Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 167 Nine Secrets United
With the combined efforts of the five, the mortal universe imprint and the immortal realm void map in the Immortal Treasure Map were deciphered.

But when they tried to imprint these two marks with other materials, they failed. Even on the immortal gold, these strange marks were visibly collapsing and dissipating, eventually disappearing completely as if they had never existed.

No wonder this secret is only preserved in the Immortal Treasure Map. It seems that the special material of the Immortal Treasure Map allows it to permanently contain these mysteries, which other items, even near-immortal items like Immortal Gold and Immortal Essence, would find difficult to preserve.

Therefore, apart from Yuanshi Tianzun, who possessed this diagram, others could only keep these secrets in their hearts. Fortunately, these secrets could affect things existing in heaven and earth, but they could not affect these strongest beings. Thus, they still possessed these secrets.

Liang Yu laughed and said, "It seems that these secrets are indeed heavenly secrets, which cannot be contained by earthly things. But that's fine too. Not all five of us may become immortals in the mortal world. As long as one of us remembers them, or if this map is passed down to future generations, then the ascension plan can still continue."

The others nodded in agreement. After all, it was precisely because they had a deep understanding of the Path to Immortality in the Mortal World and had traveled quite far that they could appreciate the difficulties of this path. Although they were confident, they dared not say for sure that they would succeed.

The Underworld Lord was relatively more confident, after all, his method of achieving immortality was different from others, with relatively less risk and a very long time involved, similar to that of the God Emperor. Therefore, he was there as a backup plan.

Although the Celestial Venerable of Morality and the Celestial Venerable of Spiritual Treasure have only undergone two transformations so far, the accumulated arduous cultivation of their second and third lives is equivalent to the effect of a single transformation. Therefore, they are essentially equivalent to undergoing three transformations. Liang Yu himself, on the other hand, has truly lived three lives in reverse.

Although it sounds like they've already achieved a great deal and it's not easy, in reality, the three of them haven't even completed half of the path to immortality in the mortal world.

Although they have accumulated many theoretically transformative methods, knowing is easier than doing; knowing and doing are two different things. There's a saying: "Those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die." Even with completely identical methods, different people must adapt them to their own circumstances; otherwise, they will be ineffective.

Even if they could adapt these methods to their own circumstances and make them truly effective, immense risks would still remain. This is precisely why so few have succeeded on this path. After all, knowing the secret to immortality is merely copying the formula; how to use the formula to solve the problem is still up to the individual.

As for Yuanshi Tianzun, he was just a young man of a thousand years old, full of enthusiasm, believing that he would catch up with these seniors sooner or later and leave them in the dust. As for the transformation, although the number of seven rebirths was somewhat frightening, Yuanshi Tianzun, who had not yet truly begun the challenge, did not have a real sense of its difficulty.

Next, the five engaged in a brief discussion and demonstration of their methods, each showcasing their ideas and achievements. Although Yuanshi Tianzun didn't speak much, he managed to keep up with their pace, though he mostly just listened and observed.

That year, at the age of one thousand, at the Heavenly Venerable Tea Ceremony on Wuji Immortal Mountain, he sat like an apprentice.

However, Yuanshi Tianzun did indeed benefit greatly from this process. These senior figures, after all, had accumulated profound knowledge and were very experienced, which broadened his horizons considerably.

At this moment, Yuanshi Tianzun had made up his mind. He, like Wuji Tianzun, would not use the elixir of immortality or the Nine-Turn Immortal Pill, but would rely entirely on his own reversal of fortune to become a mortal immortal. If he was going to challenge someone, he would challenge the highest difficulty; Yuanshi was not inferior to anyone. Of course, if he truly could not continue in that life, then he would still need the elixir of immortality to save him. After all, challenging a high difficulty was not tantamount to suicide.

At the end of the tea party, they discussed the Nine Secrets once again. After all, this was a peculiar connection between them, the principle of which was difficult to explain. Moreover, the ninth person that Liang Yu had mentioned when discussing the Dao with the Underworld Lord, the Longevity Heavenly Lord, the Carefree Heavenly Lord, and the Nirvana Heavenly Lord had now appeared. The special, mutually influential aura among the Nine Secrets might not be obvious to others, but it was crystal clear to the individuals directly involved. Therefore, although they had only glanced at the Primordial Heavenly Lord through the Heavenly Tribulation, it was enough for them to sense that aura.

The Primordial Celestial Venerable said, "The secret techniques among us can influence and strengthen each other, and they are almost perfectly compatible. Do you fellow Daoists know why?"

Liang Yu and the others exchanged a smile and said, "Although we are a few years older, we still don't have the answer to this question. I once guessed that it's because the Nine Secrets represent the ultimate of the major basic fields in cultivation, which is why they are connected, but this is just a guess and cannot be confirmed."

The Nine Secrets are indeed the highest achievements in the fundamental field. There are actually other secret techniques that can be compared with them. For example, the Imperial Dragon Qi created by the later Emperor Taihuang can be compared with the basic version of the Fighting Character Secret; the Ruthless Great Emperor even created a bunch of secret techniques specifically to rival the Nine Secrets.

However, these secret techniques of later generations all have various restrictions on the conditions for cultivation. Basically, only the creator himself can use them perfectly, and even his sons cannot master them completely.

However, the Nine Secrets are completely different. Regardless of race, physique, or cultivation method, one can learn the Nine Secrets without any restrictions. In fact, as long as one's talent is high enough, it is not impossible to not only perfectly master the Nine Secrets, but also to further improve them.

In other words, there is no threshold for cultivating the Nine Secrets, or rather, its only threshold is talent, and it is not physical, but comprehension.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the Nine Secrets lies in this universality, rather than how strong each of them is individually.

Yuanshi Tianzun said, "I have wanted to gather the other eight secrets for a long time. Now that you fellow Daoists are here, I wonder if anyone has managed to do so?"

Since Liang Yu was the only one present who had collected the other eight secrets, the Primordial Celestial Venerable gave the "All" secret to Liang Yu so that he could test the results of combining the nine secrets.

The other Celestial Venerables were also eagerly anticipating this, as it was indeed something they had always been curious about.

After mastering the "All" secret, Liang Yu discovered that it was an excellent auxiliary method, or rather, a foundational method. As long as the "All" secret was successfully triggered, he could unleash ten times his power, and in this state, using any of the other eight secrets would greatly enhance their effects.

Then, he combined the nine secrets and activated them simultaneously. Instantly, a terrifying power capable of destroying the heavens and the earth and annihilating everything erupted. Fortunately, Liang Yu and the others suppressed it beforehand with immortal artifacts, thus preventing any impact on Wuji Immortal Mountain and the outside world.

The power of this secret technique greatly shocked everyone else.

(End of this chapter)