Righteous Sect Meet Up
A half a month has passed by in seclusion, until I got notified by Long Yuyin that the sect meeting is about to start. I have been refining demon spirits in demon pot to gain various abilities and refine some for Xiao Ning too when she eventually meet. I didn't need to kill those I captured and put into my ring world, but simply chose to recreate their spirit devoid of memory and thus free will.
Reaching Heavenly Star realm, that too early, everyone concerned, understood that I had become a heavyweight figure, even though I had yet to attend sessions at the Central Institute. The bigger families had already been notified of my profile and presence. After all, entering the Central Institute was extremely difficult and served as a qualification to establish your own major faction or family in the future.
I made my way to the West courtyard first, inviting Nie Li and Lu Piao before flying to the Institute meeting ground. Upon seeing the heavy presence gathered there, I simply released my aura. The suppression extended beyond the heavenly star level, but it was sufficient to make people clear a VIP passage for me. Behind me, Nie Li, Xiao Yu, Lu Piao, and Gu Bei also received VIP treatment by association.
Long Yuyin joined our group along the way.
When we reached the higher floors, my presence stirred the geniuses from our sect as well as those from other sects who had already gathered. I spotted Xiao Ning'er talking with another girl. I pulled my aura back to normal levels. She had already noticed me and literally ran over to embrace me, while Lu Piao received a similar hug from his fiancée, Xiao Xue.
Nie Li was eagerly scanning the area for Ye Ziyun but couldn't find her. He turned to Ning with a question. "Ye Ziyun didn't come?"
"Her talent is so high that she was placed in a secret training realm arranged by the sect master, who took special interest in her," Ning explained. "We couldn't contact her."
His disappointment was immediate and obvious.
Seeing my presence, people like Murong Ye, who had tried to trip up Nie Li and pit him against Ye Xuan in the original timeline, didn't have the courage do any of that directly. Instead, he simply called me "Brother Tao" from a distance and introduced Ye Xuan as a genius from the Skyblaze sect.
Speaking of Murong Ye, he had been killed recently by Nie Li as revenge during their time in the ghastly ruins, when Nie Li stepped into the five-fate heavenly soul realm. It was quite confusing for other families to see members from the Tiny World, with no official backing, seemingly advancing faster without any connections to provide resources. Some minor investigations had been conducted by clan members, but they yielded no useful results.
Returning to the present, Ye Xuan was being polite about anything and asking my outside adventures and inquired about Xiao Ning. I responded calmy.
"Well, I was actually given instructions to wait until recently before venturing outside. That's why we didn't get to know each other earlier. I only went out once. We should take care of each other when we meet outside, since our main fight is against the Demon God Sect. As for how we know each other ~ she is my fiancée from the tiny world we come from." I said this while knowing he had originally been eyeing her.
The reason for this sect meetup was for the six righteous sects to align with each other when fighting against the three subordinate sects of the Demon God Sect. While the geniuses got to know each other, this served as a platform for them to express their talents.
Eventually our group converged at a seating area. Long Yuyin sat to my left and Xiao Ning to my right. Across from me, Nie Li, Lu Piao, and his fiancée took their seats. Gu Bei and Li Xingyun sat together, while Xiao Yu sat alone due to his germaphobic tendencies.
The key figures from other sects began entering, and Long Tianming finally approached our group directly.
"Junior Brother Tao, this is our first meeting," he said with practiced courtesy.
I turned my head to acknowledge him. "Brother Long Tianming, yes it is."
"I heard from grandmother about your talent. Your cultivation ability is indeed enviable ~ gaining entry to the Central Institute on your own merit. We should get to know each other later."
"You flatter me, Brother Long. I am young and have quite a long way to catch up with you. There is nothing enviable about it."
"It seems you are with your friends. I won't take up more of your time then"
I nodded along and he left to rejoin his followers. Who actually wants to have tea with you anyway? I settled back and noticed Long Yuyin had gone stiff after just his presence and my interaction with him.
"Your cousin is definitely not how he appears in public," I observed.
"What do you mean?" she asked quietly.
"We will discuss this later."
Xiao Ning introduced me to Mingyue Wushang of the Heavenly Note Sect and Yan Yang of the Skyblaze Sect. While making pleasantries, I told her about visiting my room tonight.
"I will, even if you didn't ask," she replied with a knowing look.
"How I miss the innocent young girl you were," I teased, while Long Yuyin looked uncomfortable at my flirting with Ning.
Auction
Soon, the auction portion began. When it was time for the heavenly star level demon essence, I paid 17,000 spirit stones for it, simply to test if my demon avatar inside the soul realm could benefit from it. I didn't possess any demon spirit souls of my own.
