After hearing the answer, the Great Sage froze, standing dazed in place without moving a muscle.
It was not that this exceptionally gifted sage, hailed as the incarnation of truth, failed to understand the meaning of the answer.
Rather, the answer made him feel a sharp, agonizing pain deep in his soul—a phantom liver pain from the sheer grind it implied.
Controlling Dao principles at the Unique Rank went without saying; this was how all the current Dao Lords had achieved their status.
One chose a single Dao principle, walked its path to the very end, and fully mastered it to become a Dao Lord.
But the agonizing part lay in the phrase “the Existence Rank governs Dao principles.”
Although “control” and “govern” seemed only a single word apart, the difference between the two was astronomical.
What did it mean to “govern”? If the single character was hard to grasp, it could be expanded into a compound word: “commander.”
What was a commander? One who commanded tens of thousands of soldiers was a commander.
Since the term “govern” was used, the “soldiers” under one's command surely couldn't number just one or two.
In other words, a necessary condition for advancing from the Unique Rank to the Existence Rank was mastering multiple Dao principles.
As for how many exactly, since it was called “governing,” one or two would certainly not suffice. Would it be ten, twenty, fifty, or even hundreds?
This was the source of the Great Sage's agonizing despair. For ordinary Dao Lords, mastering two or three Dao principles was already extremely difficult. Ten or twenty? That would take until the end of time.
Hearing this answer was practically no different from not hearing it at all.
After all, the Dao Lords of the myriad worlds were already doing this. When they had nothing else to do, they would comprehend other Dao principles along the way.
But doing it along the way did not mean it was easy. Although Dao Lords held one or more Dao principles and should theoretically find it easier to comprehend others through analogy, the reality was quite different.
In truth, it was indeed slightly easier, but only by a negligible margin.
Furthermore, considering how few Dao Lords the myriad worlds had produced over countless years, one could see just how difficult it was to control even a single Dao principle.
At this moment, the Great Sage felt utterly hollow. He had fulfilled his long-cherished wish and knew there was still a path ahead, but this path was incredibly long—so long that its end was practically invisible.
Only after a long time did the Great Sage let out a sigh.
“Truth is hard to find, so hard to find... How has the path to the higher realms returned to such simplicity? How am I supposed to teach others like this?”
The Great Sage's self-questioning unexpectedly triggered the mechanism once more, eliciting another response from the Saint.
“Teach with your mouth, teach with your heart. Explain the Dao with your mouth, and manifest the Dao with your heart.”
Having said that, whether out of mockery or because he remembered something amusing, this supreme existence actually laughed.
“Ha, ha, ha.”
After laughing, before the Great Sage could respond, a mysterious ripple appeared once more, teleporting everyone present away—except for Chen Xu and the Mother of Hell Armor lying on the ground.
Chen Xu looked around, utterly baffled. Although he had not yet claimed his payment, surely they didn't need to leave him behind for a one-on-one VIP service.
Chen Xu felt a bit nervous, but the Saint spoke first.
“The lucky dark horse who rose so suddenly, your talent is very interesting. Speak, what do you desire? Is it knowledge, power, or some other gift?”
“Once you have spoken, I must return to my cultivation. I am quite satisfied with this performance.”
Watching a performance? Well, it seemed the Great Sage's speculation was indeed correct. This ritual system was truly just a game played on a whim by a supreme existence.
But what did the Saint mean by being “quite satisfied”? Did it mean that from now on, the myriad worlds would no longer have the extraordinary power of rituals?
While Chen Xu was still pondering, the Saint's urging voice rang out again.
“If you have made up your mind, speak quickly, or I shall decide for you.”
“Uh, I would like to know what this... outfit, or rather, this armor, actually is.”
Chen Xu pointed at the Mother of Hell Armor on the ground and spoke.
“Mhm, a good question. This armor can already be considered a half-step Existence Rank anchoring object. Unfortunately, its Dao principles are incomplete. If you can complete them, you will obtain a full Existence Rank anchoring object.”
“However, it is merely an anchoring object of six Dao principles. Its power is... rather average.”
“As for what an anchoring object is, the answer to this question involves a certain characteristic of the Existence Rank. But since I am in a good mood, I will gift this explanation to you for free.”
“Unlike the Unique Rank, the Existence Rank has a fixed number of seats. If the imprint you weave has already been validated by a predecessor, you can only choose to convert it into an anchoring object; you cannot enter the Existence Rank.”
“To put it more simply, the positions in the Existence Rank are limited. For example, take the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. If someone is the first to condense an imprint using these five Dao principles, they occupy that seat.”
“Any latecomers who wish to condense an imprint using the five elemental Dao principles will be powerless to do so. They can only turn them into an anchoring object. Those who hold an anchoring object are also known as half-step Existences.”
“They can rely on the power of the anchoring object to bully other Unique Rank experts, but the moment they encounter a true Existence Rank, they can only be bullied in turn.”
Hearing this gave Chen Xu a strange illusion. Why did this Existence Rank sound so much like publishing an academic paper?
There was a plagiarism check. If you passed, you could successfully publish and graduate. If you failed, your graduation would be delayed, and you would become a unique existence in the university—the legendary fifth-year senior, fourth-year master's student, or Nth-year PhD candidate.
“If that's the case, wouldn't it mean the earlier you try, the easier it is to ascend to the Existence Rank?”
It really was just like writing a paper. Those who wrote first had a low plagiarism rate. Those who wrote later had to finish their papers and then play low-level word games like synonyms, sentence expansion, rhetoric, and personification just to get by.
“That is indeed the case. But generally speaking, no one would choose to condense an imprint with only two Dao principles, as that would be far too weak.”
“At the very least, they would choose something like the five elements, which mutually generate and restrict each other in a cycle. Only such highly distinct combinations would be gathered into a five-in-one imprint.”
Having said that, the Saint paused once more.
“There is still a tiny bit of the gift remaining. You may ask one more simple question.”
Ah, he could still ask? Chen Xu was somewhat surprised. It seemed his performance had truly pleased this Saint.
After pondering for a moment, Chen Xu decided to keep his question focused on the Mother of Hell Armor, or rather, this anchoring object.
“Lord Saint, I would like to ask, how does one use this anchoring object? I tried before, but my mental strength could not move it, and my Dao principles could not corrode it. It is like the coldest substance in the world, completely indifferent to everything around it.”
“A good question. The method of using an anchoring object is very simple, and it happens to be just enough to consume the remainder of your gift.”
Suddenly, Chen Xu sensed two Dao principles emerging within this mysterious space, both of which drilled straight into the Mother of Hell Armor.
One Dao principle resonated with corruption, while the other resonated with blankness. In the next instant, the armor came to life, rapidly proliferating until it once again took on the form of the Mother of Hell.
The Saint controlled the armor, speaking with the Mother of Hell's voice.
“To use an anchoring object, you must use the corresponding number of Unique Rank Dao principles to resonate with it. When the Dao principles contained within it resonate with your soul, you will be able to control it just like your own soul.”
With that, the mysterious ripple appeared once more, tossing Chen Xu and the armor out, without giving him a single extra second.
“Haha, quite the swift and decisive one. Left as soon as the bill was settled.”
Rate on N.U.
