Immortal of the Nine Realms

After the immortal boat entered the pass, it flew for a while before everyone looked back. The seven-colored star river was no longer in sight, only endless clear skies.

It was as if they had crossed into a completely different world.

Li Daoye couldn’t help but sigh. ”If we hadn’t come from the outside, who would imagine that above the Nine Heavens there would be such a sight? Possessing puppets comparable to First Rate Sect Leaders? Just thinking about it is astonishing.”

Zhao Jiaolong nodded. ”Indeed. I reckon that even among the native cultivators of the Nanqing Constellation, the vast majority have no idea what the world above the Nine Heavens looks like.”

Earlier, when the immortal boat had entered the pass, everyone had clearly felt a peculiar resistance. Only beings like immortals could truly ascend to the Nine Heavens.

Ordinary cultivators, upon reaching a certain altitude, would be blocked by that force and could not see anything beyond.

”The spiritual energy here is extremely abundant. We’re not in any Immortal Courts or Palaces, and there are no spiritual veins nearby. This is just like what some ancient texts say, back in antiquity, the whole world was filled with spiritual resonance,” Hua Miaoqing remarked.

The others had noticed the same thing. The spiritual energy in the world was indeed rich. Although it could not match the concentrations within their own sects, one had to remember they had only just entered the pass, and this place was by no means a cultivation holy land.

If even an ordinary place held such abundant spiritual energy, what would the holy lands be like?

A quiet excitement stirred in everyone’s hearts; the richer the spiritual energy, the smoother the cultivation path.

The old flood dragon glanced at Fang Chen. ”The Dao Conference is still some time away. Where should we go now?”

”First, we’ll find a suitable place to settle. They’ll need to live and make their way here in the future, so the place we choose can’t be careless.” Fang Chen said.

The old flood dragon nodded. ”True enough. But any place with abundant spiritual energy likely already has an owner. If we aim to establish ourself, we’ll end up clashing with local powers.”

”Let’s take a look around near Daotai Mountain.”

Fang Chen produced a jade slip, channeled spiritual energy into it, and a wave of white qi surged out, condensing into a simple map. This rough map of the Nanqing Constellation marked only some well-known territories, and within each, notable landmarks.

Daotai Mountain, where this Dao Conference was to be held, was a well-known location within the constellation.

The map had been provided by Huang Qingque via the Hidden Guard Division. Every Xie Zhi cultivator could obtain one.

The meeting location Huang Qingque had set this time was also near Daotai Mountain, most likely, he too would attend the conference.

The old flood dragon nodded, steering the immortal boat into the distance. Along the way, they would stop and ask passing cultivators for directions, confirm their position, and then, with the map, determine a more precise heading.

Several years later, Qingyuan Market.

The Qingyuan Market lay on the edge of the Daotai Mountain. Markets like this were countless, and Qingyuan was far from the top tier.

Within its domain stood over a thousand spirit mountains, each occupied by innumerable cultivators.

There were sects and there were wanderers. Wherever there were people, there was a martial world. Wherever there were cultivators, there was conflict.

Almost every day, various fights would break out simultaneously in different places.

Yet aside from the disputes, Qingyuan Market seemed full of vitality. Every day, cultivators descended the mountains to trade cultivation resources in the town below.

There was a shared understanding, no matter the grudges, one never disrupted the marketplace, or they would become a target of all.

Among the thousand spirit mountains was an unremarkable one called Cang Mountain.

Its spiritual energy ranked among the lowest, and its residents were mostly itinerant cultivators.

No sect or noble clan would spare a glance at such meager spiritual reserves.

Yet for Li Daoye and his group, even the spiritual energy on it was no weaker than that of the Three Thousand Dao Gate!

Even so, the local cultivators were highly resistant to outsiders. When Fang Chen and his group chose it as their sect’s site, many locals gathered to drive them off.

First, they tried persuasion, then verbal threats, analyzing the risks and benefits.

When Fang Chen’s group insisted on staying, a fight broke out. But since the strongest among the locals was only at the Dao Union Realm, Zhao Jiaolong alone subdued them all.

From then on, the local cultivators recognized that this group of ”river-crossing dragons” was clearly the remnant of a sect that had been driven out from elsewhere and, for some reason, had migrated here.

Acknowledging Fang Chen’s group’s strength, they ceased attempts to expel them, and over time tacitly accepted that they had gained a new sect,

It was called the Cangyun Sect.

Fang Chen and old flood dragon had chosen the name together. It matched their background, sounded low-key and ordinary, and betrayed nothing unusual.

In fact, there were dozens of sects on Cang Mountain alone whose names also included the word ”’Cang’.

In such a place, a bold, domineering name would only draw unwanted attention, and trouble often came that way.

After establishing their sect, Fang Chen sent Li Daoye to the market below to find a craftsman to make standardized sect robes for everyone. The robes were of modest grade, those worn by Zhao Jiaolong and the like were ordinary items. They were purely symbolic.

With robes, the disciples of the Desolate Courtyard, the Three Thousand Dao Gate, and the Void Immortal Sword Sect began to look more like members of Cangyun Sect and gradually blended into the new environment.

Li Daoye became the sect master, while all cultivators above the Golden Core Realm became elders, focused solely on cultivation in seclusion. All mundane affairs were handled by Li Daoye together with other Golden Core Realm and Foundation Building Realm members.

Realm of Three Thousand Dao.

Fang Chen read through the Dao Union Chapter of the Three Thousand Dao Art, his brows furrowing and relaxing in alternating cycles.

On the journey, he had discussed the Dao Union Realm with the old flood dragon. For the latter, this realm was so far in the past that he had forgotten the details of his own breakthrough.

Still, as a fourth transformation Immortal, even if he was no gifted teacher, he could explain intricacies of the Dao Union Realm easily.

The Dao Union had nothing to do with spiritual energy or the physical body, it was purely an advancement of the soul.

According to the old flood dragon, countless Great Daos existed between Heaven and Earth. Upon reaching the peak of the Fusion Realm and successfully passing the tribulation, if one meditated daily, one might glimpse their Dao in the unseen.

Once that happened, one had to try merging it with their soul. Success meant advancing to the Dao Union Realm.

It was a painstaking process. Out of 10 Fusion Realm cultivators, eight might never see their Dao. Of the two who did, perhaps only one could finally fuse it into their soul.

However, the Three Thousand Dao Art differed from old flood dragon’s account. It directly indicated a specific Dao and provided a meditation method.

That meant Fang Chen could one hundred percent see and sense it, the difficulty lay in the fusion itself.

It clearly stated, ‘Wangchuan, great inauspiciousness’.