Meanwhile, Gu Bei purchased numerous items, conducting business with Nie Li. I noticed they were communicating through mind transmission. I received one as well when Nie Li turned to me.
( Brother Tao, I am planning an alliance with Gu Bei and Li Xingyun. Are you interested? With your addition as someone from the core institute, the momentum will be significant. )
( .... No problem. I have been wanting to venture outside for a while. Due to some issues with my fate soul, I couldn't before. Now I can. If you establish a faction, I can indeed join. I can remain as a member, but don't put me in charge just because of my status ~ it won't work effectively. If you can lead, I have no problem.
But if you're interested, I can also nudge Long Yuyin into this. Her influence within her family has been growing recently. )
( Long Yuyin? Yes, that could work well. If you can help me eliminate Gu Heng a few times in the outside world, my plans could move forward significantly. )
I glanced at Gu Bei, who gave a thumbs up in agreement. ( Yeah, no problem,) I replied.
Soon the main auction item was presented ~ the Myriad Miles Rivers and Mountains Painting. "Isn't that..." Xiao Ning was obviously taken aback.
"Yes, it is," I confirmed.
The auctioneer continued explaining. "The higher-ups don't understand its uses, but if you can decipher its secrets, they are willing to offer 200,000 spirit stones as a reward."
When people like Long Tianming and others started bidding at 150,000 spirit stones, I also entered with a bid of 180,000 spirit stones for fun, but the price kept climbing.
I received a message from Nie Li: ( Brother Tian Ming, it's no use if you buy it. It is a world treasure similar to your ring. Help Gu Bei purchase it for me if it goes over our limit ~ I will be grateful.)
(You know about it?)
(Yeah, it's risky to possess at our current power level. I have some plans for it. Besides don't expose your wealth carelessly)
I thought it would end up in Nie Li's hands in a few bids as it had in the original timeline, but Long Tianming, who had backed off earlier, returned to the bidding for some reason. Perhaps it was just to see why our genius group had so much spending power ~ he seemed to be intentionally driving the price higher.
He pushed the price to 260,000 for this very reason, as Gu Bei in our group actively bid for it. Even Long Tian Ming was sweating at spending that much, hesitating about whether he could unlock the myriad spiritual locks if others didn't outbid him. But then Gu Bei sent me a message: ( Brother Tian, back me up. )
( Yeah, you can bid freely for the next 200,000 in small increments if he really increases the price that much. Otherwise just don't, I will find a way to get it back)
The final winning bid from Gu Bei was 290,000 when it was sold. I flicked a storage ring to him containing 30,000 more spirit stones. Everyone was shocked by his apparent wealth. Some investigations would surely follow.
Art Session
Next came the discussion session for music, zither, calligraphy, and painting. Long Tianming expressed humble words and showed off his understanding of the Dao through painting, but in the end he called out my name among people like Yan Yang and Mingyue Wushang intentionally. I didn't know what his real game was, aren't I suppose to be a newbie?
If this was internal competition, he really didn't understand who he was messing with. After the soul-stirring performances of other geniuses, I walked up to the front among murmurs of recognition about who I was.
"Fellow practitioners, I owe much to my seniors and still have much to learn. With what little knowledge I possess, I would like to share my art with you."
In Luo Zheng's world, the Immortal Mansion had knowledge valued the cultivation techniques through arts, but in my earlier pursuit of power, I had paid them little attention ~ simply storing them in the LoHP space. Later, when I fully inherited the Consciousness of LoHP, I was amazed by how the Dao diverged through daily artistic practice. Suddenly, I had become an expert without realizing it. Later on I did actively absorbed knowedge in memories through reincarnation hall about those subjects too.
Well right now it doesn't really matter, for I am not going to unleash my full ability for this is not a grade awarding show for me. I just need to imbue my intent to a painting.
I began to draw ~ just a few bold strokes ~ what appeared as a simple painting of a sword formed as if by coincidence: a black blade on white paper. And nice calligraphy of sanskrit words, looking much like an inscription. It was over in a moment.
But the moment my brush left the paper, the world shifted. Laws of heaven bent, and Dao layers beyond the Draconic Ruins origin surged outward from the contact point. That's how supreme intents work, it doesn't really need caster to release it as he write but perfectly imbuing within.
The Dao intent pulled at everyone ~ whether they were souls of geniuses, hidden Dao-dragon experts, or the intents of martial ancestor permeating the gathering. I unleashed my rule domain for the full perception of the intent.
My actual realm became visible due to the heavenly principles disturbed by the Dao intent I produced, but so was the suppression of souls related to it for a moment until I converged it back.
When I lifted the painting and showed it in full view, the colors inverted: the sword glowed white with a symbol inside while its background turned pitch black. Darkness overflowed to the surroundings, overwhelming every sense ~ everyone felt blanketed except for the sword itself. In that sudden void, the blade enlarged into a brilliance descending from the heavens, piercing the gloom. Suddenly, all viewers felt strength dissipating.
