Aspiring to the Immortal Path

“It was twelve thousand years ago. That year was during the Primordial Fog Calamity, the demon invasion throwing all the cosmos into chaos. Being a successful and compassionate cultivator, I gathered up all the cultivators of the world to battle against the demons. After forty years of campaigning, we finally defeated the demons. Unsatisfied, I led my army into the Primordial Fog…”

Yu Cheng began to nostalgically recall the past.

The war against the demons from twelve thousand years ago was the war in which Yu Cheng had gained his fame.

The Yu Cheng of that time was already a Dao-proving Saint Immortal who had entered six Daos, and he considered himself unrivaled in the world. When the demons invaded, Yu Cheng naturally went out to do battle with them, and as a result, he achieved an unprecedented glorious victory.

This was the foundation of the Court of Myriad Domains. Through the glory brought by that victory and his own considerable strength, after he returned from the Primordial Fog, he established the Court of Myriad Domains.

But Yu Cheng was describing his invasion of the Primordial Fog after he had successfully fended off the demons.

“The Primordial Fog Domain was almost infinitely vast. Permanently occupying that land was basically impossible, nor did it have any meaning. Thus, I decided to plunder all the resources I could and then try to pit demons against demons…”

It turned out that Tang Jie hadn’t been alone in thinking to use the chaotic nature of the demons. But while Tang Jie had been able to use Ice Phoenix as his watchdog, Yu Cheng had to use another method, which was to make life for the demons difficult as the human army advanced, thus forcing them to fight among themselves and reduce the pressure on his own forces.

These methods had their own advantages. Tang Jie’s method was better for a stable rear, for defense, as Tang Jie’s offensive was primarily aimed at the positive plane. Yu Cheng’s method favored the offense, keeping the demons too busy fighting each other to oppose him.

Thanks to this strategy, Yu Cheng and his cultivator army were basically unstoppable. There might have been many demons in the Primordial Fog, but they were like a table of sand, never united. After many years of campaigning, Yu Cheng was able to conquer a large swath of the Primordial Fog, looting its resources.

“This situation persisted until my twentieth year of campaigning in the Primordial Fog Domain,” Yu Cheng said. “On that day, we came across a place, a giant black swamp the size of a domain. There, we battled against the strongest demons we had ever faced, the weakest of them at Violet Palace, and all of them with extremely tough bodies, just like…”

“Like those creatures? Or the Gigantes of the Gigantes Domain?” Tang Jie asked.

“Yes,” Yu Cheng confirmed. “Moreover, they were all fearless, putting their lives on the line to halt our advance.”

Wang Yao and the other devils exchanged stunned looks.

Finally, Wang Yao asked, “Does Immortal Emperor know the name of that place?”

Yu Cheng answered, “I later on learned that that place was called the Pool of Demonization.”

Whoosh!

The devils all stood up.

“The Pool of Demonization! You went to the Pool of Demonization!”

“The audacity! That’s a forbidden ground, even for demons!”

“You’re seeking death!”

The devil chiefs howled.

Yu Cheng sneered, “I’ve already done it, and even if I had known that it was the Pool of Demonization back then, I still would have dared to invade it.”

The Pool of Demonization was the number one forbidden ground of the Primordial Fog demons. It was said that it contained a great secret related to the demons, and anyone who was able to get in and then get out would become the supreme Demon Emperor.

But no devil had ever been able to achieve this. Anyone who had dared to intrude upon that place never came out again, becoming an eternal sentinel of that ground. This included at least seven Demon Sovereigns and a large group of Demon Lords.

All of them never left that place again.

The demons that Yu Cheng had encountered at that swamp were the demons who had tried and failed to enter the Pool of Demonization.

As the years passed, the legends of the Pool of Demonization grew stronger and stronger, so much so that demons currently considered it a sacred land, that any intruder was a blasphemer who deserved death.

Nobody had expected Yu Cheng’s campaign to have brought him to this sacred land.

Wang Yao coldly laughed. “But you didn’t make it through, did you? If you did, you would have already been a pile of bones in the Pool of Demonization.”

But Yu Cheng shook his head. “You’re wrong. I entered the Pool of Demonization and even reached its core.”

The devils paled. “That’s impossible!”

Tang Jie seemed to realize something. “Is that where you learned about this place?”

The demons were stunned and instantly fell silent.

Yu Cheng simply sighed. “The journey into the Pool of Demonization was truly perilous. It felt like there was no end to those demons, and they did everything they could to stop us. After a bloody battle, we managed to reach the core, but at an unprecedented price. Linglong, Unbounded, the Dragon Ancestor, Heaven Wolf… many of my good subordinates died there.”

