Immortality begins with meditation puppets

A fierce storm erupted once more on the arena.

It was not the breathless wind that surged forth from the invisible sword energy.

This wind has a physical form.

They are all sword puppets!

From first order to third order.

One hundred puppets form a group, one hundred groups form an array, and one hundred arrays are also part of a magnificent and mysterious sword array, namely the Ocean Tide Sword Array.

Water flows in abundance, forming rivers; all rivers flow into the sea; the ocean surges with overwhelming force, capable of breaking through any obstacle.

Immortals cannot be stopped, nor can immortals be killed, annihilated, or exterminated.

Unless the four spirit treasure sword cultivators opposite are fifth- or even sixth-order sword cultivators, they will be able to withstand the rise and fall of this boundless sword puppet tide.

Unfortunately, they are not.

"In this battle, Master Su of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom is victorious!"

After the rise and fall of the tide, the four Lingbao sword cultivators, who upheld the old tradition of the Lingbao Sword Sect and fought to the death without admitting defeat, had become like Su Qing before, covered in blood. They were not dead, but they had definitely lost.

While the gamblers below were filled with grief and remorse, they were mostly like other cultivators, thinking about how to buy a few sword puppets from Su Qing to show off their sword cultivator prowess. No, they had lost all their spirit stones, so where would they get the money to buy puppets?
"I need to find a way to borrow some more money and gamble again to turn things around!"

Who should we bet on next?

"I've figured out why we're betting on Su Qing. He's really unpredictable. Our pre-match analysis is useless against him. Who knows what new tricks he'll pull out during the match? We'll just have to pressure him and try to get back the damage we've taken from him!"

"Then you'd better hurry up and raise the money. After Master Su finishes this match, the Enlightenment competition will start right away!"

"Don't worry, I have a manor back home. I've pledged it to Xiong Er's money exchange, and I can get the spirit stones right away. Master Su has cultivated for a hundred years and has reached his current level. His talent for comprehending the Dao is unprecedented. This time, betting on him is definitely the right thing to do!"

There are many capable people and many tasks; the most capable people are always busy.

Having just dealt with a few spiritual treasure sword cultivators, Su Qing immediately rushed to the Enlightenment Arena.

As the name suggests, this arena tests a cultivator's ability to comprehend the Dao, allowing them to glimpse a cultivator's talent and potential, so that various forces can roughly estimate how far a person can go in the future.

It should be noted that the Tianyuan Realm is currently experiencing a surge of opportunities and spiritual energy, with everyone's cultivation speed being more than ten times faster than in the past. It is comparable to the Kunlun Realm, which has the most abundant spiritual energy among all the realms. Moreover, this speed will accelerate as the Tianyuan Realm recovers. With the increase in cultivation speed and the reduction in the difficulty of breaking through bottlenecks, coupled with the frequent appearance of various rare and precious materials, the future of Tianyuan Realm will completely become a stage for geniuses.

This is also why the forces of the myriad realms, though often stronger than those of the Heavenly Origin, are still willing to engage in friendly exchanges with the Heavenly Origin after they have fallen to it. Winning first is not true victory. Don't be fooled by their current lead over the Heavenly Origin cultivators; it's because they took advantage of their spiritual resources in the myriad realms to get ahead. Now it's the Heavenly Origin cultivators' turn to enjoy the blessings of their ancestors' unwavering commitment to the Heavenly Origin. In the foreseeable future, they will undoubtedly be the fastest cultivators in all realms.

Of course, even if you are favored by heaven and earth, if you are not capable, heaven and earth cannot help you. The fortune of heaven and earth and the burst of spiritual energy are just boosters. If you are not fast to begin with, no matter how favorable the external factors are, you will still not be able to succeed.

There are many talented individuals in the heavens. In this enlightenment competition, purely in terms of natural talent, they still surpass those in the Tianyuan realm. Of course, there are also many talented individuals in the Tianyuan realm who have been hindered by the spiritual energy of Tianyuan and have not yet shown their talents. At this moment, they may not have enough cultivation, or they may not have enough resources, or they may not even know about the Heroes' Assembly and have not participated.

But given the overall situation, in the current competition of the Enlightenment Project, among the final top ten, only Gao Erqiang and Su Qing are locals from Tianyuan. Well, only Su Qing is a local, plus Erqiang is a local evil god.

Among the three heroes of Yunshan, Master Tong made a major mistake and was eliminated in the top 100 competition. Although he claimed that it was intentional and that he wanted to give opportunities to younger people, everyone knew that he himself was not talented enough. Otherwise, he would not have inherited the Celestial Master's legacy and would still be stuck at the fourth-level Celestial Master position.

It is worth mentioning that the White-Faced Green Lion King of the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, Shi Zhifang of the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom, the Fire Phoenix Princess of the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom, the Great General of Zhen Dong of the Immortal Qin Martial Kingdom, and Liu Feng of the Penglai Immortal Kingdom—these second-generation demons, second-generation sect leaders, and second-generation kings of Tianyuan—have all made it into the top 100, demonstrating the potential of the younger generation in Tianyuan.

