The Past

After three years of quiet cultivation, Zhou Tong finally fully digested what he had gained from the previous battle and perfected the scriptures of the Dragon Transformation Realm. He triggered the Heavenly Tribulation, survived three tribulations, and advanced to the sixth level of the Great Sage Saint Realm.

At the same time, the Ancestral Artifact of the Holy Spirit Lineage has now been completely subdued by Zhou Tong.

He used a secret technique of Duan De to Reversed Soldier Character Secret, offering the essence of countless weapons to the Sacred Spirit Stone Token, allowing Zhou Tong to easily control it; afterwards, he further controlled the Sacred Spirit Stone Token using the orthodox "Nine Secret: Bing.

As for the best of those weapons, most of them were spoils of war that Zhou Tong had acquired over the years; basically, the ones he didn't need were offered up as tribute.

The Nine Secret: Bing" truly lives up to its reputation as the supreme secret method for controlling troops.

With such a combination of positive and negative aspects, coupled with the fact that the Sacred Spirit Stone Token was already damaged, it was naturally easy to control this weapon. In fact, the essence of the weapons offered was only about a hundred Saint Weapon.

Trading a mere hundred or so Saint Weapon for a single artifact of enlightenment from a Great Perfection Saint Spirit —what a huge profit!

"The four great secret realms— Wheel Sea, Dao Palace, Four Extremes, and Dragon Transformation— have all been perfected. The Primal Qi, which took root in the Wheel Sea, has begun to merge with my four great secret realms. Now, only the final and most important Immortal Platform Secret Realm, remains!" Zhou Tong returned to his residence and quietly sensed the changes within himself.

After a long while, he opened his eyes again, a strange light flashing in them.

"I can vaguely sense the location of my Nine-Leaf Sword Grass and the Thunder Emperor's spirit body. Based on my current perception, perhaps they are in the past?" Zhou Tong was somewhat surprised.

After creating the scriptures for the Dragon Transformation Realm, Zhou Tong went a step further, gaining a higher level of control over the Reincarnation Mirror. He could vaguely sense the location of his Nine-Leaf Sword Grass and the Thunder Emperor True Fate.

These two destined individuals definitely did not go to other worlds, but should be related to the river of time and space, and are very likely in the past.

But it was precisely because of this feeling that Zhou Tong was so shocked.

What exactly is the Reincarnation Mirror? How can it interfere with spacetime? And even transfer one's two lives to the past?

Interfering with the past is something even the Corpse Immortal Emperor failed at!

"Won't this create some kind of spacetime paradox?" Zhou Tong also thought of this.

If his Nine-Leaf Sword Grass and the Thunder Emperor True Fate caused trouble in the past, wouldn't the spacetime he was in be thrown into chaos?

"I feel that if we really went to the past, it's very likely we wouldn't be in this world. In that case, the paradox would be much weaker." This thought also flashed through Zhou Tong's mind. "It's possible we would be subject to some kind of constraint in the past; or perhaps we would be guided by some unknown force in some past time and space."

"The past cannot be changed, at least not in this world, until one surpasses the Immortal Emperor. Even if my Reincarnation Mirror surpasses everything, I will have to bear the consequences of disrupting the cause and effect of the past... Even the Corpse Immortal Emperor could hardly bear such consequences, let alone me."

Zhou Tong knew very well that his Nine-Leaf Sword Grass and Thunder Emperor, his two true destinies, were probably bound by some kind of constraint in the past time and space and could not be moved at will. Otherwise, he would not be so safe and sound and would definitely suffer the backlash of time and space.

"However... this also shows how difficult it is to travel to other worlds!" Zhou Tong sighed inwardly.

Each world's timeline is different and unconnected. Returning to the past is like rowing against the current, fraught with difficulties; however, it is clearly easier than searching for another unknown river.

Even at the Saint and Saint King stages, he exhausted all his divine power, only able to send the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass True Fate and the Thunder Emperor True Fate back to the past; in other words, to go to other worlds, he needed even greater power.

"My Great Sage level power is probably still not enough to travel to other worlds... I need at least Quasi-Emperor level cultivation." Zhou Tong was also a little unsure, not knowing if Quasi-Emperor level power was enough, but judging from his current perception, Great Sage level power was probably not enough.

"Should we try again?" Zhou Tong hesitated, wondering if he should try again and send another life back to the past to see what would happen.

