Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Time flies, time flies like an arrow.

A century has passed since the establishment of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

A hundred years may not be a remarkable but certainly regrettable life for mortals. For Foundation Establishment cultivators, it is a fifth of their cultivation journey, filled with hard work and aspirations for breakthroughs, yet ultimately mediocre and fruitless. For Nascent Soul cultivators, a hundred years is but a fleeting moment, an insignificant segment on the path of cultivation.

However, this century is clearly not insignificant for the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, or even for the entire Western Sea cultivation world.

A century ago, the mining movement in Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom was launched in full swing. With the generous sponsorship of funds from Su Ji Group and low-interest loans from Xiong Er Money House, many brave people in Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom still pursued their Daoist path and were unwilling to spend their lives in luxury and with beautiful maids. They were willing to risk everything and painfully purchase a mining set (basic excavator puppet, anti-magic armor, exorcising ghost doll, evil-suppressing talisman, and demon-sealing wave) to go to various mines of all sizes in the Immortal Kingdom that had been occupied by evil spirits and ghosts, to contribute their own strength to their own Daoist path and the development of Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

After a century of development, the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, which fully mobilized the enthusiasm of the masses, now has all its mines under its control. Apart from those mines that are clearly controlled by fifth-order great evils, suppress ancient demons, and those whose exact situation is unknown but whoever goes there will die, and which are sure to be terrifying, the rest of the mines are all being mined. The Kaiyuan Tax Bureau, which is jointly led by Qinglian and Xiong Er and supervises each other, has already begun to collect mineral sales taxes.

With Su Qing and a group of True Immortals as ballast, the treasures beneath Kaiyuan finally came to benefit the people of Kaiyuan. The continuous flow of minerals provided cheap raw materials to many craft factories in the outer city of Kaiyuan. Combined with cheap labor from the four major families and tools and puppets provided by the Su Group, the craft industry in Kaiyuan grew from nothing to something in just a hundred years, catching up with the accumulation of tens of thousands of years in Wanghai Immortal City. Now, Kaiyuan's cultivation creations are sold far and wide, and there are hundreds of cargo ships docked at Kaiyuan Port every day.

While the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom was focused on mining and development, outside of Kaiyuan, turbulent events were unfolding and major incidents were frequently occurring.

Over eighty years ago, in the sky above the Western Sea, a dazzling light and celestial aura suddenly appeared. Amidst the attention of the masses, the cultivators of Penglai made a brilliant appearance. Countless families had emptied their savings, endured countless years of humiliation, and exhausted the efforts of generations of Penglai cultivators. The Conferred God Platform, crafted from the finest materials of heaven and earth, shone with iridescent light and exuded divine might. On the platform stood Zhao Gandang, the patriarch of the Zhao family, holding the Conferred God List. To his left and right stood Zhao Zhengquan, the Heavenly Official of the Zhao family, and Huang Sihuang, the patriarch of the Huang family who had already reached the Nascent Soul stage. They were reviewing their troops and conferring titles upon the gods. After the Conferred Gods ceremony, Penglai suddenly had over a hundred divine generals and over ten thousand divine soldiers!
More than sixty years ago, the divine generals and soldiers of Penglai marched in full force towards Wufo Mountain, greatly exciting countless people in the Western Sea cultivation world. However, unexpectedly, a single chanting sound rang out, and Wufo Mountain was filled with Buddhas. After only one day of fierce fighting, the Zhao family patriarch was seen fleeing Wufo Mountain in panic with his shattered body and his broken army. From then on, the power of the demonic Buddhas grew even stronger. The area within tens of millions of miles of Wufo Mountain was controlled by evil spirits, and human cultivators dared not set foot there. Merchant ships from the North Sea had to detour through the Kaiyuan Canal, which was maintained and developed by the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, thus providing a boost to the development of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

More than fifty years ago, the ruler of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, Master Su, revered by countless puppeteers in the Tianyuan Realm as the head of the Tianyuan Puppet Masters, test-fired the latest exorcism missile in the city of Jixi. Made primarily of Tianpeng wings and thunderous amethyst, it possessed numerous advantages such as high-speed armor penetration, precise guidance, and trajectory change. Launched from the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, it traversed millions of miles and beheaded a fourth-order demon who had been lurking in the Kaiyuan Canal and engaging in sabotage activities in Wufo Mountain, which was protected by a great formation. As a result, this dagger-brand exorcism missile became an instant hit, drawing praise from all cultivators in Tianyuan, who rushed to order the puppet through the local Su Ji Puppet Shop.

