The Immortal Realm’s Source Land lies at the deepest part of the Immortal Realm, where the Great Dao and its laws are so vivid that they seem tangible.
Comprehending laws here is far easier than outside, much like taking an “open-book exam.”
Ever since Lin Yuan visited the Abyss of Demons Progenitor, the Immortal Dao Ancestor had been waiting for him to come.
From the Immortal Dao Ancestor’s perspective, since he could not threaten Lin Yuan at all, he would naturally seek friendly relations. Having another ally is far better than having another enemy.
Hence, the Immortal Dao Ancestor intended to give Lin Yuan a thorough introduction to the many wonders of the Source Land after he arrived. That was why he had been waiting.
What the Immortal Dao Ancestor did not expect was that Lin Yuan would fall into a state of “enlightenment” before even entering the Source Land. One must realize that the higher one’s level, the harder it is to be enlightened.
When the Immortal Dao Ancestor first reached the Twelfth Rank, he spent a hundred billion years cultivating in the Source Land. Only then, with the help of the Source Land, did he barely attain an instance of “enlightenment.”
Undoubtedly, the Immortal Dao Ancestor’s talent was the greatest in the Immortal Realm’s history; from nothing, he established the Immortal Dao cultivation system and ultimately reached the Twelfth Rank. In a sense, it was the Immortal Realm itself that limited the Immortal Dao Ancestor. If he had been in the main universe, his upper limits would likely be even higher.
“Could it be that the environment outside the Source Land makes it easier to become enlightened?”
That absurd thought flickered across the Immortal Dao Ancestor’s mind. Then he immediately dismissed it. The environment inside the Source Land is definitely superior to the environment outside.
The only explanation is that Lin Yuan, the Martial Ancestor, had such a massive accumulation of insights that a slight prod from the Source Land was enough to trigger his enlightenment. It far surpassed the hundred billion years of cultivation the Immortal Dao Ancestor himself had invested, enabling Lin Yuan to fall into enlightenment so easily.
“This actually works out.”
Nodding slightly, the Immortal Dao Ancestor appeared outside the Source Land and looked on at Lin Yuan from a distance, planning to stand guard while Lin Yuan was in enlightenment.
He made no attempt to take advantage of Lin Yuan’s state. First, Lin Yuan was merely in enlightenment, not in a deep slumber. At the first sign of danger, he would instinctively snap out of it. Second, the figure the Immortal Dao Ancestor was looking at was just an avatar. And even if it were an avatar in enlightenment, the Immortal Dao Ancestor still could not lock onto Lin Yuan’s exact coordinates.
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, half a year was gone.
“So that’s how it is.”
Lin Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, full of vigor.
This round of enlightenment had helped him immensely. He had grasped hundreds of foundational fused laws, all raised to the Seventh Layer. Although having several hundred more fused laws at the Seventh Layer strengthened him, it was not a qualitative leap.
But by raising these hundreds of foundational fused laws to the Seventh Layer, Lin Yuan had found the path toward the Chaos law. This mattered greatly; no matter the path or the insight, finding the right direction is key. With the right direction, staying on track would eventually bring success. If the direction was wrong, or if one did not even know which way to go, it would be much harder.
“Chaos law…”
Lin Yuan exhaled lightly. Within his internal world, the powers of many fused laws interlaced and coalesced, faintly forming what looked like an “egg.”
“If I can keep perceiving more fused laws, I may be able to nurture a real Chaos law.”
Lin Yuan recalled that everything left behind regarding the Chaos law by His Majesty the Mysterious Sovereign, the Master of Devil Jade Tower, and others all hinted at the same point: when your foundation is sufficient, you will naturally master the Chaos law.
Because—
The Chaos law is not something you simply comprehend. It is something you nurture.
And the key to nurturing it is the accumulation of countless rules.
“The Immortal Dao Ancestor.” Lin Yuan looked into the distance, at the gaunt elder in a daoist robe.
Throughout his enlightenment, Lin Yuan had remained aware of the Immortal Dao Ancestor’s presence. If the Immortal Dao Ancestor had tried anything threatening, Lin Yuan’s worst-case plan was to dissipate this avatar. Dispersing the avatar would not necessarily interrupt the enlightenment.
Fortunately, the Immortal Dao Ancestor had not done anything, and to reassure Lin Yuan, he had not even come close.
“Martial Ancestor.”
Seeing that Lin Yuan had finished his enlightenment, the Immortal Dao Ancestor took a step forward, appearing not far away.
