Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 64 - 64 56 Eleven Years of Heavenly Marrow Fellow Daoist Strikes it Rich

64: Chapter 56: Eleven Years of Heavenly Marrow, Fellow Daoist Strikes it Rich 64: Chapter 56: Eleven Years of Heavenly Marrow, Fellow Daoist Strikes it Rich On the river surface, a treasure ship was docked, and officials drove the laborers to load item after item onto the ship.

The old donkey lay there bored out of its mind, its ears trembling slightly.

It raised its head and saw Yu Hua stepping through the air, gracefully landing at the bow of the ship.

Some of the commoners who had never seen such a sight fell to their knees and kowtowed as if they were in the presence of a god, prayers and blessings overlapping in a murmur, as if they truly believed Yu Hua to be an Immortal.

This straightforward on-the-spot wishing was quite in line with the respectful yet moderate nature of the common folk.

It was just for today—if it didn’t work tomorrow, they wouldn’t bother.

The old donkey was startled for a moment and then widened its eyes, saying, “My little ancestor, you…

you can fly now?”

Flying Escape and movement techniques are two different concepts; the latter only looks like flying but is just a way of being thrown into the air and then using movement techniques to glide farther, light as a feather.

And the Immortal Land was a place where all kinds of fates were nurtured, and the leyline energy was heavy as lead and iron, absorbing all the clear air, causing what was arguably a unique gathering of Spiritual Energy in heaven and earth to be unusually sparse.

This also meant that once someone attempted Flying Escape-related techniques, it would feel as if they were being sucked into the ground, and the leyline energy would really pull them into the earth.

That’s why even the old donkey dared not fly, fearing that a lapse in concentration and exhaustion of Mana might cause it to crash to its death.

Yet Yu Hua seemed to be completely unaffected, landing with extreme lightness, without stirring the leyline energy.

Yu Hua nodded slightly and said, “I have made some gains and gained new insights into the Qingcang Master’s inheritance.”

The old donkey’s eyes widened even further, circling around Yu Hua a few times, disbelievingly saying, “You couldn’t have achieved Dao Foundation Perfection, could you?”

Records say that those who have perfected their Dao Foundation are a half step to transcendence.

Dao Foundation Perfection, to a certain extent, is not bounded by destiny, and Yu Hua’s ability to fly through the air was exactly that—transcending destiny!

“Little ancestor, you truly are an ancestor now.”

The old donkey was completely convinced.

It knew very well what Dao Foundation Perfection meant—those with a Seventh Level Dao Foundation could hope to reach the Third Realm, while a Nine Level Dao Foundation could become a contemporary pinnacle, and above Nine Level was Perfection, each an invincible force of their era.

Perfection and Dao Foundation are fundamentally two different things; only with Perfection could one become an Immortal.

Yu Hua did not deign to look directly at the old donkey, glanced at the surrounding laborers and officials, and asked, “Do we really need so much stuff for a trip to Lin Chuan?”

The old donkey explained, “Zhao Feng was supposed to accompany us, and these supplies were prepared for him, but it looks like he won’t be able to make it now.”

“Such delicacy.

Throw it all overboard and set sail immediately.”

Yu Hua’s command was like an oracle from heaven; without the need for official orders, an invisible pressure made the laborers subconsciously comply and start moving things overboard.

The accompanying officials approached, about to say something, but then heard the next order.

“Get off the boat.”

All the laborers and officials disembarked, and the old donkey also jumped into the water, not to escape but because Yu Hua had ordered it to push the ship along.

Normally, such arduous labor was beneath a Divine Beast, but the old donkey was now as docile as could be, adhering to all her commands.

If she were just a figurehead in the Daoist Sect, then the sect leadership would influence her preferences.

If she were a true Heavenly Girl, then the sect leadership would cater to her preferences.

Strength is the foundation of all, and the old donkey did not resist Yu Hua being stronger than itself, nor would the Sanqing Taoist Sect.

In the world, all beings compete; in the path of cultivation, the strongest are revered, and if a sect wishes to grow, it must, and inevitably can only, have one guiding voice.

The leader can listen to opinions, but must never be swayed by them.

Sect leaders and disciples, due to their different positions, must adhere to different codes of conduct.

The morning river breeze pushed the ship along as if a water dragon beneath were lifting the treasure ship.

As the Taoist Heavenly Girl traveled further away, the cloud that had long been looming over the hearts of the powerhouses in Bianjing gradually dissipated.

—————–

Gu Residence.

Gu Wen lay on his bed, his mind restless for a long time.

To roam the Nine Heavens, to tear through the firmament, to behold the heaven beyond heavens!

