Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
An ordinary small village at the foot of a green hill.
Even before the morning fog had fully parted, many farmers had already begun their journey while carrying their tools.
There were a number of small kids that were only half as tall beside them.
“Kid, pick up more firewood!”
“Remember to get more nestfuls of bird eggs for your sister…”
“My family’s third child is growing so fast, becoming so big. He’s eating so much that he’s making me poor…”
Voices rang out while smoke billowed within the small village. A few women in modest clothes carried wooden pails and began their day of hard labor.
As the sun rose from the east, it subtly carried a hint of purple air, while the purple star and the green star nearby faced each other, seeming to mutually offset each other with their glows.
Everything together formed the scene of an ordinary village that could not be any more ordinary.
They were naturally the mortals of the Spiritual Realm, the true fundamental blocks that constituted this realm.
Although they did not know what kind of horrifying existences hung over their heads, they knew a simple rule: they had to continue working hard everyday, just like today, and maintain this tireless state without pause. Otherwise, their families would starve.
However, within the Spiritual Realm, there were naturally differences compared to the lower realms.
Spiritual Energy was concentrated within the heavens and the earth, allowing various demons and beasts to run abundant. Thus, even a small village like this worshiped an Earth God to obtain blessings.
In Fang Yuan’s view, it was somewhat effective.
Although the Earth God temple inside this village was only as large as a child’s wooden doll box, there was still a lot of burning incense.
Looking with his Fiery Golden Eyes, he could instantly see traces of spreading magical strength forming a defensive barrier similar to thin fog, barely enveloping the entire village and giving the worshipers blessings.
Unfortunately… this power is still too weak, at most able to defend against a few wandering ghosts and dead spirits. When faced with slightly powerful ferocious beasts, it’s as good as paper… Perhaps, the most important function of this Earth God is acting as a warning during a night intrusion?
Fang Yuan’s gaze penetrated this Earth God’s thin magic domain, instantly seeing the tiny borders formed inside the Earth God temple.
The white-bearded Earth God elder was inhaling the intent behind the incense offerings while simultaneously operating the Deity Position to bestow protection and blessings. Everything was smooth, without the slightest similarity to a cultivator’s hardships.
Only nether spirits can enter this small magic domain. This is quite an ingenious method…
Obviously, this Earth God was only inherently a nether spirit. Compared to Xi Nation’s City God that enjoyed life like a mortal, it was a stark contrast.
Nevertheless, they did not have much disparity in their Deity Positions’ nature, both being Gods that protected an area.
And Xi Nation’s City God was just like an ant that could be easily squashed to the current Fang Yuan.
The reason why he observed this Earth God’s Deity Position in operation was naturally not because he had nothing better to do, but to personally observe a God operating to help disguise himself better.
I have the Deity Position of Lord Bright Jade. Even if I don’t use it, creating a replica with the aura is already sufficient to deceive the Heavenly Gods. However, if I truly wish to assimilate, I’m afraid I’ll actually have to refine a Deity Position…
Fang Yuan was already addicted to using trickery to obtain his goals.
Previously, he had disguised himself as only an Essence Soul Venerable, bringing about rich benefits and rewards.
This time, he was preparing to gamble big and mix his way into the Divine Dao. Naturally, it was for that purple star in the sky.
Still… this Deity Position is good to have. Once I have it, I can improve by leaps and bounds… If it was the Immortal Dao instead, where a cultivator had to temper himself into a Heaven Immortal, how many days of vitality would they need to circulate? How many tribulations would they have to overcome? If every step had to be carefully planned, it’d be too troublesome.
Although the Divine Dao had many restrictions, their key feature was rapid improvement. Some in the Immortal Dao were unhappy with this and intruded within. Thus, it could be regarded as a mixture of good and bad; even the Heavenly Court had difficulty cleaning out the unqualified Gods.
And there had to be a succession in the Immortal Dao!
Without warning, a Heaven Immortal suddenly jumped out from nowhere? Anyone would find it suspicious!
Besides, Fang Yuan did not have the cultivation techniques for higher than Earth Immortal!
If he used other secret techniques to improve his Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique, there would inevitably be traces left behind.
There was naturally nothing to fear from Heaven Immortals, but there were Golden Immortals in this realm that did not differ much from him!
Furthermore… there’s still another realm above Golden Immortal!
A gleam suddenly flickered in Fang Yuan’s gaze.
An existence on par with him would definitely see how his cultivation technique was derived, thus ostracizing him.
Instead, it was the Divine Dao that was completely reliant on the gathered intent behind incense offerings, or perhaps the integration with the massive powers of the heavens and the earth.
Even if there was a war, it was only using magical strength, and he still had some confidence in pulling the wool over their eyes
If I use a more conventional analogy, an Immortal is a western sorcerer that relies on learning and researching for their livelihood and has an inheritance bloodline. Whereas a God is a Warlock whose livelihood depends on nature with immense spontaneity, Fang Yuan silently thought.
After observing the God’s operation from the most elementary angle, he directly turned away and left.
He would definitely not place any importance on this land even if he wanted to scheme against the Gods and deify.
Inside the small village, fog and mist enveloped.
The Earth God inside the temple was still highly concentrated on his work, completely unaware that an unknown existence had already walked past him.
…
“There are multiple methods to form a God!
“First, a God can be formed from the automatic accumulation of faith through widespread belief and sacrifice.
