Published at 25th of May 2026 6:57 am

Chapter 1857: Xu Shi's Saint Path

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"Send all this world’s information to the Paragon and select someone to fight the Sovereigns," Madam Chu ordered. "You can also hand over the task of the other Kings to them as well, just help them speed up the growth of their vessels."

The room was quiet, the embarrassment almost palpable. Madam Chu looked at them and finally decided to say something to reassure everybody. As a leader, it’s her job to soothe these massive egos.

"No need to be embarrassed. The younger generation is supposed to surpass us." Grand Dao drastically weakened cultivators after the Essence Age; the Qi Age was cut off short, and the Soul Age suffered a terrible backlash. Currently, they are in the Paragon Age, which has advanced to the point that there is almost no room left for improvement. So, it makes perfect sense that the most talented individuals of the Paragon Age would be more powerful than these ancient, outdated Saints at Tier 12.

"Madam, are you trying to reassure us or deepen the knife already stuck in our hearts?"

Madam Chu did not comment any further. Time was changing, and if these Saints couldn’t accept it, if they couldn’t adapt, then it was only a matter of time before they were left behind. The Transcendent Age is coming, and many of the young talents of this era will soon sanctify and rise to the same status as the Old Saints. Today’s event was a great opportunity for them to experience not being the center of Heaven and Earth.

"Do you want to add some rewards for successfully executing the mission?" the Romantic Scholar asked.

"That’s not a bad idea," Madam Chu nodded. Although these Paragons were nothing but soldiers in this war, meaning they had no choice but to execute orders, an incentive could motivate them to get the job done as soon as possible. So, the group then discussed for a few minutes and devised a concrete reward system for this expedition.

...

Xu Shi frowned as she received a communication talisman about a new mission. While sitting cross-legged on a cultivation cushion, she retrieved the talisman and read the content. "Practicing the Duyi Realm for every cultivation realm? No, not just the Duyi realm, but an extreme version of each cultivation stage. What an interesting world."

The Duyi Realm, which is a prototype of the Dao Will, is only achieved or manifested when a cultivator understands enough about a cultivation realm to change or tweak it slightly. However, in this world, the cultivators don’t just tweak things; no, they push the realm to the extreme, sometimes, to the point that the way some cultivators train one realm might be completely different than someone else.

"Should I participate in this mission?" Xu Shi thought. The rewards were tempting, but this would put her in the spotlight. So, after thinking about it briefly, Xu Shi chose to remain inconspicuous. Putting the talisman away, she prepared to continue her meditation when she suddenly stopped.

"Is there a way to benefit from this world’s system?" Xu Shi thought. Her first thought was to cultivate all 12 techniques from the Three Sovereigns and Nine Kings. However, she would need to re-establish her foundation for this method to be effective. As for the result? It may just allow her to cultivate to the 5-root Dao Ancestor Realm, or it may grant her the Mortal Emperor Foundation — it’s hard to tell.

"What other benefits can there be?" Xu Shi thought, feeling like an inspiration was about blessing her mind. Xu Shi did not rush things. Instead, she exhaled to relax her body and mind, which helped her think more clearly.

"Since this world can push each cultivation realm to the extreme, why can’t I do the same with the Origin System? However, what benefit would that do? A way to cultivate the Dao Will? That’s possible. But I feel there is more."

Xu Shi did not hesitate. She had a small portion of merit saved for such an occasion and immediately used it to create an opportunity for an epiphany. Although she didn’t know what kind of idea or connection her mind wanted to make, her intuition warned her that it was crucial. As such, she felt no pain in paying to ensure success.

A myriad of thoughts and ideas flashed in Xu Shi’s mind, and she analyzed them one by one at an alarming speed. Finally, she caught onto something: "The Path of Transcendence is a process of detaching from the Chaos Universe — a process of achieving complete independence from Heaven and Earth. And if I want to be independent, I must have my own Source of the Dao — that’s the key to the Dao Quintessence. The question is how?

"The answer is simple: Dao Tree. The people of this world pushed their individual realm to the extreme. Why can’t I do the same with the Origin System? At the Saint – no, the Law Domain Realm — I once condensed a Dao Tree that was a physical manifestation of my Dao.

"What if I do the same for the Grand Dao Source?"

Xu Shi’s eyes lit up:

"The Void-Time Tree, a physical manifestation of my Grand Dao Source, a prototype of Dao Quintessence. As long as the thing can be condensed and developed to a sufficient level, it will be an independent Grand Construct — a source of Time Dao."

A unique aura of enlightenment, along with countless Dao Rhymes, was emitted from Xu Shi’s body. She was lucky she was in her quarters, which were blocked by countless formations. Otherwise, people would have detected her state, and who knows, someone might get jealous and do something stupid. Even if they failed to stop her epiphany, some might see it as a cause to celebrate.

"And this path is not only for the Dao Quintessence. For the Soul Quintessence, I can inject my Soul Imprint into the tree, and once it grows to a point of being independent of the River of Time, my soul can ascend to a higher plane of existence. As for the Flesh Quintessence? That’s even easier. I only need to feed my flesh to the tree, slowly turning it into my true body while my human flesh becomes a vessel, and I will eventually condense a Flesh Quintessence."

Xu Shi exhaled deeply. Now that she had a clear path for the future, her mind was at peace. Billions of Paragons across the Chaos Universe are lost, searching for their way forward. But today, Xu Shi has illuminated her path, and there is no greater joy than that. So, without hesitation, she entered seclusion to immediately begin creating the method of condensing the Void-Time Tree.

A few days passed, and Xu Shi was forced to end her retreat because of a potent vision between Heaven and Earth. Through her divine sense, she saw the newly elected Third Sovereign parading across the sky.

"Ying Zheng? This may complicate things," Xu Shi thought, frowning deeply. The Three Sovereigns and Nine Kings can be considered a form of Heavenly Emperor Position. Now that Ying Zheng has taken the spot for the supposed most powerful of the group — the Third Sovereign — there is a high chance he will become enlightened on his Sanctification Path.

"The competition for the era’s first Saint used to be between Ying Zheng and Wu Hong," Xu Shi thought. "But after the expedition, Wang Wei seemed to have surpassed everybody and was almost guaranteed to win. Could it be that Ying Zheng is prepared for a comeback?"

No one would want to easily give up the luck and destiny associated with being the era’s first Saint.

"The title doesn’t have to go to either of those three. Now that my path is clear, I could also compete. However, if Wang Wei asked to repay my karma by not competing, how am I supposed to answer?"

This is a conundrum that Xu Shi hopes she doesn’t have to face. With Wang Wei’s personality, he’ll probably be confident that he could defeat everybody else, but if Xu Shi truly reaches the point that she’s about to succeed, she does not doubt that Wang Wei will use that karma against her.

"Hmm?" Xu Shi uttered. Another vision followed, and she also recognized the person who succeeded: Dugu Baitian.

"Another ambitious overlord," Xu Shi sighed. Anyone with the slightest of observational capability can tell that the destiny of the Grand Sect Alliance has run its course. However, someone as prideful and iron-willed as Dugu Baitian will never accept defeat. In the Golden Age, he defied his fate, and now, he wanted to do it again.

Xu Shi shook her head, not thinking too much about Dugu Baitian’s plight. Instead, her mind was now preoccupied by something else: the temptation of one of the positions. She realized there was a lot of luck and destiny involved in these destinations, and by taking one, she could either supplement her own luck or increase the academy’s.

"It would be good to have a Transparent Qi Luck, but being in the spotlight will make it harder to escape undetected." After mulling it over for a few seconds, she chose to remain quiet, moving only in the shadows.

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