Chapter 532 – Compared to a Saint, How Great Is the Gap?
by spirapiraChapter 532 – Compared to a Saint, How Great Is the Gap?
Upon hearing Su Xing’s words, the three Peak cultivators beside him each wore different expressions.
Qingyunzi looked quite surprised.
Even though he had witnessed Su Xing’s strength before, hearing Su Xing’s goal still left Qingyunzi shaken by the sheer ambition.
The Celestial Demon General, on the other hand, wore an expression as if it were only natural, his face alight with eagerness, practically itching to get started.
As for the White Emperor, his expression shifted subtly, as though something had occurred to him. He asked:
“Fellow Daoist Su… over a year ago, there were reports that foreign races in the Southern Barbarian Domain and the Eastern Domain had been hunted on a massive scale. Might that have anything to do with you?”
Su Xing didn’t hesitate upon hearing this and nodded directly:
“That’s right, it was me!”
“The foreign races in the Southern Barbarian Domain and Eastern Domain had limited strength, so I could handle them alone… but the foreign races in the Heavenly Secrets Domain are considerably more powerful. I’ll need everyone’s help!”
Hearing Su Xing’s admission, the White Emperor could not conceal the shock in his eyes.
With the power of one person alone, he had annihilated the foreign races across two entire Great Domains in just over a year.
Could the person before him be a Saint?
The White Emperor took a deep breath. Regardless of anything else, exterminating the foreign races in the Heavenly Secrets Domain was too important — for the Domain and for the entire human race.
As the current strongest cultivator in the Heavenly Secrets Domain, the White Emperor understood all too well how the foreign races’ power had grown over the years, and the extent of their invasion into human territory.
According to the White Emperor’s estimates, at the current rate, perhaps within ten thousand years, the human race would have nowhere left to defend.
Of course, the White Emperor’s prediction was still far off from the true future situation.
After a moment of contemplation, the White Emperor asked:
“Fellow Daoist Su, what exactly is your plan?”
“The Celestial Secrets Pavilion has accumulated considerable intelligence on the foreign races in the Heavenly Secrets Domain over the years. I can share it with everyone…”
Su Xing waved his hand dismissively upon hearing this:
“No need… I already have a detailed intelligence report on the foreign races of the Heavenly Secrets Domain!”
“Please take a look first… In three days, follow me into action. Our priority will be to decapitate the foreign race chief gods!”
With that, Su Xing handed over several jade slips.
The White Emperor and the other two accepted the jade slips and examined the intelligence within.
Moments later, a grave expression appeared on the White Emperor’s face.
The intelligence contained in this single jade slip was far too detailed.
From the foreign races’ force composition in the Heavenly Secrets Domain, to every single stronghold.
Even the strength and weaknesses of the four foreign race chief gods were laid bare without exception.
Without exaggeration, the intelligence the Celestial Secrets Pavilion had accumulated over millions of years paled in comparison to this single jade slip.
But what concerned the White Emperor was that the foreign races’ strength seemed even greater than he had imagined.
“Fellow Daoist Su… if this intelligence is accurate, we may need to make more preparations…”
“At minimum, we’d need several decades to organize a major campaign before we’d have a chance to deal the foreign races a serious blow, wouldn’t we?”
The White Emperor said with some uncertainty.
When experts at the Great Firmament realm clashed, determining a winner could easily take decades…
Su Xing shook his head upon hearing this:
“There isn’t enough time… Among the foreign races, there exist beings at a level called the Sovereign realm. They may arrive at the Five Great Domains within a hundred years.”
“When that happens, the human race will no longer be able to stand against the foreign races!”
“Therefore, we must kill all remaining chief gods in the Five Great Domains as quickly as possible.”
“We don’t need to exterminate every last foreign race member… If we only target the chief gods and lesser deities, it won’t take too long…”
Su Xing’s tone was remarkably resolute.
This was intelligence gathered from over ten simulations, and the optimal response he had devised.
This time, the destruction of those four foreign race chief gods was something Su Xing was determined to achieve.
Hearing Su Xing’s words, the White Emperor said no more.
…
Three days later. The Grey Wolf Realm.
This place was the main base of the foreign races in the Heavenly Secrets Domain.
