Chapter 5: The Lower Realm

The spatial passage shattered.

Ao Kuiba fell from the darkness.

He fell like a meteor with silver hair flapping as the spatial passage pressure crashed into his body.

He did not struggle.

It would not do any good.

His current cultivation was only foundation establishing, and even if he reached his previous peak, the spatial passage he opened would not let him control it from the inside.

The world below was rushing to meet him.

Mountains.

Forests.

Rivers.

A large land mass covered in mist.

Ao Kuiba’s eyes narrowed as he fell.

It was not the Vermilion Grotto-Heaven.

He could tell from the spiritual energy density.

It was much lower than the Vermilion Grotto-Heaven.

The laws were also different, slightly, but different just the same.

Not weaker, just more primordial.

Interesting.

Ao Kuiba’s body burst through the clouds as he fell.

The forest below him was vast.

Ao Kuiba could see trees that were hundreds of meters high, their trunks thick enough to encircle a palace, and their roots consuming the rock around them entirely.

It was an ancient forest, though, compared to the landscapes Ao Kuiba had seen in the Upper Realm, it was still very young.

Ao Kuiba twisted in midair, adjusting his body.

He could no longer fly with his cultivation, but his body was still that of an Imperial Dragon, and even with his cultivation reduced to Foundation Establishment, it was nothing that an average Foundation Establishment cultivator could rival with his body alone.

He landed with a crash, sending dust and leaves flying.

Ao Kuiba looked up, his spiritual senses sweeping the forest.

Five hundred meters.

One kilometer.

Two kilometers.

He stopped there.

His spiritual senses were strong, but they could not stretch beyond his current cultivation.

It was enough, however.

There were beasts here, weak ones and stronger ones comparable to Foundation Establishment cultivators, one of which was slightly stronger than the rest.

Ao Kuiba did not bother with them as he walked towards a stream nearby.

The water in it was clear enough to see the stones at the bottom, and Ao Kuiba knelt to take a drink.

The water was cold, and the taste was normal enough.

Ao Kuiba stood, taking a look at his reflection.

His face was the same, sharp cheekbones, silver hair, and two short golden horns growing from his temples, his eyes the color of gold.

His clothes were torn and stained with the blood of the battle in the Forbidden Forest, but the injuries on his body were gone.

Ao Kuiba took a look at his palm, flexing it.

His body had recovered fully.

The first good news.

The second piece of good news was that his three paths had not disappeared.

They had simply regressed, following his cultivation.

Ao Kuiba’s Body Path was greatly reduced, his Qi Path had returned to Foundation Establishment, and his Soul Path was also greatly reduced, though, similar to his Body Path, its understanding had not disappeared.

That meant that reconstruction would be much easier than rebuilding from scratch.

Ao Kuiba stood, looking at his palm.

"Foundation Establishment..." He was not displeased.

Nor was he disappointed, however.

His eight thousand seven hundred years of cultivation would not be erased by a single fall, and he had already walked this road once.

The next time, he would know what mistakes to avoid.

Ao Kuiba’s eyes swept over the forest.

Before rebuilding his cultivation, he needed to find food and water, a safe place to stay, and, most importantly, to understand this world.

Ao Kuiba raised his hand, and the Supreme Yin-Yang System appeared before him.

[SUPREME YIN-YANG SYSTEM]

[Host: Ao Kuiba]

[Race: Imperial Dragon]

[Age: 8,700+]

[Current Cultivation: Foundation Establishment]

[Body Path: Foundation Establishment]

[Qi Path: Foundation Establishment]

[Soul Path: Foundation Establishment]

[System Functions:]

[Status]

[Inventory]

[Mini World]

[Dual Cultivation]

[Evolution]

[Creation]

Ao Kuiba looked at the interface, already having checked the other functions on the way down.

The Mini World function, though, had been particularly interesting.

Ao Kuiba had taken a look at it on the way down, and it was currently empty.

There was nothing in it except for space, vast amounts of space, but the time inside the Mini World was different from the outside.

That was one thing he was certain of.

The system had also made it clear that the Mini World needed materials before it could generate the Primordial Origin Qi, the purest form of cultivation energy from the dawn of the universe.

Ao Kuiba did not know what materials it would need, but he would find out eventually.

Ao Kuiba closed the interface as the growl of an animal behind him grew louder.

Ao Kuiba turned around.

A large black wolf was walking out of the trees, its body nearly three meters from nose to tail, its body covered in dark fur, with two curved horns on its forehead, and spiritual energy crackling from its claws.

It was a Foundation Establishment beast.

The wolf showed its teeth as it walked toward him.

Ao Kuiba looked at the beast for a moment, then lifted a finger, a single strand of qi curling around it.

The wolf was about to leap when Ao Kuiba flicked his finger.

BOOM!

The beast was sent flying, crashing through several trees before landing on the ground.

It struggled to get up as Ao Kuiba walked up to it, raising his hand above the wolf’s head.

The beast’s eyes pleaded, but Ao Kuiba placed his hand on the wolf’s skull, and it passed out.

Ao Kuiba looked at the unconscious animal before opening his Mini World, tossing the wolf inside.

The empty land in his Mini World now had its first inhabitant.

Ao Kuiba closed the entrance, looking at the small black wolf.

"Useful."

If the Mini World could support beasts, then there was no reason not to use it for storing resources, spiritual beasts, and anything else he could find.

Ao Kuiba walked deeper into the forest.

For the next few hours, he scoured the area, collecting various spiritual herbs that he could use.

He studied the minerals and marked the terrain in his mind.

Ao Kuiba found several low-level spiritual herbs to add to his Mini World, and he also discovered something else.

The Lower Realm was covered in natural resources.

The spiritual energy was weak compared to the Upper Realm, but the world itself was rich.

Perhaps because it had not been ravaged by cultivation for so long.

Ao Kuiba sat on a hill as the sun began to set.

Ao Kuiba looked out over the horizon, his golden eyes scanning the land.

There were no sects, no imperial dragons, no enemies, no succession war.

For the first time in thousands of years, no one was hunting him.

Ao Kuiba sat beneath an ancient tree as the night fell.

His eyes closed, and the Supreme Yin-Yang System appeared before him once more.

Ao Kuiba opened the cultivation menu, and a simple prompt appeared.

[Three Paths detected.]

[Recommended cultivation method: Simultaneous Three-Path Cultivation.]

Ao Kuiba allowed a small smile to appear on his face.

"Of course."

That was the path Ao Kuiba had pioneered himself.

The same path that had led to the terror that the Upper Realm had once feared.

This time, however, Ao Kuiba would not simply rebuild his past cultivation.

He would build upon it, making it better, more efficient, stronger, and one day, he would return.

Not today, not tomorrow, but one day, he would return.

Ao Kuiba opened his eyes as the unfamiliar stars began to appear in the sky.

Ao Kuiba looked at them, watching as they twinkled.

Beyond these stars, there were other worlds, and beyond those worlds was the Vermilion Grotto-Heaven.

Ao Kuiba’s brothers most likely thought he was dead.

Ao Kuiba narrowed his golden eyes.

Let them think that.

For now, he had a new world to explore.

Ao Kuiba stood, walking toward the depths of the forest as the first night of his rebirth began.