Chapter 475 - 474: The Guiding Immortal Official, The Layout of the Immortal Realm

This wave, it was indeed eye-opening for everyone.

The breath of immortality, just as the Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Energy, could naturally float in the heavens and the earth.

This is simply non-existent in Blue Star.

Because it does not exist, in the common understanding of Blue Star cultivators, the breath of immortality can only be obtained by quietly cultivating, breathing in the Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Energy and refining it at a very low efficiency.

Is this... the Immortal Realm?

No need to refine, just breathe in to absorb the breath of immortality.

Although the efficiency is pathetically low, much lower than normal refining, it’s impressive because it happens all the time.

There’s another important point.

The breath of immortality here is so rich that it exists on its own, like the Spiritual Qi, it naturally exists.

Here, when one cultivates, one can directly skip the refining process and obtain the pure breath of immortality!

What the hell...

The concept of cultivating in the Immortal Realm is not at all the same as in Blue Star!

Especially after reaching the Seventh Realm, where the breath of immortality within the body can be obtained normally, wouldn’t cultivation in the Immortal Realm be twice the result with half the effort?

Not only Li Jing, but everyone present couldn’t help but sigh at this.

After a preliminary observation of the environment of the Immortal Realm, everyone’s eyes coincidentally landed on a stone tablet standing nearby.

The stone tablet was very simple, about ten meters high.

The ravages of time, wind, and rain had left many traces on the stone tablet, making it look a bit dilapidated even though it was clearly exquisitely carved once upon a time.

In addition, the stone tablet was covered with moss and naturally growing vines.

Through the gaps in the moss and vines, one could faintly make out three traditional Chinese characters engraved in seal script.

Ascension Platform.

As these three characters came into view, Li Jing and the others were slightly stunned, then collectively cast their eyes downward.

Without seeing the stone tablet, they weren’t aware of anything.

Only now did they realize that they were standing on a stone platform that resembled an ancient altar, having climbed the heavenly road to the Immortal realm.

Like the stone tablet, the stone platform was extremely dilapidated.

Various plants were growing all over the place, almost completely covering it.

They wouldn’t have noticed a ’special place’ if they hadn’t been careful.

When they noticed that their location was a ’special place’, all of them couldn’t help but have some odd expressions.

It was obvious.

All the people who had ascended from Blue Star had arrived at the Ascension Platform.

But perhaps because it had been a long time since anyone had come, the Ascension Platform seemed to be in a state of abandonment, with nobody caring about it.

"So, what should we do next?"

Liu Sisi spoke out.

"This place seems to be abandoned and there seems to be no one around, should we go around and see if we can find a place with people?"

At this question, the several women present unusually showed unanimity, collectively casting their gaze at Li Jing.

Liu Sisi, who had asked the question, did the same.

Seeing this, Li Jing gave the corner of his mouth a tug.

Truthfully, he didn’t know what to do right now, either.

It was his first time in the Immortal Realm, he didn’t know what was here, and whether there were any dangers lurking.

But as the only man present, he had to make a decision.

Thinking for a moment, Li Jing said.

"You guys stay here, I’ll go around and see..."

Before he could finish his sentence, everyone present, including Li Jing, felt something and collectively looked toward the east in the sky.

At the same time.

A streak of light shot over, coming into everyone’s sight.

Next second.

The streak of light came down close by.

The light faded, revealing the figure of an old man dressed in what looked like official attire.

Seeing the old man, Li Jing frowned.

Liu Sisi and the others stared intently as well.

On the other side.

The old man was slightly taken aback when he saw them, then rubbed his eyes incredulously, gasping in surprise.

"Are all of you all from Blue Star?"

Everyone looked at each other at his words, and Li Jing spoke.

"That’s correct."

Getting this reply, the old man, in his astonishment, folded his arms under the official robe and said,

"I am an old man named Zhai Xing, who has been appointed by the Eastern Emperor Donghua of the Eastern Immortal Realm. I am the celestial official in charge of receiving those who ascend from Blue Star."

Hearing old man Zhai Xing’s words, everyone collectively frowned.

The information in old man Zhai Xing’s words was somewhat overwhelming.

Eastern Immortal Realm, Eastern Emperor Donghua, celestial official in charge of receiving the ascenders.

These three keywords certainly reveal quite a bit of information.

"Eastern Immortal Realm" indicates that immortal realms are divided by region.

Other than the Eastern Immortal Realm, there’re at least North, South, and West.

Then each corresponding realm has its own controller or perhaps the strongest one.

The Eastern Immortal Realm is under the control of Eastern Emperor Donghua.

Furthermore, the Eastern Immortal Realm has its own bureaucratic system.

Since there are guide immortal officials, certainly there must be other positions with corresponding functions, right?

