Legacy

Vice Society Master Shenji pondered for a long time before speaking. "You are clearly still so young. Why are you so terribly ill?" "Could it be that the path of cultivation has been wrong from the very beginning?" Qi Yuan shook his head at this. "As long as one grows stronger, no path is wrong. It's just that the path you took might not suit me." Vice Society Master Shenji's eyelids turned pale as if in thought. After about ten breaths, he sighed, "You have a great chance of stepping into the fifth tier of the Yang God realm." In his eyes, what Qi Yuan was doing was forging his own Great Dao. If he continued like this, he would inevitably become a Dao Lord in the future, shaking the cosmos. It was just... Speaking of this, Vice Society Master Shenji felt a twinge of despair. Granted, the fifth tier of the Yang God realm was ten thousand, a hundred million times better than the fourth tier—at least one's true spirit would not be annihilated. Yet... when the universe entered a cycle, achieving an alternate form of omniscience and omnipotence—was that truly a good thing? Perhaps everyone harbored their own answer in their heart. Just then, a profound voice resonated within the minds of Qi Yuan and Vice Society Master Shenji. "If possible, delay stepping into the realm of Dao Lord for as long as you can." In the void ahead, a five-colored character for "Shaman" appeared. It was a symbol representing the sole constant across the heavens. Upon this character, Qi Yuan seemed to glimpse a vast cultivation system. Shamans, Great Shamans. "Greetings, Shaman Dao Lord!" Vice Society Master Shenji hurriedly bowed, his attitude exceedingly humble. The character before them represented the will of the Shaman Dao Lord. Qi Yuan's expression shifted slightly as well; this was his first time encountering an existence at the fifth tier of the Yang God realm. Such existences were the ultimate beings on the path of cultivation, the supreme entities across the myriad heavens and universes. "Greetings, Dao Lord." Qi Yuan also grew slightly more serious. From the character came a voice devoid of sorrow or joy. "We Dao Lords established the Myriad Changes Society precisely to seek change—to search for a sliver of variable. Should you step into the fifth tier, the variable will cease to exist." In a rigid, unchanging world, within cyclical spacetime, an extra sliver of variable held the hope of shattering the cycle. Yet within a Dao Lord's lineage, there might be minor variables, but none could alter the overarching reality. The end of the cultivation path was the fifth tier of the Yang God realm, cyclical and immutable. Therefore, nearly all Dao Lords believed that what lay above the fifth tier of the Yang God realm was the variable. Thus, the Myriad Changes Society had been created. "The fifth tier of the Yang God realm is far too difficult. I am still a long way off," Qi Yuan answered earnestly. Right now, he was merely a Yin God cultivator. "What do you need?" the Shaman Dao Lord asked, simple and direct, wasting no words. "I need cultivation methods. The more, the better." Qi Yuan looked at the character with anticipation. "All methods of the Shaman Dao are contained within this character. Today, I bestow it upon you." With that, the character drifted downward like a leaf, settling into Qi Yuan's hand. The Shaman Dao Lord's voice cut off abruptly, seeming to vanish. Qi Yuan caught the character, surprise showing in his eyes. "This Shaman Dao Lord is rather generous. Sigh, if only my white moonlights were this generous, how could they have ended up in such miserable straits?" Contained within the character were a hundred volumes of the Shaman Dao Lord's true scriptures, along with countless other Shaman Dao techniques. There were more methods here than all the techniques Qi Yuan had encountered since birth. If Ning Tao and Canary still needed to condense Stellar Golden Cores, this many techniques could probably condense who knows how many billions of them. "Isn't he afraid that once I comprehend all the Shaman Dao techniques, I'll devour him?" Qi Yuan whispered under his breath. Vice Society Master Shenji's mouth twitched, thinking Qi Yuan was audaciously bold beyond measure. "In this world, a Dao Lord has never fallen in battle." The Shaman Dao considered the Shaman Dao Lord supreme; even if a successor comprehended all Shaman Dao techniques, they still could not surpass the Shaman Dao Lord. Within the Shaman Dao, He was supreme, the sole eternal existence. Hearing this, Qi Yuan recalled the Dao Lord of the Immortal Realm. "Has any Dao Lord ever perished?" he asked. Qi Yuan had read quite a few books in the Myriad Changes Society, yet he had never seen any such records. Vice Society Master Shenji pondered for a moment. "Perhaps there have been. I do not know either. Take the Dao Lord of the Nan Ke Universe, for instance—He vanished, becoming an eternal mystery. Rumor has it that this Dao Lord chose nirvana." "Is that so?" Qi Yuan mused. …… Having concluded his conversation with Vice Society Master Shenji, Qi Yuan set out alone for the final lands of opportunity. With the Palace Master of the White Xuan Palace on the run and the Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace slain, he entered the lands of opportunity almost unimpeded. His true spirit grew increasingly pure and unified, and his strength soared wildly. "Just how strong am I now...?" Qi Yuan murmured. He felt his power expanding tremendously. If he encountered Heitian now, he could probably beat Heitian