Therefore, Yan Zhaoge currently had a final trial that he needed to conquer, that being a supreme martial art of the Grand Clear lineage.
The legacy of the Grand Clear lineage was different from that of the Jade Clear and Prime Clear lineages.
While there were also the Five Cosmos Grand Manifestations and other direct lineage martial arts of the Grand Clear lineage as recorded in the Daodejing, at the root of things, ninety percent of Daoist martial arts currently widespread beneath the heavens ultimately originated from the Daodejing.
Therefore, when Yan Zhaoge had Transcended Mortality and achieved Sainthood, he had been able to rely on numerous martial arts to project the virtue and merit from the Lord of the Dao and Virtue having spread the great dao, thus simultaneously walking the path of the Three Purities as Sainthood instantly descended.
In theory, he could still use a similar method now.
It was just that he would have to merge many more martial arts to reverse the flow and make such a projection.
This would not be difficult for he who had been inside the Martial Repository of the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace in pre-Great Calamity times.
However, such a method would not be perfect enough, leaving an unstable foundation which would render Yan Zhaoge’s martial path increasingly difficult to traverse in the future.
Ever since ancient times, it had not just been Yan Zhaoge who desired to simultaneously cultivate in the Three Purities, achieving boundless supremacy.
There had been many heaven-defying geniuses and bigwigs amongst them, but there had ultimately been none who had succeeded.
It was fine using such a subtle method during his first trial as he Transcended Mortality and entered Sainthood.
Still, now that he was attempting to surpass his second bottleneck, refining his acupoints to achieve Divinity, it would be best for him to avoid using such a method again as much as possible.
While direct lineage martial arts of the Grand Clear lineage were hard to obtain, Yan Zhaoge was not completely helpless in truth.
There were two backup methods that he could try.
The first lay with the Southeastern Exalt, Cao Jie.
Golden Court Mountain’s lineage originated from the Purple Tenuity Emperor, their Numerous Heavens Orthodox Arts precisely being from the Daodejing and the Grand Clear direct lineage.
His current relationship with Golden Court Mountain was not bad. If he went over requesting tutelage, the Southeastern Exalt would likely not reject him straight out.
Of course, he would probably just give him some simple pointers at most.
If Yan Zhaoge did not enter Golden Court Mountain’s lineage as his disciple, it would really be impossible for him to receive his legacy for real just like this.
Still, Yan Zhaoge naturally had a way around this.
Apart from his skill in the sword dao, the Southeastern Exalt Cao Jie was similarly renowned in the World beyond Worlds for his attainments in alchemy.
Even the Eastern Exalt who cultivated in the Longevity Martial Scripture of the legacy of the Southern Extermity Longevity Emperor and was renowned throughout the heavens for his skill in alchemy dared not claim for sure that he was definitely superior in alchemy to Cao Jie who primarily cultivated in the sword.
That Cao Jie was enamoured with pill concoction was something known by the entire world.
Yan Zhaoge dared say that he possessed some remnant pill formulas from pre-Great Calamity times that Cao Jie would be interested in.
Numerous wondrous pill formulas had already been lost in the current era. Any single one of them would be sufficient for Yan Zhaoge to use as a bargaining chip.
For the second method, Yan Zhaoge’s target was the lineage of the Brocade Emperor, located at Kunlun Mountain’s Ingenious Flying Peak’s Red Lotus Cliff.
Strictly speaking, the Brocade Emperor was of the more orthodox direct lineage of the Grand Clear lineage than Cao Jie whose lineage descended from the legacy of the Purple Tenuity Emperor.
While he had competed with Fu Ting over the Profound Sky Purple Gold Furnace previously, their relationship had still been relatively harmonious.
As long as they did not find out that the Profound Sky Purple Gold Furnace had actually ultimately fallen into his hands, many things would then be considerable for negotiation.
Wanting to get a free supreme martial art from Fu Ting would clearly be impossible. Yan Zhaoge needed some sort of bargaining chip in exchange for this.