Seeing everyone fall silent and staring intently at him after introducing themselves, Elder Zhaixing felt somewhat embarrassed.

What these people...

Won’t someone say something?

If no one speaks, how is he supposed to continue?

Just as he was feeling uncomfortable, Li Jing spoke up, hand on chin.

"Elder Zhaixing, since you’re a guide immortal official, logically you should always be at the Ascension Platform. How come you only arrived after we had been here a while? Could it be because no one has ascended from here in such a long time, so you left your post without permission?"

On hearing his words, Liu Sisi among others, twitched their lips.

There’s a saying, "It is better to leave some things unspoken".

Li Jing, this...

What a daredevil!

Over there...

Elder Zhaixing, listening to the ebb and flow of someone’s words, blushed.

This young lad, is he overly perceptive?

Not only perceptive, he bloody well speaks his mind.

Upon arriving in the Immortal Realm...

New to area...

Anyone meeting the guide immortal official would treat him with utmost respect, wouldn’t they?

But, this lad...

Picking a bone with him in front of everyone, clearly trying to embarrass him!

In the past, surely Elder Zhaixing would’ve been pissed.

But now...

He really doesn’t have much to complain about.

First of all, what the lad said was true, he didn’t put his heart into guarding the Ascension Platform because nobody had been coming for a long time.

Secondly, it’s been too long since anyone from the Blue Star came which lead his position as the guide immortal official to become almost more of formality than actual necessity, not to mention the lessening allowances and no supply of resources for maintaining the normal operation of the Ascension Platform.

The group arrived with six people, as long as he treats them well, he has every reason to demand a reinstatement of his rightful perks and resources.

Coughing heavily, Elder Zhaixing said,

"Fellow Daoist, you’ve misunderstood. I didn’t abandon my post, but this Ascension Platform is only for those ascending from Blue Star. Blue Star’s situation is special, no one ascended in three thousand years. Not only has my position as gate official become redundant, if it weren’t for Blue Star’s special status, this Ascension Platform would’ve been abandoned or merged with others long ago."

No sooner had he finished talking than Li Jing interrupted.

"So, that’s your reason for leaving your post?"

"...."

Elder Zhaixing.

This kid, what the hell does he mean?

He’s already explained the situation and yet he keeps harping on him leaving his post.

Damn it...

Is he begging to be made an enemy?

While grinding his teeth, Li Jing smiled innocently.

"Elder Zhaixing, don’t misunderstand. I have no other intention, just that I am a bit blunt. Rest assured, I won’t complain about you to Emperor Donghua. I am new here and I doubt I’ll even get an audience with Emperor Donghua."

"...."

Elder Zhaixing.

Well, well, well!

Before he could say anything, Li Jing had already started threatening him.

Are all the cultivators of the Blue Star like this now?

Unafraid of heaven or earth, even if it’s not like this!

When was there ever a time...

When a newly arrived Blue Star cultivator was not careful in his speech and actions, wary of offending someone before getting the lay of the land?

Elder Zhaixing looked at Li Jing, then at the five women around him who clearly regarded him their leader. Rubbing his chin, Elder Zhaixing said.

"Fellow Daoist, I won’t hold it against you as you’re new here. As the guide official, it’s my duty to welcome all of you appropriately. But I still have to tell you, this Eastern Immortal Realm is not like Blue Star where you lived. You, who only just ascended, are only at the bottom here."

No sooner had he finished talking than Li Jing interjected.

"And so?"

"...."

Elder Zhaixing.

And so?

What more does he want?

This fellow...

Could he be incredibly naïve?

Forcing himself to maintain his composure, the Stargrabbing Elder took a deep breath, silently reminding himself not to get angry with a junior. He glanced over the crowd, waved his hand and produced six Jade Brands.

"This contains basic information about the Eastern Immortal Realm, as well as the overall structure of the Immortal Realm. You can view this by pouring your consciousness into it. At the same time, this Jade Brand will be your proof of identity when travelling through the Eastern Immortal Realm. It is essential for entering large cities and certain formal places to prove that you belong to the Eastern Immortal Realm. Be careful not to lose it."

While speaking, he casually threw out the six Jade Brands.

Seeing this, everyone instinctively raised their hands to catch them.

Before they had a chance to invest their consciousness into them, the Stargrabbing Elder looked at Yulian and Ji Qing.

"The two of you are not human cultivators, you can choose to go to the Southern Fairy Realm controlled by the Great Demon Lord. That is a world for the Demon Race. Of course, if you’re willing to stay in the Eastern Immortal Realm, that’s also fine. We in the Eastern Immortal Realm do not discriminate against the Demon Race, as long as you do not deliberately cause trouble."

