Jing Mingxuan couldn't help bursting into laughter.
Xiaoxian looked utterly confused, as she felt exactly the same way her mistress did.
Once his laughter subsided, Jing Mingxuan immediately explained, "The Great Elder is just happy."
"Happy? Why?" Su Muchan asked, her face still full of confusion.
Jing Mingxuan was slightly taken aback, but he chose not to lie and answered with utmost sincerity, "Because he feels that my relationship with you has grown closer!"
"Um..."
Though she had no idea why the Great Elder would think that way, the flush that had just faded from Su Muchan's cheeks returned, spreading all the way to the tips of her ears.
A shy master is even more adorable!
A wave of emotion washed over Jing Mingxuan. Without further hesitation, he said, "Master! Let's head to Jingxiu Manor."
Xiaoxian's eyes lit up with anticipation.
She didn't know what Jingxiu Manor specifically was, but since her master dared to take her there, it certainly wouldn't be a shabby place.
Su Muchan's eyes narrowed, her expression returning to normal as she channeled her magical power and activated spatial translocation.
The surrounding scenery began to dissolve rapidly, instantly replaced by a brand-new landscape.
Upon arrival, Xiaoxian let out a gasp of surprise.
"Wow! The spiritual energy here is so dense! The grade is even higher than inside the Myriad Beasts Small World!"
Chapter 21: Devouring the World Heart
Jing Mingxuan's lips curled into a slight smile, but instead of taking credit, he offered a simple and easy-to-understand explanation.
"This place is covered by a Great Emperor Tier Spirit-Gathering Array, and combined with the refinement of countless heavenly treasures, the concentration of spiritual energy here is no weaker than that of the top factions in the Xuantian Realm."
Xiaoxian let out a long "Oh," nodding gently, tears of emotion shimmering in her eyes. It looked entirely natural, not like she was being forced.
"This is the grassland zone. What do you think of it?"
With that, Jing Mingxuan looked out into the distance.
Although he inspected the area periodically, he didn't come every single day, leaving a slight possibility of oversights.
After scanning the surroundings and finding nothing amiss, the stone in his chest finally dropped.
"Not bad! Very good!" Xiaoxian nodded gently, her voice brimming with excitement.
At first, she thought her master was merely providing a place for the spirit beasts under her command to live.
She had been wrong—profoundly wrong.
A place this magnificent satisfied even her; the spirit beasts would undoubtedly be even more ecstatic.
Noticing Xiaoxian staring blankly, Jing Mingxuan decisively spoke up, "Master! Next, let's head to the forest area."
Su Muchan uttered a soft "Mhm," and in the next instant, the two humans and one beast arrived at a dense, boundless forest whose towering trees blotted out the sky.
Upon sensing her surroundings, Xiaoxian realized that the total area of the forest far exceeded her imagination.
"I designed three forests of this size. In addition to these, there are small and medium-sized forests. In short, the spirit beasts must feel like they are coming home."
Jing Mingxuan's voice cut off abruptly without revealing his ultimate motives, creating the impression that he was treating her well without asking for anything in return.
However, the most expensive things in life are often free.
The living quarters of the spirit beasts were not located in the core area of Jingxiu Manor, but rather in the mid-to-outer ring.
Consequently, if an enemy were to attack and breach the Great Emperor Tier defensive array, the spirit beasts would bear the brunt of the assault.
At the present stage, however, no cultivators would dare to attack—nor would they likely do so in the future.
Moreover, the defensive array was virtually impenetrable, meaning the actual price the spirit beasts had to pay was negligible.
At this moment, Xiaoxian's eyes grew even more moist as she fell into a daze.
Treating the spirit beasts so well was completely unnecessary, yet her master had done it anyway!
Perhaps he had done it as a temporary arrangement for her sake.
Or perhaps he had laid out these plans long in advance.
This made her think of what Xiaoqing had said: that her master had seen her in a dream.
