Tongtian slapped Yuanshi's shoulder. "What are you trying to do? You're literally going to kill him with that stare!"
"Third Sister, although it's astounding that he has spirituality before reaching the Earth Immortal Realm, his origin is too shallow," Yuanshi said. "Second Brother will find a better disciple for you."
Tongtian glared at Yuanshi. "He's the disciple I accepted. No matter what his qualifications are, it's my choice. So, shut it."
Yuanshi pursed his lips but said nothing in the end. Aside from glaring daggers at Wutian, he said nothing more.
Tongtian coughed into her hands and then motioned towards Laozi and Yuanshi. "This is your eldest Uncle-Master, Grand Purity Laozi. This one is your second Uncle-Master, Jade Purity Yuanshi."
Wutian cupped his fists and saluted them. "Junior greets two Uncle-Masters."
Yuanshi's complexion softened a bit, and he nodded. Laozi reached into his robes and pulled out a jade-white pill. "Since this is our first meeting and you called me Uncle-Master, this will be my meeting gift. This is a Spirit Purification Pill. Once ingested, your spirit will be cleaned, and your mind will become clear, speeding up your ability to sense the essence of heaven and earth."
"Thank you, Eldest Uncle-Master," Wutian said as he grabbed the pill floating in front of him, trying not to swallow it immediately. He looked up and tried not to glance at Yuanshi.
Yuanshi snorted but still waved his hand. A jade slip appeared and floated in front of Wutian. "This talisman contains a barrier that can block even one strike from a Quasi-Saint. With how weak and annoying you are, no doubt you'll get yourself killed. This can extend your life by a bit."
Wutian allowed Yuanshi's disparaging words to enter one ear and out the other. He quickly stored it and said, "Thank you, Second Uncle-Master."
Yuanshi turned to Tongtian. "With this, you can have peace of mind now, right? Hurry and return to Kunlun Mountain."
Tongtian rolled her eyes. "If you want to go back so quickly, return. I'll wait until my disciple is at least an Earth Immortal."
Laozi and Yuanshi left not long after, leaving Tongtian and Wutian alone. With them gone, she sat back on her Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification and smiled. "Tell me what you've been doing all these years while I was gone."
"Yes," Wutian said as he sat down. He recounted all that happened and how he created a set of martial arts to help humanity increase their combat power.
"You've done well," Tongtian said. "Remember, Karmic Merit is useful, but you must not overly rely on it."
"Disciple understands," Wutian said. "Disciple wants to become an Earth Immortal through his own strength."
"As long as you understand," Tongtian said. "Right, aside from the clothes and the Supreme Purity Scripture Later Heaven Method, I haven't bestowed anything to you. Speak. What kind of weapon do you want?"
"A spear," Wutian said without any hesitation.
Tongtian nodded. She waved her hand, and a stone spear rose from the floor. She held it in her hand. The spear appeared like a toothpick between her fingers. She engraved tens of formations on the spear while gathering essence into it, turning it into an acquired spiritual artifact.
With the spear artifact refined, Tongtian floated it in front of Wutian. Wutian took a hold of it. In his hand, it was a bit taller than him, and the tip exuded a fierce sharpness. He swung it a few times, and the air split from his movements.
Tongtian laughed. "Are you satisfied?"
Wutian nodded without hiding his elation.
"You know, I could have given you a better artifact. Are you disappointed?" Tongtian suddenly asked.
Wutian shook his head. "No, I'm very satisfied. I know that I'm currently too weak now, and having something too precious will be far beyond my ability to possess."
Tongtian nodded. "Good, at least you aren't stupid."
Her eyes scanned Wutian, making him feel like she could sense everything about him. "Not bad. You actually opened up more than a hundred thousand acupoints and linked the Twelve Standard Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Not bad," Tongtian praised. "I'll pass on the instruction for the next realm."
Like before, Tongtian poked Wutian's forehead, delivering the method to enter the Dantian Opening Realm. This time, it took less time for Wutian to digest the information. "Take the Spirit Purification Pill, it'll be a great aid for you to open the upper dantian."
"Disciple will retreat now," Wutian said as he left the main hall and went into the side room.
There, he sat on his cot in a lotus position like Tongtian. After entering his optimal state, Wutian swallowed the Spirit Purification Pill. As soon it passed through his throat, it dissolved and evaporated entirely.
Then, he felt as if he had been doused in an ocean of ice-cold water. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation. Rather, it was delightful, as if an unknown burning sensation inside of him had finally cooled.
