Within the Outer Sect of Lingxu Sacred Land, Xu Yuanwen sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, cultivating patiently.
As an undercover agent for the Heavenly Demon Cult, Xu Yuanwen had been sent into Lingxu Sacred Land as a child. Six hundred years had passed since then. At the age of five hundred, he had successfully weathered the Nascent Soul Tribulation and attained the most ordinary one-mark Nascent Soul.
Xu Yuanwen's aptitude was not particularly good. He merely possessed a high-grade triple spirit root. Being able to attain the Nascent Soul Realm was already a matter of great fortune.
However, Xu Yuanwen knew exactly why he had been able to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.
After all, as a disciple of Lingxu Sacred Land, he received the Sacred Land's stipend, while as an undercover agent of the Heavenly Demon Cult, he received an additional undercover allowance from the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Added together, he naturally had far more resources than an ordinary disciple of Lingxu Sacred Land.
At the very least, Xu Yuanwen was immensely satisfied when it came to wealth.
Moreover, in his eyes, the Heavenly Demon Cult and Lingxu Sacred Land could not truly come to blows. This let him feed from both sides.
Xu Yuanwen even felt that, relying on the stipends from these two factions, he might have a chance to set his sights on the Spirit Transformation stage.
"Alas, cultivation is progressing a little too slowly. Should I sell some intelligence and have the Heavenly Demon Cult provide more resources?"
Xu Yuanwen slowly opened his eyes, thinking this to himself.
At that very moment, he seemed to sense something and hurriedly left the hall.
"That is..."
With Xu Yuanwen's Nascent Soul Realm strength, his senses were even sharper as he looked at the fluctuations atop Tianmen Peak.
Xu Yuanwen had already determined that someone had successfully established their foundation, and this restless spiritual energy was undoubtedly Foundation Establishment in a Hundred Days.
"Tianmen Peak... could it be him?"
Xu Yuanwen could not help thinking of the task issued by the Heavenly Demon Cult's vice cult master a hundred days ago: have a Pseudo-Spirit Root disciple disguise himself as one with a Heavenly Spirit Root and infiltrate this place.
As for what the Heavenly Demon Cult intended to do, Xu Yuanwen had no idea.
"Foundation Establishment in a Hundred Days... it seems the Heavenly Demon Cult has gone to great lengths."
"Are they planning some major move?"
Xu Yuanwen pondered for a while at the sight.
"Looking at it this way, I may not be able to collect these two stipends for much longer."
"Still, since he is my colleague, I should get to know him better."
Xu Yuanwen did not believe that Vice Cult Master Hun Yuan had arranged for a Pseudo-Spirit Root to enter Lingxu Sacred Land, then gone to such lengths to have him achieve Foundation Establishment in a Hundred Days, for some simple matter.
"Could that brat be Hun Yuan's bastard son?"
"He is at least a mighty expert of the Spirit Transformation stage, yet he fathered a child with a Pseudo-Spirit Root and even went to such trouble to scheme against Lingxu Sacred Land..."
"Sure enough, having a background makes things easy. Unlike me... without status, I can only become an undercover agent, dragging out a miserable existence and relying on two salaries just to reach the Nascent Soul Realm."
Xu Yuanwen sighed with feeling, then returned to the hall to continue cultivating.
After news of Li Tianwei's Foundation Establishment in a Hundred Days spread throughout Lingxu Sacred Land, all the disciples understood that the Sacred Land was about to produce another favored genius.
Over these years, aside from Bai Muxu's generation, Lingxu Sacred Land had been suppressed far too miserably by the other sects over the past several decades.
Li Tianwei's appearance was undoubtedly their chance to break the suppression of the other sects in the Northern Spirit Domain.
It was not only the disciples who were excited. The elders and peak masters of Lingxu Sacred Land were also thrilled, though their hearts carried a trace of regret.
After all, they had failed to snatch such a disciple, allowing Bai Muxu to get the bargain.
After Li Tianwei achieved Foundation Establishment in a Hundred Days, Bai Muxu ran around to the various mountains, visiting every peak master who was not in seclusion to drink tea and play chess.
His mouth never stopped moving, either.
He kept boasting that Tianmen Peak had produced two favored geniuses, both achieving Foundation Establishment in a Hundred Days, invincible under heaven, perhaps even capable of breaking the limits of the present age.
Later, when Bai Muxu went to drink tea with elders he had not yet visited, he received only one answer: they had entered seclusion or gone out to gain experience.
As for Li Tianwei, the center of this storm, he remained within his cave abode on Tianmen Peak.
At this moment, he was looking at the Five Intentions Condensing Heaven Art in his hands. Although he had suffered a setback with the Heavenly Origin Dao Foundation Method—
Li Tianwei, having come from another world, knew one thing: a tower ten thousand zhang high rose from level ground. It was like his studies. Even in elementary school, he could understand all the mathematics and language arts, grasp their meanings, and even begin studying middle school, high school, and university knowledge.
