Jinshu, Jadewill, Fairy Firefly, and Southfist entered Cultivation City. It had walls over fifty meters tall and spanned ten kilometers in diameter.
"I'm not going to lie, the silence is strangely off-putting," Fairy Firefly said as the group walked through the empty streets. Buildings of repeated design never ended. All the shops, houses, taverns, and even inns, had almost the exact same design.
"We're testing out most of the features. I wouldn't be surprised if it were meant for more disciples than just us," Jadewill said.
"What you said makes sense," Southfist said. "Should we search around or directly go to Intermediate Palace?"
"We can explore later. The Intermediate Palace should have new features," Jinshu said.
The four nodded and made their way to the center of the city, where the Intermediate Palace was located. Compared to Beginner Palace, Intermediate Palace was grander and at least ten times larger than Beginner Palace.
[Ding! Main Mission 10 completed!]
[You have received Concept Enlightenment Hall Ticket x1]
[Concept Enlightenment Hall Ticket]
Rank: Unranked
Effect: Allows the user to enter the Concept Enlightenment Hall for free one time.
Jinshu felt his breath hitch as he realized what he had just received. He shared a glance with the other three, and all of them had the same look in their eyes.
Most cultivators could only start comprehending the many parts of the worldly laws, concepts, when they reached the Unity Realm, but most never actually comprehended them until they reached the Immortal Realm.
In the Buzhou Immortal Sect, many disciples took the Spirit Opening Pill to start grasping concepts. Jinshu was lucky due to the Golden Crow bloodline in his body, which allowed him to master the Concept of Sunlight and the Concept of Ember.
The more concepts he mastered, the closer he would come to mastering a worldly law, allowing him to become an immortal monarch sooner. Before even that, it would significantly increase his chance of transcending his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.
Jinshu shared a glance with the three others. Without a word, all four moved towards Concept Enlightenment Hall.
[To enter Concept Enlightenment Hall, you must pay 100,000 Xiyi Coins.]
Jinshu felt his breath hitch, and his heart skipped a beat upon reading the window. Having lived in the Buzhou Immortal Sect for one hundred years, he was no stranger to the Xiyinet or the Xiyi Coins. However, even in his hundred years of usage, he never accrued over ten thousand Xiyi Coins.
Jadewill, Fairy Firefly, and Southfist had built up quite a following on the Xiyinet, but even they barely had over a hundred thousand Xiyi Coins. Just the thought of using up their hard-earned Xiyi Coins caused their stomach to ache.
Luckily, they were all gifted Concept Enlightenment Hall Tickets. They immediately used them and entered the Concept Enlightenment Hall. Inside, the four saw a massive purple-gold colored stele.
Jinshu walked forward and saw the numerous concepts listed there.
Concept of Warmth
Concept of Ember
Concept of Heat
Concept of Explosion
Concept of Melting
Concept of Fire Mirage
Concept of Dampness
Concept of Fluidity
Concept of Extinguishing
Concept of Fog
Concept of Waterdrop
Concept of Slickness
Concept of Vitality
Concept of Growth
Concept of Absorption
Concept of Temperance
Concept of Quake
Concept of Sharpness
Concept of Brittleness
Concept of Reflection
Concept of Edge
Concept of Density
Concept of Encompassment
Concept of Landvein
Concept of Terrain
Jinshu felt his eyes go blind from the sheer number of concepts. He had only mastered two concepts, and suddenly he was blinded by over twenty. There were more listed, but they were blacked out.
Concept of Lightspeed
Concept of Sunlight
Concept of Shade
Concept of Soundwaves
Concept of Vibration
Concept of Tempest
Concept of Shock
Concept of Thunderclap
Concept of Speed
Concept of Slowness
Concept of Gravity
Concept of Shifting
Concept of Disintegration
Concept of Corrosion
Concept of Decay
The former group with the glowing words was related to the five elements, while the latter was everything else. Although the latter group appeared attractive, Jinshu didn't lose his head over his goals.
With his Golden Crow bloodline, Jinshu was predisposed toward concepts relating to the Law of Fire and the Law of Yang. With that knowledge in mind, he chose the Concept of Heat.
After choosing the concept he wanted to comprehend, Jinshu was teleported away. He felt himself appear in an unknown space without up, down, left, or right. Before he had time to become disoriented by the unknown space, Jinshu was drawn to the warm ball of light.
