In a remote region of the Trinity Continent, adjacent to the endless seas, a tumultuous stream of spiritual qi erupted. If any cultivators below the grandmaster level were to appear inside, the hurricane of qi would rip them to shreds. Still, that did not prevent many venerables and saints from gathering outside of it. In their eyes, a wondrous treasure of heaven and earth was about to be conceived.
These venerables and saints eyed one another, sizing each other up. Suddenly, one of them glanced at a certain place before looking away. His gaze immediately snapped back. “True immortal!”
His words drew the attention of the other mortal cultivators. Many of them became disheartened. With an immortal present, how could they snatch the treasure? However, the surprise didn’t end there, as many other immortals appeared one after the other.
For these mortal cultivators, many of them might not even see one true immortal in their entire life. Only disciples of powerful third-rate sects and above had a chance of seeing an immortal. Still, even they never saw so many gathered at once.
One of the spiritual saints frowned. All the true immortals diverted their attention away from the qi hurricane and bowed toward a certain location. The saint turned his head and focused on who the true immortals were saluting. He wasn’t the only one who noticed. Everyone wanted to know who could make over a hundred immortals salute.
Receiving the salutes of over a hundred true immortals was a purple-robed man. Embroideries of nine-clawed golden dragons lined his robes, and atop his head was a golden coronet. He had a handsome face with an eye-catching mark between his eyes, but the most attractive features on his face were those pair of bedeviling eyes.
The mortal cultivators instantly recognized him. Anyone who owned a Xiyi Talisman would have to be blind not to. He was the Nine Heavens Emperor, Xi Tianyi. They, like the true immortals earlier, saluted to this living legend, only with far more reverence.
The Nine Heavens Emperor didn’t glance at the true immortal saluting him, much less the mortal cultivators. However, no one thought it was wrong. As an immortal emperor, it would be stranger if he acknowledged ‘ants.’ Perhaps he might pay attention to them if the fancy struck him, but only if.
Unknown to them, Tianyi was actually secretly observing them with his abilities over spacetime. It would not be an overstatement to say he was giddy beyond all belief. He received the worship of the members of the Immortal Court, but never experienced it close up. Even when he showed his face during the Immortal Official Conferment Ceremony, he was just one of many.
Here, he was the center of all attention. The reverence these cultivators showed exceeded those at the Immortal Official Conferment Ceremony. Everyone who attended there had some status, unlike the average true immortals and mortal cultivators here.
Although he enjoyed the sensation, Tianyi focused back on the qi hurricane. Unlike what the mortal cultivators thought, this wasn’t a sign of a birth of treasure of heaven and earth. It was the sign of an ascending immortal.
Immortals that ascended from a lower realm were different from those that transcended the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation in the Huang Realm or other immortal-rank realms. The requirements to become a true immortal were the same, but the environment between the two realms were different. Those that could ascend had a greater chance of becoming an immortal monarch in power immediately upon reaching the Pathfinding Immortal Realm.
Of course, Tianyi would only invite the new true immortal to join the Cultivator Alliance, at most. To the current Immortal Court, a true immortal that ascended from a lower realm wasn’t worth much. He might not even talk to the true immortal if he didn’t find the latter pleasing to the eye.
Of course, Tianyi had some interest. The more powerful the qi hurricane was, the more powerful the true immortal would be. Not only was the qi hurricane not weakening, it was continually growing in strength. This process lasted for five days, and by then, fifty more true immortals appeared. No doubt they wanted to woo the new immortal for the force behind them.
Many mortal cultivators also appeared, but in contrast to the true immortals, they were here just to watch the fun. Of course, only those with sufficient confidence in their strength or those with powerful backgrounds dared to do so. Still, some mortal cultivators with no hope of advancing came here, hoping for a miracle.
Finally, a hole appeared in the center of the qi hurricane, and a vague figure flew out. The hole immediately closed after.
Normally, the portal between the two realms would last longer, allowing qi from the upper realm to diffuse to the lower realm, but Tianyi forced it to close. It would not be wrong to say that Tianyi controlled the entrance and exit of the Huang Realm. Without his permission, no one could enter or exit unless their strength equaled his.
Tianyi’s face twitched as he recognized the new immortal. In a sense, this new immortal can be considered his first disciple. Just that, he had never actually met this disciple because the one who taught him was his first clone, Juedai Fenghua.
The new true immortal was Leng Junfeng, a student his clone taught in the Allfist Realm, a low-rank realm. His clone also promised Leng Junfeng that if he could find her main body, he would become her disciple. Because of various reasons, his clone had been forced to leave the Allfist Realm before seeing Leng Junfeng reach the peak of the Allfist Realm.
Leng Junfeng finally saw the immortal-rank realm that he always dreamed of after the qi hurricane dispersed. The first thing he sensed was the dense spiritual qi. ‘As expected, of an immortal-rank realm. The density of qi is over a thousand times that of a high-rank realm.’
What he didn’t know was that the density of qi in the surrounding had increased because of him ascending. Before Tianyi started upgrading the Huang Realm, the density of spiritual qi was only around a hundred times greater than a high-rank realm. But after, the density had increased to three hundred, and it was still increasing.
