Side Story One: The Immortal Realm
Sang Ying's ascension was actually somewhat sudden.
Although the old Old Heavenly Dao clearly stated that it would only exist for one or two years, and that after it dissipated, the New Heavenly Dao would naturally take over all the inheritance and continue to fulfill the responsibilities of the Heavenly Dao.
Unfortunately, the Old Heavenly Dao clearly underestimated its own lifespan.
The energy from the merging of the two worlds not only gave birth to the New Heavenly Dao, but also brought it considerable vitality.
The Old Heavenly Dao not only lived two more years, but also worked diligently in his post for the next hundred years.
Sang Ying and Jiang Zhuoxue had no choice but to continue raising Little Heavenly Dao. Fortunately, he never grew up and remained a child, so Sang Ying didn't worry that he would cause trouble when he grew up.
Because of this unexpected turn of events, Sang Ying originally planned to wait until the Old Heavenly Dao completely disappeared and the New Heavenly Dao took over before peacefully ascending to heaven.
However, she did not expect that the Merit she gained from saving the world and integrating with the new world was too great. In addition, being close to the New Heavenly Dao and being influenced by the luck of the other party, her cultivation speed was much faster than before.
By the time she realized what was happening, her cultivation level had already reached the point of ascension.
However, considering that she didn't know many people in the Upper Realm, while her relatives, friends, and lover were all in the Lower Realm, she decided to stay Lower Realm.
During this time, she tried her best to suppress her cultivation level so that the rules could not sense her presence. Then she took out the Heart of the Devil God that she had taken from Qi Yaoji, and since she had nothing better to do, she decided to help purify it.
Her Merit were too great; an ordinary person, let alone purify it, would be corrupted by Demonic Qi just by staying near the Heart of the Devil God. But Sang Ying easily washed the Heart of the Devil God back to pure white.
Even after being purified, the Heart of the Devil God still possessed immense power, which Sang Ying bestowed upon Jiang Zhuoxue. Although Jiang Zhuoxue had now transformed himself into Devil Race, he was still somewhat inferior to the powerful Devil God.
However, with this purified Heart of the Devil God, Jiang Zhuoxue quickly fused it together.
The fusion process was extremely dangerous; just how dangerous, Sang Ying herself didn't know.
Jiang Zhuoxue didn't want Sang Ying to see his disheveled and ugly state, so he handed the Little Heavenly Dao over to Sang Ying and hid in his cave abode to cultivate in seclusion, refusing to let Sang Ying come in to see him no matter what.
For a whole month, not a single cry of pain came from his cave abode; only the sound of things being smashed could be heard.
Sang Ying was also worried that something might happen inside, and even more worried that the power of the Heart of the Devil God inside might leak out and harm passersby.
Therefore, they specially set up an array in front of the cave abode to gather all the leaking power.
After enduring a month of torment, the Demonic Qi that seemed to have seeped into his very bones finally disappeared when Jiang Zhuoxue reappeared.
Sang Ying didn't know how painful that was, but she had seen the cave abode where Jiang Zhuoxue had stayed.
Once inside, if Sang Ying hadn't known that this was once the cave abode prepared by the Flowing Light Sword Sect for Jiang Zhuoxue, she would have even thought it was a secret chamber for sword cultivators to practice their sword techniques.
The entire cave abode was almost completely destroyed; not a single spot on the surrounding stone walls remained intact, covered in marks from sharp blades slicing through the rock. Some of these cuts were even over ten inches deep!
Later, Sang Ying didn't dare ask Jiang Zhuoxue about this memory of his, fearing that it would cause the other person pain.
Even after merging with the Heart of the Devil God, Jiang Zhuoxue was no longer Dragon Race. The Demonic Qi on his body disappeared, and he gave off an aura more like that of Demon Race.
Fortunately, the Heavenly Dao allows Demon Race to ascend, and Jiang Zhuoxue not only did not do evil, but also did a lot of good deeds with Sang Ying and saved many people.
