Yuan’s Ascension

"His name is Ming Jian!! He's from our Taiyuan Divine Court lineage, an innate Dao Master imprint bearer who just arrived on Spacetime Island."

"Right, I just got the news too."

"An innate Dao Master imprint bearer? Is that even possible?"

"How could that be?" The entire city instantly erupted with excitement, and the news spread life wildfire.

Those who had initially been paying attention to Wu Yuan were now joined by countless others, all eager to catch a glimpse of him. The vast majority were driven by pure curiosity, though a small number harbored envy.

After all, on the Spacetime Island, an innate Dao Master Imprint was the stuff of legends! Normally, one might not encounter such an individual even in a million years.

Only one Dao Master rank imprint bearer might emerge from a million imprint bearers, yet this person already reached this tier from the beginning?

"I've memorized his soul aura."

"With a Dao Master Imprint, he must be one of the Taiyuan Divine Court's most valued peerless geniuses, and extremely proficient in the Law of Space."

"Indeed, even when the Supreme Geniuses of our Desolation Divine Court headquarters arrive, they usually only bear Sovereign imprints."

"Ming Jian?"

"Never heard of him."

"It's only normal that we haven't heard of him. The river of space and time is boundless, and the macrocosms are separated by vast distances. How could we possibly know everyone?"

"With such a monstrous prodigy, the Taiyuan Divine Court lineage is set to welcome another powerful expert."

"But he seems to be an Earth Immortal. It'll take at least thousands or tens of thousands of years for him to fully mature."

"His current strength probably isn't that impressive yet." News quickly spread - one told ten, ten told a hundred, a hundred told ten thousand.

Like a whirlwind, information about Wu Yuan rapidly circulated among the hundreds of thousands of imprint bearers on the Spacetime Island.

Even those who hadn't entered the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm received messages from their friends and fellow disciples.

"Is this really necessary?" Wu Yuan was startled by such a scene.

He never imagined himself causing such a commotion upon entering the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm.

Soon after, a figure with a purple-red Dao Master tier title and another with a purple Sovereign tier title appeared, both exuding overwhelmingly powerful auras.

"Cultivators from the Taiyuan Divine Court have arrived."

"It's Nie Zhen and Nangong Meng."

"They've both come."

"Sure enough, it's them." The surrounding crowd retreated like sheep before wolves, visibly intimidated.

Whoosh! Whoosh! The two swiftly arrived before Wu Yuan.

"Haha, you must be Fellow Daoist Ming Jian." The burly man with the Sovereign tier title laughed heartily as he strode forward.

"And you are?" Wu Yuan hesitated slightly.

"I'm Nie Zhen, also from the Taiyuan Divine Court lineage," the muscular man said with a smile, then introduced the white-robed woman beside him. "This is Nangong Meng, you can call her Nangong. She's also from our Taiyuan Divine Court lineage."

Taiyuan Divine Court lineage? A Sovereign Imprint bearer? A Dao Master Imprint bearer? They sure found him quickly. Wu Yuan marveled inwardly.

From the information provided by Immortal Sovereign Bei You, Wu Yuan was already aware that this would happen. Throughout the endless river of space and time, many top-tier factions, and even slightly weaker ones, would dispatch powerful experts to the Spacetime Dao Realm.

The Taiyuan Divine Court was just one such faction, albeit an extremely powerful one, capable of sending tens of thousands every thousand years.

One could imagine that with so many imprint bearers, some extraordinary talents were bound to emerge.

"Fellow Daoist Ming Jian, let's go to our Taiyuan Divine Court lineage's Taiyuan Tower," Nie Zhen said with a smile. "Several fellow Daoists are already waiting there."

"Fellow Daoist Ming Jian," The white-robed woman, Nangong Meng, also smiled and said, "Our Taiyuan Divine Court is immensely vast. We may come from different macrocosms, but in this Spacetime Dao Realm, we must stand united to contend with other forces."

"Alright. Please lead the way, Fellow Daoists," Wu Yuan said with a smile, harboring no suspicions.

Whoosh! Whoosh! The group swiftly transformed into streaks of light, darting into a sprawling courtyard at the edge of the city.

"Ming Jian? We should quickly inform our other senior brothers and junior brothers." The crowd of onlookers dispersed, but not before spreading the news further.

