Chapter 556: Truth of Immortality
His Daoist title was Duckweed. He chose this title to remind himself that no matter what height he reached, he would always remain an insignificant weed in the greater scope. Simultaneously, he must always aspire to greater heights.
Duckweed was a loose cultivator, but that wasn’t always the case. He was once the son of an elder from an unranked force. Unfortunately, when his father was undergoing his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, a rival force attacked him, causing him to fail.
His father was the one with the greatest chance to reach the Immortal Realm in the sect because of a fortuitous encounter he had. That encounter raised his potential, but it also caused an enemy to set his sight upon him. Once his father died, the rival force destroyed his sect, and Duckweed only escaped because of luck.
With his successful escape, the third-rate force failed its objective. Because his father entrusted him with his greatest opportunity to Duckweed! It was a monarch-level artifact.
Most true immortals, even those from third-rate and second-rate forces, didn’t have immortal artifacts, much less a monarch artifact. Only a powerful hegemon like the Immortal Court could afford to arm each immortal with an artifact. So, it would not be an exaggeration to say that a monarch-level artifact could act as a guardian artifact of a third-rate force.
And now, Duckweed was at the turning point of his life. He had just succeeded in his Immortal Ascensión Heavenly Tribulation and was in the process of transforming his mortal body into an immortal body.
Using the cultivation method that his father found with the monarch-level artifact, his cells transformed and rearranged themselves. It was only the first transformation, and only when he mastered a worldly law and used it as the core of his body would it become a true immortal body untouched by red dust. His current immortal body was just a preparatory stage.
With the induction of spiritual qi from heaven and earth, Duckweed’s restructuring of his mortal body was progressing successfully. That is, until the last moment. Duckweed discovered his immortal body was not stable and was starting to collapse.
A hint of panic appeared in his heart, but he quickly forced himself to calm down with his strong willpower. His rate of absorption of the spiritual qi increased. More spiritual qi transformed into immortal qi and filled his body. The more qi that filled his body, the more stable his immortal body became, until it fully stabilized.
Duckweed revealed a smile of happiness and relief. He had successfully entered the Pathfinding Immortal Realm.
Different from Duckweed’s relief and joy, Tianyi had a grave expression. If he wasn’t paying attention, he wouldn’t have noticed anything at all, and only then, he only caught a trace of it.
He shook his head. “Maybe it’s because of his cultivation method.”
He disappeared from his observation spot. From the start and until he formed his immortal body, Duckweed never discovered that there was a second party staring at him.
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In the next two decades, Tianyi watched three more Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulations. Of the three, one failed while the other two succeeded. With his suspicions confirmed, Tianyi could no longer hide from the truth of the matter.
The reason that immortal bodies could not stabilize at first was because they lacked a certain thing. It was the core and foundation of an immortal body, but that thing contained traces of the Heavenly Dao.
Tianyi recalled when he entered his mind space and discovered the tribulation essence. His body could no longer feel cold, but he still felt a chill crawling up his spine. It felt like a huge conspiracy of the world.
Upon learning of this, Tianyi needed to confirm, so he found Grand Elder Xia.
“I forgot that you grew too powerful too fast and don’t know a lot of secrets,” Grand Elder Xia said with a smile upon seeing the grave-faced Tianyi.
“So you already knew?”
Grand Elder Xia nodded. “Not just me, but many people in the sect will eventually learn about this. You don’t have to worry too much about this.”
“Why?” Tianyi asked.
“To explain, I need to start with the beginning. Ordinarily, a mortal’s soul cannot withstand the corrosion of an immortal body. If the body is too powerful, the body will harm the soul. That’s why the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation will bequeath a strand of essence of heaven and earth upon passing. With it, the level of the soul is elevated. This is the basis of immortality derived from the Ten Heavenly Scriptures,” Grand Elder Xia explained.
“But isn’t this dangerous? Isn’t this like leaving a weak point for the Heavenly Dao?” Tianyi asked.
“Then give up the chance to become an immortal?”
At Grand Elder Xia’s question, Tianyi turned silent. Even if it was a trap, would he give up the chance to reach the Immortal Realm? The answer was obviously no.
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“You don’t have to worry too much. As long as the willpower is strong enough, this little weakness is nothing. It will disappear completely upon reaching the Divine Realm. Besides, there has never been a case of the Heavenly Dao killing an immortal through this connection. The Heavenly Dao only takes action upon the death of the immortal, absorbing them as nourishment for the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.” Grand Elder Xia patted Tianyi on the shoulder. “It’s natural for us, but it may not be the case for you reincarnators.”
“What do you mean?” Tianyi asked.
“The souls of you reincarnators are different. They aren’t just stronger, but a higher level than ours. That’s the source of your stronger talents. You can probably form an immortal body without the essence of the Heavenly Dao. And even if there is, it should not be as restraining on reincarnator as those of us born in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. You don’t need as much willpower to resist the effect either,” Grand Elder Xia said.
