Central Heaven Region, Heaven Continent
On Caimen Peak, a mountain where the Buzhou Immortal Sect's outer disciples resided, stood two figures. Both of them wore the traditional white clothing of disciples.
“Hmpf, don’t get too proud, Xi Tianyi. Didn’t you reach the Foundation Establishment Realm just because you have a good mother?” The speaker was a youth, his tan skin taut with bulging muscles.
“Indeed, I'll admit it. I’m fortunate enough to be my mother’s son. Thanks to her, I was able to cultivate with the best cultivation method since stared my immortal path, and even reach the Foundation Establishment Realm at age ten.” The pitch of the voice was quite high, as expected of a child. Xi Tianyi looked at the blue-edged white mantle that covered his purple robes, as he rubbed the soft, smooth and silky fabric with spells woven into it, before turning his eyes upon the tan youth. “What about it? Should I bemoan my good birth?”
The youth was visibly stunned, before rage colored his face. “Xi Tianyi, if you have the guts, disperse your cultivation and see if you can reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in five years again!”
Tianyi looked at him as if he was an idiot. “Why would I even do that? Taking shortcuts is detrimental to your cultivation, but I’ve cultivated diligently without taking any shortcuts. So why should I disperse my cultivation to entertain your fanciful delusion of competition?”
“You just don’t dare! In your heart, you know that without your mother, you are nothing!” The youth sneered, his eyes stabbing into Tianyi’s defensive silk clothing.
Tianyi frowned, his milky white skin stretching from his action. “At the very least, at this moment, I’m at a higher realm than you. Besides, I’m only ten years old, don’t you feel ashamed for trying to manipulate me just because you think I’m easy to provoke?”
“Age has nothing to do with it!” The youth’s face reddened even more. “In this world, those with strength are respected. Nothing else matters!”
Tianyi nodded in agreement. “I agree. So, as your elder in the Foundation Establishment Realm, I will warn you—As a puny seventh level Qi Gathering Realm disciple, do not go provoking people just because of your hotheadedness. You won’t live a long life this way.”
Gnashing teeth could be heard, as Tianyi turned around to leave. “Hold it right there!” the youth practically screamed, as he reared his fist back and launched himself at Tianyi.
However, just as he was about to reach Tianyi, an invisible pressure began to press down upon him, causing him to fall onto all fours. The youth’s heart struggled to desperately pump his blood that had suddenly slowed down like glue. “Have you gone insane? You aren’t even at the twelfth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, yet you dare to attack a foundation establishment disciple? I’ll let it slide this time, but next time, your target may not be so merciful,” saying those words, Tianyi continued to walk away, leaving the sweat-drenched youth to stew in his own thoughts.
“Senior Brother, are you alright?” a girl near the tan youth’s age walked up to Tianyi with a smile like that of a blossoming flower and asked in concern.
Tianyi spared her a glance. “Big sister, that youth is your childhood sweetheart or something similar, right?”
The girl froze, as an awkward smile arose. “This…”
“It does not matter, but rather than being concerned about me, you should pay attention to him. I think he is very concerned about you.” Tianyi's voice was filled with sarcasm that a child his age should have never possessed. Did the girl think he was blind? Her actions were so obvious to the point that even someone like him, who wasn't skilled at reading a person's thoughts, could see her intentions.
Tianyi continued on his way and, as qi circulated in his body, turned into a blur to the outer disciples of the Buzhou Immortal Sect that were still in their Qi Gathering Realm. Once he was at the foot of Caimen Peak, Tianyi injected spiritual qi into the short sword on his waist with several hand signs. As the sword flew out and hovered in front of him, Tianyi stepped onto the flying sword and flew into the air.
The journey took several hours, as he flew past the numerous other mountains and even bumped into a few other members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. He arrived at a mountain covered in greenery, making the mountain seem as if it was sculpted from pure jade. Tianyi returned to his abode on the mountain.
“Goddammit, I wanted to clear my heart after being cooped up so long. But then I had to meet those idiots. Arghhh!” Tianyi let out a low scream of frustration, with none of the calm and collective bearing he had shown before.
