The moment Jing Qian stepped into the Dao Stele Space, he was once again struck hard by the sight before him.
Standing at the left side of the stele, he raised his eyes beyond the safe zone.
There, three vast Illusions of the Great Dao were neatly arranged one above another:
The Sea of Living-Spirit Fate
The Sea of Primordial Qi
The Mountain of Immortal Qi
All were grand scenes he had witnessed before.
Now, however, they were faithfully recreated inside the Dao Stele Space, vivid and real.
Having absorbed enough knowledge, the Sumeru Dao Stele had nearly reconstructed the core supernatural structure of this world.
And this reconstruction granted a truly mystical new ability, the first divine power obtained through the stele's evolution.
Although Jing Qian had only just gained this ability, he had already figured out a preliminary use.
He let his cultivation reflect upon the three Dao illusions.
Immediately, his Saintly Manifestation collapsed, breaking apart into countless Life Patterns, which rained back into the Sea of Living-Spirit Fate.
The vast ocean of Life Patterns stretched endlessly.
Among them, Jing Qian's own Life Patterns shone like constellations, illuminating the River of Karmic Fire.
Above the karmic river, his many Spiritual Constructs manifested like ten ethereal palaces suspended in the sky.
Below, each Life Pattern drew a line upward according to its share of destiny, connecting precisely with each Spiritual Construct.
From the pull between Life Patterns and Spiritual Construct, the shattered Sumeru Saint Bearing Sword and Opening Six-Reincarnations Manifestation reconstructed itself before his eyes.
And in that moment, after breaking down and reconstructing every flaw in what Jing Qian once believed a "perfect" Saintly Manifestation, it became glaringly obvious.
He saw:
The Dao resonance between certain Life Patterns and Spiritual Construct was tangled, uneven, or not smooth.
The integration between the Spiritual Construct and the Saintly Manifestation still had contradictions and incompatibilities.
These hidden defects had existed all along, but before the Dao Stele's evolution, they were beyond his ability to perceive.
Ordinarily, he would have needed years or decades to slowly discover and refine these flaws through painstaking cultivation.
But now everything lay exposed before him, allowing him to fix each issue with surgical precision.
Then he looked upward beyond the Saintly Manifestation toward the Sea of Primordial Qi.
It appeared as a boundless, hazy expanse.
Yet within it, he could clearly see ninety-nine layers of Primordial Qi, the levels he had already fully comprehended during his mid–Third Rank practice.
He flickered forward his soul avatar, instantly appearing within the Primordial Sea.
Standing at the boundary of the ninety-ninth layer, he took one step forward.
And entered the one hundredth layer.
Immediately, insights into Primordial Qi surged into his mind.
The Dao Stele's Sea of Primordial Qi actually allowed him to simulate and rehearse Primordial Qi comprehension in advance!
In the real world, Jing Qian could borrow his six Primordial Qi Heavenly Fates, enter the Primordial Sea, and use the Reincarnation Boat to attempt foresight.
But that process consumed absurd amounts of spiritual power and divine sense.
Each simulation required long periods of recovery before the next attempt.
Now, inside the Dao Stele Space, he could attempt Primordial Qi comprehension as often as he pleased.
A colossal boost to his cultivation efficiency.
He withdrew temporarily from the Primordial Sea, continuing to explore the new divine abilities of the Dao Stele.
He lifted his head toward the Mountain of Immortal Qi, silently preparing.
Then his soul avatar plunged into the Sea of Living-Spirit Fate, merged again with the Saintly Manifestation, and, carrying the power of all his Spiritual Construct, leaped upward.
Jing Qian was now mobilizing the full essence of his cultivation.
He dove headlong into the Sea of Primordial Qi, soaring upward layer by layer.
Each of the three thousand layers of Primordial Qi served as both barrier and tempering force.
Even with the power of the Saintly Manifestation, he could not withstand the erosion of the Primordial Sea forever.
By the time he reached the 2,901st layer, his Manifestation was decaying and his Spiritual Construct shattering.
Carrying the last remnants of his cultivation essence, he hurled himself back into the ninety-nine layers he had already mastered.
And there, the Primordial Sea became nourishment once more.
His cultivation essence, nourished by this restorative force, mended some of the internal damage he had suffered and restored just enough momentum for him to continue moving upward.
Then, without hesitation, he pierced through the Sea of Primordial Qi, ascending toward the Mountain of Immortal Qi high above.
