Tongtian first focused on comprehending the Law of Time and the Law of Space. Her comprehension ability had more than doubled, and all her previous uncertainties and doubts disappeared. Still, she had made far more progress in the Law of Time than the Law of Space. Naturally, her progress in fusing the two laws was abysmal.
A few decades later, Tongtian opened her eyes and peered into the distance. Her eyes pierced the temple doors, the grotto, and onto Buzhou Mountain. There, separated from the rest of humanity, she saw the human who wanted to become her apprentice.
Compared to his former buck-naked state, he now wore clothing made of leaves and some fur. Tongtian continued to observe him as he climbed the mountain. During the day, he climbed and avoided all the fierce beasts that could easily kill him while he hid in shelter during the night.
The human primarily ate whatever fruits or berries he could find. The only rare instance he could eat meat was when he discovered an animal weaker than him. After killing it, he would roast it over a fire before eating it.
Tongtian nodded. Although his actions seemed ordinary, one couldn't forget that humanity had just been born, and they had no knowledge or inherited memories to rely on. They were just like babies with adult bodies. For the human to develop clothing, create fire, and seek shelter was praiseworthy enough.
She estimated that he would arrive in a hundred years or so, so she had to prepare. The cultivation method bestowed by the Dao Ancestor began at the Earth Immortal Realm; there was no cultivation method for later heaven lifeforms. So, that meant she had to create her own.
Tongtian closed her eyes and recalled Nuwa handcrafting humanity. Because she had been present, she knew humans had one hundred twenty-nine thousand and six hundred acupoints and numerous meridians. The more she understood human physiology, the more she sighed.
Although humanity was born weak, they were modeled after Pangu. As such, their form was perfect for cultivation. As long as they opened all of their acupoints, they could eventually possess talent equal to a congenital god. But that would take a miracle.
Perhaps because of innate talent, the Way of Heaven had imposed a restriction on every human. The more acupoints they opened up, the harder the later ones would be to open.
"No, I'm thinking about it the wrong way," Tongtian said. "What does the human body have to do with my Supreme Purity Scripture? The Immortal Path places more emphasis on spirit and comprehending the law. There's no need to completely unleash the potential of the body, as long as they can absorb essence, that would be enough. Opening more acupoints will increase potential but it is not a prerequisite."
To begin, the cultivator needed to sense the essence of heaven and earth and condense it within the body. So the first realm should be called the Essence Condensation Realm.
For the next step, the cultivator would use the absorbed essence to open their acupoints. The more acupoints opened, the more essence the cultivator can absorb. The number of acupoints determined their potential, and thus, she named the second realm the Foundation Establishment Realm.
After the Foundation Establishment Realm, the cultivator will link their acupoints using their meridians. The human body had Twelve Standard Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians. The meridians and acupoints will form a formation within the body and aid the flow of essence within the body. Like the Foundation Establishment Realm, the number of meridians will determine potential, and the realm shall be known as the Inner Formation Realm.
Once in the Inner Formation Realm, the body will be strengthened as a side effect. The cultivator will increase the flow and efficiency of their essence, directing it to their forehead, center chest, and lower abdomen, opening their three dantians. When all three dantians are opened, the formation will strengthen, and the realm will be called the Dantian Opening Realm.
Till this point, the cultivator was adapting and changing their body. Now, it was time to upgrade the spirit: using essence to nourish the spirit and strengthen it. In this realm, the cultivator's spirit will transform three times, forming three stages. First, they will open up their Sea of Consciousness to reach the Spirit Condensation Stage. For the second stage, they will concentrate their soul and spirit in the Sea of Consciousness and transform them into a corporeal form that will reside in the Sea of COnsciosness, the Spirit Creation Stage. Finally, they will expel all impurities and purify it into a Nascent Spirit, the Spirit Purification Stage. All three stages together shall be known as the Primal Spirit Realm.
Finally, it will be the last stage before immortal ascension. The cultivator will process all the essence in their body using their acupoints and meridians into their dantian. Each stage of refinement bears the risk of cultivation deviation and must be treated with the utmost care. After each successful refinement, the essence in their dantian will strengthen until it reaches the limit upon the ninth time, but they still need to repeat the process for the two other dantian. Hence, this realm shall be called the Essence Refining Realm.
