Fang Yuan placed great importance on this premonition.
In his previous life, he had stumbled upon the opening of Tao Zhu's True Inheritance among the Five Peaks Mountain by chance, only to fail in obtaining it. Afterwards, he had experienced a similar sensation — a vague awareness in the back of his mind that he had missed a tremendous opportunity. And that missed opportunity would come to haunt him deeply in the future.
Sure enough!
In the subsequent Great War of Central Continent, the Five Peaks Great Limitation Formation had played a pivotal role. Had Fang Yuan mastered this method, he would not only have been able to counter Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's Endless Chain of Formations, but even killing moves like Hero Among Men could have been handled with the Five Restriction Mysterious Light Qi.
And now, facing the Bean God Palace, that same premonition had returned.
"However, this time the premonition differs from my previous life. This time it came before I made my choice, whereas in my last life, I only felt it after the fact — after I had already lost Tao Zhu's True Inheritance."
"Could this also be a form of progress?"
"If so, what caused this progress?"
Fang Yuan sank into contemplation.
He was deeply interested in the premonition itself. But what interested him even more was what had caused it to arise.
After careful deduction, Fang Yuan found the answer — path mastery levels!
"My Wisdom Path mastery is the primary factor. A Wisdom Path Grandmaster can produce intuition, and a Wisdom Path Perfection Master can draw inferences from other cases. Wisdom Path Gu Immortals who cultivate thoughts, intent, and emotions find that the arising of any emotion is itself a significant omen — fundamentally different from Gu Immortals of other paths."
"Next is Fortune Path. Fortune Path concerns change and transformation. My Fortune Path has reached the Grandmaster level, so it has also produced intuitive sensitivity."
"Then there is Time Path. In my previous life, the Time Path mastery was already playing a role when I sensed the loss of Tao Zhu's True Inheritance. In this life, my Time Path mastery has reached quasi-supreme, so it can attune to certain future scenarios with far greater clarity. It is precisely this change that has enabled me to sense ahead of time the importance of this choice!"
The explosive growth of his Time Path mastery had reversed the chronological order between premonition and event — a qualitative leap!
"Finally, there is Wood Path mastery. Because this concerns the Bean God Palace, and my Wood Path mastery was previously quite ordinary, the premonition was not sensitive. But after I became a Wood Path Perfection Master, the premonition finally gained its last missing piece and took shape."
Wisdom Path mastery, Fortune Path mastery, Time Path mastery, Wood Path mastery…
These four great mastery levels complemented one another, together producing a miraculous premonition.
An ordinary Gu Immortal could never hope to achieve this. Fang Yuan, a unique case who cultivated multiple paths simultaneously, was likely the only one of his kind to date.
More precisely, five hundred years ago in his previous life, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable had refined the Supreme Immortal Zombie Gu, making him a Supreme Immortal Body as well.
As for the future — that remained uncertain.
In the days ahead, dreams would emerge everywhere. Through dreams, Gu Immortals would be able to achieve rapid advancement in the mastery levels of various paths.
If those mastery levels were combined, they might also yield a premonition of sorts.
Fang Yuan continued his careful analysis: "The foundation of premonition is Wisdom Path mastery. The level of Time Path mastery determines whether the premonition comes before or after the event. Fortune Path mastery allows me to be more sensitive to the trends of certain changes. And the mastery levels of Wood Path and other paths determine the scope of the premonition."
[[[lang:en]] "It was only because my Wood Path mastery improved that this premonition became clear. In the future, once I supplement my mastery in all the other paths, I'll be able to foresee matters in every domain. What kind of realm would that be?"
A single phrase flashed through Fang Yuan's mind in an instant — omniscience and omnipotence!
"No, omnipotence is still far beyond reach, but omniscience is something I can attain." His expression was solemn.
When mastery across all paths reached a sufficient level, it would be possible to achieve a comprehensive premonition encompassing all things. At that point, one's foresight would be virtually omniscient.
"If I were to develop extraordinary mastery in every path on top of the Supreme Immortal Body, wouldn't that be virtually omnipotence?"
"Omniscience and omnipotence…" Fang Yuan murmured the words, a jolt running through his heart, light flashing in his eyes. "If I reached that level, the path to pursuing eternal life would surely become clear!"
Fang Yuan was secretly thrilled.
Though his experience was vast and he had been reborn many times over, his past knowledge had long since stopped being of much use to him.
In many situations, many matters, he still had to feel his way forward through trial and practice.
Take the matter of Ninth Transformation Venerable cultivation, for example. The Dao Marks on his body had already surpassed the limits of the Eighth Transformation. After devouring the Qi Aspect Cave Heaven, the tribulation had jumped forward as well, which should have pushed him beyond the Eighth Transformation's range.
Yet he had not advanced to the Ninth Transformation.
How to become a Ninth Transformation Venerable was something he still needed to figure out.
And now, from this single premonition, he had grasped the mysteries of these various realms and gained the unexpected reward of simultaneous cultivation across paths.
An ordinary Gu Immortal might have stopped at that, but Fang Yuan, digging to the very root of the matter, had once again uncovered a glimmer of hope for eternal life!
No Venerable throughout history had ever achieved eternal life. Fang Yuan had only possessed the goal of it. As for how to actually realize that goal, he had had no concept, no viable idea.
And now, at last, from a small premonition, he had worked out a path that might lead to eternal life!
"I still don't know exactly how to achieve eternal life, but omniscience and omnipotence are the foundation. First, I must destroy the Fate Gu and make eternal life possible. Then I must strive to attain omniscience and omnipotence!"
"To achieve omniscience, I must explore the Dream Realm and raise my mastery across all paths."
"To achieve omnipotence, I must rely on the Supreme Immortal Body to cultivate every path and firmly master all means at my disposal."