Chapter 771: Through the Test

Meng Chuan emerged from the dark red space and immediately sat cross-legged amidst the forests on Mount Qianyuan.

A multitude of sensations—trembling, dizziness, and a floating feeling—assaulted Meng Chuan.

These Chaos Lords were imprisoned by the Eternal Being for violating taboos, and their numbers were limited. Even a registered disciple of the Eternal Being had only one opportunity to slay one. However, according to the rules set by the Eternal Being, whose word was law, slaying a Chaos Lord on Mount Qianyuan allowed for perfect assimilation, completely absorbing the opponent's power to form a talent best suited to oneself.

Such an opportunity was incredibly precious.

Meng Chuan used this opportunity on the Chaos Lord known as 'The Sage'.

After a mysterious power integrated into Meng Chuan's primordial spirit for a moment, a vast flood of memories finally surged into his mind.

Boom!

Having cultivated to the Eighth Tribulation Realm of the primordial spirit, Meng Chuan's primordial spirit possessed immense endurance. Yet, the torrent of incoming memories momentarily overwhelmed him, making it impossible to think.

The infusion of these memories lasted for over ten breaths, after which Meng Chuan finally absorbed them all.

"Perfectly assimilating this Chaos Lord grants memories?" Meng Chuan was surprised. He had expected to gain some kind of talent, not an immense trove of memories.

Meng Chuan attempted to comprehend these memories.

While the memory infusion only took over ten breaths, comprehending them required over six hours. Meng Chuan could normally process vast amounts of information in an instant, yet this time it took him so long to "read" them.

"So, this is why this Chaos Lord was called 'The Sage'?" Meng Chuan understood.

Upon finishing the "reading," he fully grasped everything.

When the Chaos Lord 'The Sage' was still merely a Fifth Tribulation Realm chaos creature, it encountered 'The Abyss'. At that time, The Abyss was already at the pinnacle of the Eighth Tribulation Realm, having devoured countless beings from numerous timelines and absorbed them into its body. 'The Sage' was likewise drawn in and became one of the countless beings within The Abyss, undergoing brutal competition there.

During its competitive growth, The Sage evolved into a Seventh Tribulation Realm chaos creature, earning the right to independently occupy a layer of The Abyss. Its modifications to that layer made it exceedingly powerful, greatly surprising The Abyss itself, which then began to cultivate The Sage.

Under The Sage's guidance, the entire structure of The Abyss gradually improved. The Abyss eventually broke through to the peak of the Eighth Tribulation Realm, naturally favoring The Sage even more. It provided numerous Seventh Tribulation Realm chaos creatures, and even Chaos Lords, for The Sage to consume. In this manner, The Sage transformed into a Chaos Lord. With its assistance, The Abyss grew increasingly powerful, becoming even more formidable among those at the peak of the Eighth Tribulation Realm.

Even the direct disciples of the Eternal Being could only contend with it on equal terms.

It was then that the Eternal Being personally intervened, imprisoning both The Abyss and The Sage.

And today, The Sage was slain by Meng Chuan, who consequently gained its memories.

"The Sage was a hundred-headed monster, born with a hundred distinct heads, each possessing a different personality, way of thinking, and preference. It was as if they were a hundred entirely different beings, yet their memories were interconnected, forming a complete consciousness," Meng Chuan mused internally. "These hundred heads deliberately pursued different cultivation paths, especially after devouring too many chaos creatures in The Abyss; it had an innate ability to consume the memories of other beings."

"By devouring too many memories, it understood more and more."

"A hundred heads, each pursuing a hundred different cultivation paths?" Meng Chuan marveled.

He himself only walked one path—the Path of Painting!

This Sage, astonishingly, pursued a hundred paths simultaneously, with each head following one. The Path of Painting was among them, though The Sage's achievement in it felt to Meng Chuan to be only at his own Sixth Tribulation Realm level.

However, The Sage's advantage lay in the sheer number of paths it explored.

The Path of Painting, the Path of Divinity, the Path of Mind, the Path of Dreams, the Path of Worlds, the Path of Runes, the Path of Formations… these paths were not invented by The Sage from scratch. Instead, they were gradually integrated from the memories of countless beings it had consumed within The Abyss. Thus, its attainment in each individual path was not exceptionally high, with the highest reaching roughly the Seventh Tribulation Realm level, and the lowest around the Sixth Tribulation Realm level.

Even though it achieved these hundred paths by devouring memories, Meng Chuan was still immensely impressed.

