Chapter 1 The Eight Directions Chart

Xu Jingming held the thin book in his hands, its pages tinged with the color of jade.

“The *Bafang Tu* (Eight Directions Chart), one of the three thousand legacies of Lord Yu Huo (Feather Fire)?'' Xu Jingming’s expression was solemn.

There were differences even between those in the third realm. Some, like the Lord of the Void Abyss, had courted death by actively charging towards the ‘ultimate realm,’ resulting in the outflow of some legacies.

Lord Yu Huo, however, was truly benevolent. He thought of the weaker, high-dimensional lifeforms, and especially created three thousand legacies for the weak.

Relatively speaking, these legacies… were more suitable for the weak!

For instance, that terrifyingly powerful being who had mastered six great ‘half-step third realm’ techniques, Lord Mang Xing (Flow Python Star), had used the *Bafang Tu* to build a foundation for his child.

“Let’s see just what is so magical about this legacy,” Xu Jingming said, gently turning a page.

Upon opening it, the densely packed words on the first page transformed into a torrent of high-dimensional information that poured into Xu Jingming's eyes.

Xu Jingming was momentarily dazed.

He saw a towering figure.

It had a pair of white wings and emitted flames of light that illuminated all directions. It was as if it were the ‘primordial star,’ shining upon an endless, vast region. Xu Jingming didn’t feel the slightest pressure; instead, he felt ‘warmth and comfort.’

“Lord Yu Huo,” Xu Jingming immediately understood. This white-winged figure was none other than Lord Yu Huo.

“If a cultivator of the Heart Realm lineage wishes to reach the third realm, there is a prerequisite,” Lord Yu Huo said with a smile. “That is, your heart must be worthy of the power of the third realm. Your heart must reach the state of ‘Great Freedom.’”

“Only with a heart of Great Freedom can one bear the power of the Heart Realm’s third realm.”

“How does one cultivate a heart of Great Freedom? I have tried to create many methods, and the *Bafang Tu* is one of them.”

“The *Bafang Tu* is divided into eight levels—each level a heart-refining process. When all eight levels of heart-refinement are completed, your heart will reach the state of Great Freedom,” Lord Yu Huo said. “Though the method exists, it is still very difficult to fully master.”

“Meditate on it with your heart. With each level you improve, your heart will become more powerful. This will be of greater benefit to your growth in the Heart Realm lineage,” Lord Yu Huo said.

“This original copy of the *Bafang Tu* can also be transformed into eight layers of space, and each layer of space can also assist in heart-refinement,” Lord Yu Huo said. “The *Bafang Tu*'s first level: joy and anger…”

Xu Jingming received this legacy information. After all, he was just a universe legend-level low-dimensional lifeform. His speed of receiving high-dimensional information was too slow; it took him more than half a month to fully accept this legacy.

“Extraordinary,” Xu Jingming exclaimed, his eyes filled with amazement. “It is indeed a precious technique for building a foundation. Although it doesn’t greatly help in increasing strength, I can feel… that it can make my path of evolution ten times smoother.”

“Lord Yu Huo said that attaining a heart of Great Freedom can increase the hope of reaching the third realm.”

“That’s too modest. In my opinion, attaining a heart of Great Freedom can increase the hope of reaching the third realm by a hundred or a thousand times,” Xu Jingming thought. Of course, because for ordinary high-dimensional lifeforms to reach the third realm, it was one in a billion.

Even if the hope was increased by a hundred or a thousand times, it was still very渺茫.

“The *Honglian Zhi Huo* (Red Lotus Fire) legacy has very high requirements for the state of mind. But it’s still far from the high level of mental state required by the *Bafang Tu*. The *Bafang Tu* is a pure heart-refining legacy that thoroughly analyzes all aspects of the heart, and then integrates and returns it to achieve a ‘Heart of Great Freedom.’”

“Great Freedom! Then one obtains great liberty, great liberation.”

“At this moment, the state of mind is complete and flawless. There is no longer a trace of flaw in the heart.”