Having said that, he paid his respects to the crowd with a hand-over-fist salute, then transformed into a beam of light and shot away.

The Stargrabbing Elder’s exit was resolute.

Not only Li Jing but also Liu Sisi and others were taken aback when they saw this.

Then Jiang Yini smilingly looked over.

"Look at you, you’ve offended the guiding immortal official so much that he didn’t want to say a few extra words to us."

Li Jing was rendered speechless upon hearing this, replying.

"I didn’t intend to offend him, I just didn’t want to have too much contact with him. You know the reason."

Jiang Yini remained silent, nodding her head.

Not only are there factional divides in the Immortal Realm, but there is also a bureaucratic system with Immortal Officials and Great Emperors. There’s no way there couldn’t be some underhanded tactics involved.

They just arrived in the Immortal Realm and knew nothing.

Rash contact with others might get them sold out.

The Immortal Officials are not necessarily good people, and being cautious is always right.

After all.

The bureaucratic system of a place like the Immortal Realm cannot possibly be like that of Blue Star, which is constrained by various legal regulations. There are scarcely any restrictions and there’s hardly any strict compliance with laws involved.

Its existence is merely to facilitate centralized rule, with only a few conventions that must be observed.

Without thinking too much, Jiang Yini poured her consciousness into the Jade Brand in her hand.

Li Jing and the others did the same.

This Jade Brand was made using some fantastic method, housing a vast amount of information about the Immortal Realm.

Through the Jade Brand, everyone quickly had a general understanding of the Immortal Realm.

The Immortal Realm is theoretically an enormous layered space from which one can enter but not leave.

Its expansiveness is boundless.

It isn’t a self-sufficient heaven and earth, but resides in the Big World influenced by natural laws, becoming extremely special and more suitable for high-ranking cultivators to practice and inhabit.

The Immortal Realm is made up of five sections.

The Four Realm of Immortals - East, South, West, and North, plus Zhong Shen Zhou.

Among them, the Eastern Immortal Realm is the Human Race’s territory. It is the most inclusive, open to any ascending cultivator.

The Southern Fairy Realm is the Demon Race’s territory. It is mainly inhabited by demon cultivators and has a certain disdain for human cultivators.

The Western Immortal Realm is the territory of alien species. It incorporates all kinds of non-human alien cultivators and rejects both human and demon cultivators to an extreme.

The Northern Immortal Domain, also known as the Netherworld, is the stronghold of ghostly beings.

Not only various ghostly cultivators practice there, but there are also all kinds of weird creatures, ferocious beings, and even living corpses, among others. In short, it is populated by beings that are neither human nor living entities.

The Netherworld rejects all living beings and refuses to have living beings step foot in it.

The reason isn’t that the non-living inhabitants reject outsiders, but to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

Most non-living cultivators have a bloodthirsty instinct.

Only a few who have a high cultivation level can control this instinct. Most of them cannot control their ferocious hunger upon encountering living beings, some even lose their consciousness and rationality.

Zhong Shen Zhou is not a particular race’s territory.

It is a hub inhabited by powerful beings.

To set foot in Zhong Shen Zhou, one must have at least the cultivation level of the Eleventh Realm.

That is the true place where those of the Eleventh Realm wander freely. Anyone picked out random may be of the Twelfth Realm, or even Thirteenth Realm.

What’s worth mentioning is.

There’s a Great Emperor for each of the Four Realms of Immortals, but the emperors govern their respective Immortal Realms not from within the realms but from their emperor palaces constructed at locations where Zhong Shen Zhou is connected to their realms for "remote control".

The Jade Brand mentioned.

That this is done to facilitate meetings between the four Great Emperors.

But it’s clear, things aren’t that simple.

According to the information in the Jade Brand.

Basically, those above the Eleventh Realm from the Four Realms of Immortals all go to Zhong Shen Zhou, only a few stay in their respective Immortal Realms.

It’s obvious, even to a fool, that Zhong Shen Zhou is very special.

The information about the grand layout contained in the Jade Brand is just that much.

The information about the Eastern Immortal Realm is relatively detailed.

The Eastern Immortal Realm is boundlessly vast, the largest among the Four Realms of Immortals. It would take at least three months for a Tenth Realm cultivator to cross it at full speed with Sky Control.

This realm is not just large in a simple sense.

However, the normal way to travel through the Eastern Immortal Realm is through teleportation matrices established in various towns.

Some large city’s teleportation matrices even support cross-Immortal Realm teleportation.

Apart from the territorial layout, the Eastern Immortal Realm also has the most population among the Four Realms of Immortals.

Just within the Immortal Realm, there are over a trillion people who were born and raised there.

The ascendants from Blue Star and other "lower worlds," as well as their descendants, although far less numerous than the native population, are also countless.

