Chapter 2267: The Sky Beyond The Sky
Chapter 2267: The Sky Beyond The Sky
Bai Su's question stunned the God of Food.
Close to Lu Yin, Prof. Wei, Mr. Tang, Xia Shenguang, Wang Xiaofan, Liu Que, and many others were similarly stunned. Nong Siniang even blurted out, "You’re willing to open the Sky Beyond the Sky trial?"
Bai Su smiled at Nong Siniang. "It's not a trial, just a test. If you students of Virtue Archives are willing, then you can attempt to climb the Sky Beyond the Sky and perhaps reap some benefits."
Lu Yin's eyes flickered—the Sky Beyond the Sky? He was a bit familiar with the name. After all, Lu Yin had Possessed many people and gone through their memories, including powerhouses like Long Ke. While Long Ke did not have that much specific knowledge about the Celestial Frost Sect, the Sky Beyond the Sky was incredibly famous.
What was known as the Sky Beyond the Sky was the clouds above the Celestial Frost Sect.
There was an unwritten rule in the Higher Realm that the heights of the four ruling powers were all the same. The top of the tallest peak of Dragon Mountain, the blazing orb above the Wang family’s landmass, the caged jiao above Shenwu’s Sky, and the clouds above the Celestial Frost Sect were all at the same altitude. The Sky Beyond The Sky was considered the peak of the Higher Realm.
The Higher Realm was covered by a sky, but above those clouds at the top of the sky was yet another sky.
This was just one of the explanations for the name “Sky Beyond the Sky,” but that was just the explanation that most people were familiar with. The term did not only refer to the status of the four ruling powers, but also a specific trial.
It was quite easy for cultivators to reach the level where they were able to wander through space and explore the universe, but that did not mean that they would be able to ascend past the clouds of the Higher Realm. No matter if one was an average cultivator, an Envoy, or even a Semi-Progenitor powerhouse, ascending past the clouds was practically impossible for all of them. In fact, no one who attempted to ascend above the clouds had any memory of their attempt, as their memories of the event seemed to be erased after the fact. It was possible that only those who succeeded knew what happened during the climb.
Since ancient times, very few people had ever ascended above the clouds, and that included both members of the Celestial Frost Sect and outsiders. Even before the Lu family had been exiled, almost none had ever succeeded. This was why, while many people were familiar with the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, no one knew what it entailed.
If this was all there was to the trial, then people would not care about it. No, what made the Sky Beyond the Sky so incredibly famous was the fact that every single person who succeeded in ascending above the clouds had eventually become a Progenitor.
Lu Yin had fought and experienced the combat strength and talent of the most recently titled Junior Progenitors. Youths who received the title of Junior Progenitor were simply youths who had managed to start opening their three meridian points with tribulation crystals. Becoming a Progenitor was not guaranteed, but rather more of a hope and a goal. Lu Yin considered the Junior Progenitors to be similar to the Heavens Sect era’s gatemasters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates.
The twelve gatemasters and the Dao Chosen from the Heavens Sect era were all said to be guaranteed to become Progenitors, but if that was true, there would be far, far more Progenitors than were recorded down in history, and Progenitors would practically be as numerous as Semi-Progenitors.
In reality, all of those people simply had a much greater chance of reaching the Progenitor realm, and those sayings were encouragement to raise their confidence.
However, the Sky Beyond the Sky trial was different, as anyone who passed the trial and ascended above the clouds would be acknowledged by the Celestial Frost Sect as an immortal above immortals. As long as that person did not die unexpectedly, they would absolutely become a Progenitor one day. For example, a member of the Lu family had once passed the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, and while that person had been assured to eventually become a Progenitor, they had died in the Dominion Realm. There was also a legend of someone named Bai Sheng from the Celestial Frost Sect. He had supposedly also passed the trial and ascended above the clouds. As such, he had been given the title of immortal, and he had eventually become a Progenitor.
However, the most famous person to ever pass the trial was someone much more familiar to Lu Yin: Progenitor Wen.
The founder of Virtue Archives, Progenitor Wen, had faced the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, and he had ascended beyond the clouds to also receive the title of immortal.