The second thing Leng Junfeng noticed was all the true immortals around him. The scene caused him to directly take a step back and raise his guard. Although he heard that immortals were as common as clouds in the immortal-rank realm, knowing wasn’t the same as experiencing.
Luckily, they didn’t seem to have any ill intent toward him. A few seconds passed, and Leng Junfeng realized that all these true immortals were waiting for a person. When he stared into the purple-robed man’s eyes, he felt the universe staring at him.
He could see the Law of Space, the Law of Light, the Law of Fire, the Law of Wood, and many more worldly laws laid bare to him. More importantly, he sensed the Law of Wind!
Leng Junfeng entered a state of enlightenment. Many of the true immortals saw him enter a daze and wondered what happened. When they realized his special state, they couldn’t help but become jealous. Why didn’t they enter a state of epiphany when looking at the Nine Heavens Emperor?
Although they possessed a lofty status in the eyes of mortal cultivators, the true immortals knew that only a few of them were truly exceptional. Perhaps before the great war of unification, their status might have been lofty, but after the war, true immortals became far more common. If they didn’t want to sink into mediocrity and wait for death, they can only master a law and enter the Seamless Immortal Realm.
But mastering a law was too hard. Of all the true immortals, only one percent can become an immortal lord. Of those immortal lords, less than one in a hundred can become an immortal monarch. This statistic also took into consideration the rate of the Immortal Court’s true immortals and other first-rate sects. Without them, the percentage would be less than point one percent.
None of the true immortals left, and they all waited for Leng Junfeng to awaken from his state of enlightenment. They wanted to see how much he could comprehend.
A month later, Leng Junfeng woke up from his state of enlightenment. He cupped his hand and thanked this mysterious and powerful senior. Furthermore, he felt like he saw this senior before and even felt a sense of closeness.
“En, there’s no need to thank me. Many people stared into my eyes, but only you gained epiphany from it. However, I am curious about how much you have mastered.”
Without waiting for Leng Junfeng to react, the senior pointed a finger at him. A gentle and faint breeze flowed toward Leng Junfeng, but he dared not underestimate it. All the hairs on his body stiffened and goosebumps appeared all over his body. If he didn’t block it well, he might be severely injured.
A green light covered Leng Junfeng’s body and he transformed into a tornado, but no matter where he ran to, the light breeze continued to close the distance between the two. Since he couldn’t dodge it, he could only face it head on.
Leng Junfeng returned to his original form and condensed wind around his fist. The wind intensified until it was like a miniature hurricane, but it still continued to condense. It reached the point that the hurricane transformed into a solid object denser than steel.
“Hraah!” with a roar, Leng Junfeng attacked the slight breeze. His body froze, and he felt like a drowning man resisting the turbulent waves of the sea. His eyelids felt heavy, and he couldn’t feel his body.
Leng Junfeng’s eyes sharpened and increased his efforts. He felt sweat drip down his brows. The light breeze contained a soul attack, and if he hadn’t battled a soul cultivator before, he might have fallen. Thankfully, he couldn’t sense anymore of the soul attack. Now, all he felt was the increasingly dwindling immortal qi.
He had just become a true immortal, and most of his time was spent comprehending the law of wind. So, he hadn’t converted all his true qi into immortal qi yet. Just as he thought he couldn’t last any longer, the breeze disappeared.
"Not bad. You’ve barely reached the level of an immortal lord.”
Leng Junfeng stared at the mysterious senior. Anger couldn’t help but rise from his chest. Anyone attacked for no reason would feel it. “Senior, why did you attack me?”
“Of course, it’s to test your qualifications to become my disciple.”
Leng Junfeng frowned. “I already have a master.”
The mysterious senior’s lips twitched. Leng Junfeng thought the senior would attempt to lure him, and he ignored all the looks of shock and ridicule from the immortals. He didn’t care. In his heart and mind, only one person can be his master. However, the senior’s next words caused an explosion to go off in his mind.
“Juedai Fenghua is my clone.”
What? What did the mysterious senior say? Did he hear right? He could understand each individual word, including the two most important ones, but why did they become gibberish when strung together? Leng Junfeng entered a state of denial.
Tianyi looked at the dazed expression with a sneer. ‘Want to seduce my clone and make her a member of your harem? Dream on!’
Still, he had to clean up after his clone’s mess. Though, it couldn’t really be considered one. Anyone would be happy to have a disciple like Leng Junfeng. The problem was the latter’s thought. If this situation happened to anyone else, Tianyi would have laughed his ass off.
Perhaps that’s what Juedai Fenghua planned from the very beginning.
With a snort, Tianyi waved his hand, and he and Leng Junfeng disappeared under the envious gaze of the true immortals. The mortal cultivators also watched them leave. Normally, none of them would survive without the protection from a true immortal in the earlier clash, but Tianyi deliberately controlled the aftereffects.
When Tianyi and Leng Junfeng reappeared, they were at the Ninth Mountain of Nine Heavens Peak. He sent a message to both his disciples. “Xingyun, Jinshu, come here quickly. You have a new disciple brother now.”
