First Arrival in the Upper Realm, Heavenly Star Sacred Sect

The Upper Realm.

On the Meteorite Wilderness at the border of Cloud Continent, the originally empty and silent heavens and earth suddenly rippled with violent spatial fluctuations.

Hum—!

A silver-white Space Gate, a zhang in diameter, materialized out of thin air.

Within the gate, countless tiny Spatial Rifts intertwined, and a faint, hazy phantom of the Lower Realm could be glimpsed.

Bai Ye's figure stepped slowly out of the gate. His Black Robe fluttered gently in the wilderness breeze, and the faint energy of the Space Channel still clung to his body.

The moment he landed, the Space Gate behind him contracted like receding tidewater, dissolving into specks of silver light that vanished completely into the heavens and earth, as if it had never existed.

"So this is the Upper Realm..."

Bai Ye took a deep breath, a flicker of awe in his eyes.

The concentration of Divine Origin in the air was over a hundred times that of a Saint-grade Spirit Vein in the Lower Realm. As he inhaled, it transformed into pure energy, nourishing his Divine Body.

The ground beneath his feet was a deep brown, the soil mixed with fine gravel. On the distant horizon stood several colossal mountain ranges, tens of thousands of zhang high.

Their peaks were hidden within the clouds, radiating vast waves of spiritual energy.

Occasionally, strange beasts with wingspans of a hundred zhang swept across the sky, letting out low roars that proclaimed the vastness and danger of the Upper Realm.

He dared not be careless. He immediately unfurled his Primordial Spirit and probed the surroundings.

But just as his Spiritual Sense expanded to a thousand li, a vast, boundless aura of the Heavenly Dao suddenly surged forth from the void!

The aura was warm and majestic, carrying the unique Dao pressure of the Upper Realm. It bore no malice; instead, it seemed filled with acceptance and bestowal.

In the next instant, a torrent of Divine Origin Essence converged like a tidal wave, forming a golden flood that swept toward Bai Ye!

"This is..."

Startled, Bai Ye's mind instantly grasped the truth.

This was the special favor of the Upper Realm's Heavenly Dao for those who had ascended from the Lower Realm!

Without hesitation, he quickly sat cross-legged, activated the Chaos Sword Canon, and opened all the meridians in his body, guiding the golden flood to surge into him.

The golden flood, like a river bursting its banks, raced through his meridians without pause.

Wherever it passed, his Divine Origin Apertures were rapidly filled, and his Heavenly God Power surged wildly!

The first Divine Origin Aperture reached saturation first, and in an instant, it began to impact the second!

His True God Dharma Form trembled within his Sea of Consciousness, ceaselessly absorbing the energy of the Heavenly Dao Boon, growing more solid by the moment!

The Earth-grade Merit Golden Body on his surface also glowed with faint golden light, accelerating the conversion and absorption of energy!

In the span of half an incense stick's time, the golden flood gradually dissipated.

Bai Ye slowly opened his eyes, a brilliant divine light bursting from his pupils.

The Heavenly God pressure radiating from his body was now several times stronger than before.

His cultivation had skyrocketed from Heavenly God Third Layer straight to Heavenly God Sixth Layer!

"To jump three minor realms in one go—this Heavenly Dao favor is truly astonishing!"

Bai Ye felt the surging Divine Power within him and couldn't help but marvel.

For a cultivator in the Heavenly God Realm of the Upper Realm to advance three minor realms would require at least three thousand years of bitter cultivation. Yet he had achieved it in an instant through the Heavenly Dao's gift.

This fortune was nothing short of heaven-defying!

Just then.

A system prompt sounded in his Sea of Consciousness: "Detected host's first arrival in the Upper Realm. Special check-in available."

"Check in," Bai Ye murmured inwardly.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing your first check-in in the Upper Realm. Super reward triggered!"

"Congratulations, host, for obtaining a Divine King Grade Nine Artifact—the Sky-Shading Divine Mask!"

A pitch-black mask materialized in his hand.

The mask's material was like jade yet not jade, its surface carved with intricate, chaotic runes.

Between the runes, faint black mist coiled. Seven tiny Divine Crystals were embedded along its edges, radiating a Divine King-level pressure!

Joy lit up Bai Ye's face, and he immediately probed it with his Spiritual Sense.

In an instant, he understood its function.

It was an artifact that could freely alter the wearer's appearance, features, and aura, perfectly conceal their cultivation, and even block causal investigations by Divine King Realm experts—a perfect disguise artifact for navigating the Upper Realm!

"Perfect timing!"

Bai Ye's eyes were full of delight.

Having just arrived in the Upper Realm, his foundation was unstable, and carrying the Divine King Inheritance made him an easy target for deadly trouble.

The Sky-Shading Divine Mask could resolve all his worries.

He immediately put on the Sky-Shading Divine Mask and focused his mind.

The next moment.

The mask instantly conformed to his face, turning into a faint black film, then began to shift.

His originally handsome, youthful features rippled like water, swiftly becoming square and resolute.

His sharp gaze softened into warmth.

At the same time.

The oppressive pressure of the Heavenly God Sixth Layer rapidly withdrew, finally stabilizing at the True God Third Layer.

His aura turned inward, indistinguishable from an ordinary True God cultivator.

"Perfect."

Bai Ye nodded in satisfaction at the mask's transformation.

He once again extended his Primordial Spirit, sweeping it across the Meteorite Wilderness in all directions.

His foremost task now was to determine his exact location in the Upper Realm.

