Nine Heavens
Shrouding the Heavens: Starting with the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar
Contents
Biodata
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Nine Heavens |
| Original Name | 九天 |
| Type | Ancient realm; later a fragmented, diminished universe 544 621. |
| Related Names | Nine Heavens Ancient Realm; Primordial Ancient Realm. Its shattered form is known as the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths 544 561. |
| Foundation | Originally sustained by a World Tree, which sheltered the realm and generated Great Dao laws 165. |
| Major Enemies | The Foreign Realm; later, Immortal Domain factions seeking the realm’s destruction 561 834. |
| Later Government | The Kun Court openly governs the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths in a later era 709. |
| Status | Devastated during the Immortal Ancient War and subsequently diminished; later undergoes restoration through the World Tree 165 544 710. |
| First Appearance | First mentioned in the account of the Ruthless Great Emperor’s supremacy 3. |
Power Progression
| Stage / Realm / Level | Chapter | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Intact Primordial Ancient Realm | 544 | Equal in world-level to the Immortal Domain, differing in scale rather than fundamental rank. Its World Immortal Tree and environment can sustain multiple Immortal Kings. |
| Shattered Nine Heavens and Ten Earths | 165 544 | The World Tree’s destruction and the fall of the Immortal Kings reduce the realm’s level. It breaks into nineteen pieces, leaving its Great Dao laws incomplete. |
| Age of the Final Dharma | 544 | Xian Dao laws are eradicated, Longevity Substance becomes almost nonexistent, and the world can no longer produce an Immortal Ascension Tribulation. |
| Revival of the ancient realm | 702 | The universe’s consciousness returns to its rightful place. Incomplete laws of order begin recovering toward their Immortal Ancient condition. |
| World Tree–anchored restoration | 710 | Su Yu and the Lord of Desolation strengthen the World Tree until it anchors the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, restoring ancient laws and opening a new golden age. |
Geography and Structure
| Region / Landmark | Description |
|---|---|
| Great Red Heaven | One of the heavens formed by the Primordial Ancient Realm’s further fragmentation. Formerly the territory of the Great Red Heaven Sect 561. |
| Border Wasteland | A principal battlefield against the Foreign Realm. At Great Red Heaven’s frontier, mass slaughter stains formerly black soil red across a hundred thousand li 768. |
| Imperial Pass | A defensive stronghold confronting the Foreign Realm’s advance. Reinforcements from the Immortal Domain gather there as enemy forces approach the Heavenly Abyss 809. |
| Chaos Pure Lands and forbidden zones | Many originate with Immortal Kings who came from the Immortal Domain to aid the Nine Heavens, then remained behind because of dark contamination 537 538. |
| Primordial World Tree | A vast silver tree standing at the center of the Primordial Ancient Realm, outside the South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest. Its leaves bear patterns of the Great Dao of origin 547. |
| Northern Heaven | In a later political division, one of four regions centered on Kunlun Star—not merely the northern portion of Great Luo Heaven. The True Phoenix Hall holds dominion over it 662. |
History
Immortal Ancient War
The Nine Heavens originally possessed a complete cultivation environment capable of supporting Immortal Kings. Its foundations were nevertheless weaker than those of its enemies, and the war against the Foreign Realm inflicted losses it could not readily replace. The Great Red Heaven Lord, Yuyu Heaven Lord, and Qingwei Heaven Lord all possessed the potential to become Immortal Kings, but rose too late to mature before the final conflict 544 561.
Immortal Kings from the Immortal Domain crossed over to assist. One account places a major clash seventy thousand years earlier, when nine Foreign Realm Immortal Kings attacked the Seven Kings of the Borderlands. Many of the Nine Heavens’ later forbidden zones originated with these outside defenders 537.
King Kun’s death at the Scarlet King’s hands severely weakened the alliance. Although three Immortal Kings native to the Nine Heavens had also fallen, the loss of such an ancient Immortal Domain giant pushed its rulers toward caution. Lingyue continued aiding the Nine Heavens and fought An Lan and Luomo in Great Red Heaven, but broader support dwindled 561.
Betrayal compounded the military disaster. The Dark Demon Dragon killed more than ten True Immortals and the True Dragon’s Dao companion, leaving only three dragon eggs that she saved at the cost of her life. The Fearless Lion likewise defected and slaughtered vast numbers of monks and bodhisattvas 563.
Fragmentation and the Chaotic Ancient Era
The destruction of the World Tree deprived the realm of its foundation and left its laws incomplete. The Primordial Ancient Realm declined into the nineteen fragments collectively known as the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths 165 544.
Postwar society included both survivors of the earlier era and new peoples who rebuilt through Bone Texts and ancient ruins. Among the former were the Four Remnant Immortals, exiles forbidden to return to the Immortal Domain. Their inheritances included the Immortal Palace, Sword Valley, Demon Dragon Dao Sect, Luofu True Valley, and Fire Cloud Cave 747.
