Indeed, the thoughts of these courtiers in the Great Ming Divine Dynasty were not unique. Apart from them, many people from various forces were also attracted by the quota to enter the Longevity World, hoping to catch a ride and obtain this opportunity.
Of course, whether it is the forces from the Sky Wasteland or the native forces of the Daming World, not everyone is foolish. Tempted by interests for a moment, they would calm down after their impulse dissipated, realizing that since Pei Xuanjing had not actively opened up the selection for the quota, seeking him out was probably futile. It was better to wait for the right moment and continue to observe in hiding. After all, they could afford to wait, having ample time if this matter could indeed be successful.
Therefore, at this moment, all the forces between heaven and earth, whether they were from the native forces of the Daming World or those from the Sky Wasteland, while continuing to advance the foundational formation techniques needed for the integration of the two worlds, were also investing a significant amount of attention on the selection processes of the Shenxiao Sect and the Taoist Academy, as well as waiting for the outcome of Pei Xuanjing's actions.
After all, this matter was truly significant and could even be considered of great importance.
The cultivation systems of both the Daming World and the Sky Wasteland have been in existence for thousands of years; having been developed through the continuous innovation of countless cultivators, many systems had already been pushed to their limits. To conduct further research and achieve new findings was not easy.
The Golden Core Dao pioneered by Pei Xuanjing, however, was entirely different; it unified the Dao of Spirit, Qi, and Soul, moving forward together. It was not only powerful in combat but also deemed the most suitable for cultivators to practice cultivation, otherwise it would not have instantly shocked so many supreme strong beings when Pei Xuanjing first demonstrated it.
However, the Golden Core Dao's requirement for the unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit is not easy to fulfill, and over the years, it has been difficult for cultivators to truly reach this step, almost like an invisible threshold that has stopped many people.
Now, Pei Xuanjing, the pioneer of the Golden Core Dao, taking such an action, coupled with the successful example of Pang Hong's conversion, suffices to prove that this individual has new research and findings in the Golden Core Dao, and his current actions are to verify these findings.
The birth of a new system is initially blessed by heaven and earth. If it can indeed be widely promoted, then many cultivators will naturally receive the favor of heaven and earth, emerging in response to the call, and stepping onto the peak.
Hence, this is enough to draw the attention of these forces. No one knows how far this new system will develop in the future, whether it will stand side by side with the existing ones or even replace them. No one can be sure of these things. After all, in these countless years, the emergence of new systems replacing old ones or being integrated by the old ones has happened before.
The forces standing between Heaven and Earth now all share a mindset; no matter what the future holds, they cannot miss this opportunity, cannot afford to lose their lead, and at the very least, cannot be surpassed by others. This is the most critical point.
However, regarding the thoughts of these forces, Pei Xuanjing, now in the Longevity World, refining the origin of the Taixu Venerable to strengthen and transform the Longevity World, while also researching the condensation of Golden Cores, is unaware of the impact his experiment has caused in the Daming World.
"Pei Xuanjing, you truly have a ruthless heart, to really refine my very being…"
"Pei Xuanjing, you best not let me find a chance to escape. The enmity between you and me is irreconcilable. If I have the opportunity, I am determined to have you sliced into a thousand pieces, and to utterly annihilate your Shenxiao Sect."
"I am willing to serve. As long as you let me live, I am content to be under your control, to be your slave and servant."
"…"
In the Longevity World, the Taixu Venerable, suppressed by Pei Xuanjing, was constantly roaring with rage day and night, sometimes cursing in fury, other times begging for mercy and offering to serve.
There is great terror between life and death, and not everyone can truly see through it and willingly face death, not even the supreme strong.
Moreover, being killed by Pei Xuanjing with Thunder Means was one thing, but to be continuously drained of one's origin, feeling the vitality slip away, was undoubtedly more terrifying.
At that time, the Taixu Venerable, subdued by suppression, no longer had the confidence and arrogance he once had. Especially since Pei Xuanjing had eradicated his mark within the Taixu Mirror and advanced to the Nine Realms of Spirit, accelerating the extraction of his origin, the Taixu Venerable was extremely panicked, almost on the brink of a mental breakdown, his Dao Heart crumbling.
