Yan Jingzhu watched the Heavenly Venerate that ascended from the second day, blocking Ji Xiang and intending to contend for his position, her tone slightly urgent:
"It... has come up again."
"Quick, retreat! Do not contend for position with this Heavenly Venerate!"
Although she had been dissatisfied with Ji Xiang's casual actions before, if he were to offend Lingbao Heavenly Venerate at this moment, a different situation might arise. Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate was formed from the core of the immortal scriptures, possessing only the instinct to preach. She had used the Bell of Xiying to weaken his hostility, but Lingbao Heavenly Venerate was not the same as Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate!
Fortunately, Ji Xiang did not make a move, but he also did not retreat.
He was now in a stalemate with Lingbao Heavenly Venerate, and the Heavenly Venerate also did not make a move, seeming to politely wait for Ji Xiang to "make the first move"!
"The True Spirit Ranking of the Six Realms has strict divisions in hierarchy. This is the demarcation of the Shangqing School, not a consensus among all Daoist sects."
Yan Jingzhu had already picked up the green bell again, sternly admonishing Ji Xiang:
"I can also see that you are not a cultivator of Shangqing or Yuqing, but a practitioner of Taiqing Heaven..."
"Do not dare to make a move rashly! Be careful that the Heavenly Venerate erases you!"
Ji Xiang also felt that the form and spirit of the Lingbao Heavenly Venerate before him were slightly different from those of Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate.
As for Yan Jingzhu's address...
In fact, all the Daoist sects derived from the Celestial Master Dao, regardless of who they were, regarded Taishang Laojun, or the Heavenly Venerate of Morality in Taiqing Heaven, as their highest divine being. In the mortal world, such people were called "practitioners of Taiqing Heaven."
Even the Quanzhen Dao was the same, stating that Taishang Laojun passed on the teachings to Shaoyang Emperor, Shaoyang Emperor to Zhengyang Emperor, Zhengyang Emperor to Chunyang Emperor, Chunyang Emperor to Chunyou Emperor, and Chunyou Emperor to Chongyang Emperor.
Their earthly incarnations were the Five Patriarchs of Quanzhen Dao.
The Shangqing School, however, was different!
Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate was the first Heavenly Lord, and Lingbao Heavenly Venerate was called Taishang Dadaojun. He often listened to Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate preach. This was also why many scriptures were named after Lingbao but primarily narrated Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate's sermons. This was because among the Three Mountains of Daoism, the main deities of the Lingbao sect of Gèzǎo Mountain and the Shangqing sect of Mount Mao were not Lingbao Heavenly Venerate, but "Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate!"
Lingbao Heavenly Venerate was merely second in rank!
As for the Heavenly Venerate of Morality, he had become the Taiqing Dao Lord who descended to all beings. Not only was he not in the third heavenly position, but he was relegated to the fourth heaven!
Therefore, strictly speaking, there were no practitioners of Yuqing Heaven. According to the sayings of Mount Mao and Gèzǎo Mountain, all their earthly techniques originated from Yuqing Heaven, which was then passed to Shangqing Heaven, and then from Shangqing Heaven to the various sects in the lower realm. Thus, in the mortal world, Shangqing was Yuqing!
Unlike practitioners of Taiqing Heaven, in the scriptures and classics of Taiqing Heaven practitioners, Laojun often went down to the mortal world himself to chase people and pass on scriptures.
Ji Xiang keenly noticed that Yan Jingzhu had just mentioned Yuqing practitioners.
Therefore, it could only refer to those twelve individuals who had once received the divine token of Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate. Only they could be called "Yuqing practitioners."
"Could this form and spirit be left by a practitioner of Yuqing Heaven?"
Without confirmation, the only thing he knew was that the other party was very dangerous.
Yan Jingzhu rushed over, pulling Ji Xiang: "Do not contend for position with the Heavenly Venerate. Go sit in the back. The third and fourth seats are empty. The Three Heavenly Lords and Four Heavenly Lords will not come up. You sit there."