The last realm shall be known as the Heaven Ascension Realm. Merging all three nine-refinement essences in the dantian, reverse nascent and later heaven, and pushed open the gates of immortality, to become a nascent heaven lifeform!
Although there were still some kinks to smooth out, Tongtian smiled with satisfaction. 'If it was Eldest Brother who created a method, instead of Inner Formation Realm, it would be Core Formation Realm, right?'
She no longer pondered and peered out of her grotto. She pinched her fingers and calculated what happened to humanity while she was creating a method suitable for them to cultivate.
After the human who wanted to be her apprentice left, the humans handcrafted by Nuwa led the other humans to survive on Buzhou Mountain. They ate fruits and berries, roots and barks, but they eventually learned to hunt. Although casualties were high, so was their reproduction rate. After a hundred years, the population nearly doubled, and that was accounting for all the deaths.
In addition, Tongtian could sense Cattle, Pig, and Chicken secretly protecting humanity. Although they couldn't fend off Golden Immortals, they could still fight other Sky Immortals and weaker creatures.
Tongtian's eyes sharpened when she saw a bolt of lightning strike dead wood, lighting it on fire. The first human created by Nuwa saw this and tried all methods to replicate this, eventually learning how to make fire.
He taught this to his people, reducing their casualties by using the fire to cook and fend off beasts. After, Karmic Merit directly descended onto him, promoting him to the Golden Immortal Realm. His name was Suiren, and he became acknowledged as the revered Fire Ancestor of Humanity.
Unlike the Immortal Path, people who directly use merit to promote themselves are known as Merit Immortals, and they cultivate the Merit Path. After embarking on this path, they could only gain strength by gathering merit.
Tongtian didn't observe much longer as her future disciple finally arrived.
When the human arrived at the cave, he gulped in fear but still courageously entered the darkness. Once inside, his eyes widened in shock as he saw the vast sky and grasslands. He couldn't help but wonder if he had stepped into a different dimension; at least, that would explain why he would see such a scene inside a cave.
His eyes quickly caught sight of the temple at the center, clearly an abnormality on the flat grassland. Excitement coursed through him as he ran toward the temple at full speed, but the joy did not last long. No matter how fast or how long he ran, the temple didn’t move.
The human's expression turned serious as he slowed. He no longer ran like a sprinter but like a marathon runner. The sun never set in this strange world, so the human continued to run until sweat poured off his back and drenched his entire body. Days turned to months, and months turned to years. Still, the human never stopped running. He drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness, and the light dimmed in his eyes. Even so, his legs kept moving, even if all he could do was drag his feet.
Finally, his perseverance bore fruit, and he stepped onto one of the jade steps leading into the temple. He couldn’t react in time and fell onto his face, losing consciousness.
When he regained consciousness, the human discovered he was lying in the temple with a new set of cyan robes. He patted the robes, marveling at the difference in texture and comfort compared to the leaves and fur he had once covered himself with.
Sensing a powerful gaze on him, he looked up to see Tongtian staring down at him. He bowed three times and kowtowed nine times to show his respect. "Disciple greets Master."
Tongtian chuckled. "Since you have passed my test, I will accept you as my nominal disciple. Once you reach the Golden Immortal Realm, you can become my personal disciple."
The human frowned. "Master, what's the Golden Immortal Realm?"
"That is still too soon for you to worry about," Tongtian said. "Do you have a name?"
"Wutian," the human said, repeating the name on his lips a few times as if he was unaccustomed to saying it. His eyes brightened, "Yes, my name is Wutian!"
Tongtian watched as if something changed within the human, no, Wutian. His aura converged, and he seemed like a completely different person. He was like a sharp blade, very much to her taste.
She pressed her finger towards Wutian's forehead, but the difference in size made it seem like she was going to squish his head like a bug. Wutian had to consciously stop himself from taking a step back. When her finger touched his forehead, Wutian entered a daze as a tide of information entered his mind. It was the Supreme Purity Scripture Later Heaven Method.
Wutian couldn't digest all the information at once, so Tongtian only imprinted the instruction for the first three realms into his mind.
When the human awakened, he kneeled once more in excitement. "Thank you, Master!"