The sensation lasted an indeterminable amount of time, and when it was over, many complexities that had once puzzled him had become much simpler. Even the essence of heaven and earth was easier to absorb.
Wutian sighed. As expected of one of Laozi's pills. He closed his eyes and focused on entering the next realm. Within a month, he opened up a dantian and entered the Dantian Opening Realm.
The human body contained three dantians that can be opened, located in the head, chest, and abdomen. The upper dantian was the smallest, the lower dantian was the largest, and the middle dantian was in between.
The three dantians can be opened in any order. Opening the middle first makes it easier to open the upper or lower dantians. The lower dantian can hold the largest amount of essence, increasing the cultivator's power the most. But the upper dantian cleared the thoughts and made it easier to sense the dantian in the body.
Thanks to the Spirit Purification Pill, Wutian had opened the upper dantian first. Once he opened it, his mind became even clearer and his thoughts came faster. He took this chance to sense the location of his other two dantians. While he couldn't open them now, sensing their location allowed him to prepare for the future.
After that, Wutian didn't try to open them yet. He needed to absorb more essence before then. Instead, he focused on creating more martial arts and perfecting his current techniques.
In his room, Wutian mimicked the forms of various animals and tried to replicate their strength using the human body. Midway, he stopped as he heard his master summon him.
"Master," Wutian said as he bowed.
"I noticed that your martial arts primarily strengthen the body and not the spirit. The Immortal Path places more importance on the spirit, and I originally did not want to teach you any body strengthening methods, but it seems that your heart cannot calm down and forget your fellow humans," Tongtian said.
"Master, I am a member of humanity. I cannot selfishly only think of myself," Wutian said. His tone obviously leaked his intention to continue creating martial arts, diverting his focus.
Tongtian nodded. "Since you have made your decision, I, your master, won't stop you. Your uncle-masters and I created a body strengthening method years ago, and I will impart it to you now. However, that is on the condition that you do not slacken on your spiritual cultivation. Do you understand?"
Wutian nodded. "Disciple agrees!"
"The technique is called the Nine Revolution Arcane Art. You are too weak, so I will only impart the first revolution to you. You cannot practice the technique until you become an Earth Immortal, but you can use it as a reference," Tongtian said, and she tapped Wutian's forehead again.
Wutian's eyes glazed over. Unlike previous times, it lasted for over a year, but when his eyes regained their clarity, they were unprecedently bright. Wutian excused himself and returned to his room and began to remedy the deficiencies in his martial arts.
Before, martial arts only strengthened the body a bit, since its primary purpose was to increase combat power. After Wutian received the first revolution of the Nine Revolution Arcane Art, he wanted to make martial arts strengthen the human body too.
Tongtian didn't mind. In fact, she secretly encouraged it even if she didn't show it. After she returned from Wa Outer Heaven, she noticed that her merits had increased. It was slight, but she still noticed.
After seeing Wutian, she realized it was due to the fact that Wutian used her Supreme Purity Scripture Later Heaven Method as the basis for martial arts. If she contributed even more, wouldn't she receive more merit and maybe even part of humanity's luck?
The Way of Heaven wouldn’t persecute her for her actions, right? After all, she only taught Wutian and forbade him from directly teaching the Nine Revolution Arcane Art.
After this, she wouldn’t pay much attention to the creation of martial arts anymore. It was not like she could directly get involved. If Wutian asked her to enlighten him, she would, but if she tried to advise him, the Way of Heaven would warn, and maybe even punish her.
Tongtian focused on merging her three Corpses. In the main hall of Allheaven Temple, she sat on her Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification while her Obsession Corpse, Lingbao, sat in front of her. To his left and right sat her Evil and Good Corpses, Shangnan and Shangxin.
All three of them radiated the aura of Quasi-Saints, but her Obsession Corpse radiated the strongest aura. As the most recent Corpse, and one she severed when she was at the Advanced Quasi-Saint Realm, Lingbao had an Advanced Quasi-Saint Realm cultivation base.
Shangnan, her Evil Corpse, had also reached the Advanced Quasi-Saint Realm, but Shangxin, her Good Corpse, only had an Intermediate Quasi-Saint Realm Cultivation Base. Unlike her, they couldn't sever a Corpse to raise their cultivation, so Tongtian could only use the power of the law to temper their qi until they advanced.
