What... is this? I have calculated everything for so many years. I even saved my third heavenly might warning because I planned to build it up, unleash it in one decisive burst, and finally deduce the full power of the Heavenly Tribulation Sword Intent.

I have only drawn on a portion of the Great Dao, so how did it turn out like this? Come to think of it, I did sense something before the heavenly might descended.

Still, while he had been immersed in the Great Dao, he simply could not care less. Those watching eyes did not concern him. Even heavenly might itself seemed insignificant.

And now, all that remained was regret. Deep, unmistakable regret.

I could have chosen a safer path. After recording the talismans derived from the Dao of Creation, I could have slowly helped Ling Sheng evolve.

But what was done was done. Instead, he just smiled faintly at Ling Sheng, who knelt before him. He could not place too much pressure on her.

"May I touch you?" he asked.

"Mm."

Ling Sheng stepped forward. Wang Sheng raised his hand and gently tapped her arm with his fingertip.

Her arm felt smooth and soft, almost boneless, while her skin was pale, flawless, and extremely delicate. Overall, she was only slightly inferior to Mu Wanxuan—ahem. That was not the point.

The point was that Ling Sheng now seemed to be warm.

Wang Sheng fell into thought, recalling how he had used the Great Dao to unleash a divine ability. A trace of understanding surfaced in his mind.

Heavenly might had intervened because Ling Sheng's transformation had exceeded her natural limits and had already begun to affect the stability of the Three Realms.

The impact was not too great. Otherwise, it would not have been heavenly might that came, but heavenly punishment.

"How is your divine ability now?" he asked.

"It seems several times stronger than before, Master. If I were to catch a Taiyi Golden Immortal off guard, I could stir up the malicious thoughts in their heart and influence their mind."

Wang Sheng nodded slowly. If that's the case, then my final heavenly might warning might not have been wasted.

He looked at Ling Sheng again. It made him feel strange, like a father gazing at the daughter he had painstakingly raised.

"Anything else?" he asked.

Ling Sheng hummed softly as she lowered her head in thought. Her long lashes fluttered twice.

This, too, was new. She seemed more alive, no longer bound by her origin as a naturally evil entity.

"I seem... to be able to comprehend the Dao and cultivate like a cultivator."

Wang Sheng was slightly surprised. "Oh?"

He quickly gave her a few pointers. Ling Sheng sat down cross-legged, hands forming a sign as she focused inward. Streams of primal qi gathered around her, and a Dao Rhythm soon emerged in her surroundings.

No wonder it had drawn the intervention of heavenly might...

"Stop for now." Wang Sheng frowned as he paced back and forth.

This is a good thing. Through the Dao of Creation and the Chaos Spiritual Dawnlight, I have elevated Ling Sheng's very essence.

Originally, Ling Sheng could only grow stronger by absorbing death aura, and she had already been close to her natural limit. After all, she had only been a Ghost Heart Vine that had gained form. Now, however, she had been granted a true Dao Body and had broken free from those constraints.

If she could comprehend her own path and continue walking it, then taking just one more step forward could strengthen her divine ability enough to truly disrupt the balance of heaven and earth.

With a single thought, all living beings could turn to ash.

At that moment, Wang Sheng gained a little more understanding.

"Ling Sheng, does the fiend-controlling spell still affect you?"

The frail girl trembled. She immediately dropped to her knees, pressing her forehead to the ground as tears fell uncontrollably.

"Master, I will never betray you. If you command me to die, I will destroy my Primordial Spirit at once."

Wang Sheng pondered briefly. "I was the one who created you, and I can also destroy you. There is no need to be so afraid. You have followed me through many tribulations, and you have saved my life before. We should have been like friends. Still, Ling Sheng, your divine ability makes me feel uneasy."

"I understand," the girl said as she raised her head. Spiritual light flickered in her eyes. "I am willing to bind my own Primordial Spirit and place my life in your hands. I swear that in this life, I will never leave your side, and I will follow only your commands."

Her master nodded slowly. He had once thought about winning others over with virtue and sincerity, just like the protagonists in the comics his senior sister read. However, reason told him that it would not work here.

Ling Sheng drew out a wisp of her Primordial Spirit and offered it to him.

It took the form of a tiny seedling. Through it, her life could be extinguished at any moment.

Wang Sheng placed the seedling within his immortal body, letting it remain alongside the Chaos Spiritual Dawnlight and the small wooden sword. If he died, Ling Sheng would perish as well.

Afterward, Ling Sheng made an oath and was finally allowed to remain outside to cultivate.

"Oh, right," Wang Sheng added, "do not absorb the primal qi of this planet. There is not much here to begin with, and there is no Primal Qi Passage. Endure for now. You can resume cultivating once we leave."

Ling Sheng lowered her head. "Yes, Master."

Wang Sheng then arranged a place for her to stay and let her continue comprehending the Great Dao. He also returned the Spirit-Stabilizing Tea Tree into his Qiankun Ring, allowing it to quietly cultivate for a period of time.

"Um... Master, what about me?" someone called out from the corner.

The sword cultivator turned and found the delicate little boy, who was carved like jade, staring at him uneasily.