Time seemed to stretch. Everyone sensed an ancient sword intent emerging from above from the bright sword. Sword began to dissociate into two, then four and finally into 256 swords falling down.
But soon, under its radiance, they began to lose their emotions. Whether it was amusement, joy, panic, fear, weariness, or confusion, they only saw the sword and felt their comprehension of sword intent deepening with every moment. They felt as if they themselves were swords standing in defiance, regardless of thoughts of life and death of whether it would fall.
...
What I initially displayed was the emotion-severing Divine Dao ~ a formless sword.
That is still Dao intent of a higher perception, but only held temporarily, fading when world laws resumed normalcy, but it was just for a bit of show and comprehension. Aside from me, those Dao intent would be impossibly difficult for anyone else to learn from but could sense as something profound.
But when I wrote the words "Severing Emotions" in Sanskrit on the painting ~ to reflect my understanding ~ that part endures even after I took down the rule domain, permanently changing the painting's value. It was a genuine translation of a fraction of the true meaning of the eternal sword, imbuing my intent inside in accordance with the reality rules here, based on a heartless sword technique.
Ultimately that is what people could observe if they were talented enough. Seeing that it was enough, I retracted the rule domain. Suddenly, the world snapped back to normal. People gasped, recovering from the sudden shift as their minds cleared.
I smiled and lowered the painting, rolling it up while saying, "For reasons beyond me, I cannot sustain my full understanding of Dao intent on paper. Maybe because I am young, not powerful enough, or my own perception of sword Dao is flawed ~ but now its effect is much weakened. I apologize for the disruption and for making a fool of myself."
Then I rolled up the scroll and casually returned to my seat among the recovering practitioners.
'Who is making a fool of themselves?' was everyone's thought.
'For a moment I thought I was going to die.'
' It's more than anything I have seen ~ I feel I glimpsed a supreme sword intent, but I can't sense it now.' Thoughts flew by.
"Fellow practitioner, what is your name? Are you willing to sell it to our Heavenly Note Sect?" The one who asked was Mingyue Wushang.
"Sell? No, I was planning on gifting it to her." I pointed at Xiao Ning, who was suddenly flustered by the looks from everyone. "You are of the same sect. Well, if she agreed, you can indeed purchase it from her. But just saying ~ this is inherently opposite to the heavenly note techniques you showed us earlier, which are full of emotions."
"In that case, Mingyue Wushang, are you willing to part with it? I, Yan Yang, am also interested in borrowing it for study."
"It's up to her," Wushang replied, pointing at Xiao Ning.
Returning to my seat and giving the scroll to her, I was greeted first by Gu Bei, who said suddenly, "You are a true sword genius. Thank you for that ~ it has greatly benefited my understanding."
Due to having a superior life level, I could still detect many voices coming through as thoughts. From Nie Li, it was: "Such a genius who has comprehended the meaning of sword disappeared in my previous life. He was missing just as the orchid city was discovered. What truly happened?"
From Long Tianming, it was: "He already plans to venture out, and considering his genius, other sects could indeed endorse him. If he doesn't have a sense of proportion and creates a faction without any affiliation with established families, then it is time for another genius to disappear."
Xiao Ning was a little flustered being the center of attention. "You made it difficult for me."
"No, with that you can create some prestige for yourself in the sect. If you sell it, you will get upwards of 250,000 spirit stones for sure. " Then said in secret message ( Don't think I don't know weird rules of your sect about having partners. You can create some negotiating power there...)
I then turned to Nie Li. "The event is still ongoing. Create some prestige for yourself. I know you might have a few tricks of your own from your past. It will earn you some notice from the higher-ups." This coincided with the speaker asking if any other genius wished to present something.
"Very well," Nie Li also arose. "I am also untalented. I would also like to show my limited understanding."
But this time, when they heard this from someone at the five-star heavenly fate level ~ a similarly known talented person ~ they felt 'here we go again' a bit, because there had been several "untalented" persons who had left the audience in awe.
The word he wrote was without Dao intent, although there was a bit of mockery in the beginning. When it was shown, Yan Yang felt as if it was made specifically for him.
It wasn't a sword, but the character "Martial." I saw it as the perception of martial will of a Supreme Being. I saw it back in the book of ten thousand supreme intents, when I was gathering knowledge in Temporal demon spirit book.
It seemed like he had changed his concept from impressing with sword intent to going with the will of martial arts instead.
Yan Yang's willingness to quote a price of 250,000 spirit stones directly silenced the crowd, who were still confused. Nie Li also didn't want to show too much for Long Tianming's perception, so he quickly folded it and parted ways with it to Yan Yang.
