Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

"Boom!"

In the present world, the Southern Sea, within the Mirage Dragon Abyss, lightning flashed and thunder roared.

"This is..."

"The Return to Void Tribulation?"

"No, it seems like the Integration Tribulation?"

"To cross the tribulation within the Mirage Dragon Abyss, it must be a certain Loose Cultivator."

"Shall we... go take a look?"

"If you want to seek death, go ahead. Hiding in this Mirage Dragon Abyss to cross the tribulation, who knows what old demon it could be!"

As lightning struck and thunder boomed, the tribulation poured down into the Mirage Dragon Abyss. Some people were itching to move, while others decisively withdrew.

As a well-known secret realm of the Southern Sea, there had always been no shortage of cultivators in the Mirage Dragon Abyss, even though in recent years, the unknown increase in Mirage Qi within the abyss had caused many cultivators to vanish without a trace.

Even the rumors of strong Loose Cultivators and even Ancient Demons lying dormant couldn't stop the fervor of the masses in their pursuit of exploration and adventure.

There was no choice; the fringes of the Southern Sea were truly barren. Every bit of resource needed to be fiercely competed for. Otherwise, there would be no hope of progression, no possibility of extending one's life, let alone pursuing that eternal goal of longevity that all cultivators dream of.

But competition aside, most people still retained their sanity and quickly distanced themselves from the area. Only a few reckless and insatiably greedy individuals stealthily approached the site where the thunder and lightning were gathering.

And then... there was no 'then'!

The tribulation eventually subsided. The clouds dispersed, and the rain cleared, leaving only one person standing alone, wearing a green robe as smooth as jade, with an ethereal immortal aura.

"A hundred years of time, finally reaching the Return to Void!"

Xu Yang felt a wave of sentiment, undisturbed, neither joyful nor sorrowful.

The matters of the Earth Immortal Realm had come to a temporary close. The Heavenly Court had promoted him to Nine Dominions Celestial Venerable. He was assigned a position among the six imperials, standing in South Observance to oppose the Demon Abyss.

But the Demon Abyss wasn't foolish. Now, as the Wandao School held the strongest force below the Tribulation Realm and was not limited by the tribulation, unless they dispatched a Demon God whose rank was higher than a True Immortal, they simply couldn't gain any advantage.

However, the Demon Gods needed to prepare for the battle in the Heavenly Secret Realm and the Three Calamities.

They couldn't make a move lightly, so for a short period, as the exchanges between the Heavenly Court and the Wandao School expanded, the methods of Heavenly Craftsmen and Immortal Spirit Mech Armors changed the structure of the Earth Immortal Realm, placing increasing pressure on the Monster Nation and Demon Abyss before South Observance saw any significant change.

Moreover, until the True Immortal forces of the Heavenly Court, Buddhism, the Monster Nation, and the Demon Abyss return from the re-opening of the Heavenly Secret Realm, South Observance is unlikely to experience any turmoil.

Thus, Xu Yang temporarily shifted his strategic focus back to the real world, while the World of Dao and Law and the Earth Immortal Realm entered a stable development stage.

...

This time entering the dream, the flow of time in the World of Dao and Law remained at one hundred, while the Earth Immortal Realm was at ten to one.

With this, ten thousand years passed in the World of Dao and Law, and a thousand years of planning in the Earth Immortal Realm. Meanwhile, the real world also smoothly spanned a century.

With a century of growth and achievements, not only did he effortlessly enter the Return to Void Realm, but he also easily crossed the Asking Heaven Tribulation that descended from a higher realm, reaping incredible benefits.

In just a hundred years, ascending from Deity Transformation to Return to Void, and even transcending realms to cross the Heavenly Tribulation, such speed and ability would even be considered extraordinary in the Northern Domain and Central Plains, the Holy Lands of the Immortal Sects, fully qualifying to vie for the position of Saint Heir.

But to Xu Yang, it was merely par for the course.

In the dream world, within the Earth Immortal Realm, he, as the Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate, fought against True Immortal Emperors, repelling the multitude of immortals from the Heavenly Court... All these were earth-shattering achievements.

In comparison, this Return to Void achievement of his current self felt somewhat lacking.

In fact, reaching Return to Void in a hundred years was not his limit; it was simply that his foundation needed to be solidified, his cultivation needed to settle. Rushing it would do more harm than good.

