Chapter 1038: Universal Heavenly Book Page Seven

The Universal Tome has a total of nine pages.

The first time Chen Mobai meditated on it, he saw the sixth page and comprehended the Void Doppelganger. However, at that time, he had only grasped the superficial aspects of the Void Doppelganger, learning how to use external objects as substitutes. In reality, the Void Doppelganger had many more wondrous applications.

This time, he fully comprehended the sixth page and even understood the seventh. Gazing at the mysterious patterns on the seventh page, Chen Mobai’s brows furrowed, and an indescribable tremor surged within him. The patterns on this page were composed of countless silver lines that constantly shifted as if alive, seemingly containing the most profound spatial laws of the universe. Each flicker expounded a profound truth.

Chen Mobai entered his deepest meditative state, focusing all his attention on the transformations of these silver lines. As time passed, he felt that all the secret spell techniques he cultivated related to the void were continuously improving. The Void Blade, Void Walk, Grand Void Shift, and even his domain, which had already reached its limit, were constantly expanding, evolving towards a Dharma Realm. This was true not only for techniques from the Immortal Sect but also for those from the Heavenly River Realm. The Void Lock and Void Illusion that he practiced also began to advance under the influence of the silver lines on the seventh page.

However, Chen Mobai paid no mind to these advancements, as his entire being was resonating with the lines on this page of the tome. Furthermore, not just this page, but the silver lines from the previous six pages also merged with it at this moment, transforming into a mysterious silver-grey gate. This gate seemed to represent the Grand Dao of the universal void!

Unconsciously, Chen Mobai’s Nascent Soul had emerged from his body and sat before this ethereal silver-grey gate, continuously undergoing the profound influence of the Grand Dao of the Void. At this moment, he was like those Spirit Transformation peak existences, attempting to step into the Grand Dao and receive its baptism.

The void is the foundation of all Grand Daos. At the dawn of creation, the first thing to be born and evolve was the void. Only with the void could all things exist. Even the original forty-nine Innate Grand Daos that emerged at the beginning of creation would, after the universe evolved, successively attach themselves to the void, let alone the other three thousand Grand Daos. It is precisely for this reason that the realm above Spirit Transformation is named "Void Refinement." This is because sensing the Grand Dao, attracting it, stepping into it, or even refining it, all require the void as a foundation. Once the void ceases to exist, all three thousand Grand Daos, except for the forty-nine Innate Grand Daos, would collapse.

As Chen Mobai thought of this, the World-Destroying Millstone in his mind suddenly lit up, and he had a sudden realization. If the Demonic Lord wished to destroy the world, then obliterating the void would be the quickest method. No wonder the Demonic Lord's objective upon emerging was the Purple Cloud Galaxy. The Gate of Grand Void, which opened up the void, was located there. As long as this supreme treasure that created the universe was destroyed, it would naturally be able to annihilate all living beings, all phenomena, and even those Dao Monarchs who had not merged with an Innate Grand Dao, bringing about the universe's ultimate demise.

Chen Mobai shivered at this thought. The birth and destruction of the universe hinged on this. It was at this moment that he realized how insignificant all beings were; no matter how many Spirit Transformation or even Void Refinement cultivators there were, they could not influence this matter. Only Dao Monarchs who had merged with a Grand Dao could participate. But since the Demonic Lord's last emergence was resolved by the central Dao field of the Purple Cloud Galaxy, it was clear that the hidden Pure Yang Great Powers in this universe did not wish for the apocalypse to arrive.

Chen Mobai sighed softly. He only hoped that this universe would still exist before he achieved mastery in his cultivation. Thinking of this, he seized this rare opportunity, using the Universal Tome to accept the profound influence and baptism of the Void Dao Marks.

His Nascent Soul began to form hand seals, practicing all the void secret techniques it knew. Even the Void Body Technique, which he had hardly practiced, and the incomprehensible Void Escape Art, were reviewed in his mind. As time progressed, Chen Mobai felt his consciousness increasingly harmonize with the silver-grey gate. From within the Universal Tome, wisps of silver-grey airflow seeped out at some unknown point, slowly merging into various parts of Chen Mobai's body.

After all the silver-grey airflow was absorbed, the Universal Tome suddenly closed on its own, and the gate that had been before Chen Mobai's Nascent Soul dissipated and vanished. Chen Mobai's consciousness, which had been in resonance, suddenly awakened at this moment.

