Not all cave heavens, blessed lands, and Profound Heaven Secret Realms were engaged in scheming and power struggles.
There were also a small number that stayed far from conflict, paid no heed to worldly affairs, and focused solely on quiet cultivation.
Such cave heavens, blessed lands, and Profound Heaven Secret Realms were not numerous in the Great Desolate, but they were certainly not few either.
For example, the Xiaoluo Secret Realm was one of them.
It was said that the Founding Ancestor of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm was once a remarkable loose immortal who, having grown weary of the strife among Immortals, subsequently opened the Xiaoluo Secret Realm and secluded himself there.
The Xiaoluo Secret Realm had existed for over a hundred thousand years. Although the Founding Ancestor had long since passed away, the disciples he accepted had passed down his teachings through the generations. To this day, the Xiaoluo Secret Realm had over a thousand inhabitants. For these hundred thousand years, they had strictly adhered to the ancestral teachings of the Founding Ancestor, rarely involving themselves in the conflicts of the Great Desolate, and had always lived a simple, peaceful life detached from worldly strife.
Unlike other secret realms, the Xiaoluo Secret Realm possessed neither imposing, magnificent palaces, nor majestic mountains and rivers, nor even dazzling rainbow waterfalls. It only had some seemingly ordinary mountains, forests, trees, flowers, plants, and houses, appearing much like a small town hidden deep within the mountains—very ancient and very quiet.
On this day.
Within a fairly spacious Daoist training ground.
An Elder with white hair and beard sat cross-legged, sipping tea while expounding on the Dao.
Opposite him, over ten youths and maidens were either dozing off or laughing and playing around. Not a single one was seriously listening to the Elder's discourse.
The Elder's name was Danqing.
Having cultivated for tens of thousands of years, he was a Great Luo Golden Immortal and the most senior Elder of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm. Everyone addressed him as the Ancestral Patriarch.
Ancestral Patriarch Danqing had been stuck at the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm for a very, very long time, having never managed to break through. Thus, he no longer held out much hope. Over the years, he had devoted himself to carefully instructing the descendants of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm in their cultivation. Several generations of descendants since the beginning of the Present Era had been taught by him personally. Now, ten thousand years later, each of them could hold their own in the Great Desolate, which was a source of considerable satisfaction for him.
Yet, alongside this satisfaction came a profound sigh.
He sighed at the ever-increasing changes that had occurred over the ten thousand years of the Present Era.
He also sighed at the fact that the innate talent of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm's descendants was getting better and better.
Recalling his own cultivation days, people would die just to fight over an ordinary Spirit Stone. But now? Forget Spirit Stones—even Spirit Essence, or even Immortal Stones, were no longer considered rare treasures.
Becoming an Immortal?
In the past, one wouldn't even dare to think about it. Ancestral Patriarch Danqing himself had experienced countless life-and-death trials and cultivated for nearly ten thousand years before finally achieving Immortality.
Now?
Forget ten thousand years, forget a thousand years—even becoming an Immortal within a hundred years was no longer uncommon.
Ancestral Patriarch Danqing felt this deeply. At the dawn of the Present Era, when descendants of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm achieved Immortality in a few hundred years, he could hardly believe it. The talent of later generations kept improving; achieving Immortality took only a few decades. And now, the descendants of this ten-thousand-year-old Present Era were even more exaggerated.
They achieved Immortality in just a few short years. There was even one who was born an Immortal straight from the womb—something that, in the Ancient Era, could only happen in myths and legends.
To be honest, Ancestral Patriarch Danqing was not unable to understand, nor was he unable to believe. On the contrary, having cultivated for tens of thousands of years, he clearly understood the reasons behind all these changes.
Take ordinary people of the Ancient Era. For generations, forget Immortals, they might not even have a single cultivator among them. Naturally, their descendants rarely produced good talent. After birth, eating the five grains and miscellaneous foods, the impurities in their bodies accumulated more and more. Coupled with the scarcity of Spiritual Energy in the Ancient Era, cultivation was naturally extremely difficult.
But now it was different.
The descendants of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm, for generations, were all Immortals—Immortal second generation, third generation, fourth generation. Their bloodline spiritual roots became purer and better with each generation. From the time they were in the womb, they were nourished with all kinds of miraculous Immortal elixirs and supplements. After birth, each one possessed an Innate Physique, with purer bloodlines and cleaner spiritual roots than the last. Some were even born with Immortal Bodies. Add to that the fact that the Spiritual Energy within the Xiaoluo Secret Realm was tens of thousands of times denser and purer than in the mundane world, and that cultivation methods had become increasingly perfected, requiring almost no comprehension or arduous cultivation—one could become an Immortal even while sleeping.
As for the Three Disasters, Six Tribulations, and Nine Calamities—even the Immortal Tribulation one underwent to become an Immortal—nowadays, they could be overcome without the slightest effort.
How could an old-timer like Ancestral Patriarch Danqing, who had cultivated for ten thousand years and endured countless life-and-death trials to become an Immortal, not sigh at this?
Yet, alongside his sighs, there was also a faint worry in his heart.
Because the descendants of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm achieved Immortality in their youth, not only were they inexperienced in worldly affairs, most were still children who hadn't shed their childishness. Whether they truly understood what the Immortal Dao was remained an unknown. In their cultivation, they advanced by leaps and bounds, completely lacking in accumulation, and never consolidating each realm. Perhaps it wasn't apparent now, but as their cultivation progressed, the path ahead would only become more and more difficult.
Unfortunately.
These descendants, still mere children, simply didn't understand this principle.
Not only did these younger generations not understand, even those descendants of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm who had already grown up didn't take it seriously.
"Ancestral Patriarch, Ancestral Patriarch, when can I go out to gain experience?"
A little girl who looked about twelve or thirteen years old came over, blinking her big eyes as she asked.
The little girl's name was Qianniao. Not only was she clever and cute, her talent was also among the best of her generation. She was born from the womb with an Innate Immortal Body. Now, twelve years later, the little girl was already a Luo Tian Immortal.
Ancestral Patriarch Danqing had always doted on Qianniao and held high hopes for her. However, what gave him a headache was that the little girl yearned deeply for the Great Desolate and was always clamoring to go out and gain experience.
"Be good, Qianniao. You're still too young. Wait until you grow up, then you can go out to gain experience."
Although the Xiaoluo Secret Realm stayed aloof from worldly strife and paid no heed to worldly affairs, the path of cultivation cultivated the heart and walked the Dao. Therefore, any descendant of the Xiaoluo Secret Realm, once they reached adulthood, would follow their elders out to gain experience. This could consolidate their cultivation, allow them to comprehend their realms, temper their minds, broaden their horizons, and see the world.
After all, as the old saying went, if one didn't want to be a frog at the bottom of a well, the only way was to go to the Great Desolate. Only by reaching the Great Desolate would one know how high the heavens were and how thick the earth was.
"Just how old do I have to be to be considered grown up?
I'm almost thirteen this year. I'm not that little anymore."
"Little girl, you're only thirteen. Talk to me again when you're thirty."
"But Sister Linger is only twenty, how come she can go out to gain experience? And she's gone out many times already. She went along on this experience trip too."
"Your Sister Linger is sensible. Moreover, she achieved Golden Immortal at fifteen. In a few more years, she'll probably become a Great Luo Golden Immortal like your Ancestral Patriarch...
When she goes out, your Ancestral Patriarch is at ease."
"Then, Ancestral Patriarch, if I achieve Golden Immortal, can I also go out to gain experience early?"
"This...
Let your Ancestral Patriarch think about it."
"Hmph!
I knew Ancestral Patriarch was biased!"