The unsealing of a new Heavenly Realm territory was a huge opportunity for everyone in the Immortal World. Existing sects at the top of the Immortal World could soar, maintain their standing through the gain of resources, or even disband depending on the result their elites achieve when climbing to this higher stage. The conditions imposed to participate in the race for the Heavenly Realm, or rather, the stringent requirements one has to meet to qualify to even receive the contract, have made countless geniuses cry tears of blood many times in his past life.

Herman himself didn't meet the standards needed to participate in the previously opened ones, due to certain conditions he found absurd.

"Once a new realm begins its opening process, the system sends out a notification to everyone meeting the criteria set by the cultivators which sealed it before. If one agrees to participate, the system registers your present cultivation level and once you ascend, assigns you a number and a reward based on that number. The sooner one ascends, the better the rewards and the more opportunities available. The realm I managed to ascend to before was already 98% explored and the best resources already claimed, while the rest were heavily fought for. The reward I got for being among the first hundred of thousands to ascend was... abysmal. If I could be among the first this time around, everything would change. Just imagining the amount of Ancient Mystical Crystals I could get before they become known to the rest gets me fired up!"

With that being said, it wasn't as easy to make that happen. Leaving aside the geniuses he would face-off against this time around, the indigenous population would prove to be the greater competition due to their connections in the Immortal World.

The main conditions needed to be met would be a period between 1 and 5 years since one began cultivation and a spirit cultivation realm at least at Qi Gathering. There was also a hidden factor that would limit the number of participants and force those that don't qualify to be called 'geniuses' from participating: bone age!

Only those under 99 years of age would be able to participate in the race for ascension. That coupled with the time one cultivated for, would ensure that only the cream of the crop will have a chance at pioneering such a bountiful territory.

"Leaving aside the reward for ascension, the fact that there are only a handful of immortal beasts left behind, belonging to the ones that sealed the realm, probably only five people could ascend per year through their guidance... that means that I would need attributes high enough to challenge the Array of Heavens... Troublesome! Where did I put the tea leaves!?"

Herman realized that he was getting ahead of himself. To be able to ascend, one needed to be at least in the middle levels of the Nihility realm, otherwise, the space-time teleportation would rip them into shreds before they could place a foot down on the ground. Even in his case, he would probably need at least 30 years at the minimum and 50 years if things don't go as planned before being able to reach such heights.

Not only that but to be recognized by the immortal beasts left behind by cultivators that reached realms above the ones of gods was no easy feat. One's talent in the cultivation of the spirit must be incredibly high to just attract their attention, much less pass their tests which were reputed to be disgustingly difficult.

Another way to attract their attention was through reaching the Nihility realm, while also having a high body cultivation realm. That would prove one's potential, therefore giving them a better chance of being picked.

"There are a total of three ways to ascend to the Heavenly Realm. First, is ascending through the help of one's immortal beast. This is the fastest route, yet also the less bountiful one. In my past life, I followed this ascension type and gained 1000 attribute points in each of the four main attributes. While it's good and balanced, it can be said for sure that it's the worst one among the three. The second one is challenging the Array of Heavens. Simply put, one needed to fight against soul strands left behind by the sealers and overpower them. It is the most straightforward option, but also the hardest for newbies. While the attributes needed are quite monstrous for a Nihility realm cultivator, the lack of combat experience is what stops newbies from ascending. The reward was the option of customizing your 4000 attribute points. That means that you can specialize yourself when challenging the higher realm. The third option... it's the most ridiculous one."

The third option was ascending through the power of one's body alone. It meant for one to reach the Heavenly Being realm - quite self-explanatory if one might add - and transcend time and space with just the prowess of one's body to withstand the terrible force of dimensional travel.

The refinement realms for the body known by Herman were as follows:

*Mortal Flesh

*Soul Forming

*Mind Scattering

*Sarira

*Bone-refining

*Nirvana

*Golden body

*Godly force

*Heavenly being

He also heard rumors of other realms above but wasn't particularly informed about them. Why? Because he didn't even reach the Nirvana refinement realm in his past life and was stuck at the last stage of Bone-refining. If he could have taken that step, maybe he wouldn't have died a dog's death before. While the body refinement was hard to follow through and the resources needed to climb one step at a time were ridiculously high, what was even more terrifying was the time needed to do so. Even whales with stupidly high amounts of SJ available to them were only able to ascend after 500 to 1000 years have passed and that's after they injected tens of thousands of the said currency. Not only that, but the amount of SJ they had to spend to catch up with the rest of cultivators would also increase exponentially.

"But there is a flip side to that coin! With that much work being put in their body, once reaching such a realm, they transcend their mortality and step directly into godhood. A Heavenly being cultivator that's only at the Nascent Soul realm, would trash thousands of Profound Realm cultivators that haven't reached Nirvana in body refinement. Why? Because the damage they would take from the latter would be minuscule, while the one he would dish out would be exaggerated for his spiritual cultivation level! Hmm... which tea leaves to pick?"

