Celestial Spiritual Qi hadn't graced the Xuanhuang World since the severing of the path to immortality. Now, this sacred energy, rising from the earth, offered no blessings, only a catastrophic tribulation.
Greed, far more potent than the allure of Heavenly Souls, consumed the cultivators. They abandoned all reason, all restraint, their only desire to possess this power, this… essence of immortality. Anyone who stood in their way, be they Great Qi soldiers or Alliance cultivators, regardless of rank or cultivation level, became an enemy.
The war between the Sacred Dynasty and the Alliance dissolved into a chaotic free-for-all, cultivators turning on each other, their eyes burning with an insatiable hunger.
Thousands perished with every breath, the sky above choked with a thick, swirling mass of celestial phenomena, a testament to the carnage below.
Even Legacy Transmission's presence, usually enough to quell any unrest, couldn't pierce this chaotic frenzy.
Only two armies remained unaffected, their discipline holding firm against the tide of madness.
The Great Qi Imperial Guard and the Azure Profound Army, stationed at the Roaring Abyss.
Both had cultivated the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Mantra.
The Imperial Guard had been personally trained by the Sacred Emperor.
The Azure Profound Army had learned the mantra from the Sacred Embryo before his departure.
These fortunate few, witnessing the unfolding tragedy, their faces pale, their bodies trembling, clung to their sanity, the mantra a lifeline in this sea of madness. Though the mantra protected their minds, it couldn't erase the primal fear that gnawed at their hearts.
The chaos wasn't limited to cultivators.
Beasts, birds, plants, even the very mountains and rivers… everything within the Xuanhuang World was succumbing to the corrupting influence of the Celestial Spiritual Qi.
Beasts, their instincts twisted, pursued the energy with the same fervor as the cultivators, their bodies exploding as they absorbed more than they could handle, or perishing in their desperate struggle against each other.
Plants, though unable to move, were not immune. Those fortunate enough to be touched by the descending Celestial Spiritual Qi, those who received this… gift… mostly disintegrated instantly. A few, however, miraculously survived, their forms transforming, their power surging. They should have become immortal beings, legends in the making. But their newfound power was short-lived. The scent of their transformation drew the crazed cultivators, who, despite the plants' newfound defenses, tore them apart, consuming them, their greed insatiable.
And those who consumed these transformed plants met the same fate – their bodies exploding, their souls scattering. Their only reward, a brief, fleeting taste of immortality, a moment of ecstatic enlightenment before oblivion.
If any being benefited from this uncontrolled release of Celestial Spiritual Qi… it was the Xuanhuang World itself.
Like parched earth drinking in a torrential downpour, the world pulsed with life, its energy surging.
Mountains rose, plains expanded, oceans deepened, millennia of geological change compressed into fleeting moments. The sky, which had lowered during the Sacred Emperor's earlier attack, began to rise, its boundaries expanding.
The Xuanhuang World was growing, evolving, its power increasing exponentially.
Even the celestial phenomena, the lingering echoes of countless deaths, were slowly being absorbed, their energy fueling the world's transformation.
The White Mist Barriers that separated the regions, unable to withstand the pressure of the expanding world, weakened, their forms flickering, their light dimming. Many shattered completely, their energy absorbed, their substance assimilated into the Xuanhuang World.
…
The three factions that had converged upon the Xuanhuang World, witnessing this unprecedented transformation, reacted differently.
The Sacred Emperor was momentarily stunned.
He felt his connection to the Xuanhuang World weakening, the bond he had so carefully cultivated, the foundation of his power, fraying. It was like… a childhood friendship, fading with time and distance.
A sense of loss washed over him, but he quickly regained his composure. Seeing his troops, his people, caught up in the frenzy, he transmitted the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Mantra to all of them, a desperate attempt to preserve their sanity. Few, lost in their madness, would be able to focus enough to cultivate it. But even a few… it was better than none.
Legacy Transmission's expression, as he observed the unfolding chaos, was unreadable.
His thoughts were a mystery, but his actions were clear. He watched the Celestial Barge, his gaze fixed on them, as if anticipating… something.
"Such a waste! Such a waste!" The voices of the Celestial Barge's elders echoed through the void. "Celestial Spiritual Qi! Such a rare and precious treasure! To be squandered on these… mortals!"
