Carefree Path of Dreams

“What’s in that mysterious realm?” Fang Yuan asked the important question at once.

Although they could not enter, making some Golden Core cultivators do their bidding was no trouble at all.

Moreover, they had surely found some extremely valuable treasures or clues in their previous explorations. Otherwise, they would not ask for his help so directly.

After all, he was definitely unwelcome in both the Orthodox and Demon Dao communities. The five city masters had to be taking a huge risk doing this.

It looked like the treasures were truly valuable.

“Big Brother…” Qian Xingzi and the Miscellaneous House Master exchanged glances before looking at Venerable Lie Huo.

“It’s fine… If Brother Situ doesn’t help us, we can’t be sure we’ll obtain them. The Orthodox Dao and Demon Dao cultivators will certainly catch wind of this before long!”

Venerable Lie Huo smiled wryly. “We couldn’t enter the mysterious realm, but after discovering the Golden Core entrance, we sent some of our Golden Core subordinates inside to investigate. It is indeed perilous, and the only one who managed to return alive brought back a ‘Dao Comprehension Stone’. According to him, the mysterious realm consists of many levels, and the Dao Comprehension Stone was the reward for passing a certain level!”

“From the sound of it, it looks like this mysterious realm was the place for a certain force to elect members of its group or test its disciples…” Fang Yuan nodded. “But if even Immortals have to undergo this test, it is truly incredible! That Dao Comprehension Stone, what is it?”

“This…” Venerable Lie Huo and the others exchanged glances and decided to explain in detail through gritted teeth.

Of course, a Dao Comprehension Stone was not the Dao Comprehension Cliff of the Barbarian Ancestral Court. However, there were some similarities.

The carvings on the Dao Comprehension Cliff were the personal comprehensions of the nomological laws left behind by Apotheosis and Immortal Patriarchs. They were explained in the patriarchs’ words and were difficult to understand. However, a Dao Comprehension Stone was a true treasure of heaven and earth, and it contained unbelievable power.

Its only function was to force the user into a state of comprehending nomological laws!

As long as the user was not an idiot, the user’s comprehension of nomological laws would increase dramatically in this state of enlightenment.

For example, Fang Yuan had entered this state briefly when he broke through to the Primordial Core realm. He had immediately broken through his bottleneck and achieved large success in the Illusion Realm’s nomological laws.

“Direct comprehension?” Fang Yuan’s eyes almost popped out. “How is this possible? There are tens of thousands of nomological laws in the world, so how can this Dao Comprehension Stone let the user directly comprehend the Dao?”

“It’s absolutely true!” said Venerable Lie Huo solemnly. “This object is also known as ‘Heavenly Dao Stone’. Rumor has it that a trace of the world’s origin power is hidden within, giving it such power!”

Or rather… is it because it has traces of the nomological laws of this world’s Heavenly Dao hidden within? Fang Yuan had some vague speculations. It’s not the Heavenly Dao of this world. It must be the natural source of this entire universe’s Heavenly Dao, right?

“It’s truly invaluable!” At this point, he no longer had any doubts.

This kind of treasure was not only tempting to Golden Core cultivators, but even Immortals would covet them.

After all, if they wanted to continue advancing, the next step was to elevate their nomological laws to a Great Dao.

“These Dao Comprehension Stones might even have some effects on the breakthrough of Immortals!

“Of course, according to secret records, the effects are slightly different…”

This world was truly vast. Countless treasures, including Dao Comprehension Stones, had appeared many times, and detailed experiences were aplenty.

The Miscellaneous House Master explained, “For ordinary nomological laws, a single Dao Comprehension Stone will allow the user to break through their bottleneck and reach large success! As for those slightly more advanced ones, such as the Nomological Laws of Sword and Nomological Laws of Fire, a Dao Comprehension Stone also has a good chance of helping the user break through their current bottleneck!

“In the rumors, although Immortals use the stones as well, they don’t use them in ones or twos, but tens and hundreds. They must use them in combination with an array to boost the effect as well!”

“I see!” Fang Yuan nodded.

The effectiveness of the Dao Comprehension Stones was limited.

For some of the lower-tier nomological laws, the effect was naturally amazing. However, if the user wanted to elevate a complete set of nomological laws to a Great Dao, they required a large investment of the stones.

Furthermore, my Illusion Realm’s nomological laws and Nomological Laws of Time are comparable to Great Daos… For the Dao Comprehension Stones to be effective, one or two won’t do at all. I must use tens, hundreds of them together like Immortals!

“… For this reason, the majority of the Dao Comprehension Stones are circulated only among the Immortals, and they will generally use them the second they get their hands on them… Therefore, I’m afraid all of the Immortals in the Sixteen Countries will be attracted to this mysterious realm that can produce Dao Comprehension Stones!” Venerable Lie Huo said worriedly.

“I see! So, I take it you want to obtain a big haul before that happens?” Fang Yuan smiled.

These five city masters had large amounts of resources at their disposal and had all managed to reach the peak of the Apotheosis realm. However, their comprehension of nomological laws differed.

The stronger ones like Venerable Lie Huo had completely comprehended more than one set of nomological laws, and the Miscellaneous House Master and Qian Xingzi had likely only completely comprehended one set. As for Madam Hua Rui, she had not even completely comprehended a single set and was merely one step away.

