The youth beneath the Three Flowers Gathering at the Apex continued to ascend, step by step. The Great Way of Heavenly Water gathered all around, the heavenly ladder reaching high and far, with one hundred and eight thousand steps, corresponding to the number of one hundred and eight thousand Great Ways.
Each Great Way had its own insurmountable difficulty; none but the most resolute could enter.
Amidst the blossoming of the Three Flowers, the youth reached the forty-seven thousandth step and stopped once more.
The Five Energies within his chest were gathered, the Five Energies Facing the Origin, the Three Flowers Gathering at the Apex, the Great Way of Heavenly Water merging into his being. He continued forward for another fifty thousand steps.
The youth halted at the one hundred and first thousandth step.
Three Flowers Gathering at the Apex, Five Energies Facing the Origin – this was the realm of a Grand Unity Immortal. At this very moment, Qing Ling finally understood that it was not merely the Three Flowers Gathering at the Apex and Five Energies Facing the Origin that led to becoming a Grand Unity Golden Immortal!
The youth had reached this state; his power was immense, even only three points weaker than a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
However, he was not a Grand Unity Golden Immortal recognized by heaven and earth, nor a Grand Unity Golden Immortal of the Great Way!
Only by ascending this heavenly ladder, now, in an era when the Heavenly Way was hidden and the Great Way unimpeded, could this heavenly ladder descend!
Qing Ling’s heart trembled. If he were to achieve Grand Unity after the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, after Dao Ancestor Hongjun became a Saint and the Heavenly Way manifested, he would be achieving a Grand Unity of the Heavenly Way, not a Grand Unity of the Great Way!
Though only a difference of one word, it was a chasm apart.
A Grand Unity of the Heavenly Way was a Grand Unity under the Heavenly Way; within the rules of the Heavenly Way, one was a Grand Unity. One might not even need to undergo the tribulation of enlightenment; reaching the required primordial spirit and mana was enough to become a Grand Unity!
Bound by the Heavenly Way, one enjoyed eternal freedom within its confines.
Therefore, the upper limit for a Grand Unity of the Heavenly Way was the maximum height that cultivators could reach according to the Heavenly Way. Grand Unities that would never pose a threat to the Heavenly Way, once they violated the grand current and threatened the Heavenly Way, would perish in an instant.
A Grand Unity of the Great Way attained eternity. They were the Grand Unity Golden Immortals within the Primordial World, within the universe, within the chaos. Uniting with eternity, they were a Dao that even the Heavenly Way could not reach!
A sense of urgency arose in Qing Ling's heart. He had to achieve Grand Unity of the Great Way before the Dao Ancestor became a Saint and the Heavenly Way manifested. Otherwise, for him, an anomaly, achieving Grand Unity of the Heavenly Way would be extremely perilous.
With myriad thoughts, a greater storm pulled him back to the present.
The youth had stopped before the one hundred thousandth step. Eight thousand steps remained.
Wind and rain flowed down the heavenly steps. The eight thousand steps soared into the clouds. If he could cross these eight thousand steps, he would become a Grand Unity of the Great Way!
Even in this primitive era, few had attained Grand Unity of the Great Way. Most Grand Unity Supremes had attained the Grand Unity of the minor Great Ways among the one hundred and eight thousand Great Ways. Thus, their eternity was an eternity with their Great Way.
As long as the minor Great Way did not perish, they would not die. Even if the minor Great Way was destroyed, after their deaths, when the minor Great Way reappeared after immeasurable ages, they would still return, though perhaps no longer as Grand Unities!
This was because their minor Great Way might have already been claimed by someone else, with a successor surpassing them.
The youth looked up, his eyes filled with defiance. His form gradually disappeared, and within the wind and rain, a colossal beast began to ascend the steps.
The primordial water virtue flowed through its body. A Water Qilin walked on the steps amidst the wind and rain.
Eight thousand steps, seven thousand steps, five thousand steps, three thousand steps…
The higher it ascended, the more precarious the Water Qilin’s form became. The gravity borne by the Great Way had far exceeded its limits.
