Chapter 37: Faao’s Realization

The three major forces of the Xiyang Continent—Huangyuan Sect, Shixing Lake, and the Yuwen Family—all sent their representatives to get to know Zhen Nantian in advance, with the underlying intention of securing a share of the Yulin mineral deposits.
Zhen Nantian understood their motives but neither agreed nor refused outright. Instead, he invited the representatives from these three factions, along with Zhu Bao, the representative of the Zhu family, into the wooden house.
The five of them sat down. Zhu Bao glanced at the four of them with a smile and said, “I understand the purpose of your visit to the Lanlin Mountain Range. I have personally explored the Yulin mineral deposits, and there is an abundance of them. The Tongzhou Hall does not wish to keep all the benefits for itself and has already decided to share them with the various forces on Fangyang Star.”
Ye Fu, Li Fan, Yuwen Ningfei, and Zhu Bao all looked at Zhen Nantian happily.
Zhu Bao nodded and continued, “Of course, while we are willing to share the Yulin mineral deposits, it is on certain conditions. As you know, the Tongzhou Hall is a crafting sect that needs various ores, so we also need partners who can cooperate with us in the long term and supply us with ores consistently.”
Ye Fu, Li Fan, Yuwen Ningfei, and Zhu Bao realized that the Tongzhou Hall’s goal was to exchange Yulin minerals for other ores.
“Brother Zhen Nantian, our Huangyuan Sect has abundant mineral resources and extensive connections in this area. I believe we can provide most of the ores your Tongzhou Hall needs,” Ye Fu said with a faint smile.
“Brother Zhen Nantian, Shixing Lake is renowned for its rich resources. I’m sure we can supply a large amount of the ores your hall requires,” Li Fan replied with a smile as well.
“Friend Zhen Nantian, our Yuwen Family has bases on several planets and maintains relationships with various factions. Therefore, we can also supply a large quantity of the crafting ores your Tongzhou Hall needs,” Yuwen Ningfei said proudly.
Seeing the proud statements from the representatives of the three major forces of Xiyang Continent, Zhu Bao realized that his own Zhu family, with only one base on that continent, seemed rather insignificant.
However, Zhu Bao had his own advantages. After the three others finished speaking, he smiled and said, “Peak Master Zhen Nantian, both our Zhu family and the Tongzhou Hall are based on Zhu Yan Star, where we have always had a good partnership. Moreover, our Zhu family has decided to establish a branch on Fangyang Star as well, aiming to build business relationships with various forces there. I believe we can fully supply the ores your Tongzhou Hall needs in the future.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Fu, Li Fan, Yuwen Ningfei, and Zhu Bao all grew cold-faced. Zhu Bao had made it clear that the Zhu family intended to establish a foothold on the Xiyang Continent and gain influence there—plain and simple provocation. Seeing the four’s expressions, Zhen Nantian realized trouble was brewing again, so he immediately smiled and said, “Gentlemen, I’ve understood your intentions as well as the strength of the factions you represent. Since I’ve already announced in Yangguang City that we’ll decide our commercial partners on Fangyang Star in three years, the decision must be made then. Otherwise, our Tongzhou Hall will lose credibility among all the factions on Fangyang Star.” Ye Fu, Li Fan, Yuwen Ningfei, and Zhu Bao nodded in understanding, confident that they would gain benefits from the Yulin mineral deposits. They also knew they wouldn’t receive a formal reply from Tongzhou Hall right away; their purpose here was merely to show them the strength of their own factions, leaving the further decision to Tongzhou Hall. Zhen Nantian observed their expressions and gained a clear idea, then smiled and said, “Gentlemen, we’ve just established a base in the Lanlin Mountains for Tongzhou Hall, and it’s still rather simple. I won’t keep you here any longer. Let’s talk again in three years.” The four were stunned—were they being asked to leave now? Just as Ye Fu and Li Fan were about to speak, they fell silent before they could utter a word. “Brother Ye Fu, the hall master has made it clear that there must be one spot for the Huangyuan Sect.” “Brother Li Fan, the hall master has made it clear that there must be one spot for Shixing Lake.” It turned out that while sending them away, Zhen Nantian had also used his divine perception to secretly inform Ye Fu and Li Fan, reassuring them. However, Yuwen Ningfei and Zhu Bao did not receive such assurances from Zhen Nantian. Moreover, seeing that Ye Fu and Li Fan showed no signs of dissatisfaction, they didn’t dare question Zhen Nantian either and remained silent. After that, Zhen Nantian saw the four off. ※※※ Fire Venerable had been practicing in another wooden house. By the time Zhu Bao arrived, the dust formed from the Dimension Ball had left Zhu Bao’s body and flown straight into Fire Venerable’s wooden house. Inside his house, Fire Venerable had set up a spiritual barrier to block the divine perception searches of those below the level of Earth Soul Immortals, then entered the Dimension Ball. By the lake, the true forms of Qu Yi, Gold Venerable, Wood Venerable, Water Venerable, Fire Venerable, and Earth Venerable sat together, looking at each other joyfully.

