Chapter 126: The Great Celestial Immortal Formula, Born in Rome, Thirty-Nine Thousand Six Hundred (Chapter Four)

The Wu tribe categorizes the Wu people into nine ranks, while the Demon tribe classifies True Immortals into nine realms. Drawing upon the cultivation methods of both races, Luo Zu has likewise divided his own True Immortal realm into nine ranks.

To this end, he deduced a cultivation manual called the "Great Rank Heavenly Immortal Scripture." It is practiced rank by rank, ultimately culminating in the attainment of the Heavenly Immortal stage. He had initially considered naming it the "Nine Rank Heavenly Immortal Scripture," but after some reflection, Luo Zu felt that sounded too rustic and changed it to the "Great Rank Heavenly Immortal Scripture," which aptly corresponds to the manual practiced by the Great Sage in *Journey to the West*.

Both the Wu and the Demons distinguish the ranks of True Immortals (or Wu people) based on the number of Great Daos they have witnessed through resonance. The specific number of Daos sensed varies by individual: the First Rank involves one to nine Daos, the Second Rank involves three to fifteen, and so on—the Third Rank involves six to twenty-four, the Fourth Rank nine to thirty-six, and continuing in this progression.

However, Luo Zu started at three hundred and sixty-five...

According to the nine-rank classification of the Wu and Demons, he has already touched the limit of the ninth rank. His threshold is truly high, effectively placing him in a position where he could attain the Heavenly Immortal stage immediately. The condition for attaining the Heavenly Immortal stage is to comprehend one's own Dao. By merging with that Dao, one becomes a Heavenly Immortal.

Yet, Luo Zu remains unsatisfied; he still intends to traverse all nine ranks before ascending to the Heavenly Immortal stage. Naturally, his cultivation requirements are different as a result.

First and foremost is the matter of Immortal Qi. It is worth noting that the Wu and Demons do not speak of "Immortal Qi," but rather "Dharma Power." In essence, however, they are much the same—both involve transforming the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to strengthen oneself. Luo Zu’s *Great Rank Heavenly Immortal Scripture* requires the cultivation of Immortal Qi, which is inextricably linked to Daoist arts. Before becoming a True Immortal, while in the state of Refining Void and Merging with the Dao, one's primordial spirit is composed of these Daoist arts and strands of Immortal Qi. The number of arts determines the number of strands, and vice versa.

Currently, he possesses three hundred and sixty strands of Immortal Qi because he has mastered three hundred and sixty Daoist arts. However, the result Luo Zu seeks through the *Great Rank Heavenly Immortal Scripture* is to reach his calculated limit: thirty-nine thousand, six hundred strands of Immortal Qi. Consequently, he must master thirty-nine thousand, six hundred Daoist arts.

This is undoubtedly a difficult task, but it is not impossible. If it were otherwise, how could he demonstrate the true value of his realm as a True Immortal? Of course, after he perfects his *Great Rank Heavenly Immortal Scripture*, he will likely revise it; he will not impose such harsh conditions when passing it on to the human race.

After all, not everyone will be able to refine an Immortal body as freakish as Luo Zu’s. However, if such a figure were to emerge—or even one who surpasses him—Luo Zu would not feel jealousy. He would only be delighted to see the student surpass the master. This is how human cultivation should be: it must not stop at any one realm, nor should it be turned into a barrier by any one person. It should always be in a state of transcendence, ensuring that a path of cultivation never falls into decline. As for how many will truly grasp this philosophy of Luo Zu’s, that remains to be seen through the wisdom of future generations. Luo Zu, for his part, remains quite optimistic.

Returning to the *Great Rank Heavenly Immortal Scripture* created by Luo Zu, its nine-rank division is as follows: the First Rank involves mastering three hundred and sixty-five Daoist arts and refining three hundred and sixty-five strands of Immortal Qi. Luo Zu is currently short five arts, yet he already possesses the necessary amount of Immortal Qi, owing to the unique fact that he has actually resonated with three hundred and sixty-five types of Great Daos. This anomaly ensures his Immortal Qi will always exceed the theoretical requirement by five strands. The Second Rank will require three thousand, six hundred and fifty arts and strands (plus the five), and so on, until the Ninth Rank is completed with thirty-nine thousand, six hundred arts and strands.