Tongtian waved her hand. "Alright, go ahead and practice the method."
Wutian nodded, but after a moment, he showed hesitation. "Master, can I teach it to the others?"
Just as Tongtian was about to say yes, she frowned. She felt the Way of Heaven Warning her again. So she could only accept people who come her way, and she can't be proactive? She sighed. "You cannot. Only those of my Supreme Purity Lineage can learn this method. Of course, if you derive a new method from mine, you are free to teach whoever you want."
Wutian was a little disappointed, but he quickly accepted Tongtian's words. After hesitating once more, he asked, "Can I ask Master's name?"
Tongtian blinked. Thinking back, she hadn't explained her identity, had she?
"Listen well," she said. "I, your master, am one of the Three Purities, the orthodox descendant of Pangu. I am Supreme Purity Tongtian!"
Wutian trembled as if he had received the shock of his life. Tongtian could even hear him muttering. The words were unintelligible, so even she couldn't decipher them. Actually, at her level, she could glean the thoughts of a mortal like Wutian easily, but she didn't care to. What information could Wutian have?
Tongtian closed her eyes and began to refine the cultivation method she had created. When Wutian returned to his senses, he looked at his master to see her sitting in a lotus position with a sword resting on her legs. If she hadn't moved earlier, he would have thought she was a very life-like statue.
Wutian sat down and began to sense the essence around him. Not even a minute later, he sensed the essence of heaven and earth. He made a strange face. Was he actually a genius for being able to sense it so quickly?
He moved on to the next step: absorbing the essence into his body. A day later, he stood up with incomparable excitement. "Master, Master, I mastered the Essence Condensation Realm!"
Tongtian her eyes and scanned him. The corner of her lips twitched. "Stupid boy. Try to sense the essence in your body again."
Wutian furrowed his brows but did as Tongtian said. His eyes widened. "Why is the essence leaking out?"
"Because you haven't mastered it yet. You haven't opened any of your acupoints. How can you store the essence? Only when you naturally draw in essence without any conscious effort will you reach mastery of the Essence Condensation Realm." Tongtian closed her eyes and ignored Wutian.
Wutian’s face flushed, but he quickly calmed down. He copied Tongtian's position and attempted to reach mastery. A week later, his body would unconsciously absorb the essence of heaven and earth around him, surprising Tongtian. According to her estimation, it should have taken him a month, even if Nuwa handcrafted him.
Tongtian allowed Wutian to move on to the next step. Condense essence and use it to open his acupoints.
While Wutian was busy cultivating, humanity was growing. After Suiren, a woman named Zhengyi created clothes to protect humanity and also received merit from the Way of Heaven. After her, a man named Youchao built the first shelter and taught others how to, and once again, the merits descended. Together with Suiren, the three of them became the three ancestors of humanity.
The generosity of the Way of Heaven to humanity inevitably caught the attention of numerous major powers. A few wanted to see what was so special about humanity, but aside from having spirituality since birth, they were nothing special. Though considering that Nuwa created them, they didn't dare to be too overbearing, especially after discovering that Tongtian was also staying on Buzhou Mountain.
Even the Titan Tribe had investigated humanity but soon lost interest after not discovering anything too unique. Since humanity posed no threat, they didn't want to fight with Nuwa over it, so they didn't touch the humans.
The only ones daring enough to attack them were beasts and the later generations of demons disconnected from the Demon Clan of Heavenly Court. However, with Cattle's, Pig's, Chicken's, Suiren's, Zhengyi's, and Youchao's protection, they could still fend them off.
When humanity had existed for almost a thousand years, Tongtian opened her eyes. It was time to listen to Nuwa's sermon. Her eyes gazed at Wutian. During the hundreds of years, he had entered the Foundation Establishment Realm within the first year but stayed there to open as many acupoints as possible.
"Wutian," Tongtian called out.
"Yes, Master?"
"I will be leaving for a while," Tongtian said. "You've been cultivating without rest for nearly a thousand years. You should return to your people. Your roots lie in humanity. It's best not to divide yourself too long."
"Understood," Wutian said. His gaze turned towards the direction which he had climbed up from. He had been separated from humanity for over ninety percent of his life.
As he set off, Tongtian's figure disappeared from Allheaven Temple.
