Behind him lay an endless abyss of darkness, while ahead loomed the precipice of the other shore.
Shi Hao hung suspended over the abyss, tantalizingly close to the other side, yet unable to cross.
It was eerie—these chains had descended silently from the heavens, piercing through his body, drenching him in blood, binding him here.
The more he struggled, the more unbearable it became. Now, thousands of chains had impaled his flesh. Was that thunderous voice echoing from his own heart or the heavens above? Each chain represented a shackle of obsession—terrifying in its own right.
Flames roared, their flickering light illuminating the abyss below, revealing an endless sea of bones.
This place grew ever more horrifying. Shi Hao’s flesh ignited, his bones exposed, glowing like molten metal amidst the inferno.
A storm of thoughts surged, the chains trembled, and the raging fire consumed him. Soon, Shi Hao withered into a charred husk, brittle as scorched wood, on the verge of snapping apart.
Was the path of a Supreme Being truly so arduous?
Silent and resolute, he resisted, struggling to break free from this torment. The other shore was within reach—how could he give up now?
*”Five hundred years… is that truly the line of taboo?”* he murmured to himself.
With his innate talent, becoming a Supreme Being was inevitable. Yet now, trapped in this dire strait, it was because he had rushed, desperate to rise immediately.
He feared time was running out. He dreaded that other mighty beings would deny him the chance. He worried the Great Reckoning was approaching…
He felt the crushing weight of lost time. Any further delay, and all would be too late. He feared he would be struck down in the realm of mortality before he could even contend.
If he did not soar swiftly into the heavens, he would be erased—denied even the chance to fight. That would be the greatest tragedy of this era.
*”Attain the Dao!”*
With a low roar, he struggled, leaping upward with all his might, striving to reach the sky.
The chains—countless, unrelenting—descended from the firmament. Shi Hao pushed himself to the limit, his charred body riddled with cracks as he neared the source.
His flesh withered, turned to ash. His bones glowed red, on the verge of melting, covered in fine fissures.
This was true despair—a body on the brink of death.
Not just his flesh, but even his soul was weakened. Chains had pierced his skull, burning within.
*Crack!*
Like scorched wood, his body snapped—yet did not separate, held together by the countless chains impaling and entwining him.
His vitality dwindled rapidly, nearly extinguished.
His eyes dimmed, sunken in skeletal sockets, his face stripped of flesh—a ghastly sight, like a charred corpse.
*Was this the end?*
Nearing annihilation, his essence, energy, and spirit all withered.
This was the state of *oil exhausted, lamp extinguished*.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Suddenly, Shi Hao’s eyes blazed with dazzling brilliance.
A final resurgence—one last struggle?
Vital energy erupted. Behind him, the wings of a True Phoenix manifested. Within his body, another flame surged. At death’s door, he unleashed every hidden card.
*Boom!*
He soared upward, his charred body rapidly regenerating—flesh regrowing, bones reforged, gleaming anew.
Reborn from the brink of annihilation. Awakened from the silence of death.
*Phoenix Nirvana*—the supreme art of this lineage, the greatest healing technique in existence, unrivaled in the world!
Not only could it heal, but it could also be used for cultivation. Those with unshakable resolve had even slain themselves, erasing an entire lifetime of cultivation, only to rebuild from nothing, reforging their true selves.
To rise from death, to return from extinction—stronger than before.
This was the supreme art of the True Phoenix lineage!
Cornered, with no other choice, Shi Hao invoked this divine technique, setting his body ablaze with towering flames.
Soon, his flesh was restored, radiant and full. His shattered bones reforged, ringing like tempered steel.
He surged upward. To escape, he had to sever these chains. He would storm the heavens and uncover what bound him.
*”One thought, one chain?”* Was it true? He refused to believe it!
A humanoid phoenix wreathed in flames shot into the sky, shaking the void, making the Great Dao tremble.
At the end, he saw the truth—the Great Dao itself, a swirling mass of chaos, shifting forms: plants, beasts, all living things.
