Daojun, start from Penglai foundation building

"You like that girl?"

A kind voice rang in Fang An's ears, as if a kind old man was standing beside him.

Fang An shook his head as he watched Fang Qiao'er's departing figure: "Master, Qiao'er is good, but she is more suited to other people in the village than to me."

"Ever since my master showed me the vastness of the world, I have lost all interest in romantic love; my life is dedicated solely to the Great Dao!"

As Fang An spoke, someone seemed to nod in satisfaction beside him, but Fang An knew that there was no one beside him at all.

The speaker was the immortal who saved Fang An, and also Fang An's master, whom he had never spoken of to anyone else.

That was the first time Fang An had ever seen a real immortal. Just like in the rumors, he was an immortal with a bamboo hat and hemp robe, with an air of otherworldly grace and a youthful face despite his white hair.

The immortal showed Fang An the scenery beyond the 100,000-mile-long Wild South Mountain, the stars in the sky, and even briefly took Fang An away from the Southern Illumination Realm, allowing Fang An to see the universe.

Beyond the southern mountains lies an endless plain, towering cities, mighty rivers rushing eastward, and a sky full of countless stars and countless worlds beyond the heavens and earth, more numerous than the stars themselves.
Fang An was stunned. He was a country boy who had never seen such scenery before. Looking at the magnificent world beyond the sky and the new worlds that were much larger than the Southern Realm, Fang An felt an unprecedented ambition: the myriad worlds were so vast, he wanted to see them.

Under the radiant light of countless heavens and myriad realms, amidst the boundless starry river, the immortal revealed Fang An's origins:
"My Daoist name is Tianzheng. I am the master of the Zhuo Shen Realm of the Great Thousand Worlds, holding the rank of Pure Yang. I am the Dao Lord of the Xuanmen and the ancestor of Xuanzuo, the Venerable One of all Realms!"

"Unfortunately, during my battle with my enemy, I was betrayed by my ally and ambushed by a villain, forcing me to self-destruct my soul and perish together with the enemy!"

“I should have returned to the River of Time, slumbering for countless years to await my return, but the Great Dao never ceases, and the Mandate of Heaven never ends. My supreme treasure, the Five Elements Furnace of the Primordial Era, protected a wisp of my true spirit from the River of Time that drifted to this world.”

"For five hundred years, no one has discovered my whereabouts. It just so happens that you fell off a cliff and barely awakened the treasure with your blood, allowing me to be revived."

"You and I are destined to meet."

Fang An didn't know what the Scorching God Realm was, nor did he know what the Pure Yang Dao Lord meant, but he could tell that the old man in front of him must be a powerful figure that was unimaginable to the entire Southern Zhao Realm.

That Pure Yang Dao Lord must be a hundred or a thousand times stronger than a Golden Core True Person, right?
"I am no longer the master of the great world I once was, nor do I possess a pure Yang body; only a remnant soul remains, wandering the mortal realm."

“I have no regrets about my death, but I cannot believe that my lineage has been forgotten by the world. I intend to pass on my Great Dao to you. After you cultivate, you will have no problem living freely in this Southern Illumination Realm.”

"However, do not leave the Southern Illumination Realm, do not go to the myriad realms, and do not reveal your lineage to others, otherwise, you will inevitably be targeted by those petty and heretical people."

Hearing Tianzheng Daojun's earnest words, Fang An was deeply moved and immediately bowed, saying, "Disciple greets Master!"

"Please rest assured, Master, once I have mastered my skills, I will certainly live up to your reputation and avenge you!"

Lord Tianzheng was very pleased: "Good! Then imprint your blood on the Five Elements Furnace of the Primordial World. This treasure will belong to you from now on, and my lineage will also belong to you!"

"The Daoist arts, supernatural powers, magical treasures, and my tens of thousands of years of accumulated experience are all yours. From now on, you will be the Lord of the Blazing God Realm and the new Supreme Xuanzuo!"

Since then, when Fang An climbed up from the bottom of the cliff, there was an unremarkable, rusty, and dusty stove next to him.

The master told Fang An that this was a divine object concealing its true nature. Otherwise, once this treasure revealed its divine light, it would surely attract all the cultivators in the 100,000-mile-long Ye Nan Mountain to fight for it. At that time, not only would it harm his own life, but it would also implicate the entire village.

Fang Anshen agreed. He came from a rural village and was able to endure hardship. He was not afraid of being looked down upon, so he could stay in the village and tolerate the villagers' gossip.

His master told him that those who can achieve great things must be able to endure and think things through. Only by going through all kinds of hardships can one achieve great things.

