Translator: CinderTL
Life Level 36, Heavenly Heart Eternal Method Fifth Layer.
At this stage, continuing to search for Ultimate Heart Demons in the Burial Ground of Demons...
Difficult to eliminate, low cost-effectiveness.
Forget about the experience.
The difficulty of elimination was significantly higher than that of Sixth-Tier Heart Demons.
And the experience...
Was only slightly more than twice that of Sixth-Tier Heart Demons.
Moreover, the effect of refining the mind wasn't as remarkable as he'd imagined.
Li Chunjun briefly assessed the state of his Heavenly Heart Eternal Method. Relying solely on Ultimate Heart Demons for refinement would likely require eighty to a hundred attempts.
That didn't sound like much, but each time he eliminated an Ultimate Heart Demon, it took over a decade to purify the mental pollution.
Eighty to a hundred attempts would take at least a thousand years!
And that was with his Heart Ablaze trait.
For others, even Void Refinement and Dharma Manifestation cultivators with the same Fifth Heaven mental realm as him, purifying the mental pollution would take over ten thousand years.
Ten thousand years wasn't slow, but how could these Void Refinement and Dharma Manifestation cultivators be sure they could immediately find another Ultimate Heart Demon after purifying their mental pollution?
How can one be certain that this Ultimate Heart Demon is merely an ordinary Ultimate Heart Demon, one that he can actually contend with?
What if he encounters a High-Tier Ultimate Heart Demon or a Top-Tier Ultimate Heart Demon?
"Those who walk by the river often get their shoes wet."
After thousands or even tens of thousands of years of dealing with Heart Demons, how can one guarantee that they won't be silently corrupted by one?
From this perspective, refining Ultimate Heart Demons to temper the mind offers a poor risk-reward ratio.
"Ultimate Heart Demons are no longer cost-effective, but those mature High-Grade Perfected Heart Demons and Top-Tier Perfected Heart Demons still hold some value."
Li Chunjun's gaze fell upon the information displayed by the Human Sovereign Banner: "Slaying a Level 30 creature: Experience +1704!"
Level 30!
These Perfected Heart Demons had fully recovered from their dormant state and elevated their status to the peak, no longer classified as Level 29 but now categorized as Level 30.
Sixth-Tier Life!
"The difference between the weakest and strongest Void Refinement cultivators is vast. The weakest, even when dozens or hundreds band together, are slaughtered in droves before a single Dharma Manifestation. The strongest, however, can even reverse-slay a Dharma Manifestation..."
Li Chunjun was currently in the Void Refinement realm...
He wasn't weak.
But to say he was strong enough to reverse-slay a Dharma Manifestation was still a stretch.
Even the weakest Dharma Manifestation brought a twofold increase in combat power.
In other words, a Void Refinement cultivator with only ten thousand years of Magic Power and Dao Cultivation could see their combat power soar to the level of a twenty-thousand-year cultivator.
Put another way, without at least twenty thousand years of Dao Cultivation and Magic Power, even the most useless Dharma Manifestation would be beyond his reach.
Moreover...
Dharma Manifestations stuck at the twenty-thousand-year mark were probably rarer than Supreme Sages.
"Just like how few Void Core cultivators roam freely in the Primordial Core Realm, Void Refinement cultivators, upon breaking through, find a whole new world opening before them. They often enter seclusion for thousands, even tens of thousands of years to consolidate their realm and strengthen their power."
Li Chunjun had gained a thorough understanding of the Void Refinement realm.
In such circumstances, any Void Refinement cultivator daring to roam the outside world had likely already passed the "newcomer" stage.
Without several millennia or nearly ten thousand years of Dao Cultivation and Magic Power, they wouldn't even dare greet others.
The Void Refinement cultivators who truly ventured out and risked entering perilous lands were those already working on forging their Dharma Manifestations.
The less ambitious, like Yi Xuan and Chen Guang, stayed in relatively safe areas, cultivating while they mingled.
Therefore, Li Chunjun's current situation made it unrealistic for him to quickly level up by hunting Void Refinement cultivators.
As for dealing with Foreign Races...
