A roar of anger resounded, and to everyone's surprise, Zhao Danping, who should have been seriously injured and unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes, from which burst forth a beam of purplish-golden light.
Immediately afterward, in the astonished gaze of Zhao Xiyi, he flew up into the air once more, first using a soft strength to push Zhao Danxia, who was struggling to hold on, back to Longhu Mountain, and then raised his hand to strike at the ethereal palm hovering above his head.
In an instant, the surrounding earth and heaven were agitated, with an overwhelming and exceedingly profound energy that surpassed even the sky's celestial realm. The mighty force erupted directly, shattering that palm. The force didn't stop there, continuing to strike toward the direction of Wu Xian's location.
Seeing this, Wu Xian narrowed his eyes slightly and raised a fist, easily dispersing the incoming force. He then looked at Zhao Danping, whose aura had changed dramatically across the way, and said lightly:
"What a powerful spiritual fetus, what a land celestial! Longhu Mountain truly hides its dragons and tigers. Wu's journey to the Sword Province was not in vain after all."
Wu Xian's voice wasn't loud, but it carried throughout the entire Longhu Mountain.
Upon hearing his words, the thirty thousand Taoists in the mountains instinctively looked toward "Zhao Danping," their faces showing expressions of confusion and astonishment.
"Land celestial" is another way of saying "land immortal," right? Could it be that our Longhu Mountain has such a powerful foundation?
Only the other three senior Taoist priests looked serious, knowing that the commotion here had attracted the attention of our ancestor. However, as he needed to restrain his cultivation realm and couldn't move his physical body lightly, he had only taken on the form of an Immortal Celestial by relying on Zhao Danping's heavily injured body.
As for what it means to be a 'land celestial': this must be explained in terms of the cultivation system of this world.
According to the habits of people in the martial arts world today, the level of cultivation in the martial arts is measured by the number of standardized armor suits destroyed in battle, and is therefore roughly divided into nine grades.
Those who are injured but not defeated by the armored troops are considered the lower three grades; those who have defeated soldiers below the eighth grade, fall into the middle three grades; and those who have broken through armors up to the ninth grade, belong to the third grade. This is also the limit that an ordinary warrior can reach.
The second grade above, known as a minor master, can break through armors of ten or more soldiers. The outstanding among them can even stand against a hundred enemies.
However, in the eyes of true experts, these eighth-grade martial artists are only mediocre characters and even the second-grade minor master is just a bigger insect that can be easily eradicated with a hand.
Only when reaching the first-grade realm, can a martial artist be considered as truly mastering the art, capable of fully experiencing the beautiful life on the battlefield.
Within this grade, there are four levels of cultivation - Diamond, Point Mysteries, Cosmic Image, and even more profoundly mysterious "Land Immortals".
After a martial artist reaches the first-grade realm, to continue climbing upwards, they must take one step at a time, advancing gradually through Diamond, Point Mysteries, and Cosmic Image. Only in this way can there be hope of achieving the realm of Land Immortals.
Of course, there are no absolute rules. For cultivators from the Three Teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, their situation is different.
Typically, in Buddhism, reaching the first-grade realm is called Diamond; in Daoism, it's Point Mysteries; and in Confucianism, it's Cosmic Image. Afterward, they only need to cultivate the corresponding single realm.
Because of this, the combat power of cultivators from the three teachings is often not as strong as that of martial artists who have accumulated multiple levels. However, once they refine their single realm to perfection, they can ascend directly to the realm of Land Immortals, which is much easier than breaking through levels for martial artists.
Above the realm of Land Immortals is the stage of transcending the void and ascending into the sky.
As long as martial artists and cultivators have reached a sufficiently high level of cultivation, they can summon the Heavenly Gate, enter it directly to ascend to the heavens, and become immortal celestial beings who are ageless and imperishable.
However, if one does not enter the Heavenly Gate and chooses to remain in the mortal world, they are called "land celestials," although they may live longer than ordinary people, they will eventually fall.