That sweep took two full days.

The vastness of the Meteorite Wilderness far exceeded Bai Ye's imagination.

By his estimate, the area of this wilderness was no smaller than the combined territories of the Wild Domain's various prefectures in the Lower Realm!

Along the way, he witnessed countless extraordinary sights.

There were Divine Essence Fruit Trees towering a thousand zhang, their branches laden with fruits brimming with pure divine essence!

There were Spirit Vein Rivers flowing with golden liquid, the river itself being liquid divine essence!

And there were Golden Winged Great Peng Beasts dwelling in the valleys, their wings spanning a hundred zhang, moving with lightning speed, radiating the terrifying pressure of the Divine Venerable Realm!

Bai Ye did not lightly provoke these Upper Realm exotic beasts.

Relying on the extreme speed granted by the Movement Character Secret, he evaded dangerous areas all the way.

Finally, on the morning of the third day, he spotted the outline of a city at the edge of the wilderness.

It was a human cultivator city called Black Stone City.

Its walls were built from Black Stone Divine Iron, each block weighing a thousand jin, standing fifty zhang high, their surfaces engraved with defensive runes that emitted a faint spiritual glow.

At the city gate, armored cultivator guards stood watch, their cultivation bases at least at the True God Realm, their sharp eyes scanning the entering and exiting crowd.

Bai Ye followed the flow of people into the city. Shops lined both sides of the streets, and the clamor of vendors rose and fell.

The items sold in these shops were treasures unimaginable in the Lower Realm.

True God-grade spiritual weapons, elixirs containing divine essence, spirit herbs over ten thousand years old...

The passing cultivators were mostly at the True God Realm, and occasionally even Heavenly God Realm experts brushed by, their bodies faintly radiating overwhelming pressure.

Bai Ye found a teahouse called the Gathering Immortals Tower, ordered a pot of spiritual tea, and quietly listened to the idle chatter of the surrounding cultivators.

Half an hour later, he had pieced together his location.

He was in Cloud Continent, one of the Three Thousand Continents of the Upper Realm.

And his destination—the Heavenly Star Sacred Sect—happened to be located within Cloud Continent!

"Truly, I found it without any effort."

Delighted, Bai Ye immediately decided to head to the Heavenly Star Sacred Sect to investigate the sect's current situation.

He left Black Stone City and sped toward the heart of Cloud Continent.

A few days later, he arrived at the Holy City near the Heavenly Star Sacred Sect.

This city was named for its proximity to the Sacred Sect, and most of its cultivators had countless ties to the sect.

Through inquiries, Bai Ye quickly grasped the current state of the Heavenly Star Sacred Sect.

The Heavenly Star Sacred Sect had now ignited the Seventh-Tier Destiny Stairway, making it the only Seventh-Tier Power in Cloud Continent, wielding considerable influence across the entire Upper Realm.

The sect had a Divine King Realm Old Ancestor as its pillar, over ten Divine Venerable Realm experts, and more than a hundred Heavenly God Realm cultivators—a foundation of immense depth.

Yet, compared to ten million years ago, it was far inferior.

After Dust Star Daoist fell, the Sacred Sect never produced a second Divine King, and its Destiny Stairway had dropped from its peak of the Eighth Tier to the Seventh, its former glory long faded.

"A Seventh-Tier Power, with one Divine King in command..."

Bai Ye pondered for a moment and made a decision.

He resolved to first join the Heavenly Star Sacred Sect, familiarize himself with the rules and environment of the Upper Realm, and then wait for the right opportunity to see if he could reveal the Sect Master Token and seize control of the Sacred Sect's destiny power.

As luck would have it, he learned that in a hundred years, the Sacred Sect would hold its centennial Disciple Recruitment Ceremony.

At that time, it would widely recruit talented cultivators from all over Cloud Continent.

Bai Ye hesitated no longer. He immediately entered the Dust Star Valley Lesser World and began seclusion to cultivate.

He quietly awaited the start of the Disciple Recruitment Ceremony.

The concentration of Divine Essence within Dust Star Valley was even purer and richer than the core divine veins of fifth- and sixth-tier forces in the Upper Realm.

It could even condense into Divine Essence mist visible to the naked eye.

Bai Ye sat cross-legged before the Immortal Ancient Dao Stele, absorbing Divine Essence to raise his cultivation while activating his Ten Thousand Times Comprehension to decipher the stele's second seal.

The runes of the second seal were several times more complex than the first.

The Immortal Ancient laws they contained were also far more obscure and difficult to grasp.

Within Bai Ye's Sea of Consciousness, countless runes danced as he analyzed and deduced them one by one. Whenever he hit a bottleneck, he would rely on the boost from his Earth-grade Merit Golden Body to forcefully break through.

Time slipped away quietly amid his focused cultivation.

The Divine Essence in Dust Star Valley continuously surged toward him, nourishing his Divine Body and Primordial Spirit.

A hundred years later, Bai Ye slowly opened his eyes.

The Heavenly God pressure radiating from him had surged considerably once more.

His cultivation had successfully broken through to the Heavenly God Seventh Layer!

The only slight regret was that the second seal of the Immortal Ancient Dao Stele remained just a sliver away from being fully cracked.

"It seems I still need a bit more time."

Bai Ye let out a soft sigh, but he was in no rush.

With a thought, he vanished from Dust Star Valley in an instant and sped off toward the Heavenly Star Sacred Sect.

The Heavenly Star Sacred Sect's Disciple Recruitment Ceremony was about to begin.