He had already come to know the other goal of cultivation besides protecting himself, which was to witness the vastness of heaven and earth.

He wanted to climb the Three Pure Mountain, suspended high in the Nine Heavens, larger than his hometown in a previous life; he wanted to glimpse the Broken Sword Mountain with its eight million Magic Swords, and to see the Jianmu that upheld the Grotto Heaven.

The world was fascinating, far more than just the small corner that was Daqian.

“Cultivation, only cultivation!”

Gu Wen rolled out of bed like a carp flipping over, opened the corner sack, and stuffed a handful into his mouth.

“Fifty catties of medicinal fruits, when will I finish eating all of these?

Truly a happy problem to have.”

Fifty catties of medicinal fruits, about one thousand six hundred.

Based on previous experience, fifty fruits could yield a year’s worth of Heavenly Marrow; that is roughly thirty-three years of Heavenly Marrow.

And all these fruits, if bought outright, even at the black market rate of a thousand taels for fifty, would cost thirty thousand taels.

Murder and arson bring in a golden belt!

Indeed, the ways to wealth are all written in the law; I must rob the Daqian officialdom more in the future.

Gu Wen gobbled down two hundred fruits in one breath, feeling a bit bloated.

He felt that in the future, he should learn a bit about how to do Alchemy; otherwise, it would indeed take him until the year of the monkey to consume enough for ten thousand years of Heavenly Marrow.

The Heavenly Marrow circled around in the Qi Sea like a meteor shower, continuously increasing at a frenzied pace.

“Five years worth of Heavenly Marrow.”

Five years?

Gu Wen paused, fifty fruits should yield one year of Heavenly Marrow, so why was there an extra year now?

He looked down at the full fruits in his hand and suddenly understood; he had been eating inferior fruits before, and these in his hand were the best, meant to be offered to the Lord Emperor.

The strength of their effects naturally had to be much stronger, perhaps thirty percent more Heavenly Marrow.

Thus, the total Heavenly Marrow he could obtain would be at least forty years.

The dog Emperor eats this well every day; he really deserves to die!

The sun rose in the east and set in the west.

Gu Wen stayed in his room, focused on swallowing the medicinal fruits, then refining their effects, followed by more eating, in a repeating cycle.

From morning till evening, he only ate four hundred fruits, totaling ten years worth of Heavenly Marrow.

Combined with the Heavenly Marrow previously nibbled from the Grand Treasury Department’s medicinal materials and ginseng, it instantly restored him to eleven years worth of Heavenly Marrow.

The reason he didn’t continue eating was because he was too stuffed and the remaining medicinal power of the fruits in his body was excessive.

Before this, he could eat a maximum of a hundred at a time.

Now, it had surged fourfold, with considerably stronger medicinal effects.

As a result, Gu Wen’s body became exceedingly hot and agitated, and he had to sit and meditate to refine the medicinal power, converting all of it into Mana.

The Mana in his Qi Sea quickly went from the depleted state after the robbery at Dragon Bridge to the size of a basketball, and then to a bucket’s capacity.

Four hundred medicinal fruits only provided slightly more replenishment to Mana than a single Qi Nourishing Pill, but that didn’t mean a Qi Nourishing Pill was worth so many fruits.

It was rather the wonder of the alchemical process.

It’s a pity that I don’t know how to do Alchemy, nor do I have the conditions for it.

It was the middle of the night again, and the watchman’s gong sounded, with the crying of babies who were woken up in the distance.

Gu Wen slowly opened his eyes.

“Eleven years worth of Heavenly Marrow.”

Eleven years of Heavenly Marrow, such a wonderful number!

He calmed his emotions and began to ponder over the current Cultivation Techniques at hand.

“Dao Foundation, Perfect Method, healing techniques…”

These were what Gu Wen needed to comprehend most urgently.

Firstly, there was the essential Yuqing Daoji, which he hadn’t improved because it didn’t greatly enhance his strength—at least compared to his spear technique.

Now, his Flame Spear technique was only short of the last realm; the ultimate perfection.

To reach the perfection of Flame Spear, he would need to nurture a dharma form a hundred feet tall, and he needed so much Heavenly Marrow that it was beyond estimation.

Gu Wen guessed it was probably because the gap to perfection was too great.

It was like expecting a mortal to become an Immortal in one step; no one could estimate the amount of Heavenly Marrow needed for such a leap.

Next in line was the mental method, which was the primary target, and the healing techniques were necessary too.

If it were before, Gu Wen would have chosen the healing techniques first, but now things were different.

Old man Dao made a fortune, and he wanted it all!