Fang An's master's words coincided with his own thoughts, so he spent his days reading and his nights cultivating in the village, while also collecting various herbs in preparation for alchemy.

Fang Qiao'er was indeed very pretty and could be called the most beautiful woman in the village, but how many villages like this were there in the vast wilderness of the south?
Beyond the mountains, on the boundless plains, among those majestic cities, how many women are a hundred or a thousand times more beautiful than Fang Qiao'er?

Fang An indeed had no intention of becoming a Daoist partner with Fang Qiao'er. This was not only because Fang An's vision had become too high, but also because Fang An understood that the Great Dao is ruthless. His master, Tianzheng Daojun, had lived for tens of thousands of years. Tens of thousands of years! Beauty turns to bones, and bones turn to ashes. This is more than just the change of the world.

Besides my master, who else can accompany me on the path of enlightenment?

Looking at the furnace in his hand and sensing the movement inside, Fang An asked, "Master, the essence of the five elements has been collected almost completely. Can I start preparing to refine the Five Elements Elixir?"

The kind and gentle voice of the Heavenly Righteous Dao Lord rang out again: "That's right, once the essence of the five elements is collected, we can refine the Five Elements Supreme Golden Pill."

"The cultivation process has nine stages, with Qi Refining as the beginning and Mahayana as the end."

"However, Mahayana is the end of the nine realms, but not the end of the Great Dao. Above the nine realms, there is still Pure Yang."

"Qi cultivation is the beginning of cultivation, but not the beginning of the Great Dao. Only the Golden Elixir can lead one to the Great Dao."

"Without the Golden Elixir, one cannot attain supernatural powers, see the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth, understand the true self of the Great Dao, or comprehend the vastness of chaos."

"This Five Elements Golden Elixir can help you directly reach the realm of a superior Golden Elixir with the essence of the five elements, granting you a lifespan of eight hundred years. Looking across the vast Wild Southern Mountains, you will be a first-rate figure!"

"Others need three to five hundred years to cultivate and achieve the Golden Core, but you only need five years!"

Five years of achievements have made the Wild South Mountain the number one in the 100,000-mile stretch!
Fang Anxin was filled with excitement: This is the benefit of having a master's lineage, this is the benefit of having good fortune and opportunities!

Master said that he was destined for great fortune and opportunity, and Fang An was confident in this. Otherwise, how could he be the only one to meet Master in five hundred years?
With great fortune and opportunity, and with the guidance of his master, the top spot in Ye Nan Mountain is within reach!
Fang An no longer looked down on the number one person in the Ten Thousand Mile Wild South Mountain. His goal was outside the mountain, the vast and boundless cultivation world, and the myriad worlds beyond the heavens and earth!
He must refine the superior-grade Golden Elixir, the beginning of the Great Dao, the Five Elements Supreme Golden Elixir!

As if sensing Fang An's firm will, Tianzheng Daojun said, "Over the years, you have hunted demonic beasts belonging to the five elements in the mountains and have gained a lot."

"Demon beasts devour precious herbs and spiritual plants, and bathe in the essence of the sun and moon. The essence of their bodies often gathers in their hearts, and the more powerful demon beasts will grow an inner core in their hearts, called the demon core."

"In the past five years, with the help of the Five Elements Furnace, how many demons have you refined?"

Fang An replied, "Master, in the past five years, with the help of the treasure, I have hunted down no less than ten great demons of the five elements and obtained ten inner cores. In addition, I have also wiped out the beast groups to which these great demons belong and captured their hearts."

As he spoke, Fang An was still a little embarrassed: "However, Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life. There are some young beasts that have just begun to cultivate Qi, and I really can't bear to kill them, so I let them go."

Upon hearing this, Tianzheng Daojun admonished, "You have done very well in this regard. It is often said that Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life, so one should not kill indiscriminately. It is also said that one should not go to extremes in everything. After all, there are fifty Great Daos and forty-nine Heavenly Evolutions, with one being omitted, in order to leave a glimmer of hope for all races and beings in the myriad realms."

“If you do everything to the extreme and become too obsessed, you will find it difficult to see the Great Dao. Hunting adult beasts is for your own Great Dao and to protect the people in the mountains, while releasing young beasts is to preserve a lineage for heaven and earth, and to ensure the natural cycle of reincarnation.”

"I am very satisfied with this."

Fang An smiled shyly, but then he asked the question that had been bothering him: "Master, there used to be many traces of immortals in the Ten Thousand Mile Wild South Mountain, why haven't we seen any trace of them in recent years?"

