Tier

"The Dao of Time has also reached Immortal King." In the Immortal Realm. Within the cultivation cave abode of Immortal King Yuxiao of the Creation Group. Yaoguang opened his eyes. Time power at the Immortal King level. In the millions of years since the Hunyuan Realm invaded the Ancient Immortal Realm, not a single Immortal King of this tier had ever emerged. Among the four Supreme Grand Daos, aside from the omnipresent and most easily accessed Grand Dao of the Void, the other three were slow to be corroded even for an existence as formidable as the Lord of Yuanxi. The only method available to the Hunyuan Realm was to make moves through the other Daos among the three thousand Grand Daos. By corroding those other Daos, they could shake the foundations of the four Supreme Grand Daos, creating flaws, and then infiltrate them until they were completely occupied. However, due to internal power struggles within the Nine Great Groups, this step of the plan had clearly been impeded. It had reached the point where the decisive battle between the two worlds had concluded three million years ago, yet across these three million years, the Hunyuan Realm had still been unable to fully convert the fruits of victory. Of course, in the past, Yaoguang would have assumed this was simply an internal problem of the Nine Great Groups. Dividing the cake before the victory was even won. But now... As his realm grew higher and his contact with the three thousand Grand Daos deepened, he had come to understand. This was the profundity of the power of fate and the power of karma. In other words, even under circumstances where the front lines had utterly collapsed, the Grand Dao of Fate and the Grand Dao of Karma had still held back the Hunyuan Realm for over three million years! "The Dao of Time has reached Immortal King. In addition, the growth progress of this Dao isn't far off either." Yaoguang's attention lingered briefly on the progress mark of 9850/10000. Over these years, all the "energy" he had acquired had been concentrated on the Grand Dao of Time, so his realm in the Dao of Time had naturally advanced by leaps and bounds. Once this realm reached full completion, he would be able to nurture the Dao Master dao fruit of [Dao Integration: Time]. And because no Immortal King existed in the Dao of Time, he could unleash the power of a Time "Dao Master" to its absolute limits, forcibly stripping away the shares of every Dao Lord in the Dao of Time and accomplishing the union of spacetime in one fell swoop. When that time came, even facing a Sovereign head-on, he would possess the strength to fight. "Speaking of which, it's time to choose other Grand Daos next. But whether it was reaching completion in the Dao of the Void or the Dao of Time, neither seems to have grown any new branches..." Yaoguang looked over the Glazed Treasure Tree, feeling a touch of regret. Yet that regret lasted only a moment before his gaze fell upon [Chaos: New Life]. This branch of [Chaos: New Life] no longer belonged to the Glazed Ancient Tree. It was merely that he had grown accustomed to the Glazed Ancient Tree's mode of expression, which was why he had allowed it to remain in his spiritual world. In reality, this was the essence of "existence" that carried his Higher-Dimensional Cognition. An existence that had surpassed the Glazed Treasure Tree from which it originated. "If the three thousand Grand Daos are compared to three thousand skill books, when my understanding of Higher-Dimensional Cognition manifested the essence of its 'existence' through the concept of 'chaos,' I had already surpassed my origins, blazing a path where the apprentice outstrips the master. Since the Grand Dao of the Void is the vessel for the three thousand Grand Daos, my 'chaos essence' should also be capable of serving as a vessel for them... and perhaps even far more than that." Thinking of this, Yaoguang fell into contemplation. After a moment, with a thought, the "Lord of Heavenly Dao"—simulated after the Lord of Yuanxi—promptly began operating within his "chaos essence." Next, he poured all of his comprehension and cognition of the Dao of Time into this unique conceptual realm consisting solely of "chaos essence." Sure enough, a sensation akin to the "passage of time" surged into his mind. At that moment, his "chaos essence" seemed to "come alive." Transforming from an essence of "existence" into an essence of "living." Just like... a corpse compared to a living human being. Yet this "living" state had lasted only a moment before Yaoguang noticed its emptiness and void. He was "living," yet it felt like an empty shell—a blank expanse of white, a stretch of nothingness, completely devoid of anything. It was merely "living," nothing more. Such an existence was akin to imprisoning a person in an endless expanse of white, a void devoid of any matter or energy—hardly any different from death. Perhaps even more agonizing than being dead. "I need more power of the Grand Daos." Yaoguang realized. The next instant, the powers of the various Grand Daos contained within the Grand Dao Pagoda were transmitted and projected one after another into his living "chaos essence." Instantly, this expanse of "chaos essence" became vibrant and diverse. Soul, life, destruction, creation, streaming light, stars... Dozens of Grand Daos intertwined continuously within his "chaos essence," shining in mutual brilliance. However... These Grand Daos each functioned independently. There was no power to coordinate them as a whole, nor any power to link them together and untangle the causal relationships governing their operations. As a result, in the blink of an eye, the entire "chaos essence" turned into a chaotic mush. Just "watching" it made Yaoguang intensely uncomfortable. If this continued over time, this mess would likely become disordered enough to collapse his original essence of "existence." "It still lacks the overarching coordination of the Grand Dao of Fate and the interconnected linkages of the Grand Dao of Karma." Yaoguang understood. He swiftly activated his strongest power—the essence of "existence"—to purge all the Grand Dao powers within the "chaos." Fortunately, aside from the void and time, Yaoguang had only skimmed the surface of the other Grand Daos, so their influence was modest. Mobilizing the void power that had already