On this day, many people were looking up at the sky.
A cloud over the Western Capital had disappeared.
The cloud had shrouded the Western Capital for eight months, growing larger, casting a shadow over everyone’s hearts, making it hard to clear.
When the cloud came, the officialdom in the Western Capital was shaken. The Cabinet Chief Minister resigned, the Chamberlain resigned, the Three Dukes resigned, the military commanders resigned, the civil and military Pillar Country resigned, the censors resigned, and nearly half of the Chiefs of Staff resigned!
After the cloud arrived, many people in the Western Capital indeed died. Some people, even if they resigned, couldn’t escape, becoming guests of the cloud, hanging lifelike tens of miles away in the sky.
The hearts of the people in the Western Capital were filled with anxiety, and everyone wanted to find the culprit and hand them over to avoid implicating themselves. But they knew little about the events from eleven years ago.
Under such pressure, they lived through eight long months.
Now, this cloud had finally left.
Many felt as if a heavy burden was lifted.
The Director and Vice-Director of the Observatory urgently ordered the Morning Bell Officers and a group of Doctors and officials under them to start searching for the whereabouts of the cloud.
Many Heaven Listeners also became busier, and whether people looked up, they always saw several Heaven Listeners with large ears flying around in the sky. Outside the Western Capital, some trees and grasses sprouted many ears, and even cliffs bore ears of various sizes, prompting the Venerable Kings and Venerable Lords among the Heaven Listeners to take action.
There were even magnificent Primordial Spirits diving into the underworld, inspecting the surroundings to see if the cloud was hiding there.
When the cloud was present, they were frightened, fearing it would come to find them.
After the cloud departed, they became anxious, feeling some danger in its absence from their surveillance and wanting to find the cloud again.
This hustle did not affect Chen Shi.
He went to Xinxiang Hall, found Hu Feifei and other scholars coming from Xinxiang, and also sought out Tian Yue’e, Huang Fengnian, and Fu Xiu, fellow scholars from his journey to take the exam, inviting them to cultivate together in the small heavenly realm.
These days, Tian Yue’e and Huang Fengnian stayed in the Western Capital, where expenses for food, clothing, and other needs cost money. Coming from the countryside, they barely scraped together enough travel expenses before the exam, some even not managing to gather even the fare, relying on drawing talismans and exorcising evil spirits for meals along the way.
Upon arriving in the Western Capital, Hu Feifei took them to find Red Mountain Hall, where they joined as Talisman Masters. These days, helping nearby people exorcise evil spirits earned them some money for sustenance, significantly improving their cultivation abilities.
The small heavenly realm was hidden in the Fox Grapes Mirror, which appeared to be just a mirror, but it contained an incredibly vast internal space, larger than the Western Capital.
Inside, Heaven and Earth Righteous Qi was exceedingly abundant, making cultivation within far superior to the outside by dozens of times.
The group entered the small heavenly realm, looked around amazed, repeatedly exclaiming in wonder.
"The sun, moon, and stars here are all wrong. When you cultivate to the Returning Void Realm, don’t follow them for cultivation," instructed Chen Shi.
Hu Guanghan laughed: "Returning Void Realm? Chen Jieyuan, you overestimate us. In this life, we don’t expect to reach the Returning Void Realm. Achieving Divinity Transformation and Divine Descent is already remarkable. Even with the right guide, at most, we can only reach Void Refinement."
Upon these words, Fang Wuji, Pan Ga, and others nodded in agreement.
Chen Shi was puzzled and asked: "Why is this?"
Tian Yue’e laughed heartily: "For us, reaching Divinity Transformation Realm is expected. But the next two realms, Divine Descent Realm and Void Refinement Realm, are gifted by the Outer Heaven True God, unrelated to cultivation. So, the most one can cultivate to is Void Refinement Realm. Going further requires cultivation techniques, wealth, companions, and resources. Without money, nobody can ascend."
Chen Shi realized: "I see. No wonder Sun Yisheng, Lord Sun, was always stuck at Void Refinement Realm, unable to break through."
Sun Yisheng is the ambassador at Guanghui Warehouse, who cultivated to the peak of Void Refinement Realm, presumably lacking three of the wealth, companions, location, technique, hence unable to break through.
Chen Shi also thought that many officials in the Western Capital, like Sun Yisheng, seemed mostly stuck at Void Refinement Realm, unable to progress further. For example, among those Divinity Transformation Camp soldiers who pursued them, several were at this realm.
Evidently, the True God’s blessings, granting two realms, still narrowed the gap between ordinary cultivators and family scions.
Although Chen Shi tailored teachings and imparted various cultivation techniques from the True King’s Tomb, mastering the techniques alone wasn’t enough; wealth, companions, and location were also needed.
This wealth is naturally easy to understand: during cultivation, consolidating breakthroughs requires money for crafting Spirit Pills for healing, creating Talismanic Weapons and talisman treasures, and magical treasures which require vast wealth.
The location refers to auspicious places like the small heavenly realm or Cave Heaven and Blessed Land. Even Chen Shi felt inconvenienced when cultivating at home or in Guangji Storehouse, despite possessing blessed lands like the small heavenly realm and small temple. Others lacked such cultivation sites.
Companions aren’t merely partners but fellow cultivators. Known as companions in cultivation, they may be senior members or fellow disciples sharing the same path. They can summon back the Primordial Spirit and Nascent Soul during soul emergence, save one’s life when going astray, and fight side-by-side against enemies. Moreover, companions are crucial for breaking through realms at key moments.
Wealth, companions, location, and techniques, these four are vital to cultivation. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Missing one or two still allows potential breakthroughs, but most cultivators typically lack all four.
Chen Shi smiled: "If you can’t progress, feel free to come to me. I’ll help you ascend!"