There was no specific order of precedence between the two, nor any rule that one could only perform the second task while refraining from the third.
Fang Ming could naturally act as he pleased.
"The Water-Repelling Pearl can be considered an item, and the ancient pagoda can be seen as a demonic entity descending."
"Now I have already acquired two kinds..."
"Perhaps, for the third time, I should bring down a transcendent inheritance."
After Fang Ming made this decision.
Following the appearance of miraculous items and the invasion of demonic creatures, the third event was the direct descent of a transcendent inheritance.
Of course, it was not a true transcendent inheritance.
It was merely Fang Ming's illusion.
Everything was based on illusion; once Fang Ming stopped casting illusions, all transcendent inheritances would collapse.
And the transcendent inheritance that Fang Ming chose to simulate was the path of immortality.
"Perhaps, I can simulate a world and use it to teach the path of immortality."
Fang Ming made plans in his heart.
If he easily bestowed a simulated immortal path, the emotional value would likely not be much.
As the saying goes, humans cherish what they obtain through great effort and their own contemplation.
Fang Ming could have directly handed the ancient pagoda to the United States for research, and given them all the demonic corpses to study – but this did not align with human nature.
Therefore, Fang Ming chose to have demonic creatures invade, forcing them to pay a heavy price to fight them, and thus obtain demonic corpses for research.
This time, Fang Ming intended to "simulate a world."
With the vast amount of emotional value he now possessed, his strength had reached a certain level, sufficient to maintain peak three-star strength for a long time.
With such strength, it was naturally impossible to simulate a real planet. Even simulating Asia, or just the Dragon Country region, was impossible.
However, he could manage to simulate an ancient city in the Dragon Country.
Within this city, Fang Ming could establish a story background, simulate the existence of cultivators, and then allow some people from Blue Star to accidentally enter, thus discovering this city and believing they had transmigrated to a world of cultivation.
This was the illusion of the real.
As for whether the cultivation world being only the size of one city in the Dragon Country was too small – that was irrelevant. The key was to deceive the people from Blue Star who entered.
Therefore, Fang Ming only needed to maintain the scenes that the people from Blue Star saw when they entered the cultivation world.
As for the areas not seen by people from Blue Star, there was no need to maintain them.
In this way, although Fang Ming could only simulate a city at most, if he only showed it to a few dozen people from Blue Star, he could completely make them feel that this cultivation world was a million times larger than Blue Star.
For example, it was like in MC.
MC has an infinite map, and you can never reach the end. Does a mobile phone truly have infinite memory? Obviously not.
It's just that when the player's character walks into a certain area, that area's data is loaded.
Areas far from the player character are meaningless and unnecessary.
Fang Ming intended to do the same.
With a simulated world the size of a city, it could make a few people from Blue Star feel that it was a vast cultivation world far exceeding Blue Star...
This would be more conducive to earning emotional value.
After all, if the people from Blue Star who entered the cultivation world knew that the entire cultivation world was only the size of one city in the Dragon Country, which was only one-fiftieth of the total land area of the Dragon Country... they would doubt what kind of low-level cultivation world this was.
Pretending the map was larger had its benefits.
...
In a certain city in the Dragon Country, in a certain house.
"You're saying you discovered a spacetime gate?"
"That can travel through time and space?"
Xu Lei looked at his best friend in surprise, unsure what to say.
Traveling through time and space, even in the most daring scientific theories, would require exceeding the speed of light.
Current humanity was still very far from this step, almost to the point of having no hope of reaching it.
Xu Lei couldn't imagine what kind of alien civilization could create something like a spacetime gate.
And now, his best friend Wei Hong was saying he found a spacetime gate in his home?
This was even more unbelievable.
If there was a spacetime gate, how could it be found at home?
Suddenly appearing at home?
If the person saying this wasn't his best friend, Xu Lei would definitely not have believed him.
—Even now, he didn't believe it. He currently assumed that Hong Ze was joking with him, not being serious.
Wei Hong saw Xu Lei's expression and knew that he clearly didn't believe him.
This was perfectly normal.
If someone suddenly told him that they had found a spacetime gate at home and invited him to see it, he would definitely think they were joking.
He wouldn't think it was real.
Seeing is believing.
Wei Hong didn't waste any more words.
"I know you don't believe me. The spacetime gate suddenly appeared in my bathroom at home."
"Come to my bathroom and see."
"Practice yields true knowledge. After you see it, you'll know it's real."
Xu Lei initially thought his best friend had lost a game of truth or dare and was saying these things as a result.
He walked into Wei Hong's bathroom.
Then he looked at the door in the middle, emitting a blue-white light, about a person's height. The inside of the door was a deep, unreadable blue, and he was stunned.
"This spacetime gate, it's real?"
Xu Lei asked dazedly.
