Translator: CinderTL
"The Profound Yellow Great World."
Li Chunjun stood on this land, carefully analyzing his surroundings.
The gravity was several times that of Blue Star.
All the essential elements for human survival were present, and the oxygen content was about 10% higher than on Blue Star.
As for the spiritual energy...
A hint of surprise flickered across Li Chunjun's face.
"The spiritual energy in the Profound Yellow Great World doesn't seem much higher than on Blue Star? Perhaps... only about thirty percent more?"
"Even thirty percent more than an ordinary Lesser Thousand World? It seems to be recovering well."
Yuan Xiao sensed the surroundings briefly and commented.
"Hmm?"
Li Chunjun was taken aback.
"The former Overlord of the Profound Yellow Great World was the Taixu Sword Sect. As someone who came from that sect, you should have heard of this."
Yuan Xiao smiled. "But the Taixu Sword Sect is just the name they adopted after joining the Immortal Alliance. They've only used it for about a thousand years. Before they joined the alliance, they were known as... the Taixu Demon Sect."
"I've heard of it."
Li Chunjun replied.
"Back then, the Taixu Sword Sect, as the overlord of the Profound Yellow Great World, used its supreme power to manipulate the world's spirit veins, gathering them all at the sect's mountain gate. This led to a constant stream of powerful cultivators within the sect, but it also caused the average spiritual energy in the Profound Yellow Great World to plummet rapidly..."
Yuan Xiao continued, "Later, the other major sects in the Profound Yellow Great World, fearing the Taixu Sword Sect's monopoly, had no choice but to follow suit, concentrating nearby spirit veins to forge their own cultivation sanctuaries."
Li Chunjun finally began to understand why the Taixu Sword Sect was also known as the Taixu Demon Sect.
Such behavior...
It was no surprise that everyone condemned it.
"Before the Immortal Alliance intervened in the Profound Yellow Great World, its spiritual energy was less than a third of that found in many Lesser Thousand Worlds," Yuan Xiao said. "In essence, the Taixu Sword Sect and other major sects had monopolized cultivation in the Profound Yellow Great World by monopolizing its spiritual energy."
"Aside from a few sects that also controlled spirit veins, it was incredibly difficult for other forces to cultivate even Core Formation or Nascent Soul cultivators. The Taixu Sword Sect even divided the Profound Yellow Great World into heaven and earth, declaring themselves heaven and labeling all other forces as the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands. Outside these blessed lands, the rest of the world was considered the mortal realm, where Core Formation cultivators were rare."
He glanced around. "Since the outside world no longer supports the survival of Cultivators, they've all concentrated within the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands. This made it much easier for the Taixu Sword Sect to attack. They destroyed most of the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands until the Wu Ji Sect, Profound Yellow Sect, Chiyang Sword Sect, Zhou Tian Sect, and other forces brought the Immortal Alliance into the conflict, breaking the Taixu Sword Sect's dominance over the Profound Yellow Realm."
"So the eight surviving sects of the Nine Immortal Sects in the Blue Star Minor Realm are the remnants of the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands?" Li Chunjun asked.
"Yes, but not entirely," Yuan Xiao replied. "Except for the Wu Ji Sect, which is the strongest, all these sects have been reorganized after merging with some of the Immortal Alliance's behemoths."
He added, "Within the Immortal Alliance, sects are divided into Council members and non-Council members. The Taixu Sword Sect is a Council member, while the other eight sects are non-Council members. However, they all have Council-level sects backing them."
Li Chunjun finally understood why the Taixu Sword Sect in the Blue Star Minor Realm often provoked the hostility and encirclement of six or even eight sects.
It was a long-standing grudge.
Just as he was about to say something else, a peculiar fluctuation suddenly surfaced in his perception.
As he activated his Divine Sense, it was swiftly drawn into a completely new world.
In this new world, three mountain-like lists stood tall.
Arranged in a row, one behind the other, they varied in height.
The first list, reaching ten miles high, emitted a cold, starlike glow.
