Immortal Road.

The two were filled with worry. Their original anticipation of ascension and longing for the immortal realm were suddenly overshadowed by an unprecedented anxiety.

"Hey! Why did Master bring this up?"

After the man in the bamboo hat left, Qu Gong couldn't help but complain to Lin Shan. Clearly, he was already quite annoyed by being compared to the geniuses of the celestial realm since he was a child.

Who can stand it when people keep comparing their apprentices to others?
Now tell him that Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Primordial Spirit are not enough. Only by breaking through to the Void Realm in the lower realm can he completely surpass potential opponents in the upper realm. Isn't that asking the impossible?

"How can one break through to the Void Transformation stage in the lower realm? It's not that easy!"

Many people find that their cultivation stagnates as soon as they reach the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, as if they have been sealed by heaven and earth. Their progress is extremely slow, like a snail crawling along, which makes them question their existence.

It's important to understand that the late stage of the Primordial Spirit Realm and the peak of the Primordial Spirit Realm are two different realms!
The late stage of the Primordial Spirit realm is merely a breakthrough, a process of filling the pool of the mid-stage Primordial Spirit realm before moving on to the next pool. The peak of the Primordial Spirit realm, however, is when the pool of the late stage of the Primordial Spirit realm is filled, truly reaching the critical point before entering the Void Realm.

This process is almost impossible to achieve in the lower realm!

Lin Shan hadn't reached that level yet; the first pool of early-stage primordial spirit hadn't been filled, so he naturally couldn't experience that kind of pain. He only listened to the man in the bamboo hat's words of advice and secretly remembered the difference.

The Heavenly Dao rewards those at the Void Transformation stage are only available in the lower realms!
If I don't seize this opportunity, even if I successfully ascend and break through to the Void Realm, I won't be able to crush the geniuses of the Upper Realm, and the situation where I am invincible among my peers will never happen again.

Then, the path to becoming an immortal will be fraught with many twists and turns!
"The path to immortality is difficult; if one is slow at one step, every step will be slow. If one is born into humble circumstances, one needs to make up for it later in life. But how exactly can one take that first step?"

The man in the straw hat might be able to do it, but he doesn't want to force things too much and wants his descendants to achieve it through their own efforts, which is a bit too much to ask.

Seeing that he seemed to have really listened, Qu Gong immediately left to sulk alone.

Lin Shan ignored the guy and returned to the Shangxiao Sword Sect to oversee the overall situation.

Three days later.

The Shangxiao Sword Sect's interests on the continent were all divided up by its allies, and then the entire sect returned in triumph, leaving behind a small number of representatives from various sects to remain there.

After returning to the Xun Gu Sect, the first thing Lin Shan did was announce a complete seclusion!

Although there are still many things to deal with in the outside world, nothing can stop his determination to improve his cultivation. The right way is to continue to build up his strength.

Other things can be put on hold until you've reached a point where you can't progress any further, and then you can explore those things.

The various allies of the Seeking Ancient Sect also dispersed. Without the common enemy of Penglai Holy Land, they began to return and focus on managing their own forces.

The great demon Qu Gong prepared to wander around, searching for an opportunity in the lower realms to break through to the Void Transformation stage.
The Demon Dog Lord then led the Azure Alliance to Jiaozhou, announcing the establishment of the Demonic Holy Land to the entire cultivation world of the continent.
Lin Fan and Brother Chicken returned to the Great Song Dynasty to reorganize the Luosong Alliance and searched for the whereabouts of the Red Lotus Ancestor.
Qian Bu, along with fugitive Venerable Tanmu, Master Liang, and others, returned to consolidate the forces of the Northern and Southern Ghost Valleys, thus restoring unification.
The rhinoceros demon had nowhere to go, so it tried to take the great demon Qu Gong with it to ascend to heaven, since it would be safer to have someone to look after it on the way. However, Qu Gong completely ignored it and instead took it back to the peacock clan by Brother Chicken.
With his lifespan nearing its end and ascension hopeless, Lord Shouzhuo returned to the Tai Xuan Holy Land to focus on nurturing the incompetent Tai Xuan Holy Lord.
Lord Yuming and Demon Lord Hanhai returned to the Holy Land of Yuhuo and the Demon Clan of Tonghe respectively, continuing their lives as before.
Venerable Yushe led the sea serpent clan away from the North Sea and settled in the East Sea, finding a good place to live and work in peace again.
Zouwu Venerable was granted temporary freedom by Lin Shan, but since the Devouring Star Mountain Range had already been handed over to Kuisang Venerable and Kuihu Demon King, the Star Palace Hundred Clans of the Dixi Plateau were entrusted to him as their temporary representative.
The patriarch of the Kong family and his third brother, Zhong Shenxiu, announced the establishment of two new Confucian holy sites in the State of Lu, namely the Kong family and the Bailu Academy.
Chi Hong and Jian Guhan then joined the Xun Gu Sect and became guest elders.
The situation in this world is constantly changing, like the transformation of the sea into mulberry fields.