"Nonsense, why would I lie to you?"
Wei Hong said impolitely.
"Damn it! If I didn't see this thing with my own eyes, who would believe it?"
Even though he was already very shocked, Xu Lei habitually retorted.
After speaking, Xu Lei tentatively reached his hand in. As expected, his arm didn't come out from behind, dispelling Xu Lei's last shred of doubt.
This was indeed a genuine spacetime gate.
Or rather, even if it wasn't a spacetime gate, it didn't seem like technology from Blue Star.
"Is this a wormhole? Or was it created by some alien civilization?"
Xu Lei touched the spacetime gate, marveling at its magic, and said.
"Have you turned science into your religion? It's a spacetime gate, you can imagine it as a magic artifact from Xianxia stories, why do you keep thinking about technology?"
"This thing can travel to another world, and it looks like this. It looks like a magic artifact, doesn't it?"
Wei Hong complained.
He always felt that Xu Lei seemed to have a blind faith in science.
This was not like the attitude of scientists towards science, but rather like worshipping science as a god.
Fundamentally, it was no different from foolishly believing that gods could solve everything.
Not a true scientific attitude.
Xu Lei understood what Wei Hong was thinking from his gaze.
He said indifferently, "Whether this is a magic artifact or super technology, it's not something we can obtain..."
"What do you plan to do with this spacetime gate?"
"And... why did you call me for something like this?"
After speaking, Xu Lei looked at Wei Hong with a confused expression.
The first two questions were secondary.
What truly puzzled Xu Lei was why Wei Hong had called him?
If an ordinary person obtained a spacetime gate that could enter another world, wouldn't they explore it themselves and gain benefits?
Like the protagonists in those storybooks, traveling alone, back and forth, wasn't that the right way?
Wasn't that the kingly way?
Why would they actively tell others about it—even a best friend, even a close friend, would be unlikely?
The protagonists in those storybooks, after obtaining a time-traveling artifact, wouldn't tell anyone, let alone best friends and close friends, not even their own parents.
Human nature is selfish.
Why would Wei Hong tell others about this spacetime gate, which was similar to a protagonist's golden finger in a storybook?
Xu Lei did not hide these doubts from Wei Hong and spoke his mind directly.
This time, it was Wei Hong's turn to give a wry smile.
"Old Xu, do you think one person can conquer a world?"
This sentence directly enlightened Xu Lei.
Yes!
Traveling to another world, wanting to gain benefits in another world, wasn't there danger involved?
If the other side of the spacetime gate was a world with a higher technological level than Blue Star, then the moment they entered, they might be detected by the high-tech global surveillance as someone who didn't belong to that world, and immediate attention would be drawn to this spacetime gate.
At that point, the concern would be counter-invasion, not invading their world.
If the other side of the spacetime gate was a world with a lower technological level than Blue Star, then it might not be easy to get by... Firstly, Wei Hong had no connections to obtain guns in the Dragon Country or outside.
Secondly, even if he obtained guns, could he conquer an ancient world with just guns? That would truly only be possible for protagonists in storybooks – what could one person do?
Don't talk about conquering an ancient world; even a dozen bandits with bows and arrows could pose a threat. Travelers were also humans and could be resisted?
Human technology was a type of technology with high offense but low defense. Greater firepower did not mean stronger defense. Many ancient weapons were sufficient to threaten a single traveler.
Moreover, humans themselves had many shortcomings. Even if they took a tank or a fighter jet, humans still needed to eat and sleep, right?
If the ancients put something in their food, and then stabbed them with a knife while they slept – even with a tank, one couldn't fight millions of ancients alone.
Not to mention considerations like bacteria and viruses. Who knew the composition of the two worlds? What if they went there and died from the viruses in the air?
And could the languages be mutually understood? In ancient China, various regions had their own dialects, and communication might not even be established. How could it be in another world?
Thinking carefully, there were too many issues to consider when traveling to another dimension. Modern civilization had an overwhelming advantage over ancient civilization, but it was not enough for one person to match an ancient society in terms of individual combat power...
It was difficult to succeed in an individual fighting against a civilization.
After much thought, Xu Lei outwardly asked the crucial question: "So, what kind of world is it over there?"
Wei Hong said, "Over there... I went to take a look. It should be an ancient world, and possibly a parallel universe."
"It seems to be the year 1629..."
"I confirmed this information by inquiring over there."
The year 1629? An ancient world?
Xu Lei knew it was an era on the verge of war and turmoil. It was no wonder Wei Hong wasn't thinking of acting alone; the danger of acting alone was too high.
War was dangerous, whether it was dealing with bandits over there or something else. It was difficult for one person to achieve anything – no, it was impossible.
Wei Hong couldn't get guns right now, so essentially he could only use cold weapons. This meant that Wei Hong might not be much superior to individuals of that era.
