"Mother, I'm back."
A young man who appeared to be in his early twenties said as he entered his home. Inside, a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties smiled and said, "Why are you back so soon? Was the immortal not satisfied with you?"
Seeing his mother's, Xiye's, panicked expression, the young man, Jingshu, quickly reassured her. "Mother, Master isn't dissatisfied with me. He said that I could visit you once in a while."
Ziye held her chest with relief. "That's good. Ever since your father died, you're all that I have left. When you go out, be careful, okay?"
Jinshu nodded. 'I shouldn’t tell her that Master's sect is currently at war. It'll just make her worried for nothing.'
After praying at the Vast Heaven Temple in Fan City of the Demon Cage Realm, Jinshu had left the Starry Sky Immortal Grotto to find his father's killer. As one of humanity's few acupoint opening masters, the only people who could kill him were the demons, so he set his sights on the demons.
Along the way, he killed numerous demons and gained the attention of grandmaster-level demons. He fled from their pursuit and even managed to kill a grandmaster-level demon that had been injured fighting another demon in the same realm.
From there, his luck seemed to have exploded. Not only did he raid the grandmaster-level demon's lair, but he also got a shrinking pouch which made it easier to store all his wealth. However, he had become too overconfident and caught the attention of one of the demon venerables, Ragingflame Crow.
Ever since Tianyi severed Ragingflame Crow's wing, he had been attempting to heal himself. He could have healed himself with time, but Golden Crow Ancestor and a select few outstanding descendants mysteriously disappeared.
Ragingflame Crow and the remaining demon venerables tried to hide this news, but it could not be hidden for long. The Jade Rabbit Clan swooped in and took over the Golden Crow Clan's territory, forcing him to leave like a beaten dog.
From there, Ragingflame Crow swore to cultivate to the True Demon Realm and get revenge. However, he still had unhealed injuries. Hence when he saw Jinshu's pure golden crow bloodline, he chased after him like mad. Not only could Jinshu's blood aid in healing him, but it could also elevate his bloodline.
How could a martial master like Jinshu escape from a demon venerable like Ragingflame Crow? By being lucky, that's how. However, his luck ran out after being cornered for the third time.
Just as Jinshu thought he was done for, Ragingflame Crow was suddenly cut in half. The demon crow died instantly, and his corpse dropped in front of the dazed Jinshu. Along with the corpse, a masked, white-haired man appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
The man, his master, Monarch Nine Heavens, said, "I ask of you. Are you willing to be my disciple?"
Jinshu kneeled and kowtowed right there.
From there, it had felt like a dream to Jinshu. His master had directly appeared inside the Starry Star Immortal Grotto and, with a palm, uprooted the surrounding land and brought them to a place known as Sixth Heaven along with people from other places in the Demon Cage Realm.
Here, although demons didn't exist, monsters did. Thankfully, they were few in number, and as long as the humans didn't bother them, the monsters were content to leave them alone.
Not only that, but the spiritual qi was incredibly rich, denser than even the Starry Sky Immortal Grotto. Such an environment ushered in an era of spiritual cultivation for the former denizens of the Demon Cage Realm.
But for Jinshu, this was not his new home. His master had brought him to a place known as the Huang Realm, where his master's sect, the Buzhou Immortal Sect, was located. There, Jinshu officially became his master's personal disciple.
He also learned that the Buzhou Immortal was currently in a war, but nothing changed much for acupoint opening disciples like him, aside from the slight increase in danger. Only those at the grandmaster level and above had the requirements to truly participate in the war.
The reason why Jinshu came was because his mother had reached the peak of the Body Transformation Realm. This wasn't due to her own, but the resources he had gained from being Nine Heaven Monarch's disciple. Unless Ziye reached the Acupoint Opening Realm, her lifespan would end at one hundred years.
How could Jinshu watch his mother die, but undergoing the Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation was also dangerous, especially since Ziye had stopped cultivating to focus everything on Jinshu after his father died.