Even so, achieving the realm of Integration was not too far off. At most, in another five hundred to six hundred years, it would be achieved with little effort, and even the achievement of Mahayana within one or two thousand years.

This was the power of 'cheating.'

The accumulation from Zhuanzhou Mengdie (Dreaming of Butterflies) and Divine Travel Through Worlds!

The attributes panel, the aid from various traits!

Together, these two elevated Xu Yang's speed of cultivation far beyond the prodigies of the Immortal Sect Holy Lands, only the legendary Tao Body Immortal Wombs could hope to compare.

In fact, after all the experiences in the Earth Immortal Realm, these so-called Holy Lands and Immortal Gates of the Northern Domain no longer held a fundamental advantage over Xu Yang.

Whether it was basic cultivation techniques, divine powers, or the skills in Pills, Talismans, Tools, Formations, he now matched, if not surpassed, any sect, any holy land of the Northern Domain, and far exceeded them.

The agreement between the Wandao School and the Heavenly Court has been reached. The various divine powers, skills, and secret techniques amassed by the Heavenly Court will flow continuously into the Wandao School with the export of Immortal Spirit Mech Armors, becoming the foundation and strength accumulation for him and the Wandao School.

The Immortal Sect Holy Lands of the Northern Domain and Central Plains, although their traditions date back a long time and have established Dao for hundreds of thousands of years, still can't match the depth and breadth of the Heavenly Court when it comes to heritage.

Because the Heavenly Court represents the Earth Immortal Tao Lineage, holding a significant advantage that the Northern Domain's sects, as well as the entire Cultivation World of the present world, cannot even begin to grasp—Heavenly Secret Realm!

Heavenly Secret Realm, a relic from Ancient Times, contains Ancient Immortal Gods' Tao Lineage and various rare Immortal Spirit treasures. It truly is a ladder to heaven, creating one Nine Tribulations True Immortal after another.

In contrast, the present world's Cultivation Realm, although it also has the Upper Realm with Nine Tribulations True Immortal, Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, and even the legendary Daluo Golden Immortal, due to the separation of the two realms, the blessings of these True Immortals are hardly extended to the Lower Realm.

At most, some remnants and chances are passed down—as with the Five Elements Immortal Mansion that Void Spirit Monarch acquired.

The mere Five Elements Immortal Mansion, whose most precious item is nothing but a single World Root of Heaven and Earth, although it also holds the potential for a tier twelve Golden Immortal Dao Fruit, remains merely potential and has a slim chance of becoming a reality, let alone compare with the Heavenly Secret Realm.

Inside the Heavenly Secret Realm, there truly exists the Flat Peach Ancestral Tree and Bodhi True Seed, such clear tier twelve Golden Immortal Spiritual Roots. The Flat Peach Tree of the Heavenly Court and the Bodhi Root of Buddhism are just offshoots transplanted from these two Immortal Ancestors' trees.

This shows just how valuable the Heavenly Secret Realm is!

Heavenly Court has been established for nearly a million years, and the development of the Heavenly Secret Realm has spanned hundreds of thousands of years. With such accumulated heritage, how can the Holy Lands of the Immortal Sects in the Northern Domain compare?

Therefore, these Holy Lands and Immortal Sects of the Northern Domain no longer hold a fundamental advantage over Xu Yang.

No matter whether it was basic cultivation techniques, divine powers, or the various arts of cultivation, Xu Yang had always been superior to them. All he lacked was time, just accumulation.

As long as there was enough time for complete accumulation, then in the Central Plains and the Southern Sea, the positions of the righteous sects and the heterodox factions could very well be shifted, exchanged.

Of course, even a lion uses its full might to catch a rabbit, Xu Yang would not underestimate the holy lands of the Immortal Sects in the Northern Domain, nor would he act recklessly.

According to the memories of the Void Spirit Monarch, each major Immortal Sect holy land has Calamity Immortal ancestors, and even supreme beings who have completed the Nine Tribulations. For various reasons, they forcibly stayed in the world and have not ascended to the Upper Realm.

Although limited by the Heavenly Tribulation, they hardly had any chance to make a move, but Xu Yang also did not wish to risk provoking them, as in the Earth Immortal Realm, he had already witnessed the terrifying capabilities of the Calamity Immortals and the Nine Tribulations True Immortals.

Now, with his current Return to Void level of cultivation, he wasn't even a match for Mahayana cultivators, let alone Calamity Immortals and True Immortals.

