I Cheated While Cultivating - Chapter 381

Chapter 381: Chapter 101: Need to Prepare More, Unboxing!

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Divine punishment is the most severe negative feedback from the laws of Heaven.

It manifests in various ways.

Direct harm such as thunder and underground fires are just the basics; the most frightening aspect is the direct influence on fate. To be entwined with disaster, to have death hanging over one’s head are common occurrences, and one might even die inexplicably without realizing it.

Even Celestial Men would not wish to face such divine punishment.

However, under normal circumstances, only those who have caused extremely serious disruptions to the normal operation of the world’s rules, and after a period of accumulation, could provoke divine punishment.

As Gou Chen said, she had stayed in the Xuanteng realm for less than a day, which should be highly unlikely to trigger divine punishment.

Unless the rules of the world have developed a will and intentionally targeted her.

But if the rules of the world have developed a will, then why release the information route of the world on their own, only to then fiercely reject the outsiders?

This clearly does not make sense.

Zhou Heng felt puzzled in his heart.

“Azure Dragon and Tianyi suspect that the information route released from the Xuanteng realm might have been a call for help,” Gou Chen pondered a moment and said, “And now, the rules that are expelling us are very likely the will of the heavens and earth that has been eroded.

“Indeed, although everything has a spirit, it is extremely rare for the rules of the world to naturally give birth to a conscious spirit. The vast majority of so-called ‘will of the heavens and earth’ is actually created by man-made contamination of the world’s rules.”

“Man-made contamination of the world’s rules creating the will of the heavens and earth…” Zhou Heng’s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he said, “Accomplishing such a feat is surely not within the ability of ordinary beings.”

“Exactly,” Gou Chen nodded and said, “Ordinarily speaking, to erode the rules of a world such as this, one would at least need Daoist power, that is to say, reach the Celestial Man Realm.

“In reality, however, the Daoist power of the vast majority of Celestial Men is trivial compared to the rules of a world. Only the most pinnacle of Celestial Men or those who have espoused a special Dao have the potential to erode the rules of a world.

“Therefore, behind most such wills of the heavens and earth stand Tao Lords, or even more powerful beings, and of course, it could also be the work of an Evil God…

“Azure Dragon speculates that the ‘Fuxi’ and ‘Nuwa’ worshiped in that world might be the Evil Gods who have eroded the rules of that world’s heavenly dao. Tianyi holds a contrary opinion, feeling that ‘Fuxi’ and ‘Nuwa’ might also be the ones who have been eroded.”

How could Fuxi and Nuwa possibly be Evil Gods!

This was Zhou Heng’s immediate reaction. He could accept that Evil Gods might go by titles such as the Emperor of Mount Tai, the Goddess of Cloud and Skies, Mokkalika-Jia Ye, or even Pure Yang who Transforms the Government and Guards the People. But he could not accept any association between Fuxi, Nuwa, and Evil Gods.

In his memory, in his understanding, these two were the ancestors of human culture, the origin of humankind, supremely mighty beings of incredible power, impossible to be Evil Gods.

For a moment, Zhou Heng’s intent to visit the Xuanteng realm grew stronger.

He wanted to clarify exactly what was going on with the Fuxi and Nuwa that the Human Race in that world worshipped.

“With so many doubts, will there be further exploration of the Xuanteng realm?” Zhou Heng continued to inquire.

“No more,” Gou Chen shook her head softly, saying, “Mine was the last attempt. There has been a disturbance in the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer in Southern Jin, and the evil gods from outside have gathered again. With news that a Demon Lord from the West Wasteland intends to descend, the organization can no longer afford to attend to this matter.”

“No wonder there have been so few visitors to the Purple Tenuity Palace lately,” Zhou Heng sighed softly, asking, “Has there been any new activity in Southern Jin?”

“Not for the moment, but both leaders and ourselves dare not relax,” said Gou Chen.

“Understood,” Zhou Heng nodded, not pressing further on this issue, he said, “Could you give me a copy of the investigation results concerning the Xuanteng realm? I could use it for reference to better embody a Divine Soul incursion.”

To incarnate Divine Soul across myriad worlds, if one does not want the host body to be too random, it is still necessary to have a certain understanding of that world in order to make a choice.

“Of course,” Gou Chen nodded gently, standing up with a smile, “Please wait a moment, Star Officer.”

