Chapter 49: Intensifying

Inside the Iron Immortal Temple, the place was a mess. It was unknown how much time had passed before the disciples and Daoists gradually regained consciousness. At that moment, everyone’s eyes held both shock and fear.

Right inside the Iron Immortal Temple, their minds had been bewitched by someone’s Daoist magic, causing their restrictions to fail.

Some disciples who had been snatched from their activities outside or in the inner chambers were even more terrified to the core; waking up to find themselves all lying on the main street was truly horrifying.

Outside wasn’t as safe as imagined. Even within the city, there were sinister sorcerers and demon-like individuals, and several people had nearly been abducted.

As for who exactly had saved the group, everyone hurried back to the Iron Immortal Temple, buzzing with discussion. Most believed that they had likely encountered a highly skilled master from a Mystic Gate Dharma Lineage, who was passing through Wenchang County by chance. They had narrowly escaped with their lives.

Lin Yuan blended in among the crowd, not standing out in any particular way.

In a small side room in the eastern wing, Lin Yuan closed the door. Sensing the uneasy atmosphere among the many disciples and Daoists outside, he gave a light, subtle smile.

He took out the River God Golden Seal. This small seal, about the usual size of an official seal, emitted a faint golden light that hinted at its extraordinary nature. Lin Yuan carefully handled it, finding it hard to put down.

Possessing this item, aside from the cultivation of the Mystic Gate Immortal Path, his progress on the Path of Turbid Sha and Divine Demons might be significantly accelerated.

The two systems of the Mystic Gate Immortal Path and the Turbid Fiend Demon Gods were now almost perfectly fused within him, essentially making him a dual cultivator of both Dharma and body.

However, as he toyed with this River God Golden Seal, a thoughtful expression crossed Lin Yuan’s face.

He took thunder methods as his foundation, but to truly perfect them, it was time to choose a direction.

For example, using the two polarities as resources, to pioneer a new path, borrowing the false to cultivate the true, thereby perfecting thunder methods.

Of course, he could also choose the Five Elements.

Through cultivation, achieve the Acquired Five Elements Divine Thunder, ultimately comprehending the true meaning from the Five Elements Thunder Method, and attain the Primordial Spirit of the Acquired Thunder Ancestor.

Currently, Lin Yuan only had two choices: the Two Polarities or the Five Elements.

Considering the trace of Innate Yin-Yang Dual Qi within his body, on the surface, possessing Innate Yin-Yang Dual Qi should make choosing the Two Polarities more convenient.

But in reality, that was not the case!

Lin Yuan shook his head slightly. The Innate Yin-Yang Dual Qi was extremely obscure and incredibly difficult to begin with. If he took the Five Elements first, and then returned to the Two Polarities, taking this extra step might actually be easier.

Lin Yuan looked at the River God Golden Seal in his hand.

Although the Five Elements had a lower threshold by comparison, comprehending them was still not easy.

The Five Elements were vast and profound.

Just one element, like Water, included both Gui Water and Ren Water.

Gui Water was vast, icy, and cold. Ren Water was continuous, endless, and nourished all things.

With a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, Lin Yuan considered the pros and cons, weighed the gains and losses, and still decided to first pursue the Five Elements, then return to Yin and Yang, to cultivate the Primordial Spirit of the Acquired Thunder Ancestor.

As for which of the Five Elements to cultivate first, Lin Yuan no longer needed to choose.

He would cultivate the Water element first.

Regardless of whether he pursued Innate Yin-Yang or Innate Life and Death in the future, Cloud-Water Dao methods were undoubtedly a mandatory part of cultivation; otherwise, he could not achieve the complete perfection of either Innate or Acquired thunder methods.

If the foundation was unstable, how could one sublimate? Even if one did sublimate, it would be like a castle in the sky, toppling at the slightest push.

Actually, Lin Yuan also had another path he could choose.

Not selecting one single element, but cultivating all Five Elements simultaneously.

However, after hesitating for a moment in his heart, Lin Yuan gave up on this idea. The Five Elements were immensely complex; just one element was enough to occupy many Mystic Gate realizers for their entire lives.

If he didn’t have the Primordial World as his support, Lin Yuan wouldn’t even dare think about such an idea.

Casually transforming the River God Golden Seal into a stream of light and absorbing it into his body for gradual nurturing, Lin Yuan’s gaze fell upon another treasure in his hand.

A jade box appeared before his eyes.

A faint treasure light shimmered on the jade box.

