Chapter 302: Deity Transformation Middle Stage

[On a desolate, withered wasteland.]

[A figure clad in somber black robes stared coldly toward the Central Continent—or, more accurately, toward where Soul Capital used to be.]

[This figure was none other than Heavenly Monarch Diming, the other Heavenly Monarch of the Soul Dao Lineage.]

[Ever since he sensed the complete obliteration of the Soul Dao Lineage and the accompanying death of Heavenly Monarch Wanhua, Heavenly Monarch Diming had gone entirely into hiding.]

[Of course, while in hiding, Heavenly Monarch Diming had also been secretly observing the situation across the Human Realm.]

["My Soul Dao Lineage has existed for millions of years and produced Heavenly Monarchs generation after generation. Now that it has been wiped out for no reason, have the other Heavenly Monarchs truly done nothing?" Heavenly Monarch Diming's eyes were cold. "After taking so many resources from my Soul Dao Lineage, Ethereal Peak has done absolutely nothing?"]

[Heavenly Monarch Diming felt extremely bitter.]

[He had originally hidden himself away intending to watch the other Heavenly Monarchs take revenge for the Soul Dao Lineage, or at the very least, make a public uproar over it. The two great factions, Ethereal Peak and Extreme Dao Hall, couldn't possibly just sit back and watch.]

[However, the reality was that they truly did nothing.]

[Ethereal Peak and Extreme Dao Hall had quickly reached a settlement with you.]

["Sword Lord!"]

[Heavenly Monarch Diming's heart trembled. He didn't dare show his face right now, nor did he dare contact his former Heavenly Monarch friends, terrified they would turn around and sell him out to the Sword Lord.]

[Given the Sword Lord's strength, countless Heavenly Monarchs in the Human Realm would want to curry favor with him, and he, the last Heavenly Monarch of the Soul Dao Lineage, would make the perfect stepping stone.]

["It's because of the pressure from the Demon Abyss Realm. The two Deity Transformation Late Stage experts of Ethereal Peak and Extreme Dao Hall are tied down and can't pull away. Under these circumstances, the Sword Lord's existence is crucial. Even though One Law One Body possesses the heritage of the Upper Realm, they only want to placate him; they aren't willing to offend him..."]

['Fellow Daoist Wanhua, you've doomed me,' Heavenly Monarch Diming thought. 'Of all the people to offend, you just had to offend such a fiend...']

[Indeed, in Heavenly Monarch Diming's eyes, the reason you attacked the Soul Dao Lineage was entirely due to your grudge against Heavenly Monarch Wanhua.]

[Aside from Heavenly Monarch Wanhua, Heavenly Monarch Diming simply couldn't think of any other possibility.]

["What can I do now...?" Heavenly Monarch Diming racked his brains. "The Soul Dao Lineage is universally despised. If I want to survive, my only hope is to break through to the Deity Transformation Late Stage."]

[Heavenly Monarch Diming was also at the Deity Transformation Middle Stage. The heaven and earth environment of the ancient era was highly favorable; out of ten Deity Transformation Early Stage Heavenly Monarchs, roughly two or three could break through to the middle stage.]

[Only the late stage was a massive bottleneck and shackle that Heavenly Monarchs struggled to overcome. Except for One Law One Body, the chances of Heavenly Monarchs from the Eight Hundred Auxiliary Branches reaching the Deity Transformation Late Stage were exceedingly slim; one might not even appear in tens of thousands of years.]

["Deity Transformation Late Stage!"]

[Heavenly Monarch Diming's mind jolted. Even if he broke through to the Deity Transformation Late Stage, he still wouldn't be a match for that Sword Lord; after all, wiping out the Soul Dao Lineage and killing Heavenly Monarch Wanhua with a single sword strike was something an ordinary Deity Transformation Late Stage cultivator couldn't accomplish.]

[But in Heavenly Monarch Diming's heart, reaching the Deity Transformation Late Stage would at least give him the ability to preserve his life in front of you, and that was enough.]

