Chapter 1299: The Tenth Pole

The path to comprehend the Tenth Pole is destined to be arduous and fraught with obstacles.

Even though Xu Qing has pondered it often throughout his journey, gaining numerous insights, and even Young Master Mi Ming once showed him his own understanding, all of this could only serve as a reference for Xu Qing, not a direct choice. This is because his Flower of Constitution requires his own experiences as nourishment to bloom into the unique Law that belongs solely to him.

"This is the process by which a Constitution gives birth to a Law…" Xu Qing murmured, his raised foot suspended in mid-air.

He was contemplating, wondering if his preparations were entirely sufficient.

"With the Five Elements as a foundation, time and space superimposed to form spacetime… This turbulent flow then confirmed that my spacetime was incomplete, revealing that only by integrating right and wrong could true spacetime be formed. Thus, the fundamental Constitution of Spacetime was finally complete."

"Next… If the complete spacetime is viewed as a single point, then…"

Xu Qing raised his head, and his foot suddenly descended. The moment it touched the void, his Ninth Pole, which transcended spacetime, transformed into a Daoist sound, reverberating through the spacetime turbulence.

"Converging Universes, Layering Epochs."

These four words seemed to possess a strange magic, drawing Xu Qing's mind, constantly expanding, as if he was about to touch the most profound and mysterious depths of the universe. In an instant, the void before his eyes suddenly transformed; he felt as though he was ascending infinitely, while the spacetime turbulence he was in simultaneously shrank into oblivion.

Ultimately, spacetime, within Xu Qing's perception, became a single point. Within this point lay all the information contained within Xu Qing's Spacetime Constitution. Outside this point, within Xu Qing's perception, he startlingly realized that more points were forming. More and more, densely packed, they eventually filled his entire field of vision, forming countless shimmering points of light. A dense power of spacetime emanated from each point of light; every single one seemed to contain a world, a segment of spacetime, and the trajectories of all beings within that spacetime. They carried the joys and sorrows of countless individuals, interweaving the myriad different lives of everyone.

This was the Ninth Pole Xu Qing had once comprehended: Converging Universes, Layering Epochs! However, this Constitution had limited power until he reached the peak of quasi-immortality. Only after becoming a Great Perfection quasi-immortal could Xu Qing manifest it to its fullest extent.

So Xu Qing gazed upon them. Within these points of light, he saw countless versions of himself, living countless different lives. Like a series of distinct scrolls, they slowly unfolded before his eyes.

In one of these scrolls, there was a scholar. The scholar wore a moon-white long robe, a guan jin (a type of traditional headscarf), and held an ancient scroll as he paced through an elegant courtyard. The courtyard was resplendent with blooming flowers, their fragrance subtle, yet a faint melancholy lingered between the scholar's brows. He seemed lost in deep thought over obscure philosophical principles from his book, or perhaps lamenting his unfulfilled aspirations for success. Occasionally, he would sit at a stone table, dip his brush in ink, and write. His handwriting was elegant yet revealed a certain tenacity, as if every stroke and line conveyed his persistent pursuit of knowledge in this world. He remained unaware that, at this very moment, the Xu Qing from outside spacetime was gazing intently at him.

In another spacetime, a different figure appeared: a swordsman. He wore a bamboo hat and black martial attire, with a long sword hanging from his waist, its sheath adorned with ancient and mysterious patterns. Now, he walked along an official road, his posture as upright as a pine tree, every step imbued with a sense of freedom and boldness. Occasionally, mountain bandits and ruffians would block his path. The swordsman would merely draw his sword lightly, a cold gleam flashing from the blade, sending the petty villains tumbling to the ground. He would then sheathe his sword, without pausing, and continue his journey into the distance. Beneath the twilight sky, his silhouette stretched long and slender in the dim light. It seemed to carry endless stories – tales of swift justice and vendettas in the martial world, a different life composed of passion and chivalry.

Until the sun finally set, Xu Qing, from outside spacetime, retracted his gaze. In this silence, his eyes grew deeper as he continued to gaze at the other scrolls. It was as if he sought to peer through these scrolls, to see through the long river of spacetime and discern the patterns of parallel existence. Thus, he saw artisans, officials, butchers, mountain bandits, children, and elders—all facets of human life.

In yet another spacetime, Xu Qing saw a version of himself as a physician. Within a humble medical clinic, the physician carefully took the pulse of the injured, sometimes frowning in thought, other times smiling to comfort patients. With skillful hands, he expertly handled various medicinal herbs, either brewing decoctions or grinding powders, all to alleviate the suffering of others. Occasionally, he would carry his medicine box out, weaving through bustling markets and narrow alleys, a gentle smile on his face, showing immense patience to every commoner who came for consultation. With his medical skills, he safeguarded the well-being of the people in this small corner of the world. Though ordinary, it was profoundly meaningful.

Version after version of himself, life after life. Some aspects were similar, others different. Like the same seed, nurtured differently, blooming into flowers that were both similar and dissimilar.

