Tongtian stared at Kong Xuan and Jinchi, who followed behind his brother, and at Nuwa. The two other parties also stared back at her and each other. No words needed to be said. Both groups had arrived to acquire the gestating spiritual artifact. However, some things still must be said.
"Fellow Daoists, I feel that the treasure has some fate with me. How about giving me face and relinquishing it?" Nuwa asked,
Tongtian’s lips twitched. If everyone really left because of those words, the number of battles in the Great Desolation would have been reduced by half. Ever since the third sermon, numerous life and death battles have broken out over artifacts, and many of the three thousand guests who listened to the Dao Ancestor's sermon perished.
But before she could speak, someone else did.
"Ridiculous, according to your words, since I feel that the treasure here has a connection with me, shouldn't you leave instead?" Kong Xuan said.
Nuwa frowned, but she looked at Tongtian instead. "What does Senior Sister think?"
'Throwing the ball to me and even playing the junior sister card?' The edge of Tongtian's lip quirked upward. "I also feel that the treasure is destined for me."
With her words, all three parties turned to silence. Since none of them wanted to give up, they could only fight for it.
Time passed slowly, and the spiritual light emitted from the mountain grew brighter and brighter, signifying the near-birth of the spiritual artifact. Finally, after an unknown amount of time, a pillar burst from the mountain and into the sky.
Nuwa, Kong Xuan, and Jinchi took action at once. All three aimed at Tongtian.
Nuwa revealed her Intermediate Quasi-Saint Realm cultivation base. The Red Hydrangea appeared in her hand and smashed towards Tongtian.
Tongtian unsheathed the Qingping Sword, and with a metallic cling, the Red Hydrangea was repelled back to Nuwa. "Master said that it can defeat anyone weaker than you, but have you forgotten? I'm still stronger than you?"
"That remains to be seen," Nuwa said as a diorama of mountains and rivers appeared behind her.
A faint glow appeared on the Qingping Sword, and Tongtian slashed toward Kong Xuan.
Kong Xuan grunted as five differently-colored lights erupted from him. They turned into beams of light that shot towards the Supreme Purity, but her slash shredded the beams, forcing Kong Xuan to dodge.
Tongtian didn't pursue him as she charged towards the mountain. "Don't even think about it."
She unleashed another slash, and a sword-shaped energy flew toward Jinchi, who had flown towards the newly-born treasure during the initial clash.
Jinchi waved his hand, and a saber that resembled a golden feathered appeared in his hand. Green qi covered the saber, and he slashed out. Unfortunately for him, it was far too weak. Tongtian's sword qi knocked his saber back and sent him crashing into the ground.
Before Tongtian could capitalize on the moment, five sabers that resembled feathers and exuded qi corresponding to the five elements surrounded her. They shot out strings of light from their blades and connected with one another.
"Five Feathers Element Formation, rise!" Kong Xuan said.
"Using formations against me? Naive," Tongtian said as she waved her hands, and a thousand low-grade acquired spiritual swords appeared.
"Myriad Sword Formation - Third Level Thousand Swords!"
The swords arranged themselves in three layers. The first and third layers rotated clockwise while the second layer rotated in reverse. Under the disruption of her Myriad Sword Formation, the Five Feathers Element Formation collapsed, unable to maintain itself.
Kong Xuan grunted as he summoned his five sabers back. Next, Nuwa's Mountain and River Diorama smashed down on Tongtian.
Tongtian's Myriad Sword Formation became sluggish under the Mountain and River Diorama's crushing pressure. Furthermore, she could feel the diorama trying to absorb her into the world.
She snorted. She already knew the danger of falling into such a situation when the Qiankun Cauldron had sucked her in. She formed a seal with one hand, and the ten thousand swords gained a silvery glow around them. They rotated faster and repelled the Mountain and River Diorama.
During this time, Jinchi tried to grab the treasure again, but Nuwa sent the Red Hydrangea at him. Wind billowed around him, and he shifted out of the way, but the Red Hydrangea made a sharp turn and crashed into him.
Jinchi coughed a bloody mouthful as his face paled. He wasn't Tongtian, and the Red Hydrangea had slammed into him. As the Dao Ancestor once said, it can defeat anyone weaker than Nuwa instantly.
Jinchi fell weakly to the ground, and the Red Hydrangea smashed towards him again.
Upon seeing this, Kong Xuan charged toward Jinchi. He sent the white feather saber at the Red Hydrangea and managed to divert the trajectory. Once he appeared in front of Jinchi, he sent out the five feather sabers to circle around the Red Hydrangea and form a miniature formation.
