Nine mountains, each surrounded by a sea, appeared in the Yellow Mausoleum. Unlike the yellow tone of the pocket dimension, the nine mountains and seas retained their original color, unaffected by the Law of Earth that governed the dimension.
Compared to when the Mountains and Seas Formation was in Tianyi's hand, the aura had changed completely. The Mountain and Seas Formation had always had the potential to become a pinnacle artifact; all it lacked was substance.
The first mountain that Tianyi had used, a mountain from the Immortal Court ruins to form, no longer exuded an attributeless aura but one of spacetime. He had merged the second mountain, formed from a spiritual vein, into the first mountain, strengthening the first mountain even more.
As for the first sea, it had also merged with the second sea form from a spirit spring. It exuded an aura of time, while the mountain exuded an aura of space. Together they exuded an aura of spacetime.
Tianyi had spent a large amount of effort to change the first mountain. He even refined a rogue planet in his inner universe and imbued it with a trace of his Law of Spacetime. Although the first and second mountains had merged, not only did the power not decrease, but it more than doubled.
That didn't mean the second mountain and sea were just an illusion now. To replace the spirit mountain and sea, Tianyi took a mountain from the Fourth Heaven of his inner universe. He also originally planned to use a sea of death for the second sea too, but he had a stroke of inspiration.
Perhaps it may not be true for divinities, but the term "life originates from water" did have merits. Through this, Tianyi's increased his comprehension of the Law of Life. Together they are the Death Mountain and Life Sea. Even so, the predominant aura released from it was still death, and the aura of life was hidden within death.
If Tianyi really wanted to, he could complete the Mountains and Seas Formation, but it would be useless to him. He had his inner universe, so why would he want an inferior artificial realm?
Although it was useless to him, the Mountains and Seas Formation was still useful to Daoyi, so he handed it to her.
Daoyi originally didn't have the idea to complete the Mountains and Seas Formation either, but she changed her mind after seeing the earth mountain. Strictly speaking, she didn't need to complete the Mountains and Seas Formation and transform it into the Mountains and Seas Realm, but she didn't want to rely on Tianyi's conduit.
It was not that she was against the idea, but Daoyi wanted to firmly hold the initiative in her own hands. She had confidence that Tianyi wouldn't do anything against her, but she would always be wary of the one-in-a-million chance.
Her experience during the apocalypse taught that the only person she could fully depend on was herself and only herself. Daoyi sighed and focused on uprooting the earth mountain.
"Once this is over, I should find mountains of fire, water, wood, and metal," Daoyi muttered to herself. As the fundamental laws of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, she had a feeling that once she gained five elemental mountains, the Mountains and Seas Formation would transform into a realm even if it lacked the eighth and ninth mountains.
That did not mean she wouldn't want to complete the eighth and ninth mountains. The more complete the mountains were, the more powerful the future Mountains and Seas Realm would become. Inversely, if the mountains were too weak, then the Mountains and Seas Formation wouldn't even become a pseudo-realm.
Time passed, and the fusion between the illusionary third mountain and the earth mountain increased. Cracks started to appear around the base of the mountain, where it started to separate from the land. Earthen light erupted from the cracks and coalesced around the base.
The more complete the fusion became, the more intense the light became. Soon, it no longer only erupted from the cracks but through the very lands. The earthen light resembled tree roots connected to the mountain. As the mountain ascended, the earthen light was uprooted, further cracking the land and creating web-like canyons.
Daoyi could sense the whole land shaking from her actions, but she didn't have time to worry about that. The farther the fusion progressed, the greater the resistance. She had to focus all her attention on the fusion.
At the rate of expenditure of her immortal qi, Daoyi felt that her reserves would not last. Worst still was that the only qi she could absorb in the Yellow Mausoleum was earth spiritual qi. She had to convert it to her immortal qi of death, and some of the qi would be lost in the conversion process, not to mention the time it took.
"I need help, Tianyi," Daoyi said with a sigh. She still needed help from her husband in the end. After hearing of how Tianyi took the first and second mountains, she began to truly realize how much qi Tianyi had.
Part of her wondered how Tianyi took away the immortal mountain from the Immortal Court ruin, but then she recalled the purpose of the ruin. Daoyi shook her head, realizing that Tianyi had gotten really lucky when he decided to take the immortal mountain.
"No problem!" a chibi Tianyi said as he flew out of the pouch around Daoyi's waist.
The chibi Tianyi could fit in Daoyi's palm and, coupled with his large head, made him extremely cute. Daoyi had the urge to lock him up in a cage and keep him as a pet. The chibi Tianyi flew behind Daoyi and placed his tiny hands at the base of her neck.
Instantly, Daoyi could feel a rush of qi flowing into her body. Furthermore, the qi was the immortal qi of death, perfectly compatible with her. With Tianyi's aid, Daoyi increased the speed of the fusion between the third mountain and the earth mountain.
