At the very least, Han Xuanji felt that keeping himself and those around him alive wouldn't be a problem.
"By the way, there's also news of Tongtian Dao Venerable; I can find him ahead of time now."
Han Xuanji had been pondering the Beast Tide for a long while and almost forgot about the matter regarding Tongtian Dao Venerable.
After all, he had received the other's Legacy in the past, so he owed him a debt of gratitude.
Before coming to the Eternal Continent, Taishang and Yuanshi Dao Venerable had also pleaded with him to search for his tracks if possible. He had originally planned to wait until he reached a certain Realm before using the methods of the Dao of Fate to search, but he hadn't expected to find one of them so soon.
It was somewhat unexpected.
"Xuanji?"
Seeing Han Xuanji remain silent for a long time, Hun Qianling waved her hand in front of him.
"What are you thinking about?"
Han Xuanji came back to his senses, glanced at her, and spoke with a normal expression:
"Nothing. But what about you? Have you encountered a Bottleneck in your Cultivation recently?"
Hun Qianling was startled, then nodded somewhat sheepishly:
"How did you know? I've also been trying to master the Five Elements Dao Laws, but I always feel like I'm missing something, yet I can't quite put my finger on it."
"You've straightened out the order of the Five Elements' mutual generation, but you haven't thought about the order of their mutual overcoming in reverse."
Han Xuanji set down his teacup and lightly traced his fingertip across the tabletop. Five subtle powers of Law lit up in sequence: Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, and Earth generates Metal, forming a ceaselessly flowing halo.
"You usually only deduce according to the generative sequence, but the reason the Five Elements can form a cycle is that there is generation within overcoming, and overcoming within generation. If you walk through it in reverse, you will find something different."
The halo reversed at his fingertip: Metal overcomes Wood, Wood overcomes Earth, Earth overcomes Water, Water overcomes Fire, and Fire overcomes Metal, likewise forming a closed loop, just with the flow in the opposite direction.
As the two halos overlapped, they faintly formed a complete diagram.
Hun Qianling watched intently and only murmured after a long while:
"So that's how it is... I really was too obsessed with the other side before."
...
One month later.
Under Han Xuanji's guidance, Hun Qianling's comprehension of the Five Elements Dao Laws also advanced by leaps and bounds.
This day.
Han Xuanji set down his teacup, his expression becoming a bit more serious:
"I want to find someone named Li Tiantong. Keep an eye out for me. This person should have been in Qianhun City for some time; the exact time is uncertain, but it shouldn't be too long."
Hun Qianling blinked, and a sudden flash of inspiration hit her:
"Li Tiantong... Tongtian Dao Venerable? Could the person you're looking for be Tongtian Dao Venerable?"
She still had some understanding of Han Xuanji's interpersonal relationships back in Chaos.
Years ago, the Dao Ancestor seemed to have taken Tongtian Dao Venerable with him during Transcendence, leaving Taishang and Yuanshi to stabilize the situation in Chaos, but there had been no news since their Transcendence.
In Hun Qianling's view, the probability of those two reaching the Eternal Continent after such a reckless Transcendence was extremely low. Even if they quickly stepped into the Eternal Dao Master Realm after Transcendence, surviving in the Hongmeng Sea would still be extremely difficult.
"Exactly."
Han Xuanji nodded, not denying it.
Hun Qianling opened her mouth, wanting to ask how Han Xuanji knew this news, even calculating so clearly when the other would arrive in Qianhun City.
But the words reached her lips and were swallowed back down. She knew Han Xuanji too well; this guy had as many secrets as there were stars in the sky. Asking was pointless; he would always brush her off with words like "good luck."
"Forget it, I won't ask how you know."
Hun Qianling waved her hand with an expression that said she was already used to it.
Seeing her look of wanting to ask but not daring to, Han Xuanji couldn't help but laugh:
"Actually, you were the one who told me."
"Me?"
Hun Qianling was stunned. "When did I tell you? This is the first time I've even heard that name."
Han Xuanji chuckled and didn't explain.
Hun Qianling glared at him, feeling more and more like this guy was teasing her.
However, she wasn't the type to get stuck in a rut. Since Han Xuanji didn't want to say, she wouldn't ask.
