Gathering

Central Heaven Supreme Heavenly Emperor Hall.

A man maintaining a height of three meters, draped in a golden robe with a five- or six-meter cape trailing behind him, stood on the palace balcony and gazed into the distance.

This was...

The strongest, most perfect Supreme Heavenly Prodigy the human race had seen in a thousand eras.

In his time, he had crushed so many people until they could barely breathe, while countless others had lived beneath his shadow, despairingly losing all will to contend with him.

Yet after the passage of long years, even this Supreme Heavenly Prodigy had had his sharp edges worn smooth by the marks of time.

Though the edge of that absolute confidence remained buried deep within his heart, it was no longer as dazzlingly exposed as before. His face had acquired maturity and composure.

He had learned how to think with his heart.

Rather than...

Settling every matter with force.

"Strategy, scheming, calculation—at their core, they are merely using the small to win the great. They are, in themselves, a form of insecurity and a denial of one's own strength. When a top powerhouse no longer believes that he himself is everything, and instead turns to spending his thoughts and calculations plotting against others, his edge has already been blunted. From then on... he may still achieve things, but he will never again charge forward in triumph as before, advancing a thousand miles in a single day."

The Supreme Heavenly Emperor of Jin Que spoke.

Behind him, a man in a white robe who appeared to be in his early forties bowed slightly. "Your Majesty has not lost the sharpness a Supreme Heavenly Prodigy should possess. You have merely learned to use your strength with greater efficiency and reason."

"Only when one's strength is insufficient