Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, more than a century had passed. During this period, without the constraints of the Martial Lunatic and the Ghost Immortal Sanbao Taoist leeching life force, the lifespans of these Martial Arts powerhouses were also extended.
During this century, a long-lost era of peace emerged in this world. All because under the suppression of Pei Xuanjing, the True Immortal, the powerhouses from all walks of life dared not make any rash moves, and even those who harbored ambitions could only temporarily suppress them.
Of course, during this time, they were not without gains. In these hundred years, Pei Xuanjing had lectured on the Dao twice, discussing the methods of Becoming Immortal through Martial Arts.
While continuously studying the body of the Martial Lunatic, Pei Xuanjing also gained a deeper understanding of the mysteries of the Divine Hidden. He was confident in opening his own Divine Hidden, but did not act immediately, as there were still things he wished to accomplish in this world.
Spreading Martial Arts to the world, Pei Xuanjing taught his martial experience unreservedly. Beyond the system of the Twelve-Floor Tower, he once again completely propagated the systems of Mortal Martial, Spirit Martial, and Immortal Martial.
Beyond that, he also continuously collected the Cultivation methods of Qi cultivators from the Ancient Immortal Path era of this world, fearless of whether they came from a Major Sect or Small Sect.
At this moment, Pei Xuanjing was invincible in this world; no one could threaten him. He did what he wanted without any apprehensions, like an endlessly absorbent sponge soaking up this knowledge and turning it into his foundation, preparing for the future path of his cultivation.
Besides Martial Arts, Pei Xuanjing also reorganized and innovatively taught these methods of Refining Qi, hoping to revive the Path of Qi Refinement in this world.
A multitude of flowers in bloom signifies spring, not the monotony of a world with only a single outstanding entity. Some people's talents weren't primarily in Martial Arts but instead had exceptional aptitude for the path of Qi cultivators. It was just that they were previously hindered by the absence of inheritance, thus becoming mediocre among the masses.
So Pei Xuanjing also sought to advance the revival of the Path of Qi Refinement, to prevent the Martial Path from dominating the world alone. Only with mutual competition and opposition could there be continuous innovation and development.
Although no new True Immortals emerged in this century, the former powerhouses of the Twelve-Floor Tower grew stronger. Following the path described by Pei Xuanjing, they began to polish and metamorphose their own bodies, evolving towards the Demonic God Physique, even without opening their Divine Hidden.
While no powerhouses had yet emerged amongst the Qi cultivators, a steady stream of geniuses rose up, and many Qi cultivators reached the equivalent of the five or six layers of the Spirit Realm in the Daming World. As long as they did not encounter suppression from Martial Arts powerhouses, they would eventually be able to grow.
Speaking of which, ever since the news of Pei Xuanjing being a True Immortal spread, although he had made no statement, the Royal Family of the Dahong imperial court could no longer hold back. They conspired to force the Emperor to abdicate, unwilling to let past grievances between the two affect the imperial house.
It was a sad plight for the Emperor. Despite wielding supreme power, he was also restrained, and even though his repeated actions targeting Pei Xuanjing had backfired, he had no choice but to commit suicide in the face of abandonment by his subjects.
Upon hearing this, Pei Xuanjing was somewhat surprised, but beyond that, he had no further comment, as all these matters seemed trivial in his eyes.
The Star Moon Temple faced a similar situation. Although the temple master and others did not commit suicide to atone, they went directly to Pei Xuanjing to apologize because they knew well that if Pei Xuanjing wanted to take action, they would have no means of escape unless they were willing to leave this world and enter the Chaos Void.
It wasn't just the Star Moon Temple. The Tianwu Pavilion, the Wuji Sect, and the Qingyun Path, as well as the powerhouses who once secretly instigated the theft of the lower volume of Martial Classics from the Royal Mansion, were now continuously offering their apologies.
A True Immortal, an invincible true immortal here exerted infinite pressure upon them, like a sword hanging overhead, forever poised to fall and take their lives. Without resolving these issues, they could not practice cultivation in peace.
"All misunderstandings and conflicts should come to an end here; I, Pei Xuanjing, will not pursue these matters further," Pei Xuanjing didn't meet these people in person but chose to accept their offerings and had the captain of his guards convey this message to them.