With the very last remnants of his foundation, he hurled himself toward the celestial peak.
Between the Mountain of Immortal Qi and the Sea of Primordial Qi lay only a single layer of the Dao's true intent, and yet it was like a chasm impossible to cross.
Every step forward drained Jing Qian's essence further.
By the time he reached this point, almost all of his accumulated cultivation essence had been spent.
His Saintly Manifestation and nearly all of his Spiritual Construct had been completely shattered.
Under normal circumstances, before the Mountain of Immortal Qi, a cultivator's Life Star would shine and grant support.
But Jing Qian was only at the Spirit-Suppressing Realm, not yet connected to any Life Star.
Thus, his ascent was already on the verge of failure.
And at that critical moment
The powers of his three heavenly titles flared:
Lord of Ten Thousand Sumeru Realms
Master of Pure Yang Calamity
Child of Yanfu
Each title granted strength equal to one Scattered Star.
With the combined might of three stars, Jing Qian managed to break through the blockade of Dao intent and drive the last thread of his cultivation essence all the way to the Mountain of Immortal Qi.
Only a single wisp of soul remained, wrapped around the Yin-Extreme Immortal Sword Embryo.
It stabbed into the mountain's surface and stopped.
In the next moment, endless Dao patterns bloomed across the Mountain of Immortal Qi, rotating around the Yin-Extreme Sword Embryo as their core.
Not long after, a half-foot-tall Fate Stele appeared upon the mountain.
Upon this Fate Stele was carved a single stroke straight as a sword edge, sharp beyond compare.
There was nothing else.
Then the stele dissolved.
All changes within the three realms vanished.
The shattered Saintly Manifestation and Spiritual Construct reformed and fell back into the Sea of Living-Spirit Fate.
As if the entire ascent from the lowest sea to the highest mountain had never happened.
Thus, Jing Qian completed a full, thorough exploration of the Sumeru Dao Stele's new divine abilities.
His climb toward the Mountain of Immortal Qi, if done in the real world, would have been nothing less than the true, formal process of ascending from Spirit-Suppressing, crossing four whole realms, and advancing directly to Second Rank.
And in this simulated environment, he actually succeeded.
An unthinkable miracle.
A Sixth-Rank cultivator leaping directly to Second Rank was unheard of in the entire history of cultivation.
It demonstrated clearly that Jing Qian's foundation was unimaginably deep, far beyond his nominal realm.
This was the reason his combat strength consistently matched the level of a Second-Rank Blank Stele.
Of course, recklessly over-drafting all his foundation just to carve a wordless Fate Stele would, though technically a successful promotion, completely cripple his future potential.
In the real world, he would never attempt such madness.
No cultivator with aspirations would.
For now, he must focus on refining Spiritual Construct, comprehending more layers of the Primordial Sea, and securing a powerful Life Star.
Every inch of progress would help him reach farther when the real breakthrough to Second Rank eventually came.
And so, using the Dao Stele's divine ability to simulate this advancement in advance was unquestionably beneficial.
The third metamorphosis of the Sumeru Dao Stele was overwhelmingly powerful.
It would change Jing Qian's future cultivation in world-shaking ways.
But this was not all.
He sensed that the stele's original divine abilities
Life-Casting Opportunity and Heaven-Fate Insight had disappeared, fully absorbed and replaced by a new divine power:
[Shaping of Wisdom-Origin]
Through daily cultivation and study, Jing Qian could accumulate wisdom, eventually condensing it into Wisdom-Origin.
By burning lifespan, he could activate the power of Wisdom-Origin to adjust and enhance his cultivation.
The deeper his accumulated wisdom, the stronger the effect and the more efficiently lifespan could be used.
At this moment, after reading nearly a hundred levels of Book Mountain, his accumulated wisdom was immense;
His Wisdom-Origin was already fully condensed.
With this divine power, he could:
Spend 100 years of lifespan to comprehend one layer of the Primordial Sea.
Spend more lifespan to perfectly refine a Spiritual Construct.
Or, more terrifyingly,
burn lifespan to reshape a Spiritual Construct's essence, raising its upper limit of potential.
And his Wisdom-Origin had only just formed; it would continue growing.
In time, he could reshape even greater things.
Jing Qian's heart burned with excitement.
After killing the Red Zhaogu Mushroom, his lifespan had surpassed one thousand years.
