Chapter 1122: The Immortal Sea is not a Sea
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
The immortal sea was limitless.
Today, three years have passed since Qin Wentian and his comrades set foot on the ocean.
Qin Wentian quietly lied on his boat with no distractions in his heart, in a state of forgetfulness where he even forgot where he is at.
This immortal sea was like the path of his cultivation, there was no end to it. There would always be a higher realm in front of him.
The immortal sea also seemed like the body of a human. Nobody knew the true limits of their bodies, he was able to continuously absorb immortal energy, causing his body to grow stronger and stronger.
Also, for those who are cultivating in the immortal sea, they were doing the same as well. No one knew when their immortal foundations could absorb sufficient law energy from this immortal sea, and when it would be enough for them to cross over to the other shore.
Qin Wentian laid there on his boat for a very very long time. It felt like he had nothing to do, he would occasionally open his eyes to look at the stretch of beautiful blue sky as a smile would adorn his face. Right now, his heart completely had no desires, it felt really good to be able to let go of everything, doing nothing but enjoying these moments of tranquility.
At this very moment, a sense of marvelousness abruptly appeared. Qin Wentian could feel that he was enveloped by a strange energy and the projection of a location within the sacred academy actually appeared before him! Qin Wentian had a very strong feeling that as long as he was willing, he could simply set foot and enter that location with no trouble at all. The him now, it seems like he could already cross over to the shore should he so wish.
"This sacred academy seems different to the projection which appeared for the monk earlier." Qin Wentian recalled. The scared academy's projection for him seemed to be a location that was filled with peace and harmony, and looked extremely ordinary.
"With no desires in one's heart, there is no drive to cultivate. If I don't cultivate, what is this then? How did I reach the other shore? What Dao does this location within the sacred academy contain exactly?" Qin Wentian smiled but he shook his head after a moment of contemplation. After that, he closed his eyes and just simply, continued laying there.
Gradually, the projection turned dim and finally vanished completely.
Qin Wentian actually forsook the opportunity to cross to the other shore, giving up this chance to enter the sacred academy.
He did so because he wanted to verify some of the thoughts in his heart. Right now, it seems that verification occured and his ideas were right. He actually managed to cause a path to the sacred academy to open up before him.
It was too difficult to truly give up on all desires. In his heart, he sought strength, wanting grow in cultivation. How could he give that up so easily? One can say that everyone currently on this sea was the same as him. Qin Wentian being able to reach that state of mind earlier, summoning the sacred academy, was already an indication that he transcended his original state of heart.
"Why did you chose to give up?" A voice rang out in Qin Wentian's mind, akin to music from the Great Dao.
Qin Wentian's heart trembled but he soon regained his calm. He stared at the vast sea as he slowly spoke, "I wish to cultivate and seek the dao to enter the academy. I do not simply want to enter the academy."
No one replied him. That voice seemed to have originated from the void, after asking that question, it returned to the void and seemed like it never existed at all.
Qin Wentian was still drifting on the immortal sea. He laid there with a smile on his face. The him right now felt fully energized, and no longer had any doubts about himself. Because, he already knew what he was supposed to do.
Closing his eyes, Qin Wentian's body shone with immortal light. The law energy from the immortal sea flowed into him, he could feel his entire being getting stimulated and the light radiating from him grew brighter and brighter.
"BANG!" The little boat he was on, shattered completely. Qin Wentian was laying on the surface of the immortal sea. In fact, he relinquished all control of his body, and followed the course of nature. Despite so, his body didn't sink into the sea and remained floating on the surface.
The resplendent law energy enveloped Qin Wentian completely. Qin Wentian right now seemed to be bound up in a cocoon of law energy. His body floated along with the waves but Qin Wentian already couldn't be bothered with it. He didn't care where the wind and waves would bring him, he was in complete concentration, focusing on his cultivation.
As time went by, there were many times where Qin Wentian felt that as long as he was willing to, the projection of the sacred academy would appear before his eyes. However, he just ignored those feelings and continued floating on the sea. He absorbed more and more of the law energy as his body was constantly being refined while his immortal foundation grew more powerful.
Today, Qin Wentian's immortal foundation grew larger in size and the immortal light radiating from it, also grew in intensity. His immortal might gushed forth in waves as boundless law energy from the sea rushed into him, channeled into his immortal foundation. The law energy from this immortal sea was all-encompassing, able to be used by Qin Wentian with the attribute energies he was familiar with.
At this instant, with Qin Wentian at the center, huge waves were created from his aura gushing forth. Thunderous rumbling sounds could be heard as boundless energy flowed into him, the law energy from the immortal sea was used as nourishment for him to level up.
At the immortal foundation realm, it was harder the more one advanced. Every level up needed an immense amount of build up of the previous level. Hence, the time needed to breakthrough for the latter levels, could be many times longer in comparison.
Hence, the cultivation path at the immortal foundation realm was exceedingly tough. If one ascended to immortality within a hundred years, they may use two hundred years to get to level two, four hundred years to level three, eight hundred years to level four, a thousand six hundred years to get to level five of immortal-foundation… In fact, it wasn't surprising for someone to spend over 20,000 years just to reach the ninth level.
Only those truly supreme characters who established a king or emperor-grade, or even the supreme legendary saint-grade immortal foundation, would be able to walk a path different from the vast majority.