He looked at the Universal Tome, which had returned to the table, and couldn't help but stand up and open it again. But as he prepared to turn to the seventh page, the Celestial Blessing suddenly gave a strong warning within him, indicating a life-threatening danger. Chen Mobai was startled and immediately stopped, closing the tome.

He sat back down on the futon in the pavilion, beginning to sense what gains this resonance with the seventh page of the Universal Tome had brought him. His cultivation realm had not changed; he was still at the ninth layer of Nascent Soul according to the Pure Yang Scroll. His spiritual consciousness was likewise unchanged, except that in his Sea of Consciousness, due to its continuous progress, small green phoenix saplings were now appearing and growing robustly, in addition to the materialized Jade Phoenix Tree at the center. These were all parts of Chen Mobai’s spiritual consciousness that had surpassed the Nascent Soul completion stage, sealed by him using this method.

After the Nascent Soul's spiritual consciousness, the most important aspect was his physical body. Chen Mobai clearly perceived that many mysterious silver-grey lines had burst forth from the pages of the Universal Tome, transforming into wisps of airflow that seeped into his body. After introspecting with his spiritual consciousness, Chen Mobai was astonished. His pseudo-Void Spirit Body, which had been formed by absorbing a large amount of Void-Refining Stone, underwent an astonishing transformation at this moment. Mysterious silver-grey spiritual patterns appeared in his bone marrow, and as his thoughts flowed, Chen Mobai felt that casting void spells became much more effortless.

He extended his right index finger, and a beam of bright silver light blade quickly condensed. This was the Void Blade. Previously, to cast it, Chen Mobai would first need to perceive the surrounding void power with the "Sound of the Empty Valley" technique, then use his spiritual consciousness to guide and absorb it, finally condensing it into form. Even after the light blade appeared, he would need to continuously restrain it with his True Qi and spiritual consciousness. It was precisely because of this that, although the Void Blade was a decent spell, Chen Mobai rarely used it, primarily reserving it for cultivators who employed Sky-Escape Talismans.

But now, with just a thought, the surrounding void power seemed to sense his intention and began to flock to his fingertip. Had Chen Mobai not noticed this in time and reined it in, the Void Blade forming at his fingertip might have grown dozens of meters long, capable of slicing open the entire pavilion. And once the Void Blade was formed, Chen Mobai no longer needed to control it with any True Qi or spiritual consciousness. Only when the words "disperse" flashed through his mind would the bright silver light blade at his fingertip scatter back into fundamental void energy.

Next, Chen Mobai practiced Void Walk and Grand Void Shift. The former was fine, similar to the Void Blade, requiring no prelude or effort; he could instantly teleport with just a thought. However, the change in Grand Void Shift astonished Chen Mobai. He perceived that he no longer needed the Void Doppelganger technique to cast it; it seemed he had completely comprehended and mastered this void spell. Chen Mobai tried it, and indeed, when shifting, the void no longer obstructed or even retaliated, naturally eliminating the need for a substitute.

Next, Chen Mobai experimented with the spells from the Four Scrolls of Grand Void. The power of Void Lock had increased nearly tenfold compared to before. Now, with a single thought, he could lock down all the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within the entire Northern Abyss City. He could also condense the power of Void Lock onto a single person. He felt that even a Spirit Transformation cultivator would be locked for a breath against this move. Void Lock was a spell with no upper limit; its power depended on the cultivator's own realm and their comprehension of the void. Previously, Chen Mobai had too many other matters and hadn't dedicated much thought to this spell after initially learning it. He hadn't expected that, relying on the Universal Tome this time, he would directly reach a nearly fifth-tier level.

Besides Void Lock, Void Illusion also made tremendous progress. In the Four Scrolls of Grand Void he obtained at the Big Dipper Assembly, the records for Void Illusion only described the cultivation methods for the first four layers. Previously, relying on his talent in void arts, he had mastered the second layer. Now, as he practiced, Chen Mobai found that he had reached the fourth layer: Myriad Phenomena Return to Truth. Upon reaching this layer, Chen Mobai naturally comprehended the essence that all things originate from nothingness. He could now transform his void illusions into nearly tangible existences, simulating the forms and characteristics of all things in the world. Even Nascent Soul cultivators would mistake his illusions at this level for reality; only those who cultivated special secret techniques or had an equally profound understanding of the void might be able to see through them. For Chen Mobai, this added a useful means to micro-manage his subordinate forces through projections.

