Although the Silver Crowned Dragon was the Pillar God of the Path of Authority, He also possessed some of the power and traits of the Path of Transcendence.
Or rather, in ancient times, before professional lineages existed, it was perfectly reasonable for an extraordinary individual to possess power from multiple paths.
The nine paths represented nine attitudes toward life, nine worldviews, nine personalities, and nine tendencies.
No path was absolutely correct, and very few people could walk only one path without ever straying.
After the professional system, which had only emerged within the past two thousand years, brought extraordinary individuals more stable means of inheritance and advancement, it also caused people to subconsciously follow their paths forward, gradually purifying their personalities.
But advancing along one path did not mean abandoning the traits of the other paths. Or, to put it another way—if someone completely failed to fit the other paths, that did not mean they would necessarily go far along this one.
The ultimate purpose of "purifying one's thoughts" was actually that one's innate talents were insufficient. That was why one focused more energy on a single path, hoping to advance faster and go farther.
But once some people realized that this allowed them to advance more quickly, they instead forced everyone else to purify their paths as well. Otherwise, it became difficult to go farther while still young—after all, one's path level in youth directly determined one's profession, income, and future life. Everyone wanted to live better, and they were willing to change themselves for it.
As advancement along the paths became driven by utility, the average age of extraordinary individuals at each level decreased year by year. But in truth, the number of people who could reach the Fourth Level or above remained about the same. The farther