Chapter 54
Huan Zheng gave Ling Xu no time to digest the thunder of multiversal war he had just described—he immediately continued in a voice that suddenly turned lighter, more relaxed, like a tour guide who had explained the same route so many times that he could do it in his sleep.
"The Supreme Dao Root, Liu Xin," he said, his index finger rising to the second level.
"Here, a cultivator possesses control and the freedom to travel across dozens of multiverses, able to arrange whatever they desire at will—and also not."
He yawned in the middle of his sentence, then continued as if nothing had happened.
"And here, each multiverse is owned by a specific cultivator, and usually, each cultivator holds authority over more than one universe or multiverse. Thus, it is not strange that the number of members in organizations of Supreme Dao cultivators at the Root stage is a hundred times greater than those formed by Seed-stage cultivators."
Ling Xu, upon hearing this, felt his chest tighten.
Not out of fear, but because he began to imagine a scale of power so vast, so immense, so difficult to comprehend for someone who once could only crawl upon the ground with wounds covering his entire body.
"Branching Vines," Huan Zheng continued, his finger rising to the third level with movements growing slower, lazier—like someone nearly too exhausted to lift his hand.
"In this realm, the talents absorbed by a cultivator—marked by the conquest of universes along with their talents, potential, and Qi radiation—have already reached the millions."
He paused, letting the word "millions" echo within the silent meditation chamber, hanging in the air like mist that never truly dissipates, then continued in a voice that suddenly grew sharper, more focused—like a blade freshly sharpened.
"And what distinguishes the Branching Vines from Seed and Root, Liu Xin, is the ability to tamper with Dao authorities equal to or greater than one's own. In the Seed and Root realms, a cultivator can only strengthen the Dao they possess—they cannot refine or manipulate it freely. But in the Branching Vines, you can revise another's Dao, Liu Xin. Not only the concepts of space and time within your original universe—but the Dao held by other cultivators, who may have transformed thousands of years before you were even born."
Ling Xu's third eye pulsed even faster.
Not from fear, but because he began to understand that each level within the Branching Vines realm was not merely a quantitative increase—like gathering more fragments, Longitudes, or crystals—but a qualitative leap that altered how a cultivator interacted with reality itself.
"Leaves and Fruits," Huan Zheng said, his voice now heavier, deeper—like a bell struck in a dark underground chamber, his index finger rising to the fourth level with a motion that felt like lifting a mountain with one hand.
"In this realm, a cultivator is guaranteed to harvest the potential, talent, and Qi radiation emitted by every boundless universe."
He paused, looking at Ling Xu with eyes no longer lazy, no longer half-closed, but fully open with a strange light—the light of a man who still stood at this peak and knew exactly what it meant to hold the infinite within his grasp.
"That means, Liu Xin, an infinite number of universes—because they cannot be limited—rest within his hands. And from this explanation, it also becomes clear that the boundless multiverse continues to sprout—giving birth to infinitely more universes—without end."
Ling Xu could not speak—he simply sat in silence, letting Huan Zheng's words flood his mind like a torrent that no dam could restrain. And within his heart, between the pulses of his Everlasting Prism beating in rhythm with his own heartbeat, he began to imagine what it meant to hold dominion over infinite universes—what it meant to become a being who could not only alter the concepts of space and time within a single universe, but also harvest all talent and potential from every endlessly emerging universe, like plucking fruit from a tree that never ceased bearing, no matter how often it was harvested day and night.
"And because of how powerful cultivators at this level are," Huan Zheng added, his voice suddenly turning bitter, heavier—like someone recalling a memory better left forgotten, "wars between universes carried out by organizations of Supreme Dao cultivators—especially those below the Leaves and Fruits stage—often involve cultivators of higher levels. Or, in simpler terms, Liu Xin, someone is controlling the course of those wars."
He exhaled—a breath that sounded like wind whispering through dry leaves after a storm had passed—then added in a near whisper.
"It is no surprise that the course of inter-universal wars can be dictated merely by whim. And that happens quite often, at least based on my observations long before I surpassed the Supreme Dao realm."
"And then… Dew?" Ling Xu asked softly, his voice trembling despite his efforts to remain calm, for he could already guess that the answer would be the culmination of everything Huan Zheng had explained—the crown of all crowns, the secret of all secrets.
Huan Zheng smiled.
A smile neither warm nor cold, but empty—like a hollow at the bottom of the ocean untouched by light, like a gate opening toward something that could not be described by words, for words were never designed to capture what lay beyond it.
"Dew, Liu Xin," he said, his voice suddenly very soft, very deep—like a man who had seen too much and no longer needed to raise his voice to be heard, "is the pinnacle of this Dao Omnipotent cultivation stage. I was once a Supreme Dao Dew cultivator, Liu Xin—before I, along with The Singer and The Silent One, became known across all universes as three monsters, three individuals, three giants who ruled everything as the three Wheels of Cultivation."
He paused, pressing his own chest—right where his Everlasting Prism pulsed—a crystal that once, in a past lost to countless millennia, had been a Supreme Dao Dew crystal before he fell, before he lost everything, before he chose to become a lazy man sleeping atop an ox cart, forgetting that he had once been a terrifying existence.
"At this stage, Liu Xin, one is almost regarded as The True Absolute. Not within the world, yet present. Declared to exist, yet does not exist. And at times, it can also be declared: existing, non-existing, neither existing nor non-existing, and beyond all three."
Huan Zheng raised both hands, and in the air before him, he began to form a pattern Ling Xu had never seen before.
A pattern not made of light or darkness, but of nothingness itself—of the space between yes and no, of meaning that could not be grasped by the mind, for the mind was never designed to comprehend what could not be classified.
To be continued…