Chapter 636: Carry the Spirit and Soul as One, Can Itachi Never Separate

The cultivation base of Liánxū Hé Dao, fifth layer, might seem unimpressive at first glance, for above it, Luo Fu had envisioned the Five Primordial States.

But due to the flaws in the Tian Dao of the Zhētiān era, Luo Fu had become the most BUG-like existence in this age.

Grounding cultivation in the primordial qi symbolizing life energy, practitioners of the Luotian Fa system—even in this flawed Tian Dao of the Zhētiān era—could effortlessly attain the lifespan of the Supreme Beings in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands’ Perfect Fa, even surpassing it.

For other Zhētiān Fa cultivators, “uniting with the Dao” in Liánxū Hé Dao means uniting with their own Dao; for Luo Fu, it means uniting with the Dao and principles of the Twelve Celestial Realms he shares.

Within the entire Zhētiān Fa system, theoretically, before the Five Primordial States, one could follow the path step by step and truly catch up to Luo Fu, the originator, eventually reaching the ninth level of the Immortal Platform—the ninth layer of Liánxū Hé Dao—equivalent to a Dao-Proof Emperor.

Luo Fu is currently stuck at the fifth layer, but this is merely because he has not yet fully localized all the shared powers; otherwise, according to Luo Fu’s estimation, he might not instantly reach the Red Dust Immortal state.

Yet the ninth layer of Liánxū Hé Dao, comparable to a Dao-Proof Emperor, would have no bottleneck.

In the Immortal Platform realm, Zhētiān Fa essentially means retracing the entire previous system, fully transforming all previously cultivated techniques into one’s own unique Emperor Scripture.

Before the Immortal Platform realm, Zhētiān Fa does not cultivate the six viscera; but within the Immortal Platform realm, everything is fully arranged.

Luo Fu’s Luotian Fa, however, differs fundamentally from Zhētiān Fa: in the Liánshén Fǎnxū stage before Liánxū Hé Dao, one re-creates oneself from nothing using one’s primordial qi—Liánshén Fǎnxū is thus a crucial stage in Luotian Fa.

This is why, in Zhētiān Fa, the stages corresponding to Liánshén Fǎnxū are the Four Extremes and the Dragon Transformation realms.

Indeed, Liánshén Fǎnxū is so vital to Luotian Fa that it largely determines whether one can smoothly reach the ninth layer of Liánxū Hé Dao—the possibility of becoming a Dao-Proof Emperor.

If Zhētiān Fa is “easy first, hard later,” gradually reaching the Dao-Proof Emperor stage, then Luotian Fa breaks this process into “easy first, hard later, easy again.”

Compared to the criticality of Liánshén Fǎnxū, even the final Liánxū Hé Dao stage becomes less important.

Of course, this does not mean Liánxū Hé Dao is truly unimportant; quite the opposite—cultivation in both Zhētiān Fa and Luo Fu’s Luotian Fa is far from mere guesswork; it is an exquisitely intricate process, one no large-scale scientific experiment could ever match.

Although Luo Fu, having passed the Liánshén Fǎnxū stage, sensed that this realm division might not be perfectly precise, he no longer intends to revise it himself.

Just as the Void Emperor, when spreading the “Body as Seed” method, removed the final two layers to prevent his Dao from obstructing successors, Luo Fu does the same.

If he made Luotian Fa too exquisitely refined, allowing no alteration whatsoever, it would instead obstruct later Luotian Fa cultivators.

In an apt, if imperfect, analogy: within a system’s framework, the originator needs only to establish the most critical elements—plant the seed, grow the main trunk—and let the branches grow as the successors see fit.

Do not forget: in the Zhētiān universe, the most powerful scripture is not the famed texts written by Dao-Proof Emperors, Ancient Emperors, or Heavenly Sovereigns, but the Dao Jing—the most fundamental method.

Precisely because it is basic, Dao Jing is not exceptionally powerful in every aspect, yet it becomes the optimal Foundation Establishment scripture, and later allows effortless transformation of one’s path.

It is precisely this all-purpose nature that makes Dao Jing a scripture even many Dao-Proof Emperors find humbling.

Luo Fu’s Luotian Fa need not consider every detail for successors; he only needs to provide a tangible, observable precedent.

