Chapter 504: Choice

"Where is this?"

Elsewhere, on the side of a majestic mountain, Venerable Qingu stared blankly at his surroundings. "Who am I? How did I get here?" Having forgotten his cultivation methods, Venerable Qingu arduously climbed through the mountains, disoriented.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Meng Chuan, having finally reached the seventh level of the Primordial Spirit and cultivated the 'Primordial Spirit Stars' technique, remained clear-headed.

"This is an illusionary world."

"Only a powerful Primordial Spirit Tribulation Realm expert can create an illusionary world like this," Meng Chuan thought to himself. The eighth level of the Primordial Spirit is known for 'a single thought creating a world,' which is a fundamental ability.

"This bearded man must be the master of the cave dwelling. But the master... I suspect he is already dead, and this is merely a remnant of his power left before his demise." Meng Chuan speculated. He recalled the 'Heart Sea Hall' of Yuanchu Mountain, which also contained an illusionary world that had persisted for a long time.

If the master of the cave dwelling were still alive, he could shape Meng Chuan however he pleased. Round? Square? Meng Chuan would be utterly powerless to resist.

"You must have guessed it."

The bearded man, sitting cross-legged at the peak of the high mountain, looked at Meng Chuan from afar and smiled. "I am already dead. What remains now is just a wisp of consciousness within this illusionary world."

"Dongning respectfully greets Senior," Meng Chuan said, bowing. In cultivation, experience and achievement are paramount. A powerful Primordial Spirit Tribulation Realm expert was worthy of his respect! Furthermore, in the outer realm, maintaining respect for powerful individuals was fundamental for long-term survival.

"Dongning?"

The bearded man smiled and nodded. "I have waited for over thirty thousand years. My luck isn't bad; I've waited for a human."

Meng Chuan listened attentively.

"My name is Pang Ming," the bearded man said. "My home world is a low-grade world called 'Pang Ming World.'"

"Pang Ming World?"

Named after this person?

"You're right, I am the highest-cultivated individual in the history of Pang Ming World," the bearded man nodded slightly. "My home world has existed for over six hundred million years since its birth, which makes it a relatively young sentient world... Eighty million years ago, my home world barely managed to discover a path to reach the Emperor realm. And I am the second Tribulation Realm expert in my home world's history."

"I cultivate both the Primordial Spirit Tribulation Realm and the Physical Body Tribulation Realm," the bearded man added.

Meng Chuan secretly gasped in amazement. "Dual cultivation?"

"I ultimately stopped at the Fifth Tribulation Realm. I couldn't endure the Sixth Primordial Spirit Tribulation," the bearded man shook his head gently. "I had hoped to reach the Sixth Tribulation Realm in this life and spend more years elevating my home world to a 'middle-grade world,' but I fell short by a single step. Of course, that step is as difficult as ascending to heaven! Perhaps I had already taken a wrong turn in my many years of cultivation, and the Fifth Tribulation Realm was my limit."

Meng Chuan listened obediently. He understood the man's meaning, as he had read Yuanchu Mountain's intelligence dossiers and knew that only after reaching the 'Sixth Tribulation Realm' and paying a sufficient price could one elevate a home world from a low-grade to a middle-grade world. Even many low-grade worlds had long histories; young sentient worlds had existed for over a hundred million years, and some even for billions of years. For example, in the Tianfeng River System, out of over one hundred thousand sentient worlds, only more than six hundred were middle-grade.

"The Venerable level is the gradual perfection of the Grotto-heaven realm," the bearded man said softly. "The Emperor level is the gradual perfection of universal laws. These stages can be clearly felt; one knows they are improving... But becoming a Tribulation Realm expert means completely fumbling in the dark."

"What level of cultivation one has reached? One doesn't know."

"Whether the cultivation is right or wrong? One doesn't know either."

The bearded man looked at Meng Chuan. "Or perhaps, for Tribulation Realm experts, there's no right or wrong in cultivation, only strength and weakness. The strong can pass through one heavenly tribulation after another, while the weak perish."

Meng Chuan listened. He thought of the 'Primordial Spirit Stars' legacy he had received from Grandmaster Feiyu in his home world. Grandmaster Feiyu's message stated that he had taught twelve disciples in his lifetime, all of whom studied 'Primordial Spirit Stars,' yet their paths all differed. Some were similar to Grandmaster Feiyu's, while others were diametrically opposed. The one who achieved the most... was the one whose path was completely opposite to Grandmaster Feiyu's. The bearded man's statement—that Tribulation Realm experts fumbled in the dark with no right or wrong, only strength and weakness—indeed held some truth.

"The Sixth Primordial Spirit Tribulation, like always, arrived without warning," the bearded man said. "I was still chatting with a friend when the heavenly tribulation descended directly into my body, into my Primordial Spirit."

"After failing to pass the tribulation, I didn't have time to escape back to my distant home world," the bearded man continued. "I could only immediately rush into the River of Spacetime and then into the nearest outer realm desert. I only had time to make a few simple arrangements."

