Chapter 1660: Profound Yellow Heaven of Freedom

There were three levels in the Sage-stage. The first level was Ascension. To ascend was to transcend the mortal coil and set foot in the nine heavens. Naturally, one who ascended to the nine heavens was extraordinary.

To put it simply, all new Sages were at the Ascension level. They had just broken through their mortal limits and ascended. In Taoism, it was called Rising. In Buddhism, it was called Transcedence. In the Dark Ways, it was called Elevation. In Confucianism, it was called Sagehood. So on and so forth. They all meant the same thing.

In the Ascension level, a Sage primarily focused on comprehending the difference between a Sage and a mortal and solidifying their cultivation and mental state. They unified the three treasures—the physical body, the true qi, and the yang god—into one and attained perfection in all of them. This was to prevent them from losing control of their cultivation and falling back to the mortal coil.

The second level of the Sage-stage was called Abode. What did Abode mean? It meant using one’s martial cultivation, martial will, and martial understanding to create their unique Martial Domain. In Buddhism, they called it the Kingdom of Buddha or Pure Land. In Taoism, they called it Abode or World. In the Dark Ways, they called it the Bluefall or Yellow Spring. Again, they were all the same. This was how the name Abode came to be.

Inside one’s Martial Domain, a Sage was basically invincible. Only a Sage who had created a Martial Domain could be considered a true Sage. A flower could be a world, a leaf could be a Bodhi, and a thought could be the red dust. Flowers bloomed, flowers withered. Bonds were made, bonds were dead. Someone in their Martial Domain would find their power several times greater than what it was normally and grow capable of suppressing anything.

One could say that a Sage who had created a Martial Domain far exceeded one who had just reached Ascension. They could fight three, four, five, even six Ascension level Sages at once singlehandedly.

The third level of the Sage-stage was called Know The Way. Know The Way meant comprehending their own unique set of rules and Ways based on their Martial Domain and mastering the laws and principles of the Great Way. For example, action and inaction, yin and yang, the cycle of rebirth, time and space, the Five Phases and more were the most fundamental Ways and principles of the world. By creating and becoming one with one’s Way, the Sage would come to Know The Way.

Long story short, every level in the Sage-stage was an unscalable heaven. The power gap between each level was huge to say the least.

Power gap wasn’t the only gap between the cultivation levels, however. It also referred to the difficulty.

Normally, it took a decade or decades of comprehension and cultivation for an Ascended to become an Aboder. One must coordinate and perfect their martial arts and somehow integrate them all into one. Otherwise, they could not form their Art and Domain, create their Martial Domain, and reach the Abode level.

In fact, some Sages toiled their whole lives only to be stuck on the Ascension level. They were never able to reach the Abode level.

It hadn’t even been half a year since Ye Qing reached the first level, and now he was moments away from entering the second level. His cultivation speed was astounding to say the least.

But of course, as astounding and rare as his feat was, it wasn’t unprecedented. There had been even more ridiculous feats than this.

For example, the Three Sovereigns were born from the fate of the world. They were Sages from the moment they came to be.

For example, the Confucian scholar Kong Qianqiu—the one they called The Scholar Whose Will Lasts Eternal—was an ordinary human who studied for a century. Then, he ascended to the second level of the Sage-stage in a single day.

For example, Lu Youdao was a man praised as the reincarnation of the True Martial Great Emperor, and he had become a Sage in sixty years. However, he was unable to make even a single inch of progress for a century after that. In order to break through his bottleneck, Lu Youdao sat at the peak of the Lotus Peak and focused fully on his cultivation. He ate the wind, drank rainwater, and spoke to no one. One day, he attained enlightenment and created his Martial Domain, becoming a Aboder. That wasn’t all, however. A year later, he Knew The Way and became a Wayknower. His feat was legendary both in the past or the present.

For example, the former Demon Master Pang Fanyun had become a Sage at the age of thirty. During the next two years, he overcame the walls repeatedly and became a Wayknower.

All things considered, Ye Qing’s ascension from the first level to the second level of the Sage-stage was astounding and possibly unparalleled in the present world, but it certainly wasn’t that impressive compared to everyone else in history.

This was possible not just because of the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavenly Demon’s gift of power, but also because his own accumulation was sufficient. His martial cultivation, martial level, and understanding of the martial way were all sufficiently deep. That was why he was able to ascend to the Abode level of the Sage stage in one opportunity.

Regardless of the drawbacks, this was a good thing. A great thing, even.

High up in the nine firmaments, Ye Qing looked down on his profound and mysterious, real yet unreal martial world with a smile on his face.

“I’ll call you the Profound Yellow Heaven of Freedom.”

The martial world before him was constructed using the essences of the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture”, the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull”, and the “Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavenly Demon Treasure Edict”. It was very different from the Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven it used to be. Therefore, it wouldn’t be right to call it that.

The martial essence that formed this world encompassed the profound yellow of the Earthly Sovereign, the yin and yang of the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull”, and the great freedom of the “Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavenly Demon Treasure Edict”.

Profound yellow was both heaven and earth and yin and yang. Freedom was the reason he pursued martial arts in the first place and his ultimate desire. Therefore, it was right to call it the Profound Yellow Heaven of Freedom.

Buzz...

The moment the name escaped his lips, what sounded like divine music and grand bellchimes began playing in the world. It sounded like a celebratory tune. Profound yellow light cast themselves from the sky in celebration, the mountains, rivers and the land undulated in cheer, and all things constant or changing vibrated in delight.

“Profound Yellow Heaven of Freedom...”

“Profound Yellow Heaven of Freedom...”

Amidst the soundless rhythms, Ye Qing felt his mind and consciousness extending endlessly in every direction. At the same time, invisible air of Dao and certain laws and principles were growing and vibrating inside his heart. Unfortunately, they were vague and seemingly present yet not present at the same time. He could neither see it nor capture it.

Ye Qing could not help but feel disappointed. He knew that this weird feeling was his natural response toward a corresponding Great Way and law of his martial way. However, since he had just formed his Martial Domain, the weird, untouchable feeling was quite vague as a matter of course.

That was fine though. He simply needed to persist as he had before. So long as he kept honing and perfecting his martial way, it was only a matter of time before he finally cast away the clouds and see the light; Know The Way and attain true freedom.

“Phew...”

Although he wanted very much to throw himself into study and solidify or test out the power of the Profound Yellow Heaven of Freedom, he hadn’t forgotten that he was currently on foreign territory. He wasn’t sure if his creation of the Profound Yellow Heaven of Freedom or ascension to the Abode level had caused some commotion and drawn some unnecessary trouble either.

Therefore, Ye Qing left his internal world and surfaced back to reality after everything was ready.

The moment he did this, he immediately saw Feng Qingyou, the woman of the Rising Serpent Market, and Qiwa cowering in a corner of the room.

Qiwa did not matter as a matter of course. Feng Qingyou and the woman were the ones who held his full attention.

Right now, the woman’s eyes looked glazed and unfocused. Clearly, Feng Qingyou had taken control of her.

“You’ve awakened.”

Feng Qingyou gave him a smile as soon as she noticed his awakening.

Ye Qing looked at the woman and asked, “What happened?”

“I’m the one who should be asking you that.”

Feng Qingyou threw the question back at him, “What did you do to draw the Heavenly Demon’s gaze?”