Recovery faced deliberate obstruction. Darkness prevented the birth of True Immortals, while the Scarlet King attacked exceptional talents across the River of Time, eliminating potential immortals and even possible future Immortal Kings before they could mature 809.
Su Yu’s Defense of the Realm
At Great Red Heaven’s ruined frontier, the Heavenly Deity Academy and Immortal Academy assembled against the Foreign Realm. Their defenders—including Shi Hao, Shi Yi, Qin Hao, and the Ten-Crown King—could not overcome an immortal opponent. Su Yu arrived riding a black peacock and beheaded that enemy with three combined sword arts, although the separated head and body continued fighting 768.
His intervention drew support from major longevity families. The Xu, Wei, Lü, and Tuogu families offered their strongest successors to his Immortal Palace and called for the Nine Heavens to unite against the enemy 773.
Su Yu subsequently killed the Four Remnant Immortals and used their remains to refine the Bronze Immortal Palace and create two pure lands. At Imperial Pass, a Nine Heavens combatant’s success in making a Foreign Realm Immortal King shed blood transformed the defenders’ morale after ages of decline 809 811.
Conflict with the Immortal Domain
Su Yu anchored a golden World Tree as the ancestral root of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Dark Willow Deity’s arrival further stabilized the realm, but her dark nature became the focus of hostility from the Immortal Domain 831 833.
Families aligned with Ao Sheng and Tai Shi accused the Nine Heavens of colluding with the Foreign Realm. They assembled armies to exterminate its inhabitants after the anticipated defeat of the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit and the “false Heavenly Emperor.” Even rulers with old ties to the Nine Heavens remained silent 834.
Su Yu answered by invading the Immortal Domain with the Female Kunpeng and Dark Willow Deity. He killed the Golden-Haired Hou at Fallen Immortal Ridge, recovered an artifact of Immortal King Wuzhong, and opened a passage into the opposing realm. The ensuing fighting included Su Yu carrying Tai Shi Immortal King’s severed head while battling six Immortal Kings 834 835.
Later Decline and Restoration
By the Shrouding the Heavens era, the universe was incomplete and exhausted. The Undying Heavenly Emperor, originally a Divine Phoenix Clan cultivator from the Immortal Domain, entered it through a spacetime rift and recognized its connection to the ancient Nine Heavens and Ten Earths 621.
The realm’s revival accelerated when its consciousness returned. Su Yu and the Lord of Desolation strengthened the World Tree and restored ancient laws. Returning Supremes—including Ye Fan, Taichu, Zhang Bairen, and the Holy Emperor’s Son—emerged into a new golden age 702 710.
The two Dao Lords confined their own Daos so others could pursue the Extreme Dao. Xiao Song warned, however, that those who attained it could no longer seal themselves away 710.
Cultivation Environment
- Dependence on the World Tree: The original tree sheltered the realm and brought forth Great Dao laws; its loss directly contributed to the world’s decline 165.
- Changing cultivation methods: The Immortal Ancient Dao Seed Method commands Great Dao laws through a Dao Seed, while the Chaotic Ancient tradition emphasizes Bone Texts and precious techniques 564.
- Secret Realm Method: In the later Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, cultivation begins by opening the Bitter Sea and connecting it to the Wheel of Life. Its aptitude requirements exclude those unable to open their Bitter Seas 79.
- Environmental suppression: Su Yu finds the Dharma Ending Era’s Dao Seed Method ten to a hundred times weaker than its Immortal Ancient counterpart because it lacks the complete universe’s support 564.
- Lost conditions for divine plants: Later environmental changes prevent the natural development of World Trees. Even Immortal Divine Medicines retain little clear spiritual awareness 165.
Major Powers and External Relations
- Foreign Realm — The Nine Heavens’ principal wartime enemy. Its forces attack the frontier, kill Immortal Kings, and systematically suppress promising successors 561 768 809.
- Immortal Domain — Initially supplies powerful allies, but is divided by contamination fears, old grievances, and disdain for the mortal realm. Its hostile factions eventually advocate total extermination 538 561 727 834.
- Lingyue — An Immortal Domain Immortal King who chooses to aid the Nine Heavens and becomes the master of the Yin-Yang Cross Forbidden Zone 561.
- Heavenly Deity Academy and Immortal Academy — Gather defenders at the Great Red Heaven frontier against the Foreign Realm’s army 768.
- Kun Court — A later ruling power whose sovereign openly controls the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Its three giants are the Chaos Hall, Time Hall, and True Phoenix Hall 662 709.
- Ye Fan and the later immortals — Challenge the Immortal Domain’s contempt directly. Their expedition suppresses fifteen True Immortals and defeats Quasi-Immortal King opponents, while the Lord of the Deep and Shi Ming remain behind to guard the World Tree 727 728.