Seven days later, inside Celestial Venerable Hall.
Wang Ping sat upright before the shrine, pushing his Spirit Sense to its limit. His blood surged as he stared fixedly at the Celestial Venerable statue, which showed him only its back.
Yet the result remained unchanged.
Seven days. No matter what Wang Ping did, how he circulated his Spirit Sense, or how he tried to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the statue refused to turn toward him.
"What kind of garbage Immortal Dao is this?"
At that thought, Wang Ping looked again at the jade slip in his hand. Daoist Nun You had given it to him. When he sent his Spirit Sense into it, a passage of scripture surfaced in his mind:
[Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method].
"This is a secret art of Dragon-Raising Peak, one of the Immortal Sect's eight peaks. It uses the body to raise beasts, gathers six kinds of Desire Beasts into one, and ultimately produces a Defective Spiritual Root."
"Though cultivators with Defective Spiritual Roots cannot practice [Qi Refinement] and have no hope of reaching the Great Dao, they can still cultivate spells. Quite a few Force Servitors and Dao generals in the Immortal Sect have Defective Spiritual Roots. They have little future, but they can handle odd jobs and hard labor for the real cultivators—the Immortal Sect's beasts of burden."
Wang Ping read through the jade slip carefully.
Unlike [The Heavenly Book of Self-Transformation and Dominion over the Desire Realm], [Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method] was clearly aimed at the lower end of the market. Its contents were far more detailed.
It even explained the realms of cultivation.
"What does it mean to cultivate immortality?"
"It comes down to nine words: [overcome tribulations, refine qi, cultivate the true, and ascend to immortality]."
"Those nine words were supposedly spoken by the Immortal Sect's founding patriarch, the Celestial Venerable, at the end of primordial antiquity. He saw the suffering of all living beings and left this maxim in response."
"The Celestial Venerable's words became law. With nine words, he established the laws of the world, and from then on, the Immortal Dao's system of cultivation was anchored to them."
"For a mortal to cultivate immortality, they must first overcome three tribulations: the Human Tribulation, the Heavenly Tribulation, and the Life Tribulation."
"The First Tribulation Realm concerns the Human Tribulation."
"The Human Tribulation refers to the trials of the human body. In the dust and clamor of the mortal world, blades are hard to guard against; one careless moment can bring injury and damage the body used to practice the arts."
"To reach the First Tribulation Realm, one must develop four qualities: Spirit-Communing Thought, a Perfectly Sealed True Body, Cosmic Circulation Breath Intake, and the Qi-Manifesting Technique. Only then can one refine true Dharma Power and succeed. Without Dharma Power, cultivating a spell to its highest realm is like scooping the moon from water."
Wang Ping's eyes stirred as he read this.
"No wonder..."
With his Force Servitor experience behind him, he had long since cultivated [Qi Suppression] to the level of rejoining bones and sinews, yet he had never managed to advance further.
"I thought my comprehension was just too poor."
Understanding dawned on Wang Ping, resolving a question that had long troubled him:
"Now it seems I couldn't reach the level where True Qi covers my body and makes me impervious to blades because I haven't refined Dharma Power. I simply don't meet the requirements."
In the Second Layer of Tribulation Transcendence, cultivators faced the Heavenly Tribulation.
This meant three tribulations: wind, fire, and lightning.
Once cultivators refined Dharma Power, they could master spells, use those arts to grasp their underlying principles, then use those principles to comprehend the Dao, until their spells transformed and manifested as Divine Abilities.
It was a process of refinement.
The whole process resembled forging a weapon. Bì Wind stripped impurities from a spell, Yin Fire tempered its foundations, and Heavenly Thunder tested its strength.
Once a cultivator survived the Heavenly Tribulation, their spells rose to become Divine Abilities.
As for the Life Tribulation of the Third Tribulation Realm, [Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method] said nothing. Perhaps it assumed anyone cultivating this method would never reach that level.
"Only after overcoming all three tribulations can one begin Qi Refinement."
As for Qi Refinement itself, which lay beyond Tribulation Transcendence, [Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method] offered no details, only an explanation steeped in mystery:
"The body is the dwelling of spirit and qi. Qi resides within the body, and spirit rests in the sea of qi. Thus does qi reach the realm of the divine: draw from the dark spring, sound the Heavenly Drum, and enter through the gate of heaven to fill the body within and without. Set the body ablaze until body and fire shine as one. Sustain this until form and qi unite and abide in true nature; only then may one attain the fruit by which the ancient immortals entered the Dao through Qi Refinement."
Wang Ping was utterly lost.
The method praised "Qi Refinement" to the skies and called its practitioners [Qi Refiners]. It seemed nothing like the "qi cultivation" he had imagined.
And the claim that those with Defective Spiritual Roots had no hope of reaching the Great Dao actually meant they could not practice Qi Refinement.
All these descriptions filled him with immense curiosity.
What power did Qi Refiners truly wield?
"Daoist Nun You... is she a Qi Refiner? Or is she still undergoing Tribulation Transcendence? Too bad. Without seeing a Qi Refiner's Divine Abilities for myself, it's hard to judge."
