This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder

Tianyi fiddled with the sundial-shaped token and looked at the direction it pointed towards. He had originally planned on watching Bai Tiezi to see what trouble the Qi Gathering Realm cultivator would get into, but it seems that his luck was actually pretty good. There was an inheritance relating to the Law of Space on this tiny island. 

Between amusing himself and solving his cultivation issue, Tianyi naturally chose the latter. Without wasting any more time, Tianyi flew towards the direction of the inheritance. 

After three days of travel, Tianyi arrived at a large mountain, and it was at least three times taller than any of the mountains that Tianyi saw on the island. The closer Tianyi got, the brighter the light the sundial exuded.

"Halt! This mountain is the forbidden ground of the Bliss Earth Sect, if you go any further, don't blame us for attacking." Just as Tianyi reached the foot of the mountain on his flying sword, a man wearing the robes of the Bliss Earth Sect stopped Tianyi. 

Tianyi looked at the man who was flying atop an unfolded fan. He should have expected that the Bliss Earth Sect would have quarantined the location of the entrance to the inheritance site. 

He didn't answer the man as he released his spiritual sense and enveloped the whole mountain. Under his spiritual sense, he could detect two cultivators at the Acupoint Opening Realm and an unaccountable number of body transformation acolytes and foundation establishment disciples scattered throughout, guarding the borders.

Tianyi quirked his lips upwards and used his spiritual sense to sneak attack the two acupoint opening masters. He had no qualms about attacking the members of the Bliss Earth Sect at this time. He feared no one at this tiny island. Even if there were somehow a unity or world merging venerable, Tianyi would still be confident fleeing from them with his Mountains and Seas Formation. The long months on the ocean allowed the pendant to recover enough energy for at least that.

Just as the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator was about to speak out once more, they heard an enraged roar from the mountain.

"YOU DARE!!!"

'Oh? My attack was only effective on one of them. Is it because I'm not proficient enough with the technique, or is that person's soul especially strong?' Tianyi didn't leave his position as an acupoint opening master standing atop a crystal orb appeared behind the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

"Speak, why are you here?" Although the acupoint opening master of the Bliss Earth Sect was enraged, once he felt the pressure emanating from Tianyi, his thought instantly cleared.

Tianyi quirked his lips upward.

"Why do you think I'm here?" Tianyi asked with a knowing smile.

The acupoint opening master's face became solemn at Tianyi's word. "Fellow daoist, you should know that this is the jurisdiction of the Bliss Earth Sect, and we have sectioned it off by the orders of Sect Master Roving Dragon."

 

"Roving Dragon? Is that your sect master's title? How interesting." Tianyi said as he held his chin in his hands. "But so what? Even if he has reached the World Merging Realm, I need not fear him."

Confusion appeared on the faces of the Bliss Earth Sect members, but they could judge from Tianyi's tone that he would not back off.

"Seeking death!" The acupoint opening master said as he moved to attack Tianyi, but before even flying a few meters, he felt his neck being lifted and all strength leave his body.

"If you want to fight me, at least have a top-tier martial body," Tianyi said and then looked at the gathered Bliss Earth Sect members. None of them dared to move, seeing as how Tianyi had easily captured their strongest elder present.

They were all below the Acupoint Opening Realm, and Tianyi directly ignored those in the Qi Gathering Realm.

"Don't worry, as long as you behave yourselves, I won't kill any of you. After all, I have no interest in—" Tianyi never had the chance to finish as the sky darkened and lightning struck him. 

The onlookers became shocked as they saw the mysterious cultivator suddenly be struck by lightning. They quickly moved farther away lest they were implicated for staying too close. Some of them hoped the lightning strike would fatally injure Tianyi, while others hoped the elder was fine, but no matter, they didn't have the power to interfere and thus could only watch as the black clouds sent two more strikes of lightning before disappearing.

When the blinding sparks of lightning disappeared, the onlookers stood there dazed.

Tianyi appeared absolutely fine, not a hair out of place. The same could not be said for the acupoint opening elder. His body was pitch black, appearing to be encased in a black shell. Everyone could tell that the acupoint opening elder was fatally injured as red-black liquid dripped from his body.

