Chapter 659: Heading to the Celestial Realm

Having been confirmed as qualified to control the Ascension Divine Altar, Yi Tianyun immediately stepped onto the Teleportation Array to the Celestial Realm.

The Teleportation Array to the Celestial Realm was located at the very peak of the Ascension Divine Altar. The Creation Celestial Divine King had truly gone to great lengths to inscribe this massive array just to enable travel to the Celestial Realm, and the energy he had expended was astonishing.

His main purpose was to ensure that even if the main passage between realms was damaged, there would be an alternate route to the Celestial Realm, keeping the two worlds connected.

At present, the Netherworld and the Celestial Realm were cut off from each other. The passage between them was unstable and couldn’t be used safely. Attempting to force one’s way through would undoubtedly be met with extreme danger.

Fortunately, the Ascension Divine Altar provided an easy route to the Celestial Realm. The Teleportation Array wasn’t limited to a single person; it could transport a large group, provided there was sufficient Spiritual Power to fuel it.

Since it was only teleporting him, the process was relatively simple and wouldn’t consume too much Spiritual Power.

“Let’s begin. Teleport me to the Celestial Realm!” Yi Tianyun said to the Illusion Spirit beside him.

“As you wish, Master.” The Illusion Spirit had already acknowledged Yi Tianyun as its next master. Once his cultivation reached the required level, he would become its true master.

The Illusion Spirit immediately began activating the Teleportation Array. The entire Ascension Divine Altar started to vibrate, and the array itself began to glow brightly. The Loose Cultivators outside were shocked by the sight, wondering what was happening.

“What’s going on? This all started after that Great Elder of the Foreign Race went in. Did he activate something?”

“Who knows? We can just watch from the sidelines. But the Dragon Taming Divine Kingdom is really going to pay a price this time. They picked an idiot for a National Preceptor, who not only failed to bring them any benefits but stirred up a whole lot of trouble instead!”

“Hehe, now this is getting interesting.”

Everyone was just enjoying the drama. They had no connection to the Dragon Taming Divine Kingdom, so they didn’t care what the outcome was.

HUMMM!

Just as they were wondering what would happen, the Ascension Divine Altar suddenly shot a massive pillar of light into the sky. It pierced through the clouds, seemingly connecting the heavens and the earth. The ground began to shake, and the tremors spread for miles around, like an earthquake.

However, the light appeared and vanished in an instant. In the blink of an eye, the pillar that had reached the heavens was gone. Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened at all.

“Huh? Nothing happened?”

Everyone was confused. It had been such a huge spectacle, yet nothing seemed to have come of it. They had assumed Yi Tianyun was activating some powerful array, launching an attack, or causing some world-altering phenomenon. But then, it was over in a flash.

As they were speculating, Yi Tianyun was undergoing a brief teleportation. He felt a powerful tearing sensation wrack his body. If his cultivation hadn’t been so high, he would have been ripped in two on the spot. The terrifying force was enough to shred a weaker Cultivator into countless fragments.

The entire process lasted only a few seconds. He felt himself enter a strange space, and then his vision quickly cleared.

The first thing he saw was another grand array. He was still standing on a spacious Celestial Altar. Looking closer, he noticed that the Divine Runes here were substantially different from the ones before.

‘That’s to be expected,’ Yi Tianyun thought. ‘The Teleportation Array for returning to the Netherworld from the Celestial Realm is bound to be different. I don’t believe the teleportation failed. If it could fail, the creator wouldn’t be the Creation Celestial Divine King.’

Unlike the unstable passages he’d used before, the Ascension Divine Altar’s teleportation system wasn’t random. It relied on a corresponding Teleportation Array built here in the Celestial Realm. Outwardly, the two altars looked almost identical.

He could control this one as well, just like the other. He could command all the Divine Runes within, turning the altar into a nigh-impregnable fortress.

The Creation Celestial Divine King’s original vision was to allow reinforcements to travel between the two realms at a moment’s notice to suppress invading Demon Fiends. Traversing the normal passages between realms was far too slow; transporting troops in batches through the altars was much more efficient.

Furthermore, the passages were easily damaged and far less stable than Teleportation Arrays, which was why the Creation Celestial Divine King had invested so much effort into building this system.

He stepped to the edge and looked out. A vast landscape of mountains and rivers spread before him, not much different in appearance from the other realm. Despite their imposing names, the Celestial Realm and the Netherworld were actually quite similar. There wasn’t even a major difference in the concentration of Spiritual Power.

The only real distinction lay in the nature of the Spiritual Power itself, not its density. The Spiritual Power in the Celestial Realm contained a trace of Masculine Qi, while the Netherworld’s contained a hint of cold, yin energy.

This could be helpful for those who cultivated specific types of power. Of course, the effect could also be negligible. ‘After all,’ he mused, ‘the Phoenix Race wields Yang Fire, and they still thrive in the Netherworld, don’t they?’

Still, staying in a compatible environment would certainly be beneficial; there was no doubt about that. The Mortal Realm, on the other hand, was a mixed region containing both energies. It was all-encompassing, rejecting no form of power.

Overall, the situation wasn’t much different. It wasn’t as if one was an Immortal Realm-like paradise and the Netherworld a hellscape. They were just names, really.

However, compared to its counterpart in the Netherworld, the Ascension Divine Altar in the Celestial Realm was much livelier. Looking down from his vantage point, he could see people constantly coming and going.

They appeared to be from various factions. ‘Apparently, this place is different from the Netherworld. They can let anyone in?’ he wondered. The only restriction seemed to be the peak of the Ascension Divine Altar itself, which no one could reach.

Flying was forbidden anywhere near the peak. The Creation Celestial Divine King had designed it this way to prevent anyone from getting up there. If the Teleportation Divine Patterns were damaged, it would be a disaster.

‘Interesting. I wonder why this is…’

With a flicker, Yi Tianyun vanished from the Teleportation Array, as if he had never been there at all.

“Huh? Did I just see a figure on the Ascension Divine Altar?”

“Where? I didn’t see anything. Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. In all these years, no one’s ever made it up there. Anyone who gets close is immediately forced back down.”

“Really? So my eyes were playing tricks on me?”

One of the Cultivators scratched his head and stared intently at the peak again, but he saw nothing. Since no one had ever been able to reach the top, he chalked it up to his eyes playing tricks on him.

“Your eyes were playing tricks on you. Let’s hurry and get down. The Ascension Divine Hall is about to start its trials. If we don’t get there soon, we won’t get a spot!”

His companion rolled his eyes at him and immediately flew off toward the Ascension Divine Hall. The first Cultivator scratched his head again but could only follow along, not giving it another thought.