Make the Immortal Sect Great Again

Seven days later, inside the Heavenly Venerable Hall.

Wang Ping sat upright before the shrine. He pushed his spiritual sense to the absolute limit, his vitality boiling in response as he stared fixedly at the statue of the Heavenly Venerable, which presented only its back to him.

Yet the result remained unchanged.

It had been seven days. No matter what Wang Ping did, how he circulated his spiritual sense, or how he tried to commune with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the statue of the Heavenly Venerable simply refused to turn around.

’What garbage cultivation!’

At that thought, Wang Ping looked down at the jade slip in his hand. Daoist Nun You had given it to him. The moment his spiritual sense probed it, a passage of scripture surfaced in his mind:

[Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method].

”This is the secret technique of Dragon-Rearing Peak, one of the eight peaks of the Immortal Gate. It is a method of raising beasts within the body, gathering six types of Six Desires beasts into one entity, and ultimately refining a defective spiritual root.”

”Although cultivators with a defective spiritual root cannot practice Qi Refining and have no hope for the Great Dao, they can still cultivate spells. Many strongmen and Daoist generals within the Immortal Gate possess defective spiritual roots. They have little future, serving merely as beasts of burden who handle chores and perform manual labor for the true cultivators of the Immortal Gate.”

Wang Ping earnestly studied the jade slip.Unlike the [Other-Transformation Freedom Control Desire Realm Celestial Manual], the [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method] was clearly geared toward the lower end of the market, its contents far more detailed.

This included descriptions of cultivation Realms.

”What is cultivation?”

”In summary, it comes down to nine words: [Tribulation Transcending, Qi Refining, Cultivating to Ascend as an Immortal].”

”It is said that these nine words were left behind as a mantra by the patriarch of the Immortal Gate, the Heavenly Venerable himself, at the end of the primordial era after witnessing the suffering of all living beings.”

”The Heavenly Venerable’s words dictated reality, establishing the laws of the world with nine words. From then on, the orthodox system of Immortal Dao cultivation became anchored to them.”

”For a Mortal to cultivate immortality, they must first endure three tribulations: the Human Tribulation, the Heavenly Tribulation, and the Fate Tribulation.”

”The Tribulation Transcending First Layer deals with the Human Tribulation.”

”This Human Tribulation refers to the calamities of the mortal body. In the mundane world, blades and weapons are difficult to guard against; a moment of carelessness can lead to injury, damaging the practitioner’s dharma body.”

”To successfully attain the Tribulation Transcending First Layer, one must cultivate four traits: Telepathic Spiritual Perception, Flawless True Body, Cosmic Orbit Respiration, and Borrowing Qi to Manifest Magic. Only after refining true magical power can this be considered a success. One must possess magical power to cultivate spells to the highest Realm; otherwise, it is like scooping the moon out of the water.”

Seeing this, Wang Ping’s gaze shifted slightly.

’No wonder...’

With the bonus experience from the strongman, his [Qi Restriction] had long since reached the level of mending bones and connecting sinews, yet he had never been able to progress any further.

’I used to think my comprehension was just too low.’

Wang Ping suddenly saw the light, resolving a major doubt in his heart:

’Now it seems it’s because I haven’t refined magical power. My hardware isn’t up to standard, which is why I haven’t been able to reach the Realm of True Qi covering the body and invulnerability to weapons.’

At the Tribulation Transcending Second Layer, cultivators faced the Heavenly Tribulation.

This tribulation referred to the three calamities of wind, fire, and lightning.

Once cultivators refined magical power, they could master spells. Through spells they comprehended the law, and through the law they enlightened themselves to the Dao, until their spells underwent a qualitative change, manifesting as Divine Powers.

It was a process of refinement.

The whole endeavor was like forging a weapon: the astral winds would strip away impurities from the spell, the yin fire would temper its foundation, and the heavenly lightning would test its strength.

Once the Heavenly Tribulation was passed, a cultivator’s spells would sublimate into Divine Powers.

As for the Fate Tribulation of the Tribulation Transcending Third Layer, the [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method] didn’t mention it at all. It seemed to assume that anyone practicing this method wouldn’t reach that tier anyway.

”Only after passing the three tribulations can one practice Qi Refining.”

