Second Avatar, Tianhe Becomes an Army

Ideals are bright and glorious, but reality is often bleak and dismal.

To control the Hundred Immortals Alliance by using the underground Primordial Magnetism is tantamount to one thing—the entire Hundred Immortals Alliance will embark on an unprecedented large-scale infrastructure project.

This massive infrastructure project is destined to be arduous, chaotic, and exhausting, with no trace of ethereal elegance.

Only through such hard work and sweat could the Nine Mountains Sect create a celestial kingdom on earth.

"Uncle-Master Pang, I request that you and Xiao Fairy conduct another survey of the Hundred Immortals Alliance, this time focusing on the distribution and direction of the Earth-Vein Magnetism."

Uncle-Master Pang and Xiao Yuying exchanged a glance, then bowed in unison and said, "Yes!"

The reason for entrusting these two men to conduct the exploration was clear to everyone else:

Uncle-Master Pang's Void-Piercing Spirit Eye has now reached its highest level, not to mention Xiao Yuying's Magnetic Rail Body.

Elder Xuanhua.

"Exist!"

"Setting up the Primordial Magnetic Network requires designing and manufacturing certain magical Law Treasure, as well as modifying the Divine Firmament Flying Vessel and various factories. The Heavenly Crafts Pavilion has a heavy workload."

"Don't worry, Sect Leader!"

Madam Xuanhua Zheng Fa nodded gently and smiled, "The Nine Mountains Sect's current development owes much to the Heavenly Crafts Pavilion. If you have any needs or difficulties, please feel free to ask me."

Madam Xuanhua nodded solemnly.

Zheng Fa then turned his gaze to Nine Mountains Patriarch and Senior Sister Zhang: "Founder, the <Spirit Mountain Method> is still somewhat rudimentary. I would like to ask you to cooperate with Senior Sister Zhang to improve the Spirit Mountain Method using the Primordial Eight Trigrams to match the Primordial Magnetic Network."

Even the childlike Nine Mountains Patriarch solemnly agreed at this moment.

After Zheng Fa's demonstration and explanation, even a child could understand the significance of the Primordial Magnetic Network to the entire Nine Mountains Sect:

In modern terms, this would be a complete transportation, industrial, and defense system.

It is no exaggeration to call it a monumental achievement of the Nine Mountains Sect.

The group returned to the Purple Tenuity Enclosure, and the elders with missions went to their respective departments to select disciples and begin their work.

Suddenly, the once-full Heavenly Palace Hall became much emptier.

"Junior brother, what are you going to do?" Senior Sister Zhang asked.

"My innate Innate Divine Ability isn't limited to just the 'Universe in the Sleeve."

"One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones?"

It is precisely because of the One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones that, after Zheng Fa's cultivation level advances, the power of his Innate Divine Ability will naturally increase.

However, the One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones is different; this Divine Ability requires Zheng Fa to go into seclusion and condense another clone.

After advancing to the Mahayana stage, Zheng Fa will be able to obtain another clone.

Senior Sister Zhang couldn't help but look at the Heavenly Emperor Body in the sky and asked curiously, "What kind of Cultivation Method is your clone planning to practice?"

"The Celestial River Method."

"The Celestial River Method..." Senior Sister Zhang's expression shifted, as if she understood. "Yes, it can only be the Celestial River Method."

In Zheng Fa's courtyard, the Heavenly Emperor Body stood outside the door, gazing at the quiet room where Zheng Fa was in seclusion, his eyes filled with anticipation.

The courtyard was filled with Spiritual Qi. After half an incense stick's time, the glow of dawn shone through the window lattice, and Auspicious Cloud carrying three golden flowers burst through the roof of the quiet room, one of which shone with a brilliant blue light.

It was Golden Crow, the sun was blazing.

But this blue light was even more dazzling than the sun's rays.

A human figure faintly appeared in the blue light. As the Spiritual Qi gradually dissipated, the human figure became more and more lifelike, eventually transforming into the appearance of Zheng Fa.

He was dressed in white, his body as tall as a lone bamboo, his face arrogant, and his eyes sharp as he glanced at the surroundings.

