Chapter 165: God-Forbidden Realm

"Aligning with the Eight-Nine Profound Art, absorbing the myriad Daos of the heavens, and while there is no method to cut anything, one is still able to succeed in Zhandao, and leap upward in one bound..."

This was the method that the Holy Spirit had thought of in an instant; while Zhang Xuan was overjoyed, he also felt a sense of unreality, and even a feeling of trepidation and unease.

It was too easy; everything had come too easily.

Originally, Zhandao had always been a very, very large threshold in Zhang Xuan's mind; he had always worried that he might suffer a great loss or encounter major problems at the Zhandao Realm.

After all, Ancient Great Emperors often encountered problems at this stage, meeting with great setbacks, and some figures who were not inferior to young Great Emperors of the same period even foundered and died at this threshold.

For Zhang Xuan, this threshold was very difficult to cross; at the very least, Zhang Xuan was very worried about it.

And now, the "other self" he had enlightened had provided the relevant answer in just a very short time, making Zhang Xuan a little unable to believe it.

"There must be a problem in this; even with the talent and aptitude of the Ruthless Great Emperor, it shouldn't be this exaggerated."

In the original descriptions of Covering the Sky, this major threshold of Zhandao had weeded out a large number of people.

Many figures had foundered and died completely at this stage.

Many figures did not have an easy time when facing this threshold.

Zhang Xuan had originally felt that it would also be very difficult for him to cross this threshold.

Now that it was solved so directly, it was indeed quite astonishing.

Zhang Xuan felt astonished and dared not try it directly; after all, this thing was truly a case of "try it and you die."

"I must verify and explore it from other places."

Zhang Xuan's gaze was deep and distant; there were many intuitive ways to verify whether his comprehension had truly improved while in the Nine-Orifice Stone Man form in the Shenmu World; it did not necessarily need to be verified through Zhandao.

Zhang Xuan possessed the world's greatest number of top-tier divine arts; if he could contemplate them and they aligned with the corresponding theories of Qingdi and the Moral Heavenly Venerable, then it would prove that the results of his enlightenment were effective.

And while silently calculating, Zhang Xuan felt that his own comprehension of the Great Dao and the heavens was extremely rapid.

In this aspect, there was indeed no problem to be found; many aspects aligned with the words described by Qingdi and the Moral Heavenly Venerable.

Even in his current state, as Zhang Xuan pondered the cultivation of the Saint stage after Zhandao, as well as the subsequent stages of cultivation, there were no major problems, and he could align with the Great Dao spoken of by Qingdi.

"It still feels a bit unreal."

Zhang Xuan was still unwilling to believe it; he did not stop, but instead began to watch the process of the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine regrowing and reviving, which he had recorded previously, and he also watched the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine that continued to grow beside him in the Shenmu World.

Previously, when it reached the later stages, Zhang Xuan had been unable to understand it; the runes within the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine were too complex and profound, but now, looking at them again, he understood them easily, without any major obstacles.

"Is this cheating somewhere?"

Zhang Xuan felt it was incredible, but after two consecutive rounds of verification, he still dared not be completely certain.

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Xuan took out another ancient scroll; it was the complete treasure manual of the Secret of the Word 'Move' that Gai Jiuyou had taken from the Stone Coffin of the Great Accomplishment Saint Body.

As one of the Nine Secrets, the Secret of the Word 'Move' was rumored to be a supreme method passed down when the Nine Great Heavenly Venerables of the Mythological Era descended into the world together, and it belonged to the Forbidden Chapter of their scriptures.

Everyone in the world could contemplate and understand it, but wanting to reach the true peak was nearly impossible.

Only the creators of these techniques could reach an incredible level.

Zhang Xuan had obtained it from Gai Jiuyou before but had not yet contemplated it.

Now, holding it in his hands and looking at it, he became fascinated immediately.

The most difficult and obscure method in the world was not very difficult in Zhang Xuan's eyes; he was fascinated at a single glance.

He even found himself dancing along with the Secret of the Word 'Move', his figure constantly changing within this heavenly palace, sometimes moving to the left, sometimes to the right.

At the very beginning, it was just speed, fast as lightning, far exceeding ordinary people.

Later on, it was as if fragments of time were dancing, crossing all distances in an instant.

At that time, throughout the entire heavenly palace and the vast square, Zhang Xuan's figures were everywhere—front, back, left, right, up, and down.

And when Zhang Xuan stopped, his face still carried a look of shock.

It was not because he could not contemplate it, but because he had contemplated a realm that he could not unleash with his current level and strength; it already involved the laws of Saints.

