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Chapter 444: The Calm
🕑 Added 2023-12-11 14:00:09 +0000 UTCOn Fourth Heaven inside the Nine Heavens Universe, the gigantic world tree started to vibrate. Its leaves shimmered with green radiance, its trunk took on a golden sheen, and its roots dug deeper into the planet, nearly reaching the core of the planet.
Sitting at the base of the tree was a blue-robed woman. In comparison to the gigantic tree, she was miniscule, practically an ant. Yet she exuded a powerful aura that resonated with the colossal tree, as if she and the tree were one.
Simultaneously, the stars in the sky outside the Nine Heavens System rearranged themselves. A constellation resembling a gigantic tree started to form. Anyone who saw it would gain insights into the Law of Life and the Concepts related to it. This sensation only grew stronger the more complete the constellation became.
The people on Sixth Heaven, including the people Tianyi brought from the Demon Cage Realm and Cultivation Online, all sensed this. The players of Cultivation Online only thought it was a surprise event and did their best to comprehend it. Their insights fed back to Tianyi, causing the tree constellation to become more perfect, which fed back to the players. It formed a positive loop that benefitted both sides.
Because of the myriad number of laws Tianyi mastered, even immortal monarchs would enter his Nine Heavens Universe and comprehend the laws Tianyi mastered. Of course, they also paid an entrance fee. Because of this, Tianyi’s prestige even surpassed his mother’s to these immortal monarchs and true immortals. Although Mengfei was powerful, she couldn’t help them comprehend the laws like Tianyi could.
A few immortal emperors also had the idea of cultivating in Tianyi’s Nine Heaven Universe, but half of them couldn’t lower their head and seek his help because of their pride. If they asked Tianyi, wouldn’t it mean they admit inferiority to another immortal emperor, much less a junior that only lived a fraction of their lifetime?
As for the other half, Tianyi rejected them. It wasn’t that Tianyi didn’t like the price they offered; it was done so to keep his true power a secret. Immortal monarchs might not be able to tell, but immortal emperors had higher insight and might be able to deduce the extent of how many laws he mastered. The number of laws also represented Tianyi’s strength, and he didn’t want anyone to know his true power.
Of course, if his mother asked, he would give her a general idea. But Mengfei never asked and was just content to spend time with Tianyi. In fact, she hadn’t let Tianyi out of her sight after returning. Tianyi attributed this to the aftereffect of his duel with Bao Ling.
Mengfei didn’t cling to Tianyi twenty-four-seven, though. No matter how much she didn’t want Tianyi to leave her sight, she also needed to cultivate. The war with the Demon Clan was going to commence within a thousand years, and she wanted to increase her strength as much as possible.
For immortal emperors, a thousand years wouldn’t be enough to increase their strength, but like Tianyi, Mengfei wasn’t even ten thousand years old. Even a few hundred years would allow her power to increase by a few percentages. In comparison, Sovereign Yanxu’s improvement would be far less.
The Immortal Court didn’t set the time just to give Mengfei more time to increase her power, but also for Tianyi’s clone, Donghai Longzi, to gain more influence in the Divine Beast Pseudo-System. The higher his influence and status, the more intel he would be able to provide once the war started.
After a week, the tree constellation finished forming. Although it still exuded the aura of the Law of Life, it was no longer as clear as before. It became one of the many other constellations in the sky.
The cultivators on Sixth Heaven were disappointed, especially those who couldn’t gain anything. No matter the opportunity, one had to be suitable in order to grab the chance. Still, it was an overall benefit, and many of the cultivators gained a lot. There was even one true immortal who mastered the Law of Life and left to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm.
When his Dao Manifestation ended, the Immortal Court bestowed upon him a monarch artifact.
After the Immortal Court unified the entire Huang Realm and ascended it to the Primordial Realm, the success of sages crossing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation increased dramatically. Not only did the number of powerful cultivators increase, but the immortal artifacts that were once scarce became much more abundant.