Xu Qing watched silently, and gradually, understanding dawned in his eyes.

"I was wrong before… My Constitution originated from my perception, and was also limited by it. Previously, in this Ninth Pole, I was fixated only on the path of cultivators within my perception. Therefore, all the spacetimes I saw were inhabited by cultivators. One could even say they were all versions of myself that I imagined; that kind of parallelism was false parallelism. The true parallelism, the true Converging Universes, Layering Epochs, is actually what I see before me now, after my spacetime became complete and this turbulent flow cleared the mists… all facets of human life. Within it, every life has its unique flavor, its own joys, angers, sorrows, and delights, and each has its own distinct trajectory…" Xu Qing murmured.

This was his true Ninth Pole: Converging Universes, Layering Epochs. It was a grand scroll woven from countless choices, countless possibilities, and countless opportunities.

"Unfortunately, I cannot completely control them now." Xu Qing closed his eyes and spoke softly. "Seeing and accomplishing are two different stages. For these countless parallel spacetimes, I currently only have the qualification to see; as for intervention, there's not much I can do. Unless I use my previous methods, but that's a minor path… like being blinded by a single leaf. However, merely seeing is a manifestation of entering the Constitution of the Grand Dao."

Xu Qing was deep in thought. "So, is my Tenth Pole about transitioning from seeing to accomplishing?"

Xu Qing pondered. He still had some doubts that were not fully clear. After a long time, Xu Qing opened his eyes.

"Accomplishing, it seems, is still within the scope of the Ninth Pole, at most a half-step into the Tenth Pole, not a transcendence…" Xu Qing shook his head; this was still far from the Tenth Pole he anticipated.

So Xu Qing continued to gaze at the various scrolls, watching the different versions of himself within them. Time passed, though he knew not how long. Finally, as he gazed, in one of the scrolls, Xu Qing saw another version of himself. The him in that spacetime was somewhat special. He was a painter. This painter had created many works throughout his life: delicate portraits of ladies, grand landscapes, and lifelike depictions of birds and beasts, earning him great renown. Yet in his later years, for reasons unknown, he personally burned all his works, leaving only a blank sheet of xuan paper. Then, he gazed at the xuan paper for a long time before raising his brush and drawing only a single stroke on the blank sheet.

The moment the brush tip paused, Xu Qing, from outside spacetime, witnessed this scene and felt a shock reverberate through his mind. He whispered softly.

"Unity…"

"This is Unity!"

"The Tenth Pole is Unity!"

In an instant, an unprecedented light burst forth from Xu Qing's eyes, and all the confusion in his mind dissipated in that very moment.

"So now the question is… how to achieve unity!" Xu Qing looked at the scrolls before him, at the countless versions of himself within them. He already had an answer in his heart regarding how to achieve unity.

"To make all versions of me across the Converging Universes, Layering Epochs, generate the concept of unity. Using this concept as a guide, like a thread, to connect all versions of myself across all spacetimes! In this way, all concepts of unity can be gathered to form a conscious unity across all parallel existences!"

"As for how to achieve this…" Xu Qing narrowed his eyes; he knew that the greatest obstacle before him was the incompleteness of the Ninth Pole. Although he could see the Ninth Pole, he couldn't completely control it. "I can only intervene in a small portion." And if he could only intervene in a small part, making all versions of himself across all spacetimes comprehend the concept of unity would be too difficult. On one hand, there were too many spacetimes; on the other, the myriad facets of human life, with different selves, generated countless distracting thoughts, making it impossible to unify their consciousness. This would require complete mastery over the power of parallelism.

A sharp glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. "Actually, there's another clever method… The God of Suffering…"

Xu Qing suddenly raised his hand and, from within his immortal embryo, specifically from its inner immortal palace, he abruptly retrieved the coffin containing the God of Suffering, which he had suppressed. The moment it was placed before him, ripples spread in all directions. Xu Qing raised his right hand and, without hesitation, pressed down on the coffin. As the coffin trembled, Xu Qing's consciousness, with a powerful stance, instantly merged into it. It permeated the body of the god within the coffin, a deity already at the end of its tether, taking a certain degree of control over it.

After doing all this, a strange light gleamed in Xu Qing's eyes. His plan was to use the divine authority of this God of Suffering to weave an illusion for all versions of himself across all spacetimes. He would create different illusions based on their varied lives, experiences, and obsessions. Ultimately, he would make all versions of himself in all spacetimes immerse themselves in their respective illusions, unable to distinguish between reality and falsehood, just as he once did. What he needed was to leave a single, unified exit for these illusions, for all versions of himself across all spacetimes! That exit would be the gradual emergence of the obsession for unity. In this way, he could cleverly achieve what was needed: to make all versions of himself across all spacetimes form the concept of unity.

An illusion, inherently limited by one's own self, can only ever be an illusion, unable to affect reality, much like a dream. But this illusion… contained truth!