Chapter 141: The World's Origin

A year later, True Immortal Nirvana brought a message from True Immortal Liuguang.

He asked Wang Li to take good care of Jiang Yue, adding that his Reincarnation Dao had now crossed the threshold and that he would go to have a proper chat with Jitian once he came out of seclusion.

Wang Li did not think True Immortal Liuguang was going to discuss cultivation insights with that stubborn old fossil Jitian. It was far more likely that he had set his sights on that "geomraphically auspicious treasure land" of the Nine Nether Mountain Range.

As Master Sheng had put it, a mature world possessed a complete energy cycle.

The Profound Heaven World naturally lacked a channel for the reincarnation of life; it simply and brutally annihilated the true spirits of deceased living beings, converting the energy within those true spirits into spiritual qi to nourish itself.

Although Master Sheng said this was a self-preservation mechanism of an immature world, any world that had grown to a certain extent would never attempt to extract energy solely from within itself.

Five thousand years ago, the upper limit of power in the Profound Heaven World had approached the peak of True Immortality, and now it had increased by a vast margin. In terms of world rank alone, it surpassed many worlds that possessed complete reincarnation mechanisms, yet the World Will still had no intention of reshaping reincarnation.

Either something had gone wrong during the development of the Profound Heaven World's Will, or the World Will had been hijacked by something.

Considering that a certain old schemer had appeared in the Profound Heaven World twice in succession, the latter possibility was the most likely.

"Master Sheng, the Nine Nether Mountain Range is the key to reshaping reincarnation. What on earth is hidden there? Will True Immortal Liuguang run into that old bastard?"

Wang Li was deeply worried that True Immortal Liuguang would become a chess piece in the hands of that old schemer.

Master Sheng replied, "Don't you worry. That old schemer is quite old and terrified of death. Having been beaten up by me last time, he cleared out long ago. Someone else is eyeing the reincarnation channel of the Profound Heaven World."

"And you're telling me not to worry?"

Wang Li was left speechless.

One powerhouse leaves, and another appears. Why do these old fellows always have their eyes fixed on the Profound Heaven World whenever they have nothing better to do?

Do you people not need to cultivate?

"I'm telling you to worry not because the newcomer isn't as strong as that old schemer; he only dares to tag along behind him and pull petty tricks."

"Serves the newcomer right for his bad luck. Even Master Sheng wouldn't dare to casually meddle with the World Will. Just wait and see, it won't be long before the World Will kicks him out."

Master Sheng seemed quite amused. "It's been a long time since I've encountered such a reckless greenhorn who thinks he can control the World Will just because it hasn't fully matured. Heh."

Wang Li asked curiously, "Can the World Will not be controlled?"

"Of course it can!"

Master Sheng said, "The prerequisite is gaining the recognition of the World Will, or becoming a Primordial Chaos Wuji Saint, using overwhelming momentum to force the World Will to bow its head."

"That newcomer is merely a Golden Immortal, having not even condensed the Fruit of Da Luo. Yet he acts all mysterious, hiding his head and showing his tail—definitely not his true body. I reckon this newly advanced Golden Immortal just wanted to try his luck and see if he could snatch a set of reincarnation to take back to his own divine kingdom."

Wang Li was baffled once more. How did Golden Immortals and divine kingdoms get involved now?

Master Sheng explained, "There are thousands of cultivation systems across the greater chiliocosm, and every world has a different understanding of a cultivator's realm. However, once successfully connected to the prime world, they will all use the prime world's cultivation system as a reference to revise their own definitions of cultivation realms."

"The cultivation realms of the prime world are divided into nine major realms and eighty-one tiers."

"The nine major realms are Foundation Establishment, Golden Elixir, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Integration, Tribulation Crossing, Transcending Mortality, Immortal Building, and True Immortality."

"These nine major realms correspond to the process from a mortal to becoming an immortal. Essentially, it is the elevation of a mortal's life level, and only upon stepping into True Immortality does one truly embark on the path of cultivation."

"The cultivator realms of the Profound Heaven World are not much different from those of the prime world, but overall they are lower by one tier. The Heavenly Immortal realm is roughly equivalent to the True Immortal realm of the prime world, which can be considered the absolute bottom tier within the prime world's cultivation system."

"The eighty-one tiers of realms correspond to true immortal cultivation."

"The first tier is True Immortality, the tenth tier is Heavenly Immortality, and the twentieth tier is Golden Immortality. Beyond that, every single tier a cultivator ascends is purely an accumulation of power. What they primarily cultivate is no longer various immortal arts and the laws of lesser worlds, but rather the comprehension of the Three Thousand Great Paths. Comprehending any single Dao to its ultimate limit allows one to condense the Dao Fruit of Da Luo, transcending above the eighty-one tiers."

"The realms above Da Luo are too far away for you; I won't mention them for now. I'll tell you when there's an opportunity in the future."

Wang Li felt extremely bitter upon hearing this.

It turns out that cultivators in the Profound Heaven World risk their lives to cultivate to the Heavenly Immortal realm, only to end up as mere shrimp outside.

However, what Master Sheng said was also true: the Profound Heaven World might genuinely be at the very bottom of all worlds.

He was extremely interested in the "prime world" proposed by Master Sheng and wanted to hear him explain the differences between the various worlds.

He had wanted to ask for a long time.

Concepts like lesser worlds, the greater chiliocosm, and the prime world were known to Wang Li, but that was based on the understanding of cultivators in the Profound Heaven World, which differed by heaven and earth from Master Sheng's comprehension.

If even these basic concepts remained unclear, what kind of immortal cultivation was he even doing?

Master Sheng said, "Worlds are divided by size, but not by nobility or inferiority. You brat mustn't confuse the concept of a world with the upper limit of its power."

"Speaking of which, there truly aren't many people who can clearly explain the concept of a world. It's just that I, Master Sheng, specifically researched this topic when I had nothing better to do, and as it turns out, I actually discovered the mysteries within!"

Wang Li flattered him, "As expected of Master Sheng! What mystery did your esteemed self discover?"

Master Sheng replied proudly, "Naturally! I used a remarkably rigorous method to screen the greater chiliocosm. I reckon no one else has ever done this before—it consumed an untold amount of my time."

Wang Li continued to butter him up, "Master Sheng's perseverance is truly admirable. What on earth did your esteemed self discover?"

"A mystery?"

Master Sheng put away his smug expression and said with a hint of grief and indignation, "I acted too late! I don't know which bastard dug up a large half of the World Tree's roots, and I didn't dare to touch what was left behind. It infuriates the hell out of me!"

"What?"

Wang Li thought to himself, what is wrong with Master Sheng? He's straying further and further off topic—couldn't he just finish it all at once?

"What is the World Tree?"

"It is the foundation that constitutes the greater chiliocosm."

"The cosmic starry sky was originally a state of primordial chaos, without any concept of a world."

"Within this primordial chaos, a living being was born at some unknown time. It constantly strengthened itself using the Qi of Chaos until one day it developed its own consciousness. It felt lonely and wanted to communicate with other living beings, so it used its own body as a foundation, successively colliding the Qi of Chaos it had absorbed within its own body. The explosive power generated by the collision of the Qi of Chaos blasted a small hole in its body."

"After an unknown amount of time, not only did the small hole in its body fail to heal, but it grew larger and larger. Just as it was preparing to heal its body with all its might, it discovered that various substances different from chaos had appeared within the expanding hole."

"These substances were not ethereal and elusive, but truly existent. Astonished by this phenomenon, it continued to observe."

"Soon, the hole grew larger and larger, until one day it stopped expanding, and a consciousness capable of communicating with it appeared within the hole."