26 Fragility Of Mortal Life
At the centre of the Ice Mystic Holy Land, a big and Majestic Palace stood, glowing with divine light. There was a Plaque hanging on its entrance, with words written on it, 'Ice Mystic Holy Palace'.
Yao Qiuyue bowed slightly at the entrance, and instantly teleported inside the Main Hall of the Ice Mystic Holy Palace, surpassing all Formations and Restrictions.
The Main Hall was big enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people all at once, and there was a higher platform at the other end of the hall with a throne made up of Diamond-like materials and crystals, surrounded by Cold Qi on top of it.
There was a Handsome Man sitting on the throne, he looked to be in his 20's and wore a white-blue Daoist Robe. He had a crystal blue Crown on his head with a gem imbued on it. It seemed to be a high rank Dharma Artifact.
"Yue'er greets Master."
Yao Qiuyue bowed respectfully as she called out to Shi Qingyuan, both her Master and the Holy Lord of the Ice Mystic Holy Land, a Half-Immortal Realm Powerhouse on the verge of Ascension.
Shi Qingyuan looked down at her and spoke in a low and gentle tone of voice, "Your Cultivation has been increasing steadily, it won't be long before you breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm."
"My Cultivation speed is still too slow and lacking, Master." Yao Qiuyue said indifferently.
"If you really think so, then you can go and explore the nearby regions after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm. Who knows, you may encounter a great opportunity there?"
Shi Qingyuan smiled helplessly and shook his head. He had already given up on disciplining this disobedient disciple.
"Really? Then, when can I also explore the outside world and other continents?"
"You wouldn't want to go out in the world with only Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivation base, would you? You will only be allowed to go to the other Continents after reaching the Golden Core Realm at the very least."
Yao Qiuyue showed an annoyed expression At Shi Qingyuan's words, but in the end, she agreed to it nonetheless.
...
3 Years Later.
Central Continent.
In a forest located a few million miles away from Mount Kunlun, Wang Daoyun sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. He slowly opened his eyes and stood up, inhaling the fragrance of the nearby Spirit Flowers.
"So this is the outside world...not too bad, I guess. Even though the Spirit Qi here in this area is only a tenth of Kunlun's, it's still enough to cultivate for a while." He muttered to himself, sounding satisfied.
Now, let's see what the outside world has to offer!
He flew up in the air and immediately disappeared along with the wind, leaving a trail of torrential wind behind.
At a distance far away, multiple Demonic Cultivators with sinister auras could be seen.
"Eldest Disciple of Kunlun has already descended, and he will most likely stay in the Mortal World for a couple thousand years at the very least. What should our next move be?"
One of them asked in a serious voice.
"We have to wait till we get any further orders. Forget about Mount Kunlun, we can't even take on the wrath of the Great Jiang Immortal Dynasty alone, despite it being the weakest of all the 24 Major Factions. Let's just watch over him for now."
Another middle-aged man replied in a stern tone of voice.
"We can't watch over him if he gets into any of the Major Faction's territory. There are Immortal Ascension Realm experts around them and even Human Immortals watching over. We'll be finished once any of them finds out."
"We have to do what we can, for now at least."
In the end, all of them disappeared without a trace.
...
Meanwhile, Eastern Continent.
Eternal Peak.
Tian Yongheng opened his eyes to see his Status Panel floating in front of him.
[Name: Tian Yongheng]
[Race: Mortal]
[Gender: Male]
[Lifespan: 53/1111]
[Cultivation: Eighth Stage of Foundation Establishment Realm]
[Constitution: Five-Elemental Divine Spiritual Physique]
[Bloodline: Descendant of the Primeval Lord of Heaven]
[Innate Talent(s): Sword Heart, Primordial Meridians and Primordial Bones]
[Affiliation(s): Eternal Peak]
[Occupation(s): Founder of the Eternal Peak]
[Title(s): Master of Eternal Peak]
[Cultivation Technique(s): Divine Scripture of the Primordial Beginning]
Finally!
Eighth Stage of Foundation Establishment Realm!
Even though he had used up all the pills he had, it was worth it to advance to the next stage.
Suddenly, another series of System Notifications appeared in front of him.
[Congratulations to the Host for breaking through to the Eighth Stage of Foundation Establishment Realm.]
[Obtained the Divine Power, Absolute Purification.]
[Absolute Purification: A Purification Divine Power. It can dispel any evil, poison, manipulation arts etcetera in all forms and purify anything or anyone as long as the user's Cultivation is enough. It can be used on living beings, inanimate objects, energies and all kind of other things.]
Too overpowered!
That was the only thing he could think of after he read the description for Absolute Purification. Rather than that, what surprised him even more was that it was actually a Divine Power!
What were Divine Powers?
Only high level Immortal Cultivators possessed Divine Powers. They were different from normal Techniques and Arts as Divine Powers couldn't be learned through manuals, but instead they had to be passed down from person to person directly through their Sea of Consciousness which stored them with the help of Divine Sense.
There were also other methods to obtain Divine Powers, such as inheritances of deceased Mighty Figures, comprehending or creating them on their own and the likes. But it was usually very hard to get even a single Divine Power, for low level Cultivators that is.
Suddenly, another System Notification popped up in front of him.
[Do you want to learn the Divine Power, Absolute Purification?]
[Yes/No]
Yes, of course!
Immediately afterwards, a surge of knowledge appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.
Complete Comprehension of Absolute Purification!
So, all the Divine Powers obtained through the System will be instantly comprehended?
Awesome!
Complete Comprehension of a Divine Power meant its complete mastery. however, that didn't mean that it can't be improved further as its user's strength increased more.
But even fully comprehending a Divine Power was a difficult task in itself, as many Immortal Cultivators close to Ascension couldn't do it.
After comprehending his newly obtained Divine Power, Tian Yongheng directly started to cultivate his other techniques and arts such as 108 Celestial Swords and Heavenly Rage Palm.
It took yet another year till he Cultivated these arts and techniques to his current Cultivation Realm. He could now summon 6 Celestial Swords!
Just as he was about to enter his Cultivation state again, another System Notification appeared in front of him.
[Your good friend, Wan Min, has reached the end of his Lifespan. He died and his soul entered the Cycle of Reincarnation.]
He was stunned for a moment and just stood there for a few minutes looking at the floating transparent blue screen in front of him. Although his face was as emotionless and expressionless as ever, his eyes showed a hint of sadness.
In the end, he just sighed softly as he looked up at the sky.
"Mortal Life is really as fragile as a exquisite piece of art made up of mud. Even if one is extremely careful with it, it will still crumble one day."
"May you have a good life next time."
He muttered to himself, his determination to achieve Eternal Life becoming even more firm and stronger than ever. He shook his head as he went back in his cave abode to cultivate.
A/N: The Cycle of Reincarnation can also be called the Cycle of Samsāra or simply Samsāra. Don't get confused later on since I will be using such words pretty often in the future.
