Hundred Lands Mountain Range, Cloud Dream Jade Pool Mirror.
"You agreed to Emperor Hao’s conditions that easily?"
Lazily sprawled over a tree branch, Xiluo let out a long yawn as she asked.
At this point, it had already been a few days since Xiluo woke up from her dream, but she was still digesting the gains from it.
She had to admit that the benefits this dream brought her surpassed those of countless previous dreams combined.
Those earlier dreams, at most, only added a few more names and a few more Gods to the Jade Pool Celestial Book.
But this dream had allowed Xiluo to touch the threshold of Refining Spirit and Returning to Void.
She was only one step away from crossing the Celestial Gate and truly achieving Refining Spirit and Returning to Void.
By then, Xiluo would be fully able to imitate Li Boyang and prove her Dao while breaking through to Refining Spirit and Returning to Void.
After all, the direction of proving the Dao had already been determined, and the foundation of using the Jade Pool Celestial Book as her proof-of-Dao artifact had already been laid.
Xiluo no longer needed, like other Great Celestial Gods, to keep exploring the road ahead and grope for which Dao she was actually suited to prove.
"Why shouldn’t I agree to his conditions?"
Without even turning his head, Li Boyang only kept his eyes fixed on the Jade Pool Celestial Book inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace as he said with a smile.
"Emperor Hao is willing to let the Six Paths of Reincarnation appear ten thousand years in the past—this is a heaven-sent boon for both me and the Lord of the Netherworld."
"It means that, so long as I’m willing, I can now move the time of my own birth forward to ten thousand years ago."
Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Xiluo absolutely refused to take Li Boyang’s words at face value.
"Making your own existence run through ancient and modern times isn’t even the purpose of your proving the Dao..."
"So changing your own origin like this doesn’t matter to you at all."
What Xiluo said was the truth—Li Boyang’s proving the Dao was just proving the Dao.
The Creation Jade Disc, the Six Paths of Reincarnation, the Six Desire Heavens...
All of these were merely tools Li Boyang used to corroborate the direction of his advance, not his final goal.
That was why he could so freely give up the Creation Jade Disc, hand the Six Paths of Reincarnation over to the Lord of the Netherworld to manage, and evolve Great Freedom Heaven into the current Six Desire Heavens.
Li Boyang’s goal in proving the Dao had always been only one thing—to transcend all beings and achieve Refining Void and Merging Path.
"Compared to that, I feel like the Taiyang above our heads right now is actually more like the real reason you agreed to his terms."
Raising her head to look up at the sky, Xiluo gazed at the Taiyang as she spoke.
The Cloud Dream Jade Pool Mirror was only a Grotto Heaven Secret Realm; in essence, it didn’t possess the changes of revolving stars or alternating seasons.
But ever since Wang Shu was born, the Cloud Dream Jade Pool Mirror had gained nights of its own.
Now, with the appearance of that Taiyang, the last shortcoming of the Cloud Dream Jade Pool Mirror was made up, and it finally gained a distinction between day and night.
Once the alternation of day and night existed, the changing of the four seasons would naturally form as well.
So it wouldn’t be long before this Cloud Dream Jade Pool Mirror turned into a Grotto Heaven Secret Realm with a complete cycle, capable of sustaining itself.
Before the birth of the Six Desire Heavens, only the former Celestial Emperor’s Capital had truly achieved this.
"If you really want to put it that way, I won’t argue."
Likewise looking up at the Taiyang in the sky, Li Boyang continued with a noncommittal smile.
"After all, with this ancient Taiyang from ten thousand years ago, I might be able to open up a third path."
As soon as he said this, Xiluo immediately forgot about the Taiyang itself, whipping her head around in shock to stare at Li Boyang beside her.
"You plan to use this Taiyang to evolve a new path?"
"This Taiyang belongs to Emperor Hao—aren’t you afraid something might go wrong?"
Shrugging slightly, Li Boyang replied in a calm tone.
"What do I have to be afraid of? The one who should really be afraid is Emperor Hao."
"If I end up becoming some East Emperor Taiyi, Sun Star Monarch–type Tao Master with this, then Emperor Hao will have to abdicate and yield to the worthy."
Emperor Hao was in the midst of proving the Dao and was trapped in the upper reaches of the River of Time.
If Li Boyang really succeeded in proving the Dao before him and then went back through history, he could completely take his place.
By then, the Celestial Emperor Hao known in everyone’s understanding would become Li Boyang, while the real Emperor Hao would vanish completely from the River of Time.
From this angle, Emperor Hao had personally handed Li Boyang a handle with which to wipe him out.
"Hmph! I think that Emperor Hao has already seen right through you."
"He knows full well you’d never actually do something like that, and yet he still handed his opportunity to attain the Dao over to you."
"That guy clearly wants to borrow your hand to prove the Dao, ideally rewriting his own fate and living a second life in the future."
With the precedent of Zhuang Zhou proving the Dao, Xiluo’s argument wasn’t without possibility.
Li Boyang, after all, was never going to truly become a Master of One Path.
At most, he’d leave behind an avatar like Emperor Fengdu or the Primordial Celestial Demon.
In that case, it was better to have Li Boyang test this so‑called "Path of the Sun."
If he failed, there would be no loss whatsoever for Emperor Hao.
But if he succeeded, Emperor Hao could completely reproduce Li Boyang’s method of proving the Dao in his own era, ultimately succeed himself, and leap out of the River of Time.
"If it really is like that, then I’m not losing out either!"
"Me proving the Dao alone is bound to have omissions. If Emperor Hao wants to borrow my hand to prove the Dao, I can also borrow his to refine this path."
One way or another, this was a win–win situation for Li Boyang.
"I keep feeling like you’re still hiding something from me."
Knowing full well she couldn’t out-argue Li Boyang, Xiluo shot him a suspicious glance.
The tacit understanding built over their long time together made Xiluo alert—Li Boyang had definitely only said half; he was still concealing something from her.
"Hasn’t your Celestial Destiny Divine Power already taken shape? Figure it out yourself."
Out of that same tacit understanding, Li Boyang also sensed Xiluo’s distrust.
Yet just like before, Li Boyang only smiled in silence and changed the subject, with no intention of answering directly.
"Knew it, you’re doing it again. This time I’m definitely going to figure it out!"
With a habitual complaint, Xiluo likewise didn’t press further, but continued the topic instead.
"I feel like I’m only that final step away from Refining Spirit and Returning to Void, but I can never figure out what exactly I’m missing..."
Leaping straight down from the tree branch, Xiluo shifted smoothly into her Celestial Maiden form as she spoke to herself and answered herself.
"So I’m not going to enter any more dreams for a while. I need some time to digest these gains."
"I once promised Indra I’d take charge of the Six Desire Heavens—I feel like now is just the right time."
Giving Xiluo a deep look, Li Boyang fell silent for a moment before asking.
"Is that feeling something your Celestial Destiny Divine Power gave you?"
Once Xiluo nodded in confirmation, Li Boyang immediately went on.
"Remember what I told you—if you trust in fate completely, it’s worse than not knowing fate at all."
"Form follows the mind; fate is forged by oneself."
"Don’t forget your elder sister’s cautionary tale. She believed too much in so‑called ’fate,’ and as a result, even though she possessed the power to change it, she still let herself die and her soul be annihilated."
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