Why Had It Only Reached the Foundation Establishment Stage?
In the Eastern Immortal Realm, in the Cangtian, within the grand palace of the Eastern Azure Emperor's Emperor City.
The Eastern Azure Emperor sat upright on his Imperial Throne, looking at the Projection before him with a somewhat gloomy expression.
The Projection before them was the scene from the day the First Immortal Emperor returned and extended an invitation to all of the Fivefold Immortal Realm. After the Live Broadcast ended, the Publicity Office of the Central Immortal Realm immediately sealed the video in Recording Stone and sold it in the major Immortal City of the Fivefold Immortal Realm.
Faced with this situation, even if the Four Immortal Emperors wanted to prohibit it, they would have no way to do so. Firstly, the First Immortal Emperor was the rightful founder and supreme ruler of the Fivefold Immortal Realm, and the Four Immortal Emperors had no right to prohibit the sale of his words.
Secondly, they underestimated the prestige of the First Immortal Emperor among the Immortal Realm. Even those Immortals who grew up in the Immortal Realm under their rule had grown up reading about the various heroic deeds of the First Immortal Emperor.
Although these Immortal Realm usually obeyed their control and oppression, the reappearance of the First Immortal Emperor at this moment was tantamount to giving them a strong and powerful support.
If they dare to issue a ban, these Immortal Realm beings, who are usually timid but now have something to rely on, will surely rise up in resistance.
Their resistance is not a problem, because the strength gap between each level in the Immortal Realm is huge. Those who can reach the Immortal Venerable level must be loyal to the Immortal Emperor. However, the military strength of the Four Directions Immortal Realm must be combined to exceed that of the Central Immortal Realm. Once a resistance occurs, the Four Immortal Emperors will inevitably have to allocate troops to suppress it.
At that time, the Central Immortal Realm will have a legitimate reason to attack, and the First Immortal Emperor and the Central Immortal Emperor will lead their armies to conquer them directly.
"His Majesty."
The Azure Emperor's most favored subordinate and his son, the Shi Immortal Venerable, walked in from outside the hall. Seeing the Azure Emperor repeatedly reviewing the Projection, he quietly reminded him, then went to his usual spot and dared not utter a sound.
Upon hearing the voice of the Shi Immortal Venerable, the Azure Emperor turned off the recording in front of him and asked, "What is it?"
"The escaped Immortal Venerable Lin has been captured."
The Shi Immortal Venerable reported in a low voice.
"Finally, some good news!"
The Azure Emperor's gaze softened, and seeing this, the Shi Immortal Venerable also breathed a sigh of relief.
Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger, and the Azure Emperor took this saying to the extreme. Even though he was the Azure Emperor's eldest son, the Shi Immortal Venerable dared not be careless in the slightest.
In the eyes of the Azure Emperor, children and partners are merely consumables.
"Your Majesty, what should we do next?"
The Shi Immortal Venerable asked in a low voice.
"The First Immortal Emperor, he said he invited us to Summit, but I'm afraid he's planning to eliminate us all during the Summit."
The Azure Emperor sneered, "I just received an official document from the Xiule Forbidden Heaven Publicity Office, stipulating that none of the Five Directions Immortal Emperor will bring a large army, only a few hundred attendants. Hmph, they really have confidence."
"Does the First Immortal Emperor intend to fight four against one with his own strength?"
The Shi Immortal Venerable shook his head and said, "Although the First Immortal Emperor's martial prowess is indeed unparalleled throughout history, His Majesty and the other three Immortal Emperor also have many hidden trump cards. His actions are somewhat arrogant. Can he really do it?"
"Of course it can be done."
The Azure Emperor readily admitted it, and at the same time opened the recording.
"Leaving aside his personal fighting ability, just look at the two people standing behind him when he's giving a speech."
He pointed to the video recording.
The Shi Immortal Venerable looked over.
"One is the Central Immortal Emperor Le Zhentian, and the other... this is... the Ghost Emperor?"
