My ordinary path to immortality shouldn't end here.

Chapter 203 The Heavenly Emperor's Dog-Collecting Journey
Bai Chijing decided to follow the solution given by the little girl, because she assured him that Banhu would not mind dying, and would likely even be happy to see it happen.

Although it was unclear why this was the case, Shirochi Kei did not delve into it, as it clearly involved the groundbreaking of another route.

So, Bai Chijing walked out of the tenth heaven.

With the connection of cause and effect, he easily found the several near-Dao Celestial Venerables who had attacked him before, and then used the Nine Swords Supreme Treasure to kill them all.

This time, however, he did not waste the flesh and blood of these near-Dao Celestial Venerables.

He carefully collected the flesh and blood.

Because that little girl said that if the flesh and blood of the near-Dao Celestial Venerables collected came from multiple sources, then it was necessary to ensure that not a drop of blood was wasted from each one.

Bai Chijing can kill a near-Dao Celestial Venerable several more times to collect enough flesh and blood.

But there's nothing I can do; he's a kind-hearted person.

What if killing a near-Dao Celestial Venerable causes depression?
So he simply found a few more to kill, so that the psychological trauma of these near-Dao Celestial Venerables would be less.

Furthermore, so many people had attacked him before, what's the point of killing just one?

Although no unusual phenomena appeared in the world because the Near-Dao Celestial Venerables had not truly perished, the continuous fall of Near-Dao Celestial Venerables still caused the spiritual energy in the world to fluctuate. In particular, the increasing number of secret realms in the world made the other Near-Dao Celestial Venerables in Zhixuan Heaven frown.

They were filled with doubt and uncertainty, wondering what this Primordial Celestial Venerable was up to.

Because if the intention was simply to vent one's anger, then killing only one near-Dao Celestial Venerable once would be somewhat inconsistent with the usual style of these Primordial Celestial Venerables.

After all, just think about how many times the Celestial Venerable Cangyun Sword has died.
If it weren't for the emergence of self-awareness in the Heavenly Realm of Zhixuan, allowing it to govern the entire Heavenly Realm with the methods of an emperor, the Heavenly Venerable of the Azure Cloud Sword would probably still be in his rightful place.

Therefore, it seems a bit odd that a near-Dao Celestial Venerable would only kill once.

However, these near-Dao Celestial Venerables were only surprised and did not meddle in other people's business. Even the near-Dao Celestial Venerable who had been killed by Bai Chijing did not say anything harsh, but only said "the cause and effect have been settled".

Furthermore, these near-Dao Celestial Venerables all suspected that this time, Heaven was secretly orchestrating something.

However, not all near-Dao Celestial Venerables adopt this attitude.

One of the near-Dao Celestial Venerables who was not killed by Bai Chijing this time was now unable to bear it, especially as he saw the Nine Swords Supreme Treasures in Bai Chijing's hand constantly wreaking havoc. His anger kept rising and he couldn't control himself at all.

Because this Heavenly Venerable of the Near Dao is none other than the old Heavenly Venerable of the Heaven of Knowledge of Mystery—the Heavenly Venerable of the Azure Cloud Sword!

Thus, this old Celestial Venerable became the first among the many Celestial Venerables of the Mysterious Heaven to voluntarily travel to the deepest part of the heavens to seek an audience with the Celestial Beings of the Mysterious Heaven.

At this moment, it seemed as if an extra world had been created in the deepest part of the sky.

In this entirely new world, there are all kinds of rare and precious materials that have long since disappeared from the four continents of Zhixuantian.

This place was formed from the spiritual veins of the ancestral dragons of the four continents. Nourished by the abundant spiritual energy of the mountains and rivers, it naturally displays extraordinary wonders everywhere. Even the rare and precious materials needed by near-Dao Celestial Venerables to refine supreme treasures can be found here.

So when the Celestial Venerable arrived here, a perfectly round, dazzling golden sphere flew to him.

"Taihao Immortal Emperor Jin Yuan?" The old Celestial Venerable was knowledgeable; he was greatly shocked after just one glance.

Just by hearing the name, you can tell where this treasure comes from.

This Golden Source of the Taihao Immortal Emperor is the very source of cultivation for the Taihao Immortal Emperor, one of the three emperors. Since these three were suppressed and destroyed by Heaven, their cultivation sources naturally fell into the hands of Heaven.

Over the long course of time, the origins of the three emperors, under the influence of the power of heaven and earth, gradually transformed into rare and precious materials.

"By fusing with this, you can transform yourself and forge a completely new path to create a new, enduring treasure." A melodious voice rang out, and then the Azure Cloud Sword Celestial Venerable felt as if the world in front of him had changed in an instant, and a tall figure appeared before him.

This is a young man dressed in a dark gold robe.