Just like in the original story, due to revealing that it was a form of calligraphy without Dao intent ~ meaning something created without expense to the maker ~ he was still struggling with constant requests from many people, including venerables. He continued in his usual fashion, writing according to the nature of each person requesting it.
Myriad Miles Painting
I didn't bother to interfere in it, but I have recreated the Myriad miles and rivers painting as it is using creation energy. While he was swept into barrage of requests, I was having fun with Xiao Ning in my new rented room in central courtyard. While she was panting and laying on me, I asked her, "your cultivation has reached 8th heavenly fate realm, surely Ye Ziyun's would similar right? why on your sect she was prioritized?"
"Well you told me the events, how can I miss, and I deliberately delayed secret training arranged for me for a while. As for her, you didn't ask me, so I thought let things play accordingly." So she intentionally left her out.
After doing a cleaning spell, I returned with a storage ring. I gave her bunch of high essence elixirs for normal consumption and lightning wind attribute dragon blooded draconic falcon with god level growth rate. I also gave her a bunch of snow wind, and other attributes to make do with as she felt. I had given her 100000 spirit stones before, I gave nearly five times now because of the addition of new deity lakes. While she was merging with her spirit, I entered my internal world.
:
After sending of, the few true Gods who went to see me as a greeting, I came to my isolated island where I keep all things worth testing out.
Earlier I recreated the Myriad Miles painting as soon as I saw it, directly to my internal world just like always and protect with a creation energy cover to avoid corruption.
After an inspection I found that the painting isn't actually a relay point. The world is build-ed within the soul treasure. This is very similar to the eternal painting realm in other-shore in Apotheosis world. Myriad spiritual lock was quite easy to break with my understanding itself. The dao intent that tried to escape was broken down by my flick of hand. Inside my world I am always fully unsealed.
After unraveling the remaining inscription locks — tracing patterns of energy to overwrite them — I reached the final barrier, which required a drop of my blood. Channeling a thread of my lifeblood into the internal world, I let a single drop infused with my spiritual aura seep into the last lock. It yielded, but when the mechanism tried to merge with me, it could not do so directly.
When I withdrew to the outside, the painting manifested within my soul realm. It anchored itself to my bloodline and appeared in the very depths of my soul space. Upon studying the intricate inscription patterns, I discovered their purposes: shielding the painting within the soul realm, dimensionally compressing an entire world inside it, warding against forced intrusion, channeling energy from that inner world, nourishing its treasures with heavenly essence, and granting complete control over the world contained within, spatially locking the outside world as an attack method or retrieval method and many more.
There was a minor trace of fragmented spiritual intelligence inside, possibly from the one mentioned in story who crafted this using his supreme ability at the expense of killing himself, I erased it by my will brute forcing through it. Finally I could directly spread my intent throughout, it also gave me an ability to lock the space within, if I wanted to without using any of my ability.
I don't like to leave out the painting in open if I wanted to cultivate within. So with my knowledge and LoHP, i have added transforming, concealing and access tokens by layering advanced inscriptions complementing itself. The created ones were basically supreme level in inscriptions based on the contents of temporal demon spirit book.
I entered the core of the myriad miles painting and found the heavenly energy spiritual spring. Using Creation energy I recreated the same exact energy source and assimilated perfectly with the ley lines. The density is nearly ten times as before.
Now I have three separate worlds in collection. One is my life bound internal world, other is ring world and latest addition is Myriad miles. Its not that I am into collection hobby, but the space inside the ring world is very big and about one thirtieth of my internal world. Myriad miles is only ten thousand miles inside. Eventually I plan to incorporate heavenly way of ring world and all its creatures within into my internal world as one. So there is no point if I swallow the heavenly energy within like a devouring whale. That is where Myriad miles realm come in.
I just copied few deity mountains directly to myriad miles. I tried cultivating for a moment and it is indeed very effective. Unlocking my full strength, I have rearranged the terrain vastly, to bore no resemblance to the original.
Xiao Ning
Since there is a lady in house, its not nice to let her wait, I returned and found she was bathing. After half an hour, during the night, I took her to the street market of Divine Feather sect, finding all sorts of things and listening of her exploits in outside world.
She also made it clear that I should be taking her with me if I ever plan to leave any time soon to any other realm. Returning back I added the token of my version of myriad miles to the soul corridor between us. Currently if she want to enter, I will know it and the painting will materialize in front. Although the current appearance of painting is same as that of the abstruse gemstone I had for a long time on my neck.
After midnight, returning back I suggested dual cultivation and she agreed. Her realm raised from 8th fate to peak of heavenly fate after few hours of cultivation, while mine remained same. That night went peacefully, at least for me.