Tongtian first focused on comprehending the Law of Time and the Law of Space. Her comprehension ability had more than doubled, and all her previous uncertainties and doubts disappeared. Still, she had made far more progress in the Law of Time than the Law of Space. Naturally, her progress in fusing the two laws was abysmal.
A few decades later, Tongtian opened her eyes and peered into the distance. Her eyes pierced the temple doors, the grotto, and onto Buzhou Mountain. There, separated from the rest of humanity, she saw the human who wanted to become her apprentice.
Compared to his former buck-naked state, he now wore clothing made of leaves and some fur. Tongtian continued to observe him as he climbed the mountain. During the day, he climbed and avoided all the fierce beasts that could easily kill him while he hid in shelter during the night.
The human primarily ate whatever fruits or berries he could find. The only rare instance he could eat meat was when he discovered an animal weaker than him. After killing it, he would roast it over a fire before eating it.
Tongtian nodded. Although his actions seemed ordinary, one couldn't forget that humanity had just been born, and they had no knowledge or inherited memories to rely on. They were just like babies with adult bodies. For the human to develop clothing, create fire, and seek shelter was praiseworthy enough.
She estimated that he would arrive in a hundred years or so, so she had to prepare. The cultivation method bestowed by the Dao Ancestor began at the Earth Immortal Realm; there was no cultivation method for later heaven lifeforms. So, that meant she had to create her own.
Tongtian closed her eyes and recalled Nuwa handcrafting humanity. Because she had been present, she knew humans had one hundred twenty-nine thousand and six hundred acupoints and numerous meridians. The more she understood human physiology, the more she sighed.
Although humanity was born weak, they were modeled after Pangu. As such, their form was perfect for cultivation. As long as they opened all of their acupoints, they could eventually possess talent equal to a congenital god. But that would take a miracle.
Perhaps because of innate talent, the Way of Heaven had imposed a restriction on every human. The more acupoints they opened up, the harder the later ones would be to open.
"No, I'm thinking about it the wrong way," Tongtian said. "What does the human body have to do with my Supreme Purity Scripture? The Immortal Path places more emphasis on spirit and comprehending the law. There's no need to completely unleash the potential of the body, as long as they can absorb essence, that would be enough. Opening more acupoints will increase potential but it is not a prerequisite."
To begin, the cultivator needed to sense the essence of heaven and earth and condense it within the body. So the first realm should be called the Essence Condensation Realm.
For the next step, the cultivator would use the absorbed essence to open their acupoints. The more acupoints opened, the more essence the cultivator can absorb. The number of acupoints determined their potential, and thus, she named the second realm the Foundation Establishment Realm.
After the Foundation Establishment Realm, the cultivator will link their acupoints using their meridians. The human body had Twelve Standard Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians. The meridians and acupoints will form a formation within the body and aid the flow of essence within the body. Like the Foundation Establishment Realm, the number of meridians will determine potential, and the realm shall be known as the Inner Formation Realm.
Once in the Inner Formation Realm, the body will be strengthened as a side effect. The cultivator will increase the flow and efficiency of their essence, directing it to their forehead, center chest, and lower abdomen, opening their three dantians. When all three dantians are opened, the formation will strengthen, and the realm will be called the Dantian Opening Realm.
Till this point, the cultivator was adapting and changing their body. Now, it was time to upgrade the spirit: using essence to nourish the spirit and strengthen it. In this realm, the cultivator's spirit will transform three times, forming three stages. First, they will open up their Sea of Consciousness to reach the Spirit Condensation Stage. For the second stage, they will concentrate their soul and spirit in the Sea of Consciousness and transform them into a corporeal form that will reside in the Sea of COnsciosness, the Spirit Creation Stage. Finally, they will expel all impurities and purify it into a Nascent Spirit, the Spirit Purification Stage. All three stages together shall be known as the Primal Spirit Realm.
Finally, it will be the last stage before immortal ascension. The cultivator will process all the essence in their body using their acupoints and meridians into their dantian. Each stage of refinement bears the risk of cultivation deviation and must be treated with the utmost care. After each successful refinement, the essence in their dantian will strengthen until it reaches the limit upon the ninth time, but they still need to repeat the process for the two other dantian. Hence, this realm shall be called the Essence Refining Realm.
