Chapter 389 – The More You Desire, the Less You Obtain

“Samadhi True Fire? Impossible! How can you possess Samadhi True Fire!”

Watching the pale illusory flames materializing around Lu Chen, Wing Venerable seemed to have witnessed something terrifying, exclaiming in shock.

Lu Chen hadn’t expected Wing Venerable to recognize the Samadhi True Fire immediately.

After all, Lu Chen had rarely used the Samadhi True Fire up to this point.

It wasn’t that the Samadhi True Fire was weak, but rather that Lu Chen’s Sword Path was sufficient to handle most situations.

The reason he employed it now was specifically to counter Wing Venerable.

After all, the opponent’s speed and Divine Abilities indeed had their unique aspects.

Upon seeing the Samadhi True Fire, Wing Venerable’s previous arrogance vanished instantly. His pupils contracted, and his expression turned grave.

This was no joking matter—this was the Samadhi True Fire.

It was the legendary Immortal’s fire that even their revered Great Thousand Feather Crane Deity couldn’t withstand.

It was the Divine Ability most effective at countering their Great Thousand Mountains’ Physical Body Sanctification method.

The reason Wing Venerable could recognize Lu Chen’s Samadhi True Fire immediately was naturally because relevant ancient texts existed within the current Great Thousand Mountains.

According to those ancient records, once touched by the Samadhi True Fire, one’s body, soul, and heart would all be ignited.

The body would burn like raging flames, the soul would suffer like purgatory, and the heart would sink into an abyss.

Under such circumstances, the terrifying regenerative power brought by the Great Thousand Mountains’ method would be utterly useless.

No, this kid is peculiar.

Frightened by the Samadhi True Fire, Wing Venerable instantly changed his original plan.

He stared intently at Lu Chen and began to fully unleash his Great Divine Power.

In an instant, countless arms emerged from all directions, reaching out to grab Lu Chen.

The sheer number of arms was so dense it was spine-chilling.

Even more bizarrely, among these arms were not only human hands but also limbs of other creatures.

The largest and most powerful arms were undoubtedly the pair beneath Wing Venerable, with wrists joined and palms spread open in a lotus formation.

These two arms were so massive they occupied more than half of the entire Wing Space.

Lu Chen and Wing Venerable were currently situated in the palm area of these two arms, reminiscent of the legendary Five Finger Mountain.

As Wing Venerable fully activated his Great Divine Power, the Wing Space began to visibly shrink.

“Kid, if you had reached the Deity Transformation stage, where body and Dao unite, your Divine Fire would indeed make me fear you.”

“But with only Nascent Soul Stage cultivation, you cannot fully wield this Divine Fire, nor can you burn me to ashes!”

With a furious roar, Wing Venerable clasped his wing-transformed arms together.

In the next moment, the hand-lotus beneath Wing Venerable and Lu Chen began to close.

The result was an accelerated compression of the entire space.

This compression wasn’t merely a reduction in space.

It was also a form of imprisonment, a binding force.

Although the Samadhi True Fire around Lu Chen was fierce, within this continuously compressing space, it visibly began to dim.

With the loss of the fire’s intimidating glow, the myriad arms growing from the palms of the lotus hands started reaching for Lu Chen incessantly.

It seemed as though they intended to drag Lu Chen into some unknown abyss, never to be reincarnated.

Bang!As the colossal lotus-like palm closed, the radiance of Lu Chen’s Samadhi True Fire was completely enveloped by the hand.

Wing Venerable gazed at Lu Chen, whom he had imprisoned with his Great Divine Power, a triumphant smile spreading across his face.

Wings, freedom.

The world, a cage.

If one cannot break free from the cage, how can one speak of freedom?

“Boy, if you had managed to escape before this cage was fully formed, you might have had a sliver of hope.”

“But now that the cage is complete, sink into the endless abyss and perish utterly, hahaha!”

Wing Venerable laughed heartily several times, then turned to fly toward other areas within the Great Wilderness Pagoda, seeking the location of Thousand-Year Elder.

Just as he turned, however, he seemed to sense something and looked down in shock.

At the tips of his wings, two faint flames had quietly appeared.

Though these flames were tiny, they caused Wing Venerable’s expression to shift dramatically.

For the emergence of these two flames meant he had never truly trapped Lu Chen!

As if in response to Wing Venerable’s thoughts.

The distant ‘cage’ that had already closed was now being pried open by some force.

Wing Venerable strained to turn his head.

He saw that between the two enormous, sparsely feathered, withered-skinned arms, a gap had been forced open.

And through this gap, a fiery light… pierced through the darkness.

“The Cage of the World, so this is your true Dao.”

From within the fissure of Wing Venerable’s cage, an Immortal Sword was wedged between the two palms.