["I stepped into the Deity Transformation Stage at five hundred years old, and the Deity Transformation Middle Stage at twelve hundred. I'm fifteen hundred years old now... I still have over a thousand years to live..."]

[Heavenly Monarch Diming examined himself. Although his hopes of breaking through to the Deity Transformation Late Stage were slim, perhaps even completely negligible, it was the only choice he had.]

[If he didn't reach the Deity Transformation Late Stage, he wouldn't even dare to show his face.]

[Fortunately, Heavenly Monarch Diming knew of a hidden cave dwelling built on a Fifth Tier Middle Grade spiritual vein. That, combined with the numerous resources he carried on his person, would be enough to sustain his daily cultivation moving forward.]

[Soul Capital.]

[You sat cross-legged, immersed in pioneering the sword dao.]

[For you, the biggest challenge wasn't cultivation. To be precise, cultivating consumed less than a third of your energy.]

[Your main focus was spent on comprehending the sword dao.]

[The sword dao of the ancient era was extremely crude. The sword dao you were comprehending, however, was perfected to the utmost—a true sword dao fit to be passed down through the generations.]

[Deriving the sword dao from scratch was too difficult. It required the accumulation of generations. Only you, possessing the number one sword dao talent in the Human Realm, could drastically shorten this process all by yourself.]

[Several months later, you ended your closed-door cultivation.]

["Hm?"]

[You looked underground, your massive divine sense sweeping out to cover the area.]

["You has already stepped into Tier 3?"]

[You marveled inwardly. A few months ago, when you first awakened You to sapience, it was still a Tier 1 lifeform, equivalent to a Qi Refining Stage cultivator.]

[But in just these short few months, through continuously devouring the escaping nether energy, You had already grown to Tier 3.]

["Truly blessed by heaven."]

[You nodded slightly, knowing that the main reason You could cultivate so quickly was by relying on the legacy of the Youming Earth Vein.]

[Once the nether energy was completely devoured, You's cultivation speed would plummet drastically.]

[You didn't have any objections to You's cultivation speed. After all, you were the one who had awakened the spirit, and it would be boundlessly loyal to you lifetime after lifetime.]

[Since it was a fighter who could never possibly betray you, you were more than eager for You to grow as strong as possible.]

['Quite a few Heavenly Monarchs have come to visit me over these past few months...']

[You thought to yourself. The purpose of their visits, naturally, was to celebrate your breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage.]

["Elder Yang."]

[You summoned Elder Yang.]

["Wuyou..." Elder Yang appeared before you. During this time, he had been standing guard outside Soul Capital.]

["Take this Vermilion Fruit, Elder Yang." With a slight shift of your intent, a crimson Ten-Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit floated in front of him.]

[The Ten-Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit was a life-saving treasure. For anyone below the true monarch level, no matter what injuries they suffered, as long as a sliver of their soul remained, they could rapidly recover after consuming it.]

[Besides saving lives,]

[the most precious aspect of the Ten-Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit was its ability to sculpt a physical body perfectly suited to the cultivator. This was absolutely crucial for cultivators who had lost their original bodies and resorted to soul possession, which normally rendered them unable to advance their cultivation any further.]

["A Ten-Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit..." Elder Yang's expression stirred. He naturally knew how precious this kind of heaven-and-earth spiritual item was.]

["Take it."]

[You spoke in a calm tone. To you, the Ten-Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit had no real use. Excluding this one, you still had hundreds more. Among the massive spoils of war taken from the Soul Dao Lineage, there were plenty of spiritual fruits capable of restoring flesh and repairing souls.]

[Gifting one to Elder Yang made no difference.]

[Elder Yang was very close to your identity in this simulation, having even watched you grow up during your first year. Naturally, you wouldn't just watch him remain unable to advance his cultivation for the rest of his life.]

["Wuyou, thank you..." Elder Yang said solemnly. Ever since you wiped out the Soul Dao Lineage, Elder Yang had fallen into a state of emptiness. Everything was finally resolved—his great vengeance was avenged, and you had achieved soaring heights.]

[It could be said that Elder Yang had lost his next goal in life.]

