High Martial Arts Era

Chapter 748 The Fourth Eternal Path
“I almost lost myself.” Li Yuan sighed inwardly. “Is the first pillar of my soul so difficult? Sixty million years have actually subtly affected my self-awareness.”

"This is the weakest of the 136 Emperor Realm experts, formed from the essence of his soul."

"What about the other, even more powerful Emperor-level soul pillars?"

"My will is indeed weaker compared to those ancient emperors," Li Yuan pondered to himself.

The soul and the will are different.

The strength of the soul is mainly nurtured by the Dao and the divine power of the physical body. The stronger the eternal Dao opened up by the strong, the stronger the divine body, and the stronger the soul will become in the process of natural nurturing.

Just like ordinary people, a strong body naturally leads to a radiant spirit.

Li Yuan, for example, is no less than an ordinary Emperor Realm cultivator in terms of his Dao realm, physical body, and divine power, which makes his soul strength comparable to that of an ordinary Emperor Realm cultivator.

Willpower, on the other hand, is even more ethereal and intangible... Generally speaking, the stronger the soul and the longer one cultivates, the stronger one's willpower will become.

But some of the weakest can also have extremely strong wills.

Just like a very small number of ordinary people who can endure endless torture, they are people with extremely strong wills.

Li Yuan, on the other hand, is actually extremely skilled in the power of the soul, and his will grows very quickly.

His ability to ascend Purple Mountain and obtain the Ancient Universe Realm back then was due to his strong will, and gaining the Little Tomb's approval was also largely due to his will.

Although he has only cultivated for a few thousand years, in terms of willpower, even powerful quasi-saints such as Longya Quasi-Saint and Zihuo God King would find it difficult to surpass him.

Compared to those ancient emperors who have lived for hundreds of millions or even billions of years... Li Yuan's will is not superior, and is even at a disadvantage.

no way!
Many ancient emperors, though perhaps not as strong as Li Yuan and far less talented, had cultivated for far too long. They had their true bodies residing in the Eternal Ruins for extended periods. Although their progress in the Eternal Path was slow, their will was constantly improving under the tempering of time.

"Moreover, sixty million years of endless torment."

"It is indeed somewhat different from the 60 million years of normal life," Li Yuan pondered.

If it were a normal life, simply the passage of time, let alone 60 million years, even 600 million years wouldn't cause Li Yuan's consciousness to collapse.

But endless loneliness and endless torment... are worlds apart.

An ordinary person would probably go crazy in two or three days under such circumstances.

"Although it was painful and torturous, I was unable to break the shackles of this pillar of the soul. However, the two journeys of consciousness possession and the experience of more than 60 million years have brought me considerable gains." Li Yuan smiled again.

A nearly real and endless tormenting experience spanning 60 million years.

After this consciousness returned, the nine true bodies' consciousnesses converged, which also brought Li Yuan many benefits.

Putting everything else aside, Li Yuan's will has been constantly strengthened under the torment of endless flames, and it is now much stronger than it was a hundred years ago.

"Compared to a true Emperor Realm expert, in terms of willpower alone, I reckon I'm now on par with them." Li Yuan was extremely satisfied.

"But similarly, this experience is also subtly influencing me." Li Yuan nodded slightly.

How long have I truly been practicing spiritual cultivation?
So-called soul consciousness is fundamentally composed of countless memories of oneself... It would be strange if it didn't affect self-awareness after such a long period of time.

"Experiencing the Pillar of Souls can quickly temper and strengthen one's will, but if one is not strong enough, one should not attempt it lightly." Li Yuan realized the advantages and disadvantages of the Pillar of Souls: "If one cannot withstand it, there is a risk of getting lost."

He also understood the root of Jin Yuan's words: only by growing fast enough can one quickly pass the test.

"At least."

"I cannot undergo the Pillar of the Soul again until I have cleared away all distracting thoughts and consciousness." Li Yuan gently closed his eyes.

call!
His true form remained seated cross-legged, closed his eyes again, and began to meditate.

not far away.

"Just as I expected." The imposing Jin Yuan shook his head slightly.

"How is it?" Xiao Mu asked hurriedly. For the past hundred years, his body, the Holy Spirit of the Universe, had been waiting by his side.

“He failed.” Jin Yuan sighed, “To be able to persist for a full hundred years with the body of a God-King before failing is terrifying enough. Moreover, according to what you said, Vice Alliance Leader, his cultivation time is less than ten thousand years, which is even more amazing… But he is still far from passing the test of the 136 Soul Pillars left by the Master.”

"That difficult?" Xiao Mu frowned.

