Panting slightly, Alexander remained in silence. Not because of his own choice, but because there was no other choice.

Elder Rong's aura shook the entire sect but also reality itself. Sounds could not exist without his permission. Nothing did.

The colors of the world returning the way they originally were, Alexander saw the elder throw him a pendant.

"Wear this. Don't worry about traps or seals. This is gift from a teacher to a promising student. This will protect you in case... never mind. One day you will know. I just don't know how much it will be able to protect you from them."

"?" Inspecting the pendant with scrutiny, Alexander could not find anything wrong with it. And when feeling the sincerity of the elder, he decided to wear it. If he had malicious intentions, would he need something so cumbersome?

"Here is a stele! I don't know where it came from, but I obtained it probably before you were born."

Looking behind the old man, Alexander could see a short grey stele of many fissures. Its bottom part was in shambles, reduced to a pile of metallic dust. This of course caused the stele to shift in angle, looking like it would fall at any moment.

"This is a reconstruction of countless fragments. This stele was not in such a beautiful state before, that I can assure you!"

[Greater Path, Myriad Worlds]

The Supreme Throne can only be claimed by one. To defeat the Dao and ascend above all others, there lies the Supreme One's destiny. Across the birth of everything and void within our hearts, the Supreme Throne shall never be reached by any.

The Supreme Throne awaits for the worthy. And will for eternity.

"Pretty neat, hey? It took me so long to get this... I'm not sure if the translation or interpretation of their lost intents was properly conveyed or not... When I found it, the Dao intent was almost gone and the only things usable were the words themselves."

"But before we go on, you seem to have some things on your mind?" Stealing a quick glance at Alexander, Elder Rong waved at him to go ahead.

"It's nothing much, I just wanted to know about cultivation realms. I only have knowledge about the Chaos Archetype Realm and what is below it."

Hearing this, Elder Rong was quite surprised.

"You managed to attain this level without even knowing about it? It's not really a unique thing, but it's not a common one either! Well, as a teacher, I should of course explain such stuff for you."

"Since you know about all of those, let's cut to the chase and give you what you want. The Empyrean Realm is divided into three stages. The first one, Life Wheel Expanding, is about doing just that, expanding your own life wheel. The second one, Life Wheel Fusing, is a bit trickier. You must fuse with your own life wheel, as in your flesh. But just doing it won't work, you have to fuse it with your own Dantian! And that leads us to the last one, Life Wheel Dantian, which is simply that. You may have noticed your Dantian to be sort of green by now, or maybe yellow or red even. During this realm, one would expand their life wheel and gain lifespan. The most useful part is still where your are now. At the peak, the life wheel is merged with the Dantian, making it impossible to die from external essential deaths! No more are the days where you have to worry about someone destroying your life wheel in your sleep so easily, since it is now protected with your body."

"After that comes the next one, the Law Immortal Realm!" Pausing for a bit, Elder Rong glanced at Alexander in silence before following as if it never happened.

"It is also made out of three stages. The first one, True Time Mastery, is divided into nine layers. Each layer represent an additional ten percent increase in understanding as well as overall mastery over this concept and Dao. Just like the Earth Transcending Realm basically. And just like it, at ninety percent approximatively, the second stage, Principle Tribulation, will come. It is the same idea as the last one. For the third stage, Distorted Immortal, it is both the stage's name and a title you would be worthy of at that point. It is after gaining a hundred percent mastery over True Time."

"I will still warn you. Do not take the Principle Tribulation of this major realm lightly! Never! Understood?"

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Feeling the stern gaze and almost tinge of fear in his words, Alexander nodded solemnly.

"Good! After that comes the Calamity Enduring Realm, also made out of three stages. It is all about body refining! The world will keep throwing calamities at you, be it from simply a bout of bad luck to outright mighty Heavenly Tribulations! This is the realm where weaklings get weeded out easily."

"The first stage, Hundred Calamities Tribulation, is a change in lifestyle to some. To be honest, people claim this realm to cause bouts of bad luck as I explained moments ago. But I don't believe this nonsense. This is just the result of people blaming their own bad luck on the Heavens."

"The other two stages are fairly similar, Thousand Calamities Tribulation and Ten Thousand Calamities Tribulation."

Feeling Alexander's frown, Elder Rong sighed.

