Gu Jinlai employed the same method to peer into the memories of Ying Huo True Immortal.
Through his understanding of the other Daoist Masters and Heavenly Immortals of the Ten Thousand Stars Sword Sect, he also gained new insights.
After roughly estimating in the bottom of his heart, he sought out Zhao Xi again.
"The Divine Sense Ability that has sustained him to the age of two thousand."
"Does Immortal Master Zhao have the confidence to hold him off?"
"Refining Essence into Energy, Qi Refinement into Divinity Transformation, from the True Immortal Stage onward, the strength of the Divine Sense Ability almost becomes the most critical core for Immortals. The strength of the Divine Sense Ability essentially determines how far a cultivator can walk on this path."
As Zhao Xi spoke, he estimated, "The Divine Sense Ability that can sustain a two-thousand-year lifespan must be at least the Sixth Layer Heaven."
"The Sixth Layer Heaven?"
Gu Jinlai was taken aback.
"Speaking of Spiritual Realm... neither in Longevity World nor in the Profound Immortal Realm do we have specific Cultivation Methods, let alone the division of realms. Everyone can only transform their Divine Sense through different methods round after round, and each transformation is considered a breakthrough of one layer," Zhao Xi explained with a smile, "However, about a decade ago, we acquired some precious cultivation books regarding the Spiritual Realm from another world. These books detailed the Spiritual Realm into Nine Heavens, Six Realms, and The Three Pure Ones, for a total of eighteen ranks. Every time I read them, I can feel their profound mysteries. If it weren’t for our lack of spare energy, I would have explored that world no matter what."
"Nine Heavens, Six Realms, The Three Pure Ones..."
Gu Jinlai, having heard what Zhao Xi said, sharply sensed something, "Does that world have a Cultivation Method for the Spiritual Realm?"
"That world must have had a flourishing cultivation civilization in ancient times, but according to what those exiles have said, the spiritual energy of their world has long since dissipated, and the cultivation system is likely to have been lost. The legacy that remains is questionable. I have viewed many of their treasured books, and they contain many errors," Zhao Xi said, pausing for a moment, "Of course, this doesn’t mean that those Cultivation Techniques are wrong, but due to the long break in transmission, the techniques disseminated by later generations have already strayed from their original intent. After summarizing them for over a decade, I have barely managed to perfect the Cultivation Books up to the Sixth Layer Heaven of the Nine Heavens Stage."
"If all relevant books are collected, would it be possible to infer the complete Cultivation Method of the eighteen stages of the Spiritual Realm?"
"There’s hardly any chance of that."
Zhao Xi shook his head, "I have heard their descriptions of these books, the break in transmission is too severe. To say nothing of the Spirit Cultivation Method, they even began to doubt whether that era truly existed. Therefore, to want to complete it, there’s hardly any chance. After all, the more advanced the legacy, the rarer it is, and the harder it is to preserve. Even if that world were to use the strength of their entire globe, and we Heavenly Immortals took time out to help perfect it, completing half would be the limit..." As he said this, he paused in his speech, "Of course, this isn’t absolute, everything is just my conjecture. Who knows, maybe there really is some force that has been eternal for tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years, always guarding these legacies."
"Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years... eternal..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Jinlai shook his head.
Even in the Longevity World, where people had lifespans of a thousand years and the turnover of generations was slow, precious books from ten thousand years ago were extremely difficult to preserve completely. Even if they were preserved, due to changes in the environment, people’s understanding of these things may not be the same as it was ten thousand years ago.
Just like in ancient times, black fungus and cucumbers were vegetables.
But in modern times, it may not necessarily be so.
There are also some modern terms that, if used in ancient times, would be completely incomprehensible.
If no one provided guidance and interpretation, the discrepancies, when applied to Cultivation Techniques, could lead to errors that might cause a cultivator’s practice to deviate wildly from the intended path.
In mild cases, all previous efforts could be wasted, but in severe cases could lead to Deviation, resulting in immediate death.
At this moment, Zhao Xi took out a small booklet and said, "This is the Spirit Refinement Method of the Sixth Layer Heaven that I have compiled from those books over the years. Although I do not know if it will be of any use to you, in my opinion, Innate Sacred beings are on a path of relying on their innate endowment, growing entirely on their own. If there were relevant Cultivation Methods to guide their evolution, they should ultimately have a greater potential for growth than us human cultivators."
"The Eighteen Layers of Heaven."
Gu Jinlai looked at the booklet.
The name was indeed simple and direct.
It pointed directly to the ultimate goal of the Spiritual Realm—the Eighteen Layered Heaven Realm.
"Although it only records the Cultivation Method for the first six layers, each step is based on my personal experience, so there shouldn’t be anything amiss," Zhao Xi said, "Divine Sense and True Spirit may not be the same type of energy, but they converge on similar paths. I believe that all paths eventually lead to the same direction, the same ultimate end. Therefore, take a look at this book. If you can practice it, you might as well cultivate it and refine your Divine Sense."
Gu Jinlai nodded his head.
He was about to say something, but then he seemed to catch a critical point in Zhao Xi’s words, "Personal experience!?"
As he flipped through the booklet that recorded the Cultivation Method for the Sixth Layer Heaven, he asked, "Your Spiritual Realm..."
"Yes, I’ve reached the Sixth Layer Heaven long ago," Zhao Xi said.
Gu Jinlai immediately gasped in shock.
But soon after, it seemed like he realized something else.
Zhao Xi’s cultivation time can be traced back over sixteen hundred years.
In other words, he was at least sixteen hundred years old.
Sixteen hundred years old, yet his spirit appeared not the slightest bit decayed or subdued...