Ninety-one days later.

Within the Stealing Heaven Tripod, Yuan Ming sat cross-legged within the tree, calming his heart and concentrating his spirit, making the final preparations before his breakthrough.

After a period of arduous cultivation, he had refined the "Three Souls and Nine Refinements" to its extreme, and he could now clearly sense the bottleneck of the Sleeping Witch Realm.

Not far away, Xi Ying held Guoguo in her arms, one hand gently stroking its back fur, looking at Yuan Ming who was preparing for his breakthrough, and finally reminded, "If anything seems amiss, I will forcibly help you dispel the Heart Demon."

The Heart Demon Tribulation would not affect others, so there was no need for Xi Ying to leave too far.

Yuan Ming gave Xi Ying a reassuring look, then quietly closed his eyes and began the final attempt at a breakthrough in his state of mind.

All the Soul Power in his Sea of Consciousness was activated, circulating in a strange and unpredictable way, as his consciousness gradually grew dim.

Yuan Ming did not resist this process, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

...

In Da Jin, at Qu Jiang, within the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The night was deep, yet Yuan Ming still sat at his desk handling documents.

As the Prime Minister of Da Jin, although Yuan Ming held a position of extreme authority, he had never considered indulging in pleasure, instead devoting all his attention to his official duties.

For the good days of the people of the entire world, what did it matter if he toiled for a few more hours?

"Tap, tap, tap"

Outside the room, a series of light footsteps suddenly arose. The guard at the door moved, identified the person approaching, and let him into the room.

"Prime Minister Yuan, there is an imperial edict from His Majesty," said the person who had just entered, none other than Liu Tianming's personal eunuch, Eunuch Zhang.

Yuan Ming raised his head, his expression becoming tense: "Eunuch Zhang, has something significant happened in the palace?"

Eunuch Zhang shook his head, took out a memorial from his sleeves, and placed it on Yuan Ming's desk.

Seeing the familiar handwriting on the cover of the memorial, Yuan Ming's face darkened instantly: "This is the memorial I presented today. Why has His Majesty specifically sent Eunuch Zhang to return it?"

"Prime Minister Yuan, His Majesty said that your intentions with this memorial were good, but the widespread promotion of Spirit Root detection would offend too many people, and Chang Chun Temple would not agree," sighed Eunuch Zhang.

"Why is that? There are countless subjects in Da Jin, many of whom possess Spirit Roots yet suffer from having no way to step onto the path of cultivation. If the court steps in and organizes Spirit Root detection for them, wouldn't all the major sects gain more disciples? This matter is beneficial in every way and harms none. How could it offend people?" Yuan Ming frowned.

"Alas, Prime Minister Yuan, you see, although our Da Jin has a population far exceeding tens of millions, only one in ten thousand may possess Spirit Roots, and among them, those with Four Spirit Roots and Three Spirit Roots are the most common. Just like you... ahem, in short, these people are not wanted by Chang Chun Temple. They can only be taken in by other sects. Therefore, a unified Spirit Root detection has no benefit for Chang Chun Temple, and moreover, throughout Da Jin, there are countless large and small Cultivation Families. Even the disciples within their ranks have inadequate talents. They don't even have enough spots for their own, let alone spare any for commoners with Spirit Roots?" Eunuch Zhang shook his head.

"Absurd! Such an act that benefits the nation and the people is hindered due to opposition from these Cultivation Families, and thus cannot be implemented? Is our Da Jin the Da Jin of the people, or is it theirs?" exclaimed Yuan Ming in anger.

"Prime Minister Yuan, please be cautious with your words," Eunuch Zhang, startled, quickly looked around and whispered a reminder.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming took a deep breath and calmed himself: "If it cannot be implemented, then let it be rejected by His Majesty. Why did you have to bring it here personally?"

"His Majesty thought it would be best for you to burn the memorial yourself to be safe, to prevent Chang Chun Temple from catching any wind of it and secretly bringing harm to you," Eunuch Zhang said, lowering his voice even further.

