The few he encountered now and then were all like him, cautious in expression and hurried in step, either shrinking into corners or moving along the edge of the main avenue, not daring to set foot lightly in the areas where immortals and demons gathered.
Lin Taichu understood his situation clearly. Here, he was only the weakest at the very bottom. The slightest carelessness could drag him into a struggle between immortals and demons, ending with his body dead and his Dao extinguished.
He did not linger. Keeping to the edge of the white-jade avenue, he walked toward the depths of the clouds and mist, avoiding every cultivator who came and went, choosing only remote, neglected corners to pass through.
Chaotian Gate was vast. Aside from the towers, pavilions, and terraces on both sides of the avenue, deeper within lay broad stretches of mountain forest and abandoned halls.
In those places, spiritual energy and Yin Energy were even more mixed and turbid, but very few cultivators went there. For Lin Taichu, they were the perfect places to search for a method of ascension.
He circulated his faint soul power, his figure light as he shuttled through the mountain forest, avoiding dense ancient trees and jagged strange rocks. His vigilant gaze swept around him, probing every place that might hide an opportunity.
Along the way, he saw quite a few abandoned stone steles. Blurred ancient characters were carved upon them, most of them records concerning the convergence of the Three Realms. A few occasionally mentioned methods of ascension, but they were all incomplete and fragmentary, making it impossible to discern the full contents.
He examined them one by one, committing every character he could recognize to memory, then continued deeper into the forest.
After an unknown length of time, the mountain