“Any living being of Xuanhuang under a hundred years of age, regardless of origin or past, may come to Daoyuan Mountain in the Central Domain and participate in the entrance trial.”
“The academy exists to impart the Dao and does not involve itself in worldly affairs. Those who enter our ranks need not sever ties with their original sects or clans. However, while enrolled, they must abide by the academy’s rules.”
“This session will last three years. After three years, students may come or go as they please. All causes and effects shall be settled.”
As the voice faded, the Dao rhythms between heaven and earth slowly receded. Yet the illusory river of Daoist treasures stretching across the sky lingered for a long while, like the most dazzling beacon, pointing the way for the greatest talents of the world.
The entire world erupted!
The Daozang Academy!
The foremost Daoist orthodoxy in Xuanhuang, once hailed as the cradle of Emperors!
Its legend ran through the ancient history of Xuanhuang. What people spoke of most was that it had once nurtured three Emperors whose names shook the ages!
Even Xing Tian'ao, who had failed in his attempt to break into the Emperor Realm and caused all living beings to mourn, had come from Daozang!
Its foundations were profound, its resources abundant, and its inheritances powerful beyond compare. It could be called the greatest institution in all of Xuanhuang.
It never took part in worldly struggles and stood aloof from the mundane world. Yet every time its gates opened, it meant that the most dazzling stars of a Golden Age were about to rise there.
Its admission requirements, meanwhile, stirred a reaction like a landslide and tsunami.
“Under a hundred years old! This is a stage prepared specifically for true supreme prodigies!”
“They don’t require us to leave our original forces? Wonderful! Is the academy trying to nurture prodigies together with all the powers of the world?”
“Three years! Three years in a place like Daozang Academy is enough to transform anyone from head to toe!”
For a time, the entire Great World of Xuanhuang began to stir.
In the Eastern Domain, within the Great Zhou Dynasty, Ji Xuanye—whose wounds had yet to heal—suddenly opened his eyes in his secluded cultivation grounds. Gazing toward the Central Domain, his eyes burned with fierce battle intent.
“Daozang Academy, Chu Daolin, our battle is not over yet! That place will be the new battlefield!”
Having just defeated Ji Xuanye, Chu Daolin stood with his hands behind his back atop a mountain peak, his black robes fluttering in the wind.
“Daozang Academy… Back then, when heaven and earth underwent their great upheaval and the Imperial Path was severed, it could only seal itself away.
“This life is the perfect chance to see what mysteries this so-called cradle of Emperors truly holds.”
Within the secluded lands of the Chu Clan, several powerful auras also awakened, placing their hopes in him.
One renowned prodigy after another emerged from secluded cultivation. Their eyes were sharp, and their auras vast and surging.
Some set out alone, while others were escorted by elders of their clans. All hurried toward Daoyuan Mountain as quickly as possible.
This was the first true gathering of heroes since the opening of the Golden Age. No one was willing to fall behind.
For a time, the five domains of Xuanhuang were swept by turbulent winds and surging clouds!
Across the sky, streaks of light shot toward the Central Domain from every direction, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea.
Sword qi tore through the heavens. Demonic clouds rolled like tides. Buddhist radiance illuminated the earth. Sinister demonic energy flickered in the distance…
The contemporary prodigies, ancient monsters, demonic sovereigns—all of them had set out!
Countless geniuses among the unaffiliated cultivators, carrying dreams of leaping over the dragon gate, surged toward Daoyuan Mountain like carp crossing a river.
In an instant, the Central Domain became the center of the entire Great World of Xuanhuang. Storms gathered, and dragons and snakes rose from the land.
When the sun rose once more, the vast plain before Daoyuan Mountain had already been swallowed by a sea of people.
Demonic aura, Buddhist radiance, imperial dragon qi, soaring sword intent…
Countless powerful auras intertwined and collided, causing the very space around them to distort slightly.
Prodigies from the various sacred lands, ancient sects, dynasties, demonic clans, and ancient families, along with countless outstanding unaffiliated cultivators, had gathered here. Their numbers reached into the hundreds of thousands!
They kept one another on guard, yet could not conceal their excitement as they gazed toward the far end of the plain.
There, where originally nothing had existed, a staircase of indescribable grandeur had appeared out of thin air, rising straight into the clouds!
