Among the five elements, wood represented the east, fire represented the south, metal represented the west, water represented the north, and earth represented the center. As such, earth tied everything together and was the basis of the fusion of the five elements.
Tai Wuling originally planned on mastering the Law of Earth before mastering any of the other elemental laws. However, his plans could not keep up with the changes. He would have been a fool to repress his sudden insight into the Law of Fire.
After mastering the Law of Fire, he didn't immediately use it to enter the Seamless Immortal Realm. While it would instantly boost his strength by several folds, it would hinder his future progress. Tai Wuling didn't want to pick up a sesame seed only to lose a watermelon.
Once he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm with the Law of Fire, his new immortal body would form with that as the foundation. However, if he wanted to change the foundation of his immortal body later, the price and time he would pay was too immense compared to directly forming his immortal body out of the five elemental laws at once.
If Tai Wuling proceeded as planned, he would instantly have the power to compete with a half immortal emperor once he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm, or at least a peak immortal monarch.
Tai Wuling doubted anyone would see it coming or anyone else had tried. It was a crazy plan that required absolute talent. Not even the Sword Sovereign had the genius to pull it off. Mastering a single law was already hard enough, and most true immortals spent their whole lives mastering one, much less five. If he had not possessed the dao chaos spiritual root, Tai Wuling wouldn't have attempted to do it either.
He could already imagine the stunned faces of his opponents and that damn Xi Tianyi. Tai Wuling didn't consider himself a vain man. If he were, he would have instantly shouted to the world that he mastered the Law of Fire, but he had to admit the image of a shocked and fearful Xi Tianyi did bring a smile to his face.
Tai Wuling shook his head. If he had time to think of what-ifs, he had time to cultivate. For cultivators in his realm, mindlessly accumulating qi had little effect. Just by existing, he would accumulate immortal qi, but comprehension was a different matter.
How did fire relate to earth? It burns things, turning them into ashes that make up the earth. Conversely, earth could also extinguish fire, the ever-changing element.
Tai Wuling immersed himself in comprehension. When his insights into the Law of Earth stopped, he focused on the next elements: water, metal, or wood. When those ran out, he used his new understanding and fed it back into the Law of Earth, forming a positive cycle.
Only when he reached his bottleneck and could comprehend no more did Tai Wuling stop his secluded cultivation. After calculating, he discovered that he had been immersed in comprehension for two years. He hadn't planned to cultivate that long, it just happened.
After asking around, Tai Wuling learned that the war between the Eight Pillar Sect and the Anti-Earth Alliance had reached a temporary truce. While he was in secluded cultivation, a pocket dimension appeared between the two forces' territory.
Now, if it had been an ordinary immortal grotto or entrance to another realm, it would not have brought many waves during these turbulent times, but it was the content of the pocket dimension that caused all forces, even the ones from the Heaven Continent and Mortal Continent, to take notice.
Inside the pocket dimension was the Yellow God's grave. During the primordial era, there existed a group formed of five gods. They were the Yellow God, Red God, Black God, White God, and Green God. Each one represented one of the five elements. They later perished, but their position was later taken over by the five emperors of the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors.
For the grave of a divinity of the primordial era, Grand Elder Infinity and Eternal Night Emperor of the Anti-Earth Alliance both arrived to investigate. From there, both sides released news that the pocket dimension was a fragment of the Broken Primordial World and that it would merge with the Huang Realm. Along with the news, the pocket dimension became known as the Yellow Mausoleum.
Once the Huang Realm merged with the fragment of the Broken Primordial World, it would experience a period of growth. Although it wouldn't likely reach the level of the Primordial World at its peak, the overall strength would increase. This meant more abundant spiritual qi, larger landmasses, and an increasing population with the talent to cultivate.
But for cultivators like Tai Wuling, the meaning was completely different. The effects of the Huang Realm merging with the fragment of the Primordial World would only show in a thousand years or later. What he and other true immortals focused on was the benefits available from the Yellow Mausoleum.
Due to the unique nature of the pocket dimension, only those below the Seamless Immortal Realm could enter. Otherwise, the immortal body formed of worldly laws would interfere with the pocket dimension and cause it to shatter at worst.
Tai Wuling's eyes practically glowed when he heard this news. Without an immortal monarch, he had the confidence to sweep his competition, even those from an earlier generation. It was as if the heavens were helping him.
As he expected, his master soon summoned him.
"Wuling, you must have already heard the news," Emperor Infinity said.
Tai Wuling nodded. "Yes, I have."
"I won't lie to you," Emperor Infinity said. "The forces from the other continents also dispatched their true immortals to the Yellow Mausoleum, and we are powerless to stop them. I originally worried that our sect wouldn't have much of an advantage over the other forces, but my worries have decreased after seeing you. You've made great strides in your comprehension, have you not?"
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Tai Wuling revealed a confident smile. "Answering Master, Disciple has mastered the Law of Fire."
"Good, good, good, "Emperor Infinity said. "Right now, all the other forces are still rushing over. We already dispatched some of our true immortals to enter, and you have to catch up."
"Master, what about Linyin?" Tai Wuling asked. He hadn't heard much about them since he exited his secluded cultivation.
"Their soul is healing, and they should awake before the Yellow Mausoleum disappears," Emperor Infinity said, causing Tai Wuling to sigh in relief. "You should note that there are others who have already entered that you should be wary of."
"Yan Nie, the Divine Flame Lord," Tai Wuling said as if spitting out garbage.