In the same year, Su Qing launched another demon-suppressing power-type puppet—Demon Hunter King (Tier 5) and several creation-type cavalry general puppets—Heavy Knight (Tier 4). Due to the limited production and difficulty in crafting these two types of puppets, Su Qing did not sell them to outsiders. Instead, they were given to his puppet general, A-San, as mercenaries and joined the wars between the Desire Immortal Kingdom, the Punishment God Kingdom, the Pingxi Martial Kingdom, and the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom.

Thus, the war between the two kingdoms of Pingxi and Yumo, which had lasted for more than a hundred years, finally came to an end. With the help of the Wanyao Immortal Kingdom, the Huofeng Immortal Kingdom, and most importantly, the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, the Yumo Immortal Kingdom withstood the years-long siege by the Moshu Evil Kingdom and the Pingxi Martial Kingdom. On the contrary, the Moshu Evil Kingdom, whose stronghold was empty, fell to the Xingsha Divine Kingdom and the Dizang Buddha Kingdom. All the demon cultivators within were slaughtered, and the evil spirits were swept away.

The only drawback was that after being defeated by Erqiang, the old evil god Di Motian attracted the intervention of the Demon Buddha from afar, who rescued him with a demon lotus. According to Erqiang afterward, the demon lotus was probably a second-tier sixth-level ability; otherwise, with him and the abbot of Fulong Temple, both fifth-level warriors, plus the cooperation of the Demon Hunting King, there was no reason why they couldn't keep it. As a result, the cultivators of the Western Sea grew increasingly wary of the Demon Buddha.

Without the help of the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom to share the burden, the isolated Pingxi Martial Kingdom was unable to withstand the united efforts of the various immortal kingdoms in the western sea. It left behind hundreds of thousands of soldiers and generals dead and hastily retreated back to the Central Martial Kingdom. Together with the Donghua Immortal Kingdom, it participated in the war to besiege the Immortal Qin Martial Kingdom and had no energy left to get involved in the affairs of the western sea.

In the same year that the Wu Kingdom of Pingxi withdrew its troops, the Joyful Sect within the Dizang Buddhist Kingdom reached an agreement with the Fulong Temple. After the leader of the Joyful Sect signed a covenant, vowing never to be used by evil spirits, the monks and believers of the Fulong Temple went to the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom, renaming it the Bodhi Buddhist Kingdom. They then joined forces with the Punishment and Killing God Kingdom, and the temple settled down. In the same year, the Fulong Temple welcomed the living Arhat, the virtuous Xiong Er, who preached the Dharma in the temple for several years, leaving behind hundreds of volumes of true scriptures and divine skills. This led to the emergence of many geniuses among the monks of this generation, and the temple showed signs of repeating its ancient glory.

Thirty years ago, the Azure Dragon King, who had traveled far to the heavens, returned to the Western Sea with the blood of thousands of cloud dragons on his hands. He used the bodies of these cloud dragons as the vessel for the ancient dragon souls within the Fallen Dragon Sea. From then on, the ancient dragon race once again displayed its former glory in the mortal world. It is a pity that the Azure Dragon King fought several battles in the heavens and was seriously injured. After returning to Tianyuan, he secluded himself at the bottom of the Fallen Dragon Sea to recuperate. As a result, the ancient dragon race, leaderless, fought several bitter battles with the sea monsters of Yingzhou Island, but lost more than they won.