Regarding the Qi Refining stage above Tribulation Transcending, the [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method] provided no detailed descriptions, only a cryptic passage:

”The body is the dwelling place of spirit and qi. With qi inside the body, the spirit rests peacefully in the sea of qi. Thus, qi connects to the divine realm, swallowing the profound spring, sounding the heavenly drum, entering through the heavenly gate to flow inside and outside the entire body, thereby burning the body until it shines as bright as fire. Preserve it in this way until form merges with qi, existing in one’s true nature; only then can one achieve the ancient immortal’s fruit of entering the Dao through Qi Refining.”

Wang Ping felt completely lost in clouds and fog reading this.

The cultivation method’s description held Qi Refining in the highest esteem, referring to such individuals as Qi Refining practitioners. It seemed entirely different from the ’qi refining’ he understood.

The so-called hopelessness of the Great Dao for a defective spiritual root actually meant an inability to practice Qi Refining.

All these descriptions filled him with immense curiosity.

Just what kind of mighty power did a Qi Refining practitioner possess?

’Daoist Nun You... is she a Qi Refining practitioner? Or is she still in the Tribulation Transcending realm? It’s a pity I can’t witness a Qi Refining practitioner’s Divine Powers; otherwise, it’s hard to make an accurate judgment.’

Wang Ping indulged his imagination for a moment before reeling in his thoughts.

’I can’t bite off more than I can chew. I should focus on the [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method]. No matter what, I need to refine a defective spiritual root first.’

Wang Ping stood up, dusted off his robes, and walked out of the Heavenly Venerable Hall.

Daoist Nun You’s Daoist temple was vast, complete with pavilions and terraces. However, the place he lived was not inside the temple, but outside it.

Strangely enough, outside the temple was an even larger Daoist temple. Yet, when Wang Ping stepped out of the inner temple and looked back, he found that the massive inner temple was merely a door painted on a wall within the outer temple. Only by holding the Token could one freely enter and exit between the inner and outer temples.

”It’s a whole different world inside...”

Watching the door on the wall slowly close, transforming from a physical object into a mere painting, Wang Ping clicked his tongue in wonder, marveling at the profound methods of the immortals.

Only then did he look around.

Unlike the inner temple, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the outer temple was much thinner. It was almost the same as the world where the Great Shun Celestial Dynasty resided, noticeably lacking a bit of immortal aura.

The temple itself was still quite large, built upon a mountain. The architecture was new, seemingly constructed not long ago, with traces of recent repairs. Unfortunately, the building materials seemed to be mundane. And although there were many rooms, they were uniformly empty; aside from him, there was not a single person here.

”Seems this is my predecessor’s fault.”

Wang Ping recalled what Daoist Nun You had told him before going into seclusion. Reportedly, when the previous attendant boy was around, he had recruited quite a few beautiful maids to serve in the temple.

Unfortunately, he was already dead.

Thus, the old rules were scrapped. All the beautiful maids were dismissed and sent back to the mortal world. His belongings had also been cleared out, leaving behind only a few miscellaneous items.

”I wonder what mistake he made to be so unlucky...”

Wang Ping shook his head. Following the sensory connection from his cultivation method, he arrived at a corner of the temple. He pushed open the large door and looked at the massive black shadows lurking within.

This was what Daoist Nun You had mentioned—the resources left behind for him by his predecessor.

Sweeping his gaze across the room, he saw several exotic beasts: an eagle, an ape, a cheetah, and a white whale that had been shrunk down countless times and placed inside a water vat.

”These are the Six Desires beasts...”

The [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method] had four layers in total. The first three layers each required the control of two types of desire beasts. The fourth layer involved merging all the desire beasts into one.

Once the Six Desires beasts were melted down and merged, he only needed to integrate himself with them to forge a [Six Desires Primordial Heavenly Demon], which would serve the function of a defective spiritual root.

Wang Ping’s gaze swept over the beast room as he calculated silently in his heart, ”The Sky Eagle, Deep Ape, Rock Snake, Swallowing Whale, Bandit Cheetah, and Steel Flood Dragon... Four of them are gathered here. As for the Rock Snake and Steel Flood Dragon, they supposedly died suddenly when the previous attendant boy caused trouble, so I’ll have to raise those two exotic beasts myself.”

It wasn’t too bad; at least he had four of them ready.

As for the missing two, there were corresponding desire beast eggs in the beast room. As long as he used his cultivation method to accelerate their growth, breeding them anew was only a matter of time.

”Roar!”

