Eternal Night

Chapter 758 In-depth discussion and suggestions to Daiyu

(PS: One chapter, but nearly 6000 words.)
"Sublimation has three processes, each of which is necessary and interdependent, and the steps cannot be skipped."

"The first process is the process of self-perfection, whether it is the relative perfection of your physical body and mental consciousness, or the relative perfection of the extraordinary paths and extraordinary energy you possess. The transformation and perfection of the self, and anchoring this perfection to yourself, is the most important thing in the first process. You are probably in this stage now, which is why you need to find your anchoring core, right?"

Wu Pifu remained noncommittal, simply continuing to listen to the media tycoon speak.

As if confirming something, the media tycoon shook his head with his three bird heads and said, "Don't think this is some big secret. Perhaps it is true for those outside the Great World, but the Great World has been passed down for countless eras. This information is not a big secret. Every one of us who has ascended has come this way."

The wind dragon nodded in agreement.

The media mogul continued, “Generally speaking, the anchor is based on one’s most prominent or strongest characteristic. Of course, some people with broad aspirations use their own civilization, the mortals within that civilization, or even all living beings in the world as their focus. However, the greater the ambition, the more difficult it is to anchor, and most of these end in failure. Aiming too high is not advisable. It is best to act according to one’s capabilities. For example, your anchor is probably humanity, pure-blooded humanity or something, right? This is a good anchor. It works on yourself, and as long as you don’t change, your anchor will remain as stable as ever. It’s truly ingenious.”

Wu Pifu completely ignored the flattery and asked, "From what you're saying, it seems that the difference in the anchoring object also leads to differences in the strength of the sublimated body?"

The media tycoon was somewhat embarrassed, and Fenglong answered for him: "Yes, the more magnificent, the higher, and the closer to some fundamental essence the anchor, the higher your potential after becoming an ascended being... How to put it, ascending from a mortal to an ascended being is a complete qualitative change... Let me describe this process to you."

With a wave of his hand, Fenglong summoned a stream of wind that condensed into tiny figures before him. These figures, all composed of wind, were remarkably lifelike, as if miniature real people, demonstrating an incredibly powerful control.

Fenglong said, "These are mortals, and these are extraordinary individuals who have obtained extraordinary abilities."

Among these tiny figures, some emerged shrouded in halos. As time passed, the light emanating from these extraordinary tiny figures grew stronger, and their halos expanded. Then, with a wave of his hand, the wind dragon caused the tiny figures to shrink rapidly, shrinking by at least a hundred times. The tiny figures that everyone saw became like dust, and ordinary mortals could no longer see them. Only the extraordinary tiny figures could still be barely seen as small dots.

"This is what a superhuman is like."

Fenglong pointed to the twenty dust particles representing extraordinary individuals and said, "Only a small fraction of them can reach the limit, and only by reaching the limit can they achieve self-perfection. Let's set this probability at one in ten."

Among these twenty dust particles representing extraordinary individuals, two dust particles continued to evolve, and the light clusters representing their extraordinary abilities continued to grow larger, eventually reaching a certain critical point. Their size then became the volume of a soybean, more than a hundred times larger than other extraordinary individuals, and more than ten thousand times larger than other ordinary people.

"But as you know, every extraordinary ability has its limits. Reaching those limits is already incredibly difficult, and breaking through them is almost impossible. That's why perfection is needed, and the meaning of perfection is actually..."

With a flick of the wind dragon, the two dust particles that had reached their limits suddenly expanded like balloons, one becoming the size of a watermelon and the other the size of a walnut. However, the expanded volume appeared illusory and unreal. Only the extraordinary spiritual light inside transformed into gas, slowly filling the entire illusory "balloon," and the essence as fine as dust seemed to be expanding at an extremely slow speed.

"This is the result after the three steps of sublimation are completed, causing a huge qualitative change in the essence of mortals, increasing their potential by tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even billions of times. The limits that originally restricted mortals are no longer limits for the sublimated body!"

Seeing this, Wu Pifu understood.

The significance of the sublimation body lies not only in the leap in strength, but also in the billions of times increase in the limit!
Take ordinary humans as an example. If an ordinary person can run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, they are already close to the limit of their physical ability. Improving by even 0.1 seconds requires an unknown amount of effort, and it may take ten, twenty, or even decades for anyone to break a world record.