This enormous reserve of lifespan, when converted through Wisdom-Origin, could massively boost his power.
Without hesitation
He triggered Wisdom-Origin for the very first time.
All one thousand years of lifespan burned in a single instant.
An unprecedented, all-in gamble, the results had to be dramatic.
Within the Dao Stele Space, deep Dao resonance surged from the three realms and poured directly into the Six-Reincarnation Three-Life Eye.
Jing Qian's powerful Spiritual Construct was instantly shattered and ground into dust.
Then, within the divine radiance, this shattered heavenly eye quietly reassembled, transforming into a far more extraordinary form.
Originally, the Three-Life Eye had two pupils, each suppressing one Life Pattern:
Worldly Insight and Entwining Karma.
Now, after reconstruction, it became a three-pupiled divine eye, capable of suppressing three Life Patterns.
The Life Pattern Sword of Three Thousand Tribulations was drawn into the newly formed divine eye, settling into the third pupil.
Thus, the three pupils stabilized, each holding a different power:
Worldly Insight → Eye of Wisdom / Eye of Omniscience
Entwining Karma → Eye of Insight / Eye of Inquiry
Three Thousand Tribulations → Eye of Calamity / Eye of Death-Perception
The reborn divine eye dropped straight into the Saintly Manifestation, embedding itself in its brow, inseparable.
Through Wisdom-Origin, Jing Qian not only elevated the very essence of the Three-Life Eye, but he also perfectly refined it, making it one with the Saintly Manifestation.
After the Yin-Extreme Immortal Sword Embryo, he now had another fully-refined high-tier Spiritual Construct.
All his cultivation underwent yet another qualitative leap.
His thousand-year lifespan had not been wasted; the massive investment had produced massive returns.
Spiritual Construct: Three-Lives, Three-Worlds Immortal Spirit Eye
Rank: Proper First Grade
Category: Root of Self-Seeking
The refinement of this divine eye was an advancement of monumental importance for Jing Qian.
Whether in cultivation, battle, or study, everything would now benefit from this transformation.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
Jing Qian opened his status panel and was startled once more:
[Host: Jing Qian]
[Life Span:51 years]
[Life Measure:7 taels 6 qian / 12 taels 9 qian]
[Life Essence:33,315 × 2 × 3] (Purple-Pupil)
[Titles: Middle Grade ×3]
[Dharma Manifestation: Sumeru Saint Bearing Sword and Opening Six-Reincarnations Manifestation]
[Spiritual Construct:Three-Lives–Three-Worlds Immortal Spirit Eye; Yin-Extreme Sword Embryo; Sumeru Sword Embryo; Pure Yang Sword Embryo; Good Corn; Reincarnation Disk; Yanfu Heaven; Qingping Sword Casket; Civet Spirit Seal; Array Nail]
[Life Patterns:Heavenly Fate ×23; Incomplete Heavenly Fate ×2; Golden-Root ×1; Purple-Pupil ×2]
[Lifespan (Golden): 6 months / 7 days ]
His lifespan had been almost entirely squeezed dry, yet he felt no regret.
Among the Spiritual Constructs he had yet to perfectly refine, only the two Immortal Sword Embryos, Good Corn, and the Reincarnation Disk remained.
His cultivation at the Sixth Rank, Spirit-Suppressing, had taken a solid and tremendous leap forward.
He calmed his Dao heart, then exited the Dao Stele Space.
The moment he returned to the mortal world, the full experience of merging with a Proper First-Grade Immortal Spirit Eye flooded through his body and soul.
Everything felt utterly transformed.
In front of him, Luo Tian and the old white ox were… losing their minds.
Luo Tian stood slack-faced, pointing at the sky, alternating between furious shouting, wild laughter, and arrogant proclamations as if he alone ruled heaven and earth.
The old white ox, meanwhile, had turned into a sniveling mess hugging a nearby tree and bawling like a child unjustly wronged.
The Red Zhaogu Mushroom was overwhelmingly potent.
Its soup greatly boosted the growth of divine sense.
One sip was enough to send someone "mushroom–drunk" on a top-tier mystical intoxicant.
Barely two bowls in, both of Jing Qian's companions were deep in mushroom madness, utterly unable to control themselves.
At their sides, Good Corn and the civet spirit stood guard while simultaneously drooling openly over the mushroom soup.
Its powerful medicinal effect was one thing; the key was the supreme flavor and euphoric intoxication, which made the two little ones tremble with eager anticipation.
