Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

True Monarch Qingyuan shook his head. "It's too far. We are too far from the Spirit Realm. Without the help of the guiding power, even a Void Returning cultivator who is proficient in the Dao of Space would have to wait tens of thousands of years to fly to the Spirit Realm."

How many years does a Void Returning cultivator live? A normal Nascent Soul cultivator lives for no more than five thousand years.

The first benefit of ascending to the Spirit Realm after achieving the Nascent Soul stage is that the Spirit Realm will replenish one's lifespan, doubling it to ten thousand years. Furthermore, advancing to the Void Return stage in the Spirit Realm can extend one's lifespan to twenty to thirty thousand years.

Those who detach themselves from the world and advance in the void—without the world's support—are incomplete Void Returners, their lifespan not exceeding ten thousand years. The difference is that vast. Therefore, for a Void Returner to wander in the void, it's a dead end. Unless—”

Lin Zhao continued, "Unless one chooses the demonic path, devouring the heavens and the earth, forcibly breaking through a world, and absorbing its very essence."

He hadn't forgotten that the previous Luo Tian Secret Realm could barely be considered a small world, and the three Nascent Soul cultivators had shattered it by joining forces.

Qingyuan Zhenjun nodded. "This is also a path, but it's not that easy."

The real world, a typical one, is a few hundred thousand miles in size, while a normal one is a million miles in size. But the Cangyuan Immortal Cultivation World is at least a hundred million miles in size.

Even the most powerful cultivators who have returned to the Void can influence tens of thousands of miles. Most of those who wander in the void are incomplete, and their strength is not much stronger than that of the peak Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

Destroying the world requires facing the resistance of the world's will; an individual's power is too insignificant in the face of the world.

Even if it could destroy a world, how much power and time would it take? A small world would take you thousands of years, and if there were two more, the lifespan of a Void Returning cultivator would be over.

The harvest from thousands of years of hard work might not be as great as the harvest from honest self-cultivation. This path will eventually lead to a dead end.

The orthodox path is still ascension to the spirit realm, where resources are abundant, the lineage is extensive, and the journey is long.

Lin Zhao nodded.

But he still hasn't heard the question he wants to know.

Qingyuan Zhenjun glanced at him and continued, "Above that is the Dao Integration stage, where Void Return cultivators absorb external spiritual energy."

However, spiritual energy ultimately carries the imprints of various external forces, preventing cultivators from truly and completely utilizing the full power of their grotto-heaven.

The growth of one's cultivation level in the Void Returning stage is very slow, and the larger the cave heaven, the more difficult it is to increase one's cultivation level.

The Dao of Harmony is to completely destroy the already established grotto-heaven world, use it as nourishment, and create a new world to become the master of a world.

This newly created world spans at least 100,000 miles, and you have complete control over everything within it. You can easily change the world's rules, rapidly expand its scope, and enhance your cultivation.

It can even shatter the world, ignite its very essence, and transform it into the purest energy—unleashing a world-shattering strike. Therefore, cultivators who have achieved Dao Integration are called Dao Lords, Realm Lords, or Domain Lords—all meaning the same thing.

Of course, at this stage, the world has given birth to the will of heaven and earth, its rules are extremely strict, and its size is too large to be easily moved; it is usually moved by clones.

"Above that, there is the Mahayana Celestial Venerable, whose world expands to millions, or even tens of millions of miles, encompassing the entire world within himself."

Every gesture carries the power of a complete world.

The power of an entire world is contained in a single punch—you'll know how painful it is once you've experienced it.

Lin Zhao remained silent for a long time. Although he had long known that cultivators became stronger as they progressed, the reality before his eyes still exceeded his expectations.

The Returning to Emptiness Cave World is tens of thousands of miles wide, the Harmonizing Dao World is hundreds of thousands of miles wide, and the Great Vehicle Heavenly Venerable World is over a million miles wide. In other words, the Great Vehicle Heavenly Venerable could sink the Central Continent with a single strike.

