Zhang Fan walked to the end of the hall and stood before a nine-zhang tall stone statue. The statue clearly depicted a middle-aged man with a handsome face and chiseled features, clad in a white stone robe. A rhombus-shaped black mark resided between his brows, resembling a black hole that seemed to possess the power to devour all.
Even as a mere stone statue, it exuded an aura of transcendence, as if it were the center of the entire world.
Zhang Fan gazed up at the statue, feeling the profound dao resonance emanating from it. A sense of familiarity washed over him, distant memories resurfacing in his mind. His gaze turned distant as he murmured, "A master of the Path of Darkness has also fallen. I wonder what he went through?"
Luo Xiaoxiao also approached, her gaze fixed on the statue. The rules of the Path of Darkness within her stirred, yearning to break free.
The dao rules she had cultivated seemed to be subtly escaping her control, filling Luo Xiaoxiao with astonishment.
"Do you want to try?" Zhang Fan asked, glancing at Luo Xiaoxiao with a slight smile.
"They say this is the statue of the founder of the Great Luo Realm. For hundreds of thousands of years, only a handful of individuals have been able to resonate with its dao and enter its internal space, but none have fully comprehended it. I want to try," Luo Xiaoxiao replied.
"Indeed," Zhang Fan nodded. "As far as I know, he also primarily cultivated the Path of Darkness. You are born with the Dark God Body, making you very suitable for this."
"Does Master want to try as well?" Luo Xiaoxiao asked curiously.
Although Zhang Fan was only at the Nascent Soul stage, Luo Xiaoxiao believed that nothing could be impossible for her master.
Zhang Fan pondered for a moment before speaking, "While it holds no intrinsic meaning for me, I am genuinely curious. What did this former lord of the Great Luo Realm truly desire? Was it merely to find a successor and pass on his dao?"
Luo Xiaoxiao had not considered such profound questions. Her aim in coming to the Great Luo Realm was to acquire cultivation resources for rapid advancement. Reaching this point had far surpassed her expectations. Hearing her master's words, she could only shake her head in bewilderment.
Zhang Fan smiled. "These are indeed not issues you need to concern yourself with at this moment. You try first. Cultivators of the Path of Darkness are already scarce, and encountering one who mastered this path is even rarer. This is your serendipity."
Luo Xiaoxiao nodded and settled into a cross-legged position. The rules of the Path of Darkness churned within her golden Nascent Soul. As she circulated her cultivation technique, vast rules of the Path of Darkness surged outward, beginning to manifest her dao.
At this moment, all the cultivators in the hall had made their choices and were beginning to manifest their dao, hoping to resonate with the statue.
The dao cultivated by cultivators at the Spirit Transformation stage differed fundamentally from that of those at the Nascent Soul stage.
For a Nascent Soul cultivator to break through to the Spirit Transformation stage, they must merge their dao with their divine soul and continuously strengthen it. Once fully merged, their dao and the rules of the soul would coalesce into the Primordial Spirit.
After the Primordial Spirit successfully passed the Heavenly Tribulation of Spirit Transformation, it would become a truly immortal Primordial Spirit, marking the true entry into the Spirit Transformation stage.
Once a cultivator reached the Spirit Transformation stage, unburdened by the limitations of the Nascent Soul, they could more easily comprehend the laws of heaven and earth. The Primordial Spirit could also comprehend and cultivate various daos, thus removing the restriction of cultivating only a single dao.
However, most Nascent Soul cultivators, after entering the Spirit Transformation stage, would primarily focus on the dao through which they broke through, supplementing it with the comprehension of other daos. Only a very small number of exceptional cultivators dared to cultivate multiple daos simultaneously.
...
Vast rules of the Path of Darkness surged from Luo Xiaoxiao's body like rivers, permeating the surroundings. She concentrated her mind, and the rules of the Path of Darkness coalesced from dispersal into a massive sword of darkness, her manifested dao.
