The First Immortal of Destiny

The Red Flame Sect Members also noticed two notable gaps among the eighth to sixteenth generations of disciples from the Azure Heaven Cave who had arrived. This was because the Azure Heaven Cave recruits the next generation of disciples every hundred years, strictly adhering to the rule of not taking on disciples across generations.

The fifteenth generation of disciples had the most members, with cultivators in the Qi Gathering Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, and Golden Core Realm. After all, these disciples had been cultivating for over a hundred years. The exceptionally talented ones had already formed their Golden Core, while the ordinary ones were still stuck in the Qi Gathering Realm.

Starting from the fourteenth generation and earlier, there were no Qi Gathering cultivators. Those in the Qi Gathering Realm only have a Lifespan of two hundred years, so disciples recruited more than two hundred years ago who had not cultivated to the Spirit Sea Realm had all passed away. Similarly, from the eleventh generation and earlier, there were no Spirit Sea cultivators. The Spirit Sea Realm has a Lifespan of five hundred years, and they too had all died of old age.

The harsh reality of stepping onto the path of cultivation was fully displayed in the ordinary gathering of Daoxuan Immortal Master’s grand-disciples.

”Fellow Daoist Qingyun, may you have boundless blessings and Lifespan!”

Daoxuan Immortal Master returned the bow, his face full of admiration, and sighed, ”I never thought that a fellow daoist would glimpse the Great Path at such a young age. It truly makes this old man feel ashamed.”

Although Shen Mo was present in his Gecko False Body, the False Body was also formed from the Flesh and Blood of his real body. Therefore, his true age naturally could not be hidden from Daoxuan Immortal Master, who was also in the Divine Bridge Realm.

His age was much younger than even the fifteenth-generation disciples of the Azure Heaven Cave. Considering the three-thousand-year Lifespan of the Divine Bridge Realm, he was like a two or three-year-old infant. Daoxuan Immortal Master, on the other hand, had achieved enlightenment over 1,500 years ago. Including his cultivation years before enlightenment, he was now an ”old man” of over two thousand years. It was natural for him to feel envious and ashamed.

However, after achieving enlightenment, a cultivator’s Essence and Qi do not fade with the passage of time, always maintaining a vibrant state. The body’s functions no longer decline, nor does it continue to age.

Daoxuan Immortal Master was already over five or six hundred years old when he entered the Divine Bridge Realm. In terms of the Lifespan of the Golden Core Realm, this was equivalent to an old man in his fifties or sixties, which is why he still retained the appearance of an old man with white hair and a youthful complexion after achieving enlightenment.

For over 1,500 years since, Daoxuan Immortal Master had always looked like this, never aging a bit. He would not age for the next thousand years, until his Lifespan naturally ended.

Shen Mo modestly deflected the praise a few times and did not delve deeper into the topic of Lifespan. He then took his seat at the high table alongside Daoxuan Immortal Master.

「...」

Before long, the atmosphere at the Heaven Pool gathering began to grow harmonious and lively.

Disciples from the Red Flame Sect and Azure Heaven Cave were either sitting and drinking while discussing profound topics, walking around talking and laughing, or stepping onto the high stage to spar.

Shen Mo’s False Body and Daoxuan Immortal Master, on the other hand, were evaluating the disciples’ Magic Duels while continuing the unfinished topics from their previous Divine Sense exchange.

”Your grand-disciples have solid foundations. Whether it’s their vitality, Soul, or Mana, all are exceptional!” Shen Mo’s gaze landed on the sparring stage above as he took a sip of spiritual tea and expressed his heartfelt admiration.

The disciples of different Realms on the sparring stage, eager to impress their Sect Masters and ancestors, showcased their abilities. They used various means such as magic artifacts, talismans, swordplay, Escape Skills, magic, and puppet control, fighting back and forth with cultivators from the opposing side, making for a lively spectacle.

However, the sparring here was mainly for friendly exchange, so it had more of a practice element and less bloody conflict.

Even so, the cultivation levels and combat strength of the Sect Disciples from both sides could not escape the scrutiny of Shen Mo’s and Daoxuan Immortal Master’s Dharma Eyes.

The disciples from Azure Heaven Cave possessed deep foundations, but their accomplishments in magic and martial arts seemed rather mediocre. They also relatively lacked real combat experience.