The limits of the extraordinary are higher, but if one is not a seed of the ultimate path, the extraordinary paths one can withstand are limited. So as long as one is given enough time and resources, one will inevitably reach the limit that one can reach. At that time, one will be no different from an ordinary person and will not be able to make any further progress.

The media tycoon looked at the two inflating balloons and said, "The three steps of sublimation are: the first step is perfection and confirmation of self-anchoring; the second step is to expand the world, devour the world, and contain the world through self-perfection. In this process, self-anchoring is used to ensure the survival of 'me' and not be assimilated or corrupted by the world. The third step is to return to the source at the final stage of sublimation and condense your sublimated true body, essence. In some civilizations, this is also called condensing the true name. They have different names, but the meaning is the same. These are the three steps of sublimation, and none of them can be missing!"

Wu Pifu seemed to be deep in thought, and he remembered everything he heard.

After a few seconds, the media tycoon said to Wu Pifu, "You just asked me whether the difference in the anchoring object would lead to different strengths of the sublimated body, right? The answer is yes, but it brings different potential after sublimation. As the two simulated sublimated bodies described by Fenglong, one has a more stable, magnificent, and vast anchoring object. The world level assimilated during its sublimation is higher and more real, and its extraordinary nature is stronger... In short, all these factors combined determine the amount of potential after sublimation. Some sublimated bodies have cultivated for thousands of years and are still stuck in the first rank. Some sublimated bodies can continue to advance bravely and quickly reach the second rank. And some sublimated bodies have great opportunities, great perseverance, and great potential, and finally reach the ultimate third rank. All of their origins come from the moment of sublimation!"

"That's why we're asking you, is the Human-Human Fruit—the Devil Fruit that grants a pure-blooded human form—your anchor? Is your core self-anchoring to become a pure-blooded human?"

Wu Pifu immediately retorted indignantly, "What do you mean by becoming a pure-blooded human? I'm a pure-blooded human, you idiot!"

Alright, no need to ask anymore. Both Fenglong and the media tycoon have confirmed that this seemingly useless Devil Fruit is actually exactly what Wu Pifu has been dreaming of.

Fenglong said with difficulty, "If that's the case, then you really must obtain this Devil Fruit, otherwise it will leave a flaw in your soul and make you unstable. You're already in the first step of your sublimation process, and this is a huge hidden danger. We can't let you participate in the Marineford War with this hidden danger..."

The media mogul continued, “During the Marineford War, we will be fighting against almost all the surface-level ascendants of this world, except for the demon race. As a chosen one, you are the main force against them. That’s why I suggested that we must obtain this Devil Fruit first. In fact, I would prefer that you ascend first before participating in this battle.”

Wu Pifu remained silent. He had figured it out. The media tycoon and Fenglong seemed unaware that he was a seed of the ultimate path. It seemed that the other sublimated beings in this world thought so too. They didn't speculate about him being a seed of the ultimate path; they just thought he had reached the edge of sublimation. But in fact, he was still far from sublimation, and hadn't even begun self-perfection.

After a few seconds of silence, Wu Pifu said, "No matter what, I have to start the war at the summit. I have a feeling that my time is running out, and this world is undergoing some kind of transformation..."

Fenglong said approvingly, "That's right, your intuition is very sharp. In fact, there have been other people like you who have broken the rules of heaven in the past, but they were either too weak or they wanted to hide and accumulate strength. But when the world changed, they immediately became ants. Your intuition is right. We don't have much time left."

Wu Pifu asked curiously, "Then I'm very curious, what is the truth of this world? I don't know, don't you know either?"

Fenglong and the media tycoon exchanged a bitter smile. The media tycoon said, "We do know, but we can't tell you. Once we speak, divine punishment will arrive immediately. And it's not the kind of divine punishment for mortals, or for those who violate the rules and ascend to higher realms. It's a deadly divine punishment specifically targeting external sources. We will all die. So, if you want to know the truth about this world, you have to tear open the veil yourself... We can only tell you that the five transcendent worlds are all different, but they all possess terrifying essence and power. Tearing open the veil will cause the Mountain and Sea Realm to revert to its original state, transforming it back into that terrifying monster world..."

Wu Pifu remained silent for a few seconds before shaking his head slightly, but this did not change his intention to tear open the veil of this world.

Both Fenglong and the media tycoon showed their approval. Fenglong said, "In that case, the media tycoon and I will go and get that Devil Fruit for you first. You can continue to move forward according to the plan, but you can go a little slower. Continue to capture these Celestial Dragons along the way. At this critical moment when foreign enemies are attacking, they dare not make any rash moves... Are there any other questions about sublimation? As long as you can answer them, we will tell you."

