505: Chapter 513 If a man doesn't look out for himself, he'll be punished by heaven and earth!

"No, impossible, absolutely impossible!"

The Heavenly Dao is not a living being, so it cannot Cultivate.

But that doesn't mean the Heavenly Dao doesn't have a desire for transcendence.

It is like a fish, instinctively wanting to leap over the Dragon Gate to reach a broader new world.

Even if the fish itself doesn't understand the meaning of doing so.

Once the Heavenly Dao transcends, not only will the entire world sublimate with it, but the Heavenly Dao might truly give birth to a self-awareness.

It might even possess a Physical Body like a Cultivator and walk between heaven and earth.

That would be true transcendence, completely breaking free from the unconscious shackles of order.

Thus, the Heavenly Dao instinctively moves toward the path of transcendence, even if it has no conscious awareness of what it is doing.

This explains why the Heavenly Dao loathes Nascent Soul True Monarchs so much.

Because starting from the Nascent Soul Realm, cultivation changes from dependence and borrowing to direct plundering of the Heavenly Dao's rules.

Nascent Soul True Monarchs erode its Origin like parasites.

Actually, reaching this step would be fine; as long as the person remains in this world, they can eventually be seen as part of the heaven and earth.

After all, one shouldn't let fertile water flow into others' fields.

Once a Nascent Soul True Monarch falls, their entire cultivation, dao attainment, and Laws will all be returned to the world, which counts as borrowing and returning.

But the trouble is, some people want to pull up their pants and leave as soon as they've had their fill.

Those fellows who want to undergo Soul Transformation and Ascension leave, and they take their cultivation with them; this is equivalent to earning money at home and spending it abroad—how could the Heavenly Dao allow that?

Not only does this not help it, but it also greatly slows down its path to transcendence.

That is why the Heavenly Dao is so hostile toward Cultivators with great Divine Abilities, even if it's just a subconscious rejection.

So when Taishu Yichen encountered this sudden Sign of Heavenly Abandonment, his first reaction was that the Heavenly Dao had already transcended and was going to settle accounts with their group of True Lords.

But he quickly dismissed the thought.

If the Heavenly Dao had truly transcended, not only would the Heavenly Dao itself benefit, but the Cultivators within it would also gain great advantages.

Whether it was the concentration of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, the efficiency of Law operations, or even the status of the entire world, all would sublimate.

But he didn't feel any of these changes, so the Heavenly Dao most likely hadn't transcended, at least not yet.

But since it wasn't the Heavenly Dao, who could ignore the rules of heaven and earth and forcibly and actively interfere with a Grotto-Heaven Dao Domain that was a world of its own?

For a moment, Taishu Yichen's thoughts surged, but he couldn't find a clue.

However, time waited for no one, and his condition was rapidly deteriorating.

His hair began to fall out, silver-white strands drifting from his head.

Taishu Yichen reached out to touch it, but he didn't feel hair; instead, he felt his scalp covered in fine cracks.

Within them, more white Su Mang were wriggling, gnawing at his flesh.

Those Su Mang fed on a Cultivator's spirituality, hatching from rotting flesh and burrowing into fresh wounds, cycling repeatedly until they completely hollowed out a Physical Body.

At the same time, Taishu Yichen felt his bones softening, like a candle scorched by high heat, collapsing, deforming, and melting bit by bit.

His back began to bend, his shoulders collapsed, and his whole body hunched over.

He shouldn't be like this; after all, as a grand Nascent Soul True Monarch, his Dharma Body had been tempered for tens of thousands of years and was already a body immune to all methods.

Unfortunately, the moment the Sign of Heavenly Abandonment appeared, it meant the Heavenly Dao was taking back everything it had once bestowed upon living beings.

Cultivation, dao attainment, Laws, Lifespan, and even his very existence were being stripped away one by one.

This wasn't being knocked down to the mortal Realm; this was being sent back to the furnace for remolding.

The Heavenly Dao wanted to completely erase him from the narrative text titled "Heaven and Earth," leaving no trace behind.

So although his magic power was still surging in his Dantian, that power began to disobey him.

A Golden Core Cultivator's magic power is as responsive as a finger, and a Nascent Soul True Monarch's magic power is integrated with their Divine Soul, arriving at a mere thought.

But now, when Taishu Yichen tried to circulate his magic power, it lagged.

This also resulted in him being completely unable to repair his Dharma Body, only able to watch helplessly as his condition worsened infinitely.

But this wasn't enough to scare Taishu Yichen.

What he found most unacceptable were his Laws.

The Yin-Yang Laws were dissipating, and the dao rhyme was leaking away.

His understanding of the Yin and Yang Dao was no longer as clear as before; those profound mysteries that had taken him thousands of years to realize were fading from his Sea of Consciousness bit by bit.

Golden Core Cultivators comprehending Laws is like blind men feeling an elephant; they can't grasp the whole picture in a lifetime.