In the Zhētiān universe, a world where Tian Dao is confirmed, countless followers will naturally use their own wisdom and talent to embrace Luotian Fa, gradually expanding it until it rivals, and someday surpasses, Zhētiān Fa.

This is not impossible—after all, Zhētiān Fa itself suffers from profound innate deficiencies.

Ultimately, Zhētiān Fa emerged from a technique: developed by the Void Emperor, it was a method to unlock one’s potential, viewing the self as a microcosm equal to the external universe, opening one’s “gates,” and ultimately matching, even surpassing, the great cosmos.

This concept was brilliantly original for the Void Emperor, who had nearly exhausted the Perfect Fa; but for successors, it was far from friendly.

Look at the Zhētiān trio—Ye Hei, the Ferocious Emperor, and the Wusheng Emperor—since the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands era: though they eventually reached near-equivalent realms to the Void Emperor and Chu Feng, their cultivation paths were vastly harder than those of the earlier Nine Heavens and Ten Lands era or the future Sacred Ruins era, proving Zhētiān Fa’s inherent flaws.

After all, “Body as Seed” was created by the Void Emperor to preserve the flame of cultivation after the Perfect Fa became a dead end, opening a path for all living beings.

At that time, the Void Emperor himself had no time to perfect the “Body as Seed” system.

Though the Zhētiān trio possessed extraordinary talent and insight, Zhētiān Fa’s inherent flaws forced them onto an arduous path from the very beginning.

Especially since the Zhētiān universe’s Tian Dao is flawed, even Emperors have only a brief ten-thousand-year lifespan, severely limiting countless brilliant cultivators from forging their own paths.

In the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands era and the Sacred Ruins era, the number of Supreme Beings and Hunyuan-level experts comparable to Dao-Proof Emperors was indeed greater horizontally across time, but far inferior vertically.

The ten-thousand-year lifespan limit turned the Zhētiān universe into a vast breeding ground of parasitic insects: Dao-Proof Emperors who failed to find the path to Immortality were trapped within, swiftly replaced generation after generation.

Under this endless cycle, vertically speaking, from the Void Emperor’s solitary severance of eternity to the opening of the future Sacred Ruins era, the number of Dao-Proof Emperors in the Zhētiān era far exceeds those of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and Sacred Ruins eras.

If possible, any Zhētiān Fa cultivator would not wish their path to be as cruel as that of a parasitic insect.

A survival-of-the-fittest mechanism: fail to advance, and Itachi die.

It robs countless gifted cultivators of the chance to progress further; the Emperor’s mere ten-thousand-year lifespan leaves too much to accomplish.

Guard against the Supreme Beings of the Life Forbidden Zones, leave behind one’s legacy, and strive to explore paths toward Immortality…

All these tasks, crammed into a limited ten-thousand years, leave Dao-Proof Emperors with no time for deeper exploration.

Despite the fact that in the Zhētiān era, the Ferocious Emperor, Ye Hei, the Wusheng Emperor, and even Duan De, the Tribulation Heavenly Sovereign, all successfully entered the Immortal realm.

In truth, these four were not contemporaries.

The Tribulation Heavenly Sovereign was the oldest, an ancient relic who entered the Zhētiān era from the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands era; even Emperor Zun had once been the Tribulation Heavenly Sovereign’s second reincarnation, the Mingzun .

Next came the Ferocious Emperor: by the time Ye Hei and others arrived at Beidou, the Ferocious Emperor had already been a legend from tens of thousands of years prior.

Even the Wusheng Emperor came after the Ferocious Emperor.

Ye Hei was unquestionably the last.

Together, these four spanned the entire Zhētiān era.

In this cruel, insect-like competition, from the Void Emperor’s solitary severing of eternity until the end of the Zhētiān era and the opening of the Sacred Ruins, only these four emerged victorious from the cruel breeding ground.

Merely from this, one can feel the cruelty of Zhētiān Fa.

Luo Fu’s Luotian Fa, however, grants a lifespan increase through Liánxū Hé Dao, offering those Emperors, whose ten-thousand-year lives are as fleeting as morning dew, more time to break through Liánxū Hé Dao and enter the Immortal realm of the Five Primordial States.

When Luo Fu spreads Luotian Fa, ordinary Zhētiān Fa cultivators may still regard it with suspicion or hostility, but the Supreme Beings of the Life Forbidden Zones or those near death will surely understand how astonishing Luotian Fa truly is.

