Chapter 4180: Breakthrough

The cauldron continued to rise up, and Mister Mu’s figure grew more and more distinct until the cauldron was finally floating entirely above the River of Aeons.

Mister Mu’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

“Master!” Lu Yin shouted.

Mister Mu looked over Lu Yin, his expression solemn. “I am about to attempt to break through to the Immortal realm. Should I fail, everything will vanish into smoke. Do not ask about my past, and just guard this megaverse.”

After he spoke, the cauldron trembled and then split into nine: Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation.

In Lu Yin’s understanding, breaking into the Immortal realm required borrowing the reset of a megaverse, recreating within oneself the cycle of origin and decay. Through this process, Lifeforce would be endlessly produced within one’s body, fusing with Immortal matter.

Only by truly comprehending life could that Lifeforce become inexhaustible, and only by aligning it with a cosmic law one personally recognized could Immortality finally be achieved.

However, in recent centuries, after he entered the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, met and interacted with the Greater Sancti, and experienced multiple wars against other civilizations, he had realized that this method was merely one of many. In fact, it was the most common method of stepping into the Immortal realm.

It was the method used by Greater Sancte Blood Tower and Ku Deng to become Immortals. Ku Deng had possessed enough Immortal matter long before his successful breakthrough. While attempting to create an internal cycle of creation and destruction within the Mindscape Megaverse, he had managed to become an Immortal.

Even Greater Sancte Awe Gate, despite having her breakthrough in the Aevum Inch, had said that she had used the same method to become an Immortal.

Only Greater Sancte Green Lotus used a different method for his breakthrough. He had genuinely overcome Dukkha and stepped into the Immortal realm.

Lu Yin had not known this before, as Greater Sancte Green Lotus had never mentioned it. Everyone had simply assumed that the Immortal realm was attained through resetting a megaverse. It was only after Lu Yin had become an Aberrant that he had been qualified to learn the truth.

An Immortal who reached that realm through truly overcoming Dukkha existed on an entirely different level than one who had relied on resetting a megaverse. However, exactly where that difference lay, Green Lotus had never mentioned. Sometimes, the path forward must not be seen, as knowing what lay ahead would only lead to confusion.

According to Green Lotus, several people in the Tianyuan were geniuses capable of genuinely overcoming Dukkha to enter the Immortal realm.

For example, the Origin Progenitor cultivated the Doctrine of Rectitude and was advancing step by step toward Immortality. Had he not been ambushed and his cultivation regressed, he would not have been defeated. Even so, he had later gained the inheritance of the Willbound Spire and now had a genuine chance at overcoming Dukkha.

Jiang Feng had originally taken a shortcut which should have prevented him from ever becoming a peak Dukkhan, let alone an Immortal. But after being wounded by Qing Cao, Jiang Feng had fallen into a state of having absolutely no senses. He had eventually been awakened by the Verdant Sage, Yan Ruyu. With that, he had stepped onto the correct path and was now walking towards the Immortal realm.

Mister Mu had once been the sovereign of an entire megaverse. No one knew how he had originally intended to reach the Immortal realm.

However, after it became known that he had submerged himself within the River of Aeons to break through to Immortality, everyone understood that he had walked the same path as the Origin Progenitor’s Doctrine of Rectitude.

It was a path that advanced step by step through hardship and suffering, attaining Immortality without relying on the reset of a megaverse.

Each of the men were of special interest to Green Lotus. He had once commented on how the Tianyuan’s potential was astonishing, as well as the fact that all who were capable of reaching the Immortal realm were taking unique paths. Green Lotus was eager to see what each one would become after their breakthroughs.

Mister Mu was finally about to take the most crucial step.

Lu Yin was deeply curious about how one was meant to progress step by step, reaching the Origin realm, passing through Dukkha, and ultimately attaining Immortality. He had never seen anyone truly overcome Dukkha.

He had once believed it to be impossible, but Mister Mu just might allow Lu Yin to witness history.

However, they were above the River of Aeons and in the Mirari Realm.

Wei Nu had said that causing too great of a disturbance in the Mirari realm could draw the main stream of the River of Aeons over.

But there was no other choice at this moment. Lu Yin could not stop his master’s breakthrough.

The nine cauldrons hovered above the river as Mister Mu’s body sank back below the surface. All that remained was a blurry silhouette with a visible surge of Lifeforce.

The Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm started to churn, and Green Lotus turned to focus on the Mirari Realm and the River of Aeons, as well as Mister Mu within the river. “Has he reached the final step?”

Lu Yin was stunned. “Senior, has my master reached the final step?”

“He has. Beneath the River of Aeons, he has already seen through his own life, grasped the nature of origin and decay, and brought his Lifeforce into an unending cycle. What remains is the final step: aligning with a cosmic law, overcoming Dukkha, and attaining Immortality.

“For most Immortals, relying on a megaverse reset is indeed a shortcut. From the very first step, repeating the body’s origin and decay is already taking a shortcut. But it is an acceptable one, because there is no shortcut when it comes to overcoming Dukkha.

“Whether one relies on a megaverse reset or attempts a self-breakthrough, all failed advances end at that final threshold, Dukkha.

“There is no shortcut to crossing Dukkha. It is the final step. I only hope that your master succeeds.”

Using the reset of a megaverse as a shortcut only helped with replicating the cycle of creation and destruction so that one could gain an endless supply of Lifeforce, but there was no shortcut to help one overcome Dukkha. That remained an unavoidable threshold.

Mister Mu had taken the first step on his own, while the final step allowed for no assistance. He could only succeed on his own.

He had already surpassed most Immortals who had achieved success with a megaverse’s reset. Upon overcoming Dukkha, Mister Mu would become like Green Lotus, an Immortal who broke through on their own, reaching an entirely different level.

