NOVEL WEB Chapter 244: The Scheme
Chapter 244: The Scheme
The Great Elder spoke slowly, “The Elder Hall is in such a hurry to evaluate your cultivation progress not only because the higher-ups are paying attention to you, but also for another reason.”
Xu Lian was confused, “What reason?”
The Great Elder explained, “Two years ago, a new ancient ruin was discovered on the border between the territory of the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands and the Divine Thunder Sect. For the past two years, the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands and the Divine Thunder Sect have been secretly negotiating the ownership of this ancient ruin, but unfortunately, no agreement has been reached.
If a war were to break out, both sides would suffer heavy losses that neither side can afford. Therefore, the Divine Thunder Sect has proposed a competition between the younger generations of both sides. The side whose younger generation wins will take ownership of the ancient ruins.”
Xu Lian frowned, feeling somewhat reluctant. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to contribute to the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands, but he was currently at a critical point in his life – he was trying to have children. He didn’t want to push his cultivation too high too fast, as it might make it difficult for him to have offspring.
Xu Lian asked, “Is the Divine Thunder Sect really that strong? Can they really compete with the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands?”
The Great Elder sighed lightly, “If the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands were at their peak, with five or six Supreme Elders, the Divine Thunder Sect wouldn’t dare challenge us. But right now, the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands is in a relatively weak state. Our old Supreme Elders are aging, and new ones have yet to appear. Only the Goddess of Time is in her prime. That’s why the Divine Thunder Sect dares to challenge us.”
Xu Lian asked, “Is this newly discovered ancient ruin really so important?”
The Great Elder looked at him, “Every ancient ruin is important. They may contain legacies left by ancient powers and valuable cultivation resources. Any great power would take an ancient ruin seriously.”
It seemed like there was no choice but to join. Xu Lian was silent for a moment, then asked, “What level of cultivation has the younger generation of the Divine Thunder Sect reached?”
The Great Elder shook his head, “It’s not entirely clear, but the competition is limited to those under the age of twenty-five. No matter how high their cultivation is, it shouldn’t be too extreme. At most, they could be at the fifth level of the Return to the Void stage or lower.”
Xu Lian now had a rough idea. He was currently at the ninth stage of Divine Source. With a little more effort, he could reach the required level. “All right, for the sake of the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands, I’m willing to participate. But I have one small condition…”
The Great Elder was slightly displeased, “You are the Holy Son of the Nine Celestial Sacred Lands. It is your duty to serve the Sacred Lands. How can you act like an outsider and make demands?”
Xu Lian smiled, “This is just to motivate me in my cultivation and strengthen my resolve to win this competition. It’s not too much to ask for a small reward, is it?”
The Great Elder said, “If you ask for all the resources you need to cultivate to the highest level, it’s impossible. The Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands can’t afford to focus all its resources on you alone and neglect the potential of five or six future Supreme Elders.”
Xu Lian knew that this was too much to ask and didn’t want to push it. “My condition isn’t that big. I just want another four hundred and eleven Return to Void Pills.”
The Great Elder was speechless. After all this, Xu Lian was still fixated on this idea!
Seeing the Great Elder’s silence, Xu Lian also stopped speaking and waited for an answer.
The Great Elder hesitated for a long time before saying, “You must understand that the controlled cultivation resources are extremely precious and limited in quantity. If you use one more Return to Void Pill, the other Holy Sons, Holy Maidens, and top geniuses of the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands will have one less. The Elder Hall doesn’t have the authority to give you that many Return to Void Pills. I’ll have to report this to the higher-ups and see what they say.”
“Then please report to them quickly.”
Xu Lian did not feel any burden. The Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands was like a big pot of communal food. If he took a bigger share, other geniuses would get less. His priority was to get enough for himself. Once his cultivation reached a high enough level, he could give back to the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands and help everyone else. That’s why he didn’t hesitate to fight for cultivation resources, even if it meant taking them from his fellow disciples. He had to become strong quickly in order to protect his fellow disciples in this treacherous world.
The Great Elder had no choice but to leave in a hurry.
This time, Xu Lian waited for quite a while before the Great Elder returned. “The higher-ups have agreed.”
Xu Lian was overjoyed. Now that he had enough progress points and Return to Void Pills, what did it mean?
It meant that he could directly enter the ninth stage of the Return to Void Realm!