Simply put, he had already understood the more profound later stages of the Secret of the Word 'Move', but was limited by his current strength and could not unleash them.

"This..."

It was not until Zhang Xuan stopped that he discovered that the entire sky was filled with the afterimages left by his figure; it was because his speed was too fast, and his figure was spread across the entire world, filling the sky as if there were hundreds or thousands of Zhang Xuans in this place.

After Zhang Xuan stopped for a good while, the relevant figures began to disappear.

And they did not disappear from far to near, but rather the figures in the entire area disappeared uniformly, with the place where Zhang Xuan stood as the core.

Zhang Xuan knew what this situation was at a glance; it indicated that the distance of hundreds of feet was basically the same as the time it took for him to move in an instant.

This was no longer walking in the conventional sense; it already involved parts of the laws of time and space, reaching anywhere in a single thought.

It seemed that any area in the world could be reached in a single thought; of course, that was in an ideal state. Now, with Zhang Xuan's strength, his speed far exceeded his peers, and was even faster than the Golden Crow, which was known for its speed.

As for the levels of higher realms, Zhang Xuan would need to reach the corresponding realm before he could unleash them.

And after three consecutive verifications, even though Zhang Xuan was unwilling to believe it, he could only reach a conclusion that left him very astonished.

"My talent and comprehension have truly reached an incredible level, far exceeding the imagination of ordinary people..."

Zhang Xuan even compared it carefully; when his Divine Sense was in the Nine-Orifice Stone Man in the Shenmu World, his thinking and thoughts seemed to be firing on all cylinders; he had no problems contemplating any existing scriptures, and could even make certain improvements based on them.

"Uh, improvements are a bit difficult; there seems to be a lack of innovation, as all the answers seem to be provided directly by the heavens and the earth..."

Zhang Xuan whispered.

Simply put, that Nine-Orifice Stone Man was incredibly fast at answering when dealing with scriptures that already existed in the world.

The speed of understanding scriptures that were already imprinted between heaven and earth was very fast; basically, he could do it as soon as he thought of it.

In terms of innovation, it was Zhang Xuan who had to do it instead.

Just like the peculiar grafting and the method of enlightening his "other self" that Zhang Xuan had pieced together before, after Zhang Xuan created a rough framework, it could be perfected, but it could not yet create something out of thin air.

"Even so, it is exaggerated to an excessive degree."

Zhang Xuan whispered; in his view, this speed of understanding scriptures was not even inferior to that of an Ancient Great Emperor.

"The original Holy Spirit should not have been able to do this."

After pondering for a while, Zhang Xuan reached this conclusion.

If a Holy Spirit truly reached such a stage, then there would really be no way to fight it.

In terms of physique alone, a Holy Spirit is not inferior to any of the strongest physiques between heaven and earth; it is beloved by heaven and earth, and its progress in matters of Dao enlightenment is rapid. Often, at whatever stage it is born, it is invincible at that corresponding stage, finding no enemies.

In all the world, only figures like an Ancient Great Emperor could defeat a Holy Spirit at the same stage.

"It should be the special bonuses from the Plantation and the Shenmu World..."

Under the operation of this peculiar state of mind, Zhang Xuan thinks through all problems extremely quickly.

A fully perfected Holy Spirit is born as an Alternative Enlightenment, and by waiting just a little, it can basically achieve the status of an invincible Great Emperor.

"And now, because of the Plantation, this Nine-Orifice Stone Man can reach full perfection in twenty years. This is something no other Holy Spirit of the same kind can compare to; this is the most uniquely gifted talent."

Buried between heaven and earth for millions of years, the Holy Spirit is nurtured by heaven and earth while within its stone womb; for a cultivator, it can directly achieve one hurdle after another.

Whether it is the Dao-Severing level that has stuck countless people in the Post-Desolate Ancient Era, or the Saint-Dao realm where countless cultivators have met their doom.

The Holy Spirit can cross these stages while sleeping and gestating.

But compared to figures of the same realm, he is not lacking in the slightest; he is even born perfect, invincible among kings of the same realm from the moment of birth.

"Heaven and earth have already given the Holy Spirit all the answers; he can achieve them through self-selection within his body, and heaven and earth will naturally generate the corresponding laws for him."

"But that requires hundreds of years; that is a miracle nurtured by heaven and earth. Yet now, in the Plantation, it can be truly achieved in just twenty years. Therefore, everything has accelerated, and even the corresponding insight and talent of the Nine-Orifice Stone Man are being accelerated during this process..."

