Chapter 493 - 298: The Secrets of the Ascension Platform, the Song Dynasty Sues for Peace, One Body, Two Souls

"Your parents must have been powerful Sword Cultivators."

Lu Mingyuan said softly.

Yun Qinghe seemed very calm. "Perhaps. I was too young back then, so I rarely saw them in action."

"You carry the blood of the Five-Colored Sword Immortal from the Middle Ancient Lineage. No wonder your talent is so monstrous."

Lu Mingyuan praised.

The Five-Colored Sword Immortal was an Ascension Realm Sword Immortal from the Middle Ages who reached the Fourteenth Realm. His strength was so exceptional that he could even hold his own against one of the Twelve Thrones of the Demon Race.

"No matter how heaven-defying my talent is, how could it possibly compare to yours?"

Yun Qinghe rolled her eyes, looking utterly speechless.

In the past, Yun Qinghe might have argued a bit, boasting about her own innate talent.

But ever since Lu Mingyuan had burst onto the scene—weighing the prodigies of the Central Plains, suppressing the heroes of the Seven Kingdoms, and blocking three of the Wanluo Sword Immortal’s strikes—the title of "Number One Prodigy in the World" had already fallen to Lu Mingyuan.

"This isn’t like you." Lu Mingyuan smiled faintly, finding it rare to see Yun Qinghe admit defeat so directly without making excuses for herself.

"I’m not being self-deprecating. Is it so hard to admit that someone is stronger than you?"

"Even though my Cultivation has greatly improved, I still can’t beat you right now. I’m just telling the truth." Yun Qinghe’s tone was very calm, without any hidden meanings.

After she absorbed the nine lifetimes of memories from the Grand Thousand Canglan Map, her Daoxin was repaired and reached an even higher level. She already possessed the foundation to ascend to the Upper Three Grades; it was only a matter of time.

All she lacked was foundation, but in the half-year she had spent in arduous training back at her Sect, she had entered multiple secret realms and obtained numerous Celestial and Earthly Treasures. Within the Celestial Master’s Mansion, the Sect Leader had even personally gifted her a stalk of Heaven-Reaching Bamboo.

The Cyan Heaven-Reaching Bamboo is an Immortal Spiritual Object. In the Ancient Era, like the Ginseng Fruit Tree, it was a Heaven and Earth Spirit Root. It has the miraculous effect of consolidating one’s foundation, allowing one’s innate constitution to transform—to achieve Transcendence and become an immortal.

Even in the Celestial Master’s Mansion, only one such stalk had been nurtured over tens of thousands of years.

Clearly, the Sect already saw her as the successor for the next generation.

In the previous era, figures like Fairy Ci Hang and the White-robed Celestial Master shone like brilliant pearls, illuminating the entire age.

Now, an even more powerful prodigy was needed to stand at the pinnacle of the Central Plains World and take up the banner for the Celestial Master’s Mansion in this era.

She was the Sect’s chosen one.

Thanks to this, Yun Qinghe’s Cultivation had skyrocketed, and she had already entered the Late Stage of the Eleventh Realm.

She was in no way weaker than the likes of Luo Lingxiao.

With her world-shaking Immortal Sword, she could even slay someone in the Twelfth Realm and barely hold her own against those in the Upper Three Grades.

"Where did you get the news you mentioned before about the Ascension Platform emerging?"

Lu Mingyuan continued to ask.

He had previously received a message from Yun Qinghe via a Light Talisman, learning the secrets of the Ascension Platform.

Yun Qinghe said, "Naturally, it came from within the Dao Alliance. The entire Dao Alliance is already preparing for war. They will stop at nothing to secure this Ascension Platform."

Lu Mingyuan asked with great curiosity, "What does the Ascension Platform mean for the Cultivators of the world?"

Yun Qinghe said flatly, "After the end of the War of Ascension in the Mythical Era."

"Any Qi Cultivator in the world who reaches the Upper Three Grades is judged by the ethereal Celestial Dao as a thief who has stolen the foundation of heaven and earth. They are rejected by the world and must undergo a forced Ascension."

"The Ascension Platform is a product of that time. Originally, it was a Divine Object used by the Ancient Divine Beings to travel to and from the Mortal World, but it later became the key to opening the way to the Upper Realm."

Lu Mingyuan frowned. "Why does it feel like all these major figures are trying to run off to the Upper Realm? Isn’t it good enough to stay in the Mortal World?"

Yun Qinghe sighed. "Because their time is up."

"What you don’t know is how many of those undying old monsters have lived in the Mortal World for tens of thousands of years. If they acted recklessly here without an Ascension Platform, they would be forced into Ascension. And because there is no Ascension Platform, these reclusive Fourteenth Realm Great Powers would be punished by the Celestial Dao."

"So, that’s why they hide in the mountains—to evade the Celestial Secret?"

Lu Mingyuan now roughly understood why those characters like Li Sheng, the Sun Wheel Celestial Monarch, and Xun Yu always appeared as avatars.

Because the higher their Realm and the deeper their Integration with the Dao, the deeper their connection to the Celestial Dao.

In short, by being tainted by the Heaven and Earth Rules and the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, they would be assimilated by the Celestial Dao.

That was why most of them stayed safely in the rear, watching over their home bases and acting as mere figureheads.

After hearing Yun Qinghe’s explanation, Lu Mingyuan had a general understanding of the Ascension Platform’s purpose.

"But is the Upper Realm really as wonderful as everyone imagines? Even if they get the Ascension Platform and ascend to the heavens, will everything truly go as they wish?" Yun Qinghe seemed pessimistic about the outcome of the Ascension Platform’s appearance.

"You’ve never been to the Upper Realm, so how would you know?" Lu Mingyuan said, amused.

But Yun Qinghe was very serious. "If the Upper Realm were an easy place to get by, the Taoist Ancestor wouldn’t have initiated the War of Ascension back then, and the Mortal World wouldn’t be divided into four great domains."

"The Divine Beings are not selfless and noble; they are selfish and merciless."

Lu Mingyuan asked, "What are these things you’re talking about, the Upper Realm and the four great domains?"

Yun Qinghe explained patiently, "Although the Upper Realm has ’realm’ in its name, its scope covers more than just a single world. It holds infinite possibilities."

"The ’four great domains’ represent the ruling territories of the four most powerful Divine Beings in the Upper Realm during the Mythical Era, symbolizing the four cardinal heavens."

"Under each of these Divine Beings are several divine kingdoms that have stood for millennia. These kingdoms are personally controlled by their respective Divine Being, are independent of each other, and their numbers change every thousand years."

"For example, the Ancestral God of the Golden Crow Country from the Mythical Era can be traced back to the youngest son of a Demon God, the Three-legged Golden Crow."