Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Divine Breath enters silence, becoming pseudo-death; one sleep, all affairs turn to void.

For ordinary Daoists, taking the Divine Breath Pill leads to a state of pseudo-death, where the Primordial Spirit falls silent, cycling between life and death; if one cannot awaken, pseudo-death becomes real, fraught with peril.

However, the Divine Demon Holy Embryo is different. Cultivating this technique makes one the most fearsome in the world, with an unimaginable Primordial Spirit that can exhaust the pill’s effects in one night. For such beings, it’s nothing but a grand dream.

”Dao Sect begins, Nine Extremes reign supreme... those Nine Great Inner Elixir Methods are the pinnacle of the world...”

A youth clad in casual attire reveals an intense brilliance in his eyes.

”Master, I heard from Uncle that over twenty years ago, someone visited our Lao Mountain Daoist Sect. This person cultivated the Divine Demon Holy Embryo,” Gu Jingqiu couldn’t help but say.

Lao Mountain, one of the Ten Great Daoist Sects, a 5A-rated national scenic area with a ticket price of one hundred eighty, located in the seaside of Dongshan Province, touted as the first mountain over the sea.

Thus, there has long been a saying that ”Though Tai Mountain is tall, it does not compare to the East Sea Lao Mountain.”

Since ancient times, Lao Mountain has been a sacred place for Daoist cultivation, visited by Emperor Qin and Emperor Han seeking the Immortal Elixir. Back then, Great Alchemist Xu Fu set out to the sea in search of the immortal mountain from here.

As a disciple of Lao Mountain, Gu Jingqiu naturally possesses extraordinary experience and has heard of the Nine Great Inner Elixir Methods, especially the Divine Demon Holy Embryo, known as the most fearsome in the world. Cultivating this technique inevitably leads to the Great Night of Darkness tribulation.

This shook him greatly when he first heard of it.

Cultivators fear the Great Night of Darkness and avoid it at all costs. Once caught in tribulation, the Primordial Spirit falls silent, and all one’s cultivation is for naught. With good fortune, life is preserved and past memories forgotten; with bad luck, it means death and the end of Dao.

If cultivating this technique truly leads to tribulation, then what point is there in practicing it at all?

Gu Jingqiu didn’t believe that anyone could successfully cultivate this technique.

However, he heard from Uncle in the sect that over twenty years ago, a young man visited the mountain, whose Daoist skills were mysterious, and the Inner Core Method he cultivated was one of the nine legends...

Divine Demon Holy Embryo!

”Great Spirit Sect King... he is an old acquaintance.” Hua Yixun sighed softly.

”Can anyone really have cultivated it? Is he still human then?”

Gu Jingqiu’s lips slightly twitched, but the brightness in his eyes showed deep amazement.

”Master, I’ve heard that cultivating the Divine Demon Holy Embryo inevitably leads to the Great Night of Darkness... once caught in this tribulation, cultivation regresses, memory fades, indistinguishable from ordinary people...”

”So how do they break free from tribulation!?”

To Gu Jingqiu, encountering the Great Night of Darkness tribulation means overturning all past endeavors—Dao practice, power, even memories—becoming even less than ordinary people, so how could one possibly escape the tribulation?

If true, then the Divine Demon Holy Embryo is just a joke.

”This is one of the greatest secrets of this technique...” Hua Yixun said solemnly.

”When I was young, I heard my master mention... all the successors of the Divine Demon Holy Embryo throughout the ages have their own tribulation methods...”

”Before entering the Great Night of Darkness, they had already prepared.”

This is the most terrifying aspect of the Divine Demon Holy Embryo, as if foretelling that even if you accumulate immense wealth, you will lose it overnight. What you must do is plan ahead so you can regain it.

This process is a huge challenge and training for one’s temperament, wisdom, endurance, and more.

Cultivating this technique is akin to life itself—losing to gain, gaining to lose, endlessly cycling, seeking the imperishable spiritual light within the cycle of existence and non-existence.

”Great Spirit Sect King... his tribulation method is quite unique, and very domineering,” Hua Yixun said with a heavy expression.

”What method?” Gu Jingqiu asked curiously.

Hua Yixun shook his head and remained silent.

”Master, what did he want at our Lao Mountain?” Gu Jingqiu’s eyes shifted, changing the question.

”Borrow incense!”

”Borrow incense? How can incense be borrowed?” Gu Jingqiu asked quizzically.

”How is it borrowed?”

”By strength,” Hua Yixun said calmly.

”This...”

Gu Jingqiu’s expression slightly condensed, as he perceived the danger within.

Though he didn’t know how incense could be borrowed, wanting to borrow from one of the Ten Great Daoist Sects, Lao Mountain, without the Vajra Drill might mean not even stepping past the threshold.

”Most fearsome in the world... indeed, most fearsome in the world.” Gu Jingqiu sighed.

”Master, where is that person now?”

Gu Jingqiu’s curiosity surged, as within the modern era, someone managed to cultivate one of the Nine Great Inner Elixir Methods. As a cultivator, he naturally felt compelled.

”People say he’s dead...” Hua Yixun said calmly.

The last time he heard news of the Great Spirit Sect King was a decade ago.

Since then, the Great Spirit Sect King vanished from the Daoist sects and Jianghu, along with his formidable companions, disappearing like waves into a flowing river.

”Divine Demon Holy Embryo... how could a Divine Demon Holy Embryo die?” Gu Jingqiu couldn’t help but change color.

Such an existence, almost like a legend, can’t be lightly spoken of life and death.

”What’s the harm? A cycle ago, even the renowned world’s number one expert, Three Corpses Daoist, died at the peak of Dongyue...” Hua Yixun murmured softly.

”There’s never been eternity. Remember...”

”Powers unable to match the will of heaven!”

”Powers unable to match the will of heaven!?” Gu Jingqiu repeated the phrase, instinctively nodding.

”Up ahead is Gusu City. Find her before we enter the station.”

Just at this moment, Hua Yixun shifted gears, pulling Gu Jingqiu’s mind back.

”Master, the demon definitely is on this train.”

Gu Jingqiu instinctively glanced around and then said, ”Could the people in the adjacent carriage be colluding with the demon?”