By then, whether or not Pei Xuanjing valued those offerings, accepting them was the best choice to appease their minds. As for whether they believed the message after it was conveyed to them was irrelevant to Pei Xuanjing.
Nonetheless, even with some lingering concerns, upon hearing Pei Xuanjing's promise, they felt much more at ease. At least, a True Immortal really seeking revenge wouldn't bother to deceive them so.
And in turn, as a gesture of quid pro quo, when Pei Xuanjing sent people to promote Martial Arts and the Path of Qi Refinement, these people also offered strong support. Although it was merely gilding the lily, it was, however, a statement of their stance.
All things were progressing in an orderly fashion.
And, as Pei Xuanjing obtained fewer and fewer things in this world, he was aware that his time remaining in this world was getting shorter.
He continually perfected his Martial Arts and solidified his foundation, aspiring to make his foundation in Martial Arts more complete before opening his Divine Hidden, so that he could travel further after stepping into the rank of a Human Immortal in Martial Arts.
After all, as of now, aside from the Dao of Spirit Immortals and the remaining four paths, the Heavenly Immortal Way is still not fully honed, the Golden Core has some flaws, and although the Earth Immortal Path that I have developed in the Cave Heaven Spirit Realm is gradually becoming perfect, allowing me to make up for the previous deficiencies, it is still far from nurturing a civilization.
And although over these hundred-plus years, I have had continuous discussions with Sanbao Taoist regarding the Path of Ghost Immortal, this Sanbao Taoist himself was but a Ghost Immortal formed by a fortuitous coincidence, unaware of many things himself. Pei Xuanjing is completely like groping one's way across a river by feeling the stones, learning and understanding from each other.
Therefore, in the end, the only path that Pei Xuanjing can currently advance to True Immortal through is that of Martial Arts. He wishes to solidify and forge a peerless foundation, to journey even farther.
"Your Path of Ghost Immortal is not yet complete, so if you wish to truly perfect it, you must enter the cycle of reincarnation once. I can help you complete this," Pei Xuanjing said to Sanbao Taoist.
At the same time, he continued, "Martial Lunatic, I know your True Spirit has not yet dispersed, so what I said to Sanbao Taoist also applies to you."
Hu, upon hearing these words, the True Spirit of Sanbao Taoist trembled.
The Martial Lunatic is actually still alive!
A look of shock appeared in the eyes of Sanbao Taoist. He had believed that he had completely obliterated the True Spirit of Martial Lunatic, fully controlling this body. Now, hearing Pei Xuanjing's words, there was a trace of fear in his True Spirit.
It's like after all the hard work you've put into killing an enemy, just when you lower your guard, someone suddenly tells you the enemy is still alive, secretly watching you–how could this not send chills down one's spine?
"Rest assured, the remaining True Spirit of Martial Lunatic cannot cause you any harm," Pei Xuanjing said with a smile.
The vitality of a Martial Arts Human Immortal is indeed strong. If it wasn't for the fact that Pei Xuanjing had already comprehended the mysteries of Divine Hidden, knowing that at a critical moment the True Spirit can be concealed within Divine Hidden, he would not have been able to detect this.
Actually, the reason Martial Lunatic was able to conceal his True Spirit within Divine Hidden this time was also because the one who made the move, Sanbao Taoist, was a Ghost Immortal who was unfamiliar with his own abilities.
Of course, the most important thing was that Sanbao Taoist, after seizing the body, had not had the chance to thoroughly probe the body before being suppressed by Pei Xuanjing. Over these hundred years, he has been controlled by others, constantly thinking about ways to break free, never considering the possibility that Martial Lunatic might still be alive.
"I am willing to go through reincarnation!" the voice of Martial Lunatic sounded.
During these hundred-plus years, he had not failed to gain from the outside world and understood that it was impossible to escape on his own power, at least without the permission of this newcomer True Immortal Leader.
Therefore, even the normally domineering Martial Lunatic who is unwilling to submit knew well what situation he was in at the moment. Being able to enter the so-called cycle of reincarnation was a fairly good outcome for him.
As for all this, Sanbao Taoist merely looked on indifferently, knowing full well that even if he desperately wanted to kill Martial Lunatic, it was impossible. Nothing was in his control.
He also said solemnly, "If that is the case, let me also go through reincarnation."
