Chapter 1334: Taixu Heavenly Book

After collecting himself, Chen Mobai put away the Hunyuan Bell and took out the four volumes of the Grand Void Heavenly Scrolls, poring over them carefully.

He had originally acquired these four volumes at the Big Dipper Assembly for 120 high-grade spirit stones.

However, the True King of Grand Void had held back some content at the time, so the complete text was not visible.

It was only after the Grand Void Heaven-Measuring Ruler had its restrictions lifted that these four volumes of Daoist scriptures revealed their full scope.

All of them pertained to the Seventh-Tier Grand Dao, and some even recorded mysteries of the Innate Grand Void.

Within the Realm Gate, Chen Mobai had seen that the Central Dao Arena officially sold the Grand Void Heavenly Scrolls, which comprised 200 volumes in total, costing 200 Dao Merit. Comprehending all of them would allow one to fully understand the Grand Void Dao.

The four volumes currently in his possession appeared to be a part of this collection.

The first was the Void Lock, a divine ability that could continuously improve with cultivation advancement. Upon reaching the Sixth-Tier, it would upgrade to the "Void Divine Chains."

The Void Divine Chains utilized the Grand Dao of Void to create restraints. When cultivated to the highest realm, a single thought could turn the boundless void into a prison. Even a Seventh-Tier True Immortal could be sealed and unable to break free if caught off guard.

However, with Chen Mobai's current cultivation realm, he certainly couldn't master the "Void Divine Chains." Nevertheless, he could use this divine ability to gain preliminary insights into the Void Refinement stage.

After all, the Void Refinement stage required not only a clear understanding of one's own Grand Dao but also an comprehension of the void that carried the Grand Dao.

After finishing the Void Divine Chains, Chen Mobai picked up the second Grand Void Heavenly Scroll.

This volume documented the Void Dun Jia Art. Previously, the highest visible realm was to traverse both the mortal and immortal realms in a single step, moving freely. Before the rules of the Grand Dao changed, many cultivators in the Ethereal Palace of Grand Void cultivated only this divine ability. Once perfected, they could directly bypass the Nine Heavenly Tribulations and step from the Celestial River Realm into the Spirit Void Immortal Realm.

Now that it was unlocked, a higher realm was revealed.

It was called "A Star River in an Inch."

A single step could span a star river.

Cultivated to its extreme, one could even move from one corner of the universe to another in a single step.

This description made Chen Mobai think of many things.

However, there was no doubt that this was the ultimate version of the Void Teleportation series.

Still, with his current realm, he would need to reach at least the Void Refinement stage before he could even attempt to cultivate "A Star River in an Inch."

The other two volumes were "Void Illusion" and "Vacuum Dharma Body."

These directly completed the previously missing content.

For example, with Void Illusion, Chen Mobai had only been able to see the first four layers. Now, the latter three layers—Insight into Nothingness, Void Integration for Creation, and Turning False into True—were fully revealed to him.

When this divine ability was cultivated to its highest realm, as the name suggested, one could create something out of nothing purely with one's mind, or even conjure things from thin air.

"This heavenly scroll almost completely expounds on the Grand Dao of Illusion," Chen Mobai mused.

After finishing it, Chen Mobai couldn't help but feel immense admiration.

The Grand Dao of Illusion was one of the subordinate Grand Daos of the Innate Grand Void Dao. If Chen Mobai could cultivate Void Illusion to its seventh layer, "Turning False into True," he would be able to take the step towards Dao Integration.

Upon realizing this, Chen Mobai's first thought was of Qian Xing.

In his previous life, Qian Xing had already gained some understanding of this Grand Dao. If he could study this Grand Void Heavenly Scroll that recorded the Grand Dao of Illusion, the Void Refinement stage might no longer be an obstacle for him.

However, it was quite clear that although the True King of Grand Void and the Grand Void Heaven-Measuring Ruler hadn't explicitly stated it, the volume in Chen Mobai's hands definitely couldn't be taught to others.

After all, this was obtained from the Celestial River Realm, and the rules there strictly governed inheritances.

The Water Mother Palace nearly went to war with the Five Elements Sect over a lost immortal jade slip containing an elixir formula, let alone a Grand Void Heavenly Scroll.

But Chen Mobai immediately thought of another possibility.

Here in the Purple Cloud Universe, the Grand Void Heavenly Scrolls could be purchased through the Realm Gate.

While he couldn't afford the complete set of 200 volumes, he could probably manage to buy a single one.

With this thought, Chen Mobai entered the Realm Gate and began searching for relevant content. He quickly used "Grand Dao of Illusion" as a keyword and located volumes 168 to 170 of the Grand Void Heavenly Scrolls. These volumes were entirely dedicated to the application and exposition of the Grand Dao of Illusion, with Void Illusion being one of them.

However, if purchased individually, each volume astonishingly cost 2 Dao Merit, and there was no digital version, only physical books. Shipping costs were extra, and the total would be enough to buy a Suspension Void Pill.

Of course, if one bought the full set, the Central Dao Arena offered free shipping and an 80% discount.