“Fire Venerable, in these four years, you have alone grasped the six primal forces of fire—truly commendable,” said Qu Yi’s true form happily.
“My true self, four years ago, was already a Four-Star Soul Immortal. If I still can’t comprehend the other two primal forces after four years, I might as well end my own life,” Fire Venerable replied casually.
Hahaha.
The six souls, united as one, laughed triumphantly at the same time.
However, if anyone else were present and heard Fire Venerable’s words, they would likely be shocked to death. In the immortal realm, it could take thousands, even tens of thousands of years for someone to master just one primal force. Yet Fire Venerable had grasped two primal forces in just four years—such an aptitude was truly monstrous.
Qu Yi’s true form smiled at his five avatars and said lightly, “In the next three years, you five should take turns using the Divine Formula Cards to master at least one law, thereby raising your cultivation to that of a Lower-Level Soul Immortal.”
“Understood,” replied the Five Venerables—Gold Venerable, Wood Venerable, Water Venerable, Fire Venerable, and Earth Venerable—simultaneously.
Each of them possessed an immortal artifact at the Upper-Level Earth Soul Immortal level. With their current cultivation as Soul Immortals, they could only exert the power of Upper-Level Soul Immortals. If they managed to advance to Lower-Level Soul Immortals and then use their mid-tier immortal artifacts, they would gain strength equivalent to that of a One-Star Earth Soul Immortal.
Qu Yi was well aware that the upcoming battles would be fought between Earth Soul Immortals. If he wanted to reap benefits from them, he too must possess the strength of an Earth Soul Immortal.
Qu Yi’s true form nodded with a smile upon hearing his five avatars’ response.
※※※
The “Five Elements and Three Flowers” Divine Formula Card contained a space divided into five zones, representing the five elements. Each zone had six Enlightenment Steles.
When mastering a primal force, only one of the six Enlightenment Steles would reflect an image like a mirror, showing various effects of that primal force.
When mastering a primal law, the six steles would pair up to form three Enlightenment Steles, each with two mirror-like surfaces that could display images.
At that moment, Fire Venerable was sitting quietly by a lake inside the Dimensional Sphere. The Divine Formula Card had entered Fire Venerable’s soul space, helping him comprehend the primal laws of fire.
There were three such primal laws: the Law of Warmth, the Law of Ascension, and the Law of Explosion.
Of the three Enlightenment Steles, only one was floating at the moment, with images continuously appearing on both of its mirror surfaces.
“A piece of firestone erupts from a volcano’s crater, shattering into pieces with uneven warmth.”

“A young girl, in a springtime forest, wearing thin clothes, ran joyfully. In the blink of an eye, the entire forest became desolate—the leaves vanished, the branches were bare, and the little girl now wore a thick cotton coat.”

“In the vast starry sky, there was a beautiful planet. Suddenly, a flame ribbon spewing fire dragons drifted from the sky and enveloped this beautiful planet. The planet evaporated, melted, and condensed until it shrank to a size of just a kilometer before exploding abruptly.”

“A desert planet received sunlight year after year. Tree buds sprouted on the ground, and streams appeared in the lowlands. After many more years, with even more sunlight, the entire planet turned into a lush green world where various creatures thrived.”

……

All sorts of scenes kept appearing on both sides of the Enlightenment Stele.

The soul of the Fire Lord watched these scenes closely, extracting the essence of warmth from them, hoping to ultimately comprehend the mystery of warmth.

By the lake, the Fire Lord sat quietly.

A year passed in an instant.

The Fire Lord still sat motionless by the lake, his entire soul focused on the Enlightenment Stele. By now, hundreds of thousands of scenes had appeared on it.

Suddenly, a mighty aura emanated from the Fire Lord’s body, transforming his demeanor completely, as if he had risen straight from a hillside. Then, his eyes opened.

“Haha, the mystery of warmth—so that’s how it is,” said the Fire Lord as he stood up with a faint smile.

A small fireball appeared in the palm of his right hand, emitting a gentle glow. Suddenly, the fireball condensed into a fire sword, its terrifying aura making people’s hearts tremble with fear.

The Fire Lord had now understood the mystery of warmth.

At that moment, the true forms of Qu Yi, the Gold Lord, the Wood Lord, the Water Lord, and the Earth Lord suddenly appeared beside the Fire Lord, all laughing together.

“Fire Lord, congratulations! You’ve finally understood a mystery and become a lower-tier Human Soul Immortal,” said Qu Yi with a gentle smile.

The Gold Lord, Wood Lord, Water Lord, and Earth Lord also congratulated him.

The Fire Lord smiled and said softly, “Gold Lord, Wood Lord, Water Lord, Earth Lord, I used a Divine Formula Card for a year. You four only have two years together. But I believe that with just half a year using the Divine Formula Cards, you four can also reach the level of lower-tier Human Soul Immortals.”

During the first four years, Fire Venerable remained at Tongzhou Hall and never used any Divine Formula cards, thus not receiving any help from the Enlightenment Stele. Meanwhile, Gold Venerable, Wood Venerable, Water Venerable, and Earth Venerable took turns using the Divine Formula cards over those four years and had already achieved a deep understanding of the laws of magic. With just one opportunity, Gold Venerable, Wood Venerable, Water Venerable, and Earth Venerable could immediately break through to the rank of Lower Human Soul Immortals.