Chapter 522 – Observing the Chaotic Temporal Flow, Arriving at the Ninth Heaven! The Pangu Greater World!

Su Xing compared the similarities and differences between time reversal and this chaotic temporal flow.

He found that they seemed quite similar, yet there were differences.

With time reversal, one could return as long as the corresponding event was completed, or upon death during a simulation.

But with this chaotic temporal flow, the conditions for returning were unknown.

“The power of spacetime… a fusion of space and time?”

Su Xing fell into contemplation.

He could sense that within this chaotic temporal flow, although there was no spiritual energy and no Great Dao present, time and the Great Dao of Space were the sole exceptions!

“I can actually faintly capture a trace of Time Dao essence…”

Su Xing’s heart immediately surged with joy.

He had a premonition that even without traveling to the Ninth Heaven, merely sensing the Time Dao within this chaotic temporal flow would increase his speed of comprehending the Dao of Time by several fold!

“Hah… no rush to comprehend the Dao of Time just yet!”

“First, I’ll thoroughly figure out the patterns of this chaotic temporal flow, then go explore the Ninth Heaven!”

“As for comprehending the Dao of Time, there will still be time in future simulations!”

Su Xing couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth curl upward.

After all, he still had fifty simulation attempts remaining!

If every simulation was spent in immersive contemplation within this chaotic temporal flow, to what heights would Su Xing’s Time Dao grow?

Thinking of this, Su Xing’s heart brimmed with anticipation.

“Let me first try to capture the patterns within this chaotic temporal flow…”

Su Xing murmured, then began capturing the light screens around him in this mysterious space, each one representing a particular spacetime.

With the aid of the Time and Great Dao of Space, Su Xing gradually grasped the operating patterns of this space.

At the same time, Su Xing followed the route provided by the Celestial Secrets Pavilion, heading toward the so-called Ninth Heaven.

And so, approximately three years passed.

During that time, Su Xing spent two and a half years mastering the operating patterns of spacetime within this space.

And once Su Xing had thoroughly mastered these patterns, reaching the Ninth Heaven took only half a year.

“So that’s how it is… the Ninth Heaven is also a particular spacetime?”

Su Xing narrowed his eyes, finally understanding what this so-called Ninth Heaven truly was!

“It makes sense—ever since the holy path was severed, there have been no more opportunities to become a Saint between heaven and earth…”

“And there are no longer any places where spiritual energy is abundant and the Dao of heaven and earth is complete… Only in another spacetime, in the golden age of Saints from the primordial era, would one have a chance to prove one’s Dao to become a Saint!”

“So the Ninth Heaven is the Three Thousand Worlds from the primordial era?”

The primordial era was untold billions of years ago; much of its intelligence and history had long been lost, unknown to the cultivation world at large.

But within the Celestial Secrets Pavilion, a fairly complete record of primordial history was preserved.

Legend had it that at the dawn of the primordial age, there were no Five Great Domains between heaven and earth, nor was there a Nine Heavens Domain.

There was only a single, incomparably vast continent, so expansive that it equaled the sum of all worlds in the present-day Three Thousand Worlds.

It was far larger than even the Greater World, the most expansive of the current Three Thousand Worlds, by an immeasurable degree.

And that continent was called… the Pangu Continent!

Or alternatively, the Primordial Continent!

Until one day, a peerless powerhouse emerged, whose cultivation realm was so powerful that it even surpassed the Saints!

This powerhouse spent over a hundred million years traversing every piece of land and every region of the Pangu Continent.

In the end, he lamented—why was the world so vast yet still bounded?

He wanted to understand: what lay beyond this world?

And so, with supreme power, he shattered the entire world, scattering it across the void.

Thus were born the Three Thousand Worlds of today…

Recalling that myth-like history in his mind, Su Xing shook his head and said:

“But that should be nothing more than a myth, right?”

“Using supreme power to shatter the entire Pangu World, scattering the Three Thousand Worlds like stars across the void… that’s far too far-fetched…”

With Su Xing’s knowledge, let alone a Great Firmament Golden Immortal—even a Saint absolutely could not accomplish such a thing.

“Perhaps only a realm beyond Sainthood could make that possible?”

“But a realm surpassing Saints… that seems far too illusory and intangible…”

Su Xing shook his head, expressing his disbelief.

“However, during that era, ten Saints standing together… the emergence of ten Saints between heaven and earth does seem to have truly existed!”

“And while Great Firmament Golden Immortals weren’t quite as common as dogs, there were no fewer than a thousand of them…”

“Now that was the true golden age of cultivation!”

A hint of longing appeared in Su Xing’s eyes. As a cultivator, how regrettable would it be to never witness that golden age of cultivation?

