Upwards

"Old Wang, do you know how to refine medicinal pills? Don't ruin Brother Chen's alchemy furnace."

"Go away, always saying something inauspicious. I may not be a Great Emperor yet, but I'm at least a Half-Step Emperor of the Dan Dao. How could I possibly fail to refine pills?"

"Well, then why aren't you a Great Emperor?" Emperor Capital asked shrewdly, adding a smug smile.

“I’ve already become a Great Emperor,” Wang Yangzi sighed, shaking his head in helplessness. “There's already a Great Emperor in the Dan Dao. I can't become one now, so I have to settle for being a Half-Step Emperor.”

"But aren't you a Second Half-Step Emperor? What about the first one?" Emperor Capital inquired with curiosity.

"The first one was when Chen Xia became a Great Emperor, so there was no room for me," Wang Yangzi shrugged helplessly.

Emperor Capital nodded in understanding. "Seems like you got outmatched by Brother Chen in this game."

As they conversed, Wang Yangzi lit the fire in the alchemy furnace and began refining medicinal materials. His speed and quality of pill refinement couldn't compare to Chen Xia's, but he wanted to help in some small way, not to solve any major problems, just to feel better himself.

"Wait, where did my horse go again?!"

Qiu Li's surprised voice echoed from outside, indicating another game of chess was underway.

Emperor Capital crossed his arms, scoffing coldly. "Childish."

He had long since moved beyond such trivial pursuits.

"Holy crap, can you even retreat your chariot?!" Qiu Li suddenly exclaimed.

Emperor Capital shook his head disdainfully. "Child's play."

"How can your cannon hit two pieces in a row?!" Qiu Li exclaimed again.

"Trivial tricks," Emperor Capital responded, still standing inside the mountain gate, unmoved.

"Damn it, what's the deal with you using my horse to capture my general? My horse's turned traitor?!" Qiu Li shouted.

"Where? Where?" Emperor Capital, now intrigued, sprinted out, eager to see.

However, there was no chess game outside.

Pointing at Emperor Capital, Qiu Li grinned confidently. "Knew he'd come out within three sentences. Pay up, everyone. Give me your spirit stones."

"Emperor Capital's been figured out," Li Yang chuckled, shaking his head as he fished a bag from his storage artifact and handed it to Qiu Li.

The bet was small, just for fun.

Wang Yangzi stood inside the mountain gate, shook his head with a smile, finding it amusing.

Looking up, his expression grew serious. Chen Xia had ventured deeper into the mountain gate some time ago, saying he wanted to communicate with East Jia State's divine will, to become one with it.

He wasn't sure if that was just a joke from Chen Xia, but he knew Chen Xia hadn't reappeared since. Even that puppet body of his had vanished.

The identity of the puppet body was unclear, but it likely wasn't simple. From subtle details, one could see it didn't submit to Chen Xia and even seemed to hold a slightly higher position in Heaven Pill Gate.

Now both the puppet body and Chen Xia were gone, and the situation was uncertain.

Wang Yangzi blew on the flames of the alchemy furnace, making the fire burn brighter, and the medicinal materials began to fuse inside. He exhaled softly.

"Hope it's for the better."

The divine realm's landscape hadn't changed much. The Five Great Emperors still dominated their respective states, though they were wary of the Wu Emperor. They had all sought him out to discuss coexistence.

The Wu Emperor had only said one thing.

"Becoming the supreme being is the path to coexistence. And you don't have much time."

Those ominous words from the Wu Emperor made each of the Five Great Emperors uneasy.

Besides Chen Xia, not one of them had fused with a state, raising doubts if they could ever achieve supreme status.

The future was uncertain.

"Hey, man, why can't I feel East Jia State's presence at all?" Chen Xia frowned, looking at Daoist Suppressing Heaven, puzzled.

"That's because you're still in the process of merging," Daoist Suppressing Heaven explained. "Don't think of East Jia State as just a state. Consider it an entire world, an interface. That's when you'll truly begin."

"I'll try," Chen Xia replied, still confused, then fell silent to meditate, relying on his already-established connection with East Jia State to begin sensing.

His consciousness became ephemeral, slowly glimpsing a world filled with darkness, with only a few stars occasionally shining—the only light in this expanse.

In those stars, cultivators weaved through, nature thrived, and spiritual beasts roamed.

Chen Xia recognized it—Great Death Realm, the realm that had merged with East Jia State along with him.

His consciousness passed through Great Death Realm, glided across the barriers between interfaces, and then, the view suddenly opened up, revealing stars hanging in the void, each one a smaller world.

This was the realm of interfaces.

Chen Xia's consciousness gently descended into one, and past scenes like reel-to-reel footage flashed by—the little house he once shared with Old Zhang and the big yellow dog, followed by the Zhang family.

It was familiar but felt oddly distant now.

It had truly been a long time.

Chen Xia didn't linger, perhaps because nostalgia could be painful.

He continued to control his consciousness, passing Great Death Realm and the realm of interfaces, until he finally ascended once more, stopping abruptly.

Ahead was an endless expanse of light, no way out, no idea where he was.

It was a boundless world.

"Where's my way?" Chen Xia muttered, letting his consciousness wander aimlessly upward.

The path seemed limitless, the light growing brighter.

Chen Xia lost track of time, only knowing to keep going up, always up.

What lay at the top?

He didn't know, but an unshakable conviction pushed him forward.

It was past memories, distant futures.

One day, Chen Xia's upward-bound consciousness suddenly thought of something.

What was East Jia State also known as?

It seemed to be called the Supreme Primal Land.

His ascending consciousness halted, and an epiphany sparked clarity amid confusion. He understood the destined order.

With one final step upward, his consciousness opened up.

He stood above the Heavenly Dao!

The book is nearly finished—maybe about a month left.

Goodnight.