I Don't Agree to the Terms

"Come on, read after me, I am a human! I am a human!!" Gu Shanhai's expression darkened—why was he not considered human? As long as no one could see through his true form, if he claimed to be human, who could argue against it?

"Ah, yes, I'm human, but you are not, Teacher." Rein retorted—indeed, technically speaking, Rein was human, at least in terms of being mortal, and he had all the typical human internal organs, bones, muscles, blood, and so on, just mixed with abnormal elements and Divine Power. Even Tang Wen was the same.

"You little..." Gu Shanhai was all ready to give him a lesson about who was the boss here, but, in the end, did not take action, principally because it wasn't a good idea to fight. Afterwards, he said, "Forget it, I am the only one who can practice it anyway, so you just be jealous."

Hearing this, Rein couldn't help but laugh and cry—who would be jealous of that?

He had also seen Gu Shanhai's Child Skill manuals and, aside from not understanding the text, he realized one thing—aside from Gu Shanhai, no one else would ever practice these Child Skills. Who would want to remain a virgin for life? And those who were not virgins couldn't succeed at it anyway.

It would be something to be nagged about for a lifetime.

"Fine, I'm jealous!" Rein had no intention of arguing with Gu Shanhai about it. It was best not to spread this thing around, lest it actually got out and affected the dynasty's birthrate. Keeping it hidden with Gu Shanhai was for the best.

"Good, now that you've admitted it, don't bother me if there's nothing urgent. I'm planning to master the Mixed Element Child Skill as soon as possible," Gu Shanhai said somewhat disdainfully.

The only thing left from his plans in this world was to complete this last piece. As long as no major events arose in the remaining ten-plus years, he would not need to take action again, for a complete and effective system had already been established.

He had developed this Mixed Element Child Skill but it had not yet become a Martial Arts Divine Power, it was still just a martial technique, just a little bit away.

After all, it was a Cultivation Technique, not an external strengthening technique like the Golden Bell Shield or Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt but an Inner Strength Technique.

"Then you go on with your work, Teacher, I have matters to attend to as well," Rein said before he dissipated into a wisp of green smoke and vanished.

"This kid, he's really developed his and Human Dao's abilities to the fullest," Gu Shanhai reflected, not surprised. Abnormal abilities too were undergoing development, like Tang Wen; previously, he could only consume tangible things, but now he could also devour intangible concepts, able to relieve people of illnesses and poverty, among other things.

Even Rein had Tang Wen, the glutton, swallow disasters from various places—not the concept of disasters, but the disasters themselves; once devoured, those disasters would no longer occur.

That really was widely versatile and useful.

For Tang Wen, this was also beneficial; after all, it meant he could eat his fill. He had digested the second moon completely twenty years ago. On normal days, he could feast on disasters or other assorted things to satiate his hunger, but these things, compared to the second moon, had a long way to go. Plus, as time went on, his ability grew stronger, so what once filled him by seventy percent now only filled him by ten percent when consumed.

Yes, abnormalities do grow stronger over time. Of course, this was not solely time-dependent, but because the Sea of Information expanded and gradually filled the entire world, leading to a rise in the status and strength of the abnormalities.

As for curbing the development of the Sea of Information, that was beyond Gu Shanhai; even he did not know whether the Sea of Information was an abnormality or the source of all abnormalities.

If it was considered an abnormality, he couldn't locate or defeat it.

If it was the source of abnormalities, that was even more outrageous. Using an abnormality to combat another was feasible, but to use it against the source giving birth to abnormalities was purely wishful thinking.

So, he had no choice but to let things run their course, to see how things unfold, because without a clear goal to strive towards, it was like giving up at the outset.

"Once this Mixed Element Child Skill becomes a Martial Arts Divine Power, the efficiency of enhancing my Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield and Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt will increase significantly—by at least ten times to start with, and it can grow further in the future."

