Chapter 228 : Who Is Worthy of These Three Words?

Chapter 228: Who Is Worthy of These Three Words?

The toll of the Dao Bell resounded throughout Ask-Dao Peak.

Within the Gentleman Temple, the true disciples of this generation all looked up, their faces revealing surprise.

“Eh? There hasn’t been any junior brother or sister promoted to true disciple status recently, thus entering the Gentleman Temple.”

“Then what’s with this bell sound?”

What confused these true disciples even more was that the bell tolled three times—and it rang twice.

“This isn’t the same as when we received our Dao Imprints.”

“Truly strange!”

By the small pavilion at the summit, Xiang Yan and the others quietly watched the Dao Bell, waiting in silence.

Before long, three large golden characters began to emerge beside the bell.

—【Return to True Origin】.

Xiang Yan and the others paused, uttering startled sounds.

With their breadth of knowledge, they naturally understood the meaning behind these three words.

These three characters originated from the Seven Tablets in the Cloud Book.

And the term itself aligned with the cultivation system of the Xuanhuang Realm.

Return to True Origin referred to death—when a person died, their entire life force returned to the source of heaven and earth, hence the name 【Return to True Origin】.

The Dao Ancestor had seized the power of heaven and earth and transformed it into three thousand Dao Imprints.

These could be powers of all creation—or even more mysterious forces.

“Just looking at it, you can tell it's extraordinary,” Li Chunsong remarked.

For now, they didn’t yet know what kind of power this three-character Dao Imprint held and could only analyze it literally.

Jiang Zhi, who attained Dao through killing, said directly, “It might be related to slaughter.”

No sooner had he spoken than a line of smaller characters appeared beside the three large golden ones.

—【Return to True Origin reflects my liver and gall, tempers my crimson blood to cut through the mortal world.】

Everyone couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Zhi. Who would’ve thought that the Little Martial Uncle could be so prophetic?

A rare moment—truly rare!

Dressed in a white robe, Jiang Zhi instantly clasped his hands behind his back, assuming the posture of a man in full control, trying his best to keep his expression neutral as if unaffected.

Riding the momentum, he continued confidently, “In my opinion, these three words must belong to Chu Huaixu.”

That child is like me—decisive in killing!

Moments later, the floating golden text dissipated.

Immediately after, three new large characters appeared beside the Dao Bell.

—【Southward Sunlight】.

Chu Yinyin knew the meaning of Return to True Origin, but as for Southward Sunlight, she honestly had no idea.

But this quirky old girl certainly wouldn't let it show. Curious inside, she deliberately exclaimed:

“Eh! What’s with this Southward Sunlight?”

She blinked her large round eyes, waiting for someone to pick up the thread.

Enforcement Elder Lu Pan was the first to bite.

“Junior Sister speaks truly. I didn’t expect a three-character Dao Imprint to contain Southward Sunlight.”

“Usually, two-character Dao Imprints often represent objects—powers of all creation. For example, when I entered the Gentleman Temple, I was granted the characters 【Pine and Cypress】 by the Dao Ancestor. I strive to live by them all my life,” said Lu Pan.

When traveling outside the mountain, he sometimes even referred to himself as Daoist Pine-Cypress.

“But three-character Dao Imprints are usually more like 【Return to True Origin】—no longer centered on ‘objects’.”

Chu Yinyin listened beside him, nodding repeatedly.

But inside, she was grumbling: “Lu Pan, what the hell are you talking about? Just tell me what Southward Sunlight even means!”

At this moment, Sect Master Xiang Yan interjected, “Senior Brother, that’s not quite right.”

“The sun is unlike any other object.”

“If the heavens lacked the sun, what would this world look like? It’s unimaginable.”

The old girl's big eyes swirled as realization dawned: “So Southward Sunlight refers to the sun!”

“Sect Master speaks wisely,” Lu Pan agreed, seeing the reasoning.

He couldn't help but sigh, “I just didn’t expect that someone could actually bear the weight of the three characters 【Southward Sunlight】.”

Everyone looked up at the blazing sun above, illuminating the entire land.

At that thought, Jiang Zhi silently cursed to himself—he suddenly realized he might’ve guessed wrong earlier.

Let’s not forget—Han Shuangjiang possesses the Body of Profound Yin.

After a few more exchanges, another line of golden text emerged beside the three large characters, grand and awe-inspiring!

Against the backdrop of the coming Heaven-and-Earth Calamity, these characters carried a clarity that stirred the hearts of all present.

