Conditions for a New Soul's Birth

Qin Luan had actually broken through his inner demon directly, leaving the onlookers greatly astonished.

To break through an inner demon at the Foundation Establishment Realm—there were only a handful of people in all the Nine Provinces who could do that. They were all at the Foundation Establishment Realm, yet the gap was this vast? Song Ying blinked her eyes, delighted.

After Jiang Li had taught them a lesson and turned their sweet dream into a nightmare, they no longer dared to remain in their strange forms. Those who were Kun Peng transformed into human form, those using Dharma Idol Embodiment withdrew it, and the Sun Chasing Clan members returned to their human forms.

Before entering the secret realm, when Qin Luan had seen Jiang Li standing alone and taken the initiative to keep him company, Jiang Li had thought him kind-hearted. Now that he had broken through his inner demon, it further proved that his character was quite good.

In Jiang Li's eyes, Qin Luan was indeed qualified to become a Human Emperor Candidate. Both his talent and temperament were outstanding.

As for whether he could become a true Human Emperor Candidate, or even the Human Emperor, that would depend on his future fortunes.

Jiang Li asked, "What was your inner demon?"

"When I was little, my Master often left me alone in the temple. It was pitch-black inside, as though haunted, and I was afraid."

"So your inner demon was a ghost?"

"No. My inner demon was my Master, Yuan Wu Xing. Just now, the inner demon took on his appearance, so I beat him up."

Well, damn. Your master grabbed hold of me at the gates of Qing City Government, and you grabbed hold of me at the entrance to the secret realm. Is finding me all your master and disciple pair know how to do?

"As for guidance, there is not much I can offer you. Let me give you a piece of advice instead. Being steady is a good thing, but at your age, you should have a bit more youthful vigor." Seeing that Qin Luan had merely calmly deduced the next realm in the Dream Realm, Jiang Li felt that he was too mature for his years.

Still, it was only a suggestion. Being mature and composed was not necessarily a bad thing, nor would gaining youthful vigor necessarily make cultivation smoother.

"This trial has ended. Based on your performance in these two trials, I will reward the top thirty." Meng Chun's voice rang out, signaling that the secret realm was about to close.

Everyone hurriedly bowed to Jiang Li and said in unison, "Thank you for the Human Emperor's guidance! We will surely engrave it in our hearts!"

No one particularly desired the secret realm's rewards. Receiving guidance from the Human Emperor was worth more than ten rounds of secret realm rewards.

When the secret realm rewards were distributed, everyone would be separated to prevent them from seeing one another's rewards and fighting over them after leaving the secret realm.

"Dream Senior, did you enjoy watching?"

Jiang Li met Meng Chun again and asked with a smile.

Meng Chun said gloomily, "Not at all. I thought I would get to see the legendary Great Ascension Stage, but you did not show your true strength at all!"

"Haha, there was nothing I could do about that. Aside from that little fellow who turned into a True Dragon and possessed the physical strength of the Tribulation Stage, the others were only at the Body Integration Realm at most. I could hardly use my full strength on them, could I? It would leave them with psychological scars. If I became their inner demon, their cultivation would become difficult indeed."

Jiang Li laughed as he explained.

The Tribulation Stage held countless profound mysteries, far beyond what a group of people newly embarked upon cultivation could imagine. Being able to imagine a passable Body Integration Realm was already their limit. Even Li Litong, who had once been in Spirit Transformation, found it difficult to understand what a true Tribulation Stage was. In the end, he could only imagine himself at the Integrated Body Peak Stage.

Only the person who had transformed into a True Dragon had taken a shortcut, barely touching the threshold of the Tribulation Stage through physical strength.

Meng Chun smiled as well. "Then how about letting me test the might of the Great Ascension Stage?"

Meng Chun had been a supreme expert just one step short of the Tribulation Stage, and she had witnessed many Tribulation Stage experts in action. Naturally, she could imagine what a genuine Tribulation Stage was like.

