Chapter 125: The Secret to Cultivation

This was the first time Gu Sha, after many precognitions of the future, successfully arrived at the ruins of the Questioning Heaven Pavilion. The nine-headed lion there tried all sorts of tricks to deceive him. Although Gu Sha remained vigilant, this lion possessed some strange and arcane techniques.

Back then, it was also Gu Sha’s first encounter with such eerie methods. He was caught off guard and, despite his War Emperor Stage Two strength, was left battered and bruised. It was only after a hard-fought battle that he finally slew the lion.

In subsequent glimpses of the future, he clashed several times with the nine-headed lion and gradually uncovered its origins.

This lion had survived for over two thousand years.

However, nearly two millennia of that time were spent in a self-imposed sealed state through special means, thus avoiding death by old age. Otherwise, to live so long, it would likely have to do as the Celestial Serpent of Ghost Island did—transform itself into a spiritual entity and entrust its resurrection to others.

The nine-headed lion was originally the guardian beast raised by the last cultivator of the Questioning Heaven Pavilion. Unfortunately, that cultivator never succeeded in ascending and instead passed away within this small celestial realm.

That cultivator adhered to the belief that those outside his clan could never be trusted, treating the nine-headed lion merely as a mount, deeming it unworthy of practicing the pavilion's secret legacies. Although a copy of the pavilion’s secret techniques was left behind, he imposed a restriction preventing the lion from entering the main hall of the pavilion.

The nine-headed lion harbored deep resentment. Every time it awoke after a century of slumber, it would attempt to steal that secret technique, yet it always failed.

Now, with the sudden cosmic upheaval, it saw a glimmer of hope.

Its plan was to deceive someone into breaking the restriction from within.

Its first target was Bai Ziyu of the Purification Society, the first person in many years to inadvertently enter this celestial realm. But Bai Ziyu was just an ordinary mortal then and had not consumed a Source Pearl. Even with the lion forcibly enhancing Bai Ziyu’s power using items from the realm, it was insufficient. The spatial rift in the realm was open only briefly. The lion exploited Bai Ziyu’s fervent faith, gifting him a royal bone imbued with the power of runes, hoping that once Bai Ziyu left, he could gain a foothold and rapidly strengthen himself.

However,

the nine-headed lion might have been destined to be Gu Sha’s nemesis.

Bai Ziyu had long been killed by Gu Sha.

And when the cosmic anomaly finally occurred, the first person Bai Ziyu encountered was none other than Gu Sha himself.

During the first precognition, Gu Sha, unaware of the secret technique’s location, had no choice but to feign cooperation with the nine-headed lion to open the restriction, only to be betrayed and nearly suffer a fatal setback.

But now,

Gu Sha knew exactly where the secret lay.

Naturally, he had no interest in playing along with the nine-headed lion.

At this moment,

the nine-headed lion was desperately disguising itself, trying to embody the majestic presence of a divine beast, exuding the aura of a god.

An ordinary person, confronted with a nine-headed lion towering like a small mountain, would certainly be intimidated.

But,

it faced Gu Sha.

Just as the lion was about to speak a second time,

Gu Sha suddenly soared into the sky, drew his Tang Dao with a backward swing, and unleashed a massive blade shadow, instantly severing four of the lion’s heads!

A heart-wrenching roar erupted from the nine-headed lion, blood gushing from the four severed necks like cascading waterfalls.

“Who exactly are you?”

As the lion questioned, its remaining four heads unleashed terrifying roars. Its entire body radiated a brilliant light; terrifying energy surged like a roaring ocean, rushing fiercely toward Gu Sha.

Yet,

to the lion’s horror, Gu Sha seemed to have long anticipated its move. The moment it began its secret technique, Gu Sha was already beneath it.

The nine-headed lion stood over twenty or thirty meters tall.

Standing beneath it, Gu Sha was inconspicuous.

However,

the Tang Dao he hurled was strikingly conspicuous, releasing a phantom blade over a hundred meters long. It pierced straight through the lion’s body, through its heart. Blood surged like ocean waves, and the massive corpse collapsed like a mountain with a tremendous crash.

