Inside Zhi Xuan’s Sea of Consciousness, tranquility finally resided again. The spiritual sky above the Devil Tree of Life radiated a beautiful orange light and nebula, a piercing contrast to the darkness of the Dead Mist in the outside world. The Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron, now sheltering Xiao Die’s dark purple silk cocoon, whirred softly beneath the Tree’s roots, radiating a subtle Four Seasons resonance.

  Amidst the lingering silence from the cosmic madness earlier, Ruo Xianxue, the Ancient Devil, sat cross-legged facing the Tree of Life. His dark robe was tightly wrapped around him, covering the fragmented Ancient Devil Monument behind him. The sacred and cruel aura he usually radiated now felt cold and contemplative.

  “Great Saint,” Zhi Xuan called, his voice in the Sea of Consciousness sounding flat and cold, no longer filled with annoyance as usual. “I know you didn’t respond. That place transcended your bond to the Nine Heavens Bead. However, you have seen and felt. What is the Primordial Yin Chaos Lotus, and why did it call me ‘Master’?”

  Ruo Xianxue opened his double-pupiled eyes. His sharp gaze was not directed at Zhi Xuan, but into the Sea of Consciousness, as if he was excavating every memory of a lost era. His cold snort was the only answer amidst the silence.

  “The Primordial Yin Chaos Lotus, Qingyin Xuelian,” Ruo Xianxue hissed, his tone containing cold authority and ancient knowledge. “That thing is something that should no longer exist, Monkey. It is a remnant of a very distant Age, an Age where the Immortal Realm hadn’t even been divided into the Nine Heavens.”

  He sighed, a breath that carried the weight of countless eras, a subtle resonance of sorrow. “In my era, the Chaos Lotus was already a myth, one of three entities born from the Primordial Chaos that existed before Heaven and Earth separated. They are not plants; they are Manifestations of Law. The Ancient Will you met, that is the true soul of the Taiyin essence in this Lower Realm. The Ancient Beings outside, which demand souls, are merely decaying wills. But Qingyin Xuelian is a pure will.”

  “Transcending the era of the Nine Heavens?” Zhi Xuan murmured. He began to set up the Formation encompassing the tower, channeling pure and stable essence from his Perfect Five Divine Organs. "And why did it call me ‘Master’? What is its connection to ‘That Person’ who lived in the Void with Seven Stars and One Sun?”

  Ruo Xianxue finally turned; his sharp double-pupils stared at Zhi Xuan with a piercing evaluation. “‘That Person’… is something I only ever heard of in other Great Saints’ fairy tales, tales that arrogant Great Saints like myself laughed at. They called him the Endless Immortal Emperor or the First Heaven Emperor.”

  The Ancient Devil’s voice now became extremely low, a whisper that carried hidden reverence. “The First Heaven Emperor was the first ruler to etch the Dao through the Nine Heavens, walking amidst the cosmic void. The Seven Stars and One Sun are the embodiment of his Heaven Dao. However, I also do not understand why that Lotus recognized you and called you that."

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes, the red rings in his sapphire pupils pulsing with deep annoyance. He hated the riddle of destiny and ancient legacies. All these grand titles felt like an empty burden on his back, a burden he did not want.

  “First Heaven Emperor, Variable, Supreme Truth,” Zhi Xuan hissed, injecting more essence into the Formation scroll. The rune lines etched on the tower peak began to shine with a stable bluish light. “All of it is nonsense. I am merely a mortal trying to complete a mission in six days. I do not care about any Emperor or Heaven."

  Ruo Xianxue snorted again, this time his snort returned to the familiar cold arrogance. "You truly are someone who fears neither Heaven nor Earth. Across all Ages, fragmented into three great Eras that continue to this day: the Era of the Nine Heavens’ Fall, the Era of the Great Emperor’s Fall, and the Era of the Nine Heavens and Hell. In all those Eras, my fragmented soul in the Ancient Devil Monument has passed through all unimaginable times. Heaven and Earth are vast, Monkey. You, in the ranks of the Ancient Supreme Law, are like dust that impossibly holds the hand to grasp."

