The Prodigies War

The Qiuniu was an ancient divine beast that possessed the mystical ability to understand the language of animals and plants and communicate with them through the linking of hearts.

It was even rumored that it could communicate with the dao of the world itself!

As its namesake suggested, Qiuniu Heart was a peculiar secret art used to understand other living things and intermingle with nature itself.

After practicing Qiuniu Heart, the user’s mind would become capable of better harmonizing with various thoughts and ideologies across heaven and earth. In addition, it enabled the practitioner to more naturally and easily sense traces of the dao itself while cultivating!

This was amazing, to say the least.

In fact, it could even be considered akin to a form of enlightenment!

Even among the mighty Cyclic Derivation experts, not just anyone could comprehend and control the power of ‘Dao Meaning.’

After all, the dao was something nameless, intangible, formless, abstract, and cryptic. It wouldn’t be strange for no one among a thousand Cyclic Derivation experts to be capable of comprehending the mysteries and essence of the dao.

Cultivators who practiced the Qiuniu Heart, however, would gain the ability to naturally sense traces of the dao.

From this, it was easy to imagine what an amazing and magical secret art it was.

……

"The heavens are benevolent. Your encounter with me can be said to be predestined. This is for you."

With a clear mind, Lin Xun took out a huge piece of the black dog leg and threw it to the Blood Leopard.

He waved his hand. "Go."

His figure was clothed in clear starlight from the multitude of stars above, making him appear all the more transcendent.

The Blood Leopard was stunned. It released a low whimper as it knelt down and bowed its head at Lin Xun.

After which, it picked up the black dog leg with its mouth and disappeared into the night.

The squirrel was still sound asleep, its large fluffy tail covering its body as light breathing sounded from its nose.

Lin Xun was trying to figure out the essence of the ‘Qiuniu Heart’.

A few days ago, he had finally grasped all the mysteries of Chaofeng Eye and proceeded to learn the last transformation of the Tribulation Dragon Nine Transformations.

Tonight was the first time he finally got a glimpse of the entrance to the secret art and made a little progress.

"I didn't expect it to be so incredible. Coincidentally, this secret art will help me to overcome the barriers in my dao comprehension!"

Lin Xun's black eyes gleamed brightly under the starlight.

There was one last area he had to work on before he could advance to the Cyclic Derivation Stage: dao comprehension.

The four seasons, growing and withering, the rising sun and setting moon, the cycle of day and night, the rising and falling tides...these were all parts of existence.

All things had form while form was also emptiness. Dao was the root of everything and the embodiment of heaven and earth. The dao ripple was the interpretation of the cycle that all things experienced while also the beginning and the end.

This was the dao ripple. It was the willfulness and burning nature of the fire, it was the infinite vitality of wood, it was the unrivaled fierceness and sharpness of gold...

The dao ripple encompassed everything. It represented the omnipresent dao aura that blended into heaven and earth while filling everything in between.

It was wonderful and formless, abstract and mystical.

Lin Xun had already mastered the water dao ripple long before he reached the Heaven Ascension Stage. However, he was still stuck at the perfect water dao ripple realm until now and had been unable to ascend to the ‘dao meaning’ stage.

It was a problem that Lin Xun had been thinking about all this time and Qiuniu Heart finally allowed him to see hope!

"Once I master the water dao meaning, I will no longer have to suppress my cultivation stage and can begin to make preparations to advance to the Cyclic Derivation stage..."

Lin Xun was filled with expectation. After all, he had been stuck at the Heaven Ascension stage for far too long!

Whoosh!

A silhouette suddenly appeared in the distance and approached. The Blood Leopard had surprisingly returned, carrying a rusty copper block in its mouth.

Lin Xun was taken aback as he watched the Blood Leopard carefully put the copper block on the ground before it turned and left. This was clearly its ‘repayment.’

It caused Lin Xun’s expression to change as he pondered, "Sheep are filial to those that raise them, and crows know to repay favors. I never imagined that the Blood Leopard would also understand such a concept and come to repay me..."

He picked up the palm-sized copper block and saw that it was covered in a layer of dark green rust and looked like a fragment of some kind of treasure.

Lin Xun exerted force with his finger, removing the rust to reveal the copper block’s true appearance, which immediately caused his pupils to shrink.

The bronze block looked very ordinary and had been engraved with the picture of an old man in daoist clothes riding on the back of an azure bull while leisurely looking at the sky.

It looked very old and seemed to have been eroded by the passage of countless years. Although some parts were dark and blurred, Lin Xun felt a supreme presence pounce at him when he looked at it!

It was a vast and infinite presence that gave off a sensation of boundless terror. At that very moment, Lin Xun felt as if he had fallen into a trance and the old man on the ox seemed to come alive and look back at him.

What kind of eyes are these?

They were as deep as the universe and seemed to contain the sun, moon, and the passage of time. It was as if all the mysteries of the heavens and dao were contained within them!

Hss!

Lin Xun gasped, deeply shaken by the sight, feeling a deep awe that nearly made him fall to his knees in worship. It was downright inconceivable.

However, when he tried to get a closer look, the vision evaporated into nothingness, leaving no trace behind. Lin Xun was unable to find anything no matter how hard he stared or looked.

