The emergence of Dugu Cangqiong was merely the beginning. Across the realm of Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, people began to show abnormalities one after another—some manifested unusual phenomena, while others emanated immortal radiance from their bodies.
In the Battle Saint Hall, following Dugu Cangqiong, two more people burst with golden light all over, their aptitudes vastly improved. Afterward, more than a dozen others began to emanate a faint white glow, their aptitudes receiving minor boosts.
This was true for just the Battle Saint Hall alone. Across the entire Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, there were ultimately two others who, like Dugu Cangqiong, manifested jade light, underwent shedding of mortal bones, and awakened special physiques. Furthermore, several thousand mortals saw their aptitudes elevated, qualifying them to embark on the immortal path.
At this time, a sphere of blazing yang qi appeared in the center of the firmament of Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, continually shedding light and heat. Under the influence of this blazing yang qi, moisture in the world rose and condensed into clouds; heat exchanged between above and below, giving rise to wind.
Once this yang qi was depleted, the world would gradually dim until only that full moon hung high in the sky, casting its cool radiance across the earth and ocean.
At that point, the world would enter a state of rest, accelerating its absorption of the origin qi of heaven and earth to nourish all living things. When surplus origin qi accumulated to a certain level, it would condense into a sphere of fierce yang qi in the firmament, initiating a new cycle.
The world gained wind, the heavens gained clouds, and for the first time, day and night existed in the mortal realm.
Everywhere in Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, countless tiny sparks of life were germinating. The mortals had already forgotten the calamity and thrown themselves wholeheartedly into rebuilding their homes. Though unable to deeply perceive the changes in this world, they felt an inexplicable joy, sensing hope everywhere.
Before long, the other two who had shed their mortal bones awoke from their slumber, naturally transformed their forms, and gained names of their own.
One was a slender woman with cool, aloof features named Fuyao. Serene and composed, with an underlying aura of the earth, she possessed an Innate Wood Dao Body that could stimulate the growth of spiritual plants. Wherever she walked, vegetation sprouted with each step and blossoms bloomed in clusters. Spiritual flora tended by her over long periods had an even greater chance of mutating and advancing in rank.
The other was a youth in a short jacket and trousers, distinguished by striking blond hair and a handsome face set with amber eyes, named Jun Weizhi. Though his clothes were peculiar and his countenance extraordinary—belonging neither to this world nor to the realm beyond—he was born with formidable divine sense and lightning-fast thought, capable upon birth of processing five hundred and twelve tasks simultaneously, and even this barely scratched the surface of his true potential.
From the moment of his birth, he naturally took over many urban reconstruction tasks. In the blink of an eye, plan after plan was drawn up and put into effect. Mortals carried them out with extraordinary smoothness, and the pace of reconstruction accelerated noticeably.
Yet soon enough, a matter arose that even Jun Weizhi could not handle.
At the moment, two factions had gotten into a fierce dispute over a plot of land for reconstruction. The argument grew so heated that swords were nearly drawn, and fists even began to fly. When mortals brawl, it might look boisterous, but in reality it amounted to little more than bloody noses and swollen faces. However, Jun Weizhi could not bear to stand by, so he took the initiative to assume the task.
At first, Jun Weizhi was quite patient, repeatedly inquiring into the core demands of both sides and carefully rolling out several drafts of mediation proposals, believing he had taken every aspect into consideration. Yet neither faction would accept them.
In short, both groups actually had the exact same goal: it was either you or me.
Even with Jun Weizhi's talent, steam began rising from his head, and he looked on the verge of collapsing with a fever. Fortunately, Wei Yuan noticed something was amiss and intervened in time.
Wei Yuan then discovered that one group was the Grand Duke Angling Association, while the other carried the banner of the Marine Life Protection Association. No wonder they were like water and fire.
As the Creation Immortal Venerable, when would Wei Yuan ever have the inclination to cater to and understand the niche agendas of such petty factions?
Paying no heed to what either side had to say, he waved a broad hand and issued a direct decree, dividing the plot of land in two. From then on, any fish caught by the Grand Duke Angling Association had to be turned over to the Marine Life Protection Association for preservation. Fish that recovered from their injuries would be sent to the Research Institute for study, while those mortally injured would be sent to the Head Chefs Association as cooking ingredients.
With that, both factions rejoiced, and several other related institutions were filled with boundless gratitude toward the Creation Immortal Venerable as well. Only Jun Weizhi was left with a wavering Dao heart.
Looking at Fuyao and Jun Weizhi, Wei Yuan could not help sighing in admiration. They were all cases of shedding mortal bones, but these two were the proper path—how on earth had an eccentric like Dugu Cangqiong cropped up?
The fellow hailed from the Battle Saint Hall. Needless to say, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will lean; the two hall masters could hardly escape blame. Wei Yuan thus began contemplating how to use this to weaken the Battle Saint Hall's influence, or simply replace the hall masters altogether.
Yet right then, Wei Yuan suddenly realized that he truly lacked the means to forcibly strip the two of their hall master posts. In the celestial laws of this world, there was no rule stating that one must obey the commands of the Creation Immortal Venerable.
*It seems force won't do...* Wei Yuan mused.
All these anomalies indicated that Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had officially advanced into the Myriad Transformations Realm. In truth, Wei Yuan felt that based on those three heavenly tribulations alone, it was only right for Heaven to directly grant him Scenery Command.
Under normal circumstances, one should now build a mindscape world around the newly sentient dharma idol in which it could thrive.
