No light could be seen in the dark galaxy, and neither could any sound be heard. There was only silence that seemed like it would exist only in nirvana.
Occasionally, a ray of light would appear. That ray of light was born after two unknown substances crashed against each other in the dark galaxy. The lifespan of these rays of light was short, and they would be gone in the blink of an eye.
Cold, silence, and darkness became the eternal cantus in this galaxy.
A hundred years ago, there was once a meteor shower that drew out long arcs in the galaxy as it went past the area, heading into an unknown area located in the distance. A hundred years ago, there was another meteor shower that charged past the same spot the previous group of meteors had visited.
After flying in some sort of ring-shaped trajectory for a hundred years, the group of meteors pa.s.sed by this place once again. However, compared to a hundred years ago, the number of meteors had went down, and the remaining ones had become much smaller.
No one would know that there was a rock that was a sealed region contained in one of the gigantic meteors in the group of meteors. Within that rock was purplish black magma.
And there was a person sitting in the magma.
That person was a young man with gray hair. He looked as if he was in deep sleep. There was a light s.h.i.+ning on his body that would occasionally be bright, but sometimes dark. Waves of cold air were spreading out from the purplish black magma around him. There was also a large amount of rotten red threads gathered nearby. If someone cast their gaze into the distance, they would find that there was no end to the magma.
During these hundred years, Su Ming had been immersed in absorbing the Duke of Crimson Flame"s physical power. As he continued absorbing and repairing his body, the strength in his physical body increased, and he became stronger and stronger with each day.
Within forty years, his physical body had surpa.s.sed that of Earth Cultivation Realm and he arrived at the starting point of Heaven Cultivation Realm. Su Ming, who had refined his physical power to the point that he had reached this state, had arrived at a level where his body could resist those in Heaven Cultivation Realm.
In fact, his punches could even cause the core of a Heaven Cultivation Realm cultivator"s life force to shake.
That effect would be from him just using the power in his physical body, not his cultivation base. If Su Ming added his cultivation base and all his divine abilities into the mix, then even if he ran into a powerful World Paragon, he would definitely win, as long as he or she did not use the power of World Planes.
After all, World Planes was the strongest power to World Paragons. If someone cast an ordinary divine ability with the power of World Planes, they would be able to overturn the world just by raising their hand.
Su Ming knew about this clearly. When he ran into those Dao Slaves while he was in the land of Berserkers, they had been incredibly powerful even though they had not even used the power of World Planes. Now that he thought about it, it was not that they did not want to use it, but the laws in the land of Berserkers had limited the Dao Slaves" power. It might not have affected their levels of cultivation by much, but the suppression towards their use of the power of World Planes had been incredibly deep.
If the current Su Ming had been there in the land of Berserkers at that time, then he would have been able to forcefully subdue those Dao Slaves whose power of World Planes had been suppressed, and he would not have needed to borrow anyone else"s power to do so. He would have been able to resolve that disaster that had nearly pushed him into despair by himself.
"A Lord of a World Plane… I wonder when my physical body and my cultivation base will be able to move into that state. Only at that time will I be truly considered a powerful warrior in this galaxy!"
While Su Ming continued meditating in his seated position, his eyes flew open, and a brilliant light flashed briefly through them.
Before he became a Lord of a World Plane, he could use the poisonous wasp and the treasured gourd against enemies who executed the power of World Planes. He was confident that he wasn"t unable to fight back at all.
Popping sounds came from Su Ming"s body continuously. It was the noise of his bones and flesh sc.r.a.ping against each other. If anyone else besides the Duke of Crimson Flame was here, they would definitely be shocked by it.
Each sound contained the feeling as if something had been crushed. When it reached someone"s ears, it would feel as if their own body was about to shatter as well. This was a feeling that was very difficult to describe with words, but it was one that people could feel deeply in their hearts.
"A Lord of a World Plane!" Su Ming"s eyes shone with great longing.
"If you want to become a Lord of a World Plane, then you must possess an Essence of a World, and the Essence of a World is the fixed power contained in each world," a hoa.r.s.e voice explained, coming from not too far from a bald man.
That man was incredibly tall and well built. He was nearly twenty feet tall, and was sitting cross-legged on the magma like an iron tower. There was no hair on his head, only the totem of a ferocious beast that had the body of a snake and six pairs of wings growing on it. It was carved onto the top of his head like a brand.
If anyone took a closer look, they would find faint marks of fire around the ferocious beast"s totem, making it seem as if the beast was a ferocious creature of flames. The man with this totem was naturally the Duke of Crimson Flame!
During the hundred years after leaving the seal, flesh and blood had grown on his body once again, and he had returned to how he originally looked in the past. There was a wide robe covering his body, giving him a unique temperament.
"There are plenty of cultivation planets in the galaxy. You can call each of these cultivation planets a World. As long as there is a World, there will be an Essence of a World, which is also the power of a World Plane.
"If you want to become the Lord of a World Plane and absorb the power of a World Plane to make yourself perfect, then you must obtain the Essence of the World"s acknowledgement. Only when the Essence of the World in one World acknowledges you, can you absorb its power and become a Lord of a World Plane.
"The greater a World is, the greater the Essence of a World it contains, and the greater the number of Lords of World Planes in it would be, and vice versa. The deciding factor for the number of Lords of World Planes in a World is not just based on the cultivators themselves. The Essence of the World plays an even greater role in deciding how many people it can accommodate to absorb it.
"If the number the Essence of the World in a World can accommodate has reached its full capacity, then no matter how great your potential is, you will still be unable to become a World Paragon. After all, there are only that many spots. If you still want to become a World Paragon, then unless you leave the place and search for another World, you will only obtain your chance if a World Paragon dies and his spot becomes empty.