“The third realms of other paths each have their own advantages, and the mental aspect may not necessarily be complete. But the third realm of the Heart Realm lineage… the heart must be complete,” Xu Jingming nodded slightly, very pleasantly surprised.

He wasn't stupid; he was very clear about the preciousness of this legacy.

“Liu Yu Feng, a high-dimensional lifeform in its infancy, I’ll remember you,” Xu Jingming said, looking at the ruins of the territory before him. “I will remember this favor.”

Before he reached the third realm, he wasn’t qualified to repay the favor.

He could only firmly keep it in his heart for now. Xu Jingming carefully explored the small territory ruins again before embarking on his return journey.

“Hu.”

Xu Jingming returned

to his territory. This territory only had a ‘Dark Primordial Star’ and a vast, desolate land. There wasn’t even a single tree, making it much smaller than Liu Yu Feng’s territory ruins.

A universe legend’s territory was pitifully small.

“Mine is the smallest territory,” Xu Jingming said with a laugh. With a wave of his hand, he tossed out the animal skin scroll that contained a large collection of ‘game items.’ The animal skin scroll fell into the earth, and the earth naturally parted, concealing the animal skin scroll deep within the territory’s earth.

“This time, the harvest is too astonishing. I shouldn’t bring it back to my home universe. If it’s exposed, a group of high-dimensional lifeforms might come to snatch it,” Xu Jingming knew how keen the high-dimensional lifeforms’ spying methods were. The *Bafang Tu*'s allure was very astonishing.

“My own territory is still the safest.”

Xu Jingming once again opened the book in his hand, the *Bafang Tu*. As he opened it, a wisp of Heart Realm power flew into the book, transforming into another incarnation of Xu Jingming within the book's world.

…

Within the *Bafang Tu* book world, there were eight layers of space. This was specially created by Lord Yu Huo.

Xu Jingming’s incarnation, constructed from Heart Realm power, was currently in the first layer of space.

The first layer of space had intangible rules operating within it.

“I, I’ve returned to my childhood?” Xu Jingming discovered that he had turned into a five- or six-year-old version of himself, sitting properly in the living room, gnawing on a large apple while watching a program on the huge screen.

Holding the large apple, Xu Jingming also saw his mother in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

“Always going out to practice martial arts early in the morning, never doing anything around the house,” his mother grumbled.

“Wife, I’m back.”

Xu’s father pushed open the door, carrying a plastic bag and smiling as he looked at Xu Jingming sitting there. “Jingming, come over here, see what I bought?”

“So many steamed buns?” Xu Jingming, holding the half-eaten large apple, excitedly ran over, put the apple on the table beside him, and directly reached into the bag to grab a steamed bun.

“San Ding Bao (Three Delicacies Bun),” Xu Jingming happily ate.

“You father and son only like to eat steamed buns. I’ve already made breakfast,” his mother said, beginning to place the vegetable porridge on the dining table.

“Haha, I’ve liked them since I was young. Jingming is my son, so naturally he likes them too,” Xu’s father laughed, rubbing Xu Jingming’s little head, messing up his hair.

Xu Jingming gave his father a look of disdain and continued eating.

Everything was proceeding.

Xu Jingming’s own consciousness could only sense everything.

“This is from my childhood,” Xu Jingming watched everything, his heart filled with a faint sense of joy and happiness.

He lived in a very happy family. His parents loved each other very much and were very good to him.

…

The teenage Xu Jingming, holding a spear, stood on the platform, excitedly waving to the crowd below.

“That’s my son, that’s my son,” Xu’s father and mother also jumped up excitedly in the stands. Xu’s grandfather also smiled happily, his teeth whistling with wind.

Xu Jingming could feel the surprise and excitement of his teenage self.

It was during high school, when he first won the national high school league championship. At that moment, he was too excited. After all, he had shed so much sweat, and finally become a national champion.

…

One joyful thing after another from childhood to adulthood.

The small joys in life, the inconspicuous little things, each filled with the happiness of life.

