In the matter of divine powers and Dao arts, Kaihuang's Sword Dao was the swiftest, straight and direct, its edge revealed in a single stroke; Celestial Master Hao's divine power was of another order, and only now had its full might erupted. He disdained the Acquired Great Dao; all that he cultivated was the Innate Great Dao. The Acquired Great Dao came in endless varieties, and to this day only a scant few could be cultivated to their summit — the Dao of Creation of the Chiming Era, the Sword Dao of the Kaihuang Era. Among them all, Kaihuang's Sword Dao stood supreme, cultivated to the thirty-fourth heaven of the Sword Dao. Even the Dao of Creation of the Chiming Era had never reached the heights of the Sword Dao. The Innate Great Dao was different. The Innate Great Dao had the ancient gods for its template; many cultivated it, for from the ancient gods much knowledge could be drawn, and the way in was far easier. Throughout history, many a mighty one of the Imperial Throne had contemplated the various ancient gods and awakened cultivation arts of the Throne for himself. As a Celestial Master, Hao had the easiest access to such arts, and his demigod bloodline made learning them all the lighter. His comprehension of the Innate Great Dao, though not so monstrous as Kaihuang's thirty-fourth heaven, had still attained an extraordinary height. His Myriad Dao Domain erupted, crushing Kaihuang's Sword Dao Domain to fragments. The storm stirred up by the shattered Sword Dao Domain and the Myriad Dao Domain swept all around, destroying everything; only the Lingxiao Hall behind Kaihuang, the hall behind Celestial Master Hao, and the buildings behind Celestial Master Qiang and Divine King Langwan were left standing. Beyond that, the Jade Capital City was all but swept clean! Celestial Master Hao's face darkened. Looking at the sword wound on his right hand, he said in a low voice: "Shen Ye, as the eighth Celestial Master of the Longhan Era, you are still a little short of the mark." Kaihuang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth — clearly his wounds were far from light — and said lightly, as though he spoke of wind and clouds: "You had more than nine hundred thousand years on me, and only then cultivated to this step. Hao, you are old; you will advance no further. But I am still advancing." His body quivered, and a Sword Celestial Palace leapt forth behind him. He said unhurriedly: "In those years, Celestial Master Mu and you together taught the world the method of becoming a god, and at the end you said that Celestial Master Yu had deduced that a Heavenly Court realm also existed. Yet to my mind, the Heavenly Court realm is gilding the lily." Celestial Master Hao stared at that Sword Celestial Palace, his pupils contracting sharply. The eyes of Celestial Master Qiang and Celestial Master Xiao likewise fell upon the Sword Celestial Palace, filled with doubt. Kaihuang was too strong — and yet he had only one Celestial Palace. That was all but impossible! His combat strength, measured against the present Ten Celestial Masters, could be ranked in the middle and lower reaches! With a single Celestial Palace, how could he possess such power? "I cultivate only one Sword Celestial Palace, and in a mere forty thousand years I can stand alongside you so-called Ten Celestial Masters." Kaihuang smiled faintly and said slowly: "To cultivate thirty-six Celestial Palaces and seventy-two Treasure Halls and thereby perfect the Heavenly Court — it is no more than that, a waste of effort that can never be refined to completion. The Heavenly Court realm is only Celestial Master Yu's conjecture; to my mind it does not exist. In truth there is no Divine realm, nor any Celestial Palace or Heavenly Court realm. After the Divine Treasury there is only one realm, and that is the Dao realm! Hao, Qiang, Xiao — you have all taken the wrong path." Celestial Master Hao sneered: "You are wounded, more gravely than I. What idle talk is this?" Celestial Master Xiao stood to one side, lost in thought, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. Celestial Master Qiang frowned, pondering bitterly, and shook his head. Kaihuang flicked his sword with his finger; the note rang clear and lingering. He said unhurriedly: "When the road runs out, build a Divine Bridge. The Celestial Palace realm, the Heavenly Court realm — these were only one possibility Celestial Master Yu conceived when he found no road at the end of the Divine Bridge realm. But only a possibility. What if there were no Divine Bridge realm at all?" Divine King Langwan blinked, watching him with curiosity, deeply stirred in heart. Celestial Master Qiang, Celestial Master Xiao, and Celestial Master Hao were stirred far more deeply. And in the distance, Shen Mu, with Long Qilin and Yan'er in tow, dodged the howling torrents of the Sword Dao and the surging floods of the Myriad Dao; hearing these words of Kaihuang's, he could not help but be shaken to the core. At once he understood why Kaihuang had said it. What if there were no Divine Bridge realm at all? In Jingping there was no such realm as the Divine Bridge! The people of Jingping had already replaced the Divine Bridge with the Heavenly River Divine Treasury! The Heavenly River Divine Treasury had been opened up, one after the other, by Xu Shenghua and Shen Mu, and spread throughout Jingping. Kaihuang had left the Carefree Land to journey through Jingping, and plainly what he had seen and heard there stirred him deeply, setting him once more among the ranks of the reformers! Shen Mu's blood surged. The reformation of Jingping had halted after the Heavenly River Divine Treasury was opened; there had been no reform aimed at the Celestial Palace cultivation system. And now Kaihuang had taken this step, opening the way for the reforms to come! He longed to hear this grand master's views, to hear of this so-called Dao realm! "The so-called Divine realm is simply the Celestial Palace realm. The Celestial Palace is nothing but an imitation of the Heavenly Court — refining the false back into the true." Kaihuang laughed: "What if the Longhan Heavenly Court were destroyed? If even the true does not exist, how much less the false? Only the Dao is real; therefore there is only the Dao realm, and no Celestial Palace realm!" "Insolence!" Celestial Master Hao's face was bleak as he said coldly: "Monstrous treason!" Celestial Master Xiao laughed: "Celestial Master Hao, let us hear him out." Kaihuang said: "I have already sensed that the Dao realm has thirty-six levels, divided into thirty-six heavens. Cultivate to the highest level, and it is the Sword Dao Daluo Heaven. At present I have cultivated to the thirty-fourth heaven." He glanced at Celestial Master Hao, then at Celestial Master Qiang and Celestial Master Xiao; his gaze shifted away and came to rest on Celestial Master Yan in the distance, who held a white cat. He smiled: "When I have perfected the thirty-fifth heaven of the Sword Dao, Celestial Master Hao, there will be no difference between us in mana or in combat strength. But when I perfect the Sword Dao Daluo Heaven, even if you perfect the Heavenly Court, you will be no match for me." He waved his sword lightly, and the blood on the blade spattered across the ground like plum blossoms. "By then, you Ten Celestial Masters will witness a miracle such as has never been." Kaihuang laughed: "An Acquired being, become an eternal ancient god of the Sword Dao." Silence fell all around. Celestial Master Xiao's voice came suddenly, a little hoarse: "You mean to become another Grand Emperor — the Grand Emperor of the Sword Dao!" Celestial Master Hao was shaken to the soul, incredulity showing in his eyes, and his gaze snapped onto him! Celestial Master Xiao knew at once that he had misspoken, yet his face did not change. Kaihuang said in surprise: "The Grand Emperor? He has already reached this step? Then he is a fellow seeker of the Dao." Celestial Master Xiao smiled slightly: "I have