Terran Guardian - Chapter 3726

Chapter 3703 A Rule of Its Own

the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm.

Numerous systems

exist, including the Buddhist and Taoist system.

While Buddhist and Taoist cultivators are rare in the myriad universes, they are not uncommon in the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm.

For example, the Ancient Zen Holy Land, which once caused the great calamity of Shenfeng Prefecture, is a top-tier Buddhist and Taoist force.

The Great Sage of Crossing Calamity, who left behind this Great Sage’s tomb, is also a prime example.

However—

in terms of sheer strength, the Great Sage of Crossing Calamity is naturally inferior to the Ancient Zen Holy Land.

After all, the latter has many powerful figures, including not only Great Sages but also those who have reached the Supreme Realm.

Nevertheless, the Daoist essence left behind by a Great Sage is extraordinary.

If other Immortal Emperors were to comprehend this Daoist essence, and their Daoist hearts were not firm enough, they would inevitably be influenced by the Daoist essence of this place and subsequently devote themselves to Buddhism and Taoism.

But for Shen Changqing, this is not a major problem. As

mentioned before,

while the Daoist essence left behind by the Great Sage of Crossing Calamity is not to be underestimated, it is still inferior to that of the Great Dream Heavenly Lord.

The two are like

fireflies compared to the moon,

a stark contrast that underscores the terrifying power of the Dark Lord.

After all, the Great Dream Heavenly Lord is merely one of the many manifestations of the Dark Lord.

Moreover, and

more importantly,

the Great Dream Heavenly Lord, strictly speaking, is a technique created by a powerful member of the Yellow Millet Cult, which then draws upon the Dark Lord’s power.

Yet, even so, the Great Dream Heavenly Lord’s power remains terrifying.

While the Great Sage of Crossing Calamity’s Daoist aura is not insignificant, it is ultimately far inferior to the Dark Lord.

Furthermore,

the Great Sage of Crossing Calamity has been gone for countless years, and the remaining Daoist aura here has been eroded by time, its power no longer what it once was.

Otherwise, resisting such power would not be so easy.

Shen Changqing walked through the Great Sage’s tomb, gradually comprehending the true meaning of the Great Sage of Crossing Calamity’s Daoist aura. Various Buddhist chants and hymns echoed endlessly in his mind’s sea of consciousness, as if he were witnessing the supreme scene of all beings worshipping Buddha in ancient times.

While these chanting sounds are enough to bewitch the mind, they also have the effect of tempering the soul and consciousness.

However, at Shen Changqing’s level, his soul and consciousness have already reached their peak.

To be precise,

they have reached the peak of the Immortal Emperor realm.

Beyond that,

without breaking through to the Half-Saint realm, any further improvement is virtually impossible.

The reason is simple:

every cultivator at any realm has a limit—this is a constraint.

Breaking through this constraint requires absolutely heaven-defying methods.

Therefore,

the tempering effect of the chanting sounds here is not very meaningful to Shen Changqing.

However, the Great Dao of the Great Sage of yesteryear, presented before him, has given him profound insights.

Shen Changqing now has one foot on the threshold of the Half-Saint realm. If the Great Dao of Immortality weren’t so obscure in this era, he would already be able to break through to the Half-Saint realm.

But—

how to break through?

How to achieve this?

That is the question.

Having previously observed the Mountain and Sea Sword Dao within the Xuanji Immortal Sect, and now the Dao of the Great Sage of Crossing Calamity, Shen Changqing discovered that his own Dao of Longevity still had some areas that needed improvement.

Currently, the Dao of Longevity was not manifest, but this did not hinder his gradual accumulation.

Once sufficient accumulation was achieved, reaching the Half-Saint realm would be a natural progression.

Furthermore,

the more perfectly the Dao of Longevity was refined, the stronger his strength would be after the breakthrough.

Comprehending the Dao of Heaven and Earth was one way, and observing the Dao of cultivators was another.

However,

as he delved deeper into the Great Sage’s tomb, Shen Changqing found the remaining Dao aura increasingly powerful. Unbeknownst to him, he had stopped before a mountain range.

This mountain range resembled a crouching dragon, stretching for countless miles, its terrifying Dao aura permeating the air, instilling a sense of awe in all who beheld it.

If one were to probe with divine sense, the Buddhist chants would become increasingly clear.

“It seems this is the location of the Longevity Immortal Mine!”

Shen Changqing mused.

The reason this place could be identified as the Immortal Mine of Longevity was solely due to the extremely dense Daoist aura of the Great Sage, unmatched by any other location.

Such terrifying Daoist aura could only be explained by one thing:

the mountain range before them was the burial place of the Great Sage of Crossing Calamity.

A mountain range as a coffin!

A world as a tomb!

This was the method of a Great Sage!

Of course,

such methods weren’t considered particularly earth-shattering.

At least in Shen Changqing’s understanding, some powerful beings used stars as coffins and billions of galaxies as tombs—methods that were truly astonishing.

Compared to that,

the tomb of the Great Sage of Crossing Calamity seemed rather ordinary, at least within the Great Sage realm.

At the same time,

Shen Changqing could also detect that this mountain range had been corrupted by the power of a Great Sage, and that it possessed its own set of rules. Once one entered the range, their strength was suppressed.

“Ancient Immortal Realm!”

He tried to sense himself, only to find his immortal power obscured, his soul clouded, and at most he could only unleash the power level of an Ancient Immortal Realm cultivator.

Simply put,

this wasn’t merely a suppression of realm.