Adhering to his principle of not wasting anything, Gu Sha dragged the lion’s body inside the Questioning Heaven Pavilion, not even leaving behind the severed heads.

This nine-headed lion was nearly at the Imperial Stage; its body was a treasure trove. Even its ordinary fur would be fiercely fought over in a human city.

But Gu Sha did not lose sight of his objective.

After tossing the lion on a plaza,

he swiftly entered a vast, dust-laden hall.

The hall was ancient and grand, the best-preserved palace here. At its center stood an enormous, unknown divine statue, three or four zhang tall, holding a massive dust whisk, its posture ethereal.

Gu Sha bowed respectfully toward the statue and muttered a quiet apology, then leapt forward, plucking the four-meter-long dust whisk from the statue’s grasp.

At that instant,

the statue crumbled as if weathered by time.

The dust whisk in Gu Sha’s hand gradually turned to powder, revealing a golden scroll within. As Gu Sha unfurled it, shimmering characters appeared, and a profound, mysterious power surged into his consciousness. This was the cultivation secret known as the Great Dao Sutra—Initial Volume.

Gu Sha was actually very familiar with this secret.

Indeed, he had memorized the contents of the Great Dao Sutra’s initial volume thoroughly.

Because in his precognitions, he had obtained this sutra many times.

However, without possessing the actual scroll, knowing the contents alone was useless for cultivation. The reason was revealed in one precognition, when a cultivator from another civilization explained that such secrets contained the author’s Dao essence. Without perceiving this Dao essence, one could never truly cultivate.

Holding the Great Dao Sutra,

Gu Sha glanced at the time; the era of great contention was still far off.

In the future visions,

once this scarlet cataclysm ended,

various interdimensional spaces from the Primordial Realm would land on Earth, igniting wars over territory and opportunity.

Humanity faced a dimensional downgrade assault from the Primordial Realm.

Yet, providence had not abandoned them.

Shortly after the Primordial Realm’s incursion began, a large number of mysterious extraterrestrial visitors appeared on Earth, claiming themselves to be gods sent to aid mortal humans against the Primordial Realm.

In truth, they did aid humanity in resisting the Primordial Realm, helping rebuild Earth’s homes and spreading cultivation civilization to help humans rapidly enhance their strength.

Because of these “gods” and the appearance of strange beasts,

humanity and the Primordial Realm reached an uneasy balance.

Thereafter,

the era of great contention commenced. Numerous chance encounters sprung forth in the celestial realms that surfaced across Earth. Precious materials matured; ancient mythic weapons revived. Whether these “gods,” humans, or the so-called “Light Race” from the Primordial Realm, all vied for supremacy.

…

But for now,

Gu Sha had secured the initial opportunity of this cosmic upheaval—the Great Dao Sutra secret.

He immediately began cultivating with the sutra.

That familiar sensation arose naturally.

The vast Source power within him began to condense, becoming purer. His control over this power deepened. Most importantly, his absorption of the world’s Source energy accelerated by many times, a complete transformation compared to his previous advanced Qi Drawing Technique.

In just half a month,

Gu Sha refined his internal energy and forcibly advanced to War Emperor Stage Three.

During Gu Sha’s brief secluded cultivation,

Earth’s landscape underwent profound change.

He was no longer the sole god of humanity—or rather, no longer a god at all—because a great number of true “gods” had appeared among mortals.

On the global forum, the hottest trending post read:

“Can First-Sequence Gu Sha withstand a single punch from the Scarlet Feather Heavenly God?”

“Brothers, it’s really hopeless. This book’s survival is in jeopardy, so I have to urgently revise the outline. I dare not continue writing urban plots, or else it’ll get deleted. Damn, a bunch of trolls keep reporting me. I’ve revised it again and again and am close to breaking down. Damn!”

These chapters might be a bit dull, mainly laying the groundwork for the world-building. After all, the outline has changed direction. Without this foundation, the subsequent plot cannot unfold.

But rest assured,

exhilaration remains the core of this story and will never be lost.

It will still be thrilling,

at worst, these few chapters are a bit calmer, but the excitement will soar afterward!

(End of chapter)