002 The Innate Monument of Infinity
Page (1/3) 002 Innate Primal Monument
In the world, cultivators are divided by levels of attainment, and so too are magical treasures. In his past life in the “Tusita Heaven,” all treasures under heaven fell into three categories:
Magical Implements.
Magical Treasures.
Primordial Chaos Spiritual Treasures.
Yet in this world’s East Sea cultivation realm, only the first two categories exist. In over two centuries of cultivation, the original owner, Taoist Xu, had never even heard the term “Primordial Chaos Spiritual Treasure.”
Magical implements are further divided into lower, middle, upper, and supreme grades. Magical treasures, meanwhile, are more finely classified—divided into nine ranks according to the number of restrictions they contain.
In the East Sea, a ninth-rank magical treasure is already a legendary relic, capable of anchoring an entire sect’s destiny. The Demon Sigil Sect, with its seventy thousand years of inheritance, possessed only a single eighth-rank treasure: the Primordial Chaos Demon Sigil.
Of the nine treasures Pang Yue owned in his previous life, all but the Creation Gold Ark were eighth-rank; the Ark alone was ninth-rank. Refined treasure-crafting was his greatest strength.
For him, crafting magical treasures depended on two core elements:
First, the materials.
The higher the grade of the treasure, the rarer and more extraordinary the materials required; the refinement of high-grade treasures demands rare, world-defying spiritual resources.
Second, the restrictions.
The nature of the restrictions determines the function and quality of a treasure. The number of restrictions defines its rank and power. Every nine restrictions constitutes a rank. Less than nine, and it is but a magical implement.
There is a saying in the cultivation world: “Materials are easy to obtain, restrictions are hard to seek.”
Restrictions are the core and soul of a magical treasure—a flawless set of restrictions can rival a sect-founding art or divine ability, the crystallization of countless generations of cultivators’ wisdom. The more restrictions a treasure contains, the harder they are to harmonize, and the more demanding the material’s “carrying capacity” must be.
How to combine myriad restrictions perfectly, and integrate them seamlessly with the properties of the materials, is the lifelong pursuit of all artifact forgers.
But restrictions are not only hard to devise, they are also hard to refine. A single restriction often contains tens of thousands of runes and formation lines. Just using one’s power to manifest such a complex system consumes endless time and effort, let alone infusing them into the material itself!
In Taoist Xu’s memory, the Demon Sigil Sect’s sect-anchoring treasure, the Primordial Chaos Demon Sigil, was forged over a thousand years by successive generations of sigil elders.
In his past life, Pang Yue refined the nine great treasures in the game thanks to fortune and opportunity, but the most critical key was the Innate Primal Monument.
This treasure is a peerless artifact of deduction, nurtured by the innate universe itself—its eighty-one restrictions are all innate, perfectly attuned to the grand laws, flawless and harmonious.
Using this monument as his foundation, Pang Yue deduced the restrictions of other treasures. With its aid, he drastically reduced the time required to refine restrictions, greatly increasing his efficiency and the quality of his work, and thus distinguished himself among hundreds of millions of players.
He hadn’t expected that, after transmigrating, fate would again lead him to first encounter the Innate Primal Monument.
Pang Yue’s eyes glimmered, his thoughts racing. Regarding the decisive battle a month hence, he quickly conceived a way to break the deadlock—
First, refine the Innate Primal Monument—even if only to the embryonic stage of a lower-grade magical implement. That would suffice to deduce Taoist Xu’s cultivation methods, grasping their essence and thereby boosting his power to face formidable foes.
It is like learning language and writing: some become great literary masters, composing works of exquisite beauty; others produce writings unfit for reading.
Sitting cross-legged upon the jade bed, Pang Yue let spiritual light surge around him, his power billowing forth as he conjured rune after rune before him, each the size of a coin.
These runes resembled both characters and patterns. Each one was intricately outlined by hundreds or even thousands of strokes!
They shimmered with spiritual light, drawing upon the world’s energies, hovering around Pang Yue with an almost sentient liveliness.
Each rune consumed vast amounts of his power, as if each were a bottomless pit devouring his essence. Yet once formed, they would remain suspended in the air, under his spiritual control, automatically absorbing the ambient spiritual energy and achieving harmonious balance.
With his cultivation at the third level of Dao Foundation, Pang Yue could only refine a hundred or so runes before his power was exhausted.
Without hesitation, he drew out a handful of spirit stones, using their energy to replenish himself and continue the refinement.
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The restrictions of the Innate Primal Monument were long since etched into his heart—especially after transmigration, the patterns of the nine great treasures’ restrictions were as clear as brands in his mind.
Thus, as he refined the runes, he made not the slightest error!
Were a grandmaster forger present to witness this, their mind would surely be thrown into chaos, their understanding overturned.
In truth, if Pang Yue were asked at this moment to refine an unfamiliar treasure, even ten or fifteen days might not suffice to create a hundred runes.
For any rune, the slightest mistake would cause it to collapse, wasting all effort and power. For any restriction, if even a single rune or formation line was out of place, the entire structure would disintegrate…
Such is the difficulty of refining restrictions!
It requires deep research into runes, precise control of power, and comprehensive mastery of the restriction as a whole.
Yet for Pang Yue, none of these posed a challenge. His only constraints were his own power and time.
…
Twenty days later.
Within the quiet chamber.
Pang Yue remained cross-legged, motionless. Around his body floated a brilliant silver ring, slowly rotating.
Looking closer, this ring was composed of countless radiant runes, each the size of a grain of rice, interlinked in a complex, profound formation—a seamless whole!
These runes were traces of the Grand Dao.