"If I could obtain even a trace… I could unlock the full potential of the True Immortal script…"
"Legacy Transmission! Step aside! Allow us to gather this Celestial Spiritual Qi, and we'll forget our… past disagreements!" Gan Jingda, though his voice trembled with excitement, managed to maintain a semblance of composure.
Legacy Transmission, his tall crown gleaming, his form unmoving, said, his voice cold, "You… will remain here. And observe."
"You will go… nowhere."
"Such arrogance!" Gan Jingda snarled, unable to contain his anger any longer. "Do not test our patience! That is Celestial Spiritual Qi! A treasure beyond your comprehension! With enough of it, we could transcend the Wall itself! Escape this wretched Star Sea! Why would we remain here?!"
Legacy Transmission ignored the clamor emanating from the Celestial Barge, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
A soft, almost imperceptible sound, like footsteps on dry leaves, echoed behind the Celestial Barge, masked by the rumbling of the transforming Xuanhuang World.
A shadow, dark and menacing, enveloped the vessel.
Then…
…it was gone. Vanished without a trace.
As if it had never existed.
The footsteps faded, leaving behind a chilling silence, a lingering aura of… death.
The Sacred Emperor, witnessing this, his eyes widened in shock.
"What was that?"
The shadow's movements had been too fast, too subtle.
Even he, a Supreme Being, hadn't been able to perceive its true form.
He had only sensed its aura, a potent, almost overwhelming wave of… death.
He glanced at Legacy Transmission.
Clearly, he had anticipated this. Perhaps… he had even orchestrated it.
"I do not possess the power to command such a being," Legacy Transmission said, as if reading his thoughts. "Merely… a suggestion. A nudge in the right direction."
"And against those Celestial Barge fools… well, they're the perfect… countermeasure."
His gaze remained fixed on the transforming Xuanhuang World, his interest in the Celestial Barge, in the mysterious shadow, seemingly… fleeting.
Knowing that he wouldn't get a straight answer, the Sacred Emperor turned his attention back to the Xuanhuang World.
Its transformation continued, its power growing exponentially.
If its total power before the release of the Celestial Spiritual Qi had been "1," then now, in less than half a day, it had increased to almost "19."
The Celestial Spiritual Qi wasn't the sole cause of this growth. It was a catalyst, accelerating the process, allowing the Xuanhuang World to fully absorb and assimilate the essence of the other worlds it had… consumed.
Before, it had been a crude fusion, a patchwork of different worlds stitched together.
Now, it was true integration, like a cultivator absorbing the energy from a spirit stone, refining it, making it their own.
And the hidden pockets of power, the dormant energies within those absorbed worlds, previously inaccessible, were now being unearthed, drawn out by the Celestial Spiritual Qi, becoming fuel for the Xuanhuang World's growth.
"Interesting," Legacy Transmission murmured, a smile spreading across his face, a strange mix of amusement and… understanding. "So, that's how it is."
He sensed it then, a familiar aura, rapidly approaching from beyond the Star Sea.
His smile vanished, his expression hardening.
He looked at the Sacred Emperor, his eyes cold.
"Let's continue our… discussion."
Without another word, he unleashed his Everything Within My Palm technique, his massive hand descending towards the Sacred Emperor.
Without the Xuanhuang World's support, the Sacred Emperor couldn't manifest the Eternal Xuanhuang World. But he had experienced this attack before. He summoned pillars of golden Source Power Essence, their forms rising from the ground, meeting Legacy Transmission's hand, holding it aloft.
He sensed that Legacy Transmission wasn't using his full power.
This attack was… weaker than before. A distraction.
And he saw it then – Legacy Transmission, having trapped him, was trying to leave, his gaze fixed on the Xuanhuang World, his movements urgent, as if he was trying to… stop its transformation.
Understanding dawned.
He couldn't believe it, but… it made sense.
He unleashed his full power, shattering the golden pillars, breaking free from Legacy Transmission's grasp.
"The Sacred Heart endures."
"The Sacred Blessing remains!"
He chanted these words, and a beam of light, emanating from the Great Qi Sacred Dynasty, bathed him in its golden glow.
The combined power of the Source Power Essence stored within the Palaces of Hearts throughout his realm.
