Chapter 114: The Ninth Rank of Dao Realm

  "This sword, it's actually been nurtured by you to this extent, and it wasn't in vain that I fought against the Heavenly River Star Sand!" Mo Xiu held Kong Zhuo's short sword in his hand, his fingers gently stroking it as if he were caressing a precious treasure, with an unusual glow flashing in his eyes.

  "Tianhe Star Sand?!" Kong Zhuo listened with a bitter smile, "Master, when you have time, please return that Tianhe Star Sand. If not, tell me where to find it and I'll help you return it!"

  Mo Xing suddenly opened his eyes and slightly widened them in surprise, "He asked you for it?"

  "It's not that I don't want to, but you owe someone something and when I'm in front of him, I always feel like I've done something wrong, it's really frustrating!"

  "This son of a bitch!" Mo Xiu muttered under his breath, but it seemed like he felt that he owed someone something for so long without paying back, and it was hard to say anything about it. "I'll talk to him and tell him not to use this matter to pressure you, even if he pressures you, don't mind him!"

  As he spoke, Mo Xiu handed the sword back to Kong Zhuo, changing the subject, "Hmmm, you're not bad, but after just a few years of practice, you've already entered the realm of Tao, stronger than I was at your age!"

  "Master is overpraising!" Kong Zhuo smiled wryly, his master was becoming more and more unpredictable. With his own strength entering the Dao realm, he could see the depth of even Ling Jia Shangren and Li Yuanhua, two top-level masters, but his own master remained as mysterious as ever. He couldn't gauge his master's strength at all, yet his master had seen through his own abilities with just one glance.

  The excitement he had originally thought of showing off in front of his master was all gone.

  It seemed that Kong Zhuan's slightly disappointed mood had been seen through. Mo Xiuyi smiled wryly, "Do you think that once your cultivation reaches the Dao realm, you'll be invincible?"

  "I dare not!"

  "It's been years. You've learned a lot about etiquette!" Mo Xiu raised an eyebrow, looking at Kong Zhuo's respectful demeanor.

  Kong Zhan saw him frowning, knowing he was unhappy, and bitterly smiled, "In these few years without Master by my side, I, this disciple, can only tuck my tail and be a man, how can I not understand the rules?"

  "Hey, you little scamp!" Mo Xiu couldn't help but chuckle as Kong Zhuo retorted. "Alright, stop showing off your eloquence here. I know you've grasped the essence of the land's energy and aura, but I didn't expect your cultivation to have advanced so rapidly - this is quite troublesome indeed!"

  Mo Xiu's words were somewhat unclear, and Kong Zhuo listened to them with a confused expression. What "divided the Central Plains' fortune" and what "trouble"?

  "This matter is quite mysterious when mentioned!" Mo Xiu saw Kong Zhuan's confused expression and smiled slightly, "This matter is indeed mysterious. The Tianji Pavilion has been suppressing the middle earth's aura for exactly 30,000 years, who would have thought that an error would occur at this time? Even more strange is that the escaped aura actually benefited you, so your experiences over the past few years have been so numerous and your strength has increased so quickly!"

  Kong Rong's heart skipped a beat.

  He always thought his luck was not bad. Not just not bad, but ridiculously good. However, he himself had never paid attention to it. Luck is something that can't be seen or touched, perhaps because of his own good character, that's why his luck is so good, who knows in the master's mouth, there would be another interpretation, another meaning.

  What is Tianji Pavilion? A sect? Why have I never heard of it before?

  Suppressing the Zhongtu air transport for 30,000 years? Isn't this saying that the Tianji Pavilion is much older than our Luofu's history? A sect with a history of 30,000 years, just listening to it makes people feel chilled.

  "Tianji Pavilion is a hidden sect, they themselves are also responsible for suppressing the middle earth's energy, so they rarely walk in the mortal world, and not many people know about them. This time they made a mistake, you can be considered a beneficiary, but precisely because of this, I have a headache!" Mo Xiu said.

  "This, Master's words, disciple listened to some not very clear!" Kong Zhan said.

