Lin Moyu carefully considered his future path, murmuring to himself, “Comprehending the Great Dao, condensing Dao Patterns, then having the Dao Patterns fuse, connect, and strengthen.”

"Within the same realm, the number of Dao Patterns, while not the absolute factor determining combat power, is one of the most important factors."

"A sweeping disciple of the God-Slaughtering Sect only has one Dao Pattern, outer sect disciples have two, inner sect disciples have three, while a Personal Disciple can reach four."

"Even with just one Dao Pattern, the combat power of an outer sect disciple is comparable to some of the current heaven's prides."

"In the Dao Venerable 1st Realm, the weakest can condense one Dao Pattern, while the strongest can condense six, a difference of several times over."

"Moreover, as the realm improves, the gap in Dao Patterns will amplify exponentially; the higher the realm, the greater the gap between the two becomes."

Speaking of this, a faint smile appeared on Lin Moyu's lips, "Six Dao Patterns are indeed very strong, but are six Dao Patterns the absolute strongest? That is likely not the case."

"The Great Dao has no end. The so-called 'strongest' is not the limit of the Great Dao, but the limit of human potential."

Lin Moyu did not know if he could break this limit, but he would try; perhaps there was a chance to break it. He never stagnated. Others could reach at most six, but he refused to believe that. Through his thousands of years on the path, Lin Moyu had realized one truth: his path was different from everyone else's.

After Lin Moyu understood this, he began to comprehend the Great Dao and condense Dao Patterns.

His past insights into the Great Dao began to converge one by one.

First was the Undying Great Dao, which he had comprehended the most deeply.

As his life-bound Great Dao, Lin Moyu's comprehension of it far exceeded that of other Great Daos, and many of his techniques were related to it.

The Undying Great Dao was the foundation of Lin Moyu's existence, and its position was unshakeable.

A vast amount of insights regarding the Undying Great Dao came flooding in—not new insights, but those profound truths of the Great Dao he had obtained previously.

These truths were illusory, invisible and intangible.

However, in the eyes of the soul, even the illusory was truly existent.

The changes between the virtual and the real were hard to define; one could only comprehend them oneself.

His soul power radiated out, filling his entire Soul World.

Lin Moyu gathered his insights into the Great Dao together, using his soul power as a carrier to fuse them.

Gradually, an illusory Dao Pattern slowly emerged.

First, the outline of the Dao Pattern appeared. Seeing this, Lin Moyu felt a slight joy in his heart, "It seems it's not as difficult as I thought!"

Just as this thought arose, urgent knocking suddenly sounded outside the courtyard. The array in the courtyard rumbled, interrupting his comprehension.

Lin Moyu woke up with a start and saw Lu Fengyao standing outside the courtyard.

Opening the courtyard gate, Lin Moyu asked curiously, "Sister Feng Yao, why are you back again?"

Lu Fengyao rolled her eyes at him, "Ten days have passed, I've come to pick you up."

Lin Moyu was stunned for a moment, blurting out, "Ten days have passed?"

Lu Fengyao retorted crossly, "What else?"

Only then did Lin Moyu realize that he had forgotten the time while condensing his Dao Pattern.

Condensing a Dao Pattern was truly time-consuming; ten days had passed just like that, and not even the outline had been fully formed.

Lu Fengyao looked Lin Moyu up and down, "You look like you've recovered well."

Lin Moyu's aura was perfectly intact at this moment; he no longer looked injured. He cheekily said, "It's all thanks to the great dao longevity pill that Sister Feng Yao gave me."

Lu Fengyao patted his shoulder, "Stop buttering me up; it's useless on this young lady. Let's go quickly, the gathering is about to start."

Lin Moyu nodded, "Sister Feng Yao, please lead the way."

Lu Fengyao took Lin Moyu out of Shang City, then she threw out a flying boat and took Lin Moyu to the gathering spot.

The place where the gathering was held was not inside Shang City, but in a small town outside of Shang City.

