Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 130 The Trials of Immortals in the Mortal World

For enlightened beings like Liang Yu and Lingbao Tianzun, who are on the path of transformation, the exploration of Daode Tianzun undoubtedly provides them with an excellent reference.

Furthermore, the Nine-Turn Immortal Pill he created actually gave many cultivators with less talent hope of achieving a transformative rebirth. After all, researching a method of transformation by pooling the power of three lifetimes significantly increases the probability of success.

The Underworld Lord laughed and said, "Fellow Daoist, you're probably too happy too soon. I'm sure Wuji has already told you about the ascension plan, right? We've come here this time hoping that you can help us perfect this formation. There are even a lot of other things waiting for your help afterward."

The Supreme Lord of Morality said, "What does it matter if it's a little hard to make such a great contribution to the human world and the universe? Although there wasn't much darkness and turmoil in the world I lived in, the few times there were still brought great calamities to the human world."

"Now, this ascension formation can not only pave the way for future generations, but also completely cut off the source of the birth of the forbidden zone of life. It can be said to have immeasurable merit."

"But I wonder where this formation should be located?"

Liang Yu said, "There is an abandoned path to immortality on the ancient star Yinghuo."

During their journey, Liang Yu also told the Moral Celestial Venerable and the Underworld Venerable about the origin and current situation of this strange world.

Upon re-entering the path to immortality, Liang Yu and Lingbao Tianzun seemed to feel nothing. However, Daode Tianzun and Mingzun were visiting for the first time, and they were filled with curiosity about that world.

They each tore through the void to faintly perceive the aura of the strange world, and couldn't help but exclaim, "What a grand gesture!"

Even knowing the existence and origin of this world, they were still deeply shocked. If such a world was merely material used to repair the Immortal Realm, then what about the true Immortal Realm?
After gathering their thoughts, the four began to set up the formation again. However, due to their previous discussion, the formation was already quite perfect, so the Celestial Venerable of Morality only made some minor improvements to the connection between the formation patterns and the immortal artifacts, and it was completely successful.

Now all that's missing is a celestial artifact.

Of the four magical treasures crafted by the Celestial Venerable of Morality, only the Taiji Diagram, which served as his natal treasure and grew alongside him, became a celestial artifact.

That makes sense, as the Celestial Venerable of Morality was quite knowledgeable in alchemy and weapon crafting, but he wasn't an expert in these fields.

Liang Yu asked, "Fellow Daoist, in your opinion, which immortal artifact here is the best?"

When the Celestial Venerable of Morality saw Liang Yu take out the three immortal artifacts—the Desolate Tower, the Immortal Bell, and the Bronze Immortal Palace—he was somewhat speechless.

Of course, all these celestial artifacts met the requirements, but the fact that three appeared at once left the Celestial Venerable of Morality somewhat speechless. In his four lifetimes, he had only ever seen the Celestial Bell, and that was in the hands of the Kunlun clan. But Liang Yu obtained three directly, and considering that they themselves had begun to refine celestial artifacts, it made the celestial artifacts seem rather cheap.

However, he still said, "Either is fine."

The four joined forces and began attempting to set up array patterns in this location. Countless array patterns intertwined with the Origin Heaven Divine Patterns, ultimately forming an astonishing array.

Apart from the core immortal artifact, the grand formation was completed quickly, after all, they had been researching it for hundreds or even thousands of years.

After hearing about the Longevity Celestial Venerable and the various wondrous places, the Moral Celestial Venerable also became extremely curious. After all, he had studied the Holy Spirits in detail in the past, and perhaps this would be of use to the Longevity Celestial Venerable.

Therefore, the group returned to the Immortal Tomb once again.

Sensing the aura, the Celestial Venerable of Longevity said, "Celestial Venerable of Morality, you..." The Celestial Venerable of Morality replied, "Fellow Daoist of Longevity, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The group reunited.

The Celestial Venerable of Morality sighed, "This path of transformation seems endless. How many trials must we overcome before we can become immortals?"

Liang Yu said, "Perhaps it will require six or seven transformations."

In the world of "Covering the Sky," Ye Fan is the only immortal who has lived nine lives in the mortal realm with a detailed account of his journey. In his eighth life, he was already remarkably youthful in his later years, truly becoming an immortal. His ninth life was simply a way to bring himself to peak condition in preparation for any potential fierce battles to come.

Of Ye Fan's eight incarnations, except for his second incarnation where he relied on the Qilin Elixir of Immortality, the subsequent incarnations were all transformations in reverse. In his third incarnation, he relied on the Immortal Essence of Longevity; in his fourth incarnation, he relied on researching the Humanoid Elixir of Immortality; in his fifth incarnation, he developed a Chaotic Body; in his sixth incarnation, he returned to his Sacred Body; in his seventh incarnation, he experienced the Great Dream of Eternity; and in his eighth incarnation, he returned to his original form and became a mortal.

In other words, Ye Fan's path to immortality in the mortal world was basically successful after going through six reversals.

However, this doesn't mean that anyone who lives six lifetimes in reverse can become a Mortal Immortal. After all, Ye Fan's first life was at the Heavenly Emperor level, giving him a much higher starting point than others. From this perspective, perhaps one would need to start at the Heavenly Emperor level and live six more lifetimes in reverse to become a Mortal Immortal.

For most Dao Prodigies, this is undoubtedly extremely difficult. In other words, they would need to reverse their lives at least seven, or even eight times, before they could roughly become a Mortal Immortal. After all, it probably takes more than one rebirth to go from an ordinary Dao Prodigy to a Heavenly Emperor level.

However, this transformation of the mortal immortal is not based on combat power. The increase in strength during the rebirth is not the focus; the transformation and evolution of oneself is.

Therefore, for most cultivators seeking enlightenment, reversing their lives seven times should be enough for them to comprehend the true meaning of immortality and become immortals in the mortal world. The only difference might be that they are not as powerful as Ye Fan.

After all, there are differences among the Red Dust Immortals, as can be seen from Ye Fan's solo kill of the Undying Emperor and the Great Emperor Wushi's solo kill of a Red Dust Immortal who was just a nobody.

On the surface, both the Celestial Venerable of Morality and the Celestial Venerable of Spiritual Treasure have consumed both the elixir of immortality and the Nine-Turn Immortal Pill. Theoretically, if they were to live seven more times in reverse, they would have to live to their tenth incarnation.

However, because they continued to progress during their second and third incarnations, they achieved results comparable to a rebirth, even though these two incarnations were quantitative improvements.

Therefore, they will most likely achieve immortality after nine lifetimes.

However, this is just an estimate. After all, it's derived from Ye Fan's experience, and it's clear that his experience is unlikely to serve as a template for others.

Lingbao Tianzun pondered for a moment and said, "Six or seven times? Then Fellow Daoist Wuji, wouldn't you have already completed half of it?"

Liang Yu laughed and said, "This is just a speculation I made based on the owner of the Desolate Tower, for reference only. Who knows what will actually happen? We can only wait and see."

Liang Yu naturally couldn't say that he had referenced Ye Fan from later generations, so he attributed these conclusions to the Desolate Heavenly Emperor. However, the Desolate Heavenly Emperor was also a nine-times immortal in the mortal world, so there was nothing wrong with him saying that.

The Celestial Venerable of Morality said, "The Desolate Emperor is already a legendary figure to me. If it weren't for the Desolate Tower, I would hardly believe that he really existed. However, according to Fellow Daoist Wuji, was the Desolate Emperor of the past also constantly transforming into an immortal in this way?"

Liang Yu nodded: "That's true."

(End of this chapter)