“Well then, let’s go take a look…”

Su Xing murmured inwardly, then took a single step forward, entering the temporal light screen representing the Ninth Heaven.

…

“So this is the Ninth Heaven?”

When Su Xing stepped into that spacetime fragment, he clearly felt himself entering another spacetime entirely.

The very air seemed to be permeated with a flavor that could only be described as “ancient.”

The place where Su Xing arrived was an extremely ancient forest.

Towering giant trees surrounded him—trees hundreds of zhang tall, thousands of zhang tall—as if he had entered the realm of giants.

“Tsk tsk… as expected of the primordial era. The spiritual energy here is truly overflowing!”

Su Xing let out a light sigh.

At this random landing spot alone, the surrounding spiritual energy had already vaguely reached what would be classified as “grotto-heaven” level in later ages.

“Good heavens, if this is just a random spot, how dense would the spiritual energy be at the true treasure grounds within the Ninth Heaven?”

“And besides the spiritual energy, the Heavenly Dao in this spacetime… seems somewhat different?”

Su Xing raised an eyebrow and carefully sensed the surrounding heaven and earth.

After a long while, Su Xing nodded and said:

“Indeed, the Heavenly Dao of later ages seems to be incomplete… which is why comprehending the Great Dao is much slower…”

“But in this realm, the Heavenly Dao is whole and unblemished. The speed of comprehending the Great Dao here is more than ten times faster than in later ages!”

Su Xing finally understood why the Ninth Heaven was regarded as a treasure ground with the karmic opportunity to prove one’s Dao to become a Saint.

Setting everything else aside, just the boost to Great Dao comprehension and the abundance of spiritual energy alone were incomparable to what later ages could offer.

“But are these the only opportunities within the Ninth Heaven?”

“Absolutely not!”

Su Xing shook his head, because even with complete Dao, proving one’s Dao to become a Saint was not so easy.

Otherwise, there would have been far more than ten Saints during that era.

“So there must be other opportunities!”

“According to the Celestial Secrets Pavilion’s intelligence, there should be quite a few primordial cultivators in this spacetime…”

“The most pressing matter is to first explore this world. As for the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master’s identity in this spacetime, I don’t know that yet either…”

Su Xing shook his head slightly. Ever since the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master had entered this spacetime, he had lost all contact with the outside world. It had already been several hundred thousand years.

However, Su Xing could be certain that the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master was still alive.

After all, in just over two thousand years, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master would prove his Dao and become a Saint.

“Well then, let me first explore this primordial forest around me… there seem to be some unusual auras within it.”

Su Xing murmured, then released his divine sense to explore this unfamiliar spacetime.

With Su Xing’s current movement speed, exploration was naturally effortless.

In just a single day, Su Xing had completely surveyed this entire forest.

The area of this forest was unexpectedly vast—so expansive that it was already comparable to the Greater World of later ages.

And within this forest dwelled a species of tiger-type demon beasts, among which the strongest aura was already approaching that of a Great Firmament Golden Immortal.

“Tsk tsk… don’t tell me that in the primordial era, a single tiger tribe alone possessed an existence rivaling a Great Firmament Golden Immortal?”

“That giant tiger at the Peak of Supreme Unity seems to be the legendary Sky-Howling Tiger from primordial times… its tiger whip is an exceptionally fine medicinal treasure.”

Su Xing rubbed his chin, though he had no intention of going after that tiger whip.

After all, a primordial exotic beast blessed by heaven and earth could be considered an endangered species, couldn’t it?

“Of course, the main reason is that while the tiger whip’s effect of boosting vitality and blood essence is decent, it’s still not quite enough for me…”

“Let me go check other places. Although there are a few grotto-heavens in this forest, their spiritual energy doesn’t seem to match even my spirit field grotto-heaven…”

Su Xing shook his head and headed beyond the forest.

Su Xing still needed to gather intelligence on the situation of the so-called Ninth Heaven—that is, the Pangu Greater World of the primordial era.

And so, over the next several years, Su Xing began traveling across the Pangu Continent.

Its vast expanse indeed far exceeded Su Xing’s expectations.

It took a full year before Su Xing had barely managed to explore the areas surrounding that enormous forest.

…

One year later, beside an enormous lake somewhere in the world.

Su Xing, in a rare moment of leisure, had set up a massive bonfire and begun roasting.

Atop the blazing Southern Illumination Separation Fire was a colossal fish over ten zhang (33.3 m) in length.

This fish had been born in this very lake. Its flesh was delicious, naturally imbued with spiritual energy, and after consuming it, even Su Xing’s physical qi and blood experienced a modest boost.