At the time, she had thought the Taiqing Jade Rabbit had accidentally let slip secrets to her master without realizing it. But looking at it now, there was a high probability that he really had dreamed of her and laid out his preparations beforehand.
Yet how could her master have known that the dream was real?
Doubt filled Xiaoxian's heart, gradually reflecting on her face.
Noticing this, Jing Mingxuan felt a twinge of curiosity and asked, "Xiaoxian! Is something bothering you? Don't be afraid—you can tell me anything."
"Master! I want to know how you judged whether the dream was real or fake!" Xiaoxian blinked, looking nervous, her heartbeat accelerating.
Jing Mingxuan couldn't help laughing. "Haha! How do you judge if a dream is real? By seeing how similar it is! After comparing it repeatedly, I found it matched closely, so I didn't hesitate anymore."
Su Muchan and Xiaoxian both brightened, their mouths parting slightly in a look of sudden realization.
Afterward, the two humans and one beast visited the habitats of many other spirit beasts.
In truth, it wasn't strictly necessary, and Xiaoxian even said they could skip it, but Jing Mingxuan insisted.
The reason was simple: out of rigorous caution, he wanted to avoid any potential deception.
And the target of that potential deception wasn't just Xiaoxian—it was him as well.
Inside the Myriad Beasts Small World.
Jing Mingxuan stood atop a cliff, casting his gaze outward. In all directions, there were spirit beasts as far as the eye could see, utterly boundless.
So many!
More numerous than the members of the Jing family.
This was ideal; the primary value of the spirit beasts was to bolster the strength of Jingxiu Manor.
Granting his clansmen spirit beasts to form contracts with was merely a convenient bonus.
"Master! Don't push yourself too hard with the translocation later."
Jing Mingxuan looked at Su Muchan with eyes full of concern, his tone exceptionally gentle.
Su Muchan offered a sheepish smile, but her expression shifted in the next second into one of peerless dominance and legendary majesty. Gone was any trace of her usual airheadedness; instead, she resembled an ambitious Demon Emperor.
"I have already re-established the spatial portals. We won't need to cross the void on foot."
Jing Mingxuan's expression stiffened, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly as he thought with deep emotion, "Master is truly amazing!"
On second thought, this was actually quite normal.
In the original book, Su Muchan was born for cultivation; anything related to martial arts was utterly effortless to her.
It was precisely because she poured her entire being into cultivation that her mind remained pure and simple, leading her to act so airheaded at times.
With a whoosh, Su Muchan swept her arm.
A crisp chime echoed, and six spatial portals radiating a pale blue, mystical brilliance appeared.
They corresponded respectively to the forest, grassland, water domain, wetland, desert, and ice field.
Seeing this, the spirit beasts froze.
Even with the endorsement of Emperor Beasts and even Immortal Beasts among them, they still harbored inner anxiety.
That anxiety remained, but upon seeing the six distinct zones, it diminished significantly.
Because the Immortal Beast Lord's master was genuinely getting things done, not just toying with them.
"Everyone! Please choose the portal that corresponds to the environment best suited for your survival and enter." Jing Mingxuan's expression was solemn as he channeled his magical power to amplify his deep, magnetic voice.
Instantly, eight Emperor Beasts took the lead, stepping into the portals first.
Seeing this, the remaining anxiety in the hearts of the spirit beasts evaporated even further.
Thus, one after another, the spirit beasts filed into the portals.
An hour later, only the two humans and one beast remained inside the Myriad Beasts Small World.
Su Muchan opened her beautiful eyes, nodding with a solemn expression. "Disciple! There are no longer any spirit beasts left in this realm."
"Good!" Jing Mingxuan replied, his gaze falling upon the Ten-Tailed Immortal Fox. "Xiaoxian! Let's go find the World Heart of the Myriad Beasts Small World."
Xiaoxian gave a crisp, decisive "Mhm."
Before long, the two humans and one beast arrived near the World Heart.
