As the path to the higher realm is completed and the final step is taken, everything falls into place naturally.
Within the Fiery Inheritance Secret Realm, personnel from various departments were astonished to find their waist swords vibrating violently, transforming into streams of light and soaring into the sky. Even weapons related to swords, stored within storage artifacts, hummed and trembled as if eager to break through space and escape.
Thousands upon thousands of sword artifacts flew up, arranging themselves in an orderly fashion across the firmament. In a short while, a road constructed from countless streams of sword light stretched from the ground upwards to the heavens, carrying an indescribable, vast power.
"This is..."
"The path to the higher realm!"
This was the materialized path to the higher realm! At its end lay the Gate to the Higher Realm, capable of elevating demigods into true deities! Everyone saw it for the first time, yet some were not unfamiliar with it. They were treading the path to the higher realm!
Black Blade gazed at this road paved with myriad sword artifacts, but in his pupils, he saw armored warriors fighting amidst a hundred battles in yellow sand. Beneath his mask, the corners of his mouth curved into a somewhat stiff smile, and he turned to leave.
An Jianyou, Yiluo Xi, and other powerful figures of Fiery Inheritance, who were already nearby, rushed back upon hearing the news to witness this rare spectacle of ascension to the higher realm.
"Look, soon I too can step on the fire phoenix, traverse the emperor's road paved with fiery flowers, wear the crown, and pass through the Gate to the Higher Realm!" She tugged at An Jianyou's hand, then, feeling she needed the dignity of an empress, she straightened her posture, puffed out her chest, and stared intently at the figure in the sky.
At this moment, Liufeng had already traversed half of the materialized path to the higher realm. Three vast sword shadows appeared behind him, his footsteps gradually quickening. As he neared the Gate to the Higher Realm, he transformed himself into a sword, becoming a golden stream of light that violently crashed into it.
The chasm shattered with a boom. An intangible baptism descended. As the golden light gradually dissipated, the sword artifacts that had paved the road flew back to their respective owners. The only thing that remained was the profound and mysterious sharp sword intent and the laws of the sword that enveloped heaven and earth, imprinted upon the land.
Many awakened individuals who wielded sword-type weapons were involuntarily immersed in it, gaining considerable insights. Even those not specializing in swordsmanship experienced some enlightenment. The subject of this promotion, Liufeng, the vice dean of Fiery Inheritance Academy, had already vanished. He was currently receiving the blessings of heaven and earth.
The ninth realm, the higher realm, primarily cultivates laws. The stronger the laws, the stronger the combat power. Those who have just ascended to the higher realm are granted an opportunity to 'comprehend laws.' "The data describes that those who ascend to the higher realm at this moment can enter the Sea of Laws and, based on the path they have traversed, comprehend and acquire law-based power that suits them from the Sea of Laws." "This is precisely why the vast majority of demigod peak experts, who haven't even touched the threshold of laws, naturally grasp the fundamental power of laws as soon as they enter the ninth realm." "Any higher realm cultivator has at least mastered one law." "Of course, if one could already wield law-based power before ascension and lay a stronger foundation, they would naturally gain greater rewards in the Sea of Laws."
Fang, a certain individual, greatly desired to borrow his second disciple Liufeng's perspective to glimpse the Sea of Laws... cough, primarily out of curiosity. The information he obtained from Kandela provided extremely scarce descriptions of the Sea of Laws, with no images or videos whatsoever. Mentor Fang was purely curious. However, through Liufeng's perspective, he only saw wisps of sharp law patterns imprinted in the sky above the secret realm, not the Sea of Laws. As expected, the Sea of Laws could not be recorded nor observed through any other means. He shook his head and tapped his fingertip, opening his panel.
There, Liufeng's path to the higher realm was displayed as 100%, and its previously hidden name was finally revealed. —"The Path of the Sword Master"! "With this, Fiery Inheritance now possesses a true higher realm cultivator." Of course, this statement was not entirely accurate. Excluding Shallow Red and the Secret Puppet, Chi Yan had also gradually recovered and regained her strength over the past two and a half years. Although she had not yet returned to her peak, she was more than capable of defeating the three junior brothers including Liufeng. She was Chi Tianzhu! Ranked ninth only due to her youngest seniority; in terms of combat power alone, Chi Yan had previously stated she feared no one except the top three Tianzhu.
"Awoooo!" She is incredibly strong! Looking at the path to the higher realm in the sky, Chi Yan felt a surge of excitement. Since her second junior brother had reached the higher realm, perhaps he wouldn't refuse a fight now? she thought.
