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n(Unedited Chapter)

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nWang Wei clenched his fist, feeling the power surging in his veins.

nHis strength did not change much, but he felt complete,

nunbothered, and unrestrained.

nAfter proving the Dao, people who cultivate as Qi Refiners and Body

nRefiners are an anomaly or a paradox. Great Emperors are

nessentially Conceptual Creature, their bodies composed of the very

nconcept they cultivate.

nAlthough their flesh and blood appeared the same as ordinary

npeople, they were not. However, body refiners are flesh and blood

ncreatures; it's just their flesh has reached an unprecedented level.

nAs someone who walked both paths, Wang Wei is both a flesh and

nblood creature and a conceptual life form. This paradox previously

nhad a subtle influence on his body. However, after the tribulation,

neverything was solved.

nHis concepts were not deeply fused with his flesh, forming a

nperfect balance. The concept and flesh now work together in

nharmony, granting him the advantage of both while also removing

nsome of the flaws of the others.

nWang Wei exhaled deeply as clothes appeared on his body.

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"Why do I feel this test was weird?

" After experiencing this

ntribulation, he had a feeling that there were some secrets as to why

nit was in such a manner.

nSo, he took a moment to gather his thoughts and deduce the truth;

nthe answer did not elude him for long.

n'The Old Gods,' thought Wang Wei, thinking about his experience of

nmeeting Cthulhu during the Cleanup. 'In most iterations of the Old

nGods' myth, people will lose their sanity after meeting them. The

nspiritual aspect of this test seemed targeted to resist their influence

nin the mind.

n'Furthermore, in some iterations, people will mutate into

nabominable creatures. Could Grand Dao have designed this test to

nresist the influence of the Old Gods?'

nAs he continued this line of thought, many ideas popped into Wang

nWei's mind.

n'According to my theory, Body Refining was the first cultivation

npath of the universe that led directly to the Paragon Realm. If

nCthulhu appeared during that era, it's understandable why Grand

nDao would change the test to fight against the Elder God's power.'

nSuddenly, Wang Wei felt he had come close to the truth. He could

npredict the chains of events. The body refining path prospered,

nCthulhu appeared, Grand Dao changed the tribulation to deal with

nhis problem, and finally, Cthulhu was sealed, and the test remained

nin the present.

n'Could Cthulhu be why the first Gate is missing? Or does that

ninvolve something else?'

nWang Wei did not have an answer yet as there were too many

npossibilities for this answer, and he lacked too much information.

n'Let's not focus on this for now. The truly valuable information from

nthis deduction is where Cthulhu originated from. It's obviously not

na creature originating from this Chaos Universe – unless it escapes

nfrom the Prehistoric World.

n'So, there could be only one answer – from Hongmeng.'

nThis deduction validated one of Wang Wei's most important

ntheories–there are other Chaos Universes. After achieving

ntranscendence, a cultivator can escape the Chaos Universe and

nenter Hongmeng.

nIn Hongmeng, there are other Chaos Universes and other

ncultivators, even creatures who might be born there.

nCthulhu was one of these creatures, but it accidentally discovered

nthis Chaos Universe and took a look. However, the result was its

ndefeat and eventual sealing.

n'No, things are not so simple. If the myths about the Old Gods are

ntrue, Cthulhu is not this weak and should not be captured so easily.

nSo, the fact it sufferers such a fate can mean three things:

n'First, this Chaos Universe is one of the best, so the power ceiling is

nterribly high. However, this theory does not hold up. No matter how

nhigh its power, can it compare to a transcendent creature?'

nWang Wei shook his head; based on the information he knew, he

nfelt it was impossible for Grand Dao and all the universe's citizens

nto deal with a transcendent.

n'The second possibility is that this universe has cultivated a

ntranscendent, thus considering its home part of their territory. So,

nafter Cthulhu broke through this Chaos Universe, another

nTranscendent dealt with it.'

nWang Wei felt this theory had more substance for multiple reasons.

nThe first is the parameters he attributed to Transcendence. Once a

ncultivator reaches that step, they should have truly achieved

nimmortality and eternity, meaning nothing can kill them.

