Chapter 2962: Ten Thousand Years of Cultivation, Taiji's First Transformation
The sundial hung above the Heavenly Venerate Lake, the shadow cast by its stone needle shifting cyclically across the stone disk.
On the mountain, flowers bloomed and withered, spring passed and winter came.
Time flowed swiftly, and no one knew how many divine stones had been consumed.
...
Over the past ten thousand years, Zhang Ruochen spent most of his time within the area covered by the sundial, either inscribing rules, cultivating his spiritual power, researching formations, or refining artifacts.
When hungry, he would dig up Eon Sacred Medicines from the *Sixth Patriarch's Zen-Release Diagram* and swallow them. When thirsty, he would drink the divine spring from the lake.
The water in Heavenly Venerate Lake was, of course, not true pure divine spring, but it carried a rich aura of divine spring.
Elsewhere, finding even a single divine medicine was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
But at the bottom of Heavenly Venerate Lake, Zhang Ruochen had discovered three divine medicines in total. However, they all grew within ancient ruins, hidden in secret locations and guarded by Heavenly Venerate divine patterns, making them inaccessible even to Heaven-Replenishing Realm gods.
The divine spring was diluted from the growth sites of these three divine medicines.
As the Drunkard had said, ten thousand years was indeed a major critical point.
Even though Zhang Ruochen had not spent all his time on cultivation—having sparred and discussed the Dao with figures like the Underworld King and Fengchen Sword God, played chess and music with women like Yan Zhexian, Guye Huanhuan, and Luo Sha, explored the ruins of the Heavenly Venerate Divine Temple, and traveled through the mortal world of Xinghuantian—he still felt a proliferation of distracting thoughts, a restless heart, and an inability to fully emerge from his cultivation state.
The desire for quick success grew stronger, to the point where he wished he could step into the God Venerable level overnight.
This was very dangerous!
Zhang Ruochen realized he could not continue cultivating.
Not only he, but other gods who had been in seclusion for over five thousand years were also experiencing emotional problems.
Xiao Hei had become extremely irritable, and Blood Butcher grew increasingly manic. At the slightest disagreement, they would start fighting, disrupting the peaceful cultivation of all the other gods. The key point was that the reasons for their fights were utterly ridiculous.
Once, Xiao Hei walked past Blood Butcher, who glanced at him sideways.
Xiao Hei immediately felt that Blood Butcher was provoking him, declaring war, and so...
They fought.
Luo Sha's state was also strange. She no longer stayed peacefully in her own divine hall to cultivate but barged into the Seven Star Imperial Palace, repeatedly urging Zhang Ruochen to marry her soon and fulfill their marriage contract.
Zhang Ruochen did not want to marry her, but the sundial was already activated. Clearly, the most important thing now was to improve his cultivation. If he stopped the sundial midway to marry her, how would he explain it to the Underworld King, Fengchen Sword God, Yan Yu, and the others who were still cultivating?
After several arguments, Luo Sha gave up on the idea of an immediate marriage, but she insisted on cultivating together with Zhang Ruochen.
A man and a woman alone in a divine hall—was that really about cultivating with a calm mind?
After being rejected again by Zhang Ruochen, Luo Sha simply stood guard outside the Seven Star Imperial Palace. She appeared to be cultivating there, but her actions were extremely extreme.
Bore, Bai Qinger, Yan Zhexian, and even Guye Huanhuan, who had a good relationship with Luo Sha, all had to get past her first if they wanted to enter the Seven Star Imperial Palace to see Zhang Ruochen.
Every time, a fight was unavoidable.
Clearly, when the time spent in secluded cultivation far exceeds a cultivator's previous age and experience, it can cause drastic changes in their emotions, temperament, and thinking.
This was a sign of impending Qi Deviation!
Those in slightly better condition were only the older ones like A Ji, the Underworld King, Yan Yu, and Bai Qinger. Although Xiao Hei was the oldest, he had been sealed within scroll worlds for most of his time.
"They can't keep cultivating any longer!"
Zhang Ruochen put away the sundial and took the group, who were experiencing mental issues, to visit the Drunkard.
At the Weiming Mountain Villa.
The Drunkard was teaching two big white geese a fist technique in the garden.
He was in a horse stance, throwing punches like raindrops, without using any spiritual power or divine Qi. As he punched, he explained the intricacies to Goose One and Goose Two.
It was worth mentioning that the two big white geese had entered the area covered by the sundial many times to cultivate, and their cultivation had now reached the Great Saint Infinite Realm.
The reason their cultivation speed was so slow was that the Drunkard had been holding them back.
He insisted they must cultivate each realm to its most extreme limit before they could break through.
Originally just two ordinary poultry, under the Drunkard's various secret methods, they were almost transforming into two White-Winged Roc. They were bathed in the blood of Roc, tempered with the soul essence of divine dragons, and even fed some divine medicine leaves.
Now, Goose One and Goose Two had cultivated a humanoid divine body, with necks like dragons, goose heads only the size of fists, and backs adorned with wings shimmering with fiery divine glow.
They both had the potential to become Eon-level representatives.
To cultivate an Eon-level representative was as difficult as ascending to heaven, and even a figure like the Drunkard found it hard. Of course, the main reason was the innate deficiency of Goose One and Goose Two.
In fact, behind almost every Eon-level representative was a vast power, nurtured by transcendent-level experts, or they had encountered incredible opportunities themselves.