Although the absence of the Azure Dragon King and the weakened state of the remnant souls and avatars of the ancient dragon races were due to the absence of the Azure Dragon King, the Western Sea cultivation world had a renewed understanding of the strength of the sea monsters on Yingzhou Island. The Great Sea-Overturning Demon was indeed a rare innate species, having unknowingly reached the peak of the fifth rank, approaching the sixth rank in combat power. With its invincible body and Vajra strength, its mixed iron rod possessed the power to split the sea and smash the sky. Furthermore, it had trained millions of water apes and countless miscellaneous demons. Not only were human cultivators helpless against it, but even the Demon Buddha on Mount Wufo could not do anything about this arrogant monkey that had come to their door. It had killed them and left unharmed. Although this made the Western Sea cultivators even more wary of this demon's power, it also relieved them, as at least the two extremely evil forces in the Western Sea did not show any signs of uniting.

Sixteen years ago, the Heavenly Gate of Tianyuan Realm was somewhat weakened. Although the Heavenly Emperor Su Qing attempted to close the Heavenly Gate again, he could not stop the desperate pleas of cultivators from all over Tianyuan. Over the years, evil spirits had risen up everywhere in Tianyuan, and everyone was under great pressure. So much so that even though they knew that the cultivators from the outside world came to Tianyuan to compete with them for Tianyuan's fortune, they could only beg Su Qing to let them in so that they could help share the pressure of resisting the evil spirits.

Thus, Su Qing stopped insisting, lest he be disliked by both sides, and watched as the Heavenly Gate slowly opened, causing cultivators from the outside world to flock to it.

One of the disciples of Yuanshi took the lead, bringing with him several immortal mountains and divine peaks. He settled in the cultivation world of the Central Plains and re-established the Yuanshi lineage in the Tianyuan Realm. Yuanshi Mountain faced the major martial kingdoms of the Central Plains and selected disciples from among the best.

After the Lingbao Sword cultivator fell from his sword into the Eastern Wilderness, slaying countless demons and evil spirits and staining the Ten Thousand Mountains with blood, he finally opened his mountain gates and began to accept disciples.

There was a disheveled Taoist priest, claiming to be the sole heir of the current generation of the Doushuai Palace, who traveled throughout Tianyuan, scattering wondrous elixirs like a treasure-giving boy to many fortunate individuals. Thus, he was the most welcomed among the Tianyuan cultivators, except for Penglai Immortal Island, which consistently refused him entry. The reason was common knowledge: they feared this Doushuai Palace disciple would settle old scores with the Yellow Pagoda and investigate the sordid things they had done to the Doushuai Palace's ancestor's legacy. What was most perplexing was that, apart from the various martial kingdoms of the Central Plains, the most popular destination for cultivators from all the realms pouring into Tianyuan was the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, a place that had only been established for a century and was still considered a remote and impoverished area in the Tianyuan cultivation world's perception.

Among them is the ancient Snail Emperor Palace lineage. Although this lineage was lost due to the loss of the Creation Dao Patterns, and has not fared as well as the Yuanshi and Lingbao lineages in the myriad realms in recent years, it is still a lineage that produced a Dao Lord in ancient times. It is truly puzzling that its disciples chose to open the Kaiyuan era instead of the Central Plains Martial Kingdom, which is full of spiritual energy and beauty.

Conversely, the Tianyuan cultivators were not surprised that the Taiyi Sect, a second-tier Daoist lineage that was also renowned in ancient times and only one step away from becoming a top-tier lineage, joined the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

Because, damned Su Qing, he pulled out the Yin-Yang Creation Blade, a long-lost symbol of the Taiyi Sect's leadership. On the day of recognizing his ancestors, he received a wisp of Taiyi Zhenren's will to legitimize him, allowing the current sect leader of the Taiyi Sect to step down honorably without any preparation. Whether he was willing or not, with the patriarch's approval, the position of sect leader of the Taiyi Sect could only be transferred to Su Qing. From then on, the ruler of Kaiyuan Kingdom was also the sect leader of the Taiyi Sect. It would be abnormal if the sect did not fall into the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

As cultivators from outside the region poured in, the demonic forces of the Tianyuan Realm suffered a powerful blow. Even Mount Wufo, established by the Time Demon Lord and considered the stronghold of the demons, was suppressed by the Fantian Treasure Seal of the Primordial Mountain Sect. Although the Time Dao Patterns cultivated by the Demon Buddha were infinitely profound and could summon the phantom of an ancient Buddha to jointly resist the seal, the demons on Mount Wufo became much more low-key and no longer dared to be as arrogant as before.

