Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses

Chapter 207 Supreme Dharma

Before discussing the path of laws that rivals the path of divine power, we must mention the methods for advancing from True God to God King as described in the Duan Donghe inheritance.

As we can see from the original work, the requirements for breaking through from a true god to an eternal true god have not changed much.

Whether or not one can break through is measured by the "realm of creating secret techniques".

Essentially, True God, Void True God, and Eternal True God can all be classified as True Gods; they are simply different stages of evolution for True Gods.

This is an evolution of the true god's life level, and also an evolution of the microcosm.

There are three levels of True God. Each time you break through a level, you naturally gain a special ability.

They are "Words become law", "A thought is emptiness", and "A thought is the universe".

However, this is not a change brought about by a breakthrough in the level of understanding of laws, but rather an ability that is naturally gained by the sublimation of the level of life.

Just like the Void God, one does not need to master the void to break through, but rather gains this ability naturally after breaking through.

Therefore, at the True God stage, the "Creation Secret Level," that is, the ability to apply the laws, is the standard for measuring whether one can break through.

Even if one comprehends only the lower-level laws, if one can apply them with unparalleled skill and reach the level of "fundamental mystery," one can still break through to become an eternal true god.

However, the requirements for breaking through to the realm of Chaos Ruler, or the realm of Sainthood, are completely different.

Regardless of what laws you have studied or comprehended before, you must fully comprehend the laws of chaos in order to break through.

However, this does not mean that the path you previously focused on was completely useless.

The requirements for everyone to break through to the Chaos Ruler are the same. It's impossible that if you discard the treasures, all Chaos Rulers will be the same, right?

In reality, each Chaos Ruler is vastly different.

The laws of chaos encompass all things and contain countless possibilities.

The so-called understanding of the laws of chaos is the same as understanding lower-level laws such as the laws of metal.

Just as becoming an immortal god is the first step on the path of law, the accumulation required for becoming a Venerable, a Lord of the Universe, and then a True God is countless times greater than that required before achieving immortality.

Both have grasped the laws of the lower realms, but one is a newbie who has just broken through to immortality, while the other may be a top-tier true god of the tenth rank like Jie Fanzi. They are worlds apart.

Becoming the ruler of chaos is merely the beginning of another chapter.

The so-called "comprehension" is like a college student who has just understood Fourier's formula, but being able to skillfully apply the formula to practical problems is what it means to "master".

Even those who reign supreme among the saints, or even god-kings, dare not claim to truly control chaos. The "control of chaos" mentioned by the author in the original work is more accurately described as "possessing the ability to control the laws of chaos."

Completely mastering chaos is like allowing humans to completely solve the game of Go, or allowing cultivators in the cosmic sea to completely solve the Rhinoceros Emperor's Problem (not solving an endgame, but breaking through the Rhinoceros Emperor's Problem, which is equivalent to solving all possible solutions). It is a problem that transcends wisdom and is truly unsolvable.

What the Chaos Rulers have accomplished is to use their most proficient understanding and application of the rules to control chaos.

They indirectly controlled chaos by applying the laws they had reached the "fundamental mystery" level during the time of the Eternal True Gods, such as the source of water and fire, the source of light and darkness, the source of time and space, and the source of birth and death.

The breakthrough from Eternal True God to Chaos Ruler requires two steps.

Transform your own true divine heart into a true divine heart of the same essence that you comprehend as the origin of mystery, and then evolve it into a chaotic space with different characteristics.

Those who comprehend the source of water and fire possess the heart of water and fire, the chaotic space of water and fire.

The one who comprehends the source of light and darkness is the heart of light and darkness, the chaotic space of light and darkness;

The one who comprehends the origin of spacetime is the heart of spacetime, the chaotic spacetime...

And so on.

Although both are chaotic spaces, different chaotic rulers possess different prominent characteristics.

Since the chaotic space possesses "attributes," each chaotic ruler has different strengths.

And correspondingly, once a breakthrough is made, there is no turning back; one can only continue down this dark path.

Those who break through with the Heart of Water and Fire will find the difficulty of researching the Chaos of Water and Fire to drop sharply, while the difficulty of other paths will rise sharply.

To go even further, allowing the chaotic space to evolve into a small universe capable of giving birth to an eternal true god, is to evolve complete rules on its own.

As the saying goes, "It transcends the Three Realms and is not within the Five Elements."

The self-evolving rules, combined with Hunzhen's understanding of the concept of "source world," are rules that can still operate independently under the supreme rules of different source worlds. It should be said that they are rules that self-evolve beyond the limitations of the universe.

This is the first step toward approaching and then transcending the limitations of the highest rules.

In fact, this is also what Hunzhen saw: a breakthrough method where the Law route can rival the Divine Power route in terms of strength at the same level.

Upon breaking through to the level of a true god, one possesses the ability to evolve rules that transcend the limitations of the universe!