Xu Lei asked, "What are your plans afterward?"
Wei Hong said, "I've thought about it. Even with a spacetime gate, truly exploring a world and conquering a world requires collective travel, not individual travel."
"At least a thousand people need to be gathered..."
Xu Lei was slightly surprised, "A thousand people... This is very difficult. Speaking of which, since you can share the spacetime gate and want to travel collectively, why not just hand it over to the Dragon Country?"
Wei Hong shook his head and said nothing.
He only uttered the most crucial sentence: "After preparations are complete, I plan not to return after I go."
Xu Lei was completely astonished now.
So, Wei Hong never intended to be a dimensional merchant.
He planned to use modern technology to go to the ancient world and never return, then establish a vast power there and become a supreme being.
No wonder he didn't hand it over to the Dragon Country but wanted to travel collectively instead of hoarding it for himself.
Xu Lei already had some understanding in his heart.
...
Fang Ming stayed in the illusory realm, weaving the story background.
The Tianyuan Jade in his palm emitted a crimson light.
This light transformed into countless red beams, pouring down from the sky, forming ancient humans one by one, infusing them with wisdom and other qualities.
Next, this ancient city became lively.
Pedestrians, merchants, carriages, swordsmen, scholars dressed as literati, all came to life, doing their own things.
Performing their designated duties.
The entire illusory realm operated in an orderly fashion. Fang Ming's will permeated it, reaching into the will of every person, creating sentient beings.
This was the power of illusion; powerful illusions could create a world.
Fang Ming's setting for this world was simple: a parallel space about four to five hundred years before the present in the Dragon Country.
That is, a parallel world.
The only difference between this world and ancient Blue Star was that this parallel world possessed mystical powers.
These mystical powers were naturally the path of immortality.
But they were hidden in the shadows, and many people in this world could not access them.
This was not a world where the immortal path was widely known and spiritual roots could be found everywhere.
Therefore, during Wei Hong's initial exploration, he only encountered some ordinary people, and based on their clothing and the information on the currency, he judged that this world belonged to a parallel universe, an ancient world.
Generally speaking, upon encountering an unfamiliar ancient world, one would not immediately assume that this world lacked supernatural powers.
However, the world simulated by Fang Ming was a parallel timeline created based on Blue Star's history.
This also caused Wei Hong to encounter not a strange, historically unknown cold weapon world, but a familiar historical, known ancient parallel world.
Simply put, Wei Hong knew the future development trends of this parallel space.
And by searching for ancient information on various software on Blue Star, he could view ancient people from the perspective of a future person.
This was a sense of transcendence.
The future events that would unfold in the ancient society gave the traveler a kind of "omniscient" ability – omniscient in terms of historical information.
Familiar history also made the traveler subconsciously believe that this was simply an ancient world.
He would generally not consider that this ancient world harbored the path of immortality.
This was the "darkness under the lamp."
Few people would think in this direction.
Moreover, even if they suspected that this world might have supernatural powers, it would be useless – after all, on the surface, it was just an ancient world, and the countermeasures they thought of would only be directed towards that aspect, leaving little room to deal with supernatural beings.
"Next is to design the system..."
"What kind of immortal path system should I design?"
Fang Ming muttered to himself.
The immortal path system, although called the immortal path, had countless types in the vast sea of worlds.
There was the mind-state enlightenment type of cultivation, where one achieved immortality and sainthood through a sudden epiphany, not relying on cultivation resources but on one's state of mind.
There was also the cultivation resource-heavy, dark society mortal-path cultivation system – in this cultivation system, cultivation resources were the most important. Even with inferior spiritual roots, one could achieve immortality by consuming enough elixirs.
There was also merit-based immortal cultivation, which did not focus on cultivation resources but on accumulating good deeds and saving people over a hundred or a thousand lifetimes to achieve enlightenment.
There were also exotic immortal paths, such as scientific immortal cultivation, which practiced immortality based on scientific concepts.
The above were just broad categories.
Within these broad categories, countless subcategories could be further divided. For example, the mortal path. The mortal path cultivation in different works was also completely different.
In some worlds, it was Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core.
In some worlds, it became Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation.
In some worlds, it became Qi Refining, Spirit Condensation, Essence Transformation, Crystal Formation.
The realm and stages were different in different works, and so was the star-level strength.
Although called the immortal path, the immortal path system was vast, and there were more than tens of millions of choices for Fang Ming.
"Ultimately, it's just an illusion... illusion becoming reality... then I'll just design one here."
As the wielder of the Tianyuan Jade, the specific realms of the immortal path system, their power, the conditions required to reach them, whether tribulations needed to descend upon reaching a certain realm, and whether one's state of mind was required – all of these could be freely designed by Fang Ming. In any case, it was essentially emotional value, and creating a three-star being was not a problem.
