In a daze, he saw a dazzling light from the Dao Palace. Brilliant rays shone from ages past, illuminating the eternal River of Time.
"One is my departed self, chanting scriptures for this life. Does reincarnation truly exist? Is there truly rebirth from a past life?"
"One is my present self, destined to be invincible. This is my conviction!"
"One is my future self, becoming a variable. I alone stand unique through all ages, eternal and undying!"
Those three mighty cries seemed to come from the distant past, shaking past, present, and future, severing the River of Time as they reached the present age and entered Qin Tian's ears.
Qin Tian's expression changed. Anyone else hearing those three cries of the Dao might have been somewhat bewildered.
But how could Qin Tian not know exactly what those three cries were?!
Those were the words the Desolate Heaven Emperor had spoken when opening the Dao Palace!!!
Qin Tian began to question everything. He was utterly baffled.
Why had the Desolate Heaven Emperor's cries of the Dao sounded in his ears?
The first time, with the "Sea of Bitterness," he could have called it a hallucination or a coincidence, but this was the second time!
Could Qin Tian's deliberate reenactment of the Secret Realm Method's initial formation have linked its Great Dao to him, allowing him to glimpse the Desolate Heaven Emperor's process of creating the method?
Or would his path cross Huang's in the future?!
No, if his future self became a major fighting force, he would certainly have dealings with Huang. After all, there were only so many people across all the heavens and myriad worlds!
Or was this the founding patriarch's favor toward a believer?
"Never mind all that. If I keep going one step at a time, I'll find the answers eventually."
Qin Tian soon stopped dwelling on it. The three sounds of the Dao entered his ears, drawing him into the deepest state of enlightenment.
The heavenly voice of the Great Dao was silent and soundless, yet it seemed to shake heaven and earth. Each word resounded like seas collapsing and abysses splitting, reverberating throughout the world.
Mystery upon mystery, the gateway to all wonders-countless wondrous manifestations and endless methods appeared one after another. Like divine celestial music, yet also like the soundless Great Dao, they thundered within Qin Tian's heart.
When Qin Tian finally came to his senses.
The three Dao flowers above his head had vanished, as though they had never appeared. The Flame Emperor deity had returned to sit within the Dao Palace. Everything seemed like a dream, an illusion.
Had insights into the Dao Palace not kept welling up in Qin Tian's heart, he too would have thought it a hallucination.
But the facts proved that it was no hallucination.
He had truly heard the heavenly voice from when the Desolate Heaven Emperor created his method long ago, and listened to the overarching principles of the Secret Realm Method.
Within the Dao Palace, the Fire Deity sat cross-legged upon the Dao Platform, chanting an unknown scripture.
Like ancient Buddhist chants, or the prayers of primordial deities, it flowed without end, piercing the ageless firmament and slowly entering Qin Tian's heart. It shook the sea of his heart and sent his thoughts surging, until he no longer knew where he was.
It was the Dao self reciting scriptures, the departed self praying for his blessings, and the future self chanting scriptures for his present self, existing alongside heaven and earth and making wishes for the self of this age.
The Heart Palace opened, supplying Qin Tian with Dao power. Every inch of his skin transformed. His bones and muscles split and were restored, giving off a jade-like luster.
His entire being underwent an unprecedented sublimation, his divine power surging to the heavens. Only now did Qin Tian understand why this secret realm was called the Dao Palace. It was like an eternal palace, containing boundless Dao power.
The Heart Divine Treasury shone brilliantly. Behind it, four palaces flickered in and out of view, lofty and towering, mysterious and indistinct.
At that moment, he united with heaven and merged with earth, feeling heaven and earth become one, the Dao following nature.
The Jade Pool Ruins had mountains and waters, scenery as lovely as a painting, and divine source as well. It was perfect for cultivation, so Qin Tian settled there.
Before long, Qin Tian used the Temporal-Spatial Eyes to draw forth sounds of the Dao from the past, securing the Sea of Bitterness, Four Extremes, and Dragon Transformation sections of the Western Emperor Scripture.