The Immortal Court actually possessed many immortal artifacts, enough to arm all the immortals several times over and even a few divine artifacts. The problem was that they didn’t want the Eight Pillar Sect or the Saintly Scholar School to know the true extent of their wealth, so they hid it. Now that they became the sole hegemon, they no longer had the same scruples.
On Fourth Heaven, Tianyi’s incarnation materialized in front of Daoyi. “How is it? Do you have any inspiration to merge the Law of Life and the Law of Death into the Law of Life-and-Death?”
Daoyi stood up and looked at him. “Do you think everyone is like you, able to comprehend the Law of Spacetime? I just mastered the Law of Life. I don’t have any clues on how to merge them.”
Tianyi frowned. He was actually quite anxious. Technically speaking, a true immortal possessed a longer lifespan than immortal monarchs, emperors, and sovereigns. But if a cultivator wanted to go further on their path, then the faster they ascended to a higher realm, the more potential they would have.
Daoyi had mastered two laws not related to the five elements, showing her talent, and she only spent less than five thousand years. However, Tianyi couldn’t help but worry. “Should I focus on comprehending the Law of Life-and-Death and impart my experiences to you?”
“If you want,” Daoyi said. She wouldn’t prevent her pride from receiving Tianyi’s help. So what if she had external aid and didn’t rely only on herself? Tianyi could be said to be the biggest reason why she could comprehend the Law of Death in the first place. In fact, it was also thanks to Tianyi that she comprehended the Law of Life as fast as she did.
Even though Tianyi used her breakthrough to comprehend the full Law of Life, it didn’t change that fact.
“You should still focus on your own things first. If you can comprehend the Law of Yin or the Law of Yang first, your power should reach an immortal sovereign, right? I can wait,” Daoyi said.
“Can you?” Tianyi asked. “Aren’t you going to participate, too? Even if you mastered two laws, you’re still only a true immortal. There’s a huge discrepancy when facing peak monarchs.”
“Don’t I have you? If I encounter danger, can’t I just hide in your inner universe?”
“That’s not a foolproof plan. What if they have a method to stall or even stop it? Won’t you be a sitting duck then?” Tianyi asked. “I’m fine. Even if my conduit is destroyed, as long as the Nine Heavens Universe exists, so will I.”
“Suit yourself,” Daoyi said.
Even if Tianyi wanted to focus on comprehending the Law of Yin or the Law of Yang, his speed will definitely slow down because of his worry for Daoyi.
For now, both of them resumed comprehending the laws. Both of them just mastered the Law of Life, and they needed to digest it.
***
On Seven Star Sword Peak in the Numinous Realm, Meng Tingfeng swung his sword. At times, his sword swings would display the ferocity of fire, the gravity of earth, the sharpness of metal, the fluidity of water, and even the tenacity of wood. He was using sword arts to aid his comprehension of the five elemental laws.
Ever since he returned, Meng Tingfeng had focused on strengthening himself. Although he displayed astonishing power in the Jade and Numinous Conference, it was overshadowed by Tianyi and Bao Ling. He didn’t have any resentment regarding this. In fact, he welcomed the peace and used it to cultivate.
If there was one difference after the Jade and Numinous Conference, it would be that Shu Qingya visited him every so often. Qingya was the given name of Elder Shu, the Peak Lord of Clear Elegance Sword Peak.
If Meng Tingfeng had to say that Shu Qingya didn’t have any deeper intentions, he would be lying to himself. Still, he did not reveal her thoughts. He also had good feelings toward her, but he also had prior entanglements with Xi Mengfei. He didn’t need to get together with her, but he needed a conclusion to the karma between the two.
Not to mention that there was a war with the Demon Clan coming up, and likely the Immortal Court right after. Meng Tingfeng wasn’t so conceited to believe that he had a hundred percent chance of surviving. Though he believed he had a higher chance of surviving than many actual immortal emperors, it still didn’t change the fact that he was just an immortal monarch.
If he met someone like Xi Tianyi, Bao Ling, or an immortal sovereign, he would have a high chance of death.
