Marrying Wives and Attaining Immortality in a Chaotic World

Chapter 230: The Ascension Staircase

“It’s good for young people to have ambition, but if you fail, you must be able to withstand the blow,” the Heavenly Profound Holy Master said to Xu Lian with a smile. 

“Take Yu Xuan, for example. When he was first selected for the First Sequence, he was just like you, shouting about wanting to be number one. But after a few training camps, his ranking kept falling to the bottom. He lost all his spirit and has been muddling along ever since, living like a salted fish.”

Yu Xuan’s face turned red as his past embarrassment was exposed. He lowered his head, staring at the ground as if searching for a crack to crawl into.

Xu Lian was a little surprised. He hadn’t expected the seemingly stable Yu Xuan to have such a past. Everyone, come and laugh at him!

“Xu Lian, step onto the stage. Leng Qiuyi, ranked tenth, step up to the stage,” the Heavenly Profound Holy Master called directly. 

“Since you said you wanted to break into the top ten in this training camp, I’ll let you experience the strength of the top ten firsthand.”

Another beautiful senior sister… Xu Lian realized that since he arrived in the Heavenly Mystic Sacred Land, there were just too many beautiful senior sisters and junior sisters. He couldn’t possibly handle all of them himself, so he had to leave some for the other senior and junior brothers.

However, this was the arena. Xu Lian would show no mercy.

Without a sound, he left an afterimage behind and appeared in front of Leng Qiuyi. A golden Heavenly Mystic Sacred Land materialized in his hand, followed by a golden imperial capital, then the Calamity Finger, and finally the Seal Light Sword Wheel. 

He continuously barged her with attacks like shooting stars!

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

“Boom!”…

Leng Qiuyi fiercely fought back, but it was futile. She was forced to retreat, clearly overwhelmed…

Yu Xuan felt both bitter and shocked. Bitter because a month ago, he had been defeated by this same combo. Shocked because even a top ten senior sister couldn’t withstand it. Undoubtedly, Xu Lian’s cultivation had greatly improved in the past month.

As for the other geniuses of the First Sequence, their pupils all contracted sharply as they felt the pressure of Xu Lian’s combat techniques.

“Void Realm, Stage 5?” The Heavenly Profound Holy Master’s eyes narrowed as he sensed Xu Lian’s cultivation level from the intensity of his energy. He was truly impressed. 

He silently speculated, “Xu Lian has advanced five or six small stages every month for three consecutive months. What kind of magic does the Goddess of Time possess to make a previously mediocre genius advance so rapidly?

Could it be that the Goddess of Time is personally dual-cultivating with Xu Lian? But such forced growth would only harm him. Given how she has been protecting him, she probably wouldn’t do that.

If it’s not dual cultivation, then it must be some other secret technique.

If the Goddess of Time could pass this technique on to the Heavenly Mystic Sacred Land, wouldn’t the younger generation grow rapidly, and the Sacred Land would quickly become the number one power in the world?

But I wonder, would this technique work for the middle-aged and elderly generations?

And are there any drawbacks or conditions to this technique?”

As the Holy Lord of the Heavenly Mystic Sacred Land, he immediately thought of all these possibilities, considering the situation from the perspective of the entire Sacred Land.

“I surrender!” Leng Qiuyi, who had been pushed into a corner and relentlessly beaten, finally called out. Like Yu Xuan before her, she clearly couldn’t take it anymore.

Xu Lian immediately stopped.

Yu Xuan’s mouth twitched. Back then, he had to shout twice before Xu Lian stopped!

“Leng Qiuyi’s cultivation level is one stage lower than yours. You won too easily. Do you want to challenge someone of the same or higher level?” The Heavenly Mystic Holy Master was still eager to see Xu Lian’s limits.

Xu Lian knew that he could fight up to Void Realm, Stage 6, but there was no need for that. “No, for this training camp, breaking into the top ten is enough. In the next training camp, I’ll challenge the number one directly.”

A silver-haired senior brother clasped his fists and smiled. “I’m waiting for your challenge.”

Xu Lian couldn’t help but ask, “Senior brother, what is your cultivation level?”

