Chapter 177: Invincible Under Heaven, But Heaven Sends Its Enemies (Requesting Monthly Tickets

A roar rang out, and suddenly Zhao Danping, who should have been severely wounded and unconscious, opened his eyes, unleashing purple-gold light from within.

Next, before Zhao Xiyi's astonished gaze, he soared back into the air, first using soft force to push Zhao Danxia—who was barely holding on—back to Long Hushan, then raised his hand and slapped upward at the phantom palm above.

Instantly, the surrounding heavenly qi surged violently; an overwhelming energy far exceeding the Heavenly Phenomenon realm erupted, shattering the palm outright, its residual force continuing to blast toward Wu Xian's position.

Seeing this, Wu Xian narrowed his eyes slightly, raised a fist, and effortlessly dispersed the incoming force, then looked at Zhao Danping, whose aura had drastically changed, and smiled lightly:

"A fine case of Nascent Soul possession—a true Earthly Immortal. Long Hushan truly harbors hidden dragons and tigers. This journey to Jianzhou has not been in vain."

Wu Xian's voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly across the entire Long Hushan.

Upon hearing his words, the three thousand Daoist priests on the mountain instinctively turned toward "Zhao Danping," their faces filled with confusion and shock.

What is an Earthly Immortal? Is that another term for Earthly Immortal? Does Long Hushan really possess such profound hidden strength?

Only the other three Celestial Masters wore grave expressions, knowing the commotion had drawn the Ancestor's attention—but the old master, bound by his need to suppress his Ascension realm, could not move his physical body, so he had sent forth a Nascent Soul avatar, temporarily inhabiting the mortally wounded Zhao Danping.

As for what an Earthly Immortal truly is… this requires explaining the cultivation system of this world.

According to current martial world conventions, martial cultivation is measured by the number of standardized armor plates one can break, divided roughly into nine ranks.

Those who damage but do not break armor are Lower Ranks; those who break fewer than six plates are Middle Ranks; those who break eight or nine plates are Upper Ranks—the limit ordinary martial artists can reach.

Above them lies the Second Rank, known as Minor Grandmaster, capable of breaking more than ten plates; the most exceptional among them can stand against a hundred men.

Yet in the eyes of true experts, all eight ranks before this are mere riffraff—even a Second Rank Minor Grandmaster is but a slightly larger ant, crushable with a flick of the wrist.

Only upon reaching the First Rank does a martial artist truly enter the hall, able to drink deep of the martial world's glory.

Within the First Rank, there are four stages—Vajra, Pointing Mystery, Heavenly Phenomenon, and the unfathomable Earthly Immortal.

Once a martial artist reaches the First Rank, to ascend further, he must tread step by step, gradually mastering Vajra, Pointing Mystery, and Heavenly Phenomenon before even hoping to achieve the Earthly Immortal realm.

Of course, nothing is absolute—for instance, cultivators of the Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist schools follow different paths.

Generally, Buddhist cultivators enter the First Rank as Vajra, Daoists as Pointing Mystery, Confucians as Heavenly Phenomenon; thereafter, they need only refine their single corresponding stage.

Because of this, the combat power of the Three Teachings' cultivators often falls short of pure martial artists who stack multiple stages—but once they perfect their single stage, their ascent to Earthly Immortal becomes far easier than a martial artist's breakthrough.

Above the Earthly Immortal lies the realm of Shattering the Void—the Ascension realm.

Any martial or cultivation practitioner whose realm is sufficient may summon the Heavenly Gate, pass through it, and ascend directly to the Celestial Realm, becoming an immortal of eternal life.

But if one passes through the Heavenly Gate yet chooses to remain in the mortal world, one is called a Celestial Being—longer-lived than ordinary mortals, yet still destined to perish.

In the mortal world of Snow Country, such beings are exceedingly rare, especially in this era: besides the founding Sage of Confucianism and a certain sealed Great Demon, only two ancient turtles hide within Long Hushan.

One is Zhao Huangchao, the ancestral patriarch of the Zhao imperial family; the other is the previous Celestial Master of Long Hushan, Zhao Xuansu—the mysterious powerhouse now inhabiting Zhao Danping.

Both have opened the Heavenly Gate, yet they linger in the mortal realm to eliminate all foreseeable threats to their descendants—the Lyang Dynasty and Long Hushan—so they may depart in peace and ascend to the Celestial Realm.

Of course, these matters concern Wu Xian little; he came to Long Hushan merely to test his current limits by fighting these two Earthly Immortals.

To date, he has awakened his divine tool for over six years; though his realm has only just broken through to Heavenly Phenomenon, with attributes from multiple worlds bolstering him, he is confident that even Wang the Old Monster of Wudicheng would bow before his "principle."

In other words, Wu Xian is already invincible in the Snow Country world.

Yet this world, beyond the mortal realm, has celestial rules—original material repeatedly mentions celestial immortals fishing for fate, treating the mortal world as a fishpond to manipulate and exploit at will.

Though the lore states immortals cannot easily descend, and even if they do, their power is greatly diminished… what if?

After all, the original material never clearly stated which immortals had ever intervened, or what their true strength was.

Perhaps to true celestial powers like the Five Directional Emperors, the protagonists are mere trivialities—or perhaps all of it is merely their script, and they have never interfered at all.

But now it is different: with the flutter of my butterfly wings, the future of this world will undergo massive change—if this disrupts the plans of those true powers, will the rule "immortals may not descend lightly" still hold?

Therefore, to prevent such a scenario, Wu Xian must do two things now.

First, rapidly increase his own strength and cultivate more capable subordinates—ideally, forge an army of Earthly Immortals.

Should the Celestial Realm one day send legions of immortals to punish the mortal world, humanity must at least possess the strength to stand against them.

Second, gather as much intelligence as possible on the enemy—and across the entire mortal world, no place understands the Celestial Realm better than Long Hushan.

Not only because of those two Earthly Immortals, but because Long Hushan itself maintains ties to the Celestial Realm; if its secrets can be uncovered, it will aid in crafting a more thorough plan.

Of course, if a future mysterious space one day spawns a Self of Dao-Heaven Saint level, then all the above is moot—just charge forward.

Thinking thus, Wu Xian looked at the cold-faced "Zhao Danping" and smiled:

"I've long heard Long Hushan's Dao arts are profound, the foremost of all Celestial Gates today, with reclusive sages whose strength rivals even Wang Xianzhi. I once doubted it—but now that I've met the Daoist, I know the rumors were true."

"Since you now know, then leave. I, as representative of Long Hushan, shall forgive your earlier offense."

"Zhao Danping" spoke calmly, a flash of purple light in his eyes.

"That won't do!"

Wu Xian waved his hand decisively: "You may be magnanimous, but I cannot ignore principle. Having offended Long Hushan, I must be punished."

"Luckily, I've just broken through my realm and am feeling overconfident—I need someone to crush me hard, to remind me there are greater powers beyond the heavens. And you, sir, are an Earthly Immortal. Perfect—let's kill two birds with one stone!"

With that, his right hand clenched into a fist, and the palm seal came crashing down!

(End of Chapter)