"That is true. Only with both life and death can there truly be the Great Dao," Sansheng murmured.
The world was vast and boundless, divided into the Three Realms of Yin, Yang, and Rebirth.
All things in creation moved in cycles of life and death.
There were Realm Lords who forged living beings, creating something from nothing.
There were also entities of Returning to Nothingness, who seemed to relentlessly reduce the Three Realms to absolute zero.
This was the ultimate principle, an immutable law, the Great Dao itself.
Yet to Yang Six beings like the Heavenly Emperor, seemingly nothing in the world could stump them.
Resolving Returning to Nothingness had become their path.
Hearing Sansheng's murmurs, the Heavenly Emperor grew pensive.
Those words just now had brought him profound insights.
He had likely heard similar words from others before.
Yet Sansheng was different. What he said seemed to carry a peculiar magic, sparking sudden enlightenment.
"Sansheng, thank you for the grace of sharing your Dao," the Heavenly Emperor said.
Sansheng smiled faintly, unbothered. He still seemed lost in contemplation over how to step into an even higher realm, or perhaps how to contend with Returning to Nothingness.
"As it happens, Mount Origin is opening, so I shall give a spot to you," the Heavenly Emperor said to Sansheng. "Upon Mount Origin, there is an entity you may be interested in, somewhat resembling what you just spoke of—a whale falling so ten thousand things may live."
Mount Origin was the beginning of all things, the Dao that gave birth to the One.
Upon Mount Origin were traces left behind by several beings beyond Yang Five.
Any living being seeking to break through beyond Yang Five would travel to Mount Origin to observe and contemplate those few traces, searching for a path to ascension.
Yet when Mount Origin opened, not just anyone was qualified to enter.
How vast was the number of Yang Five experts in this world?
After all, upon reaching the Yang God realm, as long as one did not court death, their lifespan was boundless.
They could always make breakthroughs eventually with time.
Because of this, more and more powerhouses emerged in the world.
All manner of wondrous divine abilities and Daoist techniques sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain.
These techniques possessed infinite might and largely emphasized pulling up weeds by their roots to exterminate foes completely.
Consequently, battles between two great experts frequently obliterated boundless matter and true spirits.
Not only did they eradicate their enemies' physical bodies, but they did not spare their true spirits either.
To some extent, this also fueled the growth and spread of Returning to Nothingness.
When the young man from before heard that the Heavenly Emperor had given the quota for Mount Origin to Sansheng, a look of pleasant surprise washed over his face.
"Sansheng... you can go to Mount Origin? Does this mean... an existence beyond Yang Five might emerge from our lineage?"
The young man made no effort to conceal his joy.
Although Yang Five was already the pinnacle, who wouldn't want to step into an even higher realm?
After all, that was the true summit, as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns!
Existing eternally throughout antiquity!
For Yang Five experts, records of their demise still existed.
As for Yang Six... it was beyond imagination.
If Sansheng stepped into Yang Six, the benefits to their lineage would be immense and immeasurable.
"Mm," Sansheng responded, his thoughts elsewhere.
"Haha, our lineage is finally going to produce an existence beyond Yang Five!" Receiving confirmation, the young man laughed wild, borderline frenzied laughter.
There were so many Yang Five experts in the world, yet the number of Yang Six beings remained in the single digits.
"Sansheng, this time, you must step into Yang Six!"
The young man's face twisted slightly with emotion.
Out of all the Yang Five experts across the world, those with a chance of reaching Yang Six were extraordinarily rare.
Yet regarding Sansheng, everyone knew that once he entered Mount Origin, he was destined to reach Yang Six.
"For this journey to Mount Origin, I, the patriarchs, and the accumulated foundation of our entire lineage... will escort you there!" The frenzy in the young man's eyes faded, replaced by solemn resolve.
Sansheng was the hope of their lineage.
He was also the only existence in their lineage with a chance to attain that higher realm.
If Sansheng succeeded, the future of this lineage would be unimaginable.
In the mortal realm, such an achievement would be equivalent to aiding an emperor in seizing the throne.
When Sansheng set out for Mount Origin, people would certainly try to ambush and kill him.
There were bound to be those who did not wish to see another Yang Six emerge in this world.
The young man vanished from sight. Soon after, across countless spaces, numerous old monsters who had slumbered for unknown eons began to awaken.
"Sansheng can go to Mount Origin?"
"Haha, to think this old bag of bones would live to see this day!"
"Even if we must lay down our lives, we will see him into Mount Origin!"
"Beyond Yang Five..."
At this moment, the experts of this lineage set aside all past grievances and reached a consensus. Their sole goal was... to escort Sansheng to Mount Origin.
Sansheng was mindful of the hopes of these elders.
Yet at this moment, what occupied his mind was not stepping into Yang Six, but Returning to Nothingness and other profound matters.
"There are too many supreme powerhouses in this world..."
"It has grown rather congested,"
Sansheng murmured.
He looked out across the horizon. Everywhere was packed shoulder to shoulder with people, creatures crowding against creatures.
The countless living beings struggled bitterly.
Some had just been born, not yet having perceived the world, before being swept up in the battles of supreme experts, causing an entire world to vanish.
Matter was annihilated; true spirits ceased to be.
"Returning to Nothingness..."
In the eyes of others, this might appear as oppression or conflicts of interest.
Yet in Sansheng's eyes, this was Returning to Nothingness.
At every moment, the world was returning to nothingness, trending toward zero.
As if all things were returning to the One.