Ziye waved her hand. "No worries. If I fail, I'll at least be able to meet your father. You've grown up, and I don't need to worry about your future anymore."
"Mother, how could you say such words? Didn't you say you would select a wife for me? How could you die before then?" Jinshu asked.
Ziye laughed. "Alright, I'll stay long enough to select a wife for you. Have you met any girl you liked? The Buzhou Immortal Sect shouldn't have many immortals, so your status should still be quite high, right?"
Jinshu's face flushed. He recalled that beautiful face and quickly shook his head. "Mother, I haven't met anyone that interests me."
"If you are going to lie, at least lie convincingly," Ziye said with a laugh.
A month later, Jinshu wrung his hands with worry as he watched his mother in a clearing outside Fan City. His eyes narrowed as the heavenly tribulation gathered, but when the first lightning bolt struck, confusion overtook him.
"Why does the tribulation lightning seem so weak?" Jinshu muttered. Compared to his own Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation, it was barely a hundredth of the power of his first bolt, but the tribulation lightning continued to rain down on his mother, who didn't even need to do anything.
After a few bolts, the heavenly tribulation disappeared.
"That's it?" Jinshu asked. However, moments later, his pupils shrunk into needlepoints as the tribulation clouds gathered again. "What is going on?"
His heart thumped erratically as he could only watch the second heavenly tribulation send the first bolt of tribulation lightning. This time, it was more in line with the power of an Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation.
Halfway through the tribulation, Ziye spat out a mouthful of blood, and her face paled dramatically. The blood drained from Jinshu's face as he charged toward her. "Mother!"
Then, the sixth tribulation lightning bolt descended. Jinshu's eyes widened when he felt how weak it was compared to the fifth. His movements stopped, not only due to his shock but a stray bolt striking the ground in front of him like a warning.
From there, Jinshu retreated and watched with wide eyes as the heavenly tribulation's next few strikes became weaker instead of stronger. 'Just what is going on? This won't affect Mother's promotion, will it?'
Fraught with worry, Jinshu quickly rushed to his mother after her Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation ended. Only after Ziye successfully formed her martial body did Jinshu release a sigh of relief. After spending a couple more days with her, Jinshu returned to Nine Heavens Peak using a portal his master created.
There, Jinshu asked his master the question that had plagued his mind for the past few days.
"The first tribulation wasn't her Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation, but to seek the recognition of the universe. Otherwise, she would not be able to undergo her Acupoint Opening Heavenly Tribulation," Monarch Nine Heavens said.
Jinshu furrowed his brows. "I don't understand, Master."
His master waved his hand. "You don't need to understand it. In fact, you should forget about it. Just know that nothing is wrong with your mother. Jinshu, are you sure? Do you really want to cultivate the Nine-Five Scripture? You have to know that you must swear not to let anyone know, and you have to abolish your current cultivation base.
Jinshu decisively nodded. "I've made my decision."
Few knew of the existence of the Nine Heavens Universe and Monarch Nine Heavens' true identity. As one of the closest people to Tianyi, Daoyi naturally knew, and she was the only non-immortal to know. Thanks to this connection, she would periodically enter and exit the Nine Heavens Universe to cultivate.
Daoyi sat atop the Cosmos Lotus, an artifact Tianyi refined to replace the Lotus Throne in his inner universe's Jade Lotus Clear Pond. It not only allowed the wielder to attract the spiritual qi of Sixth Heaven but observe anything on the planet.
With it, Daoyi easily reached the Transcending Mortality Realm and was just one step away from her Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Compared to before, she appeared slightly older, like in her late teens or early twenties. Standing by Mengfei, she appeared closer to being her sister than master and disciple.
Daoyi opened her eyes when a black-robed figure appeared in front of her, "Tianyi."
Tianyi nodded. "How is it? Are you going to create a clone or avatar?"
Clones had the greatest freedom among the three duplication techniques: clone, avatar, and incarnation. Some would say too much.
The clone had to start at a low realm, but it gave them the freedom to cultivate a different method, but the clone also shared a different will compared to the main body. Although the clone was born of the main body, they always ran the risk of going rogue, so compared to avatars, fewer people created clones.