But... without a doubt, this is almost a pointless path.

Even a mountain dweller with god-king level insights would not choose this route.

Because he originally broke through using the divine power route, he had more experience in that route. Even with the enlightenment of a god-king, his strength would not be comparable to that of the original divine power route.

Moreover, in the description of the Duan Donghe lineage, this route is a kind of forced growth.

The foundation is not yet solid, and the miniature universe has not yet completed its full evolution. Reaching this stage prematurely is actually detrimental to future breakthroughs.

The foundation has always been of paramount importance.

Upon closer inspection, the progress in the divine power path seems to have absolutely nothing to do with breaking through realms.

actually not.

The essence of the divine power path is actually to build an extraordinary and solid foundation.

The transmission states that those who achieve true godhood through the second level of the divine power path (gene multiplier between 60,000 and 90,000) will inevitably break through to the level of Void True God.

Those who achieve true godhood through the third level of the divine power path (gene multiplier between 90,000 and 100,000) will inevitably break through to the level of eternal true god.

There's more to this story.

Of those who achieve true godhood through shortcuts and tricks, over 90% reach the limit of eternal true godhood, unable to transform their true godhood's heart into chaotic space. Only those who break through using a perfect cosmic structure possess a sliver of possibility to break through to the level of a chaotic ruler.

Those who achieve true godhood through the second level of the divine power path reach the ultimate goal of becoming the ruler of chaos.

Only by reaching the third level of the divine power path can one possess the potential to reach the supreme realm.

This serves as a solemn statement that combining personal insights with a solid foundation is the key to reaching the pinnacle.

A solid foundation not only influences the future, but also has a significant impact on current strength.

Let's start by giving examples from the perspective of the divine power route.

Those who break through to the zero level (gene multiplier below 30,000) have similar basic strength to those who take shortcuts.

As a first-level breakthrough cultivator on the Divine Power route, based solely on gene multiplier, his basic combat strength should be three times that of a True God on the Law route who takes shortcuts.

In reality, the difference isn't just in the genetic multiplier. When they break through to the first level using the divine power route, their foundation—the miniature universe and the heart of a true god—is fundamentally different, so in reality, their combat power is at least five times greater.

Those who break through to the second level of the Divine Power path benefit from advantages in gene multiplication and foundation, making their basic combat power ten times that of other True Gods, equivalent to directly increasing their combat power by one level. Such individuals would be considered top geniuses in the Origin Continent.

Those who break through to the third level of the Divine Power path possess a base combat strength a hundred times that of other True Gods. By increasing their combat strength to the second level and cultivating to the limit of True God, they can directly rival Void True Gods.

Such individuals would be considered peerless geniuses even in the Origin Continent. Naturally, their cultivation would reach the level of Eternal True God. Without special circumstances, breaking through to the Chaos Ruler level would be no problem for them. Only the God King bottleneck could limit them.

As for the fourth level of the divine power route, which was not even mentioned in the inheritance of Duan Donghe, the perfect true god, Hunzhen speculated that his basic combat power was a thousand times that of other true gods, and he could increase his combat power by three levels for no reason.

This is Luo Feng's template. Breaking through to the Chaos Dominator level is as easy as eating and drinking. Just like what Tomato said, only the God King level can put a little bit of pressure on him.

The path of divine power is one example, and the path of laws also produces exceptional talents.

In addition to the previously mentioned forced growth path, theoretically, there are four major paths to transcendence in order for the Law path to be comparable to the Divine Power path.

By applying and extending a rule to the ultimate level or the level of a god-king, one can generate rules on their own.

Complete mastery of all the laws of the universe;

To comprehend the "Supreme Law," which exists above the highest rules and can only be controlled by an unparalleled being;

To open up or take a new path.

The first option, needless to say, is a dead end.

The second principle is to fully master all the laws of the universe, meaning that once the power of "stealing" reaches a certain limit, the power surpasses that of the original universe or the Great Source. At that point, it is no longer stealing, but becoming the master, and naturally, one's status and position will be completely different.

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However, becoming the master of the Great Source is an almost impossible path, and becoming the master of the Primordial Universe is even more difficult than directly seizing the Primordial Universe.

The records in the Duan Donghe Chronicle are almost legends.

As for the fourth point, it is currently under development and research, possesses certain practical value, but cannot yet be replicated in most people, cannot be promoted, and is limited to a very small number of practitioners.

The Duan Donghe lineage records a special route that is called "entering the Tao through skill".

One is a dead end, two is no way out, and four is a narrow path.

Therefore, there is only one orthodox path of law originating from the continent, which is the so-called "supreme law".

Comprehending the supreme Dharma is like pursuing the path of divine power; the threshold is extremely high, and without reaching a certain level, there is almost no gain.

The prerequisite is that one must have at least a minor understanding of the laws of chaos.