Nascent Soul True Monarchs are different; their Law seeds are directly connected to the Laws of heaven and earth.

But now, that thread was broken.

Taishu Yichen's expression finally changed.

After all, cultivation can be re-cultivated and Lifespan can be extended, but once the understanding of Laws is lost, he might truly have to start all over again.

He had cultivated his whole life, seeking transcendence and the Great Dao.

Now the Heavenly Dao wanted to take back everything—how could he allow this!

"Damn it, why has it come to this!"

He roared frantically in his heart.

Taishu Yichen hadn't actually failed to foresee such a day.

He knew the Heavenly Dao was dissatisfied with them and that it would surely prepare backhand measures to restrict them.

So for many years, he had been trying to downplay the Karma entanglement between himself and the Heavenly Dao, avoiding too many connections.

But frustratingly, this was just wishful thinking on his part.

As the saying goes, everything destiny bestows upon you has already been marked with a price in secret.

He, Taishu Yichen, was born of heaven and earth, grew in heaven and earth, and cultivated in heaven and earth; everything he possessed now could be said to have been bestowed by the Heavenly Dao.

Wanting to break free was not as easy as a single sentence.

Unless he wanted to be trapped in the Nascent Soul Realm for the rest of his life, unable to advance further.

But as long as one comprehends Laws, dealing with the Heavenly Dao is unavoidable.

Yet he believed he had been cautious enough; surely he shouldn't have ended up in this state.

But saying these things now was useless; the most important thing was to escape his current state as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, if the situation continued to worsen, he might not die, but his dao attainment would surely be greatly damaged, and he might even fall directly from the status of a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

That was unacceptable to him.

Not to mention how arduous his journey had been, just considering his enemies, they were likely not few in number.

Perhaps those people's Lifespan had long since ended, turning them into a handful of yellow soil, but they still had descendants and Disciples.

These people were usually as obedient as dogs, and he had never deigned to pay them any mind.

But once something went wrong on his end, it was foreseeable that this group would instantly transform into hyenas, pouncing to tear him apart and devour him.

After all, the treasury of a Nascent Soul True Monarch was enough to drive anyone mad.

Even those fellow daoists in the Grotto-Heavens might step in to join the fray.

So no matter what, he could not fall.

Even if he couldn't return to his Peak state, his Nascent Soul status absolutely could not be lost.

Immediately, Taishu Yichen took out a Medicinal Pill and swallowed it.

It was the Tier 4 holy healing medicine "Taiqing Yuye Pill," which can trace back to the source and is specifically for those whose dao foundation was severed or cultivation dispersed.

It could trace the "Origin Imprint" remaining in the Divine Soul and Physical Body, reversing the process of decay, gradually repairing the Foundation and regathering cultivation without leaving hidden injuries.

For his current situation, it was quite the right remedy.

Thus, Taishu Yichen swallowed them one by one as if they cost nothing.

When the medicinal power dissolved in his body, he had already swallowed a whole furnace of twelve pills.

This was his entire savings accumulated over tens of thousands of years, exhausted in just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The effect was indeed immediate.

The medicinal power surged frantically in his body, forcibly stimulating the necrotic flesh to grow, making the corpse spots recede and new flesh grow back.

Those hatching Su Mang were also expelled from his body, crawling onto the ground and covering it densely.

Taishu Yichen knelt on the ground, gasping for breath, his face as pale as paper and his aura withered.

This was the first time he had been in such a sorry state since becoming a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

But in any case, he had survived after all.

But this was not enough.

Swallowing the Taiqing Yuye Pills only treated the symptoms, not the cause; though it could temporarily suppress the Sign of Heavenly Abandonment, it couldn't eradicate it.

Although he also knew it was impossible to completely eradicate it, and only by forcibly enduring it could he be considered to have escaped the calamity.

But his stock of Medicinal Pills was limited and wouldn't last long.

He needed to find another way.

Taishu Yichen looked up, his cloudy gaze passing through the temple gates and falling on the distant mountains of Qingwei Heaven.

There, spiritual mist was dense, and exotic spiritual flowers and grasses covered the mountains. Further away were the dojos where the Disciples cultivated, Spiritual Qi rising like tides and Laws woven like fabric.

All of this was the crystallization of his tens of thousands of years of hard work, the Foundation he had built with his own hands.

But now...

That's right, Taishu Yichen set his sights on Qingwei Heaven.

The Grotto-Heaven was originally a private field he created with his own dao methods, the only thing in this world that truly belonged to him.

If everything else could abandon him, only this spatial dao domain would never leave him.

Because this world was created with his will as the core, his Laws as the bones, and his dao rhyme as the flesh.

The Heavenly Dao could take back everything it had bestowed upon him, but this world was his own; the Heavenly Dao had no business with it.

But from the moment it was created, it wasn't meant for him to live in peace and work happily, but to give him a place to hide at such critical moments and the capital to make a comeback.

