Realm

Description[]

Realm (境界(Jìngjiè)) can be considered one of the 3 major aspects of a cultivator, and is the most important of the 3^[1]. In essence, Realm refers to one's level of comprehension. Similar to Willpower and Divine Body (or the Life Gene Level of someone below Immortal), if one is able to fully utilize their realm (typically through weapons or techniques), they can fight opponents who may seem stronger than themselves (for example: Luo Feng using the Soaring Shuttle to kill Li Yao while still a God of War, or Luo Feng using Golden Light to kill Flourishing Light Seigneur). Realm is typically expressed through either utilizing the techniques inherent to a weapon (through engravings, etc.), the comprehension and utilization of someone else's techniques, or the creation and execution of self-made techniques. It is always more important than willpower and life gene since, regardless of the life gene or willpower of a cultivator, they cannot break through to the next cultivation realm without the required level of comprehension.

Consider a World Master with a life gene of 1000; while they will have a body comparable in strength to an Immortal Army Lord, they will not actually be an Immortal. They will lack an Immortal Body, Law Domain, Divine Power, etc., despite having a comparable body. Only when they reach the adequate level of comprehension will they break through to that next cultivation realm. Similar bottlenecks can be seen in Invincible Immortal Kings and Top Universe Overlords; while the strongest among them can even kill Universe Venerables and Universe Masters, respectively, they cannot actually be considered Universe Venerables or Universe Masters. Similarly, while one can use superior Willpower to defeat those of a higher level, particularly once one is powerful enough to use Willpower techniques, this will not enable them to break through to the next cultivation realm.

This bottleneck maintains its importance as one progresses through the cultivation realms; a World Master only has to completely comprehend an Original Law to break through to Immortal, an Immortal has to completely comprehend an Upper Original Law to break through to Universe Venerable, and some version of a fusion law to break through to Universe Master. The law comprehension component of breaking through to True God is never fully detailed (since Luo Feng uses the Divine Power Path), but no matter how powerful a True God is due to treasures, life gene, and Burning Divine Power Secret Techniques, they must be able to create a top-tier Level 10 ability before breaking through to Void True God (and thus survive past 3 Reincarnation Eras). Similarly, a Void True God must fully comprehend a mystery of the universe before breaking through to Eternal True God. Even if an Eternal True God follows the Bloodline Cultivation Method, they must create Primal Chaos Sovereign Techniques and then comprehend the Law of Chaos to become a Primal Chaos Sovereign. Primal Chaos Sovereigns with exceptional abilities can become Transcendent Chaos Realms and fight against God Kings, but they will be limited to the PCS realm until they fully comprehend a Major Branch of a Great Dao and break through to God King.

It is noted that while the 13 Emperors of the Flame Wind Ancient Kingdom are all Ultimate God Kings in terms of life level, only Emperor Qing has successfully merged all Major Branches of a Great Dao, and as a result, his methods and strength are superior to his contemporaries.