Martial Peak

Chapter 5604: An Illegitimate Child

Fang Tian Ci felt his emotions undulating in his heart as he left the cave mansion. After cultivating for 2,000 years, he finally had the chance to fight against the Black Ink Clan. He decided that he must not disappoint the Dao Lord or tarnish the Dao Temple’s name.

Suddenly, he realised that the Dao Lord hadn’t actually answered his question. He still had no idea whether the fact that his Small Universe had materialised had something to do with the World Tree clone or not.

Soon, he shook his head with a smile, for it was no longer necessary to harp on this issue. After his chat with the Dao Lord, he now knew what he had to do for his future. Just by heading in that direction, he would grow stronger quickly.

Furthermore, the Dao Lord had given him many things.

Hua Qing Si had been waiting for him. Fang Tian Ci walked up to her and cupped his fist, “Many thanks, Head Manager.”

She shook her head with a smile, “Don’t mention it.”

“Head Manager, which Great Territory should I head to?”

Hua Qing Si replied, “There’s no rush. There’s something I have to ask you.”

“Please go ahead, Head Manager.”

“The Palace Master… I mean, your Dao Lord is an expert in three Grand Daos, which are the Dao of Space, the Dao of Time, and the Spear Dao. I’m sure you’re aware of this.”

Fang Tian Ci nodded. Every cultivator in the Void World knew this, for the Dao Essences of these three Grand Daos were the richest in the atmosphere.

“Have you cultivated one of these three Grand Daos?” Hua Qing Si asked.

Fang Tian Ci replied, “I’ve cultivated all of them.”

Hua Qing Si was startled, “Really?”

She had come into contact with many disciples from the Void Dao Temple before and it could be said that 1 out of 10 had a certain mastery of one of these three Grand Daos. A much smaller number of them had dabbled in two of these Grand Daos.

However, she had never met anyone who had cultivated all three Grand Daos before. Fang Tian Ci was the first.

It was no wonder that the Palace Master was willing to see him even though he was recuperating. It seemed that he valued Fang Tian Ci highly.

“Then, do you know your level of mastery over these three Grand Daos?”

Fang Tian Ci appeared hesitant as he had no idea how to reply to her.

Hua Qing Si smiled, “It’s fine. Come with me.” She knew that it wasn’t easy to answer this question.

Saying so, she led the way for him while Fang Tian Ci followed her.

Soon, they arrived at a secret place at the back of High Heaven Palace. There were three palaces in front of them. Fang Tian Ci looked intently and felt that some mysterious powers were undulating from those three palaces.

Hua Qing Si explained, “These are the Sealed Worlds that the Palace Master has left behind for the disciples of the Void Dao Temple. They correspond to the Dao of Space, the Dao of Time, and the Spear Dao. If anyone has inherited part of his legacy into one of these Grand Daos, they can enter and get some training. It’s also a place to test your mastery over these Grand Daos.”

Fang Tian Ci’s eyes brightened when he heard that. Since the Dao Lord had left behind these Sealed Worlds, they must be amazing. If he could go in and cultivate, he would benefit from it.

“Test our mastery over these Grand Daos?”

Hua Qing Si nodded, “There is no end to the cultivation of the Grand Dao. In the past, there were no guidelines or specific quantitative measures to gauge one’s mastery. The Palace Master invented some guidelines for categorising one’s mastery over each Grand Dao, and most people have acknowledged it.”

Fang Tian Ci’s interest was piqued, “What are the guidelines?”

Hua Qing Si explained, “The guidelines are based on the Open Heaven Realm, so there are nine levels in total. The First Level is the lowest and Ninth Level is the highest. In sequence, they are Superficial Contact, Peering Through the Doors, Taking the Initial Steps, Traversing a Familiar Path, Attaining Mastery Through Comprehensive Understanding, Exceeding the Ordinary to Reach the Extraordinary, Standing Above All Others Within Sight, Summiting the Peak, and Shocking History and Dazzling the Present. Usually, when a person manages to condense their Dao Seal using their main Grand Dao, they will be at a level of Peering Through the Doors. When they ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, they will automatically reach the level of Taking the Initial Steps.”

(Note: There were 10 levels in the past… the author seems to have decided to change that so there are now 9.)

Fang Tian Ci gave it some thought and felt shocked. When a person condensed his or her Dao Seal, they had only reached the Second Level of mastery, and when they ascended to the Open Heaven Realm, they reached the Third Level. Fang Tian Ci couldn’t help but wonder how high the Dao Lord’s achievements in the three Grand Daos were.

Furthermore, the categorisation showed that the higher the level, the more difficult it was to comprehend new insights.

“These three Sealed Worlds correspond to the three Grand Daos. There are some hurdles inside, and every hurdle represents a level. Your limit will be the level of your mastery of a specific Grand Dao,” Hua Qing Si explained.

Upon hearing her explanation, Fang Tian Ci nodded, “Disciple understands.”

“Which Sealed World would you like to try first?” Hua Qing Si looked at him.

Fang Tian Ci replied, “The Space Dao Sealed World.”

Hua Qing Si pointed at the leftmost Grand Hall, “That is the Space Dao Sealed World. Just go in on your own. I’ll be waiting outside.”

Fang Tian Ci saluted her and stepped into the Grand Hall while Hua Qing Si waited outside.

After Yang Kai left behind these three Sealed Worlds back then, those from High Heaven Palace were the ones who built these Palaces. Over the years, many disciples from the Void Dao Temple came to this place to get some training. They had inherited the three Grand Daos thanks to Yang Kai’s blessing.

Even some Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan members were interested in the Time Dao Sealed World and the Space Dao Sealed World.

