At the entrance of the Merit Hall in the Xu Ling Sect, Gu Qingying and Gong Shangyu had just arrived at the scene, preparing to take their Master back to Qing Peak.
But as soon as the two little ones reached the door, the scene inside the Merit Hall instantly petrified them, causing an earthquake in their minds!
“Senior Sister… let me go!”
“Don’t rush~ Let Senior Sister have a good look at you~”
At the doorway, Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying looked towards the source of the commotion, only to see their usually cool, dignified, and awe-inspiring Master, Lu Li, tightly locked in the embrace of the Merit Hall Master, Duan Xueyan!
At the same time, Duan Xueyan’s wicked hands were boldly roaming over Lu Li’s body, while their revered Master Lu Li was struggling in shame and anger, looking just like a little white rabbit pinned down by a tiger or leopard!
“Hey, hey, hey… Senior Sister Duan! Let me go! If you keep this up, I’m really going to yell~”
“Hehe… Junior Brother~ go ahead and yell~ The more you cry, the more excited I get…”
Hearing Duan Xueyan’s arrogant words, Gong Shangyu’s grip on the doorframe tightened suddenly, leaving five deep fingerprints on the frame of the Merit Hall.
Gu Qingying’s eyes instantly turned red; blood surged to her head, making her whole body tremble with rage.
The two sisters glared from afar at Duan Xueyan, shouting in unison, “Beast!”
“Damn you! Duan Xueyan! You shrew! Let go of my Master!”
Gu Qingying, hot-blooded and reckless, rolled up her sleeves, about to march in and settle the score with Duan Xueyan.
But as soon as Gu Qingying took a step, Gong Shangyu grabbed her by the collar and forcefully dragged her back.
“Hey! Why are you pulling me?”
Gu Qingying turned her head in anger, glaring at her.
Gong Shangyu pressed her white jade bone fan against Gu Qingying’s forehead, a look that said ‘your brain can’t be saved’, and lowered her voice, helplessly explaining.
“My silly junior sister! Please calm down! Use that walnut-sized brain of yours and think carefully!”
She poked hard at Gu Qingying’s temple.
“Who’s inside? Duan Xueyan! She’s a Yuqi Stage grand cultivator! The Hall Master of the Merit Hall! What do you think you’re going to do by rushing in as a little Qi Refining shrimp?”
“And Master is still there—if you charge in now and cause a scene, what are you even trying to accomplish?”
Seeing Gu Qingying’s unconvinced face, Gong Shangyu poured cold water on her without hesitation, her tone full of warning.
“And anyway, your cognition modification ability might work on low-level cultivators or brainless zombies, but against a Nascent Soul cultivator’s divine sense, how much effect do you think is left?”
“My time stop doesn’t even dare to activate in front of her, so don’t even mention your cognition modification! If she senses something’s wrong, traces it back, and exposes all your little secrets, do you want to blow your cover and get both of us kicked out of the sect?”
Gu Qingying was struck by Gong Shangyu’s barrage of reasoning.
Her rage slightly subsided, and she collected herself, glancing back at the scene inside the Merit Hall.
She saw that although her Master looked quite embarrassed, Duan Xueyan seemed to be just teasing and hadn’t actually gone too far.
Moreover, with so many sect disciples watching, Duan Xueyan probably wouldn’t really go overboard.
“Then… what do we do? Are we just supposed to stand here and watch helplessly?”
Gu Qingying gritted her teeth, fists clenched so tightly her knuckles cracked, her eyes full of frustration and unwillingness.
Gong Shangyu sighed, shaking her fan, her gaze deep as she looked at their “forced to perform” Master, murmuring,
“Ah~ Endure for a moment, and the winds and waves will settle; take a step back… In short, let’s make long-term plans. Head-on confrontation is the worst move.”
“We’ll just keep this account in mind for now. When we’ve advanced in cultivation in the future…”
“Hmph~ There’ll be plenty of chances to settle this with her slowly!”
Gong Shangyu’s final words were full of meaning, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
Although Gu Qingying was still fuming, her chest heaving with anger, she knew Gong Shangyu’s words were reasonable.
She forcibly suppressed her fury, glaring daggers at Duan Xueyan inside the Merit Hall, as if she could bore holes into her with just her eyes.