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She formed a hand seal, and immediately a green light screen appeared before her, with various runes flowing across it. She lightly touched it with her finger, and the mask on her face subtly glowed.

Then, Zhou Heng sensed that his own mask had received a message.

“Is this the privilege of a high-ranking Celestial Man Star Officer?” Zhou Heng exclaimed in surprise, as it was his first time receiving information in this manner.

“Mm, you could say that,” Gou Chen nodded and said, “However, it’s not a privilege inherent to the Star Officers themselves, but a special feature of this palace. As long as you are in your own palace, you can send out information to others.”

“That’s quite nice,” Zhou Heng said with a smile of praise, then stood up and spoke, “Then I will take my leave now, thank you, Senior Gou Chen.”

“Let me escort you out,” Gou Chen said warmly, leading Zhou Heng out of his grand hall.

Zhou Heng walked out from Gou Chen’s palace, glanced back, and as he beheld the majestic hall, a thought stirred in his heart; he was well aware that he probably wouldn’t have a palace like Gou Chen’s.

Because he was the master of the entire Purple Tenuity Palace.

The various functions of the Purple Tenuity Palace were actually the special effects owned by his palace.

With this in mind, Zhou Heng thought about the various new special effects of the Purple Tenuity Palace, of which he had already gained quite a few.

Such as the Starlight Bridge, such as the Soul Star Gate…

But there were some other privileges that had not yet been activated.

Previously, his own strength was not displayed strongly enough, and his status was also not very stable, making it unsuitable to rashly activate privileges with significant impact.

However, after the battle in the County City of Fengzhou, his status was bound to be greatly enhanced.

Perhaps it was already time to optimize the special effects of the Purple Tenuity Palace.

“After returning from the Xuanteng Realm this time, I should have all Five Virtues complete, and upon referring to the legacy of the Three Pure Ones, there’s hope for me to create my own path of the Five Virtues,” Zhou Heng contemplated within.

Zhou Heng already had a plan in mind and secretly thought, “At that point, it won’t be impossible to condense the true Gang intertwined with Dao charm and manifest the Dharma Phase to step into the Sect Fifth Rank in one fell swoop.

“If I step into the Sect Fifth Rank, further privileges of the Purple Tenuity Palace should open up to me. Then I’ll see whether it’s suitable to completely unlock those privileges all at once, to enhance the Purple Tenuity Palace’s special effects, and to strengthen both the organization and myself.”

Although he had not yet developed his own path of the Five Virtues, he had already acquired martial arts related to the Five Virtues from the legacy of the Three Pure Ones.

The Yellow Mystery Pagoda Manual was Virtue of Merit, the Supreme Riding the Bull Picture was Virtue of the Dao, and the Yin and Yang Positive and Negative Divine Light was Fortune Virtue.

While he lacked martial arts related to Yin Virtue and Tao Virtue, he had the Three Jewels Wish-Fulfilling Fist, which allowed him to choose any three types of virtue from within the Five Virtues for cultivation, perfectly completing the Five Virtues.

This was also the reason why Zhou Heng was not in a hurry to cultivate the Three Jewels Wish-Fulfilling Fist; he wanted to wait until the Five Virtues were complete, then choose one kind of virtue energy that would complement Yin Virtue and Holy Virtue to cultivate this fist.

At this thought, another idea suddenly emerged in Zhou Heng’s mind, and he secretly pondered, “Since the Five Virtues are complete, and I have also collected the Fortune of Killing and Fortune of Qi among the Five Fortunes, then might it be possible to further achieve the Five Virtue Five Fortune Dharma Phase after cultivating the Five Virtue Dharma Phase, as a supplement?”

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. If both Five Virtues and Five Fortunes were complete, the Dharma Phase would inherently contain the principle of generating and overcoming, more closely aligning with the inclusive essence of the universe, and certainly, its power would be stronger, and the Dao it led to would be even more profound.

However, it was just an idea for now, and he would need to wait until he had cultivated the Five Virtues Dharma Phase to put it into practice. Still, this did not prevent him from starting to collect the energies of the Five Fortunes from now on.

This trip to the Xuanteng Realm became a journey with a few more aspects to be aware of.

“Since this journey is so important, and there is something strange about the Xuanteng Realm, then I should make some more preparations, just in case,” Zhou Heng mused briefly and quickly made a decision—

“Open all the Copper Fortune Bags and Silver Fortune Bags, then open a Gold Fortune Bag and a Platinum Treasure Box!”