Void Refinement cultivators held a significant advantage over Seventh-Tier Foreign Races.
So, how did peak Void Refinement cultivators gather the materials needed to forge their Dharma Manifestations?
By slaughtering Foreign Races!
Especially Seventh-Tier Foreign Races!
Each race with Seventh-Tier members was essentially a "monster" that dropped equipment and gold coins for human Void Refinement cultivators.
If they saw one, they were sure to eliminate it.
Over time, Seventh-Tier Foreign Races either became incredibly rare, hiding in desolate lands far from human activity, or banded together for warmth, forming monster clusters too formidable for ordinary human Void Refinement cultivators to farm.
Even a Seventh-Tier Wood Spirit Clan would try to curry favor with the Immortal God Clan, wouldn't they? All to avoid being farmed as low-level monsters by Human Void Refinement heroes of the same level.
"Void Refinement cultivators are anything but ordinary," Li Chunjun mused. "They're either seasoned veterans with several thousand years of Dao cultivation and Magic Power, top-tier cultivators with ten thousand years of Dao cultivation and Magic Power, or peak-level cultivators whose ten thousand years of Magic Power still isn't enough..."
At that moment, curiosity piqued within him. He wondered how the Human Sovereign Banner would define the Life Levels of these Void Refinement cultivators.
Lost in thought, he shook off his reverie and turned his attention back to the Minor Thousand World beneath his feet, a world teetering on the brink of destruction.
"The Ultimate Heart Demon... I won't force it. If I get it, great; if not, so be it. I should focus on the Top-Tier Heart Demons that have already matured!"
Each Minor Thousand World only had a limited number of Top-Tier Heart Demons...
Across the remaining dozens of Minor Thousand Worlds, gathering three or four hundred would likely be the maximum.
But...
Heart Demons could devour each other to level up!
Though the effect was somewhat diminished, when faced with the dire circumstances of near-extinction, Heart Demons would spontaneously resort to this method, giving rise to Ultimate Heart Demons and even Heart Demon Kings to lead their kind through the crisis.
This was why the Immortal God Clan had only dared to force the Heart Demon Race into dormancy back then, rather than exterminating them completely.
Imagine tens of thousands of Perfected Heart Demons, driven to desperation, devouring each other...
Even the Heart Demon King wouldn't dare to say!
But giving birth to dozens or even hundreds of powerful Ultimate Heart Demons? That was no problem at all!
At the time, the Immortal God Clan had just split from the Divine Race and hadn't even formed a "Quasi-Tenth Tier Heavenly Emperor." They were in no position to engage in a death struggle with these Heart Demons, so they chose to exile them to the Burial Ground of Demons.
"In the Minor Thousand Worlds that have completely fallen, each one has over a hundred Heart Demons, all at least High-Tier, with a few Top-Tier among them. Since they're sufficiently scattered, all we need to do is harvest them regularly once they reach a certain level of growth, preventing them from evolving into Ultimate Heart Demons. That should ensure absolute safety."
Li Chunjun had a plan.
If necessary, he would simply work harder, traveling more frequently between the various worlds.
Even if it took some time...
It was still better than doing nothing.
With this thought, his resolve solidified.
Drawing on his understanding of the Void, he quickly locked onto his next target.
A rainbow streak pierced the sky!
The Void Bridge once again spanned the heavens and earth, descending toward a Minor Thousand World.
This Minor Thousand World was no different. All living beings had been completely corrupted and turned into puppets controlled by demonic seeds.
Li Chunjun swept his divine sense across the world, instantly annihilating all the Top-Tier Heart Demons. However, he spared the High-Tier Heart Demons.
After finishing, he moved on to the next Minor Thousand World where life had been extinguished.
This world harbored an Ultimate Heart Demon.
Though he considered such Heart Demons a poor investment, since he was already there, he reluctantly decided to defeat and refine it.
This task consumed another half-month.
"If it weren't for the fact that Ultimate Heart Demons can boost my mental cultivation, I'd probably just skip these scraps of experience," he grumbled inwardly before turning his attention to other Minor Thousand Worlds.