…

"Taiyuan Tower is our Taiyuan lineage's base in this Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm, accommodating our Taiyuan lineage's members," Nangong Meng said with a smile. "Including the newly arrived batch you came with, we now have over five hundred thousand people."

The three of them soared above the massive Taiyuan Tower. Countless densely packed courtyards spread out below.

Over five hundred thousand? Wu Yuan marveled silently. The entire Spacetime Island consisted of only eight million imprint-bearers in total.

In truth, if calculated at roughly thirty thousand per batch every thousand years, the Taiyuan Divine Court lineage should have had over three million members present.

However, Wu Yuan also understood that many imprint bearers would depart early or perish on Spacetime Island. Cultivation in the Spacetime Dao Realm was not without peril.

"In terms of numbers, only the Nine Phoenix Alliance can surpass our Taiyuan Divine Court on the entire Spacetime Island," Nie Zhen said with a smile. "Even mighty factions like the Immortal Court, Eldritch Court, and Desolation Divine Court have far fewer members here."

Wu Yuan nodded slightly.

The river of space and time was vast beyond measure, with numerous macrocosms. The various major factions had intricate relations, but only three were universally acknowledged as the most dominant and prosperous—the Eldritch Court, Immortal Court, and Desolation Divine Court.

By all indications, factions like the Taiyuan Divine Court, Eight Mountains Alliance, Nine Phoenix Alliance, and other major powers were somewhat weaker.

However, because top factions like the Eldritch Court and Immortal Court were so formidable, with incredibly abundant resources, they had less need to nurture their geniuses within the environment of the Spacetime Dao Realm.

Thus, these three great factions sent relatively few geniuses and experts to the Spacetime Dao Realm.

Within the Spacetime Dao Realm, the Nine Phoenix Alliance lineage was the largest, followed by the Taiyuan Divine Court and Eight Mountains Alliance.

"It's been a long time since our Divine Court lineage saw an innate Dao Master Imprint bearer arrive. As word spreads, quite a few Sovereign and Dao Master Imprint bearers will wish to meet you," Nie Zhen said with a smile. "I thought it would be best to simply host a banquet to welcome you and Zhuo Haiyue."

Nangong Meng added with a laugh, "You're both listed on the Star Tower's Luminary Ranking. It is indeed rare it is for you to come to the Spacetime Dao Realm."

"Indeed." Wu Yuan nodded in agreement.

Through their earlier conversation, he had learned that even though one’s imprint tier could gradually be upgraded on the Spacetime Island, Sovereign Imprint bearers were still extremely rare. In total, there were only a few thousand of them, two to three hundred of which were from the Taiyuan Divine Court lineage.

Add to that his and Zhuo Haiyue's reputation as Star Tower Luminaries, and it was natural that these powerful individuals would pay attention to them.

However, while Sovereign Imprint bearers were not too rare, Dao Master Imprint bearers were truly scarce. There were only three in the entire Taiyuan Divine Court lineage.

As they proceeded through Taiyuan Tower, they naturally encountered numerous immortal cultivators along the way, all of whom nodded in greeting. There seemed to be no distinction of rank.

"Daoist Ming Jian, I should remind you of one thing," Nie Zhen said with a smile. "In future spacetime missions, you'll often have to fight imprint bearers from other factions, and even fellow disciples.

When that time comes, you must be extremely cautious, even when facing Ordinary Imprint or Elite Imprint bearers," Nie Zhen cautioned. "One misstep could lead to your demise."

"I see." Wu Yuan nodded in understanding.

"The difficulty of spacetime missions varies for each individual. Those skilled in the Spacetime Dao are especially favored by the Spacetime Island. So, a high imprint tier indicates greater potential in the Spacetime Dao, and is not necessarily an assessment of one’s true strength," Nangong Meng explained with a smile.

"In our Taiyuan Divine Court lineage, for instance, Daoist Nie Zhen is actually the strongest in terms of true power."

"Oh?" A hint of surprise flashed in Wu Yuan's eyes.

Nie Zhen, a Sovereign Imprint bearer, was the strongest? He hadn't noticed.

"It's nothing worth mentioning," Nie Zhen said with a smile.

"Daoist Nie Zhen is being modest," Nangong Meng continued. "He's slain Archimmortals several times during spacetime missions. He came to the Spacetime Dao Realm solely to comprehend the Qiankun Dao before his Tribulation.

