Chapter 110 - The Scale of the Fragment Sect
Three days later, after greeting Keasal just outside of Black Peak, Yaan was ready to finally venture out into the Fragment Sect. He followed behind Keasal, flying down to the main sect region below.
The layout of the Fragment Sect was such that the Immortal Ancestor’s mountain peak, known as ‘Grey Peak’ or sometimes ‘Fragment Peak’, was situated in the centre of the sect, with the three lower coloured mountain peaks spaced around its base. Further down from these four mountain peaks, the wider core sect could be found, which was occupied by the core sect disciples and the sect elders.
Further out from the core sect which existed as a perfect ring around the central mountain peaks, there were three inner sect regions, named the ‘red branch’, ‘blue branch’ and ‘black branch’.
It seemed that in the Fragment Sect, the practise of extreme heat and extreme cold techniques was highly popular. Of course, there were also many disciples who did not practise these techniques, they belonged to the black branch. Overall, the three inner sect branches were all approximately the same size as one another.
The ‘outer sect’ was laid out in a way that left Yaan feeling completely dumbfounded when he first learned of its sheer scale. He already thought that the combined inner and core sects were huge, stretching out for many thousands of miles from the central mountains in every direction, but the outer sect was simply absurd.
It was called the ‘outer sect’, but it was closer to a gathering of 13 enormous nations which surrounded the core and inner sects. There were entire societies within each of these nations, each with their own practises, different organisations….and millions of people. In fact, there were hundreds of millions of people living in each outer sect nation!
Some people entered these outer sect nations from outside of the Fragment Sect’s key lands, but most were born and raised within one of these 13 nations.
Naturally, the outer sect nations were so large that they were only loosely managed by the sect, with a single elder residing in each nation to monitor the general situation across the region.
For now, the outer sect was none of Yaan’s concern, even the inner sect had nothing to do with him. His duties and current home lay in the core sect, there would not be any foreseeable reason for him to leave in the near future…
As they flew through the skies, descending down through the black fog and towards the vibrant gathering of exquisite palaces below, Yaan observed everything curiously. He was already given a tour from above by Keasal a few days ago, but he had not yet descended into the main core sect.
The core sect was not only large, but also quite varied in terms of its terrain.
There were mountain ranges containing special mountains like the four coloured peaks, these were the private homes of various elders. Other elders preferred to live in more lavish environments, thus they were provided with their own palaces, vast lands, and servants. Many opted for less exaggerated homes, living in simple temples within a more natural environment, often situated besides bodies of water or small forests.
Some elders lived close to the public region of the core sect, others secluded themselves far away.
Right now, Yaan and Keasal were heading down towards one of the less populous but more renowned public regions, called the Elder Court. As the name implied, the Elder Court was a region only accessible to elders. This exclusive area was a large built up region hosting multiple palaces cemented into a smooth white marble ground.
Yaan noted that the temperature was warming up as they descended, changing from cold, to cool, to temperate and quite pleasant. By the time they landed just outside the central palace, he had to admit that this environment was quite luxurious. Yaan was never one for these excessive luxuries, but the clear skies and the sweet smell of fruits that lingered in the air, seemed to blend in well with the sparsely built grand palaces across the court.
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“Junior brother, this is the Court Palace, it’s the place for elders to gather and discuss various sect matters. Your other senior brother is inside currently, I informed him that you will be visiting today, so you should expect to meet a few others too.”
Yaan nodded slowly, glancing around casually as he followed Keasal up the many pristine steps and into the giant structure ahead of them.
His other senior brother was actually the sect master, a man named Brase. Yaan had not yet met this person, despite Brase knowing by now that Yaan had joined the sect as his new junior brother. Keasal told him to not take this to heart, it was just that the sect master was busy dealing with sect matters. Apparently, he was so busy these days that he hardly ever returned to Red Peak.
When Yaan stepped into the Court Palace, he felt startled as his vision blurred. The previous sight of a hallway that could be seen from outside of the palace vanished, replaced by a grand hall, occupied by multiple figures.
