Chapter 203: Center of the Human Realm

Countless thousands of li away from the Wujian Region, a flying boat sped past.

Inside the flying boat, your heart stirred. You turned to look back toward the already distant Wujian Region.

'That Great Cultivator Fulong of the Zhou Immortal Dynasty has already visited Jiuli Valley...'

You had left behind arrangements in Jiuli Valley: a Qi-sensing method exclusive to a Tier 4 Divination Grandmaster.

'The reason Great Cultivator Fulong didn't casually wipe out Jiuli Valley must be that he wants to use it as bait to await my return...'

you thought. The hexagrams you had divined for Jiuli Valley and True Monarch Beiheng showed no signs of premature destruction, and with Great Cultivator Fulong's methods, annihilating the valley wouldn't have been difficult.

Since he hadn't, even a fool could guess his purpose.

However, this saved you quite a bit of trouble—at the very least, you didn't have to make special arrangements for True Monarch Beiheng.

Having spent centuries in Jiuli Valley, you had developed some affection for it. If you knew it couldn't escape being trampled by Great Cultivator Fulong, you probably would have secretly intervened to plot a path of survival for them.

'Heaven Monitoring Observatory...'

Your gaze deepened as you thought of the core of the Zhou Immortal Dynasty—the Heaven Monitoring Observatory.

The observatory masters of the Heaven Monitoring Observatory were all Divination Grandmasters. Under the blessing of the Zhou Immortal Dynasty's providence, every generation's master possessed divination abilities rivaling at least a Mid Stage Tier 4 Divination Grandmaster.

When you left the Wujian Region, you deliberately obscured your fate and heavenly secrets. Divination Grandmasters of the same level would find it exceedingly difficult to uncover your destination.

However, the current observatory master could probably deduce your general direction.

This was one of the reasons you chose to head toward the Central Continent Territory.

Even if the Zhou Immortal Dynasty knew you were heading to the Central Continent, they could hardly take any effective action.

The Central Continent was not the Eastern Wilderness. The Dazhou Immortal Dynasty would definitely have its hands tied there. Furthermore, since ancient times, the Central Continent had been the core of the Human Realm; the levels involved were too high and the taboos too numerous.

Coupled with the entanglement of heavenly secrets and fate, once you entered the Central Continent, the observatory master would be powerless to divine anything further unless you actively revealed your identity.

Being a Divination Grandmaster yourself, you knew which places were difficult to divine and which were easy.

Since the ancient era, the Central Continent had produced a massive number of outstanding heroes and heaven-chosen geniuses. The karma involved was utterly terrifying. No Divination Grandmaster dared to casually perform divinations directed at the Central Continent, lest they accidentally uncover some world-shaking secret and draw the backlash of heavenly secrets.

'As long as I successfully cultivate to the Late Nascent Soul Stage in the Central Continent, I won't have to fear the Zhou Immortal Dynasty anymore...'

You thought to yourself.

Supported by the immortal dynasty's providence, the emperor of the Zhou Immortal Dynasty possessed combat power approaching the Deity Transformation Stage.

But only if he remained within the dynasty's imperial capital.

If he left the capital, his strength would plummet.

This was the drawback of cultivating dynastic providence: the foundation of everything lay in that providence.

Once its blessing was lost, not only would he fail to maintain his original strength, but his cultivation realm might even drop.

And as long as you stepped into the Late Nascent Soul Stage and didn't actively approach the Zhou Immortal Dynasty's imperial capital, you would have nothing to fear in the entire Human Realm, unless a Deity Transformation Heavenly Monarch personally took action.

In the near-ancient era, the status of heaven and earth in the Human Realm had fallen. Even a lofty Heavenly Monarch would suffer a backlash if they dared to attack with their full strength.

This was why the Late Nascent Soul Stage was called the pinnacle of the Human Realm.

