Chapter 283.1: Overturning Immortal Cultivation! Blood Descendants Reappear and Shocks Everyone! (I)

Lu Changsheng could feel an irresistible force tugging at his body. A moment later, he felt as though he was passing through layer after layer of thick barriers. He closed his eyes and did not fight the feeling; he knew this was what it was like when crossing the boundary between worlds.

As soon as he came out on the other side, a crushing suppressive force came down on him all at once. He opened his eyes and found himself standing inside an ancient, elegant manor filled with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers.

"We're here, Fellow Daoist Lu. This is Divine Sword Manor's base in the secret world," explained an Earthly Saint beside him.

The people of Divine Sword Manor called this secret world the Primal World. Its civilization resembled the ancient feudal dynasties. Divine Sword Manor had arrived five years earlier and gradually established itself, setting up another Divine Sword Manor here until it became one of Primal World's hegemonic powers.

However, that was as far as its influence went. Despite five years of effort, Divine Sword Manor had failed to spread the Martial Dao across the Primal World, because the world already had a cultivation system of its own, one that held an absolutely dominant position. And this cultivation system was one that Lu Changsheng knew well—the immortal cultivation system.

Lu Changsheng's expression turned cold as he spoke to the Earthly Saint. "Immortal cultivation is the Primal World's dominant cultivation system? Divine Sword Manor never mentioned that before..."

The Earthly Saint stiffened under Lu Changsheng's gaze, clearly uneasy. Still, with a sigh, he admitted, "Yes, you're right. We left it out precisely because we knew that if we revealed it beforehand, no Earthly Saint would agree to come to this secret world. After all, with immortal cultivation already dominant here, how could a handful of us spread martial cultivation? How could we possibly promote it on a large enough scale to condense the Martial Dao?"

Lu Changsheng made no response. Naturally, he was a little irritated. This was crucial information, and Divine Sword Manor had chosen to leave it out. In a sense, they had lured him into a trap. Now, he finally understood why Divine Sword Manor had spent five years here without seeing any hope of condensing the Martial Dao.

Even in the Immortal Martial World, where the immortal and martial cultivation systems existed side by side, the Immortal Dao had overwhelmingly dominated during the early stages of cultivation. It offered too many conveniences and thus was naturally more attractive to ordinary cultivators. And so, if the Martial Dao struggled to gain an advantage even in the Immortal Martial World, then trying to displace the immortal cultivation system in the Primal World with only a few Earthly Saints was almost impossible.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, if you truly believe it cannot be done, you may return to the Immortal Martial World. Divine Sword Manor will find another way," the Earthly Saint added through gritted teeth.

He clearly did not want to offend Lu Changsheng any further. After all, he was terrifyingly strong, and if he decided that Divine Sword Manor had deliberately deceived him, nothing good would come of it.

Lu Changsheng considered the matter for a moment, then waved his hand. "Forget it. Since I'm already here, I'll at least give it a try. Tell me about the immortal cultivation system here."

He felt there was still a chance. It did not matter that the Primal World was dominated by the immortal cultivation system, because ultimately, this was still a question of creating the right method.

Martial cultivation did not have to crush the immortal cultivation completely. If he could develop some kind of martial technique that was sufficiently convenient and accessible, then spreading it throughout the Primal World might still be possible. Of course, reaching the scale required to condense the Martial Dao of an entire world would be extraordinarily difficult. But since he had already come this far, he was willing to try.

The Earthly Saint visibly relaxed at Lu Changsheng's answer. "Fellow Daoist Lu, please come this way then. As for immortal cultivation here, this is what we know so far..."

He then began explaining the Primal World's cultivation system to Lu Changsheng in detail.

"Immortal cultivation in the Primal World is divided into five realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Deity Transformation. These realms are exactly the same as those of the Immortal Martial World, but the similarities end there.

"In the Primal World, Deity Transformation is the limit. Cultivators who wished to advance any further than that would have to move to a higher-level world before they can continue cultivating. The Immortal Martial World, of course, has no restrictions like this. As you know, Fellow Daoist Lu, above Deity Transformation is the Void Refinement Realm, whose cultivators possessed strength comparable to Heavenly Saints."

Lu Changsheng nodded at the Earthly Saint's explanation. He was not surprised that the Primal World had no Void Refinement cultivators. If they existed here, the world's energy reaction would not have been limited to the Deity Transformation or Earthly Saint level. More importantly, if the Primal World really had experts comparable to Heavenly Saints, Divine Sword Manor would never have dared to enter this world in the first place.

