Chapter 360 - 358: The Real Purpose of a Space Spiritual Object

Chapter 360: Chapter 358: The Real Purpose of a Space Spiritual Object

For a Nascent Soul True Monarch, Refining a Realm was not merely a simple matter of increasing one’s combat strength.

Constructing one’s own small world and evolving it into a Grotto Heaven was the watershed moment on the path to Divinity Transformation.

If a cultivator’s highest goal was only the Nascent Soul Realm, then it didn’t much matter whether their realm was perfect or had potential for growth.

At worst, they would be a bit weaker and at a disadvantage in combat.

But for those with lofty ambitions—prodigious talents hailed from the very beginning as having the potential for Divinity Transformation—the construction of their Nascent Soul Realm was paramount.

If the foundation was unstable, forcing the refinement of a Space Spiritual Object later on would be like mending the pen after the sheep have fled—it might not produce the best results.

A Grotto Heaven was hundreds, even thousands of times more complex and stable than a Nascent Soul Realm.

A single flaw in the realm’s foundation could cause the Grotto Heaven to collapse catastrophically, turning one’s personal small world into nothingness.

And without the cosmic phenomenon triggered by the small world transitioning from illusory to real—the tide of Spiritual Power that brought an infusion of Grotto Heaven Power—how could one take that final step of sublimating their Primordial Spirit?

This was a hurdle that no Elixir or Spiritual Object could help with; it relied entirely on the cultivator’s own ability.

One might say that among Nascent Soul True Monarchs, there could be a one-in-a-trillion lucky soul who, by obtaining a legendary Immortal Pill and Spirit Fruit, smoothly broke through a bottleneck to reach a realm they never should have attained.

Or perhaps, like the descendants of Immortals in Ancient Times, they could use an endless supply of Miracle Elixirs to forcibly stack their way up to the Nascent Soul Stage.

But every single Divinity Transformation Cultivator was a peerless genius of their generation, the most outstanding representative to emerge from the countless millions of cultivators in the Human World.

Regardless of aptitude, physique, innate talent, Comprehension, fortune, or luck—even their own level of effort—everything had to be maxed out.

Without this, it was impossible to even glimpse the Divinity Transformation Realm.

Another point was that in the current Cultivation Realm, with its fading Spiritual Qi and non-existent Ascension Platform, even Divinity Transformation Cultivators had a lifespan of merely two thousand years.

The Divinity Transformation Ancestor Masters of those Super Major Sects could often reappear and take action even after disappearing for a thousand, or even two to three thousand years. They relied precisely on their Grotto Heaven Secret Realms.

By hiding within their own Grotto Heaven, they could command Heaven and Earth’s Great Power and slow the passage of their lifespan to its absolute minimum.

What would be a mere century of life in the outside world could be extended to at least twice that time by staying within the Grotto Heaven and not appearing in the mortal realm.

Furthermore, as a Divinity Transformation Great Power, any and all kinds of Life-Extending Elixirs and Spiritual Objects that appeared in the world would be delivered to them at the first opportunity.

Only then could they stretch their active period to several thousand years.

All this information had been imparted by True Monarch Tang Fei after the last Nascent Soul Ceremony. The Qingfeng Sect possessed no such high-level legacy knowledge.

The Tianhe Sword Sect had produced three consecutive generations of Nascent Soul True Monarchs. Including the current Yann Yuanzai, one could even count four. This continuity already surpassed that of many Nascent Soul Sects.

Its founding ancestor, the Tianhe Sword Monarch, was a Great True Monarch at the Late-Stage Nascent Soul, a towering figure who not only dominated the Northern Domain but was influential throughout the entire Cultivation Realm.

The scriptures he left behind contained simple descriptions of the path to Divinity Transformation.

When combined with the knowledge gained by each succeeding generation of Nascent Soul True Monarchs, it couldn’t compare to the Super Major Sects that had produced Divinity Transformation Great Powers, but it was far superior to the likes of the Holy Lotus Sect.

This was why the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect’s use of a piece of Ten Thousand Years Void Stone to stabilize their collapsing Secret Realm had been such an extravagant move.

If not for the fact that the Secret Realm could stably produce large quantities of Clear Spirit Jade Marrow, an ordinary Secret Realm wouldn’t even be worth a single Space Spiritual Object.