The World Heart was shaped like a heart, multi-colored, and radiated various Dao laws and energies, resembling the five-colored stones used by Nüwa to patch the heavens.
After sensing it for a moment, Su Muchan's phoenix eyes lit up with praise. "This World Heart is truly beautiful! I can already feel the immense power within it. Wait... this World Heart actually has a high probability of allowing the Myriad Beasts Small World to ascend into a Great World."
She then looked at Xiaoxian, who wore a proud and triumphant smile, and continued, "I can sense that it has clearly been nurtured over time. Xiaoxian, that nurturing presence was you, wasn't it?"
"Yes!" Xiaoxian nodded in admission.
Jing Mingxuan gently stroked Xiaoxian's furry head, praising, "Xiaoxian is truly amazing!"
Xiaoxian beamed, her lovely eyes curving into crescent moons.
However, the conversation abruptly shifted as Jing Mingxuan asked, "Xiaoxian, you went to such great lengths to nurture this; it must have other uses. Are you really going to give it to me?"
"Of course!" Xiaoxian answered decisively, her gaze burning with sharp, unwavering determination. She parted her lips to explain, "Master has been so good to me and the spirit beasts; it is only right that Master receives this World Heart."
"If there's ever a chance in the future, I'll find you another World Heart," Jing Mingxuan said in a deep, resolute voice, his gaze making it clear he wasn't just making empty promises.
At that moment, Xiaoxian felt as though she were soaking in honey, grinning like a love-struck fool.
Without any further hesitation, Su Muchan waved her slender hand like a sharp blade, instantly extracting the World Heart.
In an instant, the entire Myriad Beasts Small World began to fracture and collapse.
In the blink of an eye, only the patch of land where the residual power of the World Heart still lingered remained.
Xiaoxian cast aside her lingering emotional gaze, her voice turning cold. "Master! Mistress! Let's go!"
In another blink, the two humans and one beast arrived at the grassland of Jingxiu Manor.
"Xiaoxian! Go handle the affairs of the spirit beasts. I am going to devour the World Heart."
With that, Jing Mingxuan sat cross-legged on the ground.
Without a word, Su Muchan produced the materials required for Jing Mingxuan's breakthrough.
Every single one of them was exceptionally rare and precious.
Xiaoxian merely glanced at them, and her heart trembled instantly.
These materials looked nothing like what was needed for a breakthrough to the Dao Entry Realm; rather, they carried the momentum required to break through to at least the Supreme Realm.
She looked at Jing Mingxuan again—her master was indeed still at the peak Ninth Layer of Qi Ocean Realm.
Could it be that her master intended to forge the strongest Dao Entry Realm possible?
Xiaoxian was stunned.
The Mortal Shedding Realm, Transcendent Realm, and Qi Ocean Realm were the three foundational realms.
Only from the Dao Entry Realm onward did one truly step onto the path of cultivation, making the Dao Entry Realm supremely important.
She had once harbored the ambition of forging the strongest Dao Entry Realm herself.
However, absorbing so many breakthrough materials at once would overwhelm the human body.
Yet the breakthrough materials her master was using were even more formidable than what she had envisioned back then. Could her master possibly withstand this?
Su Muchan caught the worry in Xiaoxian's eyes.
She herself felt a degree of anxiety, but the Divine Book would never harm her disciple, not to mention that she was right here to watch over him.
"Xiaoxian! Don't worry, he will be fine. Just go do as he asked."
Xiaoxian nodded slightly, though worry still lingered in her eyes. She decided to contact the eight Emperor Beasts to resolve the spirit beasts' affairs as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, Jing Mingxuan adjusted the aura throughout his body, clapped his hands together with a sharp *clack*, and opened his mouth, inhaling the breakthrough materials one by one into his body.
Channeling the Divine Cultivation Method, Jing Mingxuan's body transformed into a crucible, refining each breakthrough material.
A quarter of an hour passed.
Only a single breakthrough material remained—the World Heart.
