198: Chaos is the ladder of progress

“Boom!”

Immediately after, a pressure far exceeding the Golden Core Stage suddenly erupted, and the Void Realm outside the black hole rippled with iridescent light.

Countless colorful light bands surged from all directions, weaving into a giant auspicious cloud in the Void Realm, and above the auspicious cloud, the phantom images of a Dragon and a Phoenix coiled and cried out.

Even more, Spiritual Qi, like sweet dew, transformed into fine rain and fell, nourishing this part of the Void Realm that had just been ravaged by the tribulation lightning — this was the Heavenly Dao’s gift for Li Xiangyun’s previous help, and an auspicious phenomenon he deserved.

Subsequently, Li Xiangyun slowly opened his eyes, his gaze no longer holding any of the pain from the tribulation lightning’s tempering, only clarity and majesty remained.

He raised his hand and waved, the flame mark on his forehead flickered, and the fiery lotus beneath him slowly carried him upward.

His Physical Body and Nascent Soul were perfectly fused, the Netherworld Darkfire was now his to command, the Yin-Yang Life-Death Dao Intent circulated endlessly within his body, and the power of the Divine Ability Realm, like a sleeping giant beast, stirred restlessly within his Bloodline.

At this moment, he felt his state was better than ever before, not only because he had broken through to the Nascent Soul, but also because his Physical Body Realm had also broken through to the Divine Ability Realm.

If the Divine Treasury Realm was about excavating the potential of the Physical Body, then the Divine Ability Realm was the season of harvest.

In this Realm, Body Cultivators would Awaken various Divine Abilities, allowing Body Cultivators to no longer rely solely on their Physical Body to fight enemies.

These Divine Abilities were often influenced by factors such as Physique, Bloodline, Spiritual Root, and Cultivation Technique.

In the distance, the entrance to the black hole, originally sealed by the Yin Soldier Array, had completely opened, and in that part of the Void Realm previously purified by lightning and fire, new Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi continuously gathered, as if welcoming the birth of a powerful Cultivator.

However, Li Xiangyun did not leave immediately, after all, how could a Late Stage Soul Transformation Netherworld Darkfire only help him break through to the Nascent Soul?

As the Netherworld Darkfire was refined, that surging and magnificent power instantly swept through his entire body, causing his recently broken-through Cultivation to loosen once again.

So, Li Xiangyun closed his eyes again, sitting cross-legged in the flames.

He could clearly feel that the immense power that had once made his heart palpitate was being digested and absorbed at a visible speed.

And his Nascent Soul, in this continuous nourishment, became increasingly solidified and powerful.

Time slowly passed, just as Li Xiangyun was focused on digesting the Netherworld Darkfire.

On the other side, Deng Qi, with the help of Cang Lanzi, had also arrived at the Misty Swamp and brought back news of Li Xiangyun.

Upon hearing that Li Xiangyun was refining the Netherworld Darkfire and breaking through to the Nascent Soul, everyone felt relieved but also somewhat shocked.

After all, Li Xiangyun’s Cultivate speed was truly too fast.

It had only been a few months since he broke through to the Late-stage Golden Core, and in the blink of an eye, he was about to break through to the Nascent Soul?

“Teacher, Old Ancestor is too strong!” Li Xingyan said with a face full of shock.

During this time, Li Xingyan had not strayed too far from the Li Family, constantly undergoing trials in the Misty Swamp, using the Yao Beasts and Spirit Medicine within the Misty Swamp to refine his Alchemy techniques and strength.

Coupled with the help of the Earth Core Glazed Flame, his Cultivation had progressed rapidly, reaching the Late Stage Foundation Establishment in just a few months.

Originally, Li Xingyan had planned to wait until the Peak Foundation Establishment, then refine Tian Linfeng’s Myriad Beast Fire to break through to the Golden Core, at which point he might even be able to catch up to Li Xiangyun’s Realm.

But now it seemed, your Old Ancestor is still your Old Ancestor, which made Li Xingyan a little disheartened.

