Chapter 1459 : The Path Ancestor's Legacy

Ultimately, this new path of cultivation supplanted the ancient cultivation systems that had been passed down through both the Primordial Era and the era of High Antiquity.

The creator of this cultivation system, the foremost of the Seventy-Two Human Race Sages, the Primordial Genesis Path Ancestor, had already, with boundless Merit [a metaphysical "currency" representing good karma or virtuous deeds], successfully attained the realm of Primordial One Great Encompassing Golden Immortal.

Thus, within the Three Thousand Immortal Domains, there existed seven beings who had reached the Primordial One Great Encompassing Golden Immortal realm.

Each was a being of supreme and peerless nobility, revered by countless immortals and deities as Divine Sovereign, Heavenly Emperor, or Immortal Sage.

Yet, the one who could truly be called a Path Ancestor was the Primordial Genesis Path Ancestor alone.

To this day, the ancient cultivation systems are still practiced, but compared to the immense advantages of the World-Opening [the foundational act of a cultivator creating their own inner world], few still walk that path.

Of course, some still tread this road, such as the Obsidian Qilin subdued by Eldrin Chen, or the mindless Western Metal Primordial Tiger.

Yet such beings can only be called practitioners of the Eighth Rank World-Opening Realm, and cannot be honored with the title of Earth Immortal Patriarch.

This is because their ability to cultivate to this level relies more on their innate potential; they do not require World-Opening Energy to shatter their shackles to reach the Earth Immortal or even the Celestial Immortal Realm.

Even so, having not opened their own inner worlds, their spiritual power is less than one-third that of modern cultivators, and breaking through major bottlenecks in the future will be far more arduous. This chapter appears courtesy of audio‑novel.com.

These Ninth Rank and even Ninth Rank powerhouses, while their cultivation realms are equivalent to Earth Immortal and Celestial Immortal, and their combat prowess and methods are comparable, their spiritual power reserves are far inferior. They rely more on their exceptionally gifted physical bodies to fight.

However, the fact that the Obsidian Qilin and the Western Metal White Tiger could cultivate to this level indicates their physical potential is immensely powerful, their bloodline potential not inferior to that of the Seven-Hued Immortal Shell.

With such formidable bloodline potential, their physical strength alone is sufficient to reign supreme. Thus, in combat, they are not necessarily weaker than Immortal of the same realm.

Upon realizing this, Eldrin Chen could not help but ask with some confusion, "From what I know, the Vast Azure Immortal Domain was established during the Primordial Era. Why then was its cultivation method created by the Primordial Genesis Path Ancestor?"

The Violet Mystery Path Master shook his head and smiled. "During the Primordial Era, the Great God of the Primordial Era Divine Court would also establish Immortal Domain."

"However, the purpose then differed from today. They carved these domains from the Chaos primarily to harvest Innate Energy [the primordial energy of creation] and World-Opening Energy [the foundational energy released when a world is formed], aiding their disciples in ascending to the Heavenly God Realm."

"The key to the method of establishing an Immortal Domain to ascend to the Great Encompassing realm lies in, after shattering the Ninefold Heavenly Pass, gathering vast amounts of Innate Energy and condensing it into that single strand of Innate Indestructibility Spirit Light [a light of indestructible primordial spirit]."

Speaking of this, the Violet Mystery Path Master continued, "Of course, for the Seventy-Two Sages to explore the path forward, mere speculation was insufficient. They also needed to constantly draw inspiration from the cultivation paths of various races."

"The act of Great God establishing Immortal Domain to harvest Innate Energy was likely one of the references they used in forging their own path."

Hearing this, Eldrin Chen gained a clear understanding of the differences between ancient and modern cultivation methods.

By now, he had come to understand that whether it was the Earth Immortal Realm or the Celestial Immortal Realm, their original essence was fundamentally about acquiring World-Opening Energy and Innate Energy to aid oneself in shattering the shackles of one's cultivation.

However, as time passed, people gradually discovered that those who had opened up an Earth Immortal World or a Celestial Immortal Great Cosmos possessed a world as their foundation. Unconsciously, their combat prowess had surpassed that of the Divine Lord and Heavenly God of old.

The combat strength of the ancient Divine Lord and Heavenly God was often considerably lower than that of the Earth Immortal and Celestial Immortal who had opened their own heavens and earth.

Consequently, the Divine Lord and Heavenly God of the ancient Divine Clan, as well as the Demon King and Heavenly Demon of the Demon Race, had gradually become far less common.

They had either perished during the Great Tribulation or had entered Reincarnation to Reincarnation and cultivate anew. By this era, Heavenly God and Heavenly Demon who had not opened their own World-Opening realms had become increasingly rare sights.

Of course, once one cultivated to the Great Encompassing Realm, there was no need to Reincarnation and start over. One could directly switch to the current cultivation methods and, with boundless might, open an Immortal Domain within the Chaos.

Having grasped this point, Eldrin Chen could not help but ask with curiosity, "If that is the case, then what is the difference in the Demonic Path methods you mentioned?"

"They emphasize concentrating all power within oneself. Could it be they intend to abandon the Heaven and Earth Ascension method and directly follow the ancient path?"

Violet Mystery Path Master offered a faint smile before speaking. "All paths in this world, though different, ultimately converge at the same destination."

"You must understand, whether it is the ancient methods or the current ones, they are fundamentally three distinct roads."

"The Path of Fleshly Body Sanctification [a cultivation path focused on refining the physical body to its ultimate limits] is, in essence, about forging the World-Opening True Body [a legendary physique capable of splitting apart primordial chaos], the Primordial Unity Immortal Body [a perfect, unified immortal physique], the Great Encompassing Golden Body [a supreme golden body that encompasses all], and even the fabled Chaos Body [a physique born from and one with primordial chaos]."