Of the final ten, seven were from various celestial forces, with the Yuanshi Sect having the most members, totaling three. The other four were Li Zhenjun from the Lingbao Sect, Heiyu Zhenjun from the Dongwang Sect, Dayan Shenjun from the Ancient God Realm, and Gu Yuan Zhenjun, the Supreme Unique Transmission.

Among the top ten, only Su Qing is a fourth-level Nascent Soul cultivator. His ability to be among them is enough to prove his outstanding talent and great potential.

Today, his opponent is the Great Evolution God.

This deity hailed from the ancient divine realm, descended from the ancient gods who, after the collapse of the ancient Heavenly Court, had sought death but not quite perished. The Heavenly Emperor, in his mercy, allowed them to leave Tianyuan and rebuild a new realm. This realm had always maintained a low profile among the heavens, only sending ancient god legions to participate in several campaigns against the Thirteen Demonic Realms. Now, with the Heavenly Gates wide open, only a handful of deities have descended to Tianyuan, clearly indicating they are gods who have transcended their realm and are ashamed to have their divine positions restored by Heaven and Earth. As the Great Evolution Deity, specifically responsible for divination of divine arts for the heavenly soldiers and generals within the ancient Heavenly Court, he was chosen by the Heavenly Emperor for his exceptional talent in magic, thus attaining this divine position. From ancient times to the present, from Tianyuan to the heavens, he has witnessed the secrets of all heavens, comprehended the myriad aspects of the world, and understood the infinity of the universe and the wonders of time and space. His talent and experience have reached their peak, making him a top contender for the title of champion in this field of enlightenment.

"This junior cultivator, Su Qing, has met the Great Evolution Divine Lord. The Divine Lord created hundreds of thousands of divine arts and has blessed future generations to this day. His achievements are unparalleled. I have long admired him. Today, I have the honor of meeting the Divine Lord. He is indeed as the legends say. He is as elegant as jade and I regard him as if I were observing the Great Dao."

Su Qing held this ancient deity in awe. Besides the deity's ancient achievements, after descending to Tianyuan, he also cultivated many of the deities of Tianyuan. He passed on many divine arts lost in Tianyuan to the deities of Tianyuan. Even the artificial deities of Penglai were treated equally. Deities such as Gao Erqiang, Yingjue Shen in his Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, and Liang Haishun all benefited from his favor. Even Su Qing himself, after hearing about this good thing, shamelessly put on the Tongyou Mask and transformed into a deity to beg for alms from this deity many times, obtaining seventy, eighty, or ninety kinds of divine arts. Since he had eaten the food, he was now an opponent. Su Qing could not say anything harsh to this deity.

Just as Su Qing said, the Great Evolution God Lord had an excellent demeanor. He was middle-aged, dressed in wide robes and sleeves, with a restrained divine light. His excellent affability made him seem like an ordinary, carefree middle-aged man who had two children who had gone to prestigious universities, married nearby, and were filial. However, the occasional flashes of divine light in his eyes also contained the divine majesty that this God Lord had accumulated over countless years from ancient times to the present, making him someone not to be underestimated.

Given his status and position, let alone the current Tianyuan Realm, even if the ancients of the Tianyuan Shizong and Lingbaozong in the various realms bowed to him, he could remain calm. However, when facing Su Qing, who was bowing, he slightly turned his body and gave way half a bow.

"Master Su is favored by the Heavenly Emperor and acts on his behalf. He is not a deity, yet he possesses the dignity of a supreme god. How dare this lowly god accept the full respect due to a Master Su?" Seeing that Su Qing still wanted to continue bowing, the Great Evolution Divine Lord declined repeatedly, then smiled wryly:
"Master Su, there's really no need for this. For a master to wear a mask and exchange his divine position for divine power in a human body is a rare occurrence even in ancient times. I am unaware of the details, only knowing that it was the Heavenly Emperor's arrangement to pass on more than ten divine skills and secret techniques to you, which is already overstepping the bounds. I really cannot pass on any more divine techniques to you. However, if you surpass me today, Master, and there is a divine technique that I created uniquely in all the heavens, I can decide for myself to bestow it upon you!"

"Is this true? A unique divine technique? What's its rank? What direction is it? Is it suitable for me?" Su Qing had communicated with the Great Evolution Divine Lord several times and knew that he was not comparable to those artificial gods of Penglai, which were merely superficially impressive but ultimately flawed. The divine technique he created must be extraordinary. Su Qing was almost drooling, but he managed to restrain himself at the last moment and quickly tried to salvage the situation:
"Great God, please don't misunderstand. My bow to you is simply to express my deepest respect and admiration. It is not to ask you for divine arts. In this competition, how could I dare to compete with you and determine the winner? It would be my great honor to have this opportunity to receive your guidance."

Despite the inaccuracy of the words, even the gods were confused by the kind words. The Great Evolution God-Lord couldn't help but smile, glancing sideways to signal the referee that the competition could begin.

The referee for this match was a fourth-order deity sent by the Penglai Immortal Kingdom. As a result, none of the artificial deities of the Immortal Kingdom made it into the top ten in the subsequent competitions, so that these deities could be gloriously selected as referees early on.