Ordinary restrictions might be formed from ten thousand runes.
But the restriction of the Innate Primal Monument was comprised of a staggering 129,600 runes!
Each rune contained unique meaning, connected to the mysteries of heaven and earth, their inner workings as intricate as clockwork.
And the countless runes, linked perfectly by complex formation lines into a harmonious whole, thus formed the first restriction of the Innate Primal Monument!
This was a true transformation of quantity into quality!
Once complete, myriad mysterious phenomena arose as the restriction’s runes flowed and evolved with natural ease.
Carefully, Pang Yue drew the Azure Rock Divine Stone to him, meticulously fusing the silver ring into the stone.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the dull gray stone burst into radiant light; the silver ring vanished. The two reacted together as if by alchemy, displaying unparalleled compatibility.
The square chunk of Azure Rock Divine Stone, originally three feet on a side, instantly shrank to palm size, its entire surface shining with silver brilliance and swirling halos, within which countless minute runes flowed and flickered with unusual vitality.
Thus, the stone Taoist Xu had picked up was now a lower-grade magical implement!
When Pang Yue refined it past nine restrictions, it would become a first-rank magical treasure.
However, time for the coming duel was running short, and Pang Yue had already exhausted all the spirit stones Taoist Xu had amassed over the years in the process of refining restrictions.
All had been used to replenish his power.
With the Innate Primal Monument in his palm, Pang Yue’s gaze shone with resolve and confidence, as if he had become once more the “Treasure Daoist” who left countless players in defeat!
“Now, it’s time to enhance my strength!”
He muttered to himself.
Taoist Xu’s entire cultivation inheritance came from the Xu Family’s two Canons and one Technique:
Dragon-Elephant Subduing Fist Canon.
Crimson Flame Sword Canon.
Cloud Inscription Escape Technique.
Body refinement, sword mastery, and movement arts.
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Throughout his life, Taoist Xu had been peaceful, engaging in fewer than a hundred duels. In the eyes of Pang Yue, who had fought his way through millions of players, Taoist Xu’s combat experience was nearly nonexistent.
The two canons and one technique he cultivated were all at a very basic level.
For instance, the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Fist Canon—a body refinement method that involved visualizing ancient celestial dragons and divine elephants as a foundation, drawing on the world’s spiritual energy to temper the body and unleash immense force.
If one could comprehend the true essence of the dragon and elephant, one could condense a Dragon-Elephant True Talisman!
Each talisman increased one’s strength by a hundred thousand catties.
The ultimate limit of the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Fist was thirty-three Dragon-Elephant True Talismans.
In the Xu family’s history, a true master once condensed eighteen talismans, their physical strength surpassing even that of demonic beasts—unparalleled in close combat.
Yet Taoist Xu had condensed only two…
Or take the Crimson Flame Sword Canon. Though ordinary, some cultivators had used it to attain the state of Heart Sword Illumination and Unity of Man and Sword. In battle, their swordplay would become as swift as lightning, their killing power greatly increased.
Pang Yue infused his power into the Innate Primal Monument, activating its restrictions. Silver radiance flooded forth, and countless runes flowed through the halo, deducing all of Taoist Xu’s arts at his command!
A peculiar sense of perception emanated from the monument, flooding into Pang Yue’s soul and consciousness.
Roar!
A deep, thunderous, and majestic dragon’s cry echoed through Pang Yue’s sea of consciousness.
At the same time, an inexplicable realization arose in his mind, reverberating within his awareness!
Dragon-Elephant Subduing Fist Canon!
Ancient celestial dragons, divine elephants… A colossal Buddha, radiant as a mountain, shone with golden light over the endless land.
The giant Buddha struck out at the void with a fist; immediately, weighty, ancient golden runes appeared across his form. An overwhelming force erupted, and wherever the fist-light passed, space collapsed and all things perished!
In that instant, Pang Yue’s understanding of the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Fist Canon reached perfection.
He sat in lotus posture, formed the mudra of the Buddha, and circulated the fist canon’s core method. A faint golden light shone upon his body, and two golden runes resembling dragon scales and elephant patterns appeared on his chest.
Dragon-Elephant True Talisman.
This was the “Way” condensed through cultivation, realization, and the forging of one’s power.
Moments later, golden light gathered upon him, and yet another Dragon-Elephant True Talisman emerged!
Hiss!
Suddenly, a dramatic transformation occurred!
Pang Yue’s body abruptly swelled, gaining a full three feet in height; his Daoist robe split apart, revealing muscles as hard and well-defined as forged steel.
His entire body bulged with powerful muscle, arms thickening, exuding an overwhelming sense of explosive strength!
His skin took on a faint golden hue, and as the three talismans on his chest expanded and contracted, they greedily absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy, transforming it into pure power to nourish his flesh.
Pang Yue instantly felt as though a volcano had erupted within him, a blazing current surging through his body, filling him with strength.
He sat unmoving, steady as a mountain—a meditating ancient Buddha. The air around him churned and spun, forming a vortex of energy that ceaselessly absorbed the world’s essence.
After another stick of incense burned down, a fourth Dragon-Elephant True Talisman appeared.
His body expanded yet again…
Now, seated, his height was equal to what he had once been standing—projecting a formidable sense of pressure.
His comprehension of the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Fist Canon had reached perfection, rivaling the very founder of the art. Yet cultivation must proceed steadily, step by step.
Each talisman condensed added a hundred thousand catties of strength.
With thirty-three talismans, one would wield a strength of three million three hundred thousand catties!
Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.
Pang Yue immersed himself in cultivation, and with every interval, a new Dragon-Elephant True Talisman would appear on his body…