This could be the pill formula of some efficacious pill or a martial art that Yan Zhaoge grasped.
While the Brocade Emperor’s lineage cultivated in the direct lineage martial arts of the Grand Clear lineage which was already a peak legacy of Daoism, they might still hope for other supreme martial arts of a similar level.
Yan Zhaoge could try both these paths. However, he was not fully confident of success for both of them. Also, this would leave behind some hidden worries for him, especially in the second method.
At the same time, whichever method Yan Zhaoge chose, he would also have to pay a price for it.
There is no free meal in this world. This was a very natural thing.
Still, as someone whose zodiac was the Pixiu as he was insatiably greedy and would only accept things coming in and not out, Yan Zhaoge would certainly prefer swindling the stuff out for free.
Without outside assistance, he could still have abundant clothes, sufficient meals.
Therefore, Yan Zhaoge was currently working hard in this area.
He grasped yin and yang in his hands and circulated his aura, gradually manifesting the phenomenon of Taiji, the Grand Ultimate.
Within Yan Zhaoge’s mind unceasingly flickered the appearance of the Taiji Yin Yang Palm as executed by Fu Ting when he had been clashing with her.
Back then, Yan Zhaoge had relied on his miraculous cultivation base of the merged three Purities, using his foundation of the Peerless Heavenly Scripture and the Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture and successfully imitating a similar Taiji Yin Yang palm as he had completely owned Fu Ting who had been trying to probe out his foundations.
While he had managed to swindle Fu Ting and the other Ingenious Flying Peak martial practitioners, Yan Zhaoge himself was well aware of the fact that that had not been the true Taiji Yin Yang Palm.
Still, this experience had provided Yan Zhaoge with an opportunity.
He was thus able to try to project the Taiji Yin Yang Palm on his own.
Logically speaking, this was actually very inconceivable even for Yan Zhaoge who possessed a foundation of the merged three Purities.
At the end of the day, the Taiji Yin Yang Palm was a most orthodox supreme martial art of the Grand Clear lineage as recorded in the Daodejing. How could it even be so easily discerned and reproduced by outsiders?
Though Yan Zhaoge had the Peerless Heavenly Scripture and a fragmented version of the Aeon Light Heavenly Scripture, it would be hard indeed if he wanted to project and wholly reproduce the latter.
During his recent cultivation sessions, however, Yan Zhaoge had gradually come to discover a unique aspect about himself.
He had an exceptionally acute intuition towards supreme martial arts of the Grand Clear lineage.
Whether in the Eight Extremities World, World beyond Worlds or elsewhere previously, having never directly faced off against martial arts of the Grand Clear direct lineage, he had not had a chance to discover this.
Yet, after clashing with Fu Ting, Yan Zhaoge had gradually come to realise this abnormal feature.
He had still yet to properly get his head around this.
While he possessed doubts regarding this, at the current moment, this ability that seemed like a special innate talent was inevitably like a godsend for him.
Of course, even with that, analysing the Taiji Yin Yang Palm was still an extremely difficult task.
Even if he succeeded, it would not be the true direct lineage Taiji Yin Yang Palm like Fu Ting’s.
Instead, it would be Yan Zhaoge’s very own Taiji Yin Yang Palm which would be lacking somewhat in terms of foundation as compared to the actual, real Five Cosmos Grand Manifestations.
Still, it was already enough for the current Yan Zhaoge as he sought to break through this bottleneck.
Yan Zhaoge’e expression was calm as he gradually pushed his hands horizontally forward, the Taiji diagram between his palms rotating at an increasingly slower pace as the power contained within instead became increasingly stronger.
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 860: Are you kidding me?
HSSB860: Are you kidding me?
Yan Zhaoge secretly circulated the Peerless Heavenly Scripture within his body as it was filled with the emptiness and nonexistence of the chaos of peerless infinity.
