Translator: CinderTL
The Star Gate at Frigid Jade Fortress had a limited transmission range, only reaching the Azure Sea Domain, but it still stood ten miles tall.
The gate was an oval, ring-shaped structure, radiating a sense of advanced technology, suspended on the side of the fortress.
Li Chunjun could clearly sense the unique fluctuations emanating from within.
It was the power of the Void Law.
Li Chunjun stared intently, but couldn't discern any of its mysteries.
Seeing this, Yuan Xiao, knowing Li Chunjun's recent entry into cultivation, smiled and said, "The biggest difference between a Nascent Soul and a Primordial Spirit, aside from the spirit itself, lies in Divine Sense. It's an advanced application of Divine Sense power."
He added with a hint of envy, "Each Divine Sense cultivated means an additional thought and computational capacity. The stronger your Divine Sense, the more powerful the thoughts and computational capacity it can generate. Only when these reach a certain level can one comprehend the Void Mysteries and embark on the path of the Great Dao Laws."
Li Chunjun nodded.
Once a cultivator cultivates a Primordial Spirit, their focus on physical strength gradually diminishes.
They refine all their Essence Qi into spiritual energy, which is then converted into Divine Sense to strengthen their Primordial Spirit.
A powerful Primordial Spirit is crucial for surviving the Thunder Tribulation and for cultivating Divine Sense.
Divine Sense and Divine Sense are related like total quantity and utilization rate.
The more Divine Sense one possesses, the higher the utilization rate, allowing for the manifestation of more profound mysteries and a deeper comprehension of Mystical Powers and the Void Law.
This is why Nascent Soul Divine Sense typically extends only three or four hundred miles at most, while Primordial Spirit Divine Sense starts at a minimum of a thousand miles. Some powerful Primordial Spirit True Monarchs can cover ten thousand miles with their Divine Sense in a single thought.
"I've heard that many Nascent Soul True Lords, when reaching the peak of their cultivation, don't rush to undergo tribulation. Instead, they seek external assistance to cultivate Divine Sense in advance. Only after accumulating a sufficient quantity of Divine Sense do they attempt tribulation, aiming to better utilize the process of directly confronting the Heavenly Tribulation's might and the profound mysteries of the Void Law, and even comprehend other Great Dao Laws?" Li Chunjun asked.
"Yes, that's a common practice," Yuan Xiao nodded. "In fact, among the Star Glory, Solar Radiance, and Cosmic Light Lists, the Solar Radiance List is the most accurate measure of a Cultivator's talent. Those with exceptional talent often reach the top spot through their own abilities. The Star Glory List below and the Cosmic Light List above have already become somewhat corrupted."
"Corrupted?"
Li Chunjun glanced at him.
"That's right!"
Yuan Xiao nodded gravely. "The rewards from the Star Glory List are coveted even by Primordial Spirit True Monarchs. That's why these True Monarchs will go to great lengths to support their descendants and disciples in reaching the Star Glory List. However, the Golden Core cultivation limit on the Star Glory List leaves little room for manipulation—it's mostly about Spirit Treasures or minor Sword Intent mastery. But the Cosmic Light List..."
He looked at Li Chunjun. "Every person who makes it onto that list is truly someone who can obtain a Void Refining opportunity! And compared to Primordial Spirit, the cultivation improvement is just the beginning. Do you know how drastically their lifespan changes?"
"Primordial Spirit True Monarchs typically live for over a thousand years, though some can live for up to two thousand with the help of various Longevity Pills. As for Void Refining..."
Li Chunjun paused to consider. Three or four thousand years clearly wasn't enough. Otherwise, Yuan Xiao wouldn't have asked the question.
So, at least five or six thousand, or even...
"Ten thousand years?"
"Ten thousand years?" Yuan Xiao chuckled, then shook his head emphatically. "In theory, Void Refining cultivators can live for twelve thousand nine hundred and sixty years!"
"How much?"
Li Chunjun was stunned.