Tianzheng Daojun was not surprised: "You have not yet truly embarked on cultivation, so you naturally do not understand that a cultivator's entire life is dedicated to the Great Dao. Not to mention that those cultivators who are at most at the Golden Core stage cannot be considered immortals, even true immortals often have times when they go into seclusion to study the Dharma."

“There are also some Golden Core cultivators and Purple Mansion cultivators in these 100,000-mile-long Wild South Mountains. They have lifespans of several hundred years, and it is not surprising that they can go into seclusion for more than ten or even several decades at a time.”

Upon hearing this, Fang An suddenly realized what was going on, and then smiled as he looked at the furnace he was holding: "A single seclusion by an immortal is equivalent to a lifetime for a mortal. It's truly something to aspire to."

"Right now, besides the ten inner cores, there are as many as five hundred beast hearts of various kinds in this Five Elements Furnace!"

"Once I refine the Five Elements Supreme Golden Elixir, I will also be able to become an immortal with a lifespan of eight hundred years."

"At that time, it will also benefit the villagers in the surrounding area."

As he spoke, Fang An said impatiently, "Master, I'm ready to refine the pills."

Tianzheng Daojun said, "Then you should hurry up and get some sleep. Tonight, I will help you refine pills!"

Midnight, the hour of Zi (11 PM - 1 AM).

Fang An quietly left home with the stove in his arms and began climbing through the dark mountain forest. Strangely enough, he encountered no wild beasts or poisonous insects along the way, nor did he see any snakes, ants, or birds. The surroundings were completely silent, unlike the usual mountain forest.

But at this moment, Fang An's heart was burning with excitement because he was about to become an immortal, and he didn't care about any of this.

Following Tianzheng Daojun's instructions, Fang An crawled all the way to the cliff where he had fallen.

There was little vegetation beside the cliff, the moonlight was sparse and cold, and the sky was cloudless—a rare and auspicious weather.

Lord Tianzheng was also very satisfied: "At midnight, the beginning of the interaction between Yin and Yang, and the beginning of the rotation of day and night, the moon is at its zenith, and Yin energy prevails while Yang energy declines."

"The Five Elements Golden Elixir is a precious elixir of extreme yang and intensity, and it is precisely the yin of heaven and earth that is needed to neutralize its nature."

"Now, you can start refining the pills."

Fang An put down the stove. Although he was dressed in thin clothes and the night wind was chilly, Fang An felt hot all over and did not feel cold at all. He said eagerly, "Master, your disciple will obey your orders!"

Lord Tianzheng said with satisfaction, "Good!"

"Alchemy requires warming the furnace, but ordinary fire is insufficient to nourish the precious furnace; it must be tempered by the true fire of a cultivator."

"You have never embarked on the path of cultivation and do not possess true fire, so you need the blood of demonic beasts to help you ignite your life fire and forge the Great Dao Pill with your own life fire!"

"Dig a pit here, draw the formation I taught you, use the formation to lock the spiritual energy of the universe, then take out the beast heart from the furnace and use its essence and blood as firewood."

Fang An did as instructed, digging a three-foot square pit at the edge of the cliff. Then, using a knife as a pen, he drew a dense array on the four walls and bottom of the pit. Fang An had no difficulty drawing such a dense and complex array and quickly completed it.

However, this formation also requires spiritual energy to activate. Fang An had no spiritual energy, but he had obtained a lot of spirit stones when he hunted demonic beasts. He placed those spirit stones on the nodes, and the entire formation was activated instantly. A faint light continuously absorbed spiritual energy from all directions and gathered it in the pit.

Upon seeing this, Lord Tianzheng said, "Quickly take out the beast heart."

Fang An took out the beast hearts from the furnace. Strangely enough, these beast hearts were still beating, as if they were still alive. However, this was not surprising, after all, it was a pure yang treasure like the Innate Five Directions Furnace, so it was normal for it to keep the beast hearts alive.

Fang An didn't think too much. He dug open the beast hearts one by one and poured the warm blood into the pit. Streams of warm blood fell into the pit, but it never filled the three-foot-deep pit. Even after all five hundred beast hearts were dug open, there was only a thin layer of blood at the bottom of the pit.

Fang An was somewhat dissatisfied, thinking to himself that he hadn't hunted enough, but Tianzheng Daojun was extremely satisfied: "That's enough, my good disciple. Follow what I taught you, use your own life fire to ignite your essence blood and transform it into true fire!"

Fang An bit his index finger, dappled the blood onto his forehead, then closed his eyes and chanted an incantation:

"Heaven has its righteous laws; blood purification is the true path."

"Use form to supplement deficiency, and transform yin into substance."

"Humans have three souls, and fire has three mysteries."

