Because the Earth Immortal Druid class was so powerful, the Earth Immortal Body alone required Qi Ping's physical form to completely merge with the Qingtian Domain. Thus, the awakening ritual lasted a long time.
A bizarre power of creation continuously reshaped his body, allowing his physical form to carry the majesty of the world. Simultaneously, within his consciousness, he gained deep insights into his three new talents.
During this process, his understanding of Druids and the Earth Immortal path grew significantly. The transformation lasted for over a month before he finally opened his eyes, which were filled with a look of realization.
"So this is a Druid!"
"Man and Nature gradually become one. Nature is I, and I am Nature!"
When he first became a Druid, he had only gained a bit of natural authority and recognition, allowing him to use simple spells and nudge some natural power. As his comprehension deepened, his control grew. But this control led to another issue: natural affinity. The higher the affinity, the easier it was to manipulate and understand nature.
When affinity and comprehension reached a certain level, one entered a state of "Unity of Man and Nature." In this state, one could maximize their control over the natural world—which in the cultivation world, was the power of heaven and earth.
The awakening of the Earth Immortal Druid was the result of Qi Ping's comprehension and affinity reaching that threshold, assisted by the Chaos Inheritance Space. The requirement for this class was obtaining enough affinity from a specific piece of land and reaching a high level of control over its power.
There were two other critical factors.
One was his Dao-Heart. From the first stage (Farming) to the second (Homeland) and finally the third (Eternal Endurance), his heart had grown strong enough to qualify for the Earth Immortal Body. Without this, the massive will of the world and the vast amount of knowledge would have crushed his consciousness into idiety.
The second factor was the fusion of his Lord of Mountains and Rivers phenomenon with the Spirit of the Land. This phenomenon was the ultimate tool for controlling the world's power.
The power of a world is far too vast and complex. It's like giving an ordinary person a massive, tangled knot of yarn—except the complexity is millions of times greater. Five-element laws, time, space, sword-intent, mountain-river power, demonic rules... for an ordinary cultivator, looking at the full structure would cause a mental collapse.
Thus, the "Mountain-River Phantom" he had cultivated himself became the perfect key and hub for mobilizing the Qingtian Domain's power. He could even use it to nudge the laws of time and space. However, since his understanding of those laws was zero, he couldn't actually use that power; it was like possessing a treasure vault without a key.
'But if I contract a companion with time or space talents, I can use this treasure to unleash extraordinary power.'
Currently, what he could mobilize most effectively were the Five Elements and Yin-Yang, as his comprehension of those was the deepest.
"Completing the awakening is like obtaining a powerful but barely controllable body. I can only move the parts I understand. While this is already incredibly strong, I have a long way to go before I truly control this body!"
Specifically regarding time and space, he was practically drooling with desire. It was like a legendary artifact that could rule the world, but he lacked the key to take it out.
"But one benefit is already fully mine: as long as the Qingtian Domain is not destroyed, my main body is immortal!"
For someone dedicated to the way of prudence, nothing was more tempting. Theoretically, as long as the domain grew stronger, Qi Ping was invincible. This gave him another reason to develop the domain.
To put it simply, within the Qingtian Domain, Qi Ping could mobilize power far beyond what he himself had comprehended. For example, if his control over the five elements was "one" outside the domain, it would be "ten" or "hundreds" within it. Thus, the difficulty of doing anything here was drastically reduced. This was the advantage of the Earth Immortal Body.
"Besides the body, Power Abrogation and Sentient Faith are also surprisingly powerful."
Power Abrogation allowed him to strip others of their laws and energy within the domain's limit. This meant that if his comprehension was high enough, he could drastically weaken any enemy who dared to attack him here. Ordinary cultivators would be like lambs to the slaughter. A buff for him and a debuff for them—the fight was over before it started.
And any sentient being who became his "follower" could grant him a power boost. If he had enough strong followers, he might even be able to slay a Deity Transformation expert right now!
To summarize the essence of this class: As long as the domain lives, I am invincible within it! And as his comprehension grew, this invincibility would only become more apparent.
However, despite being so powerful, the Earth Immortal Druid had two obvious weaknesses.
First, if he traveled too far from the domain, his combat power would revert to normal; the Earth Immortal power would bottom out.
