Inside the Binglun Hall, the three figures stepped onto the grand teleportation array one after another.
Unlike the calm and collected Fang Baiyu and Cui Dongli, Jiang Runyue appeared visibly excited.
All around them, thousands of neatly arranged giant stone pillars began to light up with a deep blue glow. This radiance did not emanate from the pillars themselves, but from the intricate runes engraved upon them.
Densely packed, profound runes formed a colossal formation. Though shaped like the Eight Trigrams, it was far more complex. The runes flickered and vanished in rhythmic patterns, and the deep blue light gradually grew dazzlingly bright.
Cui Dongli and Fang Baiyu exchanged a glance, then quietly closed their eyes as identical, quirky smiles crept onto their faces.
The next moment, the entire teleportation array was engulfed in a blindingly fierce, incandescent white light.
"Ah, my eyes!"
Jiang Runyue let out a cry of agony and hurriedly covered her eyes, feeling as though her entire field of vision had turned into a vast expanse of white. Even with her eyes tightly shut, she could not escape the overwhelmingly majestic glare.
"Hhahahaha—"
"Hehehehe—"
Cui and Fang burst into hearty laughter, holding their sides.
The next instant, the three of them vanished.
In a hazy blur, she had no idea how much time had passed before Jiang Runyue reluctantly forced her slightly stinging eyes open.
"Eh? What is that?"
Even as tears streamed continuously from her eyes, they could not stem Jiang Runyue's overwhelming curiosity.
"The Tianyun Realm!"
Seeing her tear-streaked face, Cui Dongli suppressed a smile and said, "The Tianyun Great World where we are right now is that colossal blue star right ahead!"
"A star? Shouldn't the world be square with a dome-like sky?"
"Haha, Junior Sister Guanghan, there is much you do not know. Lesser thousand worlds might indeed be square and flat beneath a round sky, because they can attach themselves to a great thousand world to ensure they aren't assimilated by the boundless void all around them."
"A great thousand world, however, can only be a sphere, with the sun and moon revolving around it!"
Explained the erudite Cui Dongli.
Jiang Runyue asked, "Why must it be a sphere?"
"Because turbulence naturally arises within the void, and only a sphere can withstand the repeated impacts of the void's forces. A world with a flat earth and round sky like the one you described would likely be overturned by the void's forces at any moment!"
"Uh, is that really how it works?"
Jiang Runyue rubbed her nose awkwardly.
"Can a great thousand world rely solely on its shape to withstand the impacts of the void's forces?"
Cui Dongli smiled gently. "Naturally not. Junior Sister, look up!"
Jiang Runyue raised her gaze as instructed and instantly noticed something unusual. Suspended high above them were countless feathery objects, layered like white clouds.
"Those feather-like clouds are a layer of heavenly gang Qi. The Tianyun Realm possesses a total of thirty-six such layers of heavenly gang Qi, with each layer being tens of thousands of miles high!"
"It is precisely the existence of these heavenly gang Qi layers that neutralizes the void forces coming from all directions, allowing the entire Tianyun Realm to remain stable and flourish in prosperity!"
"Ah? Each layer is tens of thousands of miles high? By that calculation, wouldn't the total thickness of the heavenly gang Qi layers span over a million miles?"
Jiang Runyue widened her eyes in shock. "Then just how massive is the entire Tianyun Realm?"
Fang Baiyu gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder and explained with a smile, "It isn't all that huge. The moon that endlessly revolves around the Tianyun Realm is smaller even than the Southern Wasteland, which has the smallest land area among the four great continents of the Tianyun Realm."
"Hiss—"
Jiang Runyue had no idea how large the Southern Wasteland was, nor how truly massive the moon might be, but as the teleportation light drew closer and closer to the great star ahead, the awe in her heart grew exponentially.
"Vast, truly too vast!"
This azure planet was extraordinarily huge. Even from this lofty height in the sky, it remained boundless and endless to the eye.