When Good Corn saw Jing Qian awaken from meditation, it immediately blurted out:
"Master, you're awake!
Can we drink the soup now?"
Jing Qian nodded.
"Go ahead."
The two small beasts leapt at the cauldron and began chugging wildly.
Once the soup hit their stomachs, Good Corn collapsed straight to the ground like a fallen cornstalk, its face full of bliss, as though it were dreaming of something wonderful.
The civet, on the other hand, behaved like a drunk human standing upright and dancing a wobbly little jig.
Jing Qian ignored the four maniacs around him and instead began experimenting with his Three-Lives–Three-Worlds Immortal Spirit Eye.
The moment he opened the divine eye
The entire Yingfutu Realm lay bare before him.
Compared to before his advancement, the new eye could now see even the circulation of qi throughout the realm with crystal clarity.
Upon the network of qi-meridians, countless Life Furnaces shone like stars, their flickering light birthing the realm's entire source of cultivation.
Then he blinked.
When he opened the divine eye again, his gaze pierced into the depths of the Dao's true intent.
With the perfected power of a Proper First-Grade divine eye, he pierced through the Sea of Primordial Qi,
bored through the blockade of Dao intent,
and cast his sight directly onto the Mountain of Immortal Qi.
This celestial mountain was the ultimate Dao realm pursued by countless great beings, the eternal, undying origin of all things.
Before attaining sufficient cultivation, the mountain appeared close enough to touch.
But now that he could truly "see" it
Its vastness and profundity struck directly at his soul.
What seemed a mountain of modest size, only a mile wide, was, in essence, vast enough to span the entire cosmic void.
No matter the realm one inhabited, even separated by trillions of light-years, so long as one's cultivation was high enough, lifting one's gaze would reveal that mountain:
Always within reach yet eternally unreachable.
Many Second-Rank great beings carved their Fate Steles into that mountain.
But all of them hid their traces with utmost effort.
Even though Jing Qian could directly observe the Mountain of Immortal Qi,
A thick and mysterious mist blocked him from seeing anything clearly.
Someone like Ren Chong, whose sword could shatter the barrier and drag out a hidden Second-Rank's Fate Stele to destroy it, was operating on an entirely different plane.
And just as Jing Qian surveyed the mountain, two peculiar locations began emitting faint callings summoning him.
He became extremely cautious, not daring to respond.
If he provoked something on that mountain, he might be obliterated instantly.
But upon careful reflection, he realized
Both callings had deep karmic ties to him.
One was a crisp, clear Pure Yang sword hum.
The other was a gloomy, murky Yanfu ghost whisper.
Both belonged to Dao-Ancestor lineages, his own sect's roots.
He hesitated, debating whether to risk directing his gaze toward the sources of those callings
And at that moment,
a single floating eyeball drifted out from the Mountain of Immortal Qi
and met his divine gaze.
A message came with it:
"Boy, you're boldly daring to stare around the Mountain of Immortal Qi like that."
"Be careful. If a Dao-Ancestor grabs you, he'll grind you into paste."
Jing Qian was shocked.
He hadn't expected to meet a familiar figure here.
He imitated the method and sent back a message through the divine eye:
"Master No-Eye, it has been a long time.
Do you know what lies behind these callings?"
"Are they related to our Yanfu Dao-Ancestor?"
That floating eyeball was the transformed form of No-Eye, the Yanfu Child from two generations ago.
No-Eye transmitted another message:
"That is not something your current realm is qualified to comprehend."
"When you ascend to the Star-Seizer Realm and possess a Life Star to shield you, then you may attempt to understand the karmic origin."
"The 'good matter' I mentioned to you before lies at the source of that calling."
Jing Qian looked toward No-Eye with deep reluctance, like a child yearning for the popsicle in someone else's hand.
No-Eye paused for a moment, then said:
"Fine. I'll let you take a look."
"Hold this eyeball before your Immortal Spirit Eye.
Peer through it but only once. Look for no more than a heartbeat."
"If someone on the mountain hooks your gaze and drags you up there, I won't be able to save you."
As he spoke, a smaller eyeball floated out beside him, drifting gently until it rested before Jing Qian's Three-Life Eye.
This little orb was clear as an ice crystal, flawless like a bead carved from pure white quartz.
With the slightest sensing, Jing Qian could tell it was condensed from No-Eye's purest Immortal Qi.