One of his most potent weapons, a last resort. Using it would weaken him significantly, but he didn't hesitate.
The uncontrolled release of Celestial Spiritual Qi, the merging of worlds… it was all… part of his plan.
"If I can just… stall him…"
"My purpose… will be fulfilled."
"Even if it's… not how I envisioned it."
He clashed with Legacy Transmission once more, their battle resuming.
Neither wanted to destroy the Xuanhuang World, so they held back, their attacks carefully controlled.
And the Xuanhuang World, its structure reinforced by its recent transformation, could withstand far greater forces than before.
Their battle reached another stalemate.
…
Within the Xuanhuang World, cultivators continued their mad scramble for the Celestial Spiritual Qi, their battles growing more desperate, more brutal.
In the Tongyan Region, the concentration of Celestial Spiritual Qi was… higher than in other regions.
The fighting here was the most intense.
Another battle ended, a Soul Formation expert exploding in a shower of gore and bone fragments, a fleeting expression of satisfied enlightenment frozen on their face.
With the number of cultivators dwindling, the competition for the remaining wisps of Celestial Spiritual Qi lessened slightly.
A lull in the fighting.
A small, golden figure, radiating a strange, alien energy, appeared, its gaze fixed on a nearby wisp of Celestial Spiritual Qi.
Its greed, however, was different from that of the Xuanhuang World cultivators. It was… colder. More calculated.
As it was about to approach the energy, it sensed something, its gaze turning sharply.
A scruffy-looking cultivator, his face dark and weathered, his expression shifty, was trying to sneak up on it, a net clutched in his hand, his intentions clear.
The cultivator, caught red-handed, quickly hid the net, forcing a laugh.
"Fool…" The golden figure's eyes narrowed, a flicker of murderous intent. This pathetically weak cultivator, barely a Foundation Establishment ant… how dare he try to capture him?
It was about to strike him down when a sudden wave of danger, a prickling sensation on the edge of its awareness, made it hesitate.
It abandoned the Celestial Spiritual Qi, transforming into a streak of golden light, disappearing into the distance.
"Damn it!" Jiao Xiuyuan cursed, slapping his forehead in frustration. "I almost had him!"
He hesitated, then decided to abandon the chase.
He turned his attention towards the wisp of Celestial Spiritual Qi, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of greed and… caution.
He wasn't as consumed by the desire for this treasure as the other cultivators.
He was… more pragmatic.
He extended his hand, a small sapling sprouting from his palm, its leaves unfurling, reaching towards the Celestial Spiritual Qi, drawing it inwards, absorbing its power.
He closed his eyes, focusing on the energy, analyzing it, trying to understand its nature.
"It is indeed… Celestial Spiritual Qi." He opened his eyes, a flicker of excitement, then confusion, in his gaze.
"But… this is strange. Such a potent concentration… it could be used for so much more."
"Why… waste it like this?"
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
"And…" He looked towards the sky, a sudden thought striking him. "That aura earlier… it felt… familiar. But it's gone now."
"Could it have been… them?"
"No… that doesn't make sense. If it was them, they'd be fighting over this Celestial Spiritual Qi, not… hiding."
He frowned, his confusion growing. Sensing another cultivator approaching, he vanished, melting back into the shadows.
…
Chaos reigned within the Alliance headquarters.
The recent return of Legacy Transmission had drawn all the high-ranking members – the Legacy Transmission cultivators, the Mirror Masters, even the True Illusion Sages – to his side, leaving the Divine Repository of Wonders vulnerable.
A massive explosion had rocked the repository, its shockwave shaking even the Alliance headquarters itself.
And as the surviving cultivators scrambled to assess the damage, to understand what had happened…
…they discovered that their connection to the outside world… had been severed.
Confusion and panic spread through the ranks.
The Guardians' Hall, however, the chamber where the Law Derivation Jade resided, remained… strangely calm.
The tremors had unsettled the three Dao Integration Guardians.
Especially "Sun Ang."
His aura fluctuated wildly, his face flushed, his forehead beaded with sweat.
"Brother Sun, are you alright?"
They had worked together for a long time, a bond of camaraderie forming between them.
Zhang Xu, though also unsettled by the tremors, couldn't understand his colleague's distress.
