"Heh!" In the wilderness, surrounded by fog, a handsome man with white robes and a beauty mark under one of his eyes scoffed. He was the reborn Dragon Emperor posing as Lovespot.
In his first life, because of his low vision, although he became a half-immortal sovereign, he was forever trapped at that level because of sequelae during his ascension. Now that he had another chance, the Dragon Emperor naturally rectified the mistakes. The Dragon Emperor Fist was indeed his self-created cultivation method based on the true dragon clan, but there was a superior version that he kept to himself. The current Dragon Emperor Fist that others cultivated was his original version, but they were all inferior to the improved version he had created. He just never expected that he would use it like this.
Still, after the bitter encounter with Tianyi, the Dragon Emperor actually learned to restrain himself. He kept his true strength hidden and would only burst out in situations that threatened his life.
The Dragon Emperor also changed his method of operation. After discovering that the wealth of the immortal tombs and inheritance had already been taken, he felt a sense of being targeted, so he became even more careful. The Dragon Emperor's original plan of recovering his comprehension of the laws and concepts he had previously mastered by devouring his clones was abandoned. Since he could master the law without devouring his fragments, then he could do so again, and he would learn an even more profound concept!
There was also another reason, and that was he learned that Sword Empress Xi would kill a Dragon Emperor clone whenever she discovered one. Even if his current identity was the grandson of the former Head Elder of Justice Hall, the Dragon Emperor had no doubts that Mengfei would kill him without a second thought. Hell, she might not even receive punishment if the Buzhou Immortal Sect were to discover his secrets.
The Dragon Emperor was very clear on the hatred between himself and the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Just like how he would destroy the Buzhou Immortal Sect if he had a chance, so, too, would the Buzhou Immortal Sect annihilate him if they discovered that he had revived.
The Dragon Emperor punched the air, and the fog in front of him dispersed a bit. He furrowed his brows, obviously unsatisfied by his simple punch.
After he had possessed Lovespot's body, the Dragon Emperor had quickly cultivated it to the point that his foundations were even better than his first life, much less a waste like Lovespot. His cultivation speed was fast enough to be called a heaven-defying genius, but each step taken was unimaginably sturdy, so he didn't have to worry about leaving sequelae.
Currently, he was in the mid-Nascent Soul Realm, and his strength was even stronger than when he was posing as Longwei after possessing Lei Jingye's body. Of course, this is discounting the immortal soul's power he possessed. Without an immortal body, he couldn't recuperate back that strength.
Still, the Dragon Emperor wasn't satisfied. He could still recall Tianyi's tyrannical body and limitless qi. Compared to the average cultivator, the Dragon Emperor was currently in the one percent, but Tianyi was in the one percent of the one percent in specs.
How could the proud Dragon Emperor be satisfied with being inferior to a junior? Especially since the junior in question had ruined his good plans!
Even now, the Dragon Emperor was planning on revising the Dragon Emperor Fist he cultivated to increase the body strength and qi reservoirs. Luckily for him, he learned that the Buzhou Immortal Sect was organizing an expedition for promising disciples to enter the broken primordial world.
"It seems that it's time for me to return."
-line break-
Six months had passed since Tianyi returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. During this time, Xi Ri was constantly hovering between life and death due to his inner devil.
Had it been an ordinary inner devil produced by Xi Ri, the Buzhou Immortal Sect would have been able to guide Xi Ri to expelling or suppressing it, but it was obtained from the corrosion of a devil monarch. This greatly amplified Xi Ri's negative emotions and thoughts beyond his limit and caused the current situation.
Even if Mengfei was willing, there was not much she could do for Xi Ri. The Buzhou Immortal Sect had a method to save Xi Ri's life, but it would not be worth the investment. In other words, Tianyi had to give something in order for the sect to be willing to save Xi Ri.
Tianyi wasn't so shameless as to ask the sect to save Xi Ri based on his potential. If he failed his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, wouldn't the sect have made a huge loss?