The staircase consisted of 9,999 steps. Each step was built from chaos-colored divine stone and engraved with ancient Daoist runes that flowed with the aura of time.
It was not a physical object. Rather, it seemed to have condensed from endless Dao laws and pressure, radiating such majestic might that it made the soul tremble.
At the end of the staircase, it vanished into a shroud of chaotic mist, connecting to the mysterious academy.
“The Daozang Heavenly Stairway!”
An elder from an ancient orthodoxy spoke with a trembling voice.
“Legend says this staircase leads directly to the Great Dao. It tests more than cultivation alone—it tests talent, natural endowments, perseverance, comprehension, even one’s destiny, all at once!
“Those who can climb three thousand steps may enter the outer academy. Six thousand steps grants the title of outstanding talent. Only those who climb beyond eight thousand steps… will have the qualifications to pay their respects to the academy’s venerable elders and become core disciples!”
At that moment, the same vast and tranquil voice once again resounded throughout heaven and earth:
“The trial begins. Ascend the Heavenly Stairway. Three thousand steps is the threshold; six thousand steps marks one as a true prodigy; only at eight thousand steps may one glimpse one’s true self. The time limit is seven days.”
As the words fell, the scene fell silent for a moment before erupting into a heaven-shaking uproar!
“Charge!”
“The opportunity is right before us!”
The tens of thousands of cultivators at the very front had long since been unable to restrain themselves. They transformed into streaks of light and rushed to set foot on the first step of the Heavenly Stairway!
However—
“Thud!” “Thud!” “Ah!”
Crying out in agony, one after another!
Most cultivators were struck as if by a devastating blow the instant they stepped onto the first level. Their faces turned deathly pale, their legs trembled, and some were even blasted away by the terrifying Dao might, suffering broken bones and shattered limbs!
“What terrifying pressure! It feels as if I’m carrying a mountain on my back!”
“My spiritual power is moving at least ten times more sluggishly!”
“This isn’t merely pressure—the Dao laws are eroding us as well!”
The crowd instantly came to their senses and discarded their contempt. They began climbing solemnly, placing one foot before the other.
On the Heavenly Stairway, radiance flowed. With every step upward, the pressure doubled, and the erosion of the Dao laws grew increasingly fierce.
Some were enveloped in precious light and summoned magical treasures to protect themselves. Some recited ancient scriptures, relying on sheer willpower to resist. Others staggered forward, barely able to move an inch.
The truly supreme prodigies began to act as well.
“Out of the way!”
With a cold shout, Ji Xuanye of the Great Zhou Dynasty strode forward like a dragon. Though he had previously lost to Chu Daolin, his steps were now steady and his speed astonishing. In the blink of an eye, he had crossed several hundred steps.
He left a great many cultivators behind, provoking wave after wave of astonishment.
Almost at the same time, demonic aura surged skyward on the other side. The Golden Lion of the Southern Domain revealed its true form, moving with astonishing speed and keeping pace with Ji Xuanye.
Wherever Leng Qianqiu of the Northern Plains passed, frost crystallized across the staircase. He floated upward through the pressure, his movements graceful and his chill biting.
However, the spotlight soon shifted away from all of them, overshadowed by a black figure.
Chu Daolin had moved.
He did not employ any dazzling movement technique. He simply ascended the steps calmly.
His pace was unhurried, yet his speed was unbelievably fast. After only a few steps, he had already overtaken Ji Xuanye and the Golden Lion, surging ahead of all others!
Just as the native prodigies of the Xuanhuang Continent were displaying their abilities, at the extreme heights of the heavens, the void began to ripple with unusual fluctuations.
“Rip—!”
Several streams of light, each a different color yet equally powerful and astonishing, descended toward Daoyuan Mountain like meteors striking the moon!
As the radiance faded, several figures emerged.
They were none other than supreme heroes nurtured by the Great Dao of Xuanhuang in different regions of the starry sky!
“Those are the young kings from other living ancient stars—and even from drifting continents—deep in the starry sky!”
An elder cultivator’s gaze sharpened as he spoke in a low voice.
“As expected, they sensed it as well. They crossed the boundless starry sky to pay homage to the ancestral land and compete for the fortunes of this Central Continent!”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