The last realm shall be known as the Heaven Ascension Realm. Merging all three nine-refinement essences in the dantian, reverse nascent and later heaven, and pushed open the gates of immortality, to become a nascent heaven lifeform!
Although there were still some kinks to smooth out, Tongtian smiled with satisfaction. 'If it was Eldest Brother who created a method, instead of Inner Formation Realm, it would be Core Formation Realm, right?'
She no longer pondered and peered out of her grotto. She pinched her fingers and calculated what happened to humanity while she was creating a method suitable for them to cultivate.
After the human who wanted to be her apprentice left, the humans handcrafted by Nuwa led the other humans to survive on Buzhou Mountain. They ate fruits and berries, roots and barks, but they eventually learned to hunt. Although casualties were high, so was their reproduction rate. After a hundred years, the population nearly doubled, and that was accounting for all the deaths.
In addition, Tongtian could sense Cattle, Pig, and Chicken secretly protecting humanity. Although they couldn't fend off Golden Immortals, they could still fight other Sky Immortals and weaker creatures.
Tongtian's eyes sharpened when she saw a bolt of lightning strike dead wood, lighting it on fire. The first human created by Nuwa saw this and tried all methods to replicate this, eventually learning how to make fire.
He taught this to his people, reducing their casualties by using the fire to cook and fend off beasts. After, Karmic Merit directly descended onto him, promoting him to the Golden Immortal Realm. His name was Suiren, and he became acknowledged as the revered Fire Ancestor of Humanity.
Unlike the Immortal Path, people who directly use merit to promote themselves are known as Merit Immortals, and they cultivate the Merit Path. After embarking on this path, they could only gain strength by gathering merit.
Tongtian didn't observe much longer as her future disciple finally arrived.
When the human arrived at the cave, he gulped in fear but still courageously entered the darkness. Once inside, his eyes widened in shock as he saw the vast sky and grasslands. He couldn't help but wonder if he had stepped into a different dimension; at least, that would explain why he would see such a scene inside a cave.
His eyes quickly caught sight of the temple at the center, clearly an abnormality on the flat grassland. Excitement coursed through him as he ran toward the temple at full speed, but the joy did not last long. No matter how fast or how long he ran, the temple didn’t move.
The human's expression turned serious as he slowed. He no longer ran like a sprinter but like a marathon runner. The sun never set in this strange world, so the human continued to run until sweat poured off his back and drenched his entire body. Days turned to months, and months turned to years. Still, the human never stopped running. He drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness, and the light dimmed in his eyes. Even so, his legs kept moving, even if all he could do was drag his feet.
Finally, his perseverance bore fruit, and he stepped onto one of the jade steps leading into the temple. He couldn’t react in time and fell onto his face, losing consciousness.
When he regained consciousness, the human discovered he was lying in the temple with a new set of cyan robes. He patted the robes, marveling at the difference in texture and comfort compared to the leaves and fur he had once covered himself with.
Sensing a powerful gaze on him, he looked up to see Tongtian staring down at him. He bowed three times and kowtowed nine times to show his respect. "Disciple greets Master."
Tongtian chuckled. "Since you have passed my test, I will accept you as my nominal disciple. Once you reach the Golden Immortal Realm, you can become my personal disciple."
The human frowned. "Master, what's the Golden Immortal Realm?"
"That is still too soon for you to worry about," Tongtian said. "Do you have a name?"
"Wutian," the human said, repeating the name on his lips a few times as if he was unaccustomed to saying it. His eyes brightened, "Yes, my name is Wutian!"
Tongtian watched as if something changed within the human, no, Wutian. His aura converged, and he seemed like a completely different person. He was like a sharp blade, very much to her taste.
She pressed her finger towards Wutian's forehead, but the difference in size made it seem like she was going to squish his head like a bug. Wutian had to consciously stop himself from taking a step back. When her finger touched his forehead, Wutian entered a daze as a tide of information entered his mind. It was the Supreme Purity Scripture Later Heaven Method.
Wutian couldn't digest all the information at once, so Tongtian only imprinted the instruction for the first three realms into his mind.
When the human awakened, he kneeled once more in excitement. "Thank you, Master!"
