The Zi Wei Emperor Lord stood frozen, his heart hammering against his ribs. He watched as Ling Xiao's presence expanded, his figure becoming a colossal silhouette that seemed to swallow the stars themselves. This wasn't a mere illusion; it was the crushing weight of a higher dimension of existence.
"I'll give you a choice," Ling Xiao said, his voice echoing like rolling thunder across the purple mists of the star. "You can stop dreaming of being an emperor who suppresses the stars and become a boy by my side instead."
The youth's face twisted. A boy? He was the master of the Emperor Star! But as he looked into Ling Xiao's eyes—deep, golden pits of incinerating law—his pride shattered like glass.
"Is there... another choice?" he whispered.
Ling Xiao pointed a casual finger toward the ink-black boughs of the Zhou Tian Star Tree. "Yes. You can become its fertilizer."
The youth didn't hesitate. "I... I choose to be a boy."
"Wise," Ling Xiao smiled. "From this day forth, you are Ziwei Boy."
After sealing the star with a complex formation to protect the Star Tree—the ultimate source for the future Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array—Ling Xiao departed with his new attendant. As he trekked back toward the Sun Star, his mind drifted toward the Purple Palace. He wondered if his brothers were keeping their heads down.
Zixiao Palace.
The sound of the Dao ceased, leaving a ringing silence in the hall. The three thousand years were over. The gathered experts sat in various states of trance, their faces etched with confusion. The Dao was too profound, the steps toward the Quasi-Saint realm too misty.
Hongjun, sitting atop his cloud bed, looked down with the detached compassion of a god. "If there is confusion, speak."
An expert rose, bowing low. "Saint, your disciple is dull. How does one truly break the shackles of the Golden Immortal? How does one... become like you?"
The room leaned in. This was the question everyone had been too afraid to ask.
"There are three thousand paths," Hongjun began, his voice resonant and absolute. "But they converge into three.
First is Proving the Dao through Strength. One masters the Laws to shatter the limits of the world. This is the path of the Hun Yuan Golden Immortal. However..." Hongjun's gaze turned distant. "The Great Dao has receded. The Laws are hidden. This path is now a dead end. It is no longer viable.
Second is Proving the Dao through Merit. One performs great services for the Heavenly Dao until the world itself grants the spark of Sainthood.
Third is my own method: Slaying the Three Corpses. One excises their Good, Evil, and Self, using Innate treasures as vessels to manifest these aspects. Slay one, and you are a Quasi-Saint. Slay all three, and the Way is open."
The hall erupted in hushed, desperate whispers. The first path was dead, and the second was a gamble. Only the third—Hongjun's path—seemed like a bridge over the abyss.
However, Hongjun's eyes suddenly narrowed. He spotted two figures in the middle of the crowd who didn't look enlightened. They looked... skeptical.
"Di Jun. Tai Yi," Hongjun said, his voice singling them out. "Do you have questions? You seem troubled."
The attention of every powerhouse in the Great Desolation—the Three Pure Ones, the Western Duo, Nuwa—all snapped toward the two Crows.
Di Jun and Tai Yi shared a silent, panicked glance. Treating the Saint's words as farts. That was the phrase Ling Xiao would have used. Their brother was currently breaking through to the "dead" path of Laws at this very moment. If the path was unviable, then what was Ling Xiao doing?
Di Jun stood up. He remembered the "Three Don'ts," but he couldn't help himself. He needed to know how far the Saint's "truth" went.
"May I ask the Saint," Di Jun said, his voice remarkably steady. "Of these three methods... which one is truly the strongest?"
The silence that followed was deafening. The experts looked at Di Jun as if he were a madman. To ask which was strongest after the Saint had clearly promoted his own method was bordering on sacrilege. It was as if he were daring the Saint to admit his path was second-best.