Chapter 190: A Different Path

"Some time ago, I happened to see a top-tier prodigy; once they grow up, they should be no less than an Emperor Son."

"Oh!"

God King Jiang Taixu's eyes brightened instantly. He had not been very interested in the God King from the Ji Family that Jiang Yifei had mentioned earlier, because he himself was a God King Body and knew where the limits of the God King Body lay.

The God King Body is considered top-tier among all races, but to contend with a true Emperor Son, it still falls short; he feared it would be difficult for them to contribute much during the Dark Turmoil in the future.

He saw that Jiang Yifei was proposing such a figure, fearing it was more out of consideration for the Ji Family.

After all, with two figures from the Jiang Family here now, Jiang Yifei naturally also wanted the Ji Family to contribute some figures as well.

This would also make the figures of the Ji Family more willing to support this matter.

The God King naturally understood the social nuances of this, and he would not refute it directly, but in his heart, he still wanted the most top-tier prodigies of other kinds.

He clearly knew the terror of the Ancient Myriad Tribes and the Dark Turmoil.

"Where is such a figure? What kind of person are they?"

"It is a Desolate Ancient Sacred Body, and one who has stepped onto the path of cultivation."

"A Desolate Ancient Sacred Body capable of cultivation—then they indeed have the qualifications; we can invite them over."

The God King nodded in agreement, but had another concern: "However, in the Post-Desolate Ancient Era, it is not that the Sacred Body hasn't appeared, but even if a great price is paid to let them step onto the path of cultivation, it is very difficult for them to reach Great Completion in the future, and very strange things often occur midway."

"Since the Post-Desolate Ancient Era, not a single Great Completion Sacred Body has appeared. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Zhang has a solution?"

"I do!"

Zhang Xuan was concise and to the point.

In the original story, the God King, while in the Saint Realm, could exhaust his life's Essence to reconnect the broken path for Ye Fan. Now, with the peak-level Gai Jiuyou present, Zhang Xuan did not feel there was a major problem with this.

It was merely a curse on heaven and earth deliberately created by the Yuan Shen, Yuan Gui, and the Underworld, who were terrified by the consecutive appearance of nine Great Completion Sacred Bodies; with Gai Jiuyou taking action, it should be easily handled.

The God King was overjoyed.

"Good, then count the Sacred Body as one."

"What about the other top-tier prodigies?"

Jiang Yifei hesitated for a moment and said, "Hua Yunfei of the Taixuan Sect has a jade-like immortal physique and is innately close to the Dao; he can be considered a prodigy."

The God King nodded.

"Yan Ruyu, the descendant of the Demon Emperor among the Demon Race, can also be called the most top-tier prodigy of the young generation. After all, the blood of Qingdi flows within her; although it is not a direct lineage, her potential is also terrifyingly strong."

Jizi nodded.

"According to legend, the Zhonghuang who could contend with Gai Jiuyou in the young generation back then did not die. When Gai Jiuyou shook the world once again, someone dug him out from a snow-capped mountain."

"Among the Demon Race, there is also a peerless figure known as Nanyao. Not many people have seen him take action, but rumors say that Demon Race prodigies who possess the Heavenly Demon Body all consider him an unimaginable, formidable enemy."

"The Northern Plains also has a peerless prodigy who has emerged, known as the Northern Emperor, a figure named Wang Teng."

And then, he continued to name several more figures, all of whom could be considered famous figures at this current stage.

The God King listened and nodded repeatedly.

Jizi was also lost in thought.

Only Zhang Xuan felt both strange and familiar.

He found many of this group of figures familiar; they were peerless figures who had once shone brilliantly on Beidou Gu Xing.

Later, many of these figures walked all the way to the very peak, reaching the level of Alternative Enlightenment. They could be considered the most brilliant prodigies of the Golden Great Age, and once they truly grew up, they were indeed no less than an Emperor Son.

"We can invite them all over in our name. Among them, the most powerful and talented group will be able to obtain the Strongest Bloodline Evolution Fluid."

Jiang Taixu looked at Zhang Xuan, and Zhang Xuan nodded in approval.

When he agreed, there was an inexplicable feeling in his heart.

"This original batch of the most supreme prodigies is actually going to be nurtured by me and become my juniors; it is truly strange."

But such a thought only arose for an instant before being quickly snuffed out by Zhang Xuan.

"Now is not the time for rejoicing. After all, my strength has not truly reached the level of the big shots; there are still great deficiencies. I must improve my own strength as quickly as possible, otherwise, it would be embarrassing to be overtaken by latecomers."

