Others Level Up, but I Pursue Cultivation!

"..."

"In the early era of the Xianwu Era, the connection to the celestial realms was severed, and the spiritual energy was depleting... It has been nearly ten thousand years since a Mahayana True Immortal emerged... Crossing tribulation and ascending to immortality was even more hopeless."

"With the depletion of spiritual energy, cultivators of nature must grow stronger, thus they neglected Qi Refinement and favored Body Refinement... The path of Body Refinement demands very little from spiritual energy and ushered in the golden age of the Xianwu Era..."

"However, the road to Body Refinement is of greater difficulty, and both talent and spiritual medicine are indispensable... With the continuous depletion of spiritual energy, natural treasures and resources became scarce overnight..."

"Cultivators from all over vied for treasures to refine their bodies, leading them to explore forbidden realms and shed blood like rivers... For a time, the Cultivation World fell into great chaos!"

Su Xing nodded slightly upon reading this. Indeed, Body Cultivation required very little from spiritual energy, almost none at all.

When he was without spiritual energy, it was through Body Cultivation that he improved his own strength.

"Unfortunately, the treasures required for Body Cultivation are still rare... Was there a period of great turmoil thousands of years ago over the fight for treasures?"

Su Xing was not surprised by this and continued to read further.

"However, chaotic times always give rise to brilliant talents of stunning capability!"

"Chang Fengchun, the personal disciple of Wan Mu Sect; Yan Yan, the son of Commanding Fire Sect's Sect Master; and Bai Zixian, the young Sect Master of Five Elements Sect, all are geniuses that come only once in a millennium!"

"In just a thousand years, the three of them had cultivated to the Great Perfection of the Return to Void Realm and practiced both Qi and Body Cultivation! Each went on to inherit their respective sect master positions..."

"Chang Fengchun, known for his gentle nature and kindness towards others, is a truly humble gentleman, well-known throughout the land."

"Yan Yan detests evil and has a fiery temper."

"Bai Zixian possesses extraordinary perception, improved his sect's secret techniques, and comprehended the 'Five Elements Mutual Generation Technique,' where the Five Elements generate each other, endlessly continuing!"

"..."

"In the middle period of the Xianwu Era, not a single Integration Phase True Person existed between heaven and earth..."

"However, the Cultivation World cannot be without True Immortals to govern the multitude of cultivators."

"Thus, Chang Fengchun proclaimed himself True Person Wan Mu... Yan Yan as the True Person Commanding Fire... and Bai Zixian claimed the title of Five Elements True Master... to set an example for all cultivators!"

Su Xing furrowed his brows slightly upon reading this.

"It seems that the True Person Wan Mu I encountered in the ancient tomb was indeed Chang Fengchun..."

"But this gentle and warm gentleman... Haha, seems somewhat different from what I saw, right?"

Su Xing sneered inwardly, as he had clearly seen in the ancient tomb.

The True Person Wan Mu sought to gather the spirit veins of the world in search of a breakthrough, even brazenly claimed he would sacrifice living souls to reconstruct his divine soul.

How could that be anything other than the actions of a deviant cultivator?

That image was far too removed from the description of a model cultivator and a modest gentleman!

"Tsk tsk, True Person Wan Mu, nothing more than a hypocrite!"

Su Xing shook his head slightly, deep in thought.

"So, it appears that the Five Elements True Master I encountered within the Five Elements Sect must be Bai Zixian, then?"

"His strength, indeed, reached the Great Perfection of the Broken Void and Return to Void... but why has he become a living dead?"

"And that True Person Commanding Fire, Yan Yan... Could there be another unknown ancient tomb I have yet to explore?"

Thoughts flashed through Su Xing's mind as he speculated on the identities of those behind the two ancient tombs.

But one very key issue still troubled Su Xing.

"The strength of the living dead in the Five Elements Sect's remains was correct... unmistakably at the Great Perfection of Return to Void and Broken Void..."

"However, within the remains of the Wan Mu Sect, the cultivator named Su Xing... the pressure he released was definitely not as simple as the Return to Void Realm!"

"So... did True Person Wan Mu ultimately break through to the Body Integration Realm?"

Surprise struck Su Xing's heart. Could it be that he succeeded in his plan to gather the spirit veins of the world, transforming into a Spirit Vein Dragon, and finally broke through to become a Body Integration True Person?

But Su Xing soon shook his head and said to himself:

"Not necessarily... If he had truly broken through to Body Integration, with his doubled lifespan, it's likely that True Person Wan Mu would still be alive even now, right?"

"If that were the case, the current state of the Immortal Martial Era Instance would not be as it is now..."

After pondering for a moment, Su Xing murmured:

"So, the most probable explanation!"

"True Person Wan Mu was still only at the Great Perfection of the Return to Void Realm before his slumber..."

"But if his plan succeeded and he formed the Spirit Vein Dragon... with the help of formations, he went a step further, nearly reaching the level of a Body Integration cultivator?"

"Yet there must have been a mistake in the process... which is why True Person Wan Mu ended up in that state, neither alive nor dead... and his true power is probably at a level akin to half-step Body Integration?"

Su Xing nodded slightly. If that were indeed the case, it would explain how True Person Wan Mu could have effortlessly killed Su Xing.

After all, for the Su Xing of that time, the difference between half-step Body Integration and actual Body Integration was nonexistent.

After all... Su Xing had been instantly killed...

As countless thoughts ran through his mind, Su Xing once again turned his gaze to the two ancient books in front of him.

After searching for a while, Su Xing found a few points of interest at the end of the ancient books.

"In the later period of the Xianwu Era, spiritual energy continued to dwindle... Even reaching the Divinity Transformation Stage became difficult for cultivators..."

"Nevertheless, True Person Wan Mu, as an example to all, proposed that all cultivators above the Divinity Transformation Stage enter into sleep."

"True Person Wan Mu stated: The depletion of nature's spiritual energy is truly a fault of the cultivators, due to there being too many cultivators and the spiritual energy under too much strain..."

"Therefore, if all the powerful cultivators fell into slumber, perhaps after a few thousand years, an era filled with spiritual energy could come once again... At that time, they could awaken from slumber..."

"For this purpose, True Person Wan Mu brought out a precious elixir called 'Huangquan Pill', which would allow cultivators to sleep for thousands of years without dying..."

"All the Divinity Transformation cultivators of the world then went into slumber..."

"..."

"However, after the great cultivators fell asleep, the pace of the world's spiritual energy depletion accelerated even further..."

"In just a few hundred years, there were no longer any Nascent Soul cultivators born between heaven and earth..."

Su Xing read until the very last page before closing the ancient book with a thoughtful expression.

"So... Did True Person Wan Mu induce the world's great cultivators into slumber just to execute his own plan, collecting the world's spirit veins to seek a breakthrough for himself?"