[Good Job, Stay Sharp, Don't Disgrace Us]

Every profession had its specialty, and everyone learned the Way at different times. Letting professionals handle professional matters had always been Lin Xian's creed.

If it had been any other system, dissecting Spirit Summoning and Dispatching might have posed a few minor issues.

But System 10086 had nothing to worry about, because The Outcast world was its home turf.

System 10086 had originally been assigned to The Outcast. It was only because of a tiny little deviation that it had transmigrated into another "The Outcast"—"the perennial runner-up, the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body."

Analyzing a Spirit Summoning and Dispatching technique was hardly difficult.

The Qi-State Origin-Flow, one of the Eight Extraordinary Skills included in the beginner's gift pack, had deciphered the ultimate mystery—Return to Origin—from the very beginning.

"Beep, beep, beep..."

System, activate!

That ethereal, distant voice rang beside his ear. System 10086's most basic function activated, like an optical-brain supercomputer, deducing and analyzing every aspect of Spirit Summoning and Dispatching.

[1%...28%...56%...81%...99%...]

The progress bar crept forward until it finally stopped at 99%. It suddenly stalled, as if it had encountered some difficult problem and could not advance even half a step. Seeing this, Lin Xian encouraged it, "System, we crawled our way out of the Chaos Sea. Stay sharp, good job, don't disgrace us!"

The rustling sound of electric current rose and fell. System 10086 could not help complaining, "Host, be a decent person, will you? Stop slacking off so much."

From Qi-State Origin-Flow to opening the Sea of Bitterness, from breaking through to the Life Spring to Spirit Summoning and Dispatching, it had practically never seen the host do any work.

It always had the illusion that it was the host, while Lin Xian was the system.

"A gentleman is not born different; he is merely good at making use of external things."

Lin Xian silently quoted this to himself, then said calmly, "Don't fuss over such details. As long as the result is right, that is enough. Immortality does not ask after one's origins, nor does becoming an immortal ask where one came from."

"Damn it!" System 10086 could not help swearing. "You're not the one doing the work, so of course you don't care."

"System, don't be angry."

Lin Xian smiled as he painted a grand vision for it. "Don't you want to become an advanced system?"

"What does that have to do with the Eight Extraordinary Skills?" System 10086 refused to be manipulated. Even if it had a chance to advance to an advanced system, it would only be in the Shrouding the Heavens universe, within the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, in the Boundary Sea—not on this tiny Earth.

Yesterday was dead with yesterday; today was born with today. It was no longer the low-level System 10086, but the intermediate system, Niu Hulu · Check-In · 10086!

"Earth may be small, but the universe is vast and boundless."

Lin Xian smiled faintly and found an excuse to ask Feng Zhenghao for an observatory, using it as a place for secluded cultivation.

Using the instruments to observe the stars, Lin Xian pointed toward the boundless heavens and said meaningfully, "The immortals of The Outcast world are not battle immortals. They are more like immortals who unify with Heaven and Earth, touching upon a certain kind of authority."

"Using one's own small heaven and earth to influence the universe's greater heaven and earth can be called the resonance between inner and outer. This is the Inner Landscape."

"The greater universe is not limited to Earth. There are also countless stars and immeasurable rivers of stars."

"When the Inner Landscape manifests outwardly, one becomes the master of one's own small heaven and earth. This can be called a Qi Configuration."

"Twenty-Four Solar Terms Tongtian Valley is a Qi Configuration. Is this vast, boundless universe not also a Qi Configuration?"

System 10086 fell silent. According to its host Lin Xian's deductions, although the immortals of this world were weak, they could use themselves as a fulcrum to leverage the power of Earth, even the universe.

This was not a gap in energy, but the application of a certain kind of law.

"A conjecture is still only a conjecture." System 10086 retorted, "Without empirical proof, it will ultimately amount to nothing."

"No, I have evidence. Look at this." Lin Xian circulated Qi-State Origin-Flow. A speck of pure, hazy white light emerged at his fingertip as he said gravely, "When Qi-State Origin-Flow is cultivated to its deepest level and touches the origin, what it gives birth to is Innate Qi."

"Innate Qi is the foundation of cultivation for the superhumans of this world. Even innate superhumans derive their abilities from Innate Qi."

"Doesn't that have the flavor of a Mortal Body giving rise to all physiques?"

The Mortal Body was not the strongest, but it was the foundation.

What was a foundation? It was the mother body, the realm, the origin.

A Mortal Body could transform into all physiques. When Mortal Bodies combined, among countless possible combinations, they could give birth to a Primordial Chaotic Body, a Primordial First-Generation Sacred Body, or any physique whatsoever.

