"Three Qi Evolution!"
Within the Jade Pure Qi atop the three bodies, three distinct new Qi began to evolve. The interweaving of these three new Qi presented a scene of myriad phenomena reborn. These three Qi were the "Shi Yuan Xuan," the primordial three Qi born after the creation of heaven and earth!
The Jade Pure light began to shine, and the countenances of Emperor Jiajing and the Great Sage Yuan Miao instantly transformed into the likeness of Old Mister Gu!
Without hesitation, the two directly retreated into the Dao, vanishing within the Four Symbols. However, Old Mister Gu's consciousness had already enveloped all Four Symbols, and even within the Dao, he could find a way to reach them!
"As long as the Dao remains within the flow of time, it is all mine. Whether you are inside or outside the Dao, there is no escape!"
Old Mister Gu directly summoned the Azure Chronicle. Even though all future possibilities had been shattered, the Azure Chronicle still contained records, and the reflection of Jiajing remained. He seized that reflection.
While within the Dao, Emperor Jiajing's body trembled violently. His existentiality began to surge, but this did not mean he was growing stronger.
It meant Old Mister Gu was occupying him, assimilating him!
"Sever the Azure Chronicle body!"
Emperor Jiajing made a decisive choice. The reflection within the Azure Chronicle crumbled with this single thought. From then on, there was no longer any record or name of him in the Azure Chronicle. He had ceased to exist, as if he had never existed. The world no longer had such an emperor.
The Great Sage Yuan Miao made the same choice.
Upon reaching the True Realm of the Heavenly Dao, one was no longer bound by the worldly Azure Chronicle. Although the two of them were not yet in the true Heavenly Dao Realm, but rather a similar state, they could still achieve the same feat, for their level of cultivation had surpassed the ultimate limit of the Great Timeflow.
Once surpassed, one was no longer constrained by it.
With the Azure Chronicle body severed, Old Mister Gu's assimilation was forcibly halted. Within the Dao, there was no time, and it was not bound by the Four Symbols. Emperor Jiajing and the Great Sage Yuan Miao watched as, within the Dao, countless Daos formed countless Old Mister Gus, but they could no longer assimilate them.
"Now, we shall have a fair contest."
The assimilation method of Jade Pure was indeed terrifying. However, if the battlefield were shifted into the Dao, without the existence of the Azure Chronicle body, Old Mister Gu would lose his most potent means of restraining them.
"Too foolish. Did I not say that even the Dao is mine?"
Old Mister Gu scoffed at their actions.
But the Great Sage Yuan Miao said, "If you could achieve that, making even the 'Dao' your rules, you would have unified Jade Pure long ago. Why would you reverse the flow of future time? Because the 'Dao' of time still exists, unaffected by your will. What you can control is only the 'future' within time."
"This is merely grasping a part of the Dao, and the Dao is composed of many parts. These are more ineffable phenomena."
"And this is within the Dao, the interior of all Daos. Here, there is only the operation of the Dao, and no other thoughts can be arbitrarily deployed. Your thoughts cannot control all Daos. You are far from the ultimate of the world..."
"Still a long way off!"
Old Mister Gu, upon hearing such arrogant words, did not fly into a rage or mock them. Instead, he burst into laughter.
"As I am now, I possess the power of 'creation'! No one could stop me in the past, and the future is entirely mine. The only thing that can persistently entangle me is the Nine Nether Immortal Light. And you, in your supposed cleverness, have extended the battlefield into the Dao."
"The Nine Nether Immortal Light will not follow me here. And it, too, is the supreme heavenly law evolved from the Dao left by the First Jade Pure. That is to say, as long as I master all the Daos here, the Nine Nether Immortal Light will also be mine, assimilated by me!"
"I am indeed still far from it! But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step! I have not reached the ultimate of the world, and you two have only just found a way out. If you desire a fair duel, I shall grant it to you!"
Old Mister Gu spread his hands and pulled towards the "upper" within the Dao. Instantly, countless stars evolved from the myriad Dao marks. These were magnificent Dharma Realms, which Old Mister Gu, using the power of the Dao, reversed and evolved, returning them into the Dao!
The current Old Mister Gu had even mastered the power of controlling the past. Reversing the Great Timeflow was but a thought. Myriad worlds could be returned to their original state after a fleeting moment of existence and destruction, and these Dharma Realms were also assimilated by Old Mister Gu. Each Dharma Realm evolved into an Old Mister Gu.
Each Old Mister Gu was distinct, representing beings who had comprehended the Dao within their respective Dharma Realms and achieved their ultimate forms. This even included many Daos that existed only in legends.
Among them were Grand Master Xuan Tian, Supreme Heavenly Venerate, King of Resonant Sound Buddha, Great Dharma King, Lord of Yin Mountain, True Dragon, Great Nuo, Yellow Emperor, Tai Yi, Heavenly Ghosts and Gods, Five-Colored Heavenly Auspiciousness, Green Ram, Three Officials Ancient Emperors, Ghost Slaying General, and the Radiant World.