Yuan Ming looked at the memorial, pondered for a long time, and finally took it upon himself to fetch the brazier and throw the memorial into it.

Eunuch Zhang watched the memorial turn to ashes and also breathed a sigh of relief: "Please forgive my blunt words, Prime Minister Yuan, but it's best if similar memorials are presented less often in the future, to avoid making things difficult for His Majesty. Although he is the Emperor, he still has Chang Chun Temple above him. There are some matters out of his control."

Yuan Ming remained expressionless, muttering to himself, "Tianming, though he is the Emperor, is still imprisoned by invisible chains and not free."

Eunuch Zhang nodded, ready to turn around and leave. However, on reaching the door, he unexpectedly added, "Prime Minister Yuan, to tell the truth, this Da Jin is actually the Da Jin of Chang Chun Temple. How could we, mere mortals, ever contend with those Immortals?"

Yuan Ming didn't answer. After Eunuch Zhang left, he turned back to the memorials on his desk but could not manage to read a single word further.

Decades later, Liu Tianming advanced to Foundation Establishment and passed the throne to his eldest son before entering Chang Chun Temple for arduous cultivation. Yuan Ming took the opportunity to seize complete control of the court, joined forces with all major sects except Chang Chun Temple, and once again petitioned to open the Immortal Examination to select cultivation talents from among the common folk.

The whole court and country were shaken, yet no one came forward to stop it. Just when everyone thought the matter was settled, a Core Formation Elder from Chang Chun Temple personally arrived in Qu Jiang, and the State Preceptor Yu Hu captured Yuan Ming, imprisoning him in the Heavenly Prison. Within a day, the charge of plotting rebellion was confirmed, and he was executed on the streets.

Legend has it that before Yuan Ming's death, he was neither happy nor sad as he stood in the street and questioned the State Preceptor, Yu Hu, asking why he refused to bestow immortal fate upon the world's common people. Yu Hu did not answer, but simply hastily ordered his henchmen to execute Yuan Ming.

Although Yuan Ming died, his deeds and aspirations spread widely with the support of those who shared his vision.

Decades passed, and many loose cultivators with unclear origins emerged among the people of Da Jin. The major sects also secretly formed an alliance to incite a wave of resistance against Chang Chun Temple.

...

Southern Border.

Once prosperous, Biluo Cave had been completely destroyed by the Dawn Alliance, and Yuan Ming, as a closed-door disciple of Ling Songhua, had received news early and, together with his brothers from the Fire Refining Hall, had avoided that crucial battle.

After the war, Yuan Ming bid farewell to Li Zhui and his master Ling Songhua and embarked on a solo journey to regain his lost memories.

After several twists and turns, he achieved Foundation Establishment through a stroke of fate and spent several years in the Central Plains before finally returning to Qu Jiang and saw his biological parents.

However, even after living with his parents day and night, he still could not recover the memories he had lost years ago. After a few years, he left Qu Jiang again and returned to the Southern Border to find Li Zhui and Ling Songhua once more. He shared his experiences during that time and made a request.

"Senior Li, Master, I have the audacity to ask if you could take on the role of elders in the reconstruction of Three Stars Mountain. There is no need to involve yourselves in everything, just lending your names would suffice," Yuan Ming respectfully said.

Li Zhui fell silent, while Ling Songhua directly asked, "Now that you've found your parents in the Central Plains and have a brother in Chang Chun Temple, why have you returned to the Southern Border to start anew? Wouldn't it be more delightful to stay in a major sect in the Central Plains than to suffer here?"

"I have mediocre talent, and even if I relied on Liu Tianming's favor to stay in Chang Chun Temple, I would achieve nothing significant in my life. Moreover, as a former Beast Slave, I understand the suffering of the loose cultivators and common people in the Southern Border and Northern Territory the most. Even with Biluo Cave destroyed, can the other four sects truly be any better than Biluo Cave? I returned to provide the cultivators of the Southern Border and Northern Territory with another option and to bring civilization and education to the common people here," Yuan Ming explained.

