Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
Gen Gua is like a mountain, Dui Gua like a marsh. Together they aid each other beneath Mount Tai'a. In truth, Mount Tai'a is but a solitary peak amidst the chaos, spinning without discernible direction.
The two hexagrams fell into the chaos at the foot of Mount Tai'a, vanishing without a trace. Unlike other hexagrams that thunder and explode with fury, they nourish all things in silence.
The rolling chaos beneath Mount Tai'a calmed.
After an indeterminate time, centered on Kun Gua, with Gen and Dui in harmony, a swath of chaos transformed into sprawling land.
Above, the sun and moon; below, the earth. The inner world began to take shape.
The formations Ji Feixue had laid out over Yunmeng Marsh were all dispelled, fearing they would hinder the nourishment of Su He by the Mysterious Wasteland.
The Orient Loong God coiled its massive body around Su He, protectively nurturing him, yet spat out in disdain.
Those irresponsible old turtles, the kid is opening the heavens, and they don't even show up! What's the use of such irresponsibility? Wouldn't dragon offspring be better?
Who knows what those guys are up to? Last I heard, they'd raided the Teng Snake's lair, then got the message from Gu Luo to look after his kid, and the whole clan went into seclusion.
Probably a bunch of ignorant turtles that took a tumble in the Teng Snake's lair, right?
Of course, that was just its speculation and jest. Mere Teng Snakes, three Dragon Turtles could annihilate their kind.
The Dragon Turtle clan must have gained a lot, especially seeing the spirit snake on Su He's back, it was even more convinced of its guess.
It saw the battle outside the Seven Extremes Secret Realm clearly; Lei had a snake on his back too, only with wings.
The Dragon Turtle clan must be eyeing the Teng Snakes.
Had Luo once said with this Little Turtle, the Dragon Turtle clan would become the strongest of the Four Divine Beasts within ten thousand years? Was this the reason?
Ten thousand years is impossible; even Bai Ling took nearly twenty thousand years to catch up to her predecessors, and never surpassed her own Tai Zu in her lifetime.
For the Dragon Turtle clan to become the strongest, they would need at least two beings like Tai Zu—its Dragon clan had many, including two ancient divine dragons.
This Little Turtle, for now, doesn't seem to have such talent, at least not within ten thousand years to reach the height of Tai Zu. His Tribulation Crossing is fast, his heaven-opening is fast, but these rely more on chance than innate talent.
Su He grew up in Qing Yuan, and the Orient Loong God saw it clearly. In terms of talent alone, it's hard to find anyone in the myriad realms who surpasses Bai Ling.
A bell tolled, centered on Su He, resounding across the land.
"Heaven has opened!" Zeng softly exclaimed.
This sound marked the first step of heaven-opening. It proved that the heavens and earth had begun, already taking shape. From this moment, this Dragon Turtle became a true Divine Beast, having opened one layer of heaven.
With true essence containing the power of the world, there's no need to fight like a brute relying solely on strength. Special techniques like Zhu Yan's, which restrict Divine Beasts, would be much less effective.
At the very least, after being drenched in Zhu Yan's blood, the Dragon Turtle wouldn't be completely unable to use its Divine Abilities. If the Dragon Turtle could open a second layer of heaven, then the blood of Zhu Yan, who had opened two layers, would lose all effect.
Zhu Yan, only capable of bullying the weak!
As the bell's sound faded, those witnessing the heaven-opening over Yunmeng Marsh felt an inexplicable sensation, as if they had steamed in a sauna, refreshed. An invisible force from heaven and earth entered their bodies, healing hidden injuries and enhancing potential.
Each face showed surprise.
With the initial opening of heaven, those witnessing from all directions received blessings from heaven and earth. Outsiders couldn't see the inner world within the pearl, but they could roughly judge the state of heaven-opening by the extent of the blessings received.
Flame Crow drooped its eyes and hummed softly; even the blessings it received during its own heaven-opening paled in comparison to the Dragon Turtle's!
After all, Bai Ling was the exception. Not every Dragon Turtle could be Bai Ling.
It thought as much.
Inside Su He's pearl, the heaven-opening continued.
Or rather, it had just begun! The appearance of the Eight Trigrams was merely laying the foundation. For the Daoist sects, this was the cornerstone of all things, like the Buddhist elements of earth, water, wind, and fire.
Outside the pearl, the landscape shadows disappeared one by one.
Not like Mount Tai'a, which was directly pulled into the inner world, but as the shadows dissolved, mountains rose, rivers surged, and oceans appeared in all directions within the inner world.
