Martial Peak

Chapter 5586: Entering the Dao Temple

Fang Tian Ci couldn’t help falling into a dazed state. When he examined himself again, he realised it wasn’t an illusion. The bottleneck that had restricted him for such a long time was finally breaking apart.

Nevertheless, he wasn’t ecstatic. After years of cultivation, his personality had become the epitome of calm and collected. He only thought that he was finally able to achieve a breakthrough in his old age, which was unheard of as far as he knew.

Perhaps it had something to do with his decision to go out and explore the world. Now that he had no more worries, nothing could restrict him again. Since his birth, he had never felt more carefree and unrestrained.

He then circulated his True Qi in an attempt to achieve a breakthrough.

Everything went so smoothly to the point where it was hard for him to believe it. Soon, dark clouds gathered in the sky as lightning crackled and thunder rolled.

He knew that the trial of the World’s Grand Dao had come.

His expression remained as tranquil as an ancient well. Following a bolt of lightning, powerful World Energy penetrated his body and cleansed his aged mind.

He gritted his teeth and persevered, enduring the unbearable pain in silence as he realised that he was gradually growing stronger.

It wasn’t until the next morning that the Heavenly Manifestation dissipated. A long and satisfied roar reverberated across the mountains. Fang Tian Ci, who was originally in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, felt his aura surging as he broke through his shackles and ascended to the Transcendent Realm.

The ascension didn’t only bring about an increase in strength, but some of the wrinkles on his face also disappeared. There was a bit of glow on his originally withered skin now.

He seemed to have become much younger overnight as some of his hair had turned from grey to black.

As he washed his face beside a creek and looked at his reflection, he chuckled lightly.

After consolidating his cultivation for a bit, he built a hut on the mountain and started living there.

He was suddenly able to achieve a breakthrough, but the trial of the World’s Grand Dao didn’t only help increase his power, it also allowed him to comprehend something else.

As such, he needed time to go through this new enlightenment.

Years passed as flowers withered and bloomed in a cycle. When Fang Tian Ci left his seclusion 10 years later, his aura had become much more robust. It was apparent that he had moved further into the Transcendent Realm. Besides that, 10 years of cultivation had allowed him to grasp a different kind of power. It was an abstruse power that was unfamiliar to him.

It was none other than the Dao of Space!

There were some cultivators in the Void World who had cultivated the Dao of Space thanks to the Dao Lord’s blessing.

It was rumoured that the inscrutable Dao Lord had cultivated over 10,000 Grand Daos and the entire Void World was filled with the Dao Essences of these Grand Daos. These Dao Essences were intangible, but omnipresent. Only the most talented cultivators had a chance to comprehend them and obtain some of the Dao Lord’s inheritance.

The extraordinary people were already able to connect to the Dao Lord’s Grand Daos before they were even born. After they were born, once they cultivated the Grand Daos that matched their talents, their cultivation would rapidly increase. They would easily be led to enter the Void Dao Temple and become Dao Temple disciples.

It was extremely rare to find people who were born compatible with the Dao Lord’s Grand Daos. Perhaps only one such person would be born in many years. It was said that the first disciple that the Dao Lord had taken on in Seven Stars Sect had caught the Dao Lord’s attention before he was even born.

Everyone was envious of such luck.

It was something that could not be forced; nevertheless, the World’s Grand Dao never stopped anyone from obtaining the Dao Lord’s inheritance.

When Fang Tian Ci went through the trial of the World’s Grand Dao and achieved a breakthrough 10 years ago, he sensed a bit of the Grand Dao’s Dao Essence in the Void World. If anyone came across such an opportunity, they might be able to comprehend something.

Many such people benefited from this experience. Whenever they achieved a breakthrough, they could faintly detect a particular kind of Grand Dao.

This was the Dao Lord’s gift to the Void World.

Although he had cultivated over 10,000 Grand Daos, the Dao Lord was said to be particularly skilful in three of them.

They were the Dao of Space, the Dao of Time, and the Spear Dao.

It was rumoured that the Dao Lord had primarily cultivated these three Grand Daos. Many millennia ago, these three Grand Daos were by far the most conspicuous in the Void World. It wasn’t until a long time later that many other Grand Daos rose to prominence.

Since these three Grand Daos were what the Dao Lord had primarily cultivated, anyone who managed to inherit one of these Grand Daos would be treasured.

When Fang Tian Ci was young, he was unable to achieve any such success, and it never crossed his mind that he would make it to the Transcendent Realm in the twilight of his life. Besides that, he had also comprehended the Dao of Space during the trial of the World’s Grand Dao.

His experience left him torn between tears and laughter.

If he had such an opportunity when he was young, he would’ve tried to make a name for himself and gain a footing in this World; however, after experiencing the vicissitudes of life, he was no longer as ambitious as when he was young. Now, he just wanted to travel around the Void World and take in the wonderful sights he didn’t have a chance to see in the past.

He then left the place where he had stayed for 10 years. As he roamed around the world, he simply followed his whims without having any kind of plan in mind.

Perhaps it was because he had severed ties with his past, he felt different now. After leaving the Fang Family Village, Fang Tian Ci could finally chase his dreams and live the kind of life he had always wanted.

Wherever he went, he stood up for the weak and vanquished evil. When he arrived at any Sect, he would spend some time discussing the Martial Dao with their cultivators.