"Well, that was inconvenient," Tianyi said. He threw the half-dead cultivator in his hand towards the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator that spoke out to him first. "Remember, do not bother me and do not contact your sect. A fate worse than his will await you." '

Saying those words, Tianyi began to fly towards the mountain's peak.

The spectators looked at each other, not knowing what they should do. 

"Should we contact the sect? It seems that only the sect master can fight this monster."

Some of them agreed, while others disagreed. However, amidst the argument, the one who was adamant about contacting the sect took out a communication talisman and used it. Under the eyes of everyone, he suddenly stopped moving and collapsed onto the ground and his communication treasure shattered into uncountable pieces.

Seeing this, all of them had a cold bead of sweat run down their forehead.

Tianyi saw everything with his spiritual sense. Aside from the acupoint opening master, who could resist his initial attack, none of the other cultivators on the mountain could defend against him. 

Naturally, he couldn't continuously keep his spiritual sense out, but an initial warning was enough to deter them for a while. There was a slight hope that it would be enough to stop them from having any thought of contacting the sect if he made himself appear omniscient enough.

Tianyi continued on his way towards the mountain and soon found a cave entrance that blocked his spiritual sense. The sundial in Tianyi's hand grew brighter the closer Tianyi got to the cave. 

He didn't immediately enter the cave and instead inspected the surrounding. Seeing that he could discover nothing from the outside, he looked at the cave entrance. At first glance, it just appeared to be a naturally formed cave from the passage of time. But no matter what, Tianyi couldn't detect past ten feet inside the cave using his spiritual sense, sight, or sound.

Tianyi steeled himself and began to walk into the cave. Although there were risks, the legacy was incredibly important to him. He started to walk inside, but it felt as if time had stretched indefinitely. No matter how long he walked, the entrance was always ten feet behind him. 

"Figures it wouldn't be so easy," Tianyi said. He looked at the sundial in his hand. Although the glow was the same brightness, the pattern seemed to have changed. Having an idea, Tianyi tested it and changed his direction according to the changes in the sundial. 

Unsurprisingly Tianyi found himself in another different location. It seemed to be a floating landmass above a river made of silver threads. Tianyi stood in front of a doorless gate that led to a long and narrow road towards a large platform with three white steles.

"Immortal Riverrat's Abode." Tianyi read the plaque affixed to the top of the gate. "Is this the first test? I have to reach the steles by walking this path?"

The road looked perilous, and stone statues covered each side. Perhaps the stone statue would come to life and attack Tianyi and cause him to fall off the edge.

The narrow passage was a trial. Only those who safely walk through it will have the requirements to inherit the legacy of Immortal Riverrat. 

Tianyi didn't immediately walk past the gate. Instead, he brought out various treasures and tested them first. If his treasures worked, he would have no problems, but if they didn't, he would have to be warier. Luckily, the late immortal probably didn't expect a moving treasure vault, like Tianyi.

Full of confidence, Tianyi walked past the doorless gate.

Once he neared the first two statues, they moved to block his way like gate guardians. The two statues wore impressive scale mail and wielded long stone spears. Tianyi couldn't help but think of Bai Tiezi, who also specialized in the spear. "I couldn't have stolen his fortuitous encounter, right? Pei! He willingly gave it to me. How is this stealing?" 

Tianyi made a slapping motion with his hands and directly crushed them into dust. Although they seemed impressive, the two stone soldiers were only at the Spiritual Pillar Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. To Tianyi's surprise, once they disappeared, two new stone soldiers stood at either side of the road, but as Tianyi neared, they did not move at all.

"This means I passed the first stage, right?" Tianyi continued walking and was soon met with the subsequent trial, two Spiritual Altar Foundation Establishments Realm stone soldiers.

After that were two Spiritual Crucible Foundation Establishment Realm stone soldiers blocking his way. And then two stone soldiers at the early Core Formation Realm. Then it was two Polished Core Stage Core Formation Realm soldiers, followed by those in the Tempered Core Stage, then Polished Core Stage Core Formation Realm stone soldiers.

