Immortal Paladin

I’d achieved the Ruler of Laws realm, but all it truly did was enlighten me to how hopeless my situation actually was. At this stage of cultivation, a person could finally perceive the six worlds that formed the soul itself. One existed within the head, one within the heart, and the remaining four rested in the limbs. A Ruler of Laws could engrave a Law into each world, gradually shaping the foundation of their existence into something transcendent. The moment I understood that truth, I immediately thought of my old Six Paths cultivation. No wonder that damned technique had been considered so monstrous that it could mean death.

The worlds that used to form my sleeping dantian stirred awake like dead stars reigniting after an eternal winter. Ordinary cultivators would need to engrave their Laws one by one through endless years of comprehension, but my six worlds awakened all at once as if they had merely been dormant this entire time. The abandoned Six Paths began deriving Laws on their own accord.

From the Heaven Path, I obtained the Law of Creation.

From the Asura Path, I obtained the Law of Destruction.

From the Animal Path, I obtained the Law of Transformation.

From the Human Path, I obtained the Law of Regression.

From the Ghost Path, I obtained the Law of Isolation.

From the Hell Path, I obtained the Law of Perdition.

The six worlds revolved around a massive core that represented my soul, each orbit carrying terrifying authority capable of shaking reality itself. I could feel the Laws resonating with one another, forming a system that should not have existed naturally. None of this would’ve been possible without the mysterious weathered stone tablet. Even now, I still couldn’t understand what kind of existence could create something capable of rebuilding a mixed foundation into this.

I slowly exhaled. “...So this is the Ruler of Laws.”

I remained seated in lotus position within the mausoleum of Supreme Death, surrounded by mountains of treasures, ancient relics, and enough wealth to make entire immortal factions slaughter one another. Yet the tomb felt unbearably empty. Only Xin Yune and I remained there.

“Da Wei...” Xin Yune’s voice trembled slightly behind me. “Are you still there?”

“I’m still here,” I answered quietly.

I could feel both of her palms pressed against my back as she circulated my quintessence through her body before refining it and returning it to me in a purer state. We were taking full advantage of her Shén attributes to accelerate my cultivation speed to an absurd level. At this point, I wasn’t even surprised anymore that Meng Po had been a Shén all along. Looking back, the signs had always been there. We’d simply been too blind to recognize them.

Inside my Ophanim, I continued cultivating through alternate futures, compressing decades of training into the shortest amount of time possible. Every simulated timeline was another attempt to find salvation. Another desperate gamble against extinction.

The situation outside was beyond terrible.

I’d already sent the Judge of Order away to assist the others, but even that barely shifted the balance. We needed something outrageous to survive this catastrophe. Something completely unreasonable.

I honestly thought things couldn’t escalate any further after everything we’d already suffered through, but apparently reality took that as a challenge.

A Great Beast.

A devourer of the cosmos or some insane shit like that.

Yeah. Sure. Why not?

Among the countless futures I simulated, I attempted to glimpse my battle against the Great Beast. Every single time, the result ended the same way. Either my eyes exploded from the strain, or I simply died before comprehending what killed me. The worst part wasn’t even the creature itself. It was the fact I was forced to confront it alone while everyone else became trapped by Conquest’s schemes.

Even standing at the peak of Ruler of Laws, I still wasn’t enough.

No strategy was enough.

No preparation was enough.

No amount of power I possessed could bridge that overwhelming difference.

Still, I continued searching.

I held onto consciousness while drifting through endless futures, and eventually, a path revealed itself to me. At first, I thought I’d discovered clues regarding the next realm or perhaps one of the Supreme Being’s hidden truths. Through the Ophanim, my awareness began interacting with a strange existence that existed somewhere beyond comprehension itself.

My senses twisted violently.

Up became down.

Time lost meaning.

Even my own identity began blurring apart.

I could barely recognize myself anymore.

“Who are you?” I asked.

[Answer: Me.]

A chill crawled down my spine.

Holy fucking shit.

