Unable to Break Through
Seeing Jiang Lan release the Centipede, Bai Qiuran had already vaguely Consciousness something.
However, he did not stop it. Just like the cultivation method he taught the monkey, if the Human Race were to truly overthrow the Heavenly Gods, the power of the Monster Race and other alien races would also be indispensable.
Moreover, judging from history, Bai Li did not lose when fighting against the Monster Race.
For a while afterward, Bai Qiuran settled down peacefully in the valley, diligently teaching Bai Li and the monkey various Divine Ability Arts, while also taking care of Jiang Lan's cultivation and daily life.
While Bai Qiuran was teaching Bai Li and the monkey Cultivation Technique and Arts, he would occasionally notice a small black Centipede lying quietly on a blue stone beside the woods.
But Bai Qiuran didn't interfere; she taught him however she wanted, just as Jiang Lan had said, letting things take their course.
During Jiang Lan's period of weakness, Bai Qiuran took good care of her while doing his work. As for why he cared so much for Jiang Lan, whether it was because of the kindness Jiang Lan had shown him with the Divine Sword Clear Autumn Waters, or because he had developed feelings for her, Bai Qiuran, who was clueless about love, was not quite sure himself.
However, after Jiang Lan passed through the Body Tempering Stage, successfully Qi Refinement, and recovered her health to take over the household chores, her attitude towards him subtly improved a lot compared to before.
It's not that Jiang Lan and he didn't get along before, but Bai Qiuran feels that Jiang Lan seems to have become inexplicably closer to him now.
There used to be a distance between the two, as if they were outsiders, but after Jiang Lan lost her Divine Power, their relationship felt like that of a real old married couple.
However, we can't expect much from Bai Qiuran's emotional intelligence. Without Jiang Lan's explicit statement, it's unlikely that this 3,000-year-old virgin would take the initiative. Moreover, compared to romantic feelings, Bai Qiuran's main focus is currently on planning the future of Human Race.
Besides teaching Bai Li the Path of Cultivation, Bai Qiuran currently faces another very serious problem: the Souls of the Human Race who were slaughtered by the Heavenly Gods.
He temporarily stored these Souls within the painting. Like other living Human Race, his magic temporarily put these Souls into a dormant state. Among them was the Souls of Bai Li's wife.
They have lost their physical bodies, and according to the rules of later generations, they should now go to the Underworld Ghost Realm to be reborn through the Six Paths of Reincarnation realms of reincarnation.
However, in this era ruled by the Heavenly Gods, the Ghost Realm, which was built step by step by Immortals, does not exist. Beneath the earth, there are only Rock Layer and scorching lava, reaching all the way to the earth's core. In this other dimension, there is no Plane that only contains the dead.
In this era, after Human Race die, their Souls either wander aimlessly across the land, eventually dissipating into the Heaven and Earth, their will and energy returning to the great cycle of Heaven and Earth, or they become food for the Heavenly Gods or certain Strange Beasts that crave Souls.
What Bai Qiuran is thinking about now is how to build the prototype of this Underworld Ghost Realm. The Underworld Ghost Realm of future generations will definitely not be built in a day, but he must at least leave the foundation well.
Although he was designated as the Future Ghost Emperor of the Underworld Ghost Realm in later generations, he had never actually entered the true core of the Underworld Ghost Realm, and he had no clue what the Six Paths of Reincarnation system was like.
Fortunately, Wisdom Immortal seemed to have quite a bit of knowledge about the Underworld Ghost Realm. Bai Qiuran remembered that when they were in Wisdom Immortal Cave Abode, there was a special trial that would Teleportation the participants to the Ghost Realm for a half-day trip. He and Li Jinyao had both encountered this trial.
"During the Holy Dynasty, due to the sudden disappearance of the Eastern Azure Immortal Dynasty, the Human Race had to rebuild many magical systems that had reached their peak during the Immortal Dynasty. One of the greatest systems rebuilt by the Holy Dynasty was the analysis of a portion of the rules of Life and Death Reincarnation."
Wisdom Immortal said to Bai Qiuran, "Although it's just some basics, it's enough to guide your thoughts. I believe that with your abilities, you'll definitely be able to create the rest yourself."
Therefore, after studying the Spatial Arts system, Bai Qiuran had no choice but to begin researching the life and death magic system.
This progress was even slower than his learning of Spatial Arts, because no matter how obscure and profound Spatial Arts was, at least the Earth Immortal of the Holy Dynasty had already derived a complete system from it, while the magic of the life and death system was only superficial at that time.
Aside from Wisdom Immortal giving her a starting point, Bai Qiuran could only explore and experiment on her own to create.
After immersing himself in the magic of life and death, several years passed by unnoticed. Because Bai Qiuran busy with important matters, Jiang Lan, whose health had recovered somewhat, took over all the housework so that Bai Qiuran could devote his energy to creating magic of life and death.
On the other hand, Bai Li, with his exceptional talent, has made rapid progress in his cultivation under Bai Qiuran's tutelage over the past few years. He has not only broken through the Spirit Severing Stage, but has also mastered everything Bai Qiuran taught him. If in the past he needed to rely on sneak attacks to kill the lowest-level Heavenly Gods, now he is not afraid to face even five low-level Heavenly Gods alone.
The Monkey that cultivated with him also progressed rapidly, successfully transforming from a wild beast into Monster Race. The moment it successfully transformed, it even caused a change in the rules of heaven and Heaven and Earth, and the gathered thunderclouds almost revealed Bai Qiuran and the others' location.
Fortunately, Bai Qiuran reacted quickly and dispersed the thunderclouds, thus preventing them from being discovered by Eastern Emperor Taiyi's ministers.
Even after successfully transforming into a demon, this Monkey still prefers to maintain its beast form. When it has nothing to do, it spends all day mingling with other wild animals in the mountains. Relying on its cultivation, it seems to be the king of the mountains in the nearby area.
Bai Qiuran had seen this Monkey teaching its Cultivation Technique to other animals, but Bai Qiuran didn't pay any attention to it.
Besides Bai Li and the Monkey, Jiang Lan, a girl who practiced martial arts sporadically, finally reached the top level of the Qi Refining Stage. However, at the same time, the problem that Bai Qiuran had been worried about also appeared.
"Qiuran."
Jiang Lan called out to Bai Qiuran; she had started using this name a month after arriving in this valley to live.
"It seems I'm unable to Foundation Establishment."
"Um?"
Bai Qiuran quickly helped her sit down and then said, "Let me see how you are."
The Spiritual Sense probed into Jiang Lan's body, and the water-attribute True Qi, filled with potent poison, was slowly circulating within her, seemingly without any abnormalities.
"Try circulating your internal energy."
Bai Qiuran gave the instructions.
Jiang Lan did as instructed, and the True Qi in her body quickly began to flow according to the trajectory of the cultivation Cultivation Technique. During the flow, the saturated True Qi continued to expand, compressing the meridians in Jiang Lan's body, forcing her to expel the True Qi from her body.
Through this process, Bai Qiuran also found the crux of the problem: the reason why Jiang Lan was unable to Foundation Establishment was the same as his – the problem lay in her Qi Sea, which contained energy.
Although Jiang Lan can be considered the goddess whose appearance is most similar to that of Human Race, apart from Eastern Emperor Taiyi, the body within her and the book is ultimately different from that of Human Race.
If Bai Qiuran was unable to Foundation Establishment because his own Qi Sea was infinite and unable to compress True Qi into True Essence, then Jiang Lan's body simply lacked Qi Sea capable of containing True Qi.