So, like this, Meng Tingfeng focused on strengthening himself. And like he promised, he became a fifth-step immortal monarch within a hundred years. During this time, his relationship with Shu Qingya also progressed. There was just a paper-thin line before they took the next step, but neither of them broke it, content to let their idyllic days continue.
***
Within the True Dragon Realm of the Divine Pseudo-System was a magnificent black palace at the bottom of the sea. The black palace exuded a heart palpitating aura that caused no life to dare to venture within a thousand kilometers of it.
Inside the palace, a man in black robes with a pair of dragon horns extending out of his head sat on a throne that released a concentrated version of the aura of the black palace. In front of him were more than a hundred demons below the demon lord realm, all laying down in their true forms. Most of them had their eyes closed, but anyone could tell that their eyes were flitting about behind their eyelids. It was as if they were experiencing a nightmare.
“Longzi, I didn’t expect you to be an accomplished illusionist as well,” a red-robed demon with a pair of red dragon horns said as she walked up. “It’s quite rare. Most demons like to fight with their physical bodies rather than study illusions.”
Donghai Longzi shook his hands. “Don’t make fun of me, Honglin. I was forced to learn illusions in order to save my life when I was weak. After reaching my current level, I just couldn’t give it up after it accompanied me for so long. Who knows, maybe it can help out at a critical moment? Although, right now, it can only help temper these geniuses’ willpower.”
Of course, the early half of Donghai Longzi’s statement was a complete lie, but Honglin also nodded. His attainments in illusions were incredible, so Honglin didn’t doubt his words. The truth of the matter is that Donghai Longzi revealed this talent in order to train a new generation of demon geniuses.
No matter how much potential Donghai Longzi had or how strong he was, he was still an outsider. In order to integrate himself more with the Dragon Clan, he didn’t turn down any requests or tasks given to him, such as training the geniuses. Given that they weren’t overboard, of course.
Donghai Longzi wouldn’t deliberately ask for tasks, giving the impression that he didn’t care very much. If he showed too much of his true intentions, it might cause the high echelon to suspect him. They might not suspect him immediately, but it would definitely raise the chance.
So far, his efforts had yielded some results, but nothing too crucial. He didn’t even know the true location of the Divine Beast Pseudo-System. But that was normal. Even Honglin, the granddaughter of Emperor Redraco, didn’t know.
Speaking of Honglin, she was actually one of his largest sources of information. As Emperor Redraco’s granddaughter, she was privy to many secrets normal demon kings had no access to. Still, this was a double-edged sword.
Donghai Longzi’s heart wasn’t made of stone. After so many years of cohabitation, he still developed affection for the people around him. It couldn’t exactly be called a deep friendship, but invisibly, his heart had been affected. Even those geniuses sent to him sincerely respected him, causing turmoil in his heart.
Because of this, he might even start an impromptu sermon on the laws of the five elements when he saw a suitable genius. Many of the demon geniuses requested to become his disciple, but Donghai Longzi never accepted them, not even as a student. A side effect of his action was the ease of integration, and he was no longer as much as an outsider.
Still, Donghai Longzi never forgot that he was never truly on their side to begin with. One day, he would have to pierce the demons he knew with his own claws or words. He could already imagine the pained faces of betrayal and the hate-filled words. ‘No wonder spies are so universally reviled.’
Donghai Longzi glanced at Honglin. “So, why did you come here? Is there another task Emperor Redraco wants me to accomplish?”
“You can say that, but this task is different,” Honglin said.
“Oh? How different?”
Honglin stared out of his black palace and into the sky, as if her gaze would pierce the dimensional boundaries of the True Dragon Realm. “We’re going to leave the boundaries of the Divine Beast Pseudo-System.”
Comments
Cerber
Yeah, talk about drawing the short draw of the stick. I wonder if he will be able to stun or rescue some of the people he gets along with
Captdeth
2hr
Conrad Manaugh
Poor longzi