In the current timeline, three chief gods of the Heavenly Secrets Domain, along with the Lord of the Void who had fled here, were all present!
Su Xing’s plan was simple and brutal.
The White Emperor, the Celestial Demon General, and Qingyunzi would hold off the other three chief gods.
Meanwhile, Su Xing would first kill the Void Chief God, then eliminate the rest one by one.
The plan was simple yet effective. Su Xing had rehearsed it over ten times in simulations and was confident there was no possibility of failure.
“From this point on, everyone will follow my arrangements.”
“According to our intelligence, there are currently four chief gods in the Grey Wolf Realm.”
“They are: one chief god of the Shadow Tribe, one chief god of the Talong Clan, one Six-Winged Chief God, and the chief god of the Void Clan…”
“The Talong Clan’s chief god has an extremely powerful physical body, making the Celestial Demon General the most suitable opponent.”
“The Six-Winged Chief God should be handled by the White Emperor… As for the Shadow Chief God, who excels at fleeing, Qingyunzi is the most suitable to keep him pinned down.”
“Next, I will deal with the Void Chief God. You need to hold your opponents for three days…”
Su Xing looked at the three powerhouses around him and laid out his entire plan.
The intelligence on each chief god, their weaknesses, and even which of them was best suited to engage whom — Su Xing had planned it all in advance.
With this, the plan to annihilate the four chief gods would be absolutely foolproof!
Hearing Su Xing’s plan, the White Emperor and the other two naturally had no objections.
And so, the four of them adopted the simplest and most brutal approach — storming directly into the Grey Wolf Realm!
The vast Grey Wolf Realm had already become the foreign races’ main base decades ago.
In this world, not a single living being besides the foreign races remained.
After entering the Grey Wolf Realm, Su Xing immediately deployed spatial Dao to set up spatial restrictions, preventing the foreign race chief gods from escaping.
After that, the four of them engaged the four foreign race chief gods, and battle erupted instantly!
According to plan, the White Emperor and the other two kept three chief gods occupied.
Meanwhile, Su Xing focused entirely on the Void Chief God.
With Su Xing’s current strength, dealing with a chief god — even a peak chief god — was naturally a crushing affair.
The Void Chief God’s injuries had not fully healed.
Su Xing needed only two and a half days to slay the Void Chief God!
Seeing the Void Chief God killed by Su Xing, the other three chief gods immediately sensed disaster and attempted to flee.
But Su Xing had laid down spatial restrictions well in advance precisely to prevent this.
With Su Xing’s seventh realm Peak spatial Dao enhanced by Spirit Domain to reach the eighth realm level.
Even the Shadow Chief God had absolutely no hope of escape.
Afterward, Su Xing spent merely half a month, working alongside the White Emperor and the others, to slaughter all three remaining chief gods!
From the moment Su Xing’s plan was set in motion to the total annihilation of all four chief gods, the entire operation took less than one month!
After that, Su Xing led the White Emperor and the others to begin the slaughter of the foreign races in the Grey Wolf Realm.
Three more days passed, and the foreign races in the Grey Wolf Realm were virtually wiped out.
With this, every single foreign race chief god across the Five Great Domains had been slain by Su Xing!
A total of five army groups, numbering in the billions, had been largely massacred and could no longer pose any threat.
…
New Era Year 2034, March. The Celestial Secrets Realm.
One month had passed since the battle that destroyed the four chief gods and the entire Grey Wolf Realm.
From a humble Qi Refinement cultivator to a Great Firmament Golden Immortal, Su Xing had spent a full ten years.
During those ten years, Su Xing had always acted cautiously, accumulating strength.
It was only after reaching the Great Firmament Golden Immortal level and advancing further — believing himself invincible across the Three Thousand Worlds — that he officially emerged.
And Su Xing’s first target after emerging was, naturally, the foreign races.
In just over three years, Su Xing had slaughtered every last one of the more than ten foreign race chief gods across the Five Great Domains!
This was Su Xing’s accumulated strength unleashed in one explosive surge!
After Su Xing’s campaign, the foreign race threat across the Five Great Domains had been essentially eliminated.
But now was far from the time to enjoy the fruits of victory.
