Cultivation begins with separation.

Chapter 421 Power
Yi Dong returned to the place he had been a hundred years ago. While the rest of the planet had changed considerably in the past century, the palace where Yi Dong lived remained exactly the same.

Over the past century, Yi Dong feels like he has simply moved to a different place to live.

He did not participate in a single battle during the century-long war of gods; the battles were fought entirely by puppets and the True Spirit Longsword.

However, the gains were considerable.

A shadow appeared in Yi Dong's hand. This shadow represented the power of calamity, equivalent to the Earth Book of the Great Thousand Stars. It could control star systems, but had many more functions than the Earth Book.

One of its functions is to use it to invoke the power of calamity, just as it invokes the great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

"Can I advance to the Earth Immortal realm now?"

I didn't have this feeling on the battlefield of gods, but after coming out, this shadow authority gives me the feeling that I can be promoted at any time.

After the promotion, the power of calamity becomes stronger. Yi Dong can use the power of calamity to cultivate and fight, and even create treasures, techniques, and divine abilities through the power of calamity.

Unfortunately, Yi Dong will not allow the power of calamity to advance, because after it is advanced, the battlefield of the gods will mainly consist of those who have returned to the Void, with only occasional battlefields for True Immortals.

After retracting the power of calamity, Yi Dong felt that the magical power within his magical space had inexplicably increased.

For the past century, he had not cultivated his magical power and had spent most of his time studying spells. However, his magical power still increased. This must be one of the benefits he gained after the God War. He didn't know how to resist this unexpected benefit, which made him look unpleasant.

The research on magic over the past century has not been very successful. Simply put, without advancing to the Golden Core stage of the Great Dao, and without the corresponding Golden Core structure, many spells cannot be constructed.

In fact, many spells in the Azure Emperor's legacy require the use of Golden Core formations.

Yi Dong's abyss foundation is unstable, making it impossible to experiment with various complex Golden Core structures within it.

The first layer of the abyss is stable, but the black birdmen there are too intelligent, so Yi Dong is not comfortable building the Golden Core structure there.

Advanced spells usually require repeated experimentation before they can be applied, mainly to prevent the spells from having any side effects.

Now that he even refines his own elixirs, how could he possibly believe in magic techniques developed by others?

Similarly, even though Yi Dong obtained the Qingdi's inheritance, he didn't completely trust it; he had to study the spells repeatedly before practicing them.

As for the supernatural powers of the Azure Emperors throughout history, they can only be used as a reference and must never be cultivated, because many of the Azure Emperors' innate supernatural powers are closely related to their lives. If one were to cultivate a certain supernatural power and resurrect a deceased Azure Emperor from it, it would be troublesome.

Modern practitioners differ from ancient practitioners; modern practitioners have long lifespans and have a shallow understanding of the importance of lineage.

Many of the current traditions of cultivation are experimental in nature.

The same applies to the lineage of the Azure Emperor.

It is precisely because of this that Yi Dong, having obtained the inheritance of the Azure Emperor, could not replicate the path of any Azure Emperor in history and instantly become stronger.

It's not just about cultivation techniques and supernatural abilities; even the technology of various psionic buildings needs to be studied.

Yi Dong knew of a case from the Qing Emperor's inheritance: in the ancient immortal kingdom, a Nascent Soul cultivator had developed a Golden Core building called Sword Casting City, which became widely known.

Sword Forging City is said to be able to spend ten thousand years forging innate spiritual swords. Combined with the Golden Core buildings centered around Sword Forging City, they can unleash combat power comparable to a Great Dao Nascent Soul cultivator for a certain period of time.

This has led to many Golden Core cultivators within the Ancient Immortal Realm constructing Sword Nourishing Cities.

Then, one day, the Great Dao Nascent Soul cultivator who had scattered throughout the Sword Forging City used a move called "Ten Thousand Swords Return to One" to summon back all the spiritual swords forged by Great Dao Golden Core cultivators in the Sword Forging City across several immortal kingdoms.

Later, cultivators discovered that although the Sword Forging City seemed to be without problems as a whole, the spirit swords it forged were actually child swords within a mother-child sword system, and were affected by the mother sword.

Such acts of doing favors for others were commonplace in the ancient immortal kingdom.

During these hundred years, Yi Dong studied magic mainly to deal with the Yuanshi Taoism after leaving the battlefield of the gods, but he gained very little.

