325: Chapter 325 Has it been refined?

Su Mo withdrew his gaze and looked back at Yun Ge with a hint of appreciation in his eyes:

"In my opinion, you are quite suitable. Over these past hundred years, you've been able to unite so many people and create such momentum, which speaks volumes about your personal charisma. Moreover, your own cultivation has progressed rapidly, reaching the level of a Profound Immortal."

"Tsk tsk, in just a hundred years, you've already grown to a point where even I have to look up to you."

This final tease caused a blush to instantly creep up Yun Ge's cheeks, looking exceptionally bright under the glow of the campfire.

She shifted her gaze somewhat awkwardly and said in a low voice:

"Senior Su must be joking. With my meager level of attainment, how could I possibly compare to you..."

"Now, you can't say that."

Yu Tianshu, standing nearby, suddenly spoke up, his voice carrying a sense of rationality:

"Senior Su's ambitions lie in the Great Dao, while General Yun possesses outstanding talent and commands the respect of the people. She is the best candidate to handle specific affairs and lead everyone in building a new order."

His gaze shifted between Su Mo and Yun Ge as he proposed a compromise:

"How about this? Senior Su will serve as our guide and spiritual leader for our shared ideals. Meanwhile, General Yun will act as the executive leader, responsible for the implementation and management of all daily military and political affairs. The two will complement each other, ensuring that Senior Su's pursuit of the Great Dao isn't delayed while also guaranteeing the smooth progress of our cause."

As soon as this proposal was made, the banquet fell silent for a moment, followed by the low murmurs of discussion among the crowd.

Li Xinghe nodded slightly, clearly finding this arrangement suitable. It gave Su Mo enough respect and freedom while also clarifying Yun Ge's actual leadership position.

Yin Gu and Savage Stone exchanged a look and also nodded slowly.

Soon, voices of agreement grew more numerous.

"Sect Master Yu is right!"

"Senior Su as the spiritual leader and General Yun as the executive leader—excellent!"

"We agree!"

Yun Ge looked at Su Mo, an inquiry in her eyes.

Su Mo gently tapped his fingers on the table, contemplating for a moment.

"Very well." He finally nodded and looked at Yun Ge with a smile, "Then we shall do as Sect Master Yu suggests."

Seeing Su Mo agree, a joyful light instantly burst from Yun Ge's eyes, and she hastily gave a solemn bow:

"Thank you, Senior Su! This Junior will certainly do my utmost and not fail your trust!"

The crowd also raised their glasses one after another, gesturing toward Su Mo and Yun Ge as the atmosphere of the banquet became lively once again... "There are two paths to Breakthrough to Golden Immortal. One is through faith and Luck to forge an Immortal Intent," Fu Tianming said slowly. "Those Bald Donkeys from the Huangji Immortal Dynasty and the Western Buddhist Kingdom follow that path."

"However, this faith and Luck will affect their sanity. If no one believes in them, their strength will be greatly diminished."

After glancing at the calm Su Mo, Fu Tianming continued:

"The other path is to refine a Lesser Realm, turning that realm into one's own Object of Immortal Reliance."

"The benefit is that the creatures of this realm can grow along with the strength of the host, and the realm can be used as a growth-type Magic Treasure."

"As for the drawbacks, if the creatures of this realm go extinct, the host's strength will plummet, and there's a possibility that creatures who have achieved Ascension from this realm might try to seize it."

Su Mo looked up at Fu Tianming.

"Was the realm you refined seized from other Ascended beings?"

"Correct!"

Upon hearing this, Su Mo nodded slightly. After thinking for a while, he turned to Yu Tianshu.

"Sect Master Yu," Su Mo spoke, his tone carrying a hint of confirmation, "if I choose to refine the Cangxu Realm and use it as a foundation to charge toward the Golden Immortal stage... will this process cause any interference or damage to the Ascension Ladder System you've painstakingly built?"

This was a question he had to consider.

Hearing this, Yu Tianshu immediately snapped out of his thoughts. He tapped the air in front of him, and several pale blue holographic data screens instantly popped up, filled with complex formulas and structural diagrams.