If Eon-level representatives were so hard to achieve, Eon-level geniuses were even rarer and harder to find.
Seeing Goose One and Goose Two, Zhang Ruochen's state of mind subtly shifted. He finally understood a bit of what he had looked like in the eyes of gods when he was still a Great Saint.
Absolutely insignificant.
Before cultivating a First-Rank Sacred Intent, most gods probably wouldn't even bother to look at him.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen, the Drunkard immediately withdrew his fists and laughed heartily, "Where is Niu Jianqiang? Let him out and have a spar with my two unworthy guardian sacred beasts. Let's see if he can still win this time!"
Goose One and Goose Two looked uncomfortable, feeling bitter inside. They knew that until they defeated Niu Jianqiang or stepped into the divine realm, the Drunkard would not acknowledge them as his disciples.
"Let's not rush that. This junior came today to seek advice on an important matter."
Zhang Ruochen then recounted the group's situation, hoping to find a solution from the Drunkard.
"I thought it was something major!"
The Drunkard said, "Unstable state of mind and emotional fluctuations after long-term seclusion are normal. I have two methods: one slow, one fast!"
Zhang Ruochen asked, "What are the slow and fast methods?"
"The slow method is actually to just ignore them. With their spiritual will and mental cultivation, they can recover on their own given more time."
"And the fast method?"
The Drunkard looked at Zhang Ruochen with a grin, "You have the Sixth Patriarch's Bodhi Tree and Bright Mirror Platform on you, right?"
Zhang Ruochen knew he couldn't hide it from him and nodded.
At the same time, he understood what to do.
The Bodhi Tree was a divine tree of Buddhism.
The Bright Mirror Platform was condensed from the Sixth Patriarch's Sarira, a Buddhist divine artifact.
Both the Buddhist divine tree and the Buddhist divine artifact were supreme treasures for clearing the mind and calming the spirit, naturally able to help the group emerge from their pre-Qi Deviation state.
The Drunkard's expression turned extremely serious as he warned, "Although the Bodhi Tree and Bright Mirror Platform can help you restore your state of mind and emotions, remember that cultivation is a gradual process. Do not go into seclusion again in the short term. Go out and see the world. Your horizons are still far too narrow!"
"This junior understands."
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to leave, he stopped, as if recalling something that puzzled him, and said, "This junior has one more matter to ask!"
The Drunkard showed a very impatient expression and urged, "If you have something to say, say it. If you have something to let out, let it out."
Zhang Ruochen neither spoke nor let anything out. Instead, he released his Taiji circle, maintaining it at a radius of eighteen zhang.
On the Taiji circle, countless fine rules flowed.
Zhang Ruochen moved his hands according to a mysterious pattern, and the rules flowing on the circle dispersed, evenly distributing within the circle.
The distribution of rules was clearly demarcated.
Darkness rules, death rules, killing rules, water Dao rules... and other yin-attribute rules gathered together.
Light rules, life rules, fire Dao rules... and other yang-attribute rules gathered together. The two did not merge; yin and yang repelled each other.
In addition, there were some rules without yin or yang attributes, chaotically shuttling within the Taiji circle.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen could not maintain this state of yin-yang rotation. The stability was broken, and after a violent tremor, all the rules converged back onto the circle.
The Drunkard's eyes narrowed sharply, a strange light flickering in his pupils. It was clear he was somewhat surprised. "How many types of rules have you inscribed?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "I have inscribed rules from the Nine Eternal Dao and the Seventy-Two Supreme Sacred Daos, all learned from heaven and earth. As for the Three Thousand Great Daos and the Hundred Thousand Lesser Daos, I haven't had time to study them all. In total, I've inscribed over ten thousand types of rules."
"Oh, and I've also inscribed some rules from the various heavenly daos created by the Ten Clans of Hell. But those are only superficial understandings; I haven't studied them seriously."
The Drunkard said coldly, "You've done quite a bit in these ten thousand years. It's a miracle you haven't exploded and died."
Zhang Ruochen gave an awkward smile, knowing it wasn't a miracle but because he had refined too many treasures into his body, combined with the inclusiveness of the Wuji Dao, that he was still alive.
Zhang Ruochen said, "This junior understands that the next transformation of the Wuji Dao should be related to the separation of yin and yang at the beginning of heaven and earth. But yin and yang clash—how can balance be achieved?"
"And some daos have no yin or yang attributes—how can they be unified into yin and yang?"
The Drunkard said, "All daos in the world are derived from yin and yang, so naturally, they all have yin and yang attributes. Take time and space, for example. They seem to have no attributes, but in reality, time is yin and space is yang—one soft, one hard."
"You can't see their attributes only because your realm is not high enough and your understanding is not deep enough."
Zhang Ruochen listened attentively.
The Drunkard continued, "Actually, you shouldn't be asking me. The path you walk is quite similar to the Daoist lineage. You should go to the Daoist sect to learn, to apprentice yourself to a Daoist master. That is the key to your breakthrough!"
Zhang Ruochen understood. He had been too eager for quick results, thinking that by asking the Drunkard, a few words of advice would allow him to break through instantly.
In reality, there was still much he needed to learn.
The Drunkard said, "The Daoist lineage originated from the *Luo Shu* of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization. After countless years of development, it reached its peak during the Taiji Dao of the Kunlun Realm and the Nüxi period of the Pangu Realm. Add to that the Five Elements Temple in the Heavenly Court, and there are only four true Daoist holy lands."