(AN: It's later, and I'm sleepy. So, the chapter is not edited and should have more grammar mistakes than usual. Sorry, I'll edit it later.)
—---
"I see this is your main body. Did you finish your retreat?" asked Wang Wei.
"Yes," nodded Wu Hong with shining eyes. However, they quickly dimmed as worry felt her eyes.
"What's wrong? Is the method not feasible?"
Wu Hong paused for a moment before waving her hands to seal the surroundings. Then, she talked to him only through Divine Sense.
"I did finish the method of casting a Perfect Foundation. Well, a better name for it would be Transcendent Foundation."
"You mean, it can help people become detached?" asked Wang Wei with shock; he only thought this method would drastically increase his strength, make his cultivation path smoother, and maybe allow him to intervene in the perfection taboo.
"It's not as Heaven-Defying as you think. It only increases a person's chance of becoming Half-Step Detachment by a few percent."
"Even then, it's style a technique that could cause chaos and disaster in the entire Chaos Universe."
Wang Wei knew his Wu Hong, Sword Empress, Qiyuan, and many of his ancestors were peerless talents who reached the pinnacle of the universe. Yet, none of them could find a path forward to transcendence.
Finally, Qiyuan planned a heaven-shaking plan to gather the luck and power of sentient beings to summon the Ultimate Taboo–giving the entire universe a chance or path toward detachment.
But even then, he still technically failed even though countless Half-Step Transcendent Beings suddenly appeared in the universe.
(AN: Half-Step Detach will now be referred to as Half-Step Transcendent. I like the name better.)
But this [Transcendent Dao Foundation Technique] could increase the probability of someone reaching this realm pursued by countless Paragons, Fiengods, Dao Monarchs, and even Immortal King.
Wang Wei took a moment to inhale and exhaled, calming down, "So, what exactly is this method? How does it work?"
"Grand Dao forbids the existence of [Perfection] because only Transcendents are perfect. You can say the process of becoming detached is a process of becoming the perfect being."
Wang Wei frowned, "I always felt Grand Dao wanted more powerful beings to appear in the universe–including Transcendents. Was I wrong?" He could not think why perfection would become taboo if Grand Dao wanted all sentient beings to reach higher realms.
"You're correct, hence why the Perfection Taboo is divided into Mortal and Perfection, allowing people to slowly study this taboo. However, how could becoming Transcendent be so easy?"
"So, the process of becoming Transcendent is a Hell-Level Copy, but by making Perfection a taboo, Grand Dao elevated it to Nightmare-Level?"
According to the game analogy he used to understand the cultivation world, players began their journey with the Mortal Copy, where their objective is to reach the peak of mortality or the Quasi-Emperor Realm.
The copy has different maps (Great Thousand World or Heaven Will World] and based on the maps and the player's luck, the Mortal Copy has different levels of difficulty. But as their level (cultivation) rises, the difficulty will also increase.
Afterward, it is the Immortal Copy where they have to become eternal by proving the Dao. Once that copy is finished, they have to change the setting (Eternal Ascension World.)
The end of the Immortal Copy is the highest level (Paragon Realm.) Finally, it's the Transcendent Copy, where they have to go beyond the level ceiling of the game.
Unfortunately, the Game Master or Artificial Intelligence (Grand Dao) who controls the game raised the difficulty of the Transcendent Copy from Hell Difficulty to the Nightmare Level by making Perfection a taboo.
Wu Hong was momentarily speechless as this was the perfect analogy to summarize the situation.
"You can think of it that way," she replied.
Wang Wei nodded, "Can you briefly describe this technique?"
"I used the Three Flower Condensing Method to sublimate the Dao Foundation to a sense of perfection," she explained. "Upon success, your three flowers should reach the Zero Level."
She succeeded so quickly because she remembered how he complained about going beyond the First Level Flower and thought of using this method as the foundation for her research.
"Is there something wrong with your method?" asked Wang Wei, remembering her worried look.
"Yes," nodded Wu Hong. "Grand Dao will not allow someone to easily condense such a foundation, and most likely will directly kill you or lower a tribulation even worse than the Supreme Outlaw Trial.
Wang Wei shuddered thinking about these words; he almost died during the Supreme Outlaw Trial, so he could not imagine how terrible the Perfection Trial would be.