A scroll unfurled and closed behind him, slowly unleashing boundless murderous intent.

Ga~

Zheng Fa himself pushed open the door and came out, looking up with a helpless expression.

He considered himself an honest man, and in his Heavenly Emperor Body, he was an even more diligent and hardworking ox, but in his Sword Dao Body, he was a bit flamboyant.

Indeed, what he has condensed this time is the Sword Dao Body. To be precise, this clone uses the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram as its Life-bound Dharma Treasure and cultivates the Celestial River Four-Lineage Sword Canon.

In Zheng Fa's view, the large array built using the Primordial Magnetic Network was merely the basic defensive force of the Nine Mountains Sect.

It might be able to handle ordinary cultivators, but against the top cultivators of the Xuanwei Realm, such as True Immortal or even Golden Immortal, relying solely on the Earth-Vein Magnetism might be insufficient.

The Celestial River Legion, or perhaps the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram, are the Nine Mountains Sect's trump cards.

This tactic became increasingly important as the Hundred Immortals Alliance began its large-scale infrastructure construction.

Zheng Fa once heard a joke in modern times, "My neighbor grows grain, I manufacture guns; my neighbor is my granary."

But if the Nine Mountains Sect were to cultivate the land, they would end up becoming this neighbor...

He'll find it hard to laugh at this joke again.

"Aren't you coming down?" Zheng Fa asked, seeing Sword Dao Body still standing on the roof. "How about it?"

Sword Dao Body leaped down from the rooftop, a slight smile playing on his lips, "With me here, Nine Mountains is as stable as Mount Tai. If anyone dares to be so foolish, I will make sure they know that those who offend Nine Mountains, no matter how far away, will be punished!"

"..."

Zheng Fa was speechless; this clone was so childish that he didn't know how to start a conversation.

Beside him, the Heavenly Emperor Body said in a low voice, "I remember that the personalities of the clones created by the One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones are influenced by the original body."

"You mean me? Him?" Zheng Fa pointed to himself, then glanced at the Sword Dao Body, and after thinking for a moment, said definitively, "You don't understand! It must be the effect of the Cultivation Method on the cultivator!"

"..."

"The Cultivation Method corresponding to this Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram is flawed... The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor has misled me!"

The Heavenly Emperor Body stared at him for a long time, finally squeezing out a reply through gritted teeth, "Heh."

Zheng Fa felt a little guilty and quickly changed the subject. "Are you confident in advancing the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram?"

Sword Dao Body glanced at him, said nothing, but the corners of his mouth curved up by fifteen degrees.

Zheng Fa said quietly, "You'd better be really sure..."

His primary purpose in condensing his Sword Dao Body was to upgrade the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram.

The Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram Sword Dao Body Diagram as its Life-bound Dharma Treasure, is connected to the Celestial River Legion using the Myriad Immortal Formation Method, making it 50% stronger than Zheng Fa himself.

Needless to say, through the Myriad Immortal Formation Method, this Sword Dao Body can gradually strengthen the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram, making it many times faster than Zheng Fa could refine it himself.

The power of the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram is currently only among the top True Immortal, or rather, between True Immortal and Golden Immortal.

Enabling him to break through to the Golden Immortal is crucial for the Nine Mountains Sect to cope with the future emergence of Golden Immortal.

On the other hand, Zheng Fa really didn't have time to devote himself to the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram —perhaps other cultivators would be obsessed with the power of the formation diagram, but he himself understood that this formation diagram was not his foundation, and could only be used as a means of protecting his path.

However, such a treasure cannot be given to others to possess.

Whoever controls the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram can be considered the Commander-in-Chief of the Nine Mountains Sect's armed forces, and this position can only be held by Zheng Fa himself now.

Uncle-Master Pang had privately advised him that this array diagram should not be given to anyone else, not even Senior Sister Zhang.

Uncle-Master Pang, Old Yuan, and Aunt-Master Huang were alright; they were all former disciples of the Nine Mountains Sect, so it wasn't entirely unacceptable.

However, the newcomers like Madam Xuanhua had a different feeling about Senior Sister Senior Sister Zhang. In their hearts, Senior Sister Zhang was more of a high-ranking member of the sect.