Chen Mobai checked the reviews and found that a few people had indeed purchased the full set and left positive comments.

It seemed there were still many wealthy individuals in the Purple Cloud Universe, willing to spend such an exorbitant amount even though the Innate Grand Void Dao was clearly already occupied.

With his account balance now at zero, Chen Mobai could only apologize inwardly to Qian Xing: "Ah Xing, it's not that I forgot you, but I'm facing financial difficulties. When I make a fortune later, I'll definitely buy you these three volumes."

After adding the three Grand Void Heavenly Scrolls detailing the Grand Dao of Illusion to his cart and pinning them to the top, Chen Mobai began reading the last volume, "Vacuum Dharma Body."

It stated that the Vacuum Dharma Body could only be cultivated to the peak of the Sixth-Tier. Upon reaching the Seventh-Tier, it acquired another name: the Grand Void Dao Body!

Once the Grand Void Dao Body was cultivated, the power of the Grand Void Heaven-Measuring Ruler, a Seventh-Tier artifact, could be perfectly unleashed.

However, this was merely the initial completion of the Dao Body.

For the Grand Void Dao Body to be fully perfected, all subordinate Grand Daos related to the Innate Grand Void needed to be integrated. The so-called Void Spirit Body was only a part of this, but it was the most crucial and the primary outline of the Dao Body that absolutely had to be cultivated first.

Once the Grand Void Dao Body was perfected, one could then attempt to control the Innate Grand Void Dao.

Among the four Grand Void Heavenly Scrolls, this one was the thickest after being unsealed, significantly thicker than the other three combined.

This particular volume was also the first in the complete set of Grand Void Heavenly Scrolls.

Each time Chen Mobai read these four volumes of the Grand Void Heavenly Scrolls, he gained new insights into the Void Refinement realm.

Although the improvements became negligible after reading them many times, he wouldn't miss any opportunity to deepen his foundation.

After once again comprehending the four heavenly scrolls and feeling that there wouldn't be any further significant improvement in the short term, Chen Mobai remembered that the Suspension Void Pill would be ready in two years. Therefore, he decided not to go into secluded cultivation to clarify his Grand Dao, so as not to miss it.

Leaving the Dharma Realm, Chen Mobai decided to take the opportunity to return to the Celestial River Realm for a visit.

After all, ten years had passed, and presumably, the Five Elements Sect should have reached the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court by now.

Eastern Yi.

Since the Five Elements Sect announced its expedition to the Profound Sea, Eastern Yi had become the most prosperous place in the Eastern Continent's cultivation world over the past decade.

The Profound Sea was vast and rich in resources, and the Five Elements Sect was immensely powerful. As they advanced, the overflow of spoils from their conquests was enough to benefit many cultivators.

Consequently, after the war began, most rogue cultivators on the Eastern Continent who sought to get rich flocked to Eastern Yi, which was at the forefront.

Relying on their treasure ship fleet, the Five Elements Sect, as expected, achieved countless victories in their expedition to the Profound Sea, with an innumerable number of monstrous beasts perishing beneath their treasure ships and army.

The materials from these monstrous beasts, excluding the most vital parts which the Five Elements Sect collected for artifact refining or elixir alchemy, were sold in bulk to the Eastern Land cultivators who followed behind the main army.

Because there were simply too many materials, and the Five Elements Sect only needed the finest, rogue cultivators and those from smaller sects were completely unconcerned. Acquiring a Second-Tier monstrous beast hide and refining it into a defensive artifact was a significant equipment upgrade for Qi Refinement cultivators.

Thanks to Chen Mobai's creation and publication of "Eastern Continent Artifact Norms and Standards," coupled with several public artifact refining sessions in Fire True Immortal City, the overall atmosphere and skill level in the Eastern Continent's artifact refining community had significantly improved.

Previously, when refining artifacts with Second-Tier materials, the probability of producing a First-Tier finished product was not high, and Second-Tier artifacts were exceedingly rare. Now, however, there was a 70-80% chance of refining a First-Tier artifact, and with a bit of luck, even a Second-Tier artifact could be produced.

Under these circumstances, almost every cultivator who came to Eastern Yi took advantage of the war to upgrade their equipment by roughly half a tier.

And once their equipment improved, they naturally desired even better.

Qi Refinement cultivators dreamed of Second-Tier equipment, Foundation Establishment cultivators fantasized about Third-Tier, and Core Formation cultivators yearned for Fourth-Tier.

However, directly purchasing these materials, even scraps, was not cheap, so cultivators naturally began to form alliances and hunt in the Profound Sea.

The Five Elements Sect largely turned a blind eye to this, as the Profound Sea was simply too vast. Even if they sent all their disciples, they couldn't monopolize all the spirit veins and islands.

The Eastern Continent cultivators hunting Profound Sea monstrous beasts also conveniently eased the burden on the Five Elements Sect, allowing their main army to strike directly at the heart of the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court.

After ten years of expedition, benefiting from the spoils of war, E Yun and Chen Lingming allocated sufficient resources to construct three additional Fifth-Tier treasure ships with elemental attributes at the Cloud Dream Lake Shipyard.

