The path to transcendence in this universe suited the Buddhist Sect far better than the one in the Lifetime universe.
The Lifetime universe's method of transcendence might have been Subtraction into Emptiness, with a distinct flavor of the Buddhist teaching that all four elements were empty, but to seek emptiness, one first had to attain perfection. Only after taking addition to its utmost limit did one qualify to perform subtraction. It was a matter of gaining the first step and staying ahead at every step thereafter.
In principle, Subtraction into Emptiness suited the Buddhist Sect, but the principles were in the Dao Sect's hands!
Those three old bastards kept a death grip on the seats of perfection. What did it matter how great one's comprehension was? Born on the Other Shore, they seized one advantage after another. Even in terms of brute force, if the three Most Ancient Ones joined the fray, they could beat every Other Shore Practitioner into fleeing with their hands over their heads.
Only because the Final Tribulation was approaching did the Most Ancient Ones, seeking transcendence, grant the Other Shore Practitioners some face. Everyone appeared to stand on equal footing, implementing a democratic decision-making system on the Other Shore and discussing matters together.
In truth, the Three Pure Ones were the universe's creators. The other Other Shore Practitioners were merely their subjects. They had escaped the chessboard and were no longer pieces, gaining a measure of human rights, but they were still far from being the players.
Anyone who truly believed that reaching the Other Shore made them the ruler of the Myriad Realms, free to reign over all beneath heaven, was doomed to a gruesome end. Haotian Shangdi, Yellow Old Lord, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Fu Sovereign, Time Emperor, and the Human Emperor-each was a