Li Zhui sighed, "What you are trying to do is difficult. Even with our support, it will not be easy to establish a foothold in the Northern Territory."

"As long as I give it my all, even if unsuccessful, I can do so without regrets," Yuan Ming insisted.

After a long silence, Li Zhui and Ling Songhua eventually agreed to Yuan Ming's request.

Years later, through Yuan Ming's relentless effort, an agreement was finally reached with the other four sects to rebuild Three Stars Mountain. Yuan Ming became the Sect Leader and disciples from the Fire Refining Hall returned to contribute to the sect.

Using his connections in the Central Plains, Yuan Ming quickly rallied the Green Rock Association to his side after establishing his sect, and with their influence, it took him several years to finally secure a foothold in the Southern Border and Northern Territory.

Afterward, he actively recruited disciples and set up schools in the various Wild Man tribes under his jurisdiction, educating them while discovering many cultivation seeds.

Gradually, under Yuan Ming's leadership, Three Stars Mountain's influence grew. But this also attracted the covetous eyes of the Green Rock Association. Fortunately, at a critical moment, Yuan Ming achieved Core Formation and publicly defeated the president of the Green Rock Association. With both kindness and authority, he eventually absorbed the Green Rock Association into his own force.

In the subsequent decades, aside from cultivating, Yuan Ming also subtly maneuvered until at the age of one hundred and twenty, when he finally broke through to the late stage of Core Formation, he completely subdued the other three sects, nearly unifying the Southern Border and Northern Territory.

Yuan Ming's philosophy of cultivation spread throughout every corner of the Southern Border and Northern Territory.

Thirty years later, on Yuan Ming's 150th birthday celebration, Core Formation elders from various major sects of the Southern Border and Northern Territory gathered to offer their congratulations. Three Stars Mountain was adorned with lights and decorations, buzzing with excitement.

"Where is Yuan Ming?" Suddenly, from the sky descended an overwhelming pressure from someone at the Nascent Soul level. Everyone on Three Stars Mountain fell silent, too afraid to speak.

However, Yuan Ming, despite the pressure, flew up into the sky and bowed to the visitor, "I am Yuan Ming. I apologize for not welcoming you from afar, please forgive me."

"I am the Supreme Elder of the Gu Xian Sect in the Southern Domain of the Southern Border. Yuan Ming, do you know your crime?" the visitor declared his identity, then took on a posture of reprimanding.

"May the senior please clarify what crime I have committed?" Yuan Ming raised his head.

The Supreme Elder of Gu Xian Sect looked at Yuan Ming and chuckled softly, then said in a low voice, "You're only 150 years old, aren't you? So young, yet already half a step into Nascent Soul stage; you're indeed talented. Unfortunately, the Southern Border and Northern Territory must not be unified, nor should another Nascent Soul be born here. However, I can give you an opportunity to join my Gu Xian Sect. All past issues will be wiped clean, and you won't be troubled by anyone further."

"...And what of my disciples and the Southern Border and Northern Territory afterwards?" Yuan Ming suddenly asked.

"The way things were before, that's how they should remain," said the Supreme Elder of Gu Xian Sect, his words heavy with implication.

Yuan Ming fell silent, then resolutely shook his head, "Thank you for your kind offer, but I must decline."

Upon hearing this, the Supreme Elder of Gu Xian Sect's eyes flashed with a cold glint, "Hmph, obstinate fool! Since you insist on seeking death, I shall grant you your wish!"

Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, Yuan Ming sighed, "I had anticipated the intentions of the Southern Domain long ago; I just didn't expect this day to come so soon. It's a pity I'm just one step away from reaching Nascent Soul. Ah well, since everything is already in place for what comes after, what's there to regret?"

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