The Strongest Sword, Fishing the Heavens

That said.

Ever since he had taken form, Tongtian's realm had hardly improved at all.

His cultivation base had been growing steadily.

But his realm remained unchanged.

Up until now.

He was still at the peak of Da Luo.

In comparison.

Taiqing and Yuanshi, who had been at mid-stage Da Luo when they took form, had already reached late-stage Da Luo by the time they parted ways with Tongtian!

Though there was still some distance before they caught up.

Tongtian didn't really care if his two elder brothers might surpass him.

But the fact that his own realm simply wouldn't advance.

Still made him somewhat anxious.

In truth.

The reason he had followed the opportunity and chosen to separate from his two elder brothers was precisely because that opportunity seemed to hold the possibility of breaking through his realm.

As for why his realm hadn't broken through...

The reason was simple.

He hadn't found the path forward!

Tongtian wasn't entirely sure how to proceed after Da Luo.

Should he achieve Hunyuan in one step?

Theoretically, it was possible.

But it was far too difficult.

The gap between them wasn't a matter of ten, a hundred, or ten thousand times.

It was countless times!

With such an immense gap, achieving Hunyuan in a single step was almost impossible.

Even if it were possible.

It would take an immeasurable amount of time.

So.

He had to find another way.

But until just now, Tongtian had no clue at all.

Of course.

With his comprehension and luck.

He would eventually figure it out.

But it would be similar to achieving Hunyuan in one step—requiring a vast amount of time.

Only relatively shorter by a bit.

But now.

That situation had eased.

"Hahaha!"

"My breakthrough opportunity lies in this Spirit Root!"

Tongtian couldn't help but laugh.

Hum~

The Greenping Sword was once again summoned!

This time.

He no longer intended to pluck this Spirit Root, but instead to use it as a path for his sword practice.

To enter the Dao through this!

To break through his current realm!

Shua!

Tongtian's momentum surged like a rainbow, his battle intent as deep as an abyss.

One sword strike.

No longer at eight or nine tenths of his strength, but ten... no! It was twelve tenths!

One could say he had surpassed his usual limits.

This was also, by far, the strongest sword Tongtian had ever struck.

Without a Supreme Treasure to protect them, Even Taiqing and Yuanshi would have to pay no small price.

Below the mid-stage Da Luo?

They would be lucky to escape with their skin intact!

This sword...

Could be called terrifying!

Tongtian was quite confident in this.

Surely this sword could at least stir that Spirit Root a little, right?

But clearly, Tongtian was overthinking it.

His sword was indeed strong, but it also depended on where it was used.

On this Immortal Mountain, After the sword was swung, there was neither any earth-shaking nor any scene of heaven and earth shifting.

Everything remained as usual.

Only at the foot of the mountain, it seemed...

An extra wisp of breeze?

Other than that, Nothing else.

As for making the Sword Grass stir or "acknowledge a master," that was out of the question.

Just as Tongtian was stunned, Whether it was an illusion

Or something else, A small leaf of the Sword Grass stretched out and moved slightly.

As if stirred by that "breeze," and then...

A Sword Light of terrifying extremity, Enough to completely crush Tongtian's Sword Intent, appeared!

This Sword Light

Instantly engulfed Tongtian, Leaving him utterly powerless to resist.

Not only that, This Sword Light also tore open a spatial rift leading to another part of the Primordial Wilderness, sweeping Tongtian into it, Forcing him far away from the Immortal Mountain.

Vaguely, Tongtian seemed to hear a sentence:

"—Go play somewhere else!"

After emerging from the spatial rift, Tongtian's appearance was disheveled, looking quite ragged.

It was hard to imagine

That he was a peak Da Luo cultivator.

But now, Tongtian had no time to mind his appearance; instead, he hurriedly gathered his Heart Spirit, Seizing the opportunity to comprehend.

That Sword Light, though fierce, carried no killing intent.

It had merely swept him away

Without any intention to kill him.

Thus, Though Tongtian looked disheveled, he had only suffered light injuries.

Nothing serious, And he could fully recover during seclusion.

Furthermore, In his mind, there still lingered an impression of the Sword Light.

Through this impression, he even had the chance to take the Sword Dao Law a step further!

That is...

to remove the word "Law" and step into the realm of "Dao"!

At the same time, he could also use this to break through his current cultivation realm.

To be struck by a Spirit Root's sword—was that the opportunity he had sensed?

For a moment, Tongtian found it both amusing and frustrating.

But before going into seclusion, he couldn't help thinking about another question.

