Chapter 1: The Pearl-Forming Tree
In the Fire Departure Divine Realm, there is Li Fei City, one of the 108 cities. At the city’s center lies the Ascension Manor, a vast estate stretching hundreds of miles wide. Mist lingers everywhere within the manor, obscuring visibility.
Within the Ascension Manor grows a Pearl-Forming Tree. No one can see its true form, yet it is the most famous tree species in the divine realm. Its history is unknown; it seems to have existed since the birth of the divine realm itself.
Another astonishing feature of the Pearl-Forming Tree is its ability to create soul orbs for cultivators undergoing divine trials. Whether they are cultivators from the lower realms or those from the divine realm, they must come to the Ascension Manor to seek its help in transforming their soul flowers into soul orbs.
At that moment, three storm eyes appeared within the Ascension Manor of Li Fei City. This was a sign that cultivators from the lower realms had ascended!
The Ascension Manor was guarded by a team from the city lord’s palace. Ten tall members were stationed in an elegant pavilion within the manor. The appearance of the three storm eyes immediately informed these ten guards that three cultivators from the lower realms had ascended simultaneously.
“It’s been a hundred years since anyone ascended from Li Fei City. This is quite interesting—three people ascending at once,” said Xu Ming, the team leader, with a smile.
Since the leader had spoken, the other nine members couldn’t just stand by.
“Yes, and all three ascended at the same time. Such an occurrence is quite rare among the Ascension Mansions of the 108 cities in our Fire Departure Divine Realm.”
“These three might well be the last group to ascend during the hundred years under our team’s responsibility. Great! That means we can rest for another thousand years.”
Soon, two members chimed in.
Every hundred years, the guard team changed, taking charge of receiving the ascended cultivators and arranging to dispatch them to the lower defense cities. Xu Ming’s team had been guarding the Ascension Manor for nearly a hundred years and was soon due to send the newly ascended cultivators to a defense city beneath Li Fei City.
“This task is easy. We just need to send three people to the defense city. Everyone, come and draw lots. Whoever draws it will be responsible for escorting these three to the city below. The rest needn’t waste time coming,” Xu Ming said with a smile.
Hearing Xu Ming’s words, the other nine members’ eyes lit up, and they immediately gathered around him.
To reach the Acropolis, it would take ten years if it was nearby, and a hundred years if it was far away. For the members of Team One, no one wanted to waste such a long time for an ascendant. So, having the chance to avoid escorting an ascendant was certainly a joyous thing.
The ten members of Team One immediately gathered together and started drawing lots.
※※※
Inside the Ascension Manor, the three storm eyes that appeared didn’t last long before calming down, and the entire manor once again became shrouded in mist.
Amidst this mist, three figures appeared—Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui.
After passing through the divine tribulation in the Immortal Realm, the three finally ascended to the Divine Realm.
Thus, the three storm eyes that appeared in the Ascension Manor were phenomena caused by Qu Yi and the others ascending. Upon ascending, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui, still unsettled, found themselves trapped on a tree, with their heads hanging from the branches—like three human-shaped fruits growing on the tree.
This dark-black tree had unknown height or width, entirely covered in mist. Only in the small space where the three were could one see that the branches were pitch black, and the leaves were even darker and shinier.
This was the most well-known Pearl-Bearing Tree in the Divine Realm.
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui didn’t even have time to scream before fainting. Then, a black mist appeared on the branch where they were, and this black mist directly entered their heads.
Judging from their expressions, the black mist clearly wasn’t harmful; instead, it made them feel very comfortable, with faint smiles on their faces the whole time.
This peaceful scene lasted for ten days.
The members of Team One, who were in the attic, all showed expressions of surprise. They were very puzzled why Qu Yi and the others hadn’t left the Pearl-Bearing Tree yet.
“Those three are really strange. It’s already ten days—haven’t they left the tree?” Captain Xu Ming said solemnly, standing by the attic window.
Generally, an ascendant from the lower world would be able to form a Soul Pearl by staying on the Pearl-Bearing Tree for one day. It was astonishing that Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui hadn’t succeeded in forming a Soul Pearl even after ten days.
“I thought I’d heard of ascendants who stayed for three or four days before leaving, but ten days? That’s truly unimaginable.”
“What’s even more unimaginable is that all three of them spent ten days on the Pearl-Bearing Tree. Such a thing hasn’t happened even once in the history of the divine realm.”
“It’s truly enviable. I heard that the longer one stays on the Pearl-Bearing Tree, the greater the benefit it brings to the cultivator’s soul pearl.”
…
The team members started chatting excitedly, speculating among themselves.
Just as the ten of them were filled with confusion, three figures finally appeared before their eyes—Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui. All three looked puzzled, scratching their heads as they slowly made their way toward the attic.
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui themselves didn’t understand what had happened. They had ascended from the immortal realm and had been in a daze ever since, not knowing how much time had passed. Eventually, they fell from the tree and then woke up in pain. Upon waking, they were surprised to find that their Soul Flowers had transformed into Soul Pearls, but their shape was different from those of the Soul Pearl carriers in the Divine Realm of Meteorfall.