Pei Xuanjing, however, was practically deaf to all this. Regardless of whether the other party was cursing or begging for mercy, Pei Xuanjing remained utterly indifferent, with an iron heart and unmoved demeanor.
What guided Pei Xuanjing at this moment was the will augmented by the power of the Divine Position. The power of the Divine Position made his mentality very detached, and after merging with the Heavenly Dao of the Longevity World, he felt even more impartial and selfless, hence he ignored all emotions of the Taixu Venerable.
During this period, Pei Xuanjing was constantly recalling the process of helping Pang Hong condense his Golden Core, reviewing each step in his heart, then using divine powers to shake the heavens and the earth in the Longevity World. He forged an even larger domain than the one Pang Hong used to practice and condense his Golden Core. This place, where the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi converged, was exquisitely suited for cultivation.
Having done all this, Pei Xuanjing reflected on his own deductions. If the nature of the Golden Core and the attributes of the cultivator are related, then the Nine Revolutions Divine Sky Skill, which suited him well, might not be suitable for everyone else.
On the contrary, the core essence of the Nine Revolutions Divine Sky Skill is to harmonize the Essence, Qi, and Spirit as one, constantly refining and elevating. In such a case, if possible, practicing other skills could also achieve this result.
Therefore, Pei Xuanjing managed to simplify the difficulty of the skill, omitting the refining and elevating steps that were part of the Nine Revolutions Divine Sky Skill, and only preserving the effect of harmonizing Essence, Qi, and Spirit as one.
That is to say, the originally one-step leap of the Golden Core Dao, Pei Xuanjing now split into two steps. The former was used to harmonize Essence, Qi, and Spirit to condense the Golden Core; after the successful condensation of the Golden Core, he would maintain it first, then proceed to refine and elevate.
"I'm not sure if such a method will succeed. It still requires their trials, and adjustments will follow based on the results of the experiments," Pei Xuanjing thought to himself.
After making these preparations, Pei Xuanjing only needed to wait for those selected from the Shenxiao Sect and the Taoist Academy to enter the Longevity World, then he could start the next phase of trials, to verify his ideas and perfect his understanding of the Golden Core Dao.
Pei Xuanjing's true body was leading the task of solidifying Golden Cores in the Longevity World, while the avatar in the Witch Deity Teaching of the Sky Wasteland had been in seclusion at the Human sacrificial altar for several years.
In these years, Pei Xuanjing had almost completely absorbed the Taoyun of the sacrificial altar, and he only needed a bit more time to fully assimilate it.
Of course, for Pei Xuanjing, the greatest gain from these years of seclusion was not just the Taoyun. More importantly, it was the imprint left by the altar that had been passed down from the ancient era and had existed for tens of thousands of years.
Perhaps ordinary cultivators, upon comprehending this sacrificial altar, could only perceive the aura left from ancient times and some insights into Taoist skills left by predecessors, thereby enhancing their own foundation.
However, with the help of the simulator, Pei Xuanjing's comprehension of the sacrificial altar and refining of Taoyun was not just that. As he refined those imprints, his whole being wandered into the cosmos, as if he were placed in the era of the ancient Savage Wilderness.
Everything that the sacrificial altar had experienced, the ceremonies of countless generations of witch priests, and the prayers of the ancient Human Race Common Masters to Heaven and Earth, all surfaced in Pei Xuanjing's mind. It was as if he himself had become an ordinary cultivator from ancient times, personally witnessing and participating in these major events.
Besides these, there was something that surprised Pei Xuanjing—that was the traces of Martial Arts in its earliest form that he had been seeking. From ancient times, it included the force application techniques used by the Ancient Human Race who were born with divine strength, the rudiments of Martial Arts.