[Now that he had this Ten-Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit, Elder Yang could continue cultivating, and his state of mind was naturally different.]

[You watched Elder Yang leave. This was as much as you could help him—providing cultivation resources. As for the rest? That would have to depend on Elder Yang himself. In particular, the Heart Demon Tribulation encountered when breaking through from Core Formation to the Nascent Soul realm was something you could hardly interfere with.]

[Year 70. You were 70 years old.]

[You remained immersed in cultivation.]

["True Monarch Tianshuang..."]

[On this day, you opened your eyes and looked outside Soul Capital.]

[True Monarch Tianshuang, leading a few Sword Cultivator true monarchs, was waiting respectfully outside.]

[With a thought, you brought True Monarch Tianshuang and the others inside.]

["Sword Lord."]

[True Monarch Tianshuang was startled at first, but upon seeing you, his expression immediately relaxed, and he bowed respectfully.]

["Sword Lord, over these past few years, various Heavenly Monarchs have successively visited Myriad Sword Mountain and presented precious congratulatory gifts. I have brought all the gifts here..." True Monarch Tianshuang took out a Storage Ring.]

["Hm."]

[You accepted the Storage Ring. Sweeping it with your divine sense, you found that it was filled with rare spiritual herbs and treasures, all at least Tier 5 in quality. You didn't refuse, accepting them calmly.]

["How is Myriad Sword Mountain doing now?"]

[You asked.]

["Very well." True Monarch Tianshuang's eyes lit up. "Every day, many cultivators come to observe Myriad Sword Mountain from afar, and Sword Cultivators are returning one after another..."]

[True Monarch Tianshuang was thrilled. Your existence proved that the sword dao was also a Great Dao. This had an absolutely astonishing effect on the spread of the sword dao; at the very least, many cultivators now harbored thoughts of switching to it.]

[You looked at True Monarch Tianshuang, falling into a brief moment of thought.]

[You recalled your previous conversations with Heavenly Monarch Xingmang and Heavenly Monarch Nine Dragons.]

[Ethereal Peak and Extreme Dao Hall were factions established by reincarnated immortals. The reason reincarnated immortals did this was to spread their own "Dao".]

[Although you didn't quite understand what the ultimate goal was or what benefits would come from spreading a "Dao", since reincarnated immortals all did it, you didn't mind copying a gourd by following a model.]

[In any case, following the lead of reincarnated immortals definitely wouldn't cause any problems. Even if there were hidden dangers, this was just a simulation; you would have the chance to make a final choice.]

["The various legacy cultivation methods of the sword dao today are far too weak."]

[You looked at True Monarch Tianshuang and took out over a dozen jade slips.]

[These dozen or so jade slips contained numerous sword dao legacies. Over the past few months, drawing upon the many sword dao legacies in your memories, you had created these cultivation techniques to perfectly suit the ancient era.]

["Keep them safe, and pass them down."]

[You said.]

["Alright..."]

[True Monarch Tianshuang was a bit confused at first, but the moment he picked up a jade slip and briefly scanned it, he felt like five thunders striking the summit.]

[The sword dao legacies inside the jade slips were completely different from any he had ever encountered. Whether in foundational concept or execution, they vastly surpassed the sword dao techniques cultivated by Sword Cultivators of the past, separated by a gap as wide as a heavenly chasm.]

["Sword Lord, these, these..."]

[True Monarch Tianshuang was thrilled beyond measure. These legacies, which could easily establish a major auxiliary branch, were just handed over to him like this?]

["Take them."]

[Your tone did not fluctuate in the slightest. Compared to the sword dao you were currently comprehending and researching, these legacies were far too simple.]

[You didn't leave behind the legacy of what you yourself cultivated. Because it involved the core sword dao, it was incredibly difficult to describe in words. What you cultivated wasn't a specific legacy, but the sword dao itself.]

[This was also the reason your combat strength was so terrifying. Even without relying on "Surpassing Oneself by Half a Move" and your many other talents, you could rival a normal Deity Transformation Late Stage expert on the strength of your sword dao alone, despite having just entered the Deity Transformation Stage.]

