"The third question is about the pocket world at the Thundernet Mountains!"

"Bai Ye's pocket world?"

"Yes." Luo Chen was truly confused about this part. "I heard there were plenty of treasures there and even some True Artifacts. But when the pocket world opened, both your sects only sent Adepts, and neither you nor Sage Jade Cauldron went in yourselves. Weren't you tempted?"

This question had lingered in Luo Chen's mind for a long time. Before, there had been no opportunity to ask, not to mention that his relationship with Han Zhan was nowhere near close enough for him to be so daring. But after so many years together, especially after Han Zhan had taken action to save him from Blood Nightmare, Luo Chen felt their relationship had grown closer.

Han Zhan did not seem surprised. Perhaps he had heard similar questions many times before. Without hesitation, he began to explain. However, this explanation took quite some time. He began from cultivation itself and explained the progression of realms step by step.

Cultivation started from Qi Refinement. In that realm, a cultivator absorbed the spirit energy and refined it continuously. When spirit power reached its peak, the dantian transformed into a sea and thus was laid the foundation of the Great Dao. After Foundation Establishment, spirit consciousness was born, and the body transformed, allowing it to hold more spirit energy. In this process, the spirit power within the body progressed from gaseous to liquid and eventually to solid form at the Golden Core Realm. Yet the most important aspect was not spirit power or mana. It was the divine soul.

From Qi Refinement to Golden Core, the continuous circulation of external spirit energy tempered the divine soul, allowing it to grow stronger. Upon reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, the Three Flowers gathered at the crown, and the Five Qi returned to the origin. The intangible soul condensed into a solid Nascent Soul. At that point, the sea of qi transformed into an equally solid Purple Palace, which became the dwelling place of the Nascent Soul. After stepping into this realm, cultivation changed greatly. Refining mana remained constant, but beyond that, the emergence of the Nascent Soul Domain allowed cultivators to control external spirit energy aligned with their affinity. From this point on, Sages truly possessed the power described in mortal tales—moving mountains and filling seas.

"You have witnessed many high-tier battles. You should know what this means."

"Controlling the power of heaven and earth?"

"Exactly. One part of it is drawing on the surrounding spirit energy and making it your own so your mana never runs dry. But that's really just the surface. What is the power of heaven and earth, really? Is it just that drifting spirit energy?"

"Laws?"

"As expected, you've grasped something. Well, you're a cultivation prodigy. Techniques come to you as easily as breathing, and I believe your comprehension of laws will advance just as quickly. Anyway, for Sages, the most important part of cultivation is to grasp the law that suits them best. This is done through constant and intentional manipulation of the spirit energy of heaven and earth. And once you grasp that law, Divine Transformation is within reach!"

Luo Chen did not understand. "But I've never seen a Sage who could grasp the power of laws—no, wait, I suppose there was one...."

A tall and aloof figure appeared in Luo Chen's mind. She stood atop Green Parasol Mountain, proud and utterly unmatched. Han Zhan naturally knew whom he was referring to but chose to skip over it for now. "You are not wrong. Almost no Sage can actually touch upon law power. Usually, cultivators can only grasp a suitable law after advancing to Divine Transformation, when the divine consciousness transforms into thought and works together with the Domain. But the law cultivation process is something that cannot be skipped, and that's why Jade Cauldron and I didn't enter Bai Ye's pocket world. Places where such experts have fallen are saturated with the laws they comprehended in life. If we went in, we'd be inevitably influenced by them, and that would end up distorting our own path. If that happened, advancing to Divine Transformation would become impossible."

Luo Chen felt his head swell as he listened. He frowned tightly and summarized uncertainly, "So... Sages cannot enter Ascendant's dwellings?"

"Well, yes and no. It's not like there's a hard barrier stopping us from going in, just the problem of permanently ruining our cultivation. But it really depends on whether an Ascendant died there. If it's just an ordinary dwelling, then there's no problem."

Luo Chen pressed further. "But is there really no way to go in?"