Her expression was nervous, as if something terrible would happen if this form and spirit made a move. She had not shown such fear when Ji Xiang had offended Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate earlier.
Ji Xiang pondered for a moment. If he were to take that second seat, he would inevitably be erased by the other party. This made Ji Xiang very unhappy, and as soon as he was unhappy, a faint white smoke appeared on his body.
The form and spirit of the White-faced True Martial appeared.
"Although the True Martial Great Emperor is far below your level, the White-faced True Martial is, after all, the patron deity worshipped by the Great Ming when it was founded. For me to retreat... at most, I will retreat by one."
Ji Xiang admitted that he was indeed a bit unsure, and besides, he didn't have to fight for the second position.
Would you please allow me to sit down?
Ji Xiang sat down and observed this form and spirit. The form and spirit of Lingbao Heavenly Venerate, seeing Ji Xiang leave, immediately flew to the second seat and took his place.
At this moment, all the gods were in their positions, and Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate began to preach. The previous incident gave Ji Xiang a rather bewildering feeling of contending for a saint's position in Zixiao Palace.
Numerous strange phenomena appeared: two suns shone together, one moon emitted white light, and stars flickered like fireflies in the sky. Divine rays and auspicious clouds intermingled, and all primal energies manifested. Large patches of light mist and smoke, purple qi, and fiery clouds enveloped the forms and spirits of the gods, spreading over this Mi Luo world.
The form and spirit of that Lingbao Heavenly Venerate, with his back to Ji Xiang, showed no abnormalities. This was rather strange. Legend had it that when Lingbao Heavenly Venerate appeared, nine auspicious purple mists would rise into the sky, but here, all the gods were surrounded by various phenomena, while Lingbao Heavenly Venerate stood alone, like a clear stream.
However, although his appearance was ordinary, he actually contained a terrifying Dao rhythm. He seemed to be condensing this Dao rhythm into substance, and the forms and spirits of the surrounding gods seemed to be becoming illusory.
"What is it doing?"
Ji Xiang turned his head and saw Yan Jingzhu sitting in the fourth seat, her expression solemn:
"Don't worry about its situation. Just focus on your own comprehension. Listen carefully to the Heavenly Venerate's preaching."
Although the situation was very strange, Ji Xiang did not intend to provoke that Heavenly Venerate, so he began to comprehend the scriptures spoken by Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate. From those Daoist sounds, golden lights gradually emerged.
There were six streams.
But at this moment, with the sound of heavenly music, Lingbao Heavenly Venerate also began to comprehend the scriptures and immediately obtained nine streams of golden light. Ji Xiang's comprehension was affected, and the golden lights gradually dissipated, leaving only three streams.
"This?"
Ji Xiang was truly surprised. Could his comprehension be influenced by another's?
Seeing the three streams of golden light about to disappear, Ji Xiang's body emitted white smoke, drawing the golden light towards him. At this moment, the form and spirit of Lingbao Heavenly Venerate turned, glanced at Ji Xiang, and then turned back.
Yan Jingzhu whispered, "Lingbao Heavenly Venerate has been listening to Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate preach for a long time. It often ascends on its own. If the comprehension of other gods is not plundered by it, it's already good. You still want to contend with it?"
Ji Xiang: "This is my comprehension manifested. What do you mean by plundering? Moreover, I feel that this world of yours is becoming increasingly strange and bizarre. Lingbao Heavenly Venerate plunders the comprehension of other gods, and these comprehensions are derived from the many scriptures in the Donghua Immortal Scripture. So, what exactly is Lingbao Heavenly Venerate taking?"
Yan Jingzhu remained silent. She seemed to have reservations, or perhaps she had her own hidden agenda. Ji Xiang shook his head and did not press further. At least for now, he felt that some words from this Donghua Immortal Maiden could not be taken at face value.
Since he was going to contend for comprehension with Lingbao Heavenly Venerate, he had to go all out.
