In the Age of Decline, only through transformation can one survive and journey further!
Shi Hao realized the crux of the problem. The shackles of heaven and earth had descended, suppressing the old system. Without change, only marginal progress in cultivation could be made through slow, grinding effort.
But achieving immortality? That was nearly impossible. Even before, when the environment was unfavorable, ascending to immortality was out of reach—let alone in this Age of Decline.
“Continue your arduous cultivation without impatience. Remain calm and composed. Even if your progress seems stagnant now, there are inexplicable transformations occurring within you. This is a rare accumulation, a foundation for the true path of the Great Dao!” Shi Hao admonished them, urging them not to worry.
“Years from now, you will understand that today’s foundation will yield tomorrow’s harvest. Even if your cultivation does not advance now, this is a great opportunity in disguise. The heights you may reach in the future could very well be forged in the lonely trials of this Age of Decline!” Shi Hao declared solemnly.
Some of his words were encouragement, while others stemmed from his own intuition. Though he was eager to elevate his strength, he knew that haste made waste.
Sometimes, a brief pause allows one to glimpse an entirely new horizon.
Shi Hao ventured into the chaos alone to cultivate, for ordinary realms could not withstand his power. A single careless strike could rend the starry skies, bringing catastrophic destruction.
Left behind, the others stood in contemplation, their restlessness fading as they pondered their future paths.
Some, gifted with profound insight, recognized that this seemingly fruitless cultivation was itself a form of tempering. The path of cultivation demanded enduring hardship, loneliness, and bitterness.
The lack of immediate rewards might well be a trial of will, an inevitable ordeal on the Great Dao’s journey.
Mu Qing, Shi Zhong, and others—geniuses of cultivation—quickly transformed their pessimism into resolve, viewing this as another process of enlightenment.
Had outsiders witnessed this, they would have marveled at the extraordinary caliber of these elite talents.
“I sense an impending breakthrough. Even if my cultivation does not advance, the path ahead will only grow broader.”
“I feel it too. Though my magic power hasn’t deepened, our bodies are undergoing changes—like the faint golden luster in our marrow, refining our constitutions, rebirthing us anew.”
They were optimists, bolstering their own spirits. Having endured countless trials since emerging from the Primordial Imperial Pass, their wills were unbreakable.
From birth, they had witnessed and lived through a history written in blood and tears.
“We will grow stronger. We are descendants of the Seven Kings, our ancestors true Immortal Kings. We are the equals of the imperial clans of the foreign realms! Even against the descendants of Anlan and Yu Tuo, we shall fight and rise!”
From that day onward, the despondency in Stone Village vanished. No longer anxious or restless, they brimmed with confidence once more.
They ventured far and wide, tempering themselves in the most perilous regions of the Lower Realm’s Eight Domains.
Even the depths of the Western Tomb Realm, where the corpses of Supreme Beings lay buried, they cautiously explored.
“There’s a true immortal here—his blood still warm, as if not truly dead. How bizarre… This is a supreme medicinal treasure of the immortal path!” Digging deep into the Western Tomb Realm, they discovered the remains of an immortal entombed in a snow cavern. Though they retreated swiftly, the sight left them awestruck.
They dared not act recklessly. Beings of that level, even long deceased, were lethally dangerous.
Mu Qing and the others believed the immortal’s still-warm blood might aid Shi Hao.
Meanwhile, Shi Hao sat in meditation amidst the chaos, far removed from the Eight Domains, wholly focused. His hands wove intricate seals, manifesting the thoughts in his heart.
The techniques he had mastered—from the Kun Peng’s Art to the Willow Deity’s Method, the Thunder Emperor’s Divine Power, the True Phoenix’s Secret Arts, the Eight Forms of the Scattered Buddha, the Six Paths Reincarnation Heavenly Skill—all flowed through his mind.
Ancient and modern techniques intertwined as he sought to fuse them into one, forging his own path, a method uniquely suited to him.
Within his abdomen, a Wheel Sea had formed—a long-opened human body secret realm. His merged and compressed cave worlds had erupted, birthing the dual energies of Yin and Yang.
This was the Wheel Sea, a source of life in the abdomen, nurturing magic power and governing life and death.
Chants of scriptures echoed in his heart as countless techniques surfaced in his mind.
His consciousness ascended, as if constructing a divine bridge to the other shore. With a resounding boom, he breached the domain of the five viscera.
“Heaven and earth divide into Yin and Yang—the most fundamental elements.”
“All things arise from the five energies. The interplay of the Five Elements births the myriad phenomena of the world, the very foundation of existence.”
After over a decade in seclusion, Shi Hao channeled the Five Elements’ energies into his viscera, crafting a breathtaking cultivation path that stirred vast surges of magic power.
In the past, he had unlocked the latent potential within his five viscera, where countless “gates” lay hidden—though never as clearly as now.
This path was now clear to him, its significance unveiled.
