A World Beyond

Time was like a gust of wind, coming quickly and leaving just as swiftly. In the blink of an eye, Di Yi had grown accustomed to life in the Heaven Mending Pavilion.

On ordinary days, he would sit cross-legged in his residence, close his eyes, and listen intently to the Bone Text explanations given by the elders who occasionally visited the Genius Camp. He would also study the Bone Scripture alone, absorbing knowledge of cultivation.

After this period of study, he had gained a clear understanding of this world's cultivation system and the progression it entailed.

The Blood Moving Realm, the stage he currently occupied, required him to mobilize all the vital blood in his body, make it boil like rumbling thunder, refine Bone Text, and kindle Divine Radiance within his blood.

This was the beginning of the cultivation path. Each rune was like an eternal divine furnace, residing in every inch of flesh and blood, drawing divine essence into the body and fundamentally transforming both body and spirit.

After that came the Cave Heaven Realm.

A Cave Heaven meant a world beyond. Through it, one could graft oneself onto heaven and earth, continuously absorb divine essence from the outside world to replenish oneself, and seize the creative power of heaven and earth. It could nurture not only oneself, but also weapons and magical treasures.

Following that was the Spirit Transformation Realm.

This was a process of remolding, sublimating everything from the physical body to the spirit, then to the Cave Heaven-the bridge grafted onto heaven and earth-so that they developed spirituality.

This was what it meant to imbue the flesh with spirit, nurture spirit within the Cave Heaven, and reshape the true self.

Beyond that lay Inscription, Formation, and the final boundary between mortal and divine-the Venerable.

"The six mortal realms... do they form the road to godhood?" Di Yi emerged from his contemplation of the Bone Text. The Bone Scripture contained virtually no records of the stages beyond Venerable. Each person had to comprehend and tread that path themselves, for it no longer belonged to the mortal domain.

He stretched, stood up, and pushed open the door to leave.

Hearing the movement, the Golden Hou naturally roused as well and followed him out, trailing closely behind.

Though it was late at night, the scenery remained visible.

"The moon and stars are bright tonight. It's time to take the next step." Amid the stillness of graceful peaks and green valleys, Di Yi chose a suitable spot and settled into quiet beneath the moonlight.

To him, the sublimated runes and mysteries of the Cave Heaven Realm were not difficult to understand. As soon as he had obtained the methods for further cultivation, he had already been capable of advancing from the Blood Moving Realm to the Cave Heaven Realm.

But he had not been in such a hurry. Instead, he had first perfected every aspect of the Blood Moving Realm, spending several days contemplating the cultivation method and grasping the true meaning of cultivation's first step before finally deciding to proceed.

A short while later, auspicious light radiated from Di Yi's entire body, and chaotic energy spread outward. Rune after rune flowed across his skin, which resembled divine metal, drifting over his surface and within his body as they refined the creative power of heaven and earth.

The Cave Heaven Realm took its name from its method of cultivation: opening an undying place within or outside the human body, whether a pure land or a small world.

Through this, one drew upon the essence of the greater world, comprehended the true meaning of runes, and understood this world's laws and their changes.

"Buzzz!"

A dense expanse of runes appeared. These were Divine Radiance runes born from his flesh and blood, then sublimated. Brilliant and dazzling, they seemed cast from sacred metal as they branded themselves into the space around Di Yi and engulfed him.

There were no great fluctuations, no unusual tremors shaking the mountains and rivers. Everything was peaceful, as natural as eating or drinking. His breakthrough encountered no obstruction.

At that moment, a rocky cavern appeared outside Di Yi's body. It resembled a cave mouth in a mountain, or the entrance to a subterranean cavern passage, grand and ancient.

Without a doubt, this was the manifestation of the Cave Heaven Realm, a miniature image of a small world.

As this Cave Heaven opened, Di Yi sensed the vigorous vitality contained within it and keenly experienced the wonders of this realm.

Once one opened a Cave Heaven and entered this stage, one could commune with the power of the natural order of heaven and earth, refining it together with one's own Divine Radiance runes until they interconnected.

Beyond that, one could also connect directly to the boundless void and refine the divine marrow of heaven and earth from within it,

absorbing divine essence from the vast world to replenish oneself and keep the body's vitality forever flourishing. "Boom!"

With a thought, Di Yi gave it a try.

In an instant, essence surged continuously from the Cave Heaven, pouring into the crown of his head. All of it entered his body and flowed into the Sea of Potential.

At the same time, the essential energy in this area immediately thinned, devoured and transformed by the Cave Heaven.

"This feeling..." Di Yi immersed himself in the experience, finding it wonderfully novel.

But before he could continue experimenting with that Cave Heaven, Divine Radiance runes began flowing beside him again. A rain of light scattered through the air, and a second Cave Heaven appeared.

Of course, this was far from over. Runes filled the sky, seemingly forming a special field through Di Yi's body, and a third and fourth Cave Heaven appeared, spewing auspicious light.

"Four Cave Heavens?" Di Yi was astonished. Even among the cases recorded in the Bone Scripture, such a thing was rarely seen. He had never expected that simply wishing to take the next step would bring him this astonishing achievement in one stroke.

If word of this spread, it would surely cause a tremendous sensation, leaving jaws scattered across the ground.

After all, breaking into this realm was already difficult. Many Blood Moving cultivators who stood out among tens of thousands might never enter this stage in their entire lives.

Opening four Cave Heavens in one breath was even further beyond them.

Even for those blessed with heaven-defying talent, opening two at once during a breakthrough was exceedingly rare.

"Rumble!"

Just as the four Cave Heavens stabilized, another change occurred within Di Yi.

After he absorbed the essence delivered by the Cave Heavens, the Sea of Potential shook violently. Purple energy steamed upward, clouds and mist drifted indistinctly, and at last, the furious sounds of wind and thunder reverberated from within.

Then ten masses of light were born within the Sea of Potential. They seemed to be things that had long lain dead and silent there, now awakened, subjected to True Understanding, and released.

Four of the masses of light occupied the four Cave Heavens. The remaining six mobilized the Divine Radiance runes, bringing back the brilliant rain of light and forcibly manifesting six more Cave Heavens.

"These are... true spirits that once lived in the Sea of Potential?" Di Yi sensed a certain rhythm, as though those ten masses of light represented ten true spirits.

Unfortunately, just as the Sea of Potential had "died," those ten true spirits had naturally "died" as well. They could reappear only because they had undergone True Understanding, much like a Precious Technique taking form.

"Roar..."

The Golden Hou had been somewhat startled when the Cave Heavens opened, and the sight of ten Cave Heavens had turned that surprise into horror. But upon seeing those ten masses of light, the Golden Hou was so frightened that he nearly tucked his tail between his legs and fled.

Di Yi might not have sensed the fluctuations emitted by those ten masses of light, but the Golden Hou was different. He was extremely close, and somehow found himself immersed in a battle scene.

There were ten creatures of different kinds, each terrifying beyond measure. They seemed to soar above wave after wave formed from boundless universes, looking down upon heaven and earth and regarding past, present, and future with disdain.

A spread of wings seemed capable of overturning past and present.

A stamp of a hoof seemed capable of swaying time.

A flash of sharp claws seemed capable of cleaving history apart.

The sight left the Golden Hou trembling with terror. Never in his life had he seen true spirits this powerful, and he shook with unease.