"Could we condense the Transcendent Foundation in a place where Grand Dao's power does not exist or is weakened?"
"That's the only way to deal with this problem," replied Wu Hong. "However, the places that fit these criteria are few, and most are Forbidden Lands in Primordial Chaos; they are as dangerous as Grand Dao itself."
Wang Wei frowned, "With the Eternal Ascesion's current situation, we will have to deal with the parasites before searching for these places. No, even if they were not present, I would need to reach a high enough cultivation realm to enter these Forbidden Lands."
He looked at his wife," Do we have to postpone cultivating the technique?"
Wu Hong did not answer him for a moment before looking into his eyes, "Do you trust me?"
"With my life," he replied without hesitation and with a brilliant smile.
"After completing the technique, a sudden message popped into my mind: we need to enter the Dark Truth to establish the perfect foundation?"
"Dark Truth? What's that?"
"Another taboo," replied Wu Hong. "It's a fog that has existed since the beginning of the Chaos Universe, and even Grand Dao cannot get rid of it. It can be found throughout countless Normal and Chaos Worlds.
"Typically, the fog will only remain in these worlds with no purpose. However, once someone enters, they will suffer three fates: die, nothing happens, or be blessed by the fog with treasures, cultivation techniques, increases in talent, and many more."
"Why is that?"
"That's the mystery of the fog: no one knows the criteria which decide whether someone will be blessed and die."
"You said the fog normally remains peaceful. What about other times?"
"It will destroy everything in its path. And it did not matter how many Paragons or Fiendgods tried to stop it–they all died. I believe even Half-Step Transcendent like Maitreya is only bigger ants before the Dark Truth."
Wang Wei frowned, calming down to analyze the situation, "Does our world has a Dark Truth?"
"Yes, at the Extremity Sea at the end of the Endless Void."
"In that case, I will set foot in the Dark Truth after proving the Dao to set up the perfect foundation."
"Are you sure?" asked Wu Hong, worry oozing out of every pore of her body. "You could die."
"Or, I will succeed," he countered with a smile. "I have long understood that certain things do not require logic, calculations, or intelligence: they need a leap of faith.
"Since I trust, I will take that leap."
Wu Hong sighed before putting her head on his chest, "Good. Anyway, there are advantages to using the Dark Truth instead of the others."
"Oh?"
"Resources. According to my calculations, the Transcendent Dao Foundation requires numerous materials–some of which are as rare as the Limit Breaker.
"But if nothing unexpected occurs, the fog should grant you these materials."
"More reason to use it," commented Wang Wei.
"Maybe," muttered Wu Hong lost in thought. She was worried about Wang Wei's safety, but there was nothing she could do. However, her other worried was her main body.
'Will she also take a leap of faith? Very unlikely.' She groaned.
'Whatever: let nature take its course.'
"I will go prepare before we go on our vacations."
"Okay."
Wang Wei left the manor as he summoned Wang Ju to Tianwei Peak. He wanted to deal with the sect's affairs while being updated on the things that had occurred since his seclusion.
According to his calculation, 225,000 years passed, and with the 10 times Time Acceleration Formation he set, he experienced over 2 million years. However, the time he spent more than 730 million years comprehending the laws, tempering his body, and so on.
'My Primordial Spirit allows me to divide my mind into trillions, drastically increasing my comprehension. So, I spend at least a few trillion comprehending the law: no wonder my Dao Tree turned purple gold," pondered Wang Wei, realizing how awesome and broken he was.
"However, this generation is probably only 300,000 years, but it's already time for the final battle: it's really short." His father's generation lasted more than 600,000 years before the current one began, Of course, most of the people in that generation were Saint and had to seal themselves to live this long.
Wang Wei looked in the distance as he noticed something with his Divine Sense.
"Why are there so many Alchemists at the foot of the mountain?" The main city of the sect, located at the foot of the mountain, contained an abnormal amount of Alchemist or Pill Refiner.
"Could it be?" he muttered as he thought of something. The power of fate flashed in his eyes.
"Liling became the first Pill Refiner to create an Immortal Pill, and Heavenly Dao rewarded her with immense merit. Then, countless alchemists from all five continents came to worship the sect; they wanted to see her, worship her as a master, or learn from her.
"Not bad; she did not shame her status as my little sister."
Wang Wei then flew to Tianwei Peak.