It was only because True Monarch Ge Cang hadn’t fully understood the value of Space Spiritual Objects at the time; otherwise, he might not have agreed to that trade.

True Monarch Tang Fei had shared these precious secrets without asking for anything in return, only telling Bai Zichen not to forget their old agreement before hurriedly departing.

This cast a shadow over Bai Zichen’s heart. ’Could it be that True Monarch Tang Fei sensed he had no chance of winning his duel against Xiangg Ji, and might even perish on the spot? Is that why he did this?’

"It’s a shame I don’t know the name of this black and white Crystal Stone. The long-established Nascent Soul Sects probably have records of it..."

Bai Zichen put away the black and white Crystal Stone and the Blood Essence Core. After he reached Nascent Soul, they would allow him to quickly pass through the stage of Refining a Realm.

Besides, his ambitions would not stop at Nascent Soul. If he wasn’t striving to climb to the very peak, what was the point of the path of Cultivation?

The Spirit Stone Ore Vein overhead couldn’t be moved for now. He couldn’t very well start digging it out himself like a common miner.

But only a Core Formation True Man could enter this place, and the Qingfeng Sect only had a handful of Core Formation Ancestors. Surely they couldn’t all abandon their Cultivation to perform manual labor.

Even a large-scale Spirit Stone Ore Vein wasn’t worth such a sacrifice.

’I’ll just have to wait until I reach Nascent Soul. Then I’ll be able to transform into a Fire Dragon and control Pure Yang True Fire. I’ll come back then to see if there’s a way... Perhaps with my Cultivation Technique’s unique properties, I can forge a path through the magma.’

Bai Zichen took another deep look at the Spirit Stone Ore Vein. The sight of millions of Spirit Stones piled together was still quite staggering.

After confirming there were no other anomalies, he retraced his steps and burst out of the volcano.

’It’s a good thing I was the one who went today. If any other Core Formation Cultivator had entered, even a whole group of them would have been wiped out here.’

In such a confined space, the Fire Demon’s Divine Technique of traversing the void was amplified far too much.

If you couldn’t crack it, you wouldn’t even have a chance to flee. All you could do was wait to die.

The vast Black Mountain still concealed many dangers, like this Fire Demon, and the Tier Four White Ape that had played the fisherman on Flame Mountain.

Without Ge Cang and Bai Zichen taking action, it would still be very difficult for the Qingfeng Sect to flatten the Black Mountain Range.

A single Tier Three Top Grade Demon King appearing at random could send the Sect’s army fleeing in disarray. The other two Core Formation True Men had no way to deal with it either.

And it was unrealistic to expect Ge Cang and Bai Zichen to abandon their precious Cultivation time to run around with the pioneering army, acting as vanguards to slay Demon Beasts.

Currently, the Sect’s energy was focused on Flame Mountain. Having occupied so many Tier Three Spirit Veins in such a short time, they didn’t have enough disciples to populate them, which was a pure waste of resources.

No matter how explosive their growth was, the number of Immortal Seedlings discovered through Spirit-Guiding each year was fixed, and new disciples needed time to mature.

It would be at least several more decades before Hejian County, now free from the flames of war, would enter a boom period for Immortal Seedlings, allowing the number of Qingfeng Sect disciples to increase significantly once again.

Upon returning to Celestial Thunder Cliff, Bai Zichen first summoned all the Bai Clan Members responsible for planting the Spiritual Bamboo and imbued them with a wisp of Holy Beast Essence Blood aura.

At the same time, he was informed that another stalk of Thunder Sound Bamboo had sprouted on Celestial Thunder Cliff.

He rewarded that Bai Clan Member as usual but didn’t rush to harvest the Thunder Sound Bamboo.

Given his Sword Refinement skill, without the aid of the Enlightenment Bodhi, it was best to gather several sets of Sword Refining Materials at once to avoid wasting the hard-won Thunder Sound Bamboo.

He then checked on his disciples. Tong Huan was naturally on the main mountain. After being taught the Primordial Yang Divine Thunder, Li Guizhen didn’t rush to cultivate it, but instead focused on improving his existing Profound Nether Qi Formless Divine Thunder.