The Sage Mother and Warheaven Wolf were stunned.

Yu Cheng was saying that they had all died?

And that Pool of Demonization—they recalled that they hadn’t gone in there at all, and that Yu Cheng had personally forbidden them to enter. So why was Yu Cheng now saying that they had gone in?

Yu Cheng continued, “I was seemingly mad back then, continuing to press forward, a voice in my mind telling me to keep going, that only if I entered its deepest depths would I have a chance at survival.”

Yu Cheng was completely immersed in his memories, a look of perseverance on his face as if he really was experiencing some harrowing journey.

The Sage Mother and Warheaven Wolf were even more shaken.

Was Yu Cheng really telling the truth? Had they all really died once?

Yu Cheng continued to speak. “I desperately pushed forward, and after all my subordinates had died, I finally reached the core of the Pool of Demonization. In that dark space was a narrow fissure that led to another dimension, a fissure to another chiliocosm.”

After a brief pause, Yu Cheng added, “I entered, and there, I saw the most beautiful scene in my life…”

Yu Cheng appeared enchanted as he muttered, “The Great Daos had manifested before me, showing me all their secrets, carrying with them a lethal charm. That was the Heavenly Dao, the laws that had written this world, the ultimate expression of power, my lifelong pursuit! I saw it right there, right in front of me!”

Yu Cheng’s voice grew louder in excitement, all of his composure having vanished.

Only now did everyone understand how deep and crazed his desire really was.

After that moment of excitement, Yu Cheng finally sat back down and continued, “And then, two doors appeared before me. I immediately knew that I had two choices. Of these doors, one was the gate of death. I could die, but I could also gain a limitless future. The other was the gate of life, and if I entered there, everything would be returned to the starting point.

“I was afraid, so I chose to go back to the starting point.

“As I approached the gate of life, I found that another me was standing at the entrance to the Pool of Demonization. My lost comrades were standing at my side. I walked up to my other self and merged with him. I saw the fissure disappear as if it had never existed.

“Time returned to the moment before I entered.

“I ordered the army to retreat.”

Time reversal.

But on the entire cosmos, not a single person.

Nobody knew what Yu Cheng had experienced, not even the Sage Mother and the others realizing that they had all died once.

All they knew was that Yu Cheng had stood in front of the entrance for a while before coming to his senses and ordering everyone to retreat.

The Pool of Demonization continued to exist, remaining the number one forbidden land that nobody dared to enter.

But now, an idea had been planted deep in Yu Cheng’s mind.

Not long afterward, Yu Cheng led his army back to the positive plane and established the Court of Myriad Domains.

Everyone thought that Yu Cheng’s goal was to establish a united cultivator order under the Heavenly Dao, not realizing that he was deeply conflicted.

He could never forget those two doors or the choice that he had made.

He didn’t know what choice he would make if he had another opportunity.

But as time passed and he failed to make any progress, his desire for the Heavenly Dao grew stronger and stronger. Yu Cheng knew that his future lay behind that fissure.

So he began to search.

To search for that fissure, to search for the secret of the Heavenly Dao.

Two thousand years went by. Deep in the court, the tomb that he had built according to his memories was complete, but that gorgeous sight from before never reappeared.

Just when Yu Cheng thought he had forever lost any chance at that opportunity…

He encountered a person.

“Li Jiuyang,” Yu Cheng slowly said. “On the day Immortal Ji Yao brought him back, I sensed his existence. I was moved by the pure body cultivation he possessed. The tracks of Fate became crystal clear, and I realized that the opportunity I was seeking was to be found on him.

“I began to plan. I knew that the Four Sacred Beasts had always sought a way to break their bloodline shackles, so I influenced the old dragon into thinking that Immortal Ji Yao was the key to his breakthrough.”

“So it was you! You secretly planned out everything!” Immortal Ji Yao got to her feet and angrily pointed at Yu Cheng.

“Yes, it was me!” Yu Cheng smiled. “I guided the Azure Dragon to make his move and make you love Li Jiuyang, causing you to quarrel with the Pearl Lady.”

“Why?” Immortal Ji Yao crazily yelled.

“Because this was your Fate! I followed the guidance of Fate and cast Li Jiuyang into the Demon Jail!” Yu Cheng shouted back, and then his voice began to tremble. “I thought that he would guide me to find the fissure, but to my surprise…”

Yu Cheng roared in fury, “That bastard entered it on his own! The fissure was in the Demon Jail!

“Fate played me!!!”