Chapter 181: Life Diagram

Zuo Zhicheng spoke a few more words with Qingyue Qiu. Then he asked Qingyue Qiu to take a letter to Song Hao. After that, he left with the Underworld King Snake. Before leaving, Qingyue Qiu told Zuo Zhicheng an address. It was a farm outside Xinlu. It belonged to the Shadow Corps. She said it could be a resting place for Zuo Zhicheng during this time.

So Zuo Zhicheng told Song Hao to send people to guard that place later. He would eat there during this period. He would also practice some Dao Arts there.

His Dao Arts cultivation was getting closer to the Leakless Realm.

From what Zuo Zhicheng knew, Dao Arts cultivation was divided into Refining Life Grove, Cultivating Heavenly Palace, Creating Celestial River, and Building Golden Bridge. Before, because the Daoist Canon only had knowledge about Life Grove and Life Diagram, he did not understand what Cultivating Heavenly Palace, Creating Celestial River, and Building Golden Bridge were like.

But after talking with Li Xunyi, he learned something about this.

In Dao Arts cultivation, so-called transcendence was the ultimate pursuit. The mortal world was like a big dye vat. To cross this dusty world, one needed Dao Arts for protection.

Cultivating Heavenly Palace meant cultivating one’s own methods to defend against external demons. This method was the Celestial Palace. Only by making the Celestial Palace very strong and powerful could one have hope to rely on it and cross the mortal world.

However, different Life Groves, different Dao Arts, and different sects led to very different ways of Cultivating Heavenly Palace. It could be said that Cultivating Heavenly Palace had always been just a description of a realm or level. There was no truly orthodox method.

Just like on Earth in Zuo Zhicheng’s previous life. All were university students, but the knowledge they learned and the content of their exams were completely different.

Similarly, for the same Cultivating Heavenly Palace realm, the combat power of different cultivators could be worlds apart.

For example, Li Xunyi was a cultivator at the Cultivating Heavenly Palace stage. His Flying Sword, as an external organ, was his Celestial Palace. At this stage, he spent almost all his time trying to strengthen his Flying Sword. This included sword techniques, material, Spiritual Power, supernatural powers, and even adding new Life Groves.

The Flying Sword gave him much stronger combat power than his peers at the Cultivating Heavenly Palace stage. But before Cultivating Heavenly Palace, during the Refining Life Grove stage, the Flying Sword had almost no combat power. Only when the Life Groves on it reached the Leakless state could he use sword control techniques.

Yilezi on the island was also a cultivator at the Cultivating Heavenly Palace stage. But his method was to completely transform himself into a Huangquansi being. Also, his completion level in Cultivating Heavenly Palace was much higher than Li Xunyi’s.

Different cultivation methods resulted in completely different strength and fighting styles even at the same realm.

It was at this time that Zuo Zhicheng understood a bit when looking at the second volume of the Daoist Canon. The Daoist Canon did have methods for Cultivating Heavenly Palace. The so-called Life Diagram was the South Saint Sect’s cultivation method for the Cultivating Heavenly Palace stage.

When he realized this, Zuo Zhicheng could not help but admire the content of this Daoist Canon.

Because the Daoist Canon systematized and standardized the paths of all cultivators. No matter what Life Grove you possessed, you could cultivate your Life Grove according to the first volume of the Daoist Canon. Then, based on the content of the second volume, you could choose a Life Diagram. By transplanting different Life Groves, you could complete the combination of the Life Diagram and achieve cultivation at the Cultivating Heavenly Palace stage.

It was at that time that Zuo Zhicheng selected all parts related to Night Sea from the Life Diagrams.

In the second volume of the Daoist Canon, he found four Life Diagrams that included the Night Sea Life Grove. Compared to other Life Groves, Night Sea, as a so-called Divine Fate Cluster, had relatively few Life Diagrams to choose from.

