Chapter 604: Continuous Cultivation
After surviving the tribulation, Su Che approached one of the Witch Tribe warriors, flying to a height where their eyes were level, and asked, “How did you discover these cultivators?”
He asked this because he felt their appearance was too coincidental, and he wanted to find out the truth. Yet, the answer he got was simply…
“Nothing special. We searched everywhere on this planet. First, we found one who was in the tribulation stage, and then we caught the other four. It wasn’t difficult at all.”
As the Witch Tribe warrior answered, his expression and tone revealed a straightforward and honest demeanor—a characteristic typical of most Witch Tribe members, who were always direct, either friends or enemies, with no desire to play tricks.
“Oh?”
Still not giving up, Su Che asked further, “Did you sense anything subtle that led you to them?”
“Subtle senses?”
The Witch Tribe warrior seemed to not quite understand. A small gesture of scratching his head caused a gust of wind. Even giants towering a thousand feet high could have a profound impact on their surroundings with every move.
“Never mind. It’s fine!”
Su Che shook his head lightly. He was certain that no matter how much he asked, he wouldn’t get any useful information from them.
The three Witch Tribe warriors, having fulfilled their duty as guardians, couldn’t stay longer and respectfully bid farewell to Su Che. Of course, this respect was mainly directed toward the Witch God’s Order, not Su Che’s former status as its master…
Although they left, Su Che couldn’t leave this planet either. He had to continue cultivating in the Thunder God Temple for who knew how many years.
He was only in the early stages of the tribulation. To gather enough Five-Colored Spirit Fruits using that demonic energy to ensure he could reach the Mahayana stage, Su Che estimated it would take at least a hundred years.
By “a hundred years” here, it didn’t mean it would take just a hundred years to reach the Mahayana stage. Instead, it meant it would take a hundred years to accumulate enough Five-Colored Spirit Fruits for cultivation.
Cultivation was unpredictable, especially during the tribulation stage, when one had to endure numerous trials filled with unknown variables. Neither Su Che nor Lao He could be sure how many years it would take to advance to the Mahayana stage.
Three hundred years? Five hundred years? Who knows!
Normally, those Heavenly Lords in the Spirit Realm needed thousands or even tens of thousands of years of accumulation. Each time they improved their understanding of their path, they had to face another trial from the heavens.
“Comprehension” follows no pattern; it varies from person to person. Moreover, most people in the Tribulation Phase never manage to reach the highest level in their lives, meaning they fail to face the final celestial tribulation that mortals must endure. Just one step short of reaching the ultimate realm, they can only sigh in frustration as their lifespan ends and they pass away sadly. Only a few lucky ones receive the heavens’ approval, ascending to the Mahayana Phase and gaining the chance to ascend to the immortal realm. It can be said that luck plays the biggest role in whether one can reach the Mahayana Phase, with little to do left by factors like talent, innate ability, or diligence. Those who can cultivate to the Tribulation Phase all possess comparable talents and diligence; the biggest difference lies solely in “fate.” As the owner of the Immortal Prison Pagoda, Su Che has full confidence in his fate—ascending to the Mahayana Phase is definitely not a problem! He will surely make it to the immortal realm! It’s just a matter of time. In the days that followed, Su Che returned to that special space in the Thunder God Temple, facing that huge silver sphere, continuously absorbing demonic energy while practicing. Meanwhile, the six layers of the Immortal Prison kept producing colorful spiritual fruits. Ten days later, Lao He reported, “Master, you have now reached the Tribulation Phase, and the conditions for unlocking the seventh layer of the Immortal Prison are met. But so far, you haven’t determined its specific function.” “I’ve thought about this for a long time…” Su Che replied in his mind, “I still hope to set the function of the seventh layer as power extraction—temporarily drawing on the strength of countless beings in the Immortal Prison world, allowing my combat power to surge dozens or even hundreds of times during battles!” “Of course, this is just a wish. I won’t force it to happen. Anyway, since your strength, Lao He, isn’t yet at the Tribulation Phase, the seventh layer can’t be unlocked for now. Let its function remain undecided for now.” “Understood, master.” Lao He replied, “I estimate it will take at least another two or three hundred years to accumulate enough willpower from all beings before I can reach the Tribulation Phase. Master, I’m incompetent and holding you back.” “It’s okay!” Su Che thought with a smile, “The functions of the first six layers of the Immortal Prison are more than enough for me in this mortal world. There’s no rush for the seventh layer’s function; I can even wait until I go to the immortal realm to decide.”
Su Che still held the same view: each layer of the Immortal Prison had extremely important functions. It was better to delay for a while than to make hasty decisions. Hearing his master say this, Lao He felt somewhat relieved, though he certainly wouldn’t slack off at all. Instead, he would redouble his efforts to improve the living conditions on Planet Qiyuan and fulfill the wishes of countless beings, so as to gain more of their spiritual energy. He had complained about this more than once: “It’s a pity that within the small universe of the first layer of the Immortal Prison, there is only Planet Qiyuan as a living world. The other twenty-some thousand planets are all in a desolate state… If there were more planets like Qiyuan, the amount of spiritual energy I could absorb would increase several times over, and keeping up with my master’s progress wouldn’t be a problem…” Inside the first layer of the Immortal Prison, over twenty thousand planets rotated slowly along their orbits. If left to develop on their own, it would take hundreds of billions of years before they could reach the prosperous state of Planet Qiyuan. Lao He had long been pondering whether he should select some of the species with the strongest reproductive abilities from Planet Qiyuan and migrate them to these planets, encouraging them to reproduce more, so that perhaps in just a few thousand years… Su Che didn’t have the energy to consider such matters and left it entirely to Lao He to decide. His own task was simply to cultivate, cultivate, and cultivate again… Su Che hoped to be able to cultivate peacefully in the Thunder God Temple, undisturbed by anyone. Yet even such a simple wish was hard to fulfill. Just over twenty days had passed when some unwanted people suddenly arrived here. “It’s definitely those bastards!” Lao He’s detection ability detected the intruders in advance and warned Su Che promptly: “Master, the thing we were worried about has indeed happened! I saw four of the five people who were driven away by the Witch Tribe warriors back then. Interestingly, the bearded man you hate the most is not among them.” “Is that so?” Su Che replied indifferently. Although he had anticipated such a situation, it still affected his mood when it actually happened. This was a perfect example of “good intentions not leading to good outcomes”! With Lao He’s detection ability, Su Che saw that twenty-two people had infiltrated the Thunder God Temple and were searching everywhere in the labyrinthine complex. Without a doubt, they were looking for him! They were after the Witch God Order. Among them were the elder in the Great Vehicle stage who had been driven away by the Witch Tribe warriors that day, along with three others in the Tribulation stage—only the bearded demon cultivator was absent.
It shows that one should not judge people by their appearance alone. Although that bearded demonic cultivator had a fierce look and rude speech, making him unlikable at first glance, it turned out that he was precisely the one with the greatest conscience and the most grateful heart.