  "You were even afraid when you saw the Supreme Darkness Law that I mastered." Ruo Xianxue continued, the spiritual soul floated and approached Zhi Xuan, who stood in the middle of the Sea of Consciousness. "Although you are something incomprehensible, your carrying the Nine Heavens Bead is no coincidence."

  "Heaven and Earth are so vast," Zhi Xuan murmured, he let out a spiritual sigh; the shock of the event beyond his comprehension still lingered. "Then why, why couldn't even you withstand that Catastrophe of Destruction?"

  A cold silence swept through the Sea of Consciousness. Zhi Xuan’s question, spoken with mortal annoyance, felt like a hammer striking Ruo Xianxue's dignity. It was a question that touched the core suffering of every Great Saint from the Era of the Nine Heavens’ Fall—the failure to preserve their Dao and Clan.

  Ruo Xianxue's double-pupils trembled violently. His sacred aura, usually cold and untouchable, suddenly radiated a wave of hidden anger and sorrow. He was not angry at Zhi Xuan, but at fate itself.

  “The Catastrophe of Destruction,” Ruo Xianxue hissed, his voice now trembling, yet still carrying a devastating cosmic weight. “You speak of an entity you cannot imagine, Monkey. We, the Great Saints, had reached the peak of the Immortal Realm, but we were still beneath the Heavens and the Law. That Catastrophe... did not originate from our Realm. It came from the Forbidden Realm—a place where the Heavenly Law had collapsed, a place filled with Ancient Beings driven only by destruction and absorption."

  "The Forbidden Realm," Zhi Xuan murmured, he felt a cold wave engulf his soul. He knew the name; he knew it was the place where Ruo Xianxue's Clan was attacked.

  "They attacked us like locusts in the harvest season, Monkey," Ruo Xianxue continued, his tone now filled with eternal bitterness. He stretched out his spiritual hand, pointing to the fragmented Ancient Devil Monument behind him. "I, Ruo Xianxue, who was arrogant and cruel, who dared to swallow other Great Saints to achieve my Dao, was forced to kneel! We could not withstand the invasion of the Immortals from that Forbidden Realm. They brought Laws that were unfamiliar to us."

  "The Immortal Kings, even True Immortals of the Nine Heavens Land, vanished and fled into the River of Time." Ruo Xianxue looked up; his double pupils of Sun and Moon radiated an unextinguished vengeance. "You will never be able to imagine that catastrophe of destruction. In one slash, the Nine Heavens were like pebbles swept away by the summer wind."

  “Then why did you survive?” Zhi Xuan asked, his tone returning to his calculative curiosity. “If the Forbidden Realm was so powerful, why is your soul still fragmented within the Ancient Devil Monument?”

  Ruo Xianxue took a sharp spiritual breath, a hissing sound in the Sea of Consciousness. “Survived? I did not survive, Monkey! I failed! I died! I was wrapped by the Immortal Beings from the Forbidden Realm and sealed within the Nine Heavens Bead for countless eras! They thought they had destroyed my will, but they did not know that I, Ruo Xianxue, am the essence of destruction itself. I refuse to perish! I waited! Waiting for a vessel capable of shaking Heaven and Earth, capable of freeing me!”

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  The spiritual wave that swept through was as if it was collapsing Heaven and Earth; Zhi Xuan almost knelt seeing the grandeur of a Single Devil who became the will of darkness and destruction itself. Even someone so Grand and Fascinating could not withstand the catastrophe of destruction in that Era. It was pathetic and also held an eternal burning hatred that transcended space and time.

  Zhi Xuan felt the cold vibration of Ruo Xianxue's soul sweeping through his Sea of Consciousness. That vibration was a manifestation of the grief and vengeance that had been suppressed for millions of years, a suffering that surpassed mortal comprehension. He allowed the silence to envelop him for a while, digesting the weight of the cosmic destruction the Ancient Devil had just recounted.