He knew the power of Li Yuan's will.

“Of course it’s difficult. According to Master’s plan, he was supposed to come only after reaching the Emperor Realm.” Jin Yuan said matter-of-factly, “This is a test specifically for those at the Emperor Realm.”

“However, since he was able to regain consciousness under the first pillar of the soul, he should not be in any danger to his life. It will just take a very long time for him to fully recover each time, and gradually improve his will through tempering,” Jin Yuan said.

"So, his true form will be trapped here forever?" Xiao Mu frowned.

Although Li Yuan has nine true forms, each one is very important.

For contemporary powerhouses, cultivating in the universe and spacetime is far more efficient than cultivating within eternal ruins.

In Li Yuan and Xiao Mu's original plan, after obtaining the treasures of the Supreme Hall, all their true forms would return to the Heart Dream Universe to cultivate.

I never expected such a turn of events.

“It all depends on the speed at which his true form outside can deduce the Eternal Dao,” Jin Yuan said. “I reckon he’ll probably need to reach the Emperor Realm before he has any hope of escaping.”

Xiao Mu's brows furrowed even deeper.

Jin Yuan, as an Emperor-level puppet under the command of Supreme Hongying, has extremely high standards. If he said that, he must have his reasons.

suddenly.

"Buzz~" A vast and ethereal aura emanated from Li Yuan, making him appear ethereal and unpredictable, and giving his figure a slightly unreal feel.

Furthermore, a brand new aura of eternity descends.

"What's this?" Upon seeing this, Xiao Mu, who had been frowning, suddenly brightened up: "You broke through? Good!"

"The Eternal Path? Another Eternal Path has been opened?" Jin Yuan was even more astonished: "Didn't he already open three Eternal Paths?"

The previous century.

He had many conversations with Xiao Mu and had a basic understanding of Li Yuan's situation. He found it somewhat unbelievable that Li Yuan had opened up three top-tier eternal paths in the God King Realm.

Never imagined.

Before him, he could actually watch Li Yuan open up a completely new path to eternity.

now.

Not only Li Yuan's true form, but also the aura of his other true form hidden in his storage magic treasure, as well as the other seven true forms in the Heart Dream Universe, are all changing.

……

"He has been a god-king for so long."

"Having comprehended the evolution of the soul for so long," countless flashes of inspiration surged and constantly evolved within the minds of Li Yuan's nine true bodies.

Back then, after Xiao Mu became familiar with his situation, he set a goal for him to open up four top-level eternal paths: the World Path, the Path of All Spirits, the Path of Heart and Artifacts, and the Path of Great Destruction.

At that time, Xiao Mu believed that Li Yuan had the highest talent in the Dao of the World, followed by the Dao of Heart and Weapon... But thousands of years have passed, and even the Dao of Myriad Spirits and the Dao of Great Destruction have been opened up one after another.

Even the world has taken its second step.

Only in the Dao of Mind and Artifacts has Li Yuan been stuck at a bottleneck, especially in the last hundred years. After obtaining a large amount of cultivation resources, he has devoted a lot of energy to deducing the Dao of Mind and Artifacts and has been making slow progress.

However, it has never undergone a qualitative transformation.

until today.

The return of that consciousness from the Pillar of Souls, the convergence of the two consciousnesses... the rapid transformation of will, the long years that have passed, and the frantic deductions of the Eight True Bodies about the Dao of Heart and Weapon a hundred years ago, all intersected... making him finally realize the flaws in his past deductions.

"What I lack is setbacks."

“I opened up three Eternal Paths in one go. Since the North Star, I have never really encountered any setbacks. I have made great strides all the way and achieved the title of the number one genius in the universe in just a few thousand years.” Countless insights kept coming together in Li Yuan’s mind.

"But the soul is the source of life."

"If it is life, how can it be eternal and unchanging? Where there is yang, there is yin; where there is light, there is darkness; where there is fierceness, there is gentleness... The operation of my illusory origin should also have cycles of flourishing and decay." Li Yuan's soul aura was rapidly declining, and a large amount of soul power was being collected.

It's like giving birth to a brand new life.

"Failed in the Pillar of Souls, I was almost in despair in endless loneliness... It was in this way that a completely new self was born." At this moment, the soul energy of Li Yuan's nine true bodies had all weakened to the extreme.

In that seemingly illusory realm of the mind, the once vast 'true realm of the mind' was also rapidly collapsing, until it shrank into a tiny point.

next moment.

"Boom!" As if the universe had exploded, the extreme point of the mind suddenly erupted, and a brand new spiritual world emerged.

