Chapter 3190: Thirty Years Later

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Thirty years later.

Thirty years were not considered long in Devata Realms. In fact, some powerful Celestials would enter closed-door cultivation for a couple of decades and centuries or even more.

In the Imperial Tutor Pavilion of the Profound Nether Mansion.

Now that thirty years had passed, Duan Ling Tian was already more than 100 years old. His aura from when he was younger seemed to have disappeared. “Senior.”

For the Pavilion Master of the Imperial Tutor Pavilion who had lived for more than 30,000 years, thirty years passed in just a blink of an eye. He had lost sense of time a long time ago.

“Is it possible for me to enter the upper realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm without joining the Su Clan? I remember you said everyone’s free to enter the upper realm as long as they meet the realm’s requirement of being below the stage of a Celestial Lord,” Duan Ling Tian bluntly asked.

The old man nodded. “That’s right.”

“How do I enter the upper realm?” Duan Ling asked again.

“As long as you have a formation compass, you’ll be able to find and enter the upper realm,” the old man replied.

“Senior, do you have the formation compass?” Duan Ling Tian asked hopefully as his eyes lit up upon hearing the old man’s words.

“Why do you ask?” the old man asked with a frown on his face, “Are you thinking of entering the upper realm now?”

“Yes.” Duan Ling Tian nodded. “I want to see if I’ll be able to chance upon any fortuitous encounter in the upper realm. The chances should be quite high since the Southern Heaven Celestial Lord expended so much effort to maintain the realm.”

“What’s your current cultivation base?” The old man’s frown deepened. He did not expect Duan Ling Tian to say he wanted to enter the upper realm now. Only thirty years had passed since Duan Ling Tian had entered closed-door cultivation. At that time, Duan Ling Tian was only a One Basic Celestial King. In his opinion, even with the resources provided by the Profound Nether Mansion, Duan Ling Tian should now be a Two Forms Celestial King at most. It was possible that Duan Ling Tian had not even broken through and become a Two Basic Celestial King.

“I’m now a Three Talents Celestial King,” Duan Ling Tian replied.

The old man was shocked. “Y-you’ve broken through and become a Three Talents Celestial King?”

Duan Ling Tian knew the old man was skeptical so he released his aura into the surroundings. Normally, his aura would be concealed by the Profound Divine Metal if he did not deliberately release his aura. Therefore, he knew the old man could not sense his aura.

After a moment, the old man said with a sigh, “Even if you’ve broken through and become a Three Talents Celestial King, your current strength isn’t enough for you to survive in the upper realm… Unless you’ve comprehended…”

Before the old man finished speaking, Duan Ling Tian cast a series of profundities from the law of space.

The old man exclaimed, “Boy, your talent is insane!” When he finally regained his composure, he raised his hand and brought out a formation compass. “This is the formation compass to the upper realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. You can use it to enter the upper realm. Remember, in order to return, you must use the same Transporting Formation that you were sent to when you enter the upper realm.”

The formation compass looked no different from an ordinary compass except that it was slightly larger and had holes on it that were meant for Celestial Crystals.

The old man waved his hand, and the holes were soon filled by Celestial Crystals that shone dazzlingly under the sun.

Based on the old man’s actions, it was clear he no longer objected to Duan Ling Tian entering the upper realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm.

“Are you planning to enter the upper realm alone or you planning to bring Huan’er along?” the old man asked. Over the past thirty years, Huan’er would occasionally join Duan Ling Tian to accompany the old man while he fished in the backyard whenever they emerged from closed-door cultivation. He had taken a liking to her pure and innocent nature and treated her like his granddaughter.

The old man favored Huan’er so much that sometimes Duan Ling Tian felt the Huan’er was even more important to the old man compared to him.

“I’m planning to enter the upper realm with Huan’er,” Duan Ling Tian replied.

“That girl… What’s her cultivation base now?” the old man asked.

“She’s a Six Combos Celestial King now.” Duan Ling Tian smiled wryly. Even he was shocked by Huan’er’s cultivation speed.

Both of them had consumed the same number of Celestial Fruits, and over the last thirty years, the number of Celestial Pills and cultivation resources that Profound Nether Mansion provided him were shared equally as well. And yet, after thirty years, his cultivation base was three stages lower than Huan’er’s cultivation base. However, in terms of comprehending the law of space, his progress surpassed hers. Although she had also used the Supreme Powerhouse Divinity to comprehend the law of space, she was unable to comprehend the law of space as quickly as him. He wondered if it had something to do with Huan’er not being human.

“Six Combos Celestial King?” The old man was dumbfounded. He had lived for more than 30,000 years, and yet, he had never heard of anyone in the Southern Heaven Territory who managed to become a Six Combos Celestial King from a One Basic Celestial King within thirty years. Even in the Seven Upper Province, someone like Huan’er who managed to break through and become a Six Combos Celestial King from a One Basic Celestial King was as rare as a phoenix and a unicorn. How heaven-defying!