Before merging, Tongtian wanted to have all three Corpses at the Peak Quasi-Saint Realm. This way, their foundation would be incomparably firm and increase the chance of becoming a Saint of Heaven.
Tongtian was transformed from Pangu's spirit that split into three pure qis, the Supreme Pure Qi. With that as her source, her origin was exceptional, the peak of the Great Desolation, and the only ones who could rival her were Laozi and Yuanshi. But her Corpses were a different story.
The three Corpses were severed from her thoughts. Even if they merged, the merged Corpse's origin would be lacking, and Tongtian didn't know if it would be enough to merge with the Grandmist Violet Qi.
While Tongtian cultivated, Wutian descended back to humanity and taught them his newly created martial arts. Unlike the martial arts he created the first time, these ones not only increased the body's strength but also slightly increased their lifespan.
Soon, the majority of humans began to learn martial arts, drastically increasing their overall strength. With the increase in strength came the decrease in death. With the decrease in death, the living space declined, and they naturally had to expand their territory.
As they expanded their territory, the number of deaths naturally increased, but their numbers rose faster than they lessened, and their overall strength increased to a whole another level with their increasing population. Their population of one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred increased to over a million in ten thousand years.
As another ten thousand years passed, Wutian successfully became an Earth Immortal. As promised, Tongtian imparted the Earth Immortal, Sky Immortal, and Profound Immortal portion of the Supreme Purity Scripture to him.
She also crafted an acquired spiritual spear using the leaves and a broken branch of the Allheaven Jianmu Tree for him. It appeared plain and simple, but it was comparable to innate spiritual artifacts in durability. In addition, unless Wutian actually used it, no one would realize its value.
After ensuring that Wutian had the ability to protect himself in her absence, Tongtian left Buzhou Mountain and returned to Kunlun Mountain. Her spirits rose as the faint homesickness faded.
The first thing she did was enter Three Purity Palace. It wasn't Laozi or Yuanshi who she saw first, but Laozi's Good Corpse, Taishang Laojun, sitting on Laozi’s prayer mat. Tongtian noticed something strange as she studied him. Suddenly she smiled.
Tongtian visited Grand Purity Hall, where Laozi was refining pills using the Eight Trigrams Cauldron. Her smile widened as she said, "Congratulations to Eldest Brother for merging all three Corpses."
Tongtian slapped Yuanshi's shoulder. "What are you trying to do? You're literally going to kill him with that stare!"
"Third Sister, although it's astounding that he has spirituality before reaching the Earth Immortal Realm, his origin is too shallow," Yuanshi said. "Second Brother will find a better disciple for you."
Tongtian glared at Yuanshi. "He's the disciple I accepted. No matter what his qualifications are, it's my choice. So, shut it."
Yuanshi pursed his lips but said nothing in the end. Aside from glaring daggers at Wutian, he said nothing more.
Tongtian coughed into her hands and then motioned towards Laozi and Yuanshi. "This is your eldest Uncle-Master, Grand Purity Laozi. This one is your second Uncle-Master, Jade Purity Yuanshi."
Wutian cupped his fists and saluted them. "Junior greets two Uncle-Masters."
Yuanshi's complexion softened a bit, and he nodded. Laozi reached into his robes and pulled out a jade-white pill. "Since this is our first meeting and you called me Uncle-Master, this will be my meeting gift. This is a Spirit Purification Pill. Once ingested, your spirit will be cleaned, and your mind will become clear, speeding up your ability to sense the essence of heaven and earth."
"Thank you, Eldest Uncle-Master," Wutian said as he grabbed the pill floating in front of him, trying not to swallow it immediately. He looked up and tried not to glance at Yuanshi.
Yuanshi snorted but still waved his hand. A jade slip appeared and floated in front of Wutian. "This talisman contains a barrier that can block even one strike from a Quasi-Saint. With how weak and annoying you are, no doubt you'll get yourself killed. This can extend your life by a bit."
Wutian allowed Yuanshi's disparaging words to enter one ear and out the other. He quickly stored it and said, "Thank you, Second Uncle-Master."
Yuanshi turned to Tongtian. "With this, you can have peace of mind now, right? Hurry and return to Kunlun Mountain."
Tongtian rolled her eyes. "If you want to go back so quickly, return. I'll wait until my disciple is at least an Earth Immortal."
Laozi and Yuanshi left not long after, leaving Tongtian and Wutian alone. With them gone, she sat back on her Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification and smiled. "Tell me what you've been doing all these years while I was gone."
