Immortality begins with meditation puppets

The True Lord of Songshan had a little-known habit: he would record the wonderful things he experienced in the form of a diary so that he could savor them in his future life. This would allow him to always appreciate the beauty of life and the joy of living, instead of becoming as cold and lifeless as a stone as the old men in the sect during their long years of cultivation.

While it is called a diary, life within the Peach Blossom Sect is always monotonous, dull, and mundane, with few interesting events. This Songshan Notes has also changed from a diary to a monthly and yearly record. After he advanced to the True Lord level, a single seclusion would often last for a hundred years. In the past thousand years, there have only been two or three things that have caught his eye and are worth reminiscing about. This notebook has not been opened for a long time.

But since arriving in this Tianyuan Realm, especially after being in this Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, Songshan Zhenjun has gained something every day, something worth recording and savoring. Whether it's sweet or bitter, sour or astringent, his life is full of flavor, and his life has suddenly become bright and clear.

"On the fourth day of the second month of the 109th year of the Kaiyuan calendar, I arrived at the Western City for the first time. The prosperity and novelty of this city far exceeded my expectations. The industrial area with its rows of factories and the production methods of various cultivation creations produced on assembly lines, even though the quality of these creations was slightly inferior to that of my Peach Blossom Sect, in terms of production efficiency and speed, my Peach Blossom Sect's exquisite craftsmanship could not even come close."

Within the residential area, carriages and horses bustled about in an endless stream. Mortals and cultivators mingled, and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares filled the air. Several shops even hired Golden Core cultivators to perform dances and music, attracting tourists with their captivating performances. My companion, True Monarch Fenghua, criticized this as disrespectful to cultivators, but I disagreed. Cultivation is inherently arduous; a little entertainment is always welcome. However, the dancers in this city were extremely vulgar, hardly worthy of respect. When I offered my critique, the shopkeepers chased me away, treating me as a deliberate smear campaign by a competitor. Humph! A mere cultivator, with such limited knowledge, how could they know the invaluable guidance of a True Monarch like myself?

Furthermore, this city's Paradise Abode is a unique paradise, where I experienced countless charms and flavors. If I ever find myself unable to bear the hardships of cultivation and need to seek release, I will definitely consider this place my first choice. It may be expensive, but it's worth it.

"On the fifth day of the second month of the 109th year of the Kaiyuan calendar, today is the beginning of the Heroes' Assembly. I dared not slack off and left the Blissful Abode early. When I arrived at the Kaiyuan Grand Hall, I met with heroes from all over the world. Upstairs, I commented on the opinions of several fellow cultivators. They sincerely accepted my comments, which pleased me greatly. After a short while, I met my lifelong enemy, Su Qing. His appearance and demeanor were comparable to mine, and his skills were also quite remarkable. He had subdued the Heavenly Artifact Sect Master. I couldn't bear it and treated him with great courtesy, offering him help in his time of need. If this kindness could subdue the Heavenly Artifact Sect Master, that would be best. If not, it wouldn't matter. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. He always stands with me against Su Qing."

Aside from Su Qing, the most important thing to mention today is the opening ceremony of the conference prepared by the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

This immortal kingdom's calendar is only in the three digits, its foundation is extremely shallow, but the opening ceremony was extremely grand. After Tong Chang finished reading the long and tedious rules of the conference, three flying puppets lined up in the far west sky and whistled past the heads of the cultivators.

These three puppets, each one so large they blot out the sun, are enormous. One is shaped like a roc, its wings like clouds hanging from the sky, capable of traversing the north and south of a city with a single flap. Another is shaped like a dragon, appearing and disappearing in the clouds, then suddenly emerging from them, its golden head spewing forth purple lightning, as brilliant as the Milky Way. The third is shaped like a tiger, with a tiger's head and a human body, and nine tails, resembling the ancient mythical beast Lu Wu. They wield the sword bestowed by the Heavenly Emperor, exuding a majestic and awe-inspiring presence that draws attention.

Although everyone knew that these three puppets were specially brought out by Su Qing to show off and make a scene, I and the other cultivators present had to admit that, based on these three fifth-order puppets alone, the strength of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom was outstanding among all the heavens and myriad realms. The person who could refine such puppets was truly worthy of the title of the Heavenly Origin Puppet Master.

This person possesses such talent in puppetry, yet he still participates in the competition for puppetry projects, which is truly despicable.

Besides these three puppets, the opening ceremony also featured the simultaneous firing of thousands of magic cannons, which, together with the thousand treasure ships anchored on the coast, painted the western sky with vibrant colors. Even the dead clouds of the void were tainted with the incense smoke of the human world.

Oh, there's a peach and deer god of longevity online, throwing peaches from the sky as a prize. There are about 100,000 of them. Although each peach can only extend one's life by one month, they are free after all. I didn't care and got one. Although it is of little use to me, I am inexplicably happy.

Overall, today was a pleasant day. After the opening ceremony, I didn't rush to participate in the competition. I let the elites from my accompanying sects shine in the events where my Peach Blossom Sect had an advantage, while I myself returned to the Blissful Abode to recuperate and prepare for the fierce competition to come.