His specialty is the Greater Law of Metal, which he's cultivated to the Dao Field stage," Nangong Meng added.

Dao Field of a Greater Law? Wu Yuan was secretly astonished.

That level of Dao comprehension was on par with Astral Monarchs. It seemed this High Immortal Nie Zhen was no less formidable than Senior Brother Jiang Huan, perhaps even more so.

"I'm truly impressed!" Wu Yuan said sincerely.

"I still have a long way to go. I've only reached level eighty-something of the seven-star tower, not even close to level ninety," Nie Zhen said with a chuckle. "In the future, Daoist Ming Jian will surely surpass me."

Wu Yuan grew increasingly vigilant. Though his imprint tier was high, the Spacetime Island was ultimately a gathering place of peerless geniuses from various great factions across the river of space and time. It was a realm of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

While their natural talent might not be as extraordinary, their strength was undoubtedly terrifying after hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation.

Very well. I'll gradually rise to their level. Wu Yuan thought, filled with fighting spirit.

"We've arrived at the banquet hall," Nangong Meng suddenly announced.

The three descended towards the massive hall below.

…

At this banquet, two of the three Dao Master Imprint bearers attended, along with nearly a hundred Sovereign Imprint bearers. There were also a small number of Elite Imprint bearers of exceptional strength.

This welcome banquet for himself and Zhuo Haiyue was truly grand.

Wu Yuan took the opportunity to get acquainted with these outstanding individuals of the Taiyuan Divine Court lineage, truly beginning to integrate into this circle.

At the same time, Wu Yuan obtained much-needed intelligence from these imprint bearers. For example—information on all the Dao Master Imprint bearers, 99% of the Sovereign Imprint bearers, and some exceptionally powerful Elite Imprint bearers currently residing on the Spacetime Island.

While Immortal Sovereign Bei You's intelligence was decent, it only pertained to the Spacetime Dao Realm. Naturally, it lacked details on the constantly changing roster of imprint bearers on the Spacetime Island. Information on powerful individuals was crucial.

With this intelligence, he would be better equipped to decide whether to fight or retreat from an enemy when executing various spacetime missions in the future.

The banquet lasted for several hours before the attendees gradually dispersed.

Wu Yuan and Zhuo Haiyue came alone to an inconspicuous teahouse within Taiyuan Tower, taking seats by a window.

Several serving girls brought them tea. These serving girls were not imprint bearers. Rather, they were immortal cultivators arranged by the Spacetime Dao Realm to serve the imprint bearers.

"Should I call you Li Xia, or Ming Jian?" Zhuo Haiyue, clad in silver armor, asked with an enigmatic smile.

"Let's stick with Ming Jian," Wu Yuan replied with a smile. "Names are just aliases."

"Very well. When I was cultivating at the divine court headquarters, I often heard the name Ming Jian, but I never imagined it would be you," Zhuo Haiyue said, shaking her head slightly.

"I had no idea you cleared level one hundred of the three-star tower when I was in the Greenridge Macrocosm," Wu Yuan responded with a smile.

"I remember that you were comprehending the Celestial Body Dao back then, which falls under the Law of Earth. How did you suddenly start comprehending the Law of Space?" Zhuo Haiyue asked casually.

"The same could be asked of you. You used to specialize in Thunder, so why have you come to the Spacetime Dao Realm?" Wu Yuan replied with a smile.

They exchanged knowing smiles, with neither pressing further. They both understood that as monstrous prodigies, such significant changes over a few hundred years surely involved great fortuitous encounters. And concealing one’s secrets was an instinct of all living beings.

"At the banquet, you were quite the social butterfly, friendly with everyone. I noticed the powerhouses of the Taiyuan lineage seemed to prefer you," Zhuo Haiyue said with a smile. "They appeared rather distant towards me."

"To make friends from all corners is to build influence," Wu Yuan explained. "Being a core member of the divine court headquarters, your background is more impressive than mine. With your cold demeanor, they fear offending you and naturally hesitate to be too friendly."

"I see," Zhuo Haiyue nodded.

"Your approach isn't very endearing," Wu Yuan said, shaking his head with a smile.

"I was never born to please others," Zhuo Haiyue replied calmly. "When we first met, did you appreciate my attitude then?"

Wu Yuan was momentarily taken aback, then smiled as he uttered three words. "Not at all!"