Chapter 724: Astral World

For the vast and boundless cosmic starry sky, becoming an Astral God was the qualitative transformation of life, the ultimate path of cultivation.

That was because the moment a cultivator merged with the Astral World and achieved the status of an Astral God, they would have achieved immortality.

As long as they were not constantly fighting, killing, or frequently encountering risks that forced them to take action and bear a large amount of Eternal Oblivion Force, in theory, Astral Gods were immortal.

Looking across the world, it was not uncommon to find Astral Gods who had lived for hundreds of millions of stellar years. Their lifespan was older than some planets and even stars, let alone civilizations born on those planets.

Each civilization prided itself on its heritage of tens of thousands of years, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, feeling honored to have spread its cultural fire across countless stars. Yet, in the eyes of the oldest Astral Gods, these achievements had already been witnessed countless times.

They no longer felt any emotional fluctuation over civilizations that had lasted for tens or hundreds of thousands of years.

For any civilization, including cosmic civilizations, Astral Gods were the anchors that stabilized their existence. Their prestige spanned an entire galaxy, spreading across thousands of civilizations. All living beings revered and marveled at these great existences.

Many civilizations excavated ancient ruins of long-extinct civilizations and finally discovered the name of a certain Astral God. Just as they were amazed that such a life form had existed in that era, they suddenly realized that the ancient Astral God was still alive even to this day.

Furthermore, their lifespan could continue across countless cycles of rise and fall for such civilizations.

This was the greatness of an Astral God, an existence regarded as the ultimate evolutionary goal by all lifeforms within a galaxy.

***

Li Pin adjusted his state to achieve the Astral God Realm.

A month later, Mu Hai found him and handed him a storage bracelet. "The reward application has been approved. Among them, the Cosmic Radiance Divine Weapon will require you to visit the Humanity Sanctum after achieving the Astral God Realm to claim it. The hall will distribute it on your behalf. At the same time, you can choose a Cosmic Radiance Divine Weapon that suits you there.

"From myself would be a standard divine weapon production line, some information you will find useful after merging into the Astral World, and..."

He took out a crystal stone from the bracelet. "The Heaven Ordainment Sect calculated a safe coordinate for you. The real-space coordinate for breaking into the Astral World is not far. Whenever you decide to leave, I will have Bai Chao calibrate the Astral Gate for you. However, there are time constraints. You must enter within one stellar year. The Astral World undergoes countless changes, and even the Heaven Ordainment Sect cannot predict every anomaly."

"Alright," replied Li Pin, taking the crystal stone. "You can prepare to calibrate the Astral Gate now."

"Don't you need to make some adjustments?" Mu Hai asked with a smile.

He shook his head. "Well, that makes sense. With your foundation and the coordinates calculated by the Heaven Ordainment Sect, achieving the Astral God realm is hardly a challenge for you now."

"It's just that I'm already prepared," Li Pin answered with a smile.

"I will calibrate the Astral Gate now." Mu Hai returned a smile. "It won't take long. You can prepare to head to the Astral Gate."

Li Pin nodded.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He returned to his residence, but there was nothing much to pack. After tidying up briefly, he headed to the Astral Gate. However, as he was on his way to the Astral Gate, his communication bracelet vibrated slightly.

As he sent out a mental wave, he quickly perceived a message from Wang Fuyun. "Sacred Child Li, have you seen the news that everyone in the Humanity Sanctum is talking about?"

"News? I've been busy with matters in the Void Divine Treasure World lately and haven't paid much attention. Does it concern me?" Li Pin asked.

"Of course," answered Wang Fuyun.

His mental fluctuation carried a hint of seriousness. He continued, "Among the blacklists of the alien races, the most authoritative ones undoubtedly belong to the Sky Clan and the Intelligent Lifeform Race.

"However, these two races primarily have a competitive relationship with us humans rather than a hostile one. Their bounty lists are not very aggressive and serve more as references. But... according to intel obtained from within the Sky Clan, this time, your ranking on the blacklist might enter the top 100."

Li Pin was somewhat surprised. "Top one hundred?"

However, he wasn't surprised by the ranking because it was high. It was the opposite, actually.

"The Humanity Sanctum's Sacred Child is only able to get into the top one hundred?"

His words left Wang Fuyun speechless. For a brief moment, Wang Fuyun couldn't find his voice, stunned into silence before he finally replied, "That's the top 100 we're talking about! Do you know what that means!? In the entire Humanity Sanctum, only twelve people have ever qualified for the top one hundred on the blacklist! You'll make the thirteenth!

"In other words, in the eyes of the alien races, your threat level has already surpassed dozens of other Sacred Children, reaching the top thirteen! This level of importance is almost on par with the Humanity Sanctum's Dao Child."

He then immediately added, "The alien bounty list not only targets the Humanity Sanctum but all the human prodigies, including the Sacred Monarch heirs, Heavenly Emperors' descendants, and even Supremes' direct disciples. These individuals have access to far more resources than those in the Humanity Sanctum."

This explanation struck Li Pin with a realization.

Indeed, there were Sacred Monarchs' heirs, Heavenly Emperors' descendants, and even the Supremes' direct disciples. No matter how one looked at it, the Humanity Sanctum was merely considered a cradle for Cosmic Radiance. For these people, were their ambitions limited only to the realm of Cosmic Radiance? Of course not!

