The Three Thousand Worlds consists of many Heavenly Domains. For the vast majority of Heavenly Domains, there exists five dimensions that overlap, and three planes of reality that make up the world. This is how the structure of the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain that the story takes place in operates.
Contents
- 1 Overview
- 1.1 Five Dimensions of a Heavenly Domain[1]
- 1.1.1 Astral Realm
- 1.1.2 Interdimensional Void
- 1.1.3 Underworld
- 1.1.4 Source River
- 1.1.5 Eastern Heaven Flower Field
- 1.2 Three Planes of Reality
- 1.3 Cycle of a Heavenly Domain
- 1.3.1 Beginning of a Heavenly Domain
- 1.3.2 End of a Heavenly Domain
- 1.1 Five Dimensions of a Heavenly Domain[1]
- 2 References
Overview[]
Five Dimensions of a Heavenly Domain[1][]
Astral Realm[]
The Astral Realm is the universe as we know it. It continuously expands at the speed of light and countless living beings are born within it. The Astral Realm is the core upon which the four other dimensions are centered upon.
Interdimensional Void[]
The Interdimensional Void is the dimension upon which those who cultivate attraction force to the extreme — cultivators — reach the Middle Realms. The Middle Realms, as well as all other Decaying Corpse Realms (the corpses of True Immortals whose bodies are akin to worlds themselves) are located in the Interdimensional Void due to their attraction force. It is theorized that this is the domain of the Heavenly Venerable of the Void.
Underworld[]
The Underworld, also called the Netherworld — the domain of the Heavenly Venerable of the Netherworld — is the dimension reached by living beings who fail to cultivate sufficient attraction force. Essentially, it is place where the dead goes. Nonliving souls cannot enter the Underworld; only living souls may enter when upon death. Ghost Path cultivators may develop a sense of the outskirts of the Netherworld, dubbed fittingly as Netherworld Perception.
Whether the Netherworld is the afterlife is unclear, as many religions devoted to various gods exist, and each religion possess their own mythos of the afterlife. What is clear is that ghosts eternally feel an attraction force towards the Netherworld. Should they succumb, they will leave the land of the living.
Source River[]
The Source River, also called the river of time, or the Fate Realm (運界), is the domain of the Heavenly Venerable of Time. This dimension regulates the passage of time in the world as well as the stars (stars, planets, and other cosmic bodies) of the Astral Realm. The souls of stars, the nonliving, and souls that do not fully form reach the Source River; it is not a place for living souls. Seo Eun-hyun's soul is an extremely unique case, as his regression involves flowing against the current of the river of time.[2][3][4]
Similar to Netherworld Perception, there exists a way to sense the outskirts of the Source River. Spiritual energies of the stars connect to each other, akin to dragon veins, however, they form at the Plane of Soul. As these star veins (星脈) form a grand net that stretches across the heavens, Seo Eun-hyun called this sense the Star Vein Eye.[5] Only subordinates of the Heavenly Venerable of Time, or those permitted by his subordinates such as Yeong Seung (令升), the Southern Polar Ritual Treasure (南極寶儀), may develop the sense of the Star Vein Eye.
Eastern Heaven Flower Field[]
The Eastern Heaven Flower Field, also called the Flower Realm, returns the nonliving from the Source River and the souls from the Underworld back to the Astral Realm. It is the domain of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.[6]
Three Planes of Reality[]
The world exists in three planes of reality:
- Plane of Qi — where physical matter exists
- Plane of Soul — where the souls of the living and nonliving reside
- Plane of Fate — where fate manipulates and True Immortals reside
They are not distinct planes of existence, rather they are all connected. Throughout a cultivator's journey, they will explore all the three planes, no matter their cultivation method. Nascent Soul is where one begins to sense the Plane of Soul, and Sacred Vessel is where one cultivates the attraction forces of fate.
In addition, there are techniques that specialize in certain planes. For example, Kim Young-hoon's Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts is a technique entirely in the Plane of Soul; and Immortal Arts such as Yang Su-jin's Extinguishing Divine Tribulating Heavens Technique manipulates the Plane of Fate.
In the Minor and Middle Boundaries, what would most affect a cultivator's expertise is which of the three methods they practice:
- Heaven Path cultivators conduct rituals towards the Plane of Fate. They possess the foresight of the Heaven Tribe and are capable of divining their fortune and calamity.
- Earth Path cultivation is to explode one's body at the Plane of Qi. These cultivators possess the vision of the Earth Tribe and are capable of seeing yin-yang spiritual energies.
- Those who embark on the Heart Path comprehends the heart. They possess the vision of the Heart Tribe, seeing the emotions that make up a person's consciousness at the Plane of Soul. Their whole Tribe is also suicidal.[7]
The dimensions exist across different planes. Plane of Qi is explosions, the ever-changing moment to moment of the world. Plane of Soul is the resulting ashes and dust, the clouds forming the souls of the living and nonliving. And the Plane of Fate is light, dust that gather and gather until it shines like a star in the sky. The resulting shadows on the Plane of Soul reflect differently: for the living, their shadow is the Underworld, while for the nonliving, their shadow is the Source River — each shadow having their own attraction force. The shadow of the Plane of Qi itself is the Flower Realm, beneath both the Underworld and the Source River. The shadow of the Interdimensional Void is unknown, though it must exist.[8]
Cycle of a Heavenly Domain[]
When a Heavenly Domain starts, it expands from a single point in space like the Big Bang. When a Heavenly Domain ends, it contracts upon itself into an infinitesimally small point, like the Big Crunch.