The silver-haired senior brother replied, “Void Realm, Stage 7.”

Xu Lian now had a clear idea. If he advanced to Void Realm, Stage 8, he would have a stable chance of winning.

Of course, it was possible that this senior brother was hiding his true cultivation level… So he could advance to the Void Realm, Stage 9.

And it was also possible that this senior brother might break through in the next month… So, advancing to the Divine Source Realm, Stage 1 wouldn’t be excessive, right?

“I won’t disturb the senior brothers and sisters during their training,” Xu Lian said, cupping his hands in a salute. He took out the token given by the Heavenly Mystic Holy Master, and with a thought, he appeared in the first layer of the small world.

Immediately after that, he felt the world spin around him… and found himself in the palace of the Goddess of Nine Heavens.

He couldn’t help but feel helpless. Looking at the Goddess of Nine Heavens, who was dressed in a Taoist robe, he said, “What do you want now? You didn’t even change your clothes today. No sincerity at all.”

The Goddess of Nine Heavens rolled her beautiful eyes at him. “Don’t I look good like this?”

Xu Lian replied, “You look good, but what’s the point if I can only look and not touch? It’s better not to look at all. Out of sight, out of mind.”

“Xu Lian,” the Goddess of Nine Heavens glared at him. 

“You’re becoming more and more impudent. 

I am the Goddess of Nine Heavens. Even the Holy Masters of the Nine Sacred Lands have to bow respectfully when they see me. You’re just a young direct disciple. Why don’t you kneel and kowtow to me as an apology?”

Xu Lian knew her personality very well. She wouldn’t get angry that easily. He smiled and walked up to her, sitting down cross-legged in front of her. “So what if I’m impudent? I have the laws of the Divine Kingdom to protect me. You can’t do anything to me. Besides, don’t you dare go too far, or my OO will spank you.”

“OO?” The Goddess of Nine Heavens shuddered in disgust.

Xu Lian continued, “I still don’t know your name. If you’re jealous of my OO, I can call you that. After all, it’s just the two of us here. No one else will know. Don’t be shy.”

“I don’t want that!” The Goddess of Nine Heavens blushed and flicked her sleeve, pushing Xu Lian away.

Xu Lian stood up and poured himself a cup of tea. “Hmm, this tea is quite good. The treatment of the Goddess of Nine Heavens is indeed different.”

The Goddess of Nine Heavens’ eyes widened. That was her cup!

Xu Lian then picked up a spirit fruit from the table, took a bite, and put it down. He did the same with another fruit.

When the Goddess of Nine Heavens saw the plate of spirit fruits that looked like they had been eaten by worms, she was almost driven mad. She loved cleanliness and order, and she couldn’t stand it anymore. With a wave of her sleeve, she sent him away.

Xu Lian felt the world spin around him again and found himself back in the first layer of the small world. A smile crept onto his face. He had deliberately messed with the Goddess of Nine Heavens to prevent her from constantly summoning him.

However, his smile soon froze as the world began to spin again… Again?

But this time he found himself in an unfamiliar place – a narrow, dim and damp secret room.

Then his pupils contracted sharply, and his body trembled. A cold chill shot up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

An old man sat in the corner. He had no hair on his head, but instead, ten fingers and ten toes grew out like antennas. Who could have imagined this?

Where his fingers and toes should have been, clusters of gray hair sprouted. Who could have imagined that?

His eyes, mouth, nose, and ears were not on his face but scattered randomly across his body. Who could have imagined that?

His arms and legs were also swapped, one long and one short, one short and one long. Most unbelievably, he was dragging a “tail” behind him, which was clearly his entire spine, with little red flowers blooming from the gaps between the bones… If there were a goddess of life, she would surely cry, this was utter chaos, completely defying the laws of biological growth.

It was an eyesore… Xu Lian averted his gaze, not daring to look directly at him. But he couldn’t completely ignore the old man, keeping a wary eye on him from the corner of his vision. He was really afraid that this monstrous old man would jump on him and bite him.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” the old man said. Transparent butterflies flew out of his mouth, each with a tiny human face grinning eerily at Xu Lian.

