Chapter 304: Breaking through the ninth level of the Divine Mind True Immortal Realm! |
Chapter 304 Breaking through the ninth level of the Divine Mind True Immortal Realm!
After saying goodbye to Bai Ziyao, Gu An took a detour before returning to the Third Medicine Valley.
Once he finished writing the current cultivation manual, he headed downstairs to join the disciples in clearing the snow.
But even as he shoveled, his thoughts drifted far beyond.
When would those wandering cultivators from the Holy Court finally leave?
They couldn’t actually stop him, but Gu An was worried that the commotion from his breakthrough might draw their attention to the Lifespan Barrier. What if someone barged in?
He didn’t want to make enemies with the Holy Court for no reason, but he also couldn’t afford to have anyone discovering his true cultivation level.
All he could do was wait.
Winter passed, then spring—just like that, years slipped by.
Compared to the turmoil at sea, the mainland quickly settled down. After all, this wasn’t the first time they’d heard about the Sword Sovereign’s feats.
However, the balance of power among the human territories shifted. The factions that had fled began to return, but none could reclaim their former dominance. Those who had stayed, on the other hand, won greater support and began to rise rapidly.
Across the Nine Nether Path, on another continent, things were far more perilous. The sects and noble families of the Taicang Empire couldn’t establish themselves there at all—within just a few years, they’d all returned in disgrace.
Jiang Qiong also returned to the Gathering Flower Sect to focus on developing it in peace.
Gu An’s life, once again, returned to tranquility.
…
In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.
The cultivators from the Holy Court who had been lingering in the outer realms finally dispersed, and Gu An had been waiting for this moment.
He immediately set out and quietly slipped away.
With a single step, he arrived in the depths of the cosmos, heading toward a location he’d chosen long ago.
It was a massive fallen star—larger even than the continent where the Taixuan Sect was located.
Landing on the star’s surface, Gu An looked up. The Heavenly Great Realm was incredibly distant; even a cultivator at the Celestial Ascension Stage wouldn’t be able to see it with the naked eye.
He turned and looked behind him. The dark reaches of the universe stretched endlessly. From here, it was closer to the Realm of Annihilation than the Heavenly Great Realm.
That was exactly why he had chosen this spot—to make the Holy Court think the anomaly was caused by the Sky Demons.
He sat down on the spot and activated the Lifespan Barrier.
Then, he brought up his status panel.
【Name: Gu An】
【Lifespan: 220/639,660,342】
【Physique: Primal Supreme Dao Body】
【Cultivation Level: Ninth Layer of the Dao Void Profound Immortal Stage】
...
This lifespan sure was a sight for sore eyes.
He had to be careful with this breakthrough. Last time, activating the Lifespan Barrier had cost him tens of millions of years—it wasn’t something he could ignore.
Gu An took a deep breath and decided to go for the breakthrough.
Tribulation once every 300,000 years—that was no joke.
One hundred million years. Let’s go!
【You cultivated by absorbing energy for 300,000 years and forcefully attempted to break through to the Divine Thought True Immortal Stage using your mastery of the Infinite Grand Creation Art. The Heavenly Dao’s 49 Profound Illusions Tribulation descended. You failed to survive. Tribulation failed.】
【You cultivated by absorbing energy for 600,000 years and once again tried to ascend. You failed to survive the Heavenly Dao’s 49 Profound Illusions Tribulation. Tribulation failed.】
...
Gu An’s expression didn’t change. He was used to failure by now.
No big deal. He still had 500 million years to spare. No way it would drain him completely!
But then things got scary.
After failing over a hundred times, his expression turned serious.
After failing more than two hundred times, his face darkened.
When the full one hundred million years were used up, his mindset began to crumble.
What the h*ll was this Heavenly Dao’s 49 Profound Illusions Tribulation?
Was it even supposed to be this ridiculous?
Once he broke through, Gu An swore he’d investigate the origins of this tribulation.
Tribulations weren’t supposed to be fixed across the board. Just looking at Mortal Peak, they had records of over ten thousand different tribulation types.
The consensus in the cultivation world was simple: the stronger you were within a realm, the tougher your tribulation. But even if it was harder, most cultivators relied on formations, magical artifacts, and help from their sects or clans.
Gu An? He had nothing but himself. No artifacts. Nothing.
And with his all-around enhancements, he knew he was insanely powerful—so how could he fail over 300 times?