"None whatsoever. The only ones who can go in are those who know for sure they won't be affected. There's one exception...." He seemed to recall something and trailed off. But seeing Luo Chen's curious expression, he added, "If a Sage follows the same path as the fallen Ascendant, then they can enter. They might even inherit the predecessor's inheritances and comprehend law power in advance, while still at the Nascent Soul Realm."

Luo Chen nodded and firmly memorized this knowledge to avoid straying in the future. As he silently reviewed it in his mind, his thoughts began to drift. Before long, a new question emerged. "What about higher realms? Since Adepts can enter an Ascendant's pocket world, then what about the dwellings of those beyond Divine Transformation? Could Sages enter those?"

Han Zhan was stumped. After thinking for a while, he said helplessly, "The Mountains and Seas Realm is ultimately just a lower realm. The fact that Ascendants can remain here and occasionally act is just about the limit of the energy level here. Anything beyond that... likely cannot be accommodated. A small temple can't hold a great Buddha statue. So how would I know whether those places can be entered? Still, beings beyond Divine Transformation must have an extremely deep grasp of the power of laws, perhaps even mastering a law completely. I am inclined to agree with you that their legacy probably wouldn't affect a Sage, just like how Ascendant-level laws don't impact Adepts. If you haven't reached that level, you can't even perceive that kind of power, so you won't be influenced by it and led astray."

This time, it was Luo Chen's turn to be stumped. What lay beyond Divine Transformation, and what did that path of cultivation look like? Luo Chen could not fathom it, and it seemed that Han Zhan also had no idea.

"Alright, that's enough for this topic. If you keep asking about advanced things like this, I'm going to start losing face," Han Zhan said with a laugh, without any real embarrassment. Strictly speaking, he was actually young among Sages, and the generational gap between him and Luo Chen was more of a technicality than anything else. He had no reason to act like a wise elder when it came to things beyond his knowledge.

Luo Chen smiled and asked his final question. However, this question left Han Zhan entirely silent.

"How strong is Azure Frost really?"

After a long while, he answered bitterly, "As far as we Sages are concerned... she's an unscalable mountain. You've seen it yourself. As long as an Ascendant doesn't step in, she can just stomp on any number of us."

Faced with this answer, Luo Chen clenched his teeth. He recalled the battles at Green Parasol Mountain. Three late-stage Sages had been seriously injured and driven back, and the clash had ultimately drawn an Ascendant to intervene. This matched Han Zhan's assessment perfectly.

After a while, he sighed. "There's always someone stronger out there and always a higher peak ahead. Cultivation really is like climbing a mountain; you reach one summit, only to find another beyond it."

Han Zhan gave a soft hum, then fell silent, as if the conversation had ended. As dusk approached, he suddenly spoke again. "You weren't asking all that just to pass the time, were you?"

Luo Chen said calmly, "The world doesn't change that much. The Jade Cauldron civil war and the conflict back at Dahe Market were the same at their core. Both were just struggles for profit. Now, the war in the Northern Sea is on a much larger scale, but at its heart, it's no different. If I get information from someone who's directly involved, I can piece together the bigger picture and get a better sense of where things are heading. That way, I can act accordingly... and avoid unnecessary risks."

Han Zhan understood. As expected, Luo Chen rarely acted without purpose. As for what he would do after understanding these matters, the answer had already been given. This land would not remain peaceful. Since there were no attachments, it was better to leave.

But in the end, he could not help but give Luo Chen a reminder. "Luo Chen, don't rely too much on your own experience when you try to guess what those at higher realms are planning. Even if they all fight for profit, the nature of that profit will be different from what you might expect, and the way they fight will be different too. Be careful. There really is such a thing as being too smart for your own good."

Luo Chen frowned. Although he did not fully understand, it was a sincere warning, so he kept it in mind.

At that moment, the swaying of the ship stopped. He walked out of the cabin and onto the deck. What came into view was a towering mountain shaped like sharp wolf fangs. Resonant Jade derived its name from those fangs.[1]

"The first stop has been reached. I hope everything goes smoothly from here on."

1. 琅琊 (láng yá, which we rendered as "resonant jade") is a homophone of 狼牙 (láng yá, "wolf fang"), hence the name. It probably looks something like this. ☜