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Chapter 1116: Chapter 1027: Trials and Hardships
One could say that the majority of the Void Refinement Clan of the Li family are people filled with pride. A significant portion of them wish to carve out their own paths.
Among them, there are those who, after facing defeat and despair, continue to forge ahead along the roads opened by their predecessors. Meanwhile, there are also ones like Da Qing and Mu, who have successfully blazed their own twisted and arduous trails.
But regardless of the method, the Li family has always maintained a high-spirited and enterprising attitude. As long as it can be sustained, the future development prospects of the Li family are undoubtedly bright and vast.
"Once the Dharma has condensed, it will be time to go out and broaden my horizons," Li Zhirui muttered to himself. As the sound of his voice dissipated, a ray of Spirit Light rose in the Cave Mansion, sealing him inside.
In the following decades, Li Zhirui secluded himself in the Cave Mansion, striving to condense his Dharma.
He only ventured out twice during that time, once when the Moon Flood Dragon and Howling Moon underwent their Tribulation Transcendence after the breakthrough to the Integration Realm, and then to retrieve the Memory Stone from Li Taiyao’s hands.
"As I thought! The Heavenly Dao indeed shows favoritism towards Shuo and the others; the power of the Thunder Tribulation has been significantly weakened." Even though he did not witness it firsthand, the images from the Memory Stone made it easy to discern and confirmed Li Zhirui’s speculation.
"Is it because they are favored by the luck of the Taiyin Star?"
This is what Li Zhirui believed to be the likely situation. After all, the changes in Li Chengshuo and the others all stemmed from the Taiyin Star.
As to whether this is good or bad, he does not know, but for the time being, it is definitely more beneficial than detrimental!
It’s worth noting that, after Li Chengshuo’s breakthrough to the Integration Realm, the pace of his Cultivation remained astonishing. Describing it as progressing by leaps and bounds would not be an exaggeration, and the speed at which he was condensing his Dharma was swift, catching up to, and even surpassing Li Zhirui, was only a matter of time.
Moreover, this was all achieved with Li Chengshuo intentionally holding back, or else he would have long since surpassed Li Zhirui.
Such a speed of Cultivation brought immense pressure to all the High-level Cultivators in the family, prompting them to become even more diligent and hardworking than before.
...
On a certain day, after decades of seclusion by Li Zhirui, Spirit Light converged in his Sea of Consciousness, slowly outlining a three-inch ’child’ as pristine as jade, with clear facial features and engulfed in the radiance of the Five Elements Divine Light.
This was Li Zhirui’s Dharma, as well as the fundamental aspect he sought to break through in the Integration Realm.
Although the Dharma was only three inches tall, once activated, it would reach a towering twenty-five Zhang (a unit of length, roughly 3.3 meters)!
To advance from the Integration Realm to the Mahayana, the Dharma must surpass the one hundred Zhang limit. With thirty-three Zhang as the division, the early, middle, and late stages of Integration are differentiated.
If Li Zhirui wished to break through to the middle stage of Integration, he needed to only grow his Dharma by another nine Zhang.
But don’t assume that because Li Zhirui quickly cultivated his Dharma to twenty-five Zhang, the remaining nine Zhang would come easily; in reality, it’s not that simple.
The only reason he was able to achieve such results so soon after the Dharma formed owes everything to the solid foundation he had built in the past!
That is to say, all of Li Zhirui’s past accumulations paid off the instant he condensed his Dharma.
It’s not that Li Zhirui is particularly surprised by this, as he is well aware of how profound his own accumulation is.
"Having stayed with the family for so many years, it’s time to venture out and clear my mind," he thought.
Li Zhirui had made this decision before retreating; naturally, he wouldn’t second-guess it now.
Moreover, with the current strength of the Li family, while they may not be bold enough to claim dominance over all, they certainly have no fear of the surrounding powers. Thus, he has no concern for the safety of his family and can travel with peace of mind.
Li Zhirui left behind his years of Cultivation insights, especially on condensing the Dharma, with the Li family, and informed Li Taiyao, the Clan Leader, of his intentions.
"Ancestor Rui, how long do you plan to be away on this journey?"
"I don’t know, but at the very least, it will be one or two hundred years," Li Zhirui replied after some thought. He couldn’t give a precise answer because even he wasn’t certain.
Beyond that, Li Zhirui didn’t inform anyone else and left Mount Wanxian as quiet as a whisper.
This time, his plan was to head to the Central State Region of the East Continent—Kunlun State!
That place is reputed to be the birthplace of the Immortal Tao, and is currently the most prosperous and flourishing land of Immortal Tao.
Whereas in other regions it might be rare to encounter an Integration Cultivator on the roads, in Kunlun State they can be seen just about everywhere, and higher beings in Mahayana or undergoing Tribulation are not uncommon sights either.
And the nearly invisible Immortal Realm, which seldom reveals itself before mortals, is not without opportunities for encounters.
Due to the exalted status of Kunlun State, no single power can occupy this land. Instead, various Immortal Realm factions have built Immortal Cities there for traveling Cultivators to reside in.
Furthermore, due to the richness of Spiritual Energy and the confluence of luck, there are abundant opportunities, with many Cultivators finding their fortune in Kunlun State and soaring to great heights.
Not to mention the distant past, just a hundred years ago, a Loose Cultivator in Void Refinement obtained a fortuitous opportunity in Kunlun State and is now an Integration Great Power.
With such legends and glory attached to it, Kunlun State has become the sacred land that all Cultivators yearn for!
Thus, as soon as Li Zhirui solidified his Dharma and intended to go on a journey, these three significant characters sprang to mind.
Since it’s a journey and an experience, Li Zhirui did not take the Spirit Boat but traveled by controlling the wind himself, at a speed that was not too fast.
However, due to the Integrative aura he emanated, no Cultivators or Devil Beasts dared to trouble him. They avoided him from a distance, fearing they might inexplicably end up as wandering spirits.
Li Zhirui didn’t care either, as the common skirmishes and conflicts had no significant benefit for him but were rather a waste of time.
In this manner, Li Zhirui, without any incident, left the northeast domain governed by the Cave Abyss Sect.
But soon, Li Zhirui felt something was amiss. This was hardly a journey for experience; he was practically sightseeing and enjoying the scenery. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Although his Mental State was tranquil, there was little improvement in his Realm!