But what could the son of Grand Elder Xi give to the sect? Everything he owned was given to him by his mother, and the treasure he obtained himself was only a trickle compared to what he already owned.
His innate ability to create pseudo realms? He couldn't even relax his control of the qi within his body, much less create another pseudo realm. In all honesty, there was nothing Tianyi could offer to the Buzhou Immortal Sect to save Xi Ri.
Even his foreknowledge of immortal tombs and inheritances could not generate enough contribution points for the Buzhou Immortal Sect to save Xi Ri. Luckily for Tianyi, a chance would come up soon.
The Buzhou Immortal Sect was planning an expedition into the broken primordial world. It was a world, not a realm, that the countless creatures lived in before it shattered into the current three thousand realms of the modern era.
Some of the shattered remains still existed and formed a dangerous area full of treasures. In fact, Mengfei had adventured into the broken primordial world less than a century ago.
With such a dangerous area, why would the Buzhou Immortal Sect send disciples on such a dangerous mission? The answer was that certain areas rejected those above a specific realm, say, those in the Immortal Realm, hence the expedition.
As long as Tianyi returned with a treasure valuable enough, he could move the Buzhou Immortal Sect to save Xi Ri. Maybe he could even make a small profit along the way. That's why for the past six months, Tianyi was cultivating like a madman like he never had in his second life.
Of course, Tianyi didn't only cultivate during these six months. He also made time to keep up with current events. For example, the Xi Emperor had already gotten a new body. Compared to Xi Ri's inner devil, this was a minor problem at best.
However, the Xi Emperor, the Imperial Family, and the Jiang Family didn't return to the Xi Dynasty. At this juncture, returning was asking to be kidnapped as a hostage, so they quietly rested within the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Although it was against the sect's laws, currently, they were in wartime, so the rules could be bent a bit.
More shocking was the fact that Jiang Ziya was accepted as a disciple, and his master was the Concealed Emperor!
Even Tianyi felt that it was strange. He knew that Jiang Ziya would become a disciple without a doubt, but he never expected the Concealed Emperor to take an interest in a mere mortal cultivator, even if he was one that nearly mastered the Qiankun Law at the nascent soul realm.
What was more shocking was the fleeing Jade Cauldron Sect members. Not every member of the Jade Cauldron Sect was supportive of rebelling against the Buzhuo Immortal Sect. As evident, the rebellers won the internal sect dispute.
Those that lost fled under the murderous pursuit of the rebel faction. With nowhere to go, they fled to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Although the Buzhou Immortal Sect didn't fully trust them, they weren't willing to exterminate them without reason, so the loyal Jade Cauldron Sect members were locked up in a secure area within the sect and strictly monitored.
Compared to this, Ming Xingyun's progress was just minor news at best. Before, some people might have paid attention to the fact that Tianyi took on a disciple, but with the current climate, this was a minor affair at best.
After returning to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Ming Xingyun was shocked by the dense spiritual qi, especially the concentration at Tianyi's Jade Lotus Clear Pond. Her only thought was, 'As expected of my master's home!'
The only difference from before was her rate of qi absorption. Even if she received the complete Earth Book of the Five Element Method, she was still in the early Qi Gathering Realm, so the effects weren't noticeable. Compared to that, Tianyi placed much more focus on her martial cultivation.
As a holder of the Condensed Mountain Physique, it was a waste not to embark on the path of martial cultivation. After carefully reviewing the available martial cultivation method, Tianyi chose the Xingtian War Art method.
Xingtian was a god of the primordial era. In the earliest time of the primordial era, after Pangu cleaved the chaos and opened heaven and earth, he died. Pangu's spirit was split into three parts, creating the Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning, Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasures, and the Heavenly Lord of the Way and Virtue.
Since his spirit was created from Pangu's spirit, what about his blood? From his blood birthed twelve primordial gods. Compared to gods like the Heavenly Lords or the Jade Emperor, they were closer to titans of other mythology.