Second, if the domain were completely destroyed, not only would he lose his power, but his main body would also be severely injured or even killed.
Fortunately, he still had the Life-Binding Covenant of the Treant as a fallback. Even in the worst-case scenario, he could resurrect through the Treant's talent. This was the advantage of having multiple classes—the Treant ensured survival and resources, the Beast-King Druid ensured combat power through his companions outside the domain, and the Forest Druid allowed him to tap into the power of any forest. Each had its strengths.
The Earth Immortal Druid was simply a case of: either incredibly strong, or as if it didn't exist at all.
Currently, his Druid powers far exceeded his cultivation powers. But this didn't mean he would stop cultivating. Rather, it was only after obtaining these three Druid powers that he had the true qualification to pursue longevity!
'With the Earth Immortal power as my shield, I can safely develop the Qingtian Domain. It ensures I won't be threatened by the majority of cultivators and provides me with the ultimate natural affinity.'
The Earth Immortal Body made it much easier to comprehend laws and spells—a massive benefit for his cultivation.
And this world followed the law of the dark jungle; most cultivators were essentially "farmed" resources to be harvested by the powerful. Faced with those truly terrifying masters, the Earth Immortal class only gave him the qualification to protect himself. Just like the Verdant Stream Domain, which had been much more prosperous than the Qingtian Domain, it had still been harvested into a wasteland.
To protect this place, he had to make the domain strong—quickly.
'I also need to finish the final five-element talent for my Beast-King True Form—the wood attribute. Completing the five elements will not only secure my foundation but take my control over the domain to a new level!'
'With the Earth Immortal's help, my Treant class can safely nurture resources to fuel my and my companions' cultivation!'
With the help of all three paths, his journey toward immortality could reach a perfect level.
But what truly excited him was that after the awakening, he saw a path of immortality that belonged solely to him: The World Path.
Qi Ping felt that his Golden Core Phenomenon was the perfect seed for this path. This reaffirmed his belief that his phenomenon was not inferior to the "Descent of the Celestial Spirit."
Achieving the Earth Immortal Body and merging with the domain allowed him to see the fundamental structure of the world. This was the best reference for his World Path. It perfectly matched his foundation of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. Previously, this path was just a hope, as the world was far too complex. It wasn't as if one could just plant a World Tree or find a seed and succeed; if it were that easy, the cultivation world would be full of mini-worlds.
In reality, the mini-worlds created by powerful cultivators were usually incomplete and dependent on the main world. If separated, they would collapse unless a "Heaven-Reaching World Tree" was planted to maintain stability. But even then, the rules would be weak and incomplete—lacking the majesty of a true world.
In the records he had seen, those who tried to follow the World Path had all failed at the final step. Some speculated the path was inherently flawed, or that there was a terrifying force preventing such cultivators from arising.
'Regardless, I will first complete my foundation. To polish Yin-Yang and the Five Elements to perfection is the cornerstone of becoming an immortal.'
He had a feeling that if he truly mastered every sliver of power in the Earth Immortal Body, he would understand the essence of a world and how to walk this path. But that was a long journey. The rules were endless; Yin-Yang and the Five Elements were just a drop in the ocean of ten thousand powers. Even just the Five Elements had infinite variations. Mastering them all seemed impossible.
Thus, he only wanted to comprehend the most fundamental, important laws. No matter how the path evolved, these would never be wrong, and his combat power would be guaranteed.
'The comprehension of the Earth Immortal Druid shall stop here for now.'
He was very satisfied with the results.
'I need to handle the current trouble first. The development of the Qingtian Domain must begin immediately!'
With that, he moved at incredible speed, leaving the sanctuary. He had just received word that the backlash for slaying three Nascent Soul masters had arrived: the Star-Sea Alliance—the organization composed of all the top powers of the continent—had appeared!
When that figure descended, the entire Qingtian Domain seemed to freeze. For this was a Deity Transformation cultivator!
Fortunately, Qi Ping sensed that this individual did not radiate intense hostility. Although he was confident in his new powers, slaying a Deity Transformation expert would likely lead to endless war. He didn't want to use the corpses of high-level cultivators to nurture his land just yet. But if pushed, he wouldn't hesitate.