When Pei Xuanjing first clearly realized that Martial Arts was not limited to the Mortal Realm and could continue to be practiced in the Spirit Realm, and even reach the Immortal Martial Realm and step into the legendary Immortal Realm, transforming into a Human Immortal, he then set out to search for relics related to the rudiments of the Martial Arts left by the Ancient Human Race.
And from what he knew, some ancient powers in this realm had indeed long traditions, with a few capable of vaguely tracing back to the Ancient Era. However, after he carefully studied the inheritance and cultivation methods of various forces, he found that only the Witch Deity Teaching was the most likely, and because of previous dealings with them, he had the opportunity to search.
This was the real reason Pei Xuanjing had fulfilled his agreement in advance, coming to the Witch Deity Teaching to comprehend the Human sacrificial altar and to review the inherited scriptures of the Witch Deity Teaching.
"These inherited techniques, although they seem less varied and complete compared to the Martial Arts of today, embodied a simplicity from the ancient times, naturally and ingeniously crafted," Pei Xuanjing reflected on the incomplete techniques he had gleaned from his mind and analyzed.
At his level, for any skills or Divine Abilities, even those created by other Supreme Strong, he would not simply copy them entirely, but instead, he would choose their essence and integrate them into himself.
After all, with Pei Xuanjing's current power and Realm, whether now or tracing back tens of thousands of years ago, he was an absolute peak existence in the world, confident that he would not be inferior to any person or any sage.
As a being that also stood at the pinnacle of cultivation, Pei Xuanjing might be a junior, but he would not be overshadowed by those sages. He would acknowledge and comprehend the Dao passed down by the sages, but he would not copy them wholesale, assuming that the sages were always right.
"With these things, I can further perfect the Martial Arts Cultivation methods in the Spirit Realm," Pei Xuanjing thought to himself.
Of course, he was currently devoting much of his effort to the study of the Path of Human Immortal, but in fact, for Pei Xuanjing, the Path of Human Immortal was not the most likely Path to Becoming Immortal for him at the moment.
"`
As things stand, if nothing unexpected happens, Pei Xuanjing believes that the Path of the Immortal would likely present the least obstacles towards success—it's the path where becoming an Immortal might encounter the smallest bottleneck.
The Dao of Spirit Immortals involves seizing the Heavenly Authority, acting on behalf of the heavens, conforming to the will of Heaven and Earth, creating one's own Divine Kingdom, and thereafter, as long as the Divine Kingdom remains indestructible, the self is immortal.
The Dao of Spirit Immortals requires the support of the Force of Faith Incense for sustenance, exerting control over the Authority to strengthen one's Divine Domain. As long as the Divine Domain does not perish, and the Authority is not lost, the Immortal shall not die.
Currently, Pei Xuanjing possesses many of these characteristics; he has now condensed the Authority of the Jade Purity True Monarch and has had the experience of establishing a Divine Domain. In fact, what he lacks is the accumulation of the Power of Incense Faith.
At the moment, Pei Xuanjing simply needs to continue accumulating the Force of Faith Incense, and when the time is right, he can once again create a Divine Domain to try to grasp the Laws, attempting to ascend to the Immortal Dao.
Of course, for now, this is just an initial conjecture and deduction by Pei Xuanjing, and the specific outcomes will only be known after ongoing attempts in the future.
However, this is at least the path toward becoming an Immortal that Pei Xuanjing is most confident about compared to the others. What's lacking now is the accumulation of the Power of Faith Incense and a grasp of the Laws.
"However, if the Dao of Spirit Immortals can be successfully cultivated, then perhaps the Earth Immortal Path will also be greatly inspired," Pei Xuanjing thought.
In Pei Xuanjing's view, there are indeed many similarities between the Dao of Spirit Immortals and the Earth Immortal Path.
Based on what he has deduced, the Earth Immortal Path should involve opening up Mystical Lands of Blessings, continuously transforming these lands into Cave-Heaven Paradises, elevating them into One-Sided Worlds, becoming a civilization, mastering space-time, and then as long as the civilization does not perish, and the world is not destroyed, the Earth Immortal will not die.