His mind glazed over as he tried to comprehend the crystallized concept.
-line break-
Inside the main hall of Nine Heavens Palace, Tianyi opened his eyes and said. "I didn't expect him to glean the Concept of Positivity from the Concept of Heat. But that's good, the Concept of Positivity is a major connection point to the concepts under the Law of Yang."
"What are you saying, Yi'er?"
Tianyi blinked and turned toward his mother. While he had been focusing on setting up Cultivation Online, he had forgotten that she was here. Now, it was just awkward.
"N-Nothing," Tiany quickly said. "I just had a breakthrough in my comprehension of the Law of Yang."
"As expected of Yi'er," Mengfei said with a smile, causing Tianyi to feel slightly guilty.
"Mother, why don't you return to Jade Peak Palace?" Tianyi asked. "It must be boring just staring at me and delaying your cultivation."
Mengfei shook her head. "I like watching you grow. I've already used up all my previous accumulation, and it will take many more years to progress, so it doesn't matter."
The two entered a silence before something occurred to Mengfei. "Yi'er, should you not spend more time with Daoyi? I read that you should spend more time with your other half to develop feelings."
'Since when could you give relationship advice?' Of course, Tianyi didn't say that out loud. "Daoyi is currently at a crucial point in comprehending the Law of Life, and I don't want to disturb her."
"Will your relationship be okay?" Mengfei asked. "Will you two slowly drift apart because you two don't talk? Maybe this is the start of your separation, and Daoyi really wants to talk. As a man, you should take the initiative."
"No, I'm pretty sure she is at a crucial point, really. I literally can appear in front of her, and she won't notice," Tianyi said. 'Although it's true that I'm lacking the initiative. After asking her out, it seems Daoyi's been taking the reigns. I have to fix this."
"Are you sure? What if someone takes this chance to get close to Daoyi and causes her heart to wander?" Mengfei asked.
Tianyi pursed his lips. "What book did you read?"
Mengfei waved her hand, and an ordinary book titled the "Plum Blossom Romance" appeared. Tianyi flicked through it, and his eyebrows nearly reached his headlines. "Where did you get this?"
"I asked my Imperial Brother for books on relationships, and he gave this," Mengfei said.
'Emperor-Uncle, just why?' The book in his hands disappeared in a flash of flames. "Mother, you should specify to Emperor-Uncle why you want these books. I think he mistook your intentions as something else."
"What could he ever mistake my request for?"
'Oh, I don't know. Maybe thinking you finally discovered love. Not that the bastard will ever get a chance with me around. I'll directly obliterate his soul, and I'll do it in my Nine Heavens Universe just to make sure.' Tianyi thought.
Leaving a confused Mengfei, Tianyi successfully changed the topic. He still had a lot of free time, at least until his wedding. Sect Master Xia let it leak that the sect was planning something big for after his wedding, which included plans with him in mind.
With that conversation out of the way, Tianyi focused back on his pet project.
Unlike what Jinshu thought, Cultivation Online was set on one of the continents on Sixth Heaven, with his Past Incarnation as the Game Master controlling the overall direction. The specialized Xiyi Talisman had brought their spiritual sense into the Nine Heavens Universe.
It did this by lulling the user into a hypnotic state and drawing their soul into the Nine Heavens Universe using a specialized portal in the Xiyi Talisman. It was a big risk, but Tianyi minimized it by calibrating it so that only within the Buzhou Immortal Sect could one log into Cultivation Online.
Jinshu, Jadewill, Fairy Firefly, and Southfist were the first to enter Cultivation City. Although only four of them had tested the Concept Enlightenment Hall, Tianyi still had some feedback. He experienced the process of their comprehension. Though their talent was far below his, their unique thought process still had merit and invoked new points from which Tianyi comprehended the various concepts and worldly laws.
As for why it required a hundred thousand Xiyi Coins, Tianyi didn't want to hand it over to them for free. They needed to earn it. What better way to drag them into the debauchery of the Xiyinet than by dangling the juicy carrot that is a chance at comprehending a concept?
Cultivation Online offered a service that no one else could—directly showing the concepts Tianyi had mastered to anyone he wanted. Sure, the immortals of the sect could give a sermon, but it would be far inferior to his method, and why would the immortals give free sermons to anyone unrelated to them?