As for whether there are enough Daoist arts for Luo Zu to practice, there is no need to worry. Although the "Cave-Dwelling Tribe" consists of only three thousand people, the various small human tribes are numerous, and the innate divine abilities they have obtained are sufficient to support Luo Zu’s cultivation of arts.

The number of small human tribes within the Pot Heaven and Earth has reached eighty million, and is heading toward one hundred million. Fortunately, they have finally begun to expand outward; otherwise, the population surge would have led to a horrific civil war. Among these eighty million, over three million are practitioners, and of those, six hundred thousand have comprehended innate divine abilities. Beyond that, they have not stopped at these innate gifts but have used them to research new spells. Consequently, the number of spells mastered by these enterprising small humans exceeds three million.

Admittedly, many of these are overlapping, merely rebranded with different names. Through the statistical analysis of the "Heavenly Dao" of the human realm, Luo Zu concluded that there are over 1.61 million types of spells among the small humans, but only 18,000 are capable of reaching the level of "Immortal Arts."

There is a significant gap here. However, Luo Zu still has the "Cave-Dwelling Tribe," whose innate divine abilities are top-tier and capable of being developed into Immortal Arts. Even so, there remains a shortfall of over ten thousand. But one must not forget that the human realm also contains the Barbarian and Demon tribes, and the Nine Nether Realm holds all manner of evil ghosts. Therefore, Luo Zu is truly not lacking in Immortal Arts; his envisioned goal of thirty-nine thousand, six hundred is achievable.

Additionally, Immortal Arts have levels, which Luo Zu has divided into six tiers, corresponding to the cultivation realms beyond that of a True Immortal: True Immortal (Tier 1), Heavenly Immortal (Tier 2), Profound Immortal (Tier 3), Golden Immortal (Tier 4), Taiyi (Tier 5), and Daluo (Tier 6).

The primary reason for this is Luo Zu’s deduction that although the gaps between major realms are like chasms, the essence of an "Immortal" does not actually change—everyone remains an Immortal. If a True Immortal were to wield a top-tier primordial treasure, they could potentially clash with a Daluo Golden Immortal, even if it meant being drained dry in the process—though the True Immortal might not even be able to obtain such a treasure. But what if they did? For instance, in the Investiture of the Gods, the juniors were gifted various treasures by their elders that Luo Zu could hardly imagine. Furthermore, as the Elder of the Heat-Wu tribe added, a True Immortal can use a primordial treasure to shield themselves from the vague intuition of a Daluo Golden Immortal.

This demonstrates that there is no fundamental difference between a True Immortal and a Daluo Golden Immortal, merely a difference in Dharma Power and the level of control over the Great Daos. Of course, Luo Zu has not yet reached that realm, so he cannot be entirely certain that his theory isn't a rash conclusion, but for now, he will hold to it. If necessary, he can simply shift the Immortal Arts down one tier to five, and give the methods used by Daluo Golden Immortals a different name.

It is a hasty conclusion, but he is the master of his own cultivation—who is to stop him, now that he is, in a sense, a "Dao Ancestor"?

However, in Luo Zu’s deductions, an existence that transcends the essence of an Immortal would be one whose intuition cannot be blocked, even if someone were to borrow external forces. A True Immortal, even wielding a primordial treasure and meeting all conditions, could never be an opponent to such an existence; they would simply be crushed at will. Perhaps this is what it means to be "transcending the mundane and entering the holy"...

Before the Holy, even an Immortal is but a mortal.

Luo Zu’s cultivation continues, and the war between the Wu and Demons on the front lines intensifies. The "orders" from the Heat-Wu tribe have arrived with urgency. This first "order" is for three hundred components for Dharma artifacts, to be completed within ten days.