These Sealed Worlds were not only places to test one’s mastery of Grand Daos but also wonderful training grounds. Hua Qing Si had never entered any of these Palaces before, so she had no idea what was inside. However, she was sure that the Palace Master must have left behind many of his own insights. By breaking through the hurdles inside, those who had cultivated these three Grand Daos would gain massive benefits.

It wasn’t until half a month later that an energetic Fang Tian Ci left the Grand Hall.

Without stopping, he entered the second Palace where the Time Dao Sealed World was located.

Half a month later, he stepped into the Spear Dao Sealed World.

When he finally shuffled out of the third Grand Hall, Hua Qing Si could feel that his aura had become far more stable. Although his cultivation didn’t increase much, his strength must’ve improved significantly.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Head Manager,” Fang Tian Ci saluted her with a joyful expression. He had gained massive benefits by going through the three Sealed Worlds this time. Nonetheless, he had reached his limits. He reckoned that when he cultivated for a longer time and gained a deeper understanding of the Grand Daos, he would be able to cross even more hurdles.

Hua Qing Si shook her head to show that it was fine, “How many hurdles have you passed in the Space Dao Sealed World?”

Fang Tian Ci replied, “It’s embarrassing, but I was stuck at the sixth hurdle.”

Hua Qing Si was slightly surprised. Fang Tian Ci had just ascended to the Open Heaven Realm, but he had managed to overcome five hurdles. Such an achievement had never happened before. Many disciples had left the Dao Temple over the years, and some of them had cultivated the Dao of Space; however, the best result achieved so far was the fourth hurdle. In other words, they were on the level of Traversing a Familiar Path.

Nonetheless, Fang Tian Ci had achieved the level of Attaining Mastery Through a Comprehensive Understanding of the Dao of Space.

One must not underestimate the difference of one level, for it meant a vast disparity between achievements. The difference was akin to the differences in Order in the Open Heaven Realm.

The Palace Master’s First Disciple, Zhao Ye Bai, had only achieved the Sixth Level when his mastery was tested.

Hua Qing Si thought that it was such a shame. There was no doubt Fang Tian Ci was a talented person, but unfortunately, he had only ascended to the Sixth-Order. Had he directly ascended to the Seventh-Order, he could’ve attained amazing achievements like the Palace Master’s three Disciples.

The mastery of a Grand Dao was different from cultivation. As long as one hadn’t reached their innate limit, they could improve their cultivation by putting in the effort and resources.

However, comprehension and enlightenment were required to master Grand Daos. Without enough wits, one couldn’t advance far in any Grand Dao regardless of how powerful their cultivation was.

Hua Qing Si was also a veteran Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so she naturally understood this.

She initially only wanted to find out Fang Tian Ci’s mastery over the Dao of Space, but she couldn’t suppress her curiosity as she asked, “What about your results in the Time Dao Sealed World and the Spear Dao Sealed World?”

A bashful Fang Tian Ci replied, “I only overcame the fifth hurdle in the Time Dao Sealed World. It’s worse in the Spear Dao Sealed World. I only passed the fourth hurdle.”

He looked embarrassed, as though he had disappointed the Dao Lord.

On the other hand, Hua Qing Si was lost for words.

When she heard Fang Tian Ci say that he had cultivated all three Grand Daos, she thought that he had only majored in one and perhaps dabbled a bit in the other two.

Now, that didn’t seem to be the case.

This Fang Tian Ci had attained a high level of mastery in all three Grand Daos!

One had to know that Fang Tian Ci had just made it to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but he had already attained such achievements. There was no doubt he had a bright future ahead of him.

Although the Spear Dao was his worst Grand Dao, he had still passed the fourth hurdle, which was already something most Dao Temple disciples were unable to achieve.

Given this man’s amazing comprehension skills and achievements, Hua Qing Si even suspected that he might be the Palace Master’s illegitimate child; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so gifted even though he came from the Void World.

After examining his face though, Hua Qing Si shook her head, for Fang Tian Ci looked nothing like Yang Kai.

Finding her thoughts ridiculous, she smiled helplessly. The Palace Master had many beautiful Wives, so if he wanted to have a child, he didn’t have to do it furtively. Since the Palace Master still didn’t have any descendants after so many years, he apparently didn’t want to distract himself by having to look after his offspring yet.

Nonetheless, she didn’t know that this seemingly preposterous idea was actually quite close to the truth.

Fang Tian Ci wasn’t an illegitimate child; instead, he had an even closer relationship with Yang Kai, for he was the latter’s Human Self.

“Head Manager?” Fang Tian Ci called out to her. For some reason, he felt there was something off about the Head Manager’s gaze when she looked at him.

Hua Qing Si came to her senses and cast away her wild ideas before saying, “Is there any Great Territory you’d like to go to?”

Fang Tian Ci shook his head with a smile, “No. I’m fine with any assignment given to me.”

After pondering for a moment, Hua Qing Si said, “In that case, you should probably head to Profound Nether Territory. The Palace Master is in charge of that place on paper; however, since there’s an agreement in place, he can’t make a move as he pleases. As such, he decided to return here to cultivate.”

Fang Tian Ci didn’t understand when she mentioned the ‘agreement’, but when he learned that Yang Kai was in charge of Profound Nether Territory, he nodded joyfully, “I’ll go to Profound Nether Territory, then.”

Certainly, he had to take a look at the Great Territory where the Dao Lord was in charge.

“Good. If you are interested, once you arrive at Profound Nether Territory, you can look for a little bra… young man named Yang Xiao. His Squad is recruiting members who are experts in the Dao of Space. You can make your own decision, of course, and this is by no means an order. In fact, no one in Profound Nether Territory will give you any orders. You’ll be free to do as you see fit there,” Hua Qing Si explained with a smile. [Stinking Brat, I’ve done my best to help you, as for whether you’ll be able to keep him, that depends on your own capabilities.]