Chapter 42: Teaching Shuhang

After they finish their conversation, they bid each other farewell. Zenith Heaven Emperor turns to his disciple, Song Shuhang, and smiles. "Shuhang, you've been making good progress in your cultivation. You're nearing your breakthrough to the second stage."

Song Shuhang bows respectfully. "Thank you for your guidance, master. I couldn't have made it this far without your cultivation technique."

"Follow me!" Zenith Heaven Emperor says, before opening a space gate.

After they step through, Shuhang can see that his master took him to an Island, but before he could ask him where they are, he already guesses what he wants to say and answers him. "This is an island in the vicinity of the Heavenly Island."

As if fate wants to play with them, just like in the original, White shortly arrived with two cultivators in tow. "Greetings, Senior Zenith Heaven Emperor, Shuhang," he greets them as he approaches.

Zenith Heaven Emperor nods in return. "Greetings, fellow daoist White. What happened, why do you have those three with you?" he asks.

"I stumbled upon them in a fight between these two and a woman," White explains, gesturing to the two cultivators he has captured. "The woman was already injured, and I managed to save her from them."

Shuhang looks at the two cultivators curiously. "Who are they?" he asks.

White shrugs. "I don't know. They didn't introduce themselves," he replies. "But I'm planning on taking them to Medicine Master as lab rats. I heard he needs some Second Stage or higher to experiment with."

As they continue their conversation, the injured woman that White has saved begins to stir. She sits up slowly, looking around in confusion. After noticing her movement, they approach her and chat for a bit.

Apparently, she is named Chu Chu, a member of the Chu Family that Soft Feather went to visit. Zenith Heaven Emperor decided to later take her there after helping his disciple break through the Second Stage.

Once they finish talking with Chu Chu, Zenith Heaven Emperor turns to his disciple. "Alright, let's focus on your cultivation now," he says. "Shuhang, you're at the Peak of the first stage, and I think it's time for you to try to step through the Dragon Gate."

Shuhang nods eagerly. "I'm ready, master," he says.

"Good. First, let me explain to you what the Dragon Gate is," Zenith Heaven Emperor says. "It is the last minor realm of the first stage. Its name is taken from the legend of a fish that leaped through a dragon gate to become a dragon. Going past it would be akin to a fish transforming into a dragon, advancing to the Second Stage."

Shuhang looks intrigued. "Interesting. So that's how you reach the second stage?" he says.

Zenith Heaven Emperor nods. "It's not a widely-known legend. But the concept is simple. Once you step through the Dragon Gate, you can turn your body's Qi and Blood from incorporeal to corporeal and condense it into True Qi, breaking through from the Beyond Mortal stage towards the True Master stage" he explains.

Shuhang listens intently, absorbing all the information. "How do I step through the Dragon Gate?" he asks.

"There is no set way to do it, but it's still similar for everyone" Zenith Heaven Emperor says. "But I can guide you through it. Follow my instructions carefully, and you might just make it through."

With that, Zenith Heaven Emperor starts to guide Shuhang through the process of stepping through the Dragon Gate. They spend hours practicing, with White watching on and occasionally offering suggestions. Finally, after many attempts, Shuhang manages to step through the Dragon Gate. It mostly proceeds in a similar way to the original, but unlike in the original, this time he did not need to wait until he condensed Innate True Qi to break through, but could do it on the spot.

Zenith Heaven Emperor nods with satisfaction as Shuhang finally manages to step through the Dragon Gate. "Well done, my disciple. You have passed the last minor realm of the First Stage," he praises him.

Shuhang looks exhausted but happy. "Thank you, Master. I couldn't have done it without your guidance," he says, bowing respectfully.

White also looks pleased. "Impressive, Shuhang. You're advancing faster than I expected," he remarks.

Zenith Heaven Emperor smiles. "Indeed. But he still needs to stabilize his cultivation before advancing further," he reminds them.

Shuhang nods, understanding the importance of consolidating his cultivation base. "Yes, Master. I will do my best to stabilize my cultivation," he promises.

For the next few days, they stay on the island to allow Shuhang to recover and stabilize his cultivation. Zenith Heaven Emperor keeps a close eye on him, giving him advice and correcting his mistakes whenever he sees them.

White also helps out, occasionally showing him some cultivation techniques and explaining their benefits.

During these few days, Zenith Heaven Emperor also sends a message to all Heavenly Court remnants.

Afterward they leave the island, Zenith Heaven Emperor continues to impart his wisdom to Shuhang, giving him tips and advice on how to further advance his cultivation. He also talks to him about the dangers they might face in the future and how to prepare for them.

They journey towards the Grievance Settling Platform, to fulfill the promise they made with Chu Chu. They promised her to bring her back to the Chu Family and currently the Chu Family fights against one of their opponents on this platform. Chu Chu as the young prodigy of this small family naturally also wants to participate.

When they finally arrive at the Grievance Settling Platform, the battle is already underway. The Chu Family is engaged in a fierce fight against their opponents, with the fate of their family hanging on a thread. Chu Chu is still not fully recovered from her injuries and cannot fight, so Zenith Heaven Emperor suggests that Shuhang should take her place.

At first, Shuhang is hesitant to impersonate Chu Chu and fight in her place, but his master reminds him of the importance of the battle and how it could affect the Chu Family's future. With that, Shuhang agrees and transforms into Chu Chu with the help of a transformation technique that his Zenith Heaven Emperor casts on him.

However, at this time another event happens. Just like in the original, White activates a formation to punish the members of the Nine Provinces (1) Group for using the expression package about him too much.

Which expression package, you ask?

Naturally, the one about White!

Clearly this is an intervention of Fate!

Fate wants this expression package to exist no matter what.

When still staying on the island, Zenith Heaven Emperor was shocked that White still sent out his Disposable Shooting Star Swords, just like in the original story. Each member of the group received one of these swords.

When he tried to find out why White sent them out, he was even more surprised. The expression package of White that was originally made by Soft Feather still existed. This made him wonder, 'How can this expression package even exist in this World?' after all, in this timeline, Soft Feather never visited Shuhang and always stayed with him.

While trying to find out how this came to be, he quickly found the reason behind it. Apparently, Thrice Reckless Mad Saber with his death seeking disease managed to coincidently meet Shuhang when White was at his home in secluded meditation and did the exact same thing Soft Feather did in the original.

As a result of what White did on the platform, all the Disposable Shooting Star Swords activated.

Very soon, the fellow daoists that shot up from those various locations in China converged in the sky, heading all together toward the Grievance Settling Platform.

All the fellow daoists are quite strong, and even while spinning, they could clearly see each other.

"Aaaaah~ Fellow Daoist Creation! You're also flying! Aaaah~"

"Aaaaah~ What a coincidence! Fallout, you're also flying! Aaaaah~"

"You guys are also here! Aaaaah~ Ah, I see Fairy Lychee in the front! She's also flying! Aaaaah~"

"Ahahaha, it's fellow daoist Ancient Lake Temple! Cough… I can't see clearly, what is that thing in the front? A stark naked Thrice Reckless… my eyes!"