After this, Qin Tian became even more certain that his eyes were extraordinary. Their origin essence was simply too meager, leaving many abilities beyond his reach.
His daily life in the Jade Pool Ruins, apart from cultivation, mostly consisted of wandering around, trying to find anything valuable.
Occasionally, he also left the Jade Pool Ruins to get some fresh air.
Although the Shi Hao Wooden Token kept him unafraid of sinister afflictions, the atmosphere in the Jade Pool Ruins was still far too oppressive.
The scenery was clearly breathtaking, yet there was not a trace of vitality. Everything was deathly still.
Monster beasts also roamed the vast lands of the Northern Region. Qin Tian occasionally went hunting and caught some that were nursing their young.
He milked them and offered the beast milk to the Shi Hao Wooden Token.
Although he had escaped with his life, Qin Tian remained a steadfast believer in the Heavenly Emperor.
Long live the one who loved beast milk most!
Slurp! Drinking beast milk was such a wonderful thing!
During this time, Qin Tian also tried to reach the Bottom of the Immortal Pool, hoping to investigate and see the Tenth-Layer Immortal Pool.
He wanted to collect some spring water for his future cultivation.
But in the end, he failed. With an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon in hand, nothing could bar his steps.
The problem was that his divine power was already nearly exhausted in the first nine layers.
Qin Tian reckoned he could enter the tenth layer, but what would happen afterward was impossible to predict.
Facing the Emperor Might, he had to activate the Emperor Weapon to resist it. Yet that might was endless, while Qin Tian's divine power was limited. Perhaps he could last a few seconds; perhaps he could not last even one.
The Devouring Heaven Demon Lid could be counted among the strongest Extreme Dao Emperor Weapons, but Qin Tian's cultivation made it difficult to unleash its power.
And facing him were two Extreme Dao Emperor Bodies, utterly unafraid of an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, because they themselves embodied the Extreme Dao.
Once he lost the Devouring Heaven Demon Lid's protection, the ceaselessly emanating Extreme Dao imperial might could crush Qin Tian into a bloody pulp in an instant.
So Qin Tian very sensibly followed his heart and withdrew. He was greedy when it was time to be greedy, and retreated when it was time to retreat.
He must not let greed sway his true heart. Qin Tian had always understood this principle.
At worst, he could return later. It was not going anywhere.
Before long, Qin Tian arrived at the final site bearing the imprint of the Immortal Platform Scripture. Not a blade of grass grew here. Stone cliffs rose everywhere, barren and desolate, with nothing else in sight.
Yet this very wasteland gave him a peculiar feeling. Beyond the Dao resonance that harmonized with the myriad Daos of heaven and earth, there was another that returned all things to one, reversed the flow of time, and restored everything to its primordial beginning.
"I remember the Black Emperor saying that Great Emperor Wushi also came here and obtained the inheritance."
"Let me take a look!" Curiosity stirred in Qin Tian's heart, and the ahoge atop his head stood upright. Sensing the change in himself, he thought, A fateful opportunity.
At once, he decisively opened his divine eyes.
Azure space and pure white time lit up simultaneously. Space and time intertwined, influencing each other and amplifying their respective abilities, allowing him to see through the spacetime of the past.
Rumble!
Time flowed like water, stretching on and on without end. That was the River of Time.
The light of Qin Tian's eyes resonated with a young man demonstrating his arts in a certain era.
One manifested the River of Time, while the other peered into time. Situated at the same point, they formed a faint connection, allowing Qin Tian to glimpse a scene from ages ago.
A youth appeared before Qin Tian's eyes. His thick black hair framed an exceptionally valiant figure, his bearing awe-inspiring. His wise gaze could pierce through everything. With every movement, golden blood energy soared into the sky, and the myriad Daos danced along with it. He was the darling of the myriad Daos.
Before you continue