As for a fourth-order artificial god, facing the ancient and renowned Great Evolution God, he naturally dared not flinch at all. Upon seeing the God's expression, he immediately announced the start of the competition.

"In this competition, the Yuanshi Sect generously sponsored a fragment of the Heavenly Talisman Wall as a competition prop. The Dao patterns on it are incomplete, with only a few strokes, making it difficult to see the whole picture. Even after several generations of great masters of the Yuanshi Sect deduced it, they still did not know what the Dao patterns were."

The next step for both of you is to comprehend this Dao pattern. The level of your comprehension will be determined by the amount of Dao information gleaned from it, or the quality of the divine techniques and true skills you grasp. The time limit is one hour; please be mindful of the time.

Yuan Shizong, a big dog.

A fragment of a talisman wall that has been studied for countless years without any comprehension should have been shared with all the heavens long ago. With everyone's wisdom and efforts, this Dao pattern might be able to reappear in the world and not remain buried in dust until now.

Of course, it's not too late to bring it out now.

With Su Qing around, no Dao pattern will be buried.

After exchanging pleasantries with the Great Evolution God, the two arrived at the fragment of the talisman wall at the same time.

This talisman, about the size of a palm, was transparent and colorless, with several bird-like characters and a few strokes of Daoist script on it. Upon seeing it, the Great Evolution Divine Lord appeared deep in thought, and after a moment, he spoke:

"The Dao patterns on the Dao Heaven Talisman Wall are countless, encompassing all things, yet they are traceable. In ancient times, they were divided into three categories. The first is the bloodline type. This type of Dao pattern cannot be used without a specific bloodline. For example, the Dao pattern of the Human Emperor can only be comprehended by humans. The bird-script Dao talismans on it are mostly close to the script and graphics of their respective races. I observe that the bird-script Dao talisman on this fragment has no connection with any of the myriad races in the heavens today. Therefore, I should rule out the possibility that it is a bloodline type Dao pattern. This is just my humble opinion and may not be true. I wonder what True Person Su thinks?"

“What the Divine Lord says makes sense, and that’s what I think too!” Su Qing said without hesitation.

The Great Evolution Divine Lord glanced at him, but didn't look down on his youth and lack of experience. In all the realms, who didn't know that Su Qing alone possessed two sets of Four Imperial Dao Runes and numerous Five Elder Dao Runes? If Dao Runes represented glory, Su Qing was now adorned with trophies, his achievements numerous and his record outstanding. Who dared question his mastery of Dao Runes? The Great Evolution Divine Lord assumed he was simply unassuming and perhaps had seen more than he did, but out of consideration for his own pride, he remained silent. He then spoke up:

"Master Su, you don't need to worry about me. The essence of discussing metaphysics and the Dao lies in the exchange. Feel free to speak your mind. Even if I am wrong, you can point it out!"

“What the Divine Lord thinks is what I think. The Divine Lord is without fault, so how can I point out his mistakes?” Su Qing said, seemingly humble but actually quite flustered.

What to do? How to explain to people that this expert in Dao patterns can't even understand a bird-script Dao talisman?

What else could we do but follow the Great Evolution God?

Seeing that his expression was sincere, unlike that of a scoundrel who was hiding his true intentions and waiting to suddenly strike him on the head and humiliate him in public, the Great Evolution God Lord felt relieved and continued:
"The second type of Dao pattern is the Dao pattern of enlightenment. This type of Dao pattern is not restricted by bloodline or race, and all races can comprehend it. With the help of this type of Dao pattern, all obstacles on the path of cultivation can be easily overcome, and the cultivation of divine arts and true skills is beyond the reach of ordinary people. I comprehended the divine Dao pattern in my younger days, and since then I have been far ahead in the deduction of divine arts, which is why I was fortunate enough to take up the position of Great Evolution Divine Lord. This type of Dao pattern, the bird-script Dao talisman, is extremely complicated, and the difficulty of deduction and comprehension is extremely high. This Dao pattern fragment only has a few strokes, so it cannot be the Dao pattern of enlightenment, True Person Su?"

“What the Divine Lord says is absolutely right; that’s what I think too!”

"Since it's neither bloodline nor enlightenment-related, this Dao pattern fragment can only be of the supernatural power type. Supernatural power Dao patterns aren't as comprehensive as bloodline or enlightenment Dao patterns, but they are the most effective and offer the greatest short-term benefits. These Dao patterns all contain unparalleled supernatural powers. Comprehending them instantly allows one to stand out from other cultivators of the same level. Furthermore, based on these supernatural powers, one can deduce many similar Dao techniques and divine arts. For example, most of the sword techniques of the Lingbao Sect are derived from sword qi and lightning shadows, sword light differentiation, sword qi formation, and other sword Dao divine arts. Dao techniques and divine arts can imitate the power of supernatural powers, but they cannot escape the constraints of supernatural powers. Even at their peak, it is difficult to surpass the original. In the past, I created a hundred divine arts, but none of them surpassed their original supernatural powers, which has always been a source of great regret!" (End of Chapter)