409: Chapter 409 Unspeakable

Because of his understanding of deities from his time on Blue Star, Zhou Yan accepted it very quickly.

If it weren't for the fact that the information itself required translation and intense concentration, he could basically absorb it as it was being told.

He quickly summarized the other party's words; according to them, the Old Method were entirely set up for Immortal Ascension, with every Realm serving that purpose.

There were even many paths to Immortal Ascension; one didn't necessarily have to complete the entire Old Method route to step onto the Immortal Path.

No wonder the development of the Old Method was so low; it turned out people changed classes halfway through grinding levels, so there was no need for further development at all.

Seeing Zhou Yan in deep thought, Meng Zhang then asked.

"How much do you understand?"

His voice was filled with arrogance and a bit of expectation.

Thus, Zhou Yan gave his answer.

"I get it."

"Immortal Ascension is a class change, and different paths are different classes."

"Some classes are the meta's T0, gaining rank as easily as drinking water."

"Other classes are just the bottom-tier trash of the meta; not only is ranking up slow, but the subsequent class content hasn't even been finished yet."

When these words were translated into the Dragon Clan language, they left the originally confident Meng Zhang speechless, momentarily unsure of what he was saying.

He clearly felt like it seemed to mean something like that, but with these words combined together, he couldn't quite understand.

However, it was impossible for him to admit he didn't understand, so maintaining his arrogance, he merely coughed twice, indicating that since Zhou Yan understood, he would continue.

"Next is the top priority, and the true purpose of my Legacy."

"The so-called True Immortal and Golden Immortal are merely descriptions after surpassing the mundane and reaching the Realm of an Immortal."

"Don't be fooled by the vast content; each Realm can be divided into three stages, and each stage can be divided into three tiers, totaling six stages and eighteen tiers."

"But this was also because when the Immortal Path first opened in the past, the ancients could only push the path back layer by layer while exploring, which is why there were so many Realm plans."

"And because Immortals gradually increased later on, many were trapped within these two Realms with little difference and difficulty in distinguishing them, so this Realm plan was reactivated."

"If you practice my techniques and step onto the path of the Heavenly Immortal in the future, you actually only need to treat them as two Realms."

"And what I am about to say next is the absolute priority."

Speaking to this point, that youthful spiritedness vanished again, replaced by a sense of stability—a feeling that reminded Zhou Yan of facing the Yu Kou.

"Phew, finally entered a normal state."

"Little friend, I am truly sorry. My state was poor at the time, and I could only use some miscellaneous fillers to maintain this memory body for a long time."

"Now we can communicate normally."

Next, a pattern appeared in Meng Zhang's hand, resembling a sapling.

Spreading upward from the starting point, it continuously produced branches.

Ultimately, it split into three pathways, continuing to spread upward.

At each stage of spreading, something like a fruit would form, finally stopping after two fruits were formed.

Through that sapling, the division of the entire Realm could be clearly seen.

"Whoa, changing states even changes the level of class?"

Zhou Yan looked at the markings on the sapling and read them out one by one.

From bottom to top, they were Refining Truth, Ascending Truth, Attesting Truth, Golden Transformation, Dao Integration, and Ultimate Gold.

Beside them were labels for True Immortal and Golden Immortal; clearly, the first three were the three stages of True Immortal, and the latter three were the three stages of Golden Immortal.

After reaching the Golden Immortal level, the trunk stopped growing and instead turned into branches, which were quite different.

The left branch extended gradually, labeled as Taiyi, with a small red fruit in the middle and a large red fruit at the end.

The right branch extended gradually, labeled as Great Enlightenment, likewise with a small yellow fruit in the middle and a large yellow fruit at the end.

The middle was labeled as Grand Unity, same as the others, with a small blue fruit in the middle and a large blue fruit at the end.

And each of these fruits had its own name.

On the branch labeled Taiyi, the middle fruit was called Taiyi Golden Immortal, and the end fruit was called Primordial Taiyi Golden Immortal.

On the branch labeled Grand Unity, the middle fruit was called Grand Unity Golden Immortal, and the end fruit was called Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal.