Following the Wan Hui year, the Spirit Tide Controversy, the True Immortal War, and the destruction of Penglai, three landmark events came to an end, finally ushering in a relatively stable and peaceful environment.

Every day, different situations unfold in the cultivation world, with everyone's grudges, love, hate, joys, and sorrows scattered throughout every corner of the continent.

Time flies, and years pass by.

Once influential figures who dominated the world will gradually be forgotten, while newly emerging talents will become the stars of the era.

In the second year of Lin Shan's seclusion, a crack suddenly appeared in the sky to the north of this world.

According to reliable intelligence from Wanxiang City, the ancestor of the Ice and Snow Alliance of the Alien Race, the once-ascended Beichen Divine Lord, has suddenly descended upon this realm!

This news immediately caused a sensation in mainland China.

After all, it's unbelievable that someone who was once a successful ascension to immortality is now standing right in front of you!

Can those who have already ascended come down from the Celestial Realm?

The return of the Northern Star God has been confirmed by multiple sources. There is also an inside rumor that another mysterious person accompanied him on his journey to the mortal realm.

This person's identity remains a mystery, and no one knows his origins.

But the first thing it did after its arrival was to investigate the death of Layman Jinglian!
Anyone in this world who knows the inside story and can explain it clearly will be richly rewarded!

Before his death, when the Pure Lotus Hermit launched the war between factions, his most trusted right-hand men were the Holy Lord of Vastness and the Sword Daoist of the Origin. The Holy Lord of Vastness only found out about this when the other party came to investigate in person.

"The Celestial Envoy actually died on the path to ascension?"

His incarnation died in the heavens, and the final fate of the Pure Lotus Hermit is unknown, unexpectedly becoming a headless unsolved case.

The key issue is that he himself didn't know who the attacker was.

“When we descended to the mortal realm, we searched carefully along the ascension passage, but we did not find the remains of the celestial envoy, which is the sixth-grade blue lotus.”

Beichen Shenjun looked solemn. The body could not be found. The murderer had cleaned up the mess so well. Could it be that he had already ascended to heaven afterward?
Lord Haoran said he didn't know either, as he was just a handyman. He had a vague idea that the young man who questioned him was not simple, so he answered everything he knew.

After learning about his situation, the other party actually challenged him to a fight!
The explanation was even more astonishing.

They had already fought against the Nascent Soul stage geniuses of the upper realm. This time, they came to the lower realm to break through to the Void Transformation stage, and wanted to see how strong the cultivators of the lower realm were before that!

with no doubt.

The Holy Lord Haoran suffered a crushing defeat.

He originally intended to use his Yuan Nian avatar to deal with the situation, but the visitor from the upper realm did not have an avatar and insisted on confronting him in his true form. In the end, he used the Hao Ran Holy Land as a threat, forcing him, the Holy Lord, to reveal his true form, where he was severely beaten!
Before leaving, the other party coldly tossed out a sentence:
"A mediocre person."

This infuriated the Holy Lord Haoran, who immediately declared that there were many powerful figures in this world, such as the Xun Gu Sect Master who was able to destroy the Penglai Holy Land and the Shangxiao Sword Sect, and that he was absolutely no less than anyone else!