If there's anything special about Senior Sister Zhang, it's probably that in their eyes, her identity as a Senior Sister Zhang dao companion is even more special.

Thinking of this, Zheng Fa looked towards Senior Sister Zhang's courtyard.

This change seems natural, but it appears that someone is subtly pushing it forward. In recent years, although Senior Sister Zhang has continued to help handle internal affairs, even more so than Zheng Fa himself, she rarely steps into the limelight.

Just as he was deep in thought, the Sword Dao Body suddenly spoke up, "Wait."

"Um?"

"He helps you handle miscellaneous affairs in the Nine Mountains Realm and gather Incense Power; I'll help you refine array diagrams and enhance your strength."

"Right."

"And you?"

Zheng Fa replied solemnly, "I have other important matters to attend to."

Sword Dao Body narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp as lightning. "What urgent matter is it?"

"My senior sister helped me a great deal in my early years, and now that I have advanced to the Mahayana, it is only right that I repay her kindness," Zheng Fa said sincerely, "And help her with her cultivation."

"... Is the 'helping her cultivate' you're talking about the same kind of 'helping her cultivate' I'm thinking of?"

Zheng Fa solemnly said, "Do you know that if our Nine Mountains Sect has one more Mahayana cultivator, its strength will increase further? Since that's the case, as the Sect Leader, I naturally have an inescapable responsibility."

"..."

Watching Zheng Fa leave, the Sword Dao Body turned his head to look at the Heavenly Emperor Body, hesitated for a long time before finally speaking, "Isn't this division of labor a bit unreasonable?"

The Heavenly Emperor Body chuckled, "I think so too."

Right?

"Shall we switch?"

Upon hearing this, Sword Dao Body stopped complaining—cultivating the Celestial River Method was certainly not as comfortable as dual cultivation, but was the Divine Way Method something for humans to cultivate?

Three days later, Zheng Fa walked out of Senior Sister Zhang's courtyard.

It wasn't that he could only last three days, but even if he delegated the difficult tasks to his two clones, there were still many things at the Nine Mountains Sect that he needed to personally oversee.

One of them is what I mentioned before: starting to lecture on the * Yellow Court Scripture *.

The second, and more important, was the ceremony for the formation and sword-granting of the Celestial River Legion.

On the parade ground of the Black Tortoise Wall Military Academy, 108 Nascent Soul and 436 Golden Core cultivators stood in four teams.

Their figures resembled vigorous pine trees, and they made no sound at all; even their breathing was so soft and almost inaudible.

A breeze picked up on the playground, and the sound of the wind made them even quieter.

Yan Wushuang stood at the front of a group, her eyes filled with complex emotions as she looked at the high platform ahead of the group.

On the high platform, Zheng Fa stood first, with Xie Qingxue and the others standing behind him.

Yan Wushuang's gaze swept across Xie Qingxue's face, noticing that her expression was also somewhat inscrutable, and she knew that Xie Qingxue was thinking the same thing as her:

The Four Immortal-Slayer Swords... are ultimately the most precious treasures of the Tianhe Sect.

Today, he was to be ordained as a disciple by Zheng Fa. Although he and his senior sister were also "accomplices," he still felt a little bittersweet.

On the high platform, Zheng Fa's gaze swept across the faces of the more than five hundred disciples, as if he were trying to memorize each one.

"Having been selected by the military academy and assessed by your instructors, your Sword Dao skills are superb, and your character is exceptional; you are worthy of being pillars of the sect."

There was a slight commotion among the disciples.

"By decision of the Nine Mountains Elders' Council, you have all been selected for the Sword Dao Legion, codenamed ' Tianhe '!"

Suddenly the wind picked up, blowing up dust that rushed towards Yan Wushuang and the others.

But they didn't even blink, only their breathing became a little heavier.

"Li Lingfeng is hereby appointed as the chief of the Immortal-Trapping Division of the Celestial River Legion."

"Appointed... as Chief of the Immortal-Killing Division."

"Appointed... as the chief of the Immortal-Severing Division."

Yan Wushuang waited quietly, and sure enough, he heard his name called, "Yan Wushuang is appointed as the chief of the Immortal-Slayer Division."

