Chapter 573: Chapter 521: Divine Immortal Path? Earthly Immortal Path?

“The path of cultivation consists of refining essence, refining qi, and refining spirit. These are but different methods of cultivation and none are superior to the others. Those who refine their essence, polish and temper their bodies, aiming for physical immortality; those who refine qi, harbor a vital breath within, merging their qi with the universe, aiming for ceaseless primordial qi; and those who refine the spirit concern themselves with forging the soul and nourishing the spirit, allowing it to leave the body unharmed, aiming for an immortal spirit. I humbly practice all three paths, aspiring for an indestructible body, infinite qi, and an everlasting spirit. Once such a realm is reached, one is considered a true immortal, eternally existing in the world…”

In the public lecture area of the Taoist Academy, a nine-zhang high platform stood in the center, Pei Xuanjing, clad in a Taoist robe and holding a Sanbao Jade Ruyi in his hand, was elucidating his path of cultivation.

Although the Taoist Academy’s public lecture area housed several platforms, the largest one in the center was exclusively used by Pei Xuanjing.

It wasn’t that Pei Xuanjing prohibited anyone else from using it but that the instructors regarded listening to Pei Xuanjing’s lectures as an honor, treating him with the respect of a disciple, not daring to share the same platform, demonstrating their admiration.

At the time when Pei Xuanjing expressed his intentions of establishing more branches of the Taoist Academy, recruiting more principals for these branches, and the news relating to the instructors being spread, countless people flooded in hoping to receive Pei Xuanjing’s favor and acquire the position of an instructor in the academy.

Pei Xuanjing did not reject any of those who swarmed in. He announced to everyone that he would give public lectures in the Taoist Academy for a while, and all those who aspire to become instructors and branch principals were welcome to partake in the lectures.

Once Pei Xuanjing’s lectures were over, they could write about their experiences and understandings during this period of listening to the Tao on the contribution ledger of the Academy. They would then be granted a varying number of contribution points based on what they had gained. Pei Xuanjing would proceed to choose the instructors from the people who had earned the highest contribution points, meaning the ones who gained the most from listening to the Tao.

This was essentially an examination; Pei Xuanjing lectured, and the people took in his teachings, creating a thesis that they would then upload onto the cultivation method exchange platform built by Pei Xuanjing. He would then evaluate their gains, grading the points which would replace their grades, and then distribute them.

Moreover, this method created a win-win situation for both parties as Pei Xuanjing could derive inspiration from their comprehension and insights, while they could earn contribution points in exchange for things they required, making it a scenario of killing two birds with one stone.

“However, there are quite a lot of people coming this time, will the principal be able to cope?” Qingyang Zi expressed his doubts about the method proposed by Pei Xuanjing.

Pei Xuanjing confidently assured Qingyang Zi, “That’s not a problem at all; you just need to organize and disseminate the news.”

He made no tall claims; accomplishing this task was a simple matter for Pei Xuanjing.

With Pei Xuanjing’s current prowess and realm, his spiritual power or mental strength reached a terrifying magnitude, far surpassing the top-tier internet servers of his previous world, functioning like a precise calculator that could promptly respond and assess upon receiving data.

If it were any other Seventh Level Spiritual Realm experts, even those who specialize in refining spirits could only do so much but couldn’t sustain it indefinitely. The consumption of mental strength eventually reached a peak and would be depleted, requiring time for recovery.

However, for Pei Xuanjing, this wasn’t a worry because his mental strength could be quickly restored. The belief and incense power that streamed in without intermission could continuously replenish his mental strength. As long as this belief and incense power did not cease, he did not have to worry about the possibility of mental strength depletion.

For Pei Xuanjing, he only needed to divide a line of spiritual consciousness, nurtured by the elements of faith and incense power, to create a spiritual avatar dedicated to handling these matters.

This was the foundational confidence Pei Xuanjing had when he initially proposed establishing more branches of the Taoist Academy. He could distribute countless spiritual consciousness, construct his sculpture in every branch of the academy, and nurture the spiritual consciousness with the power of faith and incense. This would aid everyone from the academy branches to exchange cultivation methods.

In other words, he had effectively made himself a human server, with all of these divided consciousness functioning like base stations in the countless academy branches.

If someone from Pei Xuanjing’s previous life were to look upon this, they would be utterly dumbstruck. This was equivalent to Pei Xuanjing single-handedly establishing an internet throughout the Great Ming World, with him being its foundation, all processing systems and servers resident within him, with nobody able to replace him.

“Such a method, if one day all the lands are enveloped within my spiritual consciousness and everything is interconnected, wouldn’t this internet be a divine kingdom? But does this method belong to the Divine Immortal Path or the Earthly Immortal Path?”

In the beginning, Pei Xuanjing only wanted to address the potential issue of cultivation method leakage and hadn’t thought too much about it, merely devising solutions for the problems that arose.

However, as his solutions accumulated and overlapped, creating the current scenario, it provided Pei Xuanjing a glimpse into an astonishing possibility.

Legends have it that gods wield authority, build their own divine kingdoms, and are omniscient. Whenever and wherever their believers make sacrifices and call upon them, the gods can instantly shift their attention, providing salvation to the believers.

Then there is the path of the Earth Immortal where the main body resides within one’s cave heaven and blessed land, with the spirit freely traveling beyond, knowing the affairs of the world.

From Pei Xuanjing’s current actions, although not yet fully implemented, his vision naturally saw far into the future. If one day he was successful, it seemed he would possess this magical power.

Having made this discovery, Pei Xuanjing naturally wouldn’t miss this opportunity. Although he had deduced that there are five categories at the Immortal Realm—Heaven, Earth, Human, God, and Ghost—none of these gave a clear idea about advancement. At the moment, this discovery, while he couldn’t determine whether it belongs to the Divine Immortal Path or the Earthly Immortal Path, was nonetheless a great revelation for him. Of course, he wouldn’t miss out and would seize this opportunity to try it out, accumulating more experience for his future path to immortality.

During this time, while refining Tao rhythm, Pei Xuanjing also pondered this plan, assesses the feasibility of this plan, trying to identify any potential flaws or deficiencies.

After all, this was different from the simulation of life where he had countless opportunities to try and err. A grand plan like this, by definition, made failure not an option.