The sophistication of this Thunder Skill was in no way inferior to the Shao Yang Divine Thunder, and one could similarly use it to comprehend the Great Dao True Intent.

As for Huo Feiyan, he heard she had gone out with several other female cultivators from the Sect to hunt Tier Two Demon Beasts.

He was in a rare mood to teach his disciples, but couldn’t find them, so he could only summon Bai Ziying.

This cousin of his had merely average talent. If not for her good fortune in having him as a cousin, even reaching Foundation Establishment would have been difficult.

"How is Ziyu doing at the Shennong Sect? Have any letters been sent back?"

After pointing out a few minor issues in Bai Ziying’s Cultivation, Bai Zichen asked about his other cousin.

Bai Ziyu had found his calling in the Spirit Plant Technique and wanted to develop his skills in that path.

With a letter of recommendation from Bai Zichen, his cousin went to the Shennong Sect as an exchange disciple from the Qingfeng Sect, to be personally instructed by their Core Formation True Man.

"Ziyu sent a letter in the first half of the year. He said he’s already a Tier Two Low Grade Spirit Plant Master and has learned a lot."

"That’s good. As long as he’s gaining something and not wasting his time... If you have something to say, just say it. Since when did you become so hesitant around me?"

Bai Zichen said, seeing his cousin’s hesitant expression.

"Brother, the old Clan Leader has passed away. I want to return to Hanxiu Peak to see him off and pay my respects to my father."

Bai Ziying said softly.

"The old Clan Leader... has Bai Xianzhong passed on?"

Bai Zichen was slightly taken aback. It was another name he hadn’t heard in a long time, but one that was vaguely familiar.

This person had been the Bai Clan Leader since his own childhood, serving tirelessly until this very day. His contributions to the clan were immense.

"So, is Bai Ling in charge of the Bai Family now? Have any new Foundation Establishment Cultivators appeared?"

"Yes, Sister Ling is the new Bai Clan Leader. She’s already at Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation... There’s another Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the clan named Bai Douguang, who’s a few years younger than me."

Although the Bai Family was honored as the number one Cultivation Family in Black Mountain, as the Qingfeng Sect’s development flourished, they continuously opened up new Spirit Veins and increased their recruitment quotas for disciples.

It wasn’t just the Bai Family; the outstanding members of other Cultivation Families had mostly become Sect Disciples as well.

This was an irreversible trend.

Coupled with the fact that a large number of Bai Clan Members had been diverted to Celestial Thunder Cliff, Hanxiu Peak, despite possessing Cultivation Conditions several times better than in the past, had only produced one new Foundation Establishment Cultivator in a hundred years.

"As long as the family line can continue, that’s enough. You should go. And offer a stick of incense for me."

Bai Zichen’s brow twitched. He waved for Bai Ziying to leave, then rose and went to a side hall, where he saw a Daoist Qingqiuu.

"Brother Ge, what brings you here? If you needed something, you could have just sent someone to relay a message."

Bai Zichen cupped his hands in greeting and sat down across from the Daoist without any sense of unfamiliarity.

"I just met an old acquaintance and remembered something I needed to tell you, so I came straight to Celestial Thunder Cliff."

After Ge Cang achieved Nascent Soul, he was blessed and nourished by four great phenomena, making his Cultivation speed more than just a step faster than other new Nascent Soul cultivators.

His strength, one could say, was improving by the day, with noticeable progress every so often.

"Which old acquaintance?"

Bai Zichen asked curiously. The fact that he was mentioned in front of him meant there was no need for secrecy.

"Fang Tiancheng of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect. He came looking for me."

A trace of sorrow flashed across Ge Cang’s gaunt face.

"Fang Tiancheng! Didn’t he submit to the Blood God True Monarch? How dare he come to Black Mountain? Isn’t he afraid the Blood God True Monarch will come looking for trouble?"

Bai Zichen was greatly startled. The news that the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect had switched allegiance to the Blood God True Monarch had indeed been shocking when it first arrived.

But on second thought, it was quite normal. From Fang Tiancheng’s perspective, the Blood God True Monarch had been unstoppable in the Liang Country Cultivation Realm at that time.

If the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect wanted to avoid being exterminated, their only choice was to switch sides as quickly as possible, showing the Blood God True Monarch their value.