After the artisans' repairs, the Eight Directions Illumination Tower looked brand-new.
On the top-floor Star-Watching Observatory, Lu Wuzhen wore his Black-and-White Daoist Robe and held a white orb of light in one hand, like a bright moon resting on his palm. He radiated something of a deity's majesty:
"The Five Directions' Divine Gifts are all but impossible to obtain. There are countless cultivators under heaven, but only fifteen people obtain them in each sixty-year cycle. Spiritual energy is scarce in this world now, so we can only nourish our root bones with divine gifts. To enter the Sixth Realm, you need at least two or three. To Found a Sect and Become a Patriarch, Five Qi Returning to the Origin is the bare minimum. Now that the Imperial Court has bestowed this on you, frankly, even I am filled with envy."
Xie Jinhuan wore a white robe. The roguish air of the "Danyang Little Silver Dragon" had vanished from his features, and he merely replied with a smile:
"I see you've already obtained three opportunities, Senior Lu. With this one too, wouldn't you be just one step away from Found a Sect and Become a Patriarch?"
Lu Wuzhen shook his head. "It isn't that simple. There are differences in strength even within the Sixth Realm. Miscellaneous-school cultivators are the weakest. They've scraped together an opportunity or two from here and there. Their cultivation is advanced, but it's difficult to form a coherent system. In the middle are people like Monk Wuxin and me. Through the legacies of Purple Sun True Person and Bodhisattva Yunian, we obtained pure yang or pure yin.
"The strongest have Five Qi Returning to the Origin, with yin and yang united as one. They're already flawless, but that only means their bodies have reached perfection. They