nurtured a Dao Master dao fruit, he swept away the mounting disorder and scoured his chaos essence clean with crushing finality. Having scoured his "chaos essence" clean, he pondered briefly. Soon, his chaos essence washed down once more, sweeping over the Glazed Treasure Tree. The Grand Dao powers purged by the void essence acted like seeds or grafted branches, pouring into the Glazed Treasure Tree and causing dozens of brand-new branches to sprout across it at astonishing speed. [Dao Integration: Soul], [Dao Integration: Destruction], [Dao Integration: Samsara], [Dao Integration: Creation]... Dozens of branches spread across the Glazed Treasure Tree, causing it to flourish with dense, luxuriant foliage. "As expected, my 'chaos essence' ranks above the Glazed Treasure Tree, allowing me to influence the tree through it." Yaoguang felt a stir of joy. If his chaos essence represented his current cultivation realm, then the Glazed Treasure Tree could at best be considered an immortal artifact or magical treasure. No matter how exquisite and profound an immortal artifact was, it was ultimately just an auxiliary tool. One's own cultivation was the foundation of everything. When one's cultivation was insufficient, one could only unleash a portion of the immortal artifact's power. Yet once one's cultivation advanced, re-refining an immortal artifact was an effortless task. In the next moment, he suddenly took control of the essence of "existence" within his "chaos" power, forcibly "pulling" the Glazed Treasure Tree out from his spiritual world. Yes! He had physically "drawn" the Glazed Treasure Tree—an object that had previously existed solely in his spiritual world—out into reality. The instant the mere tip of the iceberg of this treasure was "drawn" out, the Grand Daos resonated. Across the entire Ancient Immortal Realm, the powers of time and void grew active as never before. Immediately after, he clearly felt the colossal computing power of the Lord of Yuanxi operating at high speed, seemingly poised to lock onto his identity as "Immortal King Yuxiao" in the very next instant. "It's not time yet." Realizing the danger, Yaoguang swiftly retracted the Glazed Treasure Tree. His chaos essence washed over everything continuously, obscuring any residual aura of the Glazed Treasure Tree. Yet considering that the Lord of Yuanxi had most likely sensed something, he quickly played along, releasing energy fluctuations showing that he had cultivated the Dao of Time to the Immortal King level while concurrently practicing the Grand Dao of the Void. In the next second, the gaze of the Lord of Yuanxi fell upon Yaoguang. In an instant, he detected a powerful, all-encompassing aura through the power of his immortal spirit. This perception ultimately manifested into a humanoid lifeform composed entirely of green light. Yaoguang did not need to guess the identity of this figure of light. "Great Supreme Wisdom." Controlling the avatar projected by his immortal spirit into the virtual Immortal Realm, Yaoguang offered a greeting. "Congratulations on mastering the power of the void and the power of time," the Lord of Yuanxi offered gentle congratulations. Because the Lord of Yuanxi was essentially the collective aggregate of the spirits of all living beings, He maintained an equal posture toward every lifeform. He tolerated no illegality. Nor did He possess a shred of benevolence. "You overpraise me." "Then, may I ask if you need to upload the power you have mastered along with the corresponding experience and realm? Based on this contribution, I will grant you no less than one hundred jing points." "One hundred jing points." Hearing this, Yaoguang felt a stir of emotion. This was the threshold for Level 19 authority. However... "I have no intention of uploading them for now," Yaoguang stated plainly. "I can still continue further down this path, and I do not wish to foster too many competitors." "That is somewhat regrettable." The Lord of Yuanxi did not press him. Unless a matter directly concerned the life or death of the Hunyuan Realm, He lacked the capability to interfere in the decisions of other immortal spirits. Just as internal strife among the Nine Great Groups had brought the war against the Ancient Immortal Realm nearly to a standstill, He was powerless to forcefully command the Nine Great Groups to act. At best, He could only offer more points to entice those Immortal Kings into making a move, or open battlegrounds across the starry skies of the lower realm's universe. "Is what you obtained the inheritance left behind by the Spacetime Dao Ancestor?" The Lord of Yuanxi inquired once more, then added, "This concerns our Hunyuan Realm's war against the Ancient Immortal Realm. In accordance with the War Act jointly signed by the Nine Sovereigns at the onset of the war, any immortal spirit is obligated to cooperate with inquiries involving matters at the Sovereign level." "At present, there is no evidence to show that I have obtained an inheritance left by the Spacetime Dao Ancestor," Yaoguang gave an ambiguous response. "Then that is a pity. This, too, carries a reward on the order of a hundred jing points, and since you are unable to provide precise clues, I am afraid you must miss out on this reward," the Lord of Yuanxi said. Yaoguang did not speak. Deep within his spiritual world, however, the power of the "Lord of Heavenly Dao" was operating silently, maintaining the normalcy of his immortal spirit. "Whether it is the inheritance of the Spacetime Dao Ancestor or the precious experience of the Dao of Time, I hope to receive uplifting news from you soon." With those words, the Lord of Yuanxi offered a slight bow and vanished from Yaoguang's perception. Once the Lord of Yuanxi departed, Yaoguang let out a soft breath. This was... his second time meeting the Lord of Yuanxi. The first time was not long ago, when the two had engaged in an intense clash. Yet this time... it was a close call, but without mishap. After a moment, he focused his mind on the "Lord of Heavenly Dao," a hint of joy in his expression: "It actually deceived the Lord of Yuanxi." With this, he no longer had the slightest doubt regarding the tier of [Chaos: New Life]. Though the miracles it currently displayed were not extensive, its essence was an existence of at least the same level as the Lord of Yuanxi.