Yet Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was already virtually indistinguishable from a mindscape world. In terms of size, it was far larger than the mindscape worlds of many at Scenery Command. Even excluding the regions devoid of spirituality, the remaining territory within his control was sufficient to qualify for Scenery Command.
With a Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World like this, how was he to perfect it, and how should he expand around it?
A thought suddenly sprang into Wei Yuan's mind: one expanded with the dharma idol at the core to form a mindscape world. What if one expanded with the mindscape world as the core? Wouldn't that mean carving out a separate realm amidst the chaos?
The thought sent a sudden chill down Wei Yuan's spine, and he hastened to banish it. This was no joking matter. Opening a world of its own in the primal chaos went beyond the reach of immortals; only the legendary ancient gods who opened heaven and split earth possessed such power.
Speaking of ancient gods, Wei Yuan recalled that the legends of every race included an account of opening heaven and earth, though the deity responsible differed from myth to myth—each claiming their own race's god.
Wei Yuan knew he could never become an innate deity. During centralized instruction, the teachers had taught that ancient gods were born embodying the Great Dao and were natural wielders of vast divine powers. Yet from another perspective, they were also products of the incomplete Dao of heaven and earth.
Later, as heaven and earth stabilized and sentient beings proliferated, the ancient gods gradually lost their power, falling and fading one by one. This was an inevitable outcome of the world's evolution.
Heaven and earth were inherently without sentiment, yet in ancient times, many great figures merged into the Dao with their very beings, becoming parts of heaven and earth themselves. This caused the will of heaven and earth to grow increasingly pronounced. In this era, it was impossible for ancient gods to arise ever again.
As for matters of cultivation, Wei Yuan planned to consult True Monarch Xuanyue whenever he had free time later.
In fact, Wei Yuan had already realized that True Monarch Xuanyue was hardly a good teacher. Xuanyue himself had extraordinary talent and was exceptionally clever; any Dao method he learned, he mastered at once, and once mastered, he perfected it. When he unleashed a technique, his Dao body lent its own enhancement, naturally multiplying its might far beyond the original version.
True Monarch Xuanyue's most frequent method of teaching Dao methods went: "Just wait for the opponent to begin their art. Once you see clearly what it is, first use one art to break theirs, then slam another right into their face. That way, victory is firmly in your grasp.
"What? What if the opponent has numbers on their side? Haha! Fighting outnumbered is the very essence of our Sky Azure Hall, isn't it? That's when your dharma body comes in handy. If it isn't tougher than their Dao soldiers and magic treasures, how can you even call it a dharma body?"
Precisely because of this trait of True Monarch Xuanyue, Perfected Fenhai, whose talent was slightly lacking by comparison, suffered endlessly. In truth, among the disciples of his generation spanning nearly a century before and after, Fenhai was someone who could rank in the top ten. Yet in Xuanyue's eyes, he was utterly obtuse and possessed a frail mortal frame, capable of losing any fight imaginable.
Consequently, Perfected Fenhai could only wander farther and farther down the path of no return—proving the Dao through raw strength—straying so far off course that he literally pushed himself right out of the top ten.
Later, when Zhang Sheng entered the sect and True Monarch Xuanyue gained a new pupil to teach, Fenhai finally escaped his sea of misery. But under continuous exposure, Zhang Sheng could not avoid being led astray by Xuanyue as well. Add in Ji Liuli, who knew no fear of heaven or earth, joining in the fun, and the two of them ended up walking the path of no return together—cultivating the momentum of invincibility.
The trouble was, that path was a single-plank bridge, and the two of them were walking shoulder to shoulder.
Feng Chutang had nearly been led astray by them too, but fortunately True Monarch Feng Yuan intervened forcefully, expending tremendous effort to pull him back to the right path. However, because True Monarch Feng Yuan could not beat Xuanyue in a fight, his words carried little conviction in Feng Chutang's eyes, making the correction an agonizing struggle.
Now that Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had achieved full spirituality and survived the terrifying triple heavenly tribulation—even weathering the inner demon tribulation—Wei Yuan's magic power had surged dramatically. It was difficult to calculate his exact Dao power at this point; in any case, using an ordinary dharma idol as a unit of measurement was no longer sufficient.
Wei Yuan badly wanted to write a letter to Xiaoyu, but there were simply too many things worth bragging about lately, leaving him at a loss for where to begin. Thus, Wei Yuan decided to first make good use of the surging spirituality in Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World to thoroughly study and refine the Immortal Sword · False Sun. Zhang Sheng had already set an example; Wei Yuan only needed to take Zhang Sheng's template and amplify it several times over.
If he could refine the Immortal Sword · False Sun to near the level of the Immortal Sword Great Sun, then when he wrote to Xiaoyu, he would have plenty to say. Wei Yuan had even thought out his phrasing.
In this letter, Wei Yuan did not intend to prove how great his newly researched Immortal Sword · False Sun was; what he wanted to say was that Xiaoyu's Immortal Sword Great Sun was actually nothing special. Wei Yuan's strategy was not to elevate himself, but to drag Xiaoyu down to the same level as himself.
After advancing to the Myriad Transformations Realm, the greatest enhancement of Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was actually that, when necessary, it could manifest slightly, projecting into the real world. Within a thousand zhang around Wei Yuan, it was as if a weakened version of the Peerless Dao Domain were laid out, subjecting enemies to comprehensive suppression.
Chapter 594