Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

His mental strength was like a candle flickering in the wind; each activation was accompanied by a tearing headache. But he gritted his teeth, condensed his remaining power into a thread, and carefully reached for the ancient compass in his mind.

"Go in!" he murmured to himself, his last hope.

However, the expected misty vapors from the hundred-acre spring did not appear, nor did the cool spring water moisten his parched body. The scene before him suddenly changed; he seemed to be on the edge of chaos, surrounded by a hazy void, with only the phantom image of the compass connected to his mind suspended in the center.

The phantom was more solid than before, its edges swirling with a faint, mysterious aura. Before Lin Yan could even react with surprise, a gentle yet irresistible flow of information, like a gentle stream, surged directly into his sea of ​​consciousness, clearly conveying a message:

[The blood oath is only the initial step. To inherit the legacy and control this disc, one must refine it with divine consciousness to achieve perfection.]

The information also contained the methods and steps for refining the compass, concise and clear, yet hitting the core. Lin Yan's spirits lifted, and disregarding his fatigue, he immediately followed the guidance of the compass's illusory image, transforming his spiritual power into divine sense and imprinting it on the core of the compass.

He carefully guided his faint divine sense, like a newborn baby taking its first steps, slowly seeping into the illusory image of the compass along a specific and mysterious path.

"Buzz..."

The illusory image of the compass trembled slightly, unleashing a powerful suction force that began to actively draw in and refine Lin Yan's consciousness. This process was not painful; rather, it possessed a comfortable, harmonious quality, like a parched sponge encountering sweet rain. Lin Yan felt his consciousness being tempered and nourished, and at the same time, his connection with the compass grew increasingly strong, like blood ties.

Time seemed to lose its meaning at this edge of chaos. How much time had passed, until the last vestige of Lin Yan's divine sense completely merged with the illusory image of the compass—

"boom!"

Lin Yan felt a violent tremor in his sea of ​​consciousness, and the chaotic void before him shattered and receded instantly. It was as if he had opened a door sealed for eternity, revealing a magnificent and bizarre new world outside!

At that moment, he finally understood the true origin and name of this compass—the Qiankun Dingshi Pan (a compass for determining the world's order).

It is no ordinary object, but was left behind by an ancient ancestor of the Lin family in the previous life, a cultivator with eight spiritual roots!

The message vividly depicts the legendary life of that ancestor:

That wasn't the end of the Dharma era; the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was abundant, but the requirements for spiritual root aptitude were much stricter for cultivators. Those with the five spiritual roots of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth were already considered cultivation failures, unable to make any progress. Yet this ancestor of the Lin family actually possessed not only the five spiritual roots but also ice, wind, and thunder! Five spiritual roots plus three more—eight spiritual roots mixed together—were considered utterly useless and worthless at the time, ridiculed by the world, with a bleak future ahead.

But there's always a way out! The ancestor didn't give up. During a perilous exploration of a secret realm, he unexpectedly obtained a bottle of top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pills! With these pills, he defied fate. Although he couldn't reduce the number of his spiritual roots, he purified the quality of each one to its absolute limit, reaching an unprecedented state of purity!

This is not the end. In the deepest part of the secret realm, in the inheritance hall, the ancestor obtained another supreme method that has shaken the ages - the "Qiankun Creation Technique"!

The core essence of this technique is "The Five Major Elements and the Three Minor Wonders." Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth are the Five Major Elements, while Ice, Wind, and Thunder are the Three Minor Wonders. These eight are the basic elements that constitute the universe! And the eight spiritual roots of our ancestors, which were despised by the world, perfectly match the cultivation requirements of this "Creation Technique of Heaven and Earth"!

It was as if it was tailor-made for him!

From that moment on, the Lin family ancestor rose against all odds! With the unique "Heaven and Earth Creation Technique," his cultivation speed increased by leaps and bounds, far surpassing his peers. From initially struggling to survive at the bottom, cautiously advancing step by step, to gradually revealing his brilliance, encountering numerous fortuitous events, and ultimately dominating the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, his power overwhelming the cultivation world, enduring countless tribulations and dangers, finally shattering the void and ascending to the Upper Realm! Achieving the supreme immortal path! Later, with strength far exceeding that of other cultivators of the same level, he crushed a host of Immortal Emperors, ascending to the God Realm and becoming a generation of God Emperor!

However, even after reaching such heights, when seeking ultimate transcendence, the ancestor felt a deficiency in his state of mind and was unable to take that final step towards perfection.

Through his divination abilities, the ancestor finally understood the crux of the problem: although his life was magnificent and his supernatural powers were unparalleled, due to his unique spiritual root aptitude, his cultivation was a hundred times more difficult than others from the very beginning. He spent most of his time searching for rare and precious materials and resources. Although he himself achieved the supreme Dao, he failed to leave sufficient protection and a true inheritance for his descendants, causing the Lin family to gradually decline after his ascension, and even his origins were almost forgotten. This was his greatest regret.

To make up for this regret and to leave a glimmer of hope for future generations of the Lin family, the ancestor did not immediately pursue a higher level of transcendence after ascending to heaven.

Over a hundred thousand years, he traversed the realms of humans, immortals, and gods, even venturing into the legendary Nine Netherworlds. He collected countless rare and precious materials, exhausting his efforts to finally refine this supreme treasure—the Qiankun Dingshi Plate—from an unclaimed vast world, integrating the functions of gathering spiritual energy, deduction, protection, and inheritance!

Lin Yan was deeply moved and could not calm down for a long time.

An ancestor with eight spiritual roots, a seemingly useless individual, relied on a heaven-defying opportunity and unparalleled perseverance to ultimately rise to immortality and dominate the Three Realms! This is a legend even more incredible than the most outlandish stories!

This seemingly ordinary compass is actually a treasured heirloom crafted by that ancestor over 100,000 years by collecting materials from all over the world!

"So... this is the true foundation of our Lin family!" Lin Yan felt an indescribable surge of excitement and pride.

But then the message mentioned a crucial point—this disk has conditions for being opened.