Atop this foundation, Yan Zhaoge felt that he seemed already to have comprehended some of the profundities of the head of the Five Cosmos Grand Manifestations, Grand Simplicity.
It was just that whether it was the Peerless Heavenly Scripture or the art of Grand Simplicity, both were too profound and abstruse as they were unspeakable and inestimable.
It was as though just thinking about it, his mind had already strayed off the right trajectory with a deviation occurring as he was hard pressed to further comprehend its true intent.
Still, Yan Zhaoge was not in a rush regarding this. He had analysed the art of Grand Simplicity simply as his basis for his further analysis of Taiji, Grand Ultimate of the Five Cosmos Grand Manifestations.
In the construction of a tall building, understanding the nature of its foundation would make things much simpler, achieving more work with less effort.
The Taiji diagram gradually slowed in its rotation till eventually it fell still.
Right when the cohabiting fishes of yin and yang no longer rotated, the originally still surroundings suddenly tremored.
It was as if the interior of this secluded room was going to be torn away from the rest of the World beyond Worlds.
The next moment, the Taiji diagram began rotating once more as all things in the surroundings, be they tangible or without form, visible or unseen, began to show signs of collapsing.
All things returned to their origin, transforming into the pure, primordial qis of yin and yang before plunging into the Taiji diagram.
The power of that Taiji diagram flourished.
Yan Zhaoge watched all of this quietly, his face totally devoid of sorrow or joy.
He had already gradually come to discern some principles as he understood how he should convert the profundities and essence of the Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture into the Taiji Yin Yang Palm.
There was still a long way to go with this.
It was just that Yan Zhaoge had undisputedly already started it off well.
Meanwhile, the hardest part about projecting and analysing martial arts was actually the beginning.
Comprehending the dao was most difficult at the beginning. It was after having stepped through the initial doorway that one was qualified to continue walking down that path.
One might even say that a good beginning was already equivalent to having succeeded in it halfway.
Having surpassed this trial, even as Yan Zhaoge was filled with infinite joy, he also felt even more flummoxed.
At the present time, Yan Zhaoge could already confirm in no uncertain terms that he possessed supreme talent and comprehension that far surpassed the norm in the martial dao.
Having reached this stage, apart from the various external factors, his own outstanding abilities would also have been extremely important.
While he liked self-praise, liked to show off and liked to be in the limelight, fairly speaking, Yan Zhaoge was indeed figuratively born for this.
It was just that previously, Yan Zhaoge had not leaned especially towards any kind of martial art.
Yan Zhaoge’s differing progress in different martial arts of the same level depended more on his levels of interest in them and whether he had invested more effort in them.
There were some people in this world who were exceptionally suited to some martial art as they progressed in leaps and bounds when cultivating in them.
Yet, this had not seemed to apply to Yan Zhaoge.
It could be said that Yan Zhaoge ‘loved all martial arts equally’, viewing them no differently from one another.
Whether he had been cultivating in the Jade Clear lineage’s Primordial Heavenly Scripture or the Prime Clear lineage’s Immortal Exterminating Four Swords, as he saw it, there was not much of a difference between them.
Yet, Yan Zhaoge felt that his progress when cultivating in this supreme martial art of the Prime Clear lineage was exceptionally smooth as he was exceptionally adept in picking it up.
“Are you kidding me? This bro started cultivating with the Peerless Heavenly Scripture and has now completed three of the Primordial Heavenly Scriptures and one of the Immortal Exterminating Four Swords. This is how I’ve been cultivating all these years, and now you tell me that I am actually most suited to cultivating in the martial arts of the Grand Clear lineage?”
Yan Zhaoge did not know whether to laugh or to cry, “And it just happened that amongst the martial scriptures in the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace that year, there were four Primordial Heavenly Scriptures, one Immortal Ending Sword Manual and yet just no supreme direct lineage martial art of the Grand Clear lineage at all?”
If this was a coincidence, it was really much too coincidental.
