After achieving the Golden Core, a single thought could stir up divine spirits from all directions. Now, ranked among the celestial beings, with a turn of his mind, a vast wish surged into the unseen. Ji Xiang sensed the heavens and chanted the name of Yuan Huang.
In fact, Ji Xiang already knew that Yuan Huang's complete title, a certain epithet of Primordial Heavenly Venerate, was Yuan Huang’s honorific title.
"Jade Purity, Purple Void, Supreme, Noble, Grand Supreme Yuan Huang Great Dao Lord."
Upon reaching the Heavenly Heart realm, reciting the true name frequently would make this Heavenly Heart expert aware of one's presence, and prayers would be conveyed before him.
As expected, after Ji Xiang offered his prayer, the Heavenly Heart expert on the other side became aware of it.
A similarly vast wish descended from the void.
Although Yuan Huang dared not openly descend to the mortal world, he could still secretly communicate with mortals. The four Heavenly Heart experts guarding the outer mountains and rivers could not find his trace. As one of the thirteen Jade Purity cultivators throughout history, no one was stronger than him in the art of concealment.
Thus, Ji Xiang received enlightenment.
The enlightenment from the Heavenly Heart realm was akin to the Christian God giving divine pronouncements to his followers; the information or voice directly appeared in the spiritual consciousness. However, this method of communication was generally limited.
"It's quite different from the revelations of Christ and God..."
After receiving the message from Yuan Huang, Ji Xiang felt that the gap between Heavenly Heart realms was still immense. He had already glimpsed this during the battle between the Demon Heavenly Master and the Great Sun Tathagata. Now, even in terms of giving revelations, Yuan Huang, as a master in the Heavenly Heart realm, although not yet reaching the Mahayana realm, was undoubtedly at the peak of the Hinayana. Yet, the revelations he provided were ambiguous, a significant difference compared to Christ, who could directly converse with consciousness.
"Firstly, he agreed to my request for communication but was unwilling to meet me... It was my oversight; I forgot he is currently being sought by the four Heavenly Hearts of the mortal realm, so he naturally cannot show himself."
"Secondly, the communication location is in a disguised temple. The deity enshrined there is not him, Yuan Huang. From the outside, the deity enshrined is..."
Ji Xiang had initially thought it was a temple enshrining the Primordial Heavenly Venerate, but Yuan Huang dared not openly house his power in a Primordial temple. According to the wish he had just conveyed, Primordial temples were constantly monitored by the four Heavenly Hearts.
Furthermore, temples enshrining the Primordial Heavenly Venerate often also enshrined the Lingbao Heavenly Venerate and the Daode Heavenly Venerate. The Purple Robe God always kept a close watch on matters of Taoism.
Ji Xiang left the Primordial Dharma Sect. Donghua Xian Nü saw Ji Xiang emerge from the depths of the sect and asked if anything untoward had happened earlier.
"What makes you say that?" Ji Xiang looked at her with slight surprise. Donghua Xian Nü said, "I just felt a sudden tremor in my heart, as if great danger had appeared and was constantly by my side. Perhaps it's because I've also absorbed some Jade Purity energy, making my perception of such danger more acute."
The power of Mr. Gu came from the future, enveloping the past, but it only targeted Jade Purity cultivators. Donghua Xian Nü's sudden ability to sense this danger indicated that she had indeed been infused with Jade Purity energy, making her different from normal immortals or ancient immortals.
"I need to go to a temple. Wait for me here. I will finish this important matter... and then head north immediately..."
"It's fine, I'll go and ask the current emperor for enfeoffment myself." Before Ji Xiang could finish speaking, Donghua Xian Nü interrupted, "And as you said, Beihan Xian Nü is in the imperial palace now. I'll go see her, and I don't want to be disturbed."
Donghua and Beihan, or rather, the four celestial maidens, were servants of the four great immortals. They were not friends with each other; they all had their own stances. Donghua decided to use the leverage of suppressing Beihan to have the emperor grant her the title of a great immortal.
"If I wait for you to finish your business and then travel north with you, although it won't take much time, I wouldn't dare delay you on urgent matters. Just be careful..."
Donghua Xian Nü indicated that the matter could be done together. Since Ji Xiang had something to attend to, she would go north first. It wouldn't take many days anyway; enfeoffment, meeting Beihan, and the round trip would take at most a day.
Traveling to the North Sea in the morning and to Cangwu in the evening, this speed was achievable.
"When I return, we will go to Shu together. The Demon Heavenly Master who passed many techniques to you earlier indicated that Shu is perilous. Entering alone might lead to danger."
Ji Xiang nodded upon hearing this, "Then thank you. You go ahead, and I'll be busy as well."
