescing the Three Flowers and Five Qi with the True Immortal Meritorious Fruit.

All Ten Thousand Immortals broke through at once!

Such a spectacle, had it happened in the past, would have been not only extremely shocking but also extremely terrifying.

After all, cultivators defy the heavens in their practice, with each realm accompanied by its destined tribulations as a test. To avoid accidents, it’s almost always the case that they face the tribulation alone, let alone millions of True Immortals breaking through at the same time.

Even though the Heavenly Dao is supremely fair, with a predetermined number of tribulation tests, who could guarantee that this wouldn’t intensify the might of the tribulations? Even if it did not worsen, the spectacle of millions of True Immortals breaking through and crossing their tribulations together would be extremely terrifying, likely blanketing hundreds of thousands of miles in celestial thunder and lightning.

But now...

The Jade Sky is clear, with soft clouds and gentle winds.

There is no darkening of the skies, no whipping of the wind, and surging of the clouds.

There is only the Immortal Spirit Light, soaring skyward, competing in radiance with the sun and moon.

Amidst the brilliance of the Immortal Light, manifold visions appeared, showing the manifestation of Ten Thousand Techniques. Some of it was the coalescence of the Three Flowers and Five Qi, with a great number of Academy Monks breaking through, and even some becoming Immortals on the spot.

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This spectacle left cultivators outside the forbidden zone in silence.

Conforming to the human world can make one human, going against it, an Immortal. While cultivation is an act of defiance against the heavens, it is not always about such defiance; on the contrary, most cultivators, most of the time, act in accordance with the dictates of the Heavenly Dao.

The Great Dao 50, Heaven evolves forty-nine, with cultivators practicing largely in harmony with the Heavenly numbers, even the absorption of the Heavenly Earth Prime Spirit and the Essence of the Sun and Moon comply with the Heavenly Dao, conforming to the rules of all things.

Only at critical moments do they contend against the Heavenly Dao, seizing that Escaping One, such a combination of conformity and defiance, creating a Heaven Reaching path within the system and framework of the Heavenly Dao, is the orthodox method of cultivation, rather than complete defiance.

To defy outright and head down a path of darkness would not face ordinary trials but total Heavenly Punishment.

Thus, in cultivators’ practice, often times, following is more important than defying; good compliance can even dissolve predesignated tribulations and allow one to become an Immortal.

Now, the Wandao School has seized a moment to conform to the Heavenly Destiny, quelling the forbidden zone, putting things to rights, stirring the feelings of the Heavenly Dao, and reaping successful results.

With merit upon their shoulders and Taoist fruits achieved, millions of monks break through, with many Void Immortals dissolving their numerous tribulation levels and attaining the rank of True Immortal.

This is the benefit of following Heavenly Destiny.

Thus, all sides remained silent, not to speak of mixed feelings of regret, some even with a hint of bitterness, particularly the Taoist Domain Guest Elders and Academy Monks who had previously listened to teachings within the palace but had not ultimately joined, their hearts especially filled with mixed emotions.

Furthermore, the leaders of the various Tao Lineages were also somewhat regretful and even anxious, as they had previously stood by, endured humiliation, and chosen survival over disrupting the post-chaos peace. Now that the Wandao School had quelled the forbidden zone, they suddenly seemed like they were reaping where they had not sown.

Even if the Wandao School chose not to settle accounts with them, the trajectory of Heavenly Dao would still diminish their Qi Fortune, and even intensify their tribulations, as there are gains and losses, rewards and punishments. Even the Heavenly Dao must attend to the balance of income and expenditures. If the Human Sect and Wandao School gain a share, the other Tao Lineages must consequently lose a share.

This is also the root of the contest for Qi Fortune. When one great sect prospers, alone seizing the power of heaven and earth, all other Ten Thousand Daos must decline. Not only is cultivation difficult, but there are also numerous tribulations. The spoils gained by the prosperous are compensated by the declining until fortunes shift and a new set of tribulations is determined.

