Feather Ascension Art

"Hmph, that's more like it. Remember, if there's a next time, this Emperor will send you to hell to meet that old bastard from earlier. Now, continue."

"Yes, yes, Master." Shangguan Wan'er nodded frantically, like a chick pecking at rice.

"At first, I didn’t pay much attention to the Taiyi Secret Realm. After all, it was just a True Immortal’s legacy. Typically, the opening of such a realm is merely a grand event for the immortal sects and dynasties around the Demon Realm.

But by chance, I learned that the Taiyi True Immortal had encountered a great fortune in his lifetime. He once obtained a cultivation technique from a forbidden land.

This technique is called the Eternal Night Lamp Method, an unparalleled mystic art from the ancient Immortal Era. It allows one to ignite their own mana, purging impurities and refining it into a purer form.

It offers immense benefits for condensing a True Immortal’s body and ascending to the True Immortal realm. That’s why I came."

Gu Qingfeng’s heart stirred. Igniting mana to remove impurities?!

Isn’t this exactly what this Emperor needs?

He was well aware of the gap between himself and a True Immortal—it lay in the quality of their mana.

If mana were water, then a True Immortal’s body would be a human. To contend with a True Immortal using the mana of a Loose Immortal, one would need an overwhelming quantity of it.

But if he could elevate the quality of his mana to rival that of a True Immortal, it would be like turning water into a fist—its power would naturally soar.

Even if he couldn’t condense a True Immortal’s body, refining his mana into a "fist" would still greatly enhance his strength.

"Since the Taiyi Secret Realm is meant to select inheritors, there must be some restrictions, right?"

"Master is truly perceptive. The Taiyi Secret Realm does have restrictions—those who have already attained immortality cannot enter. Those who’ve become immortals have their own paths, so they naturally don’t meet the Taiyi True Immortal’s inheritance conditions."

"Oh, so that’s why you tried to capture this Emperor as a slave the moment you saw me. Were you planning to send me into the Taiyi Secret Realm?"

Gu Qingfeng instantly understood the reason behind Shangguan Wan'er’s attack.

Shangguan Wan'er bit her delicate lips and lowered her head fearfully. "It was all my fault for being blinded by greed and daring to offend Master."

"Enough. Aside from cultivation restrictions, are there any others?"

"You also need a Taiyi Immortal Token."

"Where’s the token?"

"I’ve already ordered the surrounding immortal sects to gather them. It shouldn’t take long for results."

"They obey you?"

"My Feather Transformation Immortal Dynasty is a mid-tier power. These lower-tier forces wouldn’t dare disobey."

"Mid-tier, lower-tier?" Gu Qingfeng frowned slightly. "Don’t tell me the Eternal True World’s power hierarchy is divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers?"

Hearing his confusion, Shangguan Wan'er grew suspicious of Gu Qingfeng’s origins.

"Master, this hierarchy was established by the Star Extreme Immortal King. Could it be… you didn’t know?"

"Oh? My family set this? Explain in detail."

Suppressing her doubts, Shangguan Wan'er began elaborating for Gu Qingfeng.

After a while, Gu Qingfeng finally grasped the situation. As expected, only someone from a major power could provide such insights.

It turned out that this region was under the rule of the Star Extreme Immortal King, known as the Star Extreme Immortal Dynasty—a central imperial court governing all directions.

The Star Extreme Immortal King once used his supreme divine power to pluck countless stars from the heavens, refining them into a celestial river that spanned his entire domain.

This river, known as the Star River, continuously supplied immortal energy to the dynasty. And where there was a river, there had to be upper, middle, and lower reaches.

The upper reaches boasted the densest immortal energy, a dream cultivation paradise where one year of practice could yield a century’s worth of mana.

The middle reaches were slightly inferior—one year equaled ten.

The lower reaches were the most "honest"—one year was just one year, not a second more.

Meanwhile, the Demon Realm was located at the river’s tail end, a prison specially designed by the Star Extreme Immortal King to confine demons.

Basically, it was a cesspool.

This also explained why demons were so obsessed with the resources of the lower realms, stirring up chaos there—because the upper realm offered too little for them to thrive.

