Chapter 552

Chapter 552: Nine True Immortals

“To modify the rules of the world, five necessary conditions must be met.”

“Condition one: Gather a trillion echoes and obtain the Heavenly Crown Artifact.”

“Condition two: Cover the Red Heaven realm with the Holy Path.”

“Condition three: Acquire the Dao Classics and master the power of the Immortal Path within.”

“Condition four: Have a True Immortal grant permission.”

“Condition five: The World God must descend.”

“If the five necessary conditions cannot be met, no matter how hard you struggle, you cannot break the shackles and freely establish the rules.”

“To forcefully try means either falling or being manipulated to set the rules.”

Amidst the fragments of time, a giant, sitting on the throne of the heavenly palace, towering at a height of a thousand meters, spoke these words.

Before him stood ten kings of the Manifest Realm, all at the pinnacle of this domain, their presence vast and unmatched.

These were the Absolute Emperor and his ten renowned kings.

They were discussing the difference between becoming a True Immortal and following the path.

“It is evident that following the path is much harder.”

“Indeed, the great rituals planned by the major powers have almost never succeeded, and this alone rules out the possibility.”

“Your Majesty has mastered countless Dao Classics and obtained the power of the Immortal Path; it is more realistic to become a True Immortal through the Royal Path.”

“A glimmer of hope is worth betting everything on. Now we just need to obtain the Heavenly Crown Artifact and achieve True Immortality! They are waiting to harvest the Heavenly Crown Artifact; we are also betting on this slim chance!”

Several kings spoke up.

The Dao artifact is a gift of the human race; although the monsters are powerful, they are fewer in number, lacking the very foundation for the birth of Dao artifacts—collective wishes.

They had to downgrade their bloodlines to create Fire Spirits, replicating the process of human growth, spending vast amounts of time and building a prayer ceremony formation that encompassed the entire Red Heaven.

As monsters, their lifespans are long, but even the Absolute Emperor has existed for no more than thirty thousand years and knows nothing of how the Red Heaven became True Immortal millions of years ago.

Fortunately, this knowledge is everywhere etched in human history and Dao artifacts, making it not too difficult for monarchs to deduce, completing it in just a few decades.

In fact, the ritual formation deduced by the Absolute Emperor was even more perfect than that of the former Red Heaven, expanding the scope of the ritual’s effect from a single race to multiple races, somewhat compensating for the scarcity of intelligent monsters.

If the Royal Path hadn’t been achieved through human methods, their lifespans would have sharply reduced to six thousand four hundred years, and at most, they could live no more than ten thousand years. For the monster race, there was no need to cultivate Fire Spirits to gather echoes; they could simply wait instead.

“The five necessary conditions? The Holy Path is actually a necessary condition?”

Yun Ye immediately identified the most critical time point without wasting a second. Upon hearing this conversation, the giant suddenly looked at him.

In an instant, those massive pupils widened, filled with burning flames that seemed to reflect the world’s end—a pair of red eyes.

From this pair of eyes, one could discern the origin power of this monarch.

The Celestial Clear Annihilation Divine Fire, a supreme elemental fire of heaven and earth, is said to be a remnant flame from the Opening Heaven and Earth era of the Red Heaven realm, capable of burning anything!

Yun Ye understood at a glance why the Absolute Emperor could refine the Dao classics of the human race; it was precisely because of this divine fire.

This flame possessed a transcendent power remarkably similar to the rules, instantly igniting Yun Ye from his soul to his body, causing excruciating pain to spread. His expression contorted for a moment, but the next second, the Power of Opening Heaven and Earth erupted violently.

He became astonishingly calm; the Heavenly Dry Universe swirled in his pupils. Like a deity, he spoke, “Withdraw.”

The divine fire reversed.

Facing the truly resolute Yun Ye, this lingering power from history could not resist.

The giant watched the scene unfold and suddenly burst into laughter.

“Good! Good! Good!”

“My inheritance awaits your retrieval; regardless of whether you are human or demon-kind, you all must bear this consequence and witness the moment of defying fate to vanquish the immortals!”

Immortals are the enemies of the Red Heaven.

No matter if they are human or demon, both wish to eliminate them and block all paths of life’s progress.

“Defying fate to vanquish immortals? This ideal is far too advanced. In this era, there isn’t a glimmer of hope. It may take dozens of monarchs sacrificing themselves to achieve it.”

Yun Ye smiled derisively, surprised that someone dared to voice such words.

It seemed this demon monarch was extraordinary at least in his conviction.

As these words were spoken, the giant’s expression grew richer, and he said:

“It will happen, boy. Do you think that all those who become monarchs are selfish and only seek longevity? They travel across mountains and rivers, striving to rise above the world, climbing to the peak with absolute faith and strength. Who isn’t pursuing the ultimate? Yet longevity alone isn’t enough to make them fall; it is the unwillingness to become mere dogs!”

“The kind of talent you envision is rare. Throughout history, aside from those completely supported by True Immortals, which monarch truly wishes for True Immortals to remain high above? They simply want to break this shackling. Even the likes of us cannot accomplish that, ultimately only leaving a sliver of possibility for future generations to rise!”

The Absolute Emperor revealed some truths.

Those who truly push the boundaries of this era find it most unbearable to see someone high above. Those immortals treat those who have persevered to the pinnacle as mere dogs, reaping as they please. It is unknown how many monarchs have fought desperately, only to ascend and then fall.

They were merely ancients who preemptively occupied their positions. In the true battle for the Royal Path, aside from a few peak-era True Immortals, the outcome was nearly predictable!

“Then, every True Immortal becoming an immortal monarch is just selfish to the extreme?”

Yun Ye’s statement shattered the Absolute Emperor’s claims.

If they were all beings of conviction and ideals, then why did none of the dozens of True Immortals stand by the practitioners of the Red Heaven realm? All remained atop their peaks, severing the path forward?

The Red Heaven, the second unnamed immortal, the Azure Heaven, countless True Immortals, Nine Lives True Immortal, Mystic Heaven, the future Path Lord, and the True Immortals of the Dao Classics held by the Nizi clan—all amounting to nine. If only one or two were blocking the path, logically speaking, they would have long been suppressed by the later generations.

Yet in reality, even the future Path Lord, who had once been aided by the Red Heaven, chose to vanish after becoming an immortal, leaving no trace for ten thousand years.

It is unclear whether he was incapable of doing anything or blatantly betrayed his former ideals.

Judging by the difficulty of becoming an immortal, it is clear that the majority are the True Immortals blocking the path to immortality.

“To follow the Royal Path with the ruling Dao artifact, no matter how strong the original conviction is, it becomes meaningless—merely a shell. Perhaps initially it can resist, but it will ultimately be twisted back into the original form of the ruling Dao artifact. This is a trap, yet one must tread it; otherwise, there is no chance of becoming a True Immortal.”

“It is precisely for this reason that the predecessors opened the Holy Path, abandoning the possibility of becoming an immortal and focusing on altering the world, building a new one. Go and retrieve the countless Dao Classics. I have engraved the methods of the Holy Path into these classics, and even those True Immortals cannot destroy or erase them…”

In the Absolute Emperor’s hand floated a jade book, aged and natural, enveloped in the glow of divine fire, with endless lines of text continually appearing, impossible to exhaust. Just by gazing at it, one could absorb the boundless knowledge within.

This is the countless Dao Classics!