Ji Xiang closed his eyes, and streams of golden light once again emerged from the void. At the same time, Lingbao Heavenly Venerate was also comprehending the Dao, and this time eleven streams of golden light appeared, while Ji Xiang had ten.
The Dao rhythm of Lingbao Heavenly Venerate began to affect the surrounding golden light. Seeing this, Ji Xiang did not hesitate. With a turn of the white smoke, three of the eleven streams of golden light from Lingbao Heavenly Venerate were seized by Ji Xiang!
"I won't take much, I just want you to return what you just took!"
Lingbao Heavenly Venerate turned his head to look at Ji Xiang again, still showing no reaction.
Meanwhile, Ji Xiang had accumulated seventeen streams of golden light, and a faint Dao rhythm began to condense within him, as if there was an extreme upper limit. Ji Xiang could feel that limit, like holding an empty bottle with a few drops of water inside, the remaining space vast and empty. The overall weight was not heavy, very light.
It seemed that after reaching the limit, something extraordinary would happen. Clearly, the dense Dao rhythm on Lingbao Heavenly Venerate came from this. He also seemed to be accumulating this limit, but this made Ji Xiang feel even more dreadful.
This limit existed, but its end was almost invisible. Regardless of any changes in the form and spirit of Lingbao Heavenly Venerate, at least Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate's preaching had never been absent. Up to now, the accumulation of Dao rhythm should not have reached its limit.
These seventeen streams of golden light were just the beginning.
Ji Xiang continued to comprehend. The next moment, eight streams of golden light flew out, while Lingbao Heavenly Venerate had ten.
At this moment, purple clouds appeared around Lingbao Heavenly Venerate, and a vermilion treasure scroll unfurled in the void. Yan Jingzhu immediately looked over, her gaze sweeping across the vermilion treasure scroll, and exclaimed:
"As expected of him... it's the Lingdu Vermilion Text. This is a fifth-grade immortal scripture, capable of deriving the marvels of creation."
After looking at it, she also tried to comprehend. Her Dao rhythm was also exceptionally powerful, though compared to Lingbao Heavenly Venerate, it was like a stream compared to a river.
Streams of golden light descended, and pale white text appeared in her eyes.
"It's still the 'Heavenly Book of Leading Immortals'... If immortal scriptures are divided into seven grades, upper and lower, the 'Heavenly Book of Leading Immortals' ranks as a sixth-grade lower-tier... I still haven't been able to break through the bottleneck of comprehension. A sixth-grade immortal scripture is already my limit."
"Did I mishear something, or is my mind too cluttered to grasp its essence? I haven't been able to cultivate the section of the Donghua Jade Scripture properly for so many years. I don't know when I'll be able to shed my residual soul and return to the mortal world."
As these eight streams of golden light descended, Ji Xiang had a sudden inspiration and comprehended in his heart.
The twenty-five streams of golden light arranged themselves, followed by text that illuminated heaven and earth. The five elements' primal qi floated out, transforming from the golden light, and then descended around Ji Xiang, changing into a treasure scroll of text that appeared in the void!
This commotion even caused Lingbao Heavenly Venerate to turn his head and look again and again.
Yan Jingzhu also stared blankly, then reacted, her gaze sweeping over it, and she exclaimed:
"This is... this is the 'Heavenly Book of Five Fangs'! It's a sixth-grade upper-tier immortal scripture, part of the 'Five Talisman Immortal Scriptures.' In essence, it explains the application of the primal qi of the five elements at their birth, which is the foundation of all five-element techniques. It can store the five qi to nourish the form of heaven and earth in the human body, and it is extremely difficult to obtain. After all, it's impossible for anyone in this world to possess all five elements. How could you comprehend such a treasure on your first attempt!"
Possessing all five elements?
Ji Xiang pondered in his heart. There was no need to say more; this was the effect of the Heavenly Root of the Human Body, from the alchemical powder of Emperor Jiajing. Let alone all five elements, even the Three Treasures, the Three Talents, and the Yin and Yang two qi were all complete.