Tianyi could already see it now. Cultivation Online will become a holy ground that all disciples seek. As he grows stronger, even immortals will seek it out.
However, he was not stupid. Such a heaven-defying method couldn't be hidden, and it would affect the Buzhou Immortal Sect as a whole. Maybe even the whole Huang Realm and all potential cultivators will wish to join the Buzhou Immortal Sect even more.
Tianyi formed an incarnation and sent it toward Sect Master Xia. Once the beta testing was over, he planned to open it to the public, so he needed to discuss it with the sect master.
A month later, the rest of the beta testers had already reached Cultivation City and experienced the cheat-like effect of the Concept Enlightenment Hall. Now, they were trying all methods to gather Xiyi Coins. Within the game, they could gather Xiyi Coins by selling the monster drops to the NPC-manned stories within Cultivation City.
Of course, Tianyi planned to implement a spirit stone to Xiyi Coin in the future but not now.
For now, he had a meeting to attend. Tianyi glanced at Mengfei and gave a helpless smile. He waved his hand and then closed his eyes. He didn't want to dispatch an incarnation since it would be rude, but he didn't want to bring Mengfei over there either, so he could only dispatch his Past Incarnation. With his Past Incarnation busy, he had to administer Cultivation Online.
-line break-
In the main hall, Sect Master Xia felt the spatial boundaries shift, but since he knew who was coming, he didn't mobilize the formation to block it. Although he had to wonder why Tianyi would directly teleport over.
"Little Xi?" Sect Master Xia called it out in surprise upon seeing a sight he had not seen in nearly two hundred years. "What happened to you?"
"This is my Past Incarnation. You can think of it as an advanced avatar for the Immortal Realm," Tianyi said, his voice light and crisp, unlike the deeper tone his main body sported now. "I didn't want to use my main body since Mother has been staring at me all day without fail."
Sect Master Xia gave a nervous chuckle. "I would imagine her presence might be detrimental to our meeting."
"Is it real?" the sect master asked.
Tianyi knew what he was referring to, so he nodded. "I'll show you."
Sect Master Xia nodded and offered no resistance as Tianyi teleported him into the Nine Heavens Universe. There, they appeared inside the Intermediate Palace of Cultivation City. There were a few players milling about, but they acted as if they could not see the child-like Tianyi or Sect Master Xia.
"They believe this world is an illusion and not real. I didn't want to reveal the truth just yet," Tianyi said.
Sect Master Xia agreed. "You should keep this under wraps, at least until after the war."
Tianyi led Sect Master Xia to the enclosed space where he revealed the concepts to the people inside the Concept Enlightenment Hall.
"Little Xi, can I try?" Sect Master Xia asked.
Tianyi thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Go ahead. You can choose any concept to your fancy."
Sect Master Xia nodded and directly chose all the concepts related to the five elemental laws, causing the edge of Tianyi's lips to twitch. He shrugged. It was actually possible to show the complete worldly laws that he had fully mastered, but it was useless to mortal cultivators, so he never brought it.
If Sect Master Xia had asked, Tianyi would have allowed him to experience the complete five elemental laws he had mastered, but since he didn't...
As Sect Master Xia continued to comprehend the concepts Tiany revealed to him, days started to pass. He even began to wonder if Sect Master Xia would take years since he seemed to have entered a state of enlightenment.
'No way, right?' Tianyi thought. Although it was a good thing for Sect Master Xia, it wasn't good for the Buzhou Immortal Sect as a whole since it was during wartime, and Sect Master Xia's leadership was indispensable.
However, Tianyi didn't want to awaken Sect Master Xia either. To disturb one's enlightenment was a greater crime than killing one's parents or lover in the cultivation world. Left with no choice, Tianyi sped up the time flow around Sect Master Xia.
It wasn't a bad thing for Tianyi either since the comprehension from Sect Master Xia gave him more inspiration than mere mortal cultivators ever could.
One day, Tianyi felt his lips twitch as he glanced at the space Sect Master Xia was in. "No way, he really did it?"
Inside the unique space, Sect Master Xia opened his eyes, full of joy. "Finally, I mastered the Law of Fire, Law of Water, Law of Earth, Law of Wood, and Law of Metal. I can enter the Extremity Immortal Realm!"
