The Path to Nirvana

The heavenly tribulation seemed enraged by his composure.

Immediately afterward, endless karmic flames erupted from the void, scorching the heavens and boiling the seas!

These flames did not harm the physical body. Instead, they burned the soul and one’s karmic ties, setting ablaze all the sins and inner demons accumulated throughout the tribune’s life, seeking to reduce him to ashes from the very root of his being.

The karmic flames illuminated Xing Tian'ao’s face before swallowing him whole in an instant.

His figure twisted and blurred within the flames, as countless scenes from the past and cries of regret seemed to flicker through them.

“It’s him! It really is him!”

Among the spectators in the Central Region, an ancient elder suddenly cried out, his voice filled with utter shock.

“Who?”

“Who is it?”

Many people began asking in confusion.

“The most astonishing prodigy of the past ten thousand years! The peerless figure who once reached the pinnacle of the Quasi-Emperor Realm—Xing Tian'ao!”

The words exploded like thunder!

“What?! Xing Tian'ao?”

“How is that possible? According to the ancient records, he suffered a mysterious calamity back then and sustained a fatal Dao wound. After disappearing without a trace, he was never heard from again.”

“Everyone in the world thought he had already died in seclusion somewhere unknown. Who could have imagined that he was still alive?”

“No wonder his path of nirvana is so heaven-defying! So it was him!”

“Back then, he had swept through his generation undefeated, forcibly reaching the pinnacle of the Quasi-Emperor Realm during the decline of the heavens and earth. What a legend!”

Countless cultivators suddenly understood. They stared at the figure within the tribulation clouds, their eyes filled with disbelief, awe, and amazement.

Who could have imagined that this legend, silent for several thousand years, had not only survived but had secretly honed himself all this time, choosing this moment to challenge the supreme Imperial Realm?

Deep within the Dao Repository Academy, the old dean was already in tears. His entire body trembled with excitement.

“Master! You’re finally taking this step!”

Xing Tian'ao remained completely unaware of all this amid the karmic flames. He continued sitting cross-legged in the void, his hands forming an ancient seal.

Yet again, the red-gold flames of nirvana rose from within his body. This time, they actively merged and collided with the karmic flames!

The karmic flames burned away his past, while the flames of nirvana refined and purified him through that burning.

He seemed to have placed himself inside the most brutal furnace, refining away all impurities and inner demons within his soul.

The process was excruciating. His body repeatedly appeared and vanished within the karmic flames, his aura rising and falling erratically, leaving everyone watching with their hearts in their throats.

But in the end, as the karmic flames gradually faded, a purer and more condensed phantom of his soul rose from his crown. It seemed to have been forged from glazed red gold. Its radiance was not dazzling, yet it carried an indomitable aura that seemed capable of enduring ten thousand tribulations.

“Burn away all karmic obstacles—let the true self undergo nirvana!”

The third tribulation descended, followed by the fourth, the fifth…

Each was more perilous than the last.

At times, Xing Tian'ao’s body exploded, only to re-form amid a mist of blood. At others, his soul was torn apart, only to revive from annihilation.

He seemed not to know fatigue or pain. Every time he fell, he rose again with even greater tenacity.

The runes of the Nirvana Heavenly Art he had created himself shone within the tribulation lightning, evolving the ultimate mysteries of the cycle of life and death, destruction and rebirth. Everyone who witnessed it benefited immensely, marveling at the sight.

He was not passively waiting to revive after enduring the tribulations. Instead, he was actively drawing destruction upon himself.

He dismantled himself into the most primordial essence, then used the true meaning of nirvana as a guide to reforge new life from the ashes of destruction!

He was like a divine craftsman who held life and death in his hands, using tribulation as his hammer and destruction as his fire. Again and again, he shattered himself, only to reconstruct himself from the void each time. Every destruction was more complete, and every rebirth was more powerful.