The Sky Beyond the Sky trial did not make one become a Progenitor, but it was basically rather regarded as a prophecy. All that anyone knew for certain was that anyone who passed the trial and did not die unexpectedly was guaranteed to become a Progenitor. So far, five people were known to have succeeded.
Many people considered those who passed the Sky Beyond the Sky trial to have a much greater chance of becoming a Progenitor, but the problem was that so few people were capable of passing the trial that the chances of success were practically zero.
The God of Food stared at Bai Su for a long moment. "Is your Celestial Frost Sect truly willing to give these children a chance to challenge the Sky Beyond the Sky trial?"
The Sky Beyond the Sky trial was not something that was open to just anyone, and even members of the Lu family had needed to pay a steep price to receive that opportunity.
Bai Su smiled. "Of course. These students are humanity’s future powerhouses. Naturally, my Celestial Frost Sect is willing to do our best to help them. The best result would be if one more person can pass the Sky Beyond the Sky."
This opportunity completely defied the God of Food’s expectations. From the Daosource Sect era to the present, which encompassed the entire existence of the Perennial World, only eight people had ever managed to pass the Sky Beyond the Sky: one from the Lu family, two from the Celestial Frost Sect, one from Shenwu's Sky, one from Seed Garden, Progenitor Wen, and two incredibly talented independent cultivators.
Of those people, five had successfully become Progenitors: the person from the Lu family, the Celestial Frost Sect’s Bai Sheng, Progenitor Wen, the person from Seed Garden, and one of the two independent cultivators. One of the people from Shenwu’s Sky and one of the independent cultivators had been assassinated, though the killers remained an unsolved mystery. People assumed that a Redback or Aeternus was behind the attacks.
As for the second person from the Celestial Frost Sect who had succeeded, it was Bai Xian’er.
Countless people had attempted the Sky Beyond the Sky, but only these few had succeeded. How could the God of Food have any expectations for his students?
Lu Yin did not have much interest in the trial. He instead looked towards the Celestial Frost Sect while reviewing the memories that he had obtained from Possessing Long Ke. None of the Seven Heroes had ever attempted the Sky Beyond the Sky trial. While many people considered the trial to be extremely important, there were also many who did not want to even try.
It was referred to as a trial, so naturally there was some danger to it. Those who passed the trial were seen as destined to become Progenitors, while many of those who failed were forever ruined.
Success was nearly impossible when challenging the Sky Beyond the Sky, and there was a considerable number of challengers who were crippled by their failure. They would look perfectly normal, but some would completely forget how to cultivate, while others went insane. A few seemed to forget that they were even human, which was a terrifying outcome. Such a terrible risk dissuaded many people from challenging the trial.
Still, the fact that the Celestial Frost Sect was willing to open the trial to Virtue Archives’ students could only be considered a blessing for the students.
It did not take much longer for the paper ship to arrive at the Celestial Frost Sect.
When people gazed upon the seemingly endless Celestial Frost Sect, it always gave off an incredible impression, and inexplicably, people would think of a giant crouched on the ground. If the giant stood up, its size would be enough to shatter the earth and the sky.
The Wang family’s floating hand appeared separate and removed from the world. Dragon Mountain was majestic, and the Celestial Frost Sect symbolized overbearing power.
However, everyone paid the most attention to the clouds in the sky after they passed through the Celestial Frost Sect’s gates. Each cloud emitted rays of soft, white light. The sight was comforting and cleared their minds of any distracting thoughts. It was similar to the effects of the tea made with the Hui family’s Roots of Wisdom, though naturally greatly inferior to the effect of the roots planted by Progenitor Hui himself. Still, it was enough to calm and focus the mind.
Wu Yao stepped out to greet the God of Food, and shortly thereafter, the people from Virtue Archives were led into the Celestial Frost Sect’s main area.
The students had assumed that the Celestial Frost Sect would give them a lengthy presentation of their history in the same manner as the Wang family and the White Dragon Clan, so their directness was rather surprising. No one had expected to be taken straight to the trial for their training opportunity.
The God of Food did not refuse the change, as the students had remained on the paper ship for days, and they were not at all exhausted.
"Virtue Archives arrived at the perfect timing. It just so happens that a group of the Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples are also about to challenge the Sky Beyond the Sky. Why don’t we send all of the youths together?" Wu Yao suggested with a smile.