After consolidating his Liánxū Hé Dao, fifth layer cultivation base.

After Luo Fu completed his seclusion, the process of localizing shared powers could no longer be achieved by mere silent meditation.

The Great Saint Body’s wasteland slave who had once welcomed Luo Fu into the Ancient Wasteland had waited, as if for an eternity.

The Saint Body’s late-life curse had forced this Great Saint Body to imprison himself in the Ancient Wasteland near the end of his life, his body bound tightly with self-restraining bronze chains.

That crimson-furred figure bore no trace of the former majesty of the Nine Generations of Saint Bodies.

The Saint Body’s curse could be resolved by Ye Hei in the future; but now, Luo Fu, through his shared ability and Luotian Fa’s uniqueness, could resolve it too.

Yet for this crimson-furred Great Saint Body, the removal of the curse was meaningless.

To some extent, this crimson monster was no longer a truly independent life.

Luotian Fa is built upon primordial qi, symbolizing life activity.

The Great Saint Body still moves, but is not a complete life—like in the Yiren world, animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, viruses, and all have their own qi activity.

But the key to cultivating qi is not merely possessing qi; possessing qi is only a prerequisite. In the Yiren world, with a global population of seven to eight billion, the total number of innate and acquired Yirens amounts to only one in tens of thousands.

Ordinary people also possess qi, yet they cannot perceive or utilize it.

This is determined by nature and destiny.

Applied to the Great Saint Body: he now possesses only destiny, not nature—or rather, nature has weakened to the point of being negligible.

Under such conditions, even if Luo Fu taught him Luotian Fa, he might not be able to cultivate it; even if he somehow gained entry, it would be like the Tribulation Heavenly Sovereign’s Tribulation Heavenly Art—a new entity born from a corpse’s spirit, even inferior to corpse-spirit awakening.

After a single glance at the Great Saint Body, Luo Fu instantly understood: as a wasteland slave, this Great Saint Body was clearly waiting for him to awaken from seclusion.

Without asking, he knew only one person could have ordered this: the Ferocious Emperor, current master of the Ancient Wasteland.

The Ferocious Emperor, in the midst of transformation, must have sensed something from the disturbances caused by Luo Fu’s Luotian Fa cultivation.

Without delay, Luo Fu rose and walked toward the Great Saint Body; the Great Saint Body mechanically turned and led Luo Fu toward the Ferocious Emperor’s seclusion and transformation site.

On the way to the Ferocious Emperor’s seclusion, Luo Fu sensed that the Ancient Wasteland, as famed a Life Forbidden Zone as any, truly lived up to its reputation: its ability to absorb life essence was a massive DEBUFF for Zhētiān Fa cultivators, and even for Luo Fu, who had reached Liánxū Hé Dao, fifth layer with Luotian Fa, it was a serious problem.

Primordial qi is the foundation of Luotian Fa; the entire Luotian Fa system is built upon primordial qi, symbolizing life activity.

Yet the Ancient Wasteland’s unique environment—its ability to absorb life essence—is precisely what Luotian Fa most abhors.

Before reaching the Liánshén Fǎnxū stage, any Luotian Fa cultivator who rashly entered the Ancient Wasteland was playing with their life.

One misstep, and one’s potential for further advancement would be utterly severed.

Yet in an instant, when Luo Fu reappeared before the Ferocious Emperor’s seclusion and transformation site,

Luo Fu immediately sensed a power fluctuation on the Ferocious Emperor’s person—familiar beyond measure.

It was not the power fluctuation of the Zhētiān Fa system, but a purer force, closer to life activity itself.

Compared to Zhētiān Fa’s power, this force aligned far better with Luo Fu’s Luotian Fa.

His eyes narrowed slightly, Luo Fu exclaimed: “Your Majesty, Itachi have…”

“Itachi have found a true path to Heaven,” said the Ferocious Emperor, her eyes vivid beneath the bronze mask.

There was none of the earlier dullness from her transformation phase.

A vibrant vitality made the Ferocious Emperor now resemble a newborn infant.

Carry the spirit and soul as one, can Itachi never separate? Focus your qi to achieve softness, can Itachi be like an infant? Cleanse your profound mirror, can Itachi be without flaw?

At this moment, the Ferocious Emperor had clearly reached this state.

(End of Chapter)