Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

“I didn’t expect His Excellency the Immortal Venerable Nine-Layers to really make a move.”

The yin and yang energies blotted out the sky and the sun.

The Snow Emperor sighed deeply. Since Xue Shilou will eventually become the next Snow Emperor, there’s no harm in telling him some things now.

“Actually, there are two reasons why Immortal Venerable Nine-Layers has never left the blank white jade tablet.”

Hearing this, Meng Jingzhou couldn’t be bothered about the battle raging overhead. He dragged a small stool from the doorway and scooted over to listen.

The Snow Emperor shot a cold glance at Meng Jingzhou, who looked behind him in the same direction. There was no one.

“There’s no one behind me. Go on, Snow Emperor. We’re all on the same side here.” Meng Jingzhou stared back at the Snow Emperor with confidence, his face practically written with “I’m an honest child.”

“I’m looking at you!” the Snow Emperor snapped. What business does an outsider have listening in on our Snow Emperor Lineage’s affairs?

Ah? So I’m not supposed to listen? Meng Jingzhou mused.

Seeing the Snow Emperor enraged, Murong You and Huo Huashen sheepishly withdrew, one carrying a small stool and the other a door panel.

“I’m really on the same side.” Meng Jingzhou produced a manual from his identity jade tablet. It was the Primal Chaos, One Qi, Two Origins, Three Talents, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Planets,[1] Eight Corners, Nine Lands, Ten Heavens, I Alone Am Honored Immortal Art.

My self-created I Alone Am Honored Fist only drew inspiration from the Numbers Immortal Art. In a sense, the Nine-Layers Immortal can be considered half a teacher of mine.

“The Nine-Layers Immortal’s immortal art?” The Snow Emperor was taken aback. He really is one of us.

“Lord Snow Emperor, Fellow Daoist Meng is absolutely trustworthy. He won’t tell anyone else about this.” Xue Shilou vouched for Meng Jingzhou.

The Snow Emperor sighed in resignation and continued. “One reason the Immortal Venerable never leaves the jade tablet is that he is evading an ineffable, unknowable existence. The Immortal Venerable is extremely secretive about this being. I know nothing about it either.

“The second reason is that during the ancient era, the Immortal Venerable had an incident that gave rise to a second personality. This second personality is exceedingly fond of battle and prone to losing reason. The Immortal Venerable is worried that if his second personality takes control of his body, it will bring catastrophe upon all living beings, so he dares not leave the white jade tablet.”

“So it’s a second personality.” Lu Yang flew back and happened to catch the Snow Emperor’s words, which could answer the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s question.

Come to think of it, the people I know in the Extreme North tend to have split personalities. First, it was Xue Shilou, then it was Su Yuan, and now it’s the Nine-Layers Immortal.

The Snow Emperor looked at Lu Yang with a complicated expression. He didn’t hold it against him for eavesdropping. Had it been me facing the Fate Arbiter, I would have been captured long ago. On the contrary, Lu Yang seems to have handled the Fate Arbiter with ease.

“The Immortal Venerable has long wanted to resolve his split personality disorder, which is why having once had a split personality is one of the requirements to become the Snow Emperor. A candidate must have once possessed split personalities and merged them back. He wanted to learn from the experiences of every Snow Emperor.”

“Your Snow Emperor Lineage is certainly... unique.”

Across all of Muxue City, only the Tiger Roar Martial Arts School maintained a relaxed atmosphere. The battle between two immortals had the citizens on edge; the combat was on a level completely beyond their understanding.

The city lords who had rushed over to spectate knew more and were thus even more terrified. An immortal signified mastery over a Rule. Their existence was on an entirely different plane from immortals; even the slightest gesture from an immortal could result in a celestial phenomenon.

They wanted to turn and flee, but the thought of never witnessing another immortal battle in their lifetimes made them reluctant to leave.

“Nine-Layers Immortal—one of the Four Immortals has truly appeared.” The Fate Arbiter fended off the attacks with his bone staff, growing more excited as he fought.

When Yang Kongtong first sent word that Lu Yang carried leads on the Four Ancient Immortals, the Fate Arbiter had suspected it was a lie to ensure he would come. Lu Yang’s denial had only deepened his suspicion.

Now, there’s no need to doubt it. Lu Yang really has clues about the Four Ancient Immortals!

