"Who exactly are you?"
Held in Zhang Fan's grip with no ability to resist, Blood Ancestor felt an unspeakable sense of humiliation.
He was, after all, a prodigy who had condensed a Rank Two Golden Core. Moreover, the Dao patterns of his Golden Core had reached six paths, achieving high-grade Rank Two. Among Rank Two Golden Cores, he was considered top-tier, just one step away from entering the ranks of Rank One Golden Cores.
Yet, he had fallen into such a state on this planet, which was so lacking in resources that it couldn't even produce a Golden Core realm cultivator. It was truly tragic.
At the same time, he was genuinely puzzled by Zhang Fan's identity. To have achieved minor success in the Divine Body realm at the Heaven Human realm was something only found among prodigies in the Immortal Sects of the Myriad Domains Starry Sky, where Immortal Kings and Immortal Venerables presided.
However, such heaven-defying prodigies were the darlings of the Immortal Sects. Why would one come to this resource-poor planet to compete for opportunities with Golden Core realm cultivators like them?
"You are not in a position to ask questions now."
Zhang Fan smiled calmly and continued, "Tell me, why did you, a Rank Two Golden Core realm cultivator, come to this resource-poor planet, and what was your purpose?"
"If your answer satisfies me, I can spare your life. Otherwise, I can only kill you today."
Although Blood Ancestor was severely injured at this moment, he was, after all, a powerful cultivator at the Rank Two Golden Core realm. His divine sense power far surpassed Zhang Fan's, and Zhang Fan's chances of forcibly searching his soul were not high. Therefore, he had not chosen that method.
Blood Ancestor, who had initially believed he would surely die today, gradually saw a glimmer of spirit in his withered, lifeless blood-red eyes upon hearing Zhang Fan's words.
"How can I trust you?"
Blood Ancestor spoke, looking up at Zhang Fan, his voice hoarse.
"You have no choice!" Zhang Fan said indifferently.
Upon hearing this, Blood Ancestor realized that he indeed had no choice at this moment.
If he refused to cooperate, he would undoubtedly die. By obeying, he had a slim chance of survival. In Blood Ancestor's view, even if this possibility was very low, he was unwilling to give up this opportunity.
He had already spent too much time here for the opportunities on this planet. If he were to die during the competition for these opportunities, so be it. But if he were to perish before the competition even began, he would truly be unwilling to accept it.
Having understood the current situation, Blood Ancestor had to adjust his mindset. Although the young man before him was only a Heaven Human realm cultivator, he held the power of life and death over him.
After a long period of contemplation, Blood Ancestor finally spoke, saying, "The star system where Earth is located is called the Milky Way by Earthlings. But does Saint Master Zhang know which star domain the Milky Way belongs to in the Myriad Domains Starry Sky?"
Zhang Fan shook his head. The Myriad Domains Starry Sky contained countless star domains. Even in his previous life as a Great Ascension Immortal Emperor, who had roamed the universe, he did not know how many star domains existed within this universe.
"The star domain where the Milky Way is located is called the Wushan Star Domain."
"The Wushan Star Domain is a very ordinary star domain in the Myriad Domains Starry Sky. Although it is ordinary, it has produced quite a few Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortals who have established numerous Heavenly Immortal families scattered throughout the Wushan Star Domain. Nascent Soul cultivators are the overlords of the Wushan Star Domain."
Zhang Fan nodded as he listened. In the context of the entire universe, Nascent Soul cultivators were nothing. However, within an ordinary star domain, Nascent Soul cultivators could indeed be considered overlords.
Moreover, Nascent Soul cultivators had long lifespans, far exceeding that of Golden Core cultivators. The lifespan of each Nascent Soul cultivator was measured in tens of thousands of years. The presence of even one Nascent Soul cultivator was enough to ensure the prosperity of a family for tens of thousands of years.
"Although there are many Nascent Soul cultivators, for the past million years, the entire Wushan Star Domain has never produced a single Soul Transformation stage cultivator."
"Thirty thousand years ago, a Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortal named Zhiwu appeared. He swept through the top ten experts on the Wushan Star Domain's Heavenly Immortal Ranking in an absolutely domineering manner. Even the number one ranked Heavenly Immortal, Nan Zun, a Nine Tribulation Heavenly Immortal who had already weathered nine Heavenly Immortal tribulations, was defeated by him."
