Perfect World: Dream of the Immortal Era

What are the Myriad Sinful Flames?

Countless "evils" exist in the world, each one a layer of karmic barrier, and the Myriad Sinful Flames are a blaze ignited by these endless barriers.

There's a saying, as long as the "evil" in the world doesn't vanish, the Myriad Sinful Flames will forever burn brightly.

If this fire gives birth to a seed of perfect ancient flame and someone merges with it, that person will become unbeatable in their era.

There's no other reason; the Myriad Sinful Flames at the perfect ancient fire level are too extraordinary. Once mastered, they become a nightmare for enemies.

As long as there is evil and karmic barriers within the heart of the opponent, the Myriad Sinful Flames can silently ignite the adversary, burning away all the evil until it's extinguished.

It can be said that the Myriad Sinful Flames are something that all beings fear from the bottom of their hearts.

Ten epochs ago, the renowned King of Ten Thousand Tribulations took the path of invincibility using a perfect ancient fire level seed of the Myriad Sinful Flames.

Eventually, he defeated numerous contenders, standing atop all, becoming a paragon of that era, ascending as an Immortal King.

But just three epochs later, the King of Ten Thousand Tribulations disappeared, leaving no trace, with no further news ever heard of him.

Now, the ruins where Gu Wu Di finds himself are the remnants of the King of Ten Thousand Tribulations' teachings.

No one can say for certain why he left this place behind. From the previous trials, it seems he might be selecting a successor, and only a genius meeting all his set conditions can inherit his legacy.

But nothing is absolute. It's foolish for a mere ant, not even at the Dao Initiation stage, to speculate on the intentions of an Immortal King.

Thinking negatively, one might assume many old monsters set traps to seize bodies and be reborn, targeting the prodigies.

The King of Ten Thousand Tribulations might have constructed these ruins with a similar notion.

Nevertheless, since there's no turning back, Gu Wu Di's mind steeled, forging ahead into the depths of the Myriad Sinful Flames.

Suddenly, he sensed an anomaly within the sea of flames, turned back to watch, and witnessed an astonishing scene.

The sea of flames surged, fragments of time fluttered, weaving together to reenact past scenes.

A valiant young man emerged from the great wilderness, by a stroke of fate, obtaining a wisp of gray flame.

With this, he began cultivating his path, rising rapidly like a comet, unstoppable from that moment onward.

Born of common stock with no background or protector, he faced numerous external crises alone. Whenever disaster loomed, he remained calm and steadily resolved each one.

His journey began with rejection and suppression from all sides, yet he rose to become an esteemed guest of the most powerful forces, achieving a dazzling reversal of fortune.

At the age of twelve hundred, he successfully merged with the Dao, becoming a Supreme.

By the age of eleven thousand, he crossed the great divide, ascending into the realm of immortality to become a True Immortal.

Then, as the epoch continued, he broke through consecutively, reaching the quasi-Immortal King realm.

As this era drew to a close, he made an astonishing move, provoking the Immortal King's tribulation. Past, present, and future trials swarmed around him, scrutinizing him…

Having barely survived, with much of his life-force diminished, he miraculously passed the trial, transforming into a peerless Immortal King.

Subsequently, at his coronation, he stood at the pinnacle of his life, a moment of utmost glory.

The titans and Immortal Kings of the Ancient World all gathered to celebrate the addition of another Immortal King power to the world. Several Immortal Kings from the Immortal Domain attended as well, along with numerous envoys, expressing goodwill and attempting to win over the new Immortal King.

All the Kings arrived to celebrate his stupendous achievement, and the grand celebration resounded through the Thirty-Three Heavens, reverberating even through the boundless Immortal Domain.

Once the splendor faded and the autumn winds blew somberly, he had tasted all the world's brilliance.

In the subsequent years, he aspired to advance further, pushing the Immortal King cultivation to its utmost peak.

Yet, despite testing countless methods, his progress remained stagnant, leaning on time alone for improvement—a single epoch after another, often to no avail.

In the realm of the Immortal King, no supreme talent or peerless bloodline had use. Completely reliant on time, he found little effect even then.