For someone like Madam Hua Rui, she required only one Dao Comprehension Stone to almost guarantee breaking through her bottleneck.

“Why do you need Dao Comprehension Stones?” Regardless, Fang Yuan wanted to clarify his doubts before deciding anything.

“We all wish for long life. However, with the strength of our current nomological laws, we really don’t have much confidence in surviving the lightning tribulation. The only thing we can do is to strengthen our foundation!”

The Miscellaneous House Master and Qian Xingzi exposed their shortcomings. They had only comprehended weak nomological laws.

Now that they had to face the lightning tribulation, they had cold feet.

Sigh… Lightning tribulation! Fang Yuan exclaimed in his mind. If your foundation is insufficient, there’s no way to survive the lightning tribulation. But if your foundation is too strong, you will be subject to heaven’s jealousy, and the power of the lightning tribulation will increase dramatically. The balance between your foundation and the difficulty of the lightning tribulation is different for everyone, so it’s impossible to guide others in the tribulation.

Naturally, he was of the type with a foundation that was too strong. If he were to undergo the lightning tribulation, he would definitely be subject to heaven’s jealousy!

“Also… Dao Comprehension Stones are things that every Immortal desires. Even if I don’t use them after obtaining them, I can trade them for other things in the future!” Venerable Lie Huo was very frank.

In fact, besides him, the remaining four city masters might not even have the courage to undergo the lightning tribulation. Even among Nascent Soul cultivators, the strength of each cultivator varied. The more nomological laws they could comprehend, the more powerful they were. Not many would refuse this opportunity.

“I see… So you thought of me?” Fang Yuan pointed at his own nose.

“That’s my idea!” Venerable Lie Huo said. “Brother Situ, your magical power is astounding. The theft at the Miscellaneous House was so bizarre that I only had to investigate slightly before getting information about you. I immediately felt that you were the best candidate for this!”

From the perspective of the cultivation world, this Situ Zhaixing was either a Golden Core cultivator with an incredible technique or an Immortal Patriarch in disguise. Both met his requirements.

“I see!” Fang Yuan stood up. “Let’s go. There’s no time to lose!”

After being exposed here, word that he was in Qingfeng City would likely quickly spread and attract the attention of Immortals, making staying here potentially risky.

However, what attracted him the most was the special characteristic of Dao Comprehension Stones.

If a few dozen Dao Comprehension Stones are useful for the comprehension of Great Daos, they’re certainly capable of increasing my comprehension of the Illusion Realm’s nomological laws and the Nomological Laws of Time. It’s a shortcut!

He had to admit that he was really tempted.

“Great! Brother Situ is indeed straightforward. But…” Venerable Lie Huo smiled, a curious twinkle in his eye. “Should we not make a contract and bind ourselves with life oaths before heading out?”

He would be a fool if he brought Fang Yuan to the mysterious realm without arranging some precautions.

With Fang Yuan’s magical power, no array or restriction could stop him. He could definitely go on his own, and they would be powerless to stop him.

“I think you’re after something else too, right?” Fang Yuan smiled when he saw the twinkle in Venerable Lie Huo’s eyes. “You also want to take this opportunity to know my true strength.”

When he arrived at the place, he would have to pick a passage, and of course, it had to be the Golden Core passage.

Even Immortals could not break this ancient restriction. Even if he could break the seal, Fang Yuan was not interested in challenging hell-level difficulty.

“So, what is Brother Situ’s decision?” The others all looked at Fang Yuan with serious expressions.

“It’s a bit tough to decide…” Fang Yuan frowned. “However, seeing that you have given me this opportunity, I can swear that I will give you thirty percent of the Dao Comprehension Stones that I obtain!”

“Only thirty percent?!” Madam Hua Rui exclaimed with a shrill voice, like a little girl who had just been teased.

“Thank you, Brother Situ. Thirty it is!” However, Venerable Lie Huo agreed after a brief change in expression.

“Good. You’re truly a smart man!” Fang Yuan smiled lightly.

In fact, he had hoped that they would disagree and break off with him.

After all, now that he knew this information, he could certainly find the place by camping here day and night.

Even if the five city masters were determined to keep the location a secret, he could let the word out and make use of the Orthodox Dao and the Demon Dao to force Qingfeng City to hand over the information.

The more people that knew about the place, the more the chances that information would leak!

Once the location was known, he would go in even if there were Immortals guarding it!

No! Maybe he would just stay outside, ready to steal from everyone!

No matter how many stones the Golden Core geniuses and Immortals managed to obtain in the mysterious realm, he could use his ‘take from the bag’ technique after they came out!

Of course, he would surely incur the wrath of the masses this way. In addition, since Venerable Lie Huo had not fallen out with him, even if Fang Yuan disregarded the outside world, he would still have to pay attention to his own conscience. After all, he could not go back on his word.

As a result, he decided to hand over thirty percent of the Dao Comprehension Stones.

Venerable Lie Huo was also clearly aware of this and immediately agreed.

“All right, let’s go!”

After making the life oaths, Venerable was overjoyed. He, Fang Yuan, and the others turned into rays of light and flew out of Qingfeng City.