Heaven and Earth Were Different

"Becoming an Immortal-easier said than done!" Chen Beiwu glanced up toward the direction of the private school and sighed to himself.

After studying the Jade Slip for two days, he had finally mastered the Southern Wilderness Language completely.

That female Bandit Cultivator had been clever, too. Nine out of ten Southern Wilderness Language entries recorded in the Jade Slip were accurate, and she had tried to trick him with the remaining one.

Fortunately, to be cautious, Chen Beiwu had spent this time near the private school, reading a large number of primers. He had successfully found the errors in the Jade Slip.

She dared to change "senior" to "idiot," "fellow Daoist" to "damn you," and "fellow Daoist, please stay your steps" to "damn you, you'll die young"... You certainly didn't die unjustly.

Chen Beiwu shook his head. He paid little attention to the little trick she had left behind before her death and casually took out more than a dozen books.

"Southern Wasteland Insight Gazetteer"

"Rogue Cultivator Miscellany"

"Mystic Abyss Spell Commentary Record"

"Qi Refining Nine Examinations-Five Great Sects"

As he leafed through these books, Chen Beiwu gradually learned about the Southern Wild Region.

The Southern Wild Region was vast and boundless. It lay at the far south of the continent, backed onto the Endless Sea, and contained countless Spirit Veins, Immortal mountains, and Cultivation Sects. There were even more dynasties that had chosen to rely on Cultivation Sects.

It was no exaggeration to say that there were as many as three well-known Cultivation Sects near the Marshland Kingdom, to which Waterside Mountain Town belonged. Chen Beiwu was slightly taken aback.

Good grief. In the Immortal Alliance, only Golden Core True Persons could found a Sect.

He had never expected the Southern Wild Region to be so wild. A Foundation Establishment Rogue, or even a few Qi Refining mortal cultivators, dared to occupy a low-tier Spirit Vein and claim they had founded a Sect.

Rather than call such Cultivation forces, with no Golden Core True Person in charge, Sects, it would be more accurate to call them Cultivation Lineages that helped one another.

According to some diary entries left in the Storage Bag, the brothers Tong Yu and Zhong Shan had once founded a Cultivation Sect with Lin Yu, but because they managed it poorly, the Sect soon went bankrupt and became a den of thieves.

Even Late Qi Refining cultivators can casually occupy a First Tier Spirit Vein as their base. No wonder the Southern Wild Region dares to call itself vast and boundless. Chen Beiwu felt a little pleased.

The fewer Cultivation resources there were, the fiercer the competition.

Conversely, the fact that Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the Southern Wild Region didn't take First Tier Spirit Veins seriously showed that this world's resources were abundant. There were so many First Tier Spirit Veins that even high-tier cultivators couldn't be bothered with them. This was undoubtedly excellent news for Chen Beiwu.

He took out the "Southern Wasteland Insight Gazetteer" and glanced through it. He found that the Marshland Kingdom was in the Earth Evolution Realm of the Mountain Annihilation World, just an insignificant speck on the map of the Southern Wild Region's Nine Realms, but the information was very detailed.

The maps of the other Eight Realms looked immense, like a succession of Spirit Mountains and Blessed Lands, but were actually full of gaps, with many places described vaguely.

Clearly, the author of the Southern Wasteland Insight Gazetteer had spent his entire life mapping only the Earth Evolution Realm, one of the Southern Wild Region's Nine Realms. The maps of the other Eight Realms had all been compiled from hearsay, so their accuracy was hard to determine.

"Being a Rogue Cultivator is too difficult. If I want to get by in the Southern Wild Region, I have to join a major Sect." Chen Beiwu thought to himself.

The Immortal Alliance valued order. Even Golden Core True Persons wouldn't kill and rob a Foundation Establishment Cultivator without cause, because it wasn't worth it and would bring severe punishment from the Immortal Alliance.

But the Southern Wild Region was different. There was no order here; might made right.

The strong could do whatever they wanted, and could even make some Cultivation Sects offer tribute of their own accord in exchange for protection.

Even small Sects were so servile and obsequious. Rogue Cultivators in the Southern Wild Region had an even harder time, simply because they were the "Five Have-Nots."

What were the Five Have-Nots?

No spiritual land: No fixed cave abode; they could only occupy Spirit Veins on Desolate Mountains.

No backer: No Sect to protect them. When enemies came, no one would help, and they could only withstand the assault themselves.

No inheritance: They lacked systematic cultivation arts and relied on fragments. Breaking through to Foundation Establishment was like a blind man trying to judge an elephant.