How emotional value was used was up to Fang Ming.
Who had the aptitude, who cultivated faster, who cultivated slower, was also up to Fang Ming.
In Fang Ming's design, there were three types of immortal arts.
They were divided into Lower, Middle, and Upper-grade immortal arts.
Lower-grade immortal arts involved refining essence into Qi, drawing abundant spiritual energy from the outside world (there was no spiritual energy, it was Fang Ming's illusion) into the body, continuously refining external spiritual energy into magic power, and finally forming a Golden Core, which marked the completion of the Lower-grade immortal arts.
Middle-grade immortal arts involved refining Qi into spirit.
And Upper-grade immortal arts involved refining spirit to return to the void.
Fang Ming's designed system was completely different from the ancient Great Desolation cultivation system.
Only the names were the same.
They could not be confused.
The realm of refining essence into Qi could also be divided into three steps.
The first step was self-cultivation and foundation building.
In Fang Ming's design, ordinary people could not sense spiritual energy under normal circumstances.
It required solidifying the foundation and cultivating one's own spiritual sense and Qi sense. When one could sense the spiritual energy in the outside world, it marked the completion of self-cultivation and foundation building.
This stage could also be called the Qi Sensing stage, as spiritual energy had not yet been drawn into the body, so it was no different from ordinary people.
The second step was drawing Qi into the body.
The previous stage, Qi Sensing, gradually cultivated the mortal's sense of spiritual energy. When the Qi sense was cultivated to a certain extent and could attract spiritual energy, Qi could be drawn into the body.
Drawing spiritual energy into the body and refining it into magic power. Only in this stage, with magic power, could one truly be distinguished from ordinary people and be able to cast spells.
The third step was condensing the Golden Core.
As the cultivator's magic power became stronger and stronger, and when their state of mind and magic power met the requirements, a Golden Core could be condensed in the lower dantian.
The Golden Core was the ultimate of pure Qi, the ultimate of magic power, condensing pure magic power into a solid form.
This was the pinnacle of refining essence into Qi.
Those who cultivated the Golden Core could be called Human Immortals, with a lifespan of three hundred years, possessing magic power and divine abilities. However, their lifespan would eventually end in death, as this method was of the lower grade, not touching the fundamental principles of cultivation, only condensing magic power, not forming the Yin Spirit or Yang Spirit. This was referred to as cultivating spirit but not life.
Middle-grade immortal arts involved refining Qi into spirit, meaning cultivators were no longer limited to pure magic power but nurtured a Yin Spirit within the Golden Core, and even ascended to the Mud Pill Palace to cultivate a Yang Spirit.
Cultivating the Yin Spirit granted vast divine sense power, which could amplify the range of attacks by a thousand or ten thousand times.
Upon cultivating the Yang Spirit, one could attempt reincarnation and live another life. However, there was the secret of the womb; with each reincarnation, the probability of encountering the secret of the womb increased. After multiple reincarnations, the possibility of reincarnating again became infinitely reduced.
Upon cultivating the Primordial Spirit, the Primordial Spirit would exist forever, achieving immortality, known as a Primordial Spirit Dao Monarch. They would no longer fear the mystery of the womb and could reincarnate repeatedly, living forever.
The physical body ultimately had its limits. The Lower-grade immortal arts, upon cultivating the Golden Core, represented the perfection of the physical body.
Lower-grade cultivated magic power.
Middle-grade cultivated the Primordial Spirit.
Middle-grade immortal arts involved breaking free from the limitations of the physical body and achieving longevity through the Primordial Spirit.
Yin Spirits were called Venerables, Yang Spirits were called True Persons, and Primordial Spirits were called Dao Monarchs. Primordial Spirit Dao Monarchs were living Earth Immortals, eternally young in the mortal world.
And Upper-grade immortal arts, refining spirit to return to the void, involved returning all one's magic power and Primordial Spirit to the void, existing in harmony with the void.
Magic power and Primordial Spirit were lost, but one had attained the highest fruit of enlightenment. This was refining spirit to return to the void, and one could ascend to the immortal realm.
The immortal realm was actually just a concept; ordinary cultivators could not find this concept, and it was not a truly existing world.
The concept of immortality was also within the mortal realm, but ordinary mortals and cultivators could not see it with their eyes.
Upper-grade immortal arts had only one realm, which was the ultimate of immortality.
"Foundation Building, Qi Drawing, Golden Core."
"Yin Spirit, Yang Spirit, Primordial Spirit."
"Returning to the Void."
"Golden Core is called Human Immortal, Primordial Spirit is called Earth Immortal, Returning to the Void is called Heavenly Immortal."
"This cultivation system should be acceptable."
After making various settings, Fang Ming smiled slightly.