Yu Tianshu adjusted his non-existent glasses and said confidently:

"Please rest assured, Senior Su, it won't. What you are refining is the world's Origin Core, while the Ascension Ladder is a surface-level technical architecture. As long as the process is stable, not only will there be no impact, but if the Cangxu Realm is upgraded, it might even bring immense benefits to the creatures within it."

"That's good then." Su Mo felt relieved.

After all, it was his hometown, and he didn't want anything to go wrong.

"In that case, I'll begin."

With that, Su Mo's thought flickered, and his figure disappeared from the spot.

The next moment, the Cangxu Realm.

Su Mo appeared in the sky above New Wanxiang City.

He looked down; a hundred years had passed, and the changes here were immense.

Aerial tracks interlaced, hovercars shuttled back and forth, and Crystal Towers stood tall—a novel sight combining technology and cultivation.

He wasn't in a hurry to act; instead, he closed his eyes and quietly sensed his surroundings.

Su Mo stood high in the air, his mind immersed.

His refinement of the Cangxu Realm had already been quietly underway for quite some time.

At this moment, about eighty percent of the entire Cangxu Realm's Origin Core had already produced a deep resonance and preliminary Fusion with his own Dao mark.

He felt as if he had become part of the world's senses, able to clearly perceive the birth and death of all things, the flow of energy, and even every pulse of civilization's heartbeat.

"Only twenty percent left..."

Su Mo's mind was as clear as a mirror.

He opened his eyes and looked calmly at a certain spot in the Void Realm. He gently raised his hand and closed his fingers as if summoning something.

*Buzz—*

Ripples appeared in space.

A golden light cluster was drawn out from the depths of the Void Realm, floating quietly in front of Su Mo. This

was the final and most core twenty percent of the Cangxu Realm's Origin.

Without much hesitation, Su Mo sat cross-legged in the Void Realm.

The Chaos halo around him flared up, turning into countless fine Dao pattern threads that gently but firmly wrapped around those two clusters of Origin spheres, beginning the final refinement.

The process was exceptionally smooth at first, like water flowing into a channel.

Under the pull of Su Mo's Dao patterns, the twenty percent Origin spheres slowly rotated, their luster flowing as they gradually resonated with the eighty percent Origin refined previously. Signs of Fusion were clearly visible.

Eighty-five percent... ninety percent... the refinement progress advanced steadily.

However, at the very moment he was about to break through the final ten percent and complete the entire refinement—

A sudden change occurred!

The luster of that final ten percent Origin sphere, which had been flowing submissively, suddenly became stagnant and dull!

An extremely ancient, massive will, carrying a thick sense of resistance and rejection, suddenly erupted from the depths of that sphere!

"Hmm?!" Su Mo's brow furrowed.

The refinement process instantly came to a halt.

"What's going on?!" Alarms went off in Su Mo's mind.

This was by no means ordinary!

The Origin of a naturally conceived or normally evolving Small World could never contain such a clear and powerful will of resistance!

Just then, the final ten percent of the Cangxu Realm's Origin suddenly changed its form!

Before Su Mo's eyes, it transformed into a blurred, humanoid phantom!

Ancient and obscure dao rhymes flowed around the phantom, exuding a sense of vicissitude that had weathered endless ages.

An old, dry chuckle, sounding as if it came from the end of eternal time, rang directly in Su Mo's mind:

"Hehehe... another little fellow about to touch the threshold of the Golden Immortal stage?"

Su Mo snapped his eyes open, his pupils shrinking slightly. The Chaos halo around him circulated rapidly, turning into a solid defense as he stared warily at this strange humanoid phantom that had suddenly appeared.

"What are you?!" Su Mo barked in a low voice.

The humanoid phantom seemed to move slightly, its blurred facial features appearing to lift as if to meet Su Mo's gaze.

He paused, and every word seemed to carry the heavy dust of time:

"I am likely the first and only true master of this Cangxu Realm."

The only true master?!

Su Mo's mind was shaken to the core! He understood instantly!

This Cangxu Realm was not an unowned natural world!

It had already been thoroughly refined in an unknown, ancient era!

This phantom before him was that original refiner, or rather, a wisp of an imprint left behind by that existence!

What he was trying to refine was actually something that already had an owner?!

Just a moment ago, he had been wondering why there was no one in the Cangxu Realm.

It turned out it had already been refined!