Drifting amidst one of the Great Desolation's four great seas was a floating island. The abundant essence of heaven and earth wafted off of it, and immortal songs echoed from it. On the island's edge was a stele with Yingzhou engraved in Dao Script.
At the center was a grand mansion, and next to it was an apricot tree. The tree had dull golden bark and luminous leaves, but the most eye-catching things were the hanging apricots that shone like molten gold. Each apricot had numerous characters of Dao Script flitting across its skin.
The tree wasn't an ordinary tree but one of the top ten connate spiritual roots. Some might even say it was the number one connate spiritual root. It was the Illumination Apricot Tree.
The Illumination Apricot Tree would bloom once every one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years. It would take another one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years to bear fruit and a final one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years for the fruit to mature. All in all, it took three eons for the Illumination Apricot Tree to produce nine fruits.
The fruits were known as Golden Enlightenment Apricots because those who ingested them would feel their spirits cleansed and their thoughts clear. It was one of the greatest treasures for cultivators to comprehend the three thousand laws.
Under the Illumination Apricot Tree was a stone table occupied by two figures. One appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties and wore a pure white robe. The other wore blue robes and held a fan made of five differently-colored feathers.
His name was Kong Xuan, the Five-Tailed Element Peacock. He hatched from one of the two eggs laid by one of the three overlords of the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, the Phoenix Ancestor.
"Hahaha, I never expected Brother Kong to obtain Yingzhou Immortal Island that the Three Purities and the Heavenly Court couldn't find," Haotian said as he drank the wine in his cup. Instantly, he felt his spirit become cleansed, and his thoughts cleared. "Not only that, but you also found the Illumination Apricot Tree. I really envy you for being able to use the Golden Enlightenment Apricot to brew wine like this."
"Brother Haotian overpraises," Kong Xuan said as he fanned himself. "I was simply a little lucky and had spare time."
Haotian laughed. "If you are only a little lucky, I'm afraid not many people can call themselves lucky."
Kong Xuan only smiled and didn't reply. Haotian and Kong Xuan continued to talk until Haotian looked at the sky. "I've been here too long. I need to return to Thirty-Three Heavens now. Senior Sister still hasn't reestablished the Heavenly Court, but I can't not be present when she does so. Please excuse me."
"Then I'll bid you farewell," Kong Xuan said as he sent Haotian away.
Once Haotian became a dot in the distance, a golden-robed man appeared next to Kong Xuan. The man was Jinchi, the Golden-Winged Great Roc and child of the Phoenix Ancestor. "He finally left? What did he want?"
"Nothing much. He wanted me to become one of the Six Great Emperors of the Heavenly Court," Kong Xuan said. Thanks to his relationship with Haotian in the past eon, he learned many things about the Thirty-Three Heavens and the future Heavenly Court.
Jinchi snorted. "Who does he think he is? He only reached the Early Quasi-Saint Realm, does he think he's invincible?"
Kong Xuan tapped his fan on top of Jinchi's head. "Alright, stop talking. How much of my Golden Enlightenment Apricots have you eaten? Yet, you're only an intermediate Quasi-Saint."
Jinchi showed an aggrieved expression. "I want to sever my obsession, but it's too difficult. What about you, Big Brother? Your aura feels like a peak Quasi-Saint. Are you going to enter the Primordial Origin Realm soon?"
Kong Xuan rolled his eyes. "How can it be that easy? I've only severed three of my five element incarnations. The road to the Primordial Origin Realm is still a long way off."
"Big Brother is amazing," Jinchi honestly said. "I"m afraid that under Saints, you are the most powerful Quasi-Saint."
"What use is being the most powerful under Saints? Aren't we all still ants? Only a Golden Immortal of Primordial Origin will no longer be an ant," Kong Xuan said with steel in his eyes. He sighed. "Alright, stop complaining and cultivate. I have already found my own way. You should think of a way to enter the Primordial Origin Realm too."
Jinchi scratched his head. "That's even more difficult. My progress in the Law of Wind has reached a bottleneck. Besides, no one poses a danger to me in the world except for Saints. Almost all the Quasi-Saints and Golden Immortals died in the Titan-Demon Tribulation."
"Shortsighted," Kong Xuan rebuked. "The future remains unknown, anything can happen. If you stagnate, you are regressing."
