Chapter 134: From Mortal Physique to Primal Simplicity

"What is this?"

Li Shun was more familiar with the Xuanhuang Qi of Heaven and Earth than anyone. There was no possibility of mistaking it. His divine sense stirred, locking onto its source in an instant.

It was coming from the remains of the Three Elders that he had just stored within the Fangcun space.

"So once something enters Fangcun, the Xuanhuang Qi that rightfully belongs to the Three Elders' remains naturally becomes mine as well."

"Unfortunately, just as I sensed before, there are still too few people who believe in the Three Elders. There still isn't enough to condense even a single complete strand of Xuanhuang Qi of Heaven and Earth."

"However... now that I am serving as Acting Magistrate of Shangyu County, perhaps I can make use of the remainder of my term to plan something and see whether I can encourage the birth of this Xuanhuang Qi."

Li Shun's thoughts were interrupted by Li Qing's astonished voice.

"Brother, what exactly just happened...?"

Li Shun knew perfectly well why Li Qing was so shocked.

Putting three skeletons into storage out of thin air was still within the realm of comprehension. But making a living pangolin disappear in an instant was simply too unbelievable.

Li Shun offered no explanation. Instead, he directly activated Threefold Self-Reflection.

It was not that he distrusted Li Qing. It was simply a matter of taking every possible precaution.

The Fangcun space was, after all, his greatest and most fundamental secret.

Even if the abilities of Threefold Self-Reflection and the Heavenly Being Codex were exposed, Li Shun believed it would not matter too much.

Only the Fangcun space itself could never be revealed.

Not even the slightest clue could be allowed to leak out.

"Fortunately, with my current understanding of the Threefold Self-Reflection divine ability, each activation no longer requires me to rigidly experience the first two reflections before reality becomes fixed. That saves me quite a bit of the cost."

As the resounding words, "I examine myself thrice each day," echoed through the heavens, time once again returned to the beginning of the day.

This time, Li Shun did not bring Li Qing along on his excursion. Instead, he ordered him to patrol the city.

Li Shun himself traveled alone to the resting place of the Three Elders' remains.

Repeating the same process as before, he stored both the skeletons and the pangolin within the Fangcun space.

"Now that the Heaven Gate has disappeared, I can break through whenever I wish."

"And I have a feeling that passing the Heaven Gate should originally have required some effort, perhaps earning the recognition of the Three Elders' remains. Instead, by directly storing them within the Fangcun space through such a simple and forceful method, I bypassed the trial altogether."

"It's just like the Earth Gate before. My opportunity to break through corresponded with Jiang Chongguang. Later, without doing anything myself, that Gate mysteriously disappeared on its own. Most likely something changed on Jiang Chongguang's side."

"So although the Gates exist, the method of passing them is never fixed."

"One may proceed according to convention and pass through the Gate properly."

"Or employ extraordinary means to erase the Gate altogether."

As Li Shun experienced the subtle transformations within himself, he sank into thoughtful contemplation.

After returning to the county office, Li Shun carefully reread every record concerning the Three Elders.

He then wrote a lengthy memorial offering in their honor.

Rather than making it public immediately, he first sought Kong Zhao's opinion through the jade pendant Kong Zhao had left behind.

The reply arrived quickly. Line after line of small characters appeared upon the jade pendant.

"The Three Elders of Shangyu were predecessors of our Confucian School. It is only natural for Junior Brother to compose a memorial in their honor. There is nothing inappropriate about it."

"Remember not to make too much of a spectacle, lest you stir up unnecessary controversy throughout the city."

"These are troubled times. Everything should be done with the goal of safely completing your term as Acting Magistrate."

Seeing the response, Li Shun finally felt at ease.

Without alerting any of the other county officials, he simply ordered craftsmen to engrave the memorial, word for word, upon the cliff face atop Three Elders Peak.

Alas! In ancient days, Shangyu was a land of barren mountains and treacherous waters. Jagged peaks rose one upon another, pestilence filled the valleys, savage beasts roamed freely, and the people knew no peace.

Then you, honored elders, arrived, moved by compassion for the suffering common folk. Joining hands, you split apart the mountains to create fertile plains, drove away demons and evil spirits, and opened rich lands for cultivation. You dredged waterways until rivers and canals intertwined, allowing the many peoples to finally gather and settle. Only then did Shangyu become a land fit for human habitation.

Having accomplished your great deeds, you sought no reward and withdrew into the deep mountains. Though none know in what year you ascended, your benevolence has endured to this very day.

