Chapter 109 Cultivating Immortality for All

After breaking through to the early stage of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, Emperor Cao Xukun became the true "spokesperson for the Heavenly Dao" in the mortal realm, capable of modifying the rules of the Heavenly Dao with a wave of his hand.

However, looking at the uneven cultivation levels in the mortal realm, he still frowned. In the past, cultivation methods were monopolized by major sects. Ordinary people couldn't even dream of cultivating; they couldn't even see a basic introductory manual and were destined to remain mortals their whole lives. Meanwhile, those sect disciples held top-tier cultivation methods but wasted their talent by idling away their days.

One day, Emperor Cao Xukun took Li Tieniu and Crown Prince Cao Hao to a small village outside Luoyang. He saw the young people in the village working in the fields, all gaunt and sallow-faced. Not far away, on a small hill, disciples of a minor sect were using their mediocre skills to bully the villagers and seize their grain.

"Damn it! These brats are too arrogant!" Li Tieniu brandished his giant axe and prepared to charge forward. "Stealing grain from commoners in broad daylight—see if I don't hack them to pieces!"

"Don't be hasty." Emperor Cao Xukun stopped him and waved his hand casually. An invisible force sent those sect disciples flying, leaving them bruised and battered on the ground. "Get lost. If you dare to bully the commoners again, I will cripple your cultivation."

The disciples were scared out of their wits and scrambled away as fast as they could. The villagers knelt on the ground, shedding tears of gratitude. "Many thanks to Emperor Xuan for saving our lives!"

Emperor Cao Xukun helped an elderly man with white hair to his feet and asked softly, "Old man, why don't you learn some cultivation methods to defend yourselves?"

The old man sighed. "Your Majesty, how could we have such good fortune? Cultivation methods are all held by those major sects. Even the trashiest introductory manual costs ten taels of gold. We couldn't earn that in a lifetime!"

Emperor Cao Xukun nodded, his eyes turning firm. "From today on, those days are gone forever. I want everyone in the mortal realm, regardless of wealth or status, to be able to cultivate."

Returning to the palace, he immediately locked himself in the Imperial Study and began to simplify the Chaos Devouring Origin Art. This top-tier cultivation method, which he relied on to make his name, was incredibly domineering and could devour any energy, but it had extremely high requirements for the practitioner's physique. Emperor Cao Xukun used his divine sense to disassemble and simplify it, removing the dangerous devouring aspect while retaining the core methods of spiritual energy absorption and circulation, turning it into a simple, easy-to-understand basic cultivation method that anyone could practice.

In just one hour, the Great Xuan Basic Cultivation Method was fresh out of the oven. Emperor Cao Xukun waved his hand, and the content of the cultivation method turned into countless golden specks of light, flying to every corner of the mortal realm. At the same time, in the plaza of every city, a massive white jade stele materialized, clearly inscribed with the full text of the cultivation method and illustrations for training.

"All subjects of the mortal realm, regardless of age or gender, may cultivate the Great Xuan Basic Cultivation Method for free." Emperor Cao Xukun's voice echoed throughout the entire mortal realm. "Anyone who hoards cultivation methods or monopolizes cultivation resources shall be executed without mercy!"

As the news spread, the entire mortal realm boiled over with excitement. Commoners rushed to the plazas, surrounding the white jade steles to transcribe the cultivation method. Even seventy or eighty-year-old elders began following the movements. In less than three days, over a million commoners successfully guided spiritual energy into their bodies, stepping across the threshold of cultivation.

Just as the fervor of universal cultivation swept through the mortal realm, a discordant voice appeared.

That day, a golden light suddenly descended upon the plaza in Luoyang. A young man wearing white Daoist robes and holding a whisk slowly descended, stepping on auspicious clouds. Behind him followed dozens of old men in the same robes, each with an arrogant expression, their pretentiousness practically overflowing.

This person was none other than the Son of Destiny from an ancient cultivation family, Fa Qiangu. His family had monopolized the inheritance of cultivation methods for generations, making a fortune from selling them. Emperor Cao Xukun's free promotion of the basic cultivation method had directly cut off their source of wealth, so he had specifically brought his family elders to cause trouble.

"Emperor Cao Xukun! Get out here!" Fa Qiangu pointed toward the palace and roared fiercely. "How dare you promote incomplete, trashy cultivation methods to all the commoners of the mortal realm! It is an insult to the inheritance of cultivation and a disservice to the people!"

"I am the reincarnation of an ancient Cultivation Saint, the master of cultivation methods personally appointed by the Heavenly Dao! All cultivation methods should be under my control! You must immediately destroy all copies of the Great Xuan Basic Cultivation Method and apologize to the world! Otherwise, I will trigger the Cultivation Heavenly Punishment, causing everyone who practices your method to explode and die!"

The elders behind him chimed in, "Saint Fa is right! The Great Xuan Basic Cultivation Method is trash! Only our family's methods are the orthodox ones!"

"Hurry up and scrap this garbage method, or when the Heavenly Punishment descends, no one will be able to save you!"

The commoners in the plaza were suddenly panicked, stopping their cultivation and whispering among themselves.

"It can't be, right? Is there really a problem with His Majesty's cultivation method?"

"That's impossible! I've been practicing for two days, and I feel much better. I can even lift a hundred-pound stone now!"