Thinking of this, Su Xing sighed and murmured:
“At present, I’ve only completed the first step of the plan!”
“The foreign races in the Five Great Domains are gone, but there are still the foreign races in the Eighth Heaven… and the Sovereigns beyond the domains…”
Su Xing silently calculated.
He had long since established a three-step plan.
The first step was, naturally, to annihilate the foreign races in the Five Great Domains.
On one hand, Su Xing needed to accumulate strength. The more than ten chief gods and countless foreign race deities had provided Su Xing with a massive amount of origin energy.
This was the foundation for Su Xing’s continued growth.
On the other hand, it was to stabilize the human race’s situation — ensuring they would have no worries for at least several decades to a hundred years.
This first step, Su Xing had now completed.
As for the second step, the objectives were:
Purge the foreign races from the Eighth Heaven, enter the Ninth Heaven, kill the Blood River Ancestor, and rescue the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master.
The third step was to completely annihilate the foreign races, including the foreign race Sovereigns beyond the domains!
“Moving too fast isn’t necessarily a good thing…”
“Right now, before completing the second step, there’s still one crucial thing to do…”
“Prove the Dao and become a Saint!”
Su Xing took a deep breath, his eyes brimming with fierce ambition.
Without becoming a Saint, he would ultimately be unable to change the future situation!
But how easy was it to become a Saint?
The Luotian Ancestor, Qingyunzi, and the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master — which of them wasn’t a once-in-ten-million-years transcendent genius?
Yet none of them had managed to become a Saint.
If it were in the ancient period, before the heavenly Dao had become flawed, they might have had the chance to reach Sainthood.
But now, the only chance of becoming a Saint lay in the Ninth Heaven — in that single wisp of Primordial Purple Qi!
What countless predecessors had failed to accomplish, Su Xing was confident he could do!
And the source of that confidence was…
Su Xing’s gaze turned to the simulation panel.
【Remaining origin: 320,000 world origin, 790,000 origin energy!】
【Remaining simulation attempts: 70!】
This was Su Xing’s confidence!
Over the past year and more, Su Xing had accumulated 70 simulation attempts.
320,000 world origin, converted to origin energy, came to over 300 billion!
This was the largest fortune Su Xing had ever possessed.
But it was only barely enough to break through to the Saint realm…
“Based on my earlier estimates, advancing from Peak Great Firmament to Saint requires at least 100,000 origin energy!”
“I just don’t know whether there are further divisions within the Saint realm…”
Su Xing shook his head slightly.
Regarding the Saint realm, Su Xing knew very little.
However, to break through to the Saint realm, Su Xing still had two final tribulations to overcome.
The Saint-level Tribulation of Nine Palaces, and the Saint-level Tribulation of the Infinite!
“After more than ten simulations, I’ve mostly figured out the Tribulation of Nine Palaces!”
“Then it’s time to break through this tribulation first!”
Su Xing sighed softly and silently intoned:
“Begin simulation!”
【Simulation #501 initiated. Remaining: 320,000 world origin, 790,000 origin energy, 69 simulation attempts!】
【Please select simulation mode: Simulate Future, Time Reversal…】
“Simulate Future!”
…
【In the spirit field grotto-heaven, you realize you are in a simulation.】
【You traveled to the Eighth Heaven and met the three Celestial Secrets Avatars.】
【With their help, you entered the chaotic temporal flow…】
Su Xing’s heart stirred at this, and he silently intoned:
“Use immersive simulation, duration 300 years!”
【Ding…】
The Chime faded, and Su Xing’s consciousness entered the simulated timeline.
Su Xing appeared within the familiar chaotic temporal flow.
This place was suffused everywhere with the Dao essence of the Time Dao and Great Dao of Space.
Su Xing took out pre-brewed Dao-Enlightenment Tea and began comprehending the Dao of time and space.
He had already attempted this over ten times in previous simulations.
In each simulation, apart from rehearsing the extermination of the foreign races, improving his cultivation was also indispensable.
Within the chaotic temporal flow, the density of temporal and spatial Dao essence was nothing short of terrifying.
Over ten times greater than the outside world!
Combined with Su Xing’s innate talent, the Dao-Enlightenment Tea, and other aids, his comprehension speed was naturally staggering.