Luckily, the next stage was nascent soul stone soldiers, finally giving Tianyi some challenge. Only when the peak nascent soul stone soldiers appeared did Tianyi have to take out a talisman. "Geez, is this really an inheritance site? Unless you're in the Unity Realm, it doesn't seem like you'll be able to pass." 

'What is the point of setting up such a hard trial at this tiny island for? The chances of any locals passing this are so minuscule. You'd have to be incredibly lucky to pass unless I'm doing the trial wrong?' As Tianyi had expected, the next two stone soldiers were at the early Unity Realm. 

Tianyi didn't want to waste any more of the talisman and tapped the jade pendant on his waist. Although the jade pendant was more powerful, it was also easily reusable, unlike talismans, which disappeared after one use.

Instantly nine illusionary mountains and seas descended onto the world. One of the mountains exuded great pressure that caused the silvery river below the road to tremble. This was the First Mountain, created from absorbing the spiritual mountain from the ruin of the Immortal Court. 

The two stone soldiers that had been moving were instantly frozen, and under Tianyi's will, they were crushed into dust. Tianyi continued his path on the road, but the stone soldiers along the way didn't move and instead were crushed by Tianyi using the formation.

"Counting all of them, these last two should be the one at the Transcending Mortality Realm?" Tianyi asked to no one as he looked back at the crushed stone soldiers that hadn't reformed under the might of his formation. 

Tianyi released the formation once he walked past the last benchmark, but he still was prepared to unleash it again should anything unexpected occur. The stone soldiers only reformed, and there was no other movement.

"This feels like cheating." Tianyi couldn't help but mutter. "But it also feels really refreshing!"

Tianyi clicked his tongue as he walked towards the steles. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be made of an unknown white material and exuded an archaic aura as if it had existed since the beginning of time.

On the first stele were words engraved upon it, it seemed to be the last will of the Immortal Riverrat.

In all my years, I did not expect that I, Immortal Riverrat, would fall at the hands of a devil. 

I do not know from whence it came from, but I knew it was not a devil created from when an inner devil overtook a cultivator. I didn't fall to one, but a whole army. If the devils possess the ability to come out of the realm of sin and invade the Huang Realm, then the world is in grave danger. I fear that by the time anyone reads this message, it will be too late. 

Whoever sees this, I hope you can deliver my words to the Cultivator Alliance or Buzhou Immortal Sect. The payment will be all the treasures I have left in the chest on me and my inheritance. You must prevent the invasion of the devils at all cost.

Like in the novels Tianyi read, cultivators could have their darker emotions, thoughts, and trauma warp into separate sentient entities known as inner devils. Whenever an inner devil overcomes the cultivator, then a great calamity would descend to those nearby. 

Since the creation of the Cultivator Alliance, there were twelve grand elders that led them called the Twelve Zodiacs. Each of the Twelve Zodiacs corresponded to an animal of the zodiac. Immortal Riverrat should have held the title of the Rat Zodiac based on his name, but the current Rat Zodiac was an immortal known as Immortal Fisherrat.

"Judging by his prefix, Immortal Riverrat should be a member of the current Cultivator Alliance. After all, when the Cultivator's Alliance held hegemony over the Mortal Continent, the members of the Zodiacs were titled Monarchs instead of just Immortal." Tianyi's brows furrowed at the implication.

If Immortal Riverrat was a member of the current Cultivator Alliance, then the greater of a devil invasion. Although the Loose Cultivator's Alliance had fallen from power, they were still above many first-rate sects. Yet Tianyi hadn't heard of such an event. Of course, it might have been something from a long time ago, and the cause and effect had already been solved. Devil invasions had occurred several times in the Huang Realm's history.

The most Tianyi could do was report it to The Buzhou Immortal Sect and allow them to handle the aftermath. He looked at the chest at the base of the stele. 

Tianyi was actually quite excited at getting the wealth of a dead immortal. He had been given everything nearly at his beck and call, and so he had long lost any semblance of understanding of wealth. Earning something himself felt completely different.