The Eight Trigrams floated, defining up, down, left, right, all directions, and the seasons of past and future.
With the universe thus defined, the blessings from the outside world suddenly intensified, and the spectators looked up in surprise.
Now, ceaseless spiritual energy from heaven and earth poured into their bodies. This energy, unlike the spiritual qi they had to painstakingly gather and refine, merged directly into their acupoints and meridians upon entering, nourishing them without the need for absorption.
Flame Crow's expression shifted slightly; this spiritual energy was passable, but so what? It had reached this stage during its own Tribulation Crossing too!
It's a matter of who can last longer!
In the inner world of the pearl, Wu could no longer stand atop the sun and moon, which now hung in the sky, no longer bearing weight.
Falling to the peak of Mount Tai'a, he looked in all directions. The chaos, torn apart by the Eight Trigrams, rolled back, threatening to reclaim this newly opened world.
From all sides, the chaos surged like yellow clouds, pressing in on the inner world.
Wu remained motionless, simply watching the floating Eight Trigrams. These were the Eight Trigrams he had drawn during heaven-opening, different from the small Eight Trigrams within his foundation, lacking various wonders.
The Eight Trigrams didn't resist the chaos but flickered and flew in all directions, merging into mountains, rivers, breezes, and flames…
Outside, the crowd murmured in confusion; the blessings from heaven and earth… weakened!
Had the Dragon Turtle's heaven-opening ended?
Flame Crow was taken aback, a flash of insight in its eyes, cackling twice, like a laugh or a bird's call.
Gone! That's it for the Dragon Turtle's heaven-opening?!
Taking advantage of the Dragon Turtle's identity, it opened the heavens in less than a year, only to end up like this? Perhaps it was just to show off as a genius during the Dragon God Festival?
But such a display by the mighty Dragon Turtle was laughable! When it opened the heavens, the blessings lasted a full two days and a night!
It fluttered its wings proudly, as if it wasn't the Dragon Turtle's failure, but its own successful advance to the third layer of heaven-opening.
In the underwater garden, Ji Feixue's eyebrows furrowed as she stared intently at the image on the toad's belly.
This was her projection of Su He's inner world using special means. Without the unity of soul beast and master, it would be difficult to achieve.
Ji Feixue watched Wu open the heavens without uttering a word.
She also didn't intervene as chaos returned, for heaven-opening was a matter for the Divine Beasts themselves, and others couldn't help!
Even if Bai Ling had schemed for ten thousand years to help Su He condense his foundation, he still had to personally go to the small world of the Elixir Chamber, comprehend the landscape, endure the baptism of that world, and personally protect and condense the appearance of the hexagrams.
Even the rocks bearing the hexagrams, though transformed from Bai Ling's Jade Turtle Shell, had been worn by Su He for who knows how long, accompanying him through the heavenly tribulation to become a Dragon Turtle.
Rather than saying it was Bai Ling's Jade Turtle Shell, it was better to say it had been recognized by heaven and earth and become Su He's own.
Ji Feixue couldn't help with the Dragon Turtle's heaven-opening.
She looked towards Dongyun Mountain, wondering whether to pull Su He's consciousness back.
Without conscious control, relying solely on the pearl to open the heavens was difficult!
She didn't know what Bai Ling and Su He had planned, what the purpose of this was, but for a Dragon Turtle, the first layer of heaven was the most important foundation of cultivation, not to be trifled with!
With the Heng Gua revealing the world's origin, the accumulation of the heaven-opening artifact was at its limit. Just by pulling back Su He's consciousness, the first layer of heaven wouldn't be a problem.
***
In Dongyun Mountain, a swan goose landed by a lake, its body trembling uncontrollably, eyes filled with panic. As if the sky had fallen, it felt an inexplicable fear. Had something catastrophic happened, wiping out its entire species?
The swan goose didn't know, couldn't understand.
It just felt something pressing down, making it hard to breathe. Looking up, dark clouds rolled towards the ground, a heavy rain imminent.
A sudden gust of wind whipped up, sand filling the sky.
The oppressive feeling grew heavier.
The swan goose's chest heaved violently as it looked to the sky. Swallows flew low, chirping as they were pressed against the water's surface.
Under such a sky, all creatures lay low.
The swan goose gasped for air, then suddenly let out a cry towards the sky, flapping its wings and soaring up, circling on the wind, rising straight through the clouds.
It was determined to break through the dark clouds!
Crack!
A thunderclap pierced the heavens.
As if the heavens wouldn't allow a mere bird such a rebellious act, the rain poured down.
