Chapter 233: Upper Realm
Upper Realm.
Morning Glory Divine Alchemia Sect.
The sky itself seemed alive.
Endless streams of golden clouds drifted like slow-moving oceans above the mountains, their edges glowing faintly as they absorbed and circulated pure immortal energy. Between them, exotic birds with radiant plumage soared freely, their wings cutting through the air with elegance, while massive immortal beasts moved lazily through the heavens, their deep, resounding roars echoing across vast distances.
Every breath taken here felt different.
Richer with vitality.
Heavy with brimming aura of life.
As if the air itself carried weight.
At the heart of this heavenly landscape stood a towering mountain formed entirely of pure gold. Its surface gleamed under the light, reflecting the sky in fractured brilliance, and atop it sat countless cultivators, each one radiating an oppressive aura that seemed to press against the surrounding space.
They sat motionless.
Eyes closed.
Immersed in deep contemplation.
At the center of it all—
A colossal pillar pierced the heavens.
It stood there like an axis connecting earth and sky, glowing with a steady, unwavering brilliance. A faint aura of heavenly authority flowed from it, subtle yet undeniable, seeping into the surroundings and influencing everything within its reach.
Then—
Nong Li opened his eyes.
The movement was small.
But the moment his gaze sharpened, the air itself seemed to tighten.
A sharp glint passed through his pupils as he swept his vision across the gathered cultivators. One by one, he examined them, his gaze lingering only briefly before moving on, as if measuring something invisible.
Then—
He turned back.
His eyes settled once more on the towering pillar behind him.
Even after an entire year—
Nothing had changed.
Its glow remained steady.
Its presence unchanged.
The authority it emitted had not weakened in the slightest.
Nong Li let out a quiet breath, then raised his hand slightly, bringing it to his lips as he coughed once to clear his throat.
The soft sound still carried across the entire mountain.
"Today..."
His voice spread outward, calm yet firm.
"...is the last day of enlightenment."
A faint pause followed.
"I advise all of you..."
"...to withdraw your attention from the pillar and focus on consolidating what you have learned."
His words fell evenly.
Without force.
Yet they carried weight.
The gathered cultivators reacted slowly.
Almost unwillingly.
Some frowned faintly, as if disturbed from a precious dream. Others hesitated, their connection to the pillar reluctant to break. Even those who followed his instructions did so with visible reluctance, their focus wavering as they pulled themselves away.
Everything proceeded as it had countless times before.
Predictable.
Orderly.
Until—
Something shifted.
At the far edge of the gathering, in a place where no one had been paying attention, space rippled faintly.
Soft and very Subtle.
Like the surface of water disturbed by a single drop.
The distortion deepened.
Then—
It split open.
From within that quiet tear, a figure stepped out.
A young man.
Dressed in plain white robes.
His expression was calm, composed, as his gaze swept across the surroundings with quiet curiosity.
Yet—
For the briefest fraction of a moment—
Something cracked.
A flicker.
Barely noticeable.
But real.
Disbelief.
Of course—
This man was none other than Wang Chen.
The moment he fully stepped into the upper realm, he drew in a breath.
And immediately—
Something changed.
The immortal qi here flowed into him naturally, without resistance, entering his body like it had always belonged there. It wasn’t violent. It wasn’t overwhelming.
It was... nourishing.
Warm and Alive.
His soul, already tempered by the Eternal Flame Divine Core, trembled faintly, as if it had been waiting for this moment. A subtle transformation stirred within him, something deep and fundamental, as though a threshold had been brushed.
For a brief instant—
Wang Chen’s control loosened.
A ripple of power surged within him, threatening to tear outward, to announce his presence to everything around him.
But just as quickly—
He suppressed it.
His expression remained unchanged, but the fluctuation vanished completely, sealed back into silence.
Only then did he allow himself to observe properly.
His senses extended.
Careful.
Measured.
The results were immediate.
A faint crease appeared between his brows.
Hmm...
The formation.
His Absolute Concealment Formation.
It was still active.
Still functioning.
But—
Weaker.
The weakness wasn’t in its structure.
Neither in design.
But in effect.
The difference was subtle, yet unmistakable.
Here, in the upper realm, the laws were complete.
Dense.
Overlapping.
The same concealment that could blur existence in the lower realm now felt... limited.
Not ineffective.
Just—
No longer absolute.
Wang Chen’s gaze sharpened slightly as he analyzed the difference.
So this is the gap...