Nuwa frowned when her connection to the Red Hydrangea grew blurry. She took out the Treasured Lotus Lantern, which shot out a light that struck the Five Feathers Element Formation, obstructing it and allowing the Red Hydrangea to escape.
During this time, she controlled the Mountain and River Diorama to fly towards the mountain where the spiritual light pillar shot out from. Not wanting Nuwa to scoop away the treasure, Tongtian flew towards it with the Myriad Sword Formation around her.
A red flag appeared in Kong Xuan's hand, and he waved it. Mirage-like flames erupted and shot towards the Mountain and River Diorama and Tongtian. The Mountain and River Diorama paused, and so did Tongtian's Myriad Sword Formation as it sliced through the flames.
"I also have a flag." Tongtian flipped her hand, and a yellow flag appeared in her hand. Like the Red Radiance Flag of South Transience, the Apricot Flag of Central Infinity in Tongtian's hands was one of the top five flag artifacts.
Tongtian waved it, but nothing shot out like the Red Radiance Flag of South Transience. On the other hand, Jinchi suddenly felt the ground rumble, and under his gaze, the spiritual mountain started to move towards Tongtian.
Nuwa and Kong Xuan ceased fighting each other and attacked Tongtian. The mirage-like flames honed in on Tongtian. The Mountain and River Diorama smashed towards Tongtian from the other side. In addition, she also shot the Red Hydrangea at Tongtian.
"It's still incomplete, but let me show you the power of the fourth level of the Myriad Sword Formation!" Tongtian shouted and waved her hand. Nine thousand additional swords of equal rank appeared and became the fourth layer of circling swords.
The Myriad Sword Formation's power quadrupled, instantly repelling the Mountain and River Diorama, Red Hydrangea, and Red Radiance Flag of South Transience.
Nuwa frowned. A figure flew out from her, bearing around seventy to eighty percent similarities to Nuwa. At this point, Jinchi had recovered, and his Corpse also flew out. With Kong Xuan's addition, Tongtian was surrounded by four Quasi-Saints.
"Senior Sister is as strong as I thought. As expected as one of the Three Purities transformed from Pangu's spirit," Nuwa asked. "But can you defeat all four of us?"
Tongtian smiled. "Junior Sister, you received the Red Hydrangea and the Mountain and River Diorama from Master, but have you forgotten what I received?"
Hearing this, Nuwa, Kong Xuan, and Jinchi's eyes narrowed. Nuwa said, "I don't believe you can recreate the Immortal Extermination Diagram in such a short amount of time."
"You're right, but I have two Corpses," Tongtian said. "In addition, even if it's not complete, with Advanced Quasi-Saint Realm cultivation base, it's more than enough to suppress you four."
After a tense silence, Nuwa sighed and retrieved her two artifacts. Before leaving, she said, "Then I'll congratulate Senior Sister for your gains."
Seeing Nuwa leave, Kong Xuan also stored his five feather sabers and Red Radiance Flag of South Transience. "I lost this time, but next time, I'll win."
Jinchi's Corpse returned to his body, and he followed after Kong Xuan but not before giving Tongtian one last glare.
Tongtian shrugged and stored the Apricot Flag of Central Infinity and the ten thousand swords. She descended down the mountain, where the pillar of light erupted, and waved her hands.
A seal flew out of the ground and into her hand, the light disappearing the moment it did so. She sent her qi into it and began to refine it.
'It doesn't have a grade, but it has forty-nine restrictions?' Tongtian thought, confused. 'It doesn't have much in the way of attack or defense either?'
She felt as if she fought a long hard battle, only to receive absolute crap as a reward. 'Forget it, I'll return to Fangzhang Immortal Island first and slowly refine it. There's no way an artifact with forty-nine restriction is so weak, even if it is a no-grade.'
Tongtian flew into the East Sea and returned to Fangzhang Immortal Island, where she saw many more animals and plants flourishing. Although Fangzhang Immortal Island had been full of essence, the chaotic boundary was not suitable for life, but that changed once she moved it into the Great Desolation.
She returned to the core where she had refined a Supreme Purity Palace. It wasn't as good as Yuanshi's Three Purity Palace, but she had confidence in the formations around it.
Once inside, she spent the next ten thousand years refining the spiritual artifact. Only then did she learn of its name.