He knew that this position of chief was not secure; it only represented that his current mastery of the <Immortal-Slayer Sword Canon> surpassed that of others.

But if someone more talented comes along and surpasses him in the future, then he will lose his position as chief.

On the high platform, Xie Qingxue took two steps forward, holding the Immortal-Trapping Sword in both hands, turned her body to the side, and faced Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa nodded slightly, then stretched out both hands, presented the Immortal-Trapping Sword to his face, and called out to the audience:

"Li Lingfeng, Chief of the Immortal-Trapping Division, receive the Immortal-Trapping Sword!"

A disciple stepped out from the queue, slowly ascended the high platform, bowed to Zheng Fa, and then accepted the Immortal-Trapping Sword.

"... Receive the Immortal-Killing Sword!"

"... Receive the Immortal-Severing Sword!"

"Yan Wushuang, Chief of the Immortal-Slayer Division, receive the Immortal-Slayer Sword!"

Yan Wushuang a stern face, stepped onto the stairs and walked up to Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa looked into his eyes, smiled gently, and handed him the Immortal-Slayer Sword.

Yan Wushuang a deep breath and lifted the Immortal-Slayer Sword.

The Immortal-Slayer Sword was naturally not heavy for him, a Nascent Soul —but at this moment, he felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, fearing that he would not be able to hold it steady, and the veins on his fingers were bulging.

He and the other three chief disciples stood in front of Zheng Fa, turned around, and faced the disciples below the stage.

Zheng Fa's voice rang out behind them:

"These four swords are High Immortal of the Xuanwei Realm, and I entrust them to you today."

"The legion is called Tianhe, and you all know its origins."

Zheng Fa's words made Yan Wushuang's face tighten even more.

"The Venerable Tianhe valued me highly and passed on the Celestial River Method to me. Today, I pass on these four swords to you."

No disciples spoke; only the wind howled across the playground.

"The Celestial River Legion will be the strongest legion in the Nine Mountains Sect."

"Normally, you only need to cultivate; you don't need to perform any missions. The sect will distribute Merit accordingly."

Zheng Fa's tone became more forceful, and his voice grew louder.

"The Cultivation Method you've learned is the most powerful sword manual from Xuanwei."

"The sect will supply any pills or elixirs that are needed."

"The Immortal Sword is unparalleled in the world; none surpasses the Four Immortal-Slayer Swords."

"This is the result of your hard work and your skill in Sword Dao."

Many disciples couldn't help but show a hint of pride on their faces.

"But I hope you remember that the pills you use for cultivation are refined by disciples within the sect."

"Even the smallest Merit is the result of the hard work of disciples from other departments."

"While you are cultivating in peace, the other disciples are busy planting Spirit Plant, crafting Law Treasure, refining pills, and completing tasks, without a moment's rest."

The pride on the disciples' faces slowly faded.

"I would like you to remember that the Celestial River Method you practice was created by Venerable Tianhe."

"The Four Immortal-Slayer Swords are also the legacy of the Tianhe Sect from the Previous Epoch."

Yan Wushuang blinked.

"What you should inherit is not merely the Celestial River Method and the Four Immortal-Slayer Swords, understand?"

The disciples were silent for a moment, then shouted in unison, "Understood!"

"Very good." Zheng Fa nodded slightly and continued, "If one day the sect needs you to go to war, it will be a matter of life and death for our Nine Mountains Sect."

"When that time comes, will you be willing to risk your lives and sacrifice yourselves for the Nine Mountains disciples who have silently dedicated themselves to you?"

"Able!"

Zheng Fa's gaze swept across the faces of these disciples, and after half an incense stick's time, he finally smiled:

"I hereby declare the Celestial River Legion officially formed."

"I hope that you will one day pave a broad and prosperous road for my Nine Mountains and for this Xuanwei."

Suddenly inspired, Yan Wushuang, along with the three chiefs beside him, drew their swords and shouted, "For the Nine Mountains, for the Xuanwei, let us carve out a broad and prosperous road!"

Four sword beams, accompanied by the shouts of their disciples, cleaved through the wind and clouds, soaring straight to the heavens.

(End of this chapter)