Wu Bowen chuckled and said, “Perhaps those high-level cultivators can also destroy heaven and earth, but we were born at the wrong time. In this Dharma-Ending Age, we will never be able to cultivate until the day we transcend the tribulation and ascend to a higher level.”
Wu Bolin replied by asking the two of them, “In your opinion, what is ascension before the Dharma-Lattering Age?”
Wu Bowen said, “Then what else? Just like the Western Paradise that Buddha spoke of, you go straight to another world.”
Wu Bolin then asked another question: “Where is the other world after ascension?”
Wu Bowen spread his hands: “Who knows? We’ve never been there. Maybe to another planet.”
Wu Bolin shook his head: “Astronomers have also studied this. Not to mention Earth, there is no other place in the entire solar system where humans can live. The nearest star is four light-years from Earth. Even if the post-ascension world exists there, how many years do you think it would take for them to undergo trials on Earth and fly that far?”
The two looked at each other in confusion.
Unlike Wu Bolin, they had not studied much modern knowledge, so they did not know how to answer this question.
Wu Bolin said with a serious expression, “Even if they could fly at the speed of light after ascending into space, it would still take four years to get there. Furthermore, there are theories of relativity that have been researched by some scientists, which state that no object can surpass the speed of light.”
Wu Bozhong suddenly said, “Scientists study ordinary people, which is definitely not the same as high-level cultivators.”
Wu Bolin nodded and said, “You have your reasons, but let me ask you, if spiritual ascension really exists, which is more powerful, a cultivator who has achieved spiritual ascension or Sun Wukong from Journey to the West?”
Without hesitation, Wu Bozhong said, “If Journey to the West is true, then Sun Wukong must be the strongest. He was already an immortal when he graduated from his apprenticeship, and then he became a Buddha, which is a god.”
Wu Bolin agreed, saying, “That’s right. If Sun Wukong is real, then he is a god or Buddha, even higher than an immortal.”
After saying that, he changed the topic and said, “But have you two thought about it? Sun Wukong’s somersault only covered a distance of 108,000 li, which was equivalent to about 60,000 kilometers according to the Chinese li at that time. Even if he did one somersault per second, covering 60,000 kilometers each time, that would only be about one-fifth the speed of light.”
“In other words, even if Sun Wukong, who has become a god, were to do one somersault per second and keep doing it, it would still take him forty or fifty years to complete his journey. Even cultivators who attain immortality on Earth are not considered to have reached the immortal level, so no matter how strong they are, they can’t possibly be stronger than Sun Wukong, who has become a god or Buddha, right?”
“Their speed is clearly not as fast as Sun Wukong’s. They might even spend hundreds of years on the path to enlightenment. So tell me, is spending hundreds of years on that path a blessing or a curse? A torment?”
The two men’s heads buzzed at what he said. Wu Bowen rubbed his temples and said, “Senior Brother, you’re going too far off the rails. It’s all nonsense. How can we determine whether it’s true or false? And to be honest, I’ve never thought about achieving immortality in my life. I’d be satisfied if I could just eat the elixir of eternal life like the sage ruler and live another five hundred years. Who cares how far Sun Wukong can do a somersault in one move?”
“Yes,” Wu Bozhong said with a smile, “Even wise rulers don’t dare dream about ascending to a higher realm, so we shouldn’t even think about it. Didn’t you say yourself that there’s no place near Earth where anyone can live? Perhaps ascending to a higher realm was a hoax from the start.”
As he spoke, he suddenly realized something and exclaimed excitedly, “I think those stories about ascending to a higher spiritual level are just like the story of Sun Wukong—they were all made up by later generations! As for the so-called ‘Dharma-Ending Age,’ I think it’s complete nonsense! It’s very likely that Earth has been like this since its birth. For thousands of years, cultivators have hoped to ascend to a higher spiritual level, but no one has been able to fly. Everyone thought about it and realized, ‘This doesn’t make sense. Everyone says they can ascend to a higher spiritual level, but why doesn’t anyone fly?’”
“So, to console themselves, they invented the ‘Dharma-Lattering Age,’ saying that things are different now than they were before. They say this is the Dharma-Lattering Age, and that in the past, even dogs could ascend to higher levels. It’s like the late Qing Dynasty, when the old people always said that the world was declining and that people weren’t as good as they used to be. I think it’s just something to deceive children. Maybe things weren’t much better then, maybe even worse than they are now. It’s just that we weren’t born in that era, so whether something is good or bad is all based on what they say.”