129,600 years!?
Nearly 130,000!?
"You heard correctly. That's a hundred times longer than Primordial Spirit True Monarchs!" Yuan Xiao said with absolute certainty.
"Then, with Longevity Pills, wouldn't it be easy to live for 130,000 years?"
"Not quite," Yuan Xiao replied. "129,600 years is a limit. At this level, you'll face the Five Declines of Heaven and Man on a spiritual level, which even Longevity Pills can't overcome. However, as long as you don't die in combat, living for 100,000 years in the Void Refining Realm isn't difficult."
"100,000 years!"
Li Chunjun was dazed by the number.
100,000 years!
How long had human civilization existed in the Blue Star Minor Realm?
Only 8,000 years!
Of course, this wasn't to say that human civilization in the Azure Star Minor Realm had only existed for 8,000 years. It meant that recorded human history was only about 10,000 years old.
And the lifespan of a Void Refining Great Power...
It was more than ten times longer than the recorded history of human civilization!
The leap from Primordial Spirit to Void Refining...
The difference was so vast!?
"Qi Refining, Spirit Refining, and Void Refining are fundamentally three major realms apart! The changes they bring are naturally as different as heaven and earth."
Yuan Xiao explained, "In ancient times, the difference between Qi Refining and Spirit Refining was often described as the difference between humans and immortals. Qi Refining practitioners could only be called Qi Refining cultivators, but once the Primordial Spirit formed in Spirit Refining, one had achieved enlightenment and become an immortal. The gap between the Primordial Spirit and Void Refining was no smaller than the gap between the Primordial Spirit and Qi Refining."
"Becoming an immortal..."
Li Chunjun fell silent.
So weak, and they still called it an immortal?
"As time progressed, countless generations of cultivators summarized the experiences of Qi Refining and Spirit Refining, significantly lowering the difficulty of advancing from Qi Refining to Spirit Refining. They even simplified the Spirit Refinement Great Realm into three stages: Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Primordial Spirit. This is why we now perceive the barrier between these two realms as much smaller."
Yuan Xiao looked up at the opening Star Gate. "Perhaps in millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or even billions of years, humanity will fully unravel the Void Mysteries of Spirit Refining and Void Refining. By then, advancing from the Primordial Spirit to Void Refining will become as easy as advancing through the nine levels of Qi Refining to Core Formation. The difficulty will shift from one in ten thousand or one in a hundred thousand to one in a hundred or even one in ten."
"So, those in the Void Refining Immortal Realm aren't considered true immortals, right?" Li Chunjun asked.
"To ordinary people, a Void Refinement Realm cultivator who can live for tens of thousands of years might seem indistinguishable from an immortal," Yuan Xiao replied. "But a true immortal should have achieved eternal life, existing as long as the world itself and shining alongside all creation."
"What about Dao Unification?" Li Chunjun inquired.
Yuan Xiao shook his head. "We've at least heard of, or even seen, Void Refining cultivators. But Dao Unification is a myth, a legend—a realm beyond our comprehension or reach." He glanced at Li Chunjun. "The most recent Dao Unification in recorded history dates back to the Three Great Dao Lords of the Taixu Sword Sect, but that was millions of years ago. As for the Profound Yellow Supreme, his existence predates even that."
He chuckled. "It was precisely because of these shifts in eras that the Taixu Sword Sect briefly replaced the Profound Yellow Sect as the Overlord of the Profound Yellow Great World."
Li Chunjun didn't press further. Yuan Xiao was, after all, only a Nascent Soul cultivator. Limited by his cultivation level, even his vast knowledge was confined to a certain scope. He wouldn't be able to provide any legends about True Immortals.
Moreover...
The Star Gate had opened.
Star Gate transmission differs from the Void Travel of Void Warships and the Rainbow Light Transmission of the Frigid Jade Fortress.
After entering a Star Gate, Cultivators are enveloped by an invisible membrane of light.
Under this light membrane, it's nearly impossible to "see" any changes outside.