"Borrowing from the three powers, the three radiances descend."

"When the sun, moon, and stars descend, the soul becomes dust."

"Condense the life fire, and refine the firewood!"

As Fang An chanted incantations, the blood between his brows grew even more crimson. At midnight, a cold wind suddenly rose in the mountains, and dark clouds appeared on the horizon. The wind raged, and even the moonlight seemed to have a reddish tinge. Meanwhile, three clusters of flames suddenly rose above Fang An's shoulders and head.

"Now!"

With a sharp shout from Tianzheng Daojun, Fang An pointed forward, and three clusters of flames converged into a beam of fire that fell into the pit. The thin layer of blood at the bottom of the pit suddenly rose up like hot oil, blazing fiercely.

At this moment, Fang An's aura weakened, as if he had lost a lot of his essence and blood in an instant.

However, Fang An didn't care about any of that. He stared intently at the raging flames burning in the pit. The beautiful purplish-red fire represented his hope for the Great Dao!
"Why aren't you setting up the furnace to refine the pills?!"

The voice of Tianzheng Daojun urged him on, and Fang An hurriedly put the alchemy furnace on. As the furnace gradually shed its rust under the true fire, revealing its profound and true silver-white color, and as the furnace gradually shone with five-colored light, Fang An couldn't wait to grab the beast hearts that were still beating after being dug up from the ground and throw them back into the furnace. Ignoring the stinking and slippery bloodstains on his hands, Fang An stared intently at the furnace, waiting for the five hundred beast hearts and the ten inner cores to be refined into the Five Elements Supreme Golden Pill.

Deep in the Ye Nan Mountains, Zhang Ling was still on the run.

He Mei bought him some time, but only a quarter of an hour.

Fifteen minutes later, Zhang Ling discovered that among the senior brothers and sisters who were chasing her, there was He Mei, whose body was covered in wounds.

The junior sister who was about the same age as him, who took the best care of him, helped him escape, and ultimately sacrificed herself to protect him, was also gone.

"Junior brother, come back quickly!"

"Junior brother, where are you going?"

He Mei's voice kept ringing out behind him, but Zhang Ling kept his head down and rushed forward, his mind filled with He Mei's resolute push and her words without the slightest hesitation: "Junior brother, run!"

Suddenly, He Mei stopped calling him, her voice becoming painful and distorted: "Junior brother, it hurts so much!"

Zhang Ling suddenly stopped and turned around to look. He saw He Mei with a pained expression and bloodshot eyes, reaching out to grab him with her mutilated hand. Zhang Ling was filled with grief and fear, and turned to continue running away.

Gradually, He Mei's voice, the senior brother's voice, and the voices of the other senior brothers and sisters began to ring out from behind.

"Junior brother, run!"

"Junior brother, come back quickly!"

"Junior brother, where are you going?"

"Junior brother, leave immediately!"

Run! Come back! Run! Come back! Run! Come back!

Various sounds, like the incantations of demons, kept echoing in Zhang Ling's ears. He ran for his life, running until his head was bleeding and his clothes were tattered. He ran for an unknown amount of time until midnight, when he reached the edge of a cliff.

When he suddenly stopped at the edge of the cliff, he realized that his senior brothers and sisters who had been chasing him were nowhere to be seen. Looking up, he saw dark clouds obscuring the moon, and looking around, he heard the howling of the wind, as if the cries of his senior brothers and sisters still lingered.

Zhang Ling was stunned for a moment, then slumped down. He seemed to have survived.

Meanwhile, on another cliff at the other end of the Ten Thousand Mile Wild South Mountain, Fang An gazed at the hearts being burned into essence in the Five Elements Furnace of the Innate Realm, and watched the ten golden pills gradually merging together. Suddenly, he asked with some worry, "Master, will your enemies chase us to this world?"

Tianzheng Daojun shook his head and smiled, "Disciple, don't worry. They are arrogant and self-important, each of them looking down on others. They only care about devouring the heavens and have no interest in a small world like Nanzhao."

"Even if they find this place, they won't be able to get in."

"After all, this is just a small realm. If a cultivator who has surpassed the Nascent Soul Realm forces his way in, the Southern Illumination Realm will collapse."

“Those hypocrites who claim to uphold the Way of Heaven would never do such a thing.”

Beyond the Southern Realm, the Ten Thousand Mile Cave Divine-level Dharma Ship hangs high like a great star, silently overlooking this small world where the sky is round and the earth is square.

On the Dharma boat, Jiang Sheng stood with his hands behind his back, his brows slightly furrowed.

"A Small Thousand Worlds." (End of Chapter)