The Daylight Body — what kind of physique was that?
It was one of the legendary Twelve Immortal Physiques.
No one in this world was born with such a body; even Immortal Emperors had to forge theirs through post‑birth cultivation.
The so‑called Daylight Physique of Immortal Emperor Mingren had been something he achieved, not inherited.
And the technique that tempered that physique came from Li Qiye himself — from the Book of Flesh.
Li Qiye knew too well how coveted the Book of Flesh was.
It was the greatest mystery of the nine heavens, a scripture that drove all races mad.
Long ago he had hidden the original away. He feared the day it might be lost, or that his own memories of its secrets might one day be erased.
So, as a precaution, he devised a method — he engraved the essence of the Book into the world's "martial arts."
He spent ages decoding and disguising its truth into three common, easily dismissed manuals:
Martial Arts CompendiumMiscellaneous TechniquesIron‑Skin and Copper‑Bone
Together they formed a work of one hundred and twenty volumes, seemingly nothing but minor drills and side manuals.
Yet he secretly arranged them in one specific order:
only by reading them in that precise sequence could one restore the true Book of Flesh.
Those three series spanned three eras, copied and reprinted across the Eight Worlds.
Even when he erased his own memory, this unique order was seared onto his soul —
the key to recreating the Heavenly Scripture should it ever disappear.
Through endless ages, none had ever read the full one hundred and twenty volumes.
No one had thought to study all three sets together.
The Washing‑Dust Sect still possessed the complete collection only because he had personally left it behind — along with a hidden opportunity:
if any descendant possessed the wisdom and insight to decipher it, they could recreate the Immortal Physique and restore the sect's former glory.
Sadly, through all posterity, none had succeeded.
Since Mingren Immortal Emperor, no Immortal Body had ever appeared again in the sect.
### Rebirth of the Book of Flesh
That night, Li Qiye worked without rest.
From those one hundred and twenty scrolls he extracted and re‑assembled the core truth of the Book.
When the final character was set to paper, he let out a soft breath and smiled — a quiet, content smile.
He began to chant the ancient script under his breath; lines of primordial light flared within his mind.
Sealed memories unfolded like petals, long‑lost fragments returning one after another.
The true mystery of the Book of Flesh once again burned within his spiritual sea.
When the process ended, he set fire to the copied scripture without hesitation.
He knew too clearly — were it to leak, disaster would sweep the world.
The original Book remained hidden in a place no one could reach — where only he could reclaim it.
Yet he would not — not yet.
For its truth spoke not only of cultivation, but of another secret woven through heaven and earth itself.
### At Dawn
Morning light touched the mountain.
Nan Huairen arrived early to pay respect.
"Senior Brother, I fear I cannot accompany you to the Armory today. The elders sent me out to report on the marriage mission."
As an envoy, Nan often managed sect communications.
"Go," Li Qiye said quietly. "I'm in no rush. I'll sort through my manuals for now."
After Nan departed, Li Qiye took up a familiar scroll —
the Kunpeng Minor Intent: Six Forms.
### A Trace of the Imperial Art
Among third‑generation disciples, the Six Forms was famed — the final fragment of an Imperial Technique.
Though less potent than a true Imperial Art, it remained fearsome.
Every Immortal Emperor, upon receiving the Heaven's Mandate, created innumerable laws:
some to nurture life and vital blood;
some to protect one's fate and slay foes;
some to refine the body and purify marrow;
and above them all — the Heaven's Mandate Arts themselves.
Mingren Immortal Emperor's law was one Li Qiye knew intimately — for he himself had been its creator's teacher, its source.
Though his memories had once been erased by the Black Dragon King, they were now slowly awakening.
### The Six Forms
The Six Forms of Kunpeng Intent corresponded to the core Imperial Art — the Six Transformations of Kunpeng.
It was the most majestic of Mingren's life‑arts.
Li Qiye wasn't sure the sect still held the full version, but he knew that by contemplating the minor forms, he could recall the greater whole.
Closing his eyes, he silently practiced the movements.
Simple at a glance, the forms held endless transformations:
At times, he became the Peng — soaring through the nine heavens;
at times, the Kun — diving through boundless oceans.
The great bird split clouds, the vast fish rolled waves; light and shadow cycled, sky and sea merged.
He lost sense of himself, whether fish or bird, until Heaven and Earth resonated as one —
until a fish became a bird, leaping from sea to sky, treading the very Dao itself.
A boom resounded through his mind — Kunpeng struck the wave, Dao‑rhythms flowed!
Runes of memory emerged one by one, coalescing into radiant light.
The Six Transformations of Kunpeng were whole again within his heart.
Li Qiye opened his eyes, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
Indeed, perseverance had brought fruit.
He had unknowingly meditated for an entire day.
### On the Three Origins
Yet he did not rest. He knew his body was ordinary, his fate weak, his Life Wheel low. If he wished one day to bear the Heaven's Mandate, he had to train a hundredfold harder.
He understood better than any the truth of cultivation:
though his body was limited, his Dao‑heart was complete — and that, above all, was his strength.
Taking out another scroll — the Lunar Vortex · Solar Wheel Technique — he focused anew.
This one refined the Life Wheel, extending vitality and nourishing the blood.
Every living being is rooted in three origins:
1. The Physique — the vessel of life, the foundation of existence.
2. The Life Wheel — the measure of longevity and vital source.
3. The Life Palace — the seat of fate and Dao's fortune.
Without the body, there is no life.
The Life Wheel is like the rings of a tree, hidden within the mortal frame — intangible yet visible to cultivators.
Those who master longevity arts manifest their wheels behind their heads — rings of light symbolizing their vital essence and lifespan.
Ordinary folk with mortal grade wheels live no more than sixty years.
But those of King or Saint grade can endure for a thousand or even ten thousand years.
Physique, Life Wheel, and Life Palace each possess six ranks: Mortal, Postnatal, Innate, King, Saint, and Immortal.
Among them, the body may be tempered; the wheel and palace, however, are almost fixed by birth.
Only a few defiant methods allow one to reverse this fate —
to reshape destiny through the cultivation of the body itself.
Just as Mingren Immortal Emperor had once done —
from a mortal body, step by step, he tempered himself into an Immortal Physique.