Chapter 253: The Gate of the Divine Realm
Chapter 253: The Gate of the Divine Realm
While undercurrents surged throughout Qingjiang and converged into an unstoppable momentum,
Second Young Master Fang, who claimed to be searching for the Dragon Stone for Old Master Fan, was instead wandering the mountains and rivers. He hadn’t returned to Willow Lake, nor to Shoushan Sect. He merely slowed his journey, strolling quietly through the wilderness, watching the drifting clouds and wildflowers in the sky.
“Second Young Master Fang, what are you looking for?”
One day, as the Dharma Ship stopped in a wild valley, Fang Cun paced back and forth for a long time yet still seemed lost. Finally, Meng Zhixue, He Zhenzhang, Meng Qing’er, and Yu Qingli, who had recently steadied his mind and rejoined Fang Cun, approached him together. With hesitant expressions, they voiced the question they had held back for so long.
“I’m looking for a path!”
Fang Cun measured the valley, untouched by footprints and covered in thistles and wild grass. He answered in a low voice.
“A path?”
They were all puzzled.
What path would a Qi Refiner need to find? He could simply fly.
Only mortals needed paths through valleys!
“If in a village, some hunt, some farm, and someone acts as village chief, collecting taxes, managing the family, organizing defenses against bandits — but if that chief grows greedier and greedier? What if he seizes all the silver meant for the village, pockets it himself, rallies a group to support him, and begins oppressing the common folk?”
Fang Cun asked, seemingly casually.
He Zhenzhang chuckled, “That depends on how badly he oppresses them. If it’s light, the people might just grit their teeth and curse him. But if it’s severe, even the meekest will pick up blades. It’s hardly strange for them to chop such a chief to pieces!”
“Exactly right!”
Fang Cun smiled. “I once dreamed of a place like that. There were people, officials, greed, and injustice. But in that dream world, when injustice reached its peak, the people below would rise in anger. Their wrath could flip the upper world over, reshuffle everything. Because the people in that world didn’t know Qi Refining, they could only discover the laws of heaven and earth. They made new weapons, created new ways to live…”
“The more they made, the faster they developed. Each overthrow became more fascinating. With every reshuffling, they came closer to fairness. In just thousands of years, they reached a state fairly near justice. There was still oppression and injustice, of course, but the trend toward improvement… it was truly remarkable…”
The others were baffled, unable to grasp his meaning.
A world without Qi Refining? How could that exist? How could its people resist powerful Demon Races and the forces of heaven?
“What I’m pondering… are such matters. And it should be what my brother contemplated too!”
Fang Cun looked up at them and smiled. “The people in that world changed their circumstances through repeated uprisings. But in this world, the power of Qi Refiners is too mighty. What are the common folk to do then?”
They exchanged glances. Only Meng Zhixue seemed to grasp a sliver of understanding. “You mean they… can’t rebel?”
He Zhenzhang murmured, “Of course they can’t. Commoners could never stand against Qi Refiners!”
“That’s precisely the problem!”
Fang Cun smiled. “This world has Qi Refiners… so it lacks a particular path.”
“Then what you’re seeking now is…”
Suddenly, they recalled his mention of “looking for a path.” Their interest sharpened.
Even if such a path were missing, how could one find it in this desolate wilderness?
“This path… I certainly can’t find it!”
Fang Cun sighed softly and looked towards the top of the valley. “But my brother… perhaps he could.”
Countless questions swirled in their minds.
Abruptly, Fang Cun’s expression turned solemn. “Stand back!”
Sensing the unsettling shift in his aura, they didn’t hesitate. They retreated several paces.
Fang Cun closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. He whispered, “One hundred and eight meridians… one hundred and eight steps…”
His elder brother, Fang Chi, had passed down the “Formless Treasure Body Scripture” to him. Upon mastering it, breaking through to the Condensed Radiance Realm and opening the Gate of the Divine Realm required cultivating one hundred and eight meridians. Journeying through the Five Sects, comprehending the scriptures’ essence, and using various methods, Fang Cun had already deduced the cultivation techniques for these one hundred and eight meridians. It was as if he had found one hundred and eight steps…
At the end of these steps lay the Light Condensation Realm — the Gate of the Divine Realm!
He had suspected all along his brother must have left him something at that gate.
……
“So here… where I shall break through!”
Fang Cun let out a soft sigh. Magical Power surged around him.
His wide sleeves unfurled outwards. The aura of all things between heaven and earth coalesced into a giant vortex.
Reality and illusion blurred. They saw what seemed like steps materializing beneath his feet.
These steps arranged themselves one after another, rising layer by layer, extending towards the heights above the valley.