Shifting his approach, he endeavored to pioneer a new path, establishing a novel cultivation system.

Any being in the Immortal King realm understood the benefits of opening new methods, but history showed few succeeded; most perished amidst terrifying tribulations, falling halfway.

Yet, undeterred, he set forth into the creation of new paths.

Cultivating into a Seed, Growing Roots, the Beginning of Dao... merging with Dao…

The essence of the Seed Method is to fuse with a near-Dao seed and co-exist with it, using the seed's power to comprehend the myriad laws of the heavens while placing emphasis on the Dao itself.

Those who cultivate in this system, if they channel the Dao within the Primitive Ancient Realm, find their offensive power is astonishingly immense.

But once they leave the realm, practitioners of the Dao Seed Method are greatly affected, and their combat strength plummets unless they find themselves in a corresponding Immortal Domain where their power doesn't wither.

The issue of this power drop is well-known among the strong practitioners of the Dao Seed Method, who have long found a solution. However, this solution requires sacrificing a certain amount of combat strength. Though this is much better than the previous drastic decline, who would willingly take a step back under ordinary circumstances?

Furthermore, the Primitive Ancient Realm is extremely strong, so how could it possibly be destroyed on a whim?

An Immortal King, contemplating the creation of new laws, decided to forge a supreme method of making one’s own body the seed, freeing themselves from reliance on the ancient realm without losing their inherent battle prowess.

Reading this, Gu Wu Di was astonished. Making one's body the seed—wasn’t this the path taken by Meng Tianzheng and Shi Hao in later generations?

During the end of the Immortal Ancient Era, many walked this path, but unfortunately, the outcomes were often disastrous; many either failed or died.

Unexpectedly, in ages far older than the Immortal Ancient Era, a being had already proposed this concept and was preparing to undertake it.

This being was none other than a renowned Immortal King.

It was truly astonishing.

He continued to look back.

The old scenes continued to flow, narrating the ancient era to Gu Wu Di, recounting the efforts of an Immortal King trying to pioneer a supreme system.

The method of making one's body the seed involved using one's body as the ancient seed, unfolding worlds within each particle of flesh and blood, achieving an infinite grand cosmos, thus transcending to the utmost freedom.

To achieve all this, one must first break conventions and change the relationship and status between themselves and the ancient seed.

In the original Dao Seed Method, a cultivator would merge with the ancient seed, growing and ascending to the peak together, forming a symbiotic relationship, becoming part of each other's life, mutually equal, and benefitting one another.

Thus, a cultivator could only merge with one ancient seed throughout their life; exceeding this number would lead to a backlash and violent death.

Now, to embark on the path of making one’s body the seed, one must abandon the original ancient seed, letting one's body take precedence, with external ancient seeds becoming auxiliary. In other words, the former symbiotic relationship would transform into a master-and-servant relationship.

Once this convention is broken, the possibility of a practitioner merging with multiple ancient seeds becomes realistic.

The Perfect Ancient Seed is the world’s precise exposition of the Dao and can serve as a reference and comparison, assisting the practitioner in creating their internal cosmos.

Thus, the more Perfect Ancient Seeds one merges, the greater the chance of success in making one's body the seed.

Subsequently, this Immortal King began to turn theory into reality.

He risked life and death, battling fiercely against the demonic flame within, striving to suppress it and seize control over it from its equal status.

At this moment, the demonic fire was terrifying. From a mere spark, it had accompanied the host from weakness to invincibility, becoming a formidable weapon in the realm of the Immortal King.

To contend with this fire was akin to wrestling with his greatest weapon, a dangerous and precarious endeavor.

Still, in pursuit of a supreme path—becoming the seed of primordial origin—he resolved to take action.

Initially, the demonic fire did not retaliate, instead evading him, releasing a hazy consciousness that reflected their symbiotic relationship. Over eons, they had become one, inseparable. Yet now, the host sought to disrupt this harmony and forcibly control the destiny of the flame.

If he succeeded, he could then merge more ancient forces within him without being limited by the "one body merges with one seed" rule.

