Ao Shen was a careful man since he had to. As such, he was unwilling to lay all his eggs in one basket. He had to plan for the possibility of failing to prove the Dao, leaving himself a way out.
By searching through his innate bloodline, he found the answer: the Heaven Path Tribulation. Innate Lifeforms are very hierarchal. Often, the rank in which they are born determines their status. A dragon born with the power of Saint Realm will have a higher position than one taken with the Void Shattering Realm.
However, they can still cultivate and improve. Moreover, Innate Lifeforms had to evolve and change to survive against Acquired Lifeforms during the ancient war. And the main reason for their strength was the Heaven Path Tribulation, which allowed Tier 9 Innate Lifeforms to enter Tier 10, on par with great Emperors.
After the tribulations, True Heavenly Dao will bless their Innate Laws, allowing them to compete with the Great Emperor's Grand Dao Source. The Tier 10 Innate Lifeforms are called Primarchs and are divided into 6 Stars.
The first star is equivalent to Immortal Venerable, the second star equals Dao Ancestors, the three stars were on par with Third Cla.s.s Great Emperors, and the six stars equal Eternal Emperors.
The appearance of the Heaven Path Tribulation provided Innate Lifeforms the advantage in the war, but it was only a brief one. With their ingenuity, humans quickly discovered that after transferring Innate Bloodlines into their bodies and developing them to the point of awakening Innate Laws, they could also undergo tribulation and become Primarchs. The only downside was the tribulation was a hundred to a thousand times more difficult for them, but that did not stop many people.
Ao Shen learned that Heavenly Dao would not prevent him from partic.i.p.ating in the Heaven Will Batte because of his ident.i.ty. However, if he wanted to partic.i.p.ate in the tribulation after the battle, he needed to pay the price, hence why he gathered the merit.
He plans to become a 6-star Primarch if he fails to prove the Dao. Then, he will protect the demon race in the upcoming era. After a while, he will refine his body and power into a race protecting treasure for the demon race before going into reincarnation and trying again.
Ao Shen's ambition is to be an Eternal Emperor since it is the best path of cultivation. Once a Primarch left their Chaos World, they would be as weak a chicken before an Emperor–unless they can turn their Innate Laws into Primordial Laws or cultivate a body on par with FiendG.o.ds.
He did not want to spend his entire life limited by the Chaos World, nor did he know how to transfer his Innate Law into Primordial Law. The best course of action is to walk the Emperor Path.
Ao Shen placed the merit away, thinking about how he could gather more since he did not know whether it was enough.
"The demon race needs a better intelligence agency." He realized how little information he could gather with the current system, which was dangerous since he knew little about his compet.i.tors. Therefore, he decided to take this matter seriously and oversee the process himself.
Central Continent, Emperor Enlightening Academy:
Headmaster Song Li ended the conference call with a pondering look. "Maybe, her decision is correct." His mind traveled three hundred years ago, after the Deception Trial.
Xu s.h.i.+ asked for a meeting with the academy's upper echelons:
"I want to prove the Dao in another World Community."
No one responded to her because of the shock of this sudden news.
"Xu s.h.i.+, do you know what you are saying?" asked Song Li after regaining his composure. "Proving the Dao in another world will mean you are now a foreigner. Even if you leave your inheritance to the Academy, we won't receive any luck or destiny."
Xu s.h.i.+ was aware of the consequences since her actions were frowned upon. After becoming an Emperor, even if she left her artifact, scripture, array, and other resources for the sect, she would technically not count as the Academy's Emperor since they would receive no Luck or Destiny.
Even if she preached the Dao in the Myriad Emperor World, there would be no benefit since she is a foreign Emperor.
"I understand the consequences," she explained. "But after the trial, I realized my chances of winning the final battle were slim. And I cannot afford to lose."
The elders were quiet as they knew about the trial. They were once excited about their Heaven Chosen breaking the barrier between Mortals and Immortals. But then they soon learned that all the other partic.i.p.ants from the Myriad Emperor World did the same. And w.a.n.g Wei even achieved 6-Leaf strength, and there was the possibility this level was not the limit of his power.
"I"m sure we can find another method," commented a teacher.
"Or, we can still wait for another generation." Many people favored Xu s.h.i.+ over Lin Fan because she inherited all his positive qualities, not the bad ones like his l.u.s.t. The only issue they had was her obsession with reviving him. However, as long as she could reign it a little, it would be the perfect driving force without interfering with her cultivation.
"There is always another way," chimed another teacher. They did not want to lose the opportunity to become a sect with two Eternal Emperors. And with Xu s.h.i.+'s talent, she would definitely become an Eternal Emperor.
"My husband's [Existence] was affected when he died, so he cannot wait too long before I can revive him. To reconstruct his existence, I need to become an Eternal Emperor in this generation."
Song Li frowned as he knew that [Existence Reconstruction] was not something any Eternal Emperor could do. But that was not the main issue.
"You know Heavenly Dao will not allow foreigners to access their World Imprints?"
Every living being has an imprint based on the world they are born. It is that imprint that identifies them as citizens of a world. The Ident.i.ty Token that allows foreigners to partic.i.p.ate in another world's Heaven Will Battle worked on the imprint.
And sometimes, when reviving someone from the dead, the imprint is necessary, as in the case of Lin Fan.
"I'm fully aware. But I can find another method or make a deal with the Myriad Emperor World's Emperor to help."
No one said a word as they could see she had made up her mind; her obsession with reviving Lin Fan had finally reached an uncontrollable point.
"A new era of change, prosperity, and conflict is coming," stated Xu s.h.i.+ calmly. "It would be best if the Academy has a Great Emperor representing them in that era–especially if the final victor is from the Dao Opening Sect."
She had a point. After the Heaven Chosen Trial's ordeal, w.a.n.g Wei displayed no animosity toward the Academy besides the surface compet.i.tion of the world's supposedly two most powerful factions. However, all that could be a mask.
"Give us some time to think about it," said Song Li, and Xu s.h.i.+ did not insist.
After the conference, Song Li began to think her approach was correct. With recent events. It's apparent the Dao Opening Sect has grand plans for the upcoming era, most likely to be the leader. And if the Academy does not want to cease to exist, certain sacrifices must be made.
Song Li knew he had a genuine reason to be worried. The birth of most Emperors had relatively little effect on the top Emperor Lineages since they posed no threat to them. They only have to worry about Pseudo Eternal Emperors because the latter can use guerilla tactics to slowly eat these factions before destroying them.
However, Eternal Emperors are different. No single faction can face them in the current era with no Immortal Sovereign. If one wanted to destroy any factions–including the Dao Opening Sect–no one could stop them.
After pondering for a moment, Song Li called for a meeting with the Ancestors. He could not easily make such a decision and needed guidance. After a lengthy discussion, they concluded Xu s.h.i.+'s method was the best–despite the consequences.
"What about the previous plan?" asked Song Li. "Should we continue?"
"If it goes well, she will thank us. However, if it fails, it might result in her not even acknowledging us as her faction," replied Academy One, the Insurgent cultivated by Emperor Kong.
The fact Xu s.h.i.+ became the Academy's Heaven Chosen midway caused some trouble regarding her loyalty and belonging to the faction. Luckily, with Lin Fan as a medium, the academy solved the problem.
However, her recent decision has again caused some cracks in the relations.h.i.+p. And if this plan fails, the damages will be unrepairable.
"So, is it worth the risk?"
"That's for you to decide."
Song Li was speechless; he came here for guidance, not for him only to bear the burden of this choice. He exhaled out loud before being firmed. "Let's do it."
He took out a talisman to contact someone:
"Xu Guan, you can do it."
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