Chapter 1120: Chapter 1105: The Plight of the Heavenly Dao
“Fourth Brother, in your opinion or, rather, from your perception, my cultivation, yours, Second Brother’s, Third Brother’s, and others like Ou Tu, Jie Tianhe, Hei Tian, Yang Ben, Yin Yi, Shuili Dan King, what realm are they in?” Great Saint of Jinghai asked seriously.
“Cultivation realm? Aren’t they all in the Dao Entrance Realm?” Ye Zhen asked in confusion.
“Dao Entrance Realm is just a realm. Within it are stages from one to nine. How do you think our cultivation levels are, within these stages?” Great Saint of Jinghai asked again.
“This?”
Ye Zhen furrowed his brows; Great Saint of Jinghai’s question was rather odd, but upon careful consideration, it was indeed a valid question.
Ye Zhen seemed not to perceive any obvious cultivation level differences among these Dao Entrance Realm experts. Now that he thought closely, their cultivation levels seemed quite similar.
Especially among those he’s crossed paths with, like Yang Ben, and the closest ones, Great Saint of Jinghai, Great Sage of the Overturning Sea, and Sea-Breaking Great Saint. At first glance, among these four, Great Saint of Jinghai was the strongest, while Great Sage of the Overturning Sea and Sea-Breaking Great Saint were similar, and Yang Ben seemed the weakest.
However, Ye Zhen’s feeling was essentially just a ranking of their combat power, not strength in cultivation levels.
Upon careful thought, it seemed Yang Ben’s aura of cultivation was not so different compared to the three Great Saints.
With this thought in mind, Ye Zhen suddenly entered the realm of Sword Heart Enlightenment, letting his Divine Sense probe the three Great Saints without restraint.
This probing was not insignificant; Ye Zhen’s expression suddenly froze.
“The cultivation realm of these three brothers is all the same? Peak of First Stage or Peak of Second Stage of Dao Entrance Realm?” Ye Zhen asked.
“It’s peak of the First Stage of Dao Entrance Realm!” Great Saint of Jinghai answered. “What about the others?”
“Big Brother, I hadn’t noticed before, but with your reminder, when I recall now, I feel that you three, along with Ou Tu, Hei Tian, Yang Ben, Yin Yi, all have cultivation at the peak of the First Stage of Dao Entrance Realm!
Among these people, only Jie Tianhe and Shuili Dan King’s cultivation surpasses yours slightly; they should be at early-stage or mid-stage of the Second Stage of Dao Entrance Realm! This seems abnormal.” Ye Zhen hesitated and said.
Upon hearing this, Great Sage of the Overturning Sea gave Ye Zhen a thumbs up, “Fourth Brother’s Divine Soul Power is indeed extraordinary, observing keenly. But, Fourth Brother, do you know when I, Big Brother, Third Brother, and Jie Tianhe, Hei Tian, these people, reached the peak of the First Stage of Dao Entrance Realm?”
“When?”
“Big Brother reached it two hundred seventy years ago, I reached it two hundred sixty years ago, and Third Brother was two hundred fifty-eight years ago, just two years less than me!
Among them, Jie Tianhe reached the peak of the First Stage of Dao Entrance Realm three hundred years ago. Hei Tian was slightly later, reaching it one hundred eighty years ago.”
Before Great Sage of the Overturning Sea could finish his sentence, Ye Zhen’s eyes widened in disbelief, “Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, you have been at it over two hundred years, and your cultivation remained stagnant? Not even an ounce of progress? How is this possible?”
Upon hearing this, the three brothers of Jinghai nodded simultaneously, “Correct, this is precisely the crux of the issue! Fourth Brother, our three brothers being of the Demon Race may not matter, but you should know about Jie Tianhe and Hei Tian, right?
They are undoubtedly talented martial artists from the Human Clan, true exceptions among men. Jie Tianhe, initially from early-stage First Stage to peak, took only six years!
However, breaking from peak of the First Stage to early-stage of the Second Stage took him a full two hundred ten years, and then these ninety years, his cultivation has barely made any progress!
Do you think this is normal?”
Ye Zhen shook his head like a drum with a mallet, “Not normal, absolutely not normal!”
“So what do you think is the reason? Is it due to us, or… the reason of this Heaven and Earth?” With that, Great Saint of Jinghai pointed meaningfully to the sky.
Ye Zhen’s expression froze instantly. These martial artists themselves, since they could elevate their cultivation to First Stage, were normal.
In other words, the underlying reason for this situation could very likely be this Heaven and Earth’s reason.
Suddenly, Ye Zhen was shocked, suddenly realizing he might have touched upon a big secret, a tremendously great secret.
“Big Brother, you mean, the reason lies in this Heaven and Earth? Please don’t keep us in suspense, speak directly.” Ye Zhen tried asking.
Great Saint of Jinghai smiled, “No rush, you should first understand the root of the matter!”
“Of course, we can only let you know the root, because as for the exact reason that kept our cultivation stagnant after reaching this extent, we are not entirely sure!”
“Three hundred years of exploration, during these three hundred years, we’ve secretly exchanged ideas with some Dao Entrance Realm existences, and eventually, we made an astonishing discovery!” Great Saint of Jinghai said.
“What discovery?”
“The Heavenly Dao! None of us can sense any Dao from among the billions of Heavenly Dao, let alone comprehend them to condense Dao Patterns to advance our cultivation realm!”
“This is also the fundamental reason our current Cultivation is trapped at the Peak of the First Stage of the Dao Entrance Realm without any further progress!” the Great Saint of Jinghai said.
In the Dao Entrance Realm, one must first sense the Heavenly Dao they want to comprehend, such as the Dao of Water, Fire, or Earth, and then combine it with their accumulated Cultivation to condense the corresponding Dao Patterns.
