"Thank you for the invitation, Brother Longyu." Zhou Hong hesitated for a moment and refused the other party's invitation. Although this young man named Longyu didn't seem like a bad person, nor did he seem to be deceiving him, Zhou Hong had his own considerations.
"Since that is the case, then I will not insist. I wish Brother Zhou Hong a smooth journey and hope we can meet again in the future." The Longyu nodded with some regret.
"Thank you, and you too. Smooth journey."
"Then I'll be going."
"Goodbye."
The young man named Longyu walked straight towards the immortal path without a second thought.
Zhou Hong, however, had not yet decided which way to go.
"Zhou Hong, make up your mind quickly. Immortals and demons are not opposites, nor do they represent good and evil. They are just different names. When you are powerful enough in the future, you can always go to the immortal realm."
"Alright then, I'll choose the demonic path and cultivate as a demon from now on."
Zhou Hong no longer hesitated and walked directly towards the demonic path in the middle.
After walking for about five to six minutes, Zhou Hong suddenly saw that at the end of the road ahead, it was a vast expanse of white, as if there was no path left.
Zhou Hong stopped, hesitated for a moment, and then rushed forward. Immediately, Zhou Hong felt as if he had passed through something and appeared on an ancient-looking street.
"Huh, where is this?" Zhou Hong murmured to himself.
"Do I need to say? It must be a city in the demon realm," his grandfather replied in his mind.
"Grandpa, what should I do now? Where do I start cultivating?" Zhou Hong asked, filled with confusion.
"You are just a quasi-demon now, not yet a demon person."
"Demon person?"
"Heh, it's the same as an immortal. It's just a different title. The future realms are also different. The realms of immortals are First-grade Immortal, Second-grade Immortal, Third-grade Immortal, Fourth-grade Immortal... up to Ninth-grade. Then, you enter Immortal Master, also Ninth-grade; then Immortal King, also Ninth-grade; then Immortal Emperor, and finally Immortal Sovereign. Simply put, it's Immortal, Immortal Master, Immortal King, Immortal Emperor, Immortal Sovereign."
Zhou Hong nodded and said, "Then in terms of demonic cultivation, it would be Demon Person, Demon Master, Demon King, Demon Emperor, Demon Sovereign."
"Yes, for demonic cultivation, it would be Demon Person, Demon Master, Demon King, Demon Emperor, Demon Sovereign."
"What about Buddhist cultivation?" Zhou Hong asked again, feeling that calling them 'Buddha people' sounded a bit unpleasant.
"Buddhist cultivation is different. They are Greatly Compassionate, Bodhisattva, Buddha, Buddhist Sage, and Buddha Ancestor, respectively. All are also divided into nine grades."
"I see." Zhou Hong nodded involuntarily. The realms were quite simple, but Zhou Hong felt that it was probably not as easy to cultivate as he imagined, though he didn't know why he felt that way.
"Your feeling is correct. Cultivating immortality or demonism is not as easy as you imagine. Because it doesn't just depend on your talent and strength. Every time you break through a level, you must have the approval of the Immortal Emperor, or Demon Emperor, Monster Emperor, or Buddha Emperor of your region."
"What do you mean?" Zhou Hong didn't seem to understand very well. He needed permission to cultivate? What kind of cultivation was this?
"For example, the place you are in now is under the territory of a Demon Emperor named Zhang San. Then, you want to break through to First-grade Demon Person. Even if your strength reaches First-grade Demon Person, if you don't have approval and permission from above, your realm will always remain at First-grade Demon Person."
"Why is it like this?" Zhou Hong couldn't understand. What was the point of cultivating like this?
"I don't know why. The rules of this universe are like this, so becoming an Emperor-level being allows you to control everything. You can imagine Emperor-level powerhouses as emperors. The officials under the emperor are all promoted one by one, which will make the emperor's rule extremely stable. Because everyone who can be promoted is at least loyal to this emperor."
Zhou Hong said with a depressed look, "Then how can I cultivate like this? There's no possibility of defying fate."
"It's not that there isn't, but it's very difficult. Unless you overthrow the current emperor. But the possibility is very weak. Do you know why I was killed by the Immortal Emperor before? Because he was wary of me. If he let me develop further, I might have been able to overthrow him."
Zhou Hong sighed helplessly. He thought that coming to the immortal realm would bring better days, but it turned out to be equally cruel. Unless Zhou Hong gave up and found a scenic place to enjoy life.
"The young man named Longyu earlier, finding acquaintances was actually a good idea. Didn't he say he knew a 'Fairy Wuji'? This fairy, at least has some status. If she helps find some connections and arranges an immortal position for that Longyu, for example, a land administrator of a certain mountain. This land administrator's immortal position is Third-grade Immortal, which means he can cultivate to Third-grade Immortal without any obstacles. Within this range, he doesn't need approval and can advance directly."
"Similarly, if he uses his connections to obtain a higher immortal position, such as the controller of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, or the marshal of the Heavenly Court's troops, then his immortal position would be at least First-grade Immortal King, and he could cultivate all the way to First-grade Immortal King without approval. Do you understand what I mean?"
Zhou Hong nodded, of course he understood.
"Grandpa, then according to this, when you were in the immortal realm and could cultivate to Immortal King, your status and position were not low, and you held a high immortal position."
"That's for sure. I was the commander of the million heavenly soldiers in the immortal realm, and my realm was Ninth-grade Immortal King."
"Wow!" Zhou Hong exclaimed with envy.
"If you were still a Ninth-grade Immortal King and commander of a million celestial soldiers now, how good would that be," Zhou Hong couldn't help but smile.
"Heh, when I said a million, I didn't mean one million, but nine million heavenly soldiers."
"Alright Grandpa, don't envy me anymore. I don't have that fate now."
"Yes, it was glorious when I was a Ninth-grade Immortal King. All my descendants, friends, and relatives could receive my care. As long as they had good talent, cultivating immortality would be unimpeded. It's just a pity that I took a wrong step, and every step thereafter was wrong."
"What do you mean? Which step did you take wrong?" Zhou Hong asked curiously.
"When I cultivated to Ninth-grade Immortal King, I couldn't stay in the immortal realm anymore. I should have immediately found an opportunity to leave the immortal realm and go to the chaotic world. Then, in the chaotic world, I would be free from control and might be able to directly ascend to Immortal Sovereign, obtain the Heavenly Court's Jade Seal. Then I could return and establish my own power, gradually grow, and become a ruler of a region."
Zhou Hong chuckled and said, "It probably wasn't that easy to leave, was it? If your Immortal Sovereign at the time knew you were going to leave, he would definitely have eliminated you. He wouldn't have let you go to the chaotic world, and then come back to compete for territory after you became an Immortal Sovereign."
"You are right, so you have to leave secretly. However, it is very risky. 9.9 out of ten people who want to leave will end up being killed. Even if you go to the chaotic world and can escape control, those who successfully ascend to Immortal Sovereign are rare, and even those who break through to Immortal Emperor are rare. To take a step back, even if you become an Immortal Sovereign and return to the immortal realm, those who can gain a foothold are still one in ten thousand. So there was a reason why I didn't dare."