The distinct images, feelings, memories, and emotions of Zhang Xiuzhen, Chen Jianmin, Grandpa, and Grandma, one after another, appeared in Chen Jiuyang's mind.
"I am trapped in time."
"Past, present, future."
"Amitabha."
Chen Jiuyang seemed to be talking to himself, "Ever since I received the divine doctor's inheritance, my world has changed, and time has changed. At first, I was very anxious, rushing everything."
"Later, time seemed to stop."
"I asked myself many questions in the dead of night."
"The things I've done, the people I've met, I've thought about them all, and asked myself."
"What exactly is going on."
"Perhaps this life in the illusion is what I truly desired."
"In the 'present,' I regret some of the things I did in the past, and the future I created due to those regrets."
"I have split myself into three bodies: past, present, and future."
"But no matter what, I am still me."
"I shouldn't have split myself, I shouldn't regret my past self in the 'present,' nor should my 'past' regret my 'future.'"
"I should let my time flow again, let the world come alive again, and watch this world."
Chen Jiuyang understood why he felt a sense of distance and separation upon returning to the mortal realm.
It was because he had fractured himself.
It was because time had stopped.
It was because the world in his eyes had stopped.
Too much time had passed, unnoticed by him.
His eyes were only focused on improving his cultivation, on finding Yao Zixuan, and on eliminating his regrets.
He had been wrong.
By doing so, he had stagnated and taken many detours.
In this illusion of the Second City, he regretted not being able to be with Yao Zixuan until death, and Yao Zixuan regretted not being able to be with him until the end, nor seeing him one last time.
But these were merely illusions, superficialities.
Not the true reason.
With a roar, the confinement that had held Chen Jiuyang for so long began to shake, shatter, and then disappear like a collapsing mountain.
In Chen Jiuyang's eyes, the world began to come alive.
"Jia."
The artifact spirit's voice rang out, "Congratulations, you have mended the loopholes in your Great Dao heart demon."
"The Great Dao, the physical body, the divine soul, the cultivation techniques, and the fundamental laws are all one with the martial path."
"To split them will only lead to stagnation; if one does not realize this, they cannot advance further."
"Rumble!!!"
The oppressive feeling that had weighed on Chen Jiuyang vanished. An unprecedented power surged from within him, his true essence and spiritual energy washing through every part of his body like a tide.
He had regained his strength.
However, his gaze upon the world had changed.
"Crack—"
The cell door opened.
But Chen Jiuyang did not rush to step out. Instead, his divine soul surged, assessing the influence of the sealed Pure Yang Medical Immortal inheritance on him.
"Swish, swish, swish!!!"
Chen Jiuyang's aura began to shift, sometimes splitting and reappearing, then merging back into one, repeating this process.
Only after several days did he slowly open his eyes.
"Now, I finally know myself."
Chen Jiuyang slowly looked down. He was clad in the True Demon Sect's Nine Dragon Robe. The cold, terrifying, vast, and unfathomable aura could only surround him, not engulf him.
He felt his body filled with divine power, infinite and boundless, capable of shattering mountains with a single punch.
His identity, his status, his thoughts, his moves, his divine abilities...
Everything about him had merged into one.
Unity.
No longer separated, no longer fractured.
Before him lay a dark and vast prison, with a martial arts prodigy in each cell.
Cages were everywhere.
The trial of the Second City was about breaking through one's own cage.
He had never felt his breathing so smooth, his internal true essence and spiritual energy so unhindered.
Light shone in from the end of the corridor of cells.
Chen Jiuyang stepped forward slowly, one step at a time.
It was as if he had regained his emotions, like someone blind for many years who could see the light again.
Everything was familiar yet strange.
He was filled with curiosity about all things in the world.
He longed to explore them.
He slowly walked out of the Second City's cage. At the entrance stood an ancient circular platform, inscribed with mysterious, ancient, and majestic characters.
These were Emperor characters, each Martial Emperor having their own unique Emperor character.
Chen Jiuyang stepped onto this circular platform, step by step.
Then.
Heaven and Earth connected, the Great Dao roared and resonated, and endless Dao rhymes emerged from the platform.
Chen Jiuyang immediately fell into enlightenment.
The Yuan Dao Scripture's meaning was being perfected and refined, and Chen Jiuyang gained a deeper understanding of the Yuan Dao.
From his breathing, to his walking, to every movement of his physical body, to how he mobilized and circulated his true essence and spiritual energy, and to every move and divine ability he knew.
And Chen Jiuyang's re-understanding of the entire martial path.
The world in his eyes began to change.
"Rumble!!!"
Thunder and fire intertwined around Chen Jiuyang.
His aura became purer, vaster, his combat power advanced further, but his cultivation level did not increase.
Golden runes connected with the laws of heaven and earth, and Dao rhymes continuously swirled around Chen Jiuyang.
...
"Hmm?"
Outside the Second City, Patriarch Wumian was celebrating, surrounded by female cultivators of various appearances and lower cultivation levels. Two golden, sacred characters slowly formed in his mind.
They were the characters 'Qian Yang'.
This is!!!
Patriarch Wumian's expression was astonished, his eyes revealing shock.
"True Dao attainment! Dao attainment at the Venerable realm!"
This Dao attainment was not the Dao attainment of an Emperor realm, but a martial artist truly possessing their own Dao, qualifying to be inscribed in the river of time or the river of martial arts, leaving behind their true name.
Why could he not be directly summoned as Patriarch? Because once a mark was left, no matter where you were, as long as that name was uttered, the person with the true name would react.
In this way, karma could be directly manifested with that person.
"Remarkable," Patriarch Wumian's eyes showed a look of admiration. "Dao attainment at the Venerable realm, possessing the potential of a Great Emperor, truly astonishing talent!"
"Only twenty-eight years old... and also the Qian Yang Dao Body, truly remarkable, remarkable."
Patriarch Wumian was shocked by Chen Jiuyang.
In a sect resembling a fairyland, located somewhere in the Western Continent of the Small Immortal Realm.
Yao Zixuan, who was cultivating, also felt something. The characters 'Qian Yang' appeared in her sea of consciousness.
Her expression stirred, "This is Jiuyang's aura..."
On Earth, an immeasurable distance away.
True Demon Sect, Han Clan territory.
Han Shaofa, Granny Han, and others simultaneously felt the characters 'Qian Yang' appear in their minds, their expressions filled with shock.
"Imprinting the true name! Could Jiuyang have stepped into the Imperial Dao?!"
Chen Biandao, Deng Zun, Fang Bahua, Han Peiling, and others were all shaken.
Lin Yuexian, Ji Lengyue, and Qiu Yihan, who were taking care of their children, first showed confusion, then looked at Han Shaofa.
"Good news, good news! Hahahaha!" Han Shaofa laughed heartily.
...
In City 318, Emperor Yan, who was recuperating, felt a slight stir in his heart. Then, his eyes opened, and he praised:
"Remarkable!"