"Ah, I should give my thanks first." Tianyi stopped moments before opening his chest. Directly opening the chest and attaining the immortal's wealth would be a bit too ungrateful. Besides, it was a small gesture in the grand scheme of things. Tianyi kneeled onto the ground and kowtowed before the stele. 

"Thank you, Senior, for your kindness. Junior will help you report your fall and words to the Cultivator Alliance.

Tianyi got up with a refreshed smile. With nothing holding him back, he happily opened the chest before stiffening. The inside of the chest was empty, and Tianyi's dream of possessing the wealth of an immortal disappeared like the contents of the chest.

"Did someone else appear here before me?" Tianyi's first thought was that the Bliss Earth Sect had already taken everything, but he quickly shot down that idea. If the Bliss Earth Sect had taken the inheritance and the wealth, they would no longer need to guard the inheritance site. Unless they wanted to keep the techniques from the other people.

Tianyi sank into deep thought before he shrugged. Although he was disappointed at not getting the wealth, his main goal was the space-related inheritance, though he did feel a sense of disappointment.

He walked towards the second stele, and he felt a stifling feeling bind his chest. 

Worldly Ubiquitous Spear Art

It was a spear art created by Immortal Riverrat that allowed the user to appear to be everywhere at the same time. Judging from a periphery scan, its specialty was having the user face off against many foes who were of similar strength or lower.

'Is the reason I didn't get the treasure because it was meant for Bai Tiezi?' Just one look would, Tianyi knew that it was perfect for Bai Tiezi. Bai Tiezi planned to rebel against the Bliss Earth Sect, Tianwei Continent's largest and most powerful organization. Having the Wordly Ubiquitous Spear Art would allow him to fight many people at once.

Compared to the Unwavering Dragon Spear Combat Art Tianyi gave him, this suited Bai Tiezi far more. Unwavering Dragon Spear Combat Art was a technique that focused more on fighting a single opponent at a time.

Tianyi suddenly had the feeling that he had kidnapped someone else's bride. 'Forget it. This is still a good spear art. It would be a waste not to learn it. But first…'

He moved to the third stele. But once he saw what Law the techniques were related to, he felt the blood rising up to his throat. Tianyi covered his mouth once more and quickly calmed his agitated state. 

The reason for Tianyi's agitation was very simple.

Spring Autumn Scripture.

Broadly speaking, even Tianyi had heard of the Spring Autumn Scripture as it was one of the most powerful manuals that had been lost to time. It was said to have been the cultivation the Yellow Emperor had used to ascend to immortality. The Spring Autumn Scripture embodied the concept of spacetime, exactly what Tianyi needed.

The problem?

The Spring Autumn Scripture recorded by Immortal Riverrat was incomplete. And worse was that it contained only the portion related to time! 

As Tianyi skimmed through it, he came to understand many things. The Worldly Ubiquitous Spear Art was something Immortal Riverrat created out of his comprehension of the Law of Time. The omnipresent ability of the spear art was the user summoning force the attack of his future or past self. Or at least, it emulated it.

Not only that, but the silver river below the floating landmass was also Immortal Riverrat's attempt at creating a miniature River of Time. Its true form once it was refined was to transform into the Immortal Realm artifact, River Spear of Time. 

Tianyi took several deep breaths before a complicated look appeared on his face.

"Time and space can be combined into spacetime. In fact, back on Earth, they are intrinsically linked on a universal scale. I can derive spatial techniques from the Spring Autumn Scripture and form martial cultivation that uses spacetime as its base. In the end, it will allow my body to withstand my true qi of chaos." 

There was an unresigned expression on Tianyi's face. He knew this was only him, consoling himself. How many people wanted to comprehend spacetime, yet how failed?

But learning the Spring Autumn Scripture would at least broaden his horizon, and there was no downside. Besides, Immortal Riverrat had derived many simpler time techniques and even some spatial techniques. Tianyi brought out the lotus artifact from his spatial ring and sat atop it before, and began to comprehend the Spring Autumn Scripture.