Chapter 1029: The Lion City
Cultivation was like climbing a mountain.
At first, every climber ascended by their own skill and strength.
When the Holy Xuan unified the Five Immortal Lineages, it was as though he had built a paved road up the mountain, complete with chains and railings, permitting only one prescribed path for future generations to climb. The benefit was that even those who once had no hope of ascending could now follow the path and slowly reach the summit by gripping the iron chains. The drawback was that those of exceptional agility and talent lost the freedom to take shortcuts or perilous roads. Thus, the chance to climb higher was forever closed to them.
Those hidden, dangerous trails were preserved only within the ancient texts. They were not necessarily superior to the Holy Xuan’s prescribed path but were merely another choice, a different route up the same mountain.
Once Qi Xuansu obtained The Taiping Essential Arts, he immediately sensed a repelling force emanating from the entire Dragon Palace. His body began to blur and fade, just as it had when leaving the Qingping Society’s dream meeting.
In the next instant, Qi Xuansu’s eyes snapped open. He was back in his cabin aboard the flying ship. In his hands was The Taiping Essential Arts that he had taken from the Dragon Palace.
The Heavenly Empress’s gift had followed him out of the divine kingdom and manifested in the mortal world alongside him.
Qi Xuansu was not surprised. The Five Ghosts Transport Method used in the dream meeting had a similar mechanism. He even remembered Madam Qi’s warning that the method would not work beyond the Central Plains.
By the same logic, the Dragon Palace must also have had geographical limits, restricted largely to Nanyang.
This led Qi Xuansu to another thought. Perhaps the reason Ancient Immortals such as Wu Luo had never expanded into Fenglin was not only due to the Three Great Kami guarding the land but also because of the divine kingdoms’ limited reach.