“Tsk tsk, the primordial era… this world really is littered with treasures everywhere!”

“Just the spirit flesh of this single treasure fish alone — Supreme Unity Golden Immortals of later ages would probably fight like mad over it… though ordinary Supreme Unity Golden Immortals probably wouldn’t even be a match for this fish!”

Looking at the glistening golden fish meat roasting over the bonfire, Su Xing couldn’t help but feel his appetite stirring.

While eating the roasted fish, Su Xing analyzed the intelligence he had gathered over the past year.

The spacetime Su Xing currently occupied seemed to be even earlier than the ancient period!

This era was known as the Primordial Era!

“I never expected that the legendary powerhouse who surpassed the Saint realm actually existed…”

Su Xing narrowed his eyes, unable to suppress his amazement.

In this spacetime, the Pangu Continent was covered with treasures everywhere.

Though Great Firmament Golden Immortals were few in number, below that level, cultivators at the Supreme Unity realm were countless.

“Unfortunately, most of these powerhouses don’t belong to our human race…”

Su Xing sighed.

In this era, the hundred races were fierce and formidable.

The Wu Clan had already begun to rise to prominence. Of the legendary Twelve Ancestral Shamans, six had already been born.

Each one possessed half-saint level strength!

And the Demon Tribe, the Dragon-Phoenix clans — all were terrifyingly powerful. Every top-tier race possessed more than five Peak Great Firmament level powerhouses.

Only the human race was notably weak…

“Tsk tsk… the human race of this era does have Supreme Unity Golden Immortals, but not many.”

“As for Great Firmament Golden Immortals, there are merely two or three… among the hundred races, they can only be considered middling.”

“But there’s nothing to be done about it. In this era of wild, untamed cultivation growth, the human race’s innate talent is simply too poor…”

“Setting everything else aside, just those Innate Spirits alone possess extraordinarily terrifying aptitudes — there are even spirits born as Great Firmament Golden Immortals. Truly frightening!”

Su Xing shook his head.

Over the past year and more, Su Xing had encountered several beings who called themselves “Innate Spirits.”

Legend had it they were born alongside the Pangu Greater World itself.

Some were the incarnation of the world’s first gentle breeze achieving Dao, others the embodiment of the world’s first divine flame.

Each one’s aptitude could be called absolutely supreme, and cultivation for them was as simple as eating and drinking.

Over this past year, Su Xing had also met a few Innate Spirits.

Because of Su Xing’s special constitution — bearing the Eternal Thunder Physique — he had been mistaken for the incarnation of “the first bolt of innate lightning.”

“Over a year’s time… I’ve more or less identified the greatest opportunity in this world!”

“And that is — the Dao Hearing Assembly!”

A thick gleam of interest appeared in Su Xing’s eyes.

As the saying goes: if one hears the Dao in the morning, one may die content by evening!

The strongest being of this era called himself “Dao”!

This was the very person who had traversed the entire Pangu Greater World, and ultimately shattered the void, transforming the Pangu Greater World into the Three Thousand Worlds!

The cultivators of this era mostly had no inheritance to speak of — it was an age of wild, untamed growth.

What they competed on was purely aptitude.

Or rather, one’s origin and foundation!

And this person’s origin was extraordinary beyond measure!

He was the incarnation of the very first wisp of Dao essence between heaven and earth!

Legend had it he was born a Saint!

At this point in time, this extraordinary figure had already traversed the entire Three Thousand Worlds and was about to shatter the void.

But before shattering the void, this figure had organized a grand “Dao Hearing Assembly,” passing on the Dao he had learned to all living beings under heaven.

Regardless of what race one belonged to, anyone who attended the Dao Hearing Assembly could receive his teachings.

And this Dao Hearing Assembly was held once every ten thousand years, with each session lasting a thousand years.

“According to my intelligence, the Dao Hearing Assembly will only be held ten times… nine have already taken place, and nine Saints have been produced in the world…”

“It seems the sole remaining chance to become a Saint lies in the final Dao Hearing Assembly!”

“To obtain that single thread of opportunity to prove one’s Dao, one must reach the Central Province before the Dao Hearing Assembly begins…”

Su Xing’s mind raced with calculations.

The so-called Central Province was in fact the very center of the entire Pangu Greater World.

The Dao Hearing Assembly, held once every ten thousand years, was convened upon the Central Province.

“However, there are still a hundred years until the next assembly begins… that should be just about enough time to reach the assembly grounds, right?”

With that thought, Su Xing swiftly devoured every last morsel of the zhang-long spirit fish before him.

Feeling his qi and blood slightly strengthened, Su Xing set off toward the Central Province.

