I Arrived At Wizard World While Cultivating Immortality Chapter 678: Changes After Dao Integration

The light above the altar gradually faded, like a tide receding from the shore.

Jie Ming slowly opened his eyes, finding himself before the massive, thousand-meter-tall dark golden giant seated cross-legged at the altar's center.

“Huu… I’m back.”

As his Dharma Form, the true body, resumed its radiant glow, Jie Ming's consciousness fully returned. With a mere thought, his colossal Dharma Form began to shrink.

The dark golden light collapsed inward, and the towering figure was compressed by an unseen force, ultimately condensing into a streak of golden light that swiftly merged back into his human form.

Restored to his normal appearance, Jie Ming stood on the altar, rolling his neck casually.

The surroundings appeared largely unchanged, prompting him to habitually check his internal chronometer.

“…How long?”

He checked again, his eyes widening.

Three hundred years.

To be precise, three hundred and two years, one month, and ten days had elapsed.

Jie Ming blinked, finding the revelation difficult to fully comprehend for a moment.

Within his subjective experience, the process of achieving the Dao Integration Realm, although extensive, had felt like mere hours at most.

Yet, in objective reality, a full three centuries had passed.

It seemed that when one became completely immersed in comprehending the Great Dao, the perception of time lost all meaning.

However, upon further reflection, this made perfect sense. The state of profound resonance with the cosmos and the merging with the Great Dao had been an experience as wondrous and fleeting as a dream.

“Cultivation truly transcends the bounds of time,” Jie Ming murmured, a hint of emotion coloring his voice. He quickly regained his composure.

The records within the Great Dao Book Pavilion had alluded to similar occurrences.

Nevertheless, experiencing it firsthand filled Jie Ming with a sense of awe.

Three hundred years represented many generations for mortals, yet for cultivators of his level, it was merely a slightly extended period of seclusion.

From the temporal perspective of high-ranking cultivators, the duration he had just spent scarcely qualified as dedicated closed-door cultivation.

His adversaries, companions, mentors, and even his senior sister were beings who had witnessed millennia, or even tens of millennia, pass by.

Three hundred years was but a fleeting moment on the grand timescale of advanced cultivation.

He couldn't help but wonder about the state of the Infernal Sulfur Plane during his absence.

Jie Ming reined in his stray thoughts and began to meticulously assess the changes brought about by his breakthrough.

The most striking transformation was observed in his perception of the world.

Initially, his worldview was simplistic: “a mountain is merely a mountain.”

Qi was simply Qi, and matter was just matter. All things were perceived as distinct and separate entities.

Later, after acquiring the All-Purpose Eye and establishing the Fate Subsystem, he delved into the esoteric field of fate-related knowledge.

This marked a fundamental shift in how he viewed the world.

The clear distinctions between matter and energy began to blur. A colossal rock was no longer just inert matter but a complex tapestry woven from mineral deposits, geological processes, the condensation of elemental forces, and the intricate intersection of causal threads.

He could discern millennia of history within a single stone and perceive the subtle currents of elemental flows within a gentle breeze.

This was the realm of “a mountain is not a mountain”—a state of seeing beyond superficial appearances to grasp the inherent essence.

And now…

Jie Ming slowly raised his hand, gazing at his fingertips.

He detected no conscious “analysis” process at work, yet the trajectory of every mote of dust dancing in the air became crystal clear within his consciousness. The mountain, once again, was simply a mountain.

However, this “mountain” perceived by his senses now embodied both appearance and essence simultaneously.

The division between appearance and essence had vanished entirely. Understanding no longer necessitated a laborious process of “observation—analysis—cognition”; it had become an intrinsic part of his very being.

“A mountain is still a mountain,” Jie Ming stated softly, his tone imbued with an ineffable serenity.

He closed his eyes, redirecting the focus of his awareness inward.

Within his spiritual sea, the intricate golden lines representing his mastery of various laws were visibly expanding.

Observing this accelerated rate of growth, Jie Ming’s breath hitched momentarily.

He had actively done nothing. He hadn't even consumed any plane origin energy, nor had he engaged in specific research.

Simply by standing there, the golden lines were increasing as if conjured “out of thin air.”

It was as though the fundamental laws of the cosmos were actively drawing closer to him, willingly being comprehended and assimilated.

There was no need for arduous study; the process was as natural and effortless as water cascading down a mountainside.

Jie Ming observed this phenomenon intently for a period and soon discerned a discernible pattern.

The golden line symbolizing the Spiritual Qi Law exhibited a noticeably slower rate of growth compared to the others.

As a law originating from outside the wizard world's intrinsic system, its mastery level, post-Dao Integration, had surged from an initial fifty percent to eighty percent before tapering off.

Jie Ming did not mind, taking it as a sign that he had completely assimilated the prior knowledge of Spiritual Qi. His next step was to grasp a single new application of the Incense Fire Divine Dao to achieve full comprehension.

In stark contrast to the seemingly 'sluggish' advancement of the Spiritual Qi Law, the other laws presented a vastly different progression.

The four fundamental laws of the wizarding world – fire, wind, water, and earth – had only been superficially explored by Jie Ming during his study of rune imprint wizard tools, with his mastery hovering at a mere one to two percent.

Now, these laws expanded with astonishing speed, like untamed vines. Golden lines surged within his spiritual sea, transforming from faint specks of light into formations occupying nearly seventy to eighty percent of his awareness almost instantaneously.