Fang Cun pondered a moment, then stepped onto the staircase, ascending step by step.
His face was inscrutable — neither wholly calm, nor resigned; impossible to tell if panic lurked beneath. Yet with each steady stride upward, his expression solidified into resolve. With each step, memories surfaced: the letters exchanged with his brother, tales of his brother’s deeds, the “Celestial Merit Record” his brother had entrusted to him, the “Formless Treasure Body Scripture” passed down…
They gradually transformed in his consciousness, crystallizing into countless thoughts.
……
“Second Young Master Fang is breaking through to the Condensed Radiance Realm?”
Meng Zhixue sensed the shift in his aura first, her voice tinged with shock.
He Zhenzhang was even more stunned. “He hadn’t broken through it yet?”
Legends of Second Young Master Fang enlightening others to breakthrough were rife throughout Qingjiang Prefecture, yet he himself hadn’t ascended?
……
Under the incredulous gazes of the others, they watched Fang Cun advance step by step.
One hundred and eight steps.
He walked quickly at times, slowly at others, occasionally pausing to think.
As he ascended more steps, the aura around him grew increasingly profound and dense.
The very void seemed stirred by this mysterious energy. Trails of invisible radiance manifested as visions: gods and demons bearing broken weapons and shattered swords; divine beings bathed in holy light, solemn and high; faint laughter seeming to drift from beyond the heavens; silhouettes of countless praying villagers stretching endlessly; and, as if peering from beyond the world, a vast, attentive eye watching him.
Fang Cun ascended slowly, his form seeming to split into two.
One was himself, tall and straight in white robes.
The other, clad in blue-green, stood steadfast and calm, his eyes fixed on the heavens above.
WHOOSH-RUMBLE!
As Fang Cun neared the topmost step, the currents of the surrounding sky roiled. Endless lightning crackled and fell. It seemed the entire world convulsed with power, unleashing bolts of indescribable thunder intent on blasting Fang Cun off his steps into oblivion.
Beside him, an Old Umbrella suddenly snapped open, shielding his head.
The bolts of thunder were blocked and dissipated without effect.
Fang Cun jerked his head up, staring at the highest step. It seemed he saw a figure in blue-green standing before him.
Fang Cun paused for a few breaths… then took another step. He reached that figure and merged with it.
Thus, as he reached the topmost step, he saw an ethereal, divine gate slowly swing open.
Within the gate, a figure turned and smiled at him.
Fang Cun saw clearly: the thunder surging towards him carried truly world-obliterating might. It was this figure who had blocked the majority of the lightning for him. Only the scattered remnants of the bolts reached him — the immensely powerful Divine Thunder of the Nine Heavens. And these were blocked by the Old Umbrella he held. So it seemed, truly, effortless…
“So this… is the path you envisioned?”
Fang Cun suddenly laughed, addressing the figure. His voice carried a hint of resignation.
“Only dumb means for a fool!”
The figure replied, radiating an uncharacteristic sense of ease and… triumph.
“Such misfortune… having you as a brother…”
Fang Cun sighed. “I only wanted to be a wealthy young master!”
The figure merely gazed back at him, smiling.
“But I admire you!”
Fang Cun bowed respectfully towards the shadow. “The dumbest means must forge the straightest path!”
……
Abruptly, the thunder vanished from heaven and earth.
It was as if everything had been an illusion — no thunder, no shadow, even the steps were mere illusions of Magical Power.
Fang Cun now stood atop the wild valley, still holding the posture of his respectful bow.
The aura around him steadily receded, becoming serene and concentrated. Divine radiance swirled around his body like stardust.
“Second Young Master Fang… you… just now…”
His fellow students rushed over anxiously but dared not approach too closely.
He Zhenzhang was furthest back, hiding behind Meng Qing’er and craning his neck to peek.
“Just breaking through, that’s all!”
Fang Cun answered with a smile but did not speak of the visions during his breakthrough.
However, one thing was clear: his earlier guess was correct. His brother had placed something truly formidable at the threshold of his Divine Realm!
In a way, both the “Celestial Merit Record” and the “Formless Treasure Body Scripture” were laid in preparation for this moment.
He looked at the faces of these old classmates — filled with worry and confusion. Beneath that worry lay deep dissatisfaction and helplessness about the current situation, alongside unconcealed gloom and anxiety. A feeling of solace washed over him. He smiled at them. “Breakthrough’s done. Understanding’s found. Would you accompany me… to do one thing?”
Alarmed, they asked in unison, “What thing?”
Fang Cun smiled. “Go… and straighten the crooked!”