Chapter 291: The Largest Fragment of the Stairway to Immortality

The Heavenly Lord’s cultivation reaching the Tribulation Stage was largely thanks to the Devouring Technique, which had filled him with an ocean of spiritual energy—not to mention that he had killed all the cultivators and absorbed their spiritual energy.
The amount of spiritual energy in his body could only be described as terrifying.
Though he was the weakest Tribulation Stage Jiang Li had ever seen, his spiritual energy was still considerable, enough to rival veteran Tribulation cultivators like Commander Liu.
The moment his body and soul perished, that spiritual energy dispersed, flooding the heavens and earth.
Jiang Li still thought it was too slow. With a light wave of his hand, the spiritual energy surged across the Tongu Continent like newborn children set free, rushing with astonishing speed.
With a flick of his finger, Jiang Li destroyed the Celestial Dynasty’s Spirit-Gathering Formation, completely unbinding the spiritual energy.
The spiritual energy concentration across the continent visibly soared at a terrifying pace.
Yu Feng and Wu Lian were closest to the Heavenly Lord’s body and were the first to be hit by the surge of spiritual energy. Their cultivation bottlenecks broke, and both advanced to the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, just one step from the Soul Formation Stage.
Wu Lian wanted to push through and break into the Soul Formation Stage in one go but was stopped by Yu Feng.
Yu Feng calmly advised, “Stabilize your foundation first—no need to rush. Forcing a breakthrough might leave hidden problems.”
He whispered in her ear, “Senior Sister, tonight we can stabilize our foundation slowly… through dual cultivation.”
Wu Lian’s ears flushed red, and she softly replied, “We don’t have to wait till tonight.”
Yu Feng’s eyes lit up and he was just about to say something when Jiang Li’s cough interrupted.
“Ahem, not breaking through is a wise choice,” Jiang Li agreed with Yu Feng’s judgment.
“Senior Jiang, what realm are you really at…” Yu Feng looked at Jiang Li with admiration. If he could have just half of what Jiang Li had—not even half, just a portion—he’d never fear death tribulations again.
At first, when the Heavenly Lord transcended the Immortal Ascension Tribulation and became an Immortal, Yu Feng had been nervous, afraid Jiang Li might lose.
Even if he won, Yu Feng thought it would be after a tough battle.
Who could have imagined that Senior Jiang was strong beyond all comprehension—unreasonably strong.
This wasn’t just the Mahayana Stage… this was a Great Immortal!
“The realm beyond the Tribulation Stage—Mahayana Stage.”
“Isn’t it Tribulation Stage then Immortal Ascension?”
Jiang Li shook his head. “After Tribulation Stage, there isn’t just the path of transforming into an immortal body and absorbing immortal energy. You can also continue cultivating using spiritual energy, turning the impossible into possible, breaking past the limits and stepping into the Mahayana Stage.”
“But so far, I haven’t seen anyone else reach this step.”
“S-Senior Jiang, hello.” Senior Sister Wu Lian nervously held the hem of her dress and greeted Jiang Li.
In her experience, the higher the cultivation, the more unpredictable the cultivator. Though this senior seemed carefree and had a good relationship with her junior brother, he might flip at any moment.
Jiang Li smiled warmly, like a trustworthy elder: “No need to be nervous. I’ve actually been by your side this whole time—over six years now—observing you. You just never knew.”
Yu Feng couldn’t help but complain: “Senior Jiang, the way you said that makes you sound like a stalker.”
Jiang Li glared at him: “You brat, if you hadn’t kept resetting time and messing up the River of Time, I could’ve just sat back and watched!”
“My bad, my bad, thank you for saving my life, Senior Jiang,” Yu Feng quickly apologized.
“What’s going on?” Their conversation left Wu Lian confused. What was this about resetting time and the River of Time?
“You explain it,” Jiang Li told the person involved.
Truthfully, Yu Feng had long wanted to tell Senior Sister, but never found the right time.
“It’s like this. I have a treasure in my body related to the Celestial Realm. As long as I die, I’ll be reborn seven years earlier, back to when I was just a mortal.”
