The Dao Achiever in Chaos

Deep within the chaos.

Violent chaotic energy surged incessantly, its brutal power seemingly capable of tearing everything asunder.

This was a forbidden zone for all life; even masters at the level of Great Luo Golden Immortal could not survive here for long.

At this moment, a solitary, proud figure stood amidst the void.

There was not the slightest fluctuation of magical power around him, nor any spiritual treasure to protect his body, yet he forced the chaotic energy to retreat thirty thousand miles away from him.

In the Primordial World, billions upon billions of miles away, everyone was watching his every move with intense focus.

On Golden Ao Island in the East Sea, the ten thousand immortals of the Jie Cult had gathered, their gazes fixed upon the bronze mirror raised by Daoist Duobao.

"Senior Disciple Brother is truly the first genius in all ages; he is about to achieve the Dao of the Origin after only a few tens of thousands of years of cultivation."

"I feel deeply ashamed, as if all these years of my cultivation have been for nothing..."

Zhao Gongming sighed with deep emotion as he looked at the image in the mirror.

Holy Mother Wudang sighed and chimed in, "Indeed, even some of the veteran Quasi-Saints in the Primordial World have been left far behind by him."

"Compared to Senior Disciple Brother, we are simply foolish beyond measure..."

Yunxiao also spoke up, "Therefore, we must encourage ourselves and ensure we do not bring shame upon Senior Disciple Brother."

The other Jie Cult disciples nodded in agreement.

The figure in the chaos was named Ye Changqing, the only true successor of Sect Master Tongtian and the Senior Disciple Brother to everyone in the Jie Cult.

His natural talent and aptitude were truly peerless throughout the ages, achieving such heights in merely a few tens of thousands of years.

Once he successfully passed his tribulation, the Jie Cult would possess two Saints, and from then on, no one in the Primordial World would dare to bully the disciples of the Jie Cult.

Yet, for some reason, the gates of the Azure Palace remained tightly shut, and at such a critical moment, Sect Master Tongtian was nowhere to be seen.

Inside the main hall of the Azure Palace, Sect Master Tongtian suddenly opened his eyes. Within his pupils, the Great Dao flowed, and while he could see the trajectory of all things in heaven and earth with perfect clarity, he alone could not discern the future of the Jie Cult.

He had been in seclusion for days, attempting to deduce the heavenly secrets, but the secrets remained obscured, and he could never arrive at a conclusion.

The words Ye Changqing had spoken before his departure still echoed in his ears.

"The coming immeasurable tribulation is incomparably dangerous; one slight misstep and the entire Jie Cult will be reduced to dust..."

"Even if you, Master, are a Saint, you will not be spared..."

"As the Senior Disciple Brother of the Jie Cult, I must intercept a sliver of survival for my junior brothers and sisters."

"Today, I have no other choice but to achieve the Dao of the Origin ahead of time!"

Sect Master Tongtian raised his head, his gaze piercing through layers of pavilions to reach beyond the heavens.

He muttered to himself, "Is the new immeasurable tribulation truly as terrifying as Changqing said?"

After a long while, he sighed, his eyes softening as he gazed at his disciple in the chaos.

Sect Master Tongtian's eyes were filled with pride; he considered the greatest achievement of his life to be taking on such a disciple.

With a disciple like this, what more could he ask for?

"Changqing, do you really not need me to protect your path?"

He sent his voice through a transmission once more.

Ye Changqing immediately refused, "There is no need. It is enough that Master can see the true faces of those people clearly!"

Sect Master Tongtian knew that his disciple had already embarked on a different path, and his heart was filled with both relief and deep concern.

Without becoming a Saint, one is ultimately but an ant, yet the path to becoming a Saint and achieving the Dao is far too difficult—and the path Ye Changqing had chosen was harder still.

During the past sermons at the Purple Heaven Palace, Dao Ancestor Hongjun had passed down three methods for achieving Sainthood.

The first is achieving Sainthood through merit.

This method is the simplest, but it requires the support of immense merit.

Whether it was Nuwa molding clay to create humans, or the Three Pure Ones and the Two Sages of the West establishing their sects to become Saints, all followed this simplest of paths.

The second is achieving Sainthood by severing the three corpses.

One uses an Innate Spiritual Treasure to sever the three corpses of good, evil, and self to attain the status of a Saint.

However, in the vast Primordial World, only Dao Ancestor Hongjun had ever succeeded in this.

Therefore, this path is far more difficult than achieving Sainthood through merit.

