Chapter 923 - 647: The Emperor’s Path
...
On the battlefield.
Chen Sheng gently shook his head, a faint trace of disappointment crossing his brow.
This battle yielded little gain.
Although the prodigy of the Light Divine Race was imposing, their foundation was ultimately lacking.
Even after exerting his utmost and reaching the peak, he failed to pose more of a threat or evoke deeper thoughts.
At this moment, a gentle yet majestic figure quietly emerged from the fabric of time and space, surrounded by swirling Dao Rhyme.
Chen Sheng immediately bowed his head in greeting:
"Greetings, Emperor."
The Fire Cloud Emperor looked at him, his face full of satisfaction and joy:
"Good lad! Well done! You’ve upheld your ancestors’ honor and won glory for our Human Race!"
Chen Sheng, hearing this, merely smiled faintly without saying much.
To outsiders, the ancestor of the Xuanyuan Xu Clan had fallen at the hands of the Light Divine Race prodigy, Guan Yucang, years ago.
Now that he had slain the current prodigy of the Light Divine Race, he had avenged his ancestor, restoring their pride.
But to Chen Sheng himself, a junior prodigy was of little concern.
If it weren’t for Guan Yucang having already achieved the status of an Emperor, provoking him would only be courting death, and he would have confronted him long ago.
Chen Sheng lowered his gaze, contemplating silently:
"Once I attain Emperor status myself, I will seek out Guan Yucang and fight a satisfying battle."
The Fire Cloud Emperor saw his indifference, his smile deepening, and added:
"You’ve touched the threshold of becoming an Emperor but still lack the final step. I have some experience I can share with you."
Chen Sheng lifted his gaze, bowing slightly:
"I humbly seek your guidance, Emperor."
The Fire Cloud Emperor nodded slowly, his voice clearly reaching Chen Sheng’s ears:
"The path of an Emperor lies not in forceful pursuit but in mastery..."
"Direct the Dao with your heart, embody the Dao through actions, unbound by Dao, unrestricted by Techniques..."
"Where the heart leads, the Dao follows; where the heart controls, the Technique submits..."
Chen Sheng lowered his gaze and listened intently, the Emperor’s words echoing rapidly in his mind as he pondered them deeply.
This step differed greatly from the Mahayana Immortal Dao.
Immortal Cultivation involves refining the Dao Seed, seeking simplicity, using the intrinsic nature of the mid-sized world to replace oneself, severing causality, and eventually transcending the Grand Thousand Worlds.
It’s a convoluted and careful path, balancing Dao, Techniques, causality, and the world intricately.
However, the path of a Martial Arts Emperor in this realm is entirely different.
It doesn’t concern itself with causality or transformation, focusing instead on what lies within, subduing a Heavenly Dao with supreme will to gain complete mastery.
Chen Sheng thought, "Compared to the complexity of the Immortal Dao, Martial Arts seems straightforward and direct."
The Fire Cloud Emperor continued to guide:
"Furthermore, Martial Arts cultivation seems to offer no shortcuts, yet it is filled with them — fighting is the best technique for mastery."
"Every life-and-death duel, every extreme breakthrough, is a perfect opportunity to suppress your Dao and comprehend the Heavenly Dao."
Chen Sheng nodded: "Thank you for your guidance, Emperor."
...
Spirit Realm.
In the Enlightenment Hall of the Zhang Clan Ancestral Land.
Chen Sheng slowly opened his eyes, Spirit Light swirling in them, as if countless Dao Principles floated within:
"The Mahayana Path, the Path of the Emperor..."
"The former seeks external transcendence, the latter internal mastery; ultimately, the Great Dao Cultivation converges on the same goal..."
He had personally deduced numerous cultivation systems, already deeply understanding their connections and differences.
All of this is intrinsically linked to the underlying logic of cultivation.
The Immortal Dao is fundamentally the path of Longevity, stressing gradual progression, rigorous caution, and careful planning to minimize unexpected events and risks in cultivation.