Both the Dao of Spirit Immortals and the Earth Immortal Path are about creating openings, but the difference lies in the dependency on Cave-Heaven Paradises for the Earth Immortal Path, while the Dao of Spirit Immortals depends on the Authority of the Divine Domain.
If Pei Xuanjing achieves success in the Dao of Spirit Immortals, then by analogy, his control and utilization of the Laws will help him greatly when he uses them to transform the Longevity World, which in turn will be beneficial for his own Earth Immortal Path.
"Or to put it another way, my Earth Immortal Path has already succeeded halfway; at least I don't have to start like others by carving out Mystical Lands and then elevating to Cave-Heavens and finally to Worlds," Pei Xuanjing pondered, recalling the time when he unintentionally created the Small Thousand World of the Longevity World while establishing a Divine Kingdom.
However, aside from transforming Mystical Lands into Cave-Heavens and then Worlds, the Earth Immortal Path also requires one to become a civilization and, beyond that, master space-time.
For now, even though Pei Xuanjing controls many aspects of the Longevity World, he still finds his understanding of civilization lacking, not to mention mastering space-time.
In the Longevity World, the greatest extent of Pei Xuanjing's control over time was the ability to briefly maintain Pang Hong at his peak; otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to do so at the beginning.
The birth and development of civilization itself is a process from nonexistence to existence, an evolution from the initial spark of civilization to a continuously thriving and unbroken one. This requires not only the guidance of the mighty but also the sedimentation of time to slowly accumulate.
Even though Pei Xuanjing created the realm of Longevity World, a Small Thousand World, in reality, it was still far from the mark.
Within this world were some Innate Gods who were born at the beginning and some sentient beings that came into existence later. Despite the significant power these beings possessed, they were far from forming a real civilization. Or rather, they were incapable of bearing Pei Xuanjing's Dao; their civilization was too weak to bring much enlightenment to Pei Xuanjing.
For the Earth Immortal Path, aside from integrating oneself into civilization, where the civilization does not perish nor does the Earth Immortal die, Earth Immortals also experience changes in time and space as they evolve from the Mystical Land of Blessings into Cave Heavens and ascend to worlds. Though unable to truly control the principles of time and space, it is inevitable to master time and space with the inherent powers of the world.
Heaven encompasses all directions, and time spans from antiquity to present. Time and space…
By leveraging the world's own strength, Earth Immortals control time and space. Although they cannot overly influence time and space outside of their world, they are free to manipulate the temporal and spatial dimensions within their domain, cycling through repetition, and accelerating the evolution of civilization, thereby continuously gathering the intelligent power of civilization to sustain the Earth Immortal.
"Human Immortal Path, Divine Immortal Path, Earthly Immortal Path. Among the five Immortal Paths I have hypothesized, these three already have a rough prototype and concept, but regarding the other two, the Heavenly Immortal Way and the Path of Ghost Immortal, I truly lack profound thoughts," Pei Xuanjing pondered in his heart.
The Heavenly Immortal Way, so elusive, is, in Pei Xuanjing's opinion, the Immortal Path that the majority of cultivators have been seeking for thousands of years through Refining Qi and Refining Spirit—the True Immortal, essentially the Heavenly Immortal Way.
Transcending the mundane, existing not in formlessness, while Heaven and Earth decay, I remain eternal; even if Heaven and Earth are destroyed, the Heavenly Immortals still attain great wanderlust. With the ability to turn into myriad forms, once obtaining it lasts forever; once proving the ability, it is proven for all uses. Their divine abilities are immense, and their magical power is boundless.
Yet, this grand Heavenly Immortal Dao is supreme and carefree, and even Pei Xuanjing ardently yearns for it. Unfortunately, Pei Xuanjing has not found much of a clue to this day.
Even though he has gained the cultivation experience and personal insights of countless predecessors over thousands of years, the diversity of their perspectives and the uniqueness of their experimental experiences have only served to confuse Pei Xuanjing even more, leaving him uncertain where to begin his search.
Apart from the evasive Heavenly Immortal Way, the path of Ghost Immortal also gives Pei Xuanjing a headache.
