282: Fifth Incarnation: Heavenly Physician (Seventy-Four)

Time flies like a white horse passing a gap; in the blink of an eye, ten years have passed.

To the Liuyun Continent of the Shangqing Dao Lineage, these ten years might have been but a mere instant.

But for the Su Family, it was a decade of earth-shaking change.

With the tacit consent and full support of Clan Chief Clan Leader, Xu Yuan, though not yet formally succeeding as the family head, had already taken practical control of the Su Family's power.

Relying on his extraordinary wisdom, decisive methods, and that mysterious and profound concept of 'humanity' Order, he carried out a deep and thorough transformation of the Su Family from the inside out.

Flowing Cloud Market had become a famous commercial center in Liuyun Continent. Its model of 'contribution-based salary, competitive hiring, and public contracts' was studied and imitated by countless forces, yet none could replicate its essence.

The market's scale expanded several times over, gathering resources from all directions and becoming a vital financial source and information hub for the Su Family.

In the Hundred Herb Garden, after Xu Yuan optimized the Spiritual Veins with Formations, improved cultivation methods, and introduced incentive systems, the yield and quality of Spirit Medicine significantly increased. It not only met their own needs but also became an important base for exporting high-end spiritual plants to surrounding forces, attracting a large number of Alchemists to join them.

The Goldstone Mine also found new life; the efficiency of prospecting, mining, and smelting doubled, and several rare mineral veins were discovered, providing a solid guarantee for the Su Family's Artifact Refining business... More importantly, Xu Yuan gradually promoted the 'humanity' Order to the entire Su Family clan.

The atmosphere within the clan was refreshed, its cohesion became unprecedentedly strong, young disciples strove for progress, and overall strength improved steadily.

Former factions, such as that of Su Zhenshan, had completely integrated into the new Order, becoming Xu Yuan's staunch supporters.

Beyond internal integration, the Su Family also expanded externally, its prestige growing daily.

Relying on powerful resources and internal cohesion, the Su Family's influence steadily expanded outward.

Through either annexation or alliance, their influence had far exceeded the corner of Liuyun Continent, making them a pivotal, overlord-level power across several surrounding provinces.

The name Su Yuan became widely renowned, not only for his status as a Fruit Position true disciple but also for his remarkable success in governing the Su Family.

Of course, for Xu Yuan, the most important thing during these ten years was naturally his cultivation.

During this decade, Xu Yuan did not neglect his cultivation despite being occupied with mundane affairs.

He used the vast resources gathered by the Su Family, especially the majestic medicinal power of that thousand-year jade marrow ganoderma, to continuously nourish his Dao Foundation and temper his magic power, while gaining insights into the 'humanity' Order through his governance of the Su Family.

His cultivation advanced rapidly, reaching the pinnacle of the Foundation Establishment Stage—Foundation Establishment Great Perfection!

Within his Dantian Qi Sea, his magic power was as vast as an ocean and incredibly pure. The humanity seal at the center became increasingly solid, with Order runes on its surface flowing endlessly, emitting a mysterious and profound Dao Rhyme.

He was only one last step away from drawing in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, condensing a Golden Core, and attempting to forge his Dao!

Xu Yuan could feel that the Golden Core Tribulation was close at hand.

On this day, at the peak of an isolated mountain guarded by layers of Formations in the Su Family's ancestral Forbidden Ground.

Xu Yuan sat cross-legged on a piece of ten-thousand-year warm jade, surrounded by misty Spiritual Qi, resonating with the Spiritual Vein of the entire mountain peak.

He slowly opened his eyes; in his pupils, it seemed as if suns, moons, and stars were revolving, and Order runes were being born and extinguished.

"Ten years of accumulation, the Foundation is solid. Magic power is at Perfection, and the Divine Soul is refined. My comprehension of the Dao of 'Order' has also reached a Bottleneck."

He looked up at the firmament, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of clouds to see the test about to descend from the heavens.

"The Golden Core Tribulation... it is time."

He sensed that the magic power in his body was surging, having reached the critical point; his Divine Soul and Dao Foundation's thirst for Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had reached its peak.

The opportunity to condense the Golden Core would be in the coming days!

However, unlike the conventional way of condensing a Golden Core, this time his heart was as clear as a mirror, knowing that what he was about to face was an unprecedented path filled with the unknown and danger!

In his previous life, he practiced the Imperial Dao and condensed the Overlord Golden Core. He followed the branches of the Imperial Dao Law that had already been opened by predecessors and existed in the world, constantly deepening his alignment with it, like climbing up a predetermined ladder to the heavens.

Though the ladder was dangerous, the path was clear, the steps were solid, and there were traces to follow.

The Golden Core finally condensed was the 'key' to mastering that branch of the Law. With this 'key', one could borrow or even harness the power of that branch of the Great Dao.

Even for those brilliant Fruit Position True Persons who eventually opened new branches of the Dao, their 'forging of a Dao' was mostly based on an existing Origin Dao, deriving a unique new branch. Ultimately, there was an Origin to rely on and a framework to reference.

But this time, the 'humanity golden elixir' he wished to condense was completely different!

The 'Humanity' he practiced had its core in 'Order', 'contract', 'Consensus', and 'mutual aid'. Its Foundation lay in 'the direction of people's hearts' and 'the will of all living beings'. This was not some inherent, concrete branch of Law in the world, but an abstract, grander category closer to the 'Origin of Rules'!

It was more like... the 'meta-rule' that constructed the operational Order of all things, the underlying logic through which Laws were formed, maintained, and evolved!

The Heaven and Earth have the Dao; the Dao produced One, One produced Two, Two produced Three, and Three produced all things.

Ordinary Golden Core Cultivators sought to control and harness a specific Law at the level of 'all things', or even at the 'Three' or 'Two' levels.

But what Xu Yuan sought was to touch, and even attempt to construct, the more fundamental Dao of 'Order' that gave rise to the rules of 'all things'!

This was not climbing a ladder, but in this boundless Void Realm called the 'Great Dao', relying on his own insights, beliefs, and accumulation to forcefully construct a brand-new ladder that pointed directly to the Origin!

The difficulty was not just a hundred or a thousand times greater!

"The road ahead is arduous, with killing intent at every step..."

Xu Yuan slowly closed his eyes, his mind sinking into the vast ocean of magic power within his body and the shining humanity seal at its center.

Upon the seal, runes such as 'contract', 'Order', and 'mutual aid' flowed, as if explaining the ultimate truths of the world.

This was the crystallization of all the insights he had accumulated over ten years of practicing 'Humanity', observing the world, and integrating the Su Family. It was also his only reliance for charging into the Golden Core realm and constructing the Origin ladder!

"However, where the Dao lies, though thousands may stand against me, I shall go!"

Xu Yuan's Dao Heart was as firm as a rock and as clear as a mirror, without the slightest fear or wavering.

He knew deeply that this was his true path of the Dao!

If he craved stability and followed the overbearing path of his previous life to reach the Golden Core again, it would be easy, but his Dao path would stop there, with no possibility of ever surpassing his previous life or glimpsing higher scenery!

Only by taking this dangerous path could he break through and establish a truly unique, supreme Dao Foundation capable of carrying the grand ambition of 'replacing the heart of heaven with the hearts of the people'!

"In three days, I shall use this body and this Dao to reach for the Golden Core!"

At the peak of the isolated mountain, the Spiritual Qi became increasingly dense, and the sound of wind and thunder faintly brewed in the depths of the Void Realm.