On the other hand, avatars were exact replicas of the main body. So, there were no worries about avatars going rogue since they all shared the same will. But, it also increased the difficulty of Unity Realm since all avatars had to merge before the heavenly tribulation. Though, some used an avatar to focus on a separate cultivation system before merging, becoming dual cultivators.
As for the third type of cloning technique, incarnations, it barely fit the categories. Most of the time, incarnations were one-time use, woefully weak compared to avatars and clones, and did not have much autonomy. Conversely, they were also dispensable and did not cost much to create, at most some spiritual or immortal sense and qi.
However, unique techniques such as the Three Pure Qi Incarnation Technique were another matter altogether. The famous technique allowed the user to form three incarnations that merged the properties of clones and avatars. Yet, even if they were destroyed, they could also be created again without requiring the user's soul.
"Technically, it should be an avatar since we share the same will, but it should also have properties of a clone since I can't and won't need to absorb it before undergoing my heavenly tribulation," Daoyi said.
Tianyi furrowed his brows behind his mask. "There won't be any issues, right?"
Daoyi smiled. "I already calculated. The workings of the Nine Heavens Universe are different from the Three Thousand Realms System. As long as my avatar doesn't leave it, I shouldn't have any issue."
"Then what's the point of creating an avatar?"
"To help me comprehend the worldly laws smoother and to leave a backhand in case I fail my Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation."
"As long as you know what you are doing," Tianyi said.
Daoyi nodded. "Let's begin."
She unplugged the Liquorlight Gourd, and a silver wisp flew out. Once outside, the silver wisp enlarged and turned into a silver-colored Daoyi.
Daoyi waved her hands, and numerous materials appeared out of her spatial ring. There was a peach about the size of an infant's peach, the longevity peach Mengfei had grown. There was a cluster of white sand; they were bone pieces that had been soaked in nether essence for thousands of years.
Just the amount of materials alone superseded what Tianyi had used to create any of his clones. However, the most important thing was the magatama jewel.
The tomoe-shaped jewel was the Spectral Rising Jewel, or at least a part of it. Thanks to the war, Daoyi didn't have many restrictions when looking for the Xu Clan's enemies. The Spectral Rising Jewel the Xu Clan possessed was originally made up of three magatamas. After hunting down one of her enemies, Daoyi managed to restore one and gained pieces of the second.
When the jewel appeared, Tianyi senses the Laws of Death emanating from it. He resisted the urge to grab it to study and stared intently at it. After sensing the Laws of Death, he could sense that his inner universe lacked the complete Laws of Death, so he tried to make up for any shortcomings while Daoyi was creating her avatar.
Twelve days later, Daoyi frowned. In front of her, her split soul dramatically paled, and she waved her hand, halting the process.
"What's wrong?" Tianyi asked.
"Something went wrong. My soul can't withstand the Spectral Rising Jewel's essence," Daoyi said.
Daoyi wasn't willing to give up, so she stored the paled soul and discussed with Tianyi the creation technique. After refining the process, she started to process of creating her avatar using her second split soul.
Twenty-three days later, Daoyi frowned again. "Failed again."
She stored her second split soul and stared at her remaining materials with heartache. She had practically used up all of her net worth to gather these materials. If she hadn't been Mengfei's disciple, she couldn't even attain.
At most, she could try two more times. Her two split souls also needed time to recuperate, so during this time, she wanted to perfect the process with Tianyi. Tianyi had created several clones and had researched the incomplete Three Pure Qi Incarnation Technique and his mother's Heaven, Earth, Man Incarnation Technique, so his expertise was equal to or perhaps greater than Mengfei.
"What do you think went wrong this time," Daoyi asked as she looked towards Tianyi.
Tianyi held his chin, deep in thought. He didn't answer Daoyi as a daring idea entered his mind. Finally, after his eyes regained clarity, he looked at Daoyi and asked, "Do you want to make your avatar a divinity?"