As soon as Yaan and Keasal entered, those figures stopped their conversation and turned towards the pair. Their eyes naturally turned towards Yaan as they silently began assessing him.
Whilst nobody released their auras to directly pressure him, any normal cultivator would still feel pressured when the gazes of so many powerful cultivators were sent their way. Yaan, however, shocked most of those present, by maintaining the same clear expression from start to finish.
‘Eight elders, six at the Origin Soul realm, two at the Spirit Core realm…’ Yaan thought to himself. Even without them releasing their auras, he was able to judge this based only on their gazes and the threat he felt towards himself stemming from those gazes.
In the Fragment Sect, most elders were at the Origin Soul realm, whilst few were at the Spirit Core realm. For a disciple at the Spirit Core realm to become an elder, they must be exemplary in one regard or another. For instance, possessing quasi Rank 5 battle power, meaning they could hold their own against a weaker Origin Soul realm powerhouse for a few moves. Alternatively, they might have extremely impressive cultivation talent, or perhaps they were skilled in an area such as alchemy or formations.
There were also Nirvana realm Qi masters in the Fragment Sect.
Rank 4, Spirit Core realm. Rank 5, Origin Soul realm. Rank 6, Nirvana realm!
This was the cultivation path for Qi masters, but in truth, the Nirvana realm was applicable to all paths of cultivation!
Because the Nirvana realm sat on the boundary between the Foundation Step and Immortal Step.
Yaan’s gaze drifted towards the most imposing figure in the room, a middle aged man donning a golden robe and a well groomed black beard. His eyes were sharp, and he stared at Yaan with heavy focus, assessing him silently as Yaan and Keasal walked forwards.
‘Peak Origin Soul realm…’ Yaan thought seriously as he recalled the information provided to him by Keasal.
It might seem strange at first that the sect master was only at the Origin Soul realm and not the Nirvana realm, but this was simply due to the nature of the Nirvana realm.
In order to gain immortality, all mortal life needed to undergo nirvana. There were three steps to the Nirvana realm; Nirvana Life, Nirvana Death, Nirvana Rebirth.
Anyone at the Peak Origin Soul realm could step into the Nirvana Life realm with ease, it was as simple as snapping their fingers together. Upon taking this step, they would be blessed by the heavens, gaining a massive amount of life essence that enveloped their entire being and provided them with a surplus of lifespan and power!
However, with blessing came calamity.
Three years after reaching the Nirvana Life realm, the being would be forced to endure Nirvana Death. At this stage, they were afflicted with a heavenly calamity, one that targeted not only their body, but their energies, their soul, their mind, and most importantly, their life essence.
If one’s life essence was not sufficient, they would be killed during the Nirvana Death calamity. Following on from the Nirvana Death calamity, one’s life essence would become instilled with death aura, causing it to quickly decline as time passed by. If anyone’s life essence ran dry, they would immediately die.
The only way to overcome this, was to take the final step and go through Nirvana Rebirth.
Life, death and rebirth. Life came with the heavenly blessing, death was the heavenly calamity, and rebirth…was heavenly tribulation!
Nirvana Rebirth quite literally consisted of being reborn, shredding the mortal skin and stepping into the realm of immortals! To even take this step, it was necessary to possess immortal stage comprehension in a single dao, but even then, success was far too difficult. It was essential to maximise one’s strength, life essence, and path, before taking this step, experiencing rebirth through the immortal ascension tribulation!
The Nirvana realm was filled with danger and adversity, nobody would enter this realm without making the utmost preparations beforehand. Then, once a cultivator did begin their nirvana, they would always seclude themselves from the world until they either died, or successfully ascended to immortality.
As such, Nirvana realm cultivators, despite possessing strength that surpassed those in the Origin Soul realm dramatically, almost never appeared in the outside world. Because of this, the Fragment Sect’s main battle strength consisted of their Origin Soul realm elders, and likewise, those in charge were at the Origin Soul realm.
Nirvana realm cultivators did not get involved in external matters, whilst immortals did not bother with the troubles of anyone at the Foundation Step. To Foundation Step Qi masters, the Origin Soul realm was, in practise, the peak of their world.