418: The birth of the eternal world

In the end, Lu Chen resurrected Liu Lanyan.

Liu Lanyan was covered in tears, holding Lu Chen tightly: "Lu Chen, you really didn't die."

As a dignified Heavenly Dao, Lu Chen did not resist, allowing Liu Lanyan to hold him while sensing the familiar scent of her body.

It felt as if he had returned to the training world, to those dozen or so years they spent together day and night.

Lu Chen told Liu Lanyan the truth about the previous life. He had expected Liu Lanyan to be filled with awe towards him, but to his surprise, Liu Lanyan hugged him even tighter.

"I don't care what your status is. I only know that you are my child, the child I raised with my own hands."

Lu Chen was deeply moved, but he maintained the coldness of the Heavenly Dao: "Liu Lanyan, there is no need to mention the affairs of the previous life. In this life, what are your plans? As long as it is what you want, I can satisfy it."

Liu Lanyan: "I want to be with you forever, is that possible?"

Lu Chen shook his head: "I'm afraid that won't be possible. I still have important matters to attend to. However, I can promise you that in the future, once I have handled matters in the outside world, I can help you be reborn in the outside world and possess a real body. By then, you should be able to accompany me."

Liu Lanyan did not blame Lu Chen for his cold attitude; she knew that Lu Chen was maintaining the dignity of his Heavenly Dao.

Liu Lanyan's eyes filled with tears: "I understand. You want to Cultivate experts in this world who can Breakthrough their limits, thereby helping you improve your Realm, is that right? Don't worry, Auntie will work hard! Haha, I was once the Empress of the Great Yin Dynasty, after all!!"

Liu Lanyan gave up on staying in the Divine Realm and chose to reincarnate into the Mortal world. This was because if she did not reincarnate, she would think of Lu Chen all day, which would become her Heart Demon. Only by reincarnating and Cultivating again would she have the chance to become a generation of Empress and a Prodigy of the world!!

Lu Chen agreed to Liu Lanyan's request.

With this, the entire framework and design of the Eternal World were completely finished.

Then, Lu Chen officially activated the Eternal World!

At the very beginning, the Eternal World had not yet birthed the seventy-two fragmented Small Worlds, the Spirit Realm, the Immortal Realm, and so on. There was only one most primitive continent, named the Eternal Continent!

Mountains rose in silence, like the spine of a Dragon breaking through the earth;

Rivers awakened from the depths of the Spiritual Veins, surging and roaring, carving out canyons and plains;

Lightning and fire struck from the firmament, igniting the first ancient tree;

Wind and rain intertwined, giving birth to moss, ferns, and giant trees...

Life, quietly sprouted.

Another several hundred thousand years passed (only one minute in reality),

The first batch of ape-men walked upright in the Spirit Enlightenment Valley, using stone as tools and fire as companions.

They looked up at the starry sky, their eyes flickering with ignorant yet curious light—that was the spark of wisdom.

Another thirty thousand years passed; tribes became nations, writing first appeared, and totems became the Dao.

Some observed the movement of the sun and moon to comprehend Yin and Yang, some observed the withering and flourishing of plants to understand the Five Elements, some tamed fierce beasts as companions, and some carved wood and stone into Puppets...

The sprout of Cultivation was born from this, and another ten thousand years passed.

Finally, on a night filled with thunder and rain,

A youth named "Shi San" drew Qi into his body beneath a waterfall, his Golden Core condensed, and rays of light shot into the heavens!

—The first Golden Core Cultivator was born.

At the very moment the Golden Core formed, the time flow of the entire Eternal World suddenly stalled, and then stabilized.

The Eternal World officially entered the "Civilization Era."

This was the standard setting for the Heavenly Dao world template; only when the first Golden Core Cultivator appeared would the time flow of the Small World return to normal.

The time ratio remained the same as before: one day in reality, one thousand years in the Cultivation World!!

As Lu Chen with full Heavenly Dao permissions, he could now modify the time ratio at will, up to a maximum of one day in reality to ten thousand years in the Cultivation World! (The maximum ratio for the test version)

But this speed was too fast; perhaps Lu Chen might wake up to find experts from the Small World killing their way to him.

Therefore, it was more reliable to maintain the ratio of one thousand years!!

Lu Chen's Divine Sense spread out like a heavenly net, covering the entire Eternal Continent.

Among the mountains of the Eastern Wasteland, the Martial Soul School was just emerging. People could awaken the ancient battle souls within their bodies, their fists could shatter mountains, and their roars could shake a hundred beasts. They used the "Battle Soul Stele" to measure Aptitude, and the strong could summon ancient heroic spirits to possess them.

The Southern Marshes were densely covered with water networks, and the Beast Taming School was prevalent. Cultivators used their hearts to form contracts with all spirits, driving tigers and leopards, and commanding Dragons. There were even mighty ones whose mounts were Ninth-Rank Thunder Rocs, whose wings could cover the sky.