As the runes flashed, one could see arms condensing from blood mist, a soul rising from the ashes, and a Dao Fruit reforming from scattered fragments.

The cycle from destruction to rebirth turned like an eternal engine. Not only did it fail to deplete his foundation, but each rebirth inherited the power of the preceding destruction, making his foundation increasingly profound.

This heaven-defying Great Dao of actively seeking death and finding life in the midst of death opened the eyes of every spectator. Who could have imagined that cultivation could be carried out in such a manner?

He had actually treated the Emperor’s Tribulation—a calamity that made all living beings tremble and caused even the Ancient Emperors to stop in their tracks—as a whetstone for tempering his path!

He tempered his true self with the tribulation flames and refined his Dao heart with heavenly might. Such courage truly befitted the most astonishing prodigy of the past ten thousand years.

With every cycle of destruction and rebirth, his aura not only failed to weaken but continued to rise steadily, drawing ever closer to that supreme threshold!

Hope blazed fiercely within the hearts of all the spectators.

Even the Supreme beings deep within the forbidden zones could not help holding their breath.

Could he really succeed?

On Purple Bamboo Peak, the Great Emperor of Annihilation wore a solemn expression. His eyes were filled with respect for a true seeker of the Dao.

“Such a path of nirvana, such an unyielding heart… If he succeeds, he will undoubtedly become an extraordinary Great Emperor.”

Even he had to admit that this man’s Dao heart and talent were truly peerless.

Ling Xi looked toward Xing Tian'ao within the Imperial Tribulation, her eyes flickering with emotion.

Gu Changge’s gaze also carried a hint of approval, and he nodded slightly.

“To carve out a path to life in the midst of despair, to seek rebirth through destruction. This path is indeed astonishing, but…”

At last, the final trial descended!

Deep within the tribulation clouds, a scene of primordial chaos before the birth of heaven and earth took shape. The aura of the origins of the Ten Thousand Daos rose and fell within it.

This was no ordinary thunder tribulation. It was the Tribulation of the Ten Thousand Daos Returning as One!

It sought to scatter the tribune’s Dao Fruit and soul, together with his entire being, and completely merge them into the origin of heaven and earth.

Xing Tian'ao knew that the most critical moment had arrived.

He took a deep breath. The aura around him rose to the absolute peak of his life. The red-gold radiance of nirvana blazed brilliantly, illuminating the dark heavens.

He let out a long roar and no longer defended himself. Instead, he voluntarily dispersed all the divine light protecting his body. Even his Dao Fruit began to disintegrate on its own!

He was about to undergo the final—and most dangerous—ultimate nirvana. Under the immense pressure of the Ten Thousand Daos Returning as One, he would reduce everything he possessed to its original state.

Then, relying on that single undying spark of the true meaning of nirvana, he would reconstruct himself within the furnace of the Ten Thousand Daos, break free of his shackles in one stroke, and establish his own Imperial Dao!

“Master!”

Deep within the Dao Repository Academy, the old dean sensed his master’s resolute will and burst into tears.

The dazzling radiance of nirvana collided and intertwined violently with the chaotic scene of the Ten Thousand Daos Returning as One!

Xing Tian'ao’s body began to grow transparent and illusory, as if it were about to merge into the origin of the Ten Thousand Daos.

An unprecedented aura of a nascent Imperial Dao began to take shape and sprout at the very center of the collision…

Had he succeeded?!

Everyone’s eyes widened as they held their breath.

However, just as that nascent Imperial Dao was about to erupt and his will was about to complete its final transformation through merging with the Ten Thousand Daos—

At the most critical instant, a sudden change occurred!

“Buzz…!”

A terrifying black mark, as dark as ink and seemingly primordial in its existence, suddenly erupted without warning from the very depths of Old Blind Man’s origin!

Within this mark was a law entirely different from that of this great world. It was incompatible with the nascent aura of the Nirvana Imperial Dao, and it radiated a destructive force!