Chapter Three: You've Only Just Changed Cultivation Methods, and You're Already Looking for Death?

In the past, even an exceptionally gifted person would have needed thousands upon thousands of years of painstaking effort to fully digest the memories and insights of a Golden Immortal Peak. Nothing less would have been enough.

But now, with Heaven-Defying Comprehension aiding him, everything was different!

Ao Chen's mind sank into the memories. It was as though he had split into countless selves, each reading, analyzing, and extrapolating all the information at once.

Dragon God Art, Sea Overturning Seal, True Dragon Nine Transformations...

The strengths, weaknesses, core principles, and even possible improvements of the many powerful Dragon Race arts and divine abilities were all laid bare to Ao Chen in an instant.

"Dragon Race arts are indeed peerlessly domineering, with formidable combat prowess..."

Ao Chen absorbed the knowledge as he assessed it.

"But they rely too heavily on bloodlines and fortune, and are too deeply entangled with the laws of Heaven and Earth. Once burdened by Karmic Debt, or if the world's great currents shift, they'll be constrained at every turn, with little hope of transcendence."

The stones of other mountains could be used to polish jade. Though these Dragon Race inheritances couldn't be copied outright, their many subtleties concerning the use of energy, the tempering of the physical body, and the comprehension of the primordial spirit provided precious resources for Ao Chen to create his own Mythical Grand Unity Method.

"My Mythical Grand Unity Method must seek nothing from without. It must form a complete system of its own!"

"Since the Heavenly Dao rejects me because of Karmic Debt, I'll open another 'Heaven and Earth' within my body and let the 'Great Dao' evolve there!"

A bold and grand idea rose in Ao Chen's heart.

Heaven-Defying Comprehension worked at full power. Countless flashes of insight collided, burst apart, and fused together in his sea of consciousness.

He cast aside the traditional immortal path of refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit to return to the void. He also abandoned the Dragon Race's approach, which relied too heavily on bloodline abilities.

Instead, he turned his gaze inward, toward the very source of life!

"The Dao gives rise to One, One gives rise to Two, Two gives rise to Three, and Three gives rise to all things... In reverse, all things can return to One, to that original 'Dao'!"

"The first step of my method must be to find the original 'One' within my body, that undying spark of light, and use it as a 'seed' to open up my own 'origin'!"

"This origin is neither a Golden Core nor a Nascent Soul. It is the embryonic form of a universe, the beginning of a star river!"

A sudden inspiration struck Ao Chen, and countless insights flooded his mind.

He drew on the Dragon Race's methods for tempering the physical body, but reversed their approach. Instead of drawing strength from without to strengthen himself, he compressed and refined his power inward, searching deep within the sea of qi in his dantian for the mysterious "Innate Ancestral Aperture."

Then, with the power of his Golden Immortal Peak primordial spirit, he visualized the boundless Chaos and the birth and death of star rivers, slowly pouring all his essence, energy, and spirit—and even a sliver of his True Spirit Imprint—into that "Innate Ancestral Aperture"!

The process was extremely perilous. The slightest misstep would mean death and the dissipation of his Dao, without even the chance of reincarnation!

But Ao Chen's Dao Heart was firm, and Heaven-Defying Comprehension constantly monitored and adjusted his progress, allowing him to avert danger by the narrowest of margins.

No one knew how much time passed. It seemed like an instant, and yet like eternity.

BOOM!!!

A thunderous sound, as if the world were being created, suddenly erupted from the sea of qi in Ao Chen's dantian!

The sea of qi that had once held his Golden Immortal magic power vanished. In its place appeared a tiny yet unfathomably deep and boundless void!

At the very center of this void, a faint "starlight" quietly shone, seeming to contain limitless vitality!

This was the "Primal Star Core" Ao Chen had condensed by using everything he possessed as its nourishment. It was the true foundation of the Mythical Grand Unity Method!

I did it! A realization welled up in Ao Chen's heart.

But this was only the beginning!

With a thought, the "Primal Star Core" began to emit a gentle yet tenacious gravitational pull. It didn't absorb the spiritual energy outside him. Instead, it began to absorb and refine the Golden Immortal magic power remaining in his body, the powerful blood and qi of the Dragon Race, and even his vast Karmic Debt!

That's right—even Karmic Debt was being refined!

The Mythical Grand Unity Method formed a complete system of its own and acknowledged no Heavenly Dao, so naturally it feared no Karmic Debt from the Heavenly Dao!

Or rather, in its eyes, Karmic Debt was no different in essence from any other energy. All of it could serve as "nourishment" for the evolution of his own universe!

As energy continued to pour in, the "Primal Star Core" grew brighter and more stable.

At the same time, the void around it began to slowly expand and deepen, as though a true universe of stars were being formed!