Emperor Huang Tian, Emperor Hao Tian, Emperor Shang, Jade Emperor, Thirty-Two Heavenly Emperors.
All the ultimate Daos that were pulled into this place were comprehended by Old Mister Gu in an instant. From the past to the end of the future, time could still be reversed in a fleeting moment.
The Great Sage Yuan Miao watched this scene in a daze, as if petrified. Only when all the Old Mister Gus lowered their gazes did he murmur, his voice filled with shock:
"His cultivation has reached the realm of creation."
No other words could describe what he saw before him. The surge of courage he had felt earlier had completely dissipated. The last glimmer of divine light in the Great Sage Yuan Miao's eyes flickered. He raised his head and looked towards the "upper" direction within the Dao.
Even Emperor Jiajing's gaze was vacant, followed by a look of immense fury on his face.
"It cannot end here! The Three Pure Ones have not yet merged, and I am only one step away from the final outcome!"
He wished to leave the Dao again. Returning to the outside world now, the Nine Nether Immortal Light would likely be able to restrain Old Mister Gu for a while longer. But Old Mister Gu shook his head.
"It's too late to leave now."
This was not a sound, but a thought that echoed directly in Jiajing's mind. There was no time within the Dao, so the sound seemed to linger for a very long time.
Emperor Jiajing's pupils trembled violently.
There was no time here, and the concept of a long time should not exist.
The answer was that time had appeared here.
Even if it was not much, there were traces. This was created by Old Mister Gu on the spot.
With the traces of time, actions would be limited by time.
It was only a fleeting moment, yet it was far too late. These Daos were born from within the Dao, and Old Mister Gu had already grasped some of the rules within the Dao. As for Emperor Jiajing's Six Ultimate Dao Chapters, the so-called "Dao Emperor" power, before the current Old Mister Gu, it was of little use, largely rendered useless.
"The movement of the Dao is contrary!"
"The use of the Dao is by the weak!"
Emperor Jiajing attempted to unleash the profound techniques of the Tai Qing Origin, seeking to defeat the strong with the weak.
Old Mister Gu smiled and shook his head:
"Do not mistake me for being in the Heavenly Heart Realm."
Old Mister Gu's figure seemed to suddenly grow taller. He first moved against the Great Sage Yuan Miao. The Great Sage Yuan Miao's final reaction was not to unleash a spell, but to close his eyes.
"Shen Xiao!"
"Heaven above heaven! Gods vanish and are unseen! Neither existing nor non-existing, the gate of all transformations!"
This was his final cry, a resonance of heaven and man, a secret technique of the Shen Xiao Sect, a prayer towards the Heaven above heaven.
Hoping for a response!
"A secret technique that reaches the Heaven above heaven. You are also a precious existence, one with me."
The Great Sage Yuan Miao was assimilated, and the Shen Xiao secret technique vanished without a trace. Old Mister Gu's face showed satisfaction as he looked at his new avatar.
Emperor Jiajing's face instantly turned extremely pale. That overwhelming pressure meant that Old Mister Gu's existentiality was now insurmountable, and Old Mister Gu's current state and level far surpassed his own.
Even if he was the weak and Old Mister Gu the strong, this strong was infinitely strong. Even if the weak continuously cast spells to make the strong enter self-destruction, the self-destroyed strong would still be stronger than the weak.
"A mountain collapses, yet it remains a mountain."
Old Mister Gu's thought prevented Emperor Jiajing from resisting further. The fundamental techniques of the Tai Qing Origin were overwhelmingly deciphered. And what was even more desperate was that Old Mister Gu moved his finger, and nine Tai Xu Treasures manifested within the Dao, emitting nine-colored divine light!
Within the Dao, the Daos that still belonged to Jiajing were all absorbed by the nine Tai Xu Treasures in a single thought. Old Mister Gu sighed, "Yuan Huang had astonishing means, but he still didn't quite know how to use this Heavenly Radiance Immortal Treasure. After you sealed my Dao, you thought of me. In truth, it was still his insufficient cultivation of treasures. If he had taken both your Dao and form from the beginning, you wouldn't have been able to perform the so-called Dao seal."
"Now, you wish for the Three Pure Ones to merge. A good thought. And the True Realm of the Heavenly Dao. Thank you for providing me with a method to transcend the ultimate limit of time."
The nine treasures completely sealed all Daos. Emperor Jiajing's face was instantly replaced by Old Mister Gu's. The Human Dao Dharma Realm hung within the Dao, but his body had already fallen and fragmented, about to be reformed into a new Old Mister Gu.
Old Mister Gu's lips curved into a smile.
Immediately after, the smile froze.
Logically, after he had taken Jiajing, the merging of the Three Pure Ones should have been complete.
Yet, he was unable to mobilize the power of the Three Pure Ones. Even his own Jade Pure Qi was being... taken away?
Boom—
A faint image arose from the fragmented Dao body of Emperor Jiajing.
It was an image that seemed to have condensed an entire Great Timeflow within it, an image that did not belong to the Four Symbols. And from this image, a god was born.