If that wasn't enough, besides the high innate defense and attack, not only would one receive 1000 points to their Strength, Life Essence, Dexterity, and Vitality, but also another one thousand points in Perception. That was a reward meant to help the cultivator catch up with the rest of the herd in spiritual cultivation, even if the process of doing so would be difficult and strenuous.

For Herman's plans... the fastest option would be the guided ascension. However, it wasn't easy to attract the attention of those old behemoths and get them to shield him when crossing time and space. Not only that, but he also wanted the 4000 points bulk, all to specialize himself in either Strength or Dexterity, depending on his chosen path. Life Essence was good as well, but hard to get early on.

"That, however, implies that I need to slowly build my attribute points to a level high enough to beat the soul strands of those ridiculously strong cultivators which sealed this portion of the heavens. A rumor I heard in my past life was that one needed at least 25.000 in each of the main four attributes, an ultimate skill that leverages one attribute in particular, as well as incredible luck to pass through the Array of Heavens."

Those rumors spoke of different levels of difficulty as well. For example, a smaller piece of heavens would need fewer cultivators sealing it. Therefore, the number of 'shadows' one had to face would be lower as well. If the realm would be more expansive, the number needed to defeat as well as their overall strength would also soar accordingly.

The person would also need to specialize in one attribute and gain the respective ultimate skill for it to stand a chance.

While putting the snacks on the table and boiling the water for tea, he kept mumbling to himself about the necessary steps to take.

"Once in a sect, one could learn different skills from the head of it. There are usually four main skills focusing on the four primary attributes. A skill used for attack increasing one's Life Essence, a skill meant for the defense which would increase Strength, a movement skill that would increase Dexterity and a body cultivation technique that would increase Vitality. Some sects though would teach the fifth one, that on the basis that your standing in the said sect was high enough and your contribution points were sufficient. That would be an ultimate skill, or better put, a sect's legacy skill."

Such skills were used to leverage specific attributes or even specific Spiritual Roots. For example, the amount of regular damage one would dish out could be multiplied by a certain amount if the ultimate skill they used added fire damage. Say that one's regular damage is 15.000 points and their Fire Damage unlocked after ascending to the Immortal World was 3.000. If the ultimate skill gave Fire damage X2 bonus multiplier, which would mean an extra 6.000 added on top of the usual damage dealt.

That was the sort of edge needed to challenge the Array of Heaven. Now, if one focused on their main attributes and got 25.000 points in Strength, while also having an X2 Strength multiplier as ultimate skill, the effect would be most optimal.

"The tricky part is finding the sects which have such skills... Not only that, but I cannot only hunt for ultimate skills but also search for companions to ascend with. If I end up ascending alone with nobody that I signed a master-servant contract with, I will have to spend a huge amount of time going back between Heaven and Immortal World searching for potential companions to grab."

In his previous life, he managed to find eight such servants, two of which had gold-ranked potential acknowledged by the System. Anyway, that's another problem for the future him to worry about. Plans about ascension could be still formulated in the first ten to fifteen years after reaching the Immortal World first. Right now, he had other problems to deal with.

Such as...

*Screetch*...*Slam**Slam* *Knock**Knock*

...the guests that had just arrived by car. And judging from the noise made by multiple car doors closing, they were more than one. Herman couldn't help but snicker at the sound of two hands knocking at the same time, but on each of the two sides of the door. It was clear that whoever the two people outside were, they had quite a bit of rivalry going on.

"Come on it! The doors are open."

Following his words, the cracking sound made by the two doors being opened at the same time could be heard. One set of footsteps was faster and almost hurried, while the other was calm and measured.

Two men stopped in the living room in front of a small table surrounded by chairs. The plentitude of snacks one could enjoy while holding a conversation was slightly overwhelming when compared with the somber mood the two guests brought with them.

"The tea should be ready in a few seconds. Apologies for not meeting you at the door."

[From the looks of it, you were expecting us?](?)

"Not just the two of you, but UX and Bian Hua as well. Let me properly introduce myself once more. The nickname I go with is Herman Roy. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance LinkWill, Envy!"

With a large grin on his face, the top genius that held an entire world on his shoulders in Herman's previous life took a seat without any further words. Envy shook his head, obviously displeased at his opponent sitting down without any further formalities, but followed suit when saw that Herman didn't follow etiquette either and rather greeted and introduced himself while not even facing them. Instead, he was preparing a quite fragrant tea.

[From the aroma, I'd say Jasmine tea?](Envy)

"Correct. I enjoy it more than any other expensive brand. It seems that both of you are quite versed in this field as well."

[That's an understatement. Envy here went as far as to buy one of the few original tea trees left, only because he wanted to drink Da-Hong Pao daily. Such kind of opulence... leaves even me in awe.](LinkWill)

[You... Tsk! I'm not here to argue with you or discuss tea. Seeing as you were expecting us, I guess you understand what we are here for, right?](Envy)

[As impatient as always... however, I do not necessarily disagree. What do you say Herman?](LinkWill)

"UX and Bian Hua?"

[Bian Hua won't be joining us. The damage undertook because of the Warring Drums wasn't small, so he's recuperating at the moment. What I can tell you though, is that we are on the same side.](LinkWill)

"Oh... is that so?"