Wu Pifu thought for a moment and said, "There are indeed some questions. The first question is, what is the relationship between the ultimate realm of the third stage of the Ascension Body and the Extreme Path Seed?"

Fenglong and the media tycoon exchanged glances. The media tycoon said, "You actually know about the Extreme Path Seed? But you should say less about this term from now on, even if it tears open the veil of this world. For the Mountain and Sea Realm, this is a taboo, though it's fine for other transcendent worlds..."

Fenglong said from the side, "Extreme Dao Seeds are extremely rare, but one or two will appear every few epochs. What is truly deadly is the Extreme Dao Sublimation Body. At least as far as we know, since information has been preserved, there have only been two or three. The reason why this world has this taboo is because there was once an Extreme Dao Sublimation Body that almost wiped out this world."

"Oh?"

Wu Pifu's eyes gleamed: "Tell me, is this against any taboo?"

Fenglong and the media tycoon looked up at the sky at the same time. The media tycoon chuckled and said, "The veil has this advantage: the new doesn't care about the past... That Supreme Ascension Body was born during the year the Heavenly Court fell. According to records, the Heavenly Court at that time fell from the Absolute Truth Layer, but it showed overwhelming strength. Before it even landed in the Deep Dream World, it had already defeated several ancient civilizations that coveted the Heavenly Court. This Supreme Ascension Body was a member of the Heavenly Court civilization and had made great contributions."

Fenglong said, "This one is extraordinary. When He ascended and completely broke with the Heavenly Court and the Buddhist Realm, His self-anchoring was, 'I want this sky to no longer obscure my vision, this earth to no longer bury my heart, all living beings to understand my will, and all Buddhas to vanish into thin air!' It was terrifying, but He actually ascended into the ultimate path. The seed of ultimate path is completely different from ordinary ascended bodies. The more perfect and extraordinary paths He has, the easier it is to achieve self-anchoring. So this magnificent and terrifying self-anchoring actually succeeded..."

The ultimate sublimation of the Heavenly Court… Wu Pifu thought of the scenes from the time reversal, and then of the conversation between the Absolute Truth Layer and the Origin Nuwa. Could it be…

"A monkey?" Wu Pifu asked tentatively.

The wind dragon and the media tycoon flashed simultaneously, and bird claws and human hands covered Wu Pifu's mouth at the same time.

"Grandpa, please stop!"

"Dude, you're amazing!"

Still shaken, the two looked around carefully for a long time before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Fenglong said, "Now to answer your question, the Extreme Realm is the third level of the Ascension Body, which is already an extraordinary power, much stronger than the Root that has just entered the deep level, but it is still not as good as the Extreme Dao Ascension Body. The Extreme Dao Ascension Body is both the ultimate strength of the Extreme Dao Seed and the fourth level of the Ascension Body. Its name is the Transcendence Realm. That's right, just like the Transcendence-level Great World, it is also named after transcendence!"

The media tycoon, trembling with fear, said, "Sir, you're too bold to say such a thing... There have only been a handful of beings who have reached the fourth realm throughout history. If we consider them as origin beings, they are at least at the level of the Eternal Mother, a terrifying being. Perhaps, because of their sublimated form possessing a complete self, they might even be stronger than that level of being. Even though millions of years have passed and it is clear that they have long since perished, their immense power still exists in the universe, transcending infinite time and space. If you disrespect them, be careful of the backlash from fate and karma. You might just perish at some inexplicable moment!"

Fenglong was also filled with trepidation: "Moreover, this one is even more extraordinary. It is said that he has cultivated the essence of indestructibility and is only one step away from the fifth realm. Even though he was killed by the Heavenly Court, he still had a backup plan, which is said to be called the Six Roots Weapon. Who knows when he might return? The sublimated body is different from the root. As long as you pay the price, he can really follow the information to the higher levels of the dream world and kill you. Do you understand?"

Wu Pifu was somewhat dismissive, but didn't continue speaking.

It really is this monkey... I never expected him to be such an amazing person.

Wu Pifu then asked, "What about the fifth realm of the Ascension Body? Even such an extraordinary person is only at the fourth realm, so what is the fifth realm?"

Fenglong and the media tycoon looked at each other again, both of them showing wry smiles. The media tycoon said, "Why don't you come work for my media group? You're so persistent in asking questions, you'd definitely be a good reporter... Uh, never mind, you'd kill the interviewee, that won't do."

