An ordinary day.
Bai Lu stopped studying the heart method and accepted his mediocrity, beginning to cultivate diligently in hopes of reaching the late stage of Golden Core.
Chen Xia lay on a nearby rocking chair, playing chess against himself to pass the time.
Bai Lu sat upright, breathing steadily. After completing a full cycle, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Chen Xia, who was moving his own chess pieces. He asked a question he had long been curious about.
"Don't you need to cultivate?"
"I do cultivate, but I've been at it for a while, and I progress rather quickly," Chen Xia replied, while removing both sides' horse pieces from the board. He added, "If you have any questions about cultivation, you can ask me. I know a thing or two."
"How does one advance from Golden Core to Nascent Soul?" Bai Lu asked curiously, not really expecting a reliable answer from Chen Xia.
"Good question," Chen Xia nodded. He had never thought about this before, as to him, advancing from Golden Core to Nascent Soul was a natural progression.
So he replied, "If you persist long enough, a Golden Core will eventually become a Nascent Soul."
Historically, there were many cultivators who took thousands of years to reach Nascent Soul, so Chen Xia's answer made sense.
"Then how does one go from Nascent Soul to Great Perfection? Surely that can't be achieved just by perseverance," Bai Lu asked further.
This touched on Chen Xia's knowledge blind spot, as he had never reached the Great Perfection realm in his cultivation journey, having jumped straight to the Mountain Moving Realm.
So Chen Xia could only give a vague answer: "I suppose taking some pills would do the trick."
"That does work, but pills are too expensive, and reaching Great Perfection through pills makes the realm unstable, affecting the advancement to the Mountain Moving Realm," Bai Lu shook his head.
"Then just take pills all the way to the Mountain Moving Realm," Chen Xia extrapolated.
"What about the Sea Inversing Realm? You're not suggesting relying on pills for that too, are you?" Bai Lu asked with a wry smile.
"Why not?" Chen Xia countered.
For him, such things were effortless.
Bai Lu didn't argue further, just waving his hand and saying, "Pills are too expensive to buy. If I could afford them, I'd want to eat my way all the way to the Heaven Mending Realm."
"Is that so?" Chen Xia chuckled lightly, not saying anything more as he changed his position on the rocking chair.
"By the way, have you heard that a big shot at the peak of the Heaven Mending Realm will be passing through the Heavenly Street in a couple of days?" Bai Lu suddenly asked.
"Why should I care?" Chen Xia waved dismissively, never one to concern himself with such matters.
"This time it's different. I heard it's Emperor Zhou of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He recently gained the favor of a Saint, and he's already at the peak of the Heaven Mending Realm. He might break through to become a Quasi-Saint, making the Great Zhou Dynasty the first to have a Quasi-Saint."
Bai Lu's tone was excited; he always paid close attention to these matters and remembered these important figures clearly.
Chen Xia couldn't be bothered to respond anymore and closed his eyes to rest.
He was now only waiting for Chi Yu to come out of seclusion, then he would go find the other Fourteen Sons of Vast Sky, and gather the surviving cultivators from the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
Finally, when the main body came out of seclusion, they could begin to trace back the Blue Sky Sword Sea and the celestial sword.
Soon, there was commotion on the Heavenly Street again.
It was indeed the cultivators of the Great Zhou Dynasty passing through. Bai Lu had excitedly gone to watch early in the morning, crowding into a small house with a group of cultivators, respectfully looking up.
"Did you see? That's Emperor Zhou. His aura is so strong, I dare not even look directly. If he were to glance at me, I'd probably faint on the spot."
"Tsk tsk, so this is the most powerful dynasty of our time. Their foundation is incredibly solid. They might be the strongest below the Quasi-Saint level!"
"That's Emperor Zhou's eldest daughter. I heard she's the most talented person in the Great Zhou Dynasty, with the potential to become their first Quasi-Saint. She's also the undisputed next Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty."
"I heard the Crown Princess is highly favored by the Saints. The Saint of the Emperor Capital even spoke to her personally. Her future must be limitless!"
"..."
As the discussions continued, Bai Lu's face was full of envy. He suddenly turned to Chen Xia and asked,
"Chen Xia, won't you come and take a look? Emperor Zhou will soon be gone."
Chen Xia didn't respond, just waving his hand to indicate he wasn't coming.
He'd rather play chess against himself than look at these pretentious figures.
Figures moved slowly along the Heavenly Street.
Emperor Zhou was at the forefront, representing the face of the Great Zhou Dynasty, looking extremely serious and imposing.
Crown Princess Zhou Jia was behind him, not as serious, but looking somewhat bored. Her father had insisted on bringing her along, saying that if she could meet the Red Saint again and gain his favor, the Great Zhou Dynasty would have the protection of two Saints.
As for the mysterious Chen Xia, Emperor Zhou dared not think too much about him.
Chen Xia was too powerful, being able to make even the Saint of the Emperor Capital yield. He probably wouldn't think much of the Great Zhou Dynasty, or likely any cultivator in the entire star region.
Because Chen Xia was the peak itself.
Zhou Jia's eyes moved slightly, discreetly observing below, watching these cultivators enthusiastically discussing and observing her. It was quite interesting.
She had always enjoyed this atmosphere.
Now there were a few young cultivators discussing below, speaking softly at her feet, afraid of causing offense but unable to resist talking. It was truly amusing.
Zhou Jia smiled lightly, her eyes moving towards the front of the small house when she suddenly paused.
She saw a rocking chair.
And a figure lying on the rocking chair.
Just one glance left her frozen in place, unable to move.
"What's wrong?" Emperor Zhou asked puzzledly.
In Zhou Jia's vision, the figure on the rocking chair waved his hand lightly, as if impatiently shooing them away.
"No... nothing," Zhou Jia quickly replied, catching up with the procession.
Emperor Zhou frowned, somewhat annoyed, and followed Zhou Jia's gaze.
Then he too froze.
After a moment.
Emperor Zhou also hurriedly smiled and said,
"It's... it's nothing. Let's... let's continue."
His words were somewhat shaky.
This wasn't his fault; even if the Emperor Capital Saint were here, he'd tremble too.