Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

Step by step——

Footsteps echo through an ancient weathered pathway that seems never-ending.

Zhang Jing slowly progresses ahead.

The surroundings are pitch black and void of anything.

It is silent! Oppressive!

However, his face is undisturbed with calmness in his eyes.

...

It's uncertain how long he has been walking.

Up ahead, not too far away.

A faint light abruptly enters his field of view.

"Am I finally here?"

There is a slight sparkle in Zhang Jing's normally placid gaze.

He takes a deep breath.

Then he walks deliberately towards that glimmer of light.

Half a moment later.

"Entering the Jiaoyun Realm requires 100,000 units of luck movement. Will you pay?"

An unexpected piece of information flashes in his mind.

Zhang Jing can't help but turn to look at the end of the path beneath his feet.

A massive stone gate stands silently there.

The stone gate is tightly shut, giving off an unbreakable aura.

He shifts his gaze to his front.

A fist-sized pure white ball of light hovers in mid-air, radiating a warm glow. Despite its closeness, it gives Zhang Jing a strange sense of an infinite distance.

Slowly, he retracts his gaze.

"Buy!"

Zhang Jing responds without hesitation.

As his voice subsides.

Threads of brilliant light immediately disintegrate from him and rapidly merge into the white ball of light.

"Is this the physical manifestation of the power of luck movement?"

A hint of astonishment flickers in Zhang Jing's eyes.

His gaze follows the glow of the luck movement and falls back on the ball of light.

Boom——

The sounds of roaring waves faintly echo in his ears.

In Zhang Jing's view.

The fist-sized ball of light grows rapidly in size.

In a matter of moments, it transforms into an immense white star, its surface covered by an infinite, violently raging sea.

[Luck Movement: 13,317,980,000,000]

This line of smaller characters appears before his eyes.

The number above is still increasing at an exaggerated rate.

Every moment, every instant, is a increase by billions of luck movement.

"This must be... the total luck movement reward for this Jiaoyun Realm."

Zhang Jing speculates.

Awe involuntarily appears on his face.

Having lived in poverty, he has never seen such a vast amount of luck movement.

Coming back to his senses.

The hefty stone gate at the end of the path has unknowingly opened.

...

At this moment.

Millions of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, like Zhang Jing, are struggling to detach their consciousness from the magnificent sea of luck movement on the white star.

Heavy breathing sounds quietly echo.

There is a common flash of fervor in their eyes.

The next instant.

Countless footsteps are taken simultaneously, moving forward steadfastly towards the open stone gate at the end of the path.

...

Outside the Realm.

A seemingly larger stone gate appears out of nowhere.

Through the gate.

One can vaguely see the scene within the Jiaoyun Realm - peculiar islands floating in the sky and the division of two distinct and unrelated spaces.

The moment this stone gate appears.

Figures that seem to have been waiting for a long time quickly approach.

Different levels of cultivation fluctuations surge from them.

Refining Qi Realm, Foundation Establishment Realm, Golden Core Realm, and even Dharma Phase Realm, they all surprisingly harmonious for this moment.

...

"My god! Entering the Realm to watch this time costs 300 units of luck movement, wasn't it 250 before?"

At the stone gate.

A man cries out in surprise.

His steps halt abruptly, hesitation and a sense of loss showing on his face.

It seems as if those extra 50 units of luck movement are like his lifeblood.

The next moment.

"If you're going in, then go in quickly. If you're reluctant to use your luck movement, then make way. Why are you blocking the way?"

"Merely 300 units of luck movement and you can observe the skills of these top talents, and even witness the monstrous ones from the seven top inheritances in action. Isn't that worth it?"

"If you don't want to go in, then make way quickly. If we delay any longer, will we be able to enter this Jiaoyun Realm at all today?"

People behind begin to urge, either reassuring or impatient.

Upon hearing this, the man grits his teeth and pays the 300 units of luck movement, his figure instantly disappearing into the Realm.

Away, at a tower.

Yuanming stands next to his senior brother, his eyes glazed over as he watches the crowded masses. He says in astonishment:

"Senior brother, are all these people going to the Realm to watch? Isn't it a bit too crowded?"

This is the first time in his life.

That he has seen so many cultivators.

Upon hearing this.

His senior brother responds with a laugh, explaining:

"Haha, junior brother, after all, there are seven vast heavenly realms. The human race, the combined influential forces, the Immortal Tribe, and the scattered cultivators, the number of cultivators is immeasurable."

"These are just a drop in the ocean."