In the mortal world of the Snowlands, there are few beings like this, especially in this current era. Apart from the initial sage of Confucianism and some long-sealed demon lord, there are only the two old turtles hidden in Longhu Mountain.
The two of them are Zhao Huangchao, the ancestor of the Zhao royal family, and Zhao Xuansu, the senior-most elder master of Longhu Mountain, also known as the mysterious powerful figure who has taken possession of Zhao Danping.
They are both people who have opened the Heavenly Gate. The reason why they still cling to the mortal world is that they want to solve all the problems within their reach for their descendants, i.e., the Loyal Yang Dynasty and Longhu Mountain, so that they can leave peacefully and ascend to a higher realm.
Of course, these matters are not directly related to Wu Xian. His visit to Longhu Mountain this time is simply to confirm his current limits by fighting against the two land celestials.
Today, he has awakened the Golden Finger for six years. His cultivation has just broken through the Cosmic Image realm, but because he has the imprint of attributes from multiple worlds, he is confident that even Wang LaoGuai from Wu City would submit to his "philosophy" and bow in defeat.
In other words, Wu Xian is already an invincible being in the Snowland World.
However, this world has not only the setting of the world itself but also that of the heavens. The author has mentioned multiple times in the original work about immortals casting their fishing lines in the mortal realm, regarding it as a pond for them to raise fish and exploit and manipulate at will.
Although according to the setting, immortals cannot easily descend to the mortal realm, and even if they do come down, their cultivation will be greatly reduced, but... What if?
To be aware, the original work did not explicitly state which immortals have intervened or how powerful they are.
Perhaps the true strength in the heaven, such as the Five Emperors, view the protagonist's actions as mere small fusses, or everything is just part of their script, so they have never intervened excessively from the beginning to the end.
But things are different now. With the flutter of his own butterfly wings, the future course of this world is bound to undergo great changes. If it breaks the plans of those true strongmen and the stipulation that immortals cannot easily descend from heaven, I wonder if it would still be in effect...
Therefore, to prevent such a situation from occurring, Wu Xian needs to do two things now.
The first is to rapidly increase his own strength and cultivate more capable disciples, preferably to create an army of land celestials.
One day, if heaven sends many immortals to descend and conquer the mortal realm, at least humanity will have the ability to match their strength.
The second is to understand as much as possible about the enemy's background. Looking throughout the entire mortal realm, there is no place more knowledgeable about the power of heaven than Longhu Mountain.
It's not just those two land celestials. Moreover, Longhu Mountain has its own connection with heaven. If one can grasp the secrets of this connection, it will also facilitate formulating more comprehensive plans.
Of course, if in the future, a Dao Saint-level cultivator from the same party can enter the mysterious realm, then all of the above is irrelevant. Just charge ahead and do it.
Thinking this in his heart, Wu Xian looked at the "Zhao Danping" across from him, whose expression was cold, and his mouth curled up:
"Longhu Mountain Daoism is known to be profound and mysterious, the first in the current era of the Daoist sects. There are also hermits with high achievements, whose strength does not fall short of that of Wang Xianzhi by half. I was still somewhat skeptical, but upon meeting the Taoist master today, I now know that the rumors are true."
"Since you now know, you may withdraw. I can represent Longhu Mountain in forgiving your earlier offense."
"Zhao Danping" eyes flashed with a purple light, but he spoke lightly.
"That can't be!"
Wu Xian waved his large hand and said with righteousness, "While elder can be magnanimous, the young can't disregard reason. Since I have offended Longhu Mountain, I must be punished accordingly."
"Just in time, recently I have just broken through the realm and am on the rise. I need someone to firmly curb my ambitions. Fortunately, you are a land celestial. Since this is the case, let me do both things at once!"
After speaking, his right hand clenched into a fist, and the seal print pressed down horizontally!