"Yes," Wutian said as he sat down. He recounted all that happened and how he created a set of martial arts to help humanity increase their combat power.
"You've done well," Tongtian said. "Remember, Karmic Merit is useful, but you must not overly rely on it."
"Disciple understands," Wutian said. "Disciple wants to become an Earth Immortal through his own strength."
"As long as you understand," Tongtian said. "Right, aside from the clothes and the Supreme Purity Scripture Later Heaven Method, I haven't bestowed anything to you. Speak. What kind of weapon do you want?"
"A spear," Wutian said without any hesitation.
Tongtian nodded. She waved her hand, and a stone spear rose from the floor. She held it in her hand. The spear appeared like a toothpick between her fingers. She engraved tens of formations on the spear while gathering essence into it, turning it into an acquired spiritual artifact.
With the spear artifact refined, Tongtian floated it in front of Wutian. Wutian took a hold of it. In his hand, it was a bit taller than him, and the tip exuded a fierce sharpness. He swung it a few times, and the air split from his movements.
Tongtian laughed. "Are you satisfied?"
Wutian nodded without hiding his elation.
"You know, I could have given you a better artifact. Are you disappointed?" Tongtian suddenly asked.
Wutian shook his head. "No, I'm very satisfied. I know that I'm currently too weak now, and having something too precious will be far beyond my ability to possess."
Tongtian nodded. "Good, at least you aren't stupid."
Her eyes scanned Wutian, making him feel like she could sense everything about him. "Not bad. You actually opened up more than a hundred thousand acupoints and linked the Twelve Standard Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Not bad," Tongtian praised. "I'll pass on the instruction for the next realm."
Like before, Tongtian poked Wutian's forehead, delivering the method to enter the Dantian Opening Realm. This time, it took less time for Wutian to digest the information. "Take the Spirit Purification Pill, it'll be a great aid for you to open the upper dantian."
"Disciple will retreat now," Wutian said as he left the main hall and went into the side room.
There, he sat on his cot in a lotus position like Tongtian. After entering his optimal state, Wutian swallowed the Spirit Purification Pill. As soon it passed through his throat, it dissolved and evaporated entirely.
Then, he felt as if he had been doused in an ocean of ice-cold water. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation. Rather, it was delightful, as if an unknown burning sensation inside of him had finally cooled.
The sensation lasted an indeterminable amount of time, and when it was over, many complexities that had once puzzled him had become much simpler. Even the essence of heaven and earth was easier to absorb.
Wutian sighed. As expected of one of Laozi's pills. He closed his eyes and focused on entering the next realm. Within a month, he opened up a dantian and entered the Dantian Opening Realm.
The human body contained three dantians that can be opened, located in the head, chest, and abdomen. The upper dantian was the smallest, the lower dantian was the largest, and the middle dantian was in between.
The three dantians can be opened in any order. Opening the middle first makes it easier to open the upper or lower dantians. The lower dantian can hold the largest amount of essence, increasing the cultivator's power the most. But the upper dantian cleared the thoughts and made it easier to sense the dantian in the body.
Thanks to the Spirit Purification Pill, Wutian had opened the upper dantian first. Once he opened it, his mind became even clearer and his thoughts came faster. He took this chance to sense the location of his other two dantians. While he couldn't open them now, sensing their location allowed him to prepare for the future.
After that, Wutian didn't try to open them yet. He needed to absorb more essence before then. Instead, he focused on creating more martial arts and perfecting his current techniques.
In his room, Wutian mimicked the forms of various animals and tried to replicate their strength using the human body. Midway, he stopped as he heard his master summon him.
"Master," Wutian said as he bowed.
"I noticed that your martial arts primarily strengthen the body and not the spirit. The Immortal Path places more importance on the spirit, and I originally did not want to teach you any body strengthening methods, but it seems that your heart cannot calm down and forget your fellow humans," Tongtian said.
"Master, I am a member of humanity. I cannot selfishly only think of myself," Wutian said. His tone obviously leaked his intention to continue creating martial arts, diverting his focus.
Tongtian nodded. "Since you have made your decision, I, your master, won't stop you. Your uncle-masters and I created a body strengthening method years ago, and I will impart it to you now. However, that is on the condition that you do not slacken on your spiritual cultivation. Do you understand?"
Wutian nodded. "Disciple agrees!"
"The technique is called the Nine Revolution Arcane Art. You are too weak, so I will only impart the first revolution to you. You cannot practice the technique until you become an Earth Immortal, but you can use it as a reference," Tongtian said, and she tapped Wutian's forehead again.