If another true life is released, one's own perception will definitely be clearer, and one will even be able to pinpoint the exact time.

"We can try again, but not now!" Zhou Tong pondered for a while before finally deciding.

I'm only at the sixth level of the Great Sage Realm right now. I'll talk about it when I reach the Ninth Heaven!

With increased power, my senses will be clearer after being transported to the past.

Just like the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass True Fate and the Thunder Emperor True Fate.

Zhou Tong's current perception of the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass True Fate is still less clear than his perception of the Thunder Emperor True Fate. This is perhaps because his power was too weak when the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass "reincarnated".

Zhou Tong quickly stopped paying attention to the Reincarnation Mirror and instead focused his attention on his Dragon Transformation Realm.

This secret realm is like Ninth Heaven, ascending along the spine, each step leading to the heavens. As the dragon soars, celestial light bursts forth, and Chaos Qi dissipates, finally reaching the Immortal Platform.

The human spine is like a Great Dragon, connecting the torso and the spirit, and is of vital importance.

To circulate all the power within my body, I need this Great Dragon!

The Dragon Transformation Realm completely integrates the power of the three great realms —the Wheel Sea, the Dao Palace, and the Four Extremes —into one, then impacts the Immortal Platform Secret Realm in the head, ultimately becoming the central hub for the operation of one's cultivation, laws, and divine power.

"Om!"

As Zhou Tong circulated the scriptures, Purple Qi surged within his body, accompanied by the roar of dragons. Eventually, Zhou Tong's body began to glow, especially his spine, where clusters of light appeared one after another, totaling nine, resembling nine steps. Six of these steps shone brightly with immortal light, while the other three were slightly dim.

This represents Zhou Tong's current cultivation level as a Great Sage at the sixth level.

"Reaching the Great Saint Ninth Heaven before the Dark Turmoil was easy, but advancing to the Quasi-Emperor was still unlikely... There weren't enough opponents!" Zhou Tong sighed inwardly.

To break through the five-hundred-year barrier and enter the Supreme Realm, the most important thing is to have enough opponents to provide sufficient training.

In the original novel, Ye Fan's youngest son, the Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo, was able to become Quasi-Emperor at over two hundred years old. Besides his talent and physique, the most important reason was that he had an opponent who accompanied him all the way up—the Little Phoenix.

The reason why the Desolate Heaven Emperor progressed so rapidly was because the opponents he honed against were extremely formidable. On one hand, there was the torment of the Immortal-Breaking Curse, and on the other hand, there were the training partners of the Immortal King ' primordial spirits in the forbidden area of the Void God Realm. In addition, there was the guidance of the Immortal King, the Lord of the Forbidden Zone. Therefore, he was able to advance to the Supreme level at such a young age.

"Great Sage level opponents, unless they are like Holy Spirit or some peerless geniuses, are no longer able to temper me; if I want to advance rapidly, I need at least Quasi-Emperor level opponents and the Great Dao!" Zhou Tong reviewed the information he had obtained and found that there were very few things on this ancient road that could provide this level of tempering.

Unless it's some unparalleled geniuses sealed away in ancient times, such as the Emperor Venerable's disciple— the Emperor, or the beings born from the Primordial Ancient Mine — the Taichu, or Zhang Bairen who has seen the Desolate Heaven Emperor...

"We can't wait here any longer, we should move on!" Zhou Tong was unwilling to continue his meditation here. Staying here would be pointless and would only be a waste of time.

Just as Zhou Tong made up his mind, a divine thought suddenly came from the depths of the universe, sweeping across the entire ancient star and finally stopping at Zhou Tong.

"This is the divine thought of the Great Sage Qinghuang. So the matter of the Destiny Orange Gold has been settled?" Zhou Tong was overjoyed. Just as he was deciding to leave, the Azure Great Sage Qinghuang arrived with the things he needed.

In the previous chapter, someone said that breaking through to the Great Saint Third Heaven in three years was too fast.

Personally, I don't think it's that fast. After creating a secret realm scripture and rewriting it, isn't it normal to advance several levels?

Moreover, the original text of Shrouding the Heavens" states that after cultivating to a certain level, breakthroughs in minor realms are easy; what is truly difficult is breakthroughs in major realms and becoming invincible among those of the same level.