In this case, the Human Sect has quelled the forbidden zone, put things to rights, and performed merit unto heaven and earth, ensuring the prosperity of Great Xing.

Unless they too are willing to throw themselves into the fray, decline is inevitable.

But how can they proceed?

Either by suppressing the Human Sect and claiming supremacy through strength.

Or by quelling a forbidden zone and achieving victory through merit.

Neither former nor latter is possible. The strength of the Human Sect is clear for all to see, with not just the high and mighty Sect Master, but even his group of Earth Immortals capable of suppressing Divine Land, and even the Three Great Sects powerless to confront it.

Not to mention that this quelling of the forbidden zone has seen a large number of monks gain merit from heaven, breaking through on the spot. Now, in both quantity and quality of cultivators from True Immortal to Void Immortal and beyond, the Human Sect has significantly surpassed all other Tao Lineages, establishing an insurmountable gap.

With such strength, how could others even compete?

As for quelling a forbidden zone...

Thinking of the spectacle just witnessed, this idea hadn’t even arisen before it was snuffed out in everyone’s hearts.

With no way forward or back, must they just watch their sects decline?

Perhaps not necessarily, there might still be a way...

"Rumble!"

His thoughts were not yet settled when the forbidden zone thundered. Every heart was alarmed and looked over, only to see the towering Ten Thousand Dao Heavenly Palace descending and settling in the center of the Hell Forbidden Zone, the original giant hand nestled, a place as dark as the abyss.

"Rest and reorganize yourselves, in five hundred years, we will resume the attack!"

"Yes!!!"

Within the Heavenly Palace, the decree was proclaimed, and the cultivators solemnly took their orders, beginning the aftermath work.

The battle thus came to an end, settling the dust.

However, its influence continued to ferment and was about to stir up a great tide that would sweep over the Divine Land, and even the Five Domains.

...

In the Qilin Hall within Wandao Palace, Xu Yang sat alone, tallying the spoils of war and organizing the overall strategic layout.

This battle was easier than expected.

But it was also reasonable, nothing was amiss.

The key lay in the final battle.

This Hell Forbidden Zone, in terms of danger, ranked fourth among the Six Forbidden Zones, higher than the Beast Path and Evil Ghost Road, but lower than the Heavenly Immortal Dao, Human World, and Asura Path.

Ranked fourth, there was the strength of a strike from the Great Dao. How terrifying then was the first-ranked Heavenly Immortal Dao?

If nothing unexpected happened, within these three major forbidden zones of Heavenly Immortals, Human Realm Shura, parts of the Sect Master of the Netherworld Sect’s Taoist Body were hidden, capable of temporarily returning to the peak, unleashing the complete power of the Heavenly Immortal Great Dao, particularly the main body in the Heavenly Immortal Dao. If they were willing to pay the price, even at the cost of mutual destruction, even Celestial Immortals would dread it.

That’s why Xu Yang temporarily halted the offensive.

Not only did the monks of the scholar’s palace need time to recuperate from their toils and digest what they had gained from this battle, he also needed time to improve himself, to transform the obtained Qi Fortune Merit into strength, and using the impact of this battle as a catalyst, to further augment the fortunes of the Human Sect.

The stronger the fortunes of the Human Sect, the stronger the power of him and Xuanyuan, and the more assured the pacification of the Six Forbidden Zones.

Besides, this was also a strategic move, a strategy to prevent a desperate opponent from lashing out in a cornered state.

Judging by the performance of that Hell Dao, if the Sect Master of the Netherworld Sect was willing to pay the price, he could still temporarily return to his peak and unleash the power of the Heavenly Immortal Great Dao.

Although he had refrained from doing so before, and instead took a risky move to intervene in the Heavenly Tribulation, leaving him seriously damaged and one arm obliterated, this approach was not hard to understand.

Previously, he did not activate his Taoist Body not because he did not wish to use the power of a Heavenly Immortal to assassinate Xu Yang, but because he could not.