Just then, a roar interrupted Wang Ping’s thoughts. The Bandit Cheetah, which had been dozing with its eyes closed, was now glaring at him aggressively.

The next instant, the world in Wang Ping’s eyes seemed like an animation that had suddenly dropped a frame. In the blink of an eye, the Bandit Cheetah that had just been crouching in front of him was right in his face. It opened its blood-red maw, its razor-sharp steel teeth carrying a nauseating stench, and bit fiercely at his neck!

In a flash of lightning, Wang Ping delivered a backhand palm strike.

As the palm struck out, the collision of muscles and bones within his body produced a sound like a tiger’s roar and a dragon’s cry, as if a powerful bow was slowly being drawn taut inside him.

Bang!

Using his arm as the bow and his palm as the arrow, the strike whipped across the Bandit Cheetah’s head with a lightning-fast afterimage, forcefully deflecting the ferocious beast’s head three inches aside.

”So hard...”

Wang Ping frowned tightly. Backing away, he rolled his wrist, once again feeling the disparity—wider than a chasm—between cultivating immortality and practicing martial arts.

’This Bandit Cheetah is definitely no ordinary beast. Its physique is absurdly strong. Even with my Internal Force reinforcing the strike, I could only knock it away. Although it hasn’t learned martial arts, it clearly possesses other miraculous abilities, like that frame-skipping speed from just now... It’s no weaker than an Internal Force Martial Master!’

And this was just a mere exotic beast.

Under the Great Shun Imperial Court, an Internal Force Martial Master could already dominate a county. Yet in the Immortal Gate, this kind of exotic beast was nothing more than a resource for a chore disciple’s cultivation.

Thinking of this, Wang Ping’s emotions surged even more.

’I still have to cultivate immortality!’

’So what if it’s a defective spiritual root? I’ll find a way to step onto the immortal path first. Even if the Great Dao is hopeless, that’s something to worry about only after I’ve reached the end of the road.’

Then he looked at the other desire beasts in the room. With the Bandit Cheetah setting an example, the rest of the desire beasts were visibly growing restless.

But it wasn’t a major issue.

With a thought from Wang Ping, the world before him instantly froze. In that moment, his vision was split in two: half reality, and half a towering book.

[Taiping Sutra], activate!

Entering the [Taiping Sutra] space, Wang Ping immediately walked over to the third scripture scroll, [a promise worth a thousand gold], and focused his intent, beginning to write:

[I promise to cultivate the ”Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method” to the...]

Wang Ping paused slightly. As the book shimmered with a faint light, a sudden flash of insight hit him: ”I can’t push it straight to perfection.”

”With my current talent, the time limit for [a promise worth a thousand gold] is a thousand days—nearly three years.”

In other words, it had to be something he could actually accomplish within a thousand days to draw an advance on the result using [a promise worth a thousand gold].

”Which means, according to the scripture scroll’s judgment, I won’t be able to cultivate this method to perfection within three years.”

Pondering this for a moment, Wang Ping finally completed the rest of the promise:

[...second layer.]

The pen fell, the sentence stopped. A blinding brilliance instantly erupted from the scripture scroll. In a daze, Wang Ping seemed to see scene after scene of himself practicing the cultivation method.

The next second, countless insights related to the [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method] surged from the bottom of his heart like a bursting dam. In the process, his eyes gradually changed, ring after ring of eerie purple halos lighting up in his pupils.

”Ah, I’ve got it!”

Returning to reality, the four desire beasts in the beast room had already surrounded him, but Wang Ping showed no fear, simply giving them a calm glance.

A purple glint flashed in his eyes.

Immediately after, all four desire beasts froze in place simultaneously. Their originally ferocious eyes shimmered with the same purple light as Wang Ping’s before they groveled on the ground.

”It really works.”

Wang Ping nodded in satisfaction. All desire beasts had innate flaws, allowing the [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method] to perfectly suppress them.

However, he soon lowered his eyes.

Within his vision, the scripture scroll of the [Taiping Sutra] faintly appeared, but the scroll had now turned gray. It clearly couldn’t be used again.

’To use it again, I have to rely on myself to cultivate the [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method] to the second layer. Right now, I’ve only drawn an advance on the cultivation method’s effects and application experience. I haven’t actually reached that level yet, but having these will only make reverse-engineering the progress that much faster.’

Wang Ping made a rough estimate.