Sharing a vessel with other ancient seeds was intolerable for the demonic fire, an act intertwined with some forbidden taboo.

Thus, it began its counterattack.

A fierce internal war ensued, crucial to the Immortal King's life. Regardless of the outcome, both sides stood to suffer tremendous losses, for they were one, their life forces intertwined. Their struggle was akin to a single entity forcefully splitting into two, waging war against itself.

This protracted internal battle raged for years.

The ending was tragic; a once-peerless Immortal King was brought down from his pinnacle, his glory forever lost.

The most lamentable was the mutual destruction—the man and the flame both met their annihilation.

Amidst the charred ruins, a body resembling carbonized wood lay lifeless, its life fire flickering, on the verge of extinction, while nearby, a gray flame faltered, its form disintegrating as if unraveling.

With dim eyes, the old man gazed at a sacred, mesmerizing white flame floating in his palm, murmuring, "To forge a new path, I destroyed myself, my Immortal King prowess vanished in an instant.

Can becoming the seed and crafting an inner world, equal to the outer macrocosm, truly not work? Why do I feel this path embodies the true essence of the seed methodology?

When the seed is born within, and from there a new framework is embarked upon, thus, great success shall be achieved.”

He spoke, and a radiant light burst forth from his dull eyes, overwhelming to behold, yet it quickly faded away, leaving him desolate, prompting him to sigh deeply into the void.

“Alas, I shall not have this chance but can only hope that future generations may inherit my grand vision and realize this path.”

As he spoke, the old man's body began to disintegrate, gradually vanishing, step by step turning into dust and ashes.

In the final moments, he exhausted all his strength, extended his hand to set countless trials, then sealed the dojo, hidden his celestial presence, and fell into complete silence.

“Henceforth, the world shall know the King of Ten Thousand Tribulations no more!”

With a sigh, an astonishing Immortal King met his end, collapsing on his path of exploration for new ways.

Thus, the portrayal of past scenes came to its conclusion.

Gu Wu Di observed the life of this Immortal King, standing silently in place, filled with countless emotions.

This was an Immortal King in his golden age, yet he sacrificed his life attempting to break the iron rule of "one person blending one kind." Truly unimaginable.

Perhaps if he had sought like-minded Daoist friends, a group of Immortal Kings researching new paths together, the outcome might not have been so tragic, akin to those old kings who roughly established the framework of the Immortal Realm.

However, there is no "perhaps" in this world. Everything has occurred and becomes set facts, unchangeable.

Now, the dilemma that caused even the Immortal King to fall and pay with his life, lay before Gu Wu Di.

Should he risk falling, to inherit this King of Ten Thousand Tribulations' will and walk the path of becoming the seed? Or take a step back, broadening his horizons, and follow the way of the seed with regular cultivation?

The former led even an Immortal King to death, with his everlasting essence burned to ashes.

Who dares claim they can overcome challenges that an Immortal King could not?

Gu Wu Di fell into deep thought, discarding all distractions, questioning his innermost self on what choice to make.

Ultimately, he chose the former.

"When all heavens and worlds shatter, everything is destroyed, and even the Great Dao ceases to exist, there is only oneself to rely upon." He muttered resolutely, believing that becoming the seed without relying on the vast universe was the strongest path.

"To hear the Dao in the morning, one may die in the evening. Even if I am like a moth to a flame, so what? At least there is a moment of brilliance."

As he thought this way, the long ancient road ahead vanished, replaced by an ancient altar inscribed with mysterious sacrificial texts.

Gu Wu Di immediately understood, this was the breakthrough point left by the King of Ten Thousand Tribulations for those who come after, filled with various arrangements beneficial for those wishing to walk the path of becoming the seed.

He didn't hesitate, stepping forward boldly, heading towards the altar.

At this moment, Gu Wu Di is mirroring the actions of the King of Ten Thousand Tribulations from the past. He seeks to dismantle the notion of equality, to transform the celestial seed into something he fully controls.

Only by doing so can he break the rules and limitations of 'integrating one form within oneself.'