into submission with ease. "With this level of strength, how far am I from a Dao Lord?" Qi Yuan muttered to himself, then shook his head. He had never fought a Dao Lord, nor did he know just how powerful a Dao Lord truly was. Though he had seen the character for "Shaman," that was merely the tip of a Dao Lord's iceberg. "Now, all thirty-six lands of opportunity have been traversed." Qi Yuan recalled the drift bottle in the Cosmic Spirit Sea. Once he explored all thirty-six lands of opportunity, he could obtain the legacy of a mysterious mighty figure. Qi Yuan was very curious about that figure. After all, in Qi Yuan's current view, these thirty-six lands of opportunity represented thirty-six existences at the second stage of the fourth tier of the Yang God realm. Even now, Qi Yuan only wielded a single wondrous treasure: the Gate of Myriad Manifestations. Yet that mysterious existence was capable of forging thirty-six lands of opportunity—and their attributes were all very similar. This meant that the fourth-tier Yang Gods represented by these thirty-six lands of opportunity were all remarkably alike. This resemblance was just like Qi Yuan and Heitian in the Divine Wood Universe. Qi Yuan could not help but feel astonished. Such a method was horrifying, terrifyingly formidable. With a flash of his silhouette, Qi Yuan reappeared in the Cosmic Spirit Sea. This time, the Cosmic Spirit Sea was exceptionally quiet. Within the flowing fiery liquid, phantom silhouettes of fish leaped about. Looking ahead, he saw a phantom figure atop a boat formed of water. The phantom had its back turned to Qi Yuan, seemingly fishing. "You've come." The phantom spoke, its voice diffuse and unfocused, as if addressed to no one in particular. [Phantom of the Nan Ke Dao Lord.] Qi Yuan's eyes received this information. Sure enough, it followed the usual rule: the fewer the words, the weightier the matter. The silhouette before him was actually the phantom of a Dao Lord! Qi Yuan knew little about the Nan Ke Dao Lord, only that Supreme Venerable Dragon Turtle's disciple, Hong Yun, hailed from the Nan Ke Universe. "I've come," Qi Yuan replied. Just then, from deep within the Cosmic Spirit Sea, several more small skiffs drifted slowly into view. Aboard each skiff stood a phantom silhouette, one after another. "You've come." "You've come." "You've come." Nine figures appeared simultaneously. Their strange voices lingered by Qi Yuan's ears like the resonance of the Great Dao. Qi Yuan froze slightly. Because the information his eyes saw... was staggering. [Phantom of the Void Dao Lord.] [Phantom of the Chongyuan Dao Lord.] …… [Phantom of the Immortal Dao Lord.] Including the phantom of the Nan Ke Dao Lord, there were ten Dao Lord phantoms in total! Among them was even the phantom of the Immortal Dao Lord. This meant ten whole Dao Lords! One had to remember that the Universal Void Realm connected over ten thousand universes. Yet the Dao Lords backing the Myriad Changes Society numbered merely in the single digits. To see ten Dao Lord phantoms all at once here—how could he not be shocked? More importantly, these ten Dao Lords... were all suspected to have fallen. Otherwise, he would not be seeing mere phantoms of them. "You... no... you are the same person." As Qi Yuan said this, he was slightly astonished. These ten Dao Lords were remarkably the same person. The ten Dao Lords turned around, revealing myriad countenances as they looked toward Qi Yuan, and spoke slowly: "The fifth tier of the Yang God realm is already the end, the ultimate limit. What I sought my entire life was to break through the bounds of the fifth tier, to step into the sixth tier of the Yang God realm, or beyond the Yang God realm entirely." Qi Yuan looked at this terrifying being, listening intently. "My talent was peerless. At the age of sixteen, I could shatter a star with a single punch; calling me a Heavenly God would not have been an exaggeration. In merely three hundred thousand years, I opened the heavens and created a world, stepping into the third tier of the Yang God realm. At this tier, I sat in seclusion for a hundred thousand eras, and in the end... stepped into the fifth tier of the Yang God realm." The Dao Lord's voice was filled with deep sighs. Qi Yuan seemed to see a peerless genius despairing over the path of cultivation. Taking a hundred thousand eras to reach the realm of Dao Lord was not because it required that long, but because he was unwilling. It was the path of cultivation that had shackled him. "Alas, once one reaches the fifth tier of the Yang God realm, it all becomes a cycle in the end." The Dao Lord sighed faintly. Different Dao Lords held different views on the cycle. With this Dao Lord's terrifying talent, he was not resigned to the cycle, nor was he resigned to an alternate omniscience and omnipotence. Since an alternate omniscience and omnipotence could exist, then a true omniscience and omnipotence surely had to exist as well. "A variable... appeared." A gleam of hope burst forth in the Dao Lord's voice. "A little fellow entered the Chongyuan Universe. I observed him for a billion years, watching as he perished. I... obtained his physique, the Illusory Dream Primordial Physique!" "Illusory Dream Primordial Physique?" Qi Yuan asked in surprise. "That little fellow was very peculiar. He was born a Yin God. I obtained a portion of his memories as well, and I saw hope." Hearing this, Qi Yuan could not help but recall the ruins in the Ancestral Land. There were indeed races born as Yin