After returning to the cultivation room, Yi Dong showed a hint of helplessness on his face.

"It seems he doesn't have any talent in magical research."

His cultivation was usually unhurried and leisurely, and he didn't care much about magic or supernatural powers in the past.

But now, he feels an urgency.

All of this is because he cannot control the Causal Puppet, the Great Awakening Puppet, and the True Spirit Longsword.

If he were a Nascent Soul cultivator, he would undoubtedly use various methods to refine the intelligence of the two puppets and the True Spirit Sword, then mold them into something under his control, and lead him away from the calamity.

Here, although there are countless opportunities and abundant resources, it might take Yi Dong 30,000 years to become a Great Dao Golden Core cultivator in the outside world, but here, if all goes well, 10,000 years will be enough.

Moreover, the Great Dao Golden Core condensed in this calamity will be of much better quality than those in the outside world, because there are many high-end resources here that can only be found occasionally in the void outside, and are difficult to find in the spirit world.

The spiritual energy and spiritual objects in the general spirit realm can sustain three to five thousand beings at the Void Returning or Dao Integration stages. However, in this Great Thousand Calamity, in addition to the human and demon races, there are many other intelligent races that survive. All races combined support more than a trillion True Immortal-level beings. This shows just how abundant the resources are in this Great Thousand Calamity.

Through soul searching, Yi Dong learned that the calamity was extremely large, reportedly having already devoured no fewer than a hundred spirit realms, not to mention countless other mortal realms and ordinary stars. To this day, the calamity continues to devour the void and grow larger.

There are even rumors that, not counting the folded space, the main space alone is currently about one-tenth the size of the Immortal Realm.

Of course, Yi Dong did not believe this claim.

Humans are merely a small race in the Immortal Realm, even smaller than a colony of ants on a life-bearing planet. How could such a weak race possibly know the vastness of the Immortal Realm?

However, the fact that such a rumor has spread shows that this calamity is indeed quite severe.

However, Yi Dong did not want to condense any high-quality Great Dao Golden Core, because competing for high-level resources was accompanied by danger.

With the Evergreen Tree, advancing to the Great Dao Nascent Soul stage is just a matter of time; the quality of the Great Dao Golden Core is completely unimportant.

As for rapid promotion, there's absolutely no need for that.

Because once you reach the Nascent Soul stage of the Great Dao, tens of thousands of years might only be the time it takes to conduct an experiment.

Unfortunately, Yi Dong had no control over any of this.

As the puppets of cause and effect slaughtered indiscriminately, Yi Dong felt that their ascension to the Buddha realm was not far off.

The same applies to the Great Awakening Puppet; with the Demon Disciple as its experimental subject, its strength has increased incredibly rapidly. As for the True Spirit Longsword, it's likely that after the establishment of the Interstellar Empire, following the Xuanyuan Sword, the True Spirit Longsword will also be upgraded to a supreme treasure.

Yi Dong's control over them has decreased dramatically.

Previously, Yi Dong believed that with external protection, he could live a carefree life.

In retrospect, that was a mistake.

Both the puppet and the True Spirit Longsword have their own consciousness, and not only can they not be controlled as one would with one's own limbs, but one will also be subject to their control.

Originally, Yi Dong wanted the True Spirit Longsword and the Holy Body Puppet to form a mutually restraining relationship; however, this time, their interests aligned.

"Never mind, if I advance to the Golden Core stage of the Great Dao, I will be confident that I can remotely control the power of the Qingzhou Immortal Kingdom to return from this calamity and escape my current predicament."

"I hope that before I advance to the Golden Core stage of the Great Dao, the Primordial Purple Apricot and the Great Awakening Puppet will not transfer my position as the Azure Emperor."

Just as Yi Dong was thinking this, suddenly, he felt something invisible disappear from him, leaving him feeling a little empty.

"The Azure Emperor has been replaced?"

Or perhaps the Qingzhou Immortal Kingdom has already been destroyed.

It doesn't seem like that.

Yi Dong clenched his fists loosely, feeling that the power brought by the position of the Azure Emperor had weakened.

He could still sense that he was still the Azure Emperor, but more than nine-tenths of the intangible things such as comprehension and fortune that were bestowed by the Azure Emperor's position had disappeared, and the mortal power that had gathered from the void had also been reduced by half.