Lin Xun was baffled. How had the picture of the daoist riding a bull been imprinted onto the copper block? This object likely had incredible origins!

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Lin Xun rose to his feet, waking the sleeping squirrel. With a small shriek, it hopped back onto its feet and scurried away.

Not long after, Lin Xun arrived at a cave on a cliff. The Blood Leopard lay inside, surrounded by five or six cubs.

Lin Xun stood outside the cave and sent his spirit sense in. He carefully scanned every inch of the cave, hoping to find any clue about the copper block.

However, he ultimately found nothing.

The Blood Leopard was awakened and was surprised to see Lin Xun. It let out a low hiss as if asking him the reason for his visit.

Lin Xun activated the Qiuniu Heart in an attempt to communicate with the Blood Leopard.

Pictures immediately appeared in his mind. The Blood Leopard was searching for food in the wilderness, but instead found a cave with a dried corpse inside.

The corpse was in a meditation posture and was likely a cultivator. From the dust covering its body, the cultivator had probably died countless years ago.

The Blood Leopard walked forward and lightly touched the corpse with a paw, causing it to turn to dust, leaving behind a mottled copper block.

This was where the pictures stopped.

"So a cultivator died here and left behind this copper block..." Lin Xun contemplated over this new information.

Suddenly, the Blood Leopard got up and rushed down the side of the cliff.

A long time passed before it finally returned with an ancient bone scroll in its mouth which it placed at Lin Xun's feet.

Crack!

When Lin Xun picked up the bone scroll, it rapidly cracked as if about to disintegrate.

He hurriedly scanned it with his spirit sense and immediately saw a line of writing that belonged to the ancient era.

"I wished to follow the Saints and cross over to the other side of the cosmos side to see the All-Wonder Dominion. However, the path was found to be broken. After 48,000 years of bitter searching, I leave behind this relic of our ancestors. It appears that I am not fated to see the path of our ancestors and my journey will end here!"

Lin Xun was taken aback.

Crack!

In his hand, the bone scroll had already turned to dust and scattered away into nothingness.

However, Lin Xun seemed completely oblivious to it.

In his mind, he could see an almighty cultivator from the ancient era stumble across a relic of the ancestors by chance. As a result, he desired to follow the Saints and cross over to the other side of the cosmos in search of the All-Wonder Dominion.

However, despite searching hard for 48,000 years, he failed to find the path to the All-Wonder Dominion. In the end, he sat down in regret and returned to the earth, leaving behind a single bronze block.

"This object is likely the 'relics of the ancestors' which the cultivator believed was related to the All-Wonder Dominion on the other side of the cosmos. It should be the reason why he grew interested in following the Saints to search for the All-Wonder Dominion... "

Lin Xun fell into deep thought and could not help but inwardly sigh as he held the bronze block.

Despite searching for 48,000 years, he ultimately failed to find what he was looking for and could only leave this world in regret...

As expected of the All-Wonder Dominion that was one of the four great dao dominions!

Lin Xun had once entered the Return Dominion where he obtained a mysterious dao verse and a Flying Immortal Tablet which were both related to the Kunlun Dominion. Hence, he naturally understood how mysterious the four great dao dominions were.

He never imagined that a copper block left by the ancestors would also be related to the All-Wonder Dominion.

After a long time, Lin Xun finally put away the copper block. He then nodded at the Blood Leopard before turning around and leaving.

……

Three days later.

Lin Xun appeared in front of a majestic mountain that looked as if it was home to a tiger.

With the Chaofeng Eye, he instantly determined that a rich aeth essence deposit was hidden in the mountain.

Just as he was about to begin excavating, however, he discovered that others had arrived before him and were already excavating the mountain.

A group of cultivators was working in a cave at the waist of the mountain.

There was also a fancy carriage parked outside the cave that was guarded by elite cultivators. Evidently, there was someone important inside the carriage.

Upon seeing this, Lin Xun decided to leave since he had no intention of competing with others for the ore deposit. However, it was then that a gentle voice rang out.

"Is the Young Master also here for this ore deposit?"

The curtains of the carriage were pulled open, revealing a beautiful face.

She has curved black eyebrows, glistening red lips, and pearly-white teeth. A slight smile hung from the corners of her lips as she raised her eyes to look at Lin Xun, giving off a graceful and elegant aura akin to an orchid.

The guards near the carriage were startled, clearly just discovering Lin Xun's presence. They immediately looked at him with vigilant expressions.

"What keen senses. It’s impressive for her to have sensed me from so far away. She probably practices some kind of spirit cultivation art..."

Lin Xun was a little surprised. He soon shook his head, indicating that he was only passing by before turning around to leave.

By the carriage, a handsome youngster that looked to be around fifteen or sixteen shouted, "How dare you?! My sister is asking you a question. Who gave you permission to leave? Could it be that you have some ulterior motive?"

The elite guards displayed unfriendly expressions.

The ore deposit contained aeth essence of astonishing value and had just been discovered by them a few days ago. Hence, they were naturally worried that it would be coveted by others.

Lin Xun's sudden appearance immediately drew their suspicion, and they believed he might be a spy sent to gather information.