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Chapter 561: The Trial Realms
🕑 Added 2025-01-31 14:00:13 +0000 UTC“Is this the immortal realm?” a young man who stepped out of a towering building that seemed to be able to hold the heavens up asked. He wasn’t the only one, as plenty more stepped out, but their numbers did not exceed a hundred.
The young man’s name was Hou Heiyin, and he was a foundation establishment from a mid rank realm. The others were the same and only a handful reached the Core Formation Realm. Once a cultivator became a core formation master or acupoint opening master, their future was almost set, and it would take a high price to change their foundation. The ascenders were from different realms, and the towering building behind them was the Descending Immortal Embassy.
Normally, he would have to reach the limit of the lower realm before ascending to a high rank realm, and only by overcoming the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation could he ascend to an immortal rank realm like the Primordial Realm. And now, he had the chance to enter an immortal rank realm ahead of time.
Although Hou Heiyin was confident in himself, he was not blind nor arrogant. There were as many geniuses as stars in the sky, and most of them became falling stars, their light extinguished forever. Only a few attain immortality and become an everlasting star in the sky.
“The immortal realm is so amazing! The density of qi here is even better than the core cultivation areas of the most powerful sects in my realm,” a voice said from behind Hou Heiyin.
He turned around to see a rotund man walking out. The man was looking around and sighing at every sight like a country bumpkin. The word fool was practically written on his forehead.
Hou Heiyin gave a helpless smile. “I say, can’t you be more reserved? Look around, which one is openly gaping like you, Pangzi.”
The man called Pangzi rolled his eyes. “Aren’t I doing what everyone else is thinking? What’s the point of pretending to be calm? Will that make the Immortal Court look at you differently? Look, don’t those guards look pleased at my amazement?”
Hou Heiyin’s lips twitched at his friend’s frankness. The first part was okay. This wasn’t like in their realms, where the top forces held strong influence, but the latter part was the issue. Even if it was true, do you think the members of the Immortal Court wouldn’t give you trouble if you pointed it out?
“Just keep your thoughts to yourself, okay?” Hou Heiyin finally said helplessly.
“But this is amazing. I heard that this isn’t even the main location of the Immortal Court, yet it’s already so…” Pangzi’s eyes flickered, trying to find the right word. “I can’t think of the right word. It’s just super amazing, okay?”
Hou Heiyin shook his head again. His friend was talented, more talented than him, but the trouble was that he was too outspoken and carefree. Some might even call it reckless. It was because of his mouth that caused a core disciple of a top force to hate him and chase him down. Had Pangzi not joined the mysterious Emperor Hall, he would have likely fallen in dire straits or been killed.
He was in a similar situation. All the people who exited the Descending Immortal Embassy were originally loose cultivators. The Emperor Hall never recruited anyone that possessed prior loyalties. There might be some exceptions, but such exceptions were destined to be a rarity. Not even a heavenly spiritual root could move their hearts. On the immortal path, the spiritual root was not the only factor.
Hou Heiyin closed his eyes as he recalled that beautiful figure in red. When he opened them, he stared at the clouds and asked, “Who are you?”
“Who are you talking to? Are you asking a cloud who they are?” Pangzi, who couldn’t read the mood, interrupted.
Hou Heiyin took a deep breath and ignored the simple-minded fool.
“Hey, I’m talking to you. Did you not hear me?” Pangzi asked while chasing his friend’s back.
The two, along with the other ninety-three ascenders, entered the abode delegated to them by the Immortal Court. After all the ascenders exited, the Descending Immortal Embassy disappeared in the air. Since the Immortal Court had begun to assert its influence in the lower realms, the once-abundant Descending Immortal Embassy became scarce. The Immortal Court was producing them as fast as possible, but it could not meet the current demands.
The location these ascenders arrived at was a base established by the Immortal Court, but it wasn’t under their name. Rather, it was managed by a subsidiary force known as the Cultivator Alliance. Just because the Immortal Court brought them to the Primordial Realm did not guarantee that they would allow these ascenders to join them. The ascenders still had to undergo many tests and trials before being accepted as disciples of the Immortal Court.
A year later, the ninety-five ascenders met with the disciples of the Immortal Court. Of course, this wasn’t a simple meeting, but a competition. As long as an ascender could defeat a disciple, they could immediately join the Immortal Court, but without fail, all the ascenders were defeated.
The ascenders who were drunk off their pride and talent immediately sobered up. They thought they had the qualifications to become disciples of the Immortal Court, but reality gave them a harsh slap. They were far inferior. Even the most powerful of the ascenders did not come close to defeating their opponent.
This did not mean they would give up. True cultivators will not become decadent because of this one setback. Instead, they will use it as motivation to better themselves.
Ninety years later, Hou Heiyin became an outer disciple of the Immortal Court. His friend, Pangzi, joined the Immortal Court twenty years ago and already became an inner disciple. Aside from himself and Pangzi, only two others became disciples, but they were still outer disciples. Since the Buzhou Immortal Sect became the Immortal Court, their standards of categorizing inner and outer disciples changed.
