Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Su Zhou could feel that every single corpse here had been an unimaginably terrifying powerhouse in life—capable of effortlessly annihilating a world.

But now, they were all dead… dead in a mysterious… forbidden taboo.

“The Dao of Heaven and Earth is wrong…”

“Defy life through nine layers, reconstruct a new realm!”

“They were afraid!”

“So even the so-called taboos know fear!”

“Successor, to be able to arrive here, you are the only one in all eternity!”

“The Dao of the future is also wrong!”

“Successor, change everything. They were afraid! They were terrified, and so they twisted the road ahead. All who come after are mistaken…”

“But… you may walk alone!!” Countless ancient voices echoed in Su Zhou’s mind.

Some were deranged, some arrogant, some content—but without exception, all carried terrifying Dao resonance.

Immediately after, endless insights surged into Su Zhou’s mind like a tidal wave.

Heaven and earth were being overturned, the Great Dao was weeping, the laws were wailing—a nameless sorrow welled up in his heart.

Before Su Zhou’s eyes, all Daos and all laws were transforming and sublimating.

In his sight, the Great Daos that all cultivators pursued appeared in concrete form—

They were roads, roads stretching from the great void, from above the heavens, originating from all origins—

Twisted roads!!

That’s right!!

Every path of the Dao was covered in countless crimson “willow catkins”*, and behind every technique hid pairs upon pairs of scarlet eyes!

[*Normally benign, poetic imagery, but here used grotesquely—describing scarlet, possibly parasitic growths or infestations that corrupt the Dao paths.]

Within those eyes lay desire, brimming with greed—they dwelled atop the Great Dao of the heavens, watching the mortal world, viewing countless cultivators as…

Delicacies!!!

“The Dao… is wrong!!” Su Zhou looked at everything before him and felt an invisible shadow looming over all of the myriad worlds.

The Nine Heavens, the Ten Earths, and the Three Thousand Great Domains, with their countless planets and boundless starfields, had birthed innumerable heaven-defying geniuses and monstrous talents.

But…

All of that, before the shadow that reigned supreme over the Dao, was nothing but dishes on a banquet table.

And based on the voices of these ancient corpses, Su Zhou had formed a terrifying conjecture.

Even he couldn’t help but feel a chill when he thought of it.

“The Great Dao is twisted, all methods are wrong—could it be that all current cultivation methods are mistaken?!”

“Tempering blood, transforming qi, meridians unblocking, unlocking the nine orifices… are all of these realms wrong?!”

In Su Zhou’s eyes, it was as if countless galaxies were trembling. The paths walked by innumerable cultivators, the Daos extended by thousands of geniuses—all of it… was wrong??

It was unimaginable. If anyone else knew what Su Zhou now felt, the impact would be earth-shattering.

It might even overturn everything across the Nine Heavens, Ten Earths, and Three Thousand Great Domains in an instant!!

To think that the path of cultivation had been twisted—what despair, what horror that must bring.

Even Su Zhou… had walked this wrong path…

But unlike all other cultivators, Su Zhou had the chance to begin again!

And that was—the Taboo Technique, Ninefold Reversal of the Dao!

After sensing the sea-like insights flooding his mind, the power of the Ninefold Reversal began to emerge.

Its purpose was—to reconstruct everything, and forge a path that belonged to him alone, unlike any other.

…

‘A path that would shine through the ages—’the only “correct” one!

Su Zhou could feel the transformation within his body, and his heart was already clear on everything.

“The realms before the Star-Holding Stage aren’t wrong—they’re just laying the foundation for what’s to come. The real error begins at Star Holding!”

After the Star Holding Stage, cultivators temper stars within their bodies, condensing fragments of laws onto those stars. Only at this stage does one truly step into cultivation…

But it’s at this stage that everything becomes twisted!

Some unspeakable horror has entrenched itself atop the Great Dao, distorting everything!

“What should I do…” Su Zhou murmured.

Then in the blink of an eye, towering figures began appearing before his eyes.

They spanned countless star rivers, with the sun and moon seeming like mere decorations beside them. Myriad Daos draped around them like obedient pets.

It was unimaginable—what kind of beings could possess such terrifying power?

“Successor… everything is yours…”

“Of all time and space, throughout the eternal heavens and earth, only you have reached this realm.”

“Watch well the path… we walked…”

“Then… achieve the one and only!”