By now, Su Xing’s cultivation had reached Peak Great Firmament Golden Immortal, long since unable to advance further.
Apart from cultivating the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Su Xing devoted all his energy to advancing his mastery of the Dao of time and space.
As a result, Su Xing’s mastery of the Dao of time and space had reached an astonishing level.
The Great Dao of Space had surpassed seventh realm Peak, but remained half a step away from the eighth realm.
The Time Dao had reached fifth realm Peak and was on the verge of breaking into the sixth realm!
The reason Su Xing devoted so much energy to comprehending the Dao of time and space was, naturally, for…
The Saint tribulation — the Tribulation of Nine Palaces!
Upon passing the Tribulation of Nine Palaces, one would master the secrets of time and space, the fundamental laws of the universe!
There were many ways to pass this tribulation.
For example, attending the Dao Hearing Assembly again and again, listening to all three thousand great Daos in the world — eventually, one would be able to pass this tribulation.
But that would require far too much time!
Therefore, Su Xing chose the simplest and most brutal method.
The Tribulation of Nine Palaces required mastery over time and space.
If Su Xing’s spatial Dao could step into the eighth realm…
He would naturally be able to directly see through this tribulation!
For anyone else, this would be extraordinarily difficult.
But for Su Xing, breaking through to the eighth realm of the Great Dao of Space was already within reach…
And so, within this chaotic temporal flow.
Su Xing cultivated in tranquility, aided by the Dao-Enlightenment Tea, Dao-Hearing Pills, and more.
The chaotic temporal flow that even Great Firmament Golden Immortals would flee from — Su Xing navigated it like a fish in water.
Every single day, Su Xing’s comprehension of the Dao of time and space reached new heights.
And so, three hundred years passed quietly…
In the final few years, Su Xing’s Time Dao finally broke through naturally into the sixth realm!
The sixth realm of the Dao of Time still did not touch the power of past or future.
Its mastery over time remained confined to the present!
First, Su Xing could now control the flow of time within a hundred li (50 km) around himself, up to a maximum of three hundred times!
This meant Su Xing’s cultivation speed would be enhanced three hundred fold.
Combined with the Luotian Realm, that was a total enhancement of 665 times!
Of course, the cultivation speed bonus was of little use to Su Xing at his current level.
It was only helpful for improving his Great Shaman Body Forging Art.
And in the final year of the immersive simulation, Su Xing suddenly experienced an epiphany.
The operating principles of the surrounding chaotic temporal flow were excavated even further in Su Xing’s eyes.
Su Xing carefully savored the insight. After a long time…
From within the vast and boundless chaotic temporal flow came a soft sigh:
“So that’s how it is. The end of the spatial Dao… is time.”
As Su Xing advanced further and pierced through the mysteries of the spatial Dao.
Su Xing’s spatial Dao became the first Great Dao to formally step into the eighth realm!
The eighth realm of the Great Dao was called: Dao Embodiment!
This was a level of the Great Dao that only true Saints could comprehend.
Yet Su Xing, who had yet to pass the Tribulation of Nine Palaces, had achieved this realm ahead of time!
What was Dao Embodiment?
It was, naturally, merging the Great Dao into one’s body — the ultimate mastery over a Great Dao.
In other words, at this moment, Su Xing had already drawn close to the Great Dao of Space itself!
Although with the enhancement of Spirit Domain, Su Xing had long experienced the power of the eighth realm of the spatial Dao.
But now that Su Xing had truly stepped into the eighth realm, the feeling was fundamentally different!
“Among the three thousand great Daos of the world, some complement and enhance each other…”
“Like the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny…”
“Or the Five Elements Dao, where after breaking through a certain realm, one may comprehend the power of yin and yang, life and death…”
“Or, like the current… Dao of time and space…”
Su Xing seemed to reach an understanding.
This did not mean Su Xing had fused the Dao of Time and the Dao of Space into one.
That was something even Saints could not accomplish.
The Dao of time and space referred to the intimate relationship between the Dao of Time and the Dao of Space.
When wielded together, their power increased exponentially!
Su Xing carefully sensed the power within himself and remarked with deep emotion:
“As I am now… compared to a Saint, how great is the gap?”