It was as if something had shattered the intangible Azure Emperor's position, making it incomplete.

Yi Dong would be furious before he fully obtained the Azure Emperor's inheritance.

But now, he is delighted to see it.

The position of the Azure Emperor itself contains some unknown power.

Ever since realizing he had been tricked by the Holy Body Puppet and the True Spirit Longsword, Yi Dong has developed a certain awe for any uncontrollable power.

The Immortal Emperor of the Immortal Kingdom can draw upon the power of mortals within his kingdom, but Yi Dong, who is still building his foundation on the Great Dao, does not desire this power.

Now that the power of the Azure Emperor's position has been weakened, it suits his purposes perfectly.

"However, it seems that there is no knowledge in the Azure Emperor's inheritance that can weaken the Azure Emperor's position. In the Immortal Kingdom, the one with the most power and strength is the Immortal Emperor. Even the Great Awakening Puppet should not be able to research knowledge about the Immortal Emperor's position so easily."

How is this going? "

"It's not easy."

Standing atop the ninth ice peak, Ding Yunxian breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Yi Ling beside her.

"That Primordial Purple Apricot is definitely not an ordinary Enlightenment Tree."

Our Tianzhu Mountain may not have other buildings that can compare to the one in the Heavenly Capital Spirit Realm, but given time, the Tower of Omniscience will likely surpass it.

It's not that the Primordial Purple Apricot has greater potential than the World Tree, but rather that the World Tree in the Heavenly Capital Spirit Realm, which is the main body of the Tower of Omniscience, is damaged.

The Primordial Purple Apricot, however, remained completely intact and had even merged with that Tower of Knowledge.

Yi Ling said:

"According to Yi Feng, the Primordial Purple Apricot has reverted to its ancestral form and obtained the memories of some ancient wise trees, thus possessing some of the characteristics of the ancient wise trees."

As she spoke, Yi Ling looked up at the rainbow moon in the sky, which was faintly visible during the day and shone brightly alongside the Primordial Purple Apricot.

"Now, the Primordial Purple Apricot has probably completed its ancestral reversion and become a new ancient tree of wisdom."

Ding Yunxian was silent for a moment before speaking.
"If it were an ordinary Enlightenment Tree, there would be no need to worry about it."

However, this Primordial Purple Apricot may be comparable to the World Tree, one of the most top-tier seventh-order spiritual plants. To a certain extent, such rare spiritual plants, once fully grown, possess abilities no less than those of a true spirit.

More importantly, the Primordial Purple Apricot was also your father Yi Dong's natal object, possessing his flesh and soul.

"You mean, the Primordial Purple Apricot can steal the Azure Emperor's authority?"

"If that were all, it would be fine. Tianzhu Mountain was originally built to divide the power of the Immortal Emperor, and Taichu Zixing can be said to control one-third of Tianzhu Mountain."

Are you worried it will turn the tables and take over?

"It's not impossible."

Yi Ling did not refute Ding Yunxian's words. Although she had condensed the Golden Elixir of the Pure Land of Bliss and was able to guide the Unborn Mother of the Vacuum Homeland, her supernatural powers were much stronger than when she was at the Foundation Establishment stage of the Great Dao.

However, she would not underestimate the Primordial Purple Apricot, whose foundation might be comparable to that of a true spirit.

The True Spirit Longevity Turtle had been following Yi Ling in battles everywhere without suffering any harm, and the Longevity Turtle was not yet a fully grown True Spirit.

Yi Ling has a deep understanding of the power of true spirits. The fact that the Primordial Purple Apricot is comparable to a true spirit is naturally extraordinary.

Seeing Yi Ling frown, Ding Yunxian continued:
"Fortunately, the divine power of your auspicious beast, the Azure Ox, seems to be able to restrain the Primordial Purple Apricot."

Even more coincidentally, the blue ox was Yi Dong's spirit beast, and to a certain extent, it could use its supernatural powers to be immune to any power carrying Yi Dong's bloodline and soul aura.

"Green Ox?"
Isn't its innate supernatural ability to burrow underground?

Yi Ling has always used the Green Ox as his mount, and the Green Ox is very afraid of death; once it goes to the battlefield, it will disappear into the earth.

"No, that green ox is an auspicious beast that has already advanced to the Golden Core stage of the Great Dao. How could its supernatural abilities be limited to something as simple as burrowing underground?"

(End of this chapter)