"Interesting!"
Lu Xuanji smiled and said, "Now I present you with a choice: one, I turn and leave, and you battle the Golden Lion Race on your own; the other, you join my Chu Country, being a vassal of the Lu Family, a branch under my mand."
The white-robed priest said, "I choose the latter!"
Lu Xuanji said, "Joining the Lu Family is no easy task! It’s destined to have poor meals while doing much work, and you will suffer hardships; do you still wish to proceed?"
The white-robed priest said, "How bad could it get at its worst? Our tribe is willing to join the Lu Family."
Lu Xuanji said, "Good, now you can enter the Grotto World I’ve opened..."
Activating a secret technique, a space gate appeared immediately in the void.
The space gate was deep and dark, seemingly leading to an unknown world.
The white-robed priest took a deep breath and entered the space gate, feeling dizzy once inside, as a brand-new world appeared.
"This world is somewhat small... he actually opened a Grotto Heaven with a World Stone inside himself!"
The white-robed priest sensed the surroundings.
This Grotto Heaven was only a thousand miles in diameter, with gray soil on the ground and some growing vegetation; in the distance, there were mountains, hills, plains, rivers, and other features. Everything here was harmonious and orderly, with a few high-level cultivators, most of whom were Golden Cores.
As for Nascent Soul, Divinity Transformation, and others, their numbers were scarce.
Because the laws of the Grotto are inplete, unlike the more plete outside world.
In the Grotto Heaven, merely breathing Spiritual Qi presents no significant problems; yet to prehend the Great Dao and the Mysteries of Law, it’s best to venture into the external world.
If a Nascent Soul Divinity Transformation stays too long in the Grotto Heaven, their cultivation might stagnate or even regress.
The sky overhead was gray and bleak, without stars, making it appear monotonous; neither moon nor sun, no alternation of day and night, remained in a constant gray state.
These are manifestations of the inplete Grotto Heaven laws and the world’s imperfection.
The more perfect a Grotto Heaven is, the closer it is to the true world outside.
The white-robed priest suddenly thought of their own Grotto Heaven—Starfall Grotto Heaven.
Starfall Grotto Heaven was a grotto opened by Starfall Immortal, with a simple sun and moon inside; the sun is a top-grade spirit treasure, the Celestial Mirror, while the moon is a top-grade spirit treasure, the Moonlight Wheel. These two magical treasures continuously alternated day and night, shedding light and running the world’s day-night cycle.
With a basic sun and moon, the Starfall Grotto Heaven laws are more plete, capable of birthing more powerful beings.
Yet upon entering this Grotto Heaven, the white-robed priest felt a bit unfortable, but after suppressing the unease, there was a burst of joy.
"Our tribe is saved!"
The white-robed priest turned away to leave this Grotto Heaven.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The bell sounded, echoing strongly for nine consecutive times.
The scattered people of the Human Race gathered together in just half a day.
Looking at the crowd below, the High Priest felt a fleeting sadness.
In the past, the tribe had a population of a million, but it later dwindled to less than ten thousand. It was then that the pressure on the tribe was relaxed, and the population gradually recovered to more than a hundred thousand.
But soon, war erupted again, amidst repeated hunts and harvests.
The tribe’s population remained around a hundred thousand, fluctuating up and down.
"Fellow tribesmen, our tribe’s situation is dire; many of you may have realized your predicament, yet some are unwilling to acknowledge it!" The white-robed priest began, "Now, I offer you an opportunity, a chance to stand proudly!"
"I am going to a place—those who wish to follow me, stand on the left; those who wish to stay in the tribe, stand on the right."
"Now everyone can make a choice!"
The white-robed priest spoke, initially intending to say much about the Human Race’s plight, the tribe’s suffering captivity, her ideals and struggles, and some future prospects of leaving here for the Main World.
But when she opened her mouth, it ended up as only a few dry, simple words.
Trust me, follow me;
If you don’t trust me, then stay.
She had a Holy Mother’s heart but wasn’t a naive do-gooder.