"At the Calamity Enduring Realm, you will be exposed to the great Heavens and must endure a hundred, a thousand and then ten thousand heavenly lightning bolts. Depending on your talent, you might even encounter the Eye of Heaven."

This last sentence, Alexander felt it in his bones. His own Dao Heart shivered when remembering the giant eyeball inside his Multiverse.

This reminded him of a problem.

"Elder Rong, I wanted to ask something. I wonder if you would be keen on gifting me a solution to my problem?"

"Hmm?" Turning his head around, Elder Rong returned his gaze mere moments later.

"What is it? If I can help you, I will. However, this does not mean I will give you a shortcut if I deem it important to your growth."

"Thank you." Cupping his fists, Alexander laid it out on the spot.

"I simply don't know for sure on how to deal with my internal world. Last time they tried to ascend, I... panicked because of something and ended up injuring myself, obliterating part of the Celestial Realm within my inner world in the process."

"After another issue, my vessel exploded and my soul had to escape. Now I have regained my cultivation, even possibly strengthening my foundation in the process."

"However, now, the newly birthed experts want to ascend. My flow of time has long since been controlled, but I don't want to mess something up by over tweaking it."

"..." Caressing his beard, Elder Rong fell deep in thoughts.

"There are a few solutions to your problem. One, you could kill them, though it might not be a good thing. Two, you could freeze or slow the flow of time inside it, but your Origin Energy might deplete doing so. A Dantian is only as good as its use after all. With a flow of time too sluggish, you might not even be able to do anything in the future. Third, you could send or create a guardian, maybe a foe even. Personally, I would recommend this one. A guardian or foe is a puppet, slave or whatever you want it to be, and its goal is to prevent people from ascending, or at least impede them enough to slow them down."

"Also, don't hesitate on letting them out when the time comes."

"A guardian, huh? This is indeed a great solution. Thank you for your guidance!"

Nodding solemnly, Elder Rong saw Alexander cup his fists before taking his leave. Left all alone, he wondered whether he would act on this solution right away. The creation of a guardian or foe was not difficult, but could cause some issues down the line. Well, it was mainly so for those people who loved to play mysterious. They did not want a plot hole in their inner world's history.

The library devoid of noise, Elder Rong stood rooted in place for a few minutes. This new disciple of his was quite the promising seed. So many people would go crazy for someone like him. But it was even more so for people of his kind. If Alexander had been poached by another sect, no matter how strong, Elder Rong felt that him going over to claim Alexander would have been a rational outcome.

A teacher and student, a master and disciple, both trapped within the majestic hands of the most powerful Dao known to man.

An extinguished lantern meeting a flickering flame from the past, in the present instead.

Looking at the ceiling, his vision pierced it, indulging in the view outside. The teal sky long gone, a dark purple resided in its place. Fake stars of powerful artifacts shimmered across the night.

His gaze falling, he glanced at his hand, where a blue light dimly shone.

'Heaven Surpassing Realm... This stupid Heart Demon! Once I deal with you, my cultivation will soar across Limbo! But it will depend on his character. Will my disciple help me, or doom me?'

'Somehow...'

A wide smile showing itself, Elder Rong appeared happy for some reason.

'I feel excited about finding out.'

And with the blue light vanishing, as if it never was there to begin with, a powerful gust of wind caused his robes, beard and hair to flutter alongside.

The colors of the world pushed aside, his aura surged, attempting to breakthrough his realm. Unfortunately, he still felt a solid wall block the way up.

Sighing, he felt a strange sense of peace. Following this trend, his eyes glowed an incomparably bright silver. And with it, the library turned silent once more. This time, the buzz in his ears was erased while colors were pushed aside. The tranquil chants of fallen immortals, resolute of their destiny, echoed next to the cries of war gods.

The wails of his Dao made his soul tremble.

'The throne can only host one. But, I don't mind stepping down. There are better things for me to focus on. Maybe I wasn't suited for this path in the first place.'

With a resolute mind, the silver glow in his eyes dimmed, on the verge of completely disappearing. A dark shadow slowly attempted to taint his peaceful gaze. Yet, he did not falter.

'This is my last chance. Either I ascend to the ninth heaven or I fall down to the ninth hell. I only have to redeem myself, and to do so, only a fellow Supreme Candidate can accomplish this.'

Lone in the library, an eroded piece of silver. A metal honed through many hardships, a piece which endured countless tempestuous calamities. This piece was now resolute, having found a suitable path after its last tribulation.