While the Martial Arts embraces battle, long accustomed to life-and-death lines and extreme transformations.
Chen Sheng nodded slightly, thinking to himself:
"This dimension seeks transcendence; that dimension seeks mastery."
"Walking with two legs, neither hindering the other, one path will eventually lead to success."
"Next, it’s time to comprehend the Xuanhuang Cosmic Sea!"
Three cultivation treasures, the Five Decays Annihilation Valley, Xuanhuang Cosmic Sea, and the Abyss of All Dao Return.
Among them, the Five Decays Annihilation Valley aids cultivators in overcoming the tribulation of the five decays, and the Abyss of All Dao Return aids Mahayana cultivators in merging with all Dao.
While the Xuanhuang Cosmic Sea corresponds to the cultivation needs after the five decays.
...
Xuanhuang Cosmic Sea, a Secret Realm formed from a complete Grand Thousand Universe.
Its core utility is to allow cultivators to immerse in the origin of the universe, to comprehend and cultivate, thus perfecting their self-evolved world.
As soon as Chen Sheng’s avatar stepped into the Xuanhuang Cosmic Sea, he was awestruck by the scene before him.
Time and space here form a closed loop, Xuanhuang origins surge, with the illusory shadow of universe evolution slowly revolving, rules concretized, transforming into various innate Great Daos, each change embodying endless profound truths of the Great Dao.
And at the center of this origin place, several figures had already gathered, each with an unfathomable aura.
They were all top cultivators ranked at the forefront of the Immortal Mountain Daoist Monarch list, each just a step away from the Mahayana Realm, all there to perfect their mid-sized world.
As Chen Sheng’s gaze swept over the crowd, when it landed on a figure in white, his heart stirred:
"It’s him."
This was a man with a refined appearance and an extraordinary aura, surrounded by a faint Immortal Spirit aura.
This was one of the early prodigies of the Immortal Spirit Race — Gu Qiwu.
Chen Sheng was no stranger to him.
He, Gu Xunzhen, and Gu Qiwu were among the earliest Named Disciples in the Dharma Master Realm of the Immortal Mountain.
However, the three of them had vastly different fates.
The one with the highest achievement was Gu Xunzhen, who had long since entered the Mahayana realm.
Chen Sheng thought to himself:
"Seeing him like this, he’s likely also stuck at the final step of perfecting his mid-sized world, seeking a breakthrough here."
"In a past life, my own talent fell short, and I perished early."
"Unexpectedly, in this life, leveraging another dimension’s epoch, I’ve caught up again."
At the same time.
Those top Daoist Monarchs, who were originally immersed in their comprehensions, also sensed his arrival and had a trace of surprise in their eyes.
They were all age-old monsters who had lived countless millennia, regulars on the Daoist Monarch list, with varying degrees of interaction with each other.
But this cultivator before them was completely unfamiliar.
Upon accessing the Immortal Mountain Named Disciple privileges, they quickly learned of Chen Sheng’s background, further astonished.
"He only attained Dao a hundred and fifty Primordial Assemblies ago!"
"He’s incredibly young!"
"I’ve truly lived in vain for seven hundred Primordial Assemblies."
"No comparison, truly no comparison!!"
A few whispered discussions quietly arose, everyone quite amazed.
Gu Qiwu, looking at this cultivator who was much younger than himself, also felt a mix of emotions.
In those days, he too was exuberantly high-spirited, but now, his lifespan was nearing its end.
If he couldn’t perfect his mid-sized world and break through to the Mahayana Realm before his lifespan ran out, he would end up dissolving into nothingness.
He sighed inwardly:
"Indeed, the new waves push the old, and talented people emerge in every generation."
Chen Sheng’s avatar, sensing the gaze of the crowd, maintained a calm expression, merely nodding slightly as a gesture.
Then, he found a secluded spot, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to contemplate.
The Xuanhuang origin around him slowly gathered, merging with his mid-sized world, bit by bit filling in its gaps.