Chapter 989: Transactions and Advice

Searching through a thousand jade slips for a way to break through the barrier between the two realms.

Not by cultivating each one individually.

Often, just one glance is enough to dismiss something.

So the speed was still very fast.

In about two days, He Pingsheng had finished scanning all the jade slips.

In the end, there was indeed one left before him.

It was a formation.

A third-rank immortal formation, named the [Nine Stars Piercing Barrier Formation].

The formation harnesses the stellar power of the Nine Stars of the Immortal Realm to pierce through the barrier and open a path to the lower realm.

Once opened, it allows one cultivator of the Human Immortal realm to enter the lower realm.

This formation has many uses—for example, transporting supplies to one’s own clan in the lower realm!

Of course, what the Immortal Realm calls the “lower realm” here is a True Spirit World, equivalent to the Spirit Realm.

Once this formation is set up, it can pierce through two layers of barriers.

One layer is the Immortal Realm’s barrier; the other is the Spirit Realm’s barrier.

Clearly, He Pingsheng had no means to set up such a formation.

On one hand, the formation’s rank was too high—he couldn’t construct it.

On the other hand, he lacked the materials required to build it, as it demanded many third-rank immortal materials.

He didn’t have them!

But He Pingsheng thought of a solution.

That was: simplification.

Reduce this third-rank immortal formation into a ninth-rank Spirit Realm-compatible grand formation.

Although the power of this grand formation might be drastically diminished—even less than one-tenth or one-hundredth of the original—

It didn’t matter!

Because He Pingsheng didn’t need to pierce the Immortal Realm’s barrier.

He only needed to break through the two layers of the Spirit Realm’s barrier.

The Immortal Realm’s barrier was surely more stable than the Spirit Realm’s by more than a hundredfold.

That was it!

He Pingsheng’s next step was to translate this grand formation, written in Immortal Script, into the common script of the Spirit Realm, then re-carve it onto a new jade slip.

After carving it, he called Liu Molin over.

During his past two thousand seven hundred years of seclusion, He Pingsheng had not only raised his cultivation base to Mahayana Emperor Realm Level Twelve, but also elevated his spiritual sense, body refinement, and Chaos Golden Scripture to Level Twelve.

As for alchemy, talisman crafting, and formation art, he had raised them all as well.

One could say his formation skill now rivaled Liu Molin’s.

But… having one more person was always better.

So he called Liu Molin over.

“He Daofriend… I absolutely cannot construct this formation!” Liu Molin’s face darkened upon seeing the third-rank immortal formation: “This is a third-rank immortal formation!”

He Pingsheng said: “I’m not asking you to construct this grand formation!”

“I mean, can you slightly modify it—lower its rank by two levels, turning it into a first-rank immortal formation?”

“If it’s a first-rank immortal formation, we can use ninth-rank Spirit Realm materials to build it—that becomes a ninth-rank formation!”

Liu Molin said: “This… won’t be easy.”

He Pingsheng smiled: “No problem. Let’s work together and give it a try—I’ve improved my formation skill during this time!”

Thus, He Pingsheng and Liu Molin secluded themselves on Solitary Pine Mountain.

They began studying how to modify the formation.

One year!

Two years!

Three years!

Even with the aid of the Momentary Time Formation, He Pingsheng still spent thirty-six years to successfully modify the formation.

And this was even with the two of them working together.

After finishing, He Pingsheng said: “Liu Daofriend… wait a moment. I’ll have my friend take a look—see if it can be improved further!”

He Pingsheng vanished in a flash of light, as if out of nowhere.

In truth, he had placed the modified formation into the Treasure Basin.

One day later, the Treasure Basin strengthened the formation.

Two formations, identical!

Even the name was the same.

Name: Sun-Moon Piercing Barrier Grand Formation.

Rank: Ninth-rank, supreme grade.

Function: Harness the power of sun and moon to pierce the barrier of the True Spirit World.

Several days later, He Pingsheng returned to Solitary Pine Mountain.

Liu Molin, eagerly awaiting, asked: “How did it go?”

He Pingsheng said: “It’s done. Take a look.”

He handed the formation diagram to Liu Molin.

Liu Molin studied it for half an hour, then cried out: “Brilliant… truly brilliant… but this grand formation requires a lot of materials!”

“Yes!” He Pingsheng said: “The materials needed are all ninth-rank… I wonder if they can even be gathered in the Spirit Realm?”

“Take these materials, and under my authority, go to the Western Extreme Continent, Bingxuan, the Witch Clan, and the Dragon Clan—see if you can gather them all.”

“Yes!” Liu Molin departed.

…

“What are your plans?” Jin Ku suddenly spoke after Liu Molin left.

He Pingsheng said: “Old man, you’ve been silent for over thirty years—I called you and you didn’t answer!”

“Now you finally speak?”

“I agree,” Jin Ku said without preamble. “That servant method you mentioned.”

“But don’t forget—you must swear an oath before Heaven that once I become your servant, you will never enslave me in any form.”

“No problem!” He Pingsheng was overjoyed.

He hadn’t expected the old man to finally come around.

“But!” He Pingsheng said: “Before you hand over the Heavenly Slave Seal, I want to make a deal with you first.”

Jin Ku said: “Go on.”

He Pingsheng said: “You’ve seen—I plan to open the Spirit Realm’s barrier, but success isn’t guaranteed. Your cultivation is at the Earth Immortal realm. I need you to help me—host this grand formation and assist me in breaking through the barrier!”

“What do you say?”

Jin Ku said: “That’s no issue. But since you just said it’s a deal—what can you offer me?”

He Pingsheng reached out and produced two talismans.

“These are ninth-rank defensive talismans—strengthened by the Treasure Basin,” He Pingsheng said. “As an Earth Immortal, the heavenly tribulation you’ll face trying to ascend to the Immortal Realm will make you question your existence.”

“I can’t guarantee these two ninth-rank talismans will save your life—but they’ll give you immense aid.”

Jin Ku said: “Indeed… it’s not just my high cultivation—I’ve also accumulated too much karmic debt.”

“I fear Heaven will settle accounts with me during the Ascension Tribulation.”

He Pingsheng said: “Do you agree?”

“If you agree, I’ll give you one more piece of advice.”

Jin Ku said: “Fine, I agree. Give me your advice.”

He Pingsheng said: “From my estimation, if you wish to ascend to the Immortal Realm, you absolutely cannot avoid the violent heavenly tribulation!”

“Your chance of survival is one in ten thousand!”

“So I advise you—in preparation for your ascension, the first thing you must do is lower your cultivation.”

“Drop two major levels from your current Earth Immortal realm—drop down to Mahayana Emperor Realm peak.”

“Then, with the talismans I gave you, you should be able to survive it.”

“Otherwise, you will die without doubt.”