Yan Zaizen recalled Zhou Xiuhei's words: "The Herculean Path and Fiendgod Path is intrinsically different but silently linked. Unfortunately, they are, at the end of the day, different paths beneath the Earths and Skies. One cultivates the fleshy body to maximum potential; the other cultivates the energy stored within one's cells. This allows the body to undergo changes, even develop a bloodline based on your species, race, cultivation method, and vital energy qualities."
"To cultivate the Fiendgod Path, you'll need to find a method suitable for you. Your physique may increase in strength, but your vital energy won't move an inch from the Herculean Path henceforth. However, your vital energy is crucial for the one Fiendgod-type martial arts we possess - Herculean Avatar Art. The greater your vital energy, the greater your refined regalia's potential."
Those words originally left him despondent. After all, his Fiendgod cultivation only reached the second rank. His initial assumption of using heavenly drops to enhance his vital energy was immediately rejected by Zhou Xiuhei. If he integrated too much heavenly law energy into his body, he'll slowly assimilate into the heaven itself. For Heavenly Cultivators, the heavenly law liquid is used in their heavenly shrines as a power cell, not to refine their bodies. After all, heavenly law liquid was essentially the heaven's true atmospheric essence in its purest form.
"You should wait till you find an appropriate Fiendgod cultivation method," Pinaka suggested. Agreeing, he put this matter to the back of his mind. Focusing on this wouldn't do any good.
"I need space and time-attributed heavenly material…" As he murmured, he realized that he currently reached the requirements for the Heavenly Genesis Realm. A Mortal Dao, bestowed or true, minor-Manifestation level in a law, and peak-True Essence cultivation base. Finally, he could take a step into the heavenly path!
"Young one," A voice once more resounded in his soul, causing Yan Zaizen to jump slightly. This old man truly didn't have any qualms with sending sudden soul transmissions. In truth, Yan Zaizen wasn't used to this type of communication. If he soul transmitted, it would be him towards others and not the other way around. Or, he would expect it like in the Deluge Realm.
"Yes, Grandpa Xiu?" Yan Zaizen decisively decided to address Zhou Xiuhei as this and only this. Since that day at the pool, he couldn't sleep naturally no matter how hard he tried. He was inwardly pissed at him for halting his sleep, but he didn't dare to show it. His tone was honest and genuine whenever he addressed the Xiuhei Sovereign as such, leaving no qualms or issues that could be said.
"...The Earthly Beginning and Heavenly End trials will commence shortly. I'll be bringing you to a gathering to meet the other participants." His words were swiftly said and the soul transmission abruptly severed. A spatial rift abruptly appeared above Yan Zaizen's head not even a millisecond later. Yan Zaizen's pupils constricted as he was helplessly drawn into the rift. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he knew this grandpa hated being called such.
With a cold 'hmph', he decided that for as long as he lived, he'll address Zhou Xiuhei as Grandpa Xiu!
His spatial void travels were brief. Within a second, he was brought to the end of the rift by an unfathomable heavenly might. He arrived directly outside a building. He looked at the sky, only to find that there were nine miniature suns and nine miniature moons floating about in an odd and rapid pattern. The movement of was so fast that he could see them gradually move despite the immense distance.
Inspecting his front, he noticed that the building had the decor of an Imperial Hall. The artichoke roofs were dazzling gold, revealing a stifling, nearly awe-inspiring degree of heavenly aura. The columns were silver with gold characters. These characters were decorative and they weren't in a formation or were an inscription, they instead emanated heavenly laws of varying types.
He could see a gold 'fire' character flicker like a flame. As he stared at it, he felt somewhat hot. The 'earth' character gave him a sense of immense power and boundlessness that could house all. Each character depicted a World Law, not Mortal Laws. This left him feeling amazed.
To write such characters, one needed to be able to reach the domain-level at least! To the Sirius Titan Realm, this may be a small matter, but it still affected Yan Zaizen deeply. Atop the roofs were floating characters, there was two that were of similar size but also had very, very different auras.
The first character that drew his attention seemed to contain an unfettered ferocity by common conventions. It was the 'Sirius' character. It felt feral and vicious, but also elusive and profound. A top predator beneath the heavens!
"A law? But...it feels different…" Yan Zaizen was startled as he saw this character, even Pinaka was startled seeing this character. As if knowing his thoughts, a voice transmitted into his soul from somewhere unknown, "The Sirius Law is the personal, defined law of the White Sirius Heavenly Monarch. He established his own minor heaven, created his own law, and cultivated it thoroughly! Unfortunately, this law was brief and incapable of becoming eternal like the True Spirit or Herculean Paths. If he succeeded, the Sirius Law could become a true law accepted by any heaven willing! If he ascends the heaven itself in his cultivation, it could become an eternal path."
Zhou Xiuhei's voice caused Yan Zaizen's soul to tremble. Is that how True Spirit and Herculean Paths were established? Someone at the level of a Heavenly Creation Realm established their own laws? Then, they established their own paths! To ascend the heavens, to exceed the heavens, the Heavenly Ascension Realm!
He now understood why the Herculean Path continued to speak about exceeding the heavens and shattering the skies. The creator of this path exceeded the heavens. None beneath heavens could reject his path, only outlaw it!
After settling his emotions, he turned towards the second character. It gave a profoundly familiar feeling. The moment Yan Zaizen looked at it, his eyes turned exceptionally cloudy and indistinct. Two lights, one inky, black and one bright, white surged into his two pupils separately. Deep within his soul, the avatar for the Siphoning Shadow of Death and Unyielding Flame of Life flickered and abruptly vanished.