The Eastern Immortal Realm has a total of seventy-two Ascension Platforms.

Aside from the one on Blue Star being rather special, other Ascension Platforms are generally shared by multiple "lower worlds," with each platform designating a separate domain for its ascendants.

In this regard, Eastern Emperor Donghua was quite visionary.

Sticking together for warmth is human nature.

As groups grow larger, human greed begins to show.

Therefore, he used the Ascension Platforms to limit the territorial boundaries of different ascendant groups.

To a certain extent, this prevents instances of ascendants fighting over territories, and it also avoids possible conflicts between them and the native inhabitants of the Immortal Realm.

Of course.

It’s impossible to completely eliminate such situations.

According to the information in the Jade Brand.

Over countless years, the ascendant powers in the Immortal Realm have grown to massive scales, becoming strong and numerous, reaching tens of thousands in number. They each govern their own territories, and conflicts occasionally occur between them, and sometimes even with the native inhabitants of the Immortal Realm.

On this, the Eastern Emperor Donghua does not intend to interfere too much.

He basically adopts a laissez-faire attitude, unless it causes widespread devastation and misery.

From this perspective, while the Eastern Immortal Realm does have centralization of power, it’s essentially just that.

It’s worth mentioning that.

The territory of the Blue Star ascendants is very large and their power is extremely strong, but they are not united internally.

The place where Li Jing and others are, is within the territory of Blue Star ascendants.

Here there are seventy-two caves, thirty-six Taoist schools, and nine Great Immortal Palaces, a total of one hundred and seventeen power factions divided by sects.

Among them, the power of the nine Great Immortal Palaces is the most terrifying.

It is said that each Palace Master is a Venerable Realm strong one, and there are not only one in each palace.

While these Venerable Realm beings are not as powerful as Eastern Emperor Donghua, the controller of the Eastern Immortal Realm, each of them is a strong leader in their own right when considered individually.

Having understood the basic layout of the Immortal Realm through the Jade Brand given by the old man who plucked stars, Li Jing withdrew his divine sense from it and frowned slightly.

The Immortal Realm, it appears orderly on the surface.

But in reality, it is filled with chaos.

Just looking at the Eastern Immortal Realm reveals many problems.

The other Immortal Realms, I’m afraid, are not much better than the Eastern Immortal Realm.

If it weren’t for the control of the Four Great Emperors, the entire Four Realm of Immortals would probably have been in chaos.

In this respect, Li Jing had expected this beforehand.

Chaos, has its own advantages.

Orderliness, on the other hand, tends to come with many restrictions.

Just like in the mortal world.

Even if he possessed unmatched skills, he would still have to obey the law, otherwise he would easily become the target of public criticism and it would be difficult for him to live a normal life.

In the Immortal Realm, as long as he does not violate moral boundaries, he can basically do whatever he wants.

The downside is that.

If you don’t have a solid foundation here, it’s uncertain who might bully you, or even secretly take your life.

From the current perspective.

Given the premise of being newcomers, the first thing to do is to join a reliable Blue Star ascendant power group to ensure basic safety.

But doing so, could result in loss of freedom.

And there will inherently be conflicts between ascendant power groups.

What to do?

Just overthinking, Liu Sisi and others had finished checking their Jade Brands.

All five were smart and clever.

Even Ji Qing, who only knew how to play video games all day, wouldn’t act confused when it came to major matters.

Seeing Li Jing in difficulties, they all realized that he was hesitating over the choice of how to take root in the Immortal Realm.

After a glance at each other, Jiang Yini spoke up.

"There’s no rush to decide how to take root in the Immortal Realm, Li Jing. We can start by travelling everywhere to familiarize ourselves with the environment of the Eastern Immortal Realm."

Before her words had ended, Yulian agreed.

"Yini made a good point."

After saying that, she hesitated a bit, and said.

"I have a personal opinion. We probably should completely bypass the territory of the Blue Star ascendants."

Li Jing frowned upon hearing this.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The Blue Star ascendants are people from generations far removed from us. Although we all come from the same Earth Realm, our ideologies are fundamentally different. I fear it would be difficult to get along."

Yulian explained, saying.

"Not to mention the most recent group of Blue Star ascendants, just think about those before the founding of Longyu. There were many prosperous dynasties, but weren’t they all rotten to the core despite their seemingly glamorous appearance? Not to mention us, who live in modern times, and have long since discarded those past ills. Why should we bother dealing with them and potentially having to accommodate ourselves to all these old ways?"

Hearing what Yulian had to say, Liu Sisi chimed in with a different opinion.

"If you say it like that, Yulian, your point makes sense. However, even if we set aside the Blue Star ascendants, it’s not necessarily better to deal with other ascendants."