Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Chapter 2164: Price of Absorbing the Crystals

Observing the five as they broke through to the Void Monarch Realm, Xuan Hao could not help frowning as he sensed how the crystal dissolved and flowed through their meridians before settling into their dantian where it reformed around their soul as a new core through which they could wield the Dao of Space all the way up to the Small Success Realm with a little practice. Comparable to what someone who had reached the Early Stage of the Void Monarch Realm.

Of course, though this granted an immediate increase in strength and had essentially placed these five at the upper echelons of the fragmented continent in a single step, the flaws were also obvious, as the crystal now firmly settled within the core of their dantian had completely merged into one with their soul. Making future comprehension of the Dao of Space and in turn progress through the Void Monarch Realm far more difficult.

Not just that, but he could also clearly sense that the crystal seemed to be slowly absorbing the lifeforce of the five at an impossibly slow pace that would be undetectable to someone who didn’t have a divine sense comparable to that of someone in the Star Creation Realm.

If this slow drain only lasted a few thousands years, it wouldn’t mean much given the long life someone at the Void Monarch Realm would be able to enjoy, but if it persisted, it would shorten the lifespan of someone at the Void Monarch Realm by at least half of the original two million years of life a normal Void Monarch Realm cultivator should be able to enjoy.

The reason why their lifespan wasn’t comparable to someone who had stepped into the Celestial Immortal Realm or the Profound Immortal Realm was simply because the unique cultivation path, while strong for what it set out to accomplish, was a far more specialized cultivation path that was nowhere near as all-encompassing as the Profound Immortal Realm, let alone the Celestial Immortal Realm.

Not to mention, the five-million-year lifespan of someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm and the Profound Immortal Realm had nothing to do with their lifespan running out but was instead an artificial limit set by the Venerable Realm Tribulation they would find themselves forced to face off against once they reached this limit.

The true lifespan of someone in the Celestial Immortal Realm or the Profound Immortal Realm if they weren’t forced to face off against the Venerable Realm Tribulation was as their cultivation realm implied, immortal.

It was also because of the sheer difference in quality between the two cultivation paths that Xuan Hao never considered bringing this cultivation path back to the Star Shattering Sect and introducing it to the sect disciples and elders. If anything, the only way he intended to bring it back to the sect was as research material for those studying the Dao of Space, as this unique cultivation path was truly useful to anyone comprehending the Dao of Space.

Different from the martial arts path that was clearly a cultivation path in no way inferior to that of the traditional immortal cultivation path that encompassed both the Celestial Immortal path and the Profound Immortal Path.

Back to the five lucky individuals who had unknowingly shortened their own lifespan by using those crystals to breakthrough to the Void Monarch Realm, Xuan Hao kept his gaze focused on all the miniscule changes taking place following their absorption of the crystal. Having deliberately left these five crystals behind in the first place so he would have an opportunity to observe how they changed the body once they were absorbed.

At the same time, he also silently noted down that he would have to note down a proper warning for the those who entered this floor of the tower in the future to ensure someone didn’t end up accidentally absorbing these dreadful crystals and dooming themselves in the process. After all, so far, he hadn’t been able to figure out any way to separate those crystals once they firmly attached themselves to the soul.

In a way, it was almost like the crystals themselves became a part of the soul. Becoming one single unit instead of a separate one that existed in harmony with one another.

But looking at things in another way, if it wasn’t attached this firmly to the soul. Even merging to become one, it would be difficult to allow someone whose strength was only around the Domain Lord Realm to directly leap up into a level comparable to someone at the Break Dawn Realm of the Profound Immortal Realm and the Early Stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm.

The benefits and price for those benefits were clear; it was just that these juniors down below hadn’t yet realized the price they had ended up paying for their massive increase in strength.

Then again... Even if they knew the price they had to pay for this increase in strength, he had a feeling they would still have happily absorbed those crystals. After all, a Void Monarch Realm cultivator who absorbed a crystal like this would still have a lifespan around a million years. Far exceeding the lifespan of anyone below the Void Monarch Realm who could at most live for tens of thousands of years at the most. Maybe a hundred thousand if they were lucky.

Not to mention, they weren’t without any chance of advancement, as absorbing a higher quality crystal would still allow them to breakthrough and reach the Void Integration Realm in the future, though he had a feeling the price they would have to pay wouldn’t be that different from the one they had to pay to reach the Void Monarch Realm.

If anything, seeing how these crystals were used in person made Xuan Hao ponder about whether this was how the people on the fragmented continent reached the Void God Realm. After all, he hadn’t been able to gather any information on breaking through to the Void God Realm yet and could only guess from the information he had managed to gather on his own so far.