“Second, a natural God formed from the accumulation of spirituality in nature!
“Other than that, the immortal sects and Heavenly Court can similarly confer a Deity Position. However… there’s something off with the immortal sect’s Decree, so only low-ranking positions can be conferred
“The final type is formed from fallen Immortal Cultivators or mountain spirits changing cultivation paths and making use of a God Name to accumulate faith and so on. This illegal worship is severely dealt with by the orthodox parties, as their virtue is undeserving of the position. However, there’s a chance they can become legitimate—their silver lining in the clouds.”
Fang Yuan thought further. The path that he was about to walk on was the fourth path.
Although he had already suppressed the Heavenly Edict long ago, there was Lord Bright Jade’s Deity Position and heavenly noble title. But if he relied on this to deify, he was courting death!
The incident of the Valley of Fallen Gods would immediately be brought up, and large-scale investigations would commence. He could not escape from a thorough investigation of his body and soul, and there was a large chance that he would reveal his true identity.
“This path is a dead end and I can only detour. Accumulate karma, spread my reputation, and obtain a heavenly conferment!”
What was known as heavenly conferment was the Gods in the mortal world accumulating large amounts of karma, spreading their reputation, or showcasing powerful abilities to catch the attention of the Heavenly Court to bestow them a title and increase their Deity Position.
In Fang Yuan’s view, this was just another form of the Imperial Court’s amnesty enlistment.
“There are all kinds of Gods that can come out of the woodwork! Among the unqualified Gods who do not get the attention of the Heavenly Court, many have complex origins—fallen Gods, converters from the Immortal Dao, and the mountain spirits… It’s difficult for anyone, even mighty beings, to know them all. So no matter what identity I use, I can conceal myself.”
Fang Yuan quickly decided to enter the Divine Dao and use his body to deify.
Of course, the so-called Deity Position was simply a disguise. Something that could not even match up to a layer of skin and was at most simply a piece of clothing.
What was true to his core was his cultivation as a Dream Master and his Body of Origin Power!
Fang Yuan glanced at his stats window:
“Name: Fang Yuan
Essence: ???
Qi: ???
Spirit: ???
Profession: Dream Master
Cultivation: ??? (Untitled)
Technique: Pangu Eagle Body [Strengthen Witch bloodline (1st Tier)], Creation Sword Array [Ninth Sword (100%)]
Specialization: Botany [Level Six] (Maximum), Fiery Golden Eyes [Level 3], Body of Origin Power
State: Recovery of Origin Power (80%)”
“I’ve already recovered 80% to my peak?”
Fang Yuan clenched his fist. At the moment, even barehanded, he had the confidence to whack a few Heaven Immortals to death.
Of course, the Dream Master cultivation was similar to origin power, both carrying something deeply ingrained within from the Mental Demon Realm, and should only be used as a last resort.
Furthermore, he was not even prepared to expose the five layers of the Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Technique.
‘Fang Yuan’, who had stolen and escaped with the inheritance of Lord Bright Jade in the Valley of Fallen Gods, could also be an identity for him to obtain more advantages in later battles.
“Currently, it’s best to disguise myself as a person with a thousand faces. After stripping one layer, there’s another layer. This will make sure nobody can ever reach the secrets at the core!”
Fang Yuan flicked his fingers.
In order to obtain a Deity Position, he already had a plan in mind, the key information coming from Lord Bright Jade.
This bigshot of the Heavenly Court had rich experiences throughout his life and remembered a lot of good opportunities.
Some of these opportunities had yet to arrive, while some were overly dangerous, where not even Lord Bright Jade dared to probe.
Fang Yuan reviewed it, finally finding one that was related to the Divine Dao and also recently surfaced.
…
The four-hundred-kilometer long Surging Waves River.
This was a vast and magnificent river passing through large nations like Qi, Zhu, and Feng.
These nations were each a few times larger than Xi Nation and had renowned Immortals as assistants.
In the upper reaches of the Surging Waves River, there was a section that was extremely treacherous, similar to a waterfall. The current was rapid and directly flowed downward, having the appearance of a dragon gate.
Every year, large numbers of fish would migrate here, contending against each other to get past the dragon gate and find a suitable place upstream to lay eggs and breed.
These fish tasted great and their innate nutrition were also abundant, especially the ones who emerged as the cream of the crop after passing through the dragon gate. They could even become spiritual ingredients!
This was also the origin of ‘carp leaping over the dragon gate’.
And it was once again migratory season.
Fang Yuan rode an extremely simple small boat, with only a small table with a pot of wine on it.
Casually looking around, there were glistening glows everywhere, as if there was a huge dragon hiding beneath the water surface that occasional revealed half a claw.
“To think that I was also once a carp…”
Fang Yuan held a cup, a somewhat blurry look in his eyes.
It was during the Water Realm when he had incarnated as a carp and at last changed tremendously, turning into a dragon and even intruding into the greatly important matters of the human realm.
Although he had to extract his body and retreat, he still managed to obtain many benefits nonetheless.
Any of the dream-traversing experiences in the lower realms were precious treasures in his life.
During this slight recollection, he felt that everything that had happened before immediately became more fresh and alive.
Splash!
At this moment, a carp leapt out, its body like a taut bow. With a powerful jump, it jumped toward the dragon gate and left behind a long streak of water.
Carps leaping over the dragon gate had begun!
