The Windswept Realm!

Once one of the 3,000 Lower Realms, it was called the garden of the Immortal World, and was regarded as one of the one hundred most important Realms!

Many, many cultivators appeared here who eventually ascended to the Immortal World, where they occupied numerous positions of Immortal authority. In fact, there was even an Imperial Lord who had arisen from there!

An Imperial Lord was a venerable stage that existed between the Dao Realm and the Paragon Realm!

That was in the heyday of the Windswept Realm, when it was filled with countless lands and seas, and experienced an endless baptism from the Immortal River of the Paragon Immortal Realm.

Back then, the Windswept Realm was even called Little Immortal World. Its skies were bright blue, touched with occasional Immortal Rain that virtually bathed the life forms of the lands in an Immortal will.

The enormous Immortal River in its sky was like a waterfall that fell down onto the lands below, causing an endless wind to gust. That wind would catalyze the life force flames of all living things, making the place extremely suitable for cultivation. Even mortals who lived there had extremely long lives, and it was not uncommon for them to live longer than two sixty-year-cycles.

That was how the Windswept Realm got its name.

To the cultivators of the Windswept Realm, the Paragon Immortal Realm was a fear-inspiring place. They were both inspired by its power, and at the same time, feared it. They showed extreme respect to any Immortal who descended from the Paragon Immortal Realm. To them, even the slightest word uttered by an Immortal was something of profound importance. In fact, any expression or tone of voice that could cause displeasure to an Immortal was not tolerated in the Windswept Realm.

Of course, not all Immortals were so easily displeased. Most Immortals were revered, but not intensely feared. After all, the Windswept Realm had existed for an eternity, and many Patriarchs or other members of the various sects or clans there eventually ascended to the Immortal World.

Unfortunately, all of that changed during the great catastrophe. The Windswept Realm as a whole collapsed, and more than half of its lands were lost, as if they had been swallowed up by some great beast. The fires of war swept about, and as a result, it no longer seemed like a celestial paradise, but rather, was reduced to ruins.

Most importantly of all, the Immortal River was cut off. Like the other Realms, the Windswept Realm was cut off, leaving it in isolation. As the years went by, the world slowly recovered, but that obstacle always remained.

Therefore, the people of the Windswept Realm were unaware of everything happening outside of their world. They thought that the Paragon Immortal Realm was still as eternally powerful as ever. Therefore, any Immortal who visited their Realm was met with a deferential respect that was ingrained in their blood, and was as strong as ever.

Furthermore... it had been a very, very long time since anyone from the Windswept Realm had ascended to the Immortal World. That led to hesitation on their part. As for their cultivation bases, they were limited to the Cauldron Seeking stage, making it impossible for them advance further into Immortal Ascension, which would make it possible for them to leave their world.1

Because of all of that, any Immortal who arrived was treated with incredible respect, and was even feared. It also caused the cultivators of the Windswept Realm to thirst for the good fortune which might be available from the Immortals.... Therefore, to the people of this generation of the Windswept Realm, the recently arrived cultivators from the Mountain and Sea Realm... were like deities!

Meng Hao and Fan Dong'er, as well as the other three ordinary cultivators, plus Bei Yu and the three Demonic cultivators, all arrived in the southeastern region of the Windswept Realm, in the middle of a desert.

Rolling sands spread out in all directions, and the heat was so intense that it caused everyone to sweat profusely. Despite that, there were nearly ten thousand cultivators present, packed together tightly, prostrated on the ground in the shape of a spell formation.

There was no attacking power built into this spell formation; it was merely ceremonial, a show of respect.

It was made of men and women, children and old folks. They all prostrated on hands and knees, their expressions that of awe and reverence. Their heads were bowed, and not a single one dared to look up.

In the middle of this group of people was a huge altar, covered with numerous carvings that emanated what seemed like an eternal, untouchable power.

As of this moment, nine beams of light could be seen illuminating the sky as they shot down toward the altar, which let out rumbling booms. All of the magical symbols on the altar began to shine and glow, as if to receive the incoming guests.

The rumbling sounds grew more intense, and the surrounding cultivators began to tremble even harder. None of them dared to even lift their heads. One of them, an old man who was located in the ring of cultivators closest to the altar, called out in a loud voice:

"We respectfully welcome all the Grand Immortals!"

His words echoed out for the time it takes about ten breaths of time, after which, brilliant pillars of light shot up from the altar to connect to them. Then the light slowly faded away to reveal... nine cultivators!

Meng Hao was one of them. All of the people from the Nine Seas God World shone with golden light, making them look completely sacred and inviolable. Furthermore, because their cultivation bases vastly exceeded that of the cultivators of the Windswept Realm, they emanated incredible pressure which pushed down on the surrounding crowd and caused them to tremble.

Meng Hao looked out of sorts for a brief moment before recovering. His eyes swept about, taking in the altar they were standing on, and the more than 10,000 cultivators prostrated respectfully. He also saw that past the cultivators were even more people, tens of thousands all prostrated on the ground, not daring to lift their heads.

Up in front of those tens of thousands of people was a middle-aged man wearing an Imperial robe. He was also trembling as he prostrated himself. From the look of it, he was the emperor of this region or nation.

Neither Meng Hao, nor the others with him, were used to having such a large group of people prostrating in deference.