  "I, Ruo Xianxue, once wandered the Three Thousand Worlds, the Nine Heavens, even to the edge of the Void." Ruo Xianxue growled, his hiss so intense that Zhi Xuan could feel a rattling sound like scraping metal. "Only to ask everyone with a will, Does Heaven truly exist?"

  Zhi Xuan clenched his jaw; his annoyance subsided, replaced by cold and chilling calm. He closed his eyes in the Sea of Consciousness, allowing the story of destruction to become a spark at the base of his soul. He did not care about vengeance, but he cared about the law of survival. If even a Great Saint could kneel, then he must be careful to surpass all boundaries.

  Zhi Xuan opened his eyes, and immediately returned to the rotten reality of the Primordial Ancient City. He had spent a long time absorbing the story of cosmic destruction, but in the outside world, time had passed slowly. The terrifying silence of the Primordial Ancient Tomb still enveloped him.

  He looked around. The cultivators who had mocked him were now back to their cultivation and meditation mode, ignoring his figure, which was bare-chested to the waist. In their eyes, Zhi Xuan was a lunatic who only jumped in and out of the Taiyin Pool in one breath.

  "An Era that even Immortals could not withstand," Zhi Xuan muttered, he looked down at the Formation which was collecting the Taiyin Holy Water. "Would I also survive that destruction if I were there?"

  He ignored the philosophical and cosmic questions that had just filled his Sea of Consciousness. Does Heaven exist? Would he survive the destruction of the Forbidden Realm? All of that was the business of failed Immortal Emperors and Great Saints. Zhi Xuan’s current business was just surviving, completing the Formation, and returning to the Nine Plains before the deadline of the Thousand Heavens Sect Selection.

  “Nonsense,” Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice returning to a practical and annoyed tone. “I don't have time to think about the vengeance of a Great Saint and the Forbidden Realm. I have a mission.”

  Zhi Xuan clenched his jaw; his returning annoyance was the anchor that brought him back from the depths of the Ancient Devil's cosmic grief. He refused to let the vengeance of the Great Saint, frozen for countless eras, ruin his focus. His focus was six days, the Formation, and survival.

  In the following days, he was only occupied with sitting cross-legged on the tower peak, although several times he encountered intruders who eventually chose to retreat when Zhi Xuan threatened them with the Ocean Breaker Thunder Sword; they instinctively backed off not to disturb Zhi Xuan.

  Although this was Taiyin Holy Water, he did not absorb it excessively but rather to purify and strengthen his own body. Absorbing it cautiously so as not to make a fatal mistake, as he had now reached the perfection of the Transformation realm and only needed further understanding of the Laws of Nature to step into the Five Element realm.

  Exactly on the ninth night as the ancient moon hung above the dead mist, Zhi Xuan opened his eyes when he felt the Thousand Heavens Sect Formation had reached its absorption limit. Marking his mission complete, although it was filled with tension from several cultivators who tried to provoke him. He looked around; several new cultivators from various factions arrived and took their places.

  Zhi Xuan let out a long breath, his outgoing breath felt cold and sharp. He ignored the curious and wary glances of dozens of newly arrived cultivators—sect disciples and solitary cultivators who had come to the Ancient Tomb as time progressed.

  He stood tall on the tower peak; his body, bare-chested to the waist, now radiated a Phenomenal aura more terrifying than before. He did not display strength, but the calm and aura he radiated in this cursed place was a silent declaration of power.

  He channeled his last bit of essence into the Formation scroll. The rune lines on the tower peak shone with a fading bluish light, then dimmed. The Essence Gathering and Attraction Formation had completed its function. Zhi Xuan snatched the jade scroll from the stone, and in an instant, the scroll vanished into his jade ring.

  In his Sea of Consciousness, a spiritual seal containing pure Taiyin essence now resided beside the Devil Tree of Life. Mission complete. Zhi Xuan let out a cold, satisfied sigh. He did not waste time enjoying his success. He turned around, retrieved his sky-blue robe, which was ripped from the waist, and tossed it onto the ancient stone floor. The torn robe was a reminder of Mei Hua, the anomaly of nothingness that still felt real in his soul.