A chuckle was heard as a white-robed elder with ruddy skin like an infant’s and a long white beard walked forward. “Tianyi, did someone make you angry again?”
“Don’t even mention it, Elder Shan,” Tianyi sighed as he sat down. The white-robed elder sat down next to the young child, whose feet dangled in the air.
“Why don’t you go play with the other young children of the elders? I’m sure Grand Elder Xi won’t mind,” Elder Shan suggested with a chuckle.
“Don’t want to. They are little devils, and everything they want to do is nonsensical and immature,” Tianyi immediately rejected the suggestion with a pout.
“Then what about the older ones?” Elder Shan tried again.
Tianyi rolled his eyes. “They’re even worse. One, they either don’t think too highly of my age, or are jealous of my cultivation. Or two, they are just wastrels who do nothing but drown themselves in pleasure.” Elder Shan smiled, as he reached his hand out to rub Tianyi’s head.
Tianyi dodged. “Don’t. You’ll mess up the coronet on my head.”
“How about this, I’m going out of the sect to visit an old friend in the Northern Region of the Heaven Continent, would you like to join me?” Tianyi’s eyes shone at the suggestion, and a sheepish smile appeared as he glanced at the elder. Disciples under the Core Formation Realm were not allowed to leave the sect without permission.
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“I’ll go ask your mother for you,” Elder Shan chuckled.
Tianyi let out a pleased smile. After talking for a few more moments, Elder Shan excused himself, leaving Tianyi alone. Aside from a few elders and his mother, there wasn’t another disciple on Jade Peak. Luckily for Tianyi, aside from some menial chores, his home was a mansion, incorporated with spells that kept it clean without him needing to do much of anything.
Tianyi stood up and wiped the imaginary dust off his robes, before walking towards the pond inside his estate. It was surrounded by vibrant grass, and the water was perfectly clear with no hint of murkiness. One could easily mistake the pond for being filled with air, if not for the occasional glint of light reflecting off of its surface. In the center, was a giant lotus that could easily fit a grown man.
With a leap fueled by the spiritual qi from his dantian, Tianyi landed onto the lotus and sat down. ‘Being born as the son of an immortal is great and all, but this world is just so bland. No novels, games, or the internet, but at least I don’t have to suffer what most protagonists have: something like getting your fiancée stolen, being robbed of your foundation, or even having your whole clan exterminated. Actually, a fiancée leaving you for another man would probably be the most humiliating one of those for a man.’
With a shake of his head, to cast his miscellaneous thoughts aside, Tianyi closed his eyes. Tianyi started to cultivate the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique that he had appeared directly in his mind when he started cultivating in this myth-like world. It was his secret, the advantage that gave him a head start in his cultivation and increased his potential.
Tianyi sank his senses deep inside his mind and into his inner world. Within this inner world of his, existed three figures, two of which were blurry. The middle figure was a man that resembled an aged version of himself, wearing black imperial robes with dragons embroidered onto them. No matter from which angle, the first word to come to mind would be “emperor.” But he had no breath, or sense of life, and felt more like a sculpture carved out of stone, with only the tiniest hint of color.
Surrounding the three figures were endless grey clouds obscuring everything, allowing only the tiniest hint of starlight to shine through. Tianyi could not peer out of them, and even the occasional observation would cause his mind to be fatigued if he strained his sight on them for too long.
Tianyi began to cultivate the visualization technique. The chaotic clouds began to turn into multicolored particles, before streaming towards the three figures, with the majority of the particles funneled towards the emperor. With each passing moment, the small space increased in size, but the three figures remained unchanged. No matter how hard Tianyi had circulated the technique, only the distance of the clouds ever changed.
It wasn’t until recently, when he entered the Foundation Establishment Realm using the Primordial Heavenly Scripture cultivation method, that the central figure had been chiseled into the form it was currently. Allowing his thoughts to wander, Tianyi began to recollect his previous life.
