An older man with long white hair tied loosely in a bun, a long white beard, and wearing a plain black robe–looked at the trespasser before him. His pure eyes, which seemed to contain the entire world, calmly looked at the young man before him.
“A clone?” the older man said in a deep voice. Then, his eyes seemed to penetrate an infinite distance to see a young man sealed underneath a mountain.
“Finally found a perfect 9 Extremity Dao Foundation. Although he cannot reach the absolute peak power of 5-Root, it is still 5-Root.”
“Who are you?” asked Di Tian’s clone with vigilance. “And what do you mean you’ve been waiting for me?”
He did not understand the words coming out of this person’s mouth. Di Tian used a massive amount of luck to reach this place. Most of these lucks were gathered by Sleepers when both Buddhism and the Devil race were destroyed.
Many people swallowed the Qi Luck of these two groups, and his Sleepers took part in the feast. He tried using his luck to counter Heavenly Dao’s scheming against him, but according to his calculation, his Luck only allowed for his survival and even his reincarnation.
Otherwise, he might have reincarnated as an animal with no memories or in some Heaven-forsaken world with no chance at survival. In his last reincarnation, Di Tian used a lot of this luck to ensure that nothing unexpected occurred this time around.
And now, he used the remaining to find a fortunate encounter that could help him break the limit of his 9th reincarnation strength and win this generation’s, Heaven Will.
The older man did not immediately reply to Di Tian. After observing his real body, he sensed something else.
“Another one?” he muttered as he found the source. Then, he saw a naked young man with gray hair and eyes lying on a bed with another woman. However, the older man’s heart skipped a beat as the woman looked straight at him.
‘Odd. Why does this person who only has the strength of an Eternal Emperor give me a sense of dread? No, why did she notice me in the first place? And why does she seem familiar?’
After thinking about it for a while, the older man decided not to think about the situation; he did not have time to waste. After a quick check, he saw the grey eyes young man was an unorthodox Nine Extremity Foundation, but he was not perfect and would only have 4-Root Strength at best.
Although commendable for having such a result with an unorthodox method, it was not what he was looking for. However, he sensed another extremity aura from that boy’s body and checked.
‘3-Root? Forget it.’
Then, the older man searched the entire Endless Void for another Nine Extremity Foundation. He essentially saw almost every secret of the lower dimension but did not find anything. Once he finished, the older man became a little more transparent.
Finally, he laid eyes on Di Tian.
“My name is Empyrean Nine Pillars; you can call me Nine Pillar.”
The clone immediately cupped his hands and said: “Young generation, Di Tian, has seen the noble Empyrean.”
“I don’t have time to waste, so I’ll get to the point.”
Nine Pillar then explained the concept of the Nine Extremity Foundation to him, including the orthodox and unorthodox methods and the qualifications. However, Di Tian’s eyes immediately became bloodshot as he clenched his hand.
“So, you’re telling me I did not have to go through all Nine Reincarnations? I could have simply created nine clones to get the power I want?”
He did not care about the so-called Nine Extremity Foundation. All he wanted was the power to revive his wife. And if he did not have to suffer through all these reincarnations, pain, and failures, he could have proven the Dao countless eras ago.
“Don’t be mad. The unorthodox method has the highest failure rate of the two approaches, and the difficulty of achieving perfection is a thousand times more difficult.
“Furthermore, Samsara Dao is perfect for the orthodox method, having the highest chance of success through the constant nourishment after each reincarnation.
“And the fact you have comprehended a tiny part of [Existence] made it easier for you to absorb your Cultivation Seed, thus boosting your success rate of achieving perfection.”
Unfortunately, Di Tian did not care what Nine Pillar said. For a moment, all he could think about was all the time he wasted; how he could have been holding his wife’s body long ago, enjoying her warmth.
Nevertheless, he took a deep breath to reign out his hatred and anger toward the world.
Nine Pilla watched how Di Tian regained his composure. He analyzed that the latter accidentally walked on the orthodox path of the Nine Extremity and even achieved perfection through some level of luck or coincidence.
Nevertheless, he knew this kid’s situation should be special to require him to have to reincarnate so often. But, he did not care about that.
“I will tell you my story to understand my purpose in bringing you here,” said Nine Pillar before giving a half-minute explanation of his life.
He was born in the upper dimension, and his master, Emperor Red Spear, took him as a direct disciple when he was young. His master had high standards for him, so he immediately told Nine Pillar about the Nine Extremity Foundation with the hope of cultivating it.
And Nine Pillar did not disappoint. After his master paid a hefty price to have an Eternal Emperor preach about [Existence] to him, he managed to comprehend something.
However, his master did not want him to walk the unorthodox path due to the low percentage of success, not to mention Red Spear wanted him to achieve perfection or the power of 5-Root.
At the same time, he could not easily go through the orthodox method in the Eternal Ascension World because of the stricter rules about Samsara. No mortals can keep their memories intact after going through reincarnation.
If they want to keep their memories, an Empyrean or Tier 11 cultivators at the weakest must use their powers to protect the mortal’s memories. Furthermore, going through nine reincarnations could have many complications in the upper dimension.
So, his master sent him to the lower dimension to accomplish the Nine Extremity Foundation. He abandoned his cultivation to start over. Then, Nine Pillar tempered his souls, energy, body, Dao Heart, and Willpower to the absolute peak before condensing his Cultivation Seed, or Extremity Seed, as that was the official name.
He joined a powerful Emperor Lineage to gather resources. Because of the restrictions, his master could not help him in this aspect. Then, when it was time, he did not fight for the [Heaven Will] but reincarnated instead.