The swan goose cried out, looking at the lightning, its eyes resolute as knives, wings beating, it plunged into the dark clouds.
Crack!
Thunder roared again, illuminating the sky, and within the clouds, a swan goose broke through, ascending beyond the clouds.
"Open!"
Atop Mount Tai'a, Wu suddenly stood up, arms spread wide like a swan goose, leaping up, soaring high to break through the heavens.
Above the ninth heaven, his brush flew, writing hexagrams in the air, sixty-four hexagrams encircling like dragons, like cannons firing in all directions, smashing into the chaos.
These hexagrams weren't like the innate Eight Trigrams with various uses. They were purely for opening the heavens! Purely for bombarding the chaos!
The returning chaos met its true nemesis. Each hexagram exploded upon contact, turning swathes of chaos into the most primal essence, flowing into the inner world.
The inner world churned, expanding outward at a speed so fast that even Ji Feixue bit her lip in surprise.
Above the pearl, landscape shadows disappeared in swathes, and with each disappearance, corresponding territories grew within the inner world.
Tundra, oceans, grasslands, deserts…
Above Yunmeng Marsh, the spectators rejoiced again as the spiritual energy flowing into their bodies increased once more, showing no signs of stopping.
The Sixty-Four Hexagrams' heaven-opening was simply an expansion of the inner world, lasting a long time.
One day, two days… seven days…
Heaven-opening still hadn't ended.
By the second day, Flame Crow's breathing became rough.
On the seventh day, when a vortex of spiritual energy formed above each spectator's head, eagerly drilling into their bodies, Flame Crow was utterly frustrated.
The spiritual energy not only didn't disappear, but its quality had also increased!
Flame Crow's breath grew rough as a broken bellows, flames igniting on its body as if trying to scatter the spiraling vortices of spiritual energy.
The scorn and joy in its eyes at the moment the vortices appeared had turned to madness!
How could this be!
The spiritual energy vortex was a phenomenon that appeared during its second layer of heaven-opening, and it was a genius of the Flame Crow clan. How many Divine Beasts could bring forth a spiritual energy vortex upon opening the third layer of heaven!
This Dragon Turtle was clearly at its limit, so why did it gain strength again, even producing a spiritual energy vortex!
In the underwater garden, Ji Feixue's gaze sharpened as she watched the image on the toad's belly.
Wu was ultimately influenced by Su He's consciousness.
After all, the flesh was his, the pearl was his, and the inner world was his.
Ji Feixue could see that the Elixir had the effect of isolating consciousness, and it seemed intentional to let Su He's consciousness remain outside, allowing the pearl to open the heavens autonomously.
But even the most perfect Elixir couldn't completely isolate consciousness. With the soul and body still present, consciousness stems from the soul; it's an unbreakable bond, how could it be completely severed?
In the inner world, the sun and moon revolved, stars emerged.
Su He's inner world expanded rapidly, and over seven days, the landscape shadows on the pearl dissolved by seventy percent.
Yet Ji Feixue shook her head slightly.
She didn't know how Bai Ling had created such a foundation, based on the Sixty-Four Hexagrams and nurtured for millennia. If Su He's consciousness were present, personally overseeing the heaven-opening, the first opening could have had a chance to pull all the shadows into the inner world.
She didn't understand why Bai Ling insisted on isolating Su He's consciousness.
What's the use of a natural heaven-opening?
Wu opened the heavens, but Wu was an artifact naturally formed by the inner world, not a person, just a tool, a treasure, a weapon!
He himself was an object of this small world.
Ji Feixue pondered as she saw a special membrane gradually forming behind the stars in Su He's inner world, enveloping the entire inner world.
The world's fetal membrane—the Earth's Mantle!
Ji Feixue's teacup shattered in her hand, then was gathered by her magic power, not daring to spill a single drop of water.
Her beautiful eyes were lost in thought, witnessing the most improbable event.
An inner world, with an Earth's Mantle?
Whether a world has an Earth's Mantle makes a world of difference! The Earth's Mantle not only protects the inner world but also becomes the foundation for the world's advancement after growth.
The three thousand great worlds are all naturally formed, and the chaos that entwines the outside world is due to the dissolution of the Earth's Mantle from the past.
Having an Earth's Mantle means future entanglement with chaos, meaning infinite possibilities!
Ordinary Divine Beasts have a fixed amount of chaos within their pearls; the size of each layer of heaven and earth is determined by the amount of chaos.
The Four Divine Beasts are powerful, in part because their pearls are filled with abundant chaos, creating vast and boundless heavens and earth.
Su He has an Earth's Mantle…