Gu Shanhai checked the progress of his two Martial Arts Divine Powers and sighed at the slow pace.

However, the slow progress was normal. With external strengthening but lacking internal strength, it was like walking with one leg missing; managing to hobble along was difficult enough, let alone trying to run.

The three Divine Powers were essentially a set, and could even be considered a single Divine Power.

"I need to find a reason," Gu Shanhai muttered quietly.

Once the server closure of the "First Era" was lifted, Gu Shanhai planned to leave this world and knew he would have to leave some explanation behind.

Vanishing without a word wasn't in his nature.

In this world, he had already gained enough, especially in terms of combat strength. Relying on the Rebirth Lotus, he could summon many exceptional avatars, such as the Emperor, Shot the Sun, Gluttonous, and even those as extraordinary as the Holy Land. Yes, he could now summon avatars with strength equivalent to his own body, no longer mere incomplete shadows and projections from before.

After all, fifty years had passed and Gu Shanhai would have certainly been continuously cultivating and perfecting the Rebirth Lotus. He was busy with the Holy Land project and perfecting the Mixed Element Child Skill, but cultivating Spirit Plants wasn't something that could be achieved overnight, it could very well be done in parallel.

"Forget it, I'll deal with it later. After all, Rein probably won't say much," Gu Shanhai quickly gave up on preparing things in advance. It was too much trouble for him.

Moreover, nowadays, wherever there was human civilization, it was under Rein's control. His preparation didn't amount to much significance.

Gu Shanhai could block Rein from probing him, but he couldn't conceal the traces left behind.

Then, he took out a part that he had intercepted from the sun and the moon.

"Sadly, it's not quite good enough to be used as breakthrough material for the Divine Phase," Gu Shanhai had already deduced the breakthrough method of the Divine Phase, the first realm of the Upper Three Realms. Although it was unrelated to the Xuanzhen Realm, to Gu Shanhai, as long as it could be used, that was enough.

If it hadn't been insufficient, it wouldn't have been considered material for Martial Arts Divine Power.

His practice of the Mixed Element Child Skill, a type of Martial Arts Divine Power, included a portion of the Xuanzhen Realm's Divine Power standards, which meant melding heaven-sent treasures such as parts of the sun and moon. Of course, they were considered precious treasures, especially since they were mutated parts, not the regular sun and moon.

"Just thinking about the breakthrough materials for the Divine Phase gives me a headache. Forget it, I won't think about it," Gu Shanhai was aware that to break through the Divine Phase, one had to peel off a manifested phase from the heavens and earth, resembling the manifestations of heaven and earth in the Xuanzhen Realm where the most representative are the various tribulations.

But the problem was that this world had no tribulations, and grappling with anomalies wasn't feasible either. Probably only the Sea of Information would qualify as breakthrough material, which wasn't much different from sending Gu Shanhai to his death.

So, he had to switch to a world with a higher affinity, cultivating his empty shell of a deity while practicing Martial Arts on the side and incidentally breaking through the Divine Phase.

...

Twenty years went by in the blink of an eye. Rein looked somewhat lost, then looked at the note left by Gu Shanhai, unsure of what to say.

"Teacher, oh teacher, you've gone off to enjoy yourself, but what should I do?" Rein rubbed his temples. In the note, Gu Shanhai had written that he was off to explore the vast universe, with no certain return time.

"Forget it, with teacher's strength, he's bound not to run into any big trouble. Just not sure if he took the peony I prepared for him or not, don't want it to wither by the time he returns."

Rein had spent ninety years using the power of civilization to cultivate a very special peony, which he had previously given to Gu Shanhai.

This Immortal Peony would never die or wither; if it were to ever dry up, it would signify the fall of his dynasty. Hence, it rightfully earned the 'Immortal' descriptor.

"Only the peony truly reflects the nation's beauty, stirring the capital when in bloom."

"Hence, with the capital, came the peony."

The Holy Land is located within the capital.