Chapter Eighty-One: The Platform of Enlightenment

Yu Bo had tried to traverse the universe through Jiang Fan’s mind-space, but was strangled by an inexplicable force, leaving behind many fragments of memory.

By sifting through these, Jiang Fan finally learned whose legacy this was.

In ancient times, there were three Supreme Saints; among them, Yuqing Primordial Lord of Heaven established the Jade Void Palace and had twelve Golden Immortals as disciples, one of whom was Master Yuding.

Master Yuding's sanctuary was the Golden Haze Cave on Jade Spring Mountain.

“Jade Spring Hall, Golden Haze Method—I should have realized it sooner!”

“A disciple of a Saint... and also another disciple, famed as the God of War, Erlang God!”

“But why did they fall?”

Through the fragments of Yu Bo’s memory, Jiang Fan could confirm that Master Yuding had perished, and it happened a million years ago. Even Yang Jian’s whereabouts were unknown, and he had likely perished as well.

But the specific reason was unknown.

“Jade Spring Hall was created when Master Yuding left his sanctuary and refined the entire Jade Spring Mountain into this form!”

“Yu Bo was only the spirit of the Hall, bound by rules!”

“After becoming a registered disciple, there are ten years to strive for true inheritance, not just three!”

“Three years—Yu Bo must have set this! He expected I'd be anxious to reunite with my family, then go into seclusion and rush to become a true disciple. He’d use his million-year preparations to momentarily step out of Jade Spring Hall, trying to shake off his shackles once and for all! Pity—had he not met me, he’d still be the inscrutable Yu Bo.”

“Golden Haze Method and Profound Dao Skill are only the foundation. Only after becoming a true disciple can the real legacy be attained!”

“The real legacy?”

Jiang Fan caught his breath.

Master Yuding was a disciple of a Saint. His true legacy would surely be the techniques of a Saint, including the legendary Nine-turn Profound Art.

“The Profound Dao Diagram and Profound Dao Skill must be the groundwork for the Nine-turn Profound Art!”

Jiang Fan could hardly contain his excitement.

He tried to shift Jade Spring Hall out from his mind-space, but embarrassingly, nothing happened.

Jade Spring Hall simply floated quietly in his mind-space, small and enchanting.

“How am I supposed to enter it?”

As he wondered, his will focused on Jade Spring Hall, and in an instant, he vanished, entering within.

This time, Jiang Fan didn’t arrive at the stone hut, but found himself in a magnificent palace, vast and ancient. Even the aura naturally emanating from its walls made him want to kneel in reverence.

In the center of the palace stood a platform.

“The Dao Comprehension Platform!” Jiang Fan recognized at once this square platform, no more than three feet high, by matching it to Yu Bo’s scattered memories.

“A device to aid in enlightenment!”

“It seems even Yu Bo didn’t know its origin. He only knew Master Yuding obtained it by chance and treasured it dearly!”

“When Master Yuding fell, he separated Yu Bo and the Dao Comprehension Platform, a fact that left Yu Bo deeply resentful!”

“Unfortunately, the memories are too fragmented!”

Jiang Fan stepped onto the platform, and instantly, his mind was jolted. His spirit felt cleansed; his wisdom blazed like a raging fire. All the doctrines he hadn’t understood before became clear in a flash.

“This—this...!”

Shocked, he began to perform his fist technique, unleashing the Inch Fist from the first to the ninth strike, continuing on to the tenth, then the eleventh, only stopping then.

In a snap, he had comprehended the tenth and eleventh layers of the Inch Fist.

“How is this possible?”

Jiang Fan trembled in disbelief.

For the ninth layer of Inch Fist, he’d exhausted every method and only grasped it in a moment of crisis. Yet now, reaching higher realms of the technique required nothing more than stepping onto the Dao Comprehension Platform; understanding dawned in an instant, and ideas flowed endlessly. If he calmed his mind, he could surely master the subsequent techniques one by one.

“The Dao Comprehension Platform! The Dao Comprehension Platform!”

Amazed and trembling, Jiang Fan’s eyes shone like stars.

“With such a treasure, the Great Dao is within reach!”

As he thought this, the method to break through the fourth layer of the Golden Haze Method came to him effortlessly.

He stepped down from the altar.

His mind, once clear, now seemed shrouded under twelve layers of dust. Where his thoughts once moved a hundred billion times in an instant, now they moved only a hundred.