It was this very sword that had forced open Wing Venerable’s Cage of the World.

And Lu Chen’s voice emanated from this gap.

Wing Venerable stared in astonishment at Lu Chen, who had broken through his Great Divine Power.

Clearly, the current situation had completely exceeded his expectations.

After all, even within the Great Thousand Mountains, aside from a few other Revered Ones.

No one knew his true Dao.

For a long time, most people believed that his Dao as Wing Venerable was related to speed.

But in reality, his true Dao was not that.

Wings symbolize freedom, representing what Wing Venerable’s heart truly sought.

Yet without achieving Ascension, he could not attain genuine freedom.

The Transformation Soul Stage was, for the vast majority, an exceedingly supreme level of power.

Enough for them to shed most of the world’s shackles and obtain so-called freedom.

But for Wing Venerable, the Transformation Soul Stage was insufficient, far from enough.

Thus, his current freedom was merely a pair of wings bound by chains, not true freedom.

To break free, one must first understand.

To gain freedom, one must first comprehend the reasons for one’s lack of freedom.

Therefore, Wing Venerable’s true Dao was shackles, it was the cage—the Cage of the World.

And most who were unaware of this would focus their efforts on restricting Wing Venerable’s movements.

Employing numerous restrictive Divine Abilities or techniques.

But in doing so, they would fall right into Wing Venerable’s trap.

Because all these so-called restrictions, once Wing Venerable unleashed his Great Divine Power·Cage of the World.

Would become part of his cage, tools to suppress his opponents.

Yet whether by coincidence or luck, Lu Chen had never attempted to restrict Wing Venerable’s movements from the start.

Coupled with Lu Chen’s mere Nascent Soul Stage cultivation, this had led Wing Venerable to lower his guard to some extent.After all, Wing Venerable understood all too well the gap between the Nascent Soul Stage and the Transformation Soul Stage.

For a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator to defeat someone at the Transformation Soul Stage was nothing short of a fantasy.

Except for a certain existence recorded in ancient texts, Wing Venerable had never seen or heard of such a situation occurring elsewhere.

This was precisely why Wing Venerable couldn’t even be bothered to let Lu Chen set up any restrictions first. Instead, he directly unleashed the Cage of the World, intending to resolve the matter once and for all.

Of course, this might also have been influenced by the Samadhi True Fire—a Great Divine Ability that instilled fear in Wing Venerable.

After all, if the Samadhi True Fire were to truly land on him, the consequences would be no joke.

Even though he was a full major Realm above Lu Chen, he didn’t dare take the risk.

He didn’t dare gamble on whether Lu Chen’s Samadhi True Fire could genuinely harm him.

But Wing Venerable, who believed he had accounted for everything and held the upper hand, had overlooked one detail.

That was, even without relying on the Samadhi True Fire, Lu Chen actually possessed the strength to pose a threat to him.

The nearly impossible variable had emerged.

At this moment, Lu Chen used his Sword to pry open the Cage of the World while speaking, “I’ve been wondering for a while now—what exactly is the Dao that your Great Thousand Mountains follows?”

“At first, I thought the Great Thousand Mountains pursued the pure path of achieving sainthood through the Physical Body. But the more I interacted with you, the more I felt this idea might not be entirely accurate.”

“After all, among the Xiantian spirits you seek, not all are beings who attained divinity through the Physical Body.”

“After realizing this, I set aside my preconceptions and began to reconsider the Dao of your Great Thousand Mountains from a different angle.”

“Is it possible that, while your Great Thousand Mountains appears to cultivate the body, what it truly cultivates… is the spirit?”

Upon hearing this, Wing Venerable’s pupils contracted, and his mouth slightly parted.

Clearly, Lu Chen’s words had touched upon a subject he shouldn’t have.

But Lu Chen seemed oblivious to this and continued speaking as if to himself.

“If that’s truly the case, then the so-called ‘achieving divinity through the Physical Body’ is nothing but a lie your Great Thousand Mountains uses to deceive the world—or perhaps, it’s merely the most superficial facade of your School.”

“You appear to pursue that outer shell, but in reality, what you care least about… is that very shell.”

“What you truly seek is the spirit—the spirit capable of transcending all, coming and going freely.”

“Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. The so-called Xiantian spirits are essentially manifestations of the Great Dao in the world.”

“As long as the core of the Great Dao is fulfilled, the manifested being can take any form.”

“And since your Great Thousand Mountains aims to become Xiantian spirits, aside from discarding your original shells, you must also transform your spirits from Houtian to Xiantian.”

“Only by shedding the mundane skin can one obtain that wisp of Xiantian spirit.”

“Before encountering you, many of my thoughts were mere speculation.”

