Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

The sound of the Great Dao reverberated throughout heaven and earth. Countless ancient runes materialized around the Four Ancient Immortals, each a vessel of their Dao Fruits. The runes flickered and sank into the Spiritless Continent, stirring the seal that lay at its bottom.

The World Seal had been created by the Four Ancient Immortals with the power of their Dao Fruits.

The Yin-Yang Dao Fruit served as the foundation of the barrier with yin and yang energies.

The Epoch Dao Fruit had integrated time reversal into the seal. Whenever the barrier was breached, time would rewind, and the barrier would be mended.

The Survival of the Fittest Dao Fruit rendered the barrier immune to the same attacks.

The Tribulation Mandate Dao Fruit imbued the barrier with the “Immeasurable Tribulation.” It was boundless and followed no pattern, so it could only be broken by brute force.

With the powers of these four Dao Fruits interwoven, even the Four Ancient Immortals couldn’t undo their handiwork through their combined efforts. The only way was for the four of them to activate their Dao Fruits and weaken the barrier, then rely on the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s endless self-detonations to break the seal open.

“It’s not enough. We’re still a little short!” the Nine-Layers Immortal said gravely.

“But this is already all our power!” The Qilin Immortal was unwilling to accept it. We’ve given it everything we have, yet this is all we can accomplish?

A little more, just a little more!

The Epoch Immortal remained silent, simply pouring all his effort into driving the runes to break the seal.

Their voices weren’t loud, yet they carried a sense of sanctity and the weight of history. Through the heavenly tribulation, their words reached every corner of the cultivation world.

The entire cultivation world could feel the frustration of the Four Ancient Immortals.

The Heaven Mandate Immortal slowly closed his eyes, as though steeling himself for a difficult decision. “No, this is not all our power. There is one last way!”

The other three immortals jolted. “Do you mean... striking the seal with our immortal bodies?!”

The Heaven Mandate Immortal nodded. “Yes. That’s the only way left!”

“But that would mean we...”

“There are no ‘buts!’”

The Four Ancient Immortals finally reached a consensus. They flew to the four corners of the Spiritless Continent and suddenly self-detonated, wrenching the hearts of everyone who witnessed this scene.

After the self-detonations, the Four Ancient Immortals were drenched in blood, looking utterly wretched.

“It’s still not enough. Keep going!” They gritted their teeth and self-detonated again.

Everyone was moved and stunned beyond words. The Four Ancient Immortals had sacrificed so much to remove the seal. Some even wept at the sight, tears streaming down their faces unbidden.

The sound of the Great Dao that had resounded through the cultivation world was now heavy with sorrow.

Lu Yang was also moved. The Four Ancient Immortals’ acting is genuinely superb.

To undo the seal, the seal must be weakened, after which the immortals had to self-detonate. As such, the Four Ancient Immortals had requested that the Everlasting Immortal Fairy temporarily grant them the “Everlasting State.” The explosions from their staged collisions with the seal served to conceal the truth of their continuous self-detonations.

Despite being soaked in blood, they didn’t bear a single wound. The only genuine element here was their immortal blood. Lu Yang had heard that they had cut themselves and drawn the blood right at the start of their plan.

However, there was one small question Lu Yang wanted to ask. Why are the Heaven Mandate Immortal and the Epoch Immortal bleeding? One has a body forged of immortal gold, and the other has a golden body coalesced from faith. Do they even have a single drop of blood?

Yun Zhi explained from beside him, “They borrowed the immortal blood from the Nine-Layers Immortal and the Qilin Immortal.”

Lu Yang was silent. They’re truly good brothers to borrow and lend each other something like this.

Boom!

With the final explosion, the Four Ancient Immortals were utterly spent. They were covered in wounds and lacked even the strength to fly, collapsing helplessly to the ground.

But everyone’s attention was no longer on the Four Ancient Immortals.

Because the seal of the Spiritless Land had been undone.

Crack. Crack.

The continent of the Spiritless Land fractured and crumbled, gradually separating from the surrounding four continents until it was no longer in contact with them.

~~~

“Father, it’s late. You should sleep.” A young man carrying a cup of tea walked up onto the high platform. His father was the Director of the Imperial Astronomy Bureau.

This was the tallest structure in the White Horse Dynasty, built to facilitate observations of celestial phenomena, calculation of solar terms, and the compilation of the calendar.

The bureau director yawned. “Is it already this late?”

“Father, you often say that the movements of the stars follow discernible patterns. Our Imperial Astronomy Bureau has a history of a thousand years. We have long deduced the laws governing their movements. Why must you still stay up so late to observe celestial phenomena?” the young man complained. If his father wouldn’t sleep, he couldn’t exactly retire for the night himself.

“I grew accustomed to observing celestial phenomena at this hour when I was young.” The bureau director had fathered this son late in life and cherished him dearly.

“But you’re right. Our Imperial Astronomy Bureau has already grasped the pattern of the stars’ movements. There’s no need to work so hard, especially since that mysterious land above us has been unchanged since time immemorial. No amount of observation will yield anything useful.” The bureau director smiled and pointed at the vast Divine World steeped in mystery and legend.

Since the dawn of civilization on this planet, the world hovering overhead had existed. It was so massive that the stars seemed like specks of dust before it. Every dynasty had maintained its claim to legitimacy by worshipping the Divine Continent. In their legends, enlightened masters could ascend to the immortal world—the Divine World—in broad daylight.

“The bureau director’s position will eventually be yours. After all, only we understand the pattern of the stars. That said, you mustn’t grow complacent. You must commit the star charts I’ve taught you to memory. They are the foundation of our standing.

“For instance, the sea levels have risen in recent years and flooded coastal towns. If His Majesty asks the Imperial Astronomy Bureau for an explanation, and we tell him it’s because he ascended the throne illegitimately, drawing heaven’s wrath and the people’s resentment, do you think he would believe us?”

The bureau director looked up once more, gazing at that boundless world. A faint dismissive smile curled at the corner of his mouth. “As for this Divine World, it’s nothing but a baseless legend. There are no gods or immortals in this world.

The so-called deities of legend merely stemmed from the ignorance of the ancients, who mistook warriors for divine beings, perpetuating the misconception from one generation to the next.”

Warriors who could lift a thousand-jin boulder would have been mistaken for an immortal easily. The bureau director stretched his neck, ready to sleep, when he noticed his son staring at the sky in a daze. He was somewhat glad. His son was incompetent, only possessing a superficial understanding of the patterns underlying the stars’ movements and their implications.

The bureau director was worried about his son’s future.

Now that my son has taken an interest in celestial phenomena, perhaps he’s finally found his way back to the right path. The bureau director patted his son’s shoulder in satisfaction. “Alright, stop staring; go to sleep. If you really want to look, sleep well during the day and take your time at night.”

His son didn’t answer. Stiff like a marionette, he pointed at the sky.

The bureau director looked up and plopped down on the ground in shock. He clutched his heart, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

That eternal, unchanging Divine World was trembling and fracturing. Immediately after, blinding light burst through the cracks. Just the light spilling through those fissures turned the White Horse Dynasty’s night as bright as day, overturning yin and yang.

A thousand years of legacy passed down through generations of the Imperial Astronomy Bureau crumbled into nothing in that instant.

The bureau director’s mind went completely blank. He wasn’t even aware of what he was mumbling, as though he was talking in his sleep.

“The Divine World... has opened...”