"Alright, alright, I understand," Jinchi said as he waved Kong Xuan's concern away. "I'm going to travel outside for a bit."
Kong Xuan frowned. "Don't bother the Phoenix Clan again. Instead of wasting your time, go comprehend your way!"
Jinchi didn't answer, having already turned into a golden streak flying off into the distance. Kong Xuan sighed and then stared toward the towering Allheaven Jianmu Tree in the distance.
"Tongtian will become the Jade Emperor, not Haotian?" Kong Xuan murmured to himself with confusion.
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Inside Fifth Heaven, now renamed Jade Lake Heaven, Yaochi stared at South Heaven Gate. For the past eon, she had stayed in Jade Lake Heaven to stabilize her Early Quasi-Saint Realm cultivation base and attempt to enter the Intermediate Quasi-Saint Realm. Thanks to her effort, Yaochi reached the peak of the Early Quasi-Saint Realm.
However, she didn't only cultivate. In her spare time, Yaochi planted the Firmament Peach Fruit in her Celestial Peach Orchard. From that single Firmament Peach Fruit, she cultivated thirty-six hundred peach trees. Naturally, she couldn't cultivate another Longevity Peach Tree. A single peach pit was too lacking. Instead, they were Flat Peach Trees.
The Celestial Peach Orchard produced three types of Flat Peaches. The lowest type matured in three thousand years and anyone who ate it will gain three thousand years of longevity. The second type matured in six thousand years, and anyone who ate one will gain the ability to fly and become young for the rest of their lives. The third and highest type matured in nine thousand years, and anyone who ate the one will share longevity with heaven and earth and become as long-lived as the sun and moon.
In other words, anyone who ate the Three Thousand Year Flat Peach will become an Earth Immortal, and those that ate the Six Thousand Year Flat Peach will become a Sky Immortal. Finally, those that ate the Nine Thousand Year Flat Peach will become a Profound Immortal.
During the eon since she exited Violet Heaven Palace, Yaochi had accumulated a terrifying amount. Even if the eater was already a Golden Immortal, it would still save them many years of laborious cultivation.
Suddenly, Yaochi opened her eyes inside Jade Lake Palace. She gazed past the lower heavens and set her sights on South Heaven Gate, where she saw Haotian return. She sighed. Unlike her, Haotian made periodic trips from the Thirty-Three Heavens. Even though he stabilized his Early Quasi-Saint Realm cultivation, he was still a distance away from the peak of the Early Quasi-Saint Realm.
She watched as Haotian flew past the lower heavens and entered Vast Heaven, the renamed Fourth Heaven. With another sigh, her figure disappeared and appeared outside of Vast Heaven Palace.
"Yaochi!" Haotian said as he greeted his closest companion.
"Where did you go this time?" Yaochi asked.
"Just visiting some friends," Haotian said.
"Were you trying to recruit immortals for the Heavenly Court again?" Yaochi asked, almost questioningly so.
Haotian frowned. "So what if I was? Senior Sister hasn't done anything since she came back. If she can't live up to Teacher's expectations, then I must make up for it."
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"Her Eminence is a Saint of Heaven, how can we understand her thoughts?" Yaochi asked. "You just want to develop your faction before the Heavenly Court forms. Do you think Her Eminence doesn't know?"
"Her Eminence that, Her Eminence this, why don't you just call her Senior Sister like me?" Haotian erupted, tired of Yaochi's interrogation.
A slight furrow appeared between Yaochi's pretty brows. "I'm thinking best for you. Teacher has merged with the Way of Heaven. If you overuse his influence, Her Eminence will be displeased. Do you really think Teacher will appear to restrain a Saint of Heaven? You're only seeking a dead end for yourself."
Haotian turned speechless. He opened his mouth but had no words to say. "We've been by Teacher's side for years, he won't stop caring about us. You have to have more faith in Teacher."
Yaochi sighed. This hadn't been the first time she had tried to open Haotian's eyes, but time after time, he refused. Who knows, perhaps Haotian's choice was the correct one, and she was the one who chose wrongly.
She could still remember the Dao Ancestor's words. "The Saints are tasked with educating all creatures of heaven and earth. The Heavenly Emperor's duty is to rule heaven and earth. The Heavenly Emperor cannot be a Saint of Heaven."