However, the Qilin did not retreat.
If it took but one step back, this ladder of the Great Way would abruptly end, and its pursuit of enlightenment would be in vain!
He had lived in seclusion in the chaotic lands for tens of epochs, and finally, this opportunity had arrived. He absolutely refused to give up!
Yet, even with the Three Flowers Gathering at the Apex, the Five Energies Facing the Origin, and the bloodline of the Water Qilin, it was still difficult to reach the summit.
When the Water Qilin had two thousand steps remaining, with every step, its physical body dissolved a little more.
Its fur gradually shed, its scales and armor melted away, followed by its body, its limbs…
When there were one thousand three hundred steps left, the Water Qilin's physical body had dissolved, leaving only its primordial spirit.
But even its primordial spirit continued to climb unyieldingly. The primordial spirit was gradually assimilated by the Great Way of Heavenly Water, its light dimming bit by bit.
The youth’s eyes shifted from defiance to despair and unwillingness!
The wind and rain raged. On the one hundred and seven thousandth heavenly step, the youth’s primordial spirit stood alone. His heart was filled with anger and unwillingness. Countless epochs of arduous cultivation had brought him to this peak, only to be halted here!
“Heaven and Earth! Why do you treat me so?”
The youth roared at the sky, his boundless unwillingness accusing heaven and earth. A storm raged, the sky and earth darkened, yet no answer came.
In his despair, the youth's primordial spirit exhaled in a rush, his spirit broken.
The magnificent and towering ladder of the Great Way, stretching from heaven to earth, gradually dissipated from top to bottom.
Along with it also dissipated the youth's countless ages of arduous cultivation of the Great Way of Heavenly Water.
The wind and rain finally ceased, and the sky cleared. The youth’s primordial spirit fell, submerged by the rainwater, sinking to the bottom. Heaven and earth returned to peace.
Far away, the Heaven-Eroding Venerable retracted his gaze and sighed, “How difficult it is to achieve Grand Unity of the Great Way! Especially one hundred and eight thousand steps?
Even I, in my time, only reached eight thousand six hundred steps on the Dao ladder. Despite my exceptional talent and noble origins, I still failed at this hurdle.
Today, I have witnessed the legendary one hundred and eight thousand Dao steps. Alas, what a pity and what sorrow!”
In the Realm of Life and Death, Mu Gong's physical body was suppressed, but his primordial spirit remained. He sneered, “Heaven-Eroding, those one hundred and eight thousand Dao steps were only traversed by the three ancestral patriarchs. This Water Qilin actually dared to aspire to their level?”
The Heaven-Eroding Venerable sneered, “If he had been a tiny bit luckier, crossing a thousand Dao steps, the Qilin tribe would have gained another supreme powerful ancestor.
He is infinitely stronger than you!”
“Heh, even though he is no longer a vassal of the Qilin tribe, he still wholeheartedly upholds his former clan. Truly a loyal and good dog!”
The Heaven-Eroding Venerable's eyes turned fierce in an instant. He glared at the void where Mu Gong was, like a terrifying creature poised to devour him.
“Mu Gong, if you wish to test my Sky-Devouring Divine Ability, I don't mind! Even if it's difficult for me, it will be difficult for you too!
Though my Heavenly Dog clan has declined, we are still far better off than you, a disgraced outcast!”
Mu Gong immediately fell silent. As an old rival, he knew the Heaven-Eroding's Sky-Devouring Divine Ability was capable of swallowing the moonlight from half of the Primordial World. It was terrifying, and he did not wish to put himself at risk.
Far away, Qing Ling sighed. The difficulty of seeking the Dao could only be truly understood through personal experience.
He turned to leave.
However, other cultivators nearby began to move, their streams of light flickering. The weaker ones hurried away, while the stronger ones charged forward.
A Grand Unity who had failed to break through and suffered heavy damage was a rare prize in this chaotic land!
Here, no one would refrain from killing due to identity. Even those from the three tribes would die if they fell here.
Respect was shown for the Dao before; now, killing was for profit and survival.
Qing Ling shook his head and turned to leave.