Such a contrast—it felt like an immortal falling into the mortal world.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Fan calmed himself, stepped forward, and sat cross-legged on the platform again.

This time, he sank his mind into the mind-space, using the Dao Comprehension Platform to continue combing through Yu Bo’s memories, gathering more information.

“After Master Yuding acquired the Dao Comprehension Platform, his cultivation advanced by a great realm in a short time!”

“He was pierced through by the Godslayer and left his legacy only at the brink of certain death!”

“What? The Godslayer Spear?”

Jiang Fan leapt up in shock.

This was more than mere surprise.

“The Godslayer Spear—so it truly exists?”

“What exactly happened a million years ago?”

“A disciple of a Saint actually slain?”

“And Primordial Lord of Heaven did nothing?”

The more he pondered, the more Jiang Fan’s scalp tingled.

Unfortunately, Yu Bo’s remaining memories were scant and fading fast.

“Worrying about the troubles of Saints while chewing on radishes!” Jiang Fan shook his head.

Thinking too much was pointless.

As Yu Bo had said, unless one transcends the Great Hong World, one remains just a small fish.

He surveyed the palace. To the left were two doors; the first bore three characters: Realm of Reality and Illusion.

“The Realm of Reality and Illusion? That’s the place I was in before—truth and illusion intertwined, ever-shifting, a place for registered disciples to temper themselves!”

Although Jiang Fan hadn’t fully mastered Jade Spring Hall, he already knew many of its functions.

The second door read: Scripture Pavilion.

As the name suggested, the repository of classics.

On the right were two more doors: Path of True Transmission, and Palace of Myriad Phenomena.

Upon becoming a true disciple, one could step onto the Path of True Transmission, obtain further legacies, and face trials of destiny; as for the Palace of Myriad Phenomena, it was subdivided into alchemy, artifact forging, arrays, talismans, and more—all classified by Master Yuding as the Myriad Arts.

“Pity that, without becoming a true disciple, I can only enter the Realm of Reality and Illusion; all else is sealed off!”

Jiang Fan didn’t mind.

For him, at present, the Realm of Reality and Illusion was more than enough.

Besides, he now knew that within the Realm of Reality and Illusion, there were benefits besides the spiritual spring.

Spiritual liquid in the world was divided by quality—low, middle, and high grade.

The spiritual spring in the stone courtyard was only low grade.

Deep in the mountains, there was a middle-grade spring; within the sea of forest, a high-grade spring.

Standing atop the Dao Comprehension Platform, Jiang Fan’s mind raced as he devised various plans and visions for the future.

“No need to rush into seclusion. I should go back first!”

At this thought, his body stiffened.

“Jade Spring Hall exists in my mind-space!”

“Yet now, I am inside Jade Spring Hall!”

“So, am I within Jade Spring Hall, or is Jade Spring Hall within my mind?”

Jiang Fan shook his head helplessly.

How much did he truly know about the world’s strange powers and unfathomable laws?

If he didn’t understand, he chose not to dwell on it.

With a thought, he reappeared in the Jiang family’s underground chamber.

The chamber was quiet but spotlessly clean.

Glancing at the weapons nearby, Jiang Fan walked over. Instinctively, he reached for the black iron saber, hesitated, and instead took up a black iron sword.

With a faint smile, his figure vanished.

A day later, he reappeared, his body brimming with an endless, sharp sword intent.

Sword intent—yes, sword intent.

Another realm of comprehension.

Jiang Fan took a step, his aura receding until, as he emerged aboveground, it had completely disappeared.

Sword in hand, he walked outside.

Beyond the underground chamber, not a soul could be seen.

When he reached the central courtyard and looked around, Jiang Fan frowned, then returned to his room and changed into white clothes before stepping out again.

“Ah, young master, you’re back!” As soon as Xiao Qing saw him, her face lit up with joy. “I heard a noise and thought it was a thief, but it’s you, young master! You don’t know how much we missed you. We thought… we thought you’d left us for good!” As she spoke, her eyes reddened.

“I just went out for a while, and now I’m back,” Jiang Fan said with a smile. “Where is everyone? Where have they gone?”

“Oh, young master, the young lady is at the front gate accepting a challenge. She left me here to watch over things!”

“Young lady?” For a moment, Jiang Fan was at a loss.