This Is a Joke!

Li Ziye and Xiang Qi spent the journey explaining basic immortal cultivation knowledge to Wang Qi. Before long, they arrived at Dabai Village.

Then, Li Ziye transmitted his voice throughout Dabai Village, announcing that the Immortal Alliance was apprehending a rebel, and that they were ordered to guard Dabai Village to prevent the Demon from counter-attacking. Although Wang Qi jokingly accused them of bragging, this explanation greatly reassured the villagers.

To further appease the villagers, the two also took Wang Qi on a symbolic tour of Unforgiving Taoist's residence. Since Unforgiving Taoist had been wanted by the Immortal Alliance for a long time, he had developed the habit of carrying everything with him. Aside from a stack of incomprehensible manuscripts, the raid yielded nothing.

Under Li Ziye's guidance, Wang Qi began his cultivation of the Modern Path.

The realm divisions of the Modern Path differ greatly from the Ancient Path. Firstly, the Modern Path divides realms into four major stages: Nurturing Life, Human World, Grandmaster, and Free and Unfettered Journey.

The first major stage, Nurturing Life, does not involve cultivating Spiritual Power or practicing Magical Power, but rather enhances lifespan, hence the name.

Nurturing Life is further divided into three realms: Nurturing the Heart, Learning, and Reaching the Heavens. The Nurturing the Heart realm strengthens the soul and enhances consciousness, laying the foundation for perceiving the breathing of heaven and earth. The Learning realm involves extensive study and understanding of previous generations' summaries of the laws of the Heavenly Dao, preparing for integration with the breathing of heaven and earth. The Reaching the Heavens realm is where one formally connects with the breathing of heaven and earth.

Since the cultivation of these three stages can be carried out simultaneously, some people refer to them collectively as "Reaching the Heavens." The three realms of Nurturing Life correspond precisely to the Opening Light, Rotary Illumination, and Grain Abstinence stages of the Ancient Path.

The Human World is also divided into three realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation. This stage has the least difference compared to the Ancient Path. In the Qi Refining stage, one uses the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to refine Magical Power. The Foundation Establishment Realm uses Magical Power to forge a foundation for cultivation. The Core Formation stage condenses an inner core on top of this foundation.

The Grandmaster stage also has three realms: Primordial Spirit, Void Refining, and Nirvana. At this stage, the differences between the Modern Path and the Ancient Path become very apparent.

After the Core Formation stage in the Ancient Path, a new embryonic form of the Dharma body is nurtured within the Golden Core, known as the Nascent Soul. When the core shatters and the infant is formed, it signifies the Nascent Soul Realm. After the Nascent Soul Realm, cultivators continuously merge their Primordial Spirit with their Nascent Soul, allowing for Dividing the Spirit and astral projection, which has infinite applications. This is the Dividing the Spirit stage. The Body Integration Realm involves merging the Nascent Soul of the Mahayana stage with the physical body, forging an supreme Dharma body.

After Core Formation in the Modern Path, the Primordial Spirit is constructed with the Golden Core as the center, using one's own foundation as a basis. The soul is built into a "small world" that operates according to the laws of the Heavenly Dao. This is known as Primordial Spirit.

When the small world within the Primordial Spirit becomes sufficiently similar to the greater world, one can cease relying on the breathing of heaven and earth and directly refine Magical Power from the void outside the heavens, making it inexhaustible. This is Void Refining.

Finally, the small world drives the continuous sublimation of the physical body, which is Nirvana.

The Free and Unfettered Journey has only one realm, the Free and Unfettered realm, which corresponds to the Mahayana stage of the Ancient Path. As for the cultivation methods and benefits of this realm, Li Ziye and Xiang Qi are also unaware.

After Li Ziye finished explaining, he gave Wang Qi a small book box, not much larger than Wang Qi's handbag from his previous life. However, Li Ziye said it contained at least a hundred basic textbooks. These textbooks were not only related to Learning stage cultivation but were also part of the unified entrance examination.

Wang Qi suddenly felt like a freshman receiving textbooks.