This hundred years has been immensely rewarding for Pei Xuanjing; was it not the same for Sanbao Taoist?
Pei Xuanjing's personality was never hidden in the exchanges between the two, and many of Sanbao Taoist's questions were resolved in detail by him, from which he gained a lot.
So even though they may both step into reincarnation, not to mention whether they will meet each other again, even if he were to encounter Martial Lunatic again, Sanbao Taoist has the utmost confidence that he could suppress him once more.
"Good," Pei Xuanjing nodded.
He prepared to leave this Heaven and Earth, of course, making all the necessary preparations.
Although he did not wish to kill the two of them, he also could not allow them to continue to stay unfettered in this world.
After all, there was still some karma between them. The current balance was due to the power and leniency of Pei Xuanjing, but he could not guarantee that the two would act the same.
With their power, in the absence of Pei Xuanjing's checks, everything that Pei Xuanjing had done in this world could be destroyed in an instant.
Therefore, Pei Xuanjing wanted to make an attempt, to see if he could use the cycle of reincarnation method of the Life Simulator to send these two back into the cycle once more.
This mattered to Pei Xuanjing because he wanted to verify a method, which was whether this world truly existed or was merely a projection of the Life Simulator.
Since the two had agreed, Pei Xuanjing was free of worries for the future, he started to arrange some other affairs, leaving behind some things and information, and across many places of this world, he left behind legacies for those fated to find them.
Because in this world, Pei Xuanjing had no disciples, apart from these guards who had followed him for a long time, he also had no close companions.
He handed over the control of the Spirit Realm Cave Heaven to the chief guard as a retreat for them, then left everything to them, and began his divine tribulation to depart.
…
For Pei Xuanjing, no matter what he had done here, he was ultimately a passerby, never to truly linger.
He only hoped that his efforts were not in vain and that this world would continue to prosper and flourish in the days to come.
"Perhaps, one day in the future, when I reach a higher realm, even without the help of the Life Simulator, I may cross the Chaos Void and return to this world." Pei Xuanjing thought in his heart.
As long as this world is not nothingness, not a projection of the Life Simulator, then he believed as long as he hadn't fallen, and kept cultivating, one day he might truly return.
It's just unknown how many years would have passed in this world by then, and whether they would still remember his existence.
However, this was also insignificant.
After Pei Xuanjing finalized all the arrangements, he reappeared in the Burial Immortal Valley, and then set up a defensive formation there to prevent disturbances, and began his breakthrough.
He sat cross-legged atop a mountain peak, his robust body began to shimmer, the shimmering glow becoming more radiant, infecting the surrounding mountain peaks, bestowing them with a sacred light.
In Pei Xuanjing's flesh, his sinews, skin, organs, and marrow, even the blood in his body, began to change, speeding like dragons competing, a tumult of dragons rampaging, organs and bones resonating together, his entire body undergoing a transformation.
Rumbling…
Continuous roars echoed from within Pei Xuanjing's body, as if the Chaos had first begun, with Heaven and Earth being parted.
Even his Half Demon Body, at this moment, started to show cracks, a web of cracks spreading across it, as if the old body was decaying, and a new body was being born.
In the sky above the mountain where he sat, a skyful of thunderbolts converged, endless Heavenly Thunder accompanied by mysterious Heaven and Earth runes, densely falling towards Pei Xuanjing.
Yet Pei Xuanjing kept his eyes tightly shut, unconcerned, quietly waiting for the thunderbolts to fall.
"Not enough yet!" Pei Xuanjing suddenly opened his eyes, radiance sparkling within them, murmuring to himself.
As he spoke, he looked up at the canopy of thunderbolts overhead and then took a leap, charging into the midst of the Thunder Ocean.
The might of the Heavens was unpredictable, and the closer one got to the converged thunderbolts of this world, the clearer the terror, but Pei Xuanjing did not retreat, his whole body seemed to glow.
Rumbling!
Countless thunderbolts roared, like bucket-sized thunderbolts hammering down at Pei Xuanjing, striking directly upon his body.
Crack!
The cracks on Pei Xuanjing's body grew larger, and after being bombarded by the thunderbolts, they started to fall away, as a strong body as pure as jade emerged from within.
The Divine Hidden was opened, and the path to Human Immortal was complete.