Chapter 1172 : A Father's Guidance and a Son's Doubt

Xander Chen's moment of enlightenment was not long. By the time he emerged from that profound state, he realized Eldrin Chen was still waiting before him.

He looked at Eldrin Chen and offered a faint smile. "Thank you, Father, for guarding my cultivation." Eldrin Chen nodded, a sigh of relief escaping him as he said:

"Since you have grasped a thread of vitality, you can now gradually undergo your rebirth. All the necessary Immortal Source [a primordial substance of immense spiritual power] and rare treasures will be sent to you by your mother." Xander Chen did not reply immediately. He lifted his gaze to the drifting clouds on the horizon and sighed softly. "Your son has attained Buddhahood, yet I am plagued by uncertainty. I beg you, Father, to resolve my doubts."

"Oh?"

"Speak your mind." Eldrin Chen settled onto the ground, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with his eldest son as they watched the sea of clouds.

"Father must understand, my nature is stubborn. When I witness the world's evils, I cannot bear them, always resorting to severe and unyielding methods."

"Ancient Buddha Kongming often admonished me, saying: 'The Buddha loves all beings. One should ferry all suffering across, soothe the world's wounds and sorrows. You should not act with such overbearing force.'" Speaking to this point, Xander Chen sighed. "When my Master came to see me on this journey, he said this tribulation befell me precisely because my actions were too extreme, constantly accumulating Karmic Burden [the metaphysical weight of one's actions, both good and ill], which triggered this calamity."

"Your son is troubled in heart. Have I truly been wrong?" Eldrin Chen listened quietly to his eldest son's words. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, studying Xander Chen intently for a moment before finally shaking his head with serene calm.

His gaze returned to the billowing, churning sea of clouds, and he sighed softly. "Ancient Buddha Kongming is a Half-Step Earth Immortal [a cultivator who has nearly ascended to the realm of an Earth Immortal, a being of immense power bound to the mortal world]. His mastery of Buddhist doctrine is profound, and his words undoubtedly hold their own wisdom."

"But you must understand, the path he walks is not necessarily the path you must tread." Immerse yourself in the complete world at audio_novel.com.

"His path..." Upon hearing this, Xander Chen fell into deep contemplation.

"Yes," Eldrin Chen nodded, speaking with serene certainty. "What you must do is follow the dictates of your own heart."

"To vanquish the wicked with thunderous resolve is itself an act of salvation for all living beings. Is that not a form of universal deliverance?" At this point, Eldrin Chen offered a gentle smile. "To kill is to protect life; to sever karma is not to slay the person. By acting according to your true nature, using the Dharma to subdue demons and vanquish evil, you embody the greatest compassion!" Xander Chen experienced a sudden, brilliant awakening, his eyes shining with newfound clarity. "The paths of the world are myriad, and each person must walk their own."

"Let others walk their roads; I shall tread my own path."

"I understand now, Father," Xander Chen declared, his voice firm with profound realization. "If one day I attain the Dao [the supreme principle and path of cultivation], I shall eradicate all evil spirits across the heavens and cleanse the filth from the cosmos. Only thus can I ferry the world across its sea of suffering."

"If I can ferry all beings from suffering, what does it matter if Karmic Burden [the metaphysical weight of one's actions] accumulates?"

"You have comprehended the Dao," Eldrin Chen affirmed with a nod, finally rising to his feet. "Be they mortal or immortal, Buddha or man, all must understand in their lifetime what they are meant to do."

"Otherwise, even with cultivation that reaches the heavens, one is merely a puppet of their own practice."

"Now that you have comprehended your path, I can finally be at ease regarding your future."

"Go. The road ahead is yours to walk alone."

With Xander Chen's injuries finally healed, Eldrin Chen could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He summoned the several Immortal [beings who have transcended mortality and ascended to the celestial realm] residing on Verdant Chariot Mountain to the Grand Hall within the Verdant Chariot Mountain Hall. There, he began recounting the experiences and sights from his recent descent to the lower realm.

Upon hearing of the great battle atop Verdant Spirit Ancient Star, expressions of concern clouded their faces. Yet, when he mentioned the ascension of the Purple Realm, smiles returned to their countenances.

Yvonne the Violet Consort could not help but remark with a smile, "With the heaven and earth of the Purple Realm now elevated, the number of cultivators within its bounds will surely swell in the ages to come. It seems we can expect an Ascending to Immortality [the act of transcending mortality and becoming an Immortal] every few Millennium [a period of one thousand years]." Hearing this, the others nodded in quiet agreement.

In an ordinary Great Thousand World [a major world within the cosmic hierarchy], hundreds of thousands of years might pass without a single cultivator achieving Ascending to Immortality. Yet, the Purple Realm had once produced a Great Luo Golden Immortal [a supreme level of Immortal attainment], endowing it with a destiny far beyond the mundane. Even during the era of the Demonic Abyss Cataclysm, it had consistently birthed one Immortal every ten or twenty thousand years on average.

