After Wang Wei was ejected out of the Pagoda Trial, he stood there pondering for a few moments.
In the past few months, he had already passed five trials, but two of them had the most influence on him.
This first of which was when he was shown his true self in the Chamber of Mirrors of Retributions. The second one was this trial of greed for power.
Both of them invoked the same message: What price are you willing to achieve your goals?
Wang Wei was a confident man. He believed that with his methodical plans, he had more than 80% chance of proving the Dao and becoming a Great Emperor. But he could not answer with any certainty whether he would change throughout his journey to the top, whether he could still maintain his original heart.
As the saying goes, "time is the enemy of us all". This saying could be interpreted in many ways. For mortals, time is the driving force that leads them to the eternal silence known as death. And the same could be said for cultivators. Although the process will be longer for them.
But what about Great Emperors? They have escaped the shackles of time and have infinite lifespans. So what is the meaning of time for them?
Well now Wang Wei understood that time is an eternal test for Great Emperors. Can their heart and mind withstood the ravage of time? Are they their true self after experiencing the vicissitude of time?
Time is an eternal test that will forever plague cultivators that have escaped its shackles. You could even say that time itself is a curse for them. Or to be precise, this is the causal relationship between Time and the people who have escaped its shackles: the cause is that you have acquired an infinite lifespan, and the effect is that you will forever be corroded by time until you become numb or something unrecognizable.
Wang Wei realized that his focus when cultivating from now on was to always recognize who he truly was and not to forget his original purpose for cultivating.
And what was that purpose?
To become Emperor? No, that was just the eventual process of his cultivation, not his true purpose.
His true purpose was to be free and unfettered: to be free from the shackles of time and space, life and death, cause and effect, and even be free from fate itself.
Wang Wei believed that fate was the greatest enemy to his path of freedom. As such, the Dao of Fate will be the main Dao he cultivated in the future and the Dao he will use to become a Great Emperor.
Only by understanding the machination of fate can it be controlled, played with, then destroyed. When the day comes when he can do all of these, he will truly be free and unfettered.
After understanding all of these, Wang Wei's Dao Heart sublimated. A shadow of an emperor that ruled the Heaven of All Myriad Beings appeared behind him.
This was Wang Wei's proof of a Young Emperor. Unlike last time, this shadow was no longer as illusory. Furthermore, the face of Wang Wei was clearly visible this time.
As soon as the shadow appeared, a grand and powerful aura enveloped the disciples and elders who were watching the Fifth Trial outside. Many people had the urge to bow down to this supreme being, and many people did.
Some disciples with weak cultivation levels or weak will kneeled in the ground and dare not look at Wang Wei. As for the rest of the people, although they did not kneel on the floor, the awe they had for Wang Wei as the Young Sect Master was exponentially increased.
The Young Emperor Shadow of Wang Wei lasted longer than the first time, but soon, it also faded away. It seems that he had not reached the point worthy to bear the title of Young Emperor.
After the sublimation of his Dao Heart and the dissipation of the Young Emperor shadow, Wang Wei left the Pagoda with his Head Maid.
After Wang Wei left, the disciples started discussing what just happened.
"Do any of you know what was that shadow behind the Young Sect Master?"
"I do not know, but it was awesome. I feel like I was watched by a Great Emperor and wanted to bow my head!"
"Stop talking nonsense, how do you know what a Great Emperor looked like? But you were right, I also wanted to kowtow to the Young Sect Master. It seems that our Dao Opening Sect will have a Great Emperor this generation!"
These disciples were quite excited about the possibility of having a Great Emperor born in their sect. As the saying goes:" When someone becomes enlightening, even his chicken and dogs will ascend to Heaven with him."
If the Young Sect Master became Great Emperor, even the tiniest handout from him will greatly benefit any of them.
Although most of the disciples were chatting happily, not everyone was as excited as them. This was especially true for the Ten Contemporary Sacred Sons. Other disciples may not know what the shadow behind Wang Wei was, but they knew what it represented.
This was proof of Young Emperor talent. As soon as they saw this shadow, they became pale. As Contemporary Sacred Son, all of them were people with great ideals and ambitions. They all wanted to sit at the position of Sect Master one day.
Although the people of the sect referred to Wang Wei as "Young Sect Master", to them, this title was just a form of respect to address the son of the current Sect Master.
According to the rules of the Dao Opening Sect, the descendants of a Sect Master are not allowed to directly inherit the position. The descendants need to prove themselves by acquiring the title of Sacred Son through fair competition.
The Contemporary Sacred Sons knew that Wang Wei was a talented individual and that the sect might groom him to compete for the Heaven Will, but they thought that was something to worry about years from now.
They believed that no matter how talented Wang Wei was, he still needed time to grow up to their level. Then, they could use this time to further the gap between him and them. As such, they had a high chance of becoming Sect Master before Wang Wei's talent took off.
But now, Wang Wei's talent as a Young Emperor completely shattered most of their dreams. With this talent, it will not be long before they have to compete with Wang Wei for the honor of Sacred Son.
Of course they knew that Young Emperor does not mean invincible. Throughout the ages, there have been many Heaven Chosens who fought and won against Young Emperors. Now the question is whether among them, there exists such a Heaven Chosen.
In fact, not all Young Emperors managed to become Great Emperors. The Path of the Emperor is a long and arduous one, nothing can be set in stone as a hundred percent certainty.