At this moment, Zhou Chen hesitated, finding it difficult to make a choice.
After all, transforming stellar particles into miniature universes required an immense amount of Primordial Qi, and if he relied solely on his own cultivation, there was no telling when he might succeed.
With Master Tongtian expounding the Great Dao and providing an endless supply of pure Primordial Qi, however, the process could be accelerated significantly.
Yet, an indestructible Physical Body and an undying primordial spirit were equally crucial; if he failed to master the power of the miniature universes, breaking through would be as good as not breaking through at all.
By then, he might not even be able to control his own body.
A look of internal struggle flickered in Zhou Chen's eyes before he finally made up his mind.
He decided to first bring his Physical Body to the realm of indestructibility and his primordial spirit to the realm of immortality, and only then transform his stellar particles into miniature universes.
After all, Primordial Qi was hardly lacking in the present Primordial World. If worse came to worst, he could scour the vast expanse of the Primordial World for primordial spiritual materials, or search for Mount Fangcun and Mount Yingzhou among the Three Immortals Islands.
His own Physical Body and primordial spirit, however, were of the utmost importance.
Having made his decision, Zhou Chen began his cultivation.
Master Tongtian was still expounding the Great Dao. A thousand years had already passed during this discourse, which was scheduled to last for ten thousand years in total.
Paying no further attention to Master Tongtian's teachings on the Great Dao, Zhou Chen immersed himself entirely in his practice.
As he began to cultivate, the power of time and space surrounding him was instantly repelled.
This commotion startled Master Tongtian, who opened his eyes and looked toward the source of the disturbance. Seeing that it was Zhou Chen, he simply ignored it.
After all, Zhou Chen had already done something similar once before on Mount Kunlun.
Master Tongtian flicked his wrist, casting a barrier of divine power to isolate Zhou Chen from the others so that his practice would not disturb them.
Once Zhou Chen commenced his cultivation, the endless River of Time was summoned, descending directly above his head.
The very instant the River of Time appeared, it immediately caught Master Tongtian's attention.
Master Tongtian gazed at the River of Time hovering above Zhou Chen's head for a moment, then cast another spell to seal off its aura so he could continue lecturing his disciples.
Having witnessed Zhou Chen summon the River of Space-Time back on Kunlun, Master Tongtian did not look too closely this time, failing to realize that this was not the River of Space-Time, but the River of Time.
After a short while, however, Master Tongtian felt that something was amiss. The River of Time was not the River of Space-Time; the two were fundamentally different.
Within the River of Space-Time dwelt boundless forces of time and space, fraught with immense terrors that could easily shred anyone caught unprepared by the temporal and spatial turbulence.
Within the River of Time, by contrast, there existed only the boundless power of time. Though dangers still lurked within, they lacked the terrifying might of space-time.
Realizing this, Master Tongtian directly manifested an avatar to take his place in expounding the Great Dao, while he himself fixed his gaze upon the River of Time.
After sensing it for a moment, Master Tongtian finally realized that what Zhou Chen had summoned this time was actually the River of Time.
Given that his disciple was capable of summoning the River of Space-Time, it stood to reason that Zhou Chen possessed a high degree of mastery over the laws of time and space, making the discovery of the River of Time entirely plausible.
Even so, Master Tongtian was somewhat perplexed. Since Zhou Chen could already summon the River of Space-Time, wouldn't doing so be far better than summoning the River of Time? The River of Space-Time allowed for the simultaneous cultivation of both the laws of time and space, whereas the River of Time contained only the power of time.
What happened next, however, nearly made Master Tongtian's eyes pop out of his head: Zhou Chen leaped directly into the River of Time, allowing the endless power of time to scour his Physical Body and primordial spirit while he frantically absorbed the temporal energy.
This sight profoundly shocked Master Tongtian. Although Master Tongtian was a Sage, even a Sage would not dare enter the River of Time completely unguarded. The River of Time was filled with the power of time—a composite force woven from endless streams of past, present, and future time. Even a Sage would have to keep their distance from such power, and would need to prepare a protective Spiritual Treasure before daring to enter. Who would plunge in recklessly like Zhou Chen, completely without defense, and even madly absorb the power of time? Was he in such a rush to throw his life away?
Master Tongtian prepared himself to rescue Zhou Chen at a moment's notice, ready to pull him out the instant anything went wrong.