Therefore, he needed to stay in the Southern Sea for a while longer, continue to lie low, keep developing, until he gained the power of a True Immortal. Only then would he be able to march confidently into the Northern Domain and Central Plains and compete with the major Immortal Sect holy lands without fail.

Although he had reached cooperation with the Heavenly Court, he found other's methods useful to refine his own, Xu Yang did not mind taking the accumulations of the major holy lands for his own, converting them into the cultivation foundation for himself and the Wandao School.

So the next plan was to continue with arduous cultivation, raise his realm and cultivation level, until he advanced to Mahayana.

Besides that, he also needed to fully develop Lingbao Island's Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion and the Bright Moon Pavilion at Mirage Dragon Abyss, gathering various resources, refining superior grade immortal implements, and constructing Immortal Spirit Mech Armor.

Standard superior grade Immortal Spirit Mech Armors, piloted by Mahayana cultivators, possess the power of one to three tribulations.

As for the extraordinary Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate, it has the power to roam through the Tribulation Realms, and even with the Nine Rites and Three Talents Sword Formation, it has repelled Calamity Immortals like the Emperor of the North Pole.
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But the Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate cannot currently be replicated, because in this world, he has had no chance to earn the merit of saving the world.

Without the merit of saving the world, how could he refine Xuanyuan, how could he construct the Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate?

Therefore, the Nine Rituals Heavenly Venerate could not be relied on for now, and he could only build standard superior grade Immortal Spirit Mech Armors.

Even so, it required a superior grade immortal implement and billions of magical treasures as components.

With the resources of the Southern Sea Cultivation Realm, it would be very difficult to achieve this in a short amount of time.

Unless...

He took down the Southern Sea, spread in all directions, and fully leveraged the advantage of the "Farming Great Law".

In this way, within a thousand years, he should be able to construct a superior grade Immortal Spirit Mech Armor.

But with his current Return to Void cultivation, how could he take down the Southern Sea, unify the various factions, and withstand the pressure from the holy lands of the Immortal Sects in the Central Plains of the Northern Domain?

That's a problem!

But it doesn't matter, at present he has no urgent development needs, no pressure to survive, he could continue to bide his time, and wait patiently.

If resources are insufficient, time will make up for it. At worst, he could find a chance to send a clone to the Central Plains quietly, bring Meng Fanying back from Buddhism, then close the doors and focus on development, farm for thousands of years, and see if he couldn't produce several superior grade Immortal Spirit Mech Armors.

This was Xu Yang's current plan.

It's just that he didn't know...

"The trees wish to stay still but the wind keeps blowing; people desire to live in peace but events keep arising."

Xu Yang shook his head, looking out as if he saw waves emerging in the vast sea, a turbulent current stirring beneath.

...

Several days later, at Lingbao Island's Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion.

"Xuanyuan my friend, Mingyu is here to disturb you again!"

"Fairy jests, please come in quickly!"

Xu Yang welcomed a visitor onto the island, who was none other than the chief steward of the South Sea Commerce Association, Bright Moon Pavilion's Lu Mingyu.

In recent years, because he was focused on the affairs of the Earth Immortal Realm in his dreams, he kept a low profile and reduced his interactions with others.

This Lu Mingyu was one of the few exceptions. Although their interaction was limited to trade and commerce, over a hundred years, they had cultivated a certain relationship.

Xu Yang welcomed her into the pavilion and after offering tea, got straight to the point, "The fairy visits probably because there is important matter."

"If my friend speaks this way, does it mean without a significant issue, Mingyu cannot come over?"

Hearing this, Lu Mingyu gave a look of feigned grievance, making a small joke.

"Ha!"

Xu Yang laughed, neither confirming nor denying, but seemed amused.

"Enough of that, withered flowers have their meaning, flowing water has its emotions!"

Seeing this, Lu Mingyu knew teasing him was futile and shook her head, speaking seriously, "If nothing goes wrong, there is going to be a major shift in the situation of the Southern Sea."

"Oh?"

Xu Yang raised an eyebrow, also interested, "What kind of change?"

"The South Sea Sect!"

Lu Mingyu's eyes sharpened as she spoke solemnly, "That old ancestor of the Southern Sea, his lifespan is running out, it's reaching the limit. The conflict between the South Sea Sect and Mysterious Yin Island is coming to a crucial juncture!"