"Boom!" The power of this spiritual realm was so great that it even completely affected the real world.

The illusory and the real are subtly intersecting.

"The Way of the Heart and the Weapon." Li Yuan slowly opened his eyes. At this moment, his understanding of the whole was changing rapidly.

Besides the material world, there is also the virtual world.

In the common understanding, people may think that the material world is the only real thing, but Li Yuan now understands that both are real and objective.

Two sides in one body.

Together they constituted the entire spacetime.

“The vast majority of powerful beings, even many Emperor Realm experts, remain at the level of the material world, at the so-called spacetime.” Li Yuan murmured to himself, “The Void Realm is extremely difficult to reach. When the God King Realm begins to open up the True Realm of the Mind, there is a possibility of stepping into the Void Realm, but it is only a possibility.”

“Only by truly opening up the corresponding ‘eternal path’ and even deducing it to an extremely high level can one be called a cultivator of the Void Realm.”

To open up the path to eternity is to control a power that belongs only to oneself, a power that transcends the eight laws of heaven and earth.

"Illusion and reality complement each other." This thought crossed Li Yuan's mind.

With a whoosh, the divine power of Li Yuan's nine true bodies was being rapidly depleted, but this divine power was being frantically transformed into 'void power' through this spiritual realm.

The power of the void realm is the power of the soul, which caused Li Yuan's soul aura to surge wildly, quickly surpassing his previous peak.

This is the interplay of the real and the unreal.

That is, the mutual transformation of divine power and the power of the void... Only by mastering this method can one be qualified to be called a 'void cultivator' and can one be said to be proficient in soul techniques.

Cultivators in the Void Realm are extremely rare, but all of them are incredibly powerful.

Like the God-King of the Mind Realm, when she opened the Path of the Mind Realm, the first and second steps were still just ordinary soul attack methods. It wasn't until she took the third step that she finally understood the 'mutual generation of illusion and reality', which caused her strength to skyrocket and made her status special among the God-Kings of the Chaos God Court.

And Li Yuan.

What he pioneered was the supreme eternal path, the 'Heart-Weapon Path'. Once pioneered, his realm would be comparable to that of a God-King of the Heart Realm.

"From now on, I am also a cultivator in the Void Realm."

"Moreover, I am far stronger than most cultivators in the Void Realm." Li Yuan's eyes shone brightly: "Most cultivators in the Void Realm, even if they combine the real and the virtual, mainly rely on soul attacks. Once their soul attacks fail, they become troublesome."

For example, the God-King of the Mind Realm, although she has the material attack method of 'Undying Light', mainly assists other God-Kings and is more adept at group battles.

But what about Li Yuan?

In terms of material attacks, he possesses the Great Destruction Dao.

There is a way of the world when it comes to the limitations of a particular domain.

Regarding the preservation of life, there is the Way of All Spirits.

Now, with the addition of the Heart Artifact Dao, his soul attack power has increased dramatically, as has his soul defense, thus making up for his last weakness. It will be much more difficult for enemies to suppress him through soul attacks.

"Having four top-tier eternal paths in one body is far stronger than four powerful individuals joining forces." Li Yuan closed his eyes again.

because!

The moment the Heart-Weapon Dao was fully opened, this eternal Dao intent condensed in the origin of the Inner Universe, causing the origin of the Inner Universe to begin evolving once again.

The Inner Universe is formed from the Eternal Dao.

The stronger the eternal path opened up by the strong, the stronger the inner universe will naturally evolve... Moreover, Li Yuan's inner universe originated from the perfect ten-star pulse divine body, which is already close to perfect.

The foundation is perfect.

Now that the four top eternal paths have combined, the Inner Universe has undergone another transformation. Many star regions in the Inner Universe have gradually been influenced by the Heart-Weapon Path and are leaning towards it.

"evolution."

“Reconstruction.” Based on his own understanding, Li Yuan used the four eternal paths as a foundation, causing the entire inner universe to begin a new round of evolution and expansion, becoming increasingly perfect and stable.

time flies.

The Inner Universe became more vast, boundless, and real... even the countless lives born within it were subtly affected.

“Next, as the realm of each Eternal Path rises, the Inner Universe will become stronger.” Li Yuan realized this: “Even new life born in the Inner Universe will have higher potential and smoother cultivation.”

His inner universe is increasingly evolving into a real universe.

"Most important."

"The four supreme eternal paths, even the origin of the inner universe, are still... handled with ease." Li Yuan was secretly shocked: "It seems that it is still far from reaching its limit."

At this moment, Li Yuan finally understood what it truly meant to have ascended Purple Mountain and created a perfect universe with 12960 square kilometers of starry sky.