“But after witnessing your Great Divine Power and your true Dao with my own eyes, I finally gained a genuine understanding of your Great Thousand Mountains.”

“Shed the mundane skin, seek the Xiantian spirit.”

“In your eyes, the world is nothing but a larger shackle and cage—another layer of skin that can be discarded.”

“If that’s the case, then simply destroying your Physical Bodies is absolutely insufficient to truly kill you.”

“Because your foundation has never resided in that cage-like Physical Body, but in the precious True Spirit.””Only by extinguishing your True Spirit can you truly be killed.”

“This is the truth behind the Great Thousand Mountains’ undying Physical Body and the Rebirth from a single drop of blood.”

“Do you know why I initially used the Samadhi True Fire to test you?”

“Because I wanted to observe your reaction, for the Samadhi True Fire burns… precisely the True Spirit of all things.”

Lu Chen stood within the palm of the Wing Venerable, which had been forcibly spread open by the Immortal Sword, smiling as he gazed at the horrified Wing Venerable not far away.

By now, the Wing Venerable was utterly shaken by Lu Chen’s words.

His thoughts were in disarray, unable to utter a single word.

For what Lu Chen spoke was indeed the true doctrine of the Great Thousand Mountains, their genuine Dao.

But how could Lu Chen, an outsider to the Great Thousand Mountains, know these secrets?

And more importantly, where did he learn that they originated from the Great Thousand Mountains?

To evade a certain Restriction, they had always presented themselves as the ‘Thousand Feather Sect.’

Even if Lu Chen knew of the Great Thousand Mountains’ existence, how did he connect the Thousand Feather Sect to it?

When not pondered deeply, these questions seemed insignificant.

But upon careful reflection, they revealed even more complex issues.

Mastery of Samadhi True Fire, knowledge of the Great Thousand Mountains’ secrets, terrifying Swordsmanship…

Contemplating the traits Lu Chen had displayed, a sudden realization flashed through the Wing Venerable’s mind.

He stared at Lu Chen in disbelief, focusing on his features as if comparing them to something.

The more he compared, the more terrified his expression grew.

For the current Lu Chen bore an uncanny resemblance to someone from the Wing Venerable’s memories.

Both wielded Samadhi True Fire, both excelled in the Sword Path.

Both understood the Great Thousand Mountains… intimately.

“Impossible, absolutely impossible! A coincidence, it must be a coincidence…”

The Wing Venerable’s voice grew louder.

But no volume could mask the fear in his heart.

“Impossible! That person should have died long ago. You cannot be him!”

With a furious roar, the Wing Venerable unleashed his full cultivation without reservation.

In an instant, a massive demon crane materialized before Lu Chen—a grotesque creature with enormous malformed wings, an emaciated body, feathers only on its wings, and bare skin elsewhere.

This was the Wing Venerable’s final trump card: the Law of Heaven and Earth.

The Great Divine Power, Law of Heaven and Earth.

Driven to desperation, the Wing Venerable glared at Lu Chen, his eyes filled with murderous intent and boundless dread.

“Die! You must die! Unless you perish, we shall never attain true transcendence, nor genuine freedom!”

As he spoke, the Wing Venerable’s wings slammed down heavily toward Lu Chen.

During their descent, the wings expanded continuously, growing so vast they seemed capable of shrouding heaven and earth.

Yet faced with this onslaught, Lu Chen’s expression remained utterly serene.

Serene as if… gazing upon a cold corpse.

“The more you crave, the more elusive it becomes; the more elusive, the more you crave.”

“I believe… I have finally understood the root of your affliction.”

With these words, four Immortal Swords materialized behind Lu Chen.

The complete Fiend-Slaying Sword Formation emerged once more.

Standing within the formation, Lu Chen watched as the blazing Samadhi True Fire spread and gradually merged with the surrounding Fiend-Slaying Sword Formation.Lu Chen raised his hand as the four Immortal Swords began to continuously merge, combined with the burning Samadhi True Fire.

A massive Immortal Sword wreathed in flames materialized horizontally above Lu Chen’s head,

aimed directly at the Law of Heaven and Earth bearing down from Wing Venerable.

“You just said, without these wings, how would others know you’ve attained immortality?”

“Then let me ask you in return…”

“Even with these wings, how can you be certain you’ve truly attained immortality?”

“You believe you’ve seen through all illusions, free from thought and form.”

“But in my eyes, your obsessive pursuit of formlessness is the greatest form of all.”

“Now, allow me to cleave through your hypocritical facade.”

As he spoke, Lu Chen’s hand slowly descended,

and the Immortal Sword immediately swept toward Wing Venerable’s Law of Heaven and Earth…

(End of Chapter)