Chapter 962: The Theory of World Ascension
Li Fan was utterly captivated by the Heaven Mending Record, lost in its profound teachings.
He had no idea how much time had passed until a faint tremor rippling through the entire Spirit Wood Realm roused him from his deep concentration.
“What’s this...”
Li Fan turned his gaze toward the center of the Spirit Wood Realm.
The colossal tree, already a verdant giant that pierced the heavens, was now displaying an astonishing phenomenon.
Its branches and leaves rustled without a breeze, enveloped in a hazy, pearlescent white light.
From the very top of the ancient tree, a beam of light erupted into the sky, tearing a hole straight through the firmament.
This was no mere figure of speech; a genuine void had opened in the sky above the Spirit Wood Realm.
Beneath the great tree, all the Treefolk ceased their work and fell to their knees in prostration.
Their faces showed no alarm, only a profound joy that radiated from within.
“A world ascension?”
By now, the Spirit Wood Realm was practically one of Li Fan's own treasures. A brief probe was all it took for him to understand exactly what was happening.
The nourishing feedback from Lin Ling, the transformations wrought by Shang Tianci with his Heavenly Scene Treasure Gourd, and most critically, the thousand Heaven and Earth Furnaces releasing spiritual energy day and night...
All these factors had compounded, finally triggering the Spirit Wood Realm's great metamorphosis.
It was an extraordinary sight, the kind that might only occur once in millennia, an event seldom recorded even in the annals of cultivation.
Li Fan, along with everyone else in the Spirit Wood Realm, held their breath, watching with rapt attention as they tried to comprehend the profound changes unfolding before them.
From the void beyond the world, some unseen essence was being drawn through the aperture in the sky and infused into the very fabric of the Spirit Wood Realm.
A low rumble echoed through the land. On the surface, the realm's landscape appeared unchanged.
But as its master, Li Fan could keenly sense that the realm's fundamental integrity was strengthening at an astonishing rate.
The most profound change was in the great tree itself, the very progenitor of this world.
Before, Li Fan could have obliterated the tree with a single move.
Now, however, every part of it—from the deepest root to the highest leaf—was growing incomparably tougher and more resilient.
By the end, it had become so durable that it could likely withstand a direct blow from him without being completely annihilated.
The vortex in the sky gradually shrank until it vanished completely.
The Spirit Wood Realm's ascension was complete.
Although the realm's physical dimensions appeared the same, everyone who had witnessed the process felt an inexplicable sensation.
The sky seemed higher, the earth more expansive.
Even the air itself felt more crisp and invigorating.
Vitality was an unseen force, yet its presence was now palpable.
Aside from the realm itself, the greatest beneficiary of this ascension was the matriarch of the Treefolk.
She had finally broken through her final barrier, her power now rivaling that of a Dao Integration cultivator from the Xuanhuang Realm.
She had shed almost all traces of her arboreal form, appearing nearly indistinguishable from a human cultivator.
Only the intricate, wood-grain patterns on her skin betrayed her origins as one of the Treefolk.
Conjuring a gown of emerald green, the matriarch commanded her people to continue their prostrations, chanting praises for the grace of Li Fan, the Master of the Spirit Wood.
A short while later, Li Fan's serene voice drifted down from the heavens.
“The Spirit Wood has ascended, and you have been reborn. From this day forward, your destiny is no longer bound to this realm alone...”
“I hereby give you a name...”
“Lin Xin!”
A look of profound emotion crossed Lin Xin's face. She led her people in another deep bow of gratitude.
Meanwhile, Shang Tianci, Tianyang, and the others watched on, their expressions filled with awe.
After instructing the others to continue producing Heaven and Earth Furnaces, Li Fan turned his full attention back to the Spirit Wood Realm.
“In truth,” he mused, “if it weren’t already bound to the Xuanhuang Realm, the Spirit Wood Realm, at its current scale, would likely meet the minimum requirements to be considered a cultivation world in its own right.”
This conclusion came from his study of the Heaven Mending Record and its descriptions of various worlds.
“Before the path to immortality was severed, a world ascension like this would have left an imprint on the channel of ascension. Cultivators within the world who reached a certain level of power could have ascended in broad daylight, shedding their mortal forms to become true immortals. A shame...”
“But with the path severed and the realm bound to the Xuanhuang Realm, this ‘ascension’ only solidifies its status as a subsidiary world. Nothing more.”
Li Fan shook his head slightly. “The Xuanhuang Realm truly is a curse.”
“Then again,” a thought struck him, “if the Spirit Wood Realm can still undergo an ascension, could the Xuanhuang Realm do the same?”
Li Fan frowned, pondering this for a long time before reaching a conclusion. “Theoretically, it should be possible for the Xuanhuang Realm to ascend as well.”
“To ascend... and become an Immortal Realm!” A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
“The leap from a cultivation world to a true Immortal Realm is immense, however. Even after devouring countless other worlds, the Xuanhuang Realm has merely expanded its territory. It is still far from meeting the requirements for such a promotion.”
“Perhaps...”
“It would need to be a hundred times its current size to even have a sliver of a chance at becoming an Immortal Realm.”
“Even then, it probably wouldn't deserve the title of ‘Immortal Realm.’ ‘Xuanhuang Immortal Realm’ would perhaps be a more fitting term.”
Li Fan's mind raced with the possibilities.
It must be noted that this was all speculation on Li Fan's part, pieced together from fragmented descriptions of the Immortal Realm mentioned in the Heaven Mending Record.
As for the actual truth...
Even the Heavenly Doctor, author of the Record, had never seen the Immortal Realm with his own eyes.
Thus, there was no way to confirm any of it.
However, from what Li Fan knew of the Heavenly Doctor, the man was meticulously rigorous in his studies. He would not have committed something to writing without substantial evidence; it was not in his nature to record idle speculation.
“The Venerables of the Tianfa Realm act as agents of Heaven's will,” Li Fan mused. “It's possible they hold some secrets from the time before the path to immortality was broken.”
Witnessing this world ascension sparked a new wave of inspiration in Li Fan.
It stirred new thoughts about the fundamental workings of the universe, and about the ultimate cultivation method that would be perfectly suited to him.
Li Fan was pragmatic to a fault; he never acted without a clear purpose or benefit.
Though he had encountered countless techniques throughout his endless cycles, he still felt that the Sitting Immortal Technique, derived from the Mountain Sitting Technique, was the one most suited to him.
But at his current level, the opponents he faced were ancient beings on the level of the Heavenly Doctor and other such monstrous entities.
Simply practicing a conventional technique was no longer enough.
If his fundamental approach to cultivation was inferior, how could he possibly contend with such beings?
The Heavenly Doctor's advice echoed in his mind.
“Remember, the technique is secondary. What truly matters is your understanding of the Heavenly Dao's workings, of the very essence of the world.”
“The most powerful technique is still, in the end, someone else's creation. Only the one that is truly your own can be perfect.”
Li Fan's eyes flickered, his gaze turning distant and unfocused.
The Heaven Mending Record. The Sitting Immortal Technique. The world ascension...
A tempest of thought raged in his mind, drawing in all his past experiences and epiphanies.
They were forged in this mental crucible, tempered and refined until they suddenly erupted in a flash of insight!
Three words crystallized in his mind.
Sitting Heaven Technique!
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