Jing Mingxuan opened his mouth, and the World Heart, brimming with countless Dao law energies, was sucked into his body.
Golden, radiant text materialized in Jing Mingxuan's mind.
"Master! Do you intend to cultivate all Dao laws, or focus on a few while treating the rest as secondary?"
Jing Mingxuan frowned slightly, asking in confusion, "What is the difference?"
"The former is much more difficult, but yields the greatest enhancement for the master. The latter is not as profound."
After reading this line of golden text, Jing Mingxuan hesitated not for a second. *Harder it is, then,* he thought. *I choose to cultivate all Dao laws.*
Chapter 22: The Third Page of the Divine Book
The next instant, under the influence of the Divine Cultivation Method, the World Heart began to melt, turning into a multicolored, glowing gas that surged rapidly through Jing Mingxuan's limbs and bones.
Su Muchan's phoenix eyes narrowed, her expression growing heavy as she muttered, "That's not just the energy of a single Dao law... It feels as though every kind of Dao law is present."
Xiaoxian, who was busy directing the spirit beasts, froze in place.
"This aura feels like an entire world... Could it be that my master isn't cultivating just one or two Dao laws, but all of them?"
Hearing this, Su Muchan experienced a sudden epiphany. She blinked, verified that it wasn't an illusion, and then parted her rosy lips to cry out, deeply shaken, "Divine Book! Will my disciple be alright?"
A hint of confusion flashed in Xiaoxian's eyes as she murmured, "The Divine Book?"
Immediately afterward, a line of golden, radiant text materialized.
"Mistress! Rest assured, the master will be fine. The master has simply chosen to walk the strongest cultivation path in the Heavens and Myriad Worlds."
Su Muchan slowly exhaled a breath, the worry in her heart easing significantly. Yet her sharp, willow-like brows remained tightly knit, her beautiful eyes fixed unflinchingly on Jing Mingxuan.
Her senses were fully extended; the moment Jing Mingxuan's aura showed any signs of trouble, she would intervene instantly.
Watching the battle-ready Mistress, Xiaoxian finally understood why her master had made that seemingly outrageous demand earlier—forbidding her from taking human form.
A Mistress like this was entirely worth her master going to such lengths.
Half an hour later.
The gaseous energy of the World Heart, having circulated ten times through Jing Mingxuan's body, surged directly toward his Dantian.
"Gathering energy in the Dantian?" Su Muchan's brows knitted tighter, her eyes narrowing.
Normally, reaching this stage meant the breakthrough materials had been fully absorbed and the physical breakthrough to the next realm was about to begin.
This was also the most dangerous step, requiring her observation to be even more meticulous than before.
Xiaoxian did not sit idle either, standing on high alert just like Su Muchan.
Sensing that Jing Mingxuan's aura was growing ever more profound, the eight Emperor Beasts and countless spirit beasts silently prayed and offered their blessings in their hearts.
At that moment, his aura began to climb.
The Taiqing Jade Rabbit couldn't help shouting at the top of her lungs, "Charge through!"
The spirit beasts were startled at first, but soon, those capable of human speech shouted "Charge!" in unison, while those unable to speak cried out with all their might.
In an instant, the roar of ten thousand beasts shook the air, turning the entirety of Jingxiu Manor into a lively spectacle.
The people stationed and building structures within Jingxiu Manor all felt goosebumps erupt across their skin.
The aura continued to climb, radiating outward to even greater distances.
After persisting for a full quarter of an hour, the aura was still rising, though the feeling it gave off was entirely different from before.
It felt as though his aura encompassed an entire world, containing all things in creation.
Nearby, Xiaoxian leaped up in excitement, crying out, "He's broken through successfully!"
"Yes!" Su Muchan's voice was equally brimming with exhilaration.
Warmth filled Jing Mingxuan's heart.
Though the commotion made it look as though he were breaking through to the Great Emperor Tier, it also showed how many expectations he carried.