Beginning of a Heavenly Domain[]
A newly beginning Heavenly Domain spontaneously creates living beings. These beings are not intelligent, and they are guided by fate to instinctively bring order to the Astral Realm. [9][10]
- As soon as the Heavenly Domain forms, Quasi-Immortals at the level of Entering Nirvana are naturally born. They consume nebulaic dust to create the stars of the Astral Realm.
- Not long after that, Sacred Masters at the stage of Sacred Vessel are born. They manage the laws of the stars created by the Quasi-Immortals and instinctively birth new life into the universe. Instantly, the stars find their orbits, forming star systems hospitable for life.
- After a thousand years, Star Shattering stage life forms will be naturally born. They breathe new power into the Heavenly Domain by producing dust clouds for the Quasi-Immortals to eat.
End of a Heavenly Domain[]
In the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, when the attraction forces of the Middle Realms become so overwhelmingly powerful, the rest of the Heavenly Domain will be pulled towards them, contracting into a compressed space of immense heat and pressure. Even Entering Nirvana True Persons will struggle to withstand such hostile environments,[11][12] beings of a lower level likely won't survive at all. There are multiple ways the End can occur:
- As the [Names] of all six Middle Realms were stolen by Yang Su-jin before his death 120,000 years ago, the End will naturally happen in 10,000 years if the [Names] are not returned.[13]
- In the 19th cycle, Owner of Great Mountain used the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra to compress the entire Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain to mock Seo Eun-hyun.[14] None of the 140[15] True Persons survived.[16]
References[]
- ↑ Chapter 433
- ↑ Chapter 326 (19th cycle) - And then, I realize I'm in a place that seems like a giant 'river,' flowing against its current.There are scenes in the river.No, to be precise, in the huge Yin and Yang.The Taiji spirals as it flows, and within that spiral, 'scenes' flow like a 'river.'
- ↑ Chapter 411 (20th cycle) - Once again, I am moving against the river of time formed by the Taiji.
- ↑ Chapter 428 (21st cycle) - The familiar river of time.
- ↑ Chapter 408 - This vision of the dragon vein is unique.All the stars in this universe have spirit veins of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy flowing within them.And that level of spirit vein can be seen by anyone at the Core Formation stage.However, the pillar of spirit veins that 'extends beyond the stars' is not easily visible.Only those who have traveled to millions of stars, analyzed their energy, and repeatedly activated the dragon veins can see this pillar.At first, I wasn't accustomed to this vision of seeing those pillars, but after becoming familiar with it, I felt like I understood the identity and origin of those pillars."The dragon veins of the stars have reached an extreme point, transcending the plane, and have entered the Plane of Fate."It was something I couldn't perceive at first because the endless spirit veins of the stars simply transcended over the Plane of Soul.The stars seem to be far apart, but that isn't the case.In reality, they are closely connected, emitting attraction force towards each other in the Plane of Fate. Only through the spirit veins that shot up into the Plane of Fate can I faintly catch a glimpse of this.All the stars in this universe are connected by countless pillars of light.This is truly a scene that brings to mind the concept of Indra's Net.I give to this pillar of light,That is, the 'dragon vein of the stars,' a name.The star's dragon vein, Star Vein (星脈).Paaatt!Together with the South Polar Compass, following the star veins, I fly towards the direction the compass indicates.As expected, I can't find the Colorless Glass Sword fragment this time either.However, since the day I clearly gained the eyes to see the star vein, I realized that the South Polar Compass isn't leading me aimlessly.With each journey with the South Polar Compass, my ability to see the star vein, the Star Vein Eye, is further enhanced.I can now see the star vein from farther and farther away, and with more detail.
- ↑ Chapter 404 - Known by some as the Owner of Western Heaven Flower Field, or what others refer to as the Eastern Heaven Flower Field, the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, after completing this task, smiles faintly as if satisfied and turns around to leave.
- ↑ Chapter 438 - "Thank you, for playing with that child... If you have any questions, feel free to ask. For example, something like why 'those who gaze too deeply into the heart' eventually crave for suicide..." —Unknown higher being related to the Ender's Tale
- ↑ Chapter 436
- ↑ Chapter 405
- ↑ Chapter 407
- ↑ Q&A 7 - Q: During the End, Entering Nirvana cultivators seem to survive comfortably, what method do they use to withstand it?Do they just survive the tremendously destructive process by regenerating, or do they manipulate their fate to withstand it?A: They are like the Jews hiding from the Nazis bombing them, so they do not survive comfortably. However, compared to the bugs, they have a much higher chance of survival. They tend to run away or just tank it.
- ↑ Q&A 7 - Q: When the End happens, do Entering Nirvana True Persons just hold on until the End is over?? Or do they take refuge in other Heavenly Domains??A: Both.
- ↑ Chapter 371 - "In 10,000 years, the world will end."—Jang Ik
- ↑ Chapter 404 -:: Now Die::—Owner of Great Mountain
- ↑ Chapter 433 - In other words, there are about 140 Quasi-Immortals at the Entering Nirvana stage within the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain.
- ↑ Chapter 407 - Moreover, even though the True Persons fled madly, none of them escaped the End brought about by the existence atop Great Mountain and all perished.