'Dachun has also returned to the Ghost Realm Trial Field to undergo the third phase of his trial... I wonder if he can complete it...'

you pondered. According to the intelligence you had gathered, the Ghost Realm Trial Field was established by a mighty Heavenly Monarch in the ancient era. Its ultimate goal was to foster Deity Transformation Heavenly Monarchs to reverse the Human Realm's fate of eventually being conquered by the Demon Abyss Realm.

During the ancient era, the Human Realm had absolutely no ability to resist the invasion of the Demon Abyss Realm. Plunged into absolute despair, the Deity Transformation Heavenly Monarchs of the Human Realm had created backup plans like the Ghost Realm Trial Field.

Their purpose was to leave a sliver of hope for the myriad beings of the Human Realm. Even if the Demon Abyss Realm completely occupied the Human Realm, it would take them a massive amount of time to digest it. If the Ghost Realm Trial Field could nurture sufficiently brilliant human Heavenly Monarchs during that period, there might still be a chance for a counterattack.

It was only because the Sword Lord later emerged that these contingencies were never needed.

Originally, the Ghost Realm Trial Field should have been closed—after all, the Demon Abyss Realm had been beaten back.

Yet for some unknown reason, the Ghost Realm Trial Field was never shut down, instead being passed down through the generations.

'The Central Continent...'

You gazed far into the distance ahead.

On this trip to the Central Continent, you still only brought Li Yan with you.

A Nascent Soul Stage Primordial Yin Treasure Physique, coupled with Tier 4 musical rhythm skills, could provide considerable assistance to your daily cultivation.

'In the next simulation, if I wait until Li Yan cultivates to the Nascent Soul Stage before taking her first strand of Primordial Yin Qi, how good would the effects be...'

You mused to yourself.

The first strand of Primordial Yin Qi from the Primordial Yin Treasure Physique had the most prominent effects, possessing an inconceivable ability to shatter bottlenecks and shackles.

A Nascent Soul Stage Primordial Yin Treasure Physique... If that first strand of Primordial Yin Qi was still present, having been nourished for hundreds of years, combined with its special effects...

Just thinking about it filled you with anticipation.

'Just a few more years of travel, and we'll roughly arrive at the borders of the Central Continent...'

You comfortably stretched your back.

Traveling from the Wujian Region to the Central Continent required crossing more than half of the Dongzhou Territory. It was a vast distance that would take a Nascent Soul True Monarch decades to traverse.

Of course, most Nascent Soul True Monarchs would choose to use cross-domain teleportation arrays to shorten their travel time.

However, you did not do so.

Firstly, a cross-domain teleportation array required massive amounts of spirit stones.

Secondly, using one carried the risk of encountering spatial storms.

Although the probability was infinitely close to zero, encountering one meant certain death.

With your current strength, you could practically roam unhindered across the Human Realm, so there was naturally no need to take that risk.

You had set up a mobile spirit vein on the flying boat, allowing you to cultivate normally even while traveling, so you had no need to save time.

At present, you were still some distance away from the Nascent Soul Middle Stage Peak; you could just take your time cultivating.

'The closer we get to the Central Continent, the denser the heaven and earth providence becomes...'

As a Divination Grandmaster, you could naturally sense the ethereal heaven and earth providence.

What was heaven and earth providence? It was an existence even more profound and mysterious than the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The denser the providence, the lower the difficulty for cultivators residing within it to break through their bottlenecks.

The heaven and earth providence of the Central Continent was a cut above the other four great territories. This meant that the number of high-level cultivators in the Central Continent would also be greater than elsewhere.

'Many Nascent Soul True Monarchs with lofty ambitions will make a trip to the Central Continent...'

You thought to yourself. Coming to the Central Continent wasn't just to broaden one's horizons, but also because it brought genuine benefits to one's own cultivation.

'I wonder what kind of scene the ancient era must have been like!'

You couldn't help but let your imagination roam. In the ancient era, the Upper Realm passed down techniques, the entire Human Realm was flourishing, and heaven and earth providence was thick. That had truly been the most prosperous period of the Human Realm.

