Preparing for the Second Life

"I hope that one day, a single diagram of mine can encompass all things in the universe."

Lin Xian murmured softly and poured everything he knew and had learned into that celestial river—from the Qi-State Origin-Flow to the application of Divine Runes, his insights into the Bronze Coffin, the Buddhist principles of the Bodhi Seed, and more. Without holding anything back, he devoured it all, trying to condense a River of Myriad Laws.

This was preparation for his future.

A Shrouding the Heavens soul, a Shrouding the Heavens man—everyone in Shrouding the Heavens was hardheaded.

The entire universe was locked in ruthless competition, all striving to become the Gu King and fight for the sole imperial throne. It was cruel beyond measure.

Either you beat someone to death, or someone beat you to death.

Fighting for the path to emperorship was not child's play. There was no next round if you lost. If you died, you were simply dead. Once defeated, it was basically impossible to rise again.

Because this was a snowballing game. One step behind meant falling behind at every step.

In the early stages, one relied on the advantages of one's physique and imperial scriptures to crush opponents of the same realm, thereby establishing an invincible Dao heart.

Afterward, one grew braver with every battle and fought more with every surge of courage. Strength brought resources, resources increased one's strength, and realm, Dao heart, resources, and combat experience formed a positive cycle.

In the end, one defeated every prodigy, stood supreme alone upon the imperial path, and attained the Dao as a Sovereign.

This was also one of the main reasons Lin Xian had chosen to slack off and lie flat. What was the use of being able to fight? To make it in this world, you needed backing—bloodline—and power—imperial scriptures.

What kind of setup did imperial sons and divine maidens have? What kind of setup did Lin Xian have? A battle at the same realm was nothing but a joke. They were not even on the same playing field.

One was a level-fifteen hero with a full six-item build, while the other was a level-fifteen hero who had just bought boots. They seemed to be at the same level, but it was really a one-sided stomp. No amount of combat skill would matter.

Since it was a stomp anyway, why struggle and strive? Thus, Lin Xian spent this life slacking off and lying flat, placing his hopes on rebuilding himself in his second life.

Once Ye Fan's Sacred Body reached completion and he had an equal platform to stand on, that would be the era when this salted fish turned things around—when he, Lin Tianjiao, would emerge into the world.

This life was mainly for witnessing: witnessing the various Dao rhythms of the myriad heavens and worlds, accumulating foundations, gathering all laws, and laying a solid base for the unification of all laws and the forging of a furnace to nurture a hundred scriptures in his second life.

When the final Divine Rune fell and the river could no longer improve in the slightest, Lin Xian did not dwell on it. He rose calmly. He had never been someone who fought over every moment. The path of cultivation was long, and there would come a day when it was fully refined.

He jumped from the second-floor window, rode a divine rainbow to a secluded hilltop, and circulated divine power to continuously temper his "artifact." A blurry Cosmic Galaxy Diagram appeared, flowing with faint silver light.

With a thought, he raised the Cosmic Galaxy Diagram and fixed it above his head. Then he recited a saint's scripture, trying to draw down the great sun's stellar power from the nine heavens.

The cosmic diagram spun rapidly and actually drew down wisps of sunlit power. It was a sacred white, dazzling like gold. Though thin, it was undeniably real.

What Lin Xian had not expected was that along with the sun's stellar power came threads of silver-white starlight, like Emperor's Nectar.

"Lunar Essence!"

Light burst from Lin Xian's eyes, turning into two streams of divine power that shot into the heavens. Vaguely, he saw another celestial body—the pockmarked moon.

That was right. The cosmology of this world was not a round heaven over a square earth, but a cosmic sea of stars.

It was not that the sun rose while the moon set. The sun and moon were both present; it was simply that the sun's radiance obscured the moon, making it seem as though the sun alone reigned supreme, when in truth the moon had always been there.

"The sun gives birth to lesser yin, lesser yin gives birth to greater yin, greater yin gives birth to lesser yang, and lesser yang gives birth to the sun."

"All things carry yin and embrace yang, blending their qi into harmony."

Holding the Cosmic Galaxy Diagram in his hands, Lin Xian fell into thought. His Dao and artifact shifted accordingly. He took the Sea of Bitterness as greater yin and the Life Wheel as the sun. The Life Spring surged from the Sea of Bitterness, yet it was also produced by the Life Wheel and in turn nourished the Life Wheel. This was lesser yang.