As for the Star Extreme Immortal King, he naturally resided at the river’s source.

Gu Qingfeng also clarified the realm divisions. The mortal cultivation stages weren’t much different from the lower realms, aside from some naming variations.

The immortal realms, however, were divided into: Loose Immortal, True Immortal, Earth Immortal, Heaven Immortal, Mystic Immortal, Golden Immortal, Great Luo Golden Immortal, and Immortal King!

Upon learning that there were so many realms above True Immortal, Gu Qingfeng panicked.

Even if he could punch a True Immortal to death, that didn’t grant him the slightest sense of security. Being able to kill a True Immortal didn’t mean he could do the same to an Earth Immortal, let alone a Heaven Immortal, Mystic Immortal, or even a Golden Immortal.

The only consolation was that this was his family’s territory, and his family member was an Immortal King. The only downside was that he couldn’t meet them!

To see the Immortal King, he’d have to forcibly traverse the Star River, journeying from the tail end to the source. How many experts would he encounter along the way? How many enemies would he face?

Even if immortals weren’t as common as mortals, given eternity, even a one-in-a-billion chance would eventually produce an ocean of immortals.

Dammit, why wasn’t the Immortal King Summoning Technique working?

Fine. From now on, he’d increase the summoning time from one hour to two each day. He refused to believe his family wouldn’t show up.

Originally, he’d considered following Shangguan Wan'er to the Feather Transformation Immortal Dynasty in the middle reaches. Now, he no longer felt like going anywhere. Not out of fear, but because life was like a journey—the destination wasn’t the most important part; it was the scenery along the way, the process itself.

It was like the pilgrimage to the West. Sun Wukong could’ve flown there in a single somersault, yet Tang Sanzang had to tread step by step on the White Dragon Horse.

That was the truth—sometimes, the journey mattered more than the destination. One should pause, observe, and savor life’s experiences rather than blindly chasing the end goal.

Gu Qingfeng understood this deeply, so he resolved to linger in the lower reaches and the Demon Realm a while longer. After all, he’d just arrived in the Eternal True World—there was so much beauty yet to behold. He didn’t want to be just a passing traveler.

"By the way, hand over your cultivation technique," Gu Qingfeng commanded.

He was determined to study the so-called upper-realm methods thoroughly.

The Eternal Night Lamp Method had shown him the possibility of mana refinement, sparking inspiration.

Naturally, Shangguan Wan'er didn’t dare disobey. She respectfully presented her dynasty’s closely guarded secret—the Feather Transformation Immortal Art.

He took it and scrutinized it carefully, only to find that it was unusable unless one had already attained immortality. Without aligning with the Great Dao of the Eternal True World, cultivation was impossible.

Refusing to give up, he started from the beginning. Moments later, a trace of delight crossed his face.

He’d finally found a usable section.

The Feather Transformation Immortal Art’s preliminary chapters contained a method that consumed mana to "feather-transform" the body, allowing for repeated metamorphosis.

This was a technique specifically for Loose Immortals, designed to facilitate the condensation of a True Immortal’s body.

It had three layers, enabling three bodily transformations, significantly increasing the chances of success.

In truth, all major powers had similar methods to improve the odds of forming a True Immortal’s body—some more effective, others less so.

The Feather Transformation Immortal Art was quite accomplished in this regard, ranking among the top tier.

Gu Qingfeng carefully studied this cultivation method and was delighted to discover how perfectly it suited him. The technique only required magical power to practice, and while it claimed to have only three levels, this wasn't entirely accurate. The three levels merely referred to three physical metamorphoses of the body.

If a cultivator wished, they could undergo one hundred metamorphoses and practice up to one hundred levels.

But no one would actually do this, because the magical power consumed would increase exponentially with each level.

Moreover, what was the purpose of these bodily metamorphoses?

Wasn't it all to condense a True Immortal's physique? Once one had cultivated sufficiently, they would naturally proceed to the next stage of advancement. Who would remain stuck at this step, spending their days metamorphosing for fun?

Gu Qingfeng would.