Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1541 - 1534: Return to Oblivion

Chapter 1541: Chapter 1534: Return to Oblivion

Therefore, one should not underestimate the Jiedan Realm just because it is only the second level. For the vast majority of cultivators, they might spend their entire lives at this level.

If it is said that reaching the Jiedan Realm only requires cultivation, then advancing further demands even more stringent requirements. The Golden Core Realm not only requires special techniques, but also sets higher standards for a cultivator’s qualifications.

Even if both requirements are met, a large amount of heavenly materials and earthly treasures are needed for cultivation. Among them, what is most lacking are Magic Crystals, crystals filled with dense magic power.

According to the intelligence they had, cultivators need Magic Crystals because they need to use their powerful magic power reserves to forcibly break through the meridians and Dantian, in order to reach the next realm, and most attempts fail.

A cultivator at the Building Foundation Stage has about a ten percent chance of successfully forming a Jiedan. However, a cultivator in the Jiedan Realm has less than a two percent chance of breaking through to the Golden Core Realm. That is to say, to succeed, one needs to attempt hundreds of breakthroughs.

Each attempt at a breakthrough greatly weakens the body. Without timely medical treatment and conditioning, severe sequela can occur, and in serious cases, lead to complete disability, never being able to cultivate again, which is essentially Magic Power Erosion disease.

Thus, cultivation requires a large amount of medication to condition the body, both before and after a breakthrough. Whether the attempt is successful or not, conditioning is necessary.

And these herbs, due to their scarcity, are extraordinarily expensive. This is why cultivators often come from sects or noble clans, as only such organizations can afford these costs.

But speaking of expenses, although significant, herbs are the lesser part; the major cost is still Magic Crystals. From the Jiedan Realm to the Golden Core Realm, although it appears to be only one level, it actually includes countless minor levels, each requiring a minor breakthrough.

For example, Feng is currently at the Jiedan Realm. If she wishes to make a minor breakthrough, she needs to gather enough magical power to burst her body’s meridians and Dantian, and then repair them, making her meridians and Dantian stronger than before.

But gathering magical power is not something everyone can do. Because the magic system in the East Continent is different from the Western Continent, they use a storage method rather than the Western Continent’s circulation method.

Feng, wanting to break through, could rely entirely on a mage like Tangmo to gather the magic power from the air for a forced breakthrough, while traditional cultivators of the East Continent cannot achieve this.

Admittedly, they can absorb magic power from the air, but this magic power’s concentration is not sufficient to help them break through their body’s limits. It’s like a stream and a flood; although both contain enormous energy, the difference between low and high volumes is very apparent.

Therefore, in such cases, they need Magic Crystals that store high concentrations of magic power to help with their breakthroughs.

Strangely enough, people from the East Continent do not know spell magic, but they understand how to engrave Rune Magic Circles. They carve a magic-gathering array and inlay it with Magic Crystals to gather magic power for assistance in breaking through. And it should be noted, even a minor breakthrough does not guarantee a hundred percent success; it’s just that compared to a major breakthrough, the success rate is somewhat higher.

As for a major breakthrough, it indeed relies on fate and luck, and with every attempt, not only is the breakthrougher severely injured, but a significant amount of magical power is also wasted.

It is normal to vomit if it’s unbearable. To strive for the highest realm, one must ensure that their body is fully saturated with magic power and then forcefully inject even more magic power. If this process fails, a large amount of magic power will dissipate into the air.

So, in summary, cultivation can be said to be an activity that requires both money and risking one’s life. Yet, despite this, due to the aspiration for power, numerous people are still drawn to it irresistibly.

Advancing beyond the Golden Core Realm really depends solely on one’s innate talent, which is entirely down to fate—there’s nothing that can be done if one’s fate is lacking. Therefore, many cultivators can only stay at the Golden Core Realm for life, of course, even more are stuck at the Jiedan Realm for life.