"What you see today are mostly cultivators from the surrounding area of Jiaoyun Immortal City. A small portion of them have traveled painstakingly from the far reaches of the Dongzhen Huamiao Heavenly realm. As for those who spend gigantic amounts of luck movement to ride the void treasure boat from other Heavenly Realms, they are very few."

"Do we have to squeeze in there too?"

You Yuanming asked in astonishment.

"No need. Our Boundless Tai Yi Taoist Gate has a dedicated area in the secret realm. When the time comes, Junior Brother, you and I can just enter directly without any congestion."

The senior brother reassured him.

"That's good!"

You Yuanming couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Through the heavy stone door.

Zhang Jing found himself standing in a vast open field, with bare yellow-brown land under his feet, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

He instinctively looked around.

Countless figures suddenly came into view.

Men or women, old or young, tall or short, fat or thin, they were all different.

Time slowly passed.

The number of people around Zhang Jing continued to grow.

The boundless wilderness under his feet suddenly started to feel a little crowded, the clamor was incessant.

A fiery atmosphere quietly permeated the area.

It seems like the air itself is about to ignite.

As if sensing something.

Zhang Jing, who had been closing his eyes in meditation, slowly opened his eyes.

In view were numerous cultivators, their auras either hot like fire or deep like an abyss, some were strong, others were weak.

"This is getting interesting!"

Zhang Jing's eyes flickered slightly, a trace of excitement flashing in his heart.

So many people.

There must be many talents among them.

At this moment.

The clear and immaculate sky abruptly darkened.

In an instant.

Millions of gazes instinctively looked up at the sky.

A gigantic face covering almost half of the sky slowly emerged, its golden glowing eyes actively moving around, casting scrutinizing gazes down to the ground.

At the spot.

Feeling an immense, cold gaze scan over his body.

Zhang Jing's body tensed abruptly.

However, his face didn't reveal even the slightest hint of change.

The next moment, the gaze slowly shifted away.

Zhang Jing couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"What a terrible gaze, is this the Spirit of Jiaoyun Secret Realm?"

He quickly recalled the information about the Jiaoyun Secret Realm he had read earlier, and the thought was affirmed in his heart.

Not long after.

"Welcome to the Jiaoyun Secret Realm, all of you."

The giant face in the sky blandly said.

Below, it was silent.

Zhang Jing didn't make a sound either, merely attentively listening.

He knew, what the other party was going to say next was the main event of this time.

As expected.

The very next moment.

The giant face spoke again, only this time the voice faintly carried a hint of excitement.

"The number of participants in this Jiaoyun Secret Realm's Foundation Establishment competition is... Thirty-Eight million, fifty-three thousand, and forty-three!"

"Therefore, the total reward for this time is thirty-eight trillion luck movement!"

The voice trailed off and instantaneously.

The atmosphere became solid.

Then after.

Boom--

The field below began seething.

Uproars of shock, joy, heavy breathing... all kinds of noises were intertwined, as if setting every single nerve in one's body ablaze.

Zhang Jing's eyes also blazed with a touch of excitement and determination.

Thirty-eight trillion luck movement!

How much can whoever stands at the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment get?

An astronomical figure!

"The rules and rewards for the first round will be introduced now."

The grandiose voice once again resonated between heaven and earth.

All the people below fell silent instantaneously, they looked eagerly at the giant face in the sky.

"The first round will select at most 129,800 victorious cultivators from these Thirty-Eight million people."

"Anyone who passes will receive a reward of 20 million luck movement and participate in the next round; those who are eliminated will leave the Jiaoyun Secret Realm."

As the words were being spoken.

In the sky, large phantoms suddenly appeared.

The phantoms slowly solidified, turning into one hundred vast lands each of nearly nine thousand miles in radius, quietly floating in the clouds above.

"One hundred competition fields, numbered from one to one hundred."

"Each competition field will have Thirty-Eight thousand people, distributed among them will be 1,296 Jiaoyun decrees. After thirty days, those who hold the Jiaoyun decrees will be the winners and others will be eliminated."

"The first round will begin in three hours, all of you should get prepared."

Having said that.

The massive face covering the sky slowly faded away.

Zhang Jing stood there, his face revealing a hint of bewilderment.

The other party said that the first round would begin soon, but...what's next?

He couldn't help but look up at the hundred grand competition fields in the sky that looked like separate continents, a touch of confusion arose in his heart.

However, the next moment.

A scarlet number slowly appeared before Zhang Jing's eyes.

Twenty-Nine!

He instantaneously understood.