I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

The first level features a stone giant, a fifth-level Chaos Heavenly Lord. Qin Yuan and Mu Hongyi join forces; Qin Yuan draws the giant's attention from the front, while Mu Hongyi launches a surprise attack from the side. The giant's stone axe crashes down, shattering the ground. Qin Yuan's bone blade slices through the axe, while Mu Hongyi plunges her sword into the giant's nape. The giant shatters.

The second level was an endless maze. Qin Yuan used his bone blade to sense direction; the patterns on the blade vibrated slightly within the maze, pointing towards the exit. He led the team out without taking a single detour.

The third level was an illusion, a test of inner demons. Qin Yuan's will was firm; the illusion he saw depicted his slaughter of countless worlds, a sea of ​​blood and mountains of corpses, yet he didn't even flinch, shattering the illusion with a single strike. Yan Lingji saw the destruction of the Burning Heaven Pavilion, and she was trapped. Qin Yuan grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the illusion. Bing Ji saw the destruction of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion; she trembled, and Su Yao pulled her out. Mu Hongyi was trapped the deepest—she saw her father, the Sect Master of the Heavenly Fire Holy Sect, pointing at her and saying, "You will never be as good as me." She knelt on the ground, unable to escape. Qin Yuan walked up to her and extended his hand. "You are not your father's shadow. You are yourself." Mu Hongyi looked up at him, grasped his hand, and stood up.

The fourth level: Wind Demon King, a sixth-level Chaos Heavenly Lord, with lightning speed. Qin Yuan prevailed with his speed, severing the Wind Demon King's wings with his bone blade. The fifth level: Chaos Giant Beast, a sixth-level Chaos Heavenly Lord, possessing immense strength. Flame Spirit Princess burned with flames, Ice Princess froze it, but Qin Yuan killed it with a single strike. The sixth level: Trial of the Divine Soul. Ice Princess's powerful divine soul helped everyone overcome the challenge.

After breaking through three levels, everyone was exhausted. Mu Hongyi's attitude towards Qin Yuan had clearly changed; she was no longer aloof and would occasionally take the initiative to speak to him. Su Yao privately told Qin Yuan, "Mu Hongyi has feelings for you." Qin Yuan said, "Don't talk nonsense."

At the entrance to the seventh level, a terrifying aura emanated. Mu Hongyi's expression changed slightly. "Seventh level of Chaos Heavenly Monarch." The guardian of the seventh level was the "Netherworld King," a seventh-level Chaos Heavenly Monarch, the progenitor of the Netherworld Abyss, who had long since perished, his remnant soul guarding the ruins. The Netherworld King's remnant soul looked at Qin Yuan's bone blade, a flicker of emotion flashing in his gray eyes. "Your bone blade has an aura I recognize." Qin Yuan remained silent. The Netherworld King attacked, his demonic energy transforming into a gigantic palm ten thousand feet long, slamming down. Qin Yuan burned ten thousand years of his lifespan, two hundred patterns on his bone blade lit up, and he took the blow head-on, only to be blasted away, crashing into the wall, spitting out blood. Mu Hongyi, Yan Lingji, Bing Ji, Su Yao, Hong Yue, and Yue Yao launched a joint attack. Mu Hongyi's swordsmanship was fierce, Yan Lingji's flames burned, Bing Ji's ice sealed, Su Yao used palm techniques, Hong Yue used a long spear, and Yue Yao used a rapier. The six attacked together, and the Netherworld King, fighting seven against one, held his own.

Qin Yuan scrambled up from the wall, blood still dripping from his mouth, and charged forward again. He desperately reached the Netherworld King, his bone blade piercing his chest. The Netherworld King's remnant soul shattered, a hint of relief flashing in his gray eyes. "You...you are..." Before he could finish speaking, he vanished, leaving behind a black source crystal. Qin Yuan absorbed it, his cultivation breaking through from the second level of the Chaos Heavenly Monarch realm to the third level.

The eighth level is a spacetime turbulence. Time and space are disordered, and Qin Yuan and the others are trapped in different time fragments. Qin Yuan sees his past self—an outer disciple of the Xuan Yuan Sect, wearing a gray Daoist robe, practicing swordsmanship alone in the back mountain. His swordsmanship is clumsy, practicing each move repeatedly. He understands: this level tests one's "original intention." He travels through time and space, finds everyone, and pulls them out of the time fragments. Yan Lingji sees herself as a child, forced to cultivate by her father; Bingji sees the cold treatment from the Tianji Pavilion; Su Yao sees Su Wuyai being killed; Hongyue sees the destruction of Nevernight City; Yueyao sees the manipulation by the Taixu Palace. Mu Hongyi sees her father pointing at her and scolding her. Qin Yuan pulls her out and says, "You are not your father's shadow. You are yourself." Mu Hongyi is silent, her eyes slightly red.