Unfortunately, dozens of the hundred-plus Minor Thousand Worlds in the Burial Ground of Demons had already become Dead Zones.
While not every world harbored an Ultimate Heart Demon, the probability was surprisingly high.
After six months of relentless work, Li Chunjun had only advanced his level 36 upgrade experience by a quarter.
At this rate, completing his Life Level upgrade in the Burial Ground of Demons would likely take another two years.
Meanwhile, the Golden Crow, after more than half a year of travel, was nearing the Immortal Great Wall.
After refining another Ultimate Heart Demon, Li Chunjun finally settled down.
"The interests tied to the Profound Yellow Vast Earth are staggering. Each Profound Yellow Dao Fruit is worth no less than a High-Grade Dao Artifact, and a High-Grade Dao Artifact often represents the entire fortune of a Dharma Manifestation cultivator... Eight Profound Yellow Dao Fruits... This is a loss that would make even a Supreme Sage's heart ache."
In other words, the forces behind the Profound Yellow Vast Earth would never let this go easily.
Though he had Liu Yu's Observer's Mask to conceal his aura, Li Chunjun didn't feel entirely safe.
Never underestimate the intelligence of others.
Especially for those in power, it's better to kill ten thousand innocent people than to let a single suspect escape.
While he was the direct disciple of the Profound Yellow Supreme, and could retreat to the Profound Yellow Grotto-Heaven under Liu Yu's protection, leaving the vested interests behind the Profound Yellow Vast Earth powerless even if they were furious, Li Chunjun was clearly not the type to patiently cultivate in one place for an extended period.
That was far too slow.
Even with all the necessary resources, mastery of laws, and mental cultivation at the peak, it was perfectly normal for someone to spend one or two centuries crafting a Dharma Manifestation through conventional methods.
But he couldn't accept that.
If he could comprehend more laws, acquire more resources, and elevate his mental cultivation to the Sixth or even Seventh Realm, wouldn't his efficiency in crafting a Dharma Manifestation skyrocket?
Reducing the process from one or two centuries to a mere year or two wouldn't be surprising!
Therefore...
"Next, there's no need to rush back to the Profound Yellow Great World. Even if I do return, my first priority should be to head straight to a crucial battlefield... like the Star Abyss."
The Star Abyss was formed from the fallen remains of a Tenth-Tier special lifeform—a Star Spirit.
This Star Abyss, born from the demise of such a magnificent being, was exceptionally unique, essentially an artificial world.
Similar to a Middle Thousand World like the Domain Lord Star, it could accommodate Void Refinement cultivators.
Moreover, the Star Spirit's insights into cultivation, along with its vast collection of treasures, persisted within the Star Abyss in a special form, making it one of the most precious treasures of the Profound Yellow Great World.
Many desperate Primordial Spirits would enter the Star Abyss, gambling on a slim chance of survival. They hoped to gain insights from a Dao Venerable and ascend to the heavens in a single bound.
Even if they failed to grasp such profound enlightenment, obtaining a Dao Artifact left behind by a Dao Venerable could still bring them great fortune, allowing them to trade for precious resources to advance their cultivation.
Of course, the primary target of the Star Abyss was Void Refinement cultivators seeking resources to forge their Dharma Manifestations.
In the less than 100,000 years since the fall of that special life form, the Star Abyss had nurtured no fewer than 800 Dharma Manifestations, and possibly as many as 1,000.
Its significance surpassed even that of the Profound Yellow Vast Earth.
However, compared to the Profound Yellow Vast Earth, which yielded a steady supply of Profound Yellow Dao Fruits, the Star Abyss was far more dangerous.
Even in its outer layers, Void Refinement cultivators faced a nearly 10% mortality rate.
In the inner layers, the chances of death were even higher!
Entering the Star Abyss was akin to a desperate gamble—a battlefield in all but name.
Just as Li Chunjun was choosing his training ground for his return to the Profound Yellow Great World, a sudden and unexpected incident disrupted his plans.
The Golden Crow, which had been waiting in a Minor Thousand World, came under attack!
The attacker...
was the flagship of Hong Qianjue, the Void Refinement ancestor of the Hong Clan!
(End of the Chapter)
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