Zhang Xuan did not think that just because he was currently in the lead, he could always remain in the lead. After all, those who could compete with him were the figures with the most top-tier talent, comprehension, and aptitude in the Golden Great Age.

Ye Fan spent over two hundred years going from someone who had not yet touched cultivation to reaching the Great Saint realm.

While the cultivation speed of other practitioners might be a bit slower than Ye Fan's, it would not be too far behind. About five hundred years after stepping into the Cultivation World, most figures would begin to touch the Quasi-Emperor Realm, which is simply unimaginable in ordinary eras.

Zhang Xuan kept himself under a certain amount of pressure at all times and did not dare to be too relaxed.

"You all arrange the subsequent matters; I may need to go into the Universe to undergo my tribulation!"

After discussing most things with the God King and the others, Zhang Xuan nodded slightly.

God King Jiang Taixu's expression was slightly shaken: "You are about to sever the Dao?"

Even Jizi and Jiang Yifei were shocked.

Their families had all conducted certain investigations into Zhang Xuan and knew that Zhang Xuan's cultivation and strength had not been very strong before. Now, in such a short time, Zhang Xuan was actually going to sever the Dao.

"I still need to polish it a bit; it won't be that fast."

Zhang Xuan nodded and did not linger here for too long.

After agreeing on the general matters, he took a step forward.

A golden road spread out beneath his feet, and in just a few steps, he had traveled very far.

As for undergoing the tribulation on Beidou Gu Xing, Zhang Xuan felt that being limited to just a small area was too narrow. He did not know how many Great Emperors had left their marks on Beidou Gu Xing; outside of Beidou Gu Xing, undergoing the tribulation would surely yield huge benefits.

Therefore, he wanted to go outside of Beidou Gu Xing and undergo the tribulation in the starry sky beyond the domain.

With his current strength and realm, living in the starry sky of the Universe for a short time would not kill him. Although it was difficult for him to directly plunder the Essence of stars from the starry sky, whether it was the Demon Race or the Desolate Ancient Holy Land families, they could easily provide him with millions of jin of Source.

That was enough for Zhang Xuan to live in the starry sky for a very long time.

But Zhang Xuan did not immediately go deep into the starry sky; he still needed to further adjust his state and comprehend the imprints in his heart.

He had basically thought through the directions and strategies for many major realms and understood them well, but there were still many details that needed to be polished.

Reading ten thousand books is like traveling ten thousand miles; the same is true for cultivating the Dao. His cultivation speed was too fast, and while he had the most solid foundation, there were still some deficiencies in certain traces.

Walking through Shencheng, Zhang Xuan heard that the entire Shencheng was in an uproar.

"Incredible, truly incredible! That young man who was thought to have good luck actually didn't rely on luck, but had obtained the inheritance of the Source Heaven Book. Now, he is actually competing against a figure from a Source Technique Family who is infinitely close to being a Source Earth Master."

"Your information is too slow; the gambling match is almost finished. That genius youth unearthed a living Ancient Creature, suspected to be an Ancient Royal Clan from back then—a powerful race from the ancient times known as the Fighting Sacred Ape."

"The person from the Source Technique Family, who is nearly a Source Earth Master, also unearthed something extraordinary; I heard they unearthed a dead Ancient King."

"More than that, more than that! I heard that a single Stone Workshop wasn't enough for their gambling match. After gambling in the Stone Workshop of the Yaochi Sacred Land, they even went to the Stone Workshop of the Ji Family and the Stone Workshop of the Taiyi Sacred Land. It was truly earth-shattering."

"I fear that for hundreds of years, no one has been able to compare to this Source Technique duel. An Earth Origin Fruit was even unearthed during this gambling match."

……

Zhang Xuan tilted his head to listen, a look of slight contemplation appearing on his face.

"In the original work, the most essential part of the gambling match was the duel in the Stone Workshop of the Yaochi Sacred Land, where Ye Fan not only unearthed a Qilin Undying Divine Medicine but also unearthed the Fighting Sacred Ape and the Immortal Linglong."

"Now, because I intervened early, the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine, the Qilin Undying Divine Medicine, and the Nine-Orifice Stone Man that gestated the Dragon Pattern Black Gold have all disappeared. Is that why one Stone Workshop couldn't support their gambling match, and they went to multiple ones in succession?"

There are certain differences from the plot in the original work, but the final result still has no major questions; Ye Fan is still considered a great victor.

The Source Technique Family wanted to use their prestige to forcibly change the outcome of this gambling match, believing that they were the winners.

As a result, a powerful figure from the Demon Race, Red Dragon Daoist, came forward to help, finally allowing Ye Fan to take back the victory that belonged to him.

