Chapter 368

Chapter 368: The Structure of the New World

This realm stood in stark contrast to the Immortal Blessing Continent, for here women vastly outnumbered men. Though not as imbalanced as the Immortal Realm, females controlled nearly all resources in the Spiritual Immortal World.

Yes, this realm was called the Spiritual Immortal World.

Women held supreme status here because everyone practiced immortal cultivation. Like the Immortal Realm, only women possessed spiritual roots enabling cultivation. But unlike that realm, no celestial maidens existed here.

This meant men remained ordinary people forever. Their low status made them dependents of female cultivators. Strict societal rules confined men to inner courtyards for life. They could only leave if permitted by their female guardians, and even then must wear veils outdoors to avoid "tainting their virtue."

Once pledged to a female cultivator, a man’s life belonged entirely to her. Disobedient males could be beaten, scolded, or sold at their mistress’s whim.

Now it made sense why that bully had felt justified trying to sell Feng Rong and Yuan Qi earlier. In this world, men exposing their faces outdoors were considered shameless and immoral, deserving public scorn.

You You grew increasingly intrigued. Though both realms restricted spiritual roots to women, their societies differed drastically. The Immortal Realm maintained superficial female superiority through celestial maidens, yet men still dominated mortal affairs outside immortal sects.

Some immortal sects had even historically sidelined celestial maidens entirely. Otherwise, Shui Yan’s group wouldn’t have suffered so. It wasn’t women’s lack of capability, but their scarcity preventing them from holding key positions.

Without celestial maidens, women might face worse persecution – labeled heretics before even becoming cultivators. Humans always feared outsiders, with "different tribes harbor different hearts" being common logic.

Celestial maidens thus maintained an uneasy gender balance.

The Spiritual Immortal World’s extreme female dominance stemmed not just from spiritual roots, but numerical superiority.

You You disliked both systems. Why must genders compete? Couldn’t all progress together?

Yet she knew such deep-rooted issues couldn’t change overnight. Sister Jing’s far more advanced civilization still had planets trapped in similar patterns. Humans excelled at internal conflict.

Beyond gender dynamics, You You learned this world organized itself into competing nations rather than scattered immortal sects.

With universal female cultivation, being a cultivator here was as basic as literacy. Their current location, Chixing Country, ranked among the Spiritual Immortal World’s strongest nations, ruled by a female cultivator at God Transformation perfection.

Above nations stood the mysterious Jingling Institute – holy land housing the realm’s mightiest cultivators and its sole True God.

Periodically, the Institute held its Holy Spirit Ceremony. Each nation’s elite cultivators attended this grand ceremony presided by the Institute Head. Participants invariably became powerful figures, some even joining the Institute permanently.

The ceremonies followed no fixed schedule – sometimes millennia apart, sometimes mere years. This city teemed with cultivators because Qinghong City hosted selections for the upcoming ceremony, announced just three months after the previous one two years prior.

"Where is this Jingling Institute?" You You asked.

"At Nine Heavens’ summit, above the clouds!" The young server’s eyes shone with reverence before lowering his voice. "Though I once heard it’s actually north, above the Heavenly Palace." He pointed northwest.

"North?" You You glanced that way. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." He bowed out, closing the door.

"You You, did you sense something?" Yuan Qi asked.

"Yesterday, my divine sense detected something faint far north." She frowned. "It keeps fading – I can’t discern what."

"Can’t even you see clearly?" Yuan Qi tensed. As Realm Master, nothing should escape her perception unless…

"Must be connected to the cracks." Feng Rong suggested. "Let’s investigate directly."

"Too risky." Yuan Qi countered. "If enemies caused our power loss, they might anticipate direct moves. We need subtlety."

You You nodded. This realm had existed long before the recent cracks. Their goal was investigation, not destruction.

As they debated, opportunity knocked unexpectedly.