Chương 390: Beyond the Dao realm

"Many of you will eventually reach that stage and a good number of you will be stuck there. So I will speak of it."

"There are two confirmed paths to the Dao realm. The first one is using a Dao foundation pill, which directly transforms your body into something similar to a spiritual body. You won't need to gain heaven's recognition, but the peak Dao realm will eternally be your limit. There is no miracle that can push you further, because the moment you do, your body will crumble under the weight of a power that surpasses your lifeform.

You didn't shed your mortality, merely strengthened your body so it can withstand the Dao realm. This path is a dead end that seals your fate."

"The second method is a lot harder. You will need to gain heaven's recognition, which is just as ethereal as it sounds. The heavenly baptism will descend while the deity trial will begin. That trial occurs within your deity ocean, and if it isn't stable enough, it will crumble instantly. Without a strong enough foundation, you will end up losing everything and ninety percent of your life source will disperse.

The failure rate used to be frighteningly high until the refinement stages were created to further refine the foundation within the deity realm. Since then, more deities have succeeded in breaking their shackles and becoming true spiritual beings. Your deity ocean will expand, transforming into a Dao heart that contains the very essence of your cultivation. Your body and soul will both undergo the same transcendence, unlocking greater physical strength and the divine sense.

The transformation is an indescribable one that practically evolves your very existence to a higher state."

"You all at the deity realm, I will mention my experience as I navigated through the deity realm so you all avoid some mistakes I made." The old man proceeded to speak of his personal experiences, greatly helping many disciples who were originally facing the same issues he spoke of. Several disciples even revealed looks of enlightenment as they felt their breakthroughs loosening. Long Feng was similarly engrossed in the old man's words.

He wasn't a deity yet, but he would likely face similar issues once he became one. Nearly an hour later, the old man finally finished his narration, then shared some of his unique findings regarding the deity realm. A while later, he glanced in the direction of the several deacons who were listening with rapt attention before smiling faintly.

"I will briefly speak of the realm beyond the Dao realm as well, so you disciples all have an idea of what lies ahead."

"Above the Dao realm is the True Spirit realm, which is the realm I am currently. A seed will form within your Dao heart with your understanding of the Dao as basis, and it will continuously drain your energy, Dao and life source continuously as you advance through the stages. Our otherwise long lifespans will be shortened as the seed feeds on it. The true spirit realm is a double edged blade... stay too long in it and you'll be unable to escape forever.

And if your energy and vitality isn't potent enough to nourish the seed to completion, then you will be trapped in the realm while your life slowly drains away. In worse cases, the seed might die, taking your lifelong Dao comprehension with it." Everyone was shocked at his words. The true spirit realm was extremely powerful, but it was terrifying in and of itself. To constantly lose life source until you broke past the realm... what an unusual realm.

Each and every Deacon revealed enlightened expressions as well as grateful looks as they realized the path they needed to tread. To reach the true spirit realm, one's Dao comprehension was the most crucial point, as it was the very core of the Dao seed. Next crucial was the energy itself, as it must be powerful enough to nourish the Dao seed. The life source and vitality must also be powerful enough. Only that way could they stand a chance at reaching that elusive realm.

"If I may ask, elder, what exists beyond the true spirit realm?" A Deacon asked with extreme respect in his tone. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Beyond the true spirit realm..." the old man's gaze turned distant as he glanced into the sky.

"Beyond that, is the realm I can only gaze upon, but never reach... the Martial Spirit Realm."

"Martial spirit realm...?" Long Feng murmured with an enchanted look on his face.

"That is a truly unparalleled realm of power, the limit of the mainland itself. I don't know the specifics of the realm, since I am also searching for a method to reach it, but all my understanding is nothing but a drop of water in a flowing river. What I do know, is that only those at the martial spirit realm stand at the true summit of the mainland, able to summon the wind and waves with a single action. Even now, as I approach my end, I still dream of reaching that realm and fulfilling my youthful wish..."

the old man's voice echoed throughout the cliff, but he himself was nowhere to be found. The platform was empty, and no one, not even the deacons had noticed when or how he left. He had simply faded just as he had appeared. No one moved for several minutes as everyone comprehended the words he had spoken. Minutes later, Long Feng's eyes cleared as he sighed.

"The path of cultivation is long. The deity realm, Dao realm and now, the true spirit and martial spirit realms... I have a long journey ahead of me." He wasn't discouraged by this seemingly endless path. If anything, he was pumped up as his blood boiled with anticipation. How far could he walk along this path? Where was his limit? Where did his destiny lie? Long Feng didn't know all those. What he did know, was that he wanted to walk this path till the very end!