"That's right. The Ghost Emperor Underworld Ghost Realm decades ago, even when the five of us joined forces, we still suffered a slight loss against him in a battle of Spiritual Sense."
The Azure Emperor's face was gloomy.
"With him, along with the First Immortal Emperor and the Central Immortal Emperor, facing the four of us, it's a completely overwhelming situation... Speaking of which, how's the progress of the Spy I asked you to send to the Underworld Ghost Realm to investigate the Ghost Emperor's Cultivation Technique?"
"Your Majesty, we have successfully copied all the Cultivation Technique written by the Ghost Emperor after his Accession to the Throne from the Great Library of the Underworld Ghost Realm."
The Shi Immortal Venerable replied.
I trust you to handle things better.
The Azure Emperor praised her, then asked suspiciously, "But since everything went so smoothly, could there be a trap?"
"Probably not. Since taking office, the Ghost Emperor has been determined to reform, and he took the lead in contributing his Cultivation Technique, which were then placed in the Ghost Realm's library."
The Shi Immortal Venerable shook his head.
"The Ghost Emperor was superstitious about personal ability and didn't value the effects of Cultivation Technique very much. He once said that the same Cultivation Technique would produce completely different results depending on whether the strong or the weak practice it."
"What he said makes some sense."
The Azure Emperor said, "Then present the Cultivation Technique."
The Shi Immortal Venerable clapped his hands, and soon a servant presented a cartload of Cultivation Technique to the Azure Emperor. The Azure Emperor reached out and took one of the Cultivation Technique, flipped through a couple of pages, and praised, "Truly wondrous! From the Qi Refining Stage onwards, this Cultivation Technique has been so extraordinary."
He flipped through two more pages, only to find that there were no more pages. He asked in surprise, "Huh? Why does it only go up to the Foundation Establishment Stage?"
"It's not just this one; for some reason, all of the Ghost Emperor's Cultivation Technique only go up to the Foundation Establishment Stage."
When this matter was mentioned, the Shi Immortal Venerable also looked puzzled.
"With his abilities, he could have written a fantastic account of the Qi Refining Stage, and there were even instances where Qi Refinement trained according to his Cultivation Technique easily defeated Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators. But even though he wrote about Foundation Establishment in great detail, he refused to write about how to train after Foundation Establishment. When Ghost Venerable from the Ghost Realm asked him about it, he replied that it was up to one's imagination..."
The Azure Emperor, somewhat annoyed, tore the Cultivation Technique in his hand to shreds, then burned it all with a single palm Cultivation Technique, angrily saying, "This hypocrite, feigning concern by hoarding his own knowledge!"
His greatest reliance for advancing to the Immortal Emperor was the profound cultivation Cultivation Technique he obtained from Eastern Emperor Taiyi, which could accommodate and seize the characteristics of all other Cultivation Technique, just like how Eastern Emperor Taiyi seized the Divine Office and Divine Power of the disobedient Heavenly Gods under his command.
Leaving aside his sordid affair with Eastern Emperor Taiyi, after a series of scheming and intrigue, the Azure Emperor successfully perfected this Cultivation Technique, broke free from Eastern Emperor Taiyi's control, and gradually climbed to his current position.
He recklessly seized Cultivation Technique in order to rely on this characteristic to strengthen his own power, but even he could not deduce the dozen or so major realms that followed from a Cultivation Technique that only described the Qi Refining Stage and the Foundation Establishment stage.
"Forget it, once that thing is perfected, even a dozen Immortal Emperor would be dead."
The Azure Emperor thought for a moment, then suddenly calmed down. He instructed, "Go, Shiqing, feed the disobedient dog to that thing; it must be hungry."
Upon hearing the Azure Emperor's words, a hint of hidden resentment and fear flashed in the eyes of the Shi Immortal Venerable, but he lowered his head, concealing it well, and replied in a low voice, "Yes."
He turned and walked out of the main hall. Faintly, the pleas for mercy and wails of the Immortal Venerable Lin could be heard outside the hall.