Zhongzhou?

Although Lin Zhao was shocked, he did not become immersed in the terrifying power of these realms. He still managed to capture the most crucial piece of information.

Returning to emptiness must be based on the Dharma realm.

To attain the Dao, one must rely on the grotto-heavens to open up the world.

The Dharma realm is the fundamental framework of everything.

Just like the foundation of the Dao in the foundation-building stage—the quality of your foundation determines how far you can go.

He voiced this judgment.

True Monarch Qingyuan nodded. "The quality of your Nascent Soul realm truly determines your path beyond Nascent Soul. Using a fifth-tier cultivation technique created by someone else, Nascent Soul is easy, and the realm is readily available."

But that's someone else's path. It will be relatively difficult to improve their cultivation in the future. Taking one step forward will require several times the effort and will involve readjusting the structure of the Dharma realm.

If you can perfect the Five Elements Return to the Void True Technique to the fifth level, the Dharma Realm that is born will be the most suitable for you.

In the future, the expansion of the Dharma realm, the advancement to higher realms, and even the creation of new worlds, will all be within their grasp.

Lin Zhao let out a deep breath; this was the answer he wanted.

With his current strength, even a Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't stop him, and it's not entirely impossible for a Deity Transformation cultivator to do so.

Otherwise, True Lord Qingyuan wouldn't have made him a secret disciple.

But becoming a deity is not the end.

Above that are Returning to Emptiness, Merging with the Dao, Mahayana, Transcending Tribulation, and then True Immortal.

He was previously unsure whether the realm of True Immortal truly existed.

But the instant he awakened the Heavenly Heart Dharma Wheel, he saw that three-legged golden crow—a being that projected across the heavens and fixed the time of all realms. It was a being comparable to a true immortal, or even surpassing one.

The golden crow gave him a clear goal: there are true immortals in this world who live forever.

What Lin Zhao wanted was not the Nascent Soul stage.

It is that immortal path of eternal life, where one can make the world decay while remaining immortal, and the sun and moon perish while existing forever.

He can only see a tiny, insignificant direction on this road now, but he has a direction, and he will keep walking.

Let's set a small goal first—to create a Dharma realm.

Seeing the burning fighting spirit in his eyes, True Lord Qingyuan nodded in satisfaction. That's more like it; young people should be living it up.

Lin Zhao was about to speak when she asked about the key process of the birth of the Dharma Realm.

Qingyuan Zhenjun seemed a little tired. He yawned, got up from the stone bench, and stretched.

"Since we're on the topic of Nascent Soul," he said to himself, "then I'll take you to see the sect's foundation, so you won't curse in your heart that the sect is of no help at all and that you'd rather be a lone cultivator."

Lin Zhao swallowed the question that was about to be asked and quickly stood up.

"You know about the sect's Cloud Sea Immortal City."

Qingyuan Zhenjun straightened his sleeves. "Its essence is a mobile fifth-order war weapon, but the sect also has a Cangming Immortal City, which you haven't been to yet, have you?"

Normally, only Core Formation cultivators from sects can enter that place. After you've reached Core Formation, you still have to undergo several years of review. But I'll exempt you from that today and take you there directly.

Without waiting for Lin Zhao's reply, he raised his hand and waved. A beam of azure light enveloped the two of them, and they soared upwards.

Lin Zhao sensed spatial fluctuations within the blue light—similar to a teleportation array, yet smoother, like entering the surface from the bottom of the water.

In just a few breaths, his feet touched the ground and he found himself standing in a square.

The plaza was enormous, spanning hundreds of miles in circumference. The ground was made of a single piece of jade-like spiritual material, a bluish-white color with a faint spiritual light flowing within it, resembling spiritual liquid or starlight.

Lin Zhao noticed that the entire structure of Cangming Immortal City was more like an altar than an immortal city.