“Are you the Origin?”

[Question: Does it matter?]

“What do you want?”

[Answer: Your victory.]

I frowned despite my deteriorating consciousness. “Really? That’s it? So what, you’re gonna deus-ex-machina this shit?”

[Answer: No understand.]

“You’re not making any sense right now.” I gritted my teeth. “If you’re going to give me power, then give it to me. I’ll deal with the consequences later. This Great Beast is too big of a problem for everyone. Maybe even you aren’t safe from it.”

[Answer: Not. Give. Power.]

I laughed weakly. “Then you’re useless to me.”

[Answer: No.]

My expression stiffened. “What?”

[Answer: Omniscience. Temporary.]

The instant those words appeared, agony detonated inside my mind.

“AAAAAAAH—!”

I screamed as blood poured from my eyes.

Reality shattered.

Information flooded into me like an infinite ocean collapsing into a mortal container. I could faintly hear Xin Yune shouting my name somewhere in the distance.

“Da Wei! Da Wei, what’s happening?!”

But her voice sounded impossibly far away. I couldn’t focus on her anymore. Endless knowledge continued pouring into me without restraint. I saw worlds being born and erased. I saw civilizations rising only to vanish into dust. I saw Laws intertwining into truths beyond comprehension.

And finally, I saw the answer.

I could win.

It was going to hurt like hell, and I still needed to convince someone important to cooperate with me, but for the first time in a long while, I finally saw victory. All the simulations, all the repeated trial and error inside the Ophanim, had failed me. I’d been smashing my head against inevitability over and over again like an idiot hoping reality would suddenly become merciful. It never did.

But the Origin’s guidance had changed something.

No.

It wasn’t guidance.

Permission.

That strange existence had merely allowed me to see the answer.

Through the fading remnants of temporary omniscience, I saw another version of myself standing within a collapsing abyss. He was the darker me I vaguely remembered fighting long ago, the one born from hatred, despair, and everything monstrous buried inside my soul. His expression carried none of the madness I remembered. Instead, he looked at me with something dangerously close to pity.

“Don’t lose yourself to [Omniscience],” he warned quietly. “Or you’ll suffer a fate worse than death.”

I abruptly opened my eyes.

The details of the answer were already becoming blurry.

My body violently convulsed.

“Ghk—!”

I coughed blood onto the floor of the mausoleum before another wave followed. I bent forward and wretched hard enough that crimson splattered across the treasures surrounding me. My insides felt shredded apart. Xin Yune immediately supported me from behind while circulating healing quintessence into my meridians.

“You’re going to be okay,” she said urgently as layers of physician techniques wrapped around my body. “Just breathe slowly.”

I weakly laughed between coughs. “You’re rusty.”

Xin Yune glared at me. “You barely watch me work, so you have no right to judge.”

Before I could answer, unbearable pain erupted from my face.

My right eye burst apart.

I heard Xin Yune gasp as the eyeball blackened and melted into metallic slag before crumbling away entirely. The corruption spread downward. My lips burned apart next, followed by patches of skin and teeth. I immediately attempted casting healing arts on myself, but the damage refused to regenerate.

Another violent cough tore through my chest.

Shit.

“There’s no more time,” I rasped.

“Take hold of yourself first!” Xin Yune snapped while desperately trying to stabilize my condition. “You’re falling apart!”

My remaining eye throbbed violently.

As the pain surged through me, fragments of omniscience continued resurfacing inside my mind. During the brief moment I touched that forbidden state, I’d glimpsed a way forward. There was indeed a realm beyond Ruler of Laws.

And more importantly, I saw something that suited me far better than the Six Paths ever did.

“Six Mysteries...” I muttered while trying to piece together the fading knowledge. “A Sage of Six Mysteries is someone who dares peer at the Origin to learn the truth.”

Unlike the Six Paths, which divided authority into separate incarnations and cycles, the Six Mysteries centered around singularity. Absoluteness. A sole existence challenging the unknown itself.