…

In the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred years had passed.

Over these hundred years, Su Xing had been traveling continuously. Occasionally, when he encountered rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures or spiritually rich blessed lands, he would linger for a few days, committing their locations to memory.

Even with Su Xing’s spatial Dao, it had taken him a full hundred years to finally arrive at this place called the Central Province.

Looking at the distant mountain peak wreathed in immortal mists, rising to an immeasurable height of millions upon millions of zhang, its grandeur beyond description.

This mountain was called Mount Zhou!

And at the summit of Mount Zhou lay a Dao arena spanning ten thousand zhang (33.3 km) in circumference.

“That must be the venue of the so-called Dao Hearing Assembly, right?”

Su Xing’s heart surged with irrepressible excitement. After spending nearly a hundred years traveling, he had finally arrived at the grounds of the Dao Hearing Assembly.

“There’s still about half a year left before the immersive simulation ends… let me first take a look at this so-called Dao Hearing Assembly.”

With that thought, Su Xing swiftly deployed his spatial Dao and headed toward Mount Zhou.

However, before he could reach Mount Zhou, Su Xing was stopped.

“Fellow Daoist, have you come to attend the Dao Hearing Assembly?”

“Your face seems rather unfamiliar! I wonder which faction you hail from, and what your origin might be?”

A cultivator standing over a zhang (3.33 m) tall, with a pair of horns growing from his head and scales covering his body, blocked Su Xing’s path.

Upon seeing this cultivator, Su Xing raised an eyebrow, without the slightest hint of contempt in his heart.

Because the cultivator before him was a Great Firmament Golden Immortal.

And moreover, a True Dragon at the Great Firmament Golden Immortal level!

“In later ages, the True Dragon race was nearly exterminated… but in this era, True Dragons seem to be at the height of their prosperity…”

Su Xing noted this silently. Though his path up the mountain had been blocked, he felt no irritation.

Instead, he revealed his cultivation at the Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm and spoke:

“I am a rogue cultivator by origin. I spent over a hundred thousand years in secluded cultivation. Having now heard of the Dao Hearing Assembly, I have come specifically to attend, hoping to gain some insights…”

After sensing Su Xing’s Great Firmament Golden Immortal aura, the True Dragon clansman shed his contemptuous attitude.

“I see. Since you possess Great Firmament Golden Immortal cultivation, you should indeed have a place at this Dao arena on Mount Zhou… However, fellow Daoist, spending over a hundred thousand years in seclusion means you missed the previous assemblies — that’s an enormous loss!”

“Tsk tsk, who knows, you might have missed the chance to become a Saint!”

The Great Firmament Golden Immortal of the True Dragon race spoke thus, his tone even carrying a hint of schadenfreude.

Su Xing furrowed his brow slightly, detecting the hostility in this Great Firmament Golden Immortal’s voice.

But he quickly understood — he still carried the Dragonslayer talent, which meant his natural affinity with the Dragon Race, especially the True Dragons, was already in the negatives.

Just as Su Xing was pondering this, a voice reached his ears.

“Oh? Isn’t this fellow Daoist Su?”

“It seems you’ve also come to attend this Dao Hearing Assembly!”

Su Xing looked toward the source of the voice and discovered it was the two cultivators he had encountered a hundred years ago.

The incarnation of the first wisp of Innate True Fire, and the incarnation of the first wisp of Innate Pure Wind!

“Fellow Daoist True Fire, fellow Daoist Pure Wind… it’s been a long time. How have you been?”

Su Xing greeted them courteously, for both were top-tier Great Firmament Golden Immortals after all.

“Fellow Daoist Su is the incarnation of the first bolt of innate divine thunder — you really ought to join our Innate Sect…”

“Let me take you to meet the other fellow Daoists at the Dao arena.”

With that, the True Fire Great Firmament took Su Xing by the hand and headed toward the summit of Mount Zhou.

The Dragon Race’s Great Firmament Golden Immortal from before tactfully stepped aside half a pace, making no move to obstruct them.

“What a pity… so he’s the incarnation of the first bolt of divine thunder?”

“It seems the Innate Sect’s strength is about to grow considerably…”

The True Dragon Great Firmament frowned slightly, but confidence soon returned to his eyes.

“He’s just one Great Firmament Golden Immortal! Now that our Dragon-Phoenix alliance and the Demon Tribe have joined forces to establish the Demon Court — a power that commands heaven and earth — even Great Firmament Golden Immortals should be seeking our protection!”

The True Dragon Great Firmament thought to himself.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Su Xing — no longer obstructed — ascended to the grounds of the Dao Hearing Assembly.