Yet, apart from grimacing in agony as he absorbed the power of time, Zhou Chen suffered no mishaps whatsoever.
Seeing that Zhou Chen was safe, Master Tongtian felt a trace of astonishment, but ceased to interfere. He merely kept a sliver of consciousness focused on Zhou Chen to prevent any accidents, and then began to comprehend the power of time himself.
Sages were also known as Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortals, and they too needed to cultivate. However, the cultivation of the Hunyuan Realm was entirely different from that of Daluo Golden Immortals.
The Hunyuan realm involved cultivating the Great Dao and the primal source; comprehending the source of the Great Dao allowed one to elevate one's own Dao.
Below the Hunyuan realm, one cultivated laws; the two were simply incomparable.
With the River of Time manifesting right before him, how could Master Tongtian let such a prime opportunity slip by? He immediately began to comprehend the power of time, using it to gain insight into the Dao of Time.
Zhou Chen knew nothing of this. At this moment, he was still subjecting his Physical Body and primordial spirit to the baptism of the power of time, constantly scouring them with temporal energy. As long as the scouring reached its ultimate limit, undying divine light would be born, enabling him to attain the realms of an indestructible Physical Body and an undying primordial spirit.
His Physical Body and primordial spirit were currently undergoing the scouring of the River of Time. Even though both had already undergone a transformation within the River of Space-Time, enduring the scouring of the River of Time still proved to be a grueling trial.
Although his Physical Body and primordial spirit had previously fused with the power of space-time, this power of time encompassed the temporal forces of the past, present, and future. Under its relentless scouring, his very being was continuously cycled and transformed through the past, present, and future, over and over again.
Every return to the past, back to the present, and onward to the future took place in an instant, yet the process of transformation was excruciatingly painful precisely because of its agonizing brevity.
Painful as it was, however, he had to grit his teeth and endure it. This was a cultivation method he had created himself; he had no one else to blame.
He had only perfected the Mythical Daluo Golden Immortal technique up to the Heavenly Immortal Realm, and still had to progress through the True Immortal, Mystic Immortal, Golden Immortal, and Taiyi Golden Immortal realms in the future.
Who knew how many hardships awaited him further down the path? The suffering he endured now was nothing; once he made it through, everything would develop for the better.
Zhou Chen knew all too well the importance of personal strength in the Primordial World.
This was a world governed by the law of the jungle, where weakness did not invite pity, but only fear of those stronger than oneself.
And the Mythical Daluo Golden Immortal technique he had created was the very method that would grant him formidable power.
Having already perfected the Earth Immortal and Heavenly Immortal realms, and having successfully cultivated the Earth Immortal realm, neither Taiyi Golden Immortals nor Golden Immortals were a match for him with a single blow of his hand. Though he had never met a Daluo Golden Immortal, his strength should already be comparable to one.
Now that the cultivation method for the Heavenly Immortal Realm had been created, he had to succeed in practicing it. Once he mastered the Heavenly Immortal Realm technique, he could only imagine how powerful he would become.
By then, he would surely have stepped into the ranks of the strong within the Primordial World.
With this thought in mind, Zhou Chen gritted his teeth against the agony and continued to scour his body with the River of Time.
As time flowed on, three thousand years slipped by unawares.
Over the course of three thousand years, Zhou Chen's Physical Body and primordial spirit had been scoured by the River of Time to their absolute limits, to the point where the power of time no longer had any effect on them.
At that exact moment, two rays of undying divine light ignited from deep within Zhou Chen's body.
Sensing the undying divine light, Master Tongtian snapped to attention. He gazed at the two brilliant rays, the corners of his mouth twitching involuntarily.
Undying divine light—this was actual undying divine light! Never had he imagined that his disciple would actually give birth to undying divine light, and two rays of it at that. It was a staggering surprise.
As the undying divine light took form, it merged directly into Zhou Chen's Physical Body and primordial spirit.
At that moment, an aura of indestructibility radiated from Zhou Chen's Physical Body, while his primordial spirit, having fused with the undying divine light, likewise ascended to the realm of the undying primordial spirit.
Sensing this aura of indestructibility, Master Tongtian's eyes widened in disbelief, his pupils contracting sharply as he stared at Zhou Chen.
Zhou Chen, unaware of any of this, felt a surge of exhilaration within his heart. Having endured the scouring of the River of Time, he had finally attained the realm of an indestructible Physical Body and an undying primordial spirit.