After Nine Reincarnations, Nine Pillar not only completed his Nine Extremity Foundation but reached perfection with the battle strength of a 5-Root Dao Ancestor. However, Nine Pillar was not satisfied, so on his last reincarnation, he condensed nine clones to cultivate to the peak of the Mortal Realm before absorbing them.
His strength did increase drastically. According to his calculation, he had the battle strength of a 5-Root Dao Ancestor with 4.9% control of the Grand Dao Source.
Regrettably, Nine Pillar was not satisfied. As he felt the limit of the Nine Extremity, he wanted to go beyond it. His master warned him that it was impossible, but he wanted to try. So, he asked his master for him to find a way to remove the limitation of only nine reincarnations.
His master then used countless precious resources in the upper dimension to refine an Immortal Soul Essence for him, allowing him to undergo 81 Reincarnations.
Nine Pillar figured if he could keep condensing his Cultivation Seed and absorb it through reincarnation, he might break the limit. But he was wrong. His battle strength increased to 4.9999% control of Grand Dao Source, but never 5%; he could not enter the realm of the Great Emperor.
Nine Pillar then tried to have each of his incarnations to condense 9 clones each to break the limit, but it was useless. Despite this, he did not give up since he wanted to succeed.
However, his master finally convinced him that it was futile, so Nine Pillar eventually proved the Dao to become an Eternal Emperor. He was among the most powerful Eternal Emperor of the upper dimension, making his master and sect proud.
But Nine Pillar did not care about that. He had become obsessed with breaking the limit of the Nine Extremity. So, after becoming an Everlasting Empyrean, he entered Primordial Chaos to search for a method.
He was prepared to abandon his cultivation and start again once he found it; that’s how determined he was. And he did find what he wanted.
Regrettably, a Fiendgod also wanted the thing that would help him. And after a battle, the Fiendgod killed him and even eradicated his Existence, history, and anything related to him.
The only reason Nine Pillar survived for this long was because of a unique treasure he had and because of his intense obsession to find a successor that could break that limit.
He has little to no power left, so he spends most of his time in deep sleep, waiting for someone worthy to find the inheritance he scattered all over the world. But, he did not expect someone to come directly to his door.
Nine PIllar raised his hand, and a purple orb the size of a tennis ball appeared.
“This is a very rare Primordial Chaos Treasure called the Limit Breaker. Its purpose is to remove limitations or restrictions. Fiendgods are restricted by the laws or attributes they are born with. So, they love treasure like this since it can remove their bloodline limits.
“Great Emperors, Empyreans, and even Paragons used this thing to remove the limitation of their talents and achieve higher realms of cultivation.
“There are even rumors that a unique Limit Breaker exists that allows Paragons to reach the realm above. Of course, I think that’s pure nonsense.”
Di Tian did not understand many of the words coming out of Nine Pillar. However, he understood the concept of removing restrictions.
“You said this thing could remove any restrictions?”
“That’s correct.”
“Does it apply to taboo as well?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m asking if someone could use this thing to remove the restriction that they cannot partake in certain taboos.
Nine Pillar frowned slightly. “Depends on the taboo.”
“The Taboo of Perfection.”
The frown on his face became more profound.
“It would depend on the level of taboo.”
“What do you mean?”
“Perfection Taboo has many nuanced complications. But, it can be loosely divided into Mortal and Immortal Perfection.”
Di Tian acted swiftly and showed Nine Pillar his memory of his wife, asking what level of perfection taboo she was.
“She appeared to be a peak Mortal Perfection.”
“So, would the Limit Breaker work on her?”
“Yes,” replied Nine Pillar with a deep frown. “But I did not give it to you to revive your loved one. I gave it to you to break the Nine Extremity Limit.”
“But- -“
Nine Pillar raised his hand to interrupt him. Then, he pointed at the purple as countless runes appeared above it before fusing with the orb.
“I’ve put a seal on it so it can only be used to break the Nine Extremity Limit. Otherwise, it won’t work.”
Di Tian’s face became ugly after hearing this, and Nine Pillar secretly shook his head. He suddenly regretted choosing this person. Unfortunately, he waited for so long before he could find a suitable heir.
Nine Pillar did not know how long he could last. But with his awakening, he knew it wouldn’t be long.
‘I guess I don’t need to give him my other inheritances.’
His coffin was extremely precious, but he decided it would be buried with him. Nevertheless, he still had one last thing to do.
“I’ve studied the Tenth Extremity all my life, and one of the requirements I’ve determined is to have at least an Emperor Quality Soul.”
Nine Pillar waved his hand to manifest a cauldron. “This cauldron should help you achieve an Innate Emperor Quality Soul.”
Di Tian had controlled his emotions, hiding his thoughts deep in the back of his mind. So, he respectfully asked: “Is there a difference between Acquired and Innate Emperor Soul?”
He knew Great Emperors would reach such quality after accessing the Grand Dao Source. But he felt that Nine Pillar’s words hinted at a difference.
“There is. People with Innate Emperor, Empyrean and even the rare Paragon Quality Soul are numerous times more talented than people who have to acquire it through cultivation.”
A higher quality of soul increases comprehension. But people born with higher soul qualities are naturally more gifted than people who acquire them through cultivation.
“Not to mention, they also get a boost after accessing the Grand Dao Source,” added Nine Pillar. “I don’t have much time. The cauldron will refine your soul into an Innate Emperor Soul, elevating your comprehension beyond your current state.
“Then, you will be able to bear the power of the Limit Breaker and reach Ten Extremity,” Nine Pillar said with glowing eyes.