These, along with the Fire Spirit Treasure Ship previously commanded by Mo Douguang, formed the Five Elements Sect Fleet. This fleet, combined with thousands of other treasure ships of various tiers and an army of a million cultivators from the main sect and its affiliated forces, was now only 1,200 miles away from the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court.

However, upon reaching this point, they encountered the fiercest resistance. Powerful monstrous tribes from the depths of the Profound Sea had accepted the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court's summons and gathered here. They coordinated with the expanded Black Dragon Formation, which could even draw upon some power from the sea eyes, making it impenetrable even to the bombardments of Fifth-Tier treasure ships.

When Chen Mobai returned, the Five Elements Sect had been held back on this front for three years.

During these three years, the young flood dragons of the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court periodically launched sneak attacks. However, with Bitter Bamboo guarding the army, there was no fear. Furthermore, Zhang Pankong had been in Eastern Yi all these years, coordinating with the grand formation and the wealth-seeking Eastern Continent cultivators. As a result, even when the Profound Sea monstrous tribes attempted to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao and wreak havoc ashore, they only left behind coasts littered with corpses.

With their main base secure, the Five Elements Sect army led by Mo Douguang was in no hurry. They formed a Five Elements Dao Soldier battle formation with their fleet, fighting steadily against the Profound Sea monstrous tribes, whose numbers far surpassed their own cultivators.

Chen Mobai returned and immediately sought out E Yun, the Sect Master, to understand the situation. The latter reported ten years of war progress and their current strategy. "Reporting, Ancestor," E Yun began, "Once this last Earth-attribute treasure ship is completed and transported to the front lines, Martial Uncle Mo will be able to activate the Five Elements Dao Soldier battle formation to an unprecedented degree. Coupled with Elder Bitter Bamboo's presence, we will surely break through the Black Dragon Formation and reach the gates of the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court."

"From your description, that Black Dragon Formation is at least peak Fifth-Tier," Chen Mobai expressed his doubts after listening. "Even if the Five Elements Dao Soldiers are empowered by the Five Elements Fleet and the mana of a million cultivators, they can probably only unleash peak Fifth-Tier power at most. Can they truly break through it?"

What if the Black Dragon Formation was Sixth-Tier?

After all, Qing Nü's true body had visited the front lines and detected the power of the sea eyes with the Deep Abyssal Sea-Suppressing Pearl, which was likely a portion of the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court's grand formation.

"In that case, we can only proceed slowly," E Yun explained their final plan. "First, we will bring all the spirit veins and islands in the Profound Sea under our control and integrate them into our sect's Heaven-Veil Earth-Net Grand Formation. Finally, we will await your intervention, Ancestor, to unleash a thunderous strike with the grand formation and erase the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court from the Celestial River Realm."

Over the past decade, due to the smooth progress of the Profound Sea expedition, many vast spirit veins occupied by monstrous beasts had been integrated into the Heaven-Veil Earth-Net Grand Formation. This had restored the formation's power to about 80-90% of what it was before the battle with the Water Mother Palace.

However, E Yun's public announcements stated that the formation's spirit veins had only recovered 50%. Besides continuing to motivate the sect's cultivators to fight, he also aimed to use this to address the unbalanced housing prices within the sect's territory.

In the three frontier regions of the Eastern Continent, housing prices in Eastern Barren were ten times higher than those in Eastern Wu and Eastern Yi combined.

E Yun, as the Sect Master groomed by Chen Mobai, possessed long-term vision and had always wanted to raise housing prices in Eastern Wu and Eastern Yi, but with little success.

After the great war with the Water Mother Palace, the scarcity of spiritual energy made E Yun realize this was a good opportunity.

Although housing prices in Eastern Barren surged again because the Five Elements Sect revealed its Void Refinement stage background with a Spirit Venerable, the real estate market had entered its quietest period, as spiritual energy couldn't quickly return to its peak.

In contrast, spiritual energy in Eastern Yi recovered first due to the war drawing upon Profound Sea spirit veins, with its total even surpassing that of Eastern Barren.

With housing prices several times cheaper, more abundant spiritual energy, easy settlement, and even school enrollment eligibility granted upon purchasing a home, numerous cultivators were guided to buy properties in Eastern Yi, alleviating pressure on Eastern Barren's population, land, education, and other resources.

"Excellent, excellent," Chen Mobai praised after hearing E Yun's elaborate plans. "After the Profound Sea expedition, we can conquer the Barren Sea and balance the housing prices in Eastern Wu as well."

He had initially wondered why the spiritual energy in Eastern Barren was still so weak despite the Heaven-Veil Earth-Net Grand Formation being almost fully recovered. It turned out it was all to control housing prices.

Having understood all the circumstances, Chen Mobai intended to depart for the front lines to observe.

He planned to release the disciples of Spirit Venerable Cang Liu Hai from the Dharma Realm.

The foundation of war formations lay in living beings. If the monstrous tribes guarding the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court in the Profound Sea were dealt with, the Black Dragon Formation would collapse on its own.

Only the Black Flood Dragon Royal Court's Sea Eye Grand Formation would still require significant effort.