The old man who stood among the 10,000 cultivators was the first one to lift his head and look at Meng Hao and the other eight. He seemed incredibly ancient, as if he had lived for countless years. However, his cultivation base was only at the Cauldron Seeking stage.

"Grand Immortals," he said, "it is the inestimable honor of our Ninth Nation to welcome you here today! It has been over a thousand years since any Immortal has arrived here to bestow good fortune. Please accept the worship of our Ninth Nation's seven great sects and three great clans!"

Behind him were ten old men, who were apparently the Patriarchs of the sects and clans he had just mentioned. They radiated respect as they slowly raised their heads to look at Meng Hao and the others, whereupon they once again bowed in worship.

"I am your servant Jian Daozi," said the oldest of the old men, the first one to speak. "Grand Immortals, now that you have descended to our Lower Realm, anything you need or want will be provided to you. We will do anything in our power to satisfy your every desire!" His eyes burned with passion as his voice rang out.1

"If we asked all of you to end your own lives, would you?" asked one of the Demonic cultivators standing with Bei Yu, his voice cold.

Meng Hao frowned in response to his words, and even Bei Yu looked displeased.

However, the old man named Jian Daozi didn't hesitate for even a moment.

"Unless another of the Grand Immortals interfered, all you would have to do would be to speak the word!"

The Demonic cultivator hesitated for a moment. However, both Meng Hao and Fan Dong'er, as well as all of the others, could hear the decisiveness and resolve in Jian Daozi's words, as well as the fanatical passion.

It wasn't just him who had such an attitude, all of the old men, and apparently all of the other cultivators... were exactly the same. Although not every single individual appeared to be madly fanatical, the reverence that shone in their eyes, the type that an inferior person would show toward a superior, caused Meng Hao's heart to tremble.

All of a sudden, a young cultivator among the crowd couldn't seem to hold back any longer, and lifted his head to look at Meng Hao and the other eight. When his eyes fell upon Bei Yu and Fan Dong'er, the youth seemed to be struck breathless.

Almost in the same instant that the young man looked up, the aged Jian Daozi's face flickered with anger. Similar looks appeared on the faces of all of the other old men.

"How dare you!!" roared Jian Daozi.

The young man's face went ashen, and a look of panic appeared on his face. He quickly bowed his head, but it was too late.

"Blasphemy against deities is a violation of the laws of the Windswept Realm!" Jian Daozi said coldly. He waved his finger toward the young man, causing a stream of air to slam into his forehead. The young man trembled and then died instantly.

This caused Meng Hao's eyes to widen. Everyone else stared in shock.

However, that simple action didn't finish things. One of the ten old men behind Jian Daozi immediately raised his right arm into the air and severed it. His face was pale white as he lifted his severed arm into the air and dropped to his knees.

"That young man was a member of my humble sect," he said. "I did not instruct him well, and am thus implicitly involved. I hope my severed arm will lessen the wrath of the Grand Immortals!"

Bei Yu was panting, and Fan Dong'er was completely shaken. Meng Hao stared in shock at everything that had happened. Even his willpower was rocked by the behavior of these people of the Windswept Realm.

The feeling was indescribable, as if, in the briefest of moments... they had all suddenly turned into true Paragons!

It would be impossible for them to experience such a feeling in the Mountain and Sea Realm, because there would always be cultivators above them who were far more powerful. Although the number of such higher powers was nothing compared to the people who were weaker than them, the Mountain and Sea Realm was simply too vast a place.

The Mountain and Sea Realm had its rules and etiquette, which were like layer upon layer of nets that entangled everyone. Such things formed natural law that didn't permit unbridled actions.

However, the Windswept Realm was not only cut off from any other Realm, the highest cultivation bases there were not even in the Immortal Realm. Therefore, Meng Hao and the other eight... really and truly were deities!

Power, wealth, and anything else they desired... could be had by merely asking!

If it was wealth, a single sentence could cause the riches of an entire nation to be handed over!

If it was power, then in an instant, they could be crowned an emperor!

Wherever they went in the Ninth Nation, if they fancied someone, they could take that person away at any time. They could do exactly as they pleased, and the people below them would not only be incapable of refusing to comply, they would actually feel honored to serve.

This was true from the moment they arrived. Something as astonishing as this caused the minds of Meng Hao and the others to reel. Finally, they were able to experience... what it was like.. to be completely unconstrained by any rules or customs.

In this place, they made the rules!

At this moment, similar scenes were playing out in all of the other districts of the Windswept Realm. Everyone who had arrived was shaken to the core!

The Echelon members and other cultivators from the Nine Seas of the Mountain and Sea Realm all went to different locations. However, each and every one of those locations belonged... solely to those people who occupied it.

In total, the Windswept Realm had nine nations; therefore, each of the Nine Seas occupied one of those nations.

In the center of the nine nations was the location of the World Essence, an ancient temple.... That was the goal of all of the people who had just arrived.

"Cauldron Seeking" is a stage in Er Gen's other two novels, Beseech the Devil and Renegade Immortal. In terms of cultivation, it's on almost exactly the same level as Dao Seeking, in other words, the last stage (or part of the last stage) before reaching the next Realm. "Cauldron Seeking" might not be the best translation for the other novels, but here I'm going with the most literal translation to make it sync well with I Shall Seal the HeavensJian Daozi's name in Chinese is 劍道子 jiàn dào zi. Jian is a surname which is also the character for "sword." Daozi is what often gets translated as "Dao Child"