Rather, it stems entirely from a suppression of strength.

To give a simple example,

if the suppression were based on cultivation level, Shen Changqing could rival an Immortal Emperor in the Ancient Immortal Realm.

Therefore,

even if he were currently suppressed to the Ancient Immortal Realm, he could still unleash power comparable to an Immortal Emperor.

However, in reality,

the moment he stepped into the mountain range, Shen Changqing felt that his strength could only be exerted at the Ancient Immortal Realm level.

Therefore,

this kind of rule suppression is extremely domineering.

No matter what your foundation or strength is, as long as you cannot escape the rule suppression, you will always remain at the Ancient Immortal level.

Even those with innate immortal bodies and top geniuses

would face the same result upon entering the mountain range. This suppressive force was far more domineering than that of the Tai Luo Immortal Mine.

To be precise,

the Tai Luo Immortal Mine also possessed this suppression

, only it wasn’t as domineering or obvious as the mine before them.

The suppression of the Tai Luo Immortal Mine largely stemmed from the damage cultivators inflicted on the mine.

Of course,

as mentioned before,

the Tai Luo Immortal Mine itself was different from ordinary longevity immortal mines, so differences in the suppression of its rules were perfectly normal.

This also indirectly explains why the six major powers only allowed ancient immortals to mine the longevity immortal mines.

Since the rules here suppressed the mines to the point that even Immortal Emperors or Half-Saints could only unleash the power of an ancient immortal, there was no need for Immortal Emperors to personally mine the mines.

Furthermore

, at the Immortal Emperor level, they were an existence that no power could ignore.

Especially in this era, where immortality was not readily apparent,

Immortal Emperors remained the high-end combat force of various powers.

Take, for example, the vast Xuanji Immortal Sect. On the surface, it only has three Half-Saints as its top combat force. With no Saints appearing, there are only three Half-Saints.

The remaining high-end combat force is mainly composed of Immortal Emperors.

Cultivators of this level wouldn’t be thrown into immortal mines to serve as miners or mine slaves.

Coupled with the suppression of the rules, the efficiency of ancient immortals is at its highest.

Shen Changqing, enduring the suppression of the rules, walked through the mountains, occasionally seeing scattered immortal stones on the ground. These immortal stones were all of superior quality.

Shen Changqing didn’t pay much attention to these casually discarded superior immortal stones.

At his current level,

superior immortal stones were of little significance.

Moreover,

the number of these superior immortal stones wasn’t large. After walking for half a day, Shen Changqing had only seen a few scattered stones, probably only a few hundred at most.

As for top-grade immortal stones, he didn’t see a single one.

It was obvious without thinking that if there were truly top-grade immortal stones left outside, other cultivators would have already taken them away; why would they be left here?

Ultimately…

Shen Changqing wasn’t the first to enter the Great Sage’s Tomb.

Long before him,

various forces had already searched it thoroughly, and anything useful had been looted.

While not nothing was left behind, very little was.

Perhaps some hidden spots within the Great Sage’s Tomb might hold some treasures.

However, given the location of the Longevity Immortal Mine, Shen Changqing was certain that top-grade immortal stones wouldn’t be left behind. After all, the Longevity Immortal Mine

was controlled by six major forces, and they had searched it countless times. It was only because semi-saints didn’t value these high-grade immortal stones that they were too lazy to collect them.

These things

were beneath the notice of semi -saints, and

Shen Changqing didn’t value them either.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Shen Changqing reached the summit of the mountain range. If the vast mountain range resembled a crouching dragon, then the place beneath his feet was the dragon’s head.

From this vantage point, the entire mountain range stretched out before him.

As divine sense merged into the Immortal Mine of Longevity, a terrifying power of Daoist energy erupted, causing the entire Great Sage’s Tomb to tremble.

Golden light surged in the sky, and a phantom of Buddha emerged from the Great Dao, seated cross-legged high above, eyes lowered, overlooking all living beings.

Such a commotion naturally attracted the attention of many half-saints guarding the Realm of Tribulation.

When they saw the strange phenomena within the Great Sage’s Tomb, their expressions changed drastically.

“A Buddha phenomenon!”

“Someone has activated the Great Sage’s Daoist energy within this secret realm!!”

They were naturally familiar with the Great Sage’s Daoist energy contained within the secret realm tomb opened by the Great Sage of Tribulation.

Some half-saints had previously attempted to comprehend the Great Sage’s Daoist energy within, ultimately causing the Great Dao’s rules to manifest, with phenomena identical to those now.

“That’s Fellow Daoist Shen!”

Venerable Nine Moon’s eyes pierced through the Great Sage’s Tomb, seeing the scene within the Immortal Mine of Longevity; he was very familiar with that figure.

If the entire Great Sage’s Tomb is filled with the Great Sage’s Daoist aura, then the aura of the Longevity Immortal Mine is the most concentrated.

Or rather, it is the source of the entire tomb’s Daoist aura,

because the body of the Great Sage of Salvation is buried there.

This kind of Daoist aura is usually integrated with heaven and earth, and will not manifest unless deliberately activated.

But once manifested, its power will erupt completely.

Especially the Daoist aura in the Longevity Immortal Mine; its Buddhist power is enough to make even an Immortal Emperor succumb. At least a Half-Saint realm cultivation level is needed to withstand it to some extent, preventing complete succumbing.

However,

considering Shen Changqing’s strength, Venerable Nine Mountains felt relieved.

Ordinary Immortal Emperors cannot withstand such Daoist aura, but this one cannot be measured by ordinary standards.