As Acting Magistrate, I have climbed these lofty heights during rare moments of leisure. Looking down upon the fertile fields and flourishing villages below, I know that all this prosperity was won through your hardships in clearing these wild lands. Today, auspicious clouds gather around the mountain summit and radiant light dances across the heavens, proof that your heroic spirits have never faded and continue to guard these mountains and rivers. Since I now govern this land, how dare I fail to devote my utmost effort? May good governance and harmony among the people repay the labor with which you first opened this land. If your spirits yet remain, may you witness this sincere heart of mine.

Alas! May your honored spirits accept this humble offering.

Three days later, the engraving was complete.

Li Shun returned to the summit once more, dressed in plain ceremonial robes to pay his respects.

He still kept the ceremony deliberately modest. Only he and his younger brother Li Qing attended.

Once the memorial rites concluded, the two quietly returned to the county office.

Although Li Shun had acted with the utmost restraint, news that the newly appointed Acting Magistrate had erected a memorial inscription upon Three Elders Peak soon spread quietly among the common people.

Three Elders Peak had always been one of Shangyu's most famous scenic landmarks. With this touching story added to its reputation, even more visitors flocked there.

After reading the memorial engraved upon the cliff, they did not necessarily become believers of the Three Elders.

Yet each carried away a sense of admiration and reverence.

Within the Fangcun space, the incomplete strand of Xuanhuang Qi of Heaven and Earth that had been drawn from the Three Elders' remains visibly became denser and more substantial.

"Unfortunately, the Three Elders are not officially recognized by Great Qian. Shrines and temples cannot be built in their honor."

"They cannot receive the people's incense offerings."

"The Xuanhuang Qi they gather will never rival the immense abundance surrounding Ge Linfeng or Qian Yuan."

"At this rate, it will take an entire year to condense a single strand."

"And the process will likely become slower with time."

"But accumulated little by little is still better than having nothing at all."

Li Shun nodded inwardly.

On the fourth day of the third month.

As several more days passed, discussion surrounding the Three Elders gradually died down. The rate at which the Fangcun space gathered Xuanhuang Qi likewise stabilized.

Li Shun calmed his mind and began preparing for his breakthrough.

Li Qing stood guard outside the room.

"The Primal Simplicity realm can truly be considered the point where one steps onto the path of cultivation."

"If the Mortal Physique realm is still nothing more than an ordinary body of flesh and blood, then the Primal Simplicity realm strips away acquired impurities and returns one to one's innate primordial state."

"Upon reaching this realm, both one's perception and absorption of the world's Primordial Essence, as well as the circulation of one's own internal essence, are on an entirely different level compared to the Mortal Physique realm."

"Even so, the actual increase in combat strength is not particularly dramatic. It is more of a transitional stage."

"The true qualitative transformation comes with the next major realm: Spirit Resonance."

"When the heart communicates with heaven and the spirit resonates with all things, one can vaguely perceive the subtle changes of heaven and earth, and may even sense the malicious intent hidden within another person's heart."

As these thoughts slowly flowed through his mind, Li Shun reflected upon his journey since beginning cultivation.

To be honest, he felt little emotional attachment to it.

After all, he possessed decades of cultivation experience inherited from Fang Xun, while the Threefold Self-Reflection puppet continually guided him from a far higher perspective, dispelling every confusion before it could arise.

To him, cultivation had largely become a matter of simply following the proper procedure.

Now that all Three Gates had been overcome, advancing from Mortal Physique to Primal Simplicity was no more difficult than water naturally flowing downhill.

One day later.

Li Shun slowly opened his eyes, quietly experiencing the transformation of his body.

"Every impurity has been cleansed away."

"It truly feels like being reborn."

"From this day onward, I can genuinely subsist without food."

"I have completely cast off any dependence upon mortal grain and water. By absorbing only the primordial essence of heaven and earth, my body alone can sustain its own cycle of creation."

"The internal essence flowing throughout my body now continuously tempers my five viscera, six bowels, bones, muscles, and meridians."

"My vitality and regenerative ability have increased tremendously."

"Even if I were gravely injured one day, with no medicine available to treat me, a few days of quiet recuperation alone would be enough for a complete recovery."

This feeling of rebirth differed entirely from entering the Longevity state before.

Longevity merely restored his youthful years.

Advancing from Mortal Physique to Primal Simplicity, however, was a fundamental evolution of life itself.

He had stepped into an entirely new stage of existence.

"Now that I've broken through..."

"The next step is to borrow lifespan once again."

A flicker of anticipation flashed through Li Shun's eyes as he slowly raised his head and looked toward the heavens.