Immortal Artifacts

Although Xiao Hua thought this, he would absolutely never do it—at least not before he had the strength to shake Yuanzi. He had done plenty of cultivating with his tail tucked between his legs back on Xiaoyu Continent.

Xiao Hua then entered the space again to examine the first-grade immortal pills recorded within the Ink Immortal Pupil. He had been full of anticipation, wanting to see what the highest-grade first-grade immortal pill truly was, but after reading it, he could not help but laugh bitterly. He nearly threw the Ink Immortal Pupil away. It recorded two kinds of first-grade immortal pills. One was called the Spirit Returning Pill. It was said that this pill had been created by an ancient great power of the Immortal Realm. Refining it required nearly a million years. Not only did one need the spirit remains of great immortal beasts from the four directions of the Immortal Realm, one also needed the origin essence of the Immortal Realm's earth, fire, water, and wind. Most difficult of all, it required three drops of blood essence from guardian divine beasts of foreign realms beyond the domain. Thus, although this pill had existed for countless hundreds of millions of years and was known to nearly all immortals, very few immortals had truly been fortunate enough to consume a complete one. And every immortal who had consumed it was now a leading figure in the Immortal Realm. Its effects were even more terrifying: consuming it could allow a mid-stage Primordial Immortal or Taiyi Immortal to climb a hundred-foot pole and rise another step, comprehending a broader Great Dao and embarking upon their own path to godhood.

The other first-grade immortal pill was called the God Attaining Pill. As its name implied, it could allow an Immortal Venerate-level Primordial Immortal to advance another step, transcend the shackles of immortal spirituality, and directly enter an entirely new realm. Legend had it that this pill was not an object of the Immortal Realm, and its specific origin could no longer be traced. Whenever the Immortal Realm faced a Great Tribulation, an immortal would occasionally obtain this pill. Whoever obtained it would invariably be one of the Immortal Realm's strongest great powers. Yet even so, it would provoke contention from all sides and bring about a calamity in the Immortal Realm. Just as the saying went: Do not speak only of men and birds dying for food; immortals and gods fighting over fate would also perish in calamity.

"Isn't this just storytelling?" Jade Tablet Xiao Hua spun the Ink Immortal Pupil around his fingers, a mocking expression appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Let alone the fact that the Immortal Realm has no path of cultivating into a god, how could a Primordial Immortal become a god through a single immortal pill? And the Immortal Realm measures time in tribulations, epochs, eras, Ji, ages, evolutions, and cycles. Who would use a million years to describe the time needed to refine a first-grade immortal pill? If it were several dozen Ji, Xiao might believe it. But one thing is certain: other than the Dust Cleansing Pill, the records in this Ink Immortal Pupil are all hearsay and cannot be taken seriously!"

Now that he understood where the Ink Immortal Pupil in Jing Sheng's possession had come from, Jade Tablet Xiao Hua could not help looking down on it. He then turned to the records concerning immortal artifacts. Immortal artifacts of the Immortal Realm were divided into three grades and one spiritual grade: low-, mid-, and high-grade immortal artifacts, along with spirit-linked immortal artifacts. The three ordinary grades all had pleasing names: Dust-Transcending, Calamity Transcending, and Eternal Tranquility.

Low-grade Dust-Transcending immortal artifacts were divided into three ranks and could be used by all immortals. Because their forging success rate was high and their materials were not especially precious, they were handy immortal artifacts for those who had first entered the Immortal Realm and become immortals. Thus it was said: One who does not dwell among mortals does not touch karmic fruit; after transcending dust, one becomes an immortal.

Mid-grade Calamity Transcending immortal artifacts were divided into four ranks. A first-rank Calamity Transcending artifact could already pierce the vault of heaven, though immortals below the Nine Palaces could not use it. A second-rank Calamity Transcending artifact first tested the firmament and could be used by those at Golden Immortal rank or above. Third- and fourth-rank Calamity Transcending artifacts differed according to the materials used in forging and the strength of immortal spiritual power they contained. However, neither could invoke the power of heavenly secrets, so all who had become immortals could use them. At the same time, because the materials used to forge third- and fourth-rank Calamity Transcending artifacts were special, they possessed indescribable effects beyond Dust-Transcending immortal artifacts. Thus, for immortals below Golden Immortal rank, possessing a Calamity Transcending artifact already gave them a forty percent chance of victory. Such immortals usually called third-rank Calamity Transcending artifacts supreme-grade immortal artifacts. Thus it was said: Who can cross the bitter calamities and tribulations? Beyond the Three Realms stands the Golden Immortal.