Outside Shang City, there were four small towns distributed at the four corners of Shang City, like four small cities guarding Shang City.

Each small town was one thousand kilometers away from Shang City and was also managed by the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce.

Although called a small town, it was actually larger than many cities in the Eastern Continent.

The small town they were going to had thirty thousand cultivators living in it. Adding the ordinary people brought by the cultivators, the total population exceeded six hundred thousand, which could completely be called a medium-sized city.

Lu Fengyao steered the flying boat, crossed one thousand kilometers, and arrived at the edge of the small town.

The small town was named Xuri, located to the east of Shang City.

Xuri Town also had city walls, with people from the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce patrolling them, and it was also filled with arrays.

Here, Lin Moyu felt an aura of solemn killing.

Lin Moyu knew that the small town must be built upon an origin spirit vein, and the arrays inside were also controlled by Lu Lian.

Once danger descended, Xuri Town would be an outpost-like existence, the first ring of Shang City's entire defensive system.

The strong in Shang City could teleport over via the origin spirit vein to provide support.

Letting the battle happen outside could keep Shang City away from the battlefield.

There was no problem with such an arrangement; Shang City was the headquarters of the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce, so it was only right for its defense to be as tight as possible.

Lu Fengyao's flying boat flew directly into Xuri Town; as the eldest young lady of the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce, such a small bit of authority was naturally not a problem.

In a corner of Xuri Town, there was an exquisite courtyard with pavilions, towers, small bridges, and flowing water.

This gathering was to be held here.

Although it was only a private gathering, the setup was still very exquisite.

In the center of the courtyard, there was a small, clear lake.

Winding paths were built over the lake, connecting two lake-viewing pavilions—one large and one small, one main and one auxiliary.

The lake-viewing pavilions were separated by dozens of meters, with long corridors connecting them.

Lu Fengyao took Lin Moyu through the winding paths toward the lake-viewing pavilions.

From afar, Lin Moyu saw several old acquaintances. Saintess Xianlian, Dongfang Wuwen, and Saint Son Tianhuan were all here.

Besides them, there was Saintess Caixia from the Seven Stars Holy Land, who had won fifth place in the Heavenly Pride Tournament.

There was also the saintess of the Hanshui Holy Land, Gu Bichuan, who had won sixth place in the Heavenly Pride Tournament.

Lin Moyu was slightly puzzled, "Why is the fourth place, Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling, not here?"

Lu Fengyao said, "That guy doesn't like participating in these kinds of things, so he has already left."

The impression Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling gave Lin Moyu was low-key, silent, and very sparing with words.

He was indifferent to surrounding affairs and similarly did not care much about winning or losing.

Lin Moyu felt that the Heavenly Pride Tournament was just a formality for Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling; the ranking and victory or defeat were simply not important at all.

Therefore, it was normal that he did not come to this private gathering and was not interested in that Origin Secret Realm.

"Perhaps, this is his Dao."

Lin Moyu felt that Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling had his own Dao, a Dao that was not swayed by external objects.

It was precisely because Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling had left that Gu Bichuan was invited to participate in this gathering.

Otherwise, with her sixth-place result, she would not have been qualified.

The several heaven's prides were already seated in the main pavilion, while in the auxiliary pavilion sat the attendants of the heaven's prides.

Lin Moyu followed by Lu Fengyao's side, looking just as he did when participating in the Heavenly Pride Tournament.

Lin Moyu joked, "Sister Feng Yao, I feel like we've gone to participate in the Heavenly Pride Tournament again."

Lu Fengyao chuckled, "This time, you are the protagonist. However, Gu Bichuan and Saintess Caixia might have some opinions about you, so you need to be careful."

She explained the situation to Lin Moyu.

Previously, when she had discussed the quota matter with Saintess Xianlian, Dongfang Wuwen, and Saint Son Tianhuan, she did not know that Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling would not come.

At that time, it was discussed that Saintess Caixia's spot would be given to Lin Moyu.