This was the most crucial step of the entire process.

Without Dukkha, the cosmos would have hundreds, thousands, or even millions more Immortals.

The flow of the River of Aeons affected not only the Tianyuan, but also the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus.

Time naturally flowed through every megaverse, independent of space.

This was why Obscura’s gates could ignore distance by relying on the power of time.

At this moment, both the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus started to experience chaotic time.

Blood Tower, Awe Gate, and Kang Tian all peered into the Aevum Inch. Is someone breaking into the Immortal realm?

Kang Tian was speechless. Are these humans sure that they aren’t a fishing civilization? They already have so many Immortals. How could another one already be breaking through? If one more appears, no one will believe that they aren’t a fishing civilization.

In the Mirari Realm, the nine cauldrons covered the sky as the gray power of time swirled and coalesced. Gradually, the River of Aeons froze, stopping the flow of time for the human civilization’s megaverses.

Lu Yin was shocked. Is this a phenomenon?

“Using those cauldrons to anchor the flow of aeons... your master truly is a prodigy. The power he cultivates is highly unusual. It is neither karma nor will.

“Though the cauldrons can stabilize time itself, what he cultivates does not feel like the power of time.”

Even Greater Sanctis Green Lotus was puzzled, unable to discern it clearly.

Lu Yin was startled. Not the power of time? How could that be?

He vividly remembered how, every time Mister Mu appeared, time had always frozen. There was no mistaking the power of time.

Still, Green Lotus would not be mistaken about such a thing.

If it was not the power of time, why would the phenomena that appeared for Mister Mu’s breakthrough be frozen time?

If he did not cultivate the power of time, how could Mister Mu have anchored the River of Aeons itself?

Lu Yin suddenly remembered his senior sister Mu Zhu’s words: Mister Mu was strong, extraordinarily so. He had once injured Hui. Even if that was only with the help of the mirebound artifact Cauldron, Hui was not someone who could be injured by a mere mirebound artifact. Additionally, Mister Mu had once merged with the will of his native megaverse long before Lu Yin had accomplished the same thing, which was considered a joke in the Aevum Inch.

The true depths of Mister Mu’s strength had never been seen. After he left his native megaverse, he had lost his foundations. After arriving in the Tianyuan, the man had used Origin Tracer to anchor the River of Aeons, and he had never once used the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation in battle, despite it being one of his true trump cards.

Even so, he had saved the Origin Progenitor, defended the Immemorial Citadel, and even earned Yong Heng’s wariness.

Yong Heng was someone with the combat strength of a peak Dukkhan.

At his peak, it was possible that Mister Mu had been just as powerful as the current Lu Yin. The man was another Aberrant.

Only an Aberrant’s breakthrough would involve a power that not even Green Lotus could discern.

The cauldrons froze time, and the gray power of time solidified before dissipating. After that, space froze, unmoving while time continued to flow.

Lu Yin was astonished. Space?

Before he could react, his heart stopped for a moment. The Lifeforce within him had frozen for an instant.

He stared at the river in shock. Was that Mister Mu’s doing?

“I understand now. What he cultivates is... Dominion,” Greater Sanctis Green Lotus’s voice came.

Lu Yin was puzzled. “Dominion?”

Greater Sanctis Green Lotus said with admiration, “Dominion over time, dominion over space, dominion over all things between heaven and earth, dominion over the vault of the cosmos itself. This is the law your master cultivates and aligns with.

“The universe encompasses everything, and it governs everything. No matter how powerful a being becomes, no matter how the ages shift and transform, all remain under its dominion.

“Lu Yin, your master’s ambition is... astonishing.”

Lu Yin looked toward the River of Aeons. Dominion? Was that truly the cosmic law his master resonated with?

He had always believed that his master cultivated the power of time.

Of course. Cauldrons were originally instruments used to establish dominion over the fate of heaven and earth. The single word “dominion” perfectly captured their purpose.

Since it was a cauldron, it naturally carried dominion.

This was the real Mister Mu.

In Lu Yin’s memory, Mister Mu had always been a representative of gentleness and refinement. He had never been someone whom Lu Yin associated the word “dominion” with. And yet, that was the man’s true nature. He had once suppressed an entire megaverse, and he was now aiming to dominate the infinite omniverse.

The Mirari Realm froze, and then it was released. The River of Aeons fluctuated between frozen and flowing. The disturbance affected all three human megaverses.

Lu Yin anxiously glanced over at Zhao Ran.

She stood in her small boat, her hands clenching the sides tightly as she stared up at the nine cauldrons looming overhead, the river churning violently around her.

The nine cauldrons continuously released Lifeforce. Around one cauldron, the gray power of time froze, causing a section of the River of Aeons to freeze, plunging the Spirit Nidus into temporal chaos. Another cauldron froze space, immobilizing an entire region of the Aevum Inc. Another froze light. Another froze astral phenomena. Another...

The Nine Cauldrons froze everything, suppressing all of existence.

The entire human civilization fell into chaos.

In the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Blood Tower trembled. This disturbance far surpassed what he himself had once produced. Is this what a direct breakthrough to the Immortal realm looks like? Its scale is absurd!

Immortals’ power was measured by the range at which they could influence the cosmos. Mister Mu’s breakthrough was affecting all three of the human megaverses. Even if he was being aided by the River of Aeons, what he was doing was still outrageous.

Once he became an Immortal, who could say just how strong he would become?

Thinking of this, Greater Sancte Blood Tower grew excited. If humanity could gain yet another top-tier Immortal, what unknown civilizations would they possibly have to fear?

What fishing civilization would they fear?

As the Greater Sancte considered this, his expression suddenly changed. Not good! The main stream of the River of Aeons!

One Immortal after another lifted their heads. It was as if they could hear the roar of an infinite river.

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