A certain figure in the Sea of Laws shivered slightly. Mentor Fang gently touched the avatars on his panel, displaying a proud father's satisfied smile. "Excluding the higher realm cultivators, our Fiery Inheritance organization also has eight or nine demigod peak experts, each possessing one or more laws." Mentor Fang was also a demigod peak expert at this time. However, there was a gap as vast as the stars between demigod peak experts. Two and a half years ago, he was already a demigod peak expert, capable of holding his own against higher realm cultivators under normal circumstances. These past two and a half years, Fang You had been continuously traversing the path to the higher realm, but this did not mean his strength had stagnated. He frequently observed the Law Stele, underwent life-and-death trials in the Tower of Combat, and never stopped practicing his skills.
He opened his personal panel, which was so extensive that it occupied several pages.
"Savior of Destiny (Eightfold Awakened Demigod)"
"Physique & Spirit & Life Energy: Omitted"
"Mystery: Omitted"
"Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced Skills: Omitted"
"Legendary Skills: Ten Thousand Beasts Body Tempering (Lv3. Peak Mastery), Mountain River Contemplation (Lv3. Peak Mastery), Nirvana Sacred Fire (Lv3. Peak Mastery), Tree of Life (Lv3. Master), Myriad Transformations Sword Art (Lv3. Master), Infinite Gate (Lv3. Master), Illusory Bubble (Lv3. Master)..., Annihilation Divine Thunder (Lv2. Peak Mastery), Divine Sense Rebirth (Peak Mastery)."
He possessed an innumerable number of legendary skills. Among them, Divine Sense Rebirth was a life-saving divine skill. In critical moments, it allowed his divine sense to escape, and as long as a single complete strand of divine sense escaped, he could reconstruct his body and be reborn. This skill originated from the Central Trial Ground. There were not only this legendary inheritance ground but also many epic inheritance grounds there. From there, Fiery Inheritance greatly enriched its skill library. After acquiring numerous skills, Mentor Fang also updated the core skills of An Jianyou, Black Blade, and others—continuing to fuse materials to enhance the power of their skills. His goal was to fuse unprecedented Crimson-level skills. As expected, Crimson skills required an enormous amount of materials. Even with Kandela's inheritance, these legendary skills still couldn't reach the threshold of Crimson, but...
The legendary skills now had the suffixes 'Lv2' and 'Lv3,' indicating an improvement in the skills. This was indeed the case. After a legendary skill advanced, the holder's skill proficiency would decrease by one level—from Peak Mastery to Master level. The skill's upper limit increased, and its current power did not decrease, but even slightly increased. For legendary skills of the same level, the Tree of Life created a world tree several times larger than before, although the consumption also increased significantly.
The skill "Annihilation Divine Thunder" was a skill that Fang, a certain individual, meticulously selected and fused from numerous thunder-elemental and non-thunder-elemental skills, making it the most suitable for him and possessing ultimate offensive power. In addition, there were:
"Laws:
Annihilation Law (Proficient), Severing Law (Skilled), Sharpness Law (Skilled), Burning Fire Law (Skilled), ..."
In two and a half years, Fang You had drawn many new Law Stele and World Strange Stones. After years of observation, his attainments in laws were no weaker than some mediocre higher realm cultivators. Fang You estimated that if he were to face the Great Lord Yujin again now, without using the burning fire conviction or world power, or secret realm power, he could fight him to a fifty-fifty draw. "No, fifty-fifty is a bit embarrassing; it should be sixty-forty." He would be the six. Great Lord Yujin, the four.
In an ordinary world outside the realm.
"Heavenly punishment, thunder tribulation."
A figure in white robes ascended step by step into the sky. This was an ordinary divine sense avatar, possessing only the strength of a weak sixth awakening. In the distance, dark clouds roiled, and upon them stood an avatar that had descended, comparable to a mythical being. This servant of an evil god let out a cackling laugh. The laughter rumbled, causing many humans in plain clothes within the town below to tremble. This was the core base of the resistance front. A large city with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants. After resisting and repeatedly foiling the schemes of the evil god's pawns, the mythical being of the evil god faction, who was orchestrating behind the scenes, could no longer tolerate the incompetence of its subordinate. It descended across infinite space through some ritual and the power of a sovereign. It let out a cruel laugh. "This king will refine you all into shadow slaves." But its laughter soon came to an abrupt halt. A beam of orange lightning erupted from a distant, incredibly weak human, piercing through the rolling dark clouds that shrouded the heavens and earth. Like the great sun against spring snow, like a strong wind against falling leaves. Where the orange lightning spread, all evil spirits melted like ice and snow. This bolt of lightning, arriving from behind, still annihilated the defenses the evil god's servant frantically set up and pierced through its body. The figure was enveloped by an orange ball of light and completely dissipated in a moment. Before being annihilated, its eyes nearly leaped out, staring in terror at the unremarkable figure in white robes in the distance. This was by no means a local native. It was not even human. Who are you!! This thought did not last long before it vanished with the annihilation of the descending avatar.
