Chapter 753: Sudden Enlightenment

The Demon Mountain World.

Meng Chuan walked along the Path of Mind, gazing up at the highest main peak. Over countless generations, cultivators had come and gone, yet the Demon Mountain remained unchanged, and the vast sound emanating from its summit was eternally undying.

Advancing step by step along the Path of Mind, each stride covering a hundred miles, Meng Chuan quickly reached the furthest point he had reached last time: ninety-eight thousand miles. “Hmm?” Meng Chuan paused here. The sound from the mountaintop echoed in his Essence Soul like rolling thunder, exerting immense pressure. “It seems my mental willpower hasn't improved much compared to last time.”

During his previous visit, he had already mastered the 'Chaos Cave Rule,' a fundamental rule, and had created his Essence Soul cultivation method, 'Painting the World.' Compared to his last visit, he had only gained mastery of one additional fundamental rule: the 'Heaven-Opening Rule.' Although he had comprehended the time rule for many years, he hadn't yet achieved a breakthrough. Therefore, the modest increase in his mental willpower was expected.

“So many years have passed,” Meng Chuan thought. “I’ve undergone tribulation trials, mastered an additional fundamental rule, and my Essence Soul world has become more stable… Perhaps I can reach the summit.” Thinking this, Meng Chuan advanced step by step, the sound from the mountaintop growing ever grander.

Ninety-nine thousand miles, one hundred thousand miles, one hundred and one thousand miles... As Meng Chuan slowly walked, the mountaintop became increasingly clear in his vision; he could even vaguely discern a golden light emanating from it. The moment he saw the golden light, Meng Chuan felt an immense pull. His life instinct urged him: *Go there immediately!*

“It's getting harder,” Meng Chuan persisted. The impact of the mountaintop's sound on his Essence Soul was intensifying, yet he gained little from it. At his current realm, even a slight improvement in mental willpower was exceedingly difficult.

One hundred and two thousand miles, one hundred and three thousand miles, one hundred and three thousand five hundred miles... “I can’t go any further.” Meng Chuan stopped, currently at approximately one hundred and three thousand nine hundred miles. “This is my current limit. It seems there’s still a gap between my mental willpower and Senior Jie Zu; Senior Jie Zu reached the summit long ago.”

However, Meng Chuan remained confident. For years, he had focused on cultivation, dedicating less effort to his Essence Soul method. He believed that by integrating the 'Heaven-Opening Rule' and the three fundamental parts of the time rule into his Essence Soul method and continuing to refine it, his mental willpower would surely improve further. With that, he would definitely reach the summit, as he was now only a short distance away.

Looking up, Meng Chuan could visually confirm that he was one thousand one hundred miles from the summit. Given his realm, even under the suppression of the Demon Mountain, a distance of one thousand one hundred miles was very close. Meng Chuan’s eyes could already clearly see the summit.

A faint light barrier enveloped the entire mountaintop. Numerous golden characters flowed across the surface of the barrier, emitting a soft golden glow. The golden light Meng Chuan had vaguely seen earlier originated from these characters.

“These characters are the very sounds I’ve been hearing from the mountaintop,” Meng Chuan thought as he gazed at them. Dozens of characters formed a sentence, flowing and appearing one after another. They seemed disorganized, and Meng Chuan couldn't discern the order of the sentences. However, at least he could now see complete sentences.

Though he didn't recognize the characters, each sentence, upon his observation, felt like a vast world crashing into his mind, bringing forth numerous insights. The same sentence composed of these golden characters would evoke different insights in different cultivators. It could be interpreted in various ways… It was as if it were the source of all principles. That a single sentence could be so profound was extraordinary.

Each sentence formed by the flowing characters on the summit was so profound that Meng Chuan was awestruck. He vaguely felt that if these characters could be integrated into a complete 'text,' it would likely surpass any supreme art he had ever encountered.

One sentence, two sentences, three sentences... Meng Chuan looked up at the distant summit, observing the character sentences. Among the many insights that emerged in his mind when he saw the fifth sentence, one particular insight was like a beacon in the darkness, completely illuminating Meng Chuan's confused mind. It gave direction to his extensive accumulated knowledge of the 'time rule' lineage, allowing him to quickly integrate it.

“Whoosh.” This Essence Soul avatar of Meng Chuan dissipated like a bubble. Here, it would continuously be subjected to the influence of the mountaintop's sound. At this moment, he needed to eliminate all distractions to grasp this fleeting insight.

In the forest of Mount Qianyuan.

Meng Chuan, dressed in a black robe with white hair, sat cross-legged on a thick layer of soft fallen leaves. Following that spark of insight, he quickly integrated his understandings.

The three fundamental parts of the time rule—the past rule, the present rule, and the future rule—naturally integrated, each containing aspects of the others, gradually merging into one. Just like three primary colors can combine to form a multitude of shades. Similarly, the past, present, and future rules could merge into many outcomes, but only one was the most perfect: that was the true time rule.

“Finally, I’ve grasped its essence.” Meng Chuan opened his eyes, which held an infinite spectrum of colors. He gently clenched his hand, and naturally, a small, complete spatiotemporal realm formed in his palm. Its space was stable, and time flowed at only one percent of the external rate, operating steadily.

Meng Chuan looked at everything around him with a hint of fascination. Though his life level hadn't changed, his altered perspective made everything appear ten or even a hundred times more vibrant in his eyes. Take, for instance, a wild flower in the distance.

In the past, Meng Chuan could perceive the wild flower's most minute 'micro-particles,' the countless fluctuations emitted by its plant life, its various influences on space, and the billions of particle lines naturally present in space passing through it—nothing could escape his notice. He could even easily observe the entire time span of the wild flower, from its growth in the past to its withering in the future. The wild flower in his eyes represented a complete life cycle.

But now, the scene Meng Chuan perceived had changed again. Billions of particle lines? Countless fluctuations? Influences on space? A single time span? These were all too superficial.

He now saw the underlying rules these superficial manifestations represented, and these countless complex rules all originated from — time and space. Time and space were the two foundational pillars of all rules. Meng Chuan could perceive how the interplay of time and space rules formed countless minor rules, and only the combination of these myriad rules manifested as this beautiful world.

“Rules,” Meng Chuan thought, as he looked at the mountain, the trees, the flowers, the flowing water... What he saw were mountains, rivers, trees, and plants, but in reality, they were countless rules. He also saw that these myriad rules were formed by the mutual influence of time and space. This feeling was incredibly profound. No more confusion! Omniscience! It was as if he knew the essence of all things.

“No.” Meng Chuan remotely observed the endless mist surrounding Mount Qianyuan and then snapped back to reality. That mist concealed infinite profoundness and immense terror; even Eight-Tribulation Realm cultivators who dared to force their way through would be courting death. The profoundness hidden within the mist was immeasurably more complex than that of the flowers and trees.

Meng Chuan knew that the infinite profoundness contained within the mist surely originated from time and space. But it was simply too complex; he couldn't comprehend it. Only then did Meng Chuan realize he was still far from 'omniscience'.

“Although everything in the endless spacetime originates from these two fundamental pillars—time and space—the more profound something is, the harder it is to fathom. For example, the physical body of an Eight-Tribulation Realm physical body cultivator or an Eternal Secret Treasure are things I cannot fathom.” Meng Chuan understood this. Even powerful Eternal beings, though considered omniscient, found it exceedingly difficult to create existences like Senior Brother Thousand Hands, who could rival the peak of the Eight-Tribulation Realm.

“At the very least, today I have taken the most crucial step: truly grasping the two fundamental pillars of all rules—time and space.” Meng Chuan smiled.