Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao

The five people all sat down cross-legged. They formed two clear separate groups, each occupying one side of the island at the lake’s center.

Bei Xuanming was naturally displeased. Those three were only in the Genesis Tier, so what qualified them to be his equals? If it was not for the fact that Fu Xiaoyun forbade him, he’d really want to throw all three of them into the river.

…Towards this lover, he was considerably pleased. Her status and identity were only slightly inferior to his, and her talent was not inferior to his at all.

And precisely because of this, he was still willing to give Fu Xiaoyun enough face despite the fact his cultivation level far surpassed hers.

He calmed his mind. Though a prodigy like him no longer needed to come to a Severing Mundane Mystery Realm to be able to deliver the second strike, the mystical power of heaven and earth here was endless, and could still decrease some of the difficulty for him.

Second severance, come on! He called out mentally. As a man, he naturally had his own pride, always thinking that he should be stronger than his own woman to have mental balance. Otherwise, if he did not break through to the second severance, and Fu Xiaoyun had successfully achieved the first severance, the two of them would be equal in cultivation level. His pride would be hurt.

Ling Han, the Empress, and Fu Xiaoyun were all closely appreciating the mystical power of heaven and earth. As long as their grasp of it was proficient enough, they could then attempt to sever their mortal bonds.

The heaven and earth were impartial, treating all living creatures like straw dogs[1].

This embodied a kind of justice, an absolute fairness. No matter what you were, in the eyes of the heavens, there was no difference of nobility and lowliness, and all were equal.

If one wanted to comprehend great dao, the best method naturally was to create a resonance with great dao. First, one would have to learn to be as “heartless” as the heavens, and delivering a strike on oneself would be severing the mortal bond that one valued the most, which was equivalent to presenting one’s sincerity to the heavens.

The more thoroughly this first strike was delivered, the higher the level of agreement one would achieve with great dao, and then one’s battle prowess would naturally be higher, and it would also become considerably easier for one to comprehend the Regulations of the Great Dao in the future.

However, Ling Han and the others did not want to strike themselves, but rather strike the heaven and earth.

Ling Han sat down in a cross-legged position. Multiple streaks of comprehension came to being in his mind. Striking at the heaven and earth was only a kind of theory, but the true meaning of it was to separate oneself from the heaven and earth. One was a heaven and earth of his own, and he himself was the great dao.

This was not impossible, because cultivators had journeyed all the way from being weak to becoming strong, and this actually was a process of improving one’s inner world.

Building Mountain and River, constructing Sun and Moon, forming stars for Eternal River… This was actually a miniature version of the greater world, and the only difference was that there were no Regulations.

Thus, if one wanted to deliver a strike onto the heaven and earth, one would need to borrow Regulations from the heaven and earth, turning it into the Regulations of one’s own inner world. Perhaps there would come a day when this inner world would evolve to become a real universe.

Why was it more beneficial to strike the heaven and earth?

One method was to strike oneself, and he would become a subordinate of this heaven and earth, and the other was to deliver a strike onto the heaven and earth, and he would become his own existence, which meant being equal with this world—at least that was the case in terms of level. Then, wasn’t it very clear which was the better method?

But the problem here was, again, how should this strike be delivered?

There was no experience that they could adhere to, and no one could tell them what they should do. It was just like severing one’s mortal bonds—no one could tell you how you should deliver this strike. This was a test that the heaven and earth had imposed on you, and you would have to completely depend on yourself. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so few Severing Mundane Ancestors in the Celestial Realm.

…With an unlimited lifespan, as long as one had enough time, the number of this group should have theoretically increased to a frightening number. But the fact of the matter was that even a Two Star City only had about 1,000 Severing Mundane Ancestors, which was proof of how rare they were.

Ling Han and the others were simulating the various possibilities in their minds. Though they were all extraordinary geniuses, the king tiers of the younger generation, it was still extremely difficult to take the step of advancing into the Severing Mundane Tier, especially when they wanted to deliver a strike onto the heaven and earth.

One day, two days, three days… Five days later, Fu Xiaoyun suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, her energy withering for a moment. She couldn’t help but show an expression of shock. Previously, she had attempted to sever her mortal bonds, but she had almost severed her own life.