High-grade Eternal Tranquility immortal artifacts were divided into only two ranks. Superior-grade Eternal Tranquility knew heaven and earth, understood the mysterious and the yellow. Taiyi immortals gathered origin essence, refined the Heart God, and nurtured the Purple Mansion for ten thousand years and ten lifetimes. Such immortal artifacts not only required exceptionally special materials, but also required Taiyi Immortals or Primordial Immortals to continuously refine and nurture them for several hundred thousand years, gradually becoming one with them and awakening their spirituality. The artifact moved with the heart, and the art emerged with the artifact. Unless it was a battle of life and death, one was generally reluctant to use it.

There were also inferior-grade Eternal Tranquility artifacts, which had to be forged from heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Though they still could not distinguish heaven, earth, the mysterious, and the yellow, because such immortal artifacts also required Daluo Immortals to refine and nurture them over long periods, they already contained the ultimate principles of heaven and earth and the power of the mysterious and yellow. If the soul of a spiritual creature of heaven and earth could be drawn into them, their spirituality could be awakened and they could advance to superior-grade Eternal Tranquility. Thus it was said: With one word of Dao and virtue comes constant clarity and stillness; heaven and earth, mysterious and yellow, are true eternal tranquility.

Seeing that the records had begun using mortal-world terms such as "ten thousand years and ten lifetimes" and "several hundred thousand years," Jade Tablet Xiao Hua knew that much of it was probably fabricated. Still, he continued reading with great interest.

Spirit-linked immortal artifacts were called Qi Sources and had no divisions of rank. Their effects varied only according to the cultivation arts and refinement methods of their wielders. Only Taiyi Immortals and Immortal Venerate-level Primordial Immortals with a million years of cultivation could possess such artifacts. These immortal artifacts had already developed spiritual awareness and formed their own artifact spirits. Though they were immortal artifacts, they had surpassed ordinary Daluo Immortals. Not only could they ascend to the Nine Heavens and descend to the Nine Netherworlds, some could even transform into forms. If their master could seize the creations of heaven and earth, such immortal artifacts could advance further, forming their own world and containing laws within them, becoming gods of a realm. Such immortal artifacts were also called pseudo-divine artifacts. Thus it was said: The source and flow of the qi body were originally Dao; transforming into spirit, the Primordial Immortal would ultimately shatter immortality.

After reading these records, Jade Tablet Xiao Hua smiled and let them pass, thinking to himself, If that is so, what kind would Xiao's Five Elements Ruyi Sky-reaching Staff count as? And what grades are the Kunlun Mirror and Haotian Mirror? Oh, and Spirit Execution Yuan Guang! Forget it. I'll just treat this as common knowledge of the Immortal Realm, so that when I encounter such things later, I can casually draw upon it and avoid having others see through my identity.

As he thought this, Jade Tablet Xiao Hua's eyes suddenly lit up. He clapped his hands and said, "Interesting. This artifact-refining method that others see as chicken ribs is of great use to Xiao."

At the end of the Ink Immortal Pupil's section on immortal artifacts, there was another detailed record of an artifact-refining method. Judging by how thorough it was, Jade Tablet Xiao Hua knew that this was the true substance of all the immortal artifact records. After examining it carefully, he found it was a method of pouring metal lightning into an artifact, specifically used to cleanse the Dust Qi within all sorts of magical treasures brought from the mortal world to the Immortal Realm. The reason this metal-lightning artifact-pouring method was called chicken ribs was that Ascended Immortals could not possibly bring their handy mortal-world treasures into the Immortal Realm. And people like Chu Yu, who came to the Immortal Realm through the Side Gate, could simply use immortal crystals to buy new ones in the Immortal Realm. Even inferior Dust-Transcending immortal artifacts were more powerful than high-grade mortal-world treasures.

Of course, there were also Ascended Immortals who had refined heaven-defying treasures in the mortal world and could bring them into the Immortal Realm through lightning tribulation, just as Xiao Hua had. But the laws used to refine those treasures were mortal-world laws. Once in the Immortal Realm, they would still require many Ji and ages to transform. How could that compare to directly obtaining Calamity Transcending or Eternal Tranquility immortal artifacts?