—【Southward Sunlight breaks through layers of cloud, cleansing the mortal world with a sky of ten thousand miles.】

—

Inside the Dao Ancestor Inheritance Secret Realm, Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang sat cross-legged facing one another.

In the center of each of their left palms, golden patterns began to emerge.

These patterns were intricate, forming a square overall.

And in the center of these golden lines, golden characters began to appear.

On Han Shuangjiang’s palm were the characters: 【Return to True Origin】.

On Chu Huaixu’s palm were the characters: 【Southward Sunlight】.

A sharp aura of death began to radiate from the cold-faced girl.

Though still in a meditative state—not fully awakened from the illusion array—her thousands of strands of black hair spontaneously turned white, and she entered an even colder 【Heaven-Man State】, as if she now held a power capable of annihilating all ten directions!

Within the Illusion Array, she had shown more mercy than Chu Huaixu—yet received the Dao Imprint 【Return to True Origin】, the symbol of death!

Chu Huaixu, on the other hand, began to exude a blazing heat.

Like the mighty sun—burning away evil and repelling darkness!

But if you were far away from him, you wouldn't feel the scorching heat—only warmth.

His light nurtured all beings, full of vitality!

Even though he had sliced that young man’s throat with a sword at the very start of the illusion array, he ended up receiving this kind of Dao Imprint.

The two opened their eyes almost simultaneously.

They glanced at each other’s glowing palms with surprise—then looked to their own.

“What is this?” Han Shuangjiang asked, slightly puzzled.

She quietly sensed the power within, her expression tinged with astonishment.

In terms of raw strength, she found this golden palm imprint’s boost to a cultivator was no weaker than Sword Intent!

“This is the Dao Ancestor’s Imprint,” Chu Huaixu replied.

Because just moments before, he had heard a system notification in his ear.

“【Ding! Congratulations. You have received the Dao Ancestor’s Imprint—Southward Sunlight.】”

He checked his Character Panel and found a new line of information—【Dao Imprint: Southward Sunlight】.

Both of them had been initiated for some time now. They’d heard that upon entering the Gentleman Temple as true disciples, one would receive a Dao Imprint from the Dao Ancestor—two characters imbued with special power!

Many true disciples of the Gentleman Temple even chose to use these two characters as their Dao title.

But why were theirs three-character Dao Imprints?

Could this be the final reward of the Dao Ancestor Secret Realm?

Chu Huaixu thought to himself, Then if Han Shuangjiang and I enter the Gentleman Temple, won’t we receive two more characters?

According to the rules, that should be possible.

“How about we first feel out this power,” Chu Huaixu suggested.

“Mm.” The Big Ice Block nodded.

While she quieted herself to sense it, Chu Huaixu simply read the system description.

“【Southward Sunlight】: Dispels evil and clears obstacles, can eliminate karmic burdens and dissolve inner demons. Its light nurtures all life, can revive the dead and regrow flesh and bone.”

Chu Huaixu glanced over it and quickly understood.

The meaning was simple. The first half related to the Dao Heart.

Cultivators suffering Qi Deviation was commonplace. Mishaps during training were to be expected.

And living in this world, it was only natural to be stained by worldly dust.

Karmic burdens and inner demons—no one could avoid them.

Perhaps this could even counteract others’ mental attacks.

As for the second half, it probably pertained to healing.

If paired with his freakish self-regeneration, and further stacked with his Body Training Divine Ability—【Flesh Becomes Saint】…

Chu Huaixu felt it would be terrifying!

As the saying goes: What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.

But for Chu Huaixu, it became: If you can’t kill me in one hit, you’ll never kill me!

If the enemy couldn’t deal a lethal blow in one strike, their attacks might not even outpace his regeneration!

His endurance was now vastly enhanced.

Besides that, this power could be used on others.

Which meant Chu Huaixu had gained a bit of support capability—he now had some healer traits.

Once both had opened their eyes, they exchanged a glance, then shared brief accounts of their experiences within the illusion.

Han Shuangjiang wasn’t surprised at all when she heard Chu Huaixu had killed that youth with a single sword strike.

Because her previous assessment of Chu Huaixu consisted of eight words: Hawk’s Heart and Crane’s Appearance; Vengeful to the Extreme.

If someone tried to kill him, he would return the favor.

Faced with ungrateful wretches, he would show no mercy.

She, however, was far behind in that aspect.

It wasn’t that she had a woman’s soft heart—but more often than not, her killing intent was simply weaker.

This made both of them realize that the Dao Ancestor’s bestowed characters held profound mysteries.

Chu Huaixu killed—and received a character representing salvation.

Han Shuangjiang didn’t kill—and received a character representing death!