"On the eighth day of the second month of the 109th year of the Kaiyuan calendar, after three days of recuperating at the Blissful Abode, I felt that I had reached my peak condition and should dedicate everything to the sect in the fight for gold and silver."

Upon arriving at the venue, I discovered that there were several times more cultivators here than at the opening ceremony. Hmph, they're just here to make up the numbers. The ones who can truly gain points, especially high points, are cultivation prodigies like myself, True Monarch Songshan.

I, the True Lord of Songshan, have always had a wide range of interests. I have dabbled in the three thousand great paths and eight hundred side paths. Although the elders in the sect criticize me for being a jack-of-all-trades but master of none, I have long known that no knowledge is learned in vain. As long as you learn it, there will always be an opportunity to show it off. Now, that opportunity has come!

My first competition was the Spirit Healer competition. Immortals are also human, and humans get sick. When they get sick, they need a Spirit Healer. This competition has a high demand and many practitioners, so its weighting coefficient is extremely high, at 3.0. It can't compare to more popular competitions like armor, puppets, and formations, but it's still much better than those niche competitions with a coefficient of only 0.00. In addition, there aren't many excellent Spirit Healers in the heavens. Therefore, even though there seem to be many participants, it's just a bunch of noobs fighting each other, which is perfect for me to score points.

Although I am not very knowledgeable in this field, and even crippled a sect disciple when I first started learning, I still managed to overcome many obstacles and eliminate batches of participating spiritual healers with my knowledge as a Nascent Soul True Monarch. Until I encountered a cute but fierce-looking woman surnamed Guo, I was deceived by her appearance and underestimated her, losing to her in the skill score. But that doesn't matter. Losing a small match will not affect my entry into the top 100 list. When the top 100 competition comes, I will let this woman know the power of my spiritual needles.

Note: Afterwards, Feng Hua Zhenren reminded me that this woman's relationship with Su Qing was unclear. I suspected that this woman might have been sent by Su Qing specifically to ambush me and help me gain points! Sure enough, just as I considered Su Qing my mortal enemy, he also spotted me, an extraordinary person, in the crowd! Damn it, a true strongman fears no obstruction on the path to ranking up!

"On the twelfth day of the second month of the 109th year of the Kaiyuan calendar, after resting for three days, I have once again drawn enough energy from the Paradise Abode. Today is the day to climb the ranks hard."

The strategy remains the same as before: choose projects with high weight to participate in. Although the higher the weight, the higher the difficulty, this is the only way to show my level and strength, and it is also the fastest way to gain points.

I chose the combat event, which has the highest weight. In this cultivation world, every cultivator, regardless of their profession, even a farmer cultivating spiritual plants, has some real skills. Therefore, there are countless combat experts. Even I dare not say that I can dominate the competition in this event. My goal is not high: first, to enter the top 100, and then to enter the top 10 in the myriad realms in the top 100 competition. That would be enough for me.

The contestants in the preliminary rounds were indeed a bunch of nobodies. I eliminated one contestant every breath, and within two hours, my ranking soared to 103rd. If I could win just one more match, I would secure a spot in the top 100 and earn 10 points for my sect.

My opponent is Gao Erqiang, who has many followers in Tianyuan. I am also well-known in the various heavens. When the two of us collide, it will attract the attention of all cultivators. This kind of scene that attracts the attention of everyone is the opportunity for me to make a name for myself.

After years of arduous cultivation and sect instruction, Erqiang, what do you, a rogue cultivator without any sect or school, have to fight me with?

Seeing that he had only been practicing for a short time and came from a humble background, I realized that it was truly remarkable that he had achieved such skill. I wanted to show him mercy, but this young man beat me so badly that my face was swollen and my nose was bruised. I didn't even know how I lost. All I knew was that a third eye suddenly appeared on his forehead, shining brightly, which made me dizzy and disoriented. I was knocked down by his punch and lost my dignity!

"Despicable, a sneak attack! I applied for a rematch, but the referee rejected it. This made me realize that this second-place winner was also sent by Su Qing to stop me. He might even have used his privilege as a committee member to tamper with my competition. Otherwise, with so many contestants, why did I have to face this second-place winner?" "On the fifteenth day of the second month of the 109th year of the Kaiyuan calendar, I was deeply hurt by the humiliation I suffered in front of all the cultivators of the heavens last time. But a true man never gives up easily. With the comfort of the sisters in the Blissful Abode, I regrouped and set out again."

This time, I chose the sword cultivation project, which is also one of the popular projects. It's not that there are many talented and qualified cultivators who can practice the sword path, but rather that the sword cultivation fighting style is elegant and graceful, which is particularly favored by cultivators.

Clearly, cultivators who pursue this path solely because of their good looks are mostly superficial and lack real skill.

I, alone with my sword, fought my way from the far southwest venue to the far northwest venue, and no one could withstand a single blow from my sword. I felt that if I wasn't targeted and unfortunately encountered those sword experts from the Lingbao Sect and Xuanyuan Sword Sect, entering the top 100 would be a sure thing.

