Chapter Nineteen: Burying Heaven, Entombing Earth

The Celestial Severance Burial Method was a cultivation technique capable of reaching the Immortal Realm, though its origins were lost to time. Its insights into cultivation ran counter to all current doctrines, shrouded in mystery and strangeness. If not for the fact that this technique had been obtained from a legacy jade slip, Li Ruoyu would have dismissed it at first glance as a harmful method.

The greatest divergence between the concepts in the Celestial Severance Burial Method and those of the present cultivation world was this: since the Lian Tian stage, current methods focused on harnessing the power of heaven and earth. In stark contrast, the Celestial Severance Burial Method took a different path, asserting that every living being was an independent universe, its own heaven and earth. Therefore, this method insisted that, upon advancing to the Lian Tian stage, one must utterly sever all ties with the external world, achieving a state where self and universe were one and the same. It emphasized, “Being is born from non-being, and non-being from being.”

The meaning of “Being is born from non-being, and non-being from being” was enigmatic; Li Ruoyu could not comprehend it, unable to grasp its truth. The phrase seemed profoundly mystical. Though he did not understand, he sensed an unfathomable Dao surging toward him.

At this moment, Li Ruoyu pondered whether he should cultivate this method. The “Demonic Crossing Sutra” and “Supreme Evil Heavenly Art” were both peerless arts, but even their ultimate mastery could not reach the Immortal Realm. The founder of the Celestial Severance Burial Method, on the other hand, was supremely powerful, seemingly surpassing the Immortal Realm, yet had found that “even Immortals wither away,” and so created this method. The text speculated that ancient methods, from primordial to ancient times, all bound one inextricably to the world, forging great karmic bonds, and at the end, some nameless misfortune inevitably arose. This misfortune seemed linked to the great karma forged during cultivation.

According to the records, no one had ever practiced the Celestial Severance Burial Method since its creation, so its effects were unknown. For Li Ruoyu to practice it, he would need to destroy his current Lian Tian cultivation and fall back to the Condensed Spirit stage. If he switched to this method now, he still had a chance; but if he waited until after the Dust Refinement stage, he would never again be able to approach it. Once he entered the Dao Body stage, it would mean his being was already intertwined with the world, and he would never again be able to sever himself and become his own universe.

“I, Li Ruoyu, was born in ignorance, as insignificant as dust before heaven and earth, yet when have I ever feared to lead the way beneath the sky?” he thought.

Li Ruoyu spat out a mouthful of blood. The destruction of his Lian Tian cultivation left him extraordinarily weak. He gazed at the method within the Celestial Severance Burial Method for severing oneself from the world and burying the self within the earth.

“The Dao is the beginning of all mysteries; the patterns of heaven, the patterns of earth—together they form the universe. Only by severing the heavens and burying oneself within the earth does one begin with being born from non-being, and non-being from being…”

So began the Celestial Severance Burial Method. Many of its mysteries Li Ruoyu could not understand or fathom. He could only follow the instructions concerning the severing of the heavens and the burial of the self.

Li Ruoyu pondered the method carefully; as spring gave way to autumn, he had already spent more than a year in the Abyss of Fallen Demons.

On this day, in that hidden place, a deep, abyssal aura began to emanate from him, as if he no longer belonged to this world. After about half a year, Li Ruoyu had roughly mastered the method of severing the heavens and burying the self, and once again stepped into the Lian Tian stage. At this point, he felt a barrier between himself and the world—a peculiar sensation.

He felt as if the universe was himself, and he himself the universe—a great abyss capable of devouring even light. He had lost the ability to wield the energies of heaven and earth, yet his own power was far greater than what was described in “Common Knowledge of the Cultivation World” for the Lian Tian stage. All his cultivation was now contained within, revealing nothing. However, due to the residual effects of the Desolate Body, he realized he had completely lost sensation in his left hand.

In the sky, black clouds began to gather, gradually covering a portion of the southern Abyss of Fallen Demons. At the center of the convergence was the hidden cave where Li Ruoyu resided.

As the black clouds amassed, Li Ruoyu felt a sense of dread. Suddenly, lightning began to flicker among the clouds. In an instant, a bolt of lightning struck down, shattering the rock above his head as easily as if it were tofu.

“Heavenly Tribulation.”

Legend held that before even the remote primordial ages, there were those who defied the world at the Dust Refinement stage, and the universe would send tribulation upon them to destroy them.

The thunderbolt split stone and mountain, striking Li Ruoyu with excruciating pain, instantly waking him. He had not expected that just upon re-entering the Dust Refinement stage, heaven and earth would send tribulation upon him.

“Is it because of myself, or the Celestial Severance Burial Method?” he wondered.

Though it seemed to last a long time, it was but a moment. Li Ruoyu immediately released the small banner he had acquired from the golden giant’s remains, placing it above his head. This golden banner was an immortal artifact, once refined and worshipped by the golden corpse in life. Its name was the Banner of Great Souls. When he first obtained it, Li Ruoyu had formed a preliminary bond and nurtured it within his body. Now, he summoned it to defend against the thunder.

The first bolt had already severely wounded him, but Li Ruoyu also sensed his body was being subtly strengthened. When the second bolt fell, he left a small gap in the Banner’s defense, allowing a trace of the tribulation’s thunder to temper his body. Gazing at the roiling black clouds above, he sighed to himself—if not for the Banner of Great Souls, he would not have survived, or would have suffered grievous injury.

After the second, the third bolt followed, but still could not shake the Banner. Truly, it was a supreme treasure. Its defensive properties were terrifying, though this was not its chief function. Its real power lay in its command over souls: to gather, control, and nurture them.

With each successive bolt, the clouds above grew denser. From a distant vantage, one could see vast swathes of black clouds contracting, converging above Li Ruoyu. At last, after the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, the clouds condensed into a single black point, from which a violet bolt of tribulation thunder descended. The lightning’s movement was slow, yet its oppressive force bore down on Li Ruoyu, making him feel that this single bolt eclipsed the combined power of the eight before it.

A thunderous crash rang out as the tribulation lightning met the Banner of Great Souls. Even so, the Banner remained unmoved before such a terrifying attack.

In the end, Li Ruoyu survived the ninefold tribulation, and his body was greatly refined. “To undergo heavenly tribulation at such an early stage, will there be more to come at the Dao or Dao Body stages?” he could not help but wonder.

After the tribulation, Li Ruoyu sensed the changes in himself. Tempered by the heavenly lightning, his body was stronger than ever, giving him a tremendous advantage in battle with those of the same realm. His power had increased beyond measure.