His Merit are enough to allow him to ascend smoothly after continuing his cultivation, and he could even become a demon immortal.
Sang Ying's initial plan was to cultivate alongside Jiang Zhuoxue, and then the two of them ascended to immortality together, making a name for themselves in the Immortal Realm.
When the rest of our relatives and friends ascend, we won't be so constrained.
But man proposes, God disposes Sang Ying had done some Merit somewhere, and suddenly it was all attributed to her.
Sang Ying, who had been concealing her aura very well, could no longer hide it and could only hastily ascend to heaven on the day of the All Beings Festival.
Fortunately, although the tribulation came suddenly, her cultivation was genuine, and because of her abundant Merit, her whole body was protected by golden light.
More than nine hundred lightning bolts struck, yet nothing happened to them.
The guiding force arrived too quickly; she could only leave behind a few words before being carried to the Upper Realm by the guiding light.
Sang Ying had also been to the Upper Realm, but she went directly to the Dragon Race's territory via Teleportation Array.
As is well known, the Upper Realm is also divided into several regions. The Dragon Race Clan's territory is quite different from the Immortal Realm, and the two sides basically have no contact with each other.
Therefore, this was Sang Ying's first formal entry into the Immortal Realm.
Sang Ying arrived in the Immortal Realm through a guiding array, which was constantly guarded by low-ranking immortal servants.
As soon as Sang Ying peeked out, before she could even get a clear look at the Immortal Realm, a celestial attendant came forward to greet her, "Fellow immortal, have you just ascended from the Lower Realm?"
Sang Ying immediately realized that this was a special reception for them, the newly ascended immortals.
She took the initiative to engage in conversation with the other party, and briefly explained her identity in response to the fairy attendant's question.
The celestial attendant sighed, "Speaking of which, it's been a long time since anyone from your Lower Realm has ascended. We were almost ready to give up on the grand array we've been guarding. I never expected you to give us such a pleasant surprise. To be the first to ascend after ten thousand years, you must possess extraordinary abilities, right?"
Sang Ying quickly said she dared not, "I just got lucky. Fellow immortal, you can wait a bit; there may be quite a few more people ascending later."
This was certainly true. Before Sang Ying ascended to immortality, she had already discovered that her parents and Lan Fusheng levels were approaching the Tribulation Transcendence Realm.
I estimate that the spiritual rain that falls after my ascension will definitely help them break through another small realm.
Hearing this, the celestial attendant was also surprised, but the more immortals they guided, the more immortal stones they would receive. So, hearing that more people would ascend to immortality, the celestial attendant was quite happy.
"Fellow immortal, you've just arrived, so there are probably many things you don't know. Why don't I explain them to you?" The two talked as they walked, while another immortal servant guarding the welcoming array silently watched their departing figures, a hint of envy in his eyes.
Sigh, I wonder when a new immortal will ascend to heaven. It would be good if he could take the newcomer around and not have to stay in front of the desolate welcoming array all the time.
Now that Sang Ying and the other person had left, they focused their conversation on the most important matter—choosing a sect within the cultivation world.
Over the years, the immortals who ascended to heaven have accumulated enough knowledge to establish a complete Immortal Realm system.
Many of those who cultivated quickly have already become Immortal Emperor and Immortal Venerable. Because they arrived early and had high cultivation levels, they established Immortal Sects in the Immortal Realm long ago.
Human Immortal like Sang Ying, who are immortals, must join a sect in order to survive here.
The celestial attendant briefly introduced the most powerful immortal sects, including the only sword-cultivation sect, which was said to have been founded by a sword-cultivation master who ascended to immortality ten thousand years ago.
Celestial Attendant: "Speaking of which, you should have heard of the name of that Immortal Venerable who ascended to immortality with a sword, right?"
"Oh, what's his name?" Sang Ying immediately became interested.
The celestial attendant slightly raised his chin, looking quite proud. "His name is Gu Wangchuan!"