Zi Zun felt the crushing pressure as he attempted to fly toward the highest mountain. Thanks to his harvest in the Broken Primordial World, he had entered the Soul Nourishing Realm far faster than he had expected. Within a year, he planned to undergo his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation too.
Since he couldn't overcome the pressure, Zi Zun obediently followed the other cultivators and started on First Mountain. From there, he rose through the mountains, but he stopped on Third Mountain when he recognized a girl.
She looked like a little child that had not even entered puberty. Her double bun hairstyle only exemplified the effect. Zi Zun didn't personally know the little girl, but he recognized her. She was Ming Xingyun, Xi Tianyi's only disciple.
Zi Zun continued to stare at the seemingly young girl. However, she was young compared to most cultivators since Ming Xingyun had not yet reached twenty-five years of age. Despite that, she had already reached a realm that most people took a hundred years to reach.
'Probably used that bastard's resources to reach the Acupoint Opening Realm.' Zi Zun thought. He turned his head away with a snort and started to climb the mountains again.
Zi Zun was unaware of how lucky he was that he ignored Ming Xingyun. Tianyi had been staring at him all the way from the Ninth Mountain, and if he did anything to her, Tianyi would have had him flying off Nine Heavens Peak and barred him from listening to his sermon.
When Zi Zun reached Fifth Mountain, he tried to enter Sixth Mountain, where only those who have reached the threshold of venerable-level power could step onto.
He didn't know what the benefits of stepping onto a higher mountain were, but instincts told him it was not small. So, Zi Zun activated his Thunder God's Descent technique, turning his hair yellow and spiky and cladding his body in electricity.
But the first level of transformation was far from enough as it only raised his strength to the mid Soul Nourishing Realm. He activated the second level of transformation, but that was still far from enough as it only raised his strength to the late Soul Nourishing Realm, far from enough to step onto Sixth Mountain.
When Zi Zun spat out a mouthful of blood and landed back on Fifth Mountain, no one laughed at him. He hadn't been the only one to try to enter the next mountain and failed. Many tried, but few succeeded.
Zi Zun calmed down and swallowed a pill to heal his injuries first. Afterward, he looked for a place to settle down and realized that the closer one was to the mountain peak, the denser the spiritual qi. The density rivaled and surpassed some of the cultivation training grounds the Buzhou Immortal Sect gave.
As a result, many fights started due to people competing for the best spots. The intensity only increased when they realized that the Monarch Nine Heavens didn't stop them.
Thanks to his Thunder God's Descent Technique, Zi Zun managed to grab a spot near the peak. It wasn't the highest, but better than ninety percent of the other spots.
After claiming his spot, Zi Zun eyed his competitors warily. Luckily for him, a quiet voice, but one that entered everyones' ears, was heard.
"Cease your conflicts. I will begin my sermon now. If anyone starts a conflict from henceforth, scram!"
Zi Zun felt his breath hitch as the undulating pressure from the last word buffeted his body. 'So this is an immortal monarch! Just his words alone are enough to ignite a grave sense of crisis inside me!'
After the Monarch Nine Heavens' warning, all the hotheaded people cooled down and found a spot to sit down. Of course, there were those who tried to test the new peak lord's bottom line. Such people existed everywhere, and towards them, the Monarch Nine Heavens directly expelled them from Nine Heavens Peak.
Zi Zun cared not for them and waited for the Monarch Nine Heavens to speak. He had already missed Grand Elder Xi's sermon when she had reached the Origin Immortal Realm, so he didn't want to miss a single word this time.
Part of him worried that with Grand Elder Xi's rise in cultivation that she would protect Tianyi, but he quickly regained confidence in himself. "Since Grand Elder Xi can reach the Origin Immortal Realm, why can't I? I won't just reach the same level but surpass her and become a divinity! Then, I'll teach that bastard a lesson for humiliating me!'
Zi Zun didn't have any more time to plan his revenge as Nine Heavens Peak began to change. At the top of each peak, the illusionary form of the Monarch Nine Heavens sitting in a lotus position appeared.
Just being in the presence of the illusionary monarch made many people's minds go numb, but those that overcame it discovered that their perception towards the worldly laws increased?
"What is space?" The Monarch Nine Heavens asked. "Space is an area determined by height, depth, and width."
Upon hearing this word, Zi Zun felt his brain buzz. He couldn't understand what was being said. Was he too stupid?
"In space, distance exists, but it does not exist at the same time. Space is relative..."
As the Monarch Nine Heavens spoke, more and more disciples felt their brains turn to mush since they couldn't understand the spatial concepts explained at all. However, those who persevered discovered that the Monarch Nine Heavens began to explain several different worldly laws and their relationship to space.
For Zi Zun, who practiced the Laws of Lightning, he felt as if he had saved decades of effort and even started to comprehend the Concept of Lightspeed.
The Monarch Nine Heavens' sermon lasted three entire months. It wasn't that he explained the Law of Space in-depth, but the breath of the numerous concepts that he integrated into his law. The sheer amount made his sermon extra long.
Except for the qi gathering pupils, body transformation acolytes, and foundation establishment disciples, who couldn't linger three months without sustenance, everyone didn't move from place and tried to memorize as much as possible. Even if they couldn't understand it now, it didn't mean it was useless.
"Alright, I'm done. All of you leave."