A month later, the fusion between the third mountain and the earth mountain finished. Daoyi sensed that the Mountains and Seas Formation increased, but only incrementally. This was only natural. The Law of Earth alone could not match up to the Law of Spacetime, Law of Death, or Law of Life after all. She still needed to wait to complete the four other mountains and seas before a qualitative change would occur.
Daoyi waved her hand, and the Mountains and Seas Formation returned to the Mountains and Seas Pendant. With the Mountains and Seas Formation suppressing the gaping hole in the ground gone, earth qi erupted out like a volcano.
When she had taken the earth mountain, she had also taken away a node of the earth vein. With the node gone, all the earth qi from the other nodes gathered here, trying to balance the loss.
Daoyi didn't know how long the eruption would last, but she knew that she had to leave now. She cloaked herself in death qi and erased her presence before silently leaving.
During her month-long refinement, numerous true immortals had gathered around to comprehend the Law of Earth. The changes in the earth vein revealed the Law of Earth even more, and it would not be out of the question for wondrous treasures to be born as a result of her actions.
None of this matter to Daoyi as she would likely become a target of everyone if she stayed.
'Someone still found me?' Daoyi thought as she turned around. The Law of Death was among the most powerful laws an immortal could master, so she had the confidence that weaker immortal monarchs would not sense her even as a true immortal. Still, she did not slow down.
Daoyi didn't know if the other party knew that she had detected them, but she was happy to keep the act up. If the other party didn't know and tried to attack her, she could use this chance to counterattack and get rid of them.
Right now, her main goal was to complete the third sea. She knew of Tianyi's Qi, Ye, and Yu forms of qi, but condensing earth qi into earth ye would take too long. She would rather locate some type of water rich in earth essence.
Although Daoyi didn't know where she would find the earth-type water, she had a plan. The earth veins became easier to sense after she took the earth mountain away, and Daoyi followed the earth veins to find a source of earth water.
Her luck turned out pretty good as she found a lake filled with golden water. Daoyi kneeled by the lakeside and dipped her hand into the water. She could see her hand perfectly under the clear water but tinted yellow.
Daoyi clenched her fist and felt a huge resistance. It didn't feel like water, but liquid stone. She lifted a palmful of water out, and the water slipped through her fingers like normal water. 'How strange. The water feels a hundred times thicker than syrup, yet the viscosity is like regular water.'
She didn't know, but the water was a special liquid known as the Earthcore Heavywater. Even a single drop had more weight than a tiny mountain. A lake full of Earthcore Heavywater weighed more than a continent.
Even if Daoyi didn't know, she could sense the rich aura of earth emanating from the lake. She tapped the Mountains and Seas Pendant, and in the split second it took for the formation to appear, she sensed a spiking killing intent.
'Finally couldn't wait any longer, huh?" Daoyi thought. Her figure blurred as she dodged out of the way of the invisible attack, but she didn't expect that the attack still hit her.
She felt something small pierce her back and through her heart. Although she couldn't see the object that pierced her, judging by how her flesh parted, Daoyi knew it was a bullet. Instantly, she had an inkling as to who attacked her.
Daoyi tumbled into the water and spurted out a mouthful of blood. Strangely, her blood condensed and turned into a solid state due to the pressure from the Earthcore Heavywater. Immortal qi burst out from Daoyi as she pushed herself out of the lake while clutching her chest.
"W-who?!" Daoyi shouted as she formed a platform under her feet and stood atop the lake.
The air trembled and split apart to reveal a sliver of darkness. From within the darkness, a figure walked out. She bore a partial resemblance to Daoyi, and anyone could tell the two were related.
"It's been a while, Third Sister," Jiang Chunye leisurely said as she looked down at Daoyi from the lakeside.
Daoyi gritted her teeth and glared. "Jiang.Chun.Ye!"
"Not addressing me by my name? Did your mother not teach you any manners?" Jiang Chunye asked, her smile widening. "Well, it's no biggie. Last time, I let you escape, but this time I will send you to reunite with her."
Jiang Chunye waved her hand and a bullet condensed in front of her. The bullet was pure black and seemed to contain all the darkness in the world. "I'm not that skilled in soul attacks, but this time, you won't escape with just physical injuries."
Daoyi's eyes widened. "Y-You mastered a complete law? Which law? Darkness?!"
Seeing Daoyi's shocked expression, Jiang Chunye happily laughed. "Hahaha. What surprised? You lived a dog's life. So what if you possess the heavenly water spiritual root? So what if you entered the Buzhou Immortal Sect? So what if you became the Sword Sovereign's disciple? I still mastered a complete law before you."
"Stop trying to sound so high and mighty," Daoyi said as more blood spilled from her lips. "Aren't you just jealous? Don't tell me you used envy as motivation to cultivate?"
Jiang Chunye's original proud expression turned sullen. "What does a woman who only knows how to rely on men know? It's because of people like you that the status of women is so low in the world. Just die, you bumpkin."
She waved her hand, and the black bullet shot toward Daoyi.