One by one, these terrifying figures became real, though their faces remained unseen, as if obscured by some higher law, a power beyond the Dao.

Then, Su Zhou saw one of them step forward, stars from across the heavens hanging at his side. He turned Dao into stars, and became their master—his brilliance unparalleled!

Next, the figure vanished. Another awe-inspiring form emerged in the void—his body was unimaginably strong, with no phenomena surrounding him.

But…

Within each surge of his blood essence roared endless laws!

His body stood on par with heaven and earth—a single strand of his hair could annihilate all things!

He had refined himself to the ultimate limit. He did not control the Dao—he was the Dao! All worlds bowed before him!

Next, a strange pattern emerged.

In an instant, it seemed to trigger a forbidden force—endless divine markings and Dao rhythms surged wildly. That towering figure vanished, replaced by a figure in white robes.

He tread beyond the star river, and wherever he went, boundless divine formations paved the path, tens of thousands of deities wailed—stars and worlds were but fragments of his formation.

Following that, more terrifying beings began displaying their paths before Su Zhou.

A single pill suppressing the heavens. A withered leaf ending the world. An ancient melody breaking dawn.

At the end of it all, they stood outside the star river, in that ravaged land, gazing thoughtfully at Su Zhou.

“We wish you well, fellow Daoist—the one and only through the ages!!”

“Hahahaha! Successor!! Blast it all apart!”

“We were useless… may you reshape everything!”

As they spoke, their figures faded one by one, turning into laws and Dao rhythms that flowed into Su Zhou’s body.

Su Zhou stood in that ancient desolation, surrounded by boundless Daos.

Paths leading to the pinnacle lay waiting for him to choose.

Any of them could help Su Zhou break through the worldly maze of ‘errors’.

But the knowledge of even a single path, if leaked even slightly, would drive unimaginably terrifying beings into madness and bloodshed…

Yet, facing these nearly perfect paths, Su Zhou’s gaze remained calm—neither joyful nor sorrowful.

“I will forge my own path!!”

“Only the self… is real and true!!”

As Su Zhou spoke, his gaze grew more resolute—and then, all the other paths shattered!!

They turned into the purest Dao rhythms, flooding into Su Zhou’s body.

“Everything is me!”

“The myriad Daos shall follow my heart!”

As he spoke, the stars within Su Zhou’s body emerged one by one—each carrying the aura of a Dao. The Three Thousand Daos roared once more.

Reflected in the heavens, even the skies began to change. Each star was enough to obliterate a peer of the same realm.

Then… those stars shattered and burst apart, turning into purest Dao laws, merging into Su Zhou’s body.

All the Dao rhythms of the Three Thousand Daos surged into him, making him appear as if he were a god, transcending all realms!

He was still at the Star Holding Realm, but… he no longer condensed stars outside himself—instead, he refined them within, allowing every Dao and every law to move according to his will.

This was the path Su Zhou walked…

The Supreme Path!!

Footnotes

禁忌 (jìnjì) – “Taboo”: In cultivation contexts, this often refers to forbidden knowledge, techniques, or truths that defy cosmic order or invite catastrophic consequences if tampered with.

逆生九重 (nì shēng jiǔ chóng) – “Ninefold Reversal of Life”: A fictional forbidden cultivation method in this context, meant to defy fate or Dao through nine extreme transformations or layers.

执星境 (zhí xīng jìng) – “Star Holding Realm”: A cultivation stage where practitioners begin to wield stars within themselves, integrating fragments of cosmic laws. Appears to be a pivotal stage in this system.

柳絮 (liǔxù) – “Willow Catkins”: Normally benign, poetic imagery, but here used grotesquely—describing scarlet, possibly parasitic growths or infestations that corrupt the Dao paths.

三千大道 (sān qiān dà dào) – “Three Thousand Great Daos”: A classical metaphor representing the infinite variety of cultivation paths or laws in the universe.

一丹压天，残叶灭世，古乐破晓

一丹压天 (yī dān yā tiān) – “A single pill suppresses the heavens”: Likely denotes a Daoist who reached the pinnacle of alchemy.

残叶灭世 (cán yè miè shì) – “A withered leaf destroys the world”: Possibly referencing a Daoist using minimal power for maximal effect, akin to sword cultivators or sages.

古乐破晓 (gǔ yuè pò xiǎo) – “Ancient music breaks the dawn”: Likely refers to a cultivator whose music manipulates laws or creation itself.