The second list soared to a hundred miles, radiating a brilliant light like a blazing sun.
And the third list, towering a thousand miles high, emitted a radiance like a river of stars, dazzling and resplendent.
When Li Chunjun sensed these three lists, his Heart-Mind had already settled on the one that shimmered like starlight. It seemed that if he wished, he could carve his name onto it.
But the prerequisite...
was to defeat the person currently listed.
Lost in thought, he heard Yuan Xiao's voice again: "Sword Prodigy Li? Sword Prodigy Li?"
Li Chunjun snapped back to reality and responded.
At that moment, Yuan Xiao seemed to realize something, a mix of expected and pleasantly surprising: "Sword Prodigy, you've obtained the right to challenge?"
"Yes."
Li Chunjun nodded.
"Who do you plan to challenge? We'll search for their information right away..."
"Is there any need to consider it?"
Li Chunjun asked.
Yuan Xiao took a deep breath: "Yu Die, the number one on the Star Glory List?"
Li Chunjun nodded.
"Sword Prodigy, be extremely cautious! Yu Die... is not weak! Her strength is comparable to that of a Nascent Soul Sword Master, perhaps even surpassing it..."
Yuan Xiao stopped speaking at this point.
Among the four or five Divine Spirit Envoys, one often possessed combat power on par with a Nascent Soul Sword Master.
And Li Chunjun had personally slain five such Divine Spirit Envoys.
Yu Die's strength, though close to a Nascent Soul Sword Master's...
was still insufficient.
Yuan Xiao immediately changed his tone: "Once Yu Die accepts your challenge, you will be instantly teleported by the power of the Profound Yellow List to a special space. The environment of this space will be chosen by the challenged party. The process is swift, so be extremely careful not to be caught off guard."
"I understand."
"Furthermore, each seat on the Star Glory List represents the interests of a True Monarch, or even several or a dozen True Monarchs. To protect these interests, the defender will use any means at their disposal, excluding forbidden external aids like talismans. This includes coercion, intimidation, and even forbidden arts! Therefore, even if you, Sword Prodigy Li, gain an advantage, you must never let your guard down."
"I have a plan," Yuan Xiao said quickly.
"I'm aware," Li Chunjun replied. He had been familiar with the Star Glory List for quite some time. The same applied to the Star Brilliance List.
"Should we find a safer place? Just in case..." Yuan Xiao glanced around. They were still standing in the plaza outside the Profound Yellow Great World's Star Gate.
Li Chunjun nodded. "The only truly safe places in the Profound Yellow Great World are those under the jurisdiction of the Creation Fortune Merchant Guild."
After a moment of searching, he spotted a temporary Immortal Abode property managed by the guild nearby.
"If Sword Prodigy Li doesn't mind, my sect..."
"Let's go to the Creation Fortune Merchant Guild," Li Chunjun interrupted.
Yuan Xiao inwardly lamented his sect's missed opportunity but dared not press the matter. The two of them soared into the sky, heading away from the plaza.
"The increased gravity has slowed our speed and increased our energy consumption," Li Chunjun observed.
"It will be much easier after we cultivate our Primordial Spirits," Yuan Xiao said with a smile. "Unbound by physical bodies, our Primordial Spirits can move freely."
After flying for nearly half an hour, Li Chunjun seemed to notice something amiss. "I still haven't sensed the curvature of the Profound Yellow Great World, and the sun in the Profound Yellow Great World hasn't changed at all..."
"Hahaha, I thought it would take you longer to notice these anomalies." Yuan Xiao chuckled. "Do you know the saying 'Heaven is round and the Earth is square'?"
Li Chunjun quickly realized something. "The Profound Yellow Great World... is a continent?"
"Precisely!" Yuan Xiao affirmed solemnly. "A continent whose diameter is measured in trillions of miles."
He added, "Even a Nascent Soul True Lord would spend their entire life trying to fly across this vast continent without reaching its end."
A continent trillions of miles across!?
Li Chunjun was stunned.
