Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Chapter 2144: Void Integration

Unaware of the internal thoughts of the city lord who had been left in awe in the face of just a small fraction of his divine sense, Xuan Hao found himself in a state of awe observing the city lord himself, as he realized that the person standing before him, while comparable in strength to a Land Creation Realm cultivator, was in fact someone that had used a unique method to forcibly merge part of his body together with the surrounding space. Making it difficult to fully sense the presence of the other party as he had already partly merged with the surrounding space and was difficult to lock onto with divine sense alone.

Not just that, but killing the other party wasn’t something simple either, as merging with the surrounding space, even if it was only partial, meant that one had to destroy the surrounding space to kill the other party.

He could still accomplish this with relatively little effort relying on his divine void eyes, but for someone else at the Land Creation Realm, it would be difficult to cause a spatial collapse strong enough to kill the other party without a high enough comprehension of the Dao of Space or a high enough strength to forcibly break through this barrier and kill the other party.

Still… The other party hadn’t fully merged into the surrounding space but had only partially done so. Meaning such extreme measures weren’t needed and someone in the Late Stage of the Land Creation Realm that had formed an internal world should be more than strong enough to kill the other party.

If he was current, he guessed that the city lord before him was someone at the Void Monarch Realm close to reaching the Void Integration Realm or maybe someone at the earlier stages of the Void Integration Realm, as the cultivation realm itself might be about fully merging together with the surrounding space- or rather, integrating one’s own body into the void.

Although there were clear flaws with this kind of cultivation path, one being the weak divine sense while the other being the fact that one would have a far harder time avoiding certain spatial anomalies and storms even while not in the void, it could be seen as the best cultivation path for the current environment of the fragmented continent. After all, the locals had no real way to avoid spatial anomalies outside of the divine lands and even they likely wouldn’t avoid certain spatial anomalies.

The strength of this path was also clear, as while it made avoiding spatial anomalies and storms harder, it also gave one a greater resistance to them, while at the same time also bringing one closer to the Dao of Space. Allowing one to far more easily comprehend the Dao of Space.

Just the process of integrating into the surrounding space required one to at the very least reach the Perfection Realm in the Dao of Space, as for the so-called Void God Realm beyond the Void Integration Realm? He had a feeling that it undoubtedly involved a far higher level of the Dao of Space.

Overall, to take on someone at the Void Integration Realm that had fully integrated into the surrounding space, he concluded that one would at least need to have reached the Star Creation Realm, though he couldn’t say for sure without personally fighting one such individual.

No matter what, one thing was for certain… And that was the fact that this place truly was a haven for those wanting to comprehend the Dao of Space like himself. Even if the environment wasn’t suitable for comprehending the Dao of Space. The mere fact that the Dao of Space was a requirement for the local cultivation path meant that there would be countless peers from whom he could draw inspiration and learn from. Increasing the depth of his own Dao of Space and bringing it closer to the Origin Realm in the process.

“Senior… Is there something you might need from this junior? If there is anything, I will be sure to do my best to lend a hand…” Seeing how Xuan Hao wasn’t saying anything, the city lord that had remained silent so far finally spoke up with a clear look of nervousness on his old face.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here for anything specific, I just want to learn the general situation and if anything has happened over the past few years since I ended up trapped in a spatial anomaly for last twenty or so thousand years.” Knowing what the city lord was worried about, Xuan Hao slowly nodded his head before giving him the story he had prepared beforehand to get a better idea of the situation without coming off as too suspicious.

Although it was a bit odd that he would choose a random city lord to learn about what had happened, it wasn’t too odd, as being trapped within a spatial anomaly for over ten thousand years could be considered normal given the environment of the fragmented continent. Information he had learnt from the group of adventurers, who had mentioned to him how those senior figures at the Void Monarch Realm and above sometimes ended up trapped in spatial anomalies while out exploring the more dangerous and far less stable parts of the fragmented continent.

As for why these powerful figures would risk not only being trapped, but in worse cases, death to explore the less stable parts of the fragmented continent? Those adventurers had no idea but guessed that it could be due to the presence of some precious cultivation resources or fragments of the ancient civilizations that had once existed across the fragmented continent before it had ended up in its current state.

Although little was known about the time before the continent ended up in its current state, it was well known even among those weaker adventurers that had only reached the Nascent Soul Realm that the ruins and fragments of those ancient civilizations were of incredible value.

“Trapped in a spatial anomaly? I understand… It happened to me too when I was younger and had just reached the Void Monarch Realm and decided to explore those deadly places.” Hearing what Xuan Hao said, the city lord relaxed visibly as he said this with slight nod of understanding. Remembering his own experience of being trapped in a spatial anomaly in the past. Making it clear that it might be something most Void Monarchs and above ended up experiencing at least once in their life.

“From what I know, nothing major happened and the divine lands remain closed off like always. If there was anything worth mentioning, it would be the fact that the city lord of Desolate River City broke through to the Late Stage of the Void Integration Realm.

Not at all like a junior like me, who has barely begun merging with the surrounding space. Hehe, to be honest, I only really managed to start the initial integration and reach the Early Stage of the Void Integration Realm thanks to a passing senior at the Peak of the Void Integration Realm lending me a hand. If not, I might have remained trapped at the Void Monarch Realm for my entire life…”

“I see… Do you know anything about recently discovered ruins or fragments that might have popped up?”

“Things from the ancient times before the fragmentation? No- or wait, I did hear some rumors about the city lord of the Desolate River City’s breakthrough to the Late Stage of the Void Integration Realm having something to do with a potential ancient ruin. Of course, those are merely rumors, so I can’t say for sure, you will have to check it out yourself.”

“Thank you, I think I will be making a trip to the Desolate River City then.” Nodding his head as he felt like he got what he wanted from the older city lord, Xuan Hao didn’t linger around for long. Exchanging a few insights into the Dao of Space with the city lord before taking his leave as a thanks for the help, something that ended up being beneficial to both of them, as the unique direction that the locals of the fragmented continent took in understanding the Dao of Space was truly useful to deepening his own understanding of the Dao of Space.

And of course, to the city lord, the insights of someone at the Peak of the Perfection Realm in the Dao of Space would always be useful, as he himself was still at the Large Success Realm of the Dao of Space and needed to take another step forward and reach the Perfection Realm if he ever wanted to have a chance of fully integrating himself into the surrounding space and officially reach what should be the Peak of the Void Integration Realm.

After all, during the short interaction, Xuan Hao managed to get a clear picture of the Void Integration Realm. Learning that the realm itself was about slowly integrating oneself into the surrounding space one step at a time before one fully integrated into the surrounding space at the Peak of the Void Integration Realm.

As for what came after that… That remained a mystery, as it was clear that the little city lord at the Early Stage of the Void Integration had no clue about the Void God Realm and he would likely have to seek out the divine lands or Peak Void Integration Realm cultivators in the future if he wanted to find out about the Void God Realm that laid beyond the Void Integration Realm.