"Fate is unknowable."
As he gazed into the vast and intricate flow of destiny, Gu Chuan couldn't help but feel a deep sense of awe. Even after stepping into the Saint Realm, his Chaos Eight Trigrams technique had undergone a qualitative transformation, yet he still found himself unable to fully decipher the future.
Every choice made would give birth to infinite branches, each leading to an infinite number of futures and an endless array of possibilities. Among them, variables emerged, unpredictable and chaotic.
No matter how much he improved his calculation speed, he could never account for all the outcomes.
The sheer magnitude of possibilities overwhelmed his mind, causing a dull pain to spread through his head, as if it were burning. After all, even a Saint could not easily bear the burden of calculating infinity.
Boom!
In the next instant, Gu Chuan's soul broke free from the illusion of the River of Destiny. He felt a sense of collapse, as though glimpsing into the mysteries of fate had drained a significant amount of his soul energy.
Yet, despite the exhaustion, his efforts were not in vain—this experience had illuminated the future path of cultivation.
"The Saint Realm consists of six stages: Boundless Saint, Primordial Saint, Indistinguishable Dao Saint, World-Creation Saint, Primordial Chaos Saint, and at the pinnacle—the Lord of the Universe."
A sharp light flashed in Gu Chuan's eyes.
The Boundless Saint was the lowest level of Saints, yet even at this stage, one had complete dominion over a Great Dao. Such Saints possessed the power to manifest dimensional realms—conceptual spaces shaped by their Dao.
For instance, a Saint who wielded the Dao of Fire could create a Flame Dimension, while one who mastered the Dao of Earth could give rise to an Earth Dimension. These realms were inhospitable to ordinary life but perfectly suited for elemental beings.
The countless dimensional realms scattered across the multiverse were, in fact, the creations of Boundless Saints.
Yet, while these realms were not ideal for ordinary life, they were rich in dimensional energy, making them invaluable.
At the Primordial Saint stage, one's power expanded even further. A Primordial Saint fully mastered nine Daos, granting them the ability to create Small Thousand Worlds—self-sustaining realms where ordinary life could thrive.
However, these worlds were limited in size and growth.
Because the creation of a Small Thousand World was relatively simple for Primordial Saints, many in later eras treated it as a mere pastime, crafting worlds as easily as children playing with sand.
Advancing to the Indistinguishable Dao Saint stage marked a qualitative leap. At this level, a Saint controlled forty-nine Daos, allowing them to create Great Thousand Worlds—vast and intricate realms teeming with life.
Compared to Small Thousand Worlds, Great Thousand Worlds were incomparably vast.
Their spiritual energy, the abundance of rare treasures, and the sheer quality of lifeforms within them far surpassed those of Small Thousand Worlds. If a Small Thousand World was akin to a primitive tribe, then a Great Thousand World was the equivalent of a dominant civilization—the difference was beyond calculation.
Moreover, lifeforms born within a Great Thousand World were inherently superior. Their bloodlines carried greater potential, allowing them to ascend to higher realms with relative ease.
"So... does this mean I've already reached the level of an Indistinguishable Dao Saint?"
Gu Chuan mused, a trace of excitement flickering in his heart.
He had mastered forty-nine Daos, an achievement that placed him firmly within the Third Stage of the Saint Realm immediately upon his breakthrough.
And he was not far from the Fourth Stage.
His internal energy surged, vast and boundless, making him feel as though he could shape an expansive world and give birth to countless beings with a single thought.
Of course, the nature of the world and life created by a Saint depended on the Daos they had mastered.
A Saint who wielded the Dao of Fire would create a World of Flames, populated by flame-based lifeforms.
A Saint attuned to the Dao of Metal would forge a Metallic World, home to countless metal beings.
A Saint who governed the Dao of Water would birth a Water Realm, teeming with aquatic life.
Thus, each Saint sculpted a unique existence, contributing to the boundless diversity of the Chaosverse.
The next stage, World-Creation Saint, was far beyond the previous realms. At this level, a Saint controlled one hundred and eight Daos, granting them the ability to create Prehistoric Worlds—legendary realms akin to the one formed by Pangu.
Such Saints could manifest true worlds within the Chaos, transcending all previous creations.
Many Prehistoric Saints and Mighty Beings of later generations were born in worlds crafted by such transcendent entities.
"That means... I am not far from Pangu's peak state in the future era."
Gu Chuan's lips curled into a faint smile, though he quickly suppressed his emotions.
Reaching this stage was merely the beginning.
After all, Pangu possessed four Chaos Supreme Treasures, artifacts of unparalleled power. With these alone, his combat strength was unfathomable, making him vastly superior to ordinary World-Creation Saints.
Yet even so, Gu Chuan had already mastered forty-nine Daos, and the gap between him and the one hundred and eight Daos required for the next stage was not insurmountable.
He had only just ascended to the Saint Realm, and already, he stood at the pinnacle of all Demon Gods at birth. Such a foundation was beyond monstrous.
Moreover, his rapid advancement was aided by the Primordial Merit of Chaos, an invaluable force that had played a crucial role in his breakthrough.
For ordinary Demon Gods, merely mastering one Dao was enough to ascend.
Those who mastered three Daos were peerless geniuses.
Those who grasped five Daos were heaven-defying prodigies.
Those who commanded nine Daos were considered once-in-a-generation anomalies.
Yet, Gu Chuan had begun his Saint path with forty-nine Daos—a foundation that defied logic.
At the pinnacle stood the Primordial Chaos Saint, an existence so powerful that not even the legendary Pangu had reached it.
How terrifying was this realm?
At this stage, a Saint mastered one thousand eight hundred Daos, approaching the very limits of the Universe.
Such an existence could destroy and create infinite worlds with a mere thought.
If Pangu had reached this level, opening the Prehistoric World would have been effortless.
Yet, even this was not the ultimate peak.
"Primordial Chaos Saint is not the strongest. The true pinnacle is the Lord of the Universe."
Gu Chuan clenched his fists.
Through his Chaos Eight Trigrams, he had caught a glimpse of the highest realm—a realm beyond all Saints.
The Lord of the Universe.
To reach this level was to have mastered Three Thousand Daos, attaining the state where "I am the Universe, and the Universe is me."
With a single thought, a Universe Lord could restart the cosmos, returning everything to Chaos.
Such an entity was truly omnipotent.
Even the dead could be resurrected—so long as their souls had ever existed within the River of Time and Space, a Universe Lord could effortlessly retrieve them and grant them new life.
In essence, there was almost nothing a Lord of the Universe could not accomplish.
"But... is that truly the ultimate peak?"
A glimmer of uncertainty flickered in Gu Chuan's gaze.
Within his Chaos Eight Trigrams, he sensed something beyond even this realm.
It was obscure, unfathomable—something he was not yet qualified to perceive.