Now, the critical moment had arrived!

"Alas, what a pity..."

Taishu Yichen closed his eyes and sighed softly.

When he opened them again, there was no more hesitation in his eyes.

He had always believed that every man is for himself, or heaven and earth will destroy him.

Moreover, all of this was bestowed by him; now that he wanted to take it back, these people should feel honored!

Taishu Yichen didn't realize at all that his current mindset was exactly the same as the Heavenly Dao's attitude toward all living beings.

Indifferent and high-and-mighty!

Once Taishu Yichen made up his mind, he no longer hesitated. Without seeing him use any techniques, he simply raised his hand and struck the ground with a palm.

"Boom!!!"

Black and white Qi emerged from his palm, turning into an invisible giant hand that reached deep into the Spiritual Veins of Qingwei Heaven.

In an instant, the entire Qingwei Heaven shook violently.

This wasn't an earthquake, but the Foundation of this Grotto-Heaven loosening.

Those Origin powers, which he had condensed from the culmination of his own Laws, dao rhymes, and comprehensions, were being extracted from the Spiritual Veins bit by bit.

In an instant, the Spiritual Veins snapped, and Spiritual Qi erupted from the cracks, turning into white waves of air that soared into the sky—a sign of the Grotto-Heaven's Origin leaking away.

In the medicinal garden that was no longer strictly guarded, the spiritual mist dissipated rapidly.

Those spiritual flowers and grasses that had been nourished by Spiritual Qi for thousands of years withered simultaneously in an instant.

Petals fell, branches and leaves turned yellow, and roots rotted.

Looking from afar, spiritual plants all over the mountains died at the same time, as if turning into a wasteland of life.

Countless rare and exotic species turned into withered branches and fallen leaves in just a few breaths, scattering with the wind.

At the same time, the earth began to crack, the Foundations of palaces and buildings loosened, and fine cracks appeared on the walls, making overburdened creaking sounds.

Some mountain Peaks were collapsing, rocks rolling down from the summits and crashing into the valleys, kicking up dust all over the sky.

Palaces collapsed one after another, rubble piled up, and smoke and dust filled the air.

Those runes engraved on the palace walls flickered a few times before breaking and going out forever.

Naturally, the Laws of Spiritual Qi also became more chaotic.

The Disciples cultivating in the dojos all spat out a mouthful of blood; some fainted on the spot, some sat cross-legged trying desperately to suppress the rampaging magic power in their bodies, and some looked around in terror, not knowing what had happened.

Those Cultivators who were breaking through Bottlenecks had their Meridians shattered and their dao foundation completely destroyed the moment the Spiritual Qi rioted.

Screams, cries, and calls for help came from all over the mountains.

The Grotto-Heaven, which had been peaceful for ten thousand years, suddenly turned into a chaotic mess.

But Taishu Yichen turned a deaf ear to all of this.

He didn't even glance aside, just expressionlessly continued to extract the Grotto-Heaven's Origin.

The Laws were in disorder, and the Five Elements forces in the Void Realm lost their balance; the five powers of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth collided frantically above Qingwei Heaven.

Fire and metal collided, exploding into a sky full of fire rain.

Water and earth merged, turning into mudslides that poured down from the mountainsides.

Wood lost its Foundation, and vast stretches of forest died instantly.

The entire Qingwei Heaven was like a giant beast whose blood had been drained, dying bit by bit.

Taishu Yichen didn't care; after all, if the Grotto-Heaven was gone, it could be rebuilt, but if he was gone, everything would be lost.

He only cared about himself!

And as the Grotto-Heaven's Origin turned into pure life force and surged into his body, he finally felt himself coming back to life.

Flesh was reborn, bones hardened, and skin regained its luster.

Those hatching Su Mang were killed by this pure Origin power and expelled from his pores, turning into pools of grayish-white pus.

The Law seeds were lit up again, his dao rhyme no longer leaked, and his cultivation finally stopped falling.

He stopped steadily at the threshold of the Early Stage of the Nascent Soul.

However, although he didn't fall, he didn't rise either.

Obviously, it was impossible to fully recover to his Peak.

But Taishu Yichen didn't care about any of this.

As long as he could live for a few more days!

With the Grotto-Heaven's Origin making up for the deficit and no more worries, Taishu Yichen also had the energy to actively resist the Sign of Heavenly Abandonment.

And as time passed, the abnormal phenomenon gradually began to recede.

He no longer felt any more abnormalities spreading.

But the price was that nearly 70% of Qingwei Heaven's Grotto-Heaven Origin had been drained.

Taishu Yichen slumped on his prayer mat, looking at the devastated dojo, and remained silent for a long time.

Nearly half the palaces had collapsed, several mountain Peaks had crumbled, the medicinal garden was completely destroyed, most of the Spiritual Veins were broken, and countless Disciples were dead or injured.

70% of the Origin in exchange for his life.

But for the life of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, he felt it was worth the trade.