I could feel my existence becoming unstable as I attempted grasping that power.

Xin Yune’s expression paled. “Da Wei... what are you doing?” Her voice trembled slightly. “Your presence is disappearing.”

I failed to fully break into the next realm.

But I still managed to step halfway into it.

“Supreme Being,” I whispered.

The realization nearly made me laugh.

Whether one cultivated the Transcendent Path or the Longevity Path, both could eventually reach the realm of Supreme Being. The true requirement wasn’t bloodline, destiny, divine favor, or just being born an Earthling.

It was the nurturing of one’s Supremacy Trait, a singular definition that embodied the entirety of their existence.

“Fucking bullshit.”

I knew it.

Earthlings were never special.

The so-called cheats we possessed weren’t unique blessings at all.

“Ha ha ha ha ha—!”

My laughter echoed throughout the mausoleum while blood continued dripping from my ruined mouth.

Xin Yune grabbed my shoulders anxiously. “Da Wei, what’s wrong?!”

I slowly calmed myself before shaking my head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Despite the damage consuming my body, I could feel it clearly. One of the Six Mysteries had awakened. The Mystery of Who.

“I’m going to gladly take this power, Origin,” I murmured quietly. “Whether this was intentional or not, I’ll put it to good use.”

My gaze darkened.

“And that means dealing with the Great Beast.”

Just what the hell were you exactly?

I fully bloomed the Ophanim.

The Mystery of Who activated.

Instantly, reality unfolded differently before my eyes. Information no longer appeared as surface details or visible truths. Instead, existence itself became identities. Every being carried an irrefutable answer to who they were.

The Great Beast itself didn’t reveal anything new to me at first. It remained a cosmic devourer beyond conventional understanding.

However, I immediately noticed traces connected to the Game Master.

And Conquest.

I focused on the Game Master first.

“Who are you?”

The Mystery responded. The answer nearly made my mind split apart again. The Game Master was the child of the Origin and the Source. An overwhelming flood of information followed behind that revelation, so vast and incomprehensible that I immediately stopped before my consciousness collapsed trying to process it all.

Instead, I turned toward Conquest.

The moment I did, everything about him unfolded before me.

Not only did I learn who he was, but my awareness directly entered his perspective. His memories, emotions, motives, fears, ambitions, and countless hidden truths became visible as though they were my own.

Compared to the Six Paths, the Six Mysteries lacked destructive force.

But their absoluteness was terrifying.

Weight of Existence no longer mattered.

If something possessed a ‘who’—

I would know it.

I slowly stood up despite the pain ravaging my body and picked up the weathered stone tablet nearby. Ancient text glowed faintly across its surface as I read aloud.

“Seventh Labor of the Lost Supreme... slay the Great Beast after it devours the whore.”

Xin Yune blinked. “Who do you think the Lost Supreme is?”

I shrugged lightly. “I’m optimistic it’s me.”

But the Mystery of Who immediately contradicted me. The Lost Supreme was the Game Master. And yet, the Mystery simultaneously identified me as the Lost Supreme as well. What the fuck?

Xin Yune crossed her arms. “Then who’s the whore? Because it better not be me.”

I used the Mystery again.

The answer surfaced instantly.

Hei Mei.

More specifically, the lingering traces of Yuan Shun still existing within her.

My expression immediately darkened as glimpses surfaced through the Ophanim. I saw the Great Beast attacking the Underworld Hei Mao was desperately rebuilding. Entire layers collapsed while darkness consumed everything in its path.

Their situation was catastrophic.

I clicked my tongue.

“That stupid beast really picked the worst possible time to pay us a visit.”

I forcefully calmed myself down and began sorting through the situation carefully. The temporary omniscience had nearly shattered my sanity, but the answers I obtained were real. I finally possessed a path toward victory. The problem now was actually making that future happen.

And for that, I needed cooperation.

Unfortunately, convincing people had never been my specialty.