He smiled faintly. "You have already become a sentient herb spirit, and I have helped you enlighten. Now, you exist as something between human and spirit."

"Mm!" The herb spirit boy pouted. "Master, I know I am very nourishing, but I can help too. I can guard the house and keep the courtyard clean..."

Wang Sheng could not help but laugh. "Enough. Since I have helped you transform, I will not use you as medicine. Stay by my side from now on and handle simple tasks like serving tea and water."

"The herb spirit boy bowed repeatedly. "Thank you, Master, for sparing me from being stewed! Thank you for not cooking me!"

"I should give you a name," Wang Sheng said. After a moment of thought, he glanced at Ling Sheng, who was nearby, and smiled. "Since she is called Ling Sheng, your origins are similar, and you two will follow me from now on, you shall be called... Er Gou."

With no sense of whether the name was good or bad, Er Gou quickly kowtowed, his face lighting up with a simple and innocent smile. "Thank you for giving me a name, Master!"

After the sword cultivator had dealt with them, members of the Special Investigation Unit arrived in a hurry. They had detected unusual phenomena here and came to check if something had happened. He had to spend some time explaining things to them.

***

By the time Wang Sheng sent the Special Investigation Unit away, Ling Sheng had already entered a state of Dao comprehension. He sighed quietly and slumped onto the sofa, raising a hand to rub his brow.

If heavenly might descend again... that will be a warning from heavenly punishment.

The Great Dao could influence a cultivator's state of mind. Wang Sheng had experienced this long ago.

The Myriad-Slaying Sword Intent had once stirred intense killing intent within him. Fortunately, the small wooden sword kept it in check. Moreover, the Dao of Creation affected his mind earlier, making everything in the world seem insignificant. That indifference felt cold and distant, as though even his thoughts followed only the rules of the Dao.

This was Dao nature.

Living beings possessed spirituality. Humans possessed humanity. Cultivators possessed spirituality, humanity, and Dao nature.

Those with strong spirituality would find it easier to comprehend the Dao and walk the path of cultivation. Humanity was more complex; it was simply the character of a person. Dao nature stood in contrast to it, and the two rose and fell against each other.

When cultivators remained in the mountains and cut themselves off from worldly affairs, their Dao nature would grow stronger while their human nature faded. They would appear increasingly detached and lacking in human warmth.

But Wang Sheng had grown up in the mortal world in an age flooded with information. He matured early in childhood, gained awareness in his youth, and broadened his knowledge in university. His humanity was not easily suppressed by his Dao nature.

The Dao of Creation managed to affect him simply because it was too powerful.

Wang Sheng sighed. Since I have nothing else to do here, I might as well devote this portion of my mind to further understanding the Dao of Creation. Perhaps I can grasp it sooner...

He immediately called his parents and told them he would be entering seclusion for a period of time, possibly lasting several years or even over a decade. Afterward, he called Mou Yue and told her that if anything came up, she should come to the villa to find him. If his parents fell ill or if he went too long without reappearing, she could come wake him.

Afterward, Wang Sheng set up several layers of isolation arrays around the villa.

With Er Gou guarding the place and Ling Sheng cultivating outside, Wang Sheng did not worry about his Dao Body being disturbed.

Destruction was even less likely. He could summon the Dao of Creation at any moment, unless a Grand Dao Golden Immortal appeared.

Wang Sheng sank his awareness inward and poured this portion of his mental strength into his Primordial Spirit, allowing his main consciousness and subconscious to merge once more. His speed in accepting the Great Dao increased by about five percent, which wasn't that bad.

The changes outside the villa could truly be described as oceans turning into fields.

Because the Hua Republic had been pushing forward military technology for the endless space, the technological development of Earth's mortal world entered a cycle of stagnation and sudden breakthroughs.

For every year that passed on Wang Sheng's side, a hundred years passed on his senior sister's side.

The endless space remained largely unchanged. Its overall structure had not shifted for hundreds of thousands of years; such a short span of time naturally could not alter its ongoing chaos either.

The Three Realms could not find peace. Living beings could not rest.

The Great Dao was contested. Cultivators sought to steal from heaven.

In the fifth year of Wang Sheng's full seclusion, Mou Yue came to wake him.

When Wang Sheng opened his eyes, starlight shimmered within them. The pressure he released nearly caused Mou Yue to faint.

Fortunately, he regained control within a second. He took the drawing she had brought over. The picture was arranged like a four-panel comic, each panel telling part of a story. At first glance, Wang Sheng did not understand it at all.

Only after thinking carefully for a while did he realize what his younger sister was trying to convey.

In the first panel, a child sat atop a coffin. Beside him stood a woman with a human body and a snake's tail, along with a young scholar.

At first, Wang Sheng thought it depicted something sinister. After a moment, he recalled Xu Zhongliang.

Qinghua seemed to have successfully drawn Xu Zhongliang onto his side.

The second panel continued the story. Several indistinct figures stood upon a wooden coffin, gazing toward a crack ahead. This indicated that Qinghua, Xu Zhongliang, and several other powerful beings were planning something related to the Immortal Saint Realm.