"Just how... can Returning to Nothingness be stopped?"
Sansheng furrowed his brow in deep thought.
In the distance, a rock shattered into nothingness, caught in the crossfire of a Yang God's attack.
To Sansheng, that rock was entirely reduced to void, no longer existing, nor transforming into anything else.
"How similar are humans, and all living beings... to this rock?"
Sansheng pondered intently, his brilliant mind constantly seeking a way to break the deadlock.
In the days that followed, the opening of Mount Origin drew nearer.
Sansheng and his retinue departed forty-nine days in advance toward Mount Origin.
Barring beings of the Heavenly Emperor's caliber, regardless of who one was, how fast they moved, or how profound their cultivation was, the journey to Mount Origin took exactly forty-nine days.
During those forty-nine days of travel, endless battles raged without pause.
Every single day, Yang Five experts shed blood.
The escort of Yang Five experts guarding Sansheng were mostly wounded as well.
"Sansheng, rest assured. With us here, you will reach the Origin Path safe and sound!" the young man declared, thumping his chest, golden blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.
The experts around him bore injuries of varying severity.
Sansheng glanced at the many powerhouses, then closed his eyes again, sensing the fighting in the distance, the blood and the fire.
"This path is also a path of Returning to Nothingness," Sansheng murmured.
He seemed to understand something.
There were far, far too many powerhouses.
And most powerhouses could toy with time, even returning to the past to protect their weaker selves, or unifying their timelines.
Thus, the probability of an expert falling was exceedingly low.
Yet their destructive potential was immense; when they slaughtered the weak, they extinguished even their true spirits.
Therefore, the Yang Realm, the Rebirth Realm, and the Yin Realm of today... were essentially a playground for the strong.
The strong acted without restraint or consequence.
Forty-nine days passed.
After continuous fierce battles, an untold number of Yang Five experts had fallen.
A total of twenty-seven Yang Five powerhouses arrived at the entrance of Mount Origin.
For this opening, forty-nine Yang Five experts had attained the qualifications to enter Mount Origin.
Yet only twenty-seven made it here.
From this alone, one could see the sheer madness along the way.
Even a favored son of heaven like Sansheng, escorted by numerous Yang Five experts, was stained with blood.
However, it was the blood of others.
"We have finally reached Mount Origin!" an expert said, trembling.
This was his second time coming to Mount Origin.
This journey had been far more perilous than the last.
His Dao body was even shattered, his true spirit dim.
This would also be his final opportunity to enter Mount Origin.
"I wonder if any among us can step beyond Yang Five," a young woman sighed softly, her voice carrying a tinge of desolation.
From antiquity to the present, Mount Origin had opened an untold number of times.
Yet the number of Yang Six existences seemed to be fewer than the fingers on two hands.
At the woman's words, many of the Yang Five experts present turned their eyes toward Sansheng.
Awe, envy, and serenity mingled in their gazes.
It was self-evident.
If anyone among them could step beyond Yang Five, it was likely this Sansheng.
This legendary figure.
An existence capable of instructing a Yang Six.
"Mount Origin... has opened."
Curiosity flickered in Sansheng's eyes.
This was his first time setting foot upon Mount Origin as well.
The attention of all the powerhouses was drawn toward Mount Origin ahead, and they stepped inside one after another.
"This sensation?"
"The beginning?"
"Resurrection?"
"All creation?"
"All rules and laws are ground together within it!"
"Our Great Daos can all find their counterparts here!"
These Yang Five experts sensed it meticulously, greedily drinking in everything Mount Origin had to offer.
"Wait, are those traces left behind by those beyond Yang Five?" the female Yang Five expert asked, her gaze devout and reverent.
The other Yang Five experts looked toward those traces as well, their eyes filled mostly with reverence or contemplation.
To comprehend the predecessors' paths and realize their own—that was their true purpose in coming here.
Yet comprehension... was terribly difficult for them.
After all, they could not even count how many traces lay before them, let alone comprehend them.
Confronted with the grandeur of Yang Six, they were like small children who had not yet learned to count.
Nevertheless, they knew those traces were neither one nor ten, but somewhere between one and ten.
Everyone sat down and began to observe and contemplate the traces above.
"Rumor has it that one must possess one of the Ten Primordial Physiques... to break through beyond Yang Five?" Sansheng murmured thoughtfully at this moment.
He did not know why this thought occurred to him, nor why he gave voice to it.
Hearing this, the woman beside him looked thoughtful, seemingly perplexed as to why someone of Sansheng's background would not know such things.
Hoping to forge a good relationship with Sansheng, she explained, "It is not that possessing a primordial physique allows one to step beyond Yang Five. Rather... only when one steps beyond Yang Five is their physique termed a primordial physique!"
"So that means there are ten beyond Yang Five?" Sansheng muttered.
After all, he seemed to recall that the world possessed Ten Primordial Physiques.
The woman shook her head. "Likely not."
Naturally, she was not certain of the exact number either.
Certain physiques were called primordial physiques merely because, in their early stages, they rivaled those limit-breaking physiques and held the promise of breaking through the limit to shatter the end of the cultivation path—Yang Five.
"Oh."
Sansheng said no more.
He fixed his eyes on the traces ahead and began to study them intently.
The others did the same.
Time flowed by, and an unknown number of years passed.
Sansheng suddenly broke the silence.
"So, your name is Wufa."
"And your name is Jing."
He seemed to behold the paths of two beings who stood beyond Yang Five.
Chapter 619