After Huang Tian made his choice, the Blessed Infinite Yellow-Mystery Heavenly Venerable beside him turned into a cloud of purple smoke and vanished on the wind.
At the same time, an immense power sprang from nowhere within Huang Tian. It spread through his body, nourishing every part of him and driving his transformation.
His spirit sank into the unseen, and his aura climbed visibly, faster and faster.
"What!" Commander Meng Luo exclaimed. "The Yellow-Mystery Heavenly Venerable disappeared. Did he merge with Huang Tian?"
Palace Master Fu Zhe nodded slowly. "It would seem so. Can't you see how quickly Huang Tian's aura is growing stronger...?"
He paused, then ventured, "So is this why Huang Tian cultivated so quickly all along? What would you call this—Gathering the Other Selves? Creating an avatar? Or forcibly seizing someone else's essence?"
Commander Meng Luo shook his head slightly. "I don't know..."
The two exchanged a glance and fell silent. As supreme beings, both sought to reach the Tenth Stage—or, in a cultivation universe, to attain Great Luo.
Yet between them, especially Palace Master Fu Zhe, they had traveled through nearly a hundred different universes without ever seeing a Tenth-Stage Great Luo. They knew only two or three possible paths to that breakthrough: Seeking Within Oneself, Opening the Myriad Heavens, and Gathering the Other Selves.
The first, Seeking Within Oneself, was far too difficult, almost impossible. It demanded insight beyond compare before a cultivator could hope to penetrate the mysteries of Great Luo.
The second was just as difficult. The myriad heavens were not a single universe but a collection of many universes. Generally, only a Great Luo could open them; for anyone below Great Luo, it was nearly impossible. That path was all but blocked.
Still, many mighty beings were taking it. Fu Zhe and