Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire

  Qin Wentian glanced at his surroundings. His silhouette flashed as he moved forward, wanting to see what this desolate stretch of area within the sacred academy contains exactly.

  The space here was extremely vast and it felt very tranquil. There was an ancient castle before his eyes, held up by towering stone pillars around a hundred feet in size. This made Qin Wentian grasp a sense of simplicity, yet there also was a majestic aura from it. Especially so when considering the fact that this castle was in a stretch of desolation, there was also a sense of majesticness to it.

  After entering it, he discovered a flight of steps leading upwards, heading up to the dome of heaven. Each ancient stone pillar exuded an imposingness. When Qin Wentian stood within the ancient palace, a sense of piousness filled his heart. This feeling was extremely marvelous and manifested involuntarily.

  After that, he continued moving and arrived at The central grand hall. This hall was covered by stone walls on all sides and seemed akin to a broken and dipiliated temple. Qin Wentian walked over step by step, he could see a single character ’真’ (Truth), inscribed there.

  The character for truth was very large and contained an extremely strange aura within it. Qin Wentian faintly sensed a beam of light cascading on him. Yet when he tried to sense it more clearly, he couldn’t feel anything at all. The marvelous aura vanished and when he glanced at the truth character again, it now seemed ordinary to the extreme, there was nothing special about it.

  Qin Wentian then glanced at his surroundings but there was nothing there. There were in fact, many holes on the roof of this ancient castle, allowing the sunlight to filter in. Qin Wentian felt that he was on the edge of enlightenment, yet he couldn’t seem to grab hold of that feeling.

  "Truth. Why is there only a single character?" Qin Wentian mused. In the ancient castle, there was nothing there, except for that character.

  His silhouette flashed as he exited the ancient castle. He wanted to explore this place but after some time, he discovered that this stretch of desolation was extremely vast. He rode on an immortal weapon and soared through the area. He would only occasionally see a few trees, there was simply nothing else here.

  "Could I have been tricked?" Qin Wentian cursed silently under his breath. He felt that this stretch of desolation had no difference compared to the immortal sea.

  Could it be that this was a repeat of the immortal sea test? But what meaning was there?

  "That should be wrong. I’m sure that’s not the case. Since I’ve already arrived at the Heavenly Dao Sacred Academy and saw through the void, coming to the realization that the immortal sea wasn’t a sea, I don’t believe the sacred academy would place me at a place that uses the same concept as the previous test." Qin Wentian silently thought. The Evergreen Immortal Emperor wanted to send him here to cultivate, and the appearance of this academy caused the entire immortal realms to shake with commotion, with immortal kings and immortal-foundation characters rushing here in a frenzy to enter. This sacred academy’s appearance was the herald of a new era, it wasn’t too probable that it would do something like that.

  Since he was brought here, there should be a deeper meaning hidden here in this place.

  "Truth. Seeking the truth…… Is this because I unravelled the mystery of the immortal sea? The sacred academy sent me here because my path of dao was truth-seeking?" Qin Wentian mused in a low voice. He glanced up in the air and stared in space, "Is this what it means?"

  No voice came from the void. Qin Wentian cursed silently in his heart, was the greater demon who spoke with him earlier a real existence or not?

  After some time, Qin Wentian gave up, he no longer tried to seek an answer. He thought back to that marvelous feeling that came over him when he entered the ancient castle for the first time. He could sense that the power within the word, should have originated from the buddhist path.

  Mysteries from the way of the buddha have always been powerful yet mysterious, it was incomparably hard if one wanted to decipher it, and usually, only those who gained enlightenment or through intuition, would be able to comprehend it.

  Could it be that there’s a mystery originating from the buddhist path here?

  Qin Wentian thought back to how he crossed the immortal sea. He saw through the void, and saw truth, peering past the mysteries of the immortal sea.

  Transformed by the Dao, how could there be a sea? The immortal sea isn’t a sea so how could this so-called sea have any boundaries? ’Am I not already in the sacred academy? Why must I still go elsewhere?’ These were words spoken after he gained enlightenment about the mystery of the immortal sea earlier. Truly, now that he thought back to it, his words had the hint of zen, a sense of the Buddhist path.

  Could this be the reason of why he was sent here?

  The more Qin Wentian thought about it, the more likely he felt that this was the case. After that a bitter smile appeared on his face. He understood that he now had to unravel the mystery behind the ’真’ character before he could see the truth.

  "Let’s return then." Qin Wentian controlled the immortal weapon he was riding on. He sped through the air like a streak of lightning, returning once again to the ancient temple when he saw the character. This time, he took his time to immerse himself in the marvelous aura that enveloped him the moment he entered. When he finally entered the central great hall, he once again walked to the front of the truth character.

  "Truth. What mysteries are contained behind this word exactly?" Qin Wentian mused in a low voice. He closed his eyes and extended his immortal sense, pondering over that marvelous aura.

  Occasionally, Qin Wentian would feel a faint sense of that aura. However, it was incomparably misty and completely impossible for him to grasp.

  Currently, Qin Wentian has already cultivated for many years. He knew that cultivation wasn’t something that could be finished in a single day. As his cultivation rose, his state of heart grew more and more tempered as his personality also slowly matured. He was confident enough to pursue the path he feels is right. Even if the path he chose ultimately was proven to be the wrong one, he still had time to start afresh again.

  Qin Wentian simply sat there in the ancient castle, facing that ancient truth character. After a year of comprehension, his cultivation didn’t improve in the slightest yet he still chose to immerse himself within. If it was before, most probably Qin Wentian wouldn’t have the patience to do so.

  Today, Qin Wentian opened his eyes.

  He sat here and mediated for a year, staring at that single character.