No resources: They had to risk their lives to fight over resources. Even if they were lucky enough to gain an opportunity, the major Sects would intercept it.

No identity: People looked down on their unorthodox background. Even if a powerful person killed them in the street, no one would care.

To put it bluntly, Rogue Cultivators were undocumented people. They could easily be treated as cannon fodder to scout the way by Sect disciples, or have Restrictions placed on them by powerful people to serve as vessels for possession or shields against Calamities.

Of course, the Southern Wild Region wasn't entirely without rules.

The Earth Evolution Realm was dominated by five great Cultivation Sects: Mirror Moon Palace, Mysterious Sword Pavilion, Greenwood Sect, Flameburn Sect, and Heavy Gold Sect.

These five great Sects possessed inheritances of the Mystic Law True Canon and had Nascent Soul True Lords in charge. They had countless Affiliated Sects under their command and were immensely powerful, and the Cultivation world of the Earth Evolution Realm honored them as the Five Great Sects.

It was no exaggeration to say that even Golden Core True Persons could only obey the rules set by the Five Great Sects and wouldn't dare to violate them at will.

Thus, the Cultivation world of the Earth Evolution Realm could at least maintain some semblance of order on the surface. As for behind the scenes, Rogue Cultivators and small Sects all had a hard time.

After a moment's hesitation, Chen Beiwu decided to look into the Mirror Moon Palace and see if he could join this great power.

He had no choice. Chen Beiwu had originally wanted to be a Rogue Cultivator, but Rogue Cultivators were people with the Five Have-Nots, and the Southern Wild Region was too chaotic.

His cultivation was only at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining. He could probably handle a Qi Refining Bandit Cultivator like Lin Yu, but if he was unlucky enough to be ambushed by a Foundation Establishment Bandit Cultivator, it could cost him his life.

Besides, Chen Beiwu also wanted to join one of the Five Great Sects to confirm a suspicion he had.

What did he mean?

Chen Beiwu suspected that the environment of the Southern Wild Region was entirely different from that of the Immortal Alliance (Heavenly Abyss Star).

In the Primordial Era, the Great Dao of Heavenly Abyss Star had been stable.

Even if a Cultivator connected with the Celestial and Human, underwent a complete transformation, reached the realm of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown and Five Qi Returning to the Origin, and condensed supreme Magic Power, it was still difficult to use Spell Arts to stir the laws of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, let alone contend with a Great Demon's Divine Ability.

The Demon Race, however, had been uniquely blessed. Without cultivating, they could stir the laws of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth solely through the Bloodline in their bodies, making their Divine Abilities erupt with power capable of destroying Heaven and Earth.

Some powerful Primordial Great Demons could even draw on the Heaven and Earth Dao Rhythm to condense an Immortalizing Immortal Dao Fruit, then ascend to Immortality.

It was precisely because of this that, in the Primordial Era, humanity had been weak. Not a single person could comprehend Heaven and Earth and attain the Dao to become an Immortal, while Great Demons ran rampant and ravaged the world, yet could successfully condense Dao Fruits and ascend.

Fortunately, an unparalleled human expert was born. With great wisdom, he created the Beast-Borrowing Cultivation Dao, which struck fear into the Demon Race.

To this day, the Immortal Alliance's cultivation philosophy had already taken shape. It followed the path of cultivating oneself through the Outer Dao.

Put simply, it meant borrowing beasts to cultivate the True and attain the Dao Fruit, with greater emphasis on spiritual roots and resources.

The Southern Wild Region's cultivation philosophy, however, was to cultivate oneself through Spell Arts and connect with Heaven and Earth. Put simply, it meant practicing Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life to attain the Dao Fruit. It followed the old path of the Cultivators of Heavenly Abyss Star in the Primordial Era and placed greater emphasis on Spell Art talent (comprehension).

These two philosophies ultimately led to the same destination by different paths, but they were fundamentally different.

Chen Beiwu picked up the "Mystic Abyss Spell Commentary Record" and opened it. The more he thought about it, the more plausible his suspicion seemed.

The Spell Arts he released were clearly the same, yet their power in the Southern Wild Region was several times greater than in the Immortal Alliance.

At first, Chen Beiwu had thought it was because the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth in the Southern Wild Region was incredibly dense, causing Spell Arts to grow much more powerful, and hadn't given it much thought.

It wasn't until he read the Southern Wild Region's Cultivation arts today and understood their core cultivation philosophy that he immediately realized the truth.

If my suspicion is true, my Spell Art talent should let me join one of the Five Great Sects without a problem. Chen Beiwu's eyes lit up.