That was especially the case for the Supremes' direct disciples. Each of them was nurtured as a future Heavenly Emperor at the very least. A select few were even nurtured to become Supremes. These individuals were the true supreme prodigies.

Once they dominated an entire era and subdued all others who bore the title of supreme prodigy, they could truly cement their status and become the brightest star of their time.

"So, in that case, I benefited from the callout by the Highlord." Li Pin said with a smile.

"That should be the case. To be personally called out by the Highlord... even though you didn't become a direct disciple, it still means that your talent is second only to the level of a Highlord's direct disciple.

"Besides, once you pass the True Spirit stage, you will already achieve the rank of a Cosmic Tyrant. That would be your lowest potential. If you go further, you could become a Sacred Monarch capable of projecting your power across battlefields at incredible speed. If you attain the Heavenly Emperor Realm, you would be unstoppable in the Astral World."

Wang Fuyun let out a laugh. "Given this situation, it is no surprise that the alien races regard you so highly."

Li Pin was quite relaxed. He wasn't bothered by this attention.

He said, "The Sky Clan and the Intelligent Lifeforms Race are not in direct hostility with us, so their bounties won't be too high. But once the bounties from the Divine, Demons, and other alien races are released, I wonder how much I will be worth and where I will rank."[1]

Wang Fuyun was both amused and exasperated at Li Pin's carefree tone.

However, he didn't find it too weird. Many prodigies did not fear appearing on the alien blacklists. In fact, they took pride in it, often comparing their ranks and bounties with others.

Moreover, the defining feature of the supreme prodigy of each era was being ranked first on the blacklist!

As long as you weren't ranked first on the blacklist, you wouldn't have the credibility to call yourself a supreme prodigy to begin with.

"You should hurry back to the Humanity Sanctum. Right now, you... uh..."

Wang Fuyun didn't know how to phrase it.

"Too weak?" Li Pin chuckled. "Got it. I'll go and attain a breakthrough to the Astral God Realm first. Once I achieve it, I'll return to the Humanity Sanctum."

Wang Fuyun chuckled. "You're finally going to attempt to rise to become an Astral God? Haha, well, staying in the Material World is indeed enjoyable, but one must always look forward. Without stepping into the Astral World, how can you gradually advance your Perfect Realm?

"Without refining your Perfect Realm to its extreme, how can you transform your soul and condense a True Spirit? And without condensing a True Spirit, how can you achieve the Cosmic Radiance and lay the foundation for becoming a Cosmic Tyrant? You should have done this long ago."

Li Pin nodded. Over countless years, people had already refined the Astral God system to perfection.

Legend, Astral God, Cosmic Radiance; Absolute Control, Perfect Realm, True Spirit.

The advancement path was clear and had been optimized to the highest degree possible.

Furthermore, True Spirit was the foundation for achieving the Supreme tier. This was not just empty talk. Without a True Spirit, no one's inner spirit, consciousness, or mind could bear the weight of an entire cosmos.

No matter how much of a genius a person was, no matter how energetic they were, at most, they could only take on multiple roles.

But if they had to bear tens of thousands of responsibilities, this was no longer something that being a genius or having energy alone could compensate for. They'd have to develop artificial intelligence to assist them or formulate a highly efficient set of rules to ensure smooth operations through the power of regulations.

What the Astral Gods chose to do was to condense True Spirit. By harnessing the power of True Spirit, they maintained the evolution of the cosmos, using the cosmos as a framework. Through successive cycles of cosmic evolution, they glimpsed the mysteries of space and time, ultimately transforming this universe from illusion to reality, making it a truly operational cosmos.

After a brief conversation, Li Pin ended the communication. He had arrived at the Astral Gate.

Yuntu, Baichao, and Astral God Mi Meng were also waiting at the Astral Gate. Upon seeing Li Pin, they cupped their hands in unison.

"We wish Sacred Child Li a smooth journey, breaking through barriers to achieve Astral God."

Li Pin nodded. "May your kind words come true."

He did not engage in much conversation with them. After a brief greeting, he stepped into the Astral Gate and arrived at the location provided by the Heaven Ordainment Sect, which was suitable for merging into the Astral World.

After selecting an uninhabited planet in this region, Li Pin took a deep breath.

"The Astral World..."

He had long been able to sense the Astral World and had even traveled through it under Sasha's guidance. However, it was only in this moment that he would truly take that key step toward becoming an Astral God.

There weren't any excessive hesitations or delays. As the void shattered before him, he stepped forward. The power of his Natal Planet surged to its peak, and behind him, a phantom of a world seemed to appear.

No, this wasn't a mere phantom, but a real world, constructed from Astral World fragments.

As Li Pin's perception was fully activated, the Astral World fragment that housed his Natal Planet rippled with waves, rapidly strengthening his resonance with the Astral World.

When this resonance reached its peak, an invisible ripple spread outward.

At this moment, he seemed to break through the barrier between reality and illusion, arriving directly in a void of absolute nothingness.

This absolute nothingness lasted only for a moment before an omnipresent force began to seep in from all directions, seemingly trying to bind every cell and atom of his being.

Moreover, this force grew stronger and stronger, becoming unavoidable.

This was the unique power of the Astral World—the power of Eternal Oblivion!

1. The Sky Clan was originally called the Void Clan. After careful consideration, the team decided to rename it Sky Clan to avoid confusion with the Void Faction. ☜