The God of Food followed the other Semi-Progenitor’s gaze, and sure enough, there was a quiet group of the Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples gathered at the foot of a mountain. There were hundreds of young people, both men and women. The difference in attitudes between the disciples and the chattering students from Virtue Archives could not have been any more obvious.
"You want to have your Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples compete with Virtue Archives’ students?" the God of Food asked in a clearly irritated tone.
Wu Yao smiled. "It's just a coincidence, so why not? Do you not dare to accept?"
Before the God of Food could reply, Mr. Tang spoke up. "To my knowledge, the Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples have three opportunities to challenge the Sky Beyond the Sky, while our students know nothing about this trial. A competition between the youths is simply not fair."
Wu Yao answered with open contempt, "Could it be that you want your students’ opponents to fight fair when facing your students in the outside world, Mr. Tang?"
Mr. Tang frowned. The Celestial Frost Sect’s attitude was the complete opposite of the Wang family and the White Dragon Clan’s. While the first two ruling powers to host Virtue Archives had tried to win the students over through favors, the Celestial Frost Sect hoped to suppress the students. Such an approach might actually very well work.
Having the students see the strength and power of the Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples would likely cause many students to want to become disciples of the sect in their pursuit of personal strength.
Also, Virtue Archives could not refuse the Celestial Frost Sect's suggestion of a competition. Even if the academy tried to refuse, there were so many clouds in the sky that, no matter how far away the Celestial Frost Sect disciples went, things would still be regarded as a competition to anyone watching.
"Very well, let's do as you suggest then," the God of Food replied as he glanced over at the chattering students.
The fact that both the Wang family and the White Dragon Clan had tried to woo the students had caused some of the students to be overcome with pride, so the opportunity to let them be suppressed by the disciples of the Celestial Frost Sect could be a good thing. As for whether the students would want to join the sect afterwards, the God of Food was not considering the matter. Some among the students would decide to join the Wang family and the White Dragon Clan, and the God of Food was more interested in giving the students a dose of reality.
If not for the four ruling powers' internal competition, or the fact that they were pursuing Virtue Archives, these students would have never been flattered by the Wang Family or the White Dragon Clan this much. They needed to wake up to that fact.
…
The God of Food hoped to use the Celestial Frost Sect’s suppression to wake up some of the students after they had lost themselves to the pampering they had received so far. However, the old man had not expected the experience to be quite so humiliating for the students.
It also seemed as if there were invisible ladders hanging from the clouds in the sky. As the various youths rose into the sky, they climbed the various clouds with dull eyes as they tried to rise above the canopy of cloud cover far overhead.
After just half an hour, there were two distinct colors filling the sky. There was white, which represented the disciples of the Celestial Frost Sect, and then there were Virtue Archives’ students, who were allowed to wear any colors they chose. At the moment, anyone looking up at the Sky Beyond the Sky would see what seemed to be a curtain drawn across the sky, as the upper portion of the sky was completely dominated with white.
Nearly all of Virtue Archives’ students had been greatly surpassed.
More than forty young people were in the sky at this moment, as only the youths who were Explorers or below were climbing into the sky at this moment. There was no student from Virtue Archives who could surpass their peers from the Celestial Frost Sect.
Wu Yao felt quite satisfied, as things were playing out as expected. Virtue Archives had very high entry requirements for their students, which meant that few qualified to join the academy. However, were the Celestial Frost Sect’s standards any lower? Absolutely not. Even the weakest of the four ruling powers, the White Dragon Clan, had high standards for their own youths or outsiders wishing to join the clan that were at least on par with Virtue Archives’.
The academy represented the most elite youths of the Middle Realm, but the four ruling powers represented the Higher Realm, the Middle Realm, and the Lower Realm.
Truthfully, if given a choice between Virtue Archives and the Celestial Frost Sect, as long as there were no complications, who would choose to join Virtue Archives?
At the moment, fully half of the students in Virtue Archives came from various powerful families and sects, and the most outstanding students were all from the four ruling powers and places like Seed Garden and the Liu family. Cultivation did not improve solely based on talent, but also on one’s resources.
Furthermore, the academy’s students were competing against Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples that had all challenged the Sky Beyond the Sky previously, so it was only natural for them to far surpass the students.