Before, Foundation Establishment Realm disciples were outer disciples and core formation masters could become inner disciples. Now, only those who became grandmasters could be qualified to become inner disciples. Of course, core disciples were different. They were the personal disciples of elders, and each one was considered an immortal seed. The category of elders also changed. New elders had to be true immortals to qualify, and those below the Immortal Realm could only be deacon elders at best.
Hou Heiyin could have become a nascent soul grandmaster years ago, but he didn’t. He delayed his entry because he switched his cultivation method in order to strengthen his foundation and future.
Once he finally entered Buzhou Immortal Island, Hou Heiyin couldn’t help but sigh. “What a wondrous place. The spiritual qi density is already so exaggerated. What would it be like in a cultivation chamber?”
A laughter interrupted Hou Heiyin’s thoughts. “Brother Heiyin, I thought you weren’t going to become a disciple. Why did you wait so long?”
“Do you think everyone is like you, with a special physique?” Hou Heiyin sourly said.
Pangzi only scratched his head and laughed. He pulled Hou Heiyin over and began to introduce the Immortal Court to Hou Heiyin.
Twenty years later, Hou Heiyin finally became an inner disciple of the Immortal Court. Ten years after that, a true immortal became his master. Although his master was a true immortal elder, his actual job was to be a steward, but his identity was special. Because he was the steward of Nine Heavens Peak. In other words, Hou Heiyin could be considered half a member of the Nine Heavens’ Peak lineage.
Even Pangzi ran over and expressed his envy. His master was stronger than Immortal Su, but he didn’t dare to offend the latter at all.
Hou Heiyin didn’t understand how special his identity was at first, but gradually, he discovered just how powerful it was.
One time, Pangzi got into an argument with a core disciple. Although Pangzi’s master was a true immortal, the core disciple’s master was an immortal monarch. The rules forbid members from killing each other, but it was inevitable that Pangzi would suffer humiliation.
He stepped forward and tried to help Pangzi, but all he got was a beating. Hou Heiyin thought he would have to wait a long time to get justice, but to his shock and surprise, the core disciple actually arrived at Nine Heavens Peak with his master to apologize.
It was only now that Hou Heiyin understood how exalted the Nine Heavens Peak was. Of course, this had to do with the pitifully small number of members of Nine Heavens Peak. In total, there were only four members, so it was inevitable that his master and Hou Heiyin would have a higher status. If there were over a hundred, the core disciple might come to apologize, but it was impossible for the immortal monarch to accompany his disciple.
As Hou Heiyin grew accustomed to his new environment, four hundred years passed. Now, he was already a late unity venerable. When he entered the Nascent Soul Realm, he formed a five-colored nascent soul. Although he wasn’t among the top ten most likely to become a true immortal, he was ranked among the top hundred.
Even Pangzi, who showed more talent than him, was still preparing to undergo his World Merging Heavenly Tribulation.
It was supposed to be a normal day, but Hou Heiyin’s meditations were interrupted by the changes in the weather. He ran outside of his room and stared at the sky. Although cracks did not fill the sky, it was distorted, and he could see images of continents and land he did not recognize.
‘What’s going on? Is a crisis occurring in the Primordial Realm?’ he thought, but no one answered him. The world-shaking phenomenon continued for seven days before disappearing.
Of course, the distortion’s aftereffects did not simply disappear with it. Many people panicked. Only a few demons guessed what was happening. They recognized the land reflected in the sky. The images were from the True Dragon Realm, Phoenix Realm, and Qilin Realm.
However, the more powerful ones were shocked. How did the Immortal Court link the three demon realms to the Primordial Realm so quickly? It should take tens of thousands of years at the earliest before the three demon realms could get close enough.
The Immortal Court didn’t care about the demons’ confusion. Still, they had to pacify the denizens of the Primordial Realm, so they announced the phenomena was their doing. They had connected three immortal-rank realms to the Primordial Realm.
The buzz did not die down as rumors filled the Primordial Realm. Supposedly, the three new immortal-rank realms connected to the Primordial Realm were untouched land filled with boundless resources, ripe for the taking.
The Immortal Court was also abuzz. Because they knew it was not a rumor but the truth. More than that, the Immortal Court would allow a thousand venerables to enter one of the three demon realms for tempering. During this time, whatever resources they got would be theirs.
However, it wasn’t all sunshines and rainbows. The three realms were full of danger. Although all the demons left, there were still many monsters that awakened their spirituality and became demons. This new generation of demons did not know much. Some were lucky to find the relics of the Demon Clan. However, they all claimed the land as theirs.
The Immortal Court dubbed the three new realms connected to the Primordial Realm, the Trial Realms. Of course, it was a collective term, and each one had their own name, like the Dragon Trial Realm, Phoenix Trial Realm, and Qilin Trial Realm.
The current target of the Immortal Court’s expedition was the Qilin Trial Realm.
Hou Heiyin and the other participants stood outside a giant black and white gate in anticipation. Unknown to them, an immortal emperor was staring at them alongside his steward.