Zi Zun showed a sad expression. He even had the notion of asking the Monarch Nine Heavens to accept him as a disciple. He had heard how the new peak lord didn't have anyone under him, and in addition, he didn't have much relationship with the Xi mother-son pair!
-line break-
Unaware of Zi Zun's thoughts, Tianyi closed his eyes and digested the gains from the sermon. Teaching others also taught oneself. To teach others, you have to organize what you want to teach and understand it deeper.
The other immortal monarchs no longer disturbed Tianyi. They were surprised at how wide Tianyi's understanding of the laws went. Although Tianyi only understood two complete laws, this didn't stop them from admiring how many concepts Tianyi had mastered.
In truth, Tianyi was surprised too. While he was preaching, he kept remembering his mother's sermon. Thanks to his newfound understanding, his control of his inner universe also increased, but the amount of qi he could release into the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System stayed the same, so his combat prowess stayed the same.
He also had some regrets. He purposely didn't elaborate on the temporal aspects of spacetime to keep a trump card. The whole point of acting as a separate person was to lower the other forces' wariness towards him. The Law of Space may have been rare, but there was another immortal monarch that mastered it.
The Law of Spacetime, on the other hand, no one had mastered it in the entire history of the Huang Realm.
Half a year later, Tianyi opened his eyes to see Mengfei still present. He used his immortal sense to detect around him and discovered no one else, so he opened his mouth, "Mother, why are you still here?"
"Do I need a reason?"
"No, but people might get suspicious if you linger too long," Tianyi said.
Mengfei nodded and turned to leave. "Take care of yourself, Yi'er. Do not let your guard down."
Even though her words had no emotion or fluctuation, Tianyi couldn't help but feel a sense of desolateness emanating from Mengfei's back. Tianyi scratched his head. 'Should I have had my clone act as the new monarch? No, he's not like me, and he has a higher chance of being seen through.'
Tianyi sighed. 'I should make a second conduit to accompany mother.'
He closed his eyes and began to understand the Three Pure Qi Incarnation Technique taken from the highest level of the Immortal Scripture Repository. It was an incomplete technique, but Tianyi had confidence in creating a new technique from it. In addition, he also had his mother's Heaven, Earth, Man Incarnation Technique she devised from the Three Pure Qi Technique.
'I don't know how long this cultivation session will take. Just from the sermon alone, it's almost already a year. Once I finish my three incarnation technique, I'll have one to accompany mother and Daoyi.' Tianyi's thoughts paused. 'Doesn't this mean that I basically don't need to have Ba Shifang impersonate me?'
Tianyi shook his head. 'No, no. My idea is good. I don't know how long it will take to raise a new conduit, and its strength is unstable, so it's better to have Ba Shifang impersonate me. Speaking of which, I should let him out since he's already healed. Then, I'll have him return to my inner universe to speed up his cultivation.'
'I should probably go to the Demon Cage Realm to pick up my second disciple soon.' Tianyi thought. Then his thoughts shifted inside his inner universe. 'If only Dandan would leave my inner universe.'
Dandan had taken to his inner universe like a fish to water. He simply swam in the infinite space and absorbed whatever energy radiated off from Ninth Heaven. When Tianyi wanted Dandan to leave, he resisted fiercely.
Tianyi sighed and ignored him. Out of sight, out of mind.
Ten years later, a new group of disciples ascended Nine Heavens Peak. Ever since Tianyi's first sermon, he had made it a habit to preach once in a while. He didn't focus solely on the Law of Space but on other worldly laws like the Law of Fire, Law of Water, Law of Wood, Law of Metal, Law of Earth, Law of Yang, Law of Yin, Law of Light, Law of Darkness, and many more.
He hadn't mastered any of these laws, but people still came to listen to Tianyi's sermons. They discovered with each sermon that Tianyi's understanding of the laws seemed to increase, terrifying them. Some even said that the Monarch Nine Heavens would have reached the Seamless Immortal Realms hundreds of thousands of years ago if he hadn't focused on the Law of Space.
The only other worldly law he mastered was the Law of Lightning, but he refused to preach about lightning. The Law of Lightning would become Ba Shifang's calling card. And Ba Shifang already had mastered some spatial concepts, so he didn't want too many overlaps. It may have been overcaution on his part, but better safe than sorry.
Unlike his first sermon, Tianyi's occasional sermon lasted a week to two weeks, nothing like the three months of his first sermon. Once he was done, Tianyi prepared to leave since he wanted to find a good spot to release Ba Shifang to undergo his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.
However, black clouds began to gather above the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The sheer size and aura emanating from it told Tianyi that it was an Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.
Tianyi released his immortal sense and, coupled with his spatial abilities, located the source. It originated from Justice Hall, Immortal Redseal's mansion.
He felt his lips twitch when he realized that Lovespot was undergoing his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. 'I curse you to fail. Seriously, what's with you? You used to be utter trash, but now, you're suddenly a cultivation genius?'
Tianyi didn't have much time to think anymore as another tribulation cloud appeared above the Buzhou Immortal Sect. 'Seriously, is there a sale going on Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation going on?'
He gazed at the new potential immortal and released a sigh when he realized it was Xia Yushan. 'At least it isn't someone I hate.'
Tianyi wanted to strike while the iron was hot, so he opened a portal in Jade Peak and dumped Ba Shifang there. Soon, a third tribulation cloud emerged above the Buzhou Immortal Sect.