Gritting his teeth, Gu An decided to pour in another 30 million years of lifespan!
From a hundred million down to thirty million—not because he was scared, but because he felt he was close to a breakthrough and didn’t want to waste any more time.
But...
All failed again!
His eyes started to turn red. No way he was giving up now!
Another thirty million!
If it came down to it, he'd burn through five billion years!
Just as Gu An made up his mind... he failed again.
Another thirty million!
Failure.
Failure.
Failure!
Just as he was about to invest more, the notification finally changed length.
He did it!
【You cultivated by absorbing energy for 23 million years and used your mastery of the Infinite Grand Creation Art to forcefully break into the Divine Thought True Immortal Stage. You endured the Heavenly Dao’s 49 Profound Illusions Tribulation and succeeded. Your cultivation has advanced to the First Layer of the Divine Thought True Immortal Stage.】
【You cultivated for 26 million years. Your cultivation advanced to the Second Layer.】
【You cultivated for 30 million years. Your cultivation continued to grow.】
What? Four million years and still no small-stage breakthrough?
Was the Divine Thought True Immortal Stage really this absurd?
Gu An felt the vast spiritual energy flooding his body and immediately poured in more lifespan.
Third Layer!
Fourth Layer!
He had to reach the Ninth Layer before he could feel truly at ease!
Eventually, it took another 54 million years of lifespan for him to finally reach the Ninth Layer of the Divine Thought True Immortal Stage.
Torrents of spiritual energy surged wildly into his body, far exceeding the momentum of his breakthrough into the Dao Void Profound Immortal Stage. What’s more, he realized he was absorbing the ambient power of universal laws!
He immediately closed his eyes and began to sense it carefully.
As he meditated, the laws of the universe became clearer—falling downward, vanishing into thin air, and then silently appearing within his Lifespan Barrier.
Soon, Gu An detected a wave of divine sense sweeping over him from the Realm of Annihilation.
A Free Soaring Immortal!
As time passed, the disturbance from his breakthrough intensified, drawing in more and more divine senses. The weakest among them were at the Celestial Ascension Stage.
After about a stick of incense’s time, Gu An felt the divine sense of a Mystic Celestial Immortal.
Thankfully, no one dared to show themselves. They only dared to hide and observe with divine sense.
Roughly half an hour passed.
Suddenly, Gu An felt something. Instinctively, he opened his eyes—and they went wide.
In the darkness of space, a pair of eyes appeared.
They were just like a human’s, nothing extraordinary in shape or color, but the gaze was chillingly indifferent.
These eyes were enormous—stars and entire continents looked like mere dust motes before them.
Gu An felt like they were staring right at him, making his heart clench.
Had the Lifespan Barrier been seen through?
After a moment, the pupils finally shifted away.
Gu An let out a breath of relief. Playing dirty tricks like that?
Did they think he’d panic and beg for mercy?
Not happening!
Right then, his breakthrough completed—an endless stream of memories flooded into his mind, all about the Divine Thought True Immortal Stage!
Divine Thought True Immortals—where divine sense transformed into divine thought, powerful enough to kill with a single thought, or cast spells with a mere intent!
A “True Immortal” meant he had truly become immortal!
His body and soul were undergoing yet another transformation. Once completed, he would be a genuine immortal formed by the will of heaven and earth—not just a cultivator who grew strong through effort.
Gu An’s consciousness sank into the inherited memories, and he saw countless visions.
Any being with karmic ties to him—he could peer into their past lives. It was a strange and wondrous experience.
But he couldn’t see Ji Xuanyu’s past lives—only from the moment she was born in this lifetime.
What shocked him the most was that he could even observe the karmic paths of Chu Lu and Xiao Shengtian.
If that was the case... did it mean Reincarnation Evolution was real and could actually manifest in reality?
That thought sent Gu An into a spiral of wild imagination.
He was completely immersed in the karmic visions and didn’t feel overwhelmed—in fact, it was oddly exhilarating.
Peering into karma filled his mind with countless images, but it felt just like absorbing spiritual energy—refreshing and energizing, making him even more focused.
By the time Gu An had completed his breakthrough to the Divine Thought True Immortal Stage, he was still lost in the visions.
His cultivation continued to climb—
From the First Layer to the Second.
From the Second to the Third.
Gradually, powerful beings began to pass through this area, flying right over the fallen star where he sat...