However, when the other party asked about the cultivation level of the Seeking Ancient Sect Master, the Vast Saint Master stammered out that it was the early stage of the Primordial Spirit realm, and the other party immediately shook his head and left.

"I'm not worth my time in the early stages of the Nascent Soul realm. No matter how powerful he is, it would be dishonest for me to win."

After that, this group left the Sacred Land of Vastness and went to various parts of the continent to challenge late-stage Nascent Soul experts.

Including the Scorpion Venerable of Hunshen Sandy Land, as well as the Scattered Demon Old Ghost, the Qinghe River Water Demon, and even the Great Demon Qu Gong and the Rhinoceros Demon, they were able to find them. They even went to the Spring and Autumn Sword Sect to meet the Minghuang Sword Master!
Without exception, all of them lost!

"The geniuses of the lower realms are nothing special; your chances of survival on your path to ascension are slim." After leaving these words, the group collectively broke down.

This is such a blow to my self-esteem
If they weren't outmatched, they might have gone up and demanded an explanation!
However, during the sparring match, the other party was also investigating the second matter by following the clues, and eventually found out about the Ghost Valley Holy Land and the Sunflower Fairy.

That night of the Jingnan Rebellion, Venerable Tanmu led his troops in rebellion. Sunflower Fairy, representing the Spring and Autumn Sword Sect, came to help. When fighting the Rhinoceros Demon, she used prehistoric swordsmanship, revealing many clues that were witnessed by many people.

This is what attracted the attention of the higher realms!

Thus, under the instruction of a powerful figure, the task of sending someone down to the mortal realm came about. Amidst the competition and coordination among various parties, this celestial nobleman secured the position by relying on his family background.

One can openly take advantage of the opportunity in the lower realm to investigate the ins and outs of the problem, and incidentally break through to the Void Realm below to obtain additional rewards from the Heavenly Dao!

The power struggle unfolded entirely within the Immortal Realm, and the forces behind it had exhausted countless connections to secure this opportunity.

So the other party spared no effort in their investigation, and eventually they actually traced it back to Sword Saint Ma Yuanjue!
"Therefore, the prehistoric swordsmanship tradition comes from Ma Yuanjue."

The celestial noble's voice was cold and clear. His face was hidden behind a mask, but he possessed an innate and extraordinary majesty. He ordered the Northern Star God to search for this person's whereabouts at all costs!
Then, in front of the world, he personally began to break through to the Void Realm, survived the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, transcended the domain created by the Primordial Spirit, and became a well-deserved Void Realm expert!

The entire continent was shaken on this day!

The Sword Saint's whereabouts and grudges were also uncovered in his past battles with the Shangxiao Sword Sect, and relevant clues were found.

Finally, in the void beyond the heavens, an earth-shattering battle unfolded!

That night, the sky was ablaze with starlight, but in reality, it was a raging sea of ​​sword light. From a distance, it looked like shooting stars, a magnificent visual feast. The battlefield was vast, covering an area of ​​over a thousand miles!

After this battle, the celestial nobles were killed with a single sword strike.

The so-called "Sword Saint" Ma Yuanjue rode the myriad rays of light to ascend to the immortal realm, and from then on disappeared from the world.

This momentous event was no less exciting than the Spirit Tide Contest or the True Immortal War of yesteryear, and it was also recorded in the annals of this world.

Many storytellers even fabricated stories about this, starting with guesses and developing ideas, imagining what the people from the upper realm were doing in the lower realm. In the end, dozens of different versions circulated and were sung in the cultivation world.

The only person in the know, Lord Beichen, was rumored to have ascended again in the following years, but unfortunately, he was unlucky and his soul lamp went out during his second ascension, and he perished in a foreign land!

From then on, that great battle during the Void Realm became an unsolved mystery in history.

As always, the Xun Gu Sect of Tianfu Mountain has been quietly developing its influence, without getting involved in worldly troubles.

Through Lü Xiuming's agency management, the business quickly spread throughout the entire continent, and some industries even formed a monopoly, truly creating a behemoth in the cultivation world!

In the years that followed, Mu Yan, Jian Guhan, and Zhong Shenxiu all broke through to become Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

Meanwhile, Lin Shan's spirit pet, the Thunder Otter, was also accumulating strength without anyone noticing, and naturally advanced to a sixth-order primordial spirit demon!

