Da Xuan Martial Saint Chapter 1519: 729: The Final Path to Transcendence (Part 2)

This simple design, something even a toddler in the ordinary realm could sketch out using a stick, looks utterly plain at first glance. But if you examine it more closely, you'll sense it's infused with endless Daoist principles, though they slip away the moment you try to pin them down.

“Threefold Return to Void?”

“One Element Birth, Three Lives All Things?”

Suddenly, a torrent of ideas surged through Chen Mu’s thoughts.

At his present level of attainment, he's on the verge of the utmost heights reachable by a Dao Venerable. Pushing beyond demands something like what the Primordial Palace Master of the Time Temple did first—merging three Origin Daos, or maybe just two.

Still, as he gazed at this basic yet profoundly essential diagram of the Great Dao on the system panel, a subtle hunch told him that the routes pursued by supreme Dao Venerables such as the Primordial Palace Master and the Spatial Island Master could be off track.

Chen Mu himself couldn't yet seize that vital spark of insight or spell out precisely what the authentic route to Transcendence entailed.

“Looks like it won't happen in a flash.”

“Actually, that's not quite right. This supreme leap to Transcendence differs from grasping the Great Dao; it doesn't call for buildup or a deep groundwork.”

“Attaining Dao Venerable status and wielding three Daos means you've already fathomed the origins of the cosmos, leaving no room to climb higher. So, to truly advance, you just need to catch sight of that single vital insight.”

As he fixed his eyes on the pattern in the system panel, Chen Mu’s bursts of inspiration swelled richer and richer.

The pattern by itself wouldn't hand him the way to Transcendence outright, but its hints were plentiful, helping him dimly separate wrong turns from a sketch of what the right one might look like.

As a Supreme Treasure for Transcendence, the system panel delivers the purest direction toward that goal.

The ultimate stride,

hinges on insight!

Grasp it, comprehend it, and Transcendence hits right away—you cross to the far side in a blink, shattering ultimate laws, rising above the Great Dao.

Miss the mark on comprehension, and you're stuck as a Dao Venerable, no matter if it's blending two Daos, the first merge of three, or full command over paired fusions of three Daos…

No level of success changes the fact that without that real insight seized, the gap to Transcendence stays unchanged.

“Now that it's clear, no point in holding back.”

The deeper Chen Mu delved, the clearer it became, and his mind eased more with each revelation, growing calmer until he simply stowed the system panel's image away and stopped poring over its directional chart.

Realizing the true road to Transcendence skips grueling practice or piling up gains, relying instead on a spontaneous surge in Realm, freed him from needless pressure and strained chasing.

Maybe,

all he had to do was behold the Universe's birth and the forging of everything, letting it all unfold on its own.

Even at this point, Chen Mu had sharply seen through and highlighted the misstep of powerhouses like the Primordial Palace Master—their error lay in how Transcendence meant going beyond, meant letting go.

The fiercer the push for Transcendence, the more it ironically pulls away!

Think about it,

mastering Creation, Void, Time… swallowing the whole Universe, with it all under control, hitting a wall, yet craving more hold, more grasp—that's already against the flow.

At such a juncture, after claiming every bit of ‘what is,’ pursuing Transcendence calls for turning back to ‘what is not.’

For knowledge, you add daily; for the Dao, you subtract day by day, subtracting until you reach effortless action!

When everything empties out, beyond existence or void, beyond mind or mindlessness, you'll naturally know it all, hold it all.

Yet,

grasping this idea is straightforward, but pulling it off is tough—even as a Dao Venerable soaring over the Universe, truly hitting that state of no-mind, neither existence nor void, isn't easy at all.

Picture the humblest folk, starting with next to nothing, isolated and bare; they let go of their few possessions far more readily, so in passing, their form and spirit merge back into the skies, one with the Great Dao.

