Chapter 366: 192 Step Four of Cultivation: The Path to Transcendence, Pursuing Eternity_4
“Cough, cough~ Yue Ji, don’t tell me you also fancy becoming Han Li’s Dao companion? But you are an Artifact Spirit…” Xue Yueqing blinked, feeling that there was something off about Yue Ji.
Bai Keqing felt the same way.
How could an Artifact Spirit dual cultivate with her husband?
Yue Ji lacked a physical body, and her current form was merely condensed from moonlight, an illusion; even if her husband wanted to cultivate with her, it wasn’t possible.
Yue Ji pursed her red lips and said weakly, “If he truly wished to, with his means, it wouldn’t be hard for him to create a physical body for me, right?”
“Or he could marry me first, then help me upgrade the Heavenly Moon Wheel to a Quasi Emperor weapon, or even an Emperor weapon, I should then be able to create a real body for myself.”
After much deliberation, Yue Ji sensed that her previous intuition wasn’t wrong—Han Li certainly had intentions toward her; it must be due to her identity as an Artifact Spirit that he had not expressed it.
Yue Ji thought that she could still salvage the situation for herself.
Why should she, with such favorable treatment, only fall to being a weapon, and moreover, one used by Xue Yueqing? Why didn’t Han Li use her himself?
Xue Yueqing had no words for that.
“You do have a cunning plan,” Bai Keqing sighed, “but what to do specifically still depends on my husband’s decision.”
Yue Ji’s ambitions weren’t small at all, actually hoping for her husband to help her upgrade the Heavenly Moon Wheel to a Quasi Emperor weapon, or even an Emperor weapon.
The resources required for an elevation to Quasi Emperor weapon far exceeded one Tongxuan Pill, not to mention the legendary Immortal Cultivating Pill.
Yue Ji stuck her little tongue out and stopped talking, feeling that her request was a bit too much.
Bai Keqing chatted some more with Xue Yueqing, then led her to the palace area on Chengdao Peak, where her husband had already assigned a sleeping palace for Xue Yueqing.
After completing these tasks, Bai Keqing approached Han Li, who was at the edge of a cliff, watching a waterfall in the distance, where some descendants of Han Mansion were tempering their bodies.
“This waterfall, in combination with Han Mansion’s cultivation technique, indeed greatly accelerates the pace of body tempering,” Bai Keqing observed thoughtfully.
Before the path of cultivation, there are three realms: body tempering, blood exchange, and True Qi. These three realms don’t count as cultivators; in the Mortal World, they are considered martial arts experts.
These three realms serve as the foundation before cultivation. Once completed, one can formally step onto the path of cultivation and embark on the journey of seeking the Dao.
The path of cultivation begins with the Innate stage, followed by the realms of Sea Opening, Gang Yuan, Spirit Refinement, Hollow Void, and up to Myriad Phenomena; these six Big Realms constitute the first step of cultivation.
For cultivators in the first step, their combat ability gradually climbs, but the increase in lifespan isn’t significant. For those of the Human Clan, those at the first realm, the Innate, live up to two hundred years, and those at the sixth realm, Myriad Phenomena, live only up to a thousand years.
Breaking through from the Myriad Phenomena Realm to the True Martial Realm and condensing the Martial True Pill marks the entrance to the second step of cultivation, which also encompasses six Big Realms: True Martial Realm, Divine Yuan Realm, Tongxuan Realm, Holy Abyss Realm, Quasi Emperor Domain, and Heaven Imperial Realm.
Those stepping into the second tier of cultivation see their combat ability grow increasingly faster—it’s a period of rapid surge. At the Heaven Imperial Realm of the Great Emperor, one can destroy galaxies with a wave of the hand, shatter boundless star systems with a flick of a finger.
In the second tier of cultivation, a cultivator’s lifespan also explodes, matching their combat ability, as they step progressively into longevity and live freely among mortals.
Two thousand years for True Martial Realm, five thousand for Divine Yuan Realm, ten thousand for Tongxuan Realm, a hundred thousand for Holy Abyss Realm, three hundred thousand for Quasi Emperor Domain, and a million for Heaven Imperial Realm.
Once one becomes immortal, it’s the third step of the path of cultivation, which, according to ancient records, is divided into seven Big Realms. Bai Keqing only knows that the first three Big Realms are Heavenly Immortal, True Immortal, and Golden Immortal, while the latter three are lost to history.
As for the final Big Realm of the third step, Bai Keqing does know it—it’s called the Immortal Emperor Realm and represents the supreme among the Immortal Domain.
Legends of the Immortal Emperor circulate in the Endless Yuankun Domain, revered as supreme and unparalleled, but no one in the Endless Yuankun Domain has ever seen an Immortal Emperor.
If it were not for the Great Calamity that occurs every two hundred million years, claiming even True Immortals with ease, the pinnacle forces in the Endless Yuankun Domain would start to doubt the existence of Golden Immortals.
Stepping into the third phase of cultivation grants true longevity. Lifespan and combat ability increase by hundreds to thousands of times—just being a Heavenly Immortal allows one to live for one hundred and twenty-nine million six hundred thousand years, which equates to one epoch.
Legend has it that the True Immortal Realm can grant a lifespan of one hundred epochs, while attaining the Golden Immortal Realm is said to offer eternal life, but Bai Keqing has not seen corresponding records in ancient history; it seems no cultivator has truly reached the Golden Immortal Realm within the Endless Yuankun Domain.
In a crumbling ancient record, Bai Keqing once came across this remark: “Immortal Emperor is not the end; there is a fourth step on the path of cultivation. To transcend and attain great eternal freedom, one must set foot on the fourth step of cultivation.”
“If these children can reach the second step of cultivation in the future, that would already be quite an accomplishment,” Han Li sighed.
About the divisions of the path of cultivation, Han Li had already learned from Bai Keqing and Long Yue, and his ambition naturally grew within him.
Although the Yuankun Domain’s great calamity was dreadful, Han Li wasn’t too concerned; it had been only eleven thousand years since the last ancient calamity, and it would be over two hundred million years before the next great calamity of the Yuankun Domain.
With such an immensely long period, Han Li believed he would have long since become immortal, perhaps even reaching the Golden Immortal Realm or higher.
If Han Mansion maintained this trajectory, how many descendants would there be after more than two hundred million years?
Not to mention spreading throughout the Endless Yuankun Domain, but certainly to be counted in the trillions. How strong would he be at that time?
Although the fourth step of cultivation is but a legend among legends, Han Li set it as his own goal; the Immortal Emperor Realm was merely a landmark on his path of cultivation, his aim was transcendence, eternity, the ineffable, indescribable, unthinkable… realm.