On the ninth level, an elderly man with white hair sat cross-legged. He was not a remnant soul, but a complete spiritual body. A ninth-level Chaos Heavenly Monarch. He called himself "The Heavenly Monarch of Ten Thousand Paths," and looked at Qin Yuan with calm eyes. "You've finally come. I've waited for you for ten thousand years. Your bone blade is part of my legacy." Qin Yuan asked, "Do you know me?" The Heavenly Monarch of Ten Thousand Paths said, "I don't know you, but I recognize your bone blade. I forged it myself."

Wan Dao Tianjun raised his hand, and a golden light shot into Qin Yuan's brow. The complete inheritance—cultivation techniques, experience, fragments of laws, and a secret method to break through to the "Chaos Celestial Venerable" realm, which surpasses the Chaos Celestial Monarch level—was revealed. Qin Yuan's cultivation surged, breaking through three levels from the third to the sixth of the Chaos Celestial Monarch realm. Five hundred golden patterns appeared on the bone blade, illuminating the entire ninth level. Yan Lingji, Bingji, Su Yao, Hongyue, and Yueyao also received portions of the inheritance, each increasing their cultivation by one level. Mu Hongyi also received a portion, breaking through to the fifth level of the Chaos Celestial Monarch realm.

The ruins began to crumble. Everyone fled, bursting from the ground. On the streets of Wandao City, Qin Yuan looked at Mu Hongyi. "Do you still want to take my bone blade?" Mu Hongyi shook her head. "You're my teammate."

The City Lord of Myriad Paths City, the Elder of Myriad Paths, an eighth-level Chaos Heavenly Monarch, personally received Qin Yuan. The Elder of Myriad Paths had white hair and a white beard, a kind face, but eyes as deep as the sea. "You have received the inheritance of the Chaos Heavenly Monarch, and are qualified to become the new City Lord of Myriad Paths City." Qin Yuan asked why. The Elder of Myriad Paths said, "Because the entrance to the ninth level of the Source of Myriad Paths needs a new City Lord to open it." Qin Yuan refused. The Elder of Myriad Paths said, "If you don't do it, someone else will. And those who want to do it will kill you."

Qin Yuan remained silent for a moment. He glanced at the six women behind him and Mu Hongyi. They were all looking at him.

"I can be the city lord, but I won't manage anything," the old man Wan Dao smiled. "Alright."

Qin Yuan became the Lord of Ten Thousand Paths City. The six women and Mu Hongyi stood behind him, their seven figures stretching long in the setting sun. He gazed at the higher reaches of the Origin of Ten Thousand Paths, where there was still the Ninth Level, the Chaos Celestial Venerable, and the end of the Dao.

"The ninth level, I'm going to take a look." He turned and said to them. No one spoke, but everyone nodded. The wind blew across the walls of Ten Thousand Paths City, and the flags fluttered in the wind. Qin Yuan gripped his bone blade tightly, and golden patterns lit up. A new journey had just begun.

The Elder of Ten Thousand Paths told Qin Yuan that the entrance to the ninth level was above Ten Thousand Paths City, sealed by a light barrier called the "Ten Thousand Paths Seal." To open the seal, nine "Heavenly Monarch Tokens" were needed. These tokens were scattered throughout the various levels of the Origin of Ten Thousand Paths, held by major powers. Qin Yuan already possessed two—one obtained from the remnant soul of the Netherworld King, and the other from the ruins of the Heavenly Monarch of Ten Thousand Paths. The remaining seven were in the hands of the Heavenly Fire Holy Sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Burning Heaven Pavilion, the Netherworld Abyss, the Ten Thousand Beast Ridge, the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, and the remnants of the Divine Emperor Palace.

Mu Hongyi spoke first: "The Heavenly Fire Holy Sect's token is in my father's hands. I can help you get it. The condition is that you take me to the Ninth Level." Qin Yuan glanced at her and nodded. Yan Lingji said she could return to the Burning Heaven Pavilion to retrieve one, Jian Wushuang said he would return to the Heavenly Sword Sect, and Bingji returned to the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. Su Yao, Hongyue, and Yueyao stayed behind in Wandao City. Qin Yuan went alone to the Netherworld Abyss headquarters to seize the last Heavenly Monarch Token.