Deep in the Western Desert Gobi, Schools of sorcery, Puppets, and others were rising. Craftsmen used Spirit Wood, mysterious iron, and demon cores as materials to refine "Battle Puppets" and "Spirit Dolls," where one person could rival a thousand troops.

The Central Province was the heart of the Eternal Continent, with vast fertile lands stretching for thousands of miles and Spiritual Veins crisscrossing; it had been the cradle of civilization since ancient times.

In this place, the Confucian, Taoist, Legalist, Yin and Yang, Mohist, Militarist, Diplomat, Agricultural, and Medical Schools, among hundreds of others, contended with each other, and ten thousand Daos flourished. With thought as the foundation and Dao as the blade, they blazed trails of Cultivation that could be proven, fought, and lead to becoming a Saint.

Lu Chen was very satisfied. As expected of a Small World with a status level of 2.1, it had only just begun, yet the entire world was already so complex, with over ten thousand paths of Cultivation alone.

There were hundreds of secular nations, thousands of Cultivation Schools, and tens of thousands of faction academies built everywhere.

It was truly a wonderful Cultivation World; Lu Chen couldn't wait to see which protagonists would be born in this Cultivation World!!

In the Central Province, the State of Qi was located in the eastern part of the Central Province. It was coastal, prosperous, and inclusive, establishing the "Jixia Academy." Confucianism, Taoism, Yin and Yang, and Diplomacy coexisted there, making it the highest-level institution in the Eternal Continent!!

Today, inside and outside the academy gates, the crowd was surging. Thousands of students were dressed neatly and formally, with burning light in their eyes.

This was because one person was about to arrive.

Kong Mingyuan, the current leader of the Confucian School, one of the ten great Golden Core Cultivators of the Eternal Continent, author of the Hao Ran True Scripture, once repelled ten thousand evils with a single word during the Northern Plains Demon Tide, his reputation shaking the nine continents. His Hao Ran Righteous Qi condensed and did not dissipate; within a hundred miles, demons and monsters dared not approach.

For such a figure to personally arrive to give a lecture was a once-in-a-century event!

"Look! That is the Great Disciple of Saint Kong—Meng Hongyi!"

Someone in the crowd whispered.

A young man in green robes stood beside the high platform, his aura as steady as an abyss, with faint scholarly light circulating around his body—Foundation Establishment Peak!

He was not yet thirty, yet he was already the next generation leader of the Confucian School, the undisputed candidate to inherit the Daoist lineage of the Hao Ran True Scripture in the future.

The students were all yearning, wishing they could become his Disciple on the spot.

At this moment, on the dusty path outside the Vermilion Bird Gate of the academy, a figure stood out as completely out of place.

His name was Han Fei, dressed in rags, covered in patches, his straw sandals worn through, yet he still stood on tiptoes, staring obsessively at the cloud-shrouded lecture platform, his eyes flickering with an almost humble longing.

"Get lost! Where did this beggar come from, daring to join in the excitement of Jixia Academy?"

A guarding Disciple kicked out, unleashing a hint of Spiritual Qi, directly knocking him to the ground.

"Saint Kong is speaking of the Dao. Are you worthy of listening? Can you even understand it??"

The surrounding children of powerful families laughed.

"These low-class commoners really think they can ascend to the heavens just by listening to a lecture?"

"Heh, I'm afraid he doesn't even know what 'drawing Qi into the body' is."

The laughter was piercing, yet it laid bare the truth.

Beneath the seemingly glorious Cultivation age, Cultivation was never just a contest of Aptitude, but a monopoly of resources.

To break through the Qi Refining barrier, one must take a Heaven Spirit Pill—this pill used thousand-year Spirit Medicine and the essence of Spiritual Veins as ingredients; one pill could help a Mortal open their Meridians and draw Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into their body.

However, the right to refine Heaven Spirit Pills had long been firmly controlled by the royal families of various nations and large Sects; ordinary people would never even smell the fragrance of the pill in their entire lives.

This was the invisible shackle that the rulers used to maintain order:

And at this moment, on the high platform, Kong Mingyuan was slowly speaking, his voice like a great bell, every word turning into light:

"The Great Dao of the world belongs only to our Confucian School. Using benevolence as the furnace, righteousness as the fire, propriety as the cauldron, and trust as the medicine, we refine the Mortal body into a Dao body, transforming the turbid world into peace..."

While enduring the kicks and beatings from the guards, Han Fei listened intently to the doctrines coming from the high platform, treating them like precious treasures.

He silently wrote down every word in his heart, wanting to carve this Hao Ran True Scripture into his marrow and brand it into his Divine Soul.

Huh?

Lu Chen discovered that Lu Xiaohu had actually made a move!!

He saw him bestow a wisp of divine light, directly pouring it into Han Fei's body! Han Fei instantly entered a state of meditation on the spot, drew Qi into his body, and reached the first level of Qi Refining!!