Gradually, one, two, three...

More tiny points of "starlight" lit up and came into being!

They slowly revolved around the "Primal Star Core," forming the indistinct outline of a star river that radiated an immense aura!

At that moment, Ao Chen felt as though his connection to the outside Primordial World had been severed by a layer.

In its place came a sense of self-sufficiency and perfect harmony unlike anything he had ever experienced.

It was as though he himself were an independent little world.

The pressure of the Heavenly Dao from outside and the restraints of Karmic Debt seemed to have eased considerably as well. The unease that had lingered in his heart vanished!

"Phew~"

Ao Chen let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes.

Deep in his gaze, countless stars seemed to be born and die!

"The first realm of the Mythical Grand Unity Method isn't for becoming an immortal, but for laying the foundation. It is the Mythical Earth Immortal realm: the physical body shatters the void, gaining the longevity of Heaven and Earth, while one's own spacetime stands apart."

"Today, I, Ao Chen, have opened a Star River Universe within my body with the Mythical Earth Immortal Method."

Feeling the immense power within his newborn Star River Universe, so different from traditional immortal essence and filled with the power of space and stars, Ao Chen smiled for the first time in a long while.

His realm still seemed to be that of an "Earth Immortal," but in essence, he had already embarked on a completely different path.

His future would no longer be constrained by the Heavenly Dao or by Primordial Violet Qi.

His journey lay in the true sea of stars, in the boundless spacetime beyond Chaos.

Chapter Three: You've Only Just Changed Cultivation Methods, and You're Already Looking for Death?

Ao Chen didn't care much about realms.

Put simply, a realm was nothing more than a name. In the end, what mattered was one's actual strength.

Although he had only just begun cultivating his new method and seemed to be an Earth Immortal, his current strength was dozens of times greater than it had been before.

By his estimate, although he still couldn't match a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, he wasn't far off.

In fact, thanks to the properties of a Mythical Earth Immortal, his magic power was countless times more abundant, and his divine abilities were countless times more powerful. An ordinary Primordial Unity cultivator might not be his match at all.

Most importantly, being independent of spacetime meant he would no longer be constrained by the Heavenly Dao's Karmic Debt.

With that thought, Ao Chen didn't delay. He immediately circulated the magic power within him and began filling his Star River Universe.

The Nine Breaths Qi-Serving of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Powers began to operate. Boundless Spiritual Energy surged violently, pouring in from every direction.

In an instant, boundless spiritual energy flooded in, as though a furnace of Heaven and Earth were drawing in the limitless energy of the ten directions.

Soon, Ao Chen's aura began to soar, and his cultivation gradually advanced.

At last, when his aura had reached its peak, a faint pressure spread out. It rippled like waves, sweeping everything in the cave dwelling off its feet.

His breakthrough succeeded. The magic power of the Star River Universe within Ao Chen was fully replenished, and he had successfully entered the middle stage of the Mythical Earth Immortal realm.

"Phew~ I broke through?"

Ao Chen let out a long breath, feeling the surging magic power within him and the shining Star River Universe. His face filled with indescribable delight.

He knew that this breakthrough had come so easily because the foundation within him had been converted. Future breakthroughs would surely not be so effortless.

Even so, it was well worth celebrating. It meant he was one step closer to the Great Dao.

"Next, I need to create a scripture to go with it. My cultivation method has been changed, but it won't do to leave it without a complete system."

"I also need to create some divine abilities for the Mythical Method. The abilities from the inherited memories are still a little too weak."

Ao Chen sighed. He knew that he could still use his old divine abilities, and that they would even be more powerful than before.

But they were ultimately incompatible with the Mythical Method and couldn't fully bring out its advantages.

The most important thing in cultivation was compatibility. Only what suited you was best; everything else was no more than a castle in the air.

Having made his preparations, Ao Chen was about to meditate again and organize his Mythical Method, creating a corresponding scripture.

Then he would combine the Mythical Method with his own nature to create a divine ability suited to him.

But just then, a series of violent rumbles came from outside.

"What's going on?"

Ao Chen furrowed his brow and unfurled his divine sense in every direction, extending it beyond the cave dwelling.

The next moment, his expression darkened.

"Looking for death."

Ao Chen snorted and used an escape art to vanish from where he stood.

The next moment, he appeared outside the cave dwelling.

"Jiao Mo, are you here to die? I spared you last time, and you still dare come here."

Ao Chen looked at the burly man before him, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

A burly man stood in front of him, with horns on his head and scales covering his body.

The man held a Trident. A terrifying aura flowed from him, five-colored light shone from his chest, and his face was full of arrogance and defiance.

Ao Chen knew this man—or rather, his predecessor had. He came from the Innate Flood Dragon clan.