Of course, Herman knew of that already. The Immortal World found out about their close relationship only after a bounty was put on LinkWill's head by the top ten worlds that distinguished themselves after the trials. He was hunted by over 10.000 elites belonging to these worlds and was almost killed in the process. Being who he was, he took down around three thousand of them and injured another thousand or so, but was eventually overrun due to their huge numbers. When he was close to dying, Bian Hua showed up.

The rumors exaggerated what happened next, but later on, LinkWill admitted that they didn't fight alongside to take down the remaining opponents, rather, Bian Hua obliterated all of them into nothingness without his help.

[UX is also the reclusive type so he won't show up if I and LinkWill are visiting. You will have to wait until we get to the other side before talking with him. So, what do you think?](Envy)

"I see. Your purpose for being here is likely to draw me into your organization, right?"

[[No!]](both)

"Eh!?"

It was Herman's turn to be shocked after hearing their reply. They weren't? If they weren't here to recruit him, what the hell did they want from him instead?

"Now I am curious. Why are you here for then?"

[An alliance!](Envy)

[Information!](LinkWill)

Hearing each other's reply, a look of surprise appeared on the faces of the two guests as well. Herman was also showing incredulity. The 'regime' that haunted the other 360 worlds in his past life, making them fear Earth and putting their small planet at the top of every event, 'Peak', wanted an actual alliance with him!? Not only that, but LinkWill, the proud uncrowned king of Heavens and dubbed as the one-man's army wanted information out of him!? The heck was this world coming to?

"I see... then, what's in it for me?"

[[Eh!?]](both)

"You don't expect me to help the two of you for nothing, do you? In your case Envy, Mental probably sent you here to ask for an alliance instead of coming himself, just because LinkWill would also be present and needs you to keep him in check. Also, while you do ask for an alliance, you seek the information that I would have to share as your ally. Will, your situation is pretty much the same. You want to get some information for a headstart and use that headstart to get on the same level as myself once in the Immortal World, shooting for an alliance in the long term as well. I'm I wrong?"

[Nope. Pretty much so.](LinkWill)

[*Sigh* That's why we usually leave the talking part to Mental. So, what do you want in exchange for useful information?](Envy)

Calmly watching the two and happy that things were still somewhere around where he wanted them to be, he took out four sealed envelopes and placed two of them on the table, while throwing the other two in the trash bin. He originally thought the four previously mentioned would try to recruit him, he would refuse politely and sell them info instead, just like he did with the previous two tutorials.

This time though, the price would be slightly higher, since these guys could afford to pay it.

[I see. If it's anything like the previous two, may I have the letters meant for UX and Bian Hua? I can deliver it to them as well.](LinkWill)

"Sure, I don't mind."

In an attempt to impress and maybe even scare them slightly, Herman waved his hand and sent out wisps of Spiritual Qi towards the empty bin. Using his dantian and the roots, he converted it into a burst of gentle wind that pulled the two letters out and sent them flying towards the table. Once in front of the now shocked genius, they descended slowly next to his teacup.

The effect was... stronger than expected. While they would find out later that it was nothing but a parlor trick, it still required fine granular control of Qi.

[It seems that we did not come all the way here for nothing. Can you give us an explanation of what's in the envelope?](Envy)

"Information vital to the first steps you need to take once ascended to the Immortal World. If it was before, I wouldn't have bothered with it. Now that they mentioned a new Heavenly Realm being unsealed, things changed."

[So that 'reward' they mentioned, is quite exceptional in your eyes, isn't it?](LinkWill)

"Like you probably figured out already, this 'reward' will spark a huge war between the 361 worlds participating in the recruitment this time around and the indigenous population of the Immortal World. The details in the envelope would give you a general direction in which you need to develop your 'cliques' if you want to survive the upcoming slaughter. Let's just say that you would save anywhere between hundreds and thousands of Spiritual Jades if you follow the instructions closely."

[It seems to me that you need us as much as we need your intel. We don't know how much Spirit Jade you spent to get your information, yet, it appears that you are in the possession of quite the amount. Why not give it out for free?](Envy)

"Oh, I will."

[[What!?]](both)

Seeing the almost scared looks on the faces of the two guests, Herman snickered happily, knowing that they already saw the payment required to buy the piece of paper.

[You mean to say that you want us to give you 10% of all proprieties under our name for this envelope, which is quite thin if I might add, in exchange for something you will provide for free to others anyway? Why would we agree to such a trade?](LinkWill)

[Hmm... when are you going to release the info to the rest of the world?](Envy)

[When? Oh... I see. Exclusive rights, but for a limited amount of time. How limited are we talking?](LinkWill)

"Six hours it's all you get since otherwise the rest of the world would suffer heavily. Unfortunately, Will, even if you get the envelopes in time to Bian Hua and UX, they will not have many advantages over the regular person. Also, as you can see, the restrictions prevent you from letting others know the content. If you are creative, they can still understand under the right conditions..."

Unsurprisingly, they both agreed to the spiritual contract and read through its few words. It was a single page, filled only about one quarter with short sentences. The pale faces the two showed, however, explained how important this piece of information was.