Qin Luan actually broke through his inner demon directly, astonishing everyone who was watching. To break through an inner demon while still in the Foundation Establishment Stage—there were only a handful across the Nine Provinces who could do such a thing. They were all cultivators of the same stage, yet the gap between them was this vast.
Song Ying blinked her eyes repeatedly, overjoyed. After being scolded by Jiang Li, having their sweet dreams turned into nightmares, no one dared to act strange anymore. The Kunpeng restrained its transformation, the Manifestation of Heaven and Earth was withdrawn, and the members of the Sun-Chasing Clan all returned to their human forms.
Before entering the Secret Realm, when Qin Luan saw Jiang Li standing there alone, he had approached him out of goodwill. Jiang Li had thought then that this person had a good heart. Now that he could even overcome his inner demon, it showed his temperament was indeed exceptional.
In Jiang Li’s view, Qin Luan truly had the qualifications to become a Human Emperor Candidate—both his aptitude and heart were outstanding. As for whether he could truly become a Human Emperor Candidate, or even the Human Emperor himself, that would all depend on his fortunes in the days to come. Jiang Li asked, “What was your inner demon?”
“When I was young, my master often left me alone in the temple. It was always dark like there were ghosts around. I was afraid.”
“So your inner demon is a ghost?”
“No, my inner demon was my master, Yuan Wuxing. Just now the inner demon took his form, and I gave him a good beating.”
Jiang Li thought to himself, Good fellow, at the gates of Green City Prefecture, your master pulled me aside. Then at the entrance of the Secret Realm, you pulled me. The two of you master and disciple really do have a knack for finding me, huh.
“For you, I wouldn’t call it advice exactly—but I’ll give you a suggestion. Calm composure is a virtue, but at your age, you should have a bit more vitality.”
Jiang Li had seen in the Dream Realm that Qin Luan calmly deduced his next realm of cultivation. He was steady but overly mature. Of course, it was just a suggestion.
Being mature and steady was not necessarily a flaw, and even with more vigor, cultivation might not necessarily go better.
“This trial is concluded. Based on the two rounds of assessments, I will issue rewards to the top thirty,” Dream Chun’s voice echoed—it meant the Secret Realm was about to close.
Everyone hurriedly bowed toward Jiang Li and said in unison, “Thank you for your guidance, Human Emperor. We will remember it well!” Compared to the rewards of the Secret Realm, the chance to receive personal instruction from the Human Emperor himself far surpassed any treasures or elixirs.
When the rewards were calculated, participants would be separated, preventing them from seeing each other’s prizes and fighting afterward.
“Elder Meng, did you enjoy the show?”
Jiang Li again saw Dream Chun and asked with a smile. Dream Chun said gloomily, “Not happy. I thought I’d get to see the legendary Mahayana Stage.
But you didn’t even show your true power!”
“Hahaha, well, what could I do? Aside from that young fellow who transformed into a True Dragon and barely reached the physical strength of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, the rest were only at most in the Integration Stage. If I used my full strength, I’d leave them all with psychological scars. If I accidentally became their inner demon, that’d make their cultivation a nightmare, wouldn’t it?”
Jiang Li laughed as he spoke. The Tribulation Transcendence Stage was incomparably profound—something these junior cultivators could never imagine. For them, even picturing the Integration Stage was already their limit.
Even Li Litong, who had once reached the Spirit Transformation Stage, could not comprehend what true Tribulation Transcendence meant. All he could do was imagine himself as a peak of Integration. Only that one fellow who transformed into a True Dragon had managed to graze the edge of Tribulation Transcendence with his physical body alone.
Dream Chun also laughed.
“That makes sense. Then why not let me test the might of the Mahayana Stage myself?”