In Qu Yi’s soul space, the Soul Pearl was transparent. If someone else used their divine sense to look inside, they would definitely not be able to see Qu Yi’s Soul Pearl. Yet, Qu Yi could clearly sense its presence. Inside this transparent Soul Pearl were five other Soul Pearls: the Soul Golden Pearl, the Soul Green Pearl, the Soul Blue Pearl, the Soul Red Pearl, and the Soul Yellow Pearl.
In Wu Yuan’s soul space, only one Soul Golden Pearl was visible, but Wu Yuan knew well that the other four Soul Pearls were hidden within his soul space.
In Qing Wu Gui’s soul space, one Soul Pearl appeared as well, but this one had shades of gold, green, blue, red, and yellow.
The Soul Pearls of all three of them were extremely peculiar. It was likely because they had all completed the cultivation of the Five Elements laws, but different changes had taken place on the Pearl-Bearing Tree.
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui were prepared for their Soul Flowers to transform into Soul Pearls—they had already learned from the God of Tools that the first challenge after ascending to the divine realm was the transformation of the Soul Flower. However, the state of their Soul Pearls left them all speechless.
At this moment, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui arrived at the door of the attic.
Xu Ming, along with his team members, also came to the attic door. He looked at Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui seriously and examined them for a long time.
“Congratulations to the three of you for successfully ascending to the divine realm. I am Xu Ming, the captain of Team One in Li Fei City of the Huo Li Divine Domain. I’m in charge of registering, documenting, and distributing items for you three. Now, come with me and tell me your names,” Xu Ming said in a gentle tone.
When Qu Yi was in the immortal realm, he had also learned from the God of Tools that those who ascend must first obtain an identity card in the divine realm, which serves as proof for traveling there in the future.
“Thank you,” Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui replied with smiles before immediately following Xu Ming into the attic.
The attic had two floors. Xu Ming led Qu Yi and the others into a room on the first floor, while the other nine members of Team One stayed outside voluntarily, not following them in.
“Tell me your names. I need to engrave them on these cards,” Xu Ming said as he entered the room, sat down on a delicate wooden chair, and took out three cards about two fingers wide.
These identity cards were dark black, emitting a faint black glow, clearly made from divine realm jade.
“Qu Yi.”
“Wu Yuan.”
“Qing Wu Gui.”
The three of them simply stated their names and looked at Xu Ming calmly.
Xu Ming nodded, then took the three identity cards to a miniature array in the room, placed them inside, and activated the array.
“I’ve placed your identity cards in the certification array. Now, each of you needs to drop a drop of blood onto your own card,” Xu Ming said casually again.
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui silently went to the array and dropped a drop of blood onto their respective cards.
Soon, the cards absorbed the blood, and a burst of white light flashed from them before they returned to their original state.
“Alright, your identity cards are now ready. Your information has been entered into the identity database of the entire Huo Li Divine Domain. Go and retrieve your cards,” Xu Ming said with a smile after stopping the array.
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui thanked him before taking out their cards and storing them inside their bodies.
“Very good. Welcome,” Xu Ming said, scanning Qu Yi and the others with his gaze.
It turned out that Xu Ming and his teammates had drawn the lot and ended up with the task of escorting others, so they had to personally accompany Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui to Huo Xin Town.
Huo Xin Town was one of the 1,008 guardian cities of Li Fei City.
Upon hearing the word “rules,” Qu Yi immediately understood that Xu Ming wanted something in return. If he didn’t understand the rules, Xu Ming could simply take Qu Yi and the other two to Fireheart Town without giving them any detailed information about the Divine Realm, leaving them to fend for themselves—surely causing them trouble.
Although Qu Yi had a Divine Tool at his back, as a newcomer to the Divine Realm, he didn’t want to offend a snobbish person like Xu Ming right from the start, so it was better to endure it.
“Hello, Captain. This is a spiritual stone I happened to obtain in the lower world. With my current abilities, I can’t even break it. I think you might be able to use this stone’s quality,” Qu Yi said, taking out a Divine Stone from his space ring—one of the countless Divine Stones he had obtained in the Meteor Domain Divine Realm.
Qu Yi had acquired so many Divine Stones in the Meteor Domain Divine Realm that using just one to avoid future troubles was definitely a worthwhile deal.
Xu Ming glanced at the Divine Stone in Qu Yi’s hand, his eyes lighting up. He recognized it as a precious stone from the Divine Realm. If he sold it, he could also earn a fortune.
“Very good. You’ve done well. On the way, I’ll explain some things about the Divine Realm to you,” Xu Ming said with a smile after taking the Divine Stone.
Xu Ming assumed that Qu Yi only had this one Divine Stone, as few cultivators who ascended from the lower world managed to obtain them. The fact that Qu Yi could produce one already impressed him greatly, and he didn’t think much of the possibility that Qu Yi might have more Divine Stones, or even Divine Tools.
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui exchanged glances. Their expressions remained calm, but their eyes revealed their joy.
Xu Ming led Qu Yi and the others out of the attic of the Ascension Manor and headed toward the spacetime array near Fei City.
Spacetime arrays were found in various towns across the Divine Realm, functioning similarly to space transfer arrays in the Immortal Realm, used for transportation.