There were also some ‘great joys,’ such as pursuing the national championship for many years, being selected for the national team, stepping onto the world stage, winning for the first time in a world competition… Miao Miao finally getting together with him…

These joys made life even more captivating and more memorable.

All the small joys and great joys from birth to the present two thousand years were experienced in a specific order, as if waves of ‘emotional tides’ impacted Xu Jingming's heart, allowing him to truly understand… what ‘joy’ meant.

…

The child Xu Jingming was doing homework at his desk. Finally, with the last addition and subtraction problem completed, Xu Jingming excitedly rushed

out: “Dad, Dad, I finished it, I finished it all.”

“Oh.”

Xu’s father, who was watching a program in the living room, smiled and glanced over. “After finishing your homework, practice a set of punches first.”

“Okay,” Xu Jingming very skillfully began practicing the latest set of boxing routines he had learned. After five minutes of practice, he looked at the screen with fervent eyes.

“Watch cartoons then.”

Xu’s father agreed.

At this moment, the door opened, and Xu’s mother walked back. “Jingming, have your exam results come out yet?” As she spoke, she found a Chinese language test paper from Xu Jingming’s small schoolbag.

“What? Only 85 points?” Xu’s mother was furious.

Xu Jingming was frightened and uneasy.

“The *lan* (blue) of *lan tian* (blue sky), how many times have I taught you? It's the grass radical. You used the bamboo radical again,” Xu’s mother said, looking at the test paper, roaring, “Come over here now.”

Xu Jingming could only run to his mother’s side.

“A mess, a complete mess. You didn't even get 90 points. Your teacher even said that there are more than 50 people in your class, and 43 of them got over 90 points. You’re at the bottom!” Mother roared.

Tears welled up in Xu Jingming’s eyes.

“You still have the nerve to cry?” Mother was even more furious.

“I promised him just now that he could watch cartoons after he finished his math homework,” Father walked over and said in a low voice.

“Math is over, but Chinese isn't! Come into the room with me,” Mother grabbed Xu Jingming's ear and walked directly into the house.

Xu Jingming’s tears could no longer be stopped at this moment.

The promised cartoons were gone.

And there was more endless Chinese homework to do.

So angry!

But there was no way to resist!

“Haha…” Xu Jingming felt all of this and laughed. Back then, he was indeed very angry, very aggrieved, and very unwilling.

…

During spear practice, teammates deliberately used dirty tricks, and he got injured…

Focusing on spear techniques led to a decline in grades, and he was reprimanded by the teacher…

The first time a friend borrowed money and didn't return it, even blacklisting him and spreading rumors about him outside…

One personal experience after another.

In life, besides these small angers, there were also some big angers!

Being falsely accused, angrily yelling at the coach, and taking the initiative to quit the school team…

At the martial arts competition, seeing teammates who had been together day and night being deliberately crippled, completely disabled…

The despair, anger, hatred, and unwillingness when he broke his leg…

And also actively plunging into the sea of bitterness, experiencing intense anger to the extreme! Therefore, he had stirred up one slaughter after another.

“What is joy? What is anger?” Xu Jingming experienced the auxiliary cultivation of the first layer of space in the book world, and he was able to maintain a calm state of mind throughout the process.

After all, he had already reached the level of a ‘Pure Lotus Heart.’ Cultivating the first realm of the *Bafang Tu* was not difficult. In half a year, he mastered the ‘joy and anger’ emotional secret techniques recorded in the *Bafang Tu*, completing the first realm.

…

Even for high-dimensional lifeforms, joy and anger were the most common emotions.

To rejoice over them, to be angry about them?

These two emotions were also the entry-level first realm of the *Bafang Tu*.

“Hmm?”

At the headquarters of the Primordial Research Institute, in Xu Jingming's residence, in the quiet room.

A Pure Lotus Fire that was much deeper in color rose from Xu Jingming’s fingertip. “The second level of the Pure Lotus Fire has been completed.”

After mastering the emotional secret techniques of ‘joy and anger,’ cultivating the Pure Lotus Fire was significantly easier.