The understanding of the laws of chaos progresses through stages: entry level, minor achievement, major achievement, and perfection (complete comprehension).

Among the three levels of true gods, the eternal true gods, who aimed to become the rulers of chaos from the very beginning, have mostly achieved great success and perfection.

However, there are quite a few who have just broken through to the Eternal True God realm, or who know that reaching the Eternal True God realm is their limit, and who have not actively sought enlightenment beforehand, relying solely on the natural ability of the universe to be formed in a single thought, and have only achieved minor success.

Among the true gods of the void, those who truly comprehend chaos are extremely rare.

Relying on one's level of life, it's not difficult to reach the initial stage, but to achieve even a small degree of success, one must specifically spend time contemplating and comprehending; otherwise, it's impossible.

In theory, achieving minor mastery of the Chaos Law corresponds to the level of a Void True God.

However, without reaching a certain level, the benefits of comprehending chaos are far less than improving one's ability to apply the laws.

Only those exceptional geniuses plan ahead and lay a solid foundation for breaking through to the Chaos Dominator realm in the future.

Even a true god in the void would find it difficult to achieve even a minor level of enlightenment, let alone a cosmic master, which is equivalent to crossing two levels of life to comprehend it.

This single hurdle alone filters out countless geniuses.

He had made some progress in the laws of chaos, but only obtained the key to comprehend the supreme law.

That is, after all, a law that transcends the highest and can be called "supreme".

It is simply impossible for someone at the level of a cosmic master to achieve such comprehension.

However, the reason this path is considered orthodox is certainly not because it is a dead end.

The lords of the universe do not need to comprehend; they only need to sense the essence of the meaning to immediately move on to the next step.

When breaking through to the True God realm, one does not condense the Heart of the True God, but rather uses this state of mind as the core to condense a "Seed of Law".

Afterwards, when breaking through to the Void True God and Eternal True God, the Seed of Law will grow accordingly, eventually becoming a "Supreme Divine Heart".

Once the Supreme Divine Heart completes its transformation and evolves into the Chaotic Space, the cultivator will be able to truly begin to utilize the "Supreme Law"!

Once you attain sainthood, you will surely become king!

The benefits of following the path of supreme laws go beyond this.

When this path is taken to its extreme, it can be described as invincible in the same realm.

Once one breaks through to the level of a God-King, one will have an extraordinary understanding of the supreme laws that one comprehends.

The probability of breaking through to the God King realm and reaching the supreme realm is much higher than that of an ordinary God King!

Having discussed its advantages, it's natural to mention its disadvantages.

There's no need to elaborate on the fact that the demand for chaos laws has reached a minor level.

Choosing to cultivate the supreme Dharma means that at the level of a true god, it is equivalent to pre-selecting the category of the heart of a true god and determining the future path in advance.

Unless one is reincarnated like the hermit, there is no going back!

Secondly, understanding the artistic conception often requires guidance.

One of the main reasons why the path of supreme laws can become a major mainstream on the Origin Continent is that there are inheritances left by supreme beings on the Origin Continent.

These inherited relics can often directly filter out geniuses with the aptitude for the corresponding supreme Dharma.

Otherwise, there are many paths to the highest enlightenment, and it takes a long time to comprehend their meaning. How would you know which one is right for you?

Without guidance, choosing the wrong path will waste a lot of time!

In the Origin Continent, besides the legacy left by supreme beings, some major powers also have slightly inferior guiding holy sites.

Unfortunately, such a guiding sacred site does not exist in the lineage of Duan Donghe.

Perhaps such guidance exists in the Origin Continent, but Hunzhen only possesses a Tomb Ship, which does not contain a sacred guiding site.

Even with guidance, once the meaning is understood, integrating it into the unfinished heart of the true god and condensing it into a seed of rules is extremely difficult.

Depending on the perfection of the condensed seed of rules, the paths of supreme laws also exist in different grades.

Only the most perfect and supreme divine heart formed by the top beings among them has the potential to evolve into chaotic space.

The strength of the Supreme Divine Heart far surpasses that of the True God's Heart, and naturally, the difficulty of enabling it to break free from its cocoon and transform into a butterfly to evolve into the chaotic space is also incomparable.

The difficulty of spontaneously evolving rules and transforming chaotic space into a miniature universe is equally significant.

Only after becoming a god-king can one see the benefits in the realm of cultivation.

This chapter is mostly based on alternate settings, so please refrain from criticism if you disagree. I haven't reread Snow Eagle Lord, so please understand if there are any inconsistencies between the settings and Snow Eagle Lord's. After all, some settings in the two books aren't entirely compatible... I hope everyone will prioritize the settings from Swallowed Star. Please treat any conflicts with Snow Eagle Lord's as parallel worlds. Otherwise, if everyone takes it too seriously, I won't be able to continue writing.

(End of this chapter)