In response, Fire Old did not offer comfort, but instead sighed, “After this, your Old Ancestor will truly soar to great heights, and if you want to catch up to him, it will probably not be easy.”

Among these people, only Fire Old knew the true value of the things Li Xiangyun had done, whether it was comprehending Yin and Yang, the Law of power, or the Netherworld Darkfire.

Any one of these three things, taken alone, would be enough to be called earth-shattering, making the next several, or even more than ten, Realms as easy as walking on flat ground.

Yet, these three things were concentrated on one person, which made Fire Old unable to foresee Li Xiangyun’s future.

“Cang Lanzi, what exactly do you want to do!?” Fire Old murmured softly, having already guessed Cang Lanzi’s purpose, but he still would not change his mind.

Thinking this, Fire Old’s gaze towards Li Xingyan was firm.

After Deng Qi brought back news of Li Xiangyun, he also began to understand the current situation of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Li Family.

Currently, the situation in the Great Zhou Dynasty could be described as extraordinarily lively and utterly chaotic.

During this period, the Demonic Path Alliance and the Demon Extermination Army had clashed several times, with both sides having victories and defeats, but precisely because of this, the people, realizing that the Great Zhou Dynasty could not quickly suppress the Demonic Path Alliance, began to become restless.

More and more people began to join the Demonic Path Alliance, and there were even two Golden Core Families who joined the Demonic Path Alliance with their entire Family, which shocked the world.

After all, previously, in order to maintain its rule, the Great Zhou Dynasty even limited the annual supply of Foundation Establishment Pills to the market, but the Demonic Path Alliance offered an unlimited supply.

In addition, those Demonic Path Sects began to widely recruit Disciples and spread Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques, allowing many Mortals who were originally unable to access Cultivation to Cultivate.

For a time, the entire Great Zhou Dynasty was filled with Demonic Cultivators; ordinary people, if they didn’t possess some means, wouldn’t even dare to leave their homes, fearing that they might inadvertently become nourishment for others.

Just like raising Gu, under the massive base of trillions in the entire Great Zhou, some “Genius” would always emerge, and in order to obtain more resources, they would slaughter each other, and even attack those Cultivation Families.

And Families without their main Cultivators, facing these wolf-like Demonic Cultivators, often ended with their entire Family being annihilated.

Even if some people fortunately survived, in order to quickly gain power for revenge, they all chose to join the Demonic Path ranks.

Therefore, the entire Great Zhou Dynasty could be said to be blooming everywhere, and those Cultivators who joined the Demon Extermination Army were even more unwilling to fight demons, fearing that the next Family to be annihilated would be their own.

This led to people deserting the ranks every moment.

To this end, the Great Zhou Dynasty also adopted corresponding countermeasures, vigorously recruiting Loose Cultivators from all sides, and initiating a merit reward system, allowing them to exchange merit points for Foundation Establishment Pills and even Quenching Gold Pills.

At the same time, they also publicized Cultivation Techniques to the general Mortals.

For a time, the crumbling decline was barely stabilized, but only barely so; the Great Zhou Dynasty still, as expected, fell into a disadvantage.

After all, it is a fact that Righteous Path Cultivation Techniques are not as fast to Cultivate in the early stages as Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques, not to mention that Righteous Path Cultivation Techniques also have Spiritual Root requirements, but Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques do not have so many requirements, and there are even Cultivation Techniques that can dig out other people’s Spiritual Roots and claim them for oneself.

Therefore, if one does not want to have their “kidneys” (a euphemism for vital organs or life essence) extracted by others while walking on the road, ordinary people can only choose Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques.

No one expected that this war between the Righteous and Demonic Paths would instead become a war that benefited ordinary people.

Many people died in this process, but some also rose to prominence overnight.

This was a chaotic era, but also an era full of Opportunity.

So, the question arises, is an era of solidified class, where ordinary people can eat their fill and have no life-threatening dangers, better?

Or is an era of war and chaos, where ordinary people live day to day, but there are Opportunities everywhere, and one can climb up as long as they seize the chance, better?