Emperor Infinity nodded. "However, he isn't the only one. The Cloud Goddess Cult sent their saintess. The saintess has the ability to summon an aspect of the Cloud Goddess using faith, drastically increasing her strength."
Tai Wuling nodded. He had been wondering how strong the sect of the Huang Realm's sole divinity was. They had to be strong since their leader could reach a stalemate with an immortal sovereign, right?
"The ones you should be most wary of are the two from the Buzhou Immortal Sect," Emperor Infinity said.
"But Master, Monarch Nine Heavens and Xi Tianyi can't enter the Yellow Mausoleum. Why should I be wary of them? Unless they are going to attack me when I come out?" Tai Wuling asked.
Emperor Infinity shook his head. "As long as our alliance still stands, they, too, won't break it just to attack you."
Tai Wuling had to will himself not to bristle at the implication that he wasn't worth it. Either he succeeded, or his master pretended not to notice.
"You should be wary of the people next to Xi Tianyi, Jiang Daoyi, and Xia Yushan, the Buzhou Immortal Sect Master's sole disciple," Emperor Infinity said. When Tai Wuling showed a confused expression, the immortal emperor continued. "I suspect Xia Yushan cultivates the Emotion Severance Sutra. It gives the cultivator supreme talent, but it also wipes them of any morals. Among the people entering, you should be most wary of sneak attacks from him."
Tai Wuling recalled his interaction with Xia Yushan, or rather lack thereof. Xia Yushan exuded an aura that made people distance themselves and only spoke if he had to. Even among the entourage from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, few integrated themselves with him. "I understand, but why is Jiang Daoyi so dangerous?"
"I can't fully see through her," Emperor Infinity said, surprising Tai Wuling. "I can't see through Xi Tianyi either, the Sword Sovereign likely bestowed him a treasure that prevents people from investigating him too much. Sometimes, he feels like a complete mortal to me."
Tai Wuling frowned and stored the information for later.
"Jiang Daoyi is a true immortal, of that I have no doubt. But I feel the presence of death around her, and she likely cultivates the Law of Death," Emperor Infinity said.
Tai Wuling's eyes widened. Among the myriad laws, the Law of Death was one of the most feared, alongside the Law of Destruction. Compared to the Law of Destruction, most people's feeling towards the Law of Death was horror.
Those who practiced the Law of Death excelled at concealing themselves and attacking the soul using esoteric methods beyond other soul cultivators. To think that Jiang Daoyi actually comprehended a portion of the Law of Death. If that was the case, Tai Wuling wanted to know why he hadn't heard of her. Maybe she was more famous in the Heaven Continent?
"Don't worry, Master, I will defend against soul attacks from her and other soul cultivators," Tai Wuling said. Although part of him dismissed it, Jiang Daoyi seemed more like the type to react than actively scheming and attacking others.
"No, I'm not reminding you to defend against soul cultivators but be wary of her specifically," Emperor Infinity said. He sighed, his disciple didn't see the girl as a threat. "If my suspicions are correct, Jiang Daoyi likely possesses the strength of an immortal lord. I doubt it's because of her mastery in the Law of Death, but you should be wary nonetheless."
"An immortal lord?" Tai Wuling repeated in shock. He never expected the beautiful yet unassuming girl to possess such strength. Perhaps there had been a reason for her following Xi Tianyi and Monarch Nine Heavens aside from being the former's wife.
"So you shouldn't underestimate her," Emperor Infinity said. After warning him, he instructed Tai Wuling on several scenarios and prepared him for exploring the Yellow Mausoleum.
Tai Wuling left not long later. Unknown to him, Emperor Infinity stared at the abode Monarch Nine Heavens resided in. Unlike Xi Tianyi, who escorted his wife and the other true immortals to the Yellow Mausoleum, Monarch Nine Heavens had chosen to stay.
Despite the Eight Pillar Sect possessing formations preventing any monarch who mastered the Law of Space from snooping around, Emperor Infinity had the distinct feeling that it wouldn't work on Monarch Nine Heavens. It was as if he had already reached the immortal emperor level in law.
After seeing no reaction from Monarch Nine Heaven's abode, Emperor Infinity sighed to himself and resumed cultivating. If he could reach the Origin Immortal Realm, the pressure on the Eight Pillar Sect would drastically reduce.
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Tai Wuling left the Eight Pillar Sect a few days later with the next batch of true immortals. He saw many members of the former elite disciples that sat around him during the banquet.
"So, you are also in this ground," Immortal Owlsnow said. "Make sure to stay behind us to keep out of danger."
Tai Wuling plastered a smile onto his face. "Thanks for your concern, but it'll be best for me to go alone."
Owlsnow's expression noticeably cooled, but he said nothing and walked away. Tai Wuling noticed that the other true immortals from the same group also interacted less than him, but it didn't matter. His strength had already exceeded the norm of the true immortal level, reaching the half-monarch level.
When the immortal boat neared a hundred thousand kilometers of the entrance to the Yellow Mausoleum, Tai Wuling felt the influence of the Law of Earth increase. This included his insight into the Law of Earth.
Tai Wuling immediately sat in a lotus position and sensed the fluctuating Law of Earth. He wasn't the only one. Even someone not talented in the Law of Earth would be able to sense it due to the Yellow Mausoleum.
It only increased once he saw the golden portal leading to the Yellow Mausoleum. Tai Wuling stood up, along with the others. If they could get so many benefits just from being near it, then the benefits inside would be even greater.