However, in return, they would also pay some price to compensate Saintess Caixia.

In reality, they were buying this spot from Saintess Caixia, though it was somewhat forced.

The six spots to enter the Origin Secret Realm, besides the one that Lu Fengyao was bound to take, were generally occupied by the top five of the Heavenly Pride Tournament.

It had already been agreed upon, and Saintess Caixia had also agreed to give up the spot; after all, she did not want to offend these few heaven's prides.

But now an accident had occurred: Young Sect Leader Wang Tianling had unexpectedly given up his spot.

Consequently, Saintess Caixia's ranking moved up by one, and Gu Bichuan, who was originally in sixth place, suddenly possessed this spot.

Thus, Saintess Caixia was somewhat unwilling; she felt that it should have been Gu Bichuan's spot that was given up.

But Gu Bichuan had a cold personality and was unwilling to give up the spot.

No matter how Saintess Xianlian and the others persuaded her, she would not give it up, and the matter had become deadlocked there.

After listening, Lin Moyu couldn't help but laugh, "If it had been done earlier, before Gu Bichuan knew, wouldn't this issue have been avoided?"

Lu Fengyao said, "It's not that simple. The spots are not determined by us, but by the old ancestors of those sects. If someone gives up, the next person in line fills the spot."

"Many people are eyeing this spot; it cannot be moved easily."

Lin Moyu said, "Since it can't be moved, why can I get in?"

Lu Fengyao said, "It was Saintess Xianlian and Dongfang Wuwen who used their connections, inviting their seniors to come forward, to convince the seniors of the other sects. Of course, they also had to pay some price."

Lin Moyu felt that things were not quite what he had imagined; this exploration of the Origin Secret Realm seemed quite unusual.

This Origin Secret Realm was not as simple as he had thought; perhaps there were some secrets existing inside.

Lin Moyu asked, "What exactly is in this Origin Secret Realm?"

Lu Fengyao said, "Some old affairs. Once it is confirmed that you can enter, you will naturally know. It is not convenient for me to say now."

Lin Moyu said, "Then can I choose to give up?"

Lu Fengyao's footsteps paused, her beautiful eyes glaring at Lin Moyu, and her voice raised a few decibels, "You want to give up? Why?"

Lin Moyu felt it was a bit strange; why was Lu Fengyao suddenly so agitated?

However, he still spoke out his inner thoughts, "The more secrets one knows, the faster one tends to die; I haven't lived enough yet!"

Lin Moyu realized that this trip to the Origin Secret Realm was not simple; it might involve some things.

These things should be related to several top-tier forces and also related to the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce.

Although he was not afraid, there were some things he did not need to participate in.

Hearing Lin Moyu's answer, Lu Fengyao's eyes suddenly became a bit moist, and her voice quickly softened, "If you really don't want to go, then don't go."

Lin Moyu felt that Lu Fengyao's tone was off, "Sister Feng Yao, are the secrets in the Origin Secret Realm related to you?"

Lu Fengyao hesitated for a few seconds, then whispered, "It's related to my father."

Lin Moyu roughly understood, "If that's the case, then I will go."

Lu Fengyao's eyes revealed joy, "Really?"

Lin Moyu nodded, "As long as I can help Sister Feng Yao, taking a little risk is actually nothing."

Lu Fengyao said with a smile, "Thank you!"

Lin Moyu laughed, "If Sister Feng Yao is so polite, then you're treating me like a stranger. Let's go, let's not keep them waiting for long."

The two walked on the winding waterway.

One large and one small, one main and one auxiliary, two lake-viewing pavilions.

In the slightly smaller auxiliary pavilion sat several people; they were the attendants of Dongfang Wuwen, Saint Son Tianhuan, Saintess Caixia, and Gu Bichuan.

Saintess Xianlian traveled alone and had no attendants.

Gu Bichuan's attendant was Lin Moyu's old acquaintance, Gu Nianshui.