Zhang Xuan feels that this should be the correct answer.

A normal Holy Spirit cannot reach this transcendent level; only a Nine-Orifice Stone Man super-accelerated in the Plantation can have such a level.

"I suppose this counts as a stroke of luck. The Chat Group and the Plantation naturally possess infinite power, but limited by my strength and realm, I have never been able to 'freeload' these functions. Now, I can finally be considered to have truly 'freeloaded' a portion of them."

"No, what do you mean 'freeload'? I am the Group Owner; using these functions is completely reasonable and legal, okay!"

Zhang Xuan muttered to himself, standing in the sky above Shencheng. After discerning the cause and effect of everything, he finally had a peculiar sense of security.

"This can be considered stepping onto a fast track. Before, practicing the Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art and the Indestructible Heavenly Art was not very fast; it was lacking too much."

"Achievements that would take millions of years compressed into twenty years, achieving the status of an invincible Ancient Emperor and Great Emperor in twenty years—no one in history has ever reached such a level. Being in the body of a Nine-Orifice Stone Man, I suppose this counts as a little bit of 'cheating', right?"

"Sigh, but a little cheat doesn't count as cheating; it's all a small matter!"

Zhang Xuan murmured, his heart feeling a rare sense of peace.

Facing unprecedented opportunities and fortune, Zhang Xuan was not in a hurry to use this stage to break through rapidly and reach a higher level; rarely, he stopped instead.

He used the Nine-Orifice Stone Man in the Shenmu World to inversely contemplate the cultivation and realm of his own true body in the Zhetian World.

"Originally, I was prepared to lay as solid a foundation as possible, and only after reaching Alternative Enlightenment would I think about my future path."

"After all, by suppressing others with a high realm, I don't care what kind of genius or physique you are; if I am a whole major realm higher than you, I can suppress you to death with a backhand. Now that I have such an opportunity, I might as well make it perfect."

Sitting cross-legged above Shencheng, the center of Zhang Xuan's brows was glowing.

A wisp of light explored downward from the location of his primordial spirit in the Immortal Platform, deep into the Dragon Transformation, Four Extremes, Dao Palace, and Wheel Sea realms, introspecting himself to check for gaps and make up for deficiencies.

"The cultivation of the Five Great Secret Realms has no major problems. Except for some small oversights and not being cultivated to perfection, it is basically complete and flawless..."

Introspecting carefully, Zhang Xuan discovered that his own state was quite good; it could be considered flawless and complete.

In this peculiar situation, his emotions seemed very calm, like a God walking on the surface of the water.

"Cultivating so quickly without appearing to have many problems or oversights is not only because I possess a top-tier, powerful Origin, but also because the Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art and the Indestructible Heavenly Art both originate from the inheritance of a Great Emperor."

"At the same time, I have had Qingdi, a Great Emperor of unparalleled talent throughout history, personally explain and guide me. I can be considered to have obtained the most essential parts of various Great Emperors; using them for cultivation, I don't need to be overly proud."

"If there were still problems with my cultivation in this regard, that would be the real problem."

Although he felt that there were no major problems overall, during the process of Dao enlightenment, whether in the Wheel Sea, Dao Palace, Four Extremes, or Dragon Transformation realms, dots of light were shining.

The dots of light were changing Zhang Xuan's body in subtle ways. His overall combat power and the strength of his physical flesh did not seem to have improved much, with only an extremely subtle feeling, but Zhang Xuan felt his whole body was more perfect and transparent.

After all, Zhang Xuan had already stood in the Eight Prohibitions realm by relying on the Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art, the Indestructible Heavenly Art, and Qingdi's explanations. Except for an Ancient Great Emperor, at this stage, Zhang Xuan could be said to be invincible in the world.

And now, these subtle adjustments were not many, but as these adjustments spread upward bit by bit, Zhang Xuan felt his body shake, as if his body had become transparent.

In an instant, without knowing or feeling, a clear "pop" sound seemed to come from his mind.

At this moment, Zhang Xuan was without joy or sorrow.

But he had a deep understanding and realization. Combined with the words and states mentioned in the Emperor Scripture, he could be considered to have stepped into the legendary God-Forbidden realm at this moment.

At this moment, all emotions seemed to have calmed down. Truly like a God controlling the entire body, Zhang Xuan could even calmly analyze at this moment.

"Stepping into the God-Forbidden realm is a bit of a shortcut; it is somewhat by borrowing the Nine-Orifice Stone Man still gestating in the Shenmu World that I crossed into this realm."

(End of chapter)