After handing the book box to Wang Qi, Li Ziye pondered for a moment and added, "The cultivation of the Learning and Reaching the Heavens stages is the most indicative of a person's talent. Those with mediocre aptitude can achieve it in four years. If one breaks through Learning in a year, they can be considered a genius. Beyond four years, achieving Foundation Establishment is almost hopeless—of course, there are no absolutes. I heard that there is a Primordial Spirit Grandmaster named Su at Burning Sky Manor who broke through Reaching the Heavens in five years. He is a prime example of late blooming."

Wang Qi nodded and summarized, "This inspiring story tells us not to give up because of a small setback..."

Li Ziye smiled, "It's good that you understand. Because the cultivation of the Ancient Path's spiritual body and the Modern Path's Reaching the Heavens conflict greatly, I am unsure how deeply the Ancient Path's influence on you will be. Familiarize yourself with these books first, and I will lecture you again this afternoon. Pay special attention to Breaking Profound Chapter and The Logic of the Great Dao. The former is a mandatory text for Reaching the Heavens in the Modern Path. The latter, though more profound, is a concise explanation of great principles, containing many of the essences of the Modern Path."

Wang Qi nodded. Just as he was about to leave, Li Ziye called him back, "Oh, right. I will seal the Magical Power within your body. After the Qi Refining stage of the Ancient Path, the flow of Magical Power within your body will disturb the flow of spiritual energy outside your body, which is detrimental to sensing the breathing of heaven and earth. I believe it's necessary to completely seal your Magical Power. This process is essential for transitioning from the Ancient Path to the Modern Path, so please don't mind."

At noon, Li Ziye sat cross-legged on an old tree in the Wang family courtyard, letting the slightly warm sunlight of late spring shine on him.

Li Ziye loved basking in the sun. When he was cultivating at Myriad Dharma Sect, if he couldn't solve a calculation problem or was annoyed by extensive repetitive calculations, he would come out to sunbathe.

His fellow disciples even teased him, saying that he would surely marry a female disciple from Guanghua Hall who would create sunlight for him, even assisting him during intimate moments.

Li Ziye was a good-natured person and would just laugh off such jokes.

At this moment, his mind was not occupied by profound calculations like "Xi's Twenty-Three Calculations," but rather by recalling how his lecturer had taught him introductory knowledge back then.

He quite admired Wang Qi. This child did not possess the extreme desire for power that ordinary people had; instead, he treated cultivation itself as a pure pastime. For the Modern Path, this was undoubtedly a good seedling.

"Senior Brother Li!"

At this moment, Xiang Qi's call interrupted his thoughts.

Li Ziye looked down and saw Xiang Qi using Magical Power to carry a large pile of food.

Li Ziye shook his head, "Junior Sister Xiang Qi, how much money did you bring?"

Xiang Qi was stunned, "Ah?"

"You're not going to force food from people, are you?"

Xiang Qi then realized, "These were all pressed upon me by the villagers outside."

Li Ziye looked at the food floating around Xiang Qi with confusion. The shredded potatoes in the sweet and sour shredded potatoes were finely cut, not quite up to a restaurant chef's standard, but better than home cooking. The green beans and eggplant were stir-fried, and the sliced pork and steamed pork were made from the finest tenderloin and streaky pork. Not to mention the chicken and duck soup.

"Has the standard of living in the mortal world improved to this level?"

Li Ziye was somewhat bewildered. The numbers of Dabai Village's population, land, surrounding vegetation, and so on flashed through his mind. With Dabai Village's financial capacity, this meal was likely something only enjoyed during the New Year.

Xiang Qi smiled, "They say there's an immortal in the village, so they want to celebrate and soak up some immortal energy—Hey, Senior Brother Li, should we soak up some of that 'immortal energy' too?"

These villagers were quite endearing.

Li Ziye smiled and did not refuse. He jumped down from the tree and picked up a piece of fried meat from the pile of food in front of Xiang Qi. "It's quite crispy—I haven't had this kind of rustic cooking in a long time."

"Right, right," Xiang Qi happily placed the food on a stone table in the courtyard. Li Ziye found a pair of bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen. The two sat opposite each other, enjoying the dishes on the table.

"What is that fellow Wang Qi doing?"

Xiang Qi suddenly asked.

Li Ziye casually replied, "He's locked himself in his room studying. Speaking of which, I thought you quite disliked him."