Having defined the abdomen as the Wheel Sea, where Yin and Yang cycled, he now fully unveiled the second secret realm—the five viscera as the foundation, transforming into the Dao Palace.
“The five viscera house gods!”
Shi Hao marveled as he refined all his mastered techniques within. To his astonishment, the Dao Palace spontaneously resonated with scripture chants.
“Beyond the primordial spirit, perhaps the gods of the human body reside here!”
Exploring further, he studied the second secret realm—the Dao Palace, formed from the five viscera.
It resembled a grand palace of the Great Dao, where the gods of the human body—or perhaps his own subconscious—whispered scriptures.
“Five gods corresponding to the five viscera?”
“No—there are many gods, all chanting, all murmuring to me. Yet why do they sound so distant, so indistinct?”
Lost in contemplation, Shi Hao introspected, circulating all his techniques. Gradually, he saw celestial beings floating around him, merging into his five viscera, seated within the Dao Palace.
In an instant, countless gods appeared as specks of light, drifting within the Dao Palace, chanting ceaselessly.
“Too many gods, too many scriptures. Are they born from communion with heaven, dwelling within me? Or are they all fragments of my true self, awaiting awakening?”
Shi Hao tore through the mist, breaking free from confusion as he refined his own method.
“My path must exalt the true self. All else is illusion.”
He infused his beliefs, solidifying his vision, forging his own Dao and technique.
“Within the Dao Palace, all gods are me. The Great Dao is boundless, yet contained within the number three: Dao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, and Three begets all things.”
Shi Hao murmured as immortal mist wreathed his head, coalescing into three Great Dao flowers, then transforming into platforms where indistinct figures sat.
“Past me, present me, future me—enter the Dao Palace!”
With a shout, the two figures on the first two flowers solidified, while the third, previously vague, now bore a faint silhouette.
Three streams of energy merged into the Dao Palace, chanting scriptures within.
“One is the departed me, chanting for this life. Is there truly reincarnation? A past existence?”
“One is the present me, destined to be invincible—this is my conviction!”
“One is the future me, embodying variables. I am unique through eternity, indestructible!”
Shi Hao roared. The Dao Palace blazed with light, magic power surging as radiant splendor tore through the chaos, illuminating the eternal river of time.
Silence returned only after a long while.
Even in this withered age, shackled by the heavens, Shi Hao’s cultivation advanced further through his innovation.
Gradually, he grasped a certain trajectory, exuding an invincible aura akin to Meng Tianzheng in his prime—or the faint traces once displayed by Wang Changsheng at his peak.
“My foundation, my essence, stems from seeding within the self, relying on nothing external, seeking answers within…” Shi Hao closed his eyes, entering deep contemplation once more.
Time held no meaning in cultivation, yet this session ended swiftly. His eyes snapped open as countless techniques flashed through his mind, his limbs glowing brilliantly.
With a thunderous roar, he rose, his arms shaking as if to sunder chaos, to recreate the cosmos.
His feet stamped, as if to crush eternity.
“Born of heaven and earth, breaking through all realms—the limbs embody the ultimate offensive power, supporting eternity. Four limbs as the Four Extremes, infinite might of the ultimate path!”
The strength of the Kun Peng, the Thunder Emperor’s physique, the Willow Deity’s vitality, the Indestructible Scripture—all surged through his limbs, igniting them with dense Dao runes.
Boom!
Shi Hao seemed to be splitting heaven and earth, his colossal form towering boundlessly.
The Wheel Sea, Dao Palace, and Four Extremes corresponded to the abdomen, five viscera, and limbs—secret realms containing immeasurable power.
This was Shi Hao’s path, the Dao most suited to him.
Yet it remained a rough framework, requiring refinement in the years to come. For now, he had only charted the general direction.
Boom!
A decade later, Shi Hao summoned a river of stars from beyond the chaos, refining it into his spine to sense its transformations.
The essence of countless stars vaporized within.
“Not this feeling.”
“The spine is like a dragon, soaring into the heavens, shaking the world, invincible!”
Sizzle!
Countless stellar remnants fell, their essence absorbed.
Shi Hao left the chaos, returning to Stone Village, where he stood before the nine dragon-pulled coffin, fixated on the nine pristine white dragon bones.
Lost in enlightenment, he stared unblinkingly at the bones.
Roar!
The world seemed to shift—at least in Shi Hao’s eyes. He saw nine true dragons battling through the mortal realm, struggling in the highest heavens.
Limitless transformations—this was the nature of the dragon.
Change!
The ultimate manifestation.
Clang!
The chains binding the dragon bones tautened as Shi Hao seized one, attempting to fuse it with his spine to perceive a certain transformation.
To innovate and comprehend the Great Dao was to experiment relentlessly, even through failure.
In the next moment, Shi Hao felt himself transform into a dragon, soaring across the river of time, striking through the ages, his invincible aura dominating all existence.
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