Chapter 247 – The Ascension of the Soul Continent

The Mechacity had always been the version force most capable of countering the Alliance of Immortals.

Now that Mechacity had vanished, the Alliance was bound to act. Lu Yan had merely pushed forward the inevitable war a little sooner.

With Lu Yan’s command passed down, True Lord Yunlu personally headed to the frontlines to investigate Mechacity’s core territory.

Once its total destruction was confirmed, the entire pocket world began preparations for war.

One sealed treasure pavilion after another was unsealed, and the spirit tools and pills stockpiled within were distributed to boost the overall strength of cultivators.

The Spirit Resonance Tide, which originally surged once every three years, was now intentionally left unrestricted by the True Inheritance Hall. A vast amount of spiritual resonance gushed forth from the earth at every moment.

Foundation Establishment cultivators began training in large-scale arrays hosted by Golden Core cultivators and willingly marched to the frontlines to seize the resources Mechacity had left behind.

Yet when the Alliance finally arrived, they realized with dismay that the Nation of the Gods had already quietly occupied the majority of those territories.

The two sides, however, refrained from clashing. Instead, they began dividing up the land.

But everyone knew that once the other version factions began to intervene, the balance would be broken—and with that, a war would erupt across the entire Broken Calamity Domain.

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In the pocket world, on Red Lotus Immortal Island.

Lu Yan sat cross-legged in the heart of the island’s Zhongyuan Palace, absorbing the nearly liquefied spiritual energy that permeated the air.

With each breath, he activated the formation within Zhongyuan Palace. The vast spiritual energy coalesced into massive vortices, rushing into the tenth layer of his Supreme Dao Foundation.

The seventeen immortal islands of this world each corresponded to one of the Ten Great Orthodox Sects and the Seven Demon Sects. Red Lotus Immortal Island was where the Red Lotus Demon Sect resided.

Now that Lu Yan had seized control over the Alliance, the Red Lotus Sect was filled with dread.

After all, the entire conflict had begun because of them, and several of their true disciples had even tried to assassinate Lu Yan.

Though he hadn’t immediately punished them, everyone knew Lu Yan was merely preserving the Alliance’s internal stability for now.

Once the war officially began, all he needed was a few orders to send the Red Lotus disciples to the most dangerous battlefronts. No one could find fault with that.

To avoid such a fate, the Red Lotus Sect had proactively approached Lu Yan and handed over full control of Red Lotus Immortal Island along with its vast trove of resources.

In their eyes, Lu Yan would only control the island for a few decades. Once he surpassed a hundred years of age, he would be expelled from the Broken Calamity Domain, and the island would return to their hands.

Trading decades of control for safety—this was a bargain they couldn’t refuse.

As for the resources stored inside, they could always be replenished later. If Lu Yan’s predictions were accurate and the Alliance’s territory continued expanding, it wouldn’t take more than a few decades to recover the loss.

It was this small-minded thinking that left Lu Yan as the sole person on Red Lotus Immortal Island.

No matter how the spiritual energy fluctuated, no one could witness the vision that appeared during Lu Yan’s cultivation.

Back in the Immortal version’s Taiyi Cave Heaven, Lu Yan had filled nine layers of his Supreme Dao Foundation. Yet the tenth layer had remained elusive, as nothing in that version could complete it.

Now, within this resource-rich domain, and leveraging the Red Lotus Sect’s millennia of refinements on this immortal island, he had finally filled the tenth layer.

As the final trace of refined spiritual energy merged with his Dao Foundation, Lu Yan’s cultivation reached true completion.

In terms of spiritual power alone, his ten-layer Dao Foundation nearly matched a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Opening his eyes, Lu Yan glanced around and exhaled with a light smile.

“Half a month to complete Foundation Establishment… Faster than I expected.”

Having come this far, he could feel the Golden Core realm just within reach.

All it would take was a single thought, and he could break through. His Supreme Divine Ability Seed was ready to blossom.

But Lu Yan understood that forming his core before his Divine Ability Seed was fully nurtured would only harm his potential.

If he couldn’t reach the peak, how could he contend with those who were this world’s only one in their version?

With his mind settled, Lu Yan turned his thoughts back to the present.

Seizing the Alliance’s momentum and mobilizing it for war was only step one in his plan. But relying on the Alliance alone was far from enough.

He knew well that his current prestige stemmed largely from his identity as the invincible Underworld Emissary below the Nascent Soul realm.

As the war intensified and version factions sent out their top experts, Lu Yan would eventually need to personally confront them.

If his true strength were exposed then, his control over the Alliance would collapse.

His most urgent task was to strengthen himself—to develop enough power to withstand even peak Nascent Soul cultivators.

Only then could he stabilize the situation and fulfill his deal with the Broken Calamity Heavenly Dao.

To achieve that, Lu Yan had three options.

The first was to quickly perfect the Supreme Divine Ability Seed and break into the Golden Core realm to form his Dao Core.

Once he did that, even Nascent Soul cultivators would pose no threat. With the Human Sovereign Banner aiding him, he might even fight against peak Nascent Soul experts.

The second option was to refine the rules within the Human Sovereign Banner and help the Soul Continent fully transform into a Minor World.

A domain akin to a divine nation would grant him a realm-based suppression capable of threatening even top Nascent Soul cultivators.

The third path lay within the strand of World-Ending Rule suppressed beneath the Gate of Mystery Womb.

If he could refine that rule, Lu Yan could replicate some of its power through his Divine Ability and potentially kill even a peak Nascent Soul expert.

But refining it was incredibly difficult. Without a solid enough foundation, attempting it might backfire.