'Kongtong Seal? The seal of human emperors?' Tongtian thought with some shock. 'I didn't expect it to be born so early. Does it mean Nuwa will create humanity soon?'
Upon having this thought, something resonated within Tongtian, and a vine appeared in her hand. This was the Immortal Gourd Vine she had taken nearly an eon ago. She wanted to refine it into a sword, but her intuition prevented it as if it hadn't completed its purpose.
'Is this also related to the creation of humanity?' Tongtian thought. 'I'll have to pay attention to when Nuwa creates humanity, but why did I sense the Kongtong Seal? Nuwa should have felt fate with it because she will create humanity in the future, but why me and Kong Xuan?'
Tongtian crossed her arms. 'Is it because I was a former human? No, that doesn't make sense. Otherwise, Kong Xuan wouldn’t have felt it, too, assuming he wasn't lying. Is it because of the vine, but it didn't resonate with the Kongtong Seal at all?'
'No matter, the Kongtong Seal is a good thing.' Tongtian thought. With her increasing cultivation and understanding of the law, she realized the increasing importance of Karmic Luck. 'With the Kongtong Seal, I can occupy a percentage of humanity's Karmic Luck.'
Karmic Luck came in many forms. For example, as descendants of Pangu, the Three Purities and twelve titans were innately bestowed with luck. But Karmic Luck can also come from a force or race's prosperity. The more prosperous a race was, the greater the luck they had. Inversely, the more luck a race had, the greater their prosperity.
The Demon Clan became more prosperous after establishing the Heavenly Court and ruling over a portion of the Great Desolation. Thus their luck increased. With how abundant humanity would grow to be, their luck had to be enormous.
Tongtian even ranked the Kongtong Seal with more importance than the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification. Still, it was a matter only after humanity flourished.
She settled down and cultivated. During this time, she felt a resonance within Kunlun Mountain and knew that Laozi had severed his third Corpse. Now, she needed to wait for Laozi to merge his three Corpses together to see if they could become a Saint of Heaven.
As for herself, Tongtian wasn't worried about her third Corpse. She already had a clue. If she guessed right, it should be related to humanity. The day Nuwa created humanity will be the day she severed her Third Corpse.
For now, she needed to wait for a chance to grab the Kunlun Mirror. The time came eighty thousand years later.
Tongtian stared at Kong Xuan and Jinchi, who followed behind his brother, and at Nuwa. The two other parties also stared back at her and each other. No words needed to be said. Both groups had arrived to acquire the gestating spiritual artifact. However, some things still must be said.
"Fellow Daoists, I feel that the treasure has some fate with me. How about giving me face and relinquishing it?" Nuwa asked,
Tongtian’s lips twitched. If everyone really left because of those words, the number of battles in the Great Desolation would have been reduced by half. Ever since the third sermon, numerous life and death battles have broken out over artifacts, and many of the three thousand guests who listened to the Dao Ancestor's sermon perished.
But before she could speak, someone else did.
"Ridiculous, according to your words, since I feel that the treasure here has a connection with me, shouldn't you leave instead?" Kong Xuan said.
Nuwa frowned, but she looked at Tongtian instead. "What does Senior Sister think?"
'Throwing the ball to me and even playing the junior sister card?' The edge of Tongtian's lip quirked upward. "I also feel that the treasure is destined for me."
With her words, all three parties turned to silence. Since none of them wanted to give up, they could only fight for it.
Time passed slowly, and the spiritual light emitted from the mountain grew brighter and brighter, signifying the near-birth of the spiritual artifact. Finally, after an unknown amount of time, a pillar burst from the mountain and into the sky.
Nuwa, Kong Xuan, and Jinchi took action at once. All three aimed at Tongtian.
Nuwa revealed her Intermediate Quasi-Saint Realm cultivation base. The Red Hydrangea appeared in her hand and smashed towards Tongtian.
Tongtian unsheathed the Qingping Sword, and with a metallic cling, the Red Hydrangea was repelled back to Nuwa. "Master said that it can defeat anyone weaker than you, but have you forgotten? I'm still stronger than you?"
"That remains to be seen," Nuwa said as a diorama of mountains and rivers appeared behind her.
A faint glow appeared on the Qingping Sword, and Tongtian slashed toward Kong Xuan.
Kong Xuan grunted as five differently-colored lights erupted from him. They turned into beams of light that shot towards the Supreme Purity, but her slash shredded the beams, forcing Kong Xuan to dodge.
Tongtian didn't pursue him as she charged towards the mountain. "Don't even think about it."
