Quan Juehua had long understood a truth: Heaven never cuts off all paths, and the world is full of miracles.
Even in a single-energy world, one could achieve mechanical ascension or genetic ascension; in low-energy worlds, there were also countless cultivation methods capable of producing miracles.
Even without cultivating rules or comprehending rules, could one truly not become a Mighty One?
No!
One truly could!
And that was through the infinite inward search.
All cultivation methods under heaven boiled down to just three paths: seeking within, seeking without, and seeking both within and without.
Most Transcendents were hybrid practitioners who sought both within and without, requiring a certain spiritual realm while also relying on external energy to enrich themselves.
Yet purely seeking within and purely seeking without were both comparatively difficult paths to walk.
The former borrowed no external objects and relied on nothing outside, needing only to seek power from one's own heart and mind. This was ethereal and elusive in the extreme, fraught with endless self-interrogation, self-doubt, and shaken conviction.
It was not a path that ordinary people could succeed in, even if such cultivation methods could be practiced even in a single-energy world.
Purely seeking without might seem easier at first than seeking within. If you crafted a stick and used its strength to strike a target, that was already seeking without.
Yet this path was easy at first and difficult later; the higher one climbed, the harder it became.
Materials alone were enough to choke off most who walked this path.
In the later stages, without some miracle, one would most likely end up treading the path of seeking both within and without anyway.
After all, prolonged loneliness would destroy a person's spirit; to live long, one needed at least some spiritual realm to sustain them.
Earlier, Quan Juehua had wondered why a Minor Thousand World could accommodate beings so formidable, but after being attacked, he understood.
Chen Dahai and Chen Huohai walked the purely inward path; their power was the power of the mind and spirit.
The strength of such existences could no longer be measured merely by how long they had cultivated. In matters of cultivating the mind, after all, once you grasped something, you grasped it; if you couldn't comprehend it, no amount of time would ever be enough.
In the Myriad Worlds of the Heavens, a person's strength had never truly been measured by their horizons, background, or length of cultivation. Though those factors certainly conferred advantages—even immense ones—there had also been countless beings who, in very little time, became terrifyingly strong.
Quan Juehua had retreated.
When he withdrew, he vanished without a trace, leaving Chen Dahai and Chen Huohai's second attack striking only empty air.
Ultimately, the two brothers suffered from their narrow horizons and lack of experience. Utterly unable to understand how Quan Juehua had suddenly disappeared, they simply waited where they were.
And that wait lasted for several years.
...
...
In fact, many Mighty Ones across the Myriad Worlds had noticed this scene.
Upon realizing how extraordinarily powerful the three Chen brothers were, certain alliances grew restless with anticipation, eager to recruit them, yet many others adopted a wait-and-see attitude, hesitating.
It wasn't that they didn't want talent or had no desire to win over figures capable of slaying Quan Juehua.
Rather, they feared this was a scheme of Quan Juehua's. What if Quan Juehua was feigning weakness to lure them out?
That was hardly impossible.
After all, what Quan Juehua had revealed so far was far too terrifying.
If they encountered Quan Juehua head-on, they likely wouldn't even have a chance to flee. His strength was in an entirely different league—a total gap between tiers.
In the past, when Mighty Ones fought Mighty Ones, even if one was outmatched, they could still run.
It was exceedingly difficult for one Mighty One to pursue and kill another unless both sides fought to the bitter end with unyielding resolve.
Quan Juehua, however, was different. In fact, some Mighty Ones had already proposed an idea: there had to be another realm above the Mighty Ones, and Quan Juehua was an existence belonging to that realm.
After all, what kind of Mighty One slaughtered other Mighty Ones as easily as butchering chickens and dogs?
Unfortunately, debate after debate followed; everyone had their own ideas, and no one would yield to another. Thus, the realm above the Mighty Ones remained without a definitive conclusion. Nonetheless, many Mighty Ones simply used "Above the Mighty Ones" to describe Quan Juehua.
Now, two more existences "Above the Mighty Ones" had actually appeared. Honestly, no one could fail to be tempted. Yet Mighty Ones were Mighty Ones after all; their patience far exceeded that of ordinary people.
After watching and waiting for five full years, a Mighty One finally took the risk to transmit a signal.
In the end, the three Chen brothers did receive the signal, but the problem was that it used the common tongue of the Myriad Worlds, whereas the three Chen brothers only knew Chinese. Consequently, the three were utterly baffled and merely found the signals far too noisy.
"Eldest Brother, I fear that old dog has run off," Chen Huohai said to Chen Dahai after waiting for so long and realizing Quan Juehua most likely wouldn't return.
Mother World had been murdered, and her life-saving grace could never be repaid. Now, Chen Huohai wanted nothing more than to slay Quan Juehua to avenge Mother World and wash away this grudge.
Besides, their entire world had been destroyed—how was that any different from having their whole clan wiped out?
Years of martial arts lore and ancient tales immediately plunged Chen Huohai into avenger mode; so long as he could avenge this blood feud, he was willing to do anything.
"Fellow Daoists, please hold your steps!"
Just as the three Chen brothers were discussing setting out across the worlds to hunt down Quan Juehua, an aged voice called out.
Then the three saw a white-haired old man flying over, seated atop a gourd. The three brothers grew wary; at the slightest untoward movement from the old man, all three would strike with everything they had.
"This humble Daoist is Xu Gouzi. Greetings, fellow Daoists," the old man said slowly as he drew near.
Chen Dahai might have narrow horizons, but that didn't mean he lacked social graces; after all, he had weathered his share of trials in the jianghu. So he spoke up: "The Three Octogenarian Elders greet you, Fellow Daoist. May I ask what brings you here?"
At the foot of the Great Snow Mountain stood a Temple of the Three Octogenarian Elders, something the three Chen brothers knew very well.
Unable to discern Xu Gouzi's intentions at the moment, Chen Dahai simply borrowed this title as a pseudonym, naturally keeping their true names to themselves.
After all, mythical tales told of vicious magical treasures like the Seven-Day Soul-Snatching Nail—as long as someone knew an enemy's name and birth horoscopes, they could nail their target to death.
"This humble Daoist called out to the three of you primarily because we share a common goal," Xu Gouzi said slowly.
He then eloquently recounted how his original world had been madly destroyed by Quan Juehua and how he had narrowly escaped with his life. Only after that did he mention the Slay-Quan Alliance, an alliance formed by victims with the sole purpose of killing Quan Juehua and avenging all those innocents.
When Xu Gouzi extended an invitation to the three, the Chen brothers exchanged glances.
In that single glance, information was exchanged at lightning speed.
"This old man probably harbors ill intent."
"He's likely using Quan Juehua as an excuse to rope in masters for his own use. Not a good sort."
"Isn't this just like the Third Prince? First having the demonic sect slaughter someone's family, then sending his own people to rescue them, and finally turning them into his running dogs!"
"Still, right now we're completely in the dark. In this vast sea of worlds, finding one person is easier said than done. We might as well board this pirate ship first and see, get all the facts straight, and then make our plans. It won't be too late."
"Then that's what we'll do!"
Having reached an agreement, Chen Dahai spoke up and accepted Xu Gouzi's invitation.
Afterward, the three departed together with Xu Gouzi. Seated upon his gourd, they were inwardly immensely curious about what kind of magical treasure this gourd really was, but remained completely impassive on the surface.
Their eyes continued to exchange silent messages.
If this Xu Gouzi really did harbor ill intent, they would get their hands on this gourd sooner or later and study it thoroughly!
Chapter 739