Thankfully, before she had entered here, she had once received a boost from the seniors of her clan, which could take a severe injury in her place once. Otherwise, even if she hadn’t died, she would have been heavily injured now. Putting aside advancing into the Severing Mundane Tier, merely recuperation would take tens of thousands of years or even a few million years.

She calmed her heart. Though she had almost died, she had seen a sliver of hope in the midst of her failure. She was sure that she definitely would be able to succeed.

She was a top-grade king tier; she definitely could succeed.

In curiosity, she looked towards Ling Han and his group. She ignored the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden completely. This woman had not even touched the verge of the Severing Mundane Tier yet. Her primary focus was on Ling Han and the Empress. These two people gave her a feeling that they were unfathomable.

Under the rule of the Fu Clan, when had two such talents appeared? And they even knew of the other method to advance into the Severing Mundane Tier?

Pu!

She saw the Empress suddenly throw up blood. Pa, her body actually exploded, but what made Fu Xiaoyun incredibly stunned was the fact that this body actually turned into shards of great dao. Then, they immediately disappeared, and the Empress reappeared, completely unscathed.

This… Fu Xiaoyun was dumbfounded. What was going on here!?

She had clearly failed to sever her mortal bonds, and received a backlash from the heaven and earth. She was already “dead”, but why was she still fine?

Was she seeing things?

That was impossible; a great Genesis Tier could actually be seeing things?

She naturally would not know that the Empress had formed nine doppelgangers, and every single doppelganger could actually be treated as the original. Furthermore, they could all be sacrificed. Anyways, forming another doppelganger would only be the issue of spending a little time.

The Empress failed in her first attempt to strike the heaven and earth, and so a doppelganger had died in her place, while the main body was completely uninjured.

‘She’s a f*cking freak!’

Fu Xiaoyun was incredibly shocked. Because she was the most outstanding descendant of her clan, she had only received a boost through her ancestor having expended his own life force for her, which life force could die in her place once, but what kind of existence was the ancestor of the Fu Clan?

A supreme elite of the Immortal Palace Tier! Furthermore, it could not be accomplished by just any ordinary Immortal Palace Tier, but he had to be a big shot among Immortal Palace Tiers!

How did this woman manage to do the same? Could it be that she also had a three-star force as her backing?

No, no, no, the crux of the matter now was to sever her mortal bonds first. She could consider this question later in the future.

Fu Xiaoyun hurriedly gathered her thoughts. She no longer had any means for a replacement to die for her, so the next time she severed her mortal bonds, she definitely had to succeed. There was definitely no second chance for her any longer.

Pu!

But just at this time, she saw the Empress spurt out blood madly for the second time, her body having exploded again, and then she reappeared, completely fine.

A muscle twitched in her cheek; she was completely speechless with shock.

This woman was again breaking through to the Severing Mundane Tier, but she had still failed. However, she actually had a secret technique in which a replacement would die for her.

Which clan was she actually a descendant of to actually have as many as two secret techniques that could die in her place?

Fu Xiaoyun was confused again. In this area, the Fu Clan was the absolute ruler, and only the Fu Clan had Immortal Palace Tier elites, but now an unknown woman actually looked to be even “wealthier” than she was. How could this not make her disconcerted?

She forcibly steadied her attention, but not too long later, she saw the woman throw up blood for the third time, and “die” again.

This time, she was completely numb. Even if someone told her that the Empress was actually the descendant of a Celestial King, she would probably be able to accept it with a peaceful heart.

Pu!

The sound of blood being spat out rang out again, but this time, it was not the Empress, but rather Ling Han.

Fu Xiaoyun watched. Ling Han was not like the Empress whereby he had a secret technique that allowed a replacement to die in his place, but what astonished her even more was that Ling Han actually just wiped away the trace of blood at the corner of his lips, and even showed a sliver of a smile. Then, he began once more to break through.

‘Y-y-y-you!’

Fu Xiaoyun’s small mouth was slightly agape, herself feeling that everything was so surreal.

Ling Han discovered that Fu Xiaoyun was staring at him, and couldn’t help but ask, “Are you all right?”

‘Of course I am fine, but the question here is why are you fine as well!’

Fu Xiaoyun felt like she was about to go nuts.

[1] Straw dogs are figures of dogs made out of straw used as ceremonial objects in ancient China, often thrown away after use. Basically, this expression means that in the eyes of the heaven and earth, all living creatures are equal, and are not killed out of cruelty or birthed out of kindness.