Wu Bowen’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, “Junior Sister is right! The highest cultivation realm is probably just living for a thousand or eight hundred years, like a sage master. As for advancing to higher levels, that’s all just the speculation and wishful thinking of cultivators. Look at the scientists these days; they keep talking about interstellar travel and interstellar migration, right? But as Senior Sister just said, even light takes several years to reach the nearest star. Humans probably wouldn’t be able to live there even in ten thousand years. Advancing to higher levels might be the same, just a theoretical height that can never be reached in reality.”
Wu Bolin chuckled humbly and said, “What you said makes sense. It’s very possible that promotion is just a dream that cultivators painted for future generations many years ago, a dream that will never come true.”
While saying that, Wu Bolin had his own calculations in mind.
He knew that spiritual ascent could not be interstellar travel.
Before the Dharma-Ending Age, it was impossible for cultivators who had successfully overcome trials to act like fools all the time, flying far away from Earth into outer space, flying across the universe for tens, hundreds, or even thousands of years just to go to another world. Wouldn’t that be completely insane?
He prefers to believe that the ascension is actually a teleportation mechanism.
In theory, promotion is more akin to an invisible imperial examination.
However, the imperial examinations were not held by the visible and tangible imperial court, but rather by a group of super cultivators with extraordinary cultivation levels.
Just as the imperial court needed to select new officials through imperial examinations, the super cultivators also needed to select new people to fill the upper ranks with fresh blood.
So they engineered what is called heavenly tribulation and ascension.
It’s not like just because you’ve reached a certain cultivation level means the Heavenly Dao will strike you with heavenly lightning to test your destiny. If there really is such a thing as the Heavenly Dao, it must manage hundreds of billions of galaxies, hundreds of billions of stars, and even more planets throughout the universe. The Heavenly Dao is too busy to care about a small fry on a particular planet. Why would it specifically send lightning bolts at you? Do you really think you’re that great?
Wu Bolin felt that the so-called trials were actually more like your cultivation level had just met the minimum requirements for selection. The higher-ups took notice of you and gave you the opportunity to participate in the imperial examinations.
The lightning was probably just a test, nothing more.
They will give you the opportunity to take an exam. If you pass, it means you have passed the test from above. Then, they will use their supernatural powers to open a door and transport you there. That will be your entrance into the court as an official. After that, you will work your way up from the bottom, as there will always be a superior above you.
Even the imperial examinations required three stages of testing: provincial examinations, metropolitan examinations, and palace examinations. This ordeal was likely only the first stage of the provincial examinations for cultivators.
In ancient times, even if you passed all three rounds of the imperial examinations and were the top scholar in the final palace examination, you were only eligible to enter the Hanlin Academy, a mere sixth-rank official. Once you entered the Hanlin Academy, you were just a commoner, and you still had to climb the career ladder step by step.
Even if you pass the imperial examinations with distinction and rise to the rank of prime minister, aren’t you still under the tight control of the imperial family?
If you were even more powerful, and you rebelled and succeeded, becoming emperor, wouldn’t you be the ruler of a country?
What if your country was small? What if it were surrounded by powerful enemies? What if you were even less fortunate and, after overcoming countless trials, became the leader of a nation like the Dahomey or Zulu kingdoms in 15th-century Africa? When the Portuguese invaders arrived, they seized the entire country and forced it to cultivate cotton and sugarcane. What could the emperor do? Exile was considered a blessing from his ancestors.
In essence, it’s all about surviving hardships, no matter where you are. After passing this stage, there’s always the next. The biggest difference is that cultivators have a long enough lifespan to endure them bit by bit. Being able to live for thousands of years or even longer is a huge attraction.
Of course, if you can’t withstand the heavenly trials and turn to dust or crumble into a wandering immortal, that’s your own business. The cruelty of ascension compared to the imperial examinations is that you don’t get a second chance.
It was precisely because Wu Bolin had constructed such logic in his mind that he became more ambitious than Wu Bowen, Wu Bozhong, and even Victoria.
Even Victoria never dared to dream of ascending the throne.
His thoughts were very simple: he just wanted to obtain the Hundred Reincarnation Pill and live for another five hundred years. As for what to do after the second five hundred years, that was a matter to be considered at a later stage. Thinking about it now was just a waste of energy.
However, Wu Bolin feels that if the Antarctic legend is true, climbing to Antarctica may no longer be an unattainable dream. Why not expand our horizons even further?