Yet he knew that was not a reason to look down on elementary-school knowledge. After all, everything was built upon foundations.
Though the Heavenly Origin Dao Foundation Method was poor, after he turned decay into magic, it had become a method suited to him and allowed him to achieve Foundation Establishment in a Hundred Days.
Thus, there was no bad knowledge, only bad people. Li Tianwei truly did not disdain this Five Intentions Condensing Heaven Art. He only needed to make a few improvements for it to fit him perfectly.
"Lord Heavenly Origin Immortal Venerable, please do not blame me. This Evil Demon is too despicable, too shameless. He actually threatened me. Because I am bound to him, I could only hand this immortal art over to him."
"For the sake of your inheritance, Immortal Venerable, I can only endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens. Once I find an opportunity, I will surely find a chance to pass the Five Intentions Condensing Heaven Art on to the true inheritor. I will never let the inheritance be severed."
The Book Spirit looked at the round fan with three leaves marking between Li Tianwei's brows, continuously hypnotizing itself inwardly as it allowed Li Tianwei to handle it as he pleased.
Meanwhile, Li Tianwei flipped through the Five Intentions Condensing Heaven Art in his hands and gained a general understanding of it.
It had to be said that this immortal art was far more complex than the Heavenly Origin Dao Foundation Method. As an immortal art, it contained not only the most basic refinement of spiritual power, but also combinations of various spells.
Within this Five Intentions Condensing Heaven Art was a Divine Ability that could be cultivated at the later stages.
To learn this Divine Ability, one first had to master all kinds of spells—over a thousand of them—and only then could they ultimately form a node and unleash the Divine Ability.
It was like mathematics: from addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, to linear equations, quadratic equations, geometry, and all manner of logical judgments, one could only gradually comprehend higher mathematics, calculus, and all kinds of profound and mysterious problems afterward.
Without question, this Five Intentions Condensing Heaven Art could be cultivated all the way to ascension. From Foundation Establishment to the Golden Core Realm, it had clear divisions.
Within this tiny book were actually thousands of volumes' worth of combined scriptures.
Li Tianwei found this entirely normal. In his former world, the data and materials that made up an aircraft, if converted into sheets of paper, would be enough to fill a football field. Only after thoroughly mastering them could one build a fighter jet with one's own ability.
This immortal art was undoubtedly among the most supreme methods in the Cultivation World. It was only natural for its contents to be somewhat extensive.
However, after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, Li Tianwei's physical constitution, computational capacity, and thinking ability had improved by an unknown amount.
It could be said that a cultivator's brain alone was now a supercomputer. After merely glancing through it a few times, most of its contents had already entered his mind.
To ensure that the problems from the Heavenly Origin Dao Foundation Method would not occur again, Li Tianwei decided to carefully revise it. Only then would it suit him.
Li Tianwei casually took out the Heavenly Origin Dao Foundation Method he had previously corrected atop Tianmen Peak and used it to compare against the Five Intentions Condensing Heaven Art.
The Book Spirit had long since fallen silent. When it saw that Li Tianwei was not in a hurry to cultivate after seeing the immortal art, but instead took a book from his storage ring, its attention was inevitably drawn to it.
When it saw the words Heavenly Origin Dao Foundation Method written atop it, the Book Spirit became even more puzzled over what Li Tianwei was trying to do.
Then, after probing with its senses and watching Li Tianwei open the Heavenly Origin Dao Foundation Method, the Book Spirit was dumbfounded.
The pages were densely packed with writing, all sorts of markings, numerical calculations, and classifications. On a single simple sheet, there were revisions everywhere.
"Ah! This, this..."
"Fission, atoms, collision..."
"The Five Elements circulate; use the principle of mutual restraint to create collisions, detonate spiritual energy, and merge it into the body..."
As an immortal art, setting aside anything else, the fact that it could give birth to a Book Spirit meant it was formed from an immortal's boundless wisdom.
Though it had no combat power, the Book Spirit's understanding of all kinds of methods was unparalleled throughout the ages.
Yet the Heavenly Origin Dao Foundation Method Li Tianwei had laid before it now completely shattered its worldview—yes, its worldview.
All manner of components that violated the common sense of cultivation, the circulation of the Five Elements, and strange sets of data were laid out across the pages.
At this moment, the Book Spirit had only one question: could this revised Heavenly Origin Dao Foundation Method still be cultivated?
Carrying that question, the Book Spirit was truly drawn in. It could not help following along as Li Tianwei continued turning pages, trying to thoroughly understand the knowledge within.
At the same time, it continuously simulated the possibilities. At that moment, another function of the Book Spirit emerged.
Sentient Immortal Art: cultivation could be interrupted, cultivation could be performed in another's stead...