Xiang Qi snorted, "Who isn't he, if he cultivates the Ancient Path? Cultivating the Ancient Path ultimately harms oneself and others. However, he himself is quite interesting, despite his glib tongue."

Li Ziye hummed and changed the subject, "With this matter concluded, Junior Sister Xiang Qi, your sect trial should be considered successfully completed, right?"

Xiang Qi nodded, "I served as a protector for a year and completed a rather diverse mission, so it counts as a success."

"What are your plans for the next step?"

"My merit points are sufficient to exchange for materials to forge the first few swords of the fourth cycle of the Heavenly Order Sword Disc. I want to try and achieve the fourth cycle while in the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"Excellent ambition!" Li Ziye slapped his palm in praise. "Normally, cultivators from Burning Gold Valley who refine the Heavenly Order Sword Disc start with the easiest techniques. Your approach is almost comparable to the Tianxu Jianzun Meng Jiefu of yesteryear!"

Xiang Qi shook her head. "How could I possibly compare to Jianzun Meng's achievements? I can't even imagine producing a hundred and eighteen Heavenly Order Sword Discs simultaneously. Furthermore, it's widely rumored in Burning Gold Valley that the Sword Master has already begun to forge the theoretically impossible 'Eighth Cycle'!"

Li Ziye sighed. "Senior Spiritual Power's understanding is indeed far beyond what we can fathom! But this also shows that Junior Sister Xiang's future is limitless."

With that, Li Ziye poured a cup of rice wine, brewed by the villagers, and said, "A cup of this humble wine to help Junior Sister achieve a thousand miles of progress in her cultivation."

"That's still no match for Senior Brother Li," Xiang Qi said earnestly. "Senior Brother Li is a genius disciple of Myriad Dharma Sect. Before even reaching Golden Core, he had already grasped one of the Xi's Twenty-Three Calculations. Upon entering Golden Core..." Xiang Qi paused here, glancing at the sword box behind Li Ziye, a hint of envy in her eyes, and continued, "...upon entering Golden Core, he passed the 'Heavenly Sword Questioning Heart'. When Senior Brother Li broke through Reaching the Heavens in half a year, who in the world didn't say his future was limitless?"

Suddenly, a faint fluctuation of Magical Power appeared in the courtyard.

Li Ziye's face lit up with joy. "This is... breaking through Reaching the Heavens..."

Xiang Qi's tone was uncertain. "Reaching the Heavens?"

Li Ziye nodded. "It's..."

Suddenly, his smile froze.

There were only three cultivators here, and only one of them had not yet broken through Reaching the Heavens.

Crack!

The stone stool beneath Xiang Qi shattered with a crisp sound.

Crack!

Li Ziye unconsciously snapped the chopsticks in his hand.

Crack, crack, crack!

Cracks began to appear in the stones and floor around them. This was the result of a cultivator's mind being greatly shaken, causing uncontrollable Magical Power leakage!

"Who was the fastest to break through in history..." Xiang Qi suddenly felt she was struggling to speak.

"Lord of Yuanli, half a month to break Reaching the Heavens," Li Ziye said, almost in a daze. "Taiyi Tianzun, Unforgiving Taoist were similar... Wave Heavenly Monarch..."

The names of peerless geniuses who had left their mark on the history of modern cultivation flashed through Li Ziye's mind, but no matter who they were, they seemed inadequate compared to Wang Qi!

The difficulty in breaking through Reaching the Heavens lay in integrating with the breath of heaven and earth. This required a general understanding of the fundamental laws governing the universe – that is, the Heavenly Dao – and the formation of a basic concept of 'Dao' in one's heart. This, in turn, required learning the 'Dao' summarized by numerous wise individuals. This process was a long-term accumulation; breaking through Reaching the Heavens in a year was already the standard for inner disciples of major sects. And among the most talented great cultivators who had recently inquired about Free and Unfettered, even they needed over a month!

Wang Qi had first encountered modern cultivation this morning. From receiving the book from Li Ziye until now, at most, only enough time had passed to eat a meal.

Breaking through Reaching the Heavens in the time it takes to eat a meal? This was no longer a legend. This, this... this was simply a joke!