Beside him, a grey-robed youth saw him turn to leave. His intended forward steps curved, and he walked towards Qing Ling.
“Fellow Daoist, I am the master of Ju Ming Mountain. Your strength is so unfathomable, why do you not advance to claim a share of the spoils?”
Qing Ling stopped and glanced at the youth, finding him somewhat amiable. He said, “Some things should not be touched.”
With that, he turned into a beam of light and soared into the sky, departing.
The grey-robed youth was perplexed. After pondering for a moment, he suppressed the urge to join the fray. With his cultivation as a Grand Unity, he could naturally gain something.
However, he trusted his intuition more.
The cultivator before him, with his exceptionally handsome appearance, possessed unfathomable strength that even he could not gauge. Such a master was likely not far from the Grand Unity realm, and his words were surely not baseless.
The grey-robed youth thought for a moment, then looked back at the spot where the Qilin had fallen. It was already swarming with powerful cultivators engaged in fierce battles. It was too late to go now.
He sighed and muttered, “Perhaps I am too timid, and I have missed an opportunity. It is too late to go now. The Dao Treasury of a cultivator who had been close to Grand Unity for tens of epochs is surely extraordinary.”
Shaking his head, he transformed into a beam of light and flew back to his mountain.
However, after flying only a hundred thousand miles, he suddenly saw a dark jade Qilin, as large as ten thousand mountains, tear through the void from the west. The immense pressure made his legs tremble even from tens of thousands of miles away, nearly causing him to kneel.
As the ink jade Qilin brought down a hoof, an area of one hundred thousand miles was instantly crushed into a vacuum by the terrifying force. All mountains, rivers, and spiritual energy vanished.
The Qilin was at the twenty-first level of Grand Unity, only a hair's breadth away from being a supreme being. The four directions of heaven and earth were dyed in ink jade, as if an emperor, with all beasts bowing in submission.
The beings annihilated in the vacuum naturally included those cultivators vying for the Water Qilin.
Following that, the ink jade Qilin retrieved a dim primordial spirit and tore through the void once more.
Only after the terrifying aura completely vanished did the grey-robed youth recover his senses and murmur, “I am not timid; I am cautious, cautious! That fellow Daoist’s words saved my life!”
The grey-robed youth quickly fled back to his mountain dwelling. He had no intention of showing himself outside for the next few epochs.
Far away, Qing Ling, having sensed the pressure of the Qilin patriarch, understood. In this era of the three tribes, these desperadoes born in the chaotic lands underestimated the three tribes too much, failing to realize how powerful and terrifying they were, daring to covet a Water Virtue Qilin, a rarity even among the Qilin tribe.
If one is greedy, opportunities and fortunes can turn into crises. Being able to witness a Grand Unity cultivator attempting to break through to Grand Unity was itself a grand opportunity.
Whether as a human or a beast, one should not be too greedy.
After Qing Ling left, he continued his journey straight ahead. Bai Fu, who had been dormant for a long time, awoke again. Back in the Realm of Life and Death, after swallowing a portion of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal's destiny, he had truly struck it rich.
Unexpectedly, although Bai Fu's strength was weak, he possessed such a heaven-defying divine ability. Accompanied by calamity and tribulation, he could devour the destinies of others.
With Bai Fu’s ability to sense danger and the aid of puppet reconnaissance, Qing Ling traveled safely, encountering no major dangers.
At most, there were some insignificant mountain lords who harbored improper intentions towards Qing Ling.
With Qing Ling's current divine abilities, he could even defeat a Grand Unity cultivator. After all, he had glimpsed the realm of Grand Unity, and in terms of both cultivation methods and the path of Dao, he had surpassed the understanding of Golden Immortal beings.
Therefore, several Golden Immortal mountain lords who had ill intentions towards him were planted with the Dao Realm of Withering and Flourishing by him.
Those who were still alive were naturally planted in the realm of life, to guide their vitality.
Even those who were dead were pulled into the realm of death, to guide their death qi.
The mountain lords who had plotted against him, whether alive or dead, belonged to him. He would not let any of them go.