Chapter 548: It’s not enough to have the skills to modify them
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist felt Jiang Li was being wildly unrealistic: “Fellow Daoist, you should think this through carefully. The Five Elements Spirit Root has a hard cap on its potential – even with a lifetime of effort, one can only linger in the Qi Refining Stage, never achieving Foundation Building.”
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist was offering well-intentioned advice. If Jiang Li taught Wen Qing’er but she couldn’t even break through the Qi Refining Stage, it would damage the reputation of this great expert who had pioneered new cultivation realms.
“It’s no trouble. I’ve seen many who relied on the Five Elements Spirit Root to cultivate all the way to the Unity Stage.”
“This is the Spiritual Energy Diagram. Start by using this to draw energy into your body. Once you reach the third level of Qi Refining, we’ll begin the next phase.”
With Jiang Li teaching her hands-on, Wen Qing’er quickly succeeded in drawing energy into her body, becoming a first-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.
“What cultivation method is Wen Quan practicing?” Jiang Li asked casually.
“It’s this very ‘Taixu Scripture’, left behind by an ascended senior. It can be cultivated all the way to the Earthly Immortal Stage and suits Wen Quan’s talents perfectly.”
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist handed the Taixu Scripture to Jiang Li without worrying about any ulterior motives. He could tell Jiang Li was a righteous cultivator, more upright than even himself. For such a person, Radiant Enlightenment Daoist felt only respect.
“It’s quite well-written, but this method doesn’t seem entirely compatible with Wen Quan?” Jiang Li discovered many aspects of the Taixu Scripture that could be modified. With slight adjustments, it would become much more suitable for Wen Quan.
“Fellow Daoist jests. This is our sect’s finest cultivation method, and the most suitable one at that. There couldn’t possibly be a better method than this.”
“Why must people always conform to methods, rather than methods conforming to people? Fellow Daoist Radiant Enlightenment, why not modify the cultivation method?”
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist opened his mouth but found himself utterly speechless. Throughout his long cultivation journey, it had always been methods selecting people. This was the first time he’d heard of modifying a method for a person.
“You don’t mind if I make some slight modifications, do you?”
“By all means.”
After receiving permission, Jiang Li scribbled notes all over the original method, quickly completing the revisions: “Fellow Daoist, take a look. Have I overlooked anything?”
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist scanned the modified method, his very soul trembling. Though only details had been changed, these modifications had elevated the method to an entirely new level. Not only was he incapable of such feats, even his ascended grandmaster wouldn’t be able to accomplish this. Fellow Daoist Jiang Li understood this cultivation method better than its original creator.
“The Taixu Scripture is quite good with substantial potential. I don’t know Wen Quan well enough yet for large-scale modifications. Once I understand him better, I’ll revise the Taixu Scripture further. For now, you can make do with practicing this version.” Jiang Li said modestly.
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist felt that Jiang Li’s Mahayana Stage wasn’t comparable to Earthly Immortals, but rather to the Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortals. It was utterly terrifying.
Bang bang bang—
Knocking sounded at the door. Wen Quan whirled around, watching the entrance warily.
“Hello, your delivery order has arrived.”
“That’s mine.” Jiang Li said, moving to open the door.
“Your world has many foods I’ve never seen before. They’re all quite novel.” Jiang Li remarked.
“Would you like some?”
“Thank you for your kindness, Senior. Master said I’m at a critical stage of cultivation and need strict control over my diet.”
“I need to watch my figure and don’t dare eat late-night snacks.”
The Wen siblings declined Jiang Li’s offer. Jiang Li could only happily enjoy the delicacies by himself.
“I have filming tomorrow, so I’m going to sleep now.” Wen Qing’er said through a yawn. Today had been utterly exhausting, and even becoming a first-stage Qi Refinement cultivator couldn’t overcome her sleepiness.
“Go sleep. Until you learn meditation, sleeping is the fastest way to restore your essence, energy, and spirit.”
“I need to sleep too.” Under Radiant Enlightenment Daoist’s watchful gaze, Wen Quan was “voluntarily” forced to go to sleep. Wen Quan normally stayed up past midnight, but since acknowledging Radiant Enlightenment Daoist as his master, he had to sleep by ten o’clock and wasn’t allowed to play on his phone in bed.
Jiang Li stood on the balcony, took a sip of hawthorn juice, and made a satisfied sound before turning to ask: “What is it? Do you have something you want to ask me?”
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist hemmed and hawed for a long time without getting his question out.
Jiang Li smiled: “Fellow Daoist sent the siblings away. Surely you have questions you don’t want those two to hear?”
Seeing Jiang Li’s directness, Radiant Enlightenment Daoist steeled himself and asked: “During your travels through the myriad heavens and worlds, Fellow Daoist Jiang, have you ever encountered the immortal-level creatures that attacked our world?”
Jiang Li’s smile vanished: “No need to travel through myriad worlds. Our Nine Provinces World has encountered dozens of such monsters, suffering heavy casualties because of them.”
“Then might Fellow Daoist Jiang know the origins of these creatures?”
“That question… I suspect you already have the answer in your heart, but you don’t dare believe it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be asking in this manner.”
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist fell silent. Indeed, after seeing the two immortal faces and hearing Jiang Li say the Celestial Ascension Ladder had broken, the truth was easy to deduce.
He asked with some bitterness: “Was it internal conflict in the Immortal Realm that affected us?”
“To be precise, it’s the entire Immortal Realm.”
“The Heavenly Dao has gained sentience and seeks to destroy the myriad heavens and worlds, including both Jingyu World and Nine Provinces World.”
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist was stunned. Even when imagining the worst possible disaster, he hadn’t expected it to involve something as profound as the “Heavenly Dao.” This was simply too despair-inducing.
“Knowing this truth, Fellow Daoist Jiang remains so optimistic. This humble daoist admires you.” Radiant Enlightenment Daoist noticed Jiang Li showed no trace of worry, still eating and drinking heartily without the slightest pause in his movements. This indicated he didn’t take the matter seriously.
“What if I told you my Mahayana Stage is stronger than the Heavenly Dao? Would you believe me?”
Radiant Enlightenment Daoist shook his head firmly.
Jiang Li chuckled without further explanation: “You’ll believe it in time.”
This wasn’t something easily explained. Should he randomly select two fortunate worlds to collide, just to demonstrate his power?
…
“Sister, I’ll come with you to the filming location.” Wen Quan recalled yesterday’s events and still felt fearful.
Unable to refuse her brother, Wen Qing’er had no choice but to let him accompany her.
“I’ll come too.” Jiang Li found it interesting and followed behind.
Wen Qing’er had to bring two people and one ghost to watch her film.
…
“Wen Qing’er, why are you still here? Hurry and change into costume.” The director urged.
Yesterday, it had been the executive director who tried to make Wen Qing’er accompany drinking. Today, it was the main director urging her.
“What’s with the director today? He doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.” Wen Qing’er quietly asked the makeup artist.
“This morning an actor had an incident. Though his role isn’t large, it’s crucial for the entire series. Without him, we can’t film today. Every day we wait wastes another day of location fees. The good thing is this actor hasn’t appeared on camera yet. The director wants to find a replacement but hasn’t found anyone suitable.”
The makeup artist complained that she didn’t even know if they’d film today, yet the director had her doing actors’ makeup. If they couldn’t film, wouldn’t they just have to remove it all?
Wen Qing’er made an understanding sound.
The director looked around, then suddenly his eyes lit up as if he’d found the perfect replacement actor.
“What’s your name?”
“Jiang Li.”
“Would you be willing to play the emperor?”
“I could consider it.”