His Taoist Body, with high probability, could not leave the Six Forbidden Zones!

After that ancient battle, the heads of the Five Sects inflicted unimaginable Dao injuries on him, causing him to fall into the Divine Land, where he had to separate his Taoist Body and use his own "Golden Immortal Power" to metamorphose heaven and earth, forming the Six Forbidden Zones. This allowed the land of Divine Land to share his injuries and recover vitality.

But such matters, such states, were confined to the Six Forbidden Zones metamorphosed by his Golden Immortal Power.

Unless he could once again use that Golden Immortal Power to metamorphose the Heavenly Dao, his Taoist Body could probably not leave the forbidden zone. Departing from it would incur Heavenly Punishment; this was the Divine Land’s Heavenly Dao’s backlash against him, a defensive mechanism to expel the poison within itself.

Thus, for him, it was better to intervene in the Heavenly Tribulation than to risk using his Taoist Body to assassinate, because by conventional wisdom, facing a tribulation of that magnitude, even an Earth Immortal who has endured for years would face certain death.

But unexpectedly, both Xu Yang and him had external assistance, exceeding the ordinary.

When external assistance met external assistance, he was counter-manipulated and ended up in such a state.

This was not a miscalculation, but simply the workings of fate; he was powerless to change it.

Yet, he was still only a step away from success, not yet at the point of losing everything.

He might still have a trump card, or even the possibility of mutual destruction, merging the Six Dao to confront Xu Yang in a decisive life-and-death battle.

Xu Yang did not wish to take it to this extreme, hence the halt in offensive, giving himself time to develop, and also giving the opponent breathing space.

If it really came to mutual destruction, even if he could withstand the desperate offensive of the Sect Master of the Netherworld Sect, the outcome would not be pleasant because, after the Netherworld Venerable, numerous Heavenly Immortals from the Upper Realm would be eyeing him hungrily.

Xu Yang had not forgotten whose handiwork the "Sealing Heaven and Earth" was. Once the Sect Master of the Netherworld Sect perishes, and the sealed Upper Realm was likely to reopen communication, he would then face the heads of the Five Sects and the Ten Directions Celestial Immortals from the Upper Realm.

Let alone any grudge; each major Tao lineage of the Upper Realm was so wary of that Netherworld Venerable they even persecuted Ascendant cultivators and tried various methods to open the passage between the realms. Could it really be that they were only fearing his return?

Clearly not!

Their true objective was the Golden Immortal Power in the hands of the Sect Master of the Netherworld Sect, especially the heads of the Five Sects, for whom this opportunity was a must-have.

So, grievance or none, it didn’t matter. The relationship or the state between Xu Yang and the Sect Master of the Netherworld Sect was also irrelevant. What mattered was whether they could obtain that Golden Immortal Power.

Once Xu Yang eliminates the Netherworld Venerable, and the Upper Realm is reconnected, the eyesores and thorns for all major Celestial Immortals of the Upper Realm would shift from the Netherworld Venerable to him. Unless he possessed sufficient strength to contend with the major Dao lineages of the Upper Realm, the day the Six Forbidden Zones are pacified would mark the downfall of him and the Human Sect.

Seen in this light, Xu Yang was in quite the predicament, unable to fully pacify the Six Forbidden Zones, nor could he let the Netherworld Venerable recover vitality, all while wary of the return of the Five Sects and major Tao lineages to the Mortal World.

Neither advance nor retreat was an option; all paths were fraught with wolves and tigers.

But he was unconcerned because he still had a chance.

Time was his chance!

Backed by All Heavens and Myriads of Worlds, and the advantage of the relative speed of time flowing, plus the gradual pacification of the Six Forbidden Zones and suppressing the recovery of the Netherworld Venerable, as long as things did not escalate to a breaking point, he still had time to develop.

What comes next is accumulation, development!

Once enough has been accumulated, once the momentum is built, it will be time to forcefully break the deadlock and determine everything!

Thus...