Chapter 5: Prologue (5)

As Zenith Heaven Emperor reached the pinnacle of cultivation, he followed in the footsteps of the Ruism Holy Man and the Heavenly Emperor before him and created his own Way of Eternal Life. Drawing upon his vast knowledge from his previous life, he thought about many novels he read, before finally deciding to incorporate the powers of some of the Pathways from Lord of the Mysteries into his Way of Eternal Life.

Referencing the powers of the Fool, Error, Door, Visionary, Twilight Giant, Darkness, Black Emperor, and Justicar pathways, he worked tirelessly to create his masterpiece. When he finally completed it, he realized the true extent of its power. It was a monster of his own creation, far stronger than any Way of Eternal Life that ever existed.

He named it the "Way of the Mysteries", a name he gave it in honor of the original work from where he took the powers of the pathways. With this new Way of Eternal Life, Zenith Heaven Emperor knew that he would be able to achieve heights that no other cultivator had ever even dreamed of.

The Way of the Mysteries is split into six different paths, originating from the six pathways they were created from. Although they retained their name, some of them had some changes.

The Fool Pathway of Zenith Heaven Emperor's Way of Eternal Life is centered around the theme of theatrics. It enables him to fool perceptions and reality by using illusions, manipulating appearances, controlling people as marionettes, divination, and strong muscle and facial expression control. This pathway's authority represents Mysteries and Changes.

With the power of the Fool Pathway, he can shape-shift into anyone or even objects, regardless of gender or appearance. This also is by no means restricted by the size of the designated person or object. If required, Zenith Heaven Emperor can easily transform into a giant dragon.

He can also manipulate the threads of destiny to take control of a person and turn them into his marionette. Although the manipulated people are dead for all intents and purposes, they still retain a soul.

Furthermore, he can summon Historical Projections - people or objects that existed in the past - for a limited time. The more detailed and better his understanding of the corresponding piece of history and matters, the higher the chance of success and the longer it will last. This is by no means restricted to only once, he can summon the same person on multiple occasions. Moreover, this isn't restricted to one summon at a time.

Due to him being the reincarnation of a person that read the novel Cultivation Chat Group many times, he has a very good understanding of most of the most powerful people. This ability is perfect for someone like him.

He can also use the power of Grafting to reassemble physical objects and abstract concepts into something different, resulting in an unbelievable effect. This allows him to change the definition, logic, orientation, or rules of the objects and concepts.

In addition, he can fool history by splitting the past and future of an object, allowing it to return to a previous state or position. He can also fool time by making moments last longer than they should and getting rid of any restrictions put by others' time control abilities. He can even fool fate and change conceptualized objects or Grafted concepts to affect the environment.

The simplest implementation of the Fooling ability is Blind Stupidity, which greatly lowers others' IQ forcefully so that they are unable to have proper thoughts. This can even affect the Heavenly Way.

As part of his Way of Eternal Life, Zenith Heaven Emperor incorporated the powers of the Pathways from Lord of the Mysteries. Specifically, the Error Pathway, which is known for its ability to steal from others and exploit loopholes in the rules, is among those he likes the most.

With this Pathway, Zenith Heaven Emperor can trick others through illusions, steal his opponents' abilities, and even steal abstract concepts such as life, destiny, and fate. He can also become a literal parasite and live in a host, using two different modes to control or simply observe them.

Additionally, Zenith Heaven Emperor can separate some of his Way of Eternal Life and create avatars that can operate independently from his main body. He can choose whether or not to synchronize information with these avatars, giving him greater versatility and flexibility.

Through the Error Pathway, Zenith Heaven Emperor can fix all errors and create errors within everything that seems normal or abnormal. He can exploit any loophole that exists, even creating an error to let his shadow replace him, allowing his true body to remain unharmed.

With the power of theft, Zenith Heaven Emperor can steal anything, including time from his target's lifespan, which not only increases his own lifespan but also eventually leads to the target's death from exhausting their natural lifespan. He can also steal abstract concepts like someone's childhood and teenage phases, instantly aging them. Moreover, he can steal fate, identity, and self-awareness, giving him immense control over his opponents.

The Error Pathway also allows him to become a literal parasite and latch onto a target's body, making the target his host. In concealed mode, he can hide within the host's body and observe everything they see and hear. However, he cannot fully control their host nor steal their thoughts directly. In controlling mode, he nearly fuses with their host's soul body, enabling full control over the body and understanding all their host's thoughts and intentions. This like any other ability can also be executed by his avatars.

As part of his Way of Eternal Life, Zenith Heaven Emperor incorporated the Door Pathway, which centers around space manipulation. With the highest space powers at his disposal, he has the ability to precisely locate the position of anything he desires, no matter where it is in the world. As the embodiment of the "Door" concept, he can effortlessly open all doors, thereby allowing interaction between enclosed spaces or the open environment.