And the Divine Bridge, which carried the human body across the secret realm toward the other shore and into the second secret realm, possessing the force of a charge, was lesser yin.

This was his understanding of the Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm.

"Pangu gave birth to Taiji; the Two Polarities became the Four Images and vanished."

With a soft chant, the divine diagram in his hand trembled. A golden-silver immortal bridge instantly appeared beneath Lin Xian's feet. Manifested from the powers of sun and moon, it carried him back to the villa, several times faster than his previous divine rainbow.

Joy rose in his heart, and the wind seemed to spring beneath his feet. Now that he could use an artifact, he finally had a bit of an immortal's bearing.

Meanwhile, the Nadutong base that had witnessed this through a drone completely erupted.

Xu San, normally refined and easygoing, could not help swearing. "Fuck, did I transmigrate into Investiture of the Gods or Journey to the West?!"

"Third Brother, should we pull the drone back first?" Soil Monkey swallowed and cautiously suggested.

"No need." Xu San took a deep breath, waved a hand, and regained his composure. "Changing our minds now would only look worse."

"Besides, he does not care."

"He doesn't care?" Soil Monkey stared at the screen, at the figure who looked like an immortal wielding an artifact from Investiture of the Gods, and suddenly shuddered.

That was right. Why would an immortal care about the thoughts of ordinary mortals?

Whether he cared or not, he was simply there.

A golden-silver immortal bridge descended through the air. It seemed as though Buddhist chants rang out, yet they were as elusive as celestial music. Bathed in the light of sun and moon, Lin Xian slowly walked down the bridge like an immortal from legend descending into the mortal world.

All three members of Quanxing watched. Lu Liang immediately shuddered and hurried forward to greet him.

"Senior, what orders do you have?" Lu Liang lowered himself completely, showing potential worthy of Zhang Chulan. He wanted to live. Only by living could he investigate the truth behind his younger sister's death.

Put another way, he had a weakness.

"Go make money for me." Lin Xian revealed the smile of a capitalist and said warmly, "I take seventy percent, you take thirty. Any objections?"

"No." Lu Liang immediately shook his head like a rattle drum.

"Louder. I didn't hear you." Lin Xian said in dissatisfaction, "If you're unhappy, I can hand you over to the company for the bounty."

"No objections!!!" Lu Liang let out the loudest roar of his life, shaking the heavens and earth as his entire face turned red.

"Good. Very spirited." Lin Xian nodded in satisfaction, then narrowed his eyes and asked with a smile, "You don't have any objections in your heart, do you?"

"No, of course not." Lu Liang said decisively, "You are my benefactor."

"How did I become your benefactor?" Lin Xian asked teasingly.

"The grace of sparing my life is the greatest grace." Lu Liang lowered his head and smiled ingratiatingly. "There's no shame in staying alive."

"Those who adapt to the wind live the longest." Lin Xian patted Lu Liang on the shoulder and painted him a grand vision. "Study hard and work hard. I'll make you my chief military adviser."

"Understood!" Lu Liang replied loudly, secretly letting out a sigh of relief. His little life was finally safe.

After all, he was Quanxing now!

The so-called Quanxing emphasized preserving one's complete nature and true self, refusing to let external things burden one's form. It was a branch of Daoism founded by Yang Zhu, one of the Hundred Schools of Thought during the Warring States period.

It followed the principle that one would not pluck a single hair even if it benefited the world, nor take a single hair if it harmed the world.

However, that principle was far too shocking, and later generations could not understand its true meaning.

Over time, Quanxing discarded its essence and retained its dregs, becoming a thousand-year-old evil sect that harbored filth and accepted anyone.

Because Quanxing members acted as they pleased, disregarding law and morality and refusing to follow rules, they were a pack of mad dogs who would bite both good people and bad. Thus, others had no need to observe righteous rules when dealing with Quanxing.

When killing Quanxing, no one cared what methods were used. Whether it was a group beating or torture to death, no one would care. Even the Lu Family that Lu Liang belonged to could only turn a blind eye.

And that was still in a society governed by law. In the chaotic era of the last century, Quanxing demons were people everyone had the right to kill.