Hearing the voice, Xu Lian felt a little more at ease. It was the voice of the ancient Supreme Being of the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands!

The old Supreme Being chuckled. “Am I different from what you imagined?”

Xu Lian cautiously replied, “Indeed, it’s a bit unexpected.”

The old Supreme Being sighed. “My path has gone wrong, that’s why I ended up like this – neither human nor monster. Even ordinary monsters would probably be scared if they saw me, right?”

“…” Xu Lian almost laughed. The old man had a sense of humor. Indeed, even monsters would be scared.

He thought for a moment. “Are all the monsters in the world cultivators who have gone astray in their cultivation?”

The old Supreme Being nodded and then shook his head. “You could say that, but it’s not absolute. The world itself is inherently strange. Even at my level of cultivation, I can’t fully comprehend it.

In fact, it’s not just me. The Supreme Beings of the great powers are no better off. Once you reach the Supreme Realm, the path ends. Beyond that is the endless staircase of ascension, filled with countless forks. All Supreme Beings are groping their way forward.”

Xu Lian was shocked. This was undoubtedly a secret. It made him feel lost. All cultivators strive to become stronger, but when they finally reach the Supreme Realm, they end up like this. What’s the point of cultivating?

However, he could advance by adding points, so he shouldn’t take the wrong path, right? This made him feel uncomfortable. The whole cultivation environment of the world was like that. Even if he added points, he might still go astray. Adding points meant choosing a path, and if the chosen path was wrong, wouldn’t adding points just make things worse?

“Is that why O hasn’t broken through to the highest realm?” Xu Lian thought about it and asked.

The old Supreme Being was visibly stunned, obviously not expecting Xu Lian to refer to the Goddess of Time so intimately. “That’s not the case. O has only been cultivating for less than a thousand years. She’s still far away from the Supreme Realm. If she had the chance to break through, she would do so without hesitation. Her greatest wish is to unseal the painting of her divine clan, even if it means sacrificing herself”.

Xu Lian’s heart tightened. If he discovered that O was about to break through to the Supreme Realm, what should he do? Watch her walk down this path? If he tried everything to stop her, it would mean preventing her from saving her clan. This was undoubtedly a dilemma.

As if reading his thoughts, the old Supreme Being said, “It would be best if O could maintain her current level of cultivation. Without the power of the Supreme Realm, she wouldn’t walk the path of monstrous transformation, yet she would still possess the strength of a Supreme Being through her mastery of the laws of time. That would be the perfect state.

I have called you here for two reasons.

First, I hope that no matter what happens, you will find a way to stop O from ascending to the Supreme Realm. Don’t let her walk down this path of no return.

Second, I can’t hold on much longer. Before I completely turn into a monster and lose my will, I must pass on. But I can’t rest until I know the fate of the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands. I hope O can return and take over the Sacred Lands.”

Xu Lian bowed respectfully. “I can promise the first. I will do everything in my power to prevent O from becoming a Supreme Being. As for the second, I’m afraid I can’t help you. O doesn’t want to get involved in internal conflicts. 

Senior Supreme Being, don’t you have a few disciples and junior brothers close to the Supreme Realm? Wouldn’t it be better for them to take over the Sacred Lands? Or perhaps the Goddess of the Nine Heavens?”

The old Supreme Being replied, “My junior brothers and disciples are too ambitious. If they took over the Sacred Lands, it would never know peace. They would surely wage war everywhere.

As for the Goddess of Nine Heavens, Yuan, her cultivation is still a bit too low. It would be hard for her to command respect.”

Yuan? Xu Lian finally learned the name of the Goddess of Nine Heavens. It was a bit strange, just like O’s name – only one character. Was it a trend for Goddesses to have single character names?

The old Supreme Being finally said, “Try to persuade O. I’ve never seen her so close to anyone before.”

With that, he sent Xu Lian back to the first layer of the small world.

However, Xu Lian’s heart remained unsettled. This world was too strange, too deep. Even Supreme Beings couldn’t see through it.

For a moment, he thought of returning to Green Bamboo Town and living a secluded life. But without the ingredients to advance, his lifespan would be limited to a few hundred years. He couldn’t bear the thought of that.