Even if he succeeded, he might die before he could unleash that trump card—so Lu Yan shelved the third option for now.

He had to choose between the first two.

But both paths required the same thing—an immense amount of rule resources!

Perfecting the Divine Ability Seed demanded it, and accelerating the Soul Continent’s evolution did as well.

Combined, the amount was staggering. Even stripping Mechacity bare hadn’t filled the gap.

However, with Lu Yan now in control of the Alliance, he had a way to acquire what he needed.

Rising from his mat, Lu Yan swept his sleeve and left Zhongyuan Palace.

“It’s time to test my harvest.”

He soared into the sky, piercing through the heavens in a streak of light.

As he climbed higher, the blue sky thinned out until it gave way to a vast and majestic starry dome.

This was no ordinary void. The stars moved along specific trajectories, forming a complex and exquisite array.

At the center of this celestial dome floated a magnificent crystal tower, radiating light that birthed all the stars.

“This is the Zhou Tian Star Tower, a Nascent Soul spirit treasure forged by the Immortal Craftsman. Its rank far surpasses ordinary spirit artifacts.

But in the Broken Calamity Domain, such treasures are suppressed by heaven and earth and can only be used to stabilize the pocket world.”

Hovering before the tower, a beautiful female cultivator greeted Lu Yan.

She wore a black dress that flowed like ink, outlining her graceful figure. The hem danced with blood-colored patterns that seemed to trap screaming souls.

Her skin was like jade, her face flawless. Her lips were as red as the blooming manjusaka—seductive yet dangerous. Her eyes, warm at first glance, hid a deep and chilling malice.

It wasn’t aimed at Lu Yan, but at all life in the world.

Lu Yan recognized her aura—Nascent Soul cultivation, demonic path.

“True Lord of Slaughter?”

She lightly traced her lips with a finger and smiled while examining him.

“I thought Lu Envoy had reached the limit of Foundation Establishment. I never imagined you’d break through again in just half a month.

Across all of cultivation history, I doubt any Foundation Establishment cultivator has walked further than you.”

Lu Yan said nothing of her flattery and instead looked to the Zhou Tian Star Tower.

“What I want is inside?”

“Yes,” she replied, glancing at him meaningfully.

“These past two weeks, the True Inheritance Hall gathered every bit of rule resources from the Alliance. Yunlu, Canfa, and I personally led fifty true disciples to the Tenfold Martial Domain and borrowed nearly all their rule resources.

All of it has been stored in this tower. No force in the domain can match it.”

Half a month ago, Lu Yan’s first decree as the Alliance leader had been to gather all rule resources—without restriction.

Now that decree had borne fruit.

Even from outside, Lu Yan could feel the immense energy fluctuations within.

His completed Dao Foundation trembled, the chaotic sun formed from his Supreme Divine Ability Seed burning with eagerness.

He stepped forward—but just then, the True Lord of Slaughter spoke again.

“Forgive the question, but I must ask—what are you planning to do with all these resources?”

Lu Yan paused and glanced sideways at her.

“You asking, or all of you?”

She smiled.

“These rule resources are extraordinarily rare. What’s stored in this tower includes tens of thousands of years of the Alliance’s accumulation. Just collecting them nearly caused a complete break with the Tenfold Martial Domain.

The true disciples merely want an answer.”

Such resources were too rare, and few could even use them.

Most rule resources required special contexts, such as repairing broken Nascent Soul artifacts or refining certain Divine Abilities.

Even Mechacity’s war fortress modules required very specific materials.

If these treasures couldn’t be used by Ascension cultivators or taken back to the main cultivation world, they were simply left behind.

What was in this tower was, in essence, a hoard of discarded miracles.

“I’m just cultivating a Divine Ability,” Lu Yan replied blandly, then stepped into the tower.

The True Lord of Slaughter was left dumbfounded.

Her hand, hidden within her sleeve, squeezed the unresponsive True Word Token.

“He’s telling the truth…” she muttered.

“But even the legendary Heavenly Gang Divine Abilities don’t consume this much… Just what kind of power has this Lu Envoy grasped?”

—

Stepping into the Zhou Tian Star Tower, Lu Yan held his breath.

The interior space was vast—thousands of times larger than the exterior—like a sealed universe.

Above his head, endless stars. Below, flowing trajectories of celestial light. All around him floated countless strange objects.

Not far away, a glowing Bodhi tree hovered in the void. Half of it withered, half verdant, endlessly dying and regenerating in a cycle of life and death.

Its branches bore hundreds of fruits, each radiating a unique light and aura.

Life and death coexisted on that tree, turning it into a rule-bound item.

Elsewhere, a broken hourglass floated with sand flowing upward against reason. Space twisted around it, with patches of time flowing backward.

There were too many such artifacts to count—some beyond words or comprehension.

A phrase etched in rule, a single recorded moment—any of them could contain a fragment of the world’s framework.

Lu Yan took a deep breath and stepped to the center of the tower.

Ignoring the restless stirrings within, he summoned the Human Sovereign Banner.

As it waved, a flood of Human Sovereign energy surged out, and the Soul Continent manifested within the tower.

Above it, stars flickered—the Probability Cloud had begun computing.

Then, the Five Ghost Gods descended.

In the past half month, they had been far from idle. Guided by the Laplace Demon’s omniscient algorithms, they had modified their Ghost God Computers and gained access to rule manipulation.

As the Five Ghost Gods gave orders, the ghost soldiers formed great arrays, absorbing rule items into the Soul Continent.

The Probability Cloud transformed into stellar hands, weaving complete rules from fragments.

And upon that land born from soul computation, reality began to take shape from illusion.

(End of Chapter)