Hearing this, Zhang Fan's expression flickered slightly but he did not show it.
Although Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortals were called immortal because their Nascent Soul would not be destroyed, and thus live forever, sounding incredibly carefree and desirable.
In reality, the Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortal stage was the most dangerous phase of cultivation. Because with every step forward, Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortals needed to undergo the trial of Heavenly Tribulations. There were a total of nine Heavenly Tribulations in the entire Nascent Soul stage, and the power of each tribulation increased exponentially. Over ninety-nine percent of Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortals perished beneath the Heavenly Immortal tribulations.
How vast and boundless was the Wushan Star Domain?
Why had it failed to produce a single Soul Transformation True Immortal in a million years?
It was because of the existence of the Heavenly Immortal tribulations. Countless Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortals had perished beneath them, leading to the rarity of Soul Transformation True Immortals.
"Before this, Heavenly Immortal Zhiwu was unknown. No one in the entire Wushan Star Domain knew his name, and all information about him was unknown."
"And just a few years after defeating Heavenly Immortal Nan Zun, Heavenly Immortal Zhiwu successfully passed the Soul Transformation Tribulation, and his Nascent Soul successfully transformed into a Soul Transformation True Immortal, becoming the first Soul Transformation True Immortal in the Wushan Star Domain in over a million years."
"More than a thousand years ago, after breaking through to the Soul Transformation stage, True Immortal Zhiwu left the Wushan Star Domain. Before leaving, he spread the word that he had left behind a fortuitous encounter on a life planet in the Milky Way. He also set up a seal and restriction in the space around that life planet, allowing only cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage to enter and obtain the opportunity."
"The specific nature of this fortuitous encounter is unknown. The only known information is that by obtaining this fortuitous encounter, Golden Core realm cultivators have the chance to increase the Dao patterns of their Golden Core by three, and their rank by three grades!"
Golden Cores were divided into nine ranks and three grades. Each Dao pattern of a Golden Core represented one rank, and a Golden Core with nine Dao patterns was the pinnacle of the Golden Core realm.
As for what lay beyond...
At this point, a flicker of fervor appeared in Blood Ancestor's blood-red eyes. If he could obtain this fortuitous encounter, he would become a Rank One Golden Core cultivator, and moreover, one with nine Golden Core Dao patterns. In the Golden Core realm, he could contend with Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortals!
"Zhiwu, oh Zhiwu, the fortuitous encounter you casually left behind, intended to nurture the younger generation of the Wushan Star Domain, why did you choose Earth as the location for this opportunity!"
Zhang Fan sighed inwardly. This was the first time he had heard information about a friend from his past life since his rebirth, and his mood was slightly complex. Combining the information he knew, Zhang Fan had a good grasp of the entire situation.
"Increasing the Dao patterns of an already formed Golden Core by a full three, while it sounds incredible, is not impossible with True Immortal Zhiwu's abilities."
Blood Ancestor had great confidence in True Immortal Zhiwu, so he did not doubt the truth of these words at all.
Once a Golden Core was condensed, it was almost immutable. Even increasing a single Dao pattern of a Golden Core was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
"You are correct. Immortal King Zhiwu indeed possesses such abilities." Zhang Fan nodded.
"Immortal King Zhiwu?"
Blood Ancestor looked up at Zhang Fan, his eyes full of confusion, wondering if he had misheard.
"Zhiwu cultivated into a Soul Transformation True Immortal thirty thousand years ago. Do you think, with Zhiwu's talent, he would have made no progress in these thirty thousand years?"
"If my guess is correct, Zhiwu should have already stepped into the Harmonious Dao Immortal King realm."
"You've been wondering what Zhiwu left on Earth all this time, haven't you? I can tell you."
Zhang Fan smiled, ignoring Blood Ancestor's shocked gaze. He tilted his head slightly, as if recalling, "Zhiwu once obtained a Primordial Era level immortal tree in a celestial secret realm. This tree had never appeared in this era, and no one knew its name, so Zhiwu called it the Zhiwu Yuan Tree."
"Yuan, meaning origin. Zhiwu's cultivation path began with this Zhiwu Yuan Tree. With the help of the Zhiwu Yuan Tree, coupled with Zhiwu's extraordinary disposition, he was able to advance by leaps and bounds."
"And the fortuitous encounter he left on Earth was a fruit that fell from the Zhiwu Yuan Tree, the Zhiwu Yuan Fruit!"