novelraw Chapter 192, More About Ascendancy (3)
Chapter 192, More About Ascendancy (3)
She offered a decisive nod, confirming his deduction, her gaze steady and unwavering. "Precisely," she affirmed. "The moment an individual successfully achieves Level 250, they immediately meet the necessary qualifications to traverse a truly ancient and formidable barrier: the legendary Ninefold Heaven Gate Mountain. Passage through that leads directly into the expansive, mysterious realm known as the Middle Domain. And it is there, upon making that momentous entry into the Middle Domain itself, that an individual undergoes a profound, fundamental transformation, shedding their former limitations and ascending to become what is universally recognized as an Ascendant."
She elaborated, clarifying its true meaning and implications. "An Ascendant, by definition, is someone who has utterly broken free from the restrictive confines and inherent limitations of the Lower Domain’s fundamental system. They establish a direct, profound connection to an entirely higher, more expansive framework—a cosmic order that not only governs the entirety of the Middle Domain but stretches infinitely beyond, into realms unimaginable. It is at this pivotal juncture that the Heavenly Dao itself, the very fabric of universal will and destiny, begins to take active notice of their existence. Those exceptional beings who manage to reach such an elevated stage are then bestowed with something incredibly rare, a singular blessing often whispered about in ancient texts: what is known as Defying Luck. This isn’t merely good fortune; it is a profound, almost mystical opportunity to embark on an even grander ascent, to rise exponentially further. Beyond the Middle Domain, transcending even the state of an Ascendant, lies the ultimate destination: the Celestial Realm itself. And at the absolute zenith of this arduous, sacred path, there awaits one solitary, supreme position: The Celestial Emperor."
"So, if I’m piecing this together correctly," he murmured, the implications settling like a cold stone in his stomach, "the relentless pursuit of jades, the public rankings that fueled so much ambition, the entire, meticulously structured event itself... all of it, from beginning to end, was merely an elaborate, incredibly costly filter designed with a singular, ultimate purpose: to identify, test, and ultimately produce a single, worthy candidate for this celestial ascent."
"But... then what about the sub-class designations we all pursued so fiercely?" he wondered aloud, a note of lingering uncertainty in his voice. "And the talent awakenings, the unique abilities everyone hoped to unlock? Do those simply cease to matter?"
"You are still attempting to interpret these truths through the lens of the lower framework, the system you knew on Blue Star," she explained patiently, her voice soft but firm. "However, once an individual successfully enters and truly integrates into the Middle Domain, those former limitations and classifications—what you refer to as ’sub-classes’ or specific ’talents’—simply no longer apply. They become entirely transcended. An individual at that stage transforms into an Ascendant, a being of a fundamentally different order. With this profound ascension, they will, quite naturally and inevitably, awaken into a far higher, more potent class, accompanied by a corresponding, immensely powerful defying luck, or commonly called talent. It is not a choice or a chance, but a predetermined, unavoidable evolution of their very being."
"However, there is an unexpected twist to this grand design," she confided, her eyes holding a deep emotion. "It appears that, contrary to the established path, he chose you. You, specifically."
"Who, precisely, are you referring to? Who could possibly have chosen me outside of such an intricate system?"
"The one who made this extraordinary choice," she revealed, "was none other than the previous Celestial Emperor himself: the revered Xuan Huang Celestial Sovereign. And he did not choose you to simply occupy his throne as a mere replacement, a puppet of the old order. Instead, his intention was far more personal, far more profound: he chose you as the designated successor to his vast, formidable legacy of treasures and knowledge."
Lin Yi’s mind reeled, struggling to grasp the sheer audacity of such a choice, especially the nuanced distinction she had drawn. His voice was a low, incredulous murmur, still tainted by disbelief. "He chose me for... for his treasures, but explicitly not for the throne itself?"
Her answer, delivered without embellishment, carried the stark weight of irreversible truth.
Lin Yi let out a long, slow breath, a deep sigh that seemed to carry the full weight of this cosmic revelation. His mind, now reeling with a dizzying array of new truths, worked frantically to assemble the disparate fragments into a coherent narrative. The collective, crushing failure of all sixty million participants to reach the crucial benchmark, the existence of the elusive Level 250 threshold as the true gateway, the mythical Ninefold Heaven Gate Mountain leading to even grander realms, and the audacious, fallen emperor who had dared to defy Heaven, intervening from beyond his ruin to choose a successor for his personal treasures and legacy, rather than simply allowing the Heavenly Dao to install a compliant puppet upon the vacant Celestial throne— all these pieces now clicked into a terrifyingly logical, yet profoundly unsettling, whole.
"Despite all these earth-shattering revelations," Lin Yi stated, his voice quiet but firm, a clear request in his tone, "despite the fabric of my reality being utterly rewoven by your words, there is still one fundamental piece of information, one crucial detail that remains utterly hidden from me, and it is something I must know. Your name. What do I call you?"