Dream Chun was a supreme expert who had once nearly reached the Tribulation Transcendence peak. She had witnessed many Tribulation Transcendence experts using their powers, and she could naturally imagine the realm beyond. Jiang Li said with a smile, “Elder Meng, please, as you wish.” …
Within the dream, Dream Chun unleashed both the Dao of Dreams and the Way of Illusions. These two powers combined could overturn yin and yang, transform illusion into reality, make the real seem false and the false seem real, creating endless marvelous magical arts.
Yet in the end, none could escape the fate of being unraveled by a single hand of Jiang Li. Jiang Li easily defeated Dream Chun again.
“As expected from the Mahayana Stage, a realm rarer even than those who ascend to immortality—truly formidable.”
It was common knowledge that above the Tribulation Transcendence Stage lay the Mahayana Stage. In the days when the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Ladder still existed, one only needed to cultivate to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage to ascend. There was no need to remain in the Nine Provinces to laboriously cultivate to Mahayana.
Once in the Immortal Realm, one could cultivate Immortal Power instead—wasn’t that far better? But when the Heavenly Ladder disappeared, cultivators were forced to turn inward and wonder—how should one cultivate to the Mahayana Stage now? In the end, they found that breaking into Mahayana was far harder than ascending itself.
And so, after the disappearance of the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Ladder, only one person successfully reached Mahayana—Jiang Li!
“Human Emperor Jiang, you are ranked first. According to the reward rules, you may make one request of me. Speak—what do you wish for? My foundational technique, Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns? To hear tales of the past? Or… perhaps, do you wish for me?”
[Congratulations, Host, task completed] Jiang Li ignored Dream Chun’s teasing with a chuckle.
“Elder Meng, how could you say such things? I’ve already broken the rules of the Secret Realm by entering uninvited. How could a Human Emperor compete with little Foundation Establishment cultivators for fortune? Elder Meng, please, remove me from the rankings. Let the second place take first, and the third take second.”
“Since you didn’t pursue my intrusion into this Secret Realm, allow me to repay this favor. You may tell me one request—something I can help you with.”
Dream Chun was a bit disappointed that he ignored her teasing, yet his last words rekindled her hope. She asked expectantly, “Can you let me leave the Secret Realm and return to the Nine Provinces?” Jiang Li thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“I see.”
Dream Chun sighed softly, then her eyes lit up.
“Hmm? Not yet?”
Jiang Li explained seriously, “Elder Meng, you understand your own state. You are now but a wisp of lingering will bound to this Mysterious Secret Realm. To truly leave it, you must gather your Three Souls and Seven Spirits together.”
“Human Emperor Jiang, no need to comfort me. My true body already failed its tribulation and passed into the cycle of reincarnation. Where could I ever find my Three Souls and Seven Spirits again?”
Where there was no hope, Jiang Li would not speak lightly. But once he spoke, it meant he had fair confidence.
“The remnant of Elder Meng is the clearest and most conscious lingering will I’ve ever encountered. According to my deduction, if you maintain this state for two hundred more years, a new soul will be born within the void. You will become an entirely new lifeform, independent of the Great Dream Lay Scholar you once were.”
Jiang Li’s tone was steady and firm, and those words planted true hope in Dream Chun’s heart. Most souls in this world were born from endless cycles of reincarnation. But exceptions existed.
When any being or object was steeped long enough in abundant Spiritual Qi, the Essence of Sun and Moon, or other substances with spirit, it could nurture awareness. That awareness could eventually become wisdom, and from wisdom, a new soul would be born. Normally, such a process would take a time counted in tens of thousands of years.
But Dream Chun was already a fragment of sentient will. Therefore, the time needed for her to form a soul could be vastly shortened. This was a conclusion Jiang Li had drawn when he was researching the direction of the Underworld’s Gate, along with a series of other hypotheses on the nature of souls.
Those who cultivated the Soul Nurturing Dao had wept with joy upon learning of his discoveries, nearly kneeling to worship Jiang Li as their sect’s reviving forefather.
“Two hundred years later,” Jiang Li said calmly, “I will come and guard your path.”
“Thank you, Human Emperor.”
(End of Chapter)