Instead of rushing to advance further, he began to consolidate his current realm and firmly solidify his cultivation foundation.
With the Divine Cultivation Method, breaking through minor realms would be swift; there was no need to rush.
Time flew by. After adjusting his condition completely, Jing Mingxuan slowly opened his eyes.
The moment he stood up, a slender, graceful figure flashed across his vision, and a soft, fragrant body threw itself into his arms, crying out affectionately, "Disciple!"
"Master!" Jing Mingxuan murmured softly, raising his hand to pat Su Muchan's back gently, letting her feel his presence and find peace.
Watching this pair of stunning figures resembling celestial immortals, Xiaoxian's lips curled into a sweet smile.
After a moment, Jing Mingxuan looked down at the Ten-Tailed Immortal Fox, who wore a deeply satisfied expression, looking much like someone who had just witnessed her favorite pairing come true.
"Xiaoxian, stay here for the time being and tend to the spirit beasts."
Xiaoxian's expression stiffened; she desperately wanted to stay by her master and mistress's side.
On second thought, however, the spirit beasts were indeed crucial—this was a vital part of her master's grand strategy.
If she handled it well, her weight in the hearts of her master and mistress would only increase.
Without further hesitation, she replied, "Okay!"
"Master, we..."
Before Jing Mingxuan could finish, he was interrupted by Su Muchan in his arms. "Wait, release your aura completely so I can see what you look like after breaking into the Dao Entry Realm."
Though puzzled, Jing Mingxuan saw the intense, mesmerizing red gleam in Su Muchan's eyes and nodded slightly.
He stepped back a short distance from Su Muchan, clenched his fists, and let his entire aura burst forth in a single instant.
In a flash, his aura swept across the entirety of Jingxiu Manor.
Were it not for the concealment of the arrays, the pressure would have radiated even further.
And had Su Muchan not cast a protective spell, the ground beneath Jing Mingxuan's feet would have been blasted barren, cracking open into a whirlwind of flying sand and shattered stone.
Yet none of that was the main point.
Both Su Muchan and Xiaoxian stared in utter astonishment.
At this moment, Jing Mingxuan's entire body was bathed in a radiant, mystical white light.
"The Perfect Dao Entry Realm?"
Su Muchan and Xiaoxian murmured in unison.
Jing Mingxuan reined in his aura and asked, thoroughly perplexed, "The Perfect Dao Entry Realm?"
"In theory, every cultivator who steps onto the path of martial arts can achieve it, but in reality, not a single cultivator has ever managed it—not even me," Su Muchan explained with a solemn expression.
"And me!" Xiaoxian chimed in, her face darkening as she continued, "According to the inheritance of my clan, the reason the Perfect Dao Entry Realm is so difficult is because it lacks the Primordial Breath of Qi."
Jing Mingxuan blinked, completely baffled.
The original book had never once mentioned this "Perfect Dao Entry Realm."
After all, the original 13th protagonist's foundation was simply too pathetic; otherwise, the author probably would have written about it.
A line of radiant golden text materialized before them.
"The master cultivated all Dao laws, thereby making up for the missing Primordial Breath of Qi."
Shock washed over the faces of the two humans and one beast.
Who could have imagined that the missing Primordial Breath of Qi could be made up for in such a manner?
Afterward, Jing Mingxuan and Su Muchan returned to the Jing family in Tianyan City, collected the ingredients from Great Elder Jing Zi'ang, and finally headed back to their courtyard.
"Spicy rabbit head, spicy rabbit legs..."
Listening to Su Muchan mutter like a child, Jing Mingxuan smiled faintly. "Master! There's no need to rush."
"If we're not rushing for this, what are we rushing for?" Su Muchan tilted her head slightly, her pristine, ethereal face displaying a mix of displeasure and confusion.
Jing Mingxuan summoned the Divine Book and said, "Now that my cultivation has broken through to the Dao Entry Realm, the third page can be opened!"
"Oh! I almost forgot about that."