WHUSSHHH!

  His Divine Wheel spun again, but this time, it was not locked in the Eclipse phase. The Wheel rotated with stable majesty, each revolution drawing essence, stabilizing the newly born spiritual blood. In his Sea of Consciousness, the Divine Wheel radiated a dense, purple-black light, and in its center, a faint pattern flickered before disappearing. This was Blood Transformation Zenith.

  The Zenith achieved by Zhi Xuan was no ordinary Zenith. It was a Zenith forged from the destruction of the foundation, a method that surpassed the limits of lower-realm cultivators; while they usually used protective formations, Zhi Xuan destroyed his spiritual blood to rebuild it.

  Zhi Xuan’s aura exploded. This was not a crude explosion, but a controlled release, like a volcano venting its steam after a long period of forging. The air around him became heavy, and the drifting spiritual mist suddenly froze.

  His essence returned to stability. He opened his eyes. His sapphire eyes now emitted a very faint purple-black light, a sign that his essence had reached extraordinary density, approaching a state of pure liquid. Inside the cave, Mei Hua awoke from this sudden fluctuation. She merely yawned, but the Heavenly Moth, Xiao Die, trembled with joy, as if welcoming its master's new essence level.

  Zhi Xuan stood tall on the flat stone. His long black hair no longer fluttered erratically, but fell gracefully, exuding an icy cold aura. He felt every muscle and bone in his body, now tempered by Zenith blood, far stronger and more efficient. He realized that his strength at Zenith surpassed Blood Transformation, reaching the substantial boundary of Organ Transformation.

  "Zenith," Zhi Xuan muttered. A cold and fleeting sense of satisfaction flashed through his mind. He wasted no time; he turned to the jade essence pool whose water now looked shallow, he had consumed half of that treasure to break through.

  He stepped down from the stone, his feet touching the grassy ground. His movements felt light yet powerful—a balance between gentleness and deadly strength. His Divine Sense spread out, denser and sharper, able to penetrate layers of illusion and essence more easily.

  'Time is pressing,' Zhi Xuan thought, staring at the sky which was now completely bright. 'The Thousand Heavens Sect envoys must have arrived. I cannot waste a single breath searching for a new cultivation location.'

  Zhi Xuan took a long breath. He turned toward the cave, where Mei Hua was now sitting at the edge of the waterfall curtain, hugging Lulu.

  "Mei Hua, we are leaving," Zhi Xuan said, his voice calm. "The star boat awaits us."

  Mei Hua immediately stood up, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "Star boat leaping again, Big Brother Zhi Xuan?"

  "Yes. But this time, we must move faster." Zhi Xuan stepped to the edge of the waterfall curtain. He held out his left hand, and the Heavenly Moth, Xiao Die, which flew out of the cave, immediately landed on his shoulder. "Take good care of yourself, do not be naughty on the way."

  Zhi Xuan raised his hand, and the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron appeared, spinning in his palm. With a single cold flick of his finger, the cauldron whizzed, then shrunk back into the jade-gold bead in his hair.

  He left no trace. With his enhanced Divine Sense, Zhi Xuan quickly scanned every stone and blade of grass around him, ensuring no essence residue remained besides the faint imprint of the Sky Destroyer Footprint on the cliff.

  However, that imprint, now covered with thick moss and spiritual steam from the pool, would take years to be detected by an unwary cultivator. But Zhi Xuan was not overly concerned with that, only with returning to Green Cloud City.

  Zhi Xuan stepped through the waterfall curtain, lifting Mei Hua with his left arm. The Glimmering Cloud Silk gown worn by Mei Hua emitted a delicate, thin spiritual layer, protecting the little girl from the morning chill.

  He placed Mei Hua on the grassy ground by the edge of the pool. With his Blood Transformation Zenith Phase essence, he flicked his finger once more. The Seven Star Boat made of pine branches, hidden in the folds of his robe, shot into the air.

  With a soft whizz, the opaque silver boat expanded, stretching five feet, hovering waist-high above the ground. This time, the boat was not merely covered in thin spiritual mist; its presence felt denser, as if it had absorbed the last essence from the pool beneath it.

