Chapter 1131: The Path to Ascension

In Xian Yuan City, by the Soul Pond in the City Lord's Mansion, Lu Ye was conversing with Heavenly Secret.

He had realized long ago that the Heavenly Secret of Kyushu possessed self-awareness. However, at the time, he simply believed this consciousness was the will of Kyushu itself. Only now did he understand there were more complex underlying details.

Heavenly Secret is, and yet isn't entirely, the will of Kyushu. It is the spirit of the Heavenly Secret Disk, formed by integrating a part of the world's will.

It shoulders the heavy responsibility of protecting Kyushu and humanity. For thousands, even tens of thousands of years, it has silently safeguarded this realm, diligently working to reduce Kyushu's presence in the starry sky, preventing it from being detected by powerful alien races.

From this perspective alone, its contributions are immense. Without its concealment, some powerful entity might have detected Kyushu's aura over the years, subsequently bringing devastating destruction upon it.

Furthermore, it undoubtedly exerted more efforts when no one could perceive them.

For instance, consider the Unrivaled Continent it once saved. If the Heavenly Secret of Kyushu hadn't sent Lu Ye and his companions there, how would the cultivators of Kyushu have ever known about an Unrivaled Continent?

It possesses the ability to protect Kyushu and monitor the surrounding starry sky. It had long ago detected the location of the Unrivaled Continent, understood some of its circumstances, and sent Lu Ye and others there. By utilizing the Heavenly Secret Pillar, it opened a connection between the two realms, saving the remnants of humanity struggling for survival on the Unrivaled Continent.

Another example is the Blood Refining Realm...

Decades, even a century ago, it had already used its methods to send those venerable elders to the Blood Refining Realm, allowing them to become thorns embedded within it. Its actions were also aimed at saving humanity in the Blood Refining Realm.

However, the distance between the two realms was simply too vast. Although it desired to rescue humanity in the Blood Refining Realm, it was beyond its reach and could only wait for an opportunity.

Currently, the distance between the two realms is continuously narrowing, and the opportunity is about to arrive.

“If you summoned me solely for the Blood Refining Realm, I can guarantee I will do my utmost,” Lu Ye began. “However, this is ultimately a confrontation with another realm. I cannot guarantee how many people we can gather, especially the Divine Sea Realm cultivators. Defending Kyushu is their undeniable duty as they are cultivators of Kyushu. But protecting another realm? They might not be willing. Do you have any tangible benefits you can offer them, something practical that would motivate them?”

Before detecting the aura of the Blood Refining Realm, Lu Ye was considering how to attract more help, as he didn't know how many people Heavenly Secret could transport.

However, after sensing the Blood Refining Realm's aura, he realized this concern was superfluous. Heavenly Secret had long monitored the Blood Refining Realm's movements and was aware that the two realms were approaching, so transportation was not an issue at all.

The remaining question was how many would be willing to exert effort for humanity in another realm, especially the Divine Sea Realm cultivators. They were the decisive factor in this battle. Without sufficient incentives, they might not be persuaded. Unlike those of the Cloud River or True Lake realms, who would never miss an opportunity to gain merits, these cultivators were different.

To some extent, the intentions of the Divine Sea Realm cultivators would determine the overall direction of Kyushu's cultivators.

“I have no special benefits to give them. If I must, it would be the path to higher realms.”

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow: “The path to higher realms?”

“Each world possesses its own foundation. The size of this foundation determines a world's level and, more importantly, the strength of the beings living within it. Ancient Kyushu had a vast and high-level foundation, enabling it to produce cultivators beyond the Divine Sea Realm. However, during that migration, Kyushu's foundation was depleted too severely, causing its world level to fall. Consequently, no cultivators above the Divine Sea Realm have been born since then.”

Lu Ye had vaguely sensed this point while observing the evolution of Kyushu previously, but Heavenly Secret's explanation allowed him to understand it more thoroughly.

“After the migration, Kyushu's world level was only at the True Lake Realm. In other words, during that period, Kyushu's cultivation world could only produce True Lake Realm cultivators.”

Similarly, the Myriad Beast Domain, Dragon Ascension Realm, and Unrivaled Continent that Lu Ye had visited were all worlds at the Cloud River Realm level, thus only capable of producing Cloud River Realm cultivators. This was due to their weak world foundations.

Of course, the Dragon Ascension Realm once had Divine Sea Realm cultivators, but its world later declined. The Unrivaled Continent was similar, having been reduced to a mere fragment, which also led to the loss of its world foundation.

“Through the accumulation of long ages, Kyushu's foundation has been recovering, slowly rising to the Divine Sea Realm level, and Divine Sea Realm cultivators have gradually appeared. In fact, the current situation is the best state for a world. If Divine Sea Realm cultivators cannot leave the world, they won't expose their homeworld's existence or bring disaster upon it.”

