Yuan’s Ascension

“He killed a Golden Core cultivator in his early twenties? How did he do it?” A black-armored youth seated at the edge of the gathering asked, his tone icy cold.

The crowd of elders turned toward the silver-robed elder, their faces mirroring their shock. This was beyond their imagination.

“We intercepted the expedition team from the Middle Land. Sect Elder Mo eliminated three and interrogated the last. However, he refused to budge, and we’ve yet to pry open his lips. Sect Elder Mo is currently on his way back.” The silver-robed elder spoke in a grave tone.

“The information we’ve gathered is solely from the jade slips and books found in their storage artifacts.”

“According to their historical records, we know that Wu Yuan, a peerless genius from the Middle Land, killed the founding emperor of the Jin Empire, a Golden Core cultivator, twenty-eight years ago. Furthermore, Wu Yuan has several Golden Core cultivators as his subordinates.”

“Subsequently, he unified the Middle Land, founding the Wu Empire. All immortal cultivators in the Middle Land are required to swear fealty to him and join the Middle Land Guard, which is a unified force.”

“The Middle Land's total population is close to ten billion, as for the specifics about their powerhouses, the qi refiner is still keeping silent, so we can’t extract any information for now,” the silver-robed elderly man shook his head.

Everyone listened in silence.

“The ability to kill a Golden Core at twenty, even if just a first-stage Golden Core cultivator, proves his monstrous talent,” the black-armored youth said calmly. "If we estimate his rate of progress, he should currently be at the third-stage Golden Core phase. There's a fifty percent chance he's at the mid-stage Golden Core phase." [1]

Many elders nodded in agreement. Progressing through each stage of the Golden Core phase was not easy. The mere accumulation of mana took up a great deal of time for an average Golden Core cultivator.

A mid-stage Golden Core cultivator was already incredibly powerful. To reach the fourth-stage (mid-stage) Golden Core phase, one had to reach the Domain stage of Dao comprehension. This was a difficult hurdle for many Golden Core cultivators.

In the entirety of the Huoyan Sect, there were thirty-five Golden Core elders, but only twelve had reached or surpassed the mid-stage Golden Core phase. As for the late-stage Golden Core phase? Only four achieved it.

“You can’t calculate his strength based on the normal progression rate,” the silver-robed sect leader of the Huoyan sect scanned the crowd of elders from the host seat. “According to the current intel, the ruins of an ancient sect have likely been uncovered in the Middle Land."

“What?”

"Ruins of an ancient sect?"

"Is that true?" Astonishment filled the eyes of the previously calm Golden Core elders.

They all knew what uncovering the ruins of an ancient sect implied.

"Sect leader, could you elaborate?" The white-robed Elder Yun asked.  

"The civilization in the Middle Land is strong. Accounting for population ratio, the number of immortal cultivators born on this island is close to half that of our Summerpeak mainland," the elder in silver robes said.

Waving his hand, a light screen appeared, displaying densely packed lines of text. "This is all the information collected by Sect Elder Mo. You can take a closer look."

The elders immediately noticed how detailed the information was.

"These immortal cultivators carry Spirit Nurturing Pills? And they know specialized pill refining techniques? How is that possible?"

"They even have teachings that can be cultivated all the way to the Amethyst Cradle level? It would take an Amethyst Cradle Reverend to create such teachings, right?"

"They have specialized battle talismans crafted in the Golden Core phase. But how did they research this in such a short time?"

"Inconceivable."

"Preliminary deductions suggest that the Middle Land civilization's equipment forging, pill refining, and talisman crafting standards are at least on par with our three great sects, if not stronger."

"I’ve just browsed through our previous reports on the Middle Land civilization in the library. A thousand years ago, my Huoyan Sect and the Starcom Consortium arrived at the Middle Land via a channel in Huang Island. Very few qi refiners were present then. Yet, they were able to prosper to such a degree in just a thousand years? It doesn't make sense."

"Given the limited territorial area and sparse population, such rapid progress is illogical," the Golden Core elders discussed among themselves, quickly reaching a consensus.

While civilizations could indeed undergo a revolution, leading to explosive development, it ultimately boiled down to two factors - resources and population size!

Perhaps a civilization could occasionally produce a monstrous genius who could attain incredible power just by cultivating independently.

However, a single person could not support an entire civilization.

Without sufficient resources, it would be impossible to support the progress of an immortal path civilization in aspects such as equipment forging, pill refining, and other areas. Making advancements in these disciplines required an arduous series of trial and error.

Likewise, without a sufficiently large population, it was impossible for so many martial artists gifted in immortal cultivation to be born.

A thousand years? Given the Middle Land's resources, it shouldn't have developed this quickly under normal circumstances.

"Moreover, according to the information we've gathered, the development of the Middle Land was quite normal before Wu Yuan's rise," the elderly man in silver robes stated. "Everything changed when Wu Yuan rose to power. He established a voidrealm, built a Daoist Scripture Tower, and spread countless teachings."

"The Middle Land’s pace of development only went into full-throttle after this. Martial arts Grandmasters appeared in droves, and immortal cultivators were born one after another."

"We are still not clear about the specifics," he continued. "But Sect Elder Mo and I have made a preliminary deduction. There's a ninety percent chance that this Wu Yuan discovered the ruins of a powerful ancient sect."

"With the relics he uncovered from the ruins, he unified the Middle Land and promoted its development."

"It should be on par with the two ancient sect ruins on the Summerpeak mainland." The silver-robed elder's eyes gleamed subtly. "My fellow elders, you should understand what this means."

"Haha, of course we do."

"Ancient sect relics."