"The galaxy is huge, and there are plenty of cultivation planets. It also means that there are far too many Worlds. However, from what I know, almost all the Worlds that have been discovered have all their spots for World Paragons filled."
Su Ming lifted his head and looked at the Duke of Crimson Flame. He did not speak.
"Several Lords of World Planes have died on Crimson Flame Planet, but besides that True Guard, the others cannot really be considered true World Paragons. It"s not that they lack potential, but the Worlds from which they sought acknowledgement are damaged. The Essence of the World contained within these Worlds is practically dry, which is why their accomplishments stopped the moment they became World Paragons.
"In fact, they cannot even continue understanding rules and laws, so how could they even be called World Paragons?
"Only that True Guard could be considered a real World Paragon. After all, the World where he became a World Paragon is not located in this galaxy, which had turned into a battlefield. It"s in the galaxy beyond this place. After his death, a spot had been emptied in the World where he became a World Paragon, but by now, someone might have already s.n.a.t.c.hed it a long time ago."
Su Ming remained silent for a moment, then said slowly, "If that"s the case, then it"s practically impossible to become a Lord of a World Plane in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence?"
A glint appeared in the Duke of Crimson Flame"s eyes before he spoke in a low voice. "It"s not up to me to say whether you have a chance or not. It depends on your choice.
"First, you must understand why those after Heaven Cultivation Realm are known as Lords of World Planes and World Paragons. One is a lord, and the other a paragon, if you think about this, you will be able to obtain many answers with these two words.
"A true Lord of a World Plane is the supreme paragon within his or her own World Plane, just like a master. In fact, in his own World Plane, he can even bring out power that exceeds his level of cultivation, and he can fight against those who have higher levels of cultivation but who are not Lords of World Planes in that World.
"That is why they are known as lords and paragons.
"Once they leave their World Planes, they will be like fish out of water. They might still be able to survive and still be powerful, but once they use up too much of their energy, it"ll be very difficult for them to restore their power of their World Planes.
"That"s why those who have become World Paragons will rarely leave their World Planes. Even if they leave, they will usually return soon. If they cannot return, then they will bring with them the World Stones that belong to their World to maintain their strength, just like that True Guard. His storage bag is just around… Hmm? Ahem, I might not have opened it, but I"m certain that there"s a World Stone in there."
When the Duke of Crimson Flame said those words, his expression became slightly strange. He remembered that the storage bag had not been too far from him before the last time he closed his eyes to recover, but it was gone now.
"There"s also another method for a Lord of a World Plane to remain at his peak condition wherever he is. This method is simple, and many people use it, and it is… also the foundation of a Lord of a World Plane"s training.
"They will continuously aim to gain the acknowledgement of different Worlds, one after another, and s.n.a.t.c.h the spots of World Paragons that belong to other people. Once they obtain five thousand spots of World Paragons, they will reach the middle stage of World Plane Realm. If they gain ten thousand spots, then they will reach the later stage of World Plane Realm.
"They will then merge the power of those ten thousand Worlds together and fuse them into one. After that, all their defects will be completely mended, and they will be able to attain great completion in World Plane Realm. If they are to take a step further after attaining great completion, they will be able to give birth to a wisp of presence that belongs to Kalpa, which will then allow them to reach Lunar Kalpa Realm. If they take one more step further, they will reach the pinnacle, which is Solar Kalpa Realm."
"No matter how many worlds there are, there will still be more cultivators. The spots are limited. Is that why there are wars and why the four Great True Worlds invaded the fifth True World?" Su Ming suddenly asked.
"This is what I have come to understand as someone in Lunar Kalpa Realm, but since our positions are different, the answers we obtain will be different. Yet no matter what, if you want to become a World Paragon, then you must kill, seize, and s.n.a.t.c.h," The Duke of Crimson Flame spoke with a light tone, but the meaning behind his words gave off a hint of brutality that could not be concealed.
"What is cultivation? Cultivation is killing, seizing, s.n.a.t.c.hing. If you can kill, if you can seize before others, if you can s.n.a.t.c.h what originally did not belong to you, then you will be able to head to the peak. If you can continue on with your path, then you will naturally be the peak.
"There are four Great Kalpa Lords in the four Great True Worlds, Dao Chen from True Morning Dao World and the Sacred Sovereign from True Sacred Yin World are Kalpa Lords. They are powerful because they have an entire True World"s resources under their wing, providing them with power, allowing their power to reach a state where they can even create their own world.
"After the four Great Kalpa Lords are the four Great True Progenitors. They are old monsters who are even more terrifying than Kalpa Lords, but even so, the galaxy is too big, and there are too many powerful warriors. Even if you"ve reached the state of the four Great True Progenitors, you might still have yet to reach the peak.
"So what if they can control fate, lives, and deaths? Your ancestor, who is an Abyss Builder and also the Sovereign of the fifth True World, died because the madness that was the Rho Leonis Disaster… His people were exterminated. I don"t know how you managed to survive, but your Abyss Builder ancestors must have paid a huge price in exchange for a small handful of your people to continue living."
Su Ming"s breathing instantly became rapid. The Duke of Crimson Flame"s words caused a bang to go off in his head. He remembered what his second senior brother had said. In an age long past, in True Morning Dao World there had once been a couple attacked by the entire True Morning Dao World.
"Abyss… Builder…" Su Ming mumbled.
"If you ever have the chance to return to the fifth True World, head to your homeland. It"s very easy to search for that place. There is a Milky Way formed by an array of stars in the galaxy there. In that Milky Way… is a faint blue cultivation planet. If it"s still around, not having been destroyed along with your people, then you should be able to find it."