  "You have taken one-thousandth of the entire Middle-earth's luck, your fortune is too great! Fortune and disaster are interdependent, balance is one of the most basic rules in this world. The greater the fortune, the more terrifying the future disaster will be!"

  "Trouble?!" As soon as he heard this, Kong Zhuan's face changed color. This little guy originally didn't have too much ambition, and at first, he cultivated because Mo Xiu had saved him from Luo Fu. Afterwards, his biggest goal in life was to cultivate for longevity. Now it was clear that the purpose of longevity had already been achieved, and his cultivation had reached the realm of the Tao. Not to mention living as long as the sun and moon, even living a thousand or eight hundred years would be easy. So he was already very satisfied. Of course, if he could get Fang Yue'er in his hands and have a dual cultivation with a beauty, that would be an even better choice. And he was working towards this goal right now. Suddenly hearing that there might be trouble in the future scared him.

  One's luck is hard to appreciate when it's bad, but thinking back now, my fortune compared to an average cultivator is unknown how many times stronger. This future calamity, I'm afraid will also...

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel a slight chill in my heart. As I raised my eyes, they met Mo Xiu's gentle gaze. "Uh, Master, if I'm lucky and also suffer misfortune at the same time, I wonder if it can offset some future calamity?"

  "You're clever!" Mo Xiu smiled, "Of course it can be, fortune and disaster are interdependent, it can also be understood this way!"

  As soon as he said this, Kong Zhuan relaxed a bit, and indeed, in the past few years, he had gained great benefits. However, these benefits were earned at the cost of his life. In the Earth's Core Magma, he was almost burned to death, but managed to obtain the Small Achievement of the Sun Crystal Golden Body Technique. The Sword Chart of Exterminating Immortals allowed his cultivation to enter the Dao Realm, but that terrifying sword intent nearly destroyed all traces of his existence in this world. Thinking about it, perhaps it could be considered a fair exchange for the benefits he had gained?

  After this calculation, one's own future misfortune may not be so great after all...

  "What's on your mind?" Mo Xiu asked with a hint of curiosity, noticing Kong Zhuo's strange smile.

  "The disciple is thinking about what the master said earlier, good fortune and bad luck are interdependent. Every time I have good luck, I always encounter great difficulties beforehand. In that case, this good fortune has already been offset!"

  "This matter involves too many deep-seated rules, no one can be sure! Mo Xiu also looked a bit headache, "However, you must pay attention to your actions from now on, don't be too showy, and don't take advantage of small benefits, this little rascal, has been taking advantage of small benefits since childhood, this habit must be changed!"

  "Yes!" Kong Zhuo nodded slightly, looking somewhat depressed.

  At this time, the fire on the grill was already very strong, and the rabbit meat had been roasted to a tempting golden yellow color. The golden oil dripped drop by drop onto the grill, making a "sizzling" sound, and the aroma wafted everywhere.

  "Master, have one!" He tore off a hind leg and handed it to Mo Xiu. "Always drinking on an empty stomach is bad for your health!"

  "Just eat, don't drink. Don't you think something's missing?" Mo Xiu smiled and took over, having full confidence in his good-eating brother's craftsmanship.

  "This wine doesn't suit me!" Kong Zhan said with a smile, his expression becoming more eager.

  "Master, it's been years since you left. Not even a letter from you, and I'm all alone in Luofu, cultivating. I've had several close calls with walking fire entering my mind, if not for good luck, who knows if I would have ever seen you again!"

  "I never thought you'd amount to much!" Mo Xiu was quite unimpressed with Kong Zhuan's appearance. "You little brat, you've always been lazy and gluttonous, afraid of death. I suppose your goal in cultivating is just to live a long life, as long as your true yuan is thick and you don't make any mistakes, living for a few hundred years shouldn't be a problem. As the orthodox school of Luo Fu, our innate purple qi is most suitable for longevity, so all you need to do is carefully cultivate the breathing technique I taught you, and everything else is secondary. Who would have thought that you'd end up having such encounters and fate in the future?"

  "That's true!" Kong Zhuo nodded in agreement, "Actually, I didn't think that much about it either, but now, it seems like I've fallen into cultivation!"