This question

was related to the faint voice he had heard when the Sword Light swept him away.

That Spirit Root...

was it conscious?

Tongtian wasn't sure, but one thing was certain—

that was...

he really couldn't defeat a blade of grass!

And moreover...

he had been utterly powerless to fight back!

"As expected!"

"The Primordial Wilderness is vast, full of wonders."

"Even if I have an extraordinary origin, I cannot be complacent. I must continue cultivating!"

"It's settled. I'll go into seclusion first, and after breaking through my realm, I'll pay a visit!"

"If a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal isn't enough, then a Golden Immortal of the Origin... that should be fine, right?"

With a burning fighting spirit, Tongtian entered his seclusion.

On the other side, a voice of complaint rang out on the Immortal Mountain.

But strangely, it wasn't the Sword Grass.

It was the Immortal Mountain itself.

"Daoist friend, why did you drive him away?"

"Why not drive him away? His strength is so weak—not even one ten-thousandth of Yang Mei's. Clearly, he's not the one the Celestial Venerable intends to test! I couldn't even be bothered to move, let alone reveal my true form!"

The Sword Grass said matter-of-factly.

To this, the Immortal Mountain did not refute.

It merely let out a sigh, its tone melancholy.

"Ah~"

"Daoist friend, you don't understand."

"I have stood here for countless years without ever moving. Now he uses that Small Toothpick to poke the sole of my foot, and it's actually quite comfortable..."

At that, the Sword Grass fell silent.

Utterly speechless.

Comfortable, from a full-force sword strike?

Was that even possible?

It was just scratching an itch—

literally scratching an itch, with not a shred of exaggeration.

If that cultivator were to find out...

He would surely be shocked beyond belief.

However.

For the Immortal Mountain and the Sword Grass, this was merely an insignificant matter in their long history of guarding the gate.

Even though...

Tongtian was the first cultivator to appear here.

His cultivation level.

Was far too low!

Even before the two of them had fallen, they were superior.

He had not even reached the realm of Golden Immortal of the Origin.

A being like this.

Was this who the Celestial Venerable was waiting for?

Clearly not!

So.

Driving him away should be no issue.

The Sword Grass thought this.

Before long.

The two once again entered a half-secluded state, just as before.

But they clearly hadn't expected.

That their actions.

Had caught Lei Jun's attention.

At this moment.

In the Small Courtyard.

Lei Jun was pondering something.

"Tongtian is not the only one who sensed the opportunity."

"There are other cultivators as well."

"Tongtian was merely the first to arrive. Soon, other cultivators will come here. If things remain as they are now, they will likely gain no opportunities..."

"After all, there are not many Primordial Wilderness cultivators who primarily cultivate the Sword Dao Law."

"So, for the other cultivators, a different method of trial must be used!"

Before long.

Lei Jun had an idea.

Then.

With a thought.

The entire mountain, including the Small Courtyard, suddenly transformed.

A series of steps.

From top to bottom.

Extended from the Small Courtyard at the peak all the way to the foot of the mountain.

"This is..."

"The Seeking Dao Stone Steps, imbued with pressure and trials!"

"Anyone who wishes to come here and obtain an opportunity must pass through these steps!"

To be honest.

The reason Lei Jun had bestowed the opportunity upon some cultivators.

Was not a whim.

But for a certain purpose.

During the last Calamity.

He had contended with the Heavenly Dao and ultimately reached an "agreement."

The content of the agreement was.

During the Dragon-Han Calamity, he could no longer interfere with the Primordial Wilderness.

But the Heavenly Dao could no longer target Lei Jun either.

Unexpectedly.

The Heavenly Dao had largely erased Lei Jun's traces within the Primordial Wilderness.

At least on the surface.

Lei Jun's existence seemed absent from the Primordial Wilderness.

Those whose cultivation was insufficient.

Could not detect it at all.

This was the instinctive result of the Heavenly Dao acting to maintain the stability of the Primordial Wilderness.

That is, pulling the Primordial Wilderness back onto its original trajectory of Fate.

Thus.

When the second batch of Innate Gods took form, they had almost no impression of Lei Jun.

There was no helping it.

The Heavenly Dao was too overbearing.

With its supreme might, it had corrected the trajectory of Fate.

Eliminating many traces of Lei Jun's existence in various places.

To the point that cultivators had no memory of Lei Jun.

After all.

Since the Heavenly Dao had taken action.

It was as if Lei Jun had never existed.

Naturally, they could not recall him. This was a far more sophisticated method than simply erasing portions of memory from a cultivator's Spiritual Light.

