Why is the Emperor so strong?

Seeing Chu Xinghe fall silent, the three of them felt left hanging.

"Go on."

Chu Xinghe coughed twice: "I suspect it might be for transcendence. I have a few viewpoints; of course, these are just my personal opinions, for reference only, and shouldn't be taken as absolute truth."

"First, there is more than one Black Hand behind the scenes. They were born earlier than you, but two of them failed in their struggle, and something important disappeared, forcing them to hibernate and wait for the next opportunity."

"You are one of those opportunities."

"Don't doubt it. A great war occurred in the God-Demon Era, and the Age of Ten Thousand Races was born. You should have participated in its construction back then, invisibly gaining a lot of Luck. So, reasoning backward, could the birth of your God-Demon Era also have been intentionally pushed by someone?"

"As for the second guess, it's that there were also formidable individuals born in your God-Demon Era who perceived heaven and earth and planned all of this, though their purpose is unknown."

"The third guess is that after so many crises in the Grand Void Heaven Realm, the Heavenly Dao might have developed a consciousness. It wants to transcend, but its Luck is insufficient, so it can only invisibly push certain people to create Great Calamities, invisibly harvesting Luck to strengthen itself and finally complete its transcendence."

"These are my thoughts. As for which is true and which is false, I can't distinguish them yet."

"Seniors have lived longer than I have; you surely know more than me and must already have a conclusion in your hearts."

The three of them exchanged looks.

Finally, they reached a realization.

Chu Xinghe had said everything, yet he had said nothing at all.

This kid was like a slippery loach.

His words even had thorns in them.

Wasn't he basically saying they were trash despite having lived so long?

As for the three possibilities Chu Xinghe mentioned...

...they actually took them to heart.

This kid was now choosing to cooperate with them.

On one hand, he was using them to achieve his own goals.

At the same time, he was placing himself in the most dangerous position.

Moreover, Chu Xinghe seemed to have a way to deal with those people.

If they killed those who could replace them...

...would the outcome be different?

They were a bit worried, yet they also felt a strange sense of anticipation.

As for finding the true purpose of the Black Hand behind the scenes...

...this kid was only at the Great Saint Realm.

If the true purpose was revealed, it wouldn't do him any good.

What was this kid thinking?

Could he possibly Breakthrough to the Emperor Realm when the true purpose was exposed?

"I'll consider it. You two, take good care of this kid."

The vortex vanished.

Number Two and Number Three looked at each other.

Had they heard correctly? Big Brother just told them to take good care of Chu Xinghe.

Was he really not afraid this kid would sell them out?

Chu Xinghe watched their leader leave.

He coughed.

"Following a boss like that has no future. Why not follow me instead?"

Number Two and Number Three: ...Can you have some shame? You're starting to poach us already?

And he was badmouthing their boss right to their faces.

This kid didn't just have guts; he was made of them.

Number Two looked at Chu Xinghe with some helplessness: "Tell us directly what you want to do next. Big Brother told us to take care of you, so we won't let you encounter any danger."

Chu Xinghe didn't believe a word of it.

He believed that if danger struck, these two would run faster than anyone.

These two were quite wicked at heart.

"Go find the bronze fragments and the other parts of that corpse."

After hearing Chu Xinghe's plan, the two nodded.

That worked; anyway, following this kid wouldn't be boring.

"But do you know where to go?"

Chu Xinghe shook his head.

"I don't know, but your boss definitely does. Besides, I found the location of the heart back at Yin Mountain, where Yue Wuyou was performing the Fusion with the heart."

"With all your planning, it's impossible for you not to know."

The two looked at each other; of course they knew.

Precisely because they had planned it, they knew where the Seals were.

Back then, they had established cooperation with those Great Emperors...

...by using those corpse pieces.

Number Two glanced at Chu Xinghe and said, "I need to contact Big Brother."

Chu Xinghe nodded.

After a moment, a ripple of energy appeared in Number Two's eyes.

He turned to look at Chu Xinghe.

"Since you want to know, I'll tell you. The person who was dismembered—we don't know if he was from the God-Demon Era, but let's just treat him as a being from that era. He was called Yin Heavenly Son."

Chu Xinghe's eyes narrowed.

In his past life, there were also legends of the Yin Heavenly Son, the Dominator of Hell.

Chu Xinghe didn't ask more.

"As for what dismembered him, even Big Brother doesn't know. Regardless, he was dismembered. During the God-Demon Era, he was considered a top-tier God-Demon; the strength of other God-Demons was quite inferior compared to his."

"Later, his corpse pieces were found. We've already found the heart and the limbs. As for the torso and head, they haven't been discovered."

Chu Xinghe couldn't judge the truth or falsehood of these words.

Right now, everything was based on mutual utility.

Besides, even if these people were lying, he couldn't distinguish it for now.

As for the Sun Moon Heavenly Tiger...

...it didn't know how its master died either.

"Since you know where the other parts are, why not take me to find them?"

Number Two nodded and said, "Very well."

Chu Xinghe smiled; it was good that they agreed.

He wondered if the other Great Emperors had undergone Reincarnation and Rebirth to recultivate.

Or if they had performed direct Fusion.

It was a bit troublesome.

"Let's go. Big Brother told us to take you to the Celestial Pond to have a look. A leg is there, and of course, there's also a Great Emperor expert."

Chu Xinghe followed behind them.

"Is the Great Emperor the strongest in this world?"

Chu Xinghe suddenly asked.

Hearing this, Number Two turned back to look at Chu Xinghe.

"Yes. Even Big Brother is a Great Emperor expert."

"However, even among Great Emperors, there are strong and weak ones."

Chu Xinghe continued to press: "Is it also divided into Early Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage, and Perfection?"

Number Two nodded.

"The reason the gap between a Great Emperor and a Supreme is so large is that the Emperor Realm already involves the Dao."

"A Quasi-Emperor sounds strong, but they still Cultivate laws; they can only be considered to have touched the threshold of the Dao."

"Only a Great Emperor is considered to have truly touched the Dao."

"Above Perfection are the Hundred Ancient Emperor, Thousand Ages Emperor, and Eternal Emperor, which also belong to the Emperor Realm."

"A Great Emperor can block ninety-nine percent of cultivators. Each subsequent threshold similarly blocks ninety-nine percent of the remaining people. It's like that for every level."

"A Great Emperor being immortal, being able to be reborn from a drop of blood, and having an indestructible Physical Body—that's just the talk of low-level cultivators."

"There are always people better than you, and heavens beyond heavens. To even stronger beings, a Great Emperor might also be an ant."

Chu Xinghe pondered continuously. Since it was all about the Dao, if one could comprehend the Dao at the Supreme Realm, would the path ahead be easier to walk? "Must a cultivator cross the Early Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage, and Perfection?"

Hearing Chu Xinghe's question, Number Two and Number Three both turned around to look at him.

To think he could ask such a question.

He truly wasn't to be underestimated.

At this moment, in their eyes...

...the current Chu Xinghe wasn't scheming.

There was only uncertainty and a sense of vastness regarding his future path.

They had also walked this path.

When there was no one to guide them, they crossed the river by feeling for stones.

Wading through step by step.

"No."

"I just said that the Emperor Realm is about cultivating the Dao. The process from Early Stage to Perfection can be called 'Understanding the Dao'—that is, understanding one's own Dao."