Next, he tried the Void Body Technique. After ordinary individuals master this body-refinement technique, they will possess some characteristics of a Void Spirit Body. If cultivated to the Grand Completion realm, one could even grasp the immense power to shatter the void and annihilate things into nothingness. However, only a Void Spirit Body could cultivate it to Grand Completion, and for such a body, cultivation would be twice as effective with half the effort. In other words, this was a body-refinement technique specifically designed for a Void Spirit Body. However, the version in the Four Scrolls of Grand Void could only be cultivated to the fourth-tier completion at most.

But through this body-refinement technique, Chen Mobai discovered that the characteristics of his current body were very similar to the Void Spirit Body traits described in the text—both involved silver-grey spiritual patterns. Could it be that he had truly become a Void Spirit Body? Thinking this, Chen Mobai immediately took out his mobile phone and began searching for information about Void Spirit Bodies from the Immortal Sect's database. This was because the Immortal Sect's history had recorded Void Spirit Bodies, and although tragically they had perished prematurely, there was still a significant amount of research on this spiritual body. Much of this information was top secret, but with Chen Mobai's status and authority, he could naturally access all of it with ease. After checking, Chen Mobai found that it was indeed quite similar. For a "Blue-Capped" Void Spirit Body, silver-grey spiritual patterns could be detected in all the muscles, bones, and skin of the head. Chen Mobai, however, had them throughout his bone marrow. But according to the Immortal Sect's research, as long as one possessed these spiritual patterns, it was a mark imprinted by the void, meaning they were a Void Spirit Body.

A strange expression flickered across Chen Mobai’s face. He had boasted about this to Qing Nü before, and even many in the Immortal Sect had been skeptical. He had never expected to actually acquire this unique spiritual body through the Universal Tome. Did this mean he no longer had to pretend? He truly was one! Thinking of this, Chen Mobai decided that after he reached Spirit Transformation, he would communicate with the Grand Void Ethereal Palace to see if he could obtain the complete Void Body Technique.

And finally, there was the Void Escape Art. Even with his talent, he had never been able to get started with this cultivation method. But today, he finally understood it. Chen Mobai silently recited the incantations of the Void Escape Art, and wisps of void aura emerged from all corners of heaven and earth, perceived by him. He felt as if he were suspended in the void, with everything around him becoming ethereal and distant. The pavilion, the academy, the school, and even the mountains and land all seemed to vanish at this moment. The only things that appeared in his spiritual consciousness were void and void.

In the state of the Void Escape Art, Chen Mobai saw various small voids, some stationary, some moving, within the Heavenly Tome Academy. These were domains. He perceived the domains of everyone in the Heavenly Tome Academy, from Superior Master Yu Yi down to the Core Formation cultivators. Now, with a single step, Chen Mobai could enter these small voids anytime, anywhere. This was the Void Escape Art. This was also the most profound void escape technique, encompassing all the characteristics of Void Walk, Grand Void Shift, and even the Void Body Technique's ability to break through the void to escape. It not only allowed cultivators to traverse the void invisibly but also enabled them to perceive hidden, overlapping voids. If cultivated to its highest realm, a single step could transport one from the mortal realm to the Nine Heavens, or even into the Ethereal Immortal Realm.

The more Chen Mobai comprehended the Void Escape Art, the clearer his perception of the void became, and it even boosted his other void spells. His entire body was enveloped in a faint silver-grey light, and his form began to blur, as if he could dissipate into the void at any moment.

Finally, without realizing it, Chen Mobai couldn't help but take a step. Afterward, he felt his body gently tremble, and an unprecedented sensation surged through his heart, as if he had truly merged into the void. A moment later, he broke free from the state of entering the void, looked up, and saw the Jade Tripod Tree before him, bursting into laughter. After mastering the Void Escape Art, he teleported in a single step from the Heavenly Tome Academy to the Jade Peace Minor Realm of the Martial Instrument Dao Academy. If it had been Grand Void Shift, he would have had to leave the minor realm first before casting it, and it could only be done within the same realm-heaven.

After trying it, Chen Mobai once again used the Void Escape Art to return from the Jade Peace Minor Realm to the Heavenly Tome Academy. He still held the Universal Tome in his hand; he needed to return it.