He knew very well that to walk any path, one must dedicate oneself wholeheartedly to it. Just like the Path of Painting, which requires eyes that perceive the world as art. The same applies to other paths.

The Sage indeed possessed extraordinary talent; its 'hundred minds' each pursued a different path, and each path was genuinely cherished by a specific 'mind' and aligned with its natural talent. Only through such dedication could it ultimately walk 'a hundred paths'.

"The reason it was called The Sage is because it comprehended everything by simultaneously engaging all hundred paths."

"The 'intersection' of insights gained from these hundred paths, cross-verified against each other, was what The Sage considered absolutely correct. It was also through this method that it continuously refined the structure of The Abyss, making it increasingly perfect and powerful," Meng Chuan marveled.

The intersection of insights from a hundred paths?

Could it be done that way?

Even though this unique opportunity, as a disciple of the Eternal Being, to perfectly assimilate a chaos creature, only yielded memories—

However, the memories concerning the 'hundred paths' were incredibly valuable, and Meng Chuan was very satisfied.

He felt he could use his own Path of Painting to draw upon the various strengths of these hundred paths.

This is how cultivation should be: all great paths lead to the ultimate goal—Eternity! His Path of Painting could use the hundred paths as nourishment.

He couldn't cultivate a hundred paths simultaneously like The Sage, because one must be wholeheartedly devoted to a single path to go far! Normal beings can only walk one path.

He exhaled.

Meng Chuan was delighted; with the prospect of his fundamental Path of Painting improving, he naturally felt joyful.

As he opened his eyes with a smile, he saw a black-and-white beast staring at him with wide eyes.

Meng Chuan was startled, as he hadn't sensed its presence at all.

"Senior Thousand Hands," Meng Chuan quickly rose and bowed.

"Now, you can call me Senior Brother," the black-and-white beast said, its mouth curving upwards in a grin.

Meng Chuan was overjoyed.

Slaying the Chaos Lord meant passing the test, thus becoming a disciple of the Eternal Being, which allowed him to call him Senior Brother?

"Meng Chuan respectfully greets Senior Brother Thousand Hands." Meng Chuan bowed reverently.

The black-and-white beast tossed out a jade talisman with its claw: "Refine it."

Meng Chuan took the talisman. As his primordial spirit power permeated it, the talisman immediately integrated into his primordial spirit, causing a faint flame mark to appear between his eyebrows.

"From now on, you can provisionally be considered a disciple of Master," the black-and-white beast said.

As Meng Chuan refined the jade talisman, he understood much information.

Such as the Master's name.

And the location of the Master's cave dwelling and ninety-nine villas.

"'Provisionally'?" Meng Chuan asked, puzzled.

"You passed the test, so of course you are a disciple of Master," the black-and-white beast replied. "However, strictly speaking, you must still go to Master's cave dwelling, 'Green Fire Mountain,' and receive Master's personal acknowledgment."

Meng Chuan nodded slightly.

As a disciple, one could use a secret method to create a spatiotemporal teleportation passage to travel from Mount Qianyuan to Green Fire Mountain. Even for an Eighth Tribulation Realm primordial spirit, this journey would take ten years.

"Once you arrive at Green Fire Mountain, you'll have to wait to be summoned. Master might sleep for hundreds of millions of years at a time, so when you are summoned will naturally depend on Master's will," the black-and-white beast explained.

"Understood." Meng Chuan nodded. Those in the Eighth Tribulation Realm, having transcended the river of time, possessed the patience to wait indefinitely.

However, he himself didn't have much time before his next tribulation, and he couldn't afford to wait.

"Your most pressing matter now is to overcome your tribulation," the black-and-white beast stated. "Master is very hands-off with disciples, allowing them to cultivate and grow freely. Even if they face danger or die at the hands of a powerful enemy, Master will retrieve them from the river of time. But there's one exception... if their lifespan limit is reached, Master cannot save them."

"Who sets the lifespan limit? In essence, it's the rules of the endless spacetime, deeming that you should die," the black-and-white beast continued. "Are those at the Sixth and Seventh Tribulation Realms truly so old that death is inevitable? No, it's simply that the rules of the endless spacetime decide it's time for them to age and die."

"The rules of endless spacetime cannot be defied. Only by enduring the ninth heavenly tribulation can one truly transcend and become truly eternal."

"You are currently facing your eighth heavenly tribulation. If you fail to pass it, you will die. If the endless spacetime determines you must die, even if Master retrieves you, you will simply perish again," the black-and-white beast concluded.

Meng Chuan understood.

If endless spacetime decreed your death, even Master could not save you.