"And then, his hair turned all spiky and yellow!" Ba Shifang recounted as he frantically waved his hand to express the shock he had when experienced during the spar while Tianyi was in secluded cultivation.
"And then you got punched in the nose by Zi Zun." Tianyi finished for his lab rat, ahem, his third clone.
Said lab rat showed a shocked face at Tianyi, knowing that little fact. It wasn't his fault that his opponent suddenly did something so outrageously that made him lower his guard, okay? "How did you know?"
"Su Bojing already reported to me," Tianyi directly sold his only follower without hesitation.
"That bastard," Ba Shifang muttered. "It looks like I have to teach him a lesson." Although Ba Shifang was in the early Core Formation Realm, he would soon enter the mid Core Formation Realm. The monstrous power of the sixth grade of the Nine-Five Scripture, the Eight Symbolic Cores, Four Direction Souls, allowed him to possess the power of a nascent soul grandmaster in his current realm. Including the numerous treasures and resources, it was not unlikely for him to beat Su Bojing.
If Tianyi heard this, he pretended not to. Instead, he held his chin with his fingers and said, "Zi Zun, he's very interesting. Do you know if he has a master?"
The thought of accepting a disciple formed in his heart. For now, he would unlikely advance in a short time, so taking a disciple to pass the time would be good as well. Not to mention that he could deepen his comprehension with teaching. It took great wisdom to pass down knowledge and make it understandable to those who are not learned.
"He's already taken on a master." At this time, Su Bojing walked in from the errand Tianyi sent him on.
"Oh, do you know who his master is?" Tianyi asked. He had confidence that if Zi Zun's master was an earth immortal or transcending mortality sage that he could take him as a disciple too.
"Although I am unsure of the specifics, his master should be a retired member of the Brocade Immortals." Hearing Su Bojing's reply, Tianyi lost interest. "Speaking of which, the sect's disciple acceptance ceremony should be occurring soon. Should I accept a disciple then?"
Two months later, before the disciple acceptance ceremony even began, Tianyi's dilemma would be solved by Mengfei. That day, Tianyi entered his mother's chamber upon her summon.
"Yi'er, I heard that you are interested in taking a disciple." Mengfei directly went to the point.
Tianyi wasn't surprised by his mother's knowledge since he had been inquiring about the details for the past few weeks. "That's right. Teaching a disciple is also good. This way, I can reinforce my comprehension of the laws and concepts."
Mengfei nodded. "It is also beneficial for your Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation."
Tianyi raised an eyebrow, wondering what Mengfei meant by those words. Before he could ask, Mengfei already continued speaking. "At the western borders of the Central Region, at the cusp of the borders of the Anti-Heaven Alliance, there is a boy named Qi Xiao. If you want to accept a disciple, take him."
Mengfei majored in the Law of Heaven, Earth, and Man. As such, she was capable of detecting the principles of causality. According to her calculations, Qi Xiao was a man born with great luck and talent. If Tianyi accepted such a disciple, his heavenly tribulation would be smoother.
Tianyi immediately set off the next day. Mengfei's words greatly stimulated his expectations. If she wanted to, it was likely possible that his mother could take in a horde of disciples, with a good percentage of them attaining immortalities within a few thousand years.
Along for the journey was Su Bojing. Since Tianyi could not control the immortal boat, this duty fell to Su Bojing. The second person was Tianyi's third clone, Ba Shifang. He didn't come out for tempering. Rather he was just Tianyi's porter since Tianyi didn't want Su Bojing to carry most of his treasures.
Due to Su Bojing purposely leaking his aura, few dared to trouble the immortal boat Tianyi traveled on. Although it wasn't good as his personal one lent to Daoyi, it was still much better than most immortal boats.
Still, along the way, there were some venerables and grandmasters who perceived the extraordinariness of the immortal boat that wanted to attack, but they were all solved by Tianyi. For grandmasters, Tianyi could directly launch an air cannon from his punch to kill them. As for venerables, it would take a few more strikes, and under Tianyi's oppressive might, their body would be heavily injured, but it was not easy killing a venerable based on physical prowess alone, so those venerables all escaped.
Thanks to this, Tianyi's name once again resounded from through the central continent. As the child of the publically acclaimed number one expert, Tianyi's growth has always been a focus of many forces. Before, there were rumors that he had already entered the Unity or World Merging Realm, but now it was all but confirmed.
In fact, some even suspected that Tianyi was in a unique state between mortal and immortal, a half-immortal. Otherwise, how could his physical prowess be so terrifying as to defeat venerables just by punching the air?
The borders between the territories under the Buzhou Immortal Sect's influence and the Anti-Heaven Alliance were rife with conflict. Although it couldn't be said to be outright war, it was easily the number one chaotic region before the wars at the border occurred.
Thanks to this, most of the cultivators residing there were loose cultivators as it was not stable enough to build a sect on the lands where the Buzhou Immortal Sect and their vassal sects would fight the Anti-Heaven Alliance. This also resulted in the loose cultivators being especially adept at combat. Their cultivation might not be high or profound, but their fighting abilities were top-notch.
Still, there would be times of relative peace which allowed the creation of towns and cities. Most of the time, they would be destroyed within ten thousand years, but this was already considered a very long period for the short-lived mortals. Qi Xiao was such a mortal who lived in Greenvase City.