Fenglong also said, "The Fifth Realm is just a rumor. What do you think we two mere ascended beings of the first rank are? Know-it-alls? Enough already, we really don't know anything about this."

The media mogul chuckled and said, "However, if you're talking about rumors, there are some... legends, well, just legends, don't take them seriously. It's said that the source that becomes the fifth realm of the Ascended Body is fundamentally different from other sources. It seems to be able to reverse the source of pollution and possess incredible power... To put it simply, it's said that the source that becomes the fifth realm can create real, intelligent mortal life in the depths of the dream world, in the root layer and the deepest part. Do you know what that means?"

Wu Pifu's eyes were deep as he compared this information with the information he had obtained from the Lost Lands before asking, "Early Immortal and Early Buddha?"

Fenglong and the media tycoon's expressions turned serious. They both nodded in unison and said, "Yes, according to rumors, these two are the very origins of the Fifth Realm Ascension Body!"

Having said that, the two refused to say anything more, fearing that Wu Pifu might ask or say something taboo. They nodded to each other and hurriedly flew into the sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Wu Pifu smacked his lips, watching the two information sources disappear with considerable regret.

He still had many questions to ask, such as what he had occasionally obtained before: the First Immortal and the First Buddha seemed to represent all spirits and all phenomena respectively. What did that mean?

Suddenly, a clear female voice rang in Wu Pifu's ear: "It really is my brother, but it's such a pity, I can't meet with him for a proper talk right now..."

Wu Pifu was immediately terrified. He had absolutely no premonition when this voice appeared. Not only did he not sense it, but his intuition also failed to react at all. He just heard the voice so abruptly.

Even more terrifying was that along with this sound, all sorts of noises, groans, and indescribable sensations also surged in, but for some inexplicable reason, he was not affected by these things.

"It's fortunate that we're in this transcendent world, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to communicate with my brother telepathically..."

Wu Pifu remained silent, simply standing there.

"Brother, don't be afraid. I'm still human. I've just encountered some problems and can't see you for the time being, nor can I control myself..."

Wu Pifu remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "If you really are Daiyu, tell me, what can I do to help you?"

"No, brother is still too weak, not even a sublimated body yet, so he can't help me... But brother is a seed of the ultimate path. Once you sublimate, you will definitely undergo a qualitative change, and catching up with me won't be that difficult... This needs to be planned carefully. However, brother does indeed have this great opportunity, so how about I help brother with some consideration?"

Wu Pifu did not hesitate and said frankly, "Just tell me, and I will judge whether you are Daiyu or not."

"Alright, brother, please sense it carefully."

As they were talking, some information was transmitted to Wu Pifu out of thin air.

First, his core self-anchoring principle, in addition to being a human being and a good person, includes killing all non-human beings in the world.

With this change, the core message of self-anchoring immediately surged. Even if it doesn't quite reach the level of the monkey's "I want this sky to no longer obscure my vision, this earth to no longer bury my heart, all living beings to understand my will, and all Buddhas to vanish into thin air!", it's not far off.

The key is not this self-anchoring core, but the place where Wu Pifu sublimates, the world that is permeated when the Dao permeates heaven and earth...

The Absolute Reality Layer, within the true universe!
Kepler 186f!
Before the arrival of the Dream World, humanity, in the shattered solar system, did its best to build the cosmic mothership Gaia, and then planned to use Gaia to reach the Kepler 186 star system, which is also the most Earth-like planet discovered by humanity through the most powerful telescopes.

Humanity originally planned to spend eight thousand years traversing the Milky Way via Gaia to reach Kepler 186f, and then restart the propagation and development of human civilization there.

Gaia is still traveling through the universe, but it is still at least 5,000 years away from Kepler-186f!

This is the world that Daiyu suggested to Wu Pifu when the Dao permeates heaven and earth, which is the world during the second step of sublimation. On a planet in the Absolute Truth layer, the Dao permeates heaven and earth, devouring the matter of the Absolute Truth layer. In this way, the limit he can expand will be...

Almost infinite!!
Daiyu's voice gradually faded away, along with the terrifying source of pollution. Only these details remained etched in Wu Pifu's mind.

After a few dozen seconds, Wu Pifu suddenly spoke up: "So, here's the question..."

"How can I get Gaia to travel at least five thousand years to Kepler 186f?"

(End of this chapter)