The old man thought to himself, ‘It seems like there’s no doubt that girl is a Thousand Phantoms Ice Fox that the Phantom Fox Clan in the Seven Upper Province is looking for.’ He was sure of this now that he found out Huan’er had become a Six Combos Celestial King from a One Basic Celestial King within thirty years. That was the only reason she had such heaven-defying cultivation speed. Moreover, he figured out the Phantom Fox Clan’s branch in the Southern Heaven Territory was after Huan’er because they would be handsomely rewarded by the Clan Leader of the Phantom Fox Clan, which was also the main clan that was located in the Seven Upper Province, if they found her. The rewards were even greater than the rewards that were posted on the black market. One could just imagine how great the rewards the Phantom Fox Clan would receive were when even the old man himself was tempted by the inferior rewards posted on the black market.

“How’s her comprehension of the law of space?” the old man asked again after a while. The level of shock when he saw the profundities from the law of space that Duan Ling Tian had cast earlier was equal to the shock he felt when he learned of Huan’er’s cultivation base.

After Duan Ling Tian told the old man about Huan’er’s comprehension of the law of space, the old man sighed. “Although her cultivation speed is heaven-defying, she can’t compare to you in terms of comprehension skills. After taking everything into account, I’d say Huan’er’s abilities are almost on par with yours.” He would have been impressed by Huan’er’s comprehension of the law of space if he did not see Duan Ling Tian’s demonstration earlier.

After a brief moment, Duan Ling Tian looked at the old man and asked, “Senior, can you tell me more about the upper realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm?”

“The upper realm is…” The old man began to patiently explain what he knew about the upper realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm to Duan Ling Tian.

The upper realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm was different from the lower and middle realm since it was open to everyone in the Southern Heaven Territory. As long as one was in the Southern Heaven Territory and one possessed the formation compass, one would be able to enter the upper realm. There were scoreboards in the upper realm, and unlike the middle realm that was refreshed once a month, the scoreboards in the upper realm would be refreshed once a year.

“When you enter the upper realm, you’ll first be transported into a safe zone. Similar to grade-six Celestial Mansions’ bases in the middle realm, participants are not allowed to fight in the safe zone. Anyone who fights in the safe zone will be killed by the killing Formation in the safe zone. Not even the most powerful Ten Directions Celestial King would be able to survive the killing Formation in the safe zone since it was set up by the Southern Heaven Celestial Lord,” the old man explained.

Duan Ling Tian shuddered upon hearing these words. He could imagine how powerful the killing Formation that was cast by a titled Celestial Lord was.

The old man continued to explain, “In the safe zone, you can collect your Identity Jade Token… After engraving your name and dripping your blood on the Identity Jade Token, it will be yours until the year has ended, and it’s time for the scoreboard to be refreshed. Those who rank in the top 10 will be led to a secret realm where the Southern Heaven Celestial Lord left his treasures. There are Royal Grade Celestial Weapons, purely defensive Royal Grade Celestial Weapons, and rare and valuable Celestial Fruits and Celestial Pills that the Profound Nether Mansion can’t provide you with in there. This is the reward for those who rank in the top 10. For those who rank 11th to the 30th place, they would be led to a grade-two realm. Finally, the remaining people who rank in the top 100 would be led to a grade-three realm as a reward. The treasures hidden in the grade-two and grade-three secret realm aren’t necessarily inferior to the treasures in the grade-one secret realm. However, the two lower realms are much more dangerous than the grade-one realm. Based on this, you can probably guess that the grade-three secret realm is the most dangerous one out of three secret realms. The grade-three realm has many tests one would have to pass in order to obtain the treasures. Moreover, in order to pass the test, it would require at least 30 people to work together. In comparison, as long as you’re strong enough, one person is enough to pass the tests in the grade-one secret realm. Apart from the secret realms, you can naturally find treasures and fortuitous encounters in the upper realm as well. Otherwise, those who aren’t strong enough to rank in the top 100 wouldn’t continuously try their luck and enter the upper realm. The treasures will appear according to the Illusory Formations. You can take the treasure if you’re the only person who chances upon it. However, if more than one person finds the treasure at the same time, needless to say, you’ll have to fight for it.”

The old man paused for a moment to let Duan Ling Tian digest the information before he began to explain again, “Apart from that, just like the middle realm, you can crush your Identity Jade Token to escape from your opponents and to avoid being killed. You’ll be transported out to the same place you entered. If you want to leave without crushing your Identity Jade Token, you’ll have to return to the safe zone you were transported to when you first entered and leave through the Transporting Formation there.”

With this, the old man concluded everything he knew about the upper realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm.