Visiting an Old Friend, Discussing Cultivation on Three Immortals Island

Li Yu had only just revealed himself when Golden Spirit Holy Mother and Yunxiao noticed his presence.

"Who is there?" Golden Spirit Holy Mother stepped forward, asking with slight wariness.

"Senior Sister, this is the Human Sect's deputy sect leader. By seniority, we should address him as Martial Uncle."

Yunxiao naturally knew Li Yu, but Golden Spirit Holy Mother had spoken first, leaving her no time to introduce him.

The title of deputy sect leader of the Human Sect had long spread through both the Chan Sect and Truncated Teaching. However, Li Yu rarely set foot in either sect, so few of their younger disciples knew him.

After hearing Yunxiao's introduction, Golden Spirit Holy Mother hurriedly offered her respects. "Truncated Teaching disciple Golden Spirit greets Martial Uncle Li! Please do not take offense at this disciple's earlier rudeness."

"Worthy of being foremost among the female immortals of the Truncated Teaching—so blessed by heaven and earth, so elegant and refined. Fellow Daoist Tongtian truly accepted an excellent disciple," Li Yu said with a smile.

"Yunxiao greets Martial Uncle!"

"Though you call me Martial Uncle, it is merely a form of address. There is no need to take it so seriously. Let us still associate as equals."

"This..."

Golden Spirit Holy Mother seemed somewhat hesitant, feeling that it was slightly improper. Yunxiao, however, took her hand and smilingly accompanied Li Yu into Three Immortals Island.

"Senior Sister, do not overthink it. This Martial Uncle Li is different from our Second Martial Uncle's side. His temperament is far more easygoing, and he does not care about such empty formalities. Your junior sister has known him for a long time. Naturally, we must be solemn before outsiders, but in private, we can be more casual and treat one another with the courtesy of equals," Yunxiao secretly transmitted to Golden Spirit Holy Mother.

Golden Spirit Holy Mother came to a realization and nodded to Yunxiao.

The moment they entered Three Immortals Island, Qiongxiao and Bixiao came forward to greet them. "Martial Uncle, you busy man, you have finally come! Every time us sisters went looking for you, we could only see that little turtle, never a trace of you."

With such an attitude, Qiongxiao and Bixiao clearly did not regard Li Yu as some lofty elder, but as a fellow Daoist of their own generation.

"The Witch-Demon Calamity had been underway before this, and the Human Sect had many matters to deal with. Naturally, I could not find any leisure."

As they chatted, everyone took their seats in a pavilion. Enlivened grass and tree spirits from the island brought over prepared immortal fruits and rare delicacies.

"Then, Martial Uncle, have you finished handling the Human Sect's affairs this time?"

"Sect affairs can never truly be finished; there are only matters of greater or lesser urgency. Now that the Primordial World has only just settled after the calamity, there is nothing major to attend to, so I came out for a walk," Li Yu said.

"Then can Martial Uncle tell us about the war between the Shamans and Demons? I heard it was terribly fierce, and that even the Demon Emperor and the Ancestral Shamans died." Bixiao was the youngest and the most curious, greatly interested in such matters.

Li Yu took a bite of fruit, then slowly began recounting the events, describing the scenes of that time in detail.

After he finished, Bixiao repeatedly called it thrilling. Golden Spirit Holy Mother, however, sighed from the side. "I wonder when we will ever attain such cultivation."

"In the battle between the Shamans and Demons, more than ten cultivators at the Quasi-Saint level perished. Golden Immortals and Celestial Immortals died in droves. The burden upon the heavens and earth of the Primordial World will lessen considerably. For cultivators like you at the Golden Immortal Realm, there is still great hope of advancing further. The Quasi-Saint realm is within reach!"

The moment Li Yu finished speaking, Bixiao said, "Martial Uncle, Senior Sister and my sister are already Primordial Unity Golden Immortals."

"Primordial Unity Golden Immortals?" Li Yu was somewhat confused.

Golden Spirit Holy Mother explained, "This was a realm division established by my master during one of his lectures. Originally, after the Golden Immortal Realm came the Quasi-Saint realm, but my master said that as the Heavenly Dao's workings became ever more complete, after the Golden Immortal Realm should come the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm, then the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm, and only after that the Quasi-Saint realm. This would restrain the number of Quasi-Saints in the world and lighten the burden on heaven and earth."

Only then did Li Yu understand the reason. He could not help but laugh. "This makes the path of cultivation far clearer than it was in our era. When I first descended into the world, the dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans were still contending for supremacy over the Primordial World. The Dao Ancestor had yet to spread the Dao through the Primordial World. Cultivation in our generation either relied on bloodlines,

or on methods contained within spiritual treasures. Some of our peers even created their own methods, crossing the river by feeling for stones. The division of realms was extremely crude." Bixiao said from the side, "Fortunately, we are all disciples under a Saint. Even if we cannot attain Quasi-Sainthood in the future, we can still aspire to become Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals."

"You!"

Yunxiao tapped Bixiao with a finger. "You truly have no ambition!"

"Martial Uncle Li, you once listened to the Dao with my master in Purple Cloud Palace, and your cultivation is unfathomably profound. Could you tell us whether the Quasi-Saint realm truly cannot be attained in the future?"

Hearing Golden Spirit Holy Mother's question, Li Yu said, "Not necessarily. Other than the positions of Saints, which are ordained by fate and cannot increase, there is no fixed number for cultivators in the other realms. However, the deeper one's Dao practice, the fewer cultivators there are. That principle is true."

Li Yu's words left everyone deep in thought.

The four before him were all figures of the future Investiture of the Gods Calamity. If destiny did not change, all four would surely end up on the Investiture List, incorporated into the Heavenly Court's system.

In the Investiture of the Gods, the Chan Sect disciples were known as the Twelve Golden Immortals, yet none were called Quasi-Saints. By that reasoning, none of the Chan Sect's disciples could attain the position of Quasi-Saint.

Though the Truncated Teaching was said to have ten thousand immortals coming to court, and its numbers were great, their quality was uneven. Only the Four Great Disciples, the Seven Attendant Immortals, and the Eight Great Outer Disciples were somewhat better, but they were likely comparable to the Chan Sect's Twelve Golden Immortals. By that calculation, there should not be any Quasi-Saints among them either.

However, Li Yu thought of one person who might be an exception: Duobao, the Truncated Teaching's eldest senior brother. Since Taiqing Saint had selected him and sent him into the Western Religion, perhaps he would attain the Quasi-Saint realm in the future.

"Do not let yourselves be troubled by too many distracting thoughts. They will only hinder your cultivation. So long as you proceed steadily, step by step, the day will eventually come when the melon ripens and falls from its vine, when water flows and a channel forms," Li Yu said, seeing that all of them seemed more or less affected.

They were, at the very least, Golden Immortal Realm cultivators. The firmness of their Dao hearts went without saying. After just a few words from Li Yu, they swept the haze from their Dao hearts clean away.

Afterward, Li Yu told the Three Xiao Sisters that he had refined his Daoist grounds into a grotto-heaven treasure and carried it with him.

"Then in the future, would us sisters not even know where to find Martial Uncle?" Qiongxiao asked in confusion.

"Not quite. I already have a destination in mind, and when the time comes, I will inform you three fellow Daoists."

Li Yu had actually long decided where he would go in the future. Since the Dao Ancestor wished to establish the Heavenly Court, he would lend it a helping hand.

The Heavenly Court was also an important force in the Investiture of the Gods Calamity. If he could make arrangements there in advance, then when the matter of the Investiture of the Gods came, there should be room to maneuver and allow a few more cultivators to enter the list in the flesh.

Once one's Primordial Spirit entered the Investiture List, seven or eight parts of one's cultivation would be gone. Even upon reaching the Heavenly Court, one would merely fill a vacant post.

Furthermore, the Western Religion had seized far too many benefits during the Investiture of the Gods. Li Yu felt that those benefits should belong to the Heavenly Court instead. The Investiture of the Gods was a matter between the great Eastern Saint sects and immortal cultivators, yet the Western Religion had come to fish in troubled waters and pluck peaches along the way. That would not do!