Tongtian was a Saint of Heaven, yet she sat on the Throne of Heaven. Perhaps that's why Teacher inserted her and Haotian. But if that was the case, why did Teacher say yes?
Yaochi turned and left. Her and Haotian's paths had long diverged an eon ago. As she stepped out of Vast Heaven Palace, her head snapped as she sensed the endless clouds of merit gathering about Eminence Heaven Palace in Supreme Purity Palace.
'Has Her Eminence finally taken action?'
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On the Throne of Heaven inside Eminence Heaven Palace, Tongtian sat with her eyes closed. Above her head floated the Eastern Emperor Bell. Occasionally the Eastern Emperor Bell Spirit would appear in the throne room, but he only subtly peeked at Tongtian and stayed silent.
Although her eyes had closed, she saw a silver river in her mind's eye. The farther away from the source, the more branching it became, but after a certain point, the river branches converged onto a single point. Above that floated a tanned woman with wild hair and aura. She was Tonggu, Tongtian's Future Incarnation.
At the source of the silver river of time, where everything originated from, an orb of light floated above. Inside the orb floated the figure of a humanoid with wings sprouting from his back. Anyone who saw Pangu split the chaos into heaven and earth would be able to recognize that figure as the Chaos Fiendgod of Time.
Suddenly, the wings disappeared, and the figure transformed into a human. The face was covered by a murky veil that prevented anyone, even Tongtian, from perceiving their face. After a few moments, the human figure would transform back into the Chaos Fiendgod of Time.
Initially, the figure largely remained in the shape of the Chaos Fiendgod of Time, but as time passed, it shifted into a human more frequently. Eventually, the figure spent ninety percent of its time as a human and only a tenth of its time as the Chaos Fiendgod of Time.
Suddenly, the figure of the Chaos Fiendgod of Time overlapped over the human's figure like a shell. Slowly, the shell distorted and started to merge with the human figure. The merger took an indefinite amount of time, but eventually, the process was completed.
Inside the orb was a naked humanoid. She bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Tongtian and appeared one hundred percent human except for a pair of stained glass-like butterfly wings sprouting out of her head.
Then, the figure revealed eyes the color of flowing silver. Her pink lips parted, and she released a noise like a newborn's cry. She reached out and poked a hole in the orb and crawled out.
Outside, Tongtian's eyes opened as the river of time appeared behind her. Argent essence flowed from the river and condensed into a naked human figure with wings sprouting out of her head.
Tongtian waved her hand and covered the figure in pristine white robes, and the figure furled her wings, covering her body like a shawl. "You're my Past Incarnation formed of my human past and the Chaos Fiendgod of Time. Since the Chaos Fiendgod of Time's name was Shichen, you will now be called Shitian."
Her Past Incarnation cupped her hand and saluted Tongtian. "Shitian greets Main Body."
Tongtian stared at Shitian, but she wasn't looking at her but the line connected to her. Tongtian didn't major in the Law of Karma, which was Jieyin's specialty, but she could still perceive the karmic ties of creatures.
Shitian only had two karmic ties. One connected her to Tongtian, but the other led to outside the Great Desolation. Tongtian's eyes narrowed as she gazed in the direction the karmic tie led to.
Tongtian closed her eyes. Now was not the time to investigate her origins, she would have time for that later. Now, it was time to create the Heaven Path of Reincarnation and set up for the events of Journey to the West.
The two of them, Tongtian and her Past Incarnation, floated out of Eminence Heaven Palace to above the Thirty-Three Heavens. Tongtian spread her arms. "The Way of Heaven above, today I create the empyrean race!"
Tongtian's words echoed across the Great Desolation. All beings paid attention. When Nuwa created humanity, she was consecrated, and now an actual Saint of Heaven was creating a race.
"Today, I shall form the Heaven Path of Reincarnation to complete the Six Paths of Reincarnation! " Tongtian continued. "All those who bear great merit and good karma shall reincarnate into empyreans and enjoy endless longevity alongside the sun and moons!"
The Six Paths of Reincarnation appeared over the Thirty-Three Heavens. Silver streams branched off and linked with the Allheaven Jianmu Tree. The moment it did this, Tongtian waved her hand, and silver essence merged with the streams.
