After killing the cultivator in the Fate Dominion Realm, the Immortal Willow Tree’s branch stopped in its tracks.

It let three ants getaway. No, not three. There were five if it had to include the two beasts with one of the ants. One of those two beasts had even escaped from it before.

It had to admit that for mere ants in this lower realm with inferior spiritual energy, they were slightly impressive. There were more than a hundred ants who entered the valley a few days ago yet they all got caught by it easily. These five however were different. If they grew up to become immortals, they would surely become a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, time was not on their side for it didn’t intend to let anyone get away from it.

Five of its golden leaves separated from its branch. The leaves flew high towards the sky as it tried to locate the ants that escaped from it. Not even a second later, it already detected them.

Three of the ants were about to leave the Thousand Mountain Valley while the other one was still a distance away from the exit. The other one though was already far away. He was no longer in the Thousand Mountain Valley. That last one might require a slight effort on its part because of the vast distance between them but it could still reach him.

The five golden leaves locked onto their targets and flew away, heading towards each of their targets. The leaves didn’t even reach half of their destination when they suddenly got swallowed by a raging fire and turned into ashes.

Somewhere in the deepest parts of the Thousand Mountain Valley, the Immortal Willow Tree that was controlling the branch shook a little. That being had finally made its move! The Immortal Willow Tree recalled its branch, deciding to give up catching the ants. It could no longer spare any more time to them since it had more important prey to catch.

…

Many disciples who remained right at the entrance of the Thousand Mountain Valley got worried. It had been days since some of their fellow sect disciples and friends entered the place but not a single one came out yet. This was far from normal. Could they have encountered some trouble in the valley?

While they were musing about their fellow disciples in the Thousand Mountain Valley, they felt the ground shake a little and saw a purple light fly past above them followed by a deafening sound blowing some of them away.

“We’re out of the Thousand Mountain Valley now. Where are we going?” the wolf asked Yun Ling.

“To Jin Empire,” Yun Ling replied with a serious face. After what he experienced in the Thousand Mountain Valley, he would never step foot in the place ever again unless he was left without a choice.

“That Immortal Willow Tree, it didn’t take us seriously,” the wolf said. He could still remember how fierce the Immortal Willow Tree was the first time it chased him. The chase earlier was mere child’s play compared to that. That time, it was not only one branch that was chasing after him and his son. There were thousands! It took him his all to escape yet even that wasn’t enough.

Yun Ling believed what the wolf said. The fact that they were able to escape without a scratch from its clutches was proof enough that it didn’t take them seriously. Had the Immortal Willow Tree exerted just a bit more effort to catch them, Yun Ling was certain that he wouldn’t be able to escape even if he went all out.

‘So that was an immortal,’ Yun Ling thought gravely as he clenched his fist.

That was just a tiny portion of the Immortal Willow Tree’s power yet it already made them feel helpless. They could count themselves lucky that they were able to escape at all.

It was just a brief encounter but it showed Yun Ling the difference between mortals and an immortal. The distance between them was just like Heaven and Earth!

‘I have to get stronger so this won’t happen again,’ he swore to himself. He had the full confidence of himself that he would be able to reach that realm someday. It would just take some time. What he wanted to do was to reduce that time considerably.

Yun Ling sighed. He failed his task in the end but that was of no concern. He was just glad he was finally out of the Thousand Mountain Valley. Right now, he only wanted to go home and see Yun Xia again. Speaking of, he was wondering what Yun Xia was doing right now in the Yun Clan.

…

World of Terra
Jin Empire’s Capital - Gold Capital
Yun Clan’s Compound

Yun Xia was sitting on a chair, looking at Yun Zhan attentively who was holding a stick, standing at the front beside a wooden blackboard.

With a strict face, Yun Zhan pointed at the words written on the blackboard with the stick.

“Foundation Establishment, Spirit Awakening, Core Formation, Four Transformations, Mortal Lord, Fate Dominion, and Sacred King; these are the seven cultivation realms in the World of Terra. As for the realms above the Sacred King, those could only be cultivated in the higher realm,” Yun Zhan explained.

“Why?” Yun Xia asked.

“Because the world wouldn’t allow it. Once an individual becomes a Sacred King, the world would urge that individual to ascend. Of course, the world couldn’t force them too much. That individual could either remain in the World of Terra or ascend to the higher realm. However, if an individual refuses to ascend, they wouldn’t be able to cultivate to a higher realm. If they wanted to improve their cultivation realm, they would have to ascend.”

“World? The world could urge someone to ascend? Does that mean the world has a mind?”

Yun Zhan smiled, “Good question. However, there is no concrete answer to that question yet. Some say it does, some say it doesn’t. I would love to give you my opinion about it but I don’t want you to develop a bias because of my opinion. It’s merely my opinion after all and not a fact. I guess you’ll just have to find out yourself in the future if you really want to know. Now then, going back to the seven cultivation realms…”