His sight passing through it met no resistance; on the contrary, it strengthened his vision dramatically.
With no further hesitation, Jing Qian flicked his gaze toward the depths of the Mountain of Immortal Qi.
The calling from Yanfu, once distant as a whisper, now seemed right beside his ear.
When he truly focused on it, the echoing voice seemed to ring directly at his side.
Obediently, Jing Qian only allowed himself the briefest glance, and immediately, a tidal shock struck his heart, nearly shattering his soul.
He jerked his divine eye away at once, yet even that single instant had shown him something terrifying beyond imagination.
As for the crystal eyeball, it suddenly twitched, as if caught by an invisible thread,
and was violently dragged into the depths of the mountain.
It wriggled helplessly until it was seized by a skinless, flesh-covered, bone-threaded ghastly ghost hand.
The ghost hand toyed with the eyeball for a moment, then crushed it.
The Immortal Qi stored within was effortlessly sucked in and refined.
A thin sheet of human skin began to regrow over the ghostly fingers.
Then the hand tilted upward, bringing itself before the face of a young man.
A handsome face, but his closed eyelids were sunken, utterly empty.
Clearly, no eyeballs remained inside.
His expression was dull and lifeless, yet when the ghost hand approached, a flash of greed appeared.
He opened his mouth and extended a long, serpent-like tongue,
licking the freshly grown human skin straight off the ghost hand.
A ghost hand and a human face were attached to a grotesquely bloated corpse giant.
And this nightmare was one of the incarnations of the former Yanfu Dao-Ancestor.
The Yanfu incarnation radiated endless malice, endless fear, endless brutality, a memetic corruption so vile that merely seeing it invited disaster.
Even with just a glance, Jing Qian nearly lost control of his bowels.
Had No-Eye not stopped him,
if he'd stared openly out of curiosity, he would already be dead.
Cold sweat drenched him. He spoke through chattering breath:
"Grandmaster… what is happening with that Yanfu incarnation?"
No-Eye sighed.
"I knew I shouldn't have let you look.
But since you insisted on sticking your nose in it, consider yourself properly frightened."
"Don't go wandering around just because your eyes are sharp."
"Take it from someone who learned the hard way."
"Ten thousand years ago, the Daoyuan God-Shuttle Universe collided with an unspeakable being beyond the First Rank."
"That impact shook the entire Central God-Sky."
"What exactly happened, none of us know.
But the result is clear: four Dao-Ancestors fell, including Pure Yang.
The place became a wasteland."
"As for our Yanfu Dao-Ancestor, he didn't die,
but he lost his mind completely and went mad."
"For us disciples of Yanfu, honestly… it would've been better if he had died."
"Still after ten thousand years of recovery, the God-Shuttle Universe has returned to stability."
"Our new generation has already produced First-Rank beings.
There's no need to dwell on the past.
Focus on your own cultivation."
Jing Qian nodded.
These were secrets he had never encountered even in Book Mountain, and hearing them now greatly broadened his understanding.
He asked again:
"Grandmaster, who was the one being stepped on beneath the Yanfu incarnation?"
"I could see he still had a breath left; he wasn't dead."
"Oh, that's my little junior nephew, You-Bing ('Has Disease').
Poor bastard's been stomped on for three thousand years."
"He's probably marinated in Dao-Ancestor foot fungus by now."
No-Eye answered without a hint of shame.
"..."
"Alright, don't linger here.
Finish your unfinished business, ascend to Star-Plucking, and then come find me again."
With that, the eyeball vanished.
Only then did Jing Qian withdraw his sight from the Mountain of Immortal Qi.
During that extremely brief moment, half of his immense mana reserve had already been consumed.
He exhaled heavily, steadied his Dao heart, then opened his divine eye again, gazing into another corner of the void.
This time, he followed the causal thread connected to the Tushita Furnace.
That lost Golden-Root Life Pattern was a vital piece for completing his foundation.
It had been hidden deeply; only after his Eye ascended to the Proper First Rank did he detect its faint trace.
His gaze now pointed directly toward the imperial capital of the Wuji Celestial Dynasty.
Tianjing.
He was just about to pinpoint the location of the Tushita Furnace when he abruptly stopped himself.
No-Eye's warning had sunk in.
There are places one must never look into.
The location directly ahead was an exquisitely ornate palace
One of the bedchambers of the First-Rank Immortal
Goddess Egao, the Silver Ring Palace.
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