The Book Soul Chronicles: Godslayer

Chapter 2: A Preliminary Understanding of the Cultivation World

Mo Qian has been immersed in exploring this world of cultivation for some time now.

This world is full of fantasy, and people can improve their abilities through cultivation, which is completely different from the world he used to know, which focused on wisdom and weapon skills.

Here, five major races live together: humans, demons, monsters, ghosts, and elves.

It is worth mentioning that, blessed by the heavens, the human race possesses extremely high intelligence, resulting in rapid population growth and the emergence of numerous exceptionally talented cultivators. Thanks to these unique advantages, the human race has long held its position as the most powerful of the five races.

In comparison, the demon and monster races are slightly inferior, but they should not be underestimated. The demon race is diverse, and each race possesses formidable strength; while the monster race is extremely adept at bewitching other races, causing them to fall into demonic ways.

As for the ghost race, they are called ghost cultivators. They are formed by spiritual beings that meet strict conditions and undergo arduous cultivation. They are powerful and it is extremely difficult to completely eliminate them.

Finally, there are the elves, a group of beings favored by the heavens, who are both beautiful and possess extraordinary power, with enviable long lifespans. However, their greatest flaw is that it is extremely difficult for elves to reproduce.

In this mysterious world, there exist five different races. Although they come from different regions, their cultivation methods are exactly the same—they all directly enhance their magical power by absorbing the abundant spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

The cultivators on this continent divide their cultivation into eleven distinct realms: starting with the initial Body Tempering, progressing through Qi Refining, Foundation Building, and other trials, until finally reaching the Tribulation Transcending realm. When a cultivator successfully establishes their foundation, it means they have truly stepped into the threshold of the cultivation journey and can pursue the more profound and unfathomable mysteries of immortality.

It's worth noting that each realm is divided into two stages. In the early stage, cultivators need to continuously consolidate their current realm because their explosive power is still unstable. In the later stage, however, they must focus on accumulating spiritual energy to prepare for breaking through to the next realm. At this point, a cultivator's explosive power is not only the strongest but also the most stable.

Of course, besides the early and late stages, there is also a mid-stage. However, compared to the early stage, the mid-stage plays more of a connecting and transitional role, mainly distinguishing it from the late stage. Although the explosive power in the mid-stage is relatively stable, it doesn't actually have much practical significance.

The place where cultivators reside is called the Realm of the Azure Sky. Not only are there famous sects like the Dao Sect, but there are also three other renowned sects: the Buddhist sect, known for its compassion and salvation of all living beings; the Xuan Nu Palace, which only accepts female disciples and whose members are as beautiful as celestial beings; and the Ji Shi Sect, which combines medicine and poisons and is both righteous and evil.

In addition, countless smaller sects are scattered throughout the land like stars in the sky. These relatively weak sects often rely on major sects or large sects to survive.

It's worth mentioning that the Realm of the Azure Sky is surrounded by a vast and boundless ocean, which people collectively call the Realm of Return to the Void. Beyond the Realm of Return to the Void lies an endless expanse of mountains and seas.

Legend has it that in ancient times there once existed a deity named Situ Ming. He was of imposing stature, possessed an unparalleled and powerful bloodline, and had extraordinary talents beyond human comprehension.

However, everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Although these gods possess extraordinary power, their path of cultivation is exceptionally difficult. Due to their enormous demand for spiritual energy, the spiritual energy stored in their dantian alone is far from sufficient to meet their needs.

Therefore, they must continuously expand their meridians to make their bodies larger, so that they can accommodate more spiritual energy. Whenever they make a breakthrough in their cultivation, they need to undergo a painful process of physical reshaping.

However, body reconstruction is fraught with danger, as there is only one chance. Either you succeed and become stronger, or you fail and die without a burial place. If you are not careful, all your previous efforts will be in vain.

The reason these ancient gods disappeared into the long river of history was not only because of their cultivation, but also because of their unique way of conceiving. Their conception of offspring was different from that of humans. It required not only a large amount of spiritual energy, but also a large amount of their own essence and blood, as well as nearly half of their cultivation, and after a long period of gestation, they were finally born successfully.

The most dangerous period is when the ancient god is conceiving and giving birth, as this is when they are at their weakest and most vulnerable to attack if discovered. After all, the bodies of ancient gods are inexhaustible treasure troves; normally they are powerful and unapproachable, but when they are weak, who wouldn't want a share?