He dared not to think outside of this space, impervious to most scanning techniques of cultivators. Back on Earth, he was just a man, one who hadn’t even finished college and had nothing but a small circle of good friends. Actually, his situation was below average, as he only had a single parent from a young age.
Then one day, boom, he suddenly woke up to see the woman, now known as his mother, holding him. He also did not expect her to be flying at the time, and let’s say an infant’s control of their bowels was... not perfect.
As he grew older, he learned that there existed many realms and worlds, not just the Huang Realm he resided in. With such a discovery, he had begun his journey in cultivation to, one day, visit Earth once more. There was some obsession in his mind concerning his parent's fate that would not leave him alone, but there was no point in concerning himself over such matters right now. He was simply not powerful enough.
And also, immortality. Being able to live forever sounded great to Tianyi.
Stopping his cultivation of the Three Pure True Self Visualization Technique, Tianyi felt his thoughts become clear, processing information better and faster than before.
‘Not only that, I can feel my soul reached the threshold of the Core Formation Realm. At this stage, I can produce spiritual sense and use it to daze those at the Spiritual Pillar and Spiritual Altar Foundation Establishment Realm.’
A visualization technique could strengthen the mental energy of a cultivator, and the highest grade of visualization technique can even increase the strength of one’s soul. To a cultivator, the soul was essential, as it was the foundation of one’s existence. Without a sufficiently powerful soul, they could not control the massive spiritual qi within them or reach the next realm.
Tianyi stopped focusing on what he'd gained from the visualization technique this time, and instead, allowed the spiritual qi in the environment to enter his body. His previous cultivation of the visualization technique did not cause any fatigue to accumulate inside of him, instead, it revitalized him, like getting into a high state. Not that Tianyi had experience with such a state in his previous life.
After one opened all twelve meridians in the Qi Gathering Realm, they would link their meridians to form a qi circulatory system. To break through into the Foundation Establishment Realm, one must open up their dantian and form their spiritual sea inside. It wasn’t well known, but aside from the twelve ordinary meridians correlating to the twelve stages of the Qi Gathering Realm, there also existed eight extraordinary meridians that most cultivators did not unlock. But once one did so, their potential would increase several-fold.
As the son of the Immortal Sword Empress, Tianyi naturally had the resources and tutelage to unlock his twelve ordinary meridians. But the eight extraordinary meridians required more than just resources and conveyed knowledge. Otherwise, he would have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm at the age of seven.
And, in the Foundation Establishment Realm, there are three stages: the Spiritual Pillar Formation Stage, Spiritual Altar Formation Stage, and finally, the Spiritual Crucible Formation Stage. When the embryonic core forms inside the crucible, one becomes a peak Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.
From then on, a cultivator would form their spiritual core, resulting in them stepping into the Core Formation Realm and becoming a core formation master. From Core Formation, comes the Nascent Soul Realm, from Nascent Soul Realm, the Unity Realm. From Unity, comes the Transcending Mortality Realm, the final realm before ascending to the Immortal Realm.
Tianyi had just entered the Foundation Establishment Realm and, as such, had spent some time stabilizing his cultivation. And now, he was using the spiritual qi inside of him to form his spiritual pillars to enter the Spiritual Pillar Formation Stage.
The spiritual qi sea within his dantian rippled, as nine points formed inside his dantian. One large point in the center, with eight smaller points around it, all distanced equally. Those points devoured the qi within his spiritual sea until it was dried. And, when he was low on qi, he would absorb the qi outside of his body from the Jade Lotus Clear Pond his mother had arranged for him.
The Jade Lotus Clear Pond was a formation created using the Jade Clear Spring Water, Immortal Lotus Seat, and numerous other treasures. The formation calmed the cultivator’s mind and soul, in order to allow them to have clear thoughts during cultivation and accumulated purified spiritual qi of heaven and earth for them to absorb. It wasn’t an injustice to say that without the Jade Lotus Clear Pond, he would not have entered the Foundation Establishment Realm in five years of cultivating.
When Tianyi opened his eyes with a slight smile on his lips; he had just formed the skeleton of his spiritual pillars.