Several years later, sitting in the flying boat, you faintly saw an incomparably massive immortal city towering in the distance.

'Is that Sunset Immortal City?'

Your heart stirred. Before heading to the Central Continent, you had naturally gathered a lot of intelligence about it.

According to that information, Sunset Immortal City was the largest immortal city connecting the Central Continent to the Eastern Wilderness Domain. Its behind-the-scenes controller was one of the four great merchant associations, the Tianque Chamber of Commerce.

The Central Continent possessed fifteen top-tier factions: One Peak, Two Bodies, Three Dharmas, Four Associations, and Five Unorthodox Paths.

The Tianque Chamber of Commerce was one of the "Four Associations."

As for the Five Unorthodox Paths, their foundations were based respectively on alchemy, talismans, arrays, artifacts, and puppets.

For instance, the Heavenly Talisman Sect inherited the legacy of ancient talisman cultivators, running rampant through heaven and earth with natal spirit talismans. The dharma talismans you nourished were the standard methods of those ancient talisman cultivators.

You slowed the flying boat and came to a halt in front of Sunset Immortal City.

You stepped out of the flying boat, sweeping your divine sense roughly over the area.

'So many Nascent Soul True Monarchs...'

At a glance, you saw at least seven or eight Nascent Soul Stage escape lights flying in and out.

With a bit of thought, you understood this was due to Sunset Immortal City's special geographic location.

Sunset Immortal City was situated on the mandatory route from the Eastern Wilderness Domain to the Central Continent.

The vast majority of Nascent Soul True Monarchs traveling from the Eastern Wilderness Domain to the Central Continent would stop to rest in this immortal city.

Therefore, it gave off the illusion that there were a multitude of Nascent Soul Stage True Monarchs here.

In reality, even in the Central Continent—proclaimed to be the center of the Human Realm—Nascent Soul Stage True Monarchs were still incomparably rare existences who looked down upon the masses from on high.

Below the fifteen top-tier factions of the Central Continent, there was a vast sea of ordinary factions, and these ordinary factions did not have True Monarchs holding down the fort.

You disguised yourself as an Early Nascent Soul Stage True Monarch and entered Sunset Immortal City.

As the first immortal city encountered when entering the Central Continent from the Eastern Wilderness Domain, Sunset Immortal City was incredibly prosperous. Several auctions were held every day, and there were even quite a few Nascent Soul-level auctions.

You deliberately stayed in Sunset Immortal City for two months.

Mainly to fence stolen goods.

During the battle at the Sky Rift Grand Canyon, close to ten Nascent Soul True Monarchs had died by your hands.

You had acquired a massive amount of materials that were of no use to you.

In the Wujian Region, very few factions could afford to swallow down these materials.

Now that you were passing through Sunset Immortal City, you naturally sold them off, exchanging them for the resources you desired.

Upon reaching the Nascent Soul Stage level, spirit stones were basically no longer of much use.

Most transactions among Nascent Soul Stage True Monarchs were done through bartering.

Secondly, it was to gather intelligence.

While you were in the Wujian Region, you had specifically gathered plenty of intelligence on the Central Continent.

However, the Wujian Region was incredibly far from the Central Continent. Most of that intelligence suffered from delays, and its accuracy was questionable.

How could it compare to the convenience of entering the Central Continent to investigate personally?

Through both open and secret inquiries, you discovered that the Nascent Soul True Monarchs of the Central Continent harbored a certain sense of superiority toward the other four great territories.

'There is... quite a lot of intelligence regarding True Monarch Qingyuan...'

You realized that your reputation had already spread to the Central Continent. Right here in Sunset Immortal City, many Nascent Soul Stage True Monarchs were discussing your deeds.

You had killed the mid-stage True Monarch Chongtian and slaughtered eight immortal dynasty True Monarchs. The various trump cards you had revealed—an ancient top-tier dharma cultivation True Monarch, a physical body constitution at Rank 4 Mid Stage—placed you among the absolute highest echelon even in the Central Continent.