Wutian's eyes glazed over. Unlike previous times, it lasted for over a year, but when his eyes regained their clarity, they were unprecedently bright. Wutian excused himself and returned to his room and began to remedy the deficiencies in his martial arts.
Before, martial arts only strengthened the body a bit, since its primary purpose was to increase combat power. After Wutian received the first revolution of the Nine Revolution Arcane Art, he wanted to make martial arts strengthen the human body too.
Tongtian didn't mind. In fact, she secretly encouraged it even if she didn't show it. After she returned from Wa Outer Heaven, she noticed that her merits had increased. It was slight, but she still noticed.
After seeing Wutian, she realized it was due to the fact that Wutian used her Supreme Purity Scripture Later Heaven Method as the basis for martial arts. If she contributed even more, wouldn't she receive more merit and maybe even part of humanity's luck?
The Way of Heaven wouldn’t persecute her for her actions, right? After all, she only taught Wutian and forbade him from directly teaching the Nine Revolution Arcane Art.
After this, she wouldn’t pay much attention to the creation of martial arts anymore. It was not like she could directly get involved. If Wutian asked her to enlighten him, she would, but if she tried to advise him, the Way of Heaven would warn, and maybe even punish her.
Tongtian focused on merging her three Corpses. In the main hall of Allheaven Temple, she sat on her Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification while her Obsession Corpse, Lingbao, sat in front of her. To his left and right sat her Evil and Good Corpses, Shangnan and Shangxin.
All three of them radiated the aura of Quasi-Saints, but her Obsession Corpse radiated the strongest aura. As the most recent Corpse, and one she severed when she was at the Advanced Quasi-Saint Realm, Lingbao had an Advanced Quasi-Saint Realm cultivation base.
Shangnan, her Evil Corpse, had also reached the Advanced Quasi-Saint Realm, but Shangxin, her Good Corpse, only had an Intermediate Quasi-Saint Realm Cultivation Base. Unlike her, they couldn't sever a Corpse to raise their cultivation, so Tongtian could only use the power of the law to temper their qi until they advanced.
Before merging, Tongtian wanted to have all three Corpses at the Peak Quasi-Saint Realm. This way, their foundation would be incomparably firm and increase the chance of becoming a Saint of Heaven.
Tongtian was transformed from Pangu's spirit that split into three pure qis, the Supreme Pure Qi. With that as her source, her origin was exceptional, the peak of the Great Desolation, and the only ones who could rival her were Laozi and Yuanshi. But her Corpses were a different story.
The three Corpses were severed from her thoughts. Even if they merged, the merged Corpse's origin would be lacking, and Tongtian didn't know if it would be enough to merge with the Grandmist Violet Qi.
While Tongtian cultivated, Wutian descended back to humanity and taught them his newly created martial arts. Unlike the martial arts he created the first time, these ones not only increased the body's strength but also slightly increased their lifespan.
Soon, the majority of humans began to learn martial arts, drastically increasing their overall strength. With the increase in strength came the decrease in death. With the decrease in death, the living space declined, and they naturally had to expand their territory.
As they expanded their territory, the number of deaths naturally increased, but their numbers rose faster than they lessened, and their overall strength increased to a whole another level with their increasing population. Their population of one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred increased to over a million in ten thousand years.
As another ten thousand years passed, Wutian successfully became an Earth Immortal. As promised, Tongtian imparted the Earth Immortal, Sky Immortal, and Profound Immortal portion of the Supreme Purity Scripture to him.
She also crafted an acquired spiritual spear using the leaves and a broken branch of the Allheaven Jianmu Tree for him. It appeared plain and simple, but it was comparable to innate spiritual artifacts in durability. In addition, unless Wutian actually used it, no one would realize its value.
After ensuring that Wutian had the ability to protect himself in her absence, Tongtian left Buzhou Mountain and returned to Kunlun Mountain. Her spirits rose as the faint homesickness faded.
The first thing she did was enter Three Purity Palace. It wasn't Laozi or Yuanshi who she saw first, but Laozi's Good Corpse, Taishang Laojun, sitting on Laozi’s prayer mat. Tongtian noticed something strange as she studied him. Suddenly she smiled.
Tongtian visited Grand Purity Hall, where Laozi was refining pills using the Eight Trigrams Cauldron. Her smile widened as she said, "Congratulations to Eldest Brother for merging all three Corpses."