  "Get on, Mei Hua," Zhi Xuan whispered.

  Mei Hua stepped on with quick small steps, sitting with her legs dangling, hugging Lulu and the small replica of the Seven Star Boat. Xiao Die flew from Zhi Xuan's shoulder, its rainbow-shining wings trembling, and landed at the tip of the boat, immediately aligning itself with the flying artifact's illusion formation.

  Zhi Xuan stepped onto the boat. His Zenith-forged body no longer caused a slight tremor on the boat. Instead, the boat felt like a perfect extension of his will.

  Zhi Xuan let his black jade essence flow. The essence, now much thicker and as cold as mercury, flowed into the core formation of the Seven Star Boat. The wind formation engraved on the opaque silver surface immediately spun wildly, not only drawing essence from the air but also resonating with the essence density within Zhi Xuan's meridians.

  WHUSSHHH!

  With a sharp whizz that tore the morning silence, the Seven Star Boat shot out. The acceleration this time far surpassed the previous journey. It was no longer an arrow; it was a shadow cast by an Eternal Will.

  In the blink of an eye, the tranquil jade essence pool, the cliff crevice hiding the cave, and even the majestic Southern Mountain Range around them, shrank into blurry ribbons of color below. Amidst the intoxicating speed, Mei Hua laughed joyfully, her laughter like wind chimes breaking the cold air. She pointed down, at the mountains rushing past.

  "Big Brother Zhi Xuan! We are so fast! The mountains are running away!" Mei Hua exclaimed, her clear eyes fixed on the blurred scenery below.

  Zhi Xuan stood straight behind her, his black-red robe now swaying gracefully. However, the spiritual mist around the boat, reinforced by his Zenith essence and the presence of Xiao Die, created a perfect capsule of silence. He ignored the fatigue that still lingered from the destruction and re-forging of his foundation. His focus was absolute.

  His Divine Sense, now like a net made of sapphire steel, spread far ahead, scanning the curved horizon. He steered the Seven Star Boat straight toward Green Cloud City—the center of the heavenly selection.

  In his Sea of Consciousness, the Ancient Devil Monument whizzed, this time without scorn, but with a cold hum of acknowledgment.

  "Blood Transformation Zenith? You achieved it with suicidal methods. I must give you credit, Monkey. Your foundation is now as hard as ancient iron, no longer clay," Ruo Xianxue hissed. His tone contained a mix of hidden admiration and satisfaction that his prophecy of Total Sacrifice had proven correct.

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  "I always pay my debts, red stone," Zhi Xuan replied flatly in his mind. "Including the debt of life to break through the foundation. Now, with this foundation, I can save time."

  Beneath the speed of the Seven Star Boat, which surpassed the speed of sound, the vast Xingluo Plains stretched out like a tapestry of deep green brocade. Thousands of mountain peaks, ancient forests, and shimmering rivers shrunk and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

  Zhi Xuan's Black Jade essence density, now reaching the Zenith realm, made the boat's essence consumption extremely efficient. They covered the short distance with the speed of the Seven Star Boat, which now seemed to be accelerated by Zhi Xuan's realm phase advancement.

  Zhi Xuan did not stop at Green Cloud City. His Divine Sense had already caught energy fluctuations outside the city—an anomaly only possible by the arrival of high-realm entities.

  "The Heavenly Envoys have arrived," Zhi Xuan muttered. He squinted his sapphire eyes, his focus now on the towering Cloud Heaven Mountain, located at the end of the Azure Dragon steps, where the Thousand Heavens Sect Selection was always held.

  At Cloud Heaven Mountain, the atmosphere was dense with a majestic spiritual presence. Zhi Xuan detected countless auras—not only the Transformation realm geniuses from various sects in the Lower District, but also at least three extremely ancient and powerful auras, as if they were icebergs floating in an ocean of essence. The auras belonged to high-realm cultivators, whom Zhi Xuan could not yet recognize.

  However, amidst those sacred auras, Zhi Xuan felt a familiar and cold resonance—an aura slightly higher and far more oppressive.