The third is achieving the Dao through strength.

Using one's own great magical power and energy to forcibly transcend the Great Dao.

The Great God Pangu had taken this path, yet he ultimately stopped at the level of a half-step Great Dao Saint and ended up perishing.

Now, Ye Changqing was also attempting to achieve the Dao through strength, only he intended to transcend the Heavenly Dao itself.

Once he succeeded, he would be a Saint unbound by the Primordial Heavenly Dao, attaining the fruit status of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin.

Of course, there was another way to achieve the Dao, which was achieving Sainthood through laws.

Each of the Three Thousand Demon Gods in the chaos mastered a Great Dao, and by cultivating it to the extreme, one could transcend the Great Dao.

Even if none of them succeeded, each possessed the strength of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, comparable to the Heavenly Dao Saints of the present day.

There was only one who achieved sainthood through the Laws, and that was Old Ancestor Yang Mei, who attained it three thousand years earlier than Old Ancestor Hongjun.

It was rumored that he once fought Old Ancestor Hongjun after the latter had become a Saint; having emerged victorious, he departed into the Chaos and was never heard from again.

Therefore, the hierarchy of paths was summarized as: Proving the Dao through Strength > Proving the Dao through Laws > Becoming a Saint by Slashing the Three Corpses > Becoming a Saint through Merit.

Ye Changqing had chosen the most difficult path of all—could he truly succeed?

"Sigh!"

A sigh echoed within the Azure Palace, lingering in the great hall for a long time.

Inside the Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain, the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Cult were gathered, though the atmosphere was vastly different from that of the Jie Cult; the entire hall was terrifyingly silent.

Venerable Primordial looked down at the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Cult, his expression dark and uncertain.

Compared to Ye Changqing, they were nothing but a joke.

Was this truly the Pangu Orthodox Lineage he had personally selected?

Tongtian, oh Tongtian, you truly have gained a fine disciple!

The Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Cult hung their heads like defeated roosters.

Back when the Three Pure Ones had not yet separated, they had already been defeated by Ye Changqing.

Even when all twelve of them attacked together, they were suppressed by him with a mere flick of his hand.

Venerable Primordial had always looked down upon the disciples of the Jie Cult, yet he could not protect his own reputation, which was the direct cause of the Three Pure Ones' separation.

It could be said that Ye Changqing had always been a mountain pressing down upon their heads, leaving them unable to catch their breath.

Now, Ye Changqing was preparing to achieve Dao and become a Saint, yet they had been stuck at the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm for over a thousand years.

They were all disciples of Saints; why was he so exceptional?

The faces of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Cult were etched with resentment and jealousy, their teeth nearly ground to dust.

Daoist Randeng, standing among the crowd, felt his teeth ache with hatred—why was the person achieving the Dao today not himself?

In his day, he had been one of the three thousand guests in the Purple Heaven Palace, and by that reckoning, he was of the same generation as Venerable Primordial and Sect Master Tongtian.

Although he had now joined the sect of Venerable Primordial, it was a matter of lowering his status.

Venerable Primordial treated him with great courtesy, appointing him as the Vice Sect Master of Chan.

The disciples of the Chan Cult also held him in high regard; who did not address him as Teacher upon seeing him?

Yet now, he had been surpassed by a junior, and he simply could not save face.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet, step forward, and console himself: "How could achieving the Dao of the Origin be easy?"

"That Ye Changqing has neither great merit nor the foundation for sainthood; with what will he slash the three corpses?"

"I fear the Jie Cult will only find their joy to be in vain this time!"

Randeng's words were not false; even Venerable Primordial had benefited greatly from the Great God Pangu when he became a Saint.

He was one of the three parts of the Great God Pangu's Primordial Spirit, born with immense merit and great fortune.

Later, he obtained the Hongmeng Purple Qi—the foundation of sainthood—in the Purple Heaven Palace, and only then, with the merit of establishing his sect, did he become a Saint.

Since Ye Changqing lacked such origins and heaven-defying encounters, with what could he prove the Dao?

Thinking of this, Venerable Primordial's complexion slowly recovered, and the atmosphere in the hall gradually eased, allowing everyone below to breathe a sigh of relief.

However, there were still a few things Daoist Randeng had not made clear.

That was the fact that there were many in the Primordial World who would not sit idly by and watch Ye Changqing succeed in achieving the Dao.

For instance, himself!

A new book by an old author of the Primordial genre; everyone is welcome to read.

Stable daily updates of 4000+ or 6000 words.