If there was a peak to this endless path, he wanted to see it. If there was no peak, then he would walk along the path to his dying breath... just like this old man.

"The martial spirit realm..." he murmured and suddenly deduced something.

"All those powerhouses I ran into back in the Yin ghost forest... the Yin monarchs and the four Royal Clan's supreme masters. Could they all be at this realm? Or are they even above it?" He wondered. Their powers had been beyond his understanding, and it still was. But his experience was getting vaster, and he was beginning to predict what realm they were at exactly.

"That coffin spirit told me to return when I reached the Dao realm... I'm still far away from that level, but I'll definitely reach it as soon as I can and return." He clenched his fists tightly. He wasn't the only pumped one here. Everyone was feeling their blood rushing at the revelation of the long path that awaited them. How many of them could reach that far? Ten? One? Maybe none. It didn't matter. Right here, right now, they were all filled with determination to reach the Martial spirit realm.

The pressure undeniably existed. Many of them knew that even the Dao realm would be nearly unattainable to them, but... Did it matter? Perhaps in five hundred years, another figure similar to the old man would appear from among these young and proud disciples. The deacons used their superior speed to vanish at once, while the disciples began to disperse slowly. Many of them rushed back to their residences to go into seclusion and fully consolidate their new comprehensions.

The head disciple, Gui Wu sat there with countless deductions flickering through his mind while his eyes shone with a hint of enlightenment that was at risk of vanishing at any moment. After a few minutes, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly, and when he reopened them, they shone with new found comprehensions.

"I thought I would need another year or two to reach the Dao realm. But now, I am confident in attempting my breakthrough in a few months!" Cheng Zhi led Long Feng and Xiao Hu back to their caves. Xiao Hu was scratching his head, having failed to comprehend anything from the old man's lecture. Besides, as a body temperer, things regarding the Dao was mere noise to him. Cheng Zhi's eyes were still calm, not revealing whether he had received any new comprehensions or not.

As for Long Feng, he had a deeply thoughtful expression as he constantly deduced many things from the old man's words and truly dissected them. At one point, he recalled something and couldn't help but ask, "elder brother Cheng, how does one breakthrough to the deity realm?" He asked just to be sure.

"It's not very complicated. The spirit core holds the imperial spirit energy, so you will need to expand the core into a deity ocean so it can contain your true essence without crumbling. That's pretty much everything." He paused then added, "it sounds simple but it's not always that easy." Cheng Zhi replied, but Long Feng didn't even hear his final words. His mind was echoing with the words the old man said about the deity ocean forming, and now Cheng Zhi was repeating the same thing.

Back then, he was merely storing the words of the old man so he could understand them later. It was only now that he fully comprehended the meaning and at once, he realized how dire his situation was. Breaking through to the Deity realm was a rather simple feat which everyone knew how to achieve. After all, it was merely expanding the spirit core, right? But... Long Feng didn't have a spirit core! He was fundamentally embarking on a different path compared to others.

The deity realm was a transformative realm, and it depended on the spirit core itself. But what was he supposed to do? Expand his spirit cyclone? He doubted that would work, since the cyclone was built differently from the spirit core. It's laws and order was completely different. Long Feng was completely lost as he realized that becoming a deity would be immensely complicated for him. If his fears came true and he couldn't simply expand his spirit cyclone, then that would mean he must figure out his own method.

But how was that possible? The spirit core was a method that took an inestimable amount of years as well as countless supreme ancestors to perfect. How could he, a single youth come up with a method to become a deity on his own? Even if it was possible, he would need heavens knew how long to succeed. With his meagre three hundred years lifespan as an Imperial, he would become a fossil long before he came close to ever succeeding!

"Damn it... Master, couldn't you have left a user manual or something?" He sighed bitterly. Wu Kong was not here to guide him, meaning he would have to figure it out on his own. What he really feared was if the Dao realm, true spirit realm and even martial spirit realm would be as complicated as this for him. If so, then he might as well give up cultivating and go to sleep.

"Is everything alright?" Cheng Zhi's voice brought Long Feng back to reality. He hadn't even realized that they had reached the point where they would part.

"Oh." He shook his head.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about the elder's teachings."

"Mm. You should hurry up and digest everything you've learned. It will be of tremendous help to you in the future." Cheng Zhi nodded. Long Feng didn't hesitate and bid him farewell before rushing back to his cave residence. He had a mountain of thoughts pressing down on his mind, and he needed space to think.