Furthermore, he can strengthen and weaken all forms of sealing, making him an expert in overcoming restrictions and barriers.

Aside from this, it massively strengthened all space abilities he already owned.

The Visionary Pathway is a crucial part of Zenith Heaven Emperor's Way of Eternal Life. With a focus on the mind, he has developed skills in psychological manipulation, mind-reading, emotional discernment, and even hypnotism. With his mastery of acting, he can show the perfect emotional reaction in any situation, and his understanding of expression and body language allows him to control others without their realization.

At the heart of his Visionary abilities is his power of Envisioning. With this, he can manipulate reality through his thoughts and imaginations, and any future he Envisions will inevitably come to pass.

One of the most remarkable aspects of his Visionary abilities is that the more you know about him, the more he knows about you. He can use this knowledge to manipulate and control those around him, even affecting reality through his thoughts and dreams.

But that's not all - his mastery of the Visionary Pathway allows him to manipulate reality through his thoughts and imaginations. He can envision a future and make it a reality, turning his prophecies into self-fulfilling events.

Moreover, any object he imagines can be conjured into existence.

In the Twilight Giant part of Zenith Heaven Emperor's Way of Eternal Life, he embodies the theme of a Combat Master. This section of his Way grants him traditional warrior abilities that allow him to dominate in combat, both offensively and defensively. With ease, he can master all weapons, conjure powerful armor and weapons, destroy evil spirits, take damage for others, enter an almost unbreakable defensive stance, and wield extreme strength, speed, and agility.

One of the most significant aspects of the Twilight Giant section is its connection to the authority over Twilight. With this authority, Zenith Heaven Emperor can manipulate the power of the dusk to his advantage. Merely being present is enough to bring about the power of Twilight, which induces the wither and decay of all things around him. The Twilight Aura that he emanates is a potent force that can weaken even the strongest of opponents.

The Darkness Pathway in Zenith Heaven Emperor's Way of Eternal Life is a powerful tool in his arsenal. It revolves around the theme of Night and has abilities related to souls and secrecy. One of its key abilities is concealment, which allows Zenith Heaven Emperor to hide things from others by turning them into a state of secrecy. This is particularly useful when he wants to keep certain information hidden from his enemies.

In addition to concealment, the Darkness Pathway also gives Zenith Heaven Emperor the ability to sense changes in fate. This allows him to stay one step ahead of his opponents, as he can predict their actions and adjust his own strategy accordingly. The power of the Darkness Pathway can also be used to bring misfortune to others, adding an extra layer of defense to Zenith Heaven Emperor's already formidable abilities.

The Black Emperor Pathway of Zenith Heaven Emperor's Way of Eternal Life is a formidable force, centered around the theme of Exploiting Order. With this power, he has the ability to manipulate rules to suit his own order, becoming a master of loophole exploitation and bribery. His physical prowess is unparalleled, and he has the ability to distort words, actions, and intent, leading to a complete domination of others.

Through the Black Emperor Pathway, Zenith Heaven Emperor has become proficient in exploiting abstract laws and manipulating the environment to his advantage. He can magnify the effect of his actions and isolate a location from the outside world, making it impervious to outside influences. One of the most incredible aspects of his power is his ability to infinitely resurrect himself, as long as a certain amount of his order remains in place.

The authority that he represents is that of Disorder, allowing him to disrupt the natural order of things and create a new order that is entirely in his favor. With the power of the Black Emperor Pathway at his disposal, Zenith Heaven Emperor is a force to be reckoned with, capable of achieving feats that were previously thought impossible.

Zenith Heaven Emperor's Way of Eternal Life includes the Justicar Pathway, which is focused on enforcing order. This part of his way is incredibly potent at setting laws and punishing those who break them. He has the ability to establish rules that will inflict punishments if they are not followed, and he can even directly attack the minds and souls of those who oppose him.

One of the most impressive abilities of the Justicar Pathway is the power to recognize people supernaturally and detect abnormalities in the environment around him. He can use all kinds of weapons and explosives to enforce his rules and set "verdicts" and "rules" that his targets must follow.

With his Decree of Order ability, he has the power to halt any chaos in a region and enforce order as he sees fit. For example, he can declare that in a certain area time will flow backwards, and it will happen. He can even declare an order that affects the world at an abstract conceptual level. These declared rules are active until someone breaks them or he takes them back. To break them requires a high degree of knowledge of the concept of the rule to be broken.

Furthermore, he can detect anyone, even those in a concealed state, through the disorder of the surrounding area. In short, the Justicar Pathway is an incredibly powerful tool that the Zenith Heaven Emperor can use to maintain order and enforce his will.