Chapter 652: Tribal Influence

Meng Chuan's true body sat cross-legged in the center of the array. His sixth-calamity realm Essence Soul power began to merge with the array, causing it to activate. The array placed a huge burden on his Essence Soul, as if he were single-handedly shouldering the entire Cangyuan Realm.

"Boom."

Meng Chuan could clearly feel the entire Cangyuan Realm tremble slightly. The long-dormant realm was awakened and began to absorb external Origin Energy at a scale hundreds or thousands of times greater than usual. Simultaneously, the various pre-prepared exotic treasures around Meng Chuan were gradually absorbed by the array, integrating into the fundamental essence of the Cangyuan Realm.

"The Cangyuan Realm is transforming," Meng Chuan thought, his heart filled with joy.

Patriarch Cangyuan had elevated their home world to a medium-level life world and left behind a profound foundation.

Meng Chuan himself was now gradually expanding their home world to the peak of a medium-level life world, though this subsequent expansion would continue for a full five hundred thousand years.

This was a relay race between two generations of powerful beings, driving the world's advancement.

"What's happening?" Inside Black Sand Grotto-Heaven, Bai Yaoyue, dressed in white, cold as a frosty moon, stepped out and came to the Black Sand Mountain Range. Standing on a mountaintop, she carefully sensed the changes in the world. "The entire world is trembling; some unknown change is taking place."

"What's going on?" Yan Jin, out for a walk with his wife, suddenly looked up, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"The Cangyuan Realm seems to be undergoing a special change," Venerable Luotang also sensed carefully.

Anyone who reached the Grotto-Heaven realm could perceive the drastic changes occurring in the Cangyuan Realm, but they couldn't immediately pinpoint *where* the changes were.

In the short term, the Cangyuan Realm was primarily strengthening its fundamental essence. As for the underground becoming deeper, the landmasses larger, or the world's scope expanding, these changes were not very noticeable in the initial stages.

Three days later.

On Archean Mountain, Meng Chuan summoned all the Marquis Godfiends.

Meng Chuan looked at the nearly three hundred Marquis Godfiends below him. Although they were still divided into three major sects, all Marquis Godfiends from every sect held Meng Chuan in immense respect; even the Venerables came to listen to his teachings.

"This time, I won't be giving a sermon," Meng Chuan said, smiling as he looked at them. "Instead, I have another important matter to discuss."

"An important matter?" Many Marquis Godfiends below were puzzled. Yan Jin and Yan Chihong were among them, though they were older and had both reached the Grotto-Heaven realm in terms of skill and cultivation, placing them among the top tier in strength.

Meng Chuan continued, "From today onwards, any Marquis Godfiend who reaches the Grotto-Heaven realm and the fifth level of Essence Soul, even if their physical body has aged... can receive an exotic treasure from outside our realm, which will restore their body to its peak vitality."

"Restore to peak vitality?" The Marquis Godfiends present were astonished.

Becoming a Venerable was difficult because after reaching 150 years old, the body slowly declined from its peak. While it was manageable initially, the hope of breakthrough became increasingly slim with age.

For those aged three or four hundred, with aging bodies, the hope of becoming a Venerable was negligible. This is why some late bloomers, like Marquis Zhenwu, remained at the Marquis Godfiend level.

Even in the Demon Realm, many talented demon kings stopped at the fifth-heaven realm.

"Emperor, as long as one reaches the Grotto-Heaven realm and Essence Soul fifth level, even if very old, they can receive an exotic treasure?" an excited white-haired elder pressed.

Meng Chuan nodded.

"Emperor, there has never been a precedent for this," an old woman stood up and said. "According to sect records, treasures that restore peak vitality are incredibly precious. If done on a large scale, the cost would be astonishing."

"There's no need to use the sect's accumulated resources; I will bear the cost personally," Meng Chuan stated.

Indeed, there was no precedent.

This was because birth, aging, sickness, and death were part of the rules governing time and space. An exotic treasure capable of restoring an aging body to peak vitality cost a full one hundred 'fang' (a unit of measure for treasures). In comparison, it only cost a few hundred 'fang' for Heaven and Earth realm Venerables to transform their lives into Emperor-level special lifeforms.

One hundred 'fang' was enough to deplete an Emperor's entire treasure collection.

"It's difficult to become a Venerable before the age of two hundred, but perhaps twenty to thirty percent can reach the Grotto-Heaven realm and Essence Soul fifth level within five hundred years," a young Marquis Godfiend stood up and said. "Every century, there might be thirty or forty such individuals. To restore peak vitality for so many Marquis Godfiends? Emperor, can you truly bear this cost?"

Under Meng Chuan's leadership, the Cangyuan Realm had seen a significant increase in the birth of Marquis Godfiends, primarily within the last two hundred years.