“Be careful. This treasure box is protected by the Mystic Gate restrictions of an Ancient Water Immortal. Only by refining it with the most superior Mystic Gate True Fire can the box be opened!”

The Lingjiang River God cautiously reminded him, but his reminder stopped midway.

A faint red flame appeared in the palm of Lin Yuan’s hand.

Sui Fire!

This flame was originally a virtuous merit sacred fire from the Primordial World. After Lin Yuan continuously cleansed it day and night with Mystic Gate mana, it had long become the most superior Mystic Gate True Fire. Its power was not inferior to the terrifying Samadhi True Flame.

Its ability to burn rivers and boil seas was unquestionable.

As the faint red flame burned, the restrictive treasure light on the jade box instantly parted.

As the jade box opened, Lin Yuan saw a spiritual light shoot up toward the heavens, accompanied by fragrant clouds and immortal music. Seeing this, Lin Yuan waved his hand, and the Merit Golden Lamp flew out. A surge of mana concealed the unusual phenomena.

Several items within the treasure box were revealed, leaving the River God beside him looking on with envy.

Previous owners of the River God’s Water Mansion had long known it contained treasures of Dao Scriptures from an Ancient Water Immortal, but they were troubled by the powerful restrictions on the treasure box and couldn’t retrieve the items.

Lin Yuan glanced at the contents and his brow moved slightly. Inside the treasure box were several items.

Among them was a bottle of elixir and several dozen blue-tinted divine needles, which Lin Yuan did not examine in detail. His gaze went directly to the two jade books.

Even after a thousand years had passed, these two jade books and the red silk cushion beneath them looked as good as new.

“River-Luo Primal Scenery Golden Tome?”

Lin Yuan casually picked up this Dao Scripture and skimmed through it. His eyes grew brighter and brighter.

This was indeed a rare treasure record of a Water Immortal, encompassing the various mysteries of Mystic Gate cultivation. Particularly, the River-Luo mana one could cultivate from it was exceptionally powerful and profound, containing numerous mysteries of watercourses and rivers. It could reach up to seize the mysteries of the heavenly river, and press down to suppress the nine bends of the rivers and Luo, offering infinite applications in magical combat. It was a first-class superior mystic art.

Although Lin Yuan had already listened to Dao Lord Taiqing’s teachings on the Dao and created his own mystic art, whose power surpassed that of this Celestial Book, now that he wished to first cultivate water-element thunder methods, obtaining this Water Immortal treasure book would be like adding wings to a tiger. He believed he could quickly comprehend Gui Water Thunder Method and Ren Water Thunder Method.

A flash of joy appeared in Lin Yuan’s eyes. He soon put down this Water Immortal treasure record and looked toward the supplementary volume. The “River-Luo Primal Scenery Golden Tome Supplementary Volume” recorded various water-element Dao methods.

Among them were dangerous, bizarre, and exceptionally powerful, sinister, and venomous Dao methods. Lin Yuan glanced at them and tossed them aside.

If it were other ordinary cultivators, they might become enthralled by such methods. But having come from the Primordial World, Lin Yuan had seen even more sinister techniques among those Divine Demon Tribes.

Over the next few days, Lin Yuan immersed himself wholeheartedly in the refining and comprehension of the River God Golden Seal, occasionally spending his spare time pondering this “River-Luo Primal Scenery Golden Tome,” while waiting for the opportunity to enter the Primordial World.

He occasionally paid attention to the changes outside.

With the treasures from the Water Immortal’s Water Mansion vanishing into thin air, Lin Yuan believed that the many masters of the Mystic Gate Dharma Lineages wouldn’t easily let it go.

In fact, that was exactly the case. When the many treasures in the Water Mansion suddenly disappeared, the masters of the various Mystic Gate Dharma Lineages practically erupted in anger on the spot. In the first few days, they employed various secret methods, searching the Lingjiang River from top to bottom. They even resorted to the Great Deduction Divine Calculation to divine the workings of heaven. Yet, they still came up empty-handed.

This situation did not subside after several days; instead, it intensified.

Especially among the dozen or so Mystic Gate disciples who had held great expectations for the Water Mansion expedition.

This made Lin Yuan somewhat worried. Although he had handled things properly, he hadn’t done so without leaving any trace at all.

Lin Yuan noticed several eyes lingering on him.

Especially after receiving the exact news of Yun Yi’s disappearance, these several pairs of eyes grew increasingly sharp.

Lin Yuan heard that the people from Yun Manor personally hosted a banquet to entertain these cultivators from the Mystic Gate Dharma Lineages.