“I originally thought you would spend a long time cultivating in the Source Land before attaining enlightenment. I never expected you to enter that state before even setting foot inside.”
He sighed with admiration.
“Just luck,” Lin Yuan responded with a faint smile.
“Luck?” The Immortal Dao Ancestor raised an eyebrow.
At their level, there is no such thing as mere luck when it comes to enlightenment. It arises from one’s accumulation, which leads to a qualitative breakthrough. Without the accumulation, there is no such thing as enlightenment.
“With the Martial Ancestor’s foundation, do you plan to break into the Dao Ancestor Realm soon?” the Immortal Dao Ancestor asked tentatively.
He could tell Lin Yuan was still at the Jade Immortal stage—even if his life essence was on a staggering level, he remained a Jade Immortal. Though the Immortal Dao Ancestor had never seen a Jade Immortal this strong, a Jade Immortal was still a Jade Immortal, which meant eventually considering the breakthrough to the Ancestor Realm.
The Ancestor Realm, also known as the Dao Ancestor Realm, or the Ancestor Immortal Realm.
“I intend to accumulate a bit more,” said Lin Yuan.
Even if he planned for the final leap, he would certainly choose to do so in the main universe to benefit from another infusion of the chaos void’s primordial power. The Immortal Realm did not have this benefit.
After stepping into the Twelfth Rank, the Immortal Dao Ancestor’s power had always been weaker than that of Twelfth Rank existences in the main universe. Besides lacking equally matched opponents, it also had to do with never having experienced the primordial infusion of the chaos void. Different worlds do not necessarily share the same rules, let alone worlds as separate as the main universe and the Immortal Realm.
Missing that infusion meant that after crossing into the Twelfth Rank, the Immortal Dao Ancestor needed hundreds of billions of years to stabilize at the Path-Clearing Realm.
“That’s fair. Challenging the Ancestor Realm is extremely dangerous. I myself almost perished that time.” The Immortal Dao Ancestor nodded slightly.
In any dimension, taking that step to the Twelfth Rank requires one to break free of the river of time, which involves contending against it. One inevitably faces the river’s backlash.
“But with the Martial Ancestor’s foundation, you should have no problem, right?” The Immortal Dao Ancestor shook his head.
When the Immortal Dao Ancestor had challenged the Ancestor Realm, he was like a lone boat on a vast ocean, struggling against the backlash of the river of time. But in such a scenario, one’s command of space and time is critical. The deeper that command, the more one can prolong the breakthrough, leaving more room for success.
Regarding space and time, even the Immortal Dao Ancestor himself was inferior to Lin Yuan. Thus, he believed Lin Yuan would have little difficulty taking that step.
“Come, allow me to show you around the Source Land.”
Leading Lin Yuan, the Immortal Dao Ancestor stepped into the Immortal Realm’s Source Land.
It was a boundless expanse, flooded with the purest origin power. Lin Yuan saw that the origin power gathered in many places, congealing into stones—“Immortal Source” stones of the sort that were invaluable and rarely found in the outside world.
Now Lin Yuan realized just how big the gap was between the true Source Land’s environment and the version reproduced by Immortal Source stones. Over the past few centuries, Lin Yuan had obtained quite a few Immortal Source stones through trade. Yet even being near the Source Land had brought a far more intense influx of rule-based insights than those Immortal Source stones ever could.
“How marvelous.”
Every direction Lin Yuan looked, he saw tangible manifestations of laws. Not only were they clearly visible, but they constantly intertwined with one another, immensely aiding anyone who sought to comprehend them.
Laws are living, not static. Comprehending just a single law is inferior to the simultaneous study of many laws. When multiple laws collide, the resulting breakthroughs can far exceed the growth gained from one law alone.
In an instant.
Lin Yuan’s mind was once again flooded with spark after spark of inspiration. However, having just experienced enlightenment outside the Source Land, he did not immediately slip into another trance.
“This Source Land is vast,” said the Immortal Dao Ancestor, gently raising a hand and pointing to one side. “That is where I and my disciples reside.”
Lin Yuan followed his gaze and saw a continent quietly floating there. By all appearances, the Immortal Dao Ancestor must have created it. Otherwise, such a conspicuous structure would not exist in the Source Land.
“Martial Ancestor, you’re free to choose any location to cultivate and gain enlightenment. Or you can do as I did: create a continent, bring your disciples inside, and study together.”
He smiled faintly.
“Understood.”
Lin Yuan nodded.