I slowly stood from the lotus position while fragments of damaged flesh regenerated unevenly across my face. My right eye remained ruined, leaving only a dark hollow socket that still emitted traces of scorched smoke. Xin Yune immediately stepped forward to support me, but I gently pushed her hand away.

“Stay here,” I told her.

Her brows furrowed. “Where are you going?”

I gave her a tired look. “Isn’t it obvious enough?”

I activated Egress.

“To battle.”

Space folded around me.

The next moment, I reappeared within a massive ruined fortress surrounded by fractured skies and burning mountain ranges. Violent pressure shook the atmosphere as countless formations rotated overhead like miniature suns. At the center of it all stood War himself, shirtless and covered in glowing runes while casting enhancement spells onto his body one after another. Beside him, Heavenly Flame continuously fed her rituals with blazing fire essence.

The moment I appeared, both of them froze.

War narrowed his eyes dangerously. “What do you want coming here, Da Wei?”

I glanced over the countless battle preparations surrounding him before nodding slightly. “Preparing for war already? Efficient.” I folded my arms. “So who are you planning to fight now?”

War snorted coldly. “Conquest.”

Violent killing intent erupted from him.

“I’m going to put that bastard in his place.”

“I see.” I calmly looked at him. “Then if our temporary alliance still holds any meaning, how about hearing my suggestion first?”

“No.”

His answer came instantly.

“I’ve got it handled.”

Of course you’d say that.

Without another word, I activated Divine Phantasm of Dreams.

War’s pupils contracted.

Countless simulated futures immediately flooded into his consciousness. Timelines where he challenged Conquest. Timelines where he fought the Great Beast. Timelines where he won battles only to lose everything afterward.

And in every single future, he died. Sometimes quickly. Sometimes after horrifying struggle. Sometimes screaming. Sometimes alone. By the time the visions ended, War stood completely motionless. Tears silently flowed from his eyes while his breathing became ragged.

Heavenly Flame’s expression twisted in fury.

“You bastard!” she screamed.

A massive continental-sized fireball instantly formed high above me. The sky itself turned scarlet as unbearable heat engulfed the entire region. The sheer amount of compressed flame essence distorted reality around it.

War abruptly roared in anger.

“How dare you belittle me, Da Wei?!”

He swung his arm forward like a claw.

The Law of Power exploded outward.

Even under the suppression of the world itself, the attack generated enough force to rend apart space across a limited area. The shockwave alone annihilated the descending fireball overhead, tearing it apart before it could fully descend.

Meanwhile, I remained standing still.

The Law of Isolation quietly activated around me.

War’s Law never touched me.

The attack became severed from my existence before contact could even occur. The remaining physical force crashed against my body instead, but I endured it directly without moving an inch.

Laws were powerful.

But Laws integrated into techniques became even more terrifying.

Unfortunately for War, his mastery over Laws themselves was still crude. His battle instincts and combat experience were extraordinary, but his understanding lacked refinement. This was the consquence of him being unchallenged for so long, only relying on his nature-born gifts.

I slowly raised my palm.

“True Divine Smite.”

The Six Laws within me stirred simultaneously.

Creation.

Destruction.

Transformation.

Regression.

Isolation.

Perdition.

A crushing wave of divine force erupted forward and annihilated the path before me. Space collapsed inward while the fortress violently trembled from the pressure alone. The attack stopped mere inches away from War and Heavenly Flame, yet both of them still staggered backward as though struck directly.

Their expressions immediately changed.

War stared at me in disbelief. “Peak... Ruler of Laws?”

Heavenly Flame looked equally shaken. “That’s impossible. It wasn’t long ago you were only at Ascended Soul.”

I lowered my hand slowly.

“Don’t do anything rash,” I warned calmly. “I need both of you alive.”

The atmosphere became tense. War’s fists trembled slightly from frustration.

I looked directly at both of them.

“I’m not here to fight you. I’m here because I know how we can kill the Great Beast. And while we’re at it, we can also put Conquest in the ground. What do you think?”