Anning County, the docks.
Warships and sailboats sailed in one after another.
Aboard one of the warships, Jiangyin Garrison Commander Luo Daocheng stood at the very prow.
His expression was stern, and he leaned on a Red Tassel Spear. His heavy gaze was fixed on the low-lying silhouette of Anning County, a corner of which was just visible. He spoke to the downcast Zhang Qing beside him:
"You need to be mentally prepared."
"The Jiangyin Prefecture Yamen’s methods for detecting a Realm Gate only work once the Gate has fully solidified."
"So, before that..."
"It’s very likely that the entirety of Anning County has already been infiltrated."
Anning County was a small, mountainous county backed by the Earth Dragon Cave. Within Jiangyin Prefecture, it had always been remote and unremarkable, so much so that it didn’t even have a single expert who had reached the level of a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster.
As for Dao Skills like Communication Talismans, if they are made from ordinary Talisman Paper and crafted by a Qi Cultivator of average Dao Skill who can only condense their Divine Soul, they have a limited range.
It’s a different story if they are crafted by a Daoist High Merit who has opened their Purple Mansion and expended great mental effort.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to communicate with Jiangyin Prefecture from Anning County.
That’s why the usual reports from the county’s Archives and all other information had to cross the East Canghai, making communication very restricted.
This was also the reason why the Divine Dao Calamity was able to fester in the first place.
Zhang Qing was from the same hometown as Ji Xiu, and his entire family—young and old—lived in Anning County. So, when he suddenly heard that a Realm Gate was opening there, he was naturally wrought with anxiety.
Hearing Luo Daocheng’s words and thinking of the implications, Zhang Qing couldn’t hold back any longer and blurted out:
"General, why is it that these Outer Dao cultivators can set foot in and devour the Great Xuan Territory as soon as a Realm Gate opens, but Great Xuan can only defend? Why can’t we step through the Realm Gate, tread upon and devour their lands, and use them to mend our own world?"
With his hometown affected, Zhang Qing was naturally indignant.
After all, he was only a Personal Guard in the Government Camp, not even a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster. He knew very little about the details of the Realm Gates.
He had only gleaned bits and pieces from the Archives, seeing glimpses of the Martial Dao Celestial Universe’s past grandeur and vastness, only to see it gradually eroded by the Outer Dao. He couldn’t understand why.
Great Xuan clearly had the Ten Directions Celestial Pillar, the Nine Great Families, the Thirty-Six State Fief Masters, and the Central Hub of the World—all those hereditary Dukes and Nobles within Xuanjing’s White Jade Capital!
If a Realm Gate appeared, why didn’t the Martial Saints of Prefecture Level and above, or even those figures beyond the rank of Titled, charge through it to compensate for Great Xuan’s losses?
’Why can’t we set foot in other Realm Universes...’
Hearing Zhang Qing’s question, Luo Daocheng was taken aback, then shook his head.
"You’re still too young. You don’t understand the Key Points."
"Take the Outer Dao Divinities for example—those so-called ’Divine Monarchs’ and ’Holy’ beings who erect altars, build temples, and establish their own orders."
"Do you think their foundation... is merely these beings who are comparable to Martial Saints, or even those beyond the rank of Titled?"
"No."
Luo Daocheng let out a heavy sigh.
"Because within their Realm Universes, there exist ancient ones with attainments comparable to a Human Immortal."
"For some reason, those ancient ones are restricted. They cannot cross between Realm Universes and reach Great Xuan through the Realm Gates because the suppression they would face is utterly terrifying."
"But if a Martial Artist from Great Xuan were to rashly step through..."
"Then, should it escalate into a full-scale invasion of the Outer Dao, it would very likely stir those slumbering ancient ones, those Divine Power Masters."
"An existence like that is not something that can be defeated by mortal power."
"So, it’s not that the Government Office doesn’t want to reclaim the land eroded by the Realm Gates. It’s that they can’t."
Hearing this, Zhang Qing couldn’t help but argue:
"Our Great Xuan’s Human Immortal Martial Dao has a long and storied history. Don’t we have any Great Powers who have reached the level of Human Immortal?"
Human Immortal...
Luo Daocheng fell silent for a moment.
"You are only at the Skin Refining stage. For you to look upon a ’Human Immortal’ now is like a frog in a well trying to glimpse the bright moon—you cannot see the true picture."
"But if, one day, you are fortunate enough to have your Qi form the Dragon and Tiger, with the hope of becoming a Pseudo-Martial Saint or even a Titled Martial Saint..."
"...then when you look upon a Human Immortal again, you will understand what it means for an ant to behold the heavens."
"If you wish to gain a Title, attain the rank of Martial Saint, and cultivate Martial Saint True Intent, you must first break the Four Limits and then cultivate a Celestial Skill. That is the foundation."
"As for how difficult it is to complete the Three Gates and Nine Realms and achieve the True Fruit of a Human Immortal... I don’t know. But... there is a saying that circulates in the world."
"That saying is..."
As he spoke of this, even this Garrison Commander, who leaned on his Red Tassel Spear and shouldered mountainous responsibilities, revealed a hint of bewilderment in his eyes, a look even tinged with a thread of doubt:
"’To become a Human Immortal, one’s body must attain a state of Perfection and be Leakless; it must be unborn and undying, undefiled and unpurified, non-increasing and non-decreasing.’"
"And the prerequisite for achieving this is to blast open the Nine Great Limits of the human body!"
"The Nine Great Limits!"
"The Three Limits of a Powerful Martial Artist—Golden Muscle and Jade Veins, Mercury Blood Silver Marrow, and the Water and Fire Immortal Robe—are already unattainable for anyone who isn’t a scion of the Nobles from a major School."
"Then there are the three limits for a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster. Let’s not even talk about the Fifth and Sixth Great Limits of being Leakless and forming the Dragon and Tiger. Just the step of filling the Qi Sea to completion and forging the Martial Dao Treasure Body is something that not even a successor from a True Sect would claim with one hundred percent certainty that they could achieve!"
"And that’s to say nothing of the Upper Three Realms!"
"The Martial Dao of a ’Titled’ expert, which one can only achieve through countless hardships and by exhausting all means... is possibly just the starting point."
"Therefore, although there are indeed rumors about the Traces of Human Immortals within the Great Xuan Territory, and there is no shortage of Human Immortal Treasure Weapons and remnants of their battle armor left behind..."
"...whether any ’Human Immortals’ truly exist in this day and age..."
Luo Daocheng hesitated.
"I do not know."
"But, in the ancient past, throughout the nine millennia of the Nine Dynasties, including the founding ancestor of Great Xuan and the Ten Primordial Ancestors of the Ten Pillars... if any trace of them ever leaked out, or if they became trapped in the mortal world..."