The most tragic thing is that Situ Ming was the last ancient god to come of age. Due to an unknown depletion of spiritual energy, many ancient races were destroyed. When the depletion of spiritual energy occurred, Situ Ming was in the process of conceiving his offspring. In order to preserve his bloodline, he sealed his child in the Realm of the Azure Sky and used his remaining divine power to create an array that divided the realm he was in into its current form. He then merged his body into the array to restore spiritual energy so that his offspring could continue to develop.

However, fate was unkind, and this only heir ultimately did not survive for various reasons. Until the Heavenly Dao discovered this place and sent a chosen one from the mortal realm here, beginning the era of cultivation. Ultimately, he became what he is today.

In this place, all sects follow an ironclad rule: talent and cultivation determine everything.

Therefore, even if a cultivator who is over a hundred years old encounters someone with higher cultivation but a younger age, they must still respectfully address the other as senior brother, senior sister, or even senior. This phenomenon is already commonplace within sects.

Furthermore, the sect also classifies disciples based on their clothing and appearance—inner disciples, outer disciples, and nominal disciples, etc. This hierarchical system keeps the entire sect orderly, but it also harbors countless open and covert struggles and intrigues.

At this moment, Mo Qian was unaware that he was about to witness the numerous crises hidden beneath this prosperous facade; he also had no idea that this seemingly thriving world would be destroyed overnight.

However, time flies, and years pass quickly. When Mo Qian stood in the same place again a hundred years later, watching the sects and people who had survived the fierce battle and were now working hard to rebuild their sects, he couldn't help but feel endless emotions.

He stood silently in place, gazing at the scene before him, so different from the past, lost in deep thought for a long time... as if trying to engrave everything that had happened in the past century into his heart.

Just then, a commotion arose from afar. The disciples inside the sect began whispering amongst themselves, "Did you hear? Senior Brother is back! He's on his way to the council hall to report to the sect leader and the elders!"

"Really? But where did Senior Brother go to do?"

"I recently heard that a large number of demons were plotting to harm mortals, causing unrest in the human world. My eldest brother went to Lingze to investigate!"

"Ah, I've heard that Lingze is a gathering place for many demons. Wouldn't it be very dangerous for me to go there to investigate?"

"Don't you realize that's our senior brother, our sect leader's personal disciple, a cultivation prodigy who's already at the late Nascent Soul stage at such a young age?"

"Wow! That's amazing! He's already at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm! I hope I can reach the same level of cultivation as my senior brother."

"You're dreaming! Senior Brother entered the Nascent Soul Realm at the age of 20, and now, at only 32, he has already reached the late stage of the Spirit Division Realm. He is a once-in-a-millennium genius. People like us probably won't be able to cultivate to the Nascent Soul Realm for hundreds of years!"

"Sigh, that's true. The higher you go in cultivation, the more difficult it becomes. You might even get stuck at one level for hundreds of years!"

"Now that everyone knows how amazing Senior Brother is, I must make the most of every minute to cultivate and try to catch up with him. Goodbye, everyone!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a disciple dressed in a light green sect robe, with red lips and white teeth, and a somewhat innocent and cute appearance, left with a serious expression.

The others watched the direction he left in, then looked at each other, and finally said, "Tch! This junior brother is really delusional."

Then someone said, "Master needs to see me, so I'm leaving." Then I saw a male disciple leave, watching his departing figure.

Someone said, "Hey, aren't the elders all in the council hall? Why would they need to see him?"

A seemingly well-behaved and adorable female disciple said, "My hamster is about to give birth, I'm going back to be with her during the delivery. Goodbye, fellow disciples!" and then quickly left.

The male disciple who was gossiping just now said, "Isn't Junior Sister Zizhen's spirit pet male? How could it be pregnant?"

Soon, the gossipy disciples nearby made up all sorts of strange excuses and left.

Finally, the disciple who had been gossiping felt like a flock of crows had flown over his head, leaving him utterly speechless. He muttered, "Tch! If you're going to cultivate, just cultivate. What excuses are you making? Do you think I don't know what you're up to? I'm going back to cultivate too and crush you all, hmph!"

Then he stormed off angrily. He probably planned to go back and fight tooth and nail like his adorable disciples!