If a few more centuries passed, during the Cangyuan Realm's heyday, it might be able to sustain nearly eight hundred Marquis Godfiends simultaneously. Among them, an estimated two hundred might reach the Grotto-Heaven realm and Essence Soul fifth level before their lifespans ended.

Over five hundred years, restoring peak vitality for two hundred Marquis Godfiends would require twenty thousand 'fang'!

Five thousand years, two hundred thousand 'fang'.

Fifty thousand years, two million 'fang'.

The annual treasure allocation Patriarch Cangyuan provided to the sect was very limited, as he had to consider the long future of their home world. Allocations for individual Emperors and Calamity realm mighty figures were also controlled.

Therefore, throughout the history of the Cangyuan Realm, only during Patriarch Cangyuan's lifetime and Meng Chuan's lifetime could such extravagance be afforded.

The Demon Realm's treasure reserves were inferior to the Cangyuan Realm's, and they certainly wouldn't be this extravagant.

"Don't worry, as long as I live, I will bear the full cost," Meng Chuan said calmly. If he had failed his previous tribulation, he wouldn't even have mentioned this. But having successfully passed it, Meng Chuan now had some confidence.

"Thank you, Emperor!"

A chorus of excited gratitude immediately erupted.

Although these Marquis Godfiends also considered the well-being of their race and felt that Emperor Dongning, Meng Chuan, was making an incredibly significant sacrifice, they were still deeply moved when he declared he would personally bear the entire cost without using sect resources and remained resolute. This policy would change the destinies of many Marquis Godfiends.

Under normal circumstances, it was exceedingly difficult for Marquis Godfiends to become Venerables; the success rate was extremely low, perhaps one in ten.

With Meng Chuan's promise, this success rate would significantly increase, giving many Marquis Godfiends hope.

"To sustain this for twenty to thirty thousand years, one million 'fang' will be needed," Meng Chuan mused silently. "I can afford this cost. Only with a sufficient number of Venerables and Emperors can the Godfiend cultivation system be perfected more quickly."

The Godfiend cultivation system still had many flaws.

To date, only Patriarch Cangyuan and the Meng Chuan father-son duo had achieved complete physical perfection.

Meng Chuan, by creating ultimate peerless arts, naturally developed the Chaos Hole realm and Primordial realm. However, this system's threshold was too high, lacking universality.

Patriarch Cangyuan and Meng An were from the same lineage, both based on the Samsara Divine Body. After both of them successfully traversed this path, the Samsara Divine Body system became more complete.

But humanity could not all cultivate the Samsara Divine Body.

"In Patriarch Cangyuan's era, he forged the path of the Samsara Divine Body. I hope that in my era, I can pave a few more paths for the Cangyuan Realm's Godfiend cultivation system," Meng Chuan thought to himself.

"It's a pity that lifeforms from different worlds have vast physiological differences, otherwise, we could find a cultivation system very suitable for the human race of the Cangyuan Realm," Meng Chuan mused.

Some world lifeforms weren't even flesh-and-blood beings.

Some races had six arms, others three eyes... Even if outwardly similar, their bodily structures differed greatly.

In the outer void, cultivation systems universally applicable to most races were rare; typically, only Eighth-Calamity realm mighty figures could create them.

For example, the Starry Sky lineage's cultivation method could be practiced by flesh-and-blood lifeforms.

However, powerful methods applicable to most races also had extremely stringent cultivation requirements. The Starry Sky lineage demanded an exceptionally high Essence Soul and also required external materials like 'Starry Sky Crystals.' The founder of the Starry Sky Realm had nearly excavated all the 'Starry Sky Crystal' mines throughout the entire Space-Time River, relocating them to the Starry Sky Realm. Their descendants continued to collect them, and Starry Sky Crystals had long since been monopolized.

"The Cangyuan Realm's history is still short," Meng Chuan muttered.

For instance, the Demon Realm had a long enough history, so its cultivation system was naturally more complete.

"I can only accelerate the perfection of the Godfiend cultivation system. To make it truly perfect, I'd need to reach the Eighth-Calamity realm, which is still too far for me," Meng Chuan didn't over-expect. He would help his race as much as his power allowed. If he were solely focused on reaching the Eighth-Calamity realm, only to realize at the end of his lifespan that he hadn't done enough for his race and it was too late to help, that would be truly regrettable.

The rules set by Meng Chuan had a profound impact on the Cangyuan Realm.

Ancient Marquis Godfiends who had been in slumber were awakened. Those who had contributed to the Cangyuan Realm and had reached both the fifth level of Essence Soul and the Grotto-Heaven realm were all given exotic treasures from outside the realm to restore their peak vitality, allowing them to directly break through and become Venerables.

Yan Chihong, currently only at the fourth level of Essence Soul, naturally didn't qualify.

Yan Jin, however, met the requirements and, with the aid of an exotic treasure, successfully broke through to become a Venerable.

The number of Venerables in the Cangyuan Realm significantly increased.