The leader of the titans was Di Jiang. He resembled a yellow sac with six legs, four wings, and chaos for a face. He was born with mastery of the Law of Space.
The one born mastering the Law of Time was Jiuyin. He had a human head and a red snake body.
Born mastering the Law of Wood was Jumang. He had the body of a bird but the head of a man, riding on two dragons under his feet.
Born mastering the Law of Metal was Rushou. He had a human head and a tiger body, but it was lined with metal scales instead of fur. Not only that, he possessed a pair of wings, a snake coming out of his left ear, and rode on two dragons like Jumang.
Born mastering the Law of Water was Gonggong. He possessed the head of a snake, black scales, a dragon under his feet, and a blue python wrapped around his arm.
Born mastering the Law of Fire was Zhurong. Unlike the Gonggong, he had a human body covered in red scales, and his head was that of a beast. Two fire snakes pierced his ears, and he rode a fire dragon.
Born mastering the Law of Wind was Tianwu. Possessing eight heads, Tianwu had a tiger body and ten tails.
Born mastering the Law of Thunder was Qiangliang. He had a snake in his mouth, in his hand, a tiger head, a human body, hoofed feet, and long arms.
Born mastering the Law of Lightning was Jizi. He possessed a bird body, a human head, green snakes around his ears, and a red snake in his talons.
Born mastering the Law of Weather was Shebisi. He had the face of a human but the body of a beast and ears like a dog's with green snakes circling them.
Born mastering the Law of Rain was Xuanming. He had the body of a beast covered in spikes.
Last but not least was Houtu, born mastering the Law of Earth. Half her body was that of a snake, she had seven arms growing on her back and two positioned normally, each holding a snake. Special mention went to the fact that she was the sole female of the twelve titans. Later, she would sacrifice her body to form the Nether Realm and create the cycle of samsara that all life underwent in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.
These twelve titans could be said to be the origin of martial cultivation in the Three Thousand Immortal Realm System. Xingtian was not a titan, but a giant descended from these twelve titans.
He wasn't that famous until one glorious event. Xingtian, for whatever reason, charged into the Immortal Court and fought against the Jade Emperor. However, he wasn't the Jade Emperor's opponent, so he had his head cut off and was sealed under Changyang Mountain.
Xingtian didn't die but continued to live. He turned his nipples into eyes and his belly button into a mouth. Some say he still lived, waiting to get his revenge on the Jade Emperor.
The Xingtian War Art was the cultivation method the Immortal Court created from researching Xingtian's decapitated head. As usual, the requirements were extremely high, and the cultivator needed to possess a peerless physique that was difficult to find even in the primordial era. Tianyi revised the Xingtian War Art into the Xingtian War Code.
Compared to the Nine-Five Scripture, the pure martial cultivation method only gave Tianyi a bit of trouble. The first revised version wasn't perfect, and Tianyi had to occasionally alter it to suit Ming Xingyun's Condensed Mountain Physique, but the results were satisfactory.
Thanks to the foundation created from spiritual cultivation, Ming Xingyun successfully entered the Muscle Strengthening Stage of the Body Transformation Realm after six months. Although the day was far away, Tianyi was already prepared for when Ming Xingyun entered the Acupoint Opening Realm.
Strictly speaking, those weapons were prepared for Daoyi when Tianyi could still refine artifacts. Tianyi saw the light. Daoyi wasn't interested, so Tianyi decided to place his dreams on Ming Xingyun. A young lass like her was even more suitable.
Tianyi had already prepared her first artifacts. According to legend, Xingting used a battle ax in one hand and a tower shield in his other hand. So, Tianyi prepared an ax and shield for his disciple.
It was one of the few joys he had left while Xi Ri was still in a coma.
Six months later, Tianyi left his secluded cultivation. It was time to depart for the broken primordial world.