  "Elder Yan Shen," Zhi Xuan murmured. His hand trembled faintly as he muttered the name. "He is here."

  Zhi Xuan clenched his jaw, the tremor was not due to fear, but a natural reaction from the tranquil Devil Seed. They resonated with the presence of Yan Shen—a true Taoist from the Central Continent, the guardian of balance, who saw Zhi Xuan not as an individual, but as a Phenomenon.

  He knew Yan Shen was the key to the Fifteen Ancient Devil Refining Formations, knowledge needed to permanently suppress the Devil Seed. And Yan Shen wanted to see if the Sacred Devil, implanted within him, would be controllable by his Dao Heart, which possessed an ancient will.

  "Of course, he is here," Ruo Xianxue hissed, the Ancient Devil Monument now sounded full of caution, not scorn. "He is the Overseer. He came to see how his puppet—you—will dance."

  Zhi Xuan ignored Ruo Xianxue's taunt. He moved the Seven Star Boat, steering the Flying Artifact not directly into the crowd of geniuses jostling at the foot of Cloud Heaven Mountain, but towards a more secluded peak nearby, where the air seemed slightly calmer and shrouded in mist.

  The Seven Star Boat shot through, cutting the spiritual mist between two peaks. Zhi Xuan landed smoothly on the secluded slope of Hidden Cloud Mountain—a small peak that was a shadow to the grandeur of Cloud Heaven Mountain.

  WHUSSHHH!

  His black jade essence was immediately retracted back into the newly forged Zenith Divine Wheel, the Seven Star Boat shrunk back into opaque silver in his palm. He returned the artifact to the folds of his robe, as if nothing had ever happened.

  He turned toward Mei Hua. The little girl jumped down from the disappearing boat, hugging Lulu, her face radiating pure joy, completely unaffected by the supersonic journey and realm fluctuations.

  "Big Brother Zhi Xuan! The star boat disappeared again!" Mei Hua exclaimed, staring intently at the folds of Zhi Xuan's robe.

  "It is only sleeping, Mei Hua," Zhi Xuan replied, his voice returning to cold and flat. He held out his right hand, and the Heavenly Moth, Xiao Die, landed from his shoulder onto Mei Hua's palm. "Now, we must wait here. Do not leave this area, and do not make a sound."

  Mei Hua nodded obediently. She sat cross-legged on the cold grass, hugging Lulu and Xiao Die, her clear eyes staring at the majestic Cloud Heaven Mountain in the distance.

  Zhi Xuan turned, his entire focus now on Cloud Heaven Mountain. He stood at the cliff edge, the strong Southern Mountain Range wind whipping his face. Their distance was about two miles; far enough not to attract attention, but close enough for his divine sense to scan every movement.

  There, in the vast expanse at the foot of Cloud Heaven Mountain, a crowd of Blood Transformation cultivators gathered. They were all the elite from across the southern continent, merged with the lower districts, exuding a thick aura of arrogance and pride. However, Zhi Xuan's attention was not on the competitors.

  On a white jade platform suspended in the air, three figures radiated a majestic aura like three unmoving stars in the midst of a storm. All three wore Thousand Heavens Sect robes embroidered with silver clouds.

  Two figures sat on the sides—a middle-aged man and woman, each at least in the same high realm as the figures Zhi Xuan had previously encountered, if not higher. Their essence was as cold as an abyss, an aura that could make any Blood Transformation cultivator kneel.

  However, the figure sitting in the center drew Zhi Xuan's attention. An old man, with a long white beard flowing like a spiritual waterfall, wore a simple Taoist robe, but his eyes radiated the depth of eternal stars.

  It was Yan Shen.

  The aura he emitted was not arrogant, but felt like Heavenly Balance itself. Yan Shen did not need to project power; his presence was Law. Zhi Xuan knew this man was not just in the Soul Transformation realm or higher; Yan Shen was the Grand Elder of the Thousand Heavens Sect in the Central Continent.

  Yan Shen, whose eyes were closed, suddenly opened them.