Tongtian waved her hand. "Alright, go ahead and practice the method."
Wutian nodded, but after a moment, he showed hesitation. "Master, can I teach it to the others?"
Just as Tongtian was about to say yes, she frowned. She felt the Way of Heaven Warning her again. So she could only accept people who come her way, and she can't be proactive? She sighed. "You cannot. Only those of my Supreme Purity Lineage can learn this method. Of course, if you derive a new method from mine, you are free to teach whoever you want."
Wutian was a little disappointed, but he quickly accepted Tongtian's words. After hesitating once more, he asked, "Can I ask Master's name?"
Tongtian blinked. Thinking back, she hadn't explained her identity, had she?
"Listen well," she said. "I, your master, am one of the Three Purities, the orthodox descendant of Pangu. I am Supreme Purity Tongtian!"
Wutian trembled as if he had received the shock of his life. Tongtian could even hear him muttering. The words were unintelligible, so even she couldn't decipher them. Actually, at her level, she could glean the thoughts of a mortal like Wutian easily, but she didn't care to. What information could Wutian have?
Tongtian closed her eyes and began to refine the cultivation method she had created. When Wutian returned to his senses, he looked at his master to see her sitting in a lotus position with a sword resting on her legs. If she hadn't moved earlier, he would have thought she was a very life-like statue.
Wutian sat down and began to sense the essence around him. Not even a minute later, he sensed the essence of heaven and earth. He made a strange face. Was he actually a genius for being able to sense it so quickly?
He moved on to the next step: absorbing the essence into his body. A day later, he stood up with incomparable excitement. "Master, Master, I mastered the Essence Condensation Realm!"
Tongtian her eyes and scanned him. The corner of her lips twitched. "Stupid boy. Try to sense the essence in your body again."
Wutian furrowed his brows but did as Tongtian said. His eyes widened. "Why is the essence leaking out?"
"Because you haven't mastered it yet. You haven't opened any of your acupoints. How can you store the essence? Only when you naturally draw in essence without any conscious effort will you reach mastery of the Essence Condensation Realm." Tongtian closed her eyes and ignored Wutian.
Wutian’s face flushed, but he quickly calmed down. He copied Tongtian's position and attempted to reach mastery. A week later, his body would unconsciously absorb the essence of heaven and earth around him, surprising Tongtian. According to her estimation, it should have taken him a month, even if Nuwa handcrafted him.
Tongtian allowed Wutian to move on to the next step. Condense essence and use it to open his acupoints.
While Wutian was busy cultivating, humanity was growing. After Suiren, a woman named Zhengyi created clothes to protect humanity and also received merit from the Way of Heaven. After her, a man named Youchao built the first shelter and taught others how to, and once again, the merits descended. Together with Suiren, the three of them became the three ancestors of humanity.
The generosity of the Way of Heaven to humanity inevitably caught the attention of numerous major powers. A few wanted to see what was so special about humanity, but aside from having spirituality since birth, they were nothing special. Though considering that Nuwa created them, they didn't dare to be too overbearing, especially after discovering that Tongtian was also staying on Buzhou Mountain.
Even the Titan Tribe had investigated humanity but soon lost interest after not discovering anything too unique. Since humanity posed no threat, they didn't want to fight with Nuwa over it, so they didn't touch the humans.
The only ones daring enough to attack them were beasts and the later generations of demons disconnected from the Demon Clan of Heavenly Court. However, with Cattle's, Pig's, Chicken's, Suiren's, Zhengyi's, and Youchao's protection, they could still fend them off.
When humanity had existed for almost a thousand years, Tongtian opened her eyes. It was time to listen to Nuwa's sermon. Her eyes gazed at Wutian. During the hundreds of years, he had entered the Foundation Establishment Realm within the first year but stayed there to open as many acupoints as possible.
"Wutian," Tongtian called out.
"Yes, Master?"
"I will be leaving for a while," Tongtian said. "You've been cultivating without rest for nearly a thousand years. You should return to your people. Your roots lie in humanity. It's best not to divide yourself too long."
"Understood," Wutian said. His gaze turned towards the direction which he had climbed up from. He had been separated from humanity for over ninety percent of his life.
As he set off, Tongtian's figure disappeared from Allheaven Temple.