He was originally a country bumpkin who lived in a village, but his mother happened to be fancied by a city dweller and was taken into the city. After his mother married his stepfather, good days came, but they did not last long.
Not long after, his mother died of sickness, and his stepfather began to detest Qi Xiao, a son not of his blood. Left with no other choice, Qi Xiao could only run away, or one day, he would be beaten to death by the man. Leaving with hatred, Qi Xiao made an oath of revenge against his stepfather.
Qi Xiao wanted revenge, but it was not easy. His stepfather was a descendant of a soul nourishing grandmaster of Greenvase City, and Qi Xiao's aptitude for cultivation was average at best. He tried to join many forces of the city, but he was rejected without fail.
Then one day, he was caught by his stepfather's family thugs. After beating him half to death, they dragged him outside of the city and left him for dead in the forest.
But for Qi Xiao, this was finding fortune amidst misfortune.
Hanging between life and death by the thinnest thread, Qi Xiao managed to survive. When he awoke, he discovered that he was the immortal grotto of a loose true immortal who fell due to the conflict between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the Anti-Heaven Alliance.
From there, Qi Xiao's fate changed. Although his attitude remained the same, his perseverance yielded results. As long as he had enough materials, he could cultivate all the way to the acupoint opening realm. From there, although his spiritual vein still affected him, his comprehension and willpower took on greater importance.
Currently, Qi Xiao was in the peak Body Transformation Realm, and he had finally returned to Greenvase City. Although his stepfather was only a qi gathering pupil, Qi Xiao knew that killing his stepfather would only bring the retaliation of his stepfather's clan. Since that was the case, Qi Xiao decided to join one of the clan's enemies.
Tianyi listened to Qi Xiao's story that Su Bojing had gathered. Seeing that Tianyi had no intention of appearing, Su Bojing couldn't help but ask, "Young Master, isn't it better to help Qi Xiao and have become grateful to you?"
Tianyi waved his hand. "I only heard his report. I want to witness Qi Xiao's character first. If I take him as my disciple, then our personalities can't be too incompatible. If I were to discover that I dislike him, then I wouldn't be as careful in guiding him. If that's the case, I would rather bring him back for the disciple acceptance ceremony."
"Young Master is thoughtful," Su Bojing bootlicked.
Ba Shifang inwardly rolled his eyes. As a clone split from Tianyi, he couldn't be more clear that Tianyi spoke only half the reason. The reason was that Qi Xiao's story resembled too much of a protagonist. Tianyi didn't want to be too hasty when interacting with a prospective 'protagonist.'
'Speaking of which, the first protagonist I met is Yan Nie, but he and I don't have much conflict. I wonder how he is doing. The second was Lei Jingye, but now he is in no shape to trouble me. The third should be Jiang Chunye, then the resurrected Dragon Emperor. Bai Weiwei of the Bai sisters could be included as well. Except for Yan Nie, almost all of them have a hostile relationship with me. I really fit the young master cannon fodder template, don't I?' Tianyi thought with a wry smile. 'What are the chances that this Qi Xiao also has enmity with me?'
Tianyi, Ba Shifang, and Su Bojing quietly watched Qi Xiao's path. The strongest expert of Greenvase City was only at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, so none of the cultivators inside could detect the immortal boat that was in stealth mode.
While watching Qi Xiao, Tianyi quietly cultivated. If it were before, he would have definitely been unable to settle down, but his temperament became more steady after experiencing secluded cultivation within the void space.
Originally, Tianyi was most talented in lightning and thunder, but it changed with time. His nine spiritual core and five nascent souls represented the essences that made up the world, while his cosmos was an extension of space and time. This made his talent in spacetime skyrocket to a terrifying degree.
Now that he couldn't make a breakthrough in spacetime, Tianyi began to focus on lighting and thunder concepts. A week later, Tianyi made a strange expression. 'I never thought I would master the Concept of Heat Mirage under the Law of Fire before learning any concepts under the Law of Lightning.
It wasn't just the Concept of Heat Mirage, but Tianyi also mastered the Concept of Reflection under the Law of Water, Concept of Growth under the Law of Wood, Concept of Denseness under the Law of Earth, and the Concept of Conduction under the Law of Metal. When Tianyi mastered a concept from each of the five elements, he also gained insights into the concepts under the Laws of Yin and Yang, specifically the Concept of Dimness and Concept of Radiance.
A concept for each of the five elements and yin and yang, once this moment occurred, Tianyi felt the lid that had been suppressing his comprehension into spacetime loosen. Never in his life did he expect that when he diverted his attention from comprehending spacetime was the proper path.
Suddenly Tianyi frowned. 'Wait, that's not right. I can feel that the moment the suppression on my spacetime comprehension loosen, I gain more clues to the five elements and yin and yang. Rather the five elements and yin and yang composing spacetime, it feels that both these forces are the lesser parts of a greater whole.'
Once the thought occurred to Tianyi, it felt as if a dark path had lit up for him. Although he couldn't see the end of the path, he could now see the road. 'That's right. I shouldn't focus solely on spacetime. I should comprehend the five elements and yin and yang too.'