  "In ancient records, supreme experts of the Buddhist path were able to meditate for tens of thousands of years, attempting to achieve zen. Today, I meditated for a year, attempting to unravel the mystery behind a single world. Although I have yet to see the whole truth, I’m able to glean something from it." Qin Wentian spoke in a low voice, with no hints of impatience in his heart.

  "Truth-seeking, truth-seeking. Able to see through all fabrications…… Or should I ponder this from another angle and first reflect upon myself so I can see the truth about me?" Qin Wentian mumbled. He actually closed his eyes again as he started meditating.

  Qin Wentian thought for a long time. Why was he so determined regarding his cultivation? The reason was because if he was weak, his fate wouldn’t be in his hands, and he would also have no way to protect the people close to him. In the past, he suffered so much in Sky Harmony City, and eventually, his strength was the one that solved everything. Between him and Mo Qingcheng, there were quite a few times where they were almost separated by life and death. Similarly, they could eventually be together because of strength. In the immortal realms, the Eastern Sage Immortal Emperor started a war back in his particle world, causing the deaths of so many innocents. The Skymist Immortal Empire also pressured the Evergreen Immortal Empire, wanting to take their princesses away by force.

  Right from the very start, he didn’t know where his parents were, he didn’t even know if they are still alive. He only knew that there was a debt of hatred that he would have to repay to his father’s clan sooner or later. All of this requires strength to resolve. Hence, all of these became the motivation behind him raising his cultivation, pursuing strength.

  In this world, the lives of weaklings were like weeds, easily pulled out.

  His desire to get stronger was undoubtable. Nobody would be able to shake his conviction. This was the truth.

  He thought of his family, his friends and his own personality.

  He even thought about his bloodline, the attribute energies he cultivated, his astral souls and immortal foundation.

  Today, starting from all the attribute energies he was proficient in, he meticulously started to reflect on himself as well as the cultivation path he took ever since he started on it.

  In this desolate space, he didn’t care about the flow of time at all. There were no distractions in his heart.

  Three years have passed since Qin Wentian set foot here from the immortal sea. However, Qin Wentian didn’t sense the flow of time at all.

  Today, Qin Wentian was seated cross-legged under an ancient-looking tree. His entire body was covered in runic glows that manifested due to the power of his bloodlines and the fiendgod body refinement art. His defense was so high that it was almost impenetrable.

  His physique was slowly tempered throughout the years, followed by further refinement due to the Sacred Luminance and his other experiences in the City of Ancient Emperors. When he ascended to immortality, his physique underwent another round of baptism from the excess energy. And even after that when he was in the ancient mountain of the God Hand Mountain Manor, his physique transformed again when he was comprehending God’s Hand from the golden figure.

  All his accumulations up until today, made his physique extremely perfect. This was especially so when he activate the energy of God’s Hand. The ever-changing runes would cover his body, containing the attributes of every law he was proficient with. In fact, Qin Wentian was confident that the toughness of his body wasn’t in any way inferior compared to the toughness of his legendary saint-grade immortal foundation. He should be unrivalled in the immortal realms.

  Another day passed by. Qin Wentian released his immortal foundation in the desolation. His immortal foundation was perfect with no traces of flaws at all. It was able to transform at will and unleash tyrannical power based on the laws he was attuned to.

  He was able to transform his perfect immortal foundation into the form of a great roc. By taking on the form of a roc, he was able to unleash the greater demon attack techniques he learned from within the supreme ancient treasured cauldron he took from the black dragon when in the City of Ancient Emperors, exhibiting boundless might.

  Time flowed on continuously. Qin Wentian’s cultivation remained the same but his strength was slowly experiencing an upgrade. Reflecting upon oneself was also able to cause one to grow in strength, perfecting their control over the law attributes they were proficient in.

  Qin Wentian would often roam about but for a majority of the time, he would stay in the central grand hall, sitting there alone facing the truth character. He would do his best to comprehend it, gaining small slivers of insight day by day.

  Occasionally, Qin Wentian would also think of Qing`er and Qingcheng. He would also wonder if his other close friends were doing well as well.

  Qin Wentian didn’t know when he would be able to see them again. But the him now, could only be totally focused on searching deep within himself, for the path of truth……

  The stretch of desolation knows no spring nor autumn. Gradually, Qin Wentian also forgot the flow of time.

  Today, that ancient truth character suddenly begin to glow with immortal light. That simple yet incomparably mysterious truth character, grew more and more resplendent, exuding an extraordinary aura.

  Qin Wentian’s eyes were still closed. He had no distractions in his heart and it was like he didn’t even know what was happening now. But as the flare of light glew more resplendent, the shadow cast by the truth character was imprinted on the ordinary looking stone walls before it. A moment later, the entire wall was actually glowing with runic light.

  Bit by bit, bit by bit……until, the four walls of the great hall were all shining brightly with golden light.

  That ancient truth character was even more resplendent. It seemed to float out from the wall, forming a corporeal character of the Great Dao. This character grew larger and larger, moving forward until it imprinted itself on Qin Wentian’s body, and at the instant of contact, the profound mysteries contained within all gushed into his mind.

  Mystical music like the sound of Great Dao rang out abruptly, this space transformed into a three-dimensional one as boundless runic characters criss-crossed. In this instant, the simple yet majestic great hall was shimmering with golden buddhic light. In Qin Wentian’s mind, a countless number of ancient characters appeared, floating there, containing an incomparably deep profoundness.

  At this instant, Qin Wentian understood. All these years, the path he took had always been correct since right from the start. Today, he finally completed his transformation.

  "Is this a supreme power from the buddhist path?" Qin Wentian’s heart trembled. Right now, he had a feeling that the complexity of this marvelous power was strong enough to stand equally side by side with God’s Hand!