Lin Yan's aura surged as he stood up, letting out a deep laugh. At nineteen, he had finally reached Rank 5 Peak. His Flame Path, Refinement Path, and Flight Path had all reached Master attainment, while his Human Path was at quasi-Master level. Lin Yan had finally stepped into the pinnacle of the mortal world.
Many veteran Rank 5 Gu Masters were satisfied with having Master attainment in one or two paths, far below his current level. Even among Rank 6 Gu Immortals, it was rare to see someone who had reached Master attainment in multiple paths.
He stroked his chin and mused, "Time to plan my Immortal Ascension."
Immortal Ascension involves three steps. First, the aperture must be shattered and then re-established, allowing Human Qi to overflow and attract Heaven and Earth Qi. Second, the three Qis must be absorbed and balanced within the aperture. Third, the immortal aperture would be formed, creating a blessed land, one must undergo both Earthly Calamity and Heavenly Tribulation.
The deeper the accumulation during the Gu Master life, the richer the Human Qi. The more Heaven and Earth Qi it can attract, the greater the potential after Ascension. This directly affects the size of the blessed land, the amount of resources it contains, and the flow of time inside it.
The blessed land is the core of Gu Immortal cultivation. It is like carrying a small world within oneself, completely under one's control. Everything—resources, development, and future strength—depends on it.
Because of this, the gap between immortal and mortal is as vast as heaven and earth. A Rank 6 Gu Immortal can summon hundreds of thousands of beasts with a wave of the hand, control hundreds or even thousands of Gu at once, and possess almost infinite primeval essence. Against such power, ordinary Gu Masters have no way to resist.
Blessed lands are divided into three grades—small, medium, and large—based on factors such as size, resource density, and overall potential.
If Lin Yan were to ascend with his current foundation, he would most likely form a small blessed land.
This was not because his aptitude or talent was lacking. On the contrary, both were outstanding. The real problem lay in his experience and human nature. Lin Yan had not faced true desperation, nor gone through repeated life-and-death struggles and had not fully experienced the mortal world.
As a result, his grasp of people remained shallow. His exposure to different regions was limited, and his travels had yet to bring him into contact with the many inheritances, species, and rare resources that shaped the world.
Only his patience could be considered decent. After all, enduring long periods of dream realm deductions without losing focus was not something ordinary people could achieve.
Fortunately, this weakness could be compensated for.
The key lay in obtaining one of the Ten Extreme Physiques, raising his aperture aptitude to a perfect one hundred percent before Ascension. Once this was achieved, the Human Qi produced would become extremely rich, directly allowing him to form a super-grade blessed land, far above even large blessed lands.
At that point, his potential, cultivation speed, and combat strength would all rise to a completely different level, far surpassing other Gu Immortals of the same rank.
For Lin Yan, achieving this was not difficult. He could raise his aptitude to one hundred percent using a Rank 4 Creation Relic Gu that he had personally created.
Based on the Dao Marks accumulated within his body, his physique would most likely take the form of the Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance Physique, representing both Flame Path and Lightning Path.
Because This was clearly recorded in the Legends of Ren Zu that the human race was created by Ren Zu using his own flesh and blood, along with the flesh and blood of his ten children, refined together with Derivation Gu. Because of this origin, every human possesses the potential to awaken an Extreme Physique.
The names of the so-called Ten Extreme Physiques are not random names. They are, in fact, derived from the names and characteristics of Ren Zu's ten children.
As for why Lin Yan, despite possessing many external Dao Marks, did not form a Dream Path Extreme Physique, the reason was simple. None of Ren Zu's ten children were aligned with Dream Path. To create such a physique would require extremely high attainment in both Dream Path and Human Path, along with a long period of research and development.
This was also why Lin Yan chose Flame Path for his Ascension instead of Dream Path.
However, achieving Ten Extreme Physique before Ascension came with two major difficulties.
First, the tribulation itself would become far more terrifying. Even an ordinary calamity was difficult to survive, and Ten Extreme Physique Ascension would trigger a much stronger one.
Lin Yan was not confident he could withstand it.
Second, an Extreme Physique Ascension required a corresponding Immortal Gu of the same path. Without it, even if the physique was formed, the Ascension would not be complete.
Regarding the second requirement, Lin Yan knew of three opportunities in the original timeline where Flame Path Immortal Gu could be obtained. The first was Lang Ya Blessed Land in Northern Plains, and the second was Royal Court Blessed Land, also in Northern Plains. However, neither of these could be touched for now.
This was because he was still in what should be the first timeline. Any interference could cause too many changes. Even Fang Yuan's rebirth could be affected, happening earlier or later. If that happened, Lin Yan would lose his greatest advantage—his knowledge of the future.
"There is still a third opportunity… in Southern Border."
Lin Yan lowered his gaze and thought carefully. In Southern Border, there existed an inheritance left behind by a Rank 8 Gu Immortal, known as the Fire Lightning True Inheritance. The original owner, Fire Thunder Divine Lord, was a lone cultivator from Western Desert.
The location of this inheritance was extremely hidden. Taking it would not easily disturb the overall flow of events, making it the most suitable choice for him at this stage.