When the membrane finally dissipates, Li Chunjun found himself standing on a colossal plaza—a truly colossal plaza.
At a glance, it stretched endlessly, spanning hundreds or even thousands of miles in both directions.
Above the plaza hung a Star Gate—an elliptical portal, hundreds of miles across, resembling a satellite.
Soft, moon-like light emanated from the portal, illuminating the transit plaza with an ethereal beauty.
Surrounding the plaza were countless other Cultivators, just like him.
"We've arrived," Yuan Xiao said, a hint of longing in her voice. "Next, we'll board a transit warship to the Star Gate leading to the Profound Yellow Great World. It's been decades since I last visited the Profound Yellow Great World."
"What makes the Profound Yellow Great World different from the outside world?" Li Chunjun asked.
Li Chunjun asked, "What's this about?"
"Haha, you'll find out when we get there." Yuan Xiao laughed, his Escaping Light soaring toward the far end of the plaza.
Only then did Li Chunjun notice the massive stone pillars scattered across the plaza a thousand miles away. From a distance, they looked tiny, but up close, each pillar was a thousand meters in diameter and ten thousand meters tall.
Yuan Xiao led Li Chunjun to one of the pillars, where a Void Warship was already waiting.
At the warship's entrance, Yuan Xiao deposited a large pile of Spirit Crystals onto a platform. Li Chunjun glanced over—there were three hundred and twenty in total.
"Is this... the fee to use the Star Gate to the Profound Yellow Great World?" Li Chunjun asked.
"That's right. One hundred and sixty per person. A single ticket is worth the entire fortune of a newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator." Yuan Xiao glanced around. "That's why you'll notice everyone around us is either a Nascent Soul or a Primordial Spirit cultivator. Few Core Formation cultivators can afford the exorbitant cost of traveling to the Profound Yellow Great World."
Li Chunjun nodded.
The two entered the Void Warship.
Hundreds of people were already inside.
Just as Yuan Xiao had said, they were all Nascent Soul True Lords, including several Primordial Spirit True Monarchs.
Since Li Chunjun's reputation hadn't spread yet, no one paid him much attention.
After waiting a moment, the Void Warship took off as soon as the time was up. After several Void Travels, it landed on a planet.
This was a small planet, about ten thousand miles in diameter.
Beside it, a thousand-mile-wide oval Star Gate shone brightly. Its futuristic colors and the visible distortion of space were enough to leave anyone awestruck.
"We'll be waiting on this planet for a while," Yuan Xiao explained. "Although the Azure Sea Domain isn't a major Realm Region, it's still considered prosperous. The Star Gate to the Profound Yellow Great World opens every three days, and the next opening is in seventeen hours."
Li Chunjun nodded, gazing at the massive artificial structure. "So, how exactly do these Star Gates work?"
"Then only the agency in charge of building, maintaining, and operating the Star Gates would know," Yuan Xiao said. "Outsiders speculate it might involve space, or perhaps time."
"Time?"
"Yes." Yuan Xiao smiled and nodded. "You should know that when you approach the speed of light, what feels like an instant to you might be years passing in the outside world. So, could we use this time distortion to compress a journey that would take a hundred thousand years into a single moment?"
"A hundred thousand years of travel? What about lifespan?"
"That's why it's just speculation," Yuan Xiao shrugged.
Seeing this, Li Chunjun decided not to press further.
Seventeen hours passed quickly.
As the Star Gate activated, Li Chunjun and Yuan Xiao stepped through simultaneously.
As the light membrane enveloped them and then vanished, a world unlike the cold, desolate vacuum of space—a world filled with blue skies and white clouds—suddenly appeared before Li Chunjun's eyes.
The abrupt shift to such a bright and vibrant environment left him momentarily stunned.
At that moment, Yuan Xiao's voice echoed in his ears: "Welcome to the heart of this Great Dao Network—the Profound Yellow Great World."
(End of the Chapter)
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