"In my opinion, the intelligence must be mistaken. Clashing head-on with Prince Zhennan using just a Nascent Soul spirit body? A mid-stage True Monarch's Nascent Soul spirit body shouldn't be able to achieve that, even from the lineage of ancient top-tier dharma cultivation True Monarchs. What quality of Ancient Soul Fruit would that even require..."

"The intelligence comes from a top-tier faction; how could it be wrong?"

The Nascent Soul True Monarchs of Sunset Immortal City discussed this fervently upon learning the intelligence.

These Nascent Soul True Monarchs could never dream that the subject of their idle chatter, that True Monarch Qingyuan, was currently in the very same Sunset Immortal City with them, and was even listening to their discussions.

Through your inquiries, you discovered that regardless of strength, the Nascent Soul True Monarchs of the Central Continent were clearly a cut above the ordinary True Monarchs of the Eastern Wilderness Domain in terms of knowledge and experience.

Two months later, at a small-scale Nascent Soul level auction, a Nascent Soul Stage True Monarch stepped out and said, "Fellow Daoists, I wish to sell a piece of news. This news originates from a top-tier faction in the Human Realm. For one million spirit stones, it is absolutely worth the price."

"What news could be worth a million spirit stones?"

A Nascent Soul True Monarch frowned. Although a million spirit stones wasn't much for a True Monarch, it wasn't as if True Monarchs were easy marks to be scammed.

"Rest assured, this news relates to the Deity Transformation level..." The Nascent Soul True Monarch selling the news smiled without saying more.

"The Deity Transformation level..."

Several Nascent Soul True Monarchs couldn't hold back and privately inquired to purchase it.

And upon learning the news, these Nascent Soul True Monarchs revealed thoughtful expressions.

Seeing this, you also stepped forward to purchase the news from that Nascent Soul True Monarch.

A million spirit stones was nothing to you.

"Rumor has it: Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue is about to pass away in meditation. At that time, a Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch opportunity will be vacated. Fellow Daoist, if you have any friends at the Late Nascent Soul Stage, you must seize the chance..."

The Nascent Soul True Monarch selling the news transmitted via divine sense.

'Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue? About to pass away? A Deity Transformation Stage opportunity?'

You were secretly astonished. This was your first time hearing news of a Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch passing away.

Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue... You had vaguely heard of this Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch. One or two thousand years ago, when Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue was still a True Monarch, he had once awed the Human Realm, fighting two Late Nascent Soul great cultivators in the Central Continent and remaining undefeated.

"Roughly when will Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue pass away?"

you continued to inquire.

"Within a hundred years."

The Nascent Soul True Monarch selling the news transmitted back in a low voice.

The lifespan of a Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch was two to three thousand years, depending on which life-extending treasures they had specifically consumed.

However, most Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarchs did not live past two thousand five hundred years.

'Passing away within a hundred years?'

You sighed inwardly. You weren't confident you could step into the Late Nascent Soul Stage within a hundred years, and even if you did, you would still need to continue cultivating to Nascent Soul Perfection. Only then could you maximize that slim hope of breaking through to Deity Transformation.

Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue passing away within a hundred years meant that it had nothing to do with you; the probability of you cultivating to Nascent Soul Perfection within a century wasn't high.

Of course, in this simulation, you wouldn't be able to use Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue's passing to attempt a Deity Transformation breakthrough. But in the next simulation, if you hadn't yet stepped into the Deity Transformation Stage, this piece of information would come in handy.

You made up your mind to observe exactly when Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue passed away over the next hundred years. You would also see which Late Nascent Soul great cultivator of the Human Realm would ultimately manage to have a carp leaping over the dragon gate, successfully stepping into Deity Transformation and taking their place as a Heavenly Monarch.

This intelligence might play a huge role in the next simulation.