This young man possessed a handsome and refined appearance, with flawless, fair skin. No matter how you looked at him, he exuded an aura of perfection. His expression was serene, yet the aura he emanated was incomparably noble. Even a Dao-proving Immortal King would be compelled to kneel and kowtow repeatedly upon seeing him.

This young man in the dark gold robe was none other than the Celestial Being of the Heavenly Realm of Zhixuan.

He now calls himself Emperor Heavenly Venerable!
Although he has only revealed his self-awareness for a century, this Emperor Celestial Venerable shows no signs of immaturity whatsoever. It's as if he didn't just recently develop self-awareness, but rather had been hiding it all along. Now that he's fully grown, he's willingly revealing it.

This is a guess that most of the near-Dao Heavenly Venerables who know the Mysterious Heaven think.

Even the Azure Cloud Sword Venerable, who came to see the Emperor Venerable this time, thought the same way.

After all, the methods they used were incredibly clean and efficient!
First, using the reincarnation of the Primordial Immortal Power as a pawn, he completed the most difficult step, seemingly causing the First Immortal to be defeated twice. Then, when the time was ripe, he directly taught the reincarnation of the Primordial Immortal Power a lesson by discarding the pawn after the fact.

However, they did not banish the Primordial Celestial Venerable to the mortal realm, which made even the Near-Dao Celestial Venerable of Zhixuan Heaven somewhat hesitant to act rashly.

They also wanted to disobey the edict of the Heavenly Emperor, but they were afraid that the Heavenly Emperor would re-employ the Primordial Heavenly Emperor.

Although they also intended to contact the Primordial Celestial Venerable in private, this Primordial Celestial Venerable created his own path of immortal cultivation and formed his own lineage of destiny with this method. This made the Primordial Celestial Venerable the first near-Dao Celestial Venerable to be constrained by the cultivation system! This is why the other near-Dao Celestial Venerables were very hesitant.

Therefore, given all these complex circumstances, Emperor Tianzun actually succeeded in mastering his method of balance.

At this moment, Cangyun Sword Celestial Venerable, who had obtained the Golden Source of the Taihao Immortal Emperor, suddenly knelt down before the Emperor Celestial Venerable. As he performed the grand ceremony of worship, he shouted, "Your subject Cangyun pays respects to the Emperor!"

This old celestial being immediately bowed down and submitted.

When Emperor Tianzun saw Cangyun Sword Tianzun act this way, the handsome young man's face showed little change in emotion, because this was something he had expected.

Nine-tenths of the mind that seeks the Way is occupied by worldly thoughts.

At this moment, Cangyun Sword Celestial Venerable was, to put it bluntly, just a mortal who occupied a body possessing near-Dao power, nothing more.

Although this mortal can use and is very proficient in all the power of this body that possesses near-Dao great power, a mortal is still a mortal, and no longer possesses the near-Dao extraordinary aspect.

Because no Heavenly Venerable of the Profound Realm has experienced any major problems due to their Profound Realm Heart being tainted by worldly desires, the Heavenly Venerables of the Profound Realm have never paid much attention to their Profound Realm Heart. Therefore, no one knows that the fundamental reason why the Heavenly Venerables of the Profound Realm lose their self-awareness is actually because their Profound Realm Heart has been tainted by worldly desires.

As for the effects of wandering in nothingness, they are merely minor inducing factors.

Emperor Tianzun, being an embodiment of the Heavenly Dao, was very clear about this. Therefore, when he realized that Cangyun Sword Tianzun's near-Dao Heart had been reduced to less than a third of its original strength by Bai Chijing, he immediately took action. Through the Dao of Balance and multiple restraints, he successfully incited more than twenty near-Dao Tianzun to suppress Bai Chijing.

If Heaven has no self-awareness, then Bai Chijing is a good sword, and after it cuts, it should hang high in the sky to warn future generations.

It is known that the Heavenly Emperor of Xuantian has become the Heavenly Emperor, so naturally he would not give Bai Chijing such treatment.

He had even prepared a complete taming plan for Bai Chijing long ago.

The goal was to acquire this useful knife.

However, Emperor Tianzun was still somewhat surprised, as Cangyun Sword Tianzun came to see him ahead of schedule. The reason for Cangyun Sword Tianzun's early arrival was actually Bai Chijing, who was already part of his scheme.

This caused a hint of hesitation and a touch of killing intent to appear on Emperor Tianzun's handsome face.

Because he does not allow, nor permit, the occurrence of variables.

He could even outmaneuver the First Immortal, let alone this mere reincarnation of the Primordial Immortal Power? Thus, Emperor Heavenly Venerable nodded slightly, and the old Heavenly Venerable who had come to serve as his dog stood up and said indifferently, "I already know your purpose. That Primordial Immortal is unruly and deserves a tribulation, but the time for this tribulation has not yet come. You should go down first and recover your strength."

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace!"

The Celestial Venerable immediately bowed again.