"Immortal cultivation requires a person to possess a spirit root, and only a small number of people have one," the Earthly Saint went on. "Martial cultivation is different. It has almost no prerequisite, so practically anyone can cultivate it. That should have been our greatest advantage..."

The Earthly Saint paused briefly, his expression growing more serious.

"But the martial cultivation system of the Immortal Martial World has very little appeal in its early stages. With only a few years to work with, spreading it across the Primal World is simply too difficult. We've already tried for five years, and all we managed to accomplish was establishing Divine Sword Manor and convincing those under our influence to cultivate martial arts. Anywhere else, our influence simply can't reach.

"The Primal World is dominated by immortal sects and clans, each controlling its own territory and proudly guarding its sphere of influence. Overstepping their authority could easily provoke conflict between sects.

"Divine Sword Manor had paid a tremendous price just to destroy the immortal cultivation sect that had once ruled this region. We then became the hegemonic power across a territory spanning a million li and gained control over several mortal kingdoms. But that's it. That is the limit of what we can control. Outside Divine Sword Manor's territory, immortal cultivation still reigns supreme."

Lu Changsheng now understood the problem clearly. Strictly speaking, Divine Sword Manor's attempt to spread the Martial Dao had already failed. Its territory might have seemed vast, and there might have been many people living under its rule, but relative to the size of the Primal World, they were still insignificant. Even if every person within Divine Sword Manor's sphere of influence cultivated martial arts, it would still be nowhere near enough.

Condensing a world's Martial Dao was not something a single sect or region could accomplish. It required the recognition and collective will of living beings on an enormous scale. Unless martial cultivation gained enough influence throughout the entire Primal World, there was no possibility of condensing the Martial Dao here.

"I take it the immortal sects of the Primal World are quite powerful, then?" Lu Changsheng asked.

"Indeed. Immortal cultivation, as you surely know, is supported by spells, enchanted treasures, formations, and more. There are sword cultivators, talisman cultivators, formation cultivators, body cultivators, and many other kinds of cultivators. Immortal cultivation here has developed to an extremely high level, not inferior at all to that of the Immortal Martial World.

"The top factions all have Deity Transformation experts. Some have three or five, others have eight or ten, and a few ancient sects are said to have several dozen. Divine Sword Manor has only managed to survive because those factions care far more about preserving their own traditions and interests than about eliminating every other cultivation system in the Primal World. If they were united against outsiders like us, there would be no way for a martial faction to establish itself here."

Lu Changsheng nodded in understanding. The Primal World did not lack powerful cultivators or powerful factions; what it lacked was unity. And that was hardly unusual when it had so many different factions, from immortal sects to demonic sects, each pursuing its own path and interests. No one would attack Divine Sword Manor simply because it practiced martial arts.

It was clear to Lu Changsheng now that what truly mattered in the Primal World was strength. It was a world where the strong took from the weak, and cultivators who survived and rose to prominence under such conditions had to be tough, ruthless, and with formidable combat strength.

It was no wonder Divine Sword Manor had already lost an Earthly Saint after entering the Primal World. Their strength might have been impressive in the Immortal Martial World, but here, they could barely hold on.

The Earthly Saint hesitated before continuing, "Fellow Daoist Lu, what do you think we should do now? We can ensure that nothing goes wrong while spreading the martial cultivation system within Divine Sword Manor's territory, but once we leave our sphere of influence, I fear there's very little we can do..."

Lu Changsheng thought carefully for a moment. "How many Earthly Saints does Divine Sword Manor currently have? And how many Human Saints?"

"Not counting yourself and the Earthly Saints brought in this time, Divine Sword Manor has eight Earthly Saints in total! As for Human Saints, we have more than a hundred."[1]

Lu Changsheng nodded. Eight Earthly Saints and over a hundred Human Saints made an impressive force indeed. No wonder Divine Sword Manor had originally intended to keep the discovery of the Primal World to itself. After obtaining the coordinates of this secret world, it had clearly believed it was strong enough to claim all the benefits this world had to offer.

Unfortunately, Divine Sword Manor had badly underestimated the Primal World. After five years of struggle and even the loss of an Earthly Saint, Divine Sword Manor had finally been forced to abandon the idea of handling everything alone and recruit other top Earthly Saints for help.

1. In the original text, the author used "Martial Saint" instead of "Human Saint," but we've used "Human Saint" for clarity. The author has mentioned in previous chapters that when people say "Martial Saint" they are typically referring to "Human Saints." ☜