Wang Ping let his imagination roam for a while before gathering his thoughts.
"I can't set my sights too high. I should focus on [Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method]. Whatever else happens, I need to produce a Defective Spiritual Root first."
Wang Ping rose, patted down his robes, and walked out of Celestial Venerable Hall.
Daoist Nun You's temple was expansive, with pavilions and towers of every kind. Yet his quarters were not inside the temple, but outside it.
Strangely, a still larger temple surrounded it. When Wang Ping stepped out of the inner temple and looked back, he found that the enormous complex behind him was merely a gate painted on a wall in the outer temple. Only someone carrying a token could pass freely between the two.
"A whole other world hidden inside..."
Wang Ping watched the gate on the wall slowly close, changing from something real into a painting. He clicked his tongue in wonder at the heights of immortal arts.
Only then did he look around.
Unlike the inner temple, the outer temple held much less spiritual energy, scarcely more than the world of the Great Shun Celestial Dynasty. It had noticeably less of an immortal air.
The temple itself was still quite large. It seemed to stand on a mountain, and its buildings were new, apparently completed not long ago, though some showed signs of repair. Unfortunately, they appeared to be built from ordinary materials. Despite the many rooms, every one was empty. There was no one here but him.
"Sounds like my predecessor's doing."
Wang Ping recalled what Daoist Nun You had told him before entering seclusion. The previous attendant boy had apparently recruited quite a few beautiful maids to serve in the temple.
Unfortunately, he was dead.
The arrangement had been scrapped, and all the maids had been sent back to the mortal world. His belongings had been cleared away too, leaving only a few odds and ends.
"What on earth did he do to deserve such rotten luck...?"
Wang Ping shook his head, then followed the method's guidance to a corner of the temple. He pushed open a door and looked at the hulking dark shapes within.
These were the resources Daoist Nun You had said his predecessor left him.
Several strange beasts came into view: an eagle, an ape, a leopard, and even a white whale, shrunk countless times over and kept in a vat.
"So these are the Six-Desire Beasts..."
[Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method] had four stages. Each of the first three required control over two kinds of Desire Beasts. The fourth merged all six into one.
Once the six beasts were fused, joining himself to them would produce a Six-Desire Chaos Demon, which would serve as a Defective Spiritual Root.
Wang Ping swept his gaze across the beast chamber and silently took stock. "Heaven Carving, Deep Ape, Rock Serpent, Whale Swallower, Bandit Leopard, Steel Flood Dragon... Four are here. Rock Serpent and Steel Flood Dragon supposedly died when the previous attendant boy got into trouble, so I'll have to raise those two myself."
That was acceptable. At least he already had four.
The chamber also held eggs for the two missing Desire Beasts. He could use the method to spur their growth; raising replacements was only a matter of time.
"Roar!"
A roar interrupted Wang Ping's thoughts. Bandit Leopard, which had been dozing with its eyes shut, was now glaring at him like prey.
In the next instant, it was as though a frame had been snatched from the world Wang Ping saw. Bandit Leopard had been crouching before him, but in a blink it appeared right in front of him. Its maw yawned wide, sharp steel teeth carrying a stench strong enough to make him faint as it lunged for his throat!
In that flash, Wang Ping struck out with a backhanded palm.
As he struck, his bones and sinews sounded with a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry, as though a mighty bow were being drawn within him.
Bang!
His arm was the bow, his palm the arrow. It lashed out with a lightning-quick afterimage and struck Bandit Leopard's head, wrenching the fierce beast's jaws three inches off course.
"So tough..."
Wang Ping frowned, retreating as he rolled his wrist. Once again, he felt the gulf—wider than any chasm—between cultivating immortality and practicing martial arts.
"Bandit Leopard is no ordinary predator. Its body is absurdly strong. Even with Inner Force behind my blow, I only managed to knock it aside. It hasn't learned martial arts, but it clearly has other uncanny abilities—like that frame-skipping speed. It's no weaker than an Inner Force Martial Master!"
And this was just one strange beast.
In the Great Shun Court, an Inner Force Martial Master could dominate an entire county. Yet in the Immortal Sect, beasts like this were merely resources for menial disciples to cultivate with.
The thought set Wang Ping's heart pounding harder.
"I really do need to cultivate immortality!"
"So be it if I end up with a Defective Spiritual Root. First I'll find a way onto the immortal path. Even if I have no hope of reaching the Great Dao, I can worry about that when I reach the end of the road."
He looked again at the other Desire Beasts in the chamber. After Bandit Leopard had made the first move, the rest had clearly begun to stir.
But that was no great problem.
With a thought, the world before Wang Ping went still. His vision split in two: one half reality, the other an imposing book.
[Peace Scripture], activate!
Entering the [Peace Scripture] space, Wang Ping went straight to the third scroll, [A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold]. He focused his mind and began to write:
[I promise that I will cultivate "Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method" to...]
Wang Ping's hand paused. A faint light flickered across the book, and understanding suddenly came to him. "I can't go straight to completion."
"With my current talent, [A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold] has a limit of a thousand days—nearly three years."
In other words, he could use [A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold] to borrow the result of an Accomplished Deed in advance only if he could achieve it within a thousand days.