  "The stronger the power, the deeper the feeling of power, and the greater the thirst for power!" Mo Xiu said calmly, which was not surprising to Kong Yan's current state of mind. In his early years, he had also gone through this, "The important thing is that you can't sink your thoughts completely into the pursuit of power. Having a pursuit is good, but if you attach too much importance to it, then it becomes an obsession!"

  At this point, Mo Xiu's gaze was fixed on Kong Yan, and he carefully measured him up and down again. You are only in your twenties, yet you have already entered the Dao realm. Such speed, not to mention in the cultivation world of Zhongtu, but even in those places, it has not appeared in nearly ten thousand years. Furthermore, with the aura of seeking the Central Plains, you can be considered a freak!

  He sighed lightly at this point, "A freak, this thing, but it's not necessarily a good thing. If said badly, it will be extremely troublesome!"

  "Master's words are too profound, I don't quite understand!"

  "Don't you understand?!" Mo Xiu laughed, "Your current strength has reached the Dao realm. If I were to send your strength back to the Hua Shen period and guarantee that you can live for at least three thousand years, would you do it?"

  "Of course not!" Kong Zhuo didn't even think about it and blurted out, then his facial expression froze, stuck there.

  "Right, of course not!" Mo Xiu's smile grew even more intense. "After experiencing the benefits that power brings, one becomes deeply entrenched in it, only thinking about taking another step forward, increasing their strength a little more. If their strength were to decline, however, it would be a hundred times more unbearable than death itself. In the end, you and I are both just ordinary people!"

  Kong Zhan's face revealed a sweaty complexion, as if, unknowingly, his life goals had undergone a huge transformation. However, he hadn't realized it himself, and if not for Mo Xiu's reminder earlier, he might have continued to deceive himself into thinking that his cultivation was just for longevity. Now that he thought about it, it was actually quite laughable.

  Mo Xiu saw Kong Zhuo standing there, looking thoughtful, with a deeper smile on his face. He now had great confidence in the understanding of this disciple.

  "How about it? Think carefully again. What is the purpose of your current cultivation? Is it possible that you have already developed an interest in the legendary Heavenly Dao?"

  "The Way of the Heavenly God!" Kong Zhuo's eyes lit up, and a cold gleam flashed, but soon dimmed. "Disciple is terrified, although his cultivation has barely entered the realm of the Way, he is still clueless about the legendary Way of the Heavenly God. However, disciple is indeed quite interested in this Way of the Heavenly God now!"

  In front of Mo Xiu, Kong Yan didn't have so many scruples and directly said the little wild idea hidden deep in his heart.

  "Are you referring to the Way of the Heavenly Gods?" Mo Xiu's mouth corners slightly curled up, his chin stubble twitching twice, as if he had heard something extremely amusing. "You've really developed an interest in this thing? You think that just because you've entered the realm of the Way, you have the qualifications to meddle with the Way of the Heavenly Gods? You're only just stepping into the threshold of the realm of the Way, and this thing is still a bit too early for you!"

  "Really?" Kong Zhan was slightly surprised. "Isn't it said that only after entering the Dao realm, one has the qualification to comprehend the Heavenly Dao?"

  "The Nine Ranks of Taoist Realm, each rank is further divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower. You have only just stepped into the lower level of the first rank, how can you possibly comprehend the Way of Heaven?"

  "What's this 'Nine Grades of Dao Realm'?! Kong Zuo had never heard of such a term, "This disciple has never heard of it either!"

  "You certainly haven't heard of this local cultivation sect, which is connected to the Demon Gate and the Three Religions. Only a dozen or so people have entered the Dao realm, and half of them don't even know about it, so how would you know?"

  Kong Yan was calm and didn't dwell on the question, but instead asked with some curiosity, "Since the Tao realm is divided into nine grades, I am first grade, so Master, what grade are you?"

  "Nine ranks up!" Mo Xiu lightly spat out three words, "To advance to the ninth rank, you barely have the qualifications to comprehend some of the fleeting and unpredictable heavenly ways. You're far too inferior, so don't think about it too much!!!"