The two celestial lights diverged. Donghua Xian Nü headed directly north, while Ji Xiang left Haojing'ao and headed towards the southeastern region.
The southeastern coast, near the South China Sea, was where a portion of the large population that had migrated from near Shangqing had come. Similar to the South China Sea, the southeastern sea also had a flourishing of magic cults, but there were no ascended immortals here.
Ji Xiang closed his eyes, his form ethereal.
The Seven Transformations of the Emperor.
The Nine Forms of Shifting Scenery.
The Three Summer Records!
This area had many mountains and few plains. A great river flowed through the mountains. Ji Xiang used the Three Summer divine art to alter his form, conceal his aura, and scattered several celestial lights into the mountains. His main body arrived at the location revealed by Yuan Huang and looked into the river.
The great river surged, reflecting the colors of the sky and mountains. The current was swift, winding through the mountains like an angry dragon.
"Thunder Fire Envoy, a million azure dragons. Strike the heavens with thunder, quickly enter the talisman."
Ji Xiang chanted the divine incantation. As the spell was uttered, the water vapor in the heavens and earth condensed into a mist of talismans, drifting in the great river. Ji Xiang saw the patterns of the talisman mist and directly plunged into it.
Breaking through the mist and descending into the river, a jade dragon flew out of the water and carried Ji Xiang. Beneath the river, there was actually another inverted world!
People still resided in this world. When the sorcerers saw someone suddenly intrude into this world, they immediately became alert. However, Ji Xiang ignored them because this world was also a part of the Earth Realm, previously opened up by a Heavenly Master.
"He hid his temple in Qingliu Mountain of the Lushan Sect. Only those who know how to enter Qingliu Mountain can find that temple."
This Dharma realm was Qingliu Mountain, the Earth Realm opened up by the Lushan Sect on the other side of the river. The true lineage of Lushan was here. Ji Xiang looked at the Lushan Great Court of Justice in Qingliu Mountain, and the fires and clouds seen everywhere, and couldn't help but feel a slight stir in his heart, giving rise to some thoughts.
Although the Plum Mountain Sect was most skilled in firearms, in this era, the Lushan Sect also practiced some firearm sorcery.
At this moment, within the Lushan Great Court of Justice, many Lushan elders were watching the jade dragon that streaked across the sky. The aura emanating from the rider on the dragon caused the mountains to rejuvenate, the heavenly light to brighten, and the clouds to disperse.
"An immortal?"
The manifestation of an immortal left the Lushan elders deeply shocked. They had not yet gone to the mortal world and did not know when immortals had appeared in the world.
As the Lushan cultivators discussed, Ji Xiang, riding the jade dragon, arrived before a mountain temple. The jade dragon transformed into a purple-green spiritual talisman; it turned out to be something formed by talismans, not a true dragon.
"Great Rain Dragon King Temple."
The statue of the deity enshrined in the temple was a Dragon King. Ji Xiang lit five long incense sticks for this Dragon King, then broke off half of the right incense stick. Thus, the smoke rose, with only four pillars of smoke level, while the last pillar slowly drifted, stopping halfway to the first four pillars of smoke.
In an instant, Ji Xiang sensed a vast and mighty force. It was a giant phantom, seated in front, surrounded by the Qi of the Great Void and emanating Yin冥 Qi.
"You have arrived."
Yuan Huang's voice came, ethereal and boundless. Ji Xiang found that the seated phantom before him had also become wondrous, seeming very far away, yet upon closer inspection, it appeared to be right beside him.
"The power of the Heavenly Heart is beyond your imagination. You have not yet reached this level, so you cannot know."
Yuan Huang knew what Ji Xiang was looking at, but he was not here to display his might to Ji Xiang, so he got straight to the point:
"I don't have much time. You want to ask about Qingluo, about Mr. Gu. I will answer you now, as it also concerns the matter of our lives. While I will not act against you now, I cannot guarantee that you won't die by my hand when you leave here."
"I can tell you a few things. Firstly, the reason I want to kill you is the same reason Mr. Gu wants to kill us. You don't want to become his incarnation, and neither do I. Therefore, the result of killing you would be that I can become the second Mr. Gu."
"To resist the future of Guiyi, one needs a powerful past. I wish to lock myself in the past era to resist him. Supreme divine abilities can only be displayed in the future. As long as one does not reach that future, one need not worry about their life."
"Up to now, five people have already died, so he cannot get the sixth one."
Ji Xiang was astonished, "Five Jade Purity cultivators have died? Including himself, wouldn't that be the sixth?"
Yuan Huang looked deeply at Ji Xiang:
"But there are thirteen Jade Purity cultivators now."
"The sixth person I speak of is the sixth life. This way, including himself, it will be seven."