Just like Hu Daoke can only employ level one magic, while Tangmo has the potential to become a Forbidden Curse Level Magic Conductor. Physical qualifications, whether for cultivation or for magic, are crucial.

The essence of the Eastern cultivation system is essentially to continually expand the Dantian and strengthen the internal pressure of the Dantian, aiming to compress and store more magic power. This makes one more capable in battle.

Besides compressing the Dantian, training the toughness of the meridians is also an important subject. Unlike the fragile net-like body meridians of Western Continent mages using the circulation method, the meridians of Eastern Continent cultivators using the storage method are quite tough, capable of being repaired after injury and becoming stronger than before.

Thus, cultivators, whether busy or idle, often trouble themselves with conditioning their body’s meridians and Dantian, hoping to reach greater strength to face more severe battles.

"Jiedan Realm... Golden Core Realm... Nascent Soul Stage... Nascent Soul..." Cheng Ziang muttered these cultivation levels, and for some reason, whenever he mentioned Nascent Soul, he would immediately think of the Ancient State Factory, thinking of Fulajie’er.

Could it really be as predicted, that the ultimate destination for cultivators is to become demigods?

But demigods are dead, do they really wish to transform into that neither human nor ghostly appearance?

Because Xia Yue had long told the Advance Team, that in fact, the real Fulajie’er had already died in the factory, and there are no such things as souls in this world. What appears before them now is actually a replica of her. If using Earth logic, it would be an artificial intelligence that had copied all of Fulajie’er’s consciousness.

"Phoenix Nirvana, to be reborn from a place of certain death?" Thinking of this, Cheng Ziang could not help but sigh.

"Hmm?" Feng tilted his head looking at him, as they had removed their masks inside the carriage.

"Feng, you should cultivate more. You are still only at the Jiedan Realm strength; if we encounter a master of Golden Core Realm, we might end up in a difficult situation," Cheng Ziang said with a smile.

"Yes, I know!" Feng nodded earnestly in response.

"Ah, actually, you don’t need to try so hard. We do not entirely rely on you, don’t put too much pressure on yourself," Cheng Ziang ultimately uttered unwillingly.

"But I want to be relied upon by you all," Feng said earnestly.

"We still have our trump card," Cheng Ziang smiled and said, "but no matter what, as a regular combat force of the Advance Team, you should indeed improve. We can’t always resort to unconventional powers when faced with danger."

"I will try hard," Feng expressed, full of fighting spirit.

"Also, reaching Golden Core Realm is enough," Cheng Ziang spoke, his face unusually showing a touch of sorrow, "after all, I don’t want you to repeat Xiao Fula’s mistakes. No one wants to see her in that state now, but every day she is still carefree. Whenever I think of this, sigh..."

When Cheng Ziang first heard the truth about Fulajie’er, he was shocked and then inexplicably felt saddened. He could understand the conflicting feelings of Fulajie’er, who unintentionally killed another self and ended up replacing her, making her endlessly blame herself.

This made him think of the Forbidden Curse Mage from the Western Continent, as using Forbidden Curses also severely harms the body. Hence, each invocation of a Forbidden Curse is practically an overdraft of one’s life force.

The magic laws of the Otherworld are so cruel, to gain power, a heavy price must be paid. There are no everlasting strong beings; all strong beings’ ultimate fate is death.

Even in the Ancestor Era, those gods who possessed absolute power ended up perishing from internal strife.

The Otherworld is a giant cage. Every civilization born in this world is destined to face internal strife. Regardless of their willingness, they will fight over limited resources and eventually return to the cycle of reincarnation, with the world waiting for the next cycle of civilizations.

Once the magic power vanishes, the connection between Earth and the Otherworld will be completely severed, never to be restored.

Thus, Earthlings cannot permanently influence this world. What they can do is to help this generation of Otherworlders as much as they can, helping them break free from the eternal cycle of reincarnation. Letting them look up to the starry sky and chase the vast universe.