In any case, nothing he did was ever without reason.
"Fine, fine, fine, if you won't say, then forget it."
Hun Qianling stood up. "I'll go make arrangements and have people look for this Li Tiantong. Do you have anything else to say?"
"No."
Han Xuanji shook his head.
Hun Qianling gave an acknowledging sound and turned to walk toward the door.
When she reached the door, she looked back at Han Xuanji again:
"By the way, the Life and Death Ravine is about to open, though the specific process will take about several years. Cultivate in peace; I'll notify you when there's news."
"Alright."
Hun Qianling's footsteps gradually faded away.
Han Xuanji picked up his teacup again, silently calculating in his heart.
"There's still a long time before the Beast Tide. The me in the simulation should be some distance from being an Eternal True God, but the real me reaching the Eternal Saint Realm shouldn't be a problem..."
Han Xuanji set down his teacup and got up to walk back to the cultivation chamber.
He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. His mental will had improved greatly, so there was no rush to comprehend the Law of Life and Death. Having just stepped into the seventh layer of the Eternal Dao Master Realm, this time was perfect for increasing his cultivation while waiting for news of Li Tiantong and the opening of the Life and Death Ravine.
...
On the other side.
Outside Qianhun City, at the Five Elements Tower Outer Sect.
Li Tiantong stood before a small building, looking at the mission Jade Slip he had just received in his hand, his brow furrowed into a knot. He had been in Qianhun City for decades already.
From an unknown Loose Cultivator to now barely joining the Five Elements Tower Outer Sect, the hardships involved were not something to be told to outsiders.
Having his salary docked, being ordered around as an errand boy, being looked down upon... too many such things had happened.
The rules of this world were simple: if you have a background and a backer, you have resources and status.
If you don't, you can only be stepped on by others. He, Li Tiantong, had nothing.
So he could only endure.
In Chaos, he was the Tongtian Dao Venerable who commanded the winds and clouds, but upon arriving at the Eternal Continent, he met with obstacles everywhere, having to earn even the most basic cultivation resources bit by bit.
That drop from the clouds into the dust—if it were someone with slightly weaker willpower, their Dao Heart would have collapsed long ago.
Fortunately, he was not that kind of person.
Moreover, as long as he broke through to become an Eternal True Lord, he could become an Inner Sect Disciple, and then his treatment would be completely different.
However, the mission he received today left him somewhat helpless.
"Go to the Nine Mountains Mining Area and serve as an overseer for a hundred years."
Li Tiantong looked at the words on the Jade Slip, his lips curling into a bitter arc.
The Nine Mountains Mining Area was a remote and barren mineral vein far from Qianhun City.
The Spiritual Qi there was thin, and the environment was harsh. Most importantly, the people sent there were, without exception, outcasts marginalized by the factions within the tower.
By the time he returned from a hundred years of overseer duty, the meager connections and resources he had painstakingly accumulated in the Outer Sect would have long since been carved up by others.
"They're trying to drive me into a dead end."
Li Tiantong clenched the Jade Slip in his hand, his knuckles turning white.
He knew who was tripping him up behind the scenes—Outer Sect Deacon Zhang Dayuan, the "Senior Brother Zhang" who allowed his subordinates to dock his Spirit Stone portions.
This person's cultivation wasn't high, but he had operated in the Five Elements Tower Outer Sect for many years and kept a group of lackeys under him specifically to bully new Disciples without backgrounds.
Li Tiantong had gone to reason with him before and offended him; this was retaliation.
He was unwilling to go to the Nine Mountains Mining Area.
But if he didn't go, it would be defying the sect's orders—at best he'd be expelled from the Outer Sect, at worst his cultivation would be crippled.
"Fine, if I must go, then I'll go."
Li Tiantong loosened his fingers and tucked the Jade Slip into his robes.
It was only a hundred years; he could afford to wait. When he returned from the mining area, he would find a way to climb up again.
As long as he didn't die, there would always be a day to come out on top.
He turned and pushed open the door of the stone house, starting to pack his belongings.
Just then, an Outer Sect Disciple ran over in a hurry, shouting breathlessly:
"Li... Li Tiantong! Someone is looking for you!"