Yuan’s Ascension

Chapter 1168: Melding A Thousand Daos, Transcending All Laws (1)

On the ancient and weighty bronze platform, Wu Yuan exhaled deeply, his two true selves opening their eyes.

Hearing the voice echoing around him, he stood up and gazed in astonishment at the ethereal form of the Heavenly Domain Emissary not far away. “Senior, what’s this?”

The Heavenly Domain Emissary smiled at Wu Yuan. “Though I am an incarnation of Order, I cannot intervene in this Path of Legends. I can only project an incarnation, unable to descend in my true body. I can’t help you.

“For the last tens of thousands of years, I’ve been secretly observing you. I was quite worried at first. But your performance has truly been extraordinary. You actually managed to traverse the Path of Will, also known as the heavenly stairway, successfully.” The Heavenly Domain Emissary praised.

“In less than 70,000 years, your qi refiner self underwent a metamorphosis, turning the false into truth. It’s beyond imagination.”

Wu Yuan couldn’t help but smile. “It’s just luck. Without this Path of Will, my qi refiner self wouldn’t have been able to pioneer a Dao so quickly.”

In a sense, it truly was luck. The Path of Will was both a tribulation and an opportunity.

Each attack from the Divine Essence Order would cause the consciousnesses of those climbing the heavenly stairway to collide with the Dao essences, reducing the influence of Dao Assimilation to nearly nothing.

The over 60,000 years of torment were, in a sense, equivalent to tens of billions of years of normal cultivation for Wu Yuan. It was worth noting that many True Saints cultivated through numerous samsara cycles of heaven and earth without fully comprehending all fifteen Greater Laws. One could imagine how incredibly difficult such a feat was.

If Wu Yuan had been more powerful, able to break free from the Path of Will in one go, he wouldn’t have had this opportunity.

After all, the attacks from the Divine Essence Order were devastatingly powerful. Wu Yuan truly thought he might die if he couldn’t withstand them.

So, if there were another choice, probably no normal Legend of the River would be willing to risk their life like this.

Fortunately, he succeeded in the end.

On one hand, Wu Yuan’s body refiner self integrated insights from various Daos into his ultimate technique, creating a defensive eternal ultimate technique born from Great Destruction – Domain of the Abyss. It could be said that his self-preservation ability had improved by leaps and bounds, which was the key reason for his ultimate success.

On the other hand, comprehending all Greater Laws allowed Wu Yuan’s qi refiner self to reach a higher level.

Now, Wu Yuan’s qi refiner self’s cultivation level was truly at the Dao Pioneer stage, contending with various Saints.

“The paths of both your true selves are quite extraordinary,” the Heavenly Domain Emissary remarked with emotion. “The Psyche Dream class is already extremely powerful. The Dao your qi refiner self has pioneered based on this is even more formidable. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to break free instantly from the constraints.”

Wu Yuan inwardly marveled at the Heavenly Domain Emissary’s keen insight. With just one glance, he deciphered Wu Yuan’s method of breaking free from the Path of Will.

This Path of Will guided one’s consciousness, essentially a form of spiritual guidance. He couldn’t figure this out earlier, but once he turned the false into truth, there was naturally no more confusion. A single thought was enough for him to break free and return to his true body.

“The Dao of your qi refiner self should rank among the top tier of self-created Daos pioneered by Eternals. It has immense potential,” the Heavenly Domain Emissary remarked with emotion.

Wu Yuan nodded slightly.

Great Daos varied in strength, with Spacetime and Destiny clearly more mysterious and unfathomable, though the differences between various Great Daos weren’t that significant. Similarly, the countless self-created Daos pioneered by cultivators also had distinctions in strength, and these distinctions could be quite obvious.

Over the long years, many Eternals, including Dao Zenithels, roughly categorized them into three major levels: ordinary, superior, and top-tier.

This was just a classification of potential, representing the heights they might reach in the future, not absolute combat power.

Daos with less potential were often easier to create eternal ultimate techniques from and easier to pioneer. But progress became increasingly difficult later on.

Those with greater potential could accommodate more, but were also more difficult to pioneer. The advantage was that once such a powerful self-created Dao was successfully pioneered, one’s future path was smoother. Moreover, the combat power unleashed when reaching the pinnacle would be more terrifying.

Eternal ultimate techniques were the foundation, the first step. [1]

Successfully pioneering a Dao was the second step, representing a high level of achievement in this path, granting one power surpassing a fully comprehended Great Dao. [2]

For ordinary self-created Daos, one would typically be stuck after taking the second step. Even reaching the third step was as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns, because the potential of the pioneered Dao was too weak. [3]

As for the fourth step? Since ancient times, no eternal powerhouse who pioneered an ordinary self-created Dao had ever reached the fourth step.

To take the fourth step, the self-created Dao theoretically needed to be at least a superior self-created Dao. Even then, hoping to reach the Dao Zenithel level with just a superior self-created Dao was extremely difficult, with very few managing it. [4]

Over the long years, according to many texts Wu Yuan had received from Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu, most Dao Zenithels had pioneered top-tier self-created Daos.

Only Dao Masters were exceptions. Most Dao Masters who could take the fourth step didn’t rely on their own strength, but on the guidance and help of a Great Dao’s Authority, allowing them to break through rapidly. With the help of a Great Dao’s Authority, the Daos they pioneered were only superior self-created Daos.

This was also why Dao Masters had relatively weak personal strength among the various Dao Zenithels. Fundamentally, it was because the self-created Daos they pioneered had weaker potentials and lower limits.

Typically, those who create ordinary Daos have the potential to become Saints, while those who create superior Daos have the potential to become True Saints.

Only those who create top-tier Daos have hope of reaching the Dao Zenithel stage. Wu Yuan thought to himself. Only an extremely small number of eternal powerhouses can defy fate and break through the limits of their self-created Dao’s potential, due to special reasons such as controlling a Great Dao’s Authority.

In theory, self-created Daos could be further strengthened. But once the initial path was chosen, it was like laying the foundation of a building. Subsequently, taking the second and third steps was just building higher floors on that foundation. Want to replace the entire foundation? It was incredibly difficult.

Once the path was set, it was hard to change. Those who could rework their self-created Dao were even rarer than Dao Zenithel powerhouses.

“Wu Yuan, with the Dao you’ve pioneered, you’ll be able to take the third step soon after your qi refiner self achieves eternity. Only the fourth step might hold you back slightly.” the Heavenly Domain Emissary looked at Wu Yuan and smiled.

“However, it’s just a matter of time. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, you might even become a Dao Zenithel within this samsara cycle of heaven and earth,” said the Heavenly Domain Emissary.

“I’m grateful for Senior’s auspicious words,” Wu Yuan smiled.

In terms of Dao cultivation level, his qi refiner self could now rival Peak Saints and Full Saints. Once he achieved eternity and received the baptism of the Primordial Rules, he would undergo a major metamorphosis. Taking the next step to evolve the Dream World into a Dream Universe wouldn’t be too difficult. At that time, his cultivation level would be able to rival True Saints.

Among those who achieved eternity, why could half of those who hadn’t pioneered a Dao initially eventually become True Saints? One important reason was the baptism of the Primordial Rules when achieving eternity.

This was a gift from the operation of the Primordial Rules to weak lifeforms of the River of Universes, as a reward for reaching their current heights after a long and arduous journey.

Naturally-born eternal lifeforms and Heaven’s Stowaways didn’t have such good fortune, so it was extremely difficult for them to pioneer Daos, let alone pioneer superior Daos or top-tier Daos.

“Wu Yuan, your chances of success were initially small, but they’ve now increased greatly,” said the Heavenly Domain Emissary. “Next, you’ll need to traverse the Path of Ancients.”

“The Path of Ancients?” Wu Yuan looked into the distance.

At the end of the bronze platform was a dark flat road, a million li wide. As for where it led? Wu Yuan couldn’t see the end of this Path of Ancients. The road seemed to be constructed with the same material as the steps of the Path of Will.

“As you’ve anticipated, your opponents will be all the Legends of the River born in the endless cosmic sea since the Primordium. They will appear one after another to battle you. Towards the end, even figures like Goddess Nüwa, the Heavenly Imperator, and Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu will appear in succession,” the Heavenly Domain Emissary looked at Wu Yuan and said.

“There will be a risk to your life, because this is a real-world battle, and only true selves are allowed to fight. Mana bodies and ether bodies cannot participate.”

Wu Yuan listened with bated breath.

Even Goddess Nüwa, the Heavenly Imperator, and the others would appear? He would battle the strongest beings of all eras?

“Of course, they aren’t real beings, just Dao traces,” the Heavenly Domain Emissary smiled faintly, appearing to read Wu Yuan’s thoughts. “If another Legend of the River comes here after endless years, your Dao traces will also be among the historical powerhouses who appear.”

“My Dao traces?” Wu Yuan nodded slightly.

He now understood why the Heavenly Domain Emissary had previously stated that traversing the Path of Legends would only get harder as the number of challengers grew. Every challenger would likely leave their Dao traces behind, with each Legend of the River becoming another guardian of the path. This would naturally push the difficulty higher and higher.

“Must I defeat everyone?” Wu Yuan asked. He wasn’t afraid, just curious.

“The Path of Ancients provides you with two major benefits.

“First, it’s formed from the essence of the River of Universes, which is why it can hold the Dao traces of so many Legends of the River. So, being within it is like having your spirit merge with the entire essence of the River of Universes. You should understand what this means,” the Heavenly Domain Emissary smiled.

Wu Yuan’s eyes lit up.

Spirit merging with the entire essence of the River of Universes? In an instant, Wu Yuan thought of the Flower of Sin.

How precious was the Flower of Sin? For sempiternal lifeforms, it allowed them to sense the operation of the Abyss’s essence. And Wu Yuan’s growth rate on the Path of Will over the last tens of thousands of years was so rapid because his spirit and consciousness were close to the essences of various Daos.

But, how could any of the above compare to the entire essence of the River of Universes? The essence of the River of Universes encompassed the Abyss, the universes… This was absolutely an inconceivably grand opportunity.

1. Perennial level of Dao cultivation ☜

2. Dao Pioneer/Saint level of Dao cultivation ☜

3. True Saint level of Dao cultivation ☜

4. Dao Zenithel/Zenithel Saint level of Dao cultivation ☜