"Junior Sister Guanghan, we are currently in the eighth layer of the heavenly gang Qi, and we are still over four hundred thousand miles away from the Taiyin Divine Mountain. It will take a full quarter of an hour to arrive."
The distance between the two points was simply too great, making it impossible to reach instantaneously even by using a teleportation array.
"The moon where we usually live lies within the thirty-second and thirty-third layers of the heavenly gang Qi, while the sun is located slightly higher, in the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth layers!"
Jiang Runyue was left utterly speechless.
This gigantic planet called the Tianyun Realm felt vastly larger than the sun of her past life, and even the sun and moon revolving around it were by no means smaller than that former sun.
"This... defies science!"
Jiang Runyue murmured under her breath.
"Science? What on earth is that?"
Cui Dongli asked with a quizzical look, "Junior Sister Guanghan, is there something here that you find difficult to accept?"
Jiang Runyue shook her head and gave a wry smile. "No, I was just marveling. The Tianyun Realm is simply too enormous, far larger than the world I was born in!"
"Haha, while lesser thousand worlds can sometimes be large, they simply cannot compare to great thousand worlds!"
"Besides, the construction cost of a teleportation array is astronomical. Even our sect has only managed to build three in ten thousand years, let alone other cultivation factions!"
Hearing this, Jiang Runyue suddenly asked, "Senior Brother Cui, since everyone has teleportation arrays, won't other factions seize the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on our sect?"
"Ah?"
Cui Dongli's mouth dropped open before he burst into amused laughter. "How could that be possible? Each faction's teleportation array is strictly closed to outsiders. Anyone wishing to use an array must go through layers of rigorous vetting before approval is granted; forced teleportation is utterly impossible!"
Only then did Jiang Runyue nod in understanding.
Fang Baiyu wrapped his arm around Jiang Runyue's waist, leaned in close to her ear, and asked softly, "Junior Sister, the world you lived in before... was it terribly barren?"
"It certainly was quite barren. Most arts such as array formations, movement techniques, alchemy, talisman crafting, and spiritual botany have been lost for a long time. The cultivation methods have dwindled down to just three realms: Qi Refining, Golden Core, and Primordial Spirit, and even the method to condense the Primordial Spirit has been lost."
"Ah?"
Fang Baiyu asked in astonishment, "Then how did you manage to break free from the shackles and ascend to the Tianyun Realm?"
"I accidentally cultivated my Primordial Spirit, and as a result, I was rejected and expelled by the Heavenly Dao consciousness of that world, which led to my ascension to the Tianyun Realm!"
"Huh? Heavenly Dao consciousness? Forced expulsion???"
At that moment, both Fang Baiyu and Cui Dongli stared at her in absolute dumbfounded shock.
There was even such a method of operation?
"How could the Heavenly Dao possess consciousness? Junior Sister Guanghan, perhaps you've made a mistake?"
Jiang Runyue shook her head.
"As the ancients said: The way of heaven has its constant constancy; it does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie."
"Whether it is a lesser thousand world or a great thousand world, the Heavenly Dao can never possess self-awareness. Otherwise, the great ancient tribulation that occurs once every ten thousand years would never happen!"
Cui Dongli said solemnly, "Junior Sister Guanghan, let this matter rest solely between you, me, and Senior Sister Chanjuan. You must never speak of it to a fourth person, or you will never know peace hereafter!"
Warmth filled Jiang Runyue's heart, and she smiled shortly after. "Thank you, Senior Brother Yuchan. Guanghan will keep it in mind!"
Cui Dongli waved his hand dismissively and turned to gaze at the distant great star. Though a faint smile still lingered on his jade-like face, a trace of quiet worry surfaced deep within his eyes.
The incandescent light cut through the sky like a rainbow, enveloping the three of them as they pierced through layer after layer of heavenly gang Qi, speeding rapidly toward a towering, precipitous, dragon-like divine mountain.
The closer they drew, the more directly Jiang Runyue could feel the overwhelming weight and sense of antiquity washing over her.