nHowever, sealing them might be different. After all, there should be

na difference between each Transcendent. So, in a battle where no

none could kill their opponent, sealing and humiliating them might

nbe how to dictate the victor and deal with contradictions.

nWang Wei did not think Transcendents were enlightened beings

nwho were above mortal desires and influences. He's sure many are

nas such, but many others also achieved transcendence to be able to

ndo what their hearts desire.

nWith these two opposite mindsets, he did not doubt there would be

nconflicts in Hongmeng – even with the default setting that none of

nthem could die.

nAnother reason supporting his theory was the Ultimate Taboo. He

nhad long realized this event involved achieving Transcendence.

nHowever, without anyone achieving transcendence, how could

nsuch a thing appear in the universe?

nOf course, there is also the possibility that Grand Dao deduced a

npath to transcendence without achieving it. Then, it used the event

nto elevate the power ceiling of the world by allowing these methods

nto flow out of the world.

nWang Wei's intuition told him the event of the Ultimate Taboo

ninvolved both this Chaos Universe's past transcendence and Grand

nDao's scheme. His ancestor, Qiyuan, either took advantage of the

nsituation to open a path of transcendence for all sentient beings in

nthe Chaos Universe or Grand Dao used him as a pawn.

nThings could also be more complicated, and he willingly became a

npawn just to see the way forward. After all, many of these pinnacle

nParagons who have not moved a single step forward were willing to

ndie just to know the possibility that there was a path forward.

nTo these people, death was nothing; the truly scary thing was

nknowing there was no way forward.

nThe third explanation for the fate of Cthulhu is that it was a clone.

nAccording to myths, the Old Gods have infinite clones. Some of the

nwell-known Old Gods are nothing more than the clone of another,

nmore powerful Old God, forming a weird chain.

nThe captured Cthulhu in this Chaos Universe might be one of the

ninfinite weakened clones of the real Cthulhu, who scattered his

nessence throughout Hongmeng, hunting for Chaos Universe to

nconquer and destroy.

n'This theory is the one most likely to be true,' thought Wang Wei.

n'However, if that's true, this world is truly a dangerous place.'

nWang Wei's own theory scared him. He was nothing but a little

nEmperor. Although he almost reached the battle prowess of an

nEmpyrean, such a fact did not make much of a difference.

nHe was nothing but an ant before a Paragon, and Paragons are ants

nbefore Half-Step Transcendence, who are ants before people on

nthe level of the Six Cardinals. But even the Cardinals are not at the

nlevel of Grand Dao.

nBut can Grand Dao deal with a transcendent being like the Old

nGods? The evidence does not show it could. After all, despite being

nsealed, Cthulhu could still influence the universe by creating

nfollowers or places like the Abyss Gap.

nMore evidence of this conclusion is the fact that Grand Dao did not

nexile the sealed Cthulhu back to Hongmeng. The logical thing to do

nis get rid of such a hot potato, but Grand Dao did not do this, which

nshowed it was not confident in hiding its world coordinates from

nCthulhu's main body.

nSo, it sealed the clone with the hope the latter would just ignore it

nand no longer intervene. Such a line of thought also indicated that

nthe transcendence from this Chaos Universe might not be on the

nsame level as Cthulhu.

n'Damn it, being too smart is not a good thing,' cussed Wang Wei,

ncontrolling his mind to not get out of control; he hated nothing

nmore in this world when things were completely out of his control,

nand he was powerless to do anything about it.

nUnfortunately, he was worse than the ant in a confrontation on the

nlevel of Transcendence.

n'There is no need to scare myself. Who knows how long this

nCthulhu's clone has been sealed, and the Chaos Universe is still fine.

nSo, the situation is not as bad as I imagine. I only need to continue

nwalking forward until I can become a true chess player.'

nHe used his immense Dao Heart to calm down, preparing for the

nlong journey ahead of him. Furthermore, his current deduction

nmight be extremely crucial for him in the future.

nAfter all, he might have discovered the mystery of the 13 Taboos of

nthis world; such information is extremely valuable, whether he uses

nit for himself or trades with some interested people.

n'Alright, let's cultivate. Only true strength can make me feel

nrelieved.'

nWang Wei exhaled deeply as he continued his retreat.

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