Nor would it have any effect on the Innate Demon Gods.

In a certain sense.

It was the same as Shen Ni erasing the concept of the Heavenly Dao Transformation near Kunlun.

But no matter how much was erased, Lei Jun's "Dao" could not be eliminated.

This is why they say.

Everyone wants to "Prove the Dao"? Because all else is illusory; only the Dao is eternal.

This was the best proof now.

Even though all evidence of Lei Jun's existence had been erased by the Heavenly Dao, he could still remain in the Primordial Wilderness.

Completely unaffected.

He could even, in turn, influence the cultivators of the Primordial Wilderness!

Therefore.

From this perspective, Lei Jun also had a need to spread his Dao.

"Heavens and Myriad Worlds, Universe of Great Thousand Worlds."

"How countless are the worlds they contain."

"There must be an incalculable number of great powers!"

"I have only just laid my Dao Foundation. Far from a true Dao Fruit, I have not even condensed a Dao Seed. I have merely passed the initial stage of cultivation."

Despite Lei Jun's current formidable strength.

And his profound and mysterious Divine Abilities.

He was not the least bit arrogant. In fact, he considered his own realm to be nothing more than this.

Before existences at a higher level.

Forget fighting back.

He could not even perceive them.

Thus.

Being cautious was not excessive.

Leaving behind several life-saving measures was also very necessary.

Spreading his Dao was one of them.

Previously.

Lei Jun had thought spreading the Dao would benefit his cultivation. Now, while he had not found that benefit, he had instead found a life-saving method through it.

Furthermore.

He could also use this to gradually take control of the Primordial Wilderness!

Since the Primordial Wilderness was to be "upgraded," how could it have two masters?

One was enough—no more.

To avoid repeating the struggle with the Heavenly Dao and worsening internal strife within the Primordial Wilderness, Lei Jun generally refrained from acting personally.

Instead, he let the cultivators under him handle matters.

Ideally, those cultivators should already exist within this Tribulation Period.

Fishing for the Spiritual Light of cultivators from the previous Tribulation Period.

His main goal was to conserve the Primordial Wilderness's strength, preparing for the possible battles across the myriad worlds to come.

Finally, there was another reason that drove Lei Jun to intervene in the growth of the Innate Gods.

And that was...

He had discovered the System Space from the Chaos!

With a brief perception, he knew.

It wouldn't be long before that space discovered the Primordial Wilderness.

Roughly around the time of the First Sermon.

Before that, completing his arrangements would also allow him to better deal with the System.

Obviously.

If there were other transmigrators, they would surely know the original trajectory of fate in the Primordial Wilderness—in other words...

the plot.

And they would act accordingly.

But if that transmigrator discovered that the Primordial Wilderness they had crossed into was a "Modified Devil" version, completely different from what they remembered...

They'd probably

be utterly dumbfounded, wouldn't they?

Thinking of this, Lei Jun almost felt like laughing. He wasn't nervous about the System Space about to arrive; instead, he felt a strange sense of anticipation.

Of course.

It was best to wait until he had everything prepared.

In other words...

continue the "Modified Devil" process!

This was also one of the reasons Lei Jun had bestowed opportunities to intervene in the cultivators' growth.

To that end, Lei Jun ordered that Stone and the Sword Grass to guard the Courtyard Gate outside the courtyard.

But those two fellows had overinterpreted his command.

They even looked down on Tongtian!

Or perhaps, because Yang Mei had set such a high precedent, they couldn't bring themselves to respect anyone whose cultivation was far lower.

But that wouldn't do.

It could easily ruin Lei Jun's plans.

Thus, the Seeking Dao Stone Steps, or rather, the Path of Seeking Dao, came into being.

With a single thought from Lei Jun, the Immortal Mountain derived from the small Stone manifested one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred stone steps.

The stone steps and the mountain's oppressive aura complemented each other.

Every step upward

required considerable effort.

Every ten thousand eight hundred stone steps increased the difficulty by one layer.

Twelve Layers in total.

Only after completing the entire path can one reach the summit.

Only then can one enter the courtyard.

It must be said.

Although the stone steps have layers of difficulty, that does not mean everyone experiences the same trials and difficulty levels.

It varies from person to person.

As long as one's foundation and comprehension are sufficient, they can reach the summit.

If foundation and comprehension are lacking, that's fine too.

As long as one's character is good, and their resolve to seek the Dao is firm, there is still a chance to reach the summit!

In this, cultivation realm is actually the least important.