“I kept dying and reviving, analyzing each cause of death, and cautiously trying to live just a bit longer.”
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t lucky—I died many times. So many that I stopped counting. Probably tens of thousands of times.”
Wu Lian hugged Yu Feng to her chest, heart aching.
“When I was at my lowest, Senior Jiang appeared. He pointed me toward the path of survival, helped me survive my death tribulation, and pulled me out of the cycle of reincarnation.”
“Senior Sister, actually, he saved you too.”
“Me?” Wu Lian didn’t understand how this involved her.
“Yes. In my tens of thousands of deaths, I watched helplessly as you were killed by Third, Fourth, and Fifth Senior Brothers—again and again. And I couldn’t stop it.”
“I tried countless times to change the outcome but always failed. What I got in return was your death, over and over again.”
“When Senior Jiang learned of this, he guided me to instigate infighting among those three and expose our master’s true face. That’s how you were saved.”
After three years living outside, Senior Sister Wu Lian had long outgrown her innocent little world. Yu Feng also told her the truth about Third and Fourth Senior Brothers.
Wu Lian was stunned. She never imagined she’d died hundreds or thousands of times. The fact she was still alive now was thanks to Yu Feng’s efforts and Senior Jiang’s guidance.
She noticed that when her junior brother mentioned watching her die so many times, his expression was full of sorrow and pain. Even though she was alive, those memories had deeply wounded him—only time could heal that.
All she could do now was accompany him through life.
“Thank you, Senior Jiang, for your life-saving grace.” Senior Sister Wu Lian kowtowed sincerely.
“Yu Feng, I raised you to Nascent Soul Stage for a reason. The fragment of the Stairway to Immortality in your body can only be extracted once you reach Nascent Soul.”
“Senior Jiang has helped me so much, I can’t even call it a favor anymore. Please take the fragment.” Yu Feng knew that when Jiang Li said he had selfish reasons, it wasn’t truly the case.
Otherwise, there was no need for such careful training. Jiang Li could’ve simply watched him reach Nascent Soul Stage on his own—even if that would’ve been a pretty lousy version.
The golden fragment of the Stairway to Immortality was extracted—it was the largest piece Jiang Li had ever seen and still retained energy, which meant it could continue allowing Yu Feng to reincarnate.
Jiang Li merged it with the ones he already held, forming a new fragment.
At this point, the Stairway to Immortality already resembled a ladder.
Jiang Li cradled it as if holding a broken golden staircase.
According to Immortal Elder Changcun, the Stairway to Immortality could be large or small. What Jiang Li held now was its smallest form. Once he collected all the fragments and pieced together a new full-length ladder, he could ascend to the Celestial Realm.
Though, based on what the elder said, it wasn’t like Immortals would be holding banners to welcome him as a new arrival—which Jiang Li found a bit disappointing.
When the elder heard his remark, he figured: this kid must have some sort of brain problem.
“Do you want to come with me to the Nine Provinces, or stay here?”
Going to the Nine Provinces would certainly mean better opportunities, but Yu Feng was reluctant to leave. This place only had mortals now—he and Senior Sister were the only cultivators. If they left, it would return to being a purely mortal world.
Yu Feng wanted to stay and pass on the Dao, reshape the cultural values.
The Nine Provinces were his inspiration.
“Senior Jiang, I want to go to the Nine Provinces to thank my masters in person. Then I’ll continue my cultivation there. Once I’ve learned enough, I’ll return and teach the mortals how to cultivate!”
“Gratitude repaid. Very good.” Jiang Li smiled, convinced he hadn’t misjudged the boy.
“But you don’t have to go to the Nine Provinces to see your masters. You can meet them right now.”
Jiang Li moved aside, revealing a passage constructed by the Brahma Tower.
The Sect Master of the Spirit Herb Sect, Sect Master of the Beast-Taming Sect, Sect Master of the Luban Sect… countless Fusion Stage cultivators stepped through the portal, entering the Tongu World.