"So according to the scroll, I can't master the method within three years."
After thinking it over, Wang Ping completed his promise:
[...the second stage.]
The moment his brush stopped, dazzling light burst from the scroll. In a daze, Wang Ping seemed to see scene after scene of himself practicing.
The next instant, countless insights into [Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method] surged through his mind like floodwaters bursting a dam. As they did, his eyes gradually changed: ring after ring of eerie purple light ignited in his pupils.
"Ah, I understand!"
Back in reality, the four Desire Beasts in the chamber had already closed in around him. Wang Ping felt no fear. He merely gave them a calm look.
Purple light flashed faintly in his eyes.
All four beasts froze at once. Purple light rose in their once-savage eyes, matching his own, and they crouched low to the ground.
"Just as I thought."
Wang Ping nodded in satisfaction. Every Desire Beast was born with a flaw, and [Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method] could counter them perfectly.
But soon he lowered his eyes.
The [Peace Scripture] scroll flickered at the edge of his vision, though it had now turned gray. Clearly, he could not use it again yet.
"To use it again, I have to cultivate [Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method] to the second stage on my own. For now, I've only borrowed the method's effects and the experience of using it. I haven't actually reached that stage. But with those in hand, working backward should be much faster."
Wang Ping made a rough estimate.
"Without [A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold], it would probably take me at least a year to reach the second stage on my own."
"But now... half a month at most."
"Within half a month, I'll truly reach the second stage. Then I can take out another loan, and my cultivation speed will far outstrip anyone's imagination!"
Stepping on my left foot with my right to soar into the heavens—this is my despair-inducing, peerless talent!
Fired up, Wang Ping immediately began cultivating to repay his loan. At the same time, he raised the two missing Desire Beasts in preparation for borrowing again.
Three months later, inside the temple.
Wang Ping sat cross-legged in the beast chamber, hands forming a seal, his expression calm. The setting sun shone through the window and cast a long shadow behind him.
Then the seal formed by his hands changed.
As it changed, the shadow behind him twisted into strange shapes: now a leopard, now an ape, now an eagle with wings spread wide...
After he changed seals six times in succession, six strange beasts had appeared around him, purple rings of light revolving in each one's eyes.
"Whew..."
Only then did Wang Ping breathe out and smile with satisfaction. "Finally paid it back. All that's left is the final step: merging them into one."
Two and a half months earlier, he had borrowed again, raising [Six Desires Heaven's Free Attainment Method] to the third stage. He had spent the time since repaying that loan. Now that [A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold] was available again, he could see the door opening to a perfected fourth stage and a Defective Spiritual Root.
Who could match this cultivation speed?
At least according to the jade slip's records, not one of the method's practitioners through the generations had mastered it in three months as he was about to do.
Peerless Borrowed Talent—who else but me?
"Give me the loan!"
At Wang Ping's thought, the bottleneck that had felt as solid as bedrock, without a single weakness to exploit, broke apart. Countless insights flooded his mind.
Following them, Wang Ping changed the seal in his hands once more. His ten fingers intertwined, finally forming a seventh seal unlike any of the others.
Almost at the same moment, the six Desire Beasts surrounding him raised their heads and dissolved into shadows. The shadows began to piece themselves together: the leopard's speed, the eagle's wings, the ape's strength, the whale's breath, the flood dragon's physique, the serpent's recovery... Their many traits combined anew.
At last, a new shadow emerged.
It overlapped Wang Ping's own shadow, then slowly stepped out of the darkness and took the form of a towering giant behind him.
"Well, well..."
Wang Ping studied the giant with keen interest. "So this is the Six-Desire Chaos Demon the method describes, formed when the six Desire Beasts become one?"
It was strong. Terrifyingly strong!
It stood nearly three meters tall. Every inch of muscle seemed packed with explosive power. Its fingers were thicker than his arms, and its breathing sounded like wind and thunder.
Then Wang Ping looked down.
He stood in the light of the setting sun, yet there was no shadow beneath his feet... Or rather, his shadow had merged into the Six-Desire Chaos Demon before him.
Standing upright, casting no shadow!
"In this state, unless an attack is a spell, anything aimed at me will be transferred to the Six-Desire Chaos Demon. My real body won't be harmed."
This was the sign that he had mastered the method. Beyond that, the Six-Desire Chaos Demon could serve as a third eye, surveying everything around him.
Wang Ping closed his eyes and linked his consciousness to the Six-Desire Chaos Demon. He looked around. Though his eyes saw nothing, taking in everything beneath heaven was as effortless as studying the lines on his palm.
This was [Spirit-Communing Thought].
Satisfaction suddenly welled up in Wang Ping.
It was only one of the four qualities required for the First Tribulation Realm, a small step on the long immortal path. But for him, it was a tremendous step forward.
"In other words, from today onward, I'm an immortal cultivator."
Come to think of it, martial arts had little to recommend them. They might offer freedom and exhilaration, but a human life lasted only a few short decades. Look back, and your hair was already white.
How could that compare to living long and looking far?
Cultivating immortality was better after all!
Before you continue