Five Immortal Sects

Chapter 20: The Path of Cultivation and the Five Immortal Sects

In the ancient era of chaos, only the Immortal Spirit Realm and the True Immortal Realm possessed the ability to cultivate immortal arts.

The living beings in the mortal realm had extremely short lifespans, only living for a few decades before entering the cycle of reincarnation. All their wealth and glory in this life would be lost, and their fate in the next life would be determined by heaven.

However, regardless of the realm or ethnicity, longevity and strength had always been the ultimate dreams of all living beings since ancient times.

Among the various ethnic groups in the mortal realm, there were powerful humans and demonic beasts who hoped to achieve immortality and grasp the highest authority. These strong individuals explored and sought this elusive hope generation after generation, pursuing the path of immortality.

In their relentless efforts and explorations, they gradually discovered some of the heavenly powers and began to experiment with using these powers to strengthen themselves.

At that time, the Immortal Spirit Realm was also facing difficulties in sustaining their lineage, and many ancient families, clans, or ethnic groups were on the verge of extinction.

Although they were extremely powerful, they were unable to change the heavenly constraints. To preserve their lineage, they turned their attention to the lower realm—the mortal realm.

The cultivators from the Immortal Spirit Realm used the Great Heavenly Breakthrough to shatter the barriers between the two realms and arrived in the mortal realm. However, they discovered that the spiritual energy of the mortal realm was vastly inferior to that of the Immortal Spirit Realm, making it extremely difficult for them to cultivate.

It was a disappointing outcome, but they were unwilling to give up. They decided to try again, and if that failed, they would have to find another way to resolve the issue of their lineage.

But what they didn’t expect was that they discovered many powerful living beings in the mortal realm.

Through observation, they found that these powerful humans and demonic beasts possessed the basic constitution for cultivation—the Spirit Root or demonic beast bloodline. They had already begun to utilize the heavenly laws, granting them powers that surpassed their ordinary counterparts.

Apart from humans and demonic beasts, other powerful ethnic groups also possessed the corresponding cultivation physique.

For humans, cultivating immortality required a Spirit Root, which was also known as the Spirit Root. Only those with this physique could sense the heavenly laws and the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

Only with a Spirit Root could one embark on the path of immortality and pursue the great Dao of heaven and earth.

The Spirit Root and cultivation realms were also divided into levels, from low to high: Miscellaneous Spirit Root, Mysterious Spirit Root, Earth Spirit Root, Heavenly Spirit Root, and Sacred Spirit Root.

This classification was based on the body’s sensitivity to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The spiritual energy consisted of the five basic elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, with other elements like wind, mist, thunder, and lightning being derived from these five.

If someone was extremely sensitive to one of the five elements, they were considered to have a Sacred Spirit Root. These individuals, due to their single-element sensitivity, had a pure physique and could cultivate rapidly, making great progress in a short time.

Those with a Sacred Spirit Root were highly likely to reach the Tribulation realm, and the probability of reaching the Great Ascension stage was also not low. However, it was extremely rare for someone with this physique to be born in a thousand years.

If someone was sensitive to two elements, they were considered to have a Heavenly Spirit Root.

Since these individuals sensed multiple elements, their internal energy was somewhat mixed, making cultivation slower compared to those with a Sacred Spirit Root. However, this was still an extremely rare and valuable Spirit Root.

If a sect had one or two individuals with a Heavenly Spirit Root, it was considered a great blessing for the sect. These individuals had a high probability of reaching the Union of Souls stage, and the probability of reaching the Tribulation and Great Ascension stages was also significant.

The differences between Spirit Roots were mainly reflected in cultivation speed, which was the greatest difference between cultivators.

A Sacred Spirit Root could reach the Foundation Establishment stage from the Qi Condensation period in just four or five years, while a Miscellaneous Spirit Root might need over a hundred years, and even then, they might not be able to increase their lifespan, eventually becoming a pile of bones.

Those with wind, mist, thunder, or lightning physiques were called Anomalous Spirit Roots, which were derived from the variation of the five elements.

Individuals with this physique were also extremely rare, and their cultivation speed depended on whether they possessed other elemental attributes. However, they often had stronger divine abilities than same-level five-element Spirit Root cultivators.

Apart from Sacred Spirit Root, cultivators with other Spirit Root attributes would choose to cultivate the element they were most sensitive to, which would greatly enhance their cultivation speed and allow them to unleash their strongest immortal techniques.

The number of people with a Spirit Root was extremely small, with only one in every 10,000 people in the mortal realm possessing one. However, the mortal realm had a vast population, and compared to the Immortal Spirit Realm, the number of people who could cultivate immortality was still much higher.