If he wanted to remain as hidden here as he had been below—
This would not be enough.
Not even close.
His thoughts moved quickly.
Calmly.
Without hesitation.
I’ll need to incorporate authority into it.
Not just one.
Several.
Only then would the concealment truly become complete again.
The realization settled quietly in his mind.
No frustration.
No urgency.
Just... another step to take.
In the lower realm, everything rested on laws.
Skills drew strength from them, relied on them, were shaped by them. As long as one’s comprehension was deep enough, as long as one could grasp the flow of those laws, power would follow naturally.
But here—
Things were different.
In the upper realm, laws were no longer enough.
They were too shallow.
Too limited.
Here, true immortal skills were built upon something else entirely—
Authority.
Wang Chen stood quietly, his gaze lowered slightly as he sorted through the knowledge he had pieced together over time.
A skill infused with even a single low-level authority—something as fundamental as flame—was already considered Earth Grade.
Add another authority—
It became Senior Earth Grade.
Three—
Master Earth Grade.
And so on.
Each layer stacked upon the last, increasing complexity, increasing control, increasing... danger.
Then came a different threshold altogether.
Skills that utilized higher authorities—
Fate.
Karma.
Life.
Death.
Those were no longer Earth Grade.
They stepped into another domain entirely.
Sky Grade.
And beyond even that—
There existed something even more terrifying.
A level reserved for the most fundamental forces.
Space.
Time.
Destruction.
Authorities that didn’t just influence reality—
But defined it.
Wang Chen let out a quiet breath.
Compared to when he first arrived, he was no longer blind.
The knowledge he had taken from the Dragon Race inheritance ground had filled in many of the gaps, giving him a rough understanding of how things worked here.
And yet—
The more he understood—
The more complicated everything seemed.
A faint pressure built in his temples.
"To upgrade all my skills to immortal grade..."
His lips twitched slightly.
"...what a hassle."
The words came out lightly, but there was a trace of genuine annoyance beneath them.
For a brief moment, a rather tempting thought surfaced.
Maybe I should just go back...
Back to the lower realm.
Back to simple days.
Tea.
Silence.
No authorities.
No complications.
Just existing.
The idea lingered for a second—
Then disappeared.
Because even as the thought crossed his mind, something else stirred beneath it.
Excitement.
A quiet, uncontrollable thrill.
His heart trembled slightly, not with fear—
But anticipation.
The unknown.
The vastness of the upper realm.
The endless paths waiting to be explored.
Yes, there was danger.
Of course there was.
But that only made it better.
Wang Chen’s gaze lifted, sweeping across the gathering once more.
His expression returned to its usual calm.
Then—
He noticed someone.
A familiar figure.
Bai Xeitian.
Standing among the others, staring blankly ahead like a duck that had wandered into the wrong pond.
His eyes were unfocused.
Empty.
It was obvious.
After an entire year—
He hadn’t understood a single thing.
Wang Chen stared at him for a moment, then looked away.
Not his problem.
He had never been worried about himself anyway.
After all—
There was a reason he had chosen the Thief Supreme Legacy.
If nothing else worked—
He could always take what he needed.
Simple and Effective strategy.
Just as that thought settled, another one surfaced.
Subtler.
More curious.
Heaven... Non-Existence...
Wang Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"I wonder..."
"...where those authorities are ranked."
Among the so-called peak authorities—
The top eight—
There had been no mention of Heaven Authority.
Nor of Non-Existence Authority.
As if they simply...
Didn’t belong.
Or weren’t meant to be categorized at all.
The thought lingered—
Then—
The ring on his finger trembled faintly.
A cold sensation spread upward along his arm.
And a voice followed.
Sharp.
Cutting.
Like wind slicing across frozen steel.
"Do you really think coming into contact with non-existence is that easy?"
Mo Huyan.
Her voice echoed in his mind, stripped of its usual teasing tone.
There was no warmth.
No playfulness.
Only cold.
Even during the Dragon Era..."
Her words slowed slightly, as if weighed down by memory.
"...there were tens of Supremecies."
"Working day and night."
"Just to catch a glimpse of that path."
Each word carried weight.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Since the moment she realized Wang Chen intended to step into the upper realm, something about her had changed.
Subtly.
But noticeably.
There were things she wasn’t saying.
Thoughts she was holding back.
Lingering unease rooted in what she had witnessed back in the Dragon Den.
She didn’t voice it openly.
But it was there.
Hidden beneath the surface.
Like a crack in ice, waiting.