"It is truly interesting. There has been a certain deviation, but it has still returned to the right path."

Zhang Xuan shook his head, then took a step and rushed out of Shencheng toward more distant regions.

On this land of Beidou, a special Dao rhyme permeated everywhere. Zhang Xuan did not have a deep perception of it before, because most of the time he was in seclusion practicing.

Now that he has reached his current stage, he can feel that every location on the earth is very special, containing a different kind of meaning.

Zhang Xuan carefully sensed it, even walking to the vicinity of Purple Mountain to observe the tomb of that Ancient Great Emperor.

Compared to his previous tension and worry, he can now walk across the entire Beidou land, as long as he does not seek death by breaking into those terrifying Forbidden Lands.

Then he can basically walk on completely, without any problems or harm.

Between heaven and earth, there is very little that can stop him.

Compared to his previous hard practice every day, Zhang Xuan rarely practiced, just walking on the earth.

He captured the traces and imprints of the Ancient Great Emperor around Purple Mountain, and even followed the special veins to the ancient area of Yaochi, taking a look at Yaochi.

He did not possess the cultivation methods for the Dao Palace Realm of Yaochi as recorded in the Source Heaven Book, but upon walking into this area and linking with his avatar, the Nine-Orifice Stone Man, his comprehension and realm were elevated to an incredible level, allowing him to observe the five special cultivation methods of the Dao Palace Realm.

He also obtained a perfect and complete inheritance here.

Of course, it only involved the Dao Palace Realm; after all, Ye Fan only practiced the methods involving the Dao Palace Realm here.

After Zhang Xuan obtained it, he could not help but sigh silently.

The Western Emperor Scripture has always been known as the strongest scripture for cultivation in the Dao Palace Realm, possessing incredible power and wonders.

Zhang Xuan carefully compared them and indeed found that this scripture was exquisite and peerless; speaking solely of the Dao Palace Realm, it could be called the best throughout history.

But it was only the Dao Palace Realm and did not involve the full text; if the scripture involved the full text, there might be some deficiencies in certain parts.

Zhang Xuan silently comprehended it and compared it one by one with the Dao Scripture left behind by the Heavenly Venerable, allowing the original scripture within his body to undergo some subtle adjustments.

This part of the adjustment would not be very large, after all, the Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art and the Indestructible Heavenly Art passed down by the Ruthless Great Emperor were themselves the most supreme scriptures in the world.

The fact that some parts needed adjustment did not mean that this part of the scripture was not powerful enough, but rather that this part of the scripture was perfectly suited for the Ruthless Great Emperor, but not necessarily perfectly suited for Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan combined parts of the Dao Scripture and the Western Emperor Scripture to make certain modifications to himself, which would be more suitable for him.

In terms of his own strength and realm, there might be a slight improvement, but it would not be too much.

It was precisely because Zhang Xuan himself had a bug-like existence such as the Nine-Orifice Stone Man that he could make adjustments at his current realm.

Other people would find it impossible to do this; after all, no matter what, what Zhang Xuan held in his hands were Great Emperor-level scriptures. For many people in the world, a Great Emperor's scripture is a supreme treasure that cannot be changed by even a single word.

"The talent and aptitude of the Ruthless Great Emperor are truly astonishing!"

Zhang Xuan found even partial modifications difficult; his own improvement was minimal, but it did indeed exist, and there would be some changes.

"My original thoughts and ideas were too narrow; absorbing different Origins from the heavens and myriad worlds and then using this to walk a path different from the Ruthless Great Emperor was actually wrong, and I did not succeed."

It was in such realizations that Zhang Xuan felt the most subtle differences and distinctions.

"No matter how strange or unique the Origin I absorb is, the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth that I practice myself is still based on the Ruthless Great Emperor's method of swallowing the Origin between heaven and earth to strengthen oneself."

"This point has not changed, so I am still walking on the path prescribed by the Ruthless Great Emperor and have not opened up a new path."

Zhang Xuan sighed silently.

At this moment, he grasped that if he continued to walk along this path, the most glorious state of his life would be to reach the stage of Alternative Enlightenment.

It would still be impossible to truly become a Great Emperor, because since ancient times, no two Great Emperors have had the exact same path; every Great Emperor has walked a unique path with unique potential, absolutely different, and there will always be corresponding distinctions.

"However, there is no need to change the method directly now."

Having realized this, Zhang Xuan was still not anxious.

Because no one's path appears out of thin air; one must first walk along the paths of predecessors, stand on the shoulders of predecessors, and only after having sufficient height can one begin to think about the path one wants to walk.

He could be no exception.

(End of this chapter)