She unleashed another slash, and a sword-shaped energy flew toward Jinchi, who had flown towards the newly-born treasure during the initial clash.
Jinchi waved his hand, and a saber that resembled a golden feathered appeared in his hand. Green qi covered the saber, and he slashed out. Unfortunately for him, it was far too weak. Tongtian's sword qi knocked his saber back and sent him crashing into the ground.
Before Tongtian could capitalize on the moment, five sabers that resembled feathers and exuded qi corresponding to the five elements surrounded her. They shot out strings of light from their blades and connected with one another.
"Five Feathers Element Formation, rise!" Kong Xuan said.
"Using formations against me? Naive," Tongtian said as she waved her hands, and a thousand low-grade acquired spiritual swords appeared.
"Myriad Sword Formation - Third Level Thousand Swords!"
The swords arranged themselves in three layers. The first and third layers rotated clockwise while the second layer rotated in reverse. Under the disruption of her Myriad Sword Formation, the Five Feathers Element Formation collapsed, unable to maintain itself.
Kong Xuan grunted as he summoned his five sabers back. Next, Nuwa's Mountain and River Diorama smashed down on Tongtian.
Tongtian's Myriad Sword Formation became sluggish under the Mountain and River Diorama's crushing pressure. Furthermore, she could feel the diorama trying to absorb her into the world.
She snorted. She already knew the danger of falling into such a situation when the Qiankun Cauldron had sucked her in. She formed a seal with one hand, and the ten thousand swords gained a silvery glow around them. They rotated faster and repelled the Mountain and River Diorama.
During this time, Jinchi tried to grab the treasure again, but Nuwa sent the Red Hydrangea at him. Wind billowed around him, and he shifted out of the way, but the Red Hydrangea made a sharp turn and crashed into him.
Jinchi coughed a bloody mouthful as his face paled. He wasn't Tongtian, and the Red Hydrangea had slammed into him. As the Dao Ancestor once said, it can defeat anyone weaker than Nuwa instantly.
Jinchi fell weakly to the ground, and the Red Hydrangea smashed towards him again.
Upon seeing this, Kong Xuan charged toward Jinchi. He sent the white feather saber at the Red Hydrangea and managed to divert the trajectory. Once he appeared in front of Jinchi, he sent out the five feather sabers to circle around the Red Hydrangea and form a miniature formation.
Nuwa frowned when her connection to the Red Hydrangea grew blurry. She took out the Treasured Lotus Lantern, which shot out a light that struck the Five Feathers Element Formation, obstructing it and allowing the Red Hydrangea to escape.
During this time, she controlled the Mountain and River Diorama to fly towards the mountain where the spiritual light pillar shot out from. Not wanting Nuwa to scoop away the treasure, Tongtian flew towards it with the Myriad Sword Formation around her.
A red flag appeared in Kong Xuan's hand, and he waved it. Mirage-like flames erupted and shot towards the Mountain and River Diorama and Tongtian. The Mountain and River Diorama paused, and so did Tongtian's Myriad Sword Formation as it sliced through the flames.
"I also have a flag." Tongtian flipped her hand, and a yellow flag appeared in her hand. Like the Red Radiance Flag of South Transience, the Apricot Flag of Central Infinity in Tongtian's hands was one of the top five flag artifacts.
Tongtian waved it, but nothing shot out like the Red Radiance Flag of South Transience. On the other hand, Jinchi suddenly felt the ground rumble, and under his gaze, the spiritual mountain started to move towards Tongtian.
Nuwa and Kong Xuan ceased fighting each other and attacked Tongtian. The mirage-like flames honed in on Tongtian. The Mountain and River Diorama smashed towards Tongtian from the other side. In addition, she also shot the Red Hydrangea at Tongtian.
"It's still incomplete, but let me show you the power of the fourth level of the Myriad Sword Formation!" Tongtian shouted and waved her hand. Nine thousand additional swords of equal rank appeared and became the fourth layer of circling swords.
The Myriad Sword Formation's power quadrupled, instantly repelling the Mountain and River Diorama, Red Hydrangea, and Red Radiance Flag of South Transience.
Nuwa frowned. A figure flew out from her, bearing around seventy to eighty percent similarities to Nuwa. At this point, Jinchi had recovered, and his Corpse also flew out. With Kong Xuan's addition, Tongtian was surrounded by four Quasi-Saints.
"Senior Sister is as strong as I thought. As expected as one of the Three Purities transformed from Pangu's spirit," Nuwa asked. "But can you defeat all four of us?"