In a certain area under the Dark Shadow Faction in the Middle Strange Realm. A mythical realm servant of an evil god suddenly rose, fear and confusion lingering in its eyes. The descending avatar was destroyed too quickly; it didn't even know what had happened outside the realm. However, regardless of the method used, being able to destroy its descending avatar in an instant... This filled it with shock and dread. "Guard!" Before the words could be spoken, a faint beam of orange lightning erupted from its chest, crackling and annihilating half of the mythical being's body. It fell to the ground, stunned, terrified, and petrified. It dared not concern itself with this outer realm world anymore!
...
Fang You regrettably withdrew his gaze. He could not see the situation in the Middle Strange Realm, but he knew clearly that this law attack, which had spread from the descending avatar to the main body, had not been entirely effective. "After all, this is merely an ordinary divine sense avatar with very limited power." If the main body had attacked, no... if a descending avatar had attacked, could he have let this evil god's servant survive? Absolutely not! He could not stand such a grievance! Although he was powerful, descending into an outer realm world was still extremely difficult. Compared to the evil god faction, their Fiery Inheritance was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of divine descent. Until they could possess the power of an evil god, they would remain at a disadvantage. They could only use their divine sense avatars to slaughter a few descending avatars with law power.
As the dark clouds completely dispersed, streams of golden sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone upon the earth. In a town with a style reminiscent of Blue Star's medieval period, people wept tears of joy and prostrated themselves in worship. Fang You did not stay. This was enough. He merely instructed the guiding team members entering this world to properly resettle the disaster victims. How to proceed afterward, whether to continue resisting the erosion of the evil god faction or to strategically withdraw, Fiery Inheritance had sufficient experience and ability to execute. Mentor Fang returned to the secret realm. The first two conditions for his path to the higher realm had been fully met. Only the last condition remained—constructing the path. "Candlelight Star River: With oneself as the candle, illuminating billions of candlelights, leaping over the Gate to the Higher Realm." "It has begun." He required no preparation. The past two and a half years had been the preparation. He smiled, and a strand of orange-red candlelight erupted from his brow, burning fiercely. Initially very weak, it did not extinguish no matter how it flickered. This wisp of flame soared into the sky, disappearing into the vast darkness. It was minuscule. In the boundless outer space, it could only illuminate a tiny, almost imperceptible light. But it was not alone; it was not just a single wisp of candlelight. People busy on Blue Star; diligent warriors within the Strange Realm; survivors of the catastrophe in outer worlds; strands of faith, inheritance, and hope, as if drawn by an unseen force, flew up, traversed space, and moved forward together. In the depths of the starry sky, the vast darkness gradually lit up. A star river traversed the night sky. The gray fog seemed to have been dispelled. "Stars, so many stars." "Yes, the night sky is exceptionally bright today." "Do you think there might be a star that represents ourselves?" "Let's make a wish, a wish for the disaster to end quickly so everyone can live in peace." "Look, a star is twinkling, our wish must have come true." "Yes, it must be so~" Candlelight flickered, the star river shone brightly. The Gate to the Higher Realm slowly opened at the end of the Candlelight Star River. The candlelight gradually flowed in. The starry sky grew even brighter. Countless people looked up, clasped their hands, and gazed at the stars in the night sky.
"Ding!"
"Prompt: You have ascended to the higher realm. Your basic dimensions have increased, and your divine body and divine soul are undergoing transformation."
"Prompt: You are about to receive the blessings of heaven and earth."
The starry sky of the Fiery Inheritance Secret Realm was also exceptionally bright that night. Some paused to look up, some diligently cultivated, and some enjoyed peace. Fang You stood in the cultivation quiet room, sensing something, and took a step forward. On this day, in the Candlelight Star River, I am the higher realm.