138: In ancient times, when the Heavenly Court was first established, the Golden Crow Emperor ruled over the Three Realms.

He was merely curious, but not worried. This item was a sacred object of the Shen Family; it could not possibly bring harm to the Shen Family. His Old Ancestor had personally given it to him.

However, if he didn't figure it out, he still felt it wasn't quite secure.

The next second.

Shen Nian moved, flying at full speed towards the Void Realm. This time, he spent half a day exploring inside again, but still found nothing, returning to his original spot.

The bodhi mother tree couldn't help but ask, "Bro, isn't this your place? Aren't you familiar with it?"

Its tone carried a hint of respect.

Now that it was dependent on others, it no longer dared to be as arrogant as before.

Shen Nian glanced at it, remaining silent. He didn't believe a single word from the bodhi mother tree and couldn't be bothered to waste words on it.

"It seems it's still not enough. Never mind, I'll investigate again after my Realm improves." Shen Nian thought this to himself. Fortunately, all the resources from the Heavenly Demon Cave were in his spatial ring, so it wasn't a big problem.

Immediately after, Shen Nian took out Yue Qingguang and Black Feather's Primordial Spirits, then left.

"Don't..." The bodhi mother tree didn't even finish its cry before Shen Nian vanished. It then found a place to hide, cautiously surveying its surroundings, fearing it might also be captured.

Within the underground world, Shen Nian found a cliffside and sat down cross-legged.

He took out the Primordial Spirits of Yue Qingguang and Black Feather Demon Emperor and placed them with the other nine Demon Emperors. Among them was also the Scarlet Flame Golden Winged Serpent. The colorful Primordial Spirits had their consciousness erased by Shen Nian, leaving them with blank expressions.

"System, exchange all for simulation value."

[Ding, 367.5 years of preaching value have been exchanged for the Host.]

"Over three hundred years, coupled with the assistance of these Primordial Spirits, this advancement should be considerable."

Shen Nian thought this, feeling a little anticipation.

Immediately.

[Simulation begins]

[Simulation Target: Absorb Primordial Spirits]

[Year 1: You pick up twelve Primordial Spirits and begin to simultaneously remove the Impurities from them. In just one year, you complete the removal of Impurities from all twelve Primordial Spirits. You can't help but ponder: cultivating by directly absorbing others' Primordial Spirits is indeed fast, no wonder demonic Cultivators grow so rapidly. However, you also discover a drawback: these Primordial Spirits contain various Divine Abilities, especially those of the Yao Race which possess innate essence blood. During the absorption process, it's extremely easy to suffer Qi Deviation. But you are not afraid, because you discover that chaos essence blood also possesses purification power. You are very satisfied, even starting to entertain the idea of feeding yourself your own blood essence, but unfortunately, it's useless...]

"Purification power..." Shen Nian felt the sacred aura emanating from the chaos essence blood within his body, unable to help but feel surprised.

Does this thing have too many uses?

It seems he really needs to find a way to get more chaos essence blood.

[Year 2: You choose to start absorbing from the weakest. After absorbing Yue Qingguang and the Black Feather Demon Emperor, you easily step into the Middle Stage of Soul Transformation. Following this, you consume the Primordial Spirits of the nine great Demon Emperors. Although purified by chaos essence blood, the blood is too scarce, making this a somewhat lengthy process. By the end of the second year, you complete the absorption and step into the Late Stage of Soul Transformation!]

Boom!

Shen Nian's Divine Thought range surged again, and the spiritual sea within his body reached an extreme state of vastness. Most strangely, Shen Nian's spiritual power now began to contain a trace of Demonic Qi.

"This..." Shen Nian's expression became somewhat solemn. If this continued, would he cultivate into a demon?

The simulation continued.

[Year 3: You successfully consume the strongest Scarlet Flame Golden Winged Serpent. This Primordial Spirit, close to the Void Realm, is different from the others; it contains a terrifying wisp of consciousness. You clearly know that this is the Bloodline Legacy power from the royal family, but with your confidence, you disdain it. After consuming it, your spiritual power surges. In an instant, you step into the Great Perfection of Soul Transformation Realm. Your spiritual sea and Divine Thought have reached their limit, unable to advance further, and the Demonic Qi within your spiritual power becomes even heavier.]