Figures like Lyra Jiang, Verdant Consort, and Kael Chen were considered top-tier geniuses even within the Immortal Realm [the realm of the Immortals], and all had been nurtured within the Purple Realm—a testament to its astonishingly potent fortune.

Now that the Purple Realm had metamorphosed into an Immortal Rank Realm [a world whose spiritual rank qualifies it to produce Immortals], the number of cultivators destined to achieve Ascending to Immortality in the future was unlikely to be small.

Contemplating this, Lyra Jiang spoke again, "In a few hundred years, Kael, the Master of the Dao Palace, and six other Immortal will ascend. Our Immortal Mountain [a mountain peak suffused with Immortal-grade spiritual energy] may soon prove insufficient." Verdant Consort nodded in concurrence, adding, "After we vanquished the Crimson Dragon Clan, we gained control of four of their five Immortal Island [floating islands imbued with Immortal-grade spiritual energy], all except Crimson Dragon Island itself."

"Thus, Immortal Island are not the constraint. The true limitation is that the Starry Glazed Realm [a grand formation that gathers stellar energies to accelerate cultivation] likely cannot sustain the cultivation of so many Immortal." At these words, the gazes of all present shifted thoughtfully.

The Starry Glazed Realm was the most crucial Deep-Seated Foundation [a foundational asset critical for a clan or sect's long-term prosperity] of the Chen Clan. It could triple an Immortal's cultivation speed, an effect comparable to that of a low-grade Earth Immortal Blessed Land [a pocket realm or territory of exceptional spiritual richness].

However, the Stellar Power [the refined essence of stars and constellations] the Starry Glazed Realm could gather was finite. At most, it could only support the cultivation of nine Immortal simultaneously—a number far too meager for the burgeoning needs of the Chen Clan.

Within the Chen Immortal Clan today, counting only the direct lineage, there are already six Immortals [cultivators who have ascended to the highest realms of power]: Eldrin Chen, Lyra Jiang, Yvonne the Violet Consort, Lila, Verdant Consort, and Nyssa Qu.

Even with Nyssa Qu absent and Xander Chen needing to descend the mountain for further cultivation after his recovery, that still leaves four Immortals.

Adding the guardian clan spirits—the Separated Flame Phoenix [a mythical fire phoenix spirit], Ancestor Black Tortoise, and Master of the Drifting Snow Palace—brings the total to seven. Once the Eight Violet Immortals [a legendary group of eight powerful cultivators] are fully assembled, that number will reach a full fifteen Immortals.

This does not even account for the ten candidates Eldrin Chen brought up for ascension. Among them, individuals like Ethan Chen, Caspian Chen, Alistair Lu, and Lana Gu all possess the potential to ascend to Immortality [to break through to the Immortal realm].

Barring unforeseen circumstances, these individuals should all achieve ascension successively over the next few millennia. Calculating thus, within the next ten thousand years, the number of Immortals within the Chen Clan will likely exceed twenty. The Starry Glazed Realm [a blessed cultivation realm under a starry, glazed sky] will undoubtedly be far from sufficient.

"The Starry Glazed Realm is indeed insufficient," Eldrin Chen nodded, pondered for a moment, then withdrew the Three Thousand Star Pearls from his sleeve. "These Three Thousand Stars can channel the Zhou Heavenly Stars Power [the primordial stellar energy of the Zhou Heaven constellations]; they are a rare and peerless Supreme Grade Immortal Treasure [a treasure of the highest immortal grade]." Access the full story on audio-novel-dot-com.

"I intend to integrate this treasure into the Starry Abode of Bliss, to enhance the stellar power [power drawn from the stars] of the Starry Glazed Realm."

"This..." The others' expressions shifted upon hearing this. Lila could not help but advise, "That item is a Supreme Grade Immortal Treasure, one of your most precious trump cards. Are you truly going to use it to merge with the Starry Glazed Realm?"

"My decision is made," Eldrin Chen affirmed with a firm nod. "Though the treasure is potent, if kept merely as a Protective Magical Treasure, it will inevitably become obsolete one day."

"Only by refining it into the Starry Glazed Realm, thereby increasing our cultivation speed, can we secure a lasting advantage." Hearing this, the others understood Eldrin Chen's resolve was unshakable and offered no further counsel.

Eldrin Chen gazed upon the Three Thousand Stars [a celestial object containing the essence of three thousand stars], a faint smile gracing his lips. "I have a premonition," he said, his voice carrying the weight of certainty, "that once this treasure is refined into the Starry Glazed Realm [a mystical formation realm resembling a starry, glazed cosmos], the profound utility of the Starry Glazed Realm will undoubtedly increase by a significant measure."

"When that time comes, it will be more than sufficient to accommodate over twenty Immortal [a supreme realm of cultivation, transcending mortality]. We could even grant access for cultivation to Six Stars Immortal and our other in-laws, as well as to some of the Demigod Ancestor [a cultivator who has ascended to a realm just below that of a true Immortal] within our own clan." Enjoyed this chapter? Read more at audio-novel.com (official site).