Jiang Ding had a general understanding of the path of proving the Dao through strength.
It was a path that did not measure the constants of the Immortal-Dao Universe, but climbed upward along a certain Immortal-Dao standard. It meant reaching the pinnacle of the endless starry sky in one particular aspect—such as the pinnacle of sword Dao or body cultivation—and infinitely approaching, even rivaling, the Human Emperor in that aspect. Many cultivators called this the Imperial Path, or the Nine-Tribulation Supreme.
At their peak, a Nine-Tribulation Supreme could battle the Human Emperor for a time without dying.
The Human Emperor was powerful in every respect, without the slightest shortcoming. A Nine-Tribulation Supreme, meanwhile, possessed only one plank of the barrel. In strength, lifespan, and comprehension of the Great Dao, they remained far inferior to the Human Emperor, with a lifespan of merely ten million years.
Many cultivators referred to Nine-Tribulation Supremes as "Emperors."
That was clearly somewhat presumptuous. Much like the Human Emperor calling his residence the Imperial Heaven, the title of ancient emperor had once been used for sovereigns in ages past. As the years flowed on, it began to lose value and was applied to Nine-Tribulation Supremes.
Such things were exceedingly common throughout the course of human history. For example, "young master" originally meant the child of a king, while "gentleman" had originally been a title for the son of a monarch... Yet with the passage of time, for all sorts of reasons, these titles became forms of address for ordinary people and no longer belonged exclusively to any one person.
"Emperor" had undergone precisely such a process in Immortal-Dao history, gradually becoming synonymous with a Nine-Tribulation Supreme.
One could only say that everyone had vanity.
According to the conclusions drawn by generations of cultivators, the process from