There were some occasions where he fell into danger. He was once hunted down by powerful Monster Beasts through the mountains. Other times, he had been dragged into plots and besieged by disciples of Sects. Fortunately, as his mastery of the Dao of Space improved, he could always find a way to preserve his life.

These dangerous encounters didn’t hold him back or dampen his spirits; instead, they only made him stronger.

He soon became a famous figure. Despite having cultivated for 150 years, he was still only in the Immortal Ascension Boundary back then. The story of such an ordinary cultivator achieving a breakthrough and becoming powerful sent a shockwave across the world.

There had never been a lack of ambitious but ordinary people in the Void Continent, so when they heard about Fang Tian Ci’s story, many had the misconception that they too could pull off a similar feat.

To some extent, Fang Tian Ci’s story had propelled many ordinary cultivators to work harder; nevertheless, only a small number of them could really break through their shackles like he had.

30 years later, Fang Tian Ci ascended to the Saint Realm from the Transcendent Realm.

He went through a World Trial again, but this time, he gained enlightenment into the Dao of Time.

50 years later, he made it to the Saint King Realm and comprehended the Spear Dao.

Every time he broke through to the next Great Realm, Fang Tian Ci would gain massive benefits. Even his appearance had become increasingly younger.

When he left the Fang Family Village, he was old and frail, but after travelling around the world for a hundred years, he now looked like a middle-aged man. While others grew older with time, he seemed to become younger.

His experiences gave him a unique type of charm, and by now his story had become quite famous. Although he still wasn’t a truly powerful Master, his inspirational journey had become a legend in the Void World. Many families wanted him to join them and offers of marriage were never lacking.

Nonetheless, Fang Tian Ci wasn’t interested in such matters and turned them all down as he continued his journey.

Over the years, he made many good friends, but none of them could keep him company for long. Sometimes, he would feel lonely, but he reasoned that this was the price he had to pay for chasing the Martial Dao.

He never intended to return to the Fang Family Village. After his departure, he decided that he would never go back to his hometown. Since he had left behind some offspring, he had no more worries. As such, he could bid farewell to his past without regrets.

Compared to the talented geniuses, his cultivation speed couldn’t be considered rapid; however, his progress was stable, and he was able to build a solid foundation in every Realm.

As he travelled around the world, he had some friendly matches against cultivators in the same Realm, but was never once defeated. It could be said that he was unrivalled in the same Realm.

Moreover, he had inherited the Dao Lord’s three primary Grand Daos, which made him even more popular.

One had to know that even though some cultivators had the chance to inherit the Dao Lord’s Grand Daos, none of them was like Fang Tian Ci who managed to inherit the Dao of Space, Dao of Time, and Spear Dao altogether.

Everyone was curious about why he had such an opportunity.

Supposedly, a prodigy would show signs of having extraordinary aptitude when they were young, however, Fang Tian Ci was different. He only became powerful when he was well over 100 years old. Although the increase in his strength wasn’t rapid, he managed to achieve something that no cultivators in the Void World had ever pulled off before.

He went from the Origin Returning Realm to the Origin King Realm, to the Dao Source Realm, to the Emperor Realm eventually.

Slowly but steadily, he grew from an insignificant cultivator to an important Master. Now, it had been 1,000 years since he left the Fang Family Village.

Many things had changed during this period. It took him over 1,000 years to go from the Immortal Ascension Boundary to the Emperor Realm. There was no doubt his cultivation speed was slow and his aptitude was terrible.

Supposedly, this shouldn’t have happened. If a cultivator was unable to make it to the Emperor Realm within 1,000 years in a wonderful environment such as the Void World, he wouldn’t be able to achieve it in his lifetime.

However, Fang Tian Ci had pulled it off.

Some people had asked him what his secrets were.

All he could tell them though was that he had no idea. After he left the Fang Family Village, even though his cultivation speed was slow, he never faced any bottlenecks again. In other words, although the increase in his power was snail-paced, he would always make it to the next Realm given enough time. It was unlike any other cultivators who might get stuck in the same Realm forever despite rapidly being able to accumulate enough heritage to break through.

This made the Masters in the Void World have some wild thoughts. Perhaps rapidly increasing one’s strength wasn’t the best way to pursue the Martial Dao, perhaps it was better to build a solid foundation in every Realm before trying to advance further.

With such a speculation in mind, many Sects started suppressing the cultivation speed of their prodigies, but regardless of who attempted this, no one could tell if the results were good or bad.

At this point, Fang Tian Ci, who was an Emperor Realm Master, was invited to the Void Dao Temple.

The Dao Temple was a splendid palace hovering in the sky of the Void World. It was every cultivator’s dream to one day join the Dao Temple.

The existence of the Dao Temple was a wonder in itself. Although it was a palace, there seemed to be an entirely different world inside, one that was both vast and expansive. The first time Fang Tian Ci arrived at this place, he sensed the abstrusity of the Dao Temple. This place also seemed to be filled with the secrets of the Grand Dao of Space.

Moreover, regardless of where a person was in the Void World, they could see the Dao Temple clearly as long as they looked up. It was indeed abstruse.

It was rumoured that the Dao Temple was personally built by the Dao Lord. When the Dao Temple appeared back then, everyone was shocked. Furthermore, the Dao Temple was responsible for selecting the most talented people in the Void World all on its own.