Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Everyone was clearly furious about this.

A sentiment of pity for their misfortune and frustration at their passivity began to brew.

Li Chang’an, however, found this quite understandable. According to the most ancient records in Hell, all humans in the Mortal Realm today were descendants of those once ruled by the Human Emperor.

Or, at the very least, they were descendants of the tribes allied with the Human Emperor’s faction.

The naturally-born beings now known as Guardian Gods, however, were once humanity’s greatest enemy. Back at the dawn of Chaos, when heaven and earth were still a hazy blur, control of this world was actually in their hands.

It was not until the human species appeared and began to rapidly proliferate that the conflict between these natural beings and humanity began to manifest.

In fact, for a very long time, the war between humanity and these natural beings was ceaseless.

Until the Human Emperor—a leader capable of uniting the entire Human Race—appeared, the scattered and disorganized humans were consistently defeated in their wars against the naturally-born beings.

The appearance of the first Human Emperor finally changed their fate of constant defeat, and the scales of the struggle between humanity and the natural beings began to tip in their favor.

The appearance of the seventh Human Emperor marked a major turning point in the history of this world’s humanity.

The seventh Human Emperor led humanity to a decisive victory over the natural beings, declaring that this planet would henceforth be ruled and dominated by the great Human Race. Before this Human Emperor turned his gaze to the stars, the planet’s naturally-born beings could only eke out a meager existence in the face of the ever-strengthening humans.

Later, as the Human Emperor looked to the stars, he unintentionally rescued a spaceship filled with bandits.

However, this spaceship did not bring humanity or the Human Emperor the key to an interstellar age. Instead, the bandits aboard conspired to kill the Human Emperor, then allied with the already-waning natural beings to launch a brutal purge and suppression against humankind.

In other words, from a historical perspective, both the Divine Spirits of the Celestial Realm and the Guardian Gods of the Mortal Realm share a deep-seated blood feud with the human race.

And yet now, because history had been deliberately destroyed and distorted, the human race was worshiping its former enemies as gods…

It had to be said, the situation was a grim, unfunny joke.

In his two-thousandth year, Li Chang’an finally broke through the Grandmaster Realm, his cultivation reaching a peak he would be unable to surpass for some time.

He was now a world apart from the man who had fled in disarray four hundred years ago.

To get a better understanding of the Celestial Realm’s Divine Spirits, he sought out Su Ma, the clan’s wizened patriarch. He shattered a nearby mountain peak with a single punch and asked, “Patriarch, with my current strength, what level of Divine Spirit from the Celestial Realm can I contend with?”

Sensing the power radiating from Li Chang’an and the casual ease with which he had shattered the mountain, Su Ma’s withered face twitched. He stared at him in astonishment for a long moment before finally speaking. “To make such a massive breakthrough in a mere two hundred years… Are you truly one of the long-lived races? This cultivation speed is even more terrifying than that of the short-lived humans!”

Li Chang’an smiled, not dwelling on the topic. He brought the conversation back, saying, “That’s not important. Patriarch, just tell me if I can fight a True God officially recognized by the Celestial Realm!”

The Celestial Realm’s Cultivation System has a total of ten levels, one more than the Martial Arts System Li Chang’an created. These ten levels are: Entering the Dao, Transformed Form, Attaining the Dao, Molting, Divinity Transformation, Pseudo-God, Incense Fire True God, True God, Emperor, and Celestial Monarch.

Li Chang’an’s current Martial Arts Realm was Grandmaster, and he was still a long way from his system’s highest realm, Divinity Transformation. Therefore, he conservatively estimated that his current combat prowess was comparable to that of a True God.

However, Su Ma clearly had a different opinion.

Su Ma shook his head and said, “I think it would be very difficult for you to compare to a True God from the Celestial Realm. You should know that as far back as ten thousand years ago, a True God made a move. At that time, a True God was already like a true Divine Spirit, possessing enough power to make heaven and earth tremble. Not to mention, ten thousand years have passed since that era. It’s impossible for the Celestial Realm to have made no progress in such a long time. In other words, today’s True Gods can only be more terrifying than those of the past…”

He paused at this point.

He then continued, “But you don’t need to be discouraged by this. Your current strength is definitely on par with an Incense Fire True God, there’s no question about that. As for the exact comparison, that’s something you will have to discover for yourself in the future!”

Hearing this, Li Chang’an nodded.

He was neither particularly disheartened nor especially excited at this moment.

The path of cultivating the Martial Dao was exceedingly long.

He had only mapped out nine realms so far, but that didn’t mean the Martial Dao truly had only nine. It was simply that with the foundation he had accumulated, he could only deduce nine realms for the time being.

In fact, ever since he had come into contact with the Body Forging Breathing Technique left behind by the Ancient Human Emperor, Li Chang’an had developed new ideas about the path to higher realms of the Martial Dao.

However, this idea was still just theoretical, as he had not yet had the chance to put it into practice.

…

Four hundred years.

Two hundred years cultivating on the outskirts of the Fire Realm, another two hundred in Hell—four hundred years of quietly growing stronger had given Li Chang’an a great deal more confidence.

He had no intention of remaining in the Fire Realm.