Flowers blossomed on the branches of the Allheaven Jianmu Tree above the Thirty-Three Heavens. They soon wilted as fruits began maturing. Each budding fruit exuded an aura of merit. The most dazzling and largest fruit was colored black and exuded a watery aura. Just that single fruit had more merits than all the other fruits combined.
Golden clouds of merit descended above the Great Desolation. Sixty percent of the merits flowed into the Six Paths of Reincarnation in the Underworld, while twenty percent flowed between Tongtian and Shitian. The Allheaven Jianmu Tree absorbed ten percent, and the last ten percent dispersed among the empyrean fruits.
Tongtian didn't absorb any of the merits and pushed them onto her Past Incarnation. Like Tongtian, Shitian didn't absorb the Karmic Merit to increase her cultivation to the Quasi-Saint Realm and instead allowed them to condense into a Karmic Merit Halo behind her.
After the Karmic Merit Halo finished forming, Shitian disappeared into Tongtian, who was observing the empyrean fruits. Thanks to the Karmic Merit, the empyrean fruits matured at an incredibly fast rate.
Not long later, the fruits fell off the Allheaven Jianmu Tree and into the Thirty-Three Heavens. Wherever they fell, the fruits split open to reveal humanoid figures with all sorts of wings sprouting from the sides of their head. Most had bird-like wings, unlike Shitian’s butterfly-like wings. However, all of them exuded the aura of a Profound Immortal.
All of them had fallen except one, the black empyrean fruit that exuded an aura of water. Tongtian sighed, "It seems that I will have to wait a little longer to meet my second disciple."
Tongtian flew back into Eminence Heaven Palace and closed her eyes. 'One thousand empyreans are far from enough. I'll need to accumulate more empyreans before reestablishing the Heavenly Court.'
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Inside Vast Heaven Palace, Haotian's eyes reddened as he observed the newborn empyreans exploring the lower levels of Thirty-Three Heavens. Tongtian's action just invalidated an eon of hard work.
Most of the friendships he made and the subordinates he gathered became useless. Even if his faction occupied high places, Tongtian would still control the Heavenly Court based on the single fact that she was the founder and ancestor of the empyreans.
'No, not all hope is lost,' Haotian thought. Although Tongtian created the empyrean race, he could see that only around twenty new flowers started to bloom above the Thirty-Three Heavens.
The Way of Heaven is emotionless but fair. Few souls had the necessary Karmic Merit to be reborn as empyreans, so their birthrate was incredibly low. They were far from enough to manage the whole Heavenly Court.
As Haotian began to plan, the two Saints from the West also felt complicated emotions.
As Saints, they didn't need to create a new race. Sure, creating a new race might bring merits, but it was also likely to cause them to lose it too. As their creators, whatever evil their creations have done would be partially blamed on them. It was just too risky.
"Senior Sister Tongtian played a good card," Jieyin said with a sigh.
Tongtian created the empyrean race, filling the gap in the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Not only did she receive an immense amount of Karmic Merit, but she also increased her control of the future Heavenly Court.
Empyreans were formed of souls with good karma, making them unlikely to drag Tongtian down with Karmic Sin. In addition, the empyreans would become the future officials of the Heavenly Court, managing the Great Desolation and earning merits, a portion of which would belong to their creator.
Zhunti had an expression of endless regret. "Why didn't we think of creating a race for the Heaven Path of Reincarnation? If we did, the West would rise much faster."
"There is no need to regret," Jieyin said. "Senior Sister Tongtian's actions have pointed out a way for us."
Zhunti looked at Jieyin. "Please enlighten my foolish self."
Jieyin turned away and gazed at the Blood Sea. "Although we cannot create a race for the Heaven Path of Reincarnation, we can still benefit from the Six Paths of Reincarnation. As long as we liberate those with Karmic Sin and guide them on the path of goodness, our merits will also increase."
Zhunti also turned his gaze toward the Blood Sea, the land of the shura race. Converting the shuras from their bloodthirsty nature wouldn't be as easy as Tongtian creating the empyrean race, but the benefits were equally immense.
Not one to sit back and wait, Zhunti immediately disappeared, golden light radiating off his body as he flew toward the Blood Sea. Jieyin shook his head at his junior brother’s impatience, but followed behind him regardless.