Once he reached the ninth stage of the Return to Void Realm, he could apply to the Elder Hall for the resources needed to break through to the Return to Truth Realm…
The Return to Truth realm was the realm of great powers!
In other words, if he wanted to, he could now become a great power at any time!
Although a Return to Truth realm great power was only an ordinary great power, it was still a great power…
Xu Lian looked at the empty-handed Great Elder, “Since the higher-ups have agreed, where are the Return to Void Pills? You didn’t bring them back?”
The Great Elder said irritably, “It’s not that simple. You’ll only get them if you defeat the Divine Thunder Sect.”
Alright… Xu Lian asked, “When is the competition?”
Now, he was actually looking forward to it. The sooner he could get his hands on the Return to Void Pills, the better.
The Great Elder said, “In two months. Go back and prepare yourself well. Your current cultivation at the ninth level of Divine Source isn’t enough. You’ll need to reach at least the second level of the Return to the Void stage.”
Xu Lian thought for a moment. Two months should be enough time for him to work hard and make his wives and concubines get pregnant again.
Besides Sister Xiya, he currently had twenty-three wives and concubines with favorability levels above 90. If each of them had a child, that would mean twenty-three children, and with the possibility of twins, he could conservatively expect twenty-five children.
In addition, he currently had fifty-two progression points, which would give him a total of seventy-seven progression points!
To progress through Return to Void, Return to Truth, Nine Tribulations, Unity, Sage, and even up to the Supreme realm would require at most fifty-four progression points. That would leave him with twenty-three extra Progression Points, which he could use to climb the Immortal Ascension Staircase or upgrade his skills and artifacts. It was more than enough.
Previously, he had set a “small goal” of one hundred Progress Points just to be safe, but in reality, seventy or eighty Progress Points was already enough.
Xu Lian left the Elder Hall and returned to the ancestral land of the Divine Clan.
Racing against time, he found Pei Zhaoxi and carried her into the wooden house.
Seeing this, Pei Zhaoxi knew what was coming. She was a bit speechless, “Husband, do you still want more children?”
Xu Lian coaxed her, “You only had three. Have one more. As the first wife, you must set an example.”
Hearing the term “first wife”, Pei Zhaoxi felt satisfied. After thinking about it, she realized that three children wasn’t really that many, so she decided to comply with Xu Lian’s wishes.
Over the next month, most of his wives and concubines became pregnant, except for a few like Huo Xin’er, Jiang Yunyan, and Tantai Youxuan from the Imperial Capital, who had stronger bloodlines and hadn’t shown any signs yet.
So Xu Lian focused his efforts on them… After another half month, he finally succeeded, which filled him with pride.
Especially with Tantai Youxuan. The bloodline of the Yin Dynasty’s royal family was extremely powerful, and he had managed to get her pregnant again. Even the Yin Dynasty royal family was impressed by him.
Just as Xu Lian was feeling satisfied with himself, the world around him suddenly spun around, and he found himself by a misty lake.
This was the first time in over three years that he had seen the Goddess of Time. She was as stunningly beautiful as ever, with an ethereal, cold aura that made it seem like she could ascend to immortality and leave the mortal world at any moment.
Xu Lian walked over and stood beside her, inhaling her faint scent. “You called for me?”
The Goddess of Time looked at him, her beautiful eyes slightly furrowed. “What’s wrong with you? You keep having children. You already have seventy or eighty offspring. Isn’t that enough? Shouldn’t you focus more on your cultivation?”
Xu Lian found it amusing that even she was worried. “I’ve told you before, my cultivation is different from others. My cultivation depends on my state of mind. As long as I fulfill my desires and maintain a peaceful state of mind, my cultivation will naturally improve.
My wish is to have many children and blessings. Now that I have enough children, my mind is satisfied. As long as I have enough cultivation resources, I can advance to any level at any time. I could even become a Supreme Elder right now if I wanted to.”
The Goddess of Time looked at him skeptically, “Immediately become a Supreme Elder? Are you joking with me?”
Xu Lian decided to show her what he could do. Next to Sister Xiya, she was the person he trusted the most. She had saved him countless times, even rejecting the laws of the Divine Kingdom when he offered them to her. Their bond was as strong as life and death, and the only thing left was for her to bear his children…
Xu Lian asked, “What level of cultivation do you think I’m at right now?
The Goddess of Time replied, “You are protected by the laws of the Divine Kingdom. If you don’t reveal your cultivation level, I won’t be able to sense it.”