"But they said there's a Heavenly Punishment. What if we really explode and die?"

Li Tieniu was so angry his nose was crooked. He rushed to the plaza with his soldiers. "You old charlatan! How dare you spread lies and confuse the public here! Emperor Xuan gave you the cultivation method for free, and instead of being grateful, you dare to slander His Majesty! See if I don't cut your tongue out!"

"Insolent!" Fa Qiangu sneered and waved his hand. A beam of white spiritual energy struck at Li Tieniu. Li Tieniu quickly blocked it with his giant axe but was forced back three steps by the impact.

"A mere mortal dares to act insolently in front of me?" Fa Qiangu looked disdainful. "Emperor Cao Xukun, if you're a man, come out and compete with me! We will each find an ordinary person with the same aptitude and teach them our respective methods. After one hour, we'll see whose disciple has the higher cultivation! If you lose, you must immediately destroy this garbage method; if I lose, my entire cultivation family will submit to Great Xuan!"

"Very well."

A calm voice came from the air. Emperor Cao Xukun walked over slowly, his black dragon robe fluttering without wind. The pressure of his early-stage Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivation quietly spread out, and the entire plaza instantly fell silent. The elders behind Fa Qiangu turned pale and involuntarily took a few steps back.

"Since you want to compete, I'll play along." Emperor Cao Xukun pointed casually, calling out two boys who looked to be about the same age from the crowd. "Let's use these two."

Fa Qiangu lifted his chin triumphantly and pulled one of the boys to his side, whispering his family's introductory manual to him. He spoke with flowery language about "ancient inheritance" and "Heavenly Dao orthodoxy," but after half an hour, the boy was still completely bewildered, not even understanding what spiritual energy was.

On Emperor Cao Xukun's side, he simply said one thing to the other boy: "Follow the diagrams on the stele and guide your energy with me."

He used his divine sense to guide the boy in circulating spiritual energy. In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the boy successfully guided spiritual energy into his body and stepped into the first level of the Qi Refining stage. After another half hour, the boy actually broke through to the second level of the Qi Refining stage, with spiritual energy circulating around his body, looking full of vigor.

One hour passed quickly. The boy on Fa Qiangu's side still hadn't even entered the door, standing there yawning. Meanwhile, the boy on Emperor Cao Xukun's side was already able to easily throw a punch of spiritual energy, smashing a stone to pieces.

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!" Fa Qiangu's eyes widened in disbelief. "My cultivation method is an ancient inheritance! How could it lose to your garbage method! You must have cheated! You used your spiritual energy to help him cheat!"

"Cheating?" Emperor Cao Xukun sneered. "My cultivation method is simple and easy to understand; ordinary people can learn it at a glance and succeed upon practice. Your method, however, is obscure, difficult to understand, and pretentious. To put it bluntly, it's just a way to monopolize cultivation resources and swindle the common people out of their money. Your so-called orthodoxy is nothing more than an excuse for you to line your pockets."

"I refuse to accept this!" Fa Qiangu was furious and ashamed. He fiercely channeled the spiritual energy within his body. "Cultivation Heavenly Punishment, descend!"

He wanted to trigger the so-called Heavenly Punishment to kill all the commoners in the plaza who were practicing the Great Xuan Basic Cultivation Method. But he shouted for a long time, and there wasn't even a single dark cloud in the sky.

"Stop shouting." Emperor Cao Xukun said indifferently. "In the mortal realm, my words are the Heavenly Dao. Your so-called Cultivation Heavenly Punishment is worth less than a fart in my eyes."

He extended a finger and tapped lightly. The spiritual energy inside Fa Qiangu instantly went berserk, shattering all his meridians and reducing his entire cultivation to nothing.

"Ah—! My cultivation! My cultivation inheritance!" Fa Qiangu let out a shrill scream and collapsed to the ground.

"Considering that you haven't taken any lives, I will cripple your cultivation and banish you from Luoyang." Emperor Cao Xukun's tone was icy. "Go back and tell your family members to submit all hoarded cultivation methods to the imperial court within three days and make them available to the common people for free. Otherwise, I will personally level your cultivation family."

The elders were scared out of their wits and knelt on the ground. "Spare us, Emperor Xuan! We know we were wrong! We will go back and submit all the cultivation methods right away!"

They dragged the limp Fa Qiangu away and fled in disgrace.

The commoners in the plaza erupted in thunderous cheers. "Long live Emperor Xuan! Long live Great Xuan!"

"His Majesty's cultivation method is amazing! I won't have to worry about being bullied by those sect disciples anymore!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty! You've allowed us ordinary people to cultivate too!"

Li Tieniu leaned over to Emperor Cao Xukun and chuckled. "Emperor Xuan is awesome! Another pretender has been slapped in the face! That Fa Qiangu dared to call himself a Cultivation Saint, but he couldn't even teach an ordinary person—he's just a total fraud! Now it's great; all the commoners in the world can cultivate, and the strength of our Great Xuan has reached a new level!"

"Indeed." Emperor Cao Xukun nodded, sensing the rising aura of spiritual energy everywhere in the mortal realm. "According to the system's statistics, in just three days, the overall cultivation level of the mortal realm has increased threefold. In a while, even ordinary commoners will be able to possess the power to protect themselves."