But at Dao Venerable heights, having drained the Universe of all its contents, traced every shift in creation, seized it all, letting go turns agonizing—since this release isn't ditching strength, but on the Realm plane, guiding the myriad forms back to nothingness.

The three Daos, at their core one whole, don't require merging; they're already woven together.

It's the meddling of personal will, the taint of mortal notions, that blocks their unity. Only by silently pulling back the self, fostering a notion of being, of void, of longing, of nothingness, will the three Daos weave together seamlessly, form a single force, and let you stride into Transcendence on that basis.

“Nature, nature—everything boils down to seeking nature…”

Chen Mu lacked the know-how to erase himself, but he saw that drawing nearer to nature edged closer to non-existence; this bond with nature wasn't fleeing the Universe or shunning the world, but blending in, becoming one with it, so gradually he approached the Great Dao's thoughtless workings, inching toward non-being.

Chen Mu recalled those who'd hit a dead end on the Great Dao path, ultimately swallowed whole by the Dao, and he let out a brief sigh.

Fusing self with the Great Dao to claim Dao Venerable rank is a one-way street, a steady draw toward the Dao.

The more they bucked the Great Dao's true nature, fighting the merge, clinging to their own will, the further they strayed from the Dao—and from Transcendence—making it impossible to cross over if they kept on.

True enough,

even saying it like this,

how many, after burning through their life's full strength to hit Dao Venerable status, could really cast aside the self?!

Chen Mu doubted that across history's endless Dao Venerables, all those dazzling geniuses, not one had pondered this approach, not one had uncovered this route… this way must have dawned on them, but none braved walking it.

After delving into the three Origin Daos without further gains, flowing along naturally with the Dao—easy words, but if the pick proved wrong, if the method faltered, then over ten Universe turns, the self-will gets fully crushed by the Dao!

And utterly wiped out!

Taking this road, with even a flicker of hesitation, a instant of pulling back—doom is sealed.

By now, Chen Mu could already sense the core of the system panel; the vision it showed him was basically the panel's own foundation, so he could rely on this as the genuine road to Transcendence.

…

Deep in the Source Sea,

Chen Mu trailed after Wutian Venerable and the rest, pressing on through the Source Sea in search of chances and treasures.

All stayed just as before, but in Chen Mu’s core, the Transcendence path sharpened into vivid focus, so his mindset toward vying for those wonders turned ever more peaceful.

He'd once planned to vie for many such wonders, especially the ultra-rare Primordial Marvels brimming with aligned powers from various Daos, aiming to spy Transcendence secrets within. But now that he'd seen the true path, he knew those Primordial Marvels held no such key.

Forcing in bits of Dao mysteries via Primordial Marvels to boost might doesn't close the Transcendence divide and might even widen it somewhat.

“The supreme virtue flows like water, avoiding fights or claims, allowing all to run its course.”

Chen Mu whispered to himself in a low voice.

…

In some strange Abyss tucked away in the Source Sea.

Boom!!!

With Wutian Venerable at the lead, Beast Divine Venerable and the others dove into the battle again and again, Chen Mu blending in seamlessly, keeping a steady and calm air, swinging his hand like a sword in effortless strikes, clashing against a Creation Venerable.

All across the Abyss, more than a hundred Dao Venerables ringed a volcano bursting with intense glow at the center.

Inside that volcano, turbulent Primordial Power boiled, clearly nurturing a wonder—at minimum Daoist marvel grade—and given the ongoing display, its size, and the uproar, it could well hit Primordial Marvel status!

That's why so many Dao Venerables flocked here, topping a hundred strong, from groups like Wutian Venerable’s and beyond, plus lone powerhouses from the last Universe cycle or even the one before.

Some among them were mighty ones mastering three Daos, armed with supreme Dao treasures, whose solo prowess let them weave through the chaos, holding off teams like Wutian Venerable’s—seven or eight Dao Venerables together—while moving freely forward and back.

The scene was utter turmoil.