This guy always wanted to break free from control, but unfortunately, he wasn't at the Nascent Soul stage yet, so he could only continue to guard Lin Shan's house and also became the guardian beast of the Xun Gu Sect.

Because of the gathering of the three holy lands, the State of Lu gradually became a recognized holy land in the cultivation world, subtly influencing generations of people. Unintentionally, it replaced the Myriad Manifestations City of the Kaiyuan Realm and took over the baton of the world's center.

In the time that followed, a wave of ascensions swept through the land!

First came the Lord of Haoran Holy Land, then the Lord of Minghuang Sword Sect of Chunqiu Sword Sect, then the Venerable Tianxie of Hunshen Sand Land, and three other ancient relics from the Holy Land who had been keeping a low profile suddenly appeared and ascended!
After experiencing the spiritual tide, these sacred sites gained enough resources for cultivation. After long periods of seclusion and arduous training, they finally reached the threshold of ascension. Since they could not progress further in the lower realm, they decided to risk ascending.

However, since they didn't trust each other, they chose to travel during off-peak seasons and ascend alone every now and then.

After the holy land was established, the next group of experts were independent cultivators, such as the famous old ghost of the Scattered Demon and the water demon of the Qinghe River. It is also said that there was the extremely dark old demon of the Black Demon Sea. There were also many other talented and extraordinary individuals among the independent cultivators.

Then, the great demon Qu Gong and the rhinoceros demon somehow got together over a long period of time and finally chose to ascend to immortality together!
In addition, there were also two or three ancient beings from the sea who left the mortal realm and embarked on the journey to immortality.
Eighty years later.

Seeking ancient religions in Tianfu Mountain.

The long-sealed cave finally opened wide, the door shook and dust fell away, and the creaking, ancient sound carried a hint of nostalgia. Lin Shan finished his seclusion and walked out of it.

Looking at the bright midday sun in the sky, which seemed no different from previous years, he appeared to have changed drastically.

People outside rushed over immediately upon hearing the news.

"Master? You've finally emerged from seclusion!"

Lu Xiuming and other high-ranking officials welcomed him and respectfully invited him back to the main hall, where he sat on the throne of the leader, a seat that had not been occupied for eighty years.

As the story unfolded over the long term, Lin Shan listened to each and every detail, which took a full half hour.

Upon learning of the passing of his old friends and the death of the old and humble God Lord Shouzhuo, he casually inquired about the Taixuan Holy Land.

Upon learning that the Holy Lord Taixuan still hadn't broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, he couldn't help but sigh deeply. Even if the Divine Lord Shouzhuo had successfully sided with him, he was still destined for decline. He had no one to blame but himself.

Looking at his subordinates, he saw that some of them were also gone, such as Master Mandi!

This person was already quite old when he joined the Ancient Seeking Sect. He later reached the late Nascent Soul stage, but the Primordial Spirit stage seemed like an insurmountable chasm that he simply couldn't cross.

Ultimately, unable to prolong his life, he died in despair.

Other elders who had followed him, including Gao Zuoda, Li Yuanjie, Zuo Ning, Xiyin Cave Master, Zhiyu Daoist, Demon Lotus Master, Sacrifice Life Godmother, and Evil Heart True Man from the Kun Sect, all became Nascent Soul True Lords.

Ancestor Lu Que became a great master of the Soul Dao!
His two disciples, Deer Head and Horse Face, had also broken through to become Nascent Soul cultivators at a young age, and roamed the continent, leaving behind a considerable reputation.

Looking at his many subordinates, Lin Shan couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions.

Upon learning that the great demon Qu Gong and the rhinoceros demon had ascended to immortality together, he was momentarily stunned and then felt incredulous!

The man in the bamboo hat once said that if one breaks through to the Void Realm in the lower realm, one will be rewarded by the Heavenly Dao. This guy didn't listen to that and still resolutely chose to ascend.
Isn't this just ignoring what the master said?

"Master, this is a letter left to you by Senior Qu Gong before his ascension." (End of Chapter)