At this moment, the Azure Cloud Sword Celestial Venerable no longer possessed any of the demeanor of a near-Dao Celestial Venerable.

If the trapped world could break free from the state of time stillness, the immortals who are close to the Dao there could come out and see this scene. They would surely hesitate for a moment, wondering whether or not to kill this old Heavenly Venerable.

Because this is a "jailer".

As the Azure Cloud Sword Celestial Venerable respectfully bowed and departed, the Emperor Celestial Venerable's gaze involuntarily turned to the Azure Dragon Continent in the mortal realm. To anyone else in this world, the Azure Dragon Continent appeared normal, but in the Emperor Celestial Venerable's eyes, it had become a prison, trapping an incomparably powerful, peerless near-Dao Immortal within.

And this near-immortal is none other than the First Immortal!
At this moment, the First Immortal was still dressed as a scholar, seemingly still using the name of Scholar Jia to deceive everyone. However, in reality, this First Immortal had already realized that he had not only lost, but was also unknowingly being restrained by the heavens of Zhixuan Heaven.

Because a hundred years ago, after his scheme against Bai Chijing failed, he wanted to leave Qinglong Continent. However, strangely, whenever he had this thought, he would suddenly have other ideas and thus continue to stay in Qinglong Continent.

"Has the heart that seeks the Dao been tainted by the mortal world?" However, the First Immortal is still the First Immortal. He was once the Primordial Demon King. In the instant that Emperor Tianzun cast his gaze upon him, he finally understood why he had been unable to leave Qinglong Continent through that moment of cause and effect.

He entered the mortal world as Jia Shusheng, intending to influence the heavens. However, during this period, he was unknowingly used by the heavens, who drew a cage for his desire to approach the Tao.

Because his desire for a shortcut was trapped in Azure Dragon Continent, he suddenly had a warning, prompting him to remain in Azure Dragon Continent.

He could force his way out, but from then on, his desire to attain enlightenment would be constantly eroded by worldly thoughts, eventually leading to worldly thoughts taking over most of his life.

"No wonder they suddenly exposed themselves after so many years of forbearance; it turns out they were already prepared..."

The First Immortal suddenly realized.

Past memories resurfaced, and he seemed to know where the problem lay, but he was powerless to change it. He could reverse the flow of time and resurrect the beings of the past, but he could not alter anything.

It wasn't that he lacked strength, but rather that he could foresee that Heaven had definitely arranged for a large amount of time to be interrupted in the past of Zhixuan Heaven.

This is an extremely simple trick, but also an extremely effective one.

Then, the First Immortal looked up, and his gaze seemed to pierce through many obstacles, directly seeing the Emperor Heavenly Venerable high in the depths of the sky.

"Are you willing to submit?" Emperor Tianzun's voice rang out at the right time. He cast a glance down, naturally anticipating that the First Immortal would realize this matter.

But he doesn't care.

Although the First Immortal did not know what would happen if the Heart of the Dao were to be tainted by the mortal world, the sudden impulses of someone of the First Immortal's level would give him advance warning, preventing him from leaving Azure Dragon Continent.

Therefore, if the First Immortal submits, he will have more capable assistants under his command.

If the First Immortal is unwilling to submit, then the First Immortal's inability to leave Azure Dragon Continent will no longer have any negative impact on him.

He allowed the First Immortal to spread those ideas and doctrines precisely for this purpose, because such ideas and doctrines would backfire.

"The Way of Heaven is the Way of Humanity. Do you think this is a good thing?" The First Immortal neither agreed nor denied, but simply asked this question.

"Isn't that so?"

"If you are not in accordance with the Heavenly Dao, then what awaits you is depletion after countless years. At that time, you will have no other way to go but to sever your own life and reappear as an ordinary immortal. But at that time, do you think you, who are not even close to the Dao, can escape the calamity of the destruction of heaven and earth?" The First Immortal naturally knew more than enough.

After all, he was one of the few immortals who left Zhixuan Heaven and then successfully returned.

Immortals nearing the Dao can roam freely in the void, but this does not mean they are free to come and go. Leaving is usually easy for an immortal nearing the Dao, but returning along the same path is extremely difficult.

This is because it often requires traversing a significant period of time interruption.

Sometimes it is only a short distance, but it can take hundreds or even thousands of years to travel.

This is also one of the reasons why Gong Qinghuang is unwilling to leave Zhixuan Heaven—the journey is too arduous, and she doesn't want to suffer.

"Why can't we think positively? Although Banhu is not a realm above the Dao, one can become a Banhu among those who are near the Dao. And right now, in this Zhixuan Heaven, there is such an opportunity. I will become Banhu, and you will rule the world of Zhixuan Heaven! What do you say?" The voice of the Heavenly Emperor came.

"Tai Shi greets the Emperor." The First Immortal rose and bowed.

Tai Shi, the true name of the First Immortal.

(End of this chapter)