"How could such a massive continent even exist? And yet, its gravitational pull is only a few times greater than that of stars tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of miles wide?"
"We don't know," Yuan Xiao replied. "We can only assume it's due to a unique structure formed by the convergence of Grand Dao Power. This power plays an astonishingly harmonizing role, which is why not only the world's structure is similar, but even its environmental conditions are remarkably alike."
Speaking of this, he chuckled. "At the Supreme Research Institute, there's a dedicated topic for studying the essence of the Dao. Some even suspect that the Myriad Realms we inhabit is actually a great living being, and we are all part of this great being—whether as cells, viruses, or something else entirely. This is why we, along with countless worlds, share such astonishing similarities."
Li Chunjun listened, deeply impressed by how little he knew.
As they conversed, a vast mountain range, stretching thousands of miles and shrouded in Array Formations, came into view. This was a rental site for Immortal Abodes under the Creation Fortune Merchant Guild.
Li Chunjun rented an Immortal Abode capable of warding off the probing and surveillance of Primordial Spirit True Monarchs for ten Spirit Crystals a year. He and Yuan Xiao smoothly settled into it.
After spending several hours deciphering the courtyard's Array Formations, Li Chunjun declared, "There's no time to waste. I'll begin immediately."
Yuan Xiao nodded and retreated to the outer perimeter of the Immortal Abode.
As the Array Formation enveloped the main area of the abode, Li Chunjun divided his Heart-Mind and re-entered the mysterious realm.
This time, Li Chunjun didn't waste time looking around. He landed directly at the very top of the mountain peak.
Yu Die.
In the next moment, his Divine Sense imprinted itself onto the name.
Almost the instant his Divine Sense touched the peak, he suddenly sensed a gaze piercing through the Void, radiating a chilling aura that shot straight toward him.
Through the newly opened world, he could even perceive the Divine Sense message from the owner of that icy gaze: "How dare you."
Li Chunjun didn't reply. Instead, he resolutely pressed his Divine Sense onto the name.
"Who are you? Your Divine Sense fluctuations don't match Taotie's or Kongfeng's. Are you a new challenger? But... who gave you the audacity to challenge me!?"
The Divine Sense carried a chilling threat: "Do you know how many great clans and sects have their interests tied to my position!? And which of these great clans and sects doesn't have a Void Refining expert backing them!? The Tianyu Su Clan, the Baihe Fang Clan, the Longyuan Shan Clan..."
She rattled off thirteen names in one breath.
"You've touched their interests. No matter who stands behind you, you'd better consider the consequences of your actions!"
Then...
Li Chunjun admitted he'd never heard of them. After all, he'd only just arrived in the Profound Yellow Great World, a country bumpkin in the city, how would he know about the major powers?
Moreover, he didn't believe these aristocratic families' Void Refining cultivators would pay much attention to Yu Die, the number one ranked on the Star Glory List. At most, the people she mentioned represented a single Primordial Spirit True Monarch within each family.
So he said directly, "My Divine Sense is quite strong. You can keep talking, but I estimate that even if you refuse to fight, I'll still be able to forcibly erase your name and replace it within six hours at most."
The incessant Divine Sense owner paused slightly. She finally understood the challenger's determination.
With a cold snort, she replied, "Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish!"
Yet she still didn't accept the challenge immediately. Instead, she allowed Li Chunjun to continue eroding her name with his Divine Sense. Only when his Divine Sense had been further depleted and her name was on the verge of vanishing did she suddenly accept his challenge.
Instantly, a surge of Void Power enveloped Li Chunjun's body. The next moment, space shifted, and when he could see clearly again, he found himself in a closed space filled with countless mirrors and crystal-like structures.
The challenge match for the number one spot on the Profound Yellow Star Brilliance List had officially begun.
(End of the Chapter)
---
📖Read (MI) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c304. [+4k Words]
🔑Early Access at $5.
✍Translated (6) Series, (3K+) Chapters, (4.2M+) Words.
💥Flat 30% Discount on All Tiers Available Till 26th July, Use Code 3KCHAPTERS to Avail.