Yan Zhaoge was not someone who really believed in coincidences, especially when this coincidence seemed so strange.
Still, with no clues to follow up on at this moment, he could only set the matter aside for the moment and bury these doubts deep within his heart.
The pressing matters on hand were what truly demanded his attention and efforts now.
Slowly ceasing in his circulation, dissipating the Taiji diagram and the twin qis of yin and yang, Yan Zhaoge stood up, walking out of the secluded room.
“Projecting the Taiji Yin Yang Palm is not something that can be accomplished in just a day or two. Even I would need a very long time to analyse and reproduce it.”
Yan Zhaoge pondered, “Time waits for no man. If I have not calculated wrongly, there are still at least three to five years before Kang Ping’s gang leaves the deep sea of the Clear Scenic Region.”
As he thought about this, he went to see his father Yan Di.
His father was not busy cultivating over this period of time as he was instead handling some internal matters of the sect and making some arrangements.
Broad Creed Mountain could already be considered as having established their headquarters in the Spirit Inheritance Region of the World beyond Worlds now.
Aside from Yan Di and Yuan Zhengfeng who had ascended, there was also a number of them who had come to the World beyond Worlds through the Heaven Connecting Jade given by Yan Zhaoge, such as Fang Zhun, Fu Enshu, Ying Longtu and Sikong Qing.
While they still lacked manpower now, the basic framework of the sect had already been established as it was already able to maintain its daily operations.
It was just that they had still yet to officially open and accept disciples, this having been temporarily postponed.
King Xuancheng’s return to the Royal Reed Sea had caused the hearts of the people here to become unsettled once more.
Broad Creed Mountain still had to tide through this battle before it could completely stand stably in the World beyond Worlds for good.
If they won, not only would they have stabilised their position, they would even have raised their reputation in the Royal Reed Sea and the entire southeastern Yang Heaven Territory by extension.
They would even have surpassed the Grand Xuan Dynasty, becoming the new monarch of the Royal Reed Sea as they occupied the primary position there.
It would be the best time to officially open the Mountain and begin recruitment then.
Before that happened, Broad Creed
Mountain needed to unceasingly build up and increase their strength in preparation for the challenge they were soon to meet and their rise to prominence thereafter.
After seeing Yan Di, Yan Zhaoge said in a heavy tone, “Father, I am going to be in the Vast Ocean World for the next few years.”
Yan Di knew the tune just from hearing the chord, “How long will you need?”
The cultivation environment of the Vast Ocean World was definitely more ideal for human martial practitioners than the likes of the Flame Devil World and the Floating Life World, though it was more or less the same as in the Eight Extremities World.
Still, it was far from comparable to the World beyond Worlds in terms of abundance of spiritual qi.
There was only one reason for Yan Zhaoge wanting to go to the Vast Ocean World, and that was the faster flow of time there.
As one year passed in the World beyond Worlds, two years would have passed in the Vast Ocean World.
Yan Zhaoge already had sufficient resource accumulation as it was actually not difficult for him to advance further now.
If not for pursuing the path of simultaneous cultivation in the Three Purities, Yan Zhaoge would be able to attempt a breakthrough into the Seeing Divinity Martial Saint realm very soon.
Walking on his current path, what restricted him now was not his environment or resources, instead being his comprehension of martial principles.
He would need time to analyse and project the Taiji Yin Yang Palm.
Under this precondition, he was actually more suited to cultivate in the Vast Ocean World than in the World beyond Worlds.
Yan Zhaoge nodded, directly saying candidly, “After battling the Brocade Emperor’s daughter, Fu Ting, I want to attempt relying on our Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture to project and reproduce their Taiji Yin Yang Palm.”
Knowing the martial path which Yan Zhaoge walked, Yan Di was not opposed to it.
Hearing Yan Zhaoge’s words now, he pondered for a moment, “You will go alone?”
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 861: Yan Zhaoge enters seclusion
History's Strongest Senior Brother c1-1474 Page 472