For example, Water Dao Patterns, Fire Dao Patterns, and so on.
However, the Dao Patterns condensed by each person are not entirely different; there are subtle differences, related to each person’s Cultivation Technique, and accumulated growth experiences.
Ye Zhen looked puzzled, “Big brother, that doesn’t make sense. If you can’t sense the Heavenly Dao and can’t comprehend and condense the Dao Patterns, your Cultivation wouldn’t be able to break through from the Establishment Realm to the Dao Entrance Realm at all?”
“Fourth brother, did you think we broke through to the Dao Entrance Realm by comprehending the Heavenly Dao?” the Great Saint of Sea-Breaking came up close.
“Then what happened?” Ye Zhen asked, full of confusion.
“We three brothers are of the Demon Race, specifically sea-born demons, naturally able to manipulate water, with Bloodline inheritance, which includes innate abilities that need the support of Dao Patterns.
So, in our Bloodline inheritance, there is a Dao Pattern we are naturally born with.
Thus, leveraging the power of our Bloodline inheritance, the three of us smoothly broke through to the Dao Entrance Realm, then evolved our Dao Patterns with each other’s help, complementing each other, and quickly reaching the Peak of the First Stage of the Dao Entrance Realm, but from then on, no further breakthrough!” the Great Saint of Sea-Breaking explained.
“As for others like Yang Ben, Yin Yi, Hei Tian, and Jie Tianhe, they are beings of unprecedented luck and opportunity, comprehending an incomplete Dao Pattern from the inheritance and treasures they received, then gradually condensing a complete Dao Pattern during long Cultivation.
The one with the greatest fortune and luck was Jie Tianhe and the Shuili Dan King. In Jie Tianhe’s Black Dragon Legacy, he comprehended the Black Water Dao Pattern, smoothly elevating his Cultivation to the Peak of the First Stage of the Dao Entrance Realm.
And on Dragon Island, it is said that the Dragon Alliance exists as the source of Dragon Qi in the world, containing a trace of the origin of the Heavenly Dao. After several hundred years of arduous comprehension, Jie Tianhe’s Cultivation finally broke through to the Second Stage of the Dao Entrance Realm, although the progress was very slow.”
“However, Jie Tianhe only received half of the Black Dragon Legacy; it is said that if the complete Black Dragon Legacy is obtained, one could activate the Black Water Source Dao Pattern contained within. Then, one could comprehend this Black Water Source Dao Pattern and embark on the path to the supreme great Dao!
This is also the real reason why Jie Tianhe wants to kill you!” the Great Saint of Jinghai said.
“Black Water Source Dao Pattern?” Ye Zhen was moved and suddenly took out the broken Black Dragon Shield, casually explaining it for a couple of sentences before asking, “Big brother, is the engraving on here the Black Water Source Dao Pattern?”
Ye Zhen previously thought it was the Black Dragon Source Dao Patterns!
“It should be, but it is a lifeless thing, fundamentally incapable of evolution or comprehension, otherwise, Jie Tianhe would have long broken through with his years of Cultivation,” the Great Saint of Jinghai said.
“I see…”
In murmurs, another question suddenly arose in Ye Zhen’s mind, “Big brother, since Jie Tianhe obtained that half of the Black Dragon Legacy three hundred years ago, he should have known about this issue three hundred years ago.
So why didn’t Jie Tianhe obtain the Black Dragon Legacy within those three hundred years on his own, but instead waited for three hundred years after I obtained it, only to attempt to seize it?” Ye Zhen asked.
This question left the three brothers of Jinghai shaking their heads simultaneously, “Indeed, there’s something strange about it, but we truly don’t know! Regarding ancient inheritances, there are too many mysteries, perhaps when you slay Jie Tianhe and obtain the complete Black Dragon Legacy, you will solve this mystery.”
“Is it possible to slay Jie Tianhe?” Ye Zhen’s eyes suddenly lit up with a brilliant light!
The Great Saint of Jinghai suddenly stood up and stared intently at Ye Zhen, saying, “Fourth brother, remember, in this world, nothing can’t be accomplished, where there’s a will, there’s a way!”
Hearing this, Ye Zhen nodded heavily.
“Alright, back to our main topic, since discovering our inability to sense the myriad Heavenly Daos and comprehend them, we have been relentlessly searching for a reason!
To this end, we have painstakingly searched for nearly three hundred years, and then communicated with the few Dao Entrance Realm experts on this continent in every possible way, finally arriving at a conclusion!” the Great Saint of Jinghai said.
“What conclusion?” Ye Zhen asked.
“The inability to sense and comprehend the Heavenly Dao is not our fault; most likely the problem lies with this piece of heaven and earth! Because in our Bloodline inheritance, sensing and comprehending the Heavenly Dao is not something overly difficult!
And the Dao Entrance Realm Martial Artists that already appear in this world, either due to Talent Inheritance or by obtaining some Treasures, like Acquired Spirit Treasures, or by having some rare opportunities, have broken through, but none are due to comprehending the Heavenly Dao to break through to the Dao Entrance Realm.
Thus, we began to spread our exploration far and wide, traversing almost every region of the Nine Domains of the True Profound Continent, and even every sea area of the Outer Domain Dead Sea, but ultimately, found no way to solve this problem.
You understand, the inability to improve one’s Cultivation, to someone who aspires to the Martial Arts, is an endlessly painful matter!
So, we delved into ancient texts, explored various Ancient Relic Mansion secrets, and studied for nearly a hundred years, finally arriving at another conclusion, the only conclusion to solving this problem!” the Great Saint of Jinghai said.
“What conclusion?” Ye Zhen’s expression was somewhat tense.