"These ruins must contain a great number of treasures, maybe even some rare and valuable resources." The Golden Core elders were visibly excited.

Just like the Middle Land, the Summerpeak mainland only gradually recovered a few thousand years ago as well. Thus, the Huoyan Sect only had a four-thousand-year history.

Why did the progression of the Summerpeak mainland far surpass the Middle Land during its early stages of development, to the point where it produced so many high-level immortal cultivators today?

Aside from greater resources and population, the most crucial factor was the discovery of two relic sites of ancient sects.

Six thousand years ago, these two relic sites were uncovered, leading to a rapid birth of Golden Core cultivators on the Summerpeak mainland. This sparked a ferocious war, leading to the fall of countless immortal cultivators. In the end, the three great sects were the final victors.

Aided by the arrival of cultivators from the higher world, the entire Summerpeak mainland maintained its stability till today.

These Golden Core elders were all upper echelons of the Summerpeak mainland. Naturally, they understood the treasures one might acquire from an ancient sect's ruins.

Of course, the numerous Golden Core cultivators of the Huoyan Sect didn't know that although Wu Yuan had received what was left of Reverend Qing Yan’s treasures, the true comprehensive inheritance was lost.

Wu Yuan had gained several inheritances from the Fourth Eldritch Realm as well, but many were incomplete.

There were no actual ruins of an ancient sect in the Middle Land.

Many cultivation methods, pill refining techniques, equipment forging techniques, and so on, were obtained from the Dragon Star Immortal Sect.

However, all matters related to Wu Yuan’s qi refiner self were completely sealed off in the Middle Land long ago. Even the detailed reports of his battle with Jin Quan were wiped out by Wu Yuan to conceal the fact that he employed qi refining techniques.

No one knew about his relationship with the Dragon Star Immortal Sect, not even Fang Xia.

Fang Xia only knew that Wu Yuan had joined a large sect in the immortal continent, but which one specifically and what exactly was he doing there? He didn't know at all.

Wu Yuan never told anyone that he was the disciple of an immortal, or gaining fame in the immortal continent.

His own family and the remaining powerhouses in the Middle Land all believed that Wu Yuan had never left the Middle Land in the past few decades.

Right from the beginning, Wu Yuan adhered to his master's suggestion: treat the qi refiner self and the body refiner self as two separate individuals.

Only by keeping their connection a secret could each of his true selves play their roles more effectively in the future.

It was just like how some great beings with two true selves joined two different super factions. Yet even after billions of years, no one knew that they had another true self.

The powerhouses of the Huoyan Sect, however, had no interaction with the Redmoon Immortal Continent. Moreover, the Spiritless Regions had only dissipated recently.

Unless Wu Yuan's body refiner self also left the Middle Land, such a possibility would never occur to them.

…

After some time, the elderly man in silver robes presented the huge quantity of intelligence collected to the elders present, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of the Middle Land.

Two hours later.

“Fellow Elders, based on our present intelligence, the overall strength of Middle Land civilization is estimated to be equivalent to a second-rate faction on the continent." the silver-robe elderly man stated.

The gathered elders listened attentively.

The three great sects ruled over the Summerpeak mainland, while numerous islands that dotted the oceans surrounding the mainland were the territories of demonic beasts and several smaller factions.

These factions, all led by loose Golden Core cultivators, were hard to eradicate unless the sect ancestors made their move.

As the three great immortal sects checked and balanced each other, these second-rate sects were able to continue existing.

"There is a ninety percent chance that the Middle Land civilization has unearthed the ruins of an ancient sect."

"They possess large quantities of precious spirit equipment, possibly even third-grade spirit equipment." The elderly man in the silver robe continued, "At least, they have a fair quantity of ethercrystal and numerous teachings."

"Teachings are crucial," the elder in silver robes stated solemnly, "If our Huoyan Sect wishes to surpass the other two great immortal sects, we must build a stronger foundation."

The accumulation of teachings was of utmost importance to any immortal path civilization.

"The Middle Land civilization has produced at least a hundred Qi Sea cultivators, and at least three Golden Core cultivators," the elderly man in silver robes continued. "If we capture them all, the issue of the Bloodforge quota shortage would be partially solved."

Many Golden Core cultivators nodded in agreement.

The higher world demanded a total of a thousand Qi Sea cultivators and thirty Golden Core cultivators.

The quota set for the Huoyan Sect was three hundred Qi Sea cultivators and ten Golden Core cultivators. The Middle Land civilization alone could already fill a third of the quota.

"Now, there are three possible plans we can choose from. The first plan is assimilation," declared the elderly man in silver robes. "The Middle Land’s territory is one-tenth of our Huoyan Sect's. It’s not too small, and home to billions of living beings."

"Moreover, it has decent overall strength, so we can attempt to cooperate with them, integrate the Middle Land into our Huoyan Sect, and grant Wu Yuan the position of sect elder."

"In this way, without resorting to force, we can acquire all of Middle Land, and even all the treasures from the ruins of the ancient sect."

The elders fell into a pensive silence.

"Sect Leader, cooperation is not a bad idea," the young man in black armor shook his head. "But how big is Wu Yuan’s appetite? Will he be satisfied? Forget everything else, would Wu Yuan be willing to hand over the ancient sect’s relics?"

"Moreover, after we establish a cooperative relationship, will we still send immortal cultivators from the Middle Land to participate in the Bloodforge?"

"Finally, with Wu Yuan's talent, will he turn the tables on us once he grows stronger and assimilate our Huoyan Sect instead?" the young man in black armor fired off his concerns in one breath.

1. mid-stage = fourth to sixth-stage, late-stage = seventh to ninth-stage ☜

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