This was the mother of all physiques. This was the foundation.

"The Dao gave birth to One. One gave birth to Two. Two gave birth to Three. Three gave birth to all things. All things carry yin and embrace yang, blending their qi to achieve harmony."

Lin Xian drew the Primordial Qi into his Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm, repairing the cracks in the Life Wheel. A faint white light surfaced in his eyes as he softly said, "We can call this One Primordial Qi, or Longevity Immortal Essence, Primordial Essence!"

System 10086 trembled. The System Race traveled the Chaos Sea and looked down upon the myriad heavens and worlds, so it naturally knew what Primordial Essence was!

Essence qi was divided into acquired and primordial.

Acquired Essence nourished; Primordial Essence generated.

Acquired Essence Qi was the essence qi, spiritual qi, and vital qi familiar to ordinary people. It had to be refined and obtained, nourishing the spirit and sustaining life. In the end, it became one's own mana. If one's mana was vast enough, one could burn the heavens, boil the seas, seize stars, and grasp the moon.

The Outcast spacetime was a typical world where Acquired Essence Qi was scarce, which was why it only had minor spells and no great divine abilities capable of moving mountains and overturning seas.

Primordial Essence accompanied a person's birth and marked the beginning of one's personal heaven and earth. When form came into being, spirit was born; when form perished, spirit was extinguished.

Primordial Qi, Primordial Essence, and Longevity Immortal Essence were all the same thing: the One in "the Dao gave birth to One."

Primordial Essence was limited. Its initial value was one, and it was damaged throughout the passage of time and the process of continual growth. When it was completely exhausted and one returned to zero, that was the moment of death.

Some people were unwilling to wait for death and yearned for immortality. Thus, they sought immortals and asked after the Dao, using the false to cultivate the true and comprehending the fortune of Heaven and Earth. Though they did not attain immortality, their bodies and spirits were elevated, and the vessel containing Primordial Essence Qi expanded. Thus, they extended their lifespans and gained considerable power.

Such people were cultivators.

Cultivators possessed vast Primordial Essence and could live for thousands or tens of thousands of years, but it was ultimately not infinite. One day, it would be exhausted.

How to solve this problem was the path to immortality, the Longevity Method.

Lin Xian currently knew of two paths to immortality. One was the Longevity Method of the Ancient Immortal Era. When one's realm reached that of a True Immortal, the consumption of Primordial Essence became exceedingly slight. Furthermore, one could use the Longevity Substance produced by the universe to replenish those losses. With one intake and one expenditure, a perfect balance was formed.

As long as Longevity Substance remained, True Immortals would live forever, sharing the lifespan of Heaven and Earth and shining alongside the sun and moon.

One could even say that, as long as there was enough Longevity Substance, even mortals could live forever and become Immortal Citizens.

Unfortunately, that path had been severed. At the end of the Chaotic Ancient Era, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths collapsed. Though the Desolate Heaven Emperor restored the myriad Dao, Heaven's Will cut itself once more, no longer producing Longevity Substance and instead drawing it back to repair the universe's origin.

This caused the path of True Immortals in the greater universe to be cut off. Even great emperors, powerful as they were, could only live for a little over ten thousand years. Though they possessed inconceivable power, they could only die of old age.

Yet nothing was ever absolute. Beneath Heaven's Will, there was always a sliver of hope. There were peerless geniuses who struggled to survive in the age of declining Dharma, ultimately opening another Red-Dust Immortal Path.

Since the greater universe did not produce Longevity Substance, then one would produce Longevity Immortal Essence oneself, forming a small universe within the body. Once the Longevity Immortal Essence accumulated within the body reached a certain level, one could undergo transformation in old age and live a brand-new second lifetime.

By exhausting every possible method to live, transforming lifetime after lifetime, when the Longevity Substance produced within the body could completely offset the losses of time, one would become a true Red Dust Immortal.

Once one attained the rank of Red Dust Immortal, even if Heaven and Earth were destroyed, one would not perish; even if the sun and moon decayed, one would not decay.

Let alone an age of declining Dharma that produced no Longevity Substance—even in an Age of Severed Spirits, where not even Acquired Essence Qi existed, a Red Dust Immortal could still live forever.

Because he stood amid the mortal world; his very body was the Immortal Realm.

"And the foundation of all this is this." Lin Xian's voice was faint and distant. "Primordial Qi, Primordial Essence Qi, Longevity Immortal Essence."

"Now, System, tell me: is this 'One' important?"