Gods, where failing to become a Great Venerable meant being malnourished and needing to drink nutrient fluid. "There exist the ten strongest primordial physiques in the world. Rumors say that obtaining even one allows one to break through the fifth tier of the Yang God realm and shatter the cycle. Alas, the Illusory Dream Primordial Physique I obtained was ultimately only a false Illusory Dream Primordial Physique." The Dao Lord lamented. How could a true Illusory Dream Primordial Physique be grafted? He had merely simulated and reconstructed an Illusory Dream Primordial Physique. "Yet even with an imitated Illusory Dream Primordial Physique, I still... benefited immensely. In my dreams, I created over ten thousand universes, including the Nan Ke Universe, the Immortal Realm, and the Meteor Universe. In these universes, I stepped into the realm of Dao Lord nine separate times and reached the fourth tier of the Yang God realm thirty-six times." At this mention, pride showed on the Dao Lord's face, but beneath it lay even deeper despair. Becoming a Dao Lord ten times, and stepping into the fourth tier of the Yang God realm thirty-six times. This Illusory Dream Primordial Physique was truly terrifyingly potent. For stepping into the fourth tier of the Yang God realm meant the extinction of one's true spirit. Yet the Illusory Dream Primordial Physique created illusory worlds—or rather, dream worlds—allowing him to continually open new daos. "Yet even so... I still failed. I was already the strongest Dao Lord, gathering ten Daos into one body, yet I still could not break through into the sixth tier of the Yang God realm, or beyond the Yang God realm." The Dao Lord's voice was desolate and filled with despair. "In the end, I chose another path: to have... the strong sever the future. Perhaps... that could break the cycle." The Dao Lord continued. Later, despairing yet overwhelmingly powerful, He chose nirvana. By having fourth-tier Yang God existences achieve ultimate sublimation at the moment of breakthrough, severing the future to grant the universe a future. "Alas, I cannot see the road ahead. Successor, will you... behold for me the scenery beyond the Yang God realm?" Hearing this, Qi Yuan's mind was rather calm, and he sighed softly, "All right." He also wanted to see the scenery of the sixth tier of the Yang God realm, or what lay above the Yang God realm. However, he felt it would be very difficult. Because right now, he was still only a Yin God. And lately, within the jade slip, the loading of new games was growing slower and slower. He had no idea when the next game would arrive. "My gift to you is... the Illusory Dream Primordial Physique," the Dao Lord said at this moment, his voice carrying an unfathomable nuance. "That I could become the lord of ten Daos and step into the fourth tier of the Yang God realm thirty-six times was all due to this physique, as well as my utterly feeble talent and effort." Within the voice, there seemed to be a mix of helplessness and indignation. It was as if there were a belief in "bloodline supremacy." At their level of cultivation, they fundamentally did not believe in physiques, bloodlines, or innate talent. One's self was the strongest. Yet this Dao Lord had strived for so long, only to find it did not bring as much power as a single physique. How could he be resigned to that? "I hope that you can achieve the true Illusory Dream Primordial Physique." Having spoken, the ten phantoms upon the boats all turned their gazes toward Qi Yuan at that moment. Ten gazes—some expectant, some despairing, some devoid of sorrow or joy—all converged on Qi Yuan. In that instant, the ten phantoms vanished. It was as though they had never existed at all. And at this moment, Qi Yuan suddenly discovered that his physique had changed. "So... I now possess the Illusory Dream Primordial Physique?" "A false Illusory Dream Primordial Physique?" Of course, this physique was not the pure Illusory Dream Primordial Physique, but a reduced, imitated version. "What is the relationship between the Illusory Dream Primordial Physique... and the Devouring Primordial Physique?" Qi Yuan pondered. He recalled the Holy Mother of No Food. She had possessed two powerful primordial physiques. Later, the Holy Mother of No Food had given him the Devouring Primordial Physique. That terrifying physique had helped Qi Yuan tremendously. Back in the Mortal Heart Realm, had it not been for the Devouring Primordial Physique, even with the Great Oblivion Heart Scripture and gathering all his Divine Infants, he might not have been able to defeat those two Yang Gods. "So... the Immortal Realm, as well as the Nan Ke Universe, are both dream universes created by the Dao Lord using the Illusory Dream Primordial Physique?" Qi Yuan thought to himself. At this moment, he understood a great deal. These universes were illusory. Of course, at their level, illusion and reality no longer mattered. Living beings in an illusion were still living beings. Dream creatures were still creatures. The only difference was... "No wonder the living beings of the Immortal Realm cannot leave for other worlds. The Dao Lord of the Immortal Realm has already fallen. If those beings went to other worlds and discovered the truth, wouldn't they fall very easily?" "Moreover, these worlds were originally created by the Dao Lord, existing within the Dao Lord's dream." "The Dao Lord has fallen; how can the dream remain intact?" "Once those beings realize this, I fear these universes would collapse in an instant."