Chapter 1903: The Way of the Lower World

"Multi-Eyed Pearl!" Wang Changsheng secretly noted this race. The Xuanling Continent was home to many races, each possessing unique innate divine abilities. In the Dongli Realm, "demons" was a general term for all demonic creatures. However, on the Xuanling Continent of the Xuanyang Realm, the classification was different. For human cultivators there, all non-human races were considered "demons." Yet, some races, like the Azure Ape race, maintained good relations with humans, while others, such as the Profound Crane race, were sworn enemies. Consequently, cultivators would refer to specific races during conversations rather than using the broad term "demons."

After a few cups of tea, they began to chat openly. Wang Changsheng consulted Qin Ming about artifact refining. Given the abundant resources in the Xuanyang Realm, it was natural that cultivators on the Xuanling Continent possessed superior artifact refining skills. Qin Ming didn't hold back, freely discussing the art of refining with Wang Changsheng. Qin Ming did most of the talking, while Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan occasionally interjected with questions.

An hour later, a golden paper crane flew in and landed in front of Qin Ming. Qin Ming cast a spell, and a cheerful female voice suddenly echoed: "Senior Brother Qin, has my Golden Scale Cauldron been repaired? If so, please send it to my cave dwelling! I need it urgently."

"Junior Brother Wang, Junior Sister Wang," Qin Ming said politely, "I have something to attend to. How about this: you two return to your lodging for now, and I will take you to visit our fellow disciples from the Ascension Faction tomorrow." With this indication, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan naturally knew not to linger.

"Senior Brother Qin, you are too kind," Wang Changsheng said sincerely. "We will call on you again tomorrow."

Qin Ming retrieved five jade slips of different colors and handed them to Wang Changsheng. "These jade slips contain information on artifact refining materials, spirit insects, spirit medicines, exotic beasts, rare treasures, and heavenly and earthly spiritual objects," he explained. "You might find them useful, so please take them." Wang Changsheng expressed his gratitude and accepted the jade slips.

Upon returning to their lodging, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan went to the stone pavilion and began examining the jade slips Qin Ming had given them.

"That's strange," Wang Ruyan said, puzzled. "There's no mention of Underworld Moonwater. Does the Xuanyang Realm not have Underworld Moonwater? Or is it considered insignificant here? Or perhaps it was simply omitted?" She noted that while Underworld Moonwater was a rare artifact refining material in the lower realms, it might not be so in the Xuanyang Realm. As the saying goes, "An innocent man is guilty only for the treasure he possesses." As newcomers, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan dared not rashly reveal any valuable items. If others deemed them insignificant, that was fine, but if they aroused the covetousness of other cultivators, it would lead to trouble.

"Any of those are possible!" Wang Changsheng replied. "It's better to be cautious." He was also unsure and felt caution was the best approach. Their immediate priority was to make more friends, paving the way for their future development.

"I wonder how Qingqing and the others are doing, and if Qingshan has managed to get out of trouble," Wang Ruyan sighed, recalling that they had consulted Fang Ming about descending to lower realms. For cultivators in the Xuanyang Realm wishing to descend, the higher their cultivation level, the greater the resistance from the realm's inherent power. Generally, Spirit Transformation cultivators could descend with the aid of treasures like a Realm-Breaching Disc. However, descending with their physical bodies carried significant risks; encountering a realm storm could lead to their demise, even with a Realm-Breaching Disc.

Descending with one's physical body was dangerous, with a high chance of never returning. The resistance between realms was immense, and many unknown dangers lurked, such as exotic beasts wandering between realms, and realm storms.

Besides descending with the physical body, one could also use a divine soul clone. This method was suitable for cultivators above the Void Refinement stage; the stronger the divine soul, the higher the success rate. If the spell failed, the divine soul clone would naturally be destroyed. To send a divine soul clone to a lower realm, one needed a Realm-Breaking Talisman or a special formation, but the chances of failure were still relatively high.

Both methods of descending had their pros and cons. Descending with one's physical body allowed one to bring cultivation resources like magic treasures, elixirs, and spirit beasts, and upon returning to the upper realm, one could bring back cultivation resources from the lower realm. A divine soul clone, however, could not carry items down to the lower realm but could bring back cultivation resources from the lower realm upon returning to the upper realm.

Besides these two methods, there were other ways to descend, but their success rates were even lower, making them exceedingly perilous. Wang Changsheng wasn't sure how the Tool Spirit had descended. The Tool Spirit was an Integration stage cultivator, perhaps possessing some incredible divine ability, or perhaps the Immortal Suppressing Pagoda was a Profound Heavenly Treasure capable of ignoring realm barriers.

He had asked Fang Ming why Spirit Transformation cultivators from the Dongli Realm found it difficult to ascend to the Xuanyang Realm. According to Fang Ming's analysis, it was likely due to a massive racial war tens of thousands of years ago in the Xuanyang Realm, which caused it to slightly deviate from its original position. As a result, cultivators from lower realms like the Dongli Realm now needed to reach the late Spirit Transformation stage to successfully ascend to the Xuanyang Realm.

If they wished to return to the Dongli Realm now, they would need an extraordinary treasure like a Realm-Breaching Disc. Fang Ming had revealed that refining such a treasure was extremely difficult, primarily due to the rarity of the materials. Only a few major forces possessed them, and their numbers were scarce.

Regardless of the method, descending to a lower realm carried inherent risks. Cultivators from the Xuanling Continent rarely descended to lower realms. For the major powers of the Xuanling Continent, lower realms were merely talent screening grounds. It was considered fortunate if one or two ascended cultivators appeared every few millennia. While ascended cultivators possessed great potential, it wasn't worth the major powers expending vast human and material resources to help more lower-realm cultivators ascend.

Cultivators who ascended to the Xuanyang Realm through their own abilities from a lower realm were naturally worth significant cultivation investment, whereas those who could only ascend with the aid of upper-realm forces were considered dispensable.

In over 500,000 years, only one Xuanling Heavenly Venerate had emerged. Most ascended cultivators had no problem advancing to the Void Refinement stage, but reaching the Integration stage was another matter entirely.

Just maintaining the Ascension Platform's operation consumed considerable cultivation resources, let alone sending cultivators to lower realms. Fang Ming had attempted to send a divine soul clone down several times but failed each time. He only recovered after consuming Seven-Star Soul Nourishing Pills and cultivating diligently for over a century.

Of course, despite the dangers of descending, it didn't mean major forces never sent cultivators to lower realms. Generally, if an extremely rare and valuable treasure, rare even in the Xuanyang Realm, appeared in a lower realm, a major force in the Xuanyang Realm would be notified via secret methods and would then dispatch cultivators to retrieve it.

To put it plainly, immortal cultivation sects prioritized gains and losses; a few more or a few fewer Spirit Transformation cultivators made little difference to them. Immortal cultivation families, however, were somewhat better, as they relied on bloodline inheritance and valued familial bonds more.

Even if Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan could return to the Dongli Realm now, it would be pointless. The materials required to refine an Ascension Platform were incredibly precious—enough to craft several Sky-reaching Spirit Treasures.

They simply couldn't gather the materials needed to refine an Ascension Platform, at least not at present.

"Let's settle down first. To bring them to the Xuanyang Realm, we'll need sufficient strength," Wang Changsheng said. He believed that where there was a will, there was a way, and they would eventually find a solution.

After a brief chat, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan each returned to their rooms to meditate and regulate their breathing.