“One more thing: almost anywhere in the Source Land is open to you, except for one place—the seat of the Immortal Realm’s consciousness. You must take care around that area.”
As he spoke, the Immortal Dao Ancestor waved a hand, conjuring a broad map of the Source Land. Nearly ninety-nine percent of it was blank, but the center had a red mark.
“The Immortal Realm’s consciousness?”
Lin Yuan felt a twinge of curiosity.
He already knew that any world possesses some form of consciousness, including the far vaster main universe. However, a world’s consciousness is not like a human mind. It has no emotions, only instinct. Ordinarily, it does not appear; it quietly maintains the operations of the world. But if something arises that harms the world, its consciousness will react.
In the main universe, for instance, if any Twelfth Rank being dares to leave the universe, the universe will retaliate. That retaliation comes from the universe’s consciousness. After all, those Twelfth Rank beings have consumed an unimaginable amount of the universe’s energy. Leaving would be like cutting off a huge chunk of flesh from the universe itself—unacceptable. Thus, they have to wait until the main universe collapses, at which point the consciousness sleeps, and a departure might be possible.
“The Immortal Realm’s consciousness is very wary of beings like us. If you get too close, it will likely command the entire Immortal Realm’s power to suppress you,” the Immortal Dao Ancestor explained helplessly.
Although he was a Twelfth Rank existence on par with the Immortal Realm, that did not mean he could match its total power. If the realm’s consciousness decided to suppress a Twelfth Rank being over a long period, it might well hasten the collapse of the Immortal Realm. That would not benefit either side, so the Immortal Dao Ancestor and the Immortal Realm’s consciousness had reached a subtle equilibrium: he did not provoke it, and it did not provoke him.
“Understood.”
Lin Yuan nodded.
He knew more than most about world consciousnesses.
“Well, I’ll be heading back.”
“If you need anything, feel free to contact me.”
Having said that, the Immortal Dao Ancestor vanished. Lin Yuan could clearly sense that he had returned to the man-made continent.
“I’ll begin my own exploration.”
Paying no further attention to the Immortal Dao Ancestor, Lin Yuan focused his mind entirely on the manifest laws scattered throughout the Source Land.
[Your Unrivaled Insight allows you to observe numerous laws in their essential form, enhancing your understanding of countless rules…]
Two hundred years went by in a flash.
Lin Yuan drifted unhurriedly through various parts of the Source Land.
Over those two hundred years, he had comprehended thousands upon thousands of foundational fused laws. Within his internal world, that faint “egg” form had become more apparent, emanating waves of power from so many fused laws that the aura of Lin Yuan’s internal world now resembled the Source Land itself.
“I can sense that at the center, where the Immortal Realm’s consciousness resides, the laws are even more evident. Actually, they’re not just fluctuations of laws anymore; they’re the laws themselves.”
He opened his eyes, looking toward the Source Land’s center.
It was not difficult to guess why the Immortal Dao Ancestor had said being too close to the Immortal Realm’s consciousness brought risk. He also knew that the seat of the Immortal Realm’s consciousness was the source of all of the realm’s laws. The displayed laws and fluctuations in the Source Land came from there.
If one could enter that place and perceive the laws directly, the benefits would undoubtedly exceed anything found in the rest of the Source Land.
“Though I’ve found a path toward understanding the Chaos law, I still have a lot of ground to cover before actually nurturing it. If I could directly face all the laws of the Immortal Realm…”
After a moment’s thought, Lin Yuan decided to try approaching the place where the Immortal Realm’s consciousness slept.
Since the Immortal Dao Ancestor had gone near or even made contact with it before and had turned out fine, there was no reason Lin Yuan should be in danger. In terms of survival ability, he surpassed even the Immortal Dao Ancestor.
Moreover, the one currently in the Source Land was merely an avatar. Even if the Immortal Realm’s consciousness suppressed him, he would just send another avatar later.
Soon, Lin Yuan arrived near the Immortal Realm’s consciousness.
Buzz— Just by drawing close, he felt a terrifying wave of consciousness surge outward, causing the entire Source Land to quiver.
“What a strong response.”
Lin Yuan was somewhat surprised, but he understood. The seat of the Immortal Realm’s consciousness was akin to Lin Yuan’s mental world—its core. Any powerful presence getting near would, of course, trigger the highest alert.
Rumble.
Ignoring the consciousness’s warning, Lin Yuan continued forward.
Sure enough, the Immortal Realm’s consciousness mustered the entire Source Land’s power, rolling forth in an immense tide to crush Lin Yuan.
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