Lu Yun felt that he was on more even footing after gaining an understanding of the cultivation system of the fourth realm. He was essentially infallible here as long as those on par with the god of Mount Tai didn’t take an interest in the scene.
……
The golden avenue shaped itself into a bridge that traveled many times faster than a transportation formation of the Hongmeng. It possessed spatial power and threaded through space at every moment, spanning hundreds of millions of kilometers within the span of a breath.
Upon the golden bridge, Longshan Yan and his disciple, Longshan Chi, relaxed when Lu Yun retracted the power of his realm. Their backs were drenched with sweat. They were still afraid that the Nihil World Sovereign might disintegrate their entire faction on a whim if his temper flared up.
Lu Yun ignored what Longshan Yan and Longshan Chi were thinking; he focused on breathing in the power of the fourth realm according to the overview of a cultivation method that She Nong had just given him.
The power of the fourth realm was significantly different from that of the world of immortals, chaos, and Hongmeng.
The Hongmeng centered on qi—the development of living beings and cultivation was intimately tied to it. Whether it was energy of immortal qi, qi of the land, energy of the chaos, or qi of the Hongmeng—all were strength of the same quality. They were tangible sources that could be seen and touched.
The strength of the fourth realm was markedly different. It was formless and invisible, something more similar to the strength of cultivation level. The beings of the fourth realm called this strength “nothing”—and it was precisely what the word meant.
Only when one reached a corresponding cultivation level would one sense the existence of this “nothing”. If denizens of the third realm entered the fourth realm without reaching the appropriate level, they would simply starve to death.
Though Lu Yun had reached the requisite level, his scope of vision remained within the Hongmeng. In his worldview, qi should be tangible and visible. It should become one with living beings through simple osmosis, even when one didn’t take the initiative to absorb it.
That wasn’t the case in the fourth realm. Only when one had the necessary cultivation level did one have the right to receive the power of “nothing”.
Thus, Lu Yun was slowly modifying his commonly held notions to become part of the fourth realm.
She Nong’s cultivation method wasn’t a very advanced one—it was more akin to one found by the side of the road. Since Lu Yun’s cultivation level was so high, however, he could obtain an enormous amount of strength from even a basic, run-of-the-mill method.
Most importantly was that he could employ formula dao on that basic method to derive the great dao of the fourth realm. If he could determine the core essence of the fourth realm, he would glean more advanced methods from it.
It was only now that he understood that those he’d released from the Hadal Hell were a motley crew. They were more on the level of a group of beggars in the fourth realm. Though they’d once been magnificently glorious, with some even being a World Manifest, their core essence and cultivation realms had been completely eroded by the Hadal Hell. The strongest among them was just in the true void realm now.
Most of them were only void refiners, having barely maintained a proper cultivation level of the fourth realm. It wasn’t a smart course of action to rely on them for anything Lu Yun needed in this realm.
The Hadal Hell was so strong that it’d worn away at the once-heavyweights that’d been imprisoned within it. Some of them had wanted to regain their past selves when they won their freedom, but discovered with dismay that they were no longer who they once were.
Lu Yun wanted to use his level of Nihil World Sovereign to create new methods for his subordinates, helping them regain their peaks through a new starting point.
As he breathed in and out, he noticed the hadal hellfire circulating through his body began to dwindle until there was nothing left inside of him.
“Is this ‘nothing’?” He carefully observed his current state.
While “nothing” meant the absence of everything, it also meant the possibility of anything. It was a type of cultivation realm that could evolve into everything. The “dao” in “from dao came one, and one begat two, two gave birth to three, and from three resulted all living things” was a similar notion to this “nothing”.
“I see.” Spontaneous comprehension descended upon Lu Yun.
His current cultivation level was a result of the Tome of Life and Death. If there came a day in which it left him, he would instantly revert back to his true form of a superior realm cultivator of the Hongmeng.
Thus, he needed to continue cultivating and follow the treasure’s guidance, improving himself step by step until he fully controlled this kind of strength.
The empty fourth realm began to sharpen into focus in Lu Yun’s eyes. Though there was still nothing here, possibilities seem to abound in his gaze.
The golden bridge of light stopped in front of a towering mountain. Since Lu Yun had retracted his cultivation, he was now the size of a regular person as opposed to a giant greater than the Hongmeng. The third realm was but a speck of dust in front of this mountain’s grandeur.
This was Dragonmountain Clime—familial lands of the Longshan Clan of the fourth realm. Shaped as a mountain, it was actually a world with a complete set of rules. Those of space, time, the six greatest orders, and five supreme principles could all be found within.
He saw regular people inside, as well as what would count as inferior, common, and superior realm cultivators in the Hongmeng. The beings here, however, were much stronger than Hongmeng denizens. This was a true land of paradise, and the third realm was indeed a prison in comparison.
The bridge of light didn’t stop when it entered the world, instead sinking into a tall building without alerting anyone.
“Junior Longshan Yan and disciple Longshan Chi greet the senior!” Longshan Yan and Longshan Chi suddenly fell to their knees and kowtowed to Lu Yun.
A Nihil World Sovereign was on par with the celestial lords of the thirty-three facets in the world of immortals. Longshan Yan was only in the true nihil realm, so it wasn’t over the top for the two to kowtow at Lu Yun.
“Your father breaks though in seven days?” Lu Yun noticed a large sun and bright moon in the sky. A day was marked by one complete revolution from each. They were very similar to the sun and moon in the Hongmeng, and the degrees of time between the two realms were startlingly alike. This was likely a result of influence from the order of time in the fourth realm.
There was no order of time in the Hongmeng, but everything about time in the third realm was a function of the fourth realm’s definition.
“Alright, I need to enter closed door cultivation during these seven days. I will stand guard for your father afterward.” Lu Yun nodded.
“My deepest thanks to the venerated sovereign!” Longshan Yan was overjoyed. “Shall this humble one show you the vaults now?”
Highly concerned with what was at stake, he dearly wished for this powerhouse to accept something from his family straight away.
“That will do just as well.” Lu Yun nodded.