No, “clues” is no longer the correct term. I’ve searched for the Four Ancient Immortals for so long, and one of them has finally appeared!

The sun and moon were currently one entity, representing day and night respectively. The world had never seen such a union of the sun and moon. The Nine-Layers Immortal held them both in his hands and stepped on the Taiji diagram, bringing the yin and yang of the sun and moon before him into perfect harmony.

Creed Leader Chi and First Elder Liu Zhen of the Radiant Sun Creed couldn’t help but shudder at the sight, kneeling and kowtowing to the Nine-Layers Immortal. The Radiant Sun Creed had always believed that the greatest thing in the world was the sun. Whether it was their earlier practice of occasionally sending people to the sun or their current dedication to studying solar energy and promoting the sun’s greatness, it all stemmed from this belief.

Yet the sun was merely one of the abilities of the Nine-Layers Immortal’s Yin-Yang Dao Fruit. If he said the sun in his hand was real, then it was real.

The sky was divided into two by the Nine-Layers Immortal, one side extreme yang and the other extreme yin, like two contrasting worlds of ice and fire.

Ancient legends spoke of ten suns hanging in the sky, stunning the world. But those ten suns were just ten golden crows. How could they compare to the sun the Nine-Layers Immortal had manifested?

“Go!” The Nine-Layers Immortal hurled a dazzling fireball.

The Fate Arbiter formed hand seals with one hand and unleashed an immortal spell that had existed only in the Great Qian era, one never recorded in later ages.

“Heavenly Spirits Shield!”

The Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits[2] transformed into thirty-six layers of vajra shields before the Fate Arbiter. But against the sun, they were like thin xuanzhi paper[3], torn apart easily. The searing flames rushed straight at the Fate Arbiter’s face.

The Fate Arbiter swung his bone staff with all his might, deflecting the fireball. It landed a thousand li away, blasting a crater that seemed bottomless. An eternity seemed to pass before the shockwave howled back, followed by the thunderous sound of the explosion.

Where the bone staff had met the fireball head-on, the skull tip was scorched and melted. Yet in the very next instant, it was restored to its original state.

The bone staff was the Fate Arbiter’s life-bound treasure, forged from his bones after he became an immortal. Immortal bones possessed astonishing innate regenerative abilities.

However, the Fate Arbiter hadn’t expected the Nine-Layers Immortal to hide behind the fireball. Right after he swatted it away, he was greeted by the grinning Nine-Layers Immortal.

The Nine-Layers Immortal’s body was divided into two, one half yang and one half yin, representing the world’s most extreme forces. He struck with both fists simultaneously, and as yin and yang converged, a terrifying spatial collapse was triggered.

The Fate Arbiter formed seals and released a mist to obscure the Nine-Layers Immortal’s vision, seizing the opportunity to retreat and transform his bone staff into armor.

The skull on the bone staff became a helmet on the Fate Arbiter’s head. The spine extended over his back to form a backplate, while the ribs fastened across his chest turned into a breastplate. In an instant, the Fate Arbiter was fully armed, giving him the means to fight the Nine-Layers Immortal at close range.

But he knew this alone wasn’t enough. What he needed was to capture or kill the Nine-Layers Immortal to vacate the position of the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit.

However, he couldn’t do that alone. He secretly crushed the Midheaven Emperor-Lord’s token, summoning him to join the battle.

After the token shattered, a spatial vortex appeared. The Midheaven Emperor-Lord stepped one foot through, but seeming to have sensed something, he hastily withdrew. The vortex vanished without a trace, leaving both the Nine-Layers Immortal and the Fate Arbiter utterly nonplussed.

On the highest snowy summit outside Muxue City, a graceful figure leaned against a monarch chair, watching the immortal battle unfold within the city. As the spatial vortex disappeared, she let out a quiet sigh.

“Was it because my emotions fluctuated at the sight of the Midheaven Emperor-Lord, allowing him to sense my aura?”

1. The seven “planets” prior to modern astronomy: the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. ☜

2. This is likely referring to the 36 Tiangang Spirits/Stars in Daoism or Chinese folk tales. The concept is popularized by one of China’s four great novels, Water Margin. ☜

3. Xuanzhi is a type of Chinese paper made for writing and painting. As stated in the text, it is very thin. ☜