Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 164 The Third Guidance

In an instant, all of Yuanshi Tianzun's distracting thoughts vanished. Since he was already within the Boundless Immortal Mountain, he could easily inquire about these matters in person. After all, the Boundless Great Celestial Venerable still owed him one more instruction.

Therefore, he calmed his mind and stepped into the immortal mountain together with the humanoid divine tree.

Liang Yu looked up at Yuanshi Tianzun approaching and discovered that the latter's strength was roughly equivalent to his first incarnation. In other words, Yuanshi Tianzun was now at the quasi-Heavenly Emperor level.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. After all, the Emperor in the original timeline started over after abandoning everything from his first life, and only became a Heavenly Emperor after achieving even greater success than in his previous life.

Although the Primordial Celestial of this worldline grew faster than in the original worldline, it was still difficult for him to cross this threshold in one lifetime.

Ultimately, there are very few beings in this universe who can reach the Heavenly Emperor level for even one lifetime. Even those with physiques like the Chaos Body or the Immortal Gold Spiritual Body can only maintain a Quasi-Heavenly Emperor level at most. To become a Heavenly Emperor, one still needs to work hard.

Although Chaos King Bo called himself the Chaos Heavenly Emperor, there was no narration or official confirmation of his title. The later Immortal Tear Green Gold Emperor was indeed a Heavenly Emperor, but he only achieved this through arduous cultivation in his second life. His first life was probably only at the Quasi-Heavenly Emperor level.

As can be seen from the confirmed first-generation Heavenly Emperor level figures, such as Ye Fan and Wu Shi, physical constitution alone is not enough.

The former, starting from reversing the Great Dao, was beyond the control of even the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. While others struggled to progress after achieving enlightenment through unconventional means, he continued to grow stronger. Later, Ye Fan simultaneously broke through both the limitations of his physique and the limitations of Heaven and Earth, breaking through all the Daos to become an Emperor, thus achieving the title of a Heavenly Emperor for one lifetime. However, his trajectory is difficult to replicate and quantify. If one had to pinpoint a reason, it would be that he relied on his own talent to overcome various limitations and achieve numerous high-difficulty, epic feats.

The latter is actually easier to understand regarding the requirements for a Heavenly Emperor level. First, you need a top-tier physique like an innate holy body or Dao embryo; second, you need to have sufficiently powerful talent to push your Dao to an extremely profound level, like the time law of the beginningless era; and finally, it would be best if you could also achieve something like being the first to break the restriction that a lineage cannot produce two emperors.

If you can meet these three conditions, you will most likely become a Heavenly Emperor in your first life.

Therefore, it would be quite simple for Yuanshi Tianzun to become a Heavenly Emperor in his first life; all he would need to do is give him a physique like a Chaos Body or an Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo.

After all, he was only a top-tier mortal body. Even if he could compare to a Saintly Body or a Hegemonic Body, he was still inferior to truly top-tier physiques like the Chaos Body or the Innate Saintly Body Dao Embryo.

As for other aspects, Yuanshi Tianzun naturally meets the standards.

Seeing that Yuanshi Tianzun seemed somewhat wary, Liang Yu said, "Before we talk, you should withdraw your Origin Technique. Although I wouldn't dare say I'm an expert in this technique, I'm only weaker than its founder, Mingzun."

Liang Yu simply tapped the ground with his finger, and the entire Wuji Immortal Mountain became transparent, instantly exposing the countless Origin Heaven Divine Patterns that were seeping into the interior of Wuji Immortal Mountain.

The Primordial Celestial Venerable chuckled and removed the Origin Heavenly Runes. Before even stepping into the Boundless Immortal Mountain, he had already used Origin Techniques to prepare in advance. Countless stars and ancient primordial planets were drawn by his Origin Techniques, interspersed with countless array runes, ultimately forming a vast and unparalleled Star River Array. In case a real conflict arose, this was a precautionary measure.

When he first stepped into this place, he was still trying to activate the power of the Boundless Immortal Mountain. But his attempt was immediately seen through. And with just that one moment, the Primordial Celestial Venerable could tell that the other party's source techniques were far superior to his own. Therefore, he naturally wouldn't try to show off his limited skills in front of an expert again.

However, he also felt a secret sense of relief. After facing Liang Yu up close, he felt this immense vitality, which even immortals could not match. This was definitely not old age.

Moreover, he sensed a perfect Dao aura emanating from Liang Yu, a state that was not befitting someone who had severed their own life. Therefore, he lowered his guard, erasing the shadow that had lingered in his heart for hundreds of years. Yuanshi Tianzun sat down before Liang Yu, cupping his hands in greeting, and said, "Senior, this junior, Yuanshi, pays his respects."

Liang Yu shook his head and said, "Since you have already attained enlightenment, we can address each other as fellow Daoists."

Yuanshi Tianzun said, "Senior has guided my cultivation and resolved my doubts. I should treat him with the respect due to a teacher."

Liang Yu felt a strange sense of déjà vu about this scene, recalling how he had treated the likes of the Celestial Venerable of Immortality back then. So he smiled and said, "There is a sequence to learning the Dao; I have merely taken the first step. Fellow Daoist Yuanshi need not take offense. Besides, the path to immortality is long and arduous, and it is precisely because of this that we must advance hand in hand."

The Primordial Celestial Venerable said, "Then this junior will presume to address you as Fellow Daoist Wuji. However, Fellow Daoist, your Great Dao imprint has completely dissipated. May I ask what method you used?"

The Qiankun Creation Tower, which had become a celestial artifact, appeared above Liang Yu's head. Nine other celestial golden pagodas also faintly appeared in various parts of the Wuji Immortal Mountain. These pagodas together formed a wondrous array that completely blocked his Dao imprint, preventing it from interacting with the human universe.

Seeing this scene, Yuanshi Tianzun couldn't help but exclaim, "Fellow Daoist has actually forged a true immortal artifact and used it to suppress himself to avoid hindering my attainment of the Dao. Your achievement is truly remarkable."

"However, Fellow Daoist Wuji promised to guide me three times back then, so that promise should still stand, right?"

Liang Yu replied, "Of course."

The Primordial Celestial Venerable solemnly asked, "May I ask, fellow Daoist, you have already forged a celestial artifact and can still exist in this world for tens of thousands of years? Have you already become an immortal? Or, how exactly should we cultivators become immortals?"

Liang Yu said, "Becoming an immortal is extremely difficult, and I am still on the way. Our universe was rebuilt after being severely damaged, and even the Immortal Realm has been destroyed. Therefore, if we want to become immortals, there are only two paths we can take."

Yuanshi Tianzun said, "Please give me your guidance, fellow Daoist."

Liang Yu said, "It's not so much guidance as an exchange. To become an immortal, one must either leave this world or undergo transformations life after life, becoming an immortal in the mortal realm."

Yuanshi Tianzun frowned and said, "Leave this world? Fellow Daoist, are you referring to the path to immortality?"

Liang Yu shook his head and said, "This is just one of them."

Then, he told Yuanshi Tianzun about the limitations of the path to immortality, which required favorable conditions in terms of heaven, earth, and human relationships.

Then, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "The path to immortality will open again in about 40,000 years. If you want to take this path, you might not be without a chance."

In fact, considering the original timeline where the Emperor used the Immortal Ascension Cauldron to combine the power of everyone, only to end up in a strange world, this path to immortality is probably not entirely correct, at least not as correct as the later Big Dipper and Flying Immortal Star paths. This path should indeed lead to the Immortal Realm, but the angle is somewhat off and the distance is quite far, making it difficult even for an Emperor-level being to penetrate it.

(End of this chapter)