The right side was slightly different; the middle fruit was called Great Enlightenment Golden Immortal, and the end fruit was called Perfection Great Enlightenment Golden Immortal.

[Simplified Diagram of Immortal Realms].

Meng Zhang also spoke at this time.

"These are the three different paths after the Golden Immortal."

"We call them the Grand Unity Lineage, the Taiyi Lineage, and the Great Enlightenment Lineage."

"The Grand Unity Lineage is the orthodox path of Heaven and Earth, the earliest and most fundamental path, cultivating 'I am the Dao, and the Dao is me'."

"The Taiyi Lineage is a path of self-attested freedom opened by those unwilling to walk the Grand Unity path, cultivating 'Primordial One Qi, indestructible through myriad tribulations'."

"As for Great Enlightenment, it is the last path to be born, cultivating supreme wisdom, seeking only the Perfection of awareness and conduct, and the majesty of ten thousand virtues."

"These three, as well as those cultivation paths, are not yet for you to understand, and I cannot say much more; I can only point the way forward for you so that you have a goal."

"Originally, these were not for me to say, but for you to learn on your own."

"But according to what you said, understanding these in this world is perhaps more important than helping you point out the difficulties in the opening of the Azure Chapter."

"As for this Azure Chapter," Meng Zhang pointed to the azure paper in Zhou Yan's hand.

"Put it back after you've looked at it."

"When you go out, it will be engraved upon your true spirit, remaining undying through several cycles of Reincarnation."

"Although you cannot see it all now, and can only understand the beginning, it is already closely connected to you and will fully unfold for you when you reach a sufficient Realm."

Zhou Yan, listening to this large pile of systems and Realms, felt the excitement he had finally raised being doused again.

Clearly, the current Meng Zhang fit the image of a great power in his mind, and the methods and insights just now were very high-class, but as soon as these words came out, it seemed a bit petty instead.

Seeing Zhou Yan's expression, Meng Zhang paused for a moment and then laughed loudly.

"Do you think I'm being stingy?"

"Then you've misunderstood me."

"This hall is indeed something I patched together temporarily to fool people, and the memory body is also a defective product I left behind."

"But this Azure Chapter does not belong to me; I am merely one of its users. It has existed since ancient times."

"Although I was able to make some modifications to it back then, the current me no longer has the right to dispose of it."

"Only when your strength is sufficient in the future can you come back and have it recognize you as its master."

After hearing this, Zhou Yan understood.

So this thing was an heirloom... wait?

Zhou Yan instantly felt that something was wrong.

He recalled how Meng Zhang seemed to mention the word 'ancients' from time to time; just now, because of translation issues, he hadn't paid much attention, but thinking about it now, it was wrong.

"This thing can be an heirloom? Aren't you a very ancient Immortal?"

"Why do you sound like it's been passed down for many generations? Isn't the first name on that stone tablet yours?"

Listening to Zhou Yan's series of questions, Meng Zhang just shook his head and said casually.

"My era was still very immature in the vastness of history. Not to mention far away, the era of the Second Generation Ancestor of Humanity ████..."

"..."

Meng Zhang's eyes suddenly widened as he looked at his gradually ethereal body, the surprise in his eyes turning into helplessness.

"Has it already reached this level?"

"Then I can't even tell you about the Karma you have to bear."

"So in the end, I have still achieved nothing."

Seeing Meng Zhang suddenly about to dissipate, Zhou Yan's whole body shook.

Just now, although there was sound from the other party's mouth and he could hear it, that sound was completely incomprehensible, no different from when he faced the Heavens.

Meng Zhang also saw Zhou Yan's nervousness and used his last bit of strength to leave a few final words before completely dissipating.

"Remember this scene."

"Then follow the guidance of the Azure Chapter to find the remaining three cultivation manuals. You will gradually learn their names and find them."

"This is also the Karma you need to bear."

"If the four manuals cannot be gathered, you will only be able to step onto the Taiyi path with the Azure Chapter alone."

