Chapter 367: Chapter 196: Creating Heaven and Earth for the First Time
The sun rose in the east, its morning rays breaking the dawn.
Brilliant sunlight pierced through endless clouds, spilling into the valley below.
It filtered through the mottled shadows of the trees, scattering flecks of gold across the ground.
The morning sets the tone for the day.
Within the Human Ancestral Land, everyone and everything began the day’s hustle and bustle, from ordinary folk and wild beasts to Cultivators.
Inside the grotto-residence.
Wang Xiao opened his eyes. Within them, a Tai Chi symbol seemed to spin endlessly.
Encompassing all things, containing Heaven and Earth.
In the instant he opened his eyes, the endless ripples of power all settled into tranquility.
’Celestial Venerable. I’ve finally become one.’
’So this is the power of a Grotto Heaven. It feels completely different from the Grotto Heaven I obtained from the Celestial Extremist!’
Wang Xiao felt the physical changes brought about by the Grotto Heaven within him.
At this moment, his Purple Mansion and Inner World had vanished.
In their place was a world a million li in diameter, flowing with endless Dao Charm.
Aside from being devoid of life, this world was no different from the real one.
One could even plant Spirit Flowers and Herbs inside it, or have people inhabit it, cultivating the land and expanding its frontiers!
’Only by truly possessing a world of my own can I contain a planet’s consciousness and become a Star Lord!’
A flash of insight dawned on Wang Xiao.
A planet’s consciousness exists within Heaven and Earth.
If a person doesn’t have a world of their own, how could they possibly refine a planet’s consciousness?
However, everyone’s internal Grotto Heaven was different.
Although a Grotto Heaven would grow larger as one’s Cultivation improved,
it was exceedingly rare for someone like Wang Xiao to create one a million li in diameter right from the start.
For instance, the Celestial Extremist had cultivated for tens of thousands of years.
Yet, his Grotto Heaven was merely a thousand li in size.
And Montis, who possessed four types of Origin.
The Grotto Heaven he created after achieving Origin Unity was only a hundred thousand li!
A full ten times smaller than Wang Xiao’s.
A Celestial Venerable’s power was directly linked to their Grotto Heaven.
The larger the Grotto Heaven, the more Grotto Heaven Power one could wield!
The might produced by the same Divine Technique would naturally be vastly different as well.
It could be said that even though Wang Xiao had just become a Celestial Venerable, his strength was already enough to crush an ordinary one.
If he were to run into Montis now, he could probably crush him to death with a single finger.
This was the transformation in strength that came with Breaking a Realm!
Although Wang Xiao was still fundamentally a Tier Six Life,
he was likely more than a hundred times stronger than an Evolver who had just entered that stage!
’I wonder if I could contend with a Tier Seven Life if I unleashed the full power of my Grotto Heaven.’
Wang Xiao silently assessed.
He had never fought a true Tier Seven Life.
He just had a feeling that he might not necessarily lose.
’Of course, there’s no need for me to fight above my tier. Now that I’ve created my Grotto Heaven, I should start preparing to break through to Tier Seven Life!’
Wang Xiao mused.
To break through to Tier Seven Life, one had to refine a planet’s consciousness.
This would allow one’s Grotto Heaven to truly become alive.
Without a planet’s consciousness, no matter how vibrant the Grotto Heaven might seem, it would remain inert and lifeless.
This was because the Grotto Heaven would lack the ability to evolve on its own.
And what did "evolve on its own" mean?
It meant that without any external intervention,
everything within the Grotto Heaven would gradually change with the passage of time.
For example, if you planted a Spirit Grass in a Grotto Heaven that hadn’t refined a planet’s consciousness,
without proper fertilization and irrigation,
that Spirit Grass would never grow. It might even wither and die on the spot.
But if you planted a Spirit Grass in a Grotto Heaven that *had* refined a planet’s consciousness,
even without irrigation, the Spirit Grass might wither, but it could also thrive and grow strong.
Evolution granted the Grotto Heaven infinite possibilities.
In addition, whether one refined a Death Star or a Living Star, their Grotto Heaven Power would transform into Star Power.
This would grant them the initial power to traverse the starry cosmos!
Even in the vacuum of space, they could rely on Star Power to execute their Divine Techniques.
Their strength would no longer be severely diminished.
Just as Wang Xiao was sensing the changes in his power,
BUZZ!
the Celestial Observation Cauldron suspended in mid-air nearby began to tremble violently.
Waves of profound and mysterious energy surged out from within the Celestial Observation Cauldron.
They connected with Wang Xiao’s internal Grotto Heaven.
’Hm? This change...’
Wang Xiao’s eyes twitched.
He felt as though a faint yet deeper connection had formed between himself and the Celestial Observation Cauldron.
The Cauldron even seemed to show a hint of affinity for him.
This had never happened before!
With a thought, Wang Xiao sent his Divine Thought surging into the Celestial Observation Cauldron.
BUZZ!
In an instant, a vast, ocean-like Power of the Earth Veins surged into Wang Xiao’s Grotto Heaven.
It nourished his Grotto Heaven,
even causing its area to expand slightly once more.
At the same time, by following this Power of the Earth Veins to its source, he could sense another vast and boundless wave of Divine Thought.
’This is... a planet’s consciousness...’
Wang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat.
He remembered that one of the Celestial Observation Cauldron’s abilities was to find and suppress a planet’s consciousness!
However, the Celestial Observation Cauldron before him was merely a fragment.
As such, it could only vaguely sense the planet’s consciousness, unable to pinpoint its exact location.
’Before, when I interacted with the Celestial Observation Cauldron, I could only vaguely sense the planet’s consciousness through it. Now, the sensation is much clearer.’
’Why the change?’
’Could it be that the Celestial Observation Cauldron has acknowledged me?!’
A sudden possibility occurred to Wang Xiao.
Refining the fragment of the Celestial Observation Cauldron required two prerequisites.
