Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 296 Emperor-level
The origin of the name "Immortal Emperor" can be said to be a result of Huang Tian's meticulous planning.

The title "Immortal" naturally comes from the title he earned in the Big Dipper. As a member of the Phoenix Clan, he possesses the power of rebirth through rebirth, making this title perfectly fitting. Moreover, the ultimate goal of cultivation is immortality. Immortality naturally aligns with his ultimate objective.

For the reasons mentioned above, Huang Tian chose to retain "immortal" as part of his title.

As for the Emperor, he was a manifestation of his personal ambition.

Now that we are in a new era, Huang Tian naturally does not intend to continue using the old titles such as Heavenly Venerable, but will instead use a completely new one. Moreover, he will not only use it himself, but also make it a universal title for future Dao-proving individuals.

The character Huang Tian chose was "Emperor". Those who reach the pinnacle of power are unparalleled and invincible; calling them Emperor is naturally very fitting.

Since this era began with him, he naturally wants future generations to regard him as an immortal monument. Changing the title of the Proverb is only the first step.

The title of Emperor was not only because he came from the Celestial Realm and was a visitor from outer space, but also because it was a way to elevate himself and demonstrate his superiority over later emperors.

If he is exceptionally brilliant and achieves great things in this life, future enlightened beings will naturally avoid using his name and address him only as Emperor. Over time, his title of Emperor will become the exclusive title of the highest achiever of this era, just like his master's title of Great Celestial Venerable.

In this way, he became the symbol of this new era, the emperor of emperors. This was actually him learning from his master, the Supreme Heavenly Venerable.

Of course, once the Celestial Venerable becomes an Emperor, the Quasi-Venerable will naturally become a Quasi-Emperor, and the Ultimate Divine Weapon will naturally become an Ultimate Imperial Weapon. Furthermore, those who touch the ultimate realm will be renamed Imperial Masters. These are all things the Undying Emperor had planned long ago.

It can be said that the Immortal Emperor wanted to shape this era into his own form, leaving a deep imprint on it, thereby establishing an immortal legacy.

After attaining enlightenment, the title of Immortal Emperor naturally began to circulate throughout the universe. From that moment on, this new era truly separated from the past and began a completely new chapter.

The laws of nature in this era were originally more inclined to nurture various bloodlines, making them stronger. And the Undying Emperor happened to be one of the most powerful members of his race's bloodline.

Therefore, after he attained enlightenment and merged with the Heavenly Heart Mark, the laws of the universe stabilized further, and this update was completely completed. In the next one or two million years, these laws of the universe will hardly undergo any major changes.

Of course, this subtle, gradual influence is imperceptible to most people, except for a very few.

Having recovered from his injuries, the Immortal Emperor felt he had reached the pinnacle of power, even having the illusion that he could shatter the entire human universe with a single exertion. Although he hadn't witnessed it firsthand, the Immortal Emperor was absolutely certain that ordinary Dao-proving cultivators were no match for him.

At this time, the Undying Emperor had reached the pinnacle of his cultivation and strength through numerous trials. After this breakthrough, he unleashed his accumulated power and directly leaped to the level of Heavenly Emperor.

Although the Undying Emperor didn't have this concept, the "Emperor" he unconsciously chose for himself perfectly matched it. The Undying Emperor's intuition was indeed correct, even somewhat conservative. The vast majority of those who had attained the Dao were not only no match for him, but would be utterly crushed by him. At this point, even if the Undying Emperor wasn't as powerful as Ye Fan in later generations, he far surpassed ordinary Dao-proving individuals, meeting the criteria for the Heavenly Emperor level.

Liang Yu had long suspected that to reach the level of a first-generation Heavenly Emperor, one needed to possess a top-tier bloodline physique comparable to the Chaos Body, and also be able to elevate one's own Dao and Dharma to an extremely high level, ideally while also achieving some minor accomplishments. He and Yuanshi Tianzun were actually both at a disadvantage because they didn't possess a top-tier bloodline physique.

The Undying Emperor's phoenix bloodline is undoubtedly top-tier, thus fully meeting the standard. Furthermore, his Dao and Dharma have gradually risen through the centuries of fierce battles, reaching an astonishing level, thus also meeting this standard.

As for achieving certain milestones, although the Undying Emperor faced no restrictions in attaining enlightenment, he had nine powerful opponents. To defeat them, the Undying Emperor relentlessly suppressed himself at the level of alternative enlightenment and continuously pushed his limits, ultimately setting a new upper limit for the power of alternative enlightenment.

Therefore, the immortal emperor who meets all the conditions naturally succeeds in reaching the level of a first-generation emperor, or a first-generation emperor.

The slightly arrogant Undying Emperor thought of his master, the Limitless Heavenly Venerable, and his arrogance vanished instantly. Although it existed only in his distant memories, he found that he still couldn't discern his master's cultivation level.

As his strength increased, the figure in his memory grew ever larger and more mysterious. This at least indicated that his master back then was probably at least one level stronger than he was now. Even so, his master hadn't become an immortal. This was enough to show that he still had a long way to go before achieving immortality.

The Undying Emperor, who hailed from the Immortal Realm, knew that neither his master nor he himself could achieve true immortality in this world where longevity resources were scarce and immortal laws were virtually nonexistent. Therefore, his master must have embarked on a unique path to immortality.

Although the details are unknown, the Undying Emperor is absolutely certain that this is a much more difficult path to immortality, but also one with greater rewards. After all, what normal person could forge a celestial artifact without becoming an immortal?

The Undying Emperor naturally wanted to follow the same path as his master and become the strongest immortal. In this way, perhaps he could go even further and become an Immortal King, a being that hadn't appeared in the fragments of the Immortal Realm for countless millennia, thus saving the Immortal Realm and making the Phoenix Clan great again.

Therefore, he now needs to find his master, the Supreme Heavenly Venerable, and ask him to guide him on his future path.

During his cultivation in the mortal realm, the Immortal Emperor learned much about his master's deeds. Of course, what he was most interested in was the eradication of forbidden zones and the opening of the immortal gate at the end of the mythological era.

Has Master truly left this world and ascended to the Immortal Realm? The Undying Emperor is skeptical. After all, although Master claimed to have entered the Immortal Realm in his third incarnation, he actually remained in the mortal world, even living a fourth life and taking him as a disciple. This so-called Immortal Sect might very well be just a rehash of the past.

Moreover, his master had not provided any guidance on his path to immortality. If he had truly ascended to the Immortal Realm, how could he not have left him any hints? Therefore, the Undying Emperor did not believe that his master had left the mortal world.

The Immortal Emperor closed his eyes, his powerful primordial spirit scanning the vast starry sky through the Heavenly Heart Mark. Soon, a peculiar aura caught his attention.

The Undying Emperor took a step forward, and five-colored divine light converged into a heaven-reaching avenue that spiraled straight into the depths of the starry sky. Countless divine phoenixes hovered around this avenue, radiating countless rays of light and auspicious energy, as if a divine emperor had descended to earth and was touring the heavens. He followed the avenue into the depths of the universe.

(End of this chapter)