Unexpectedly, instead of encountering disciples of the Lingbao Sect and Xuanyuan Sword Sect, he was blocked on his path to ranking up by a Lu Wu Tiger Puppet.

This Lu Wu Tiger Puppet is one of the three fifth-tier puppets that appeared at the opening ceremony. From the moment it appeared in front of me, I knew that it was sent by Su Qing to intercept me.

I was full of fighting spirit and ready for battle. I wanted to show Su Qing that when I got serious, his resistance was nothing!
Defeated with a single sword strike!
As it turns out, I was the one who was insignificant!

I'm actually no match for a puppet crafted by Su Qing in swordsmanship.

For the first time since I began my spiritual practice, have I begun to doubt my own abilities?
Am I not a genius?

"On the 20th day of the second month of the 109th year of the Kaiyuan calendar, the failure last time made me depressed for five days. During these five days, I realized that I am still a genius, but my genius lies in breadth, not in depth!"
Those cultivators who excel in popular projects are all dedicated to their studies and it's only natural that they have achieved something. If I were to dabble in one thing and do another, it would be normal for me to be inferior to them. In addition, Su Qing's obstruction and deployment of troops against me are the reasons why I have suffered several defeats.

To get out of this situation, I must change my strategy for ranking up.

On this day, I decided to start with niche projects and not pursue weighting coefficients. I figured there were so many niche projects that even if Su Qing wanted to target them, he wouldn't be able to!
In the tattoo business, I tattoo the Azure Dragon and paint the White Tiger, surpassing all others and easily ranking among the top 100.

In the drinking contest, I'll drink anything—white wine, beer, yellow wine, red wine, poisonous wine, non-poisonous wine—I'll drink a hundred jars without getting drunk.

In the clothing project, I am skillful and have many designs. I can weave a spiritual garment with needle and thread. The moment a spiritual robe that is thin but not transparent and beautiful but not vulgar was born from my hands, even my lifelong enemy Su Qing was impressed. He immediately offered five thousand spirit stones to buy it and gave it to the beautiful woman beside him. To be fair, that woman was indeed worthy of my skills!

Today is destined to be a day of great achievement for me since I started competing. Having changed my strategy, I've dominated in less popular areas, racking up points for my sect. Although some shallow-minded people criticize me behind my back for deifying at such a lowly path, calling it a form of dimensional manipulation and pure bullying, I don't care. What distinction is there between high and low paths? As long as I can gain points, I'm on the right path!

"On the 21st day of the second month of the 109th year of the Kaiyuan calendar, the weather was sunny turning cloudy, just like my mood. I went to the competition venue early in the morning in high spirits. Even the sisters from Jileju did not keep me. This was because I had achieved excellent results yesterday and was determined to thwart Su Qing's blocking plan in one fell swoop today."

At the beginning, the ranking went smoothly, with achievements in tricks, funerals, and transformations, accumulating over 100 points and securing a top 100 qualification in these categories. It is expected that another big win will be achieved when the finals begin.

All good things came to an end with the struggle over the Divine Servant Project.

This project has a diverse range of participants, including incense burners, Buddhist worshippers, underworld guardians, and deities' favorites. The competition is about how much incense offerings you can get the deities to give you. Everyone knows that incense offerings are extremely important to the deities and are not easily given to outsiders. Therefore, this can prove your importance in the eyes of the deities and also demonstrate the degree of satisfaction the deities have with you in your daily service to them.

He, the True Lord of Mount Song, comes from a prestigious family and is a great cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage. How could he possibly serve gods? It would be more like the gods would serve him.

However, he also has an advantage in this project, namely, he has a guardian deity bestowed by his sect. Although this deity is only a fourth-order god, it was allocated to their Peach Blossom Sect by the Heavenly Court when all the sects in the world established an alliance in ancient times. The total number of such deities was no more than a thousand. Once they recognized their master, they would be loyal to him. They had also enjoyed incense offerings for many years in the Nine Immortal Realms under the control of his Peach Blossom Sect. It should have been no problem for him to share some of the incense offerings to help him enter the top 100.

Unexpectedly, even though his methods were almost cheating, the opponent he encountered was even more outrageous than cheating. This clown, wielding a warhammer with a cultivation level of only second rank, put on a show of brandishing the hammer before slamming it to the ground and shouting:
"Are there any deities present? If so, give Debao some face. One deity will grant you a hundred sticks of incense. Debao won't let you give them away for nothing. Afterwards, he will send one of his nephews to burn incense for you for ten years!"

He was even more arrogant than me. I thought he was just trying to attract attention and didn't know his own limitations. But I never expected that one or two, or even many, deities would actually give him face and bestow upon him more than ten thousand sticks of incense. My guardian deity couldn't compare even if he went bankrupt, and I regretfully lost to him.

That night, I tossed and turned, unable to understand how a second-level body cultivator could have such a big reputation. What gave him the right to do so?

But losing a game today won't dampen my fighting spirit, because tomorrow is the final of each event in the Hero Tournament.

The competition among the top 100 projects will begin on this day.

With my qualification as one of the top 100 in a hundred niche projects, I'm destined to shine on this day! (End of Chapter)