  “Five Days,” Zhi Xuan muttered. He had spent five full days in the Primordial Ancient Tomb. Four for the Thousand Heavens Sect mission, and one day that felt like a single breath in Qingyin Xuelian’s hidden realm. His time was close and one day away from the Annual Disciple Celebration.

  He took the Seven Stars Boat from his waist. The flying artifact enlarged with a low whir, made of Star Burial Forest Pine, which now radiated an unmatched aura of speed, ready to split the Dead Mist. Suddenly, a cold and sharp voice pierced from below, breaking the silence of the Ancient Tomb.

  “Thousand Heavens Sect disciple, you think after killing two Flying Lion School disciples, you can just walk away?”

  Zhi Xuan stopped, only one foot having stepped onto the Seven Stars Boat. He slowly turned down, his cold and sharp eyes fixed on the source of the voice.

  At the foot of the tower, hovered a Five Element cultivator who radiated an essence aura far more solid than the Flying Lion disciples he had killed. The man wore a dull gray robe adorned with the symbol of a horned rhino, and his face was marked by thick and cruel scars.

  “I am Sheng Ye of the Mountain Rhino School,” the man hissed, his voice filled with pure killing intent. The Mountain Rhino School was one of the factions in the gray region known for its brutal and merciless defense cultivation methods. “You killed two of our comrades who had a strong bond of brotherhood with the Flying Lion School. Their blood demands retribution.”

  Dozens of cultivators around the Taiyin Holy Pool immediately held their breath. They knew Sheng Ye. He was a brutal and persistent cultivator who would not back down just because of the name of the Thousand Heavens Sect. Zhi Xuan glanced at Sheng Ye with a sharp, cold expression, as if judging a rock on the road. He was not interested in this trivial vengeance. He had given a warning; those who violated the Ancient Supreme Law must bear the consequences themselves.

  "Five Element," Zhi Xuan muttered alertly in his mind, this would be bad if a Five Element cultivator attacked him here; if it were Consciousness Transformation, he could easily contend. However, Five Element was an unbridgeable gulf. "I must leave as quickly as possible."

  Zhi Xuan took a step off the Seven Stars Boat, setting his foot back down on the primordial stone of the tower. His body, bare-chested to the waist, was now enveloped by a calm, cold aura. In the face of the Five Element realm, he could not run without trying to assess.

  “Strong bond of brotherhood,” Zhi Xuan countered, his voice cold and flat, echoing amidst the Dead Mist. The red rings in his sapphire pupils pulsed slowly, reflecting a calculative thought. “I already gave a warning. They violated the Ancient Supreme Law, and that Law has demanded its payment. The Mountain Rhino School has nothing to do with this matter.”

  Sheng Ye, the Five Element disciple, laughed lowly; his laughter was harsh like grinding steel. "Ancient Supreme Law? In the gray region, Law is only created by power. And my Mountain Rhino School has claimed this territory to take revenge. I, Sheng Ye, will take your head and your Heaven-Grade Artifact as compensation!"

  Sheng Ye raised one hand. And the dead mist above him churned, forming a manifested black cloud vortex; the essence of the Five Element created a Thunderstorm vortex directed straight at Zhi Xuan. Radiating the turmoil of the Law of Nature that had been mastered. Not only that, Sheng Ye summoned a blazing Fire in his other hand, then imbued the thunderstorm, which now carried fierce Fire.

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes, his gaze focused on the threatening Thunderstorm vortex in the air. A Five Element cultivator had stepped into a different realm, a realm where the Essence of Nature could be summoned and transformed into Battle Law. Consciousness Transformation, no matter how strong its foundation, was still limited to manipulating personal Essence. Fighting a Thunderstorm and Blazing Fire summoned by the Law of Nature was a foolish endeavor.