These two fellows...

Ji Jingqiu pondered for a moment, could it be that his recent neglect made them aware of a crisis?

But Hel didn't seem like someone aware of a crisis; rather, she had an inexplicable confidence.

Ji Jingqiu temporarily ignored Wuzhou and said to Hel:

"Then, at that time, you shall be a Water God."

In the structure of the Inner Universe he was constructing, Sumeru was at the center, surrounded by the sea gathered by the Eight Virtues Water. Lady La was just right with her human body and snake's tail, making her suitable as a Water God guarding the mountain.

"What Water God?" Hel frowned and suspiciously looked at Ji Jingqiu, feeling that this guy had ulterior motives.

Ji Jingqiu had already turned to leave, feeling sentimental in his heart. Compared to Wuzhou, he was clearly partial to Lady La, who had accompanied him all the way, not only interacting with her but also promising her an "inheritance" in the future.

As for Wuzhou's proposal, he spoke as if if Ji didn't succeed, he could slack off.

Once Ji Jingqiu breaks through to Heavenly Venerable, he will begin trying the Other Shore Technique left by Master Mu, then his distracted thoughts would all need the Heavenly Demon as a guide.

Back then, Master Mu used Wuzhou's hand to cut away the Heart Monkey.

"Are you not entering the Inner Heaven?" Ji Jingqiu was preparing to leave the cave and inquired of Sword Light.

Sword Light circled around the Swallowing Realm Snake, surprised, "Growing quite fast, huh, this little fellow's realm is even higher than yours."

You Lan recognized the intruder Sword Light and glared at him, wanting badly to hit him with her tail.

However, her instinct as a Void Giant Beast told her that even if she broke through the Eight Realms, her opponent was still very dangerous; there was plenty of time ahead.

The little fellow twisted her head and ran towards Ji Jingqiu.

"Oh, your little one hasn't entered the Peak Period yet." Sword Light glimmered slightly, astonished, "Entering Heavenly Venerable, still in the Growth Stage... interesting, now let's see if this little snake can break the racial limitation."

"What do you mean?"

Ji Jingqiu came over, reached out, and rubbed the little fellow's head; she squinted and rubbed his palm, then leaped onto Ji Jingqiu's head, lying there.

"Being in the Growth Stage means she still has room for growth, and when she finally enters the Peak Period, there will be a big leap, and she will be shaped accordingly; this is the limit for beings like her."

"The Ancestor Master from Primordial Palace in the past was like that. It is unknown what Secret Technique he used to delay reaching the Peak Period for several epochs, and finally, using the leap of the peak, he broke the shackles of the Sea of Realms' Time River, stepping into the Returning to Truth Domain, becoming one of the Ancestor Beasts of the giant beast race."

"As for your little one, let's see if she can reach the True Saint Domain before the Growth Stage comes to an end; if there is hope, she can go seek the Secret Technique in the Primordial Palace."

Listening to Sword Light's words, Ji Jingqiu seemed thoughtful and asked, "To break through the Returning to Truth Domain, is it necessary to break free from the Time River of the Sea of Realms?"

"More accurately, it's the myriad worlds." Sword Light corrected, "Transcenders are not in the river of fate and time, they have completely jumped out, and gained Great Freedom." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Is this the key to breaking through the threshold of transcendence?" Ji Jingqiu inquired.

He had heard from Chi Yinghuo about three paths to break through transcendence.

Sword Light had been there and said it was just one transcender's 'Dao exposition,' imitating them might live, yet resembling them might die; it wasn't truly indicating three paths for transcendence.

"Breaking free from the shackles is the threshold, not a method to break through transcendence." Sword Light wobbled, "In this era, breaking through transcendence is far more difficult than before, the Sea of Realms can't hold this kind of transcendence, in fact, since long ago, the difficulty to break through transcendence has been increasing."

Ji Jingqiu frowned, "Are you implying a one radish, one hole, transcendence has a fixed number?"

"This kind of saying did exist..."

Sword Light fell into reminiscence,

"But later it was proven inaccurate; as for how exactly to break through transcendence, I mentioned earlier to you: achieving great deeds and sanctifying through merit, namely virtue-based sanctification."

Sword Light returned to his senses: "The path of transcendence has no fixed number, each person has their own route. Among known transcenders, very few have identical paths to transcendence, even among those sanctified through merit, there are notable differences."

"A transcender known as the 'Phoenix King' was an Innate Divine Bird, who achieved enlightenment through the Five Virtues, his path was to search through the myriad worlds, embracing the Five Virtues of the heavens within himself. No one knows how many innate Five Virtues he unified, anyway, there has never been a second 'Phoenix King' in later generations."

"As for my true self in the past, I was sanctified through merit as well, but it was by settling the chaos of the Sea of Realms, establishing the Dao Foundation, quite different from the path of the Phoenix King."

"Back then, how did the Void achieve enlightenment?" Ji Jingqiu couldn't help but ask.

Sword Light flickered a few times: "Those Great Dao Ancestors transferred the Dao through the myriad worlds, they themselves are the Dao, what need is there to speak of achieving enlightenment?"

Ji Jingqiu frowned, was being a Great Dao Ancestor one of the paths to enlightenment? Or was it the transference of the Dao through the myriad worlds?

The Phoenix King also was one who united the innate Five Virtues of the Sea of Realms to achieve enlightenment.

It seems like this is a path where quantitative change leads to qualitative change.

"First lay your Heavenly Venerable foundation, then plan for the future." Sword Light spoke, transforming into a swimming fish, gliding over Ji Jingqiu's shoulder.

According to him, he had sealed off his aura, as long as he doesn't unleash his true power, even outside, the Void Realm wouldn't detect him.

Ji Jingqiu could now clearly feel that Sword Light was "opening" more permissions to him.

Especially concerning the topic of transcendence, no longer evading discussion, and even starting to actively mention it.

A good phenomenon!

He collected his Spirit God, temporarily suppressing his curiosity about transcendence, left the cave, and after a temporary farewell to Shou Ji, he casually picked a direction, departing from this stronghold.