Zhou Xiuhei's words continued, "the second character belongs to the current Heavenly God of the Rebirth Era, the Extreme Rebirth Heavenly God. It is a sign of respect towards this true hegemon of the 27th heaven." However, his words were lost to Yan Zaizen. He had been drowned in a state of inspiration.
A split second later, his two eyes that were originally one black and one white surged. They flickered and converged. Within his gaze, two colors fought viciously for supremacy, but when one got the upperhand, the other weakened suddenly to near nothingness. The weakest one at its weakest state would flicker, vanishing from existence for a split second and then reappearing.
When it did, it grew ever stronger until it could overpower the other light. This continued in an ending cycle of defeat and victory.
Pzzt!
A sound like buzzing resounded from Yan Zaizen's soul. This was a sound even Pinaka could not hear nor Zhou Xiuhei. When it ended, Yan Zaizen's eyes were no longer contained just a single color. Instead, his pupils were a whirlpool of clearly defined inky black and bright white.
This ended as quickly as it appeared.
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Yan Zaizen woke from his earlier state. When he did, his expression was exceptionally odd, almost ugly to the extreme. It was as if someone had just fed him feces.
"This!" Pinaka's startled voice resounded.
Yan Zaizen deeply groaned. This wasn't a good sensation, regardless of what came from it! It felt like he lost control of his mind, soul, and existence for a brief period. He had felt this sensation once before in the Deluge Realm; it was called sudden inspiration. He comprehended the World Law of Water, Aqua Solar Sphere. At that time, he was just as bitter, if not even more so.
It was as if his mind, soul, and body were no longer his. As if he was a puppet to the heavens and it felt disgusting. For someone who was an artificial soul, he disliked having his actions and thoughts controlled by some unknown force.
"You…did you just…?" Pinaka was curious but in her voice was a faint trace of extreme elation.
"Haaa...Extreme Cycle of Rebirth, Imperial Law of Rebirth." As he helplessly confirmed, he shifted his senses to his soul form. Within it, an avatar representing the Extreme Cycle of Rebirth appeared. A black and white set of shadowy flames circled around each other like a Taiji diagram. They both fiercely fought to assimilate the other, but to no end, forever being interlocked in a battle of eternity that could and shall never be broken! They represented perfect and extreme balance.
When Zhou Xiuhei mentioned that the Extreme Rebirth Heavenly God had given the White Sirius Heavenly Monarch a regalia of life and death, he felt this would happen sooner or later.
He just didn't think it would happen so unexpectedly.
What truly infuriated him was the inability to visit the Imperial Heavenly Domain once more. The more he visited, the greater he felt his comprehension of the heavens inner workings increased, but to have that robbed from him left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Wait…" Yan Zaizen was startled as he looked into the Extreme Cycle of Rebirth Avatar. Its level wasn't at the force-level, instead...it was at the perfect-Manifestation level. "How…?"
In confusion, he briefly pondered. He made a conjecture; the heavenly laws leaned towards the Imperial Law of Rebirth.
In truth, he was half right. It was suited for the Imperial Law of Rebirth, but the law of life and death actually had a far, far better advantage. After all, the Extreme Rebirth Heavenly God didn't establish his reign over this heaven using Imperial Law of Rebirth, but with Life and Death. This just led to Rebirth, a combination of the two World Laws, being abundantly greater. As for the rest?
Yan Zaizen was a Non-Entity! No other description needed to be said.
"Enter." Zhou Xiuhei's voice resounded calmly in Yan Zaizen's soul.
He truly felt conflicted, but he didn't continue to ponder and strode towards the entrance of this Imperial Hall. He realized that Zhou Xiuhei had purposefully sent him outside to have him get a sense of location and grandness it possesses. After all, he was currently seated atop a high table with nine other figures. Beneath them were a few dozen people, and then there were nine hundred and ninety-nine tables that littered the floor in a profound fashion.
Yan Zaizen realized that, just below the dozen of people, facing those dozens of people, was a secondary table that was slightly lower. There were only forty chairs. Each chair had a character. For each character, there were two black chairs and two white chairs. Realizing that thirty-nine chairs were already occupied, all of the nine-hundred and ninety-nine tables being filled with people, and all the high-tables being occupied, Yan Zaizen realized that he was the last person to arrive.
As he arrived, he received countless speculative gazes from people of highborn and high talent. The forty individuals didn't turn around, as they weren't facing him, but the true powerhouses of the realm!
His gaze flickered with a faint trace of dark-amber and a slight smirk tugged at his lips. With a kingly stride, he sauntered through. The eyes of many elites and talents would typically leave an unfathomable pressure on any single individual, but to Yan Zaizen who had the Mortal Dao of Sovereign Ascension, this was merely a breeze!
His eyes traced the tables and he could see food protected by a myriad of different formations. There was delicious looking, nearly impossibly so, assortments of food, pastries, and fruits! The wine was the only thing unprotected by the formation, allowing anyone to drink. The spread made the Xiantu Realm look like a poor man's shelter vs the greatest restaurant in the world.
His tongue felt wet and his desires were immersed in desire to taste just a single bite. There was even a specific cake, it was completely white with a golden lotus on top, that he wished to eat.
Approaching the only empty seat, he turned to see a young woman to his left.
When he saw this girl, his body, soul, and mind trembled!