Xu Lian released some of his aura, allowing her to sense it.
The Goddess of Time said, “Ninth level of the Divine Source stage.”
Xu Lian took out a Return to Void Pill and silently added the necessary ingredients.
[Ingredient addition successful. Advancing to the first level of the Return to Void Realm]
As the Return to Void Pill in his hand turned to ash, his cultivation instantly advanced to the first level of the Return to Void stage.
The Goddess of Time’s expression remained calm, “Advancing from the ninth level of the Divine Source stage to the first level of the Return to Void stage isn’t that impressive. If you were already at the peak of the ninth level of the Divine Source Stage, breaking through would be natural.”
“Watch closely,” Xu Lian said with a smile.
He silently added more points, took out two more Return to Void Pills, and added the necessary ingredients.
In an instant, his cultivation had advanced to the second stage of Return to Void!
The Goddess of Time’s eyes narrowed slightly. She was beginning to sense that there was something special about him.
Xu Lian silently added more points, took out four Return to Void Pills, and advanced to the third level of the Return to Void stage!
The Goddess of Time stared at him in disbelief. He had advanced three levels in a row.
Xu Lian added more points, took out eight Return to Void Pills, and advanced to the fourth level of the Return to Void stage!
He added more points, took out sixteen Return to Void Pills, and advanced to the fifth level of the Return to Void stage!
He added more points, took out thirty-two Return to Void Pills, and advanced to the sixth level of the Return to Void stage!
The Goddess of Time was completely shocked, her beautiful eyes fixed on him without blinking.
Seeing that he had stopped, the Goddess of Time urged him, “Continue. Didn’t you say you could become a Supreme Elder instantly?”
Xu Lian explained, “To advance to the seventh level of the Return to Void stage, I need sixty Return to Void Pills. I just received one hundred from the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands, and I’ve already used sixty-three. I only have thirty-seven left, which isn’t enough to reach the seventh level.
The Goddess of Time asked, “Are you saying that every time you advance, you need to double the amount of cultivation resources?”
Xu Lian nodded, “That’s right.”
“..” The Goddess of Time fell silent. After a long time, she said, “Your state of mind cultivation method is truly unprecedented. Even the cultivation methods of my Divine Clan and the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands pale in comparison.
In fact, I’d say that the cultivation methods of all the great powers are slightly inferior to yours. However, I estimate that the most you’ll be able to reach in this lifetime is the Sage Realm. It’s almost impossible for you to become a Supreme Elder. Even if you somehow manage to become one, you won’t be able to climb the Immortal Ascension Staircase.”
Xu Lian was satisfied with the first part of her statement, but the second part felt like a bucket of cold water being poured over him. “Because of the cultivation resources?”
The Goddess of Time nodded, “Exactly. The higher the level of cultivation resources, the rarer they become. For the Return to Void, Return to Truth, Nine Tribulations, and Unity stages, you might be able to gather enough resources by receiving some from the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands and exploring ancient ruins. But once you reach the Sage Realm, all cultivation resources become extremely rare. They are strictly controlled by the major powers, and very few leak out to the outside world. How will you obtain them?
“With the amount of cultivation resources you consume, the entire Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands would have to pour all their resources into you to help you reach the highest level. But it wouldn’t be worth it. It would be better to use those resources to cultivate five or six Supreme Elders. So the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands won’t give you all its high-level cultivation resources.
“If you can’t get them from the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands, and if you can’t find them in the outside world, your cultivation will be stuck, unable to progress. You’ll grow old and die without ever advancing.”
Xu Lian took a deep breath, “It seems like a dead end. If I can’t find a way out, I’ll only be able to become a top tier great power at best.”
As he said this, he couldn’t help but laugh, “Back in Pingyang County, when the Sword Pavilion approached me to become an honorary disciple, you told me to think carefully about whether I wanted to live a comfortable life as a top tier great power or strive to become a supreme power. At that time, I chose to become a top-tier great power. It seems that fate has already decided.”
The Goddess of Time’s eyes flickered, “If you want to get out of this impasse, there’s only one way: break the major powers’ control over the high-level cultivation resources. Seize the cultivation resource zones controlled by the major powers, no matter what the cost. Make enemies of the entire world, face death head-on, and use the bones of countless others as stepping stones to build your own path to immortality with the cultivation resources of the entire world!”