Tongtian smiled. "Junior Sister, you received the Red Hydrangea and the Mountain and River Diorama from Master, but have you forgotten what I received?"
Hearing this, Nuwa, Kong Xuan, and Jinchi's eyes narrowed. Nuwa said, "I don't believe you can recreate the Immortal Extermination Diagram in such a short amount of time."
"You're right, but I have two Corpses," Tongtian said. "In addition, even if it's not complete, with Advanced Quasi-Saint Realm cultivation base, it's more than enough to suppress you four."
After a tense silence, Nuwa sighed and retrieved her two artifacts. Before leaving, she said, "Then I'll congratulate Senior Sister for your gains."
Seeing Nuwa leave, Kong Xuan also stored his five feather sabers and Red Radiance Flag of South Transience. "I lost this time, but next time, I'll win."
Jinchi's Corpse returned to his body, and he followed after Kong Xuan but not before giving Tongtian one last glare.
Tongtian shrugged and stored the Apricot Flag of Central Infinity and the ten thousand swords. She descended down the mountain, where the pillar of light erupted, and waved her hands.
A seal flew out of the ground and into her hand, the light disappearing the moment it did so. She sent her qi into it and began to refine it.
'It doesn't have a grade, but it has forty-nine restrictions?' Tongtian thought, confused. 'It doesn't have much in the way of attack or defense either?'
She felt as if she fought a long hard battle, only to receive absolute crap as a reward. 'Forget it, I'll return to Fangzhang Immortal Island first and slowly refine it. There's no way an artifact with forty-nine restriction is so weak, even if it is a no-grade.'
Tongtian flew into the East Sea and returned to Fangzhang Immortal Island, where she saw many more animals and plants flourishing. Although Fangzhang Immortal Island had been full of essence, the chaotic boundary was not suitable for life, but that changed once she moved it into the Great Desolation.
She returned to the core where she had refined a Supreme Purity Palace. It wasn't as good as Yuanshi's Three Purity Palace, but she had confidence in the formations around it.
Once inside, she spent the next ten thousand years refining the spiritual artifact. Only then did she learn of its name.
'Kongtong Seal? The seal of human emperors?' Tongtian thought with some shock. 'I didn't expect it to be born so early. Does it mean Nuwa will create humanity soon?'
Upon having this thought, something resonated within Tongtian, and a vine appeared in her hand. This was the Immortal Gourd Vine she had taken nearly an eon ago. She wanted to refine it into a sword, but her intuition prevented it as if it hadn't completed its purpose.
'Is this also related to the creation of humanity?' Tongtian thought. 'I'll have to pay attention to when Nuwa creates humanity, but why did I sense the Kongtong Seal? Nuwa should have felt fate with it because she will create humanity in the future, but why me and Kong Xuan?'
Tongtian crossed her arms. 'Is it because I was a former human? No, that doesn't make sense. Otherwise, Kong Xuan wouldn’t have felt it, too, assuming he wasn't lying. Is it because of the vine, but it didn't resonate with the Kongtong Seal at all?'
'No matter, the Kongtong Seal is a good thing.' Tongtian thought. With her increasing cultivation and understanding of the law, she realized the increasing importance of Karmic Luck. 'With the Kongtong Seal, I can occupy a percentage of humanity's Karmic Luck.'
Karmic Luck came in many forms. For example, as descendants of Pangu, the Three Purities and twelve titans were innately bestowed with luck. But Karmic Luck can also come from a force or race's prosperity. The more prosperous a race was, the greater the luck they had. Inversely, the more luck a race had, the greater their prosperity.
The Demon Clan became more prosperous after establishing the Heavenly Court and ruling over a portion of the Great Desolation. Thus their luck increased. With how abundant humanity would grow to be, their luck had to be enormous.
Tongtian even ranked the Kongtong Seal with more importance than the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification. Still, it was a matter only after humanity flourished.
She settled down and cultivated. During this time, she felt a resonance within Kunlun Mountain and knew that Laozi had severed his third Corpse. Now, she needed to wait for Laozi to merge his three Corpses together to see if they could become a Saint of Heaven.
As for herself, Tongtian wasn't worried about her third Corpse. She already had a clue. If she guessed right, it should be related to humanity. The day Nuwa created humanity will be the day she severed her Third Corpse.
For now, she needed to wait for a chance to grab the Kunlun Mirror. The time came eighty thousand years later.
