Cao Yun's sea of consciousness was completely new. All of his focus was on it at the moment. In fact, his breakthrough didn't seem real for now. He was simply shocked by this new sight. Before his eyes stretched vast, empty plains. If he didn't focus on anything, he could see the plains disappear into infinity. But if he focused on something, the entire world seemed to exist only at that point, and everything else turned into an ocean. The sensations were extremely strange as his own state of mind was affecting this world.
The main difference with his previous sea of consciousness was that this world seemed to be real, physical. This was Cao Yun's inner world. In a sense, it was a new world that had appeared in his sea of consciousness. The sea itself was still there, hidden beneath this inner world. If he focused enough, Cao Yun knew that he could distinguish the two of them, but it was very difficult. It was like separating two thoughts very clearly without letting them influence each other.
Cao Yun's mind explored this new landscape. The sky was what had barely changed. Above the clouds were the seven Piercing Stars of the Azure Dragon. On the other hand, the Nine Soul Peaks were now embedded into the plains themselves. Besides, the grass was melded with the roots of the world tree coiled around the peaks. Cao Yun's soul was very well integrated with this inner world. Although it was difficult to say at the moment, Cao Yun had truly reached the best breakthrough he could have. It wasn't perfect, but barely any cultivator could have done any better. It might take millennia for another cultivator to achieve such a great result on the Piaolu planet.
What truly interested Cao Yun at the moment was whether he could feel the Dao. Two Daos were absolutely essential to him as he had focused on them. First of all, he looked at the Drop of Wrath in order to observe the Rune of Fire and the Solar-Orchid Flame. The difference was small, but he could tell that he was able to see something new. If he had not broken through into the Exalted Demon realm, the difference would have been more noticeable to him. But, to be fair, simply being able to see something new, and not having a vague sensation, was already impressive. Until he actually tried to study this Dao of Fire, he couldn't know how much faster it would be, but this would obviously improve his understanding of said Dao.
After the Dao of Fire, Cao Yun obviously looked at the Dao of Death. Just by looking at the Insight Writings of 'Death Verses', he had new insights. In an instant, many chaotic ideas came to his mind. Ironically, it was a bit much. At the moment, the problem wasn't the lack of ideas or sensations, but too many of them. Only through patient meditation could he actually parse through them and study them. However, he was now convinced that he could progress in the Dao of Death. Apparently, his Dao of Death was even more developed than his Dao of Fire, probably thanks to his study of the Po.
Only after examining his inner world did Cao Yun finally realize something. He was a Sage. That was something that was absolutely unthinkable a few decades ago. Although Cao Yun was around fifty, he was extremely young for a cultivator. As a matter of fact, even before the Dao Forsaken Era, the average cultivator would become a Sage somewhere between two hundred and two hundred and fifty. Cao Yun had been fast by more than a century. Of course, he had been helped by the Weaver of Soul's cultivation method, by his blood cultivation through the Drop of Wrath, and, last but not least, by his sister's Soul Embryo. Still, that speed wasn't necessarily a good thing. That was precisely why Cao Yun had waited before breaking through.
On one hand, the new Sage wanted to progress as fast as possible. On the other hand, he wanted his cultivation to be strong and to help him reach higher and higher realms, until the very pinnacle of cultivation. The Sage Realm, also known as the Dao Realm, was a pivotal realm in cultivation.
Essentially, the cultivation systems used by humans, asuras, and devas were separated into nine realms, which were then subdivided into nine grades. Among those nine realms were three triads. The first three realms were known as the Earth realms, the next three realms as the Human realms, and the last three realms as the Heaven realms. The term Human didn't refer to the species, but to the state of mortals connected both to the earth by their earthly bodies and to the heavens by their minds and souls. In other words, this term Human was used in opposition to the terms Immortal or God. In the Earth realms, the cultivator would focus on his body, blood, energy, soul, things within himself. Only in the Human realms would the cultivator be able to focus on the outside, to be clearer, on the Dao itself.
The Human realms in the human cultivation system were the Dao Realm, or the Sage Realm, the Domain Realm, or the Monarch Realm, and the Fusion Realm, or the Immortal Realm.
The Sage and Monarch realms wouldn't improve one's lifespan. Besides, they had an important particularity. A human cultivator could quickly go through those realms. In theory, a human cultivator could literally go through those realms in less than a decade. However, he would be stuck forever, unable to enter the sixth realm.
Indeed, the Sage and Monarch realms were about creating the foundation necessary to turn one's body into an Immortal Body. Although the Sage Realm was focused on the Dao, hence its other name as the Dao Realm, it was also about creating the Pagoda. The Pagoda was the central edifice of the inner world. The Pagoda had nine stories, each one related to a symbol but also to a part of the cultivator, either physical or non-physical. Each grade was about building a new floor for the Pagoda. Of course, one could simply build the Pagoda in a hurry, but it would be weak and wouldn't serve its purpose very well in the next realms.
As a 1st-grade Sage, Cao Yun didn't even have the first floor of the Pagoda yet. It was said that each floor could contain one central treasure. And now that Cao Yun had an inner world, he could actually store things within his inner world. It wasn't unlike a spatial ring. However, it was taxing on the mind, so using it as a storage unit would be more than unwise. Besides, a Sage who understood the Dao of Space, even slightly, might be able to produce a very rudimentary spatial ring. As such, there was actually no need to use the inner world in that capacity, unless it was to hide something extremely precious, or incredibly useful.
The treasures one could place in their Pagoda were different. Those treasures would become the foundation of both the Pagoda and the inner world. Later, the Pagoda and the inner world would become one's Domain. In other words, those treasures were essential and couldn't be chosen randomly, as they had to help the cultivator.