These four Life Diagrams were Ghost Eye Netherworld Heaven, Tranquil Flame City, Nightfall Monarch, and White Emperor Aurora Sword. Of course, the number of Life Groves they required was different.

Ghost Eye Netherworld Heaven needed the most Life Groves, 81 in total. Next was Tranquil Flame City, which needed 61. Then came Nightfall Monarch, which needed 40. The least was White Emperor Aurora Sword, which only needed 28.

Although it was likely that the more Life Groves required, the more powerful the resulting Life Diagram would be, the descriptions of their power after mastery in the Daoist Canon were too vague, bizarre, and exaggerated. In Zuo Zhicheng’s view, they all seemed incredibly powerful.

He was not sure which of the four Life Diagrams to choose. After all, he had only met a few people with Life Groves so far. In this era, trying to cultivate any of these four Life Diagrams and gather the required Life Groves was clearly very difficult.

So for now, Zuo Zhicheng focused on breaking through Night Sea to the Leakless Realm to enhance his strength first.

As for finding the Life Groves for the Life Diagrams, that was his purpose for going to Haijing.

His Martial Arts could only seek breakthroughs through daily gradual effort. But if he could enhance his strength by transplanting Life Groves to form Life Diagrams, even if he couldn’t complete a Life Diagram, having a few more Dao Arts could effectively increase his power.

Haijing, as the capital of the Southern Bay region, and with the help of the Shadow Corps, was clearly a good destination.

So time passed as Zuo Zhicheng practiced Dao Arts and Martial Arts every day, along with training the Underworld King Snake.

…

Nine days later, another huge dark shadow flashed through the forest.

A fox that had just woken up in its den was looking for food. But when the dark shadow appeared, it immediately ran back frantically. However, its speed was too slow compared to the shadow. In almost the blink of an eye, without even a scream, its entire body was completely swallowed by the shadow.

The Underworld King Snake stopped in a clearing. It flicked its tongue slightly. Clearly, it was not full yet. Given its size, the fox earlier was just an appetizer.

After swallowing the fox, it used its tail to sweep the surrounding snow into the den. Its eyes showed curiosity. It no longer seemed to dislike winter as before. Clearly, Zuo Zhicheng’s training during this time had made it gradually used to this temperature.

After all, its Physique Strength was there. As long as it overcame the psychological barrier, the season did not really affect it.

As the falling snow slowly blocked the den entrance, two more small foxes crawled out and were swallowed by the Underworld King Snake in one bite.

A slightly satisfied look appeared in its eyes. At the same time, it pressed its ear bones against the ground, sensing the various vibrations coming from below.

Just as it was about to chase the next prey, the Underworld King Snake suddenly shuddered. It was as if something scary had happened. A trace of panic showed in its eyes, and it quickly turned around and ran.

With its powerful Physique Strength, it moved swiftly through the forest like a flood dragon. When it encountered trees, grass, or rocks, it simply crashed through them, leaving a mess behind.

It ran a few hundred meters, then suddenly leaped. It caused a whooshing sound in mid-air. Its whole body jumped into a farm. When it landed on the ground, even the earth shook a little.

The Underworld King Snake flicked its tongue. It coiled around Zuo Zhicheng, who was sitting cross-legged. Its eyes were full of a pleading expression.

It turned out that Zuo Zhicheng had just commanded it to come using a heat signal. Zuo Zhicheng was testing the maximum distance at which the Underworld King Snake could sense heat signals. Now he found it was about 500 meters.

But from the Underworld King Snake’s reaction, it seemed Zuo Zhicheng’s training had been very strict during this time. It was clear that it was now very afraid of Zuo Zhicheng. But the plentiful food Zuo Zhicheng prepared for it every day also made it very happy.

It was the carrot and stick policy. It was also the most effective method for taming all animals.

After making the Underworld King Snake stand guard nearby, Zuo Zhicheng lifted the patch over his left eye. He raised his head and looked straight at the Sun in the sky.

He clearly felt that Night Sea was about to break through.