The bearded man stood up. Meng Chuan grew a bit more serious. The bearded man instantly appeared before Meng Chuan, who remained standing, listening humbly.

"Gugugu," the bearded man said, taking a gourd from his waist and drinking a few gulps of wine. He smiled, "The taste of wine is truly wonderful. What a pity this illusionary world can only be activated once and won't last long, so I can't keep drinking."

Meng Chuan watched him. Maintaining an illusionary world for a long time was indeed difficult. After all, the 'Heart Sea Hall' was a treasure found by Ancestor Cang Yuan.

"Throughout my life, I sent many of the treasures I accumulated back to my home world," the bearded man said, looking at Meng Chuan. "However, I always carried a fair number of treasures with me during my travels in the outer realm—what I wore, what I used... I have three Tribulation Realm secret treasures that suit me best: one Seventh Tribulation Realm weapon secret treasure and two Sixth Tribulation Realm weapon secret treasures. There are also over three thousand units of outer realm primordial crystals, the complete corpse of an adult 'Eight-headed Star-Devouring Serpent,' a piece of flesh from a 'Dark Peacock' that cultivated to the Seventh Tribulation Realm, and various other items of much lower value."

Meng Chuan was astonished by what he heard. He knew that Ancestor Cang Yuan had left behind far more, but considering the sustained development of humanity in Cangyuan World, the treasures that each generation of Venerables, Emperors, and even Tribulation Realm experts could take were very limited. If any descendant were allowed to take freely, it wouldn't be long before future generations had nothing left. Thus, when Meng Chuan left Cangyuan World, the most precious item he carried was the Tribulation Realm secret treasure, the 'Bloodblade Disc.' Compared to Fang Chang, who had traveled the outer realm for many years, Meng Chuan was poorer. Of course, Meng Chuan had slightly more life-saving items than Fang Chang.

"Treasures carried by a Fifth Tribulation Realm expert during his travels in the outer realm," Meng Chuan thought, secretly excited. "Will all of them now come into my possession?"

"You broke into my cave dwelling. If I don't give them to you, I can't give them to anyone else," the bearded man said, smiling at Meng Chuan. "But we are strangers, so I can't simply give them away for free."

"This junior understands. Senior, please state your conditions," Meng Chuan replied humbly.

The bearded man nodded slightly: "The condition is simple. If you accept my treasures, you will owe me a karmic debt. To settle this debt... you must accept a Venerable from my home world, 'Pang Ming World,' as your disciple, and teach him to become an Emperor. You must never harbor any ill will towards him in this life and must treat him like a normal disciple. This will resolve the karmic debt."

"I must accept a Venerable from Pang Ming World as my disciple?" Meng Chuan frowned. "Pang Ming World is a low-grade world. How long would it take for a Venerable to emerge there?"

"My home world has a decent foundation; I estimate a Venerable can emerge every thousand years," the bearded man smiled. "So, after you become a Tribulation Realm expert, finding a Venerable from Pang Ming World won't be difficult."

"By the way, Pang Ming World is in the Ten Thousand Horns River System of the Wugu River Domain," the bearded man continued. "Owing this karmic debt won't affect you much in the early stages. However, once you become a Tribulation Realm expert, its influence will grow as your realm advances. So, you can accept a disciple after reaching the Tribulation Realm."

Meng Chuan listened carefully.

"If you don't agree to my conditions, the spatial item containing my treasures will instantly collapse, and its contents will partly shatter and be destroyed, while others will be swept into the currents of spacetime, lost across the River of Spacetime. You will gain nothing," the bearded man continued. "Furthermore, this illusionary world of mine, before its destruction, will unleash its strongest attack. You are at the seventh level of the Primordial Spirit, and your Primordial Spirit seems to have cultivated a special technique. Although I am dead, this attack, unleashed with the aid of an exotic treasure and spanning over thirty thousand years, has more than a fifty percent chance of annihilating your Primordial Spirit."

"Destroy the treasures? And launch a counterattack?" It was normal. His cave dwelling had been breached! This Tribulation Realm expert's only options were to either give the treasures to Meng Chuan or to destroy everything.

"You don't need to rush to agree."

The bearded man took a few more sips of wine, then leisurely said, "I, Pang Ming, did some things in the past to become stronger, such as capturing the descendants of Sixth Tribulation Realm experts and coercing them to let me learn powerful inheritances. I have two Sixth Tribulation Realm experts who can be considered my mortal enemies, so even if you obtain my secret treasures and weapons, you must quietly sell them and never associate yourself with me."

"Moreover, only over thirty thousand years have passed, so I suspect they are both likely still alive."

"One is named Chang Jue, and the other is Lan Mingxian," the bearded man smiled. "Alright, I've told you everything I needed to. Now it's your turn to choose."

"Will you choose to accept my treasures, or not?" The bearded man looked at Meng Chuan. "You have ten breaths of time to consider. After ten breaths, this illusionary world's strongest attack before its collapse will descend."