"The Path of Path Principles [the path of comprehending and mastering the fundamental laws of existence] is merely about Path Principles Comprehension [grasping the underlying principles], understanding the rules, wielding Path Principle [divine abilities derived from these principles], touching the Great Path [the supreme, overarching Dao], and ultimately attaining complete mastery over the Great Path."

"The Path of Path Fruits [the path of condensing the fruits of one's cultivation, representing one's attained realm] also aims to coalesce the Ascendant Immortal [the fruit of an immortal who has ascended beyond the mortal coil], the World-Opening [the fruit of one who can cleave open a new world], the Primordial Unity [the fruit of perfect, undifferentiated unity], the Great Encompassing [the fruit that encompasses the vast cosmos], and even the Primordial One Path Fruit [the ultimate fruit, representing the singular origin of all things]."

"Each of these three paths, if pursued with sufficient power and dedication, can lead directly to the supreme Great Path. All other methods are merely means to accumulate one's foundation and depth."

"The modern method's World-Opening Path [a contemporary cultivation art focused on world-opening] and the ancient method of directly refining World-Opening Energy [a primordial energy used to initiate the creation of worlds] are, in essence, both for gathering World-Opening Energy. Their purpose is to shatter the shackles binding us Post-Heaven [born after the formation of Heaven and Earth, implying inherent limitations] beings and to increase our chances of advancing further."

"However, we Post-Heaven beings possess innate talent far inferior to the Innate Heavenly God Race [a race of divine beings born in the primordial era, possessing perfect constitutions]. We must simultaneously cultivate all three types of Primordial Unity Path Fruit [the cultivation fruits representing unity of spirit, body, and law] to even set foot into the Great Encompassing Realm [the realm of encompassing the vast cosmos]." Discover more cultivation stories at audio—novel.com.

Eldrin Chen nodded in agreement upon hearing this. The Divine Clan [a clan of divine beings] were born with exceptional gifts; their Primordial Spirit [the core spiritual essence of a cultivator], physical bodies, and Path Fruit [the condensed fruit representing one's cultivation achievement] were flawless and complete from birth.

If he were an Innate Heavenly God Being [a being born as a Heavenly God in the primordial era], the moment he took form, he could have become a Great Encompassing Golden Immortal [a Golden Immortal whose power encompasses the vast cosmos].

The Human Race, as Post-Heaven beings, possessed an innate potential that, at its very peak, could only reach the Primordial Unity Realm [the realm of perfect, undifferentiated unity].

These methods were painstakingly explored and developed by the Seventy-Two Human Race Sages precisely to allow cultivation up to the Great Encompassing Realm. The Innate Heavenly God Being were born into the Great Encompassing; why would they need such troublesome procedures?

Eldrin Chen's foundation was incomparably profound. He even had a sense that, even if he were to abandon the Primordial One Limitless Rule and the Indestructibility Primordial One Path Fruit to solely tread the path of the Primordial One Indestructibility Body, he would not be inferior to an ordinary Three Path Fruits Immortal [an Immortal who has attained three Path Fruits].

With such a foundation, if he continued steadfastly upon this path, it was entirely possible to reach directly for the Great Encompassing Realm [the Da Luo Realm, the pinnacle of cultivation].

From this perspective, whether it was World-Opening [the act of creating one's own world] or cultivating Three Path Fruits [attaining three Path Fruits], both were ultimately means to enhance one's own intrinsic potential and depth.

As long as one's own foundation was sufficiently powerful—powerful enough to suppress all opposition—then theoretically, even an Immortal with a single Path Fruit [the condensed essence of one's cultivated Path] could achieve sainthood.

Conversely, if the foundation was insufficient, cultivating Three Path Fruits did not guarantee one could necessarily step into the Great Encompassing Realm.

For example, the Innate Divine Spirit [beings born with divine nature] of the Divine Clan possessed foundations inferior to those of Innate Heavenly God Being [beings born as true Heavenly Gods].

Although at birth their Primordial Spirit [the spiritual core of a cultivator], physical body, and comprehension of Path Principles were all perfected, to break through to the Great Encompassing Realm, they still needed to undergo a transformation to become true Innate Heavenly God Being.

Of course, in the current Immortal Domain, Innate Divine Spirit naturally born from heaven and earth were becoming increasingly rare. More common were Heavenly God who had ascended from the Ascendant Immortal Realm and, through contemporary cultivation methods, reversed their essence to attain an Innate [primordial, heaven-born] form.

Having clarified this first point, the Violet Mystery Path Master continued, "The path of the Demonic Cultivator [cultivators who follow unorthodox, often ruthless methods] differs from contemporary orthodox methods."

"They believe all power must be concentrated within the self. Therefore, when breaking through to the Celestial Immortal realm, they sacrifice the Earth Immortal World [a personal micro-world] they themselves opened, fusing the entire world into their own being."

"By condensing the Karmic Fiend Crimson Light [a malevolent crimson radiance born from immense sin] using the Karmic Sin Power [the metaphysical power generated by committing acts of great evil and severing karmic ties] of a world undergoing Oblivion [the final, irreversible end of a cosmos or realm], and supplementing it with the sacrifice of that world's entire foundational essence, their innate talent and foundational potential can be explosively enhanced. They can even rival Divine Spirits [beings of immense power born from the coalescence of primordial energies] born from Innate Baleful Energy [a primordial, destructive energy that exists from the dawn of creation]." Dive deeper into the Dao at site: audio-novel.com.