Shen Nian felt the terrifying increase in power, but his brows furrowed. Breaking through the Realm by relying on Yao Race Primordial Spirits had such a side effect.

This was something he hadn't expected.

However, having come this far, he had no intention of turning back. There were plenty of solutions back at the Shen Family.

And having reached the Great Perfection Realm in just three years, Shen Nian was very satisfied with this speed.

"Next is this Golden Crow Emperor Palace..."

"First, build one layer. When I return to the Shen Family, I'll meditate on the clan's dao palace diagram and see if I can achieve Fusion..."

Thinking this, Shen Nian took out the dao palace diagram rewarded by the System. It was a golden feather. As Shen Nian's mind sank into it, he activated the simulation.

"I wonder what level this Golden Crow Emperor Palace is... A System product should at least be a Heavenly Palace..." Shen Nian murmured to himself.

Once one enters the Void Realm, they are truly considered to have stepped into cultivation. Within the entire Human Race, they can be called a formidable expert, capable of mobilizing the power of heaven and earth at will, with a distinction from Soul Transformation like clouds and mud. This is the biggest dividing line on the path of cultivation.

So, what is a Void Realm dao palace?

His understanding of this Realm became very clear after Shen Nian's memories recovered.

The so-called dao palace is the first internal palace built by a Cultivator using divine objects of heaven and earth containing the power of the Great Dao, based on dao diagrams left by ancient predecessors. The Primordial Spirit is its master, and the spiritual sea is its Foundation. Building layers upon layers of tall buildings, reaching twelve layers allows one to merge with the Dao and attain immortality. This path is also known as the Ascending Heaven Road.

The White Jade Capital's twelve towers of the Dao Sect refer to the dao palace.

The higher one wants to build their dao palace, the more stable their Foundation must be, and the greater the chance of merging with the Dao.

If the Foundation is not laid well, after building three or four layers, it will become shaky, and the path beneath one's feet will almost collapse. How can one ascend to heaven?

To build a sturdy dao palace, in addition to the palace diagram, divine objects are needed for enhancement. The stronger the divine object, the more stable that layer will be, and the more terrifying one will be in the same Realm.

Therefore, dao palaces are divided into four types: Human, Earth, Heaven, and Immortal. Among them, Human Palaces are the most common. The palace diagrams are usually ordinary things like mountains and rivers, and the divine objects suppressing each layer only require Magical Artifacts. Over eighty percent of the Human Race follows this path, making it ten thousand times harder to reach the peak of the Ascending Heaven Road.

It's not that they don't want to build stronger Earth Palaces; it's that they can't.

An Earth Palace not only requires the enhancement of heaven and earth divine objects, but its palace diagram is also much harder to find. Moreover, even if you are given a palace diagram and divine objects, ordinary people cannot comprehend them.

To build an Earth Palace, talent, strength, and resources are all indispensable!

Only the outstanding Prodigies and evildoers of the Human Race can build an Earth Palace.

As for Heavenly Palaces, throughout the endless years of the Human Race, those who have built Heavenly Palaces can be counted on one hand, and none are alive today. This is because the Heavenly Palace diagram has long been lost, and no one possesses the divine objects capable of suppressing a Heavenly Palace... Therefore, the strongest among the Human Race in the Void Realm are those who have built Earth Palaces.

Finally, regarding the legendary Immortal Palace, the Shen Family had no records. It was only when Shen Nian was a child that he overheard his Old Ancestor and Old Man Tianji discussing and analyzing that the Immortal Palace diagram likely did not follow the usual Ascending Heaven Road and was very possibly related to an Immortal Emperor.

However, Shen Nian didn't listen carefully at the time, as where would one find an Immortal Palace diagram?

Whether it even existed was another matter entirely.

The next second.

Shen Nian's simulation began.

[Simulation Target: Golden Crow Emperor Palace (Rare)]

[Year 1: You step into a Primeval World, and a deafening sound of the Great Dao echoes in your ears: "In ancient times, the Heavenly Court was first established, Emperor Golden Crow governed the Three Realms, resided in the Immortal Palace, and drew its diagram, which is the Golden Crow Emperor Immortal Palace Diagram." With just this single sound, the Demonic Qi that had previously clung to Shen Nian's body instantly vanished without a trace...]