’If not for [a promise worth a thousand gold], relying solely on myself, it would probably take at least a year to practice the [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method] to the second layer.’

’But now... just half a month more.’

’Within half a month, I can truly cultivate the method to the second layer. When that time comes, I can just take out another loan. My cultivation speed will far exceed what anyone could imagine!’

’Stepping on my own left foot with my right to ascend to heaven—this is my despair-inducing, peerless talent!’

With this thought, Wang Ping felt fully motivated. He immediately began cultivating to pay off his loan while simultaneously breeding the two missing desire beasts, preparing for his second advance.

...

Three months later, inside the Daoist temple.

In the beast room, Wang Ping sat cross-legged, his hands forming a seal. His expression was calm. The light of the setting sun shone on him through the window, casting a long shadow.

Suddenly, the hand seal Wang Ping held changed.

Following the shift in his hand seal, the shadow behind him began to contort into bizarre shapes—sometimes a cheetah, sometimes an ape, sometimes an eagle spreading its wings...

By the time his seal had changed six times in succession, six exotic beasts had appeared around him, the eyes of each spinning with purple halos.

”Phew...”

Only then did Wang Ping exhale a long breath, followed by a satisfied smile. ’Finally paid off. Now only the final step of merging into one remains.’

Two and a half months ago, he had taken out another loan, elevating the [Six Desire Heavens Sovereign Attainment Method] to the third layer. He had been paying off that debt until now. However, with the reopening of [a promise worth a thousand gold], he could already see the doors opening for him to reach perfection in the fourth layer and condense a defective spiritual root.

Who could match this cultivation speed?

At least according to the records in the cultivation method’s jade slip, none of the past practitioners had ever reached perfection in three months and achieved his level.

’If I am not the peerless genius of loans, who is?’

’Give me the loan!’

With a thought from Wang Ping, the bottleneck—which had previously felt as solid as a boulder with no weak point to be found—shattered on command, transforming into countless inspirations that flooded his mind.

Following these inspirations, the hand seals Wang Ping held began to change once more. His ten fingers intertwined, finally forming a seventh seal that was vastly different from the ones before.

Almost simultaneously, the six desire beasts coiled around him raised their heads. They then dissolved, turning into shadows that began piecing themselves together. The cheetah’s speed, the eagle’s wings, the ape’s strength, the whale’s breath, the flood dragon’s physique, the snake’s recovery... Numerous traits were recombined.

Finally, a brand-new shadow emerged.

This shadow overlapped with Wang Ping’s own shadow before slowly stepping out from the darkness, manifesting into a burly giant standing right behind him.

”Oho...”

Wang Ping looked the burly giant over with keen interest. ”So this is the Six Desires Primordial Heavenly Demon condensed from merging the Six Desires beasts, as described in the cultivation method?”

It was strong—incredibly strong!

Standing nearly three meters tall, every inch of its muscles seemed to harbor explosive power. Its fingers were thicker than his arms, and its breathing sounded like wind and thunder.

Immediately after, Wang Ping lowered his head.

He saw that although he was standing in the light of the setting sun, he cast no shadow beneath his feet... Or rather, his shadow had already fused into the Six Desires Primordial Heavenly Demon before him.

Standing upright without a shadow!

”In this state, unless it’s a spell, any attack aimed at me will be transferred to the Six Desires Primordial Heavenly Demon. It won’t harm my true body.”

This was the manifestation of a perfected cultivation method. Furthermore, this Six Desires Primordial Heavenly Demon could act as his third eye to survey everything around him.

Closing his eyes, Wang Ping connected his consciousness to the Six Desires Primordial Heavenly Demon and looked around. Even though his eyes couldn’t see, overlooking the myriad phenomena of the world felt as clear as reading the lines on his palm.

This was [Telepathic Spiritual Perception].

A sense of satisfaction suddenly swelled in Wang Ping’s heart.

Even though this was just one of the four cultivation traits required for the Tribulation Transcending First Layer, a small step on the long road to immortality, it was a giant leap for him.

”In other words, from today onward, I am a cultivator.”

Thinking about it carefully, practicing martial arts wasn’t actually all that great. While it was carefree and exhilarating, human life spanned only a few short decades. When looking back, one would already be gray-haired and old.

How could it compare to achieving eternal life and everlasting vision?

Cultivating immortality was definitely the better path!