This must be due to the long-standing peace within Azure Heaven Cave.

1,500 years ago, Daoxuan Immortal Master had ended the continuous wars within the cave upon achieving the Divine Bridge Realm. A long period of peace ensued, and the cultivators within Azure Heaven Cave gradually ceased to focus on combat techniques. Even though they regularly fought and killed demonic beasts for practice, the true essence of battle was hard to grasp unless they ventured into a Dungeon.

The disciples of the Red Flame Sect were in stark contrast. Over the past few decades, they had faced hardships such as invasions from Heavenly Demons, incursions by Outer Zone Demons, and Evil Spirits, as well as the difficult task of pioneering the Cancering Realm.

Even before the Heavenly Demon invasion, the cultivation world of the Red Flame Country was not devoid of overt and covert struggles and bloody battles.

Therefore, they placed great emphasis on magic and martial arts and combat methods, willing to spend time and effort deliberating on and polishing them. The less skilled were mostly eliminated amidst cruel trials and tribulations.

Those who managed to survive were all outstanding individuals.

Of course, cultivating in the Red Flame Zone and the Green Cloud Cave did not offer the same uniquely advantageous cultivation environment as the Immortal Realm. Thus, apart from a select few, the foundations of most Red Flame Sect Members were far inferior to those of the Azure Heaven Cave disciples. Nevertheless, their mastery of magic and martial arts and lethal techniques was not weak, and they possessed extremely rich combat experience.

In a true Life and Death battle between those of the same Realm, the ones to fall in defeat and perish would definitely be the disciples of Azure Heaven Cave!

It was hard to say which of the two was superior or inferior. This difference was caused by their unique environments and differing experiences. Ideally, one’s cultivation level and foundation, along with their self-preservation techniques, should advance in tandem.

However, Shen Mo believed that once the Red Flame Sect disciples cultivated in the Immortal Realm for several years, or perhaps ten or so, the nourishment from the Immortal Realm’s Spiritual Qi would, to a certain extent, allow them to bridge the gap in their foundations.

Following this topic, Shen Mo and Daoxuan Immortal Master naturally began discussing the major Realms of cultivation.

In this regard, Shen Mo mostly adopted an attitude of ”humbly seeking guidance,” attentively listening to Daoxuan Immortal Master’s explanations. In the Primordial Realm, the Divine Bridge Realm was the limit a cultivator could reach, or at least it had been so for thousands of years. Shen Mo didn’t even know the name of the sixth Dao Realm, let alone possess a more detailed understanding!

While Daoxuan Immortal Master was also a cultivator at the Divine Bridge Realm, he was a ”native” of the Immortal Realm. The Azure Heaven Cave had been situated on Five Dragon Mountain for more than 8,000 years. Furthermore, before the Azure Heaven Cave fell into the mortal realm, quite a few Divine Bridge Realm powerhouses had emerged from it. Some of them would occasionally return to their Fairyland, leaving behind records of their observations and experiences.

Therefore, Daoxuan Immortal Master knew far more about the situation on Five Dragon Mountain and the cultivation Dao Realms than Shen Mo did!

According to him, in the Universal Realm, various extraordinary beings had divided cultivation levels into nine major Dao Realms. The names for the Realms preceding the Divine Bridge Realm (the fifth Dao Realm) varied slightly among different races and even among different cultivation factions within the Human Race. However, the most widely circulated set of terms was Body Tempering, Qi Gathering, Spirit Sea, Golden Core, and Divine Bridge.

Moreover, even with the uniquely advantageous cultivation environment of the Immortal Realm, the vast majority of cultivators ultimately remained within the first three Dao Realms.

There were indeed proportionally more cultivators at or above the Golden Core Realm (the Fourth Dao Realm, Class IV) in the Immortal Realm compared to the Primordial Realm, but not by a significant margin. Those at the Fourth Dao Realm and above were still exceedingly rare among the countless extraordinary creatures.

A Golden Core Realm cultivator could be addressed as a True Master; a Divine Bridge Realm cultivator could be called an Immortal Master.

”As for the Realms above the Divine Bridge Realm, there are four more major Dao Realms…”

At this point, Daoxuan Immortal Master picked up a Spirit Fruit produced in the Green Cloud Cave, savored it carefully, and then slowly continued his account.