"Senior, why didn't you take that final step?" Since Yellow Springs Demon Saint had brought it up, Gu He naturally seized the chance to ask.
Although he already had an answer, having arrived several years early, perhaps Yellow Springs Demon Saint's memories had not faded quite so much. He might be able to obtain information here that did not exist in the original timeline.
"It seems that this world is missing something. That is the key to advancing to Dou Di. I never found it, so I remained stuck at the Half-Emperor realm for my entire life, unable to cross that final half-step." Yellow Springs Demon Saint spoke with a trace of melancholy, his tone filled with unwillingness.
It made sense. To advance to the Half-Emperor realm in an era where Dou Di had long vanished from the world, one's talent, aptitude, and fortune all had to be among the very best. Yet even with such qualifications, constrained by the world itself, one could ultimately reach only the Half-Emperor realm. Until his death, he had failed to cross that tiny final distance between Half-Emperor and Dou Di. Although his remnant soul had lost many memories, the unwillingness and melancholy of his later years had been too deeply etched into him—so deeply that even if one day he lost all his memories, his regret at never advancing to Dou Di would not disappear.
"Do you know exactly what kind of thing it is, Senior?" Gu He continued to guide him.
"I can no longer remember. This remnant soul of mine has endured far too many years and lost too many memories. I only know that it was a kind of strange energy that existed in ancient times but has now been completely depleted. Without that energy, advancing to Dou Di is