Jiang Li smiled. "As you please, Dream Senior."

Within the Dream Realm, Meng Chun employed the Dream Dao and the Dao of Illusions. Combined, the two could invert yin and yang, turn illusion into reality, and make truth and falsehood indistinguishable. All manner of wondrous spells emerged one after another, yet they still could not escape the fate of being broken with a single hand by Jiang Li.

Jiang Li still defeated Meng Chun with ease.

"Worthy indeed of the Great Ascension Stage, rarer even than Ascension to Immortality. Truly formidable."

Everyone knew that above the Tribulation Stage lay the Great Ascension Stage.

Back when the Immortal Ascension Ladder still existed, one only needed to cultivate to the Tribulation Stage to ascend. There was absolutely no need to remain in the Nine Provinces and cultivate to the Great Ascension Stage. Was it not better to ascend to the Immortal Realm and cultivate Immortal Power? Only after the Immortal Ascension Ladder vanished did people have no choice but to turn around and ponder how exactly one cultivated to the Great Ascension Stage.

They discovered that cultivating to the Great Ascension Stage was far more difficult than ascending. As a result, after the Immortal Ascension Ladder disappeared, only Jiang Li alone had cultivated to the Great Ascension Stage! "Jiang Human Emperor is first place. According to the reward rules, you may make any request of me. Go on, what do you want me to do? My foundational technique, Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns? For me to tell you about the past? Or perhaps... do you want me?"

Congratulations, host, on completing the mission

Jiang Li smiled, ignoring Meng Chun's teasing. "What are you saying, Dream Senior? I came uninvited and have already broken the secret realm's rules. How could a Human Emperor compete with these little Foundation Establishment Realm fellows for their opportunities? Dream Senior, why not remove me from the rankings and let second place become first, and third place become second?"

"Since Dream Senior did not pursue the matter of my entering the secret realm, as repayment, why not make a request that Jiang can help fulfill?"

Seeing Jiang Li ignore her teasing, Meng Chun felt somewhat disappointed. But his following words made her happy again.

She asked expectantly, "Can you let me leave the secret realm and return to the Nine Provinces?"

Jiang Li thought for a while, then shook his head. "Not yet."

"I see." Meng Chun became somewhat disappointed again. "Hm? Not yet?"

Jiang Li explained seriously, "Dream Senior, you know your own condition well. You are now merely a wisp of lingering thought attached to the Profound Mystery Realm. Only after gathering all Three Souls and Seven Spirits can you leave the secret realm."

"Jiang Human Emperor, there is no need to comfort me. The original body failed the tribulation and entered reincarnation. Where could I possibly gather the Three Souls and Seven Spirits?"

If there were no hope, Jiang Li would not say much. But once he said something, he was certain to have some confidence in it.

"Among all the lingering thoughts I have seen, Dream Senior's possesses the clearest consciousness. By my estimation, if Dream Senior maintains this state for another two hundred years, a soul will be born from the void, and you will become a new life independent of Great Dream Hermit!"

Jiang Li spoke with absolute certainty, giving Meng Chun hope.

Most lives came into being through souls endlessly reincarnating and being reborn, but there were exceptions. When an object was nourished by enough spiritual qi, the essence of the sun and moon, and other substances containing spirituality, over time it would develop intelligence and thus give birth to a new soul.

The process was exceedingly long, measured in tens of thousands of years. But Meng Chun was a wisp of lingering thought and could be considered to possess intelligence, so the time needed for a soul to be born could be drastically shortened!

This was the conclusion Jiang Li had reached while studying souls as a side pursuit when he researched which way the Underworld's gates opened. Beyond that, he had also developed a whole series of theories concerning souls.

When those of the Soul Nourishing Dao learned this news, they wept tears of joy and nearly worshipped Jiang Li as the founding patriarch who would revive their sect.

"Two hundred years from now, I will protect your Dao."

"Thank you, Human Emperor."