Mortal World

Biodata

Cosmology

• Beyond the Mundane is a vast expanse outside the Mortal World’s Four Great Continents. Some of its peripheral realms lie close enough to enter by unusual means 229.
• Mortal life is described as the natural source of transcendence and divine abilities. Tingyi says this is why its destruction matters to powers seeking control over that source 763.
• Collective mortal thought can shape supernatural reality. According to the Old Beggar, tales of an ideal Immortal Realm helped turn the Beyond-Mundane Heavens from imagined refuges into real ones 811.
• The River of Time preserves histories and legends formed in the Mortal World. During Chen Cuo’s ascension, the accumulated experience of its civilization becomes part of his power 612 858.

Boundary with Beyond the Mundane

History and Major Events

• Struggle for influence: Immortal Sects, the Buddhist School, and other powers compete for a foothold in the Mortal World. The Old Beggar accuses rulers Beyond the Mundane of fostering wars and using mortal belief to sustain their realms 737 811.
• Threat of replacement: The Jade Void Cult Leader argues that the Mortal World must be cleared for beings Beyond the Mundane. Red Essence rejects the claim that the two populations cannot coexist 769.
• Revolving Calamity: Meteors strike the north and earthquakes devastate the south. Victims’ true spirits vanish without reaching the Netherworld 811.
• Chen Cuo’s Divine Treasury: As the world breaks apart, Chen draws its fragments and the remnant souls of its dead into an inner likeness of the Mortal World 814.
• Annihilation and legacy: The Dao Lords’ scheme destroys the Mortal World. Its inhabitants entrust their thoughts to Chen, freeing him to attain the Path; he declares that the Humanity Path still lives and bears witness to them 858. Their thoughts subsequently form a Dao he wields alongside Rise and Fall 859.