*Boom!*
In an instant, it became the World Tree—not towering, but with leaves that shook forth countless rules, piercing Shi Hao’s body like spears of order.
*Were these chains its doing?*
*Roar!*
Then it transformed again—into a savage primordial beast, yin and yang energies swirling, its body covered in thousands of spikes, impaling Shi Hao’s flesh.
*A Primal Chaos Beast?*
Shi Hao staggered back, each step leaving a bloody footprint.
Next, a rain of light—seeds descended from the sky, taking root in his body, drinking his blood, their tendrils burrowing into his bones, draining his marrow.
An endless cycle of torment.
Though Shi Hao fought back, he was grievously wounded.
*To attain the Dao, one must first bear it.*
This was the Great Dao manifest—relentless, crushing, threatening to tear him apart.
*”Living beings seek the Dao, but the Dao also seeks to devour them.”*
A revelation struck him. To grasp the secrets of the world, to master its rules and mysteries—was the Dao not also consuming him in turn?
He thought of the little pagoda, always speaking of balance, of cause and effect. Perhaps this was the truth.
*To attain the Dao, first bear it.*
In seeking the world’s secrets, one was also eroded by it—either slain or consumed.
Thus, ninety-nine percent perished.
Cultivators were those who defied the heavens. Their path opposed the natural order, and so they were opposed in turn.
Some found ways to harmonize, to flow with nature, achieving enlightenment effortlessly.
But Shi Hao was not one of them. He had forced his way to the peak, unprepared, his obsessions clashing with the natural order.
And yet, without ascending to immortality, he could not glimpse the ultimate truth.
His fleeting insight was but a fragment of the greater mystery.
*”I took the wrong path. My body is the seed, my self the root, the truth. Yet I sought the Dao outside. I should learn from it, not mimic it.”*
Battered and bloodied, Shi Hao’s voice was steel. His conviction only grew stronger.
His path was flawed, but there was no turning back. Only forward.
He could not die. He *would* succeed.
*”If you say one thought, one chain—then I shall reclaim them all! My will shall blaze, and I shall attain the Dao!”*
With a roar, he unleashed the greatest power of his life.
His body seemed to explode with divine light, Supreme energy flooding the world. Every chain stretched taut, ringing like steel.
Above, the Great Dao shifted—now a dragon, now a mangy dog, now the World Tree. Yet no matter its form, countless chains entangled Shi Hao, piercing him through.
He knew this was a trial born of his choices—his tribulation far surpassed others’, his risk of death immense.
*”Burn the Dao with Ten Thousand Thoughts!”*
Shi Hao bellowed, casting all caution aside. His obsessions did not fade—they intensified, erupting from his body, surging along each chain to assail the Great Dao itself.
His thoughts became flames, incinerating the myriad Daos.
Yet, he was still no match for the Great Dao—a moth igniting itself to charge into the fire.
*Boom!*
He was struck down, his body ablaze, charred once more.
The cry of a True Phoenix echoed. At death’s door, Shi Hao invoked the *Phoenix Rebirth Technique*, reviving again to charge the heavens, to tear the chains asunder.
Again and again, he surged upward.
Until, at last, his strength was spent—his essence, energy, and spirit all burned away.
Even the *Phoenix Rebirth Technique* had its limits.
Above, the Great Dao wavered, blurred, then… vanished.
*What…?*
Shi Hao was stunned. Gasping, he greedily absorbed the surrounding energy, replenishing himself.
Slowly, he descended, landing upon the other shore—the precipice beyond the abyss.
*Had he succeeded?*
Yet the heavens bestowed no divine light, no surge of Supreme energy, no baptism.
*”Then I shall baptize myself!”*
He sat cross-legged, drawing upon the essence of all living things. His shattered bones reformed, his flesh gleamed—he recovered swiftly.
At this level, a single drop of blood could revive him. With his body still intact, returning to his peak was no issue.
Shi Hao emerged from the chaotic void, stepping into the Desolate Domain.
He had never felt so powerful.
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