But the number of ordinary mortals was vast, and those with spirit roots were but a small minority. The overwhelming majority could only gaze upon the path of cultivation from afar, unable to ever reach it.
How unjust was that?
Fortunately, in those ancient times, an Immortal Venerable came to preach the Dao!
The Five Spirits Qi Sensing Method recounted how the Immortal Venerable manifested his Dharma Body, projected onto heaven and earth, to reveal a way forward for the mortals who had long sought eternal life in vain.
The Immortal Venerable declared: Why must I beg heaven if I wish to become immortal? If heaven will not give, I shall take it myself!
Submit to heaven and remain mortal. Defy heaven and become immortal!
A mere mortal, audaciously seeking eternal life, need not seek harmony between heaven and man. They need only wrest it from heaven itself!
Thus, the Immortal Venerable laid out his doctrine with absolute clarity, explaining his path to the masses.
This was the cultivation path followed by the present-day cultivation world.
The path of immortality was thus:
Draw upon the spirit of heaven and earth to harness its qi;
Borrow the Curios of heaven and earth to build a Dao Foundation;
Peer into the laws of heaven and earth to refine a Golden Core;
Seize the essence of heaven and earth to form a Nascent Soul;
Extract the marrow of heaven and earth to obtain its spirit;
Sacrifice the soul of heaven and earth to unify one’s body with the Dao;
Defy the principles of heaven and earth to attain eternal life!
...
Thud.
The Five Spirits Qi Sensing Method fell to the floor.
Li Fan’s hands trembled as he picked it up, unable to conceal the shock reverberating through his soul.
The cultivation methodology of this world was completely different from what he had imagined. One might even say it was somewhat horrifying.
No wonder he’d felt something strange about this world’s cultivators ever since encountering them.
The Heavenly Dao of this world seemed to harbor a deep malice toward those who practiced immortal techniques.
Whether it was the law that forbade multiple cultivators from practicing the same immortal technique, or the bizarre phenomenon where a cultivator’s death lit up the sky for thousands of li like some kind of broadcast, or even the eerie Immortal-Mortal Miasma within ordinary mortals—a substance extremely harmful to cultivators—all of it pointed toward one conclusion.
Now, after stepping into the world of cultivation himself, Li Fan finally understood the truth.
“Defy the principles of heaven and earth to attain eternal life,” Li Fan murmured softly, releasing a long, heavy breath.