Although it was hard to swallow, Tianyi nodded. When he left, he messaged Gan Xuehua.
She was returning from observing the worldly laws from the merger of the Divine Beast Pseudo System and Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Originally, Tianyi would only watch if he had the time, but this time, he wanted to watch her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation to see if it was as Grand Elder Xia said.
Gan Xuehua was naturally happy to see Tianyi watch her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Before, she was worried if someone would interfere and cause her to fail, but with Tianyi’s presence, there was no need to fear. If anyone dared, they would need to consider if they could escape alive from the Nine Heavens Emperor’s hands.
Because Tianyi didn’t want to wait too long. He teleported to the Immortal Embassy and took Gan Xuehua away. Certain rumors would result from his hasty actions. By the time the rumor reached his ear, it was already too late. But for now, it was still just brewing.
When Tianyi brought Gan Xuehua back, she didn’t immediately undergo her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. More than that, Tianyi had recommended that she learn some soul defense measures and increase her willpower.
Gan Xuehua couldn’t help but become worried. Was the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation so difficult after nearly comprehending a worldly law?
Because of this, Gan Xuehua’s Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation was delayed by two years.
Gan Xuehua sat in a lotus position in a clearing of a remote area. The spiritual qi was abundant, but there was no powerful monster or demon nearby. In fact, it appeared as if she was alone, but she knew that Tianyi was hiding somewhere, observing her. She simply did not have the power to perceive him.
Although Tianyi wasn’t visible, his presence still brought a sense of safety. Gan Xuehua knew and was a friend of his, but it didn’t stop her awe of him. The more she knew, the more awed she became.
When Gan Xuehua felt that she reached her peak condition, she initiated her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Dark thunderclouds congregated above her head. Compared to the heavenly tribulation she witnessed before, the size of the thunderclouds was more than doubled.
Gan Xuehua steeled herself and the first bolt of tribulation lightning fell. Then another, and another. They fell consecutively.
She could easily hold on at first, but it became more and more strenuous. Although she had mastered a worldly law, she was not geared toward combat and had to use different means to resist the tribulation lightning, but she succeeded in the end. After the lightning tribulation was the Inner Devil Tribulation. Gan Xuehua opened her eyes, obviously succeeding. Simultaneously, the black clouds dispersed and golden clouds arrived, immortal songs filled the area as all the qi flew toward her.
Gan Xuehua absorbed the spiritual qi and reformed her mortal body into an immortal body simultaneously. The process was surprisingly easy, much more easy than passing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Before she had even absorbed a tenth of the spiritual qi rushing toward her, she had already succeeded.
“Congratulations,” Tianyi said, appearing out of thin air.
“Thank you for guarding me,” Gan Xuehua said. “I don’t know if I could have succeeded without your help.”
Tianyi shook his head. “There’s no need. Even if you hadn’t left the Primordial Realm, I think the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation would not have stumped you. At most, it would have just made it a little longer for you to master a worldly law.”
Gan Xuehua smiled. Tianyi was right. The Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation was easier than she expected. “Perhaps my potential isn’t that good. I heard that your Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation has over ten thousand bolts of tribulation lightning.”
“That’s different. You shouldn’t compare yourself to me. I don’t think anyone will see another tribulation like that again,” Tianyi said. “Do you want me to send you back to the Gan Dynasty, or do you want to rest and enter the Seamless Immortal Realm first?”
“Please send me back. I’ll become an immortal monarch after returning,” Gan Xuehua said.
Tianyi nodded. He understood her thoughts. She wanted to use her Dao Manifestation to benefit the Gan Dynasty and warn the demons. He waved his hand, and Gan Xuehua disappeared.
Alone again, Tianyi couldn’t help but furrow his brows. Grand Elder Xia was partially right. A reincarnator’s soul was indeed different. The amount of essence that merged with their soul was only a fraction of other cultivators. It was possible that they wouldn’t merge with a reincarnator’s soul if they used a pill to restore and serve as a source of energy, but it might make the formation of the immortal body harder.
Reincarnators had a resistance to this, but what about natives like his mother? Perhaps he was overthinking it. The Immortal Court was descended from the primordial era, so their records included information from that era to now.
However, Tianyi couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was a greater conspiracy. He couldn’t help it and contacted the Concealed Emperor, but the answer he received was similar to what Grand Elder Xia said.
‘Should I tell Daoyi and the others? Does Mother know?’ Tianyi thought.
After some hesitation, he decided to withhold the information for now. Daoyi and Yan Nie were focusing on comprehending the worldly laws. Making them worry would only make their mind lose focus. Better tell them later.
His mother was a different story. When he asked, she seemed surprised but otherwise showed no expression or worry. Tianyi was unable to laugh or cry at Mengfei’s reaction. It seemed she really didn’t put the matter to heart.
He sighed and focused on perfecting his inner universe. With the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System’s example, he found a direction. If he could create a similar method, he could use it as a basis to create a method to remove the essence of the Heavenly Dao or defend against it.