The news of Lin Yan's breakthrough to the Purple Palace Realm spread throughout Dragon Yuan Province with astonishing speed.
It did not take long before cultivators from different factions began discussing the matter, some were shocked, some envious, some genuinely impressed, while others immediately began calculating what Lin Yan's breakthrough meant for the balance of power within the province.
After all, Purple Palace was not a realm that could be casually reached.
For most cultivators, the journey from Foundation Establishment to Purple Palace was one of the longest bottlenecks they would encounter in the early stages of cultivation.
The problem was not simply accumulating spiritual qi.
At the peak of Foundation Establishment, a cultivator needed to refine their divine sense to a sufficient degree before they could open their Niwan Palace and transform it into a Purple Palace.
But most cultivators did not possess cultivation methods that could actively refine the spirit.
Those without high-grade inheritance could only rely on the slowest method, cultivating their spiritual qi while allowing their spirit to be passively nourished through the practice of one of the Four Major Hundred Arts.
Alchemy, formations, talismans, and artifact refinement all required the cultivator to constantly use their divine sense, and through years of practice, their spirit would gradually become stronger and more refined.
For cultivators who possessed neither high-grade cultivation methods nor talent in any of the Four Major Hundred Arts, the situation was even worse.
They could only wait.
As their cultivation remained stuck at the peak of Foundation Establishment, their spirit would slowly grow stronger with age, eventually reaching the threshold required to open the Niwan Palace.
But there was an obvious problem with this method.
Time.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator did not possess infinite lifespan.
If someone spent one hundred years merely waiting for their spirit to mature naturally, how much of their remaining lifespan would be left after successfully entering Purple Palace?
And even after finally reaching the threshold, years of stagnation could gradually wear away their confidence.
Some cultivators would begin believing that they were destined to remain at Foundation Establishment.
Others would lose the courage to attempt the breakthrough after watching their companions die of old age around them.
Thus, among ordinary cultivators, reaching Purple Palace before the age of one hundred was already considered an achievement worthy of being called genius.
Those capable of reaching it before eighty were even more impressive.
Before sixty, their talent was extraordinary.
But before fifty...
That was another level entirely.
Throughout the Immortal Continent, cultivators who could enter Purple Palace before fifty were usually disciples personally nurtured by powerful sects, particularly the Saint-level inheritances and the descendants of ancient cultivation forces.
Such sects possessed resources that ordinary families could never imagine.
Once a disciple demonstrated sufficient talent, the sect could gather enormous quantities of spiritual medicines, pills, spiritual objects, cultivation resources, and opportunities around that single person.
They could even arrange for high-level cultivators to personally guide their cultivation, allowing the disciple to avoid countless detours that ordinary cultivators had no choice but to endure.
Even so, resources alone could not create a true genius.
A mountain of resources could be placed before an ordinary cultivator, yet if their comprehension was poor, they would still struggle to absorb them.
A Saint disciple could have access to everything necessary for cultivation, but if their foundation was unstable or their understanding insufficient, their cultivation speed would eventually slow.
Therefore, Lin Yan's achievement could not simply be attributed to the Lin Family's resources.
She was genuinely talented.
Her comprehension, foundation, spiritual roots, divine sense, and opportunities had all combined to produce the result everyone was now discussing.
"Under fifty years old..."
Inside a small cultivation family, an elderly Foundation Establishment cultivator sighed after hearing the news.
"That girl is truly monstrous."
A younger cultivator standing beside him looked confused.
"Is reaching Purple Palace before fifty really that difficult?"
The old cultivator glanced at him.
"You are still young."
He shook his head.
"Wait until you reach Foundation Establishment and discover that the spiritual qi is not the only thing you need to cultivate."
The younger cultivator fell silent.
The old man looked towards the distant sky.
"The further you cultivate, the more you will understand how difficult it is to refine the spirit."
Across Dragon Yuan Province, similar conversations were taking place.
The younger generation of the Lin Family became the subject of even more attention, and Lin Yan's name was naturally placed at the centre of those discussions.
Yet there was another implication that caused many old cultivators to become serious.
The golden runes had appeared more than a decade ago.
Since then, the world had been changing.