[Furthermore, as your comprehension of the sword dao deepened, this combat strength would only grow more fearsome, until you became the sword dao, and the sword dao became you.]

['In the near-ancient era, the sword dao has already become the number one Great Dao in the Human Realm, suppressing the Dharma and Body Lineages. I wonder what use that will have...']

[You thought to yourself.]

[Year 80. You were 80 years old.]

[You learned that at the Demon Abyss Realm passages located in the Western Desert and the Northern Plains, the number of demon experts invading the Human Realm had skyrocketed. However, the two Deity Transformation Late Stage Heavenly Monarchs from One Law One Body, relying on their Upper Realm heritage, were still able to handle it.]

["Upper Realm heritage?"]

[You were rather curious, having once sensed the spatial fluctuations from those two locations from afar.]

[In the near-ancient era, whether it was the Three Laws or the Two Bodies, neither had any mention of Upper Realm heritage. Even their own legacies had been mostly lost and fragmented.]

["The stronger they are, the better. The longer they stall them, the better."]

[You actually hoped those two Deity Transformation Late Stage Heavenly Monarchs could hold off the Demon Abyss Realm as much as possible, buying you time to cultivate.]

[Year 90. You were 90 years old.]

[Over this decade, aside from the two great Demon Abyss Realm passages in the Western Desert and Northern Plains, new spatial rifts began appearing all across the Human Realm. One demon monster after another squeezed into the Human Realm through these spatial rifts.]

[However, these newly appeared spatial rifts could at most accommodate Rank 3 and Rank 4 demon monsters, so they had little impact on the Human Realm.]

['The sword dao at the Deity Transformation Middle Stage and even the late stage... must already touch upon the prototype of a heaven and earth... Only this way will it be easier and smoother when breaking through to Void Return...']

[You sat cross-legged with Sword Intent weaving before you as you thought.]

[Going from Deity Transformation to Void Return required the creation of an inner heaven and earth.]

[But how to create this inner heaven and earth? And how to do it as smoothly as possible? That was the key to breaking through from Deity Transformation to Void Return.]

['What I want to create is a heaven and earth of the sword dao...']

[You suddenly thought of the prototype of the "Grand Pure Heaven". This was a heaven and earth prototype originating from the Great Dao Sect of the Upper Realm. Its complexity far surpassed that of the Human Realm, and likely even the Demon Abyss Realm couldn't compare to it.]

[If you could continue to comprehend the prototype of the Grand Pure Heaven, perhaps it would be useful in helping you derive the prototype of your sword dao heaven and earth.]

['Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea where the three strange stones that make up the Dark Chessboard are in this ancient era...']

[You sighed with regret inwardly. The Purple Eye Jade Stone and the Reincarnation Stone were somewhat manageable since you roughly knew the clues to finding them. But the Mysterious Black Jade? It originated from the Ghost Realm Trial Field—which was the grotto-heaven that "You" would establish in the future. Who knew where it had originally obtained it?]

[You glanced at "You", who was still cultivating deep within the earth vein, and decided not to make things difficult for it.]

[You had already browsed through the memories of this Earth Vein Spirit of the netherworld long ago, and there were no clues regarding the Mysterious Black Jade.]

['It's fine even without the Dark Chessboard. The sword dao heaven and earth that I will establish is unique. The prototype of the Grand Pure Heaven is far too complex and profound. If I were to immerse myself in comprehending it, I might end up being influenced by it.']

[Closing your eyes, you continued to cultivate.]

[Year 100. You were 100 years old.]

[You had finally perfected the Deity Transformation Middle Stage sword dao.]

[As early as over a decade ago, you had already cultivated to the Deity Transformation Early Stage Peak.]

[Now that you had perfected the Deity Transformation Middle Stage sword dao, stepping into the Deity Transformation Middle Stage was right before your eyes.]

[You entered closed-door cultivation to break through.]

[Half a day later, your breakthrough succeeded, and you smoothly stepped into the Deity Transformation Middle Stage.]

[You became the first Deity Transformation Middle Stage Sword Cultivator in the Human Realm.]