Most God-Kings, whose inner world origins are not strong enough, must find a way to bear two top-tier eternal paths when they are still in the Heavenly God Realm.

But what about yourself?

Even with the four supreme eternal paths combined into one, none of them reached their limit.

"The four supreme eternal Dao intents converge, and the primordial intent has become even more powerful, far more powerful than before." With this thought, a vast and powerful special intent erupted from Li Yuan's mind.

This magnificent artistic conception has endless variations.

It is formed by the convergence of four supreme eternal paths. It is a combination of these supreme eternal paths, yet it completely surpasses them and contains unique power.

In terms of sheer power, it far surpasses the combined power of the three top-tier eternal paths.

"I was a little worried before, but I didn't expect that we could get together so easily." Li Yuan was still a little surprised, but he already had a guess.

For numerous Emperor Realm experts, how difficult is it to combine two Eternal Daos? Let alone truly achieve Dao Integration.

But I seem to be able to do it easily.

Everything originates from the innately perfect inner universe.

“Now, by using the origin of the Inner Universe to govern any Eternal Path, I can unleash incomparably terrifying power, far surpassing anything I’ve seen before,” Li Yuan said thoughtfully.

“Especially the Dao of the World, which is already the second step of mystery, is now governed by an even stronger primordial intent... I’m afraid its power has far surpassed the third step level.” Li Yuan made a vague judgment: “Although it is not yet at the fourth step level, it is not far off.”

Li Yuan's strength has quietly increased dramatically.

This is just the Dao of the World. The power of the corresponding ultimate moves will also increase dramatically, such as the Dao of Great Destruction, the Dao of Mind and Weapon, and the Dao of Myriad Spirits.

“Compared to the peak of the Emperor Realm in the past, my main weakness was in my Dao realm. But now? In terms of overall Dao realm, I’m probably not much weaker.” Li Yuan understood this: “As long as I spend some more time cultivating some corresponding soul techniques, such as the Eternal Heart Cone, for a period of time, I will be able to truly fight against the peak of the Emperor Realm.”

Combining multiple methods can be quite terrifying.

Some peak Emperor Realm experts could be completely countered... For example, some who are good at close combat might be countered by their own domain.

Some who are skilled in soul attacks can also be blocked by their own mental weapon techniques, and then launch a strong attack on the opponent with the Great Destruction Technique.

In short.

Li Yuan, who has no weaknesses and is capable of using all his skills, has unknowingly become extremely terrifying, capable of contending with the peak of the Emperor Realm.

"Compared to the most monstrous group of low-level quasi-saints in the history of the universe, I am in no way inferior." Li Yuan was very satisfied.

But on the other hand, Li Yuan was also thinking about another problem.

“My ambition is to reach the limit of the Inner Universe’s original capacity, and then, like the Hundred Paths Emperor, completely open up a path that is uniquely my own.” Li Yuan thought to himself, “But now it seems that the four top-tier eternal paths are not the limit of my Inner Universe’s capacity.”

"Where exactly are the limits of my inner universe?"

"Could it be that we really need to open up another eternal path?" Li Yuan wondered to himself.

The first four eternal paths were opened smoothly, each with its own reasons, at least in areas where they were all areas of expertise. But what about the rest?
That would be difficult!
Li Yuan had some understanding of the Dao of all things, the Dao of time and space, and the Dao of destiny, but he was still far from opening up a path for them.

Like some supreme beings in the history of the universe, they were able to open up three eternal paths and advance to the fourth step in just a few million years.

Even if one cultivates for billions more years, it is still not certain that one can open up a new top-tier eternal path.

This is due to one's true nature, a deduction of the Tao. What one likes in one's heart, one is naturally good at; what one doesn't like, it's hard to force.

"Let's take it one step at a time."

"I'll make a judgment after questioning Xiao Mu," Li Yuan thought to himself.

……

call!
Inside the Supreme Hall of the Primordial Shadows, Li Yuan's true form returned to normal and he opened his eyes, but his aura became increasingly ethereal.

Although it lacked imperial power.

But the invisible aura emanating from him was more sacred than that of many Emperor Realm experts.

"Li Yuan? He's completed his breakthrough." Xiao Mu was quite excited. "How does it feel?"

"Not bad," Li Yuan said with a smile.

"What a monster!" Jin Yuan couldn't help but say. "Four top-tier eternal paths, opened up by a God-King? I've never heard of such a thing."

"Judging from the strength of your will now, you should have reached the limit of the first stage of the Eternal Heart," Jin Yuan said with great emotion.

(End of this chapter)