After creating a set of techniques for Langyu, Heifeng Jiansui proceeded towards the techniques he was lusting for. Perennial Lord, Immortal King and Perpetual Emperors… their legacies were a world above those of those of lower cultivation boundaries. They literally formed a unified system of laws stable enough to act as a Heavenly Dao controlling a world, however small it might be.

Heifeng Jiansui’s path would originate from the creation of a world. That’s why studying these top-tier legacies was of utmost importance to him.

Usually, he would be happy to swallow any such cultivation law that he managed to find. It must be known that most Perennial Lords broke through by following the path of another Perennial Lord, Immortal King or Perpetual Emperor, offering their ‘innate gifts’ in exchange. Those that broke through on their own would be skilled enough to enter the ranks of Immortal Kings later on.

Heifeng Jiansui’s Quintessence Sword Codex was basically publicly disseminated in the previous era. Many old cultivators who didn’t mind giving up their path of advancement for near-immortality offered their ‘innate gifts’ to him. Even so, these ‘innate gifts’ were still too vague for Heifeng Jiansui to understand.

However, there was one thing that was understandable: top tier legacies of Perennial Lords, Immortal Kings and Perpetual Emperors were far too difficult to find. Across the past Eras, how many reached the apex but had their legacies forgotten? Some legacies were hard to comprehend; some required various innate bloodlines and some needed various materials… Even if peak cultivators wanted to follow an already laid path, they simply couldn’t step onto it!

That’s why Heifeng Jiansui’s Quintessence Sword Dao was viewed as a godsend. It needed only a sword, could be practiced from mortal level and only followed the Great Dao of Sword. Supernatural talents, innate gifts, rare materials… none of these were needed. After Heifeng Jiansui became a Perennial Lord, the amount of Perennial Lords was 18. A century later, it rose to 180 and kept on expanding!

The common sense that top-tier legacies were hard to find was firmly embedded in his mind. Apart from the two legacies of his fellow Perpetual Emperors, he found a dozen or so Perennial Lord manuals and 5 Immortal King manuals in his past. The one Perpetual Emperor manual he found was a fragment of the Clear Jade Sword Dao, something he had granted to the twins earlier. It was one of the main factors that allowed to step onto the Path of Perpetuity.

But before him, dozens of shelves held nearly a thousand, perhaps more Perennial Lord legacies. Five bookshelves held hundreds of Immortal King legacies. As for Perpetual Emperor legacies…

The information that there were 56 Perpetual Emperor manuals sitting before him just didn’t seem to enter his brain. Nineorigin had said there were 66 Perpetual Emperors. How did she obtain the legacies of most of them?

+++

Time passed. Heifeng Jiansui read. Heifeng Jiansui comprehended. Heifeng Jiansui read some more.

Perennial Lord legacies required a century or so to comprehend.

Immortal King legacies required a thousand years or so.

Perpetual Emperors required near eternity or perhaps an instant.

And all this was with the baseline of being a pinnacle 9th boundary cultivator, a Stellar Ascension cultivator of this era.

Heifeng Jiansui’s soul was on the level of an apex Perpetual Emperor, but it was sealed with countless restrictions so that his mortal body would not explode from the pressure. This was the reason he could comprehend the Perennial Lord legacies he read.

However, it was impossible to master them like this. There was always the fear of his soul overwhelming his body, with the end result being his unfortunate death. He couldn’t even memorize them all due to all these techniques containing pure laws.

Of course, he would have temporarily forget about the Immortal King and Perennial Emperor legacies. Trying to master any one of them would end up with his death. The Clear Jade Sword Codex transmitted to him by Langyu followed a mysterious principle inherent to the Supreme Sword bloodline, so it didn’t tax his soul. That said, he didn’t dare cultivate it for the moment!

However, there was a path for him comprehend numerous Perennial Lord techniques to build a foundation for World Creation, his supreme bloodline’s inheritance, the Black Phoenix Nine Daos! He decided to comprehend the Perennial Lord techniques in accordance to them.

First Principle, Yin-Yang Three Great Dao: Ice-Fire, Wind-Thunder and Dark-Light!

Second Principle, Reincarnation Three Supreme Dao: Life, Death and Samsara!

Third Principle, Chaotic Three Universal Dao: Creation, Destruction and Void!

Three Principles, Nine Daos… They encompassed plenty of laws, forming a supreme system surpassing even the Heavenly Dao. If a Perpetual Emperor’s legacy was compared to a Solar System that was a collection of planets and stars, the Black Phoenix Nine Dao was comparable to a galaxy containing countless Solar Systems! After all it was a Chaos Sovereign’s supreme technique like the Clear Jade Sword Codex, the White Phoenix’s Seven Purifications and of course, his own Quintessence Sword Codex!

In accordance to the Black Phoenix Nine Daos, Heifeng Jiansui comprehended 12 Perennial Lord techniques. All of them were apex level techniques that harmonized with each other. Since time was frozen, no time had passed at all.

Trying to suppress his desire to open the Perpetual Emperor manuals was very hard. Still, Heifeng Jiansui was a man who possessed two Chaos Sovereign legacies and had access to another. He eventually walked away from the temptation.

It took a long time, though.

+++

“How did you get 56 Perpetual Emperor legacies?” Heifeng Jiansui’s bloodshot eyes seemed scary to Nineorigin.

“I am a World Spirit having complete knowledge of the Chaosworld’s myriad wonders and I have the strength of a Chaos Sovereign. Thus, I can easily obtain them… I think I explained this to you before.” Nineorigin looked strangely at Heifeng Jiansui.

“Yeah… that’s right. You know, you are awesome. I mean really awesome. No make that really, really, really awesome…” Heifeng Jiansui seemed to be in a daze.

“Jiansui, eh, are you okay?” Nineorigin gave a worried glance to her disciple. ‘Did he go crazy due to soul damage or…’

“Actually, I accepted your request to become a disciple on a whim. You don’t even have legacies of your own. But now I have to say…” Heifeng Jiansui’s inebriated tone was a welcome change from his usual emotionless demeanor.

“What do you have to say?” Nineorigin was mildly offended. She did have a legacy, it was simply a bit incomplete…

“It was worth it! Oh Heavens, it was worth it! 56 Perpetual Emperor legacies, I could marry Perpetual Emperor legacies!!!” Heifeng Jiansui wildly laughed for a moment, before passing out.

Nineorigin looked at his unconscious figure before thinking over his final statement. “He wants to marry Perpetual Emperor legacies… Oh, he was simply drunk and saying stuff he would regret. Yes, just that.”

But the World Spirit couldn’t remove the sneaking suspicion from her head. All along, he had been most interested in techniques and manuals, be it his past or present life.

If he actually ended up marrying a Perpetual Emperor legacy, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

+++

Heifeng Jiansui woke up with an embarrassed expression. He knew that he had fallen asleep due to fainting, but didn’t remember anything. But Nineorigin’s strange glances to him every now and then made him feel that he had made some sort of mistake.

“Nineorigin, where are we going now?” The World Spirit was leading him through a complete maze. It was probably a great secret of her sect or something.

“You’ll find it interesting for sure.” She didn’t reply but simply said this.

‘What exactly did she mean…’ Heifeng Jiansui didn’t really care though. Great mystery though it seemed now, Nineorigin would certainly reveal it later.

And as expected, they finally arrived at the door. It was large and vast like a great seal. A flick of finger from Nineorigin opened it up.

Within… were nine glowing books. The myriad runes on the covers formed a beautiful tapestry like the opening up of a domain with its own laws.

“How do you like it? My legacy, that is?” Nineorigin’s voice seemed to be a bit embarrassed as she said this.