The Immortal Spirit Realm cultivators also discovered that although the spiritual energy in the mortal realm was thinner, it wasn’t all bad. In many places, there existed decent Spirit Veins.

These Spirit Veins could basically support a sect or family in cultivating up to the Nascent Soul period. If someone could cultivate to this realm, they would possess the ability to move mountains and cover the sky with their hands, and could even fly and traverse the earth.

Once they advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, they would possess the ability to transcend the boundaries of the two realms, and their magical powers would be able to resist the turbulent winds within the spatial vortex.

Therefore, many Immortal Spirit Realm cultivators began to search for Spirit Veins in the mortal realm, establishing their own sects and families, and seeking out individuals with Spirit Roots to become their disciples and teach them immortal arts.

Once these disciples in the mortal realm reached the Nascent Soul period, they could use the inter-realm portals to break through the void and seek out their own families or sects to learn higher-level immortal arts.

This way, the Immortal Spirit Realm’s lineage could continue uninterrupted.

From then on, the mortal realm began to establish many immortal families and sects, and other ethnic groups from the Immortal Spirit Realm also arrived in the mortal realm, using the same methods to establish their own lineages.

Over countless years of transmission and proliferation, these families, sects, and ethnic groups spread across the mortal realm, but they were not visible to ordinary people.

They usually chose to establish their sects in Spirit Vein locations, where the spiritual energy was abundant. However, in these places, demonic beasts would roam freely, and ordinary humans or other ethnic groups would find it difficult to survive.

If an ordinary living being happened to appear there, they would likely be directly killed by powerful demonic beasts or ghosts.

Even if they managed to survive, they would find it difficult to find an immortal sect, as the immortal sects were surrounded by invisible, powerful illusions that ordinary humans or other ethnic groups couldn’t penetrate. If they entered, they would become lost and unable to escape.

If they were lucky, they might encounter a righteous cultivator who would use magic to let them out. But if they encountered an evil cultivator, their fate would be extremely tragic.

Li Yan was shocked by the information that suddenly appeared in his mind, and he couldn’t understand why he had received so much unbelievable information.

The old man in gray robes looked even more exhausted after pointing at Li Yan, and his body began to fade away mysteriously.

Li Yan also noticed something unusual about the old man, but he was too shocked by the information in his mind to think about it.

He could only repeat a phrase in his heart.

‘It’s fake, it’s all fake!’

These words would be unbelievable to anyone, even an old man with rich life experience standing here. Li Yan, who had only read about ghosts, demons, and fox spirits in a few strange and fantastical history books, would never have thought of such things even in his dreams.

The old man in gray saw Li Yan’s expression and didn’t find it strange. He smiled and said, “I know you can’t believe it, but these things are real. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have suddenly gained so much inexplicable knowledge in your mind. Alright, now that you have this information, you should be able to understand what I’m about to say.”

The old man’s voice was not loud, but it was like a wake-up call, snapping Li Yan out of his daze.

“I come from an ancient sect in the Immortal Spirit Realm, specifically the Water Immortal Gate, but unlike other sects, ours has five branches.”

“It is one of the most ancient and mysterious Five Immortal Sects in the Immortal Spirit Realm. The five branches are, the Water Immortal Gate, Wood Immortal Gate, Fire Immortal Gate, Earth Immortal Gate, and Metal Immortal Gate.”

The old man began to speak rapidly, explaining to the young man.

“In the Immortal Spirit Realm, there have been countless sects established by powerful beings, including humans, demons, beasts, ghosts, and spirits. However, among them, there are five extremely powerful and mysterious immortal sects.

The old man continued, “These five immortal sects are extremely powerful and rarely appear in the mortal world. Even when they do, they can stir up the winds and clouds of the cultivation world, making people tremble with fear. They can single-handedly destroy an entire sect, and even if there are powerful cultivators like Tribulation or Great Ascension, they would still be hard-pressed to survive.”

“But fortunately, they rarely appear in the mortal world, and as long as you don’t provoke them, they won’t bother anyone. However, if you do provoke them, they will strike with merciless ferocity.”

“This is why many sects both respect and fear the five immortal sects. The most terrifying thing about them is their unimaginable divine powers, which are almost unheard of in the entire Immortal Spirit Realm. Almost every cultivator in the five immortal sects can surpass their own realm and kill stronger opponents.”

“Therefore, many people try to find ways to join these five ancient and mysterious immortal sects, but they can’t even find the location of the sects, let alone join them.”

“Time changes, but there are still many people searching for the five immortal sects, seeking a chance to become stronger or seeking revenge against them.”