Opportunities were given, yet to fail to seize them meant bearing any ensuing calamities.
The crowd exchanged glances, emotions fluctuating.
People started making choices, and seven layers of the human race chose to follow the priest away.
As for the remaining, they seemed to hesitate.
"Good!"
The white-robed priest nodded, "Don’t resist; I will lead you to a new world!"
Activating a secret technique, under the summoning, a space gate appeared in the void. The white-robed priest was the first to enter, soon followed by other followers. Inside the Creation Grotto Heaven, it quickly weled over seventy thousand new inhabitants. As for the more than thirty thousand human races, they planned to stay in the tribe.
"I am leaving!"
The white-robed priest looked at the declining scene, the hesitation in her expression faded, turning into a trace of determination, as she flashed away from the tribe.
Only thirty thousand people were still hesitating.
"Are we going to that new world?"
"In that case, we should ask the Grand Elder first though!"
"Yeah, so should we!"
These humans discussed among themselves, and some high-level cultivators tried to contact the Grand Elder with secret techniques, but were unable to reach him.
...
"Interesting!"
Lu Xuanji sensed the Creation Grotto Heaven, where the seventy thousand new residents began settling down.
Under the white-robed priest’s direction, they started to build the tribe, establish spiritual fields, plant spirit medicine, and so on; everything was in order, developing in a methodical way. With the influx of these human cultivators, the Grotto World gained a touch of vitality, a hint of creation, and seemed to undergo a different kind of change.
In the past, after opening the Grotto Heaven, he began transplanting some vegetation, some spirit medicine, some spirit roots, etc., into the Grotto Heaven to transform its environment.
Then, he introduced some animals, spirit beasts, and others into the Grotto Heaven.
But now, introducing some humans as well.
Under gradual transformation, the Grotto Heaven experienced astonishing changes.
This transformation was more intense than the previous ones.
After these seventy thousand humans entered the Grotto Heaven, they spawned various emotions—joy, fear, unease, fright, excitement, and so on, transforming into a marvelous power that began integrating into the Grotto Heaven, gradually perfecting it.
The Grotto Heaven embarked from its flaws toward perfection.
It seemed as if all these emotions converging and continuously smelting would gradually cause the Grotto Heaven to evolve out of a Heavenly Dao, transforming into a world.
The Heavenly Dao is the fundamental distinction between a Grotto Heaven and a world.
A Grotto Heaven does not possess a Heavenly Dao.
A world, however, does.
"The world is flawed, beings pensate. The stronger the World Origin, the richer the resources, the more cultivators it can acmodate, and the higher their cultivation; yet at the same time, the more numerous and advanced the cultivators, they continuously nourish the world, enhancing its World Origin. Between the two, a perfect positive cycle is formed!"
"All beings are the very foundation of a world’s growth... No wonder many immortals harbor numerous intelligent beings in the Grotto Heaven they create, increasing the variety of beings to facilitate the perfect evolution of the Grotto Heaven. Unfortunately, the grade of my Grotto Heaven is low, capable of acmodating only a few cultivators; more than that, and the Grotto Heaven struggles to cope!"
Lu Xuanji, sensing the mysteries, sighed slightly.
The evolution of a Grotto Heaven requires tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years.
But the lifespan of a cultivator is too short; often, they cannot wait for the world to evolve to a perfect state before they perish.
"Cultivators cannot achieve immortality, nor can immortals escape death; immortals merely have a longer lifespan." Lu Xuanji sighed inwardly, summoning the white-robed priest who appeared before him, "How should I address you, fellow Taoist?"
The white-robed priest respectfully said, "I am Feng Yuming."
Lu Xuanji said, "Your tribe has been admitted into my Grotto Heaven, ensuring your safety. Next, I plan to attack the Golden Lion Race. If warfare goes well, there will be bloodshed and strong enemies will fall; if not, I will retreat accordingly."
"If I decide to leave, no one can stop me!"
"Would you be willing to lead the way ahead?"
Feng Yuming said with joy, "I am willing."
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