Talented cultivators were appearing more frequently, ancient inheritances were beginning to emerge, and the speed at which some geniuses were breaking through had begun exceeding the expectations of the older generation.
Now Lin Yan had entered Purple Palace before fifty.
To many people, this was another sign.
The Golden Period of Cultivation had arrived.
The Age of Dharma's End was gradually becoming a thing of the past.
The world was recovering.
Its spiritual qi was becoming denser.
Its laws were becoming clearer.
The opportunities available to cultivators were increasing.
For ordinary cultivators, this was a chance to change their fate.
For the ancient forces hidden within the Immortal Continent, however, it represented something far more significant.
The time they had been waiting for was approaching.
---
Meanwhile, far away from Dragon Yuan Province, space suddenly trembled.
A faint ripple appeared above an enormous teleportation platform.
The next moment, two figures emerged.
Lin Sheng stepped onto the platform with Lou Feng beside him.
The spatial fluctuations around them slowly settled.
Lou Feng looked around curiously.
They had finally arrived in the Eastern Region.
The minor teleportation platform connected the Southern Archipelagos with the Eastern Region, allowing cultivators to cross an enormous distance without having to spend months or even years travelling through the sea.
Lin Sheng stood silently for a moment.
Then he looked towards the city in the distance.
Purple Iris Immortal City, Nine years.
It had been nine years since he had last stood here.
The sight of the city immediately brought back memories.
The last time he had come here, his cultivation had been considerably weaker, and there were many things he could not accomplish.
He remembered the annual auction.
He remembered the various cultivators gathered within the city, the treasures that had appeared, the fierce competition between cultivators, and the feeling of carefully calculating every spiritual stone he possessed.
Back then, even meeting the Purple Iris True Person had been beyond his reach.
He had heard about that Purple Palace cultivator many times, yet he had never actually met him.
Now, nine years later, Lin Sheng looked at Purple Iris Immortal City again.
His expression became slightly strange.
The city had changed.
The difference was subtle at first glance, but someone like Lin Sheng could notice it immediately.
The walls had been reinforced.
New formations had been engraved throughout the city, far more complex than the ones he remembered.
Several towers that had not existed nine years ago now stood above the surrounding buildings, each carrying powerful spiritual fluctuations.
Even the spiritual qi within the city seemed different.
It was richer and more active.
And there were far more cultivators than Lin Sheng remembered.
Lou Feng looked around.
"Senior, is this the city you mentioned?"
Lin Sheng nodded.
"Yes."
He looked towards the enormous city gates.
"Purple Iris Immortal City."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Nine years can change a lot."
Lou Feng followed his gaze.
The streets beyond the gates were crowded with cultivators, Foundation Establishment cultivators could be seen everywhere, Qi Refining cultivators were almost impossible to count, while occasionally, a Purple Palace aura would sweep across the city.
Nine years ago, such a scene would have been considerably rarer.
Lin Sheng's divine sense quietly spread outward.
He did not release his full strength.
There was no need.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Interesting."
Lou Feng looked at him.
"What is it?"
Lin Sheng did not immediately answer.
His divine sense had swept across several familiar regions within the city.
The annual auction house was still there.
Several major shops remained.
Some old buildings had disappeared, replaced by new ones.
Even the defensive formation covering the city had undergone a substantial transformation.
It was obvious that Purple Iris Immortal City had experienced significant changes during his absence.
Lin Sheng withdrew his divine sense.
"Let's go."
He stepped off the teleportation platform.
Lou Feng followed closely behind.
As they approached the city gates, Lin Sheng's gaze briefly turned towards the distant horizon.
His cultivation had already reached a level that ordinary cultivators in the Eastern Region could only look up to, his body had undergone an extraordinary transformation, and his understanding of martial arts had reached a completely different height.
Yet despite the changes within himself, seeing this city again still produced a strange sensation.
It felt familiar.
But it was no longer the same city he remembered.
Lin Sheng's footsteps slowed for a moment.
His eyes became slightly deeper.
"Let's see what happened while I was gone."
Then he walked through the gates of Purple Iris Immortal City with Lou Feng following behind him, disappearing into the bustling streets of the Eastern Region.