Chapter 18: Divine Realm

Within the human domain, in the Yanfeng Universe Nation, far beyond ten thousand light-years from Tianlei Star, lay a desolate stretch of space.

No life existed here—only long-dead stars and planets.

Hum!

Amid a ripple of space, a blood-red triangular spacecraft suddenly appeared in this lifeless cosmic expanse—it was the “Blood Red No. 3,” assigned to Lu Qingshan by the Virtual Universe Corporation’s Transport Division.

Whoosh!

The hatch opened, and out flew a middle-aged man clad in dark gold battle armor—Lu Qingshan, returning from the Virtual Universe Corporation’s headquarters to the Leiguang Sea region.

“This place will do!” Lu Qingshan glanced around, then spoke slowly.

He had not returned immediately to Tianlei Star because he sought a suitable location to build his Divine Realm.

The Divine Realm is half the life of an immortal deity, granting numerous special abilities—an ideal place to nurture disciples and descendants.

Most holy sites of the stellar dynasties were, in fact, the founders’ own Divine Realms.

To enter a Divine Realm from the Original Universe, one must either travel to its spatial coordinates or pass through a teleportation channel.

But the coordinates of a Divine Realm are tied to its master’s safety and are never disclosed to others under normal circumstances; thus, most beings can reach a Divine Realm only via a spatial passage.

Spatial passages fall into two types: fixed and temporary.

Opening a temporary passage requires little cost and can be done anywhere in the universe, though the farther the distance, the higher the expenditure.

Constructing a fixed Divine Realm passage demands a permanent coordinate and an astonishing cost—even a nearby passage requires tens of thousands of Hunyuan units; distant ones demand millions, even tens of millions.

Yet if one builds a fixed spatial passage, the accumulated savings over countless ages far outweigh the cost of temporary ones!

Lu Qingshan chose to build his Divine Realm in the Leiguang Sea region precisely because he planned ahead for the future construction of a spatial passage.

“This is close to Tianlei Star—future passage construction will consume fewer resources!”

Lu Qingshan thought inwardly: “And all the stars here are utterly dead—no one will likely appear. It’s quite secluded.”

With this in mind, Lu Qingshan swiftly slashed forward.

Riiip!

Space before him tore open, and with a single step, he entered the spatial rift.

…

To most immortal deities, the spatial rift consists of countless layers.

The first layer: spatial fragments; the second: the Divine Realm layer; the third: the Spatial Current layer…

Yet to true supreme masters, the spatial rift is merely one vast, boundless expanse.

The closer to the Original Universe, the smaller the spatial fragments; the farther away, the larger they become!

And the larger the fragments, the greater the threat to cultivators.

The safest region within the spatial rift can sustain even a Realm Lord, but deeper in, even Cosmic Sovereigns may perish.

Zzzt!

Lu Qingshan’s form shifted rapidly, swiftly passing through the outermost, tiny spatial fragments.

“This is the Divine Realm layer—most immortal deities place their realms here.”

Lu Qingshan gazed at the now-larger fragments around him and thought: “With my current strength, venturing deeper into the Spatial Current layer would invite danger. I’ll place my Divine Realm here.”

“When I grow stronger later, I can move it deeper.”

For cultivators, the deeper the spatial rift, the more perilous it becomes—giant spatial fragments lurk there; collision means death or grievous injury.

But for a Divine Realm, the deeper the rift, the safer it is—many powerful beings prefer to fight within the rift; if a Divine Realm is too close to the Original Universe, it risks being caught in the crossfire.

Yet this region lies within the human domain and is extremely remote—supreme powerful beings rarely fight here.

“This one will do!”

Lu Qingshan quickly selected a suitable spatial fragment within the Divine Realm layer.

It was a fragment with a maximum diameter of 160,000 kilometers and a minimum of 120,000—more than sufficient for Lu Qingshan’s current needs.

After all, the inner worlds of most peak Realm Lords span mere tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter. Though Lu Qingshan understood the importance of inner world size, his life gene level was ordinary, and he had encountered no special fortune; despite countless efforts to expand it, his inner world had grown no larger than 100,000 kilometers in diameter.

“Establish the Divine Realm!”

Lu Qingshan focused his mind, drew near the chosen fragment, and began summoning his inner world to descend.

His inner world immediately emitted an invisible energy, locking onto the massive spatial fragment he had selected.

Huu!

Around him, a vast world faintly emerged—as if unreal—drifting steadily toward the fragment.

Simultaneously, the selected fragment moved closer to that ethereal world.

One illusory, one real—gradually converging.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The surrounding space trembled violently; other fragments recoiled. The illusory world slowly fused with the massive fragment, stabilizing into a true, tangible world.

Moments later, the once-illusory world vanished entirely, leaving only the real world, perfectly merged with the spatial fragment.

This was his Divine Realm—Lu Qingshan’s Divine Realm.

Zzzt!

Lu Qingshan focused his mind and stepped instantly into the Divine Realm.

Within the vast realm, divine power surged endlessly, and its edges continued expanding outward.

“Temple! Rise!”

Lu Qingshan willed it, and the vast store of Cosmic Crystals within his inner world converged.

Soon, a majestic temple took shape.

The temple radiated dense lightning primordial law energy; lightning serpents writhed around it—and upon formation, it became the core of the entire Divine Realm.

“This is my Divine Realm!”

Lu Qingshan stood in the temple hall, eyes closed, sensing every detail within the realm.

He now felt as if he were the entire Divine Realm—everything within it resided within his mind.

Mountains, plains, grasslands, swamps, deserts, oases, lakes…

“With the Divine Realm’s amplification, my power is surely more than tenfold stronger than outside!”

Lu Qingshan thought inwardly: “Too bad my Divine Realm’s foundation is still too weak—compared to Luo Feng’s in the original novel, or even ordinary Cosmic Beasts, it’s vastly inferior.”

“Fortunately, this can still be remedied.”

“Once I break through to True God via the Divine Power path, my Divine Realm will become a small universe—and that will naturally compensate for its current weaknesses.”

“Now that the Divine Realm is built, it’s time to return to Tianlei Star.”

With that, Lu Qingshan left his Divine Realm, boarded his spacecraft, entered dark space, and flew toward Tianlei Star’s coordinates.

(End of Chapter)