Lu Ye shook his head: “Nothing is absolute. If a swarm of insectoids could discover Kyushu's existence five thousand years ago, stronger alien races might discover it in the future. People can only be independent if they strengthen themselves; relying on others to be blind is unrealistic. Perhaps the ancestors of ancient Kyushu did bring calamity to their homeworld and paid a heavy price by venturing into the starry sky. However, the pursuit of greater power and higher cultivation is a cultivator's innate nature. If time were to flow backward, giving those ancestors another chance, I believe they still wouldn't remain confined to their homeworld.”

“I am merely an artifact spirit; I cannot comprehend the complexities of your human race.”

“Please continue.”

“This current juncture is crucial for Kyushu. After ages of accumulation, it won't be long before Kyushu's world level allows cultivators to transcend their current limits. They will attain higher cultivation and once again possess the power to venture into the starry sky!”

“How long is 'it won't be long'?” Lu Ye asked. “At the shortest, several decades; at the longest, a century.”

Lu Ye fell silent. He realized that the concept of time for an artifact spirit like Heavenly Secret differed from human perception.

Even for Divine Sea Realm cultivators, several decades to a century is not a short period. But for an artifact spirit that has existed for countless ages, this amount of time... indeed isn't long.

“Is this what you mean by the opportunity to ascend to higher realms?” Lu Ye asked, puzzled. “If so, everyone could simply wait. There's no need to take risks for the Blood Refining Realm.”

“The accumulation of a world's foundation can happen through natural progression, but that takes a very long time. However, if the Blood Refining Realm, being a major realm with a deep foundation, is incorporated, Kyushu's world level will be significantly elevated, thereby opening the path to higher cultivation for its cultivators.”

Lu Ye nodded. Reaching this point in the conversation, he finally received a useful piece of information: “This benefit is enough to make the Divine Sea Realm cultivators of Kyushu go all out.”

Now there was no need to worry about attracting enough manpower. He believed that once he revealed this news, the Divine Sea Realm cultivators would surely scramble to rush to the Blood Refining Realm. No one would be willing to wait another few decades or a century, especially for those in the ninth layer, for whom the need to ascend to higher realms was imminent.

Slaying their way into the Blood Refining Realm, annihilating the Blood Race, saving humanity, allowing Kyushu to integrate the Blood Refining Realm's foundation, and consequently elevating Kyushu's world level—benefiting the entire body of cultivators!

Lu Ye suddenly felt some sympathy for the venerable elders who had chosen to seclude themselves in cultivation to glimpse higher realms.

They could sense that there was still a path beyond the Divine Sea Realm, yet they could never find the way in. It now seemed that it wasn't their personal issue or a problem with their inheritances, but rather a consequence of the grand environment. Kyushu's world level was simply insufficient to give birth to higher-level cultivators.

And cultivators born in this era—how fortunate they were! They would no longer face the predicaments their predecessors encountered. By simply cultivating step-by-step, with sufficient aptitude and resources, they would gain the power to break out of Kyushu.

However, one thing still puzzled Lu Ye: “Why me?”

Heavenly Secret's existence had always been a mystery. All cultivators knew of its presence, and sometimes sensed it vaguely, but no one had ever directly communicated with Heavenly Secret like this.

Kyushu had countless cultivators. While he might be the most dazzling one of this generation, every era had such figures. Take the previous era, for example; Senior Brother was equally brilliant. So why not Senior Brother, or the elites of other eras?

Therefore, he couldn't quite understand why Heavenly Secret would say these things. Looking at his journey of growth, and considering the times Heavenly Secret had seemingly favored him, it was evident that Heavenly Secret had been paying attention to him even when he was very weak. It even had direct contact with him in the Dragon Ascension Realm, assuming the identity of Little Medical Immortal.

“Your inheritance is one reason. As I said before, your inheritance is far more valuable than mine, so I'm not worried about revealing my true nature to you. Of course, the most important reason is time. Even without the Blood Refining Realm, in a few decades to a century, Kyushu cultivators will once again have the opportunity to step into the starry sky. The appearance of the Blood Refining Realm will undoubtedly accelerate this process, just as you humans often say: the time has come! Therefore, I had to find a suitable person in this generation to tell him the history of Kyushu and let him lead Kyushu's future. Naturally, that is you, and it can only be you.”

Lu Ye rubbed his nose: “When you put it that way, I feel a bit of pressure.”

“Your inheritance allows you to grow rapidly, and your future achievements will be the greatest in Kyushu. To some extent, your future will represent Kyushu's future. I have been given the mission to protect Kyushu, so I hope to join forces with you to safeguard this stellar body together.”

“As a human, I naturally have an undeniable responsibility,” Lu Ye nodded. “I understand the general situation. I will fully mobilize Kyushu's cultivators, and I believe they won't refuse. However, I might need some help from you then.”

“Naturally, that's no problem.”