What was even more remarkable was that, even after reaching this advanced stage, the growth momentum of these four elemental laws showed no signs of abating, continuing to ascend.

Furthermore, the abyss-type laws, life-type laws… all those laws Jie Ming had tentatively grasped by expending plane origins for spell modifications were now flourishing at a terrifying pace.

Seventy percent, eighty percent, ninety percent… and then they effortlessly surpassed the hundred percent mark, pushing onward towards progress beyond complete mastery.

Achieving such a level of comprehension meant he could now proceed with law solidification and make his advance to the sixth ring at any moment.

Jie Ming drew a deep breath.

In the span of mere breaths, the golden lines within his spiritual sea surged like a powerful golden tide, breaching one previously insurmountable threshold after another.

“So, this is the Dao Integration Realm…” Jie Ming whispered.

He finally grasped the true essence of the advancement within the Dao Integration Realm.

This realm's progress was not characterized by a simple increase in raw power or energy, but rather a profound qualitative shift in one's perception of the world.

As his perspective on the world transitioned from the initial stage to the third realm—where 'a mountain is still a mountain'—laws transformed from formidable barriers requiring strenuous effort to overcome into streams that actively flowed towards him.

Naturally, Jie Ming also recognized that this did not equate to an effortless ascent to the eighth or ninth ring wizardry.

The rapid advancement of the four elemental laws and the abyss-type laws was attributable to their status as the most foundational principles of the wizarding world, ubiquitously present throughout existence and possessing relatively low thresholds for comprehension.

The Spiritual Qi Law's slowed progress after reaching eighty percent was due to its nature as a 'foreign law,' necessitating the construction of an entirely new systemic framework from scratch within the established ecosystem of the wizarding world.

The path ahead still required his dedicated journey.

However, the most formidable obstacle had been surmounted. What remained was simply to proceed methodically, step by step.

There was no immediate need for haste.

Jie Ming collected his scattered thoughts and descended from the altar.

This altar stood at the very heart of the Infernal Sulfur Plane, encircled by intricate arrays and robust protective barriers.

Even after three hundred years, nothing in this place had changed. The air retained the subtle, calming fragrance of sandalwood, a distinct characteristic of Incense Fire power.

Pushing open the heavy stone doorway, Jie Ming entered the corridor that led towards the secret chamber.

Pale blue, luminescent stones were affixed to the walls on either side of the corridor, casting a gentle radiance that illuminated the path forward.

A dark figure, positioned at the corridor's terminus, had already dropped to one knee in anticipation.

It was a priest of the Black Giant race.

“Master,” the Black Giant priest intoned, his head bowed. “Congratulations on completing your seclusion.”

Jie Ming offered a slight nod, his steps unwavering. “I scarcely expected three centuries to have passed. Has anything significant transpired on the plane? Please provide a concise report.”

The Black Giant priest rose and followed Jie Ming, maintaining a half-step distance behind him, and commenced his report in a measured cadence. “The plane’s overall operation remains stable. The coverage of the Incense Fire Divine Dao system has now reached ninety-seven percent, marking a twelve percentage point increase from three centuries ago. The population has expanded from twenty billion to thirty-five billion. Annual production of Mortal Dust Qi has seen a forty percent rise, and the refining efficiency of Incense Fire power has improved by thirty-seven percent…”

Jie Ming listened intently as he proceeded all the way to the laboratory.

Upon opening the laboratory door, a scene familiar to him unfolded.

Various partially completed wizard tools and original rune imprints were arranged on the expansive circular workbench. In a corner, multi-tiered shelves stood neatly organized, holding rare materials and experimental logs.

At the room's center, a projection sphere approximately two meters in diameter rotated slowly, displaying the real-time status of the Infernal Sulfur Plane. Everything appeared precisely as it had before his period of seclusion.

“Continue,” Jie Ming instructed, traversing towards the workbench. He picked up a half-finished rune imprint wizard tool, casually turning it over for inspection.

“The seventh-ring large-scale elemental pool is operating stably, with energy reserves reaching ninety-two percent of design capacity. Automated factory production capacity is sufficient. Pursuant to the instructions set before your seclusion, the main output consists of standard components for Black Giant incubation pools and Trigram Fire Annihilation Divine Light charging units. Currently, thirty-six thousand new Black Giant incubation pools and twelve thousand charging units have been added.” The Black Giant priest paused.

“Additionally, the Fate Subsystem successfully completed its four hundred and thirty-second algorithm iteration seventy years ago, increasing prediction accuracy of fate trajectories by two orders of magnitude.”

“It seems everything has been running very well. You’ve all done a good job.” Jie Ming set down the rune imprint wizard tool and walked toward the plane projection sphere.

On the projection sphere, the full view of the Infernal Sulfur Plane was clearly visible.

The once barren sulfur wasteland had transformed into a continuous urban cluster. The gathering areas of the Black Giant tribes were distributed like pieces on a chessboard, orderly placed across the plane’s habitable zones.

Golden light points of Incense Fire power converged into pale golden clouds above the cities, drifting slowly with atmospheric circulation and delivering power to every corner of the plane.

At the plane’s edges, several newly fused small planes were undergoing environmental transformation.

Black Giant mining teams moved through the rock layers like ants, transporting ores and energy crystals back to the main plane.

After three hundred years of development, the fused Infernal Sulfur Plane had evolved from a newborn plane into a true medium-sized plane.

Its internal systems were mature, and its defensive strength was ample.