Furthermore, under the advocacy of Yuanshi Mountain, the Demon-Slaying Alliance, established under the leadership of the Immortal Qin Martial Kingdom, has attracted the participation of forces from all over Tianyuan. Once the main forces of various external Daoist traditions migrate from the heavens to Tianyuan, they will launch a devastating attack on the emerging demonic forces in the Tianyuan Realm.

Three years ago, the Huang family of Penglai purchased a million puppet soldiers from the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. Among them was the fifth-tier puppet, the Demon Hunter King, which is now the envy of the entire Tianyuan. With such a lineup, plus the Huang family's Nascent Soul Ancestor, three fifth-tier Divine Generals, and more than a dozen fourth-tier Divine Generals, all setting out at once, no one knew where they went. All that was known was that on that day, death clouds covered the sky on Penglai Island, and the air was filled with murderous aura. However, this only lasted for one day. After that day, the tripartite balance of power among the three families of Penglai, which had lasted for hundreds of years, collapsed. The Huang family, which suffered heavy losses and almost exhausted its family's resources, disappeared without a trace. Some people saw Huang Li, the only surviving True Person of the Huang family, leading dozens of Huang family cultivators, escaping from Penglai, and no one knew where they went.

A month ago, some busybodies spread the list of the Five Heavenly Rankings from the Heavenly Talisman Palace to the public, causing another uproar in the entire Tianyuan Realm.

Some people, in their quest for the rare and precious artifacts listed on the list, resort to ambush, assassination, robbery, deception, and any means necessary to harm the owners of these treasures.

Some people, in order to make their path to enlightenment easier, have launched a campaign to eliminate Dao patterns, hunting down cultivators with similar Dao patterns to their own, based on the list of Dao pattern rankings across the heavens.

Some people strive to climb higher on the power rankings, or work harder to kill demons and gain battle merits, or work harder to eliminate their competitors.

In short, the world is too chaotic and people's hearts are complicated. The Five Rankings of the Heavens, which were originally circulated in a small circle, became known to everyone. This made the Tianyuan Realm, which was already in chaos due to the revival of spiritual energy, the rule of evil, the influx of outsiders, and the rise of heroes, even more turbulent.

However, some insightful individuals understand that the most important task for the cultivation world today is to eliminate evil spirits and complete what the ancient cultivators failed to accomplish. Otherwise, once the ancient demons are resurrected and the cataclysmic calamity descends once more, what meaning will the so-called Five Rankings of the Heavens have for the cultivators of Tianyuan?

The matter of the Five Rankings of the Heavens was most likely deliberately leaked by evil spirits, with the aim of causing the cultivators of Tianyuan to fight among themselves and leaving them no time to care for them, thus giving them ample time to develop.

That's what they say, and they understand the logic behind it.

But even if you tell them, they might not listen; even if they understand, they might not do it!

Ultimately, most cultivators only cared about their own cultivation path and future, neglecting the greater good of the world. As a result, internal strife continued, and the infighting never stopped. The Demon-Slaying Alliance, which had been built up in a grand manner, was already on the verge of collapse and disintegration.

Therefore, spearheaded by the slovenly Taoist of Doushuai Palace and with the strong support of Su Qing, the sect leader of Taiyi Sect, a grand gathering of heroes will be held to resolve the disputes among cultivators by discussing their superiority in the Dao. The location of the gathering has been chosen as the westernmost city of Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, and it will be held as scheduled on the sixth day of this month.

This day was the first day of the third month of the 108th year of the Kaiyuan era, only five days remaining until the Heroes' Gathering. (End of Chapter)