At the thought of differing laws, Jade Tablet Xiao Hua's expression became somewhat unnatural. Looking at the more than one hundred Nascent Souls nearby, whose injuries were healing extremely slowly, he could not help cursing in a low voice, "Damn it, Xiao originally planned to refine immortal artifacts within the space and then take them out to use. But thinking about it now, that is no longer possible. In the early days in the mortal world, perhaps because the laws within the space and those of the Four Great Continents were of a lower level, things refined inside the space could still be used in the Four Great Continents. But the laws of the Immortal Realm are likely vastly different from those within the space. Xiao's Jade Tablet Dharma Body is a great power within the space, so the things it refines cannot be used outside. And the injuries these scattered Nascent Souls suffered came from the lightning tribulation outside, so they cannot heal quickly within the space. What a helpless situation, what a helpless situation..."

"But that isn't right either!" Jade Tablet Xiao Hua suddenly thought of the Immortal Grass within his space. "The Immortal Grass can likewise grow for an extremely long time, and the pills refined from it can be used outside. Why is that? Could it be... that Immortal Grass can filter away the laws contained within different Immortal Spiritual Energy? Or perhaps when Xiao ascended into the space, I also brought some of the laws from outside in with me?"

"Laws? A body of laws, Nascent Soul, Nascent Soul Body..." Jade Tablet Xiao Hua seemed to have thought of something and murmured softly. After a long while, he remained completely bewildered. However, Jade Tablet Xiao Hua knew that the more than one hundred Nascent Souls could not heal within the space, so he brought them out. He let them adapt to the Immortal Spiritual Energy of the Immortal Realm within the cave while he tidied himself up and left the cave.

Seeking basic cultivation arts at the Immortal Market and looking for Spirit Cleansing Liquid from the Feather Immortal Sect both required immortal crystals. Xiao Hua would not naively believe that the items from Chu Yu's and Jing Sheng's Hundred-Gathering Bags alone could accomplish his goals. In any case, there were still more than three hundred and sixty days before he reached the Immortal Market, and each day had so many hours. Xiao Hua felt that he should make some preparations.

Meanwhile, after Shuobing drove Yuanzi away and obtained the Beast Egg of the Toad Faced Toad, she did not feel much joy. She merely urged a silver-gray Flying Shuttle onward, released her Emanated Thought to inspect the surroundings, and absentmindedly let her thoughts run wild. There is no anomaly at all where the detection immortal artifact indicated—not even the trace of an immortal art or an immortal mark. How is this prefect supposed to investigate?

Most strange of all, the Spirit Reception Hall was actually activated, as though it had received an Ascended Immortal. The problem is that the monitoring immortal artifact of Helan Que showed no reaction whatsoever! And this Spirit Reception Hall has not been used for who knows how many years. There is not a drop of Spirit Cleansing Liquid in the reception pool. How could it receive a cultivator from the lower realm? But if someone secretly activated the reception passage, where did they get a Xingtian Immortal Artifact? I remember that the Xingtian Immortal Artifact is stored within the sect's Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. Without the sect master's decree, no one can touch it.

Then the problem returns. Without a Xingtian Immortal Artifact, if someone secretly activated the reception passage, how could I possibly have failed to notice it in Helan Que? Didn't the monitoring immortal artifact just issue a warning? Could it be related to the reception passage rather than a Forbidden Technique? That cannot be right either. The location where the monitoring immortal artifact issued its warning was not the Spirit Reception Hall!

Since I have received no news whatsoever about a Guiding Emissary coming to Yunmeng Marsh, could it be... that the Guiding Emissary who came to the Spirit Reception Hall was not from my Azure Jade Gate? That is possible. After all, Azure Jade Gate once held a nominal post long, long ago, and a Punishment Envoy from the Palace of Punishment came to Azure Jade Gate. But then again, even if a Guiding Emissary from the Palace of Punishment came, he should still have informed Azure Jade Gate. How could he disregard even the procedures established by the Heavenly Venerate Mansion?

Then... should I report this matter to the sect? If I report it, it may create discord between the sect and the Palace of Punishment, offending certain Immortal Officials. But if I do not report it, I will inevitably be charged with negligence and hand others a handle to hold against me.

There have been too many complicated affairs in Helan Que these years, and I cannot cultivate wholeheartedly. If I do not return to the sect soon, when will my realm ever break through? But the matter Master sent me to Helan Que to handle still has no lead. How could Master allow me to return?

Sigh, that thing entered my body many years ago. Other than continually absorbing my Immortal Power and blood essence, it has shown no movement. I do not know whether it is fortune or misfortune. Forget it, forget it. Life and death are decreed by fate, wealth and honor are determined by heaven. I should report the truth...

Just as she thought this, Shuobing suddenly raised her brows and shouted angrily, "Who's there?"