Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

He gritted his teeth. “I don’t know who you are. Over two thousand years ago, I was exiled to the Lower Realm. To punish and torture me, the Emperor used the Crimson Flame Chains to imprison me at the edge of the Fire Realm. Any living being that tries to enter or leave the Fire Realm is subject to my attack!”

At this, the Sunrise God paused. Only after a long moment spent calming his emotions did he continue, “Four hundred years ago, you entered the Fire Realm. By rights, I should have followed you in pursuit, but of course, I wasn’t about to work so diligently for that pack of bastards in the Celestial Realm. So I just went through the motions and didn’t really try to kill you…”

“Furthermore, under normal circumstances, after you entered the Fire Realm, I was supposed to report it. Given what you’ve done, the Celestial Realm would have certainly sent someone at or above the Incense Fire True God Realm to stand guard. But I found a way to suppress the news. That lion still thinks the Celestial Realm knows everything that’s happened here, but in reality, I haven’t reported a single thing to them…”

Upon hearing this, Li Chang’an finally understood why everything had seemed so strange.

’So after all this time, it’s because there was a mole in the Celestial Realm hiding things for me,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, given that I’ve been spreading the Martial Dao in the Mortal Realm and shaking the very foundation of the Incense System, the Divine Spirits of the Celestial Realm should be baying for my blood. They would never have sent so few people to just stand guard here.’

Now that he understood the full story, an idea sparked in Li Chang’an’s mind. He asked, “These chains on you… can I help you break them?”

The Sunrise God shook his head. “These two chains were placed here by the Sun Emperor. They are imbued with his Divine Power. The instant any force tries to remove them, the Emperor will sense it. My life or death depends on his slightest whim…”

At this, the Sunrise God grew agitated, his tone becoming urgent. “My life is as good as over, but yours isn’t! You’ve been to Hell, so you must know that there are other Cultivation Methods in this world besides the Incense and Candle Divine Dao…”

“Remember, unless it’s an absolute last resort, never practice the Incense and Candle Divine Dao. And even if you do, don’t get too entangled with the Celestial Realm. Most of all, never go to the Divine Realm! Those so-called Divine Spirits are just a pack of bastards. They created the Incense and Candle Divine Dao for the sole purpose of controlling and harvesting everyone, seizing all the world’s resources for themselves. They will stop at nothing…”

“I was once a True God in the Celestial Realm. I ended up in this miserable state merely for expressing the slightest doubt about the Incense and Candle Divine Dao. In the eyes of the Mortal Realm, a God who practices the Incense and Candle Divine Dao is high and mighty. But in front of the *real* Gods, we’re nothing more than dogs that can be crushed at any moment. I am the living, bleeding proof. I hope your arrival can change all of this.”

As he spoke, the Sunrise God ground his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.

The higher you stand, the harder you fall. He had thought that by entering the Celestial Realm and becoming a Divine Spirit, he could stand on equal footing with the true Divine Spirits.

But in the end, a casual slap in the face from them jolted him awake, forcing him to see the true nature they hid behind their masks of benevolence.

Li Chang’an was silent for a long time, unsure how to respond.

But time was short, and he truly had none to waste. He could only say, “I understand. I’ll do my best. Take care. I hope we can meet again someday!”

The Sunrise God shook his head. “Just go. We won’t meet again. And even if we do, it will be as mortal enemies. When that time comes, just make it quick.”

With that, he closed his eyes and fell silent, resuming his silent struggle against the iron chains.

Li Chang’an descended from the clouds, returning to the Mortal Realm.

Outside the Fire Realm, the battle against the Guardian Gods was nearly over, mostly taken care of by the Iron-blooded Warriors from Hell. Although none of these Guardian Gods were weak—in fact, they could even be considered elites—they were simply no match for the sheer numbers of the Hell Race.

It only took a few of them to surround a single Guardian God and pummel it to death.

By the time Li Chang’an descended, only the Golden Lion and a few of the most powerful Guardian Gods were still mounting a desperate last stand.

But with Li Chang’an joining the fray, their stubborn resistance vanished as quickly as a single, insignificant ripple in a vast ocean.

With the matter settled, Li Chang’an didn’t dare to linger for a second.

According to the Hell Humans, the beings in the heavens had long ago placed a bind on their bloodlines. As soon as they appeared in the outside world, the Immortals above would immediately sense their location.

And in practice, this had always been the case.

On many occasions before, whenever the Hell Race dared to set foot in the Mortal Realm, they were almost immediately struck down by the Immortals of the Celestial Realm.

But now, Li Chang’an had brought out hundreds of people from the Hell Race. A number this terrifying should have drawn the Celestial Realm’s attention the very instant they appeared.

Strangely, however, there was still no reaction from the Celestial Realm. It was as if they had no idea at all that people from Hell had appeared in the Mortal Realm.

This reminded Li Chang’an of the Sunrise God, the one tasked with guarding the edge of the Fire Realm.

’So after all this time,’ he mused, ’could it be that the Celestial Realm’s so-called ’bind on the bloodline’ was just planting a spy outside the Fire Realm and then pretending to be omniscient?’

In the past, Li Chang’an would have found that hard to believe or accept.

But now, he was actually starting to believe it.

It had to be said, the world was just one big, shoddy production.

To keep Hell in check and prevent the descendants of the Human Emperor from stirring up trouble, the Celestial Realm cooked up a so-called “bloodline restriction,” enforced it with a simple physical guard, and with that one scheme, completely bamboozled the Hell Race. From that day forward, they never dared to set foot in the outside world again.

’Did that even make sense?’

’Unbelievably, it actually made perfect sense!’

…