"And the Taiyi path can no longer ████."

Meng Zhang was stunned again, his body becoming more and more ethereal.

Finally, he shouted his last sentence.

"Before leaving the Secret Realm, call out the name of Bodhidharma!"

"Otherwise, you probably won't even be able to achieve Immortal status!"

With that, Meng Zhang completely disappeared.

Before disappearing, the look on his face of a great power controlling everything was gone, the youthful spiritedness was gone, that sentimentality was gone; he simply returned to the appearance of that poor old man from the beginning.

With Meng Zhang's dissipation, what followed simultaneously was the instant collapse of this great hall.

Zhou Yan couldn't care about that and subconsciously wanted to take the Azure Chapter and run, but the Azure Chapter seemed to come alive, breaking free from Zhou Yan and flying toward that offering table.

Just as Zhou Yan thought the Azure Chapter would be buried by the hall, the azure paper vanished along with the offering table.

At the same time, an azure Qi current flowed out from where the offering table had disappeared, shooting toward Zhou Yan.

In an instant, the magnificent hall collapsed, revealing the emptiness inside.

The golden scales of that giant golden dragon relief peeled off, revealing the azure dragon relief beneath.

Unlike the golden sacred grandeur, that relief only showed decadence and exhaustion, like a hero in his twilight years.

As the speed of his backward flight grew faster and faster, the hall turned into a small dot before him.

Then, that golden ginkgo forest completely withered and died, and a green forest gradually replaced his field of vision.

Finally, a sense of hardness came from behind; before Zhou Yan could react, everything in front of him disappeared, turning into nothingness.

Zhou Yan knew that in that instant, he had been brought from the hall to the stone tablet at that fork in the road, and by hitting the stone tablet, he had been teleported away from there.

Zhou Yan stood up and found that there seemed to be water beneath his feet, but it didn't stick when he stepped on it, feeling like stepping on a layer of non-Newtonian fluid, only without sinking.

He looked beside him at a shining gatehouse; it was very tall and magnificent, similar to the one at the entrance of the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven.

However, it seemed to be made entirely of a translucent glowing material, looking somewhat illusory.

But Zhou Yan couldn't spare any attention for the scenery before him.

All of this was simply too difficult to understand.

When he first saw the hall and the mission prompt, Zhou Yan was incredibly excited; after all, it was mythological elements, and isn't that what one cultivates to become an Immortal for?

But when he finally met the legendary Meng Zhang, he was disappointed.

It was just an ordinary, somewhat neurotic old man, with no sense of being a great power, and the things inside were also incredibly simple.

Yet when Zhou Yan read the Azure Chapter and Meng Zhang became "normal," he was full of curiosity and his blood boiled again.

But in the end, all of that happened so abruptly, making him once again feel that sense of powerlessness he felt in Kaifeng before Senior Yu Kou and before the Heavens.

Even this time with Meng Zhang was worse; it was a situation where he clearly knew there was great Karma but was unable to speak it.

At least Senior Yu Kou and the Heavens were on his side; if something really happened, it wouldn't be his turn to step up.

But this Karma was something he really had to bear himself, and who knows what this Karma actually is or if he can even handle it.

If something really goes wrong, he felt like calling for his elders might not even work.

"Buzz—!"

A buzzing sound came as the Pure Heart exerted its power again, and Zhou Yan's slightly trembling body gradually returned to calm.

"Xuanhuan worlds are just this troublesome; it seems Dao Hearts grow out just to be broken."

"Fortunately, my Dao Heart is stable; that was a close one."

Zhou Yan touched his chest, feeling his gradually steadying heartbeat, and was also startled.

"This matter of a Dao Heart collapsing is truly a case of the bystander seeing clearly while the participant is lost; sometimes it's really not easy to recover."

"Fortunately, my mindset was steady enough to hold on until my Dao Heart and Power of Law were triggered, giving that nearly failing Dao Heart a shot of adrenaline before it was truly damaged."

"Otherwise, right now, I'd be sitting at the same table as Long Tianxing, becoming a pathetic duo of blackened souls."