  His pupils, as deep as the Sea of Consciousness, did not emit spiritual light. Instead, they radiated pure Void—a state where divine sense could spread flawlessly. Yan Shen's eyes immediately traversed the two-mile distance. The gaze penetrated the mist, pierced the illusion, and stabbed directly to where Zhi Xuan stood.

  It was a cold and emotionless gaze, a scan that did not see skin and flesh, but saw the Law operating within Zhi Xuan—the Phenomenon he was trying to observe.

  Zhi Xuan felt the gaze hit his Divine Sense. It was not an attack, but an acknowledgment. The Devil Seed, now shrouded in the Eternal Eclipse pattern at the bottom of Zhi Xuan's Sea of Consciousness, trembled subtly—a nearly undetectable response to the oppressive presence.

  Zhi Xuan remained upright, not turning away, even though he felt as if his entire Dao framework was being stripped bare and analyzed.

  In his Sea of Consciousness, Ruo Xianxue, the Ancient Devil Monument, channeled his cold essence. "He sees you, Monkey. He sees the sleeping Sacred Devil. His will is a sword that wants to peel layer after layer of your Dao skin."

  "I know," Zhi Xuan replied flatly in his mind. "He is not trying to kill me. He is trying to test my resilience."

  Yan Shen, after his cold gaze that lasted only for a fraction of a second, nodded subtly, a movement almost invisible to the ordinary cultivator's eye. Then, he closed his eyes again, returning to the state of Void. The contact was severed.

  Zhi Xuan let out a long, cold breath. He had passed the first gaze test. It was an acknowledgment that he had arrived, and that he had reached Zenith.

  On the white jade platform, one of the Elders, a woman with neatly styled black hair and eyes as sharp as essence ice, stepped forward. Her voice, although not loud, was channeled by a majestic formation, resonating throughout the entire mountain.

  "Candidates blessed by the Grand Dao," the woman's voice was as cold as a sword blade. "We are envoys of the Thousand Heavens Sect. Today, marks the beginning of the Heavenly Selection—the test to choose those worthy of walking the Grand Dao path."

  Zhi Xuan, from where he stood, listened carefully to every word, allowing his Zenith black jade essence to circulate slowly. He knew Yan Shen had given him that gaze not to threaten, but as a silent signal.

  "I must get closer," Zhi Xuan muttered, he just realized that he had not registered or had any registration information. "I will register now."

  Zhi Xuan, now standing on Hidden Cloud Peak, let out a long, cold sigh. The decision to approach and register was the only way.

  He turned back, toward Mei Hua. The little girl was still sitting cross-legged obediently, hugging Lulu and Xiao Die, her clear eyes staring at the majesty of Cloud Heaven Mountain covered with a noisy crowd of cultivators.

  "Mei Hua, come up to Big Brother's back carry," Zhi Xuan whispered, scooping Mei Hua's small body into his left arm.

  Zhi Xuan lifted Mei Hua into the crook of his left arm, his movement smooth and efficient. The coldness from his Zenith Black Jade essence seeped into Mei Hua's soft skin, but the little girl merely snuggled comfortably, completely unaffected by the piercing temperature.

  Xiao Die, the Heavenly Moth, flew from Mei Hua's shoulder and landed on Zhi Xuan's right shoulder, its rainbow-shining wings serving as an oddly visual marker beside the somber cultivator.

  Zhi Xuan took a long, cold breath. He focused his Zenith Black Jade essence. The newly forged blood felt like an ice river beneath his skin, every drop containing strength that surpassed the peak of the ordinary Blood Transformation realm.

  He did not use the Seven Star Boat again; the Flying Artifact was too conspicuous and attention-grabbing. Instead, he chose a technique scroll he had learned, channeled with Zenith realm speed: Three-Trace Shadow Step.

  WHUSSHHH!

  Zhi Xuan stepped off the cliff edge. It was not a jump; it was a shadow drawn by the mountain wind. His feet touched the air, and in the blink of an eye, he had crossed dozens of meters. His movements were silent, fast, and left almost no essence trace in the air.