The two girls hid by the doorway, gnashing their teeth as they watched the scene inside, secretly observing—like two little beasts jealously guarding their own treasure but blocked outside by a fierce predator, powerless in their rage.
Meanwhile, Lu Li was being “ravaged” and groped by Duan Xueyan on the one hand, and discussing matters related to his Core Formation on the other.
Cultivation in the Kong Xuan Realm is different from elsewhere.
When a cultivator reaches the Core Formation stage, they must choose one of the 108 Dao Path Fruit Positions most suited to them, establishing an indestructible Fruit Position aligned with the laws of heaven and earth, and thus condense their own undying Golden Core.
Simply put: these 108 Dao Paths are the 108 slots the Heavenly Dao of the Kong Xuan Realm promises to cultivators.
Only those who make a great vow and gain a response from heaven and earth, acquiring a slot, can ascend and attain the Dao.
These 108 Fruit Position Dao Paths are divided into Celestial Path and Terrestrial Fiend.
If one attains a Celestial Path Fruit Position, they can directly ascend and become a Heavenly Immortal.
If they achieve a Terrestrial Fiend Fruit Position, they become a Great Earth Immortal, coexisting with the world of the Kong Xuan Realm—so long as the realm endures, so do they.
However, being a Great Earth Immortal doesn’t mean true immortality.
Earth Immortals must regularly evade the Three Disasters.
After becoming an Earth Immortal, every thousand years they must face tribulations of lightning, fire, and wind.
If they don’t timely complete the tasks assigned by the World Will of the Kong Xuan Realm—fulfilling the duties required by their Fruit Position and accumulating enough merit to evade disaster—they will be struck by these three calamities and eventually perish from the Five Decays of Heaven and Man.
For a Great Earth Immortal to become a Heavenly Immortal, they must cultivate the corresponding Terrestrial Fiend Fruit Position to their original Fruit Position, completing their own, and thus use the Terrestrial Fiend to verify the Celestial Path, ultimately achieving the Heavenly Immortal Fruit Position and ascending to the higher realms.
In the original game, Feng Ling’s reason for killing her husband was precisely because Lu Li and she were karmic enemies over several lifetimes, and their Dao Path Fruit Positions were in a Yin-Yang relationship.
Feng Lingshuang’s fastest way to attain the Dao was to seize Lu Li’s Dao Path and Fruit Position for herself!
Simply put, only the 36 Celestial Path Fruit Positions can truly grant immortality.
The 72 Terrestrial Fiend Fruit Positions are essentially just laborers for the will of the Heavenly Dao of the Kong Xuan Realm.
Moreover, the Terrestrial Fiend Fruit Positions are divided into Yin-Yang.
When two matching Yin-Yang Terrestrial Fiend Fruit Positions combine, they can together attain the Celestial Path.
Of course, all this about Celestial Path and Terrestrial Fiend Fruit Positions is only something to consider during Tribulation Crossing or Great Perfection stages.
For Core Formation cultivators, choosing their Dao Path is only to gain a preliminary slot for those Fruit Positions.
Because the number of Fruit Positions is limited, if someone has already achieved the Fruit Position you want on that Dao Path, no matter how hard you try, you cannot attain immortality.
That’s why Core Formation candidates have to be extremely cautious in selecting their Dao Path.
After all, if someone else has already claimed your chosen Dao Path, you have to wait for them to ascend or die.
Otherwise, you’ll have to go to another world to achieve a loose immortal status, sharing your fate with that world.
If you return to the Kong Xuan Realm, you’ll be rejected by its laws.
Worse, if you’re bound to an Outer Realm or a world that’s opposed to the Kong Xuan Realm’s Heavenly Dao, you’ll be treated as a hostile invader, and the realm will send Earth Immortals to hunt you down.
However, Lu Li doesn’t have to worry about this, because his master took him as a disciple precisely because the current owner of the “Tian Yi Gui” Dao Path—Lu Li’s master—was about to ascend and planned to pass down this Celestial Path to Lu Li as the next Tian Yi Gui Path Master.
So when Lu Li forms his core, he simply has to choose the Tian Yi Gui path or the subordinate Da Kui Dou or Di Bing E—these two Terrestrial Fiend Dao Paths.
For Lu Li, any of these three Dao Path Fruit Positions is fine.
What matters most is which of the three Guo Wei Divine Abilities fits him best!
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