The first floor was the absolute foundation and didn't actually require a treasure. In a sense, the cultivator's sea of consciousness was this treasure. Then, the second floor was related to the physical body and was represented by the Tree. The third floor was the Pillar, linked to the 8 Extraordinary Vessels. The fourth floor was the Mountain, linked to the Upper Dantian. The fifth floor was the Waterfall, linked to the spiritual energy and will. The sixth floor was the Jade, linked to the Middle Dantian. The seventh floor was the Lake, linked to the sea of Qi. The eighth floor was the Cauldron, linked to the Lower Dantian. And finally, the ninth floor was the Blaze, linked to the Jing, or one's essence.
There were many different stories about those symbols and their connections. One that stayed with Cao Yun because of its simplicity yet depth was as follows:
"One's life is a Tree that becomes large enough to be the Pillar of a large Mountain. Collecting the rain from the heavens, a Waterfall erodes its way under the gate of Jade, forming a large Lake. The water from above is engulfed in the Cauldron where the Blaze of one's essence refines it into immortality."
By combining this story with other stories and his own understanding, Cao Yun could tell that there were some mysteries hidden behind the words. What truly struck him was the use of some characters. Although the first meaning was obvious, strange characters were used for a few words. An obvious one was rain. Yes, this character could mean rain, but it was written in a very old form that made it closer to the words glory, enlightenment, or even comprehension in a very philosophical or esoteric way. Cao Yun's first reading was obviously that the rain from the heavens was the understanding of the Dao. However, it might also mean different things. Only by going through this process could the young man fully understand it all in his flesh and soul.
When it came to the eight symbols, the young man already had many ideas. Each treasure would be better suited if it was related to the symbol as directly as possible, but also compatible with the cultivator's cultivation path. Of course, the Tree was already decided in Cao Yun's mind. He would use the seed of the world tree. Hopefully, he could regrow a tree as large as a planet, and maybe even larger. Besides, he had felt that this tiny seed had reacted to the Withering Fusang Tree. Although the reaction had been very tame, Cao Yun could tell that the Withering Fusang Tree was not as powerful as the seed of the world tree could become. It might actually be far inferior, but it entirely depended on how the seed would develop and grow. Cao Yun saw a lot of potential in this seed, he couldn't let it go to waste.
For the Pillar, Cao Yun had set his sights on a treasure from the Withering Fusang Domains. Indeed, he had read about those worlds from Emperor Nuwa. Not only had he learned many things about those strange worlds and their inhabitants, but he also knew about treasures and traps Emperor Nuwa had left in her path. Thankfully, the strange flow of time in those realms allowed Cao Yun to take as much time as he needed. He had no doubt that he could actually become a 2nd-grade Sage, and maybe even a 3rd-grade Sage before he even planned for his trip. Besides, he didn't want to go just anywhere in the Withering Fusang Domains. As such, he would need time to choose his destination carefully.
Anyway, after Cao Yun was done admiring his cultivation, his mind left his inner world. Outside, he saw the audience in awe. Suddenly, his inner world vibrated, and all of his aura overflowed. Like a tsunami, his presence crashed against everyone in the audience. Thankfully, it wasn't violent or dangerous. However, weaker cultivators were overwhelmed. This truly was a transformative experience. They were realizing how powerful a human could be.
The stronger cultivators, especially the demons, could clearly feel the asura cultivation within Cao Yun. This was extraordinary. A young human had almost accomplished the dream of Weaver of Souls and Demon God Da Mo. There was almost no doubt in their minds that Cao Yun could also merge the deva cultivation system and become like the legendary Three Jade Saints. Few people even knew about the Three Jade Saints.
Without being threatening in any way, Cao Yun had been able to terrorize the demon lords present into submission. No matter what, they wouldn't start a war against the Hongchen Kingdom. Opposing Cao Yun was suicide. They feared that even the Dao would be crushed before this tyrannical young man. Deep down, the demons were just hoping that Cao Yun would quickly imitate Emperor Nuwa and to leave this planet. Ironically, Emperor Lixing had the opposite thought. Unlike the demons, she knew that Cao Yun wouldn't stay here for more than a century, as he had already warned her. She had been able to convince him to stay until the Hongchen Kingdom was strong enough. However, her policies and the people helping the restoration of the Hongchen Kingdom were doing too good a job.
Feng Yingyue was probably the only person in the crowd who wasn't surprised at all. Even Cao Yun's brothers were a bit surprised by this grandiose scene. To be fair, Feng Yingyue knew Cao Yun, his body, and his soul far more intimately than even his brothers did.
Finally, his children were also taken aback. Cao Yanmei had a vision of her father as a serene old man. Although he looked as young as she did, he always appeared with a grayish beard in her mind for some reason. Although she was the oldest of Cao Yun's children, this was the image she had of her father. Maybe it was because he was fascinated by poetry and spent a lot of time reading, drinking tea and meditating. To her, he behaved like an old man. To be fair, he had been recovering when Cao Yanmei was growing up, so he was spending more time away from the world. That day, that image had shattered completely. He was a doting father, but he was also a beast no one should try to awaken. A young man sitting near Cao Yanmei was almost shaking, so the young woman put a hand on his knee. Although everyone in the crowd was too busy to notice it, Cao Yun did.
Cao Sheng, who had always heard military stories about his father, was ecstatic. Although he had seen his father give lectures on martial arts, this was raw power. The young man had always been proud of his father, but his pride truly exploded in that moment. At the same time, he was afraid of his father's shadow. He might never be as powerful and glorious as his dad.
Only one young man didn't seem to care about his father's power. This was Cao Bei. To please his parents, he had come alone, without yet another new girl. Cao Bei only felt one thing: shame.