Wielding dao with the sword, its sharp edge lunged towards the black mark between the statue's brows, attempting to shatter it.
However, the black mark was like a black hole, seeming to devour all. Before Luo Xiaoxiao's sword of darkness could even approach, she felt a powerful force violently tearing at it. After a period of stalemate, Luo Xiaoxiao could no longer resist this force. The sword of darkness was ripped to shreds, dissolving into a sky full of rules of the Path of Darkness.
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of blood spewed forth. Luo Xiaoxiao's face turned deathly pale, and the usual starlight in her eyes dimmed, filled with dejection. She whispered, "I'm sorry, Master. I failed."
Zhang Fan shook his head. "The path of cultivation is never easy. If you give up after one failure, no matter how high your talent, you will achieve little."
"Look at them. In terms of talent, each of them is inferior to you, yet have you seen any of them give up?"
Luo Xiaoxiao turned and saw the other thirty-odd human cultivators sitting cross-legged before the statues, meticulously comprehending and constantly practicing. Even after failing multiple times and suffering backlash from their daos, their determined gazes remained unchanged.
"Do you know why they are all trying so hard?"
"Because they are all acutely aware that among countless Nascent Soul cultivators, over ninety-nine percent have no hope of reaching the Spirit Transformation stage. This might be the closest they will ever get to it in their lives, so they dare not give up, even if it costs them half their lives."
"Advance, and your Primordial Spirit becomes immortal, allowing you to roam freely across the myriad realms. Retreat, and without the chance to reach Spirit Transformation, you will ultimately wither away under the pressure of the Heavenly Tribulation."
"Do not look at Canglan Mingyue, who is considered the foremost among the younger generation in the Wu Shan Star Domain, basking in glory. His current strength is due to his countless efforts and the cultivation of his sect. Yet, facing the barrier of Spirit Transformation, he knows it remains incredibly difficult."
Luo Xiaoxiao was also an exceptionally intelligent individual. Her master's words gradually instilled a resolute fire in her previously dejected eyes. She once again sat cross-legged, condensing a massive sword of darkness. However, just as before, the condensed sword began to falter under the powerful tearing force of the black mark, appearing as if it could shatter at any moment.
Luo Xiaoxiao's small body trembled. Recalling her master's words, her resolve strengthened. From within her golden Nascent Soul, more rules of the Path of Darkness surged forth, converging onto the sword of darkness.
As the sword of darkness drew closer to the black mark, the tearing force intensified. Seeing that the time was ripe, Zhang Fan finally spoke, "The Path of Darkness is not merely about endless devouring and destruction. It can devour all, yet it can also embrace all. When light arrives, I shall recede..."
Hearing Zhang Fan's words, Luo Xiaoxiao, who had been struggling fiercely, seemed to gain an epiphany. The already precarious sword of darkness, under her control, transformed into a lotus of darkness. The dark lotus spun continuously, slowly approaching the black mark. The immense tearing force did not damage the dark lotus; instead, it accelerated its rotation, making its momentum even more formidable.
Boom!
The instant the dark lotus touched the black mark, it rapidly shrunk, transforming into a black silhouette that plunged into the mark.
"Success!"
Luo Xiaoxiao felt the internal space of the stone statue. She, too, transformed into a streak of light and flew into the statue.
The internal space of the statue was not what Luo Xiaoxiao had imagined. Upon entering, she was enveloped by intense light. Far in the distance, a figure seemed to beckon. Luo Xiaoxiao tried to channel her power to fly over but found that she had no trace of energy within her. In this space, she had reverted to being an ordinary person, so she could only walk forward, step by step.
The world, initially filled with light, gradually dimmed with each step Luo Xiaoxiao took. As she continued to advance, the entire world eventually became shrouded in darkness. Having experienced the transition from light to darkness, Luo Xiaoxiao finally arrived before the figure. She looked up at the towering form, which was identical to the statue. His face was handsome, but his smile was incredibly gentle, making one feel as if basking in the spring breeze.
...