Time still continued flowing. Within the immortal sea, time seemed to be an insignificant concept. Today, in a certain location of the immortal sea, boundless light illuminated the area. Over there, a figure suddenly floated up from the immortal sea and this was none other than Qin Wentian.
Before him, the projection of another location in the sacred academy appeared, as though issuing a strong summon-like force for Qin Wentian to enter.
As long as he was willing, he could enter this location.
However, Qin Wentian merely took a glance at it and smiled. He didn't move from his spot until the projection vanished again.
"Why didn't you enter?" The same voice from before rang out in his mind. Standing in this boundlessly vast ocean, Qin Wentian seemed so tiny and inconsequential. Just a huge wave was sufficient to swallow him whole.
However at this instant, Qin Wentian stood with his back straight and proud. A smile appeared on his face as he calmly stared ahead.
"I wish to ask a question." Qin Wentian then spoke, as though speaking to great void.
For a very long time, there was no response. However, after that, a voice rang out, "What is the question?"
Upon hearing this voice, Qin Wentian's smile grew wider. He was even more sure that his conclusions were right.
"If there's existence of the Great Dao in the immortal sea, is this sea still a sea?" Qin Wentian asked. Another bout of silence occured… but all of a sudden, a terrifying storm raged over the immortal sea. A rumbling noise echoed as tsunami-level waves crashed over and over again. A gigantic towering wave swept over to Qin Wentian, it stopped before him and transformed into a terrifying demon, exuding a baleful aura that permeated the atmosphere. The demon wrenched its maw open and lunged over to Qin Wentian, wanting to devour him in a single gulp.
Despite so, Qin Wentian continue standing there unmoving. At the very instant before its maw bit down, the gigantic demon stopped its action. This demon was actually in the form of a giant fish. That gargantuan body it possessed stopped right in front of Qin Wentian as it regarded him with its cold eyes. "The immortal sea might have the Dao within it, but why is it not a sea?"
"It is an incarnation of the Great Dao, an existence of law. How could there be a sea?" Qin Wentian stared at the huge demon in front of him. His expression was as calm as ever, as though he had already seen through everything.
There are plenty of methods that can lead to success in crossing to the other shore. Many conjectures then appeared in his mind.
Finally, Qin Wentian was enlightened. He felt that this sea was basically something transformed from the heavenly law energy of the Great Dao.
The immortal sea wasn't a sea, it was the Dao!
"You are very intelligent." That greater demon spoke, as though he was admitting that Qin Wentian's words were right. Since Qin Wentian had already comprehended and figured out this much, the greater demon naturally wouldn't deny it.
"However, you used two methods to it try out, wasting much of your time. Why didn't you enter during the first time?" That greater demon continued asking. "Since entering the sacred academy for cultivation was your purpose, why are you okay with wasting time out here on this sea?"
"This sea contains such powerful heavenly laws. Isn't it a pity to miss out on cultivating it? After entering the sacred academy, there might not be another chance to comprehend it. I used a mere four years to step into the third level of immortal foundation, what do you mean by me wasting my time?" Qin Wentian smiled and replied.
"Your comprehension abilities are indeed very strong." That greater demon spoke again. "But even so, why didn't you enter the academy after the projection appeared for the second time? Do you intend to continue comprehending the law energy of this immortal sea?"
Qin Wentian shook his head. Although cultivating on the immortal sea did help him to break through to the third level, the major reason behind his success was because he was already at the peak of the second level for a long time with an incomparably solid foundation. It was not very likely for him to be able to break through to the fourth-level of immortal foundation just by comprehending the law energy here.
"What do you mean? Am I not already in the sacred academy? Why do I still need to go elsewhere?" Qin Wentian spoke. As the sound of his voice faded, the greater demon trembled for a moment before it froze.
"Rumble~" The sound of waves crashing could be heard. The greater demon vanished completely and the waves of the immortal sea returned to calm again.
Qin Wentian was standing on the sea but gradually, he discovered the scene before his eyes changing. The boundlessly vast sea was transforming into solid land. He lowered his head and saw that the surface he was standing on, was no longer the sea.
In just an instant, everything vanished. Qin Wentian was standing on the ground as he has always been. The immortal sea never once existed.
The immortal sea is boundless because… there never has been an immortal sea in the first place.
"Hu…" Qin Wentian drew in a deep breath. A smile flickered in his eyes. In fact, he wasn't as confident as he looked. This was just a bold conjecture.
Since Qin Wentian felt that this immortal sea was the dao, and was something transformed by heavenly laws, he felt that it was highly possible that this sea was just an illusion.
Right now, his conjecture had been verified. His bold guess was actually right.
On land, he was the only one standing there. For as far as his eyes could see, there was only a stretch of quiet desolation. There was no sign of any living things at all.
"Where is this place?" Qin Wentian frowed. Is this the sacred academy? Why isn't there a single person? Could there be many secrets hidden within this place?
"Weren't you very confident earlier?" That voice rang out in Qin Wentian's mind again. Qin Wentian glanced at his surroundings as he cursed silently in his heart. Was the greater demon intentionally pranking him?
However, since he already stood on solid ground, Qin Wentian believed that there was no mistakes in his guess. That illusory figure from the start had said there are a myriad of ways to cross the immortal sea. It would send them to different locations according to the path of their Dao.
His path, was the path of seeking truth. He saw through the void and all illusions and hence, he crossed the sea and arrived here. Maybe it was possible that he was the only one on this path, which could explain the fact that there were no others in the surroundings!