'%3e%3cclipPath%20id='prefix__a'%3e%3cpath%20d='M0%200h1080v1080H0z'/%3e%3c/clipPath%3e%3cg%20clip-path='url(%23prefix__a)'%3e%3cpath%20d='M1033.05%20324.45c-.19-137.9-107.59-250.92-233.6-291.7-156.48-50.64-362.86-43.3-512.28%2027.2-181.1%2085.46-237.99%20272.66-240.11%20459.36-1.74%20153.5%2013.58%20557.79%20241.62%20560.67%20169.44%202.15%20194.67-216.18%20273.07-321.33%2055.78-74.81%20127.6-95.94%20216.01-117.82%20151.95-37.61%20255.51-157.53%20255.29-316.38z'%20fill-rule='nonzero'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)
Palace Opening Realm
King of Creation
Biodata
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Palace Opening Realm |
| Original | 开府境 |
| Type | Cultivation realm |
| Position | Follows the Pulse Forging Realm and precedes the Dao Entry Realm. 292 1287 |
| Known Levels | First through Ninth Level; the Ninth Level Peak is the realm’s documented limit before Dao Entry. 817 1287 |
| Title of Practitioners | Palace Opening Realm King |
| First Appearance | Chapter 292 |
Place in the Cultivation Path
The Palace Opening Realm is regarded as a dead end beyond the Pulse Forging Realm in the Black Dragon Domain, where even Pulse Forging Realm experts are exceedingly scarce. 292
Crossing into the realm marks a threshold into a broader world of cultivation; some practitioners begin to display Divine Abilities and Secret Arts beyond ordinary martial techniques. 829 Its practitioners are powerful enough that the release of five Kings’ auras can terrify or injure weaker martial artists nearby. 629
A cultivator at the Ninth Level Peak must undergo a further transformation to enter the Dao Entry Realm, where they can sense and comprehend the Dao of heaven and earth. 1287 1290
Breakthrough and Spirit Mansion
“Opening the palace” means carving out a new dantian within the original sea of souls, manifesting one’s martial veins, and condensing them into spiritual pillars that establish a Spirit Mansion. 1137
- The breakthrough requires a cultivator to erect spiritual pillars and form a Spirit Mansion. 743 1137
- A successful breakthrough creates a new spiritual-power dantian beneath the Spirit Mansion, allowing faster mobilization of spiritual power for attacks and defenses. 1138
- Palace Opening Realm Kings possess physical bodies at least at the Acquired Spirit Body level, with exceptionally powerful internal organs. 743
- Failure can be costly: after a failed attempt, a cultivator may need years, decades, or further accumulation before trying again. 1137
- Under ordinary circumstances, fewer than one in ten cultivators succeed at opening their palace; later attempts become still less likely after an initial failure. 1062
Great Treasury Palace Opening Pill
The Great Treasury Palace Opening Pill can save years of accumulated effort and is reputed to allow a breakthrough with complete certainty, though documented cases of failure exist and thorough preparation remains necessary. 1062 1137
Ye Zhen used the pill alongside his prepared seven martial veins to establish the Five Elements Yin-Yang Spirit Mansion over four days. 1137
Innate Soul Light
After opening a palace, a cultivator can use a Secret Art to refine and strengthen their Innate Soul into Innate Soul Light. 743
| Function | Details |
|---|---|
| Soul protection | Acts as close-fitting armor for the Innate Soul, making it less vulnerable to wind, Worldly Essence disturbances, and lesser external forces. It can still shatter under a sufficiently powerful Soul Attack. 743 |
| Longevity | Continuously nourishes the Innate Soul, allowing Palace Opening Realm Kings to live roughly five to eight hundred years depending on the strength of their Innate Soul Light. 743 |
| Soul attacks | A small amount of Innate Soul Light can greatly amplify a Soul Attack at a critical moment. 743 |
| Escape and survival | When Gan Rusong’s body was destroyed, his Innate Soul Light attempted to flee; Ye Zhen captured it with the Soul Refining Spirit Stealing Art. 743 |
Innate Soul Light cultivation does not necessarily match a King’s realm level. A Sixth Level King may possess only Fourth Level Innate Soul Light, while a Fifth Level King may possess Sixth Level Innate Soul Light. 1171
Levels and Power Scale
Each additional level is described as a doubling of cultivation and combat power, making gaps of several levels exceptionally dangerous. 817
| Level | Relative Cultivation Compared with a First Level King | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First Level | 1× | Gan Rusong was a late First Level King. 741 |
| Second Level | 2× | A Second Level King could generally defeat First Level Gan Rusong. 747 817 |
| Third Level | 4× | At minimum, a Third Level King was considered necessary to reliably kill Gan Rusong. 747 817 |
| Fourth Level | 8× | Qing Yu had reached this level a century before his reappearance as Myriad Stars Tower’s hidden patron. 766 817 |
| Fifth Level | 16× | A Fifth Level King was assessed as vastly above a First Level King in accumulated power. 817 |
| Sixth Level | — | River Crossing King Chi Yulong was a Sixth Level King with notably formidable water-element abilities. 829 |
| Seventh Level | — | Mountain Shaking King Hu Zhen and Qingyang Palace Master Chu Yang were both Seventh Level Kings. 828 |
| Ninth Level Peak | — | The documented upper limit of the realm before entry into the Dao Entry Realm. 1287 |
Combat strength can still vary substantially despite realm level due to Divine Abilities, Secret Arts, Spirit Weapons, artifacts, soul cultivation, and preparation. 743 829 1171
Resources and Advancement
Cultivation resources are a decisive factor in a King’s advancement. Jian Qianxiong attributed his own rise to the Seventh Level to the resources available through leading the Sun Moon Divine Cult, while more talented elders remained stalled at the Pulse Forging Realm. 699
- Golden Lotus Return Pill — Ye Zhen refined one and rose from the First Level through the Fifth Level, though the rapid increase exhausted his Soul Power and left him unconscious. 1164
- Spirit Crystals — The Sun Moon Divine Cult expended large quantities to replenish Worldly Essence during Ye Zhen’s pill-fueled breakthrough. 1164 1204
- Innate Soul Light — Can be stolen and refined through the Soul Refining Spirit Stealing Art, though conversion is inefficient because it retains the original owner’s aura imprint. 817 820
- Black Soul Spirit Fruit — A fruit containing Soul Power equivalent to that of a Ninth Level King can be refined to strengthen soul cultivation. 820
Notable Practitioners
- Gan Rusong — Profound Moon Sect elder and late First Level King; killed by Ye Zhen, whose Soul Refining Spirit Stealing Art captured his fleeing Innate Soul Light. 741 743
- Qing Yu — Myriad Stars Tower’s hidden treasure-vault patron; a Fourth Level King known for extreme cruelty a century earlier. 763 766
- Chu Yang — Qingyang Palace Master and Seventh Level King, publicly renowned as the “Green Flame Gentleman.” 828
- Hu Zhen — The Mountain Shaking King, a Seventh Level King whose reputation intimidated other Palace Opening Realm cultivators. 824 828
- Instructor Liao Feibai — A Third Level King capable of killing Fourth Level Kings and severely injuring Fifth Level Kings. 983
- Ye Zhen — Formed the Five Elements Yin-Yang Spirit Mansion and entered the First Level before later advancing to the Fifth Level through a Golden Lotus Return Pill. 1137 1164