Ghost Immortals cultivate their Yin Spirit; the physical body is but a temporary vessel, merely a transient abode. After breaking through the barrier of life and death, Ghost Immortals possess the ability to take possession; they can continually seek new hosts. As long as the Yin Spirit is continuously refined and their thoughts remain lucid, ensuring their spiritual intelligence is not lost and unaffected by prenatal obscurity, then Ghost Immortals can exist eternally, unrestricted by lifespan.
But does the Path of Ghost Immortal truly require one to attempt death to accumulate experience and explore?
Pei Xuanjing was perplexed.
Even with some information recorded in the early days from the Page of the Netherworld's Book, his understanding of this path was not extensive, and everything was based on his own guesses and deductions. As for whether this path would indeed lead to his anticipated goal as he had predicted, he had no certainty.
Heavenly Immortal mysterious and untraceable, Ghost Immortal unpredictable and eccentric—for these two paths to Immortality, Pei Xuanjing has invested the greatest effort, but as of now, his gains are the least.
"The Immortal Path is hard to find!" Pei Xuanjing lamented in his heart.
...
"Since all of you have managed to obtain the opportunity this time, there must surely be something unique about you, which I naturally acknowledge," Pei Xuanjing addressed the thousand or so people before him, speaking slowly.
At this moment, in the Longevity World, a thousand or so individuals stood before Pei Xuanjing, their power ranging from the first to the sixth level of the Spirit Realm.
It's uncertain how many disciples there were from Shenxiao Sect and the Taoist Academy, but after several rounds of selection, only these thousand individuals remained victorious in the competition to enter the Longevity World.
Although Pei Xuanjing was in the Longevity World and only left behind an avatar in the Great Ming World, he had some understanding of the methods used by both parties to select participants for this event.
Regardless of the method, one clear thing was that those standing before him were exceptional cultivators with their own uniqueness and extraordinary abilities; otherwise, they wouldn't have seized this one-in-ten-thousand chance.
"In the time to come, you will have three years to adapt to this world and in the meantime, become familiar with the Nine Revolutions Divine Sky Skill," Pei Xuanjing said to everyone. "Once you've thoroughly learned the Nine Revolutions Divine Sky Skill, I will arrange for your Primordial Spirits to enter avatars, experience the wonders of the Golden Core and ultimately help you to consolidate the Golden Core."
All steps were ready, and everything followed the method Pei Xuanjing had used to help Pang Hong convert and consolidate the Golden Core. However, Pei Xuanjing broke down many steps of this plan and extended the time.
Despite Pang Hong modestly claiming average talent and comprehension, Pang Hong, having been trained by Pei Xuanjing, now possessed top-tier potential and a foundation no ordinary cultivator could match. Additionally, he had spent considerable time studying the Nine Revolutions Divine Sky Skill.
However, the people before him were not the same. It was not that Pei Xuanjing underestimated them, but the reality was that among them, only a handful had qualifications, foundations, and comprehension that could be considered top-tier between Heaven and Earth. The rest were simply talented nor were they truly exceptional.
Moreover, many among these individuals did not originally have a strong desire to learn the Nine Revolutions Divine Sky Skill and embark on the Golden Core Dao. They were really willing to come here for Pei Xuanjing's guidance.
If this were before, Pei Xuanjing might have been interested in teaching them according to their aptitudes, taking the time to instruct them, but now Pei Xuanjing was clear that he did not have the surplus of time and energy to spare. Therefore, he used a standardized assembly line approach, allowing them to learn, sense, and adjust uniformly, preparing them together.
"Thank you, Sect Leader, your disciples will not let your efforts go to waste."
"Thank you, Academy Head, your disciples will surely commit to cultivation wholeheartedly."
After hearing Pei Xuanjing's words, the thousand people hastily responded, but from their different forms of address, it was clear they came from varied backgrounds.
Pei Xuanjing smiled and shook his head, "Cultivation is for oneself, not for others. I have given you the opportunity; whether or not you can seize it ultimately still depends on yourselves."