"He's still young," Zhang Xu thought. "Inexperienced."
"Something's… not right." Sun Ang, Li Fan's true body, said, his voice strained. "I tried to contact Elder Xu… but there's no response."
"Don't worry, Brother Sun," Huayue Ye reassured him. "Even if something has happened, the Alliance headquarters is… impenetrable."
Zhang Xu nodded in agreement. "My predecessor experienced something similar. Five centuries ago. Tremors, loss of communication… it was… unsettling. But everything turned out fine."
"I hope you're right," Li Fan murmured, wiping the sweat from his brow.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the chamber, punctuated by the occasional tremor.
Li Fan retreated into his mindscape, ignoring even the Law Derivation Jade's attempts to communicate with him.
He wasn't as distressed as he appeared.
In fact… he felt… exhilarated.
"Celestial Spiritual Qi… so this is what it feels like…"
Within his mindscape, the Terminal Dissociation Butterfly pulsed with a brilliant, almost blinding light.
The final piece of the puzzle, the missing element in his quest to comprehend Celestial-level formations, had been found.
He had acquired the diagrams for three Celestial formations through various fortuitous encounters.
But without Celestial Spiritual Qi, they were useless, theoretical constructs. Powerful, yes, but still… limited by the constraints of this world.
Now… everything had changed.
With the data from the Celestial Spiritual Qi, the Terminal Dissociation Butterfly had finally broken through the limitations of this reality, its simulations reaching a new level of complexity, its understanding of the Dao deepening.
It could now… create. It could manifest.
It could unleash true Celestial formations.
It would require careful channeling of the Celestial Spiritual Qi.
But with the Xuanhuang World's ancient protective formations, and with the newly chosen Grand Celestial Venerable…
…his plan… it was now within reach.
The formation… Immortal Descent, All Things Return to Void.
This life… it had been filled with unexpected challenges.
The Sacred Emperor persona, evolving beyond his control.
His… collaboration with Legacy Transmission.
"Once they reach a certain level of power… controlling them like pawns becomes… difficult."
Fortunately, his contingency plans, his carefully laid traps, had prevented a complete loss of control. He wouldn't need to prematurely activate his true self and risk… everything.
The Celestial Barge's arrival… that had been his, the Sacred Embryo's, doing.
He had not only presented evidence suggesting the existence of complete True Immortal scripts within the Immortal Ruins, but had also, through subtle manipulation, orchestrated an attack on the Celestial Barge's Divine Tree, crippling it, forcing their hand, accelerating their decision to journey to the Xuanhuang World.
Though the Barge's elders suspected sabotage, they couldn't prove it. The damage to the Divine Tree was real. And the supposed culprit, one of their own, had self-destructed, taking their secrets with them.
To survive, they had no choice but to seek refuge in the Xuanhuang World.
But upon arriving, caution had prevailed. They hadn't launched an immediate attack.
They had intended to observe, to gather information, to infiltrate the Xuanhuang World, to establish a foothold before revealing themselves.
But the clash between Legacy Transmission and the Sacred Emperor, the sheer power unleashed by those two Supreme Beings, had forced their hand.
And discovering that Legacy Transmission was the one who had stolen their treasures years ago… well, that had sealed their decision.
They had revealed themselves, challenging both Supreme Beings, unleashing a near-complete True Immortal script in a desperate attempt to gain an advantage.
The Sacred Embryo suspected it was the character for "Hatred."
Written by Zhong Daogong, the elusive Grand Elder of the Severing Immortal Tower, a being who spent his days immersed in the study of True Immortal remnants, his true power a mystery.
For this expedition, the Grand Elder had prepared three near-complete True Immortal scripts.
But after the first one, "Hatred," had proved… less effective than anticipated, they had become more cautious.
They had considered forming an alliance…
…but the sudden surge of Celestial Spiritual Qi from the Xuanhuang World had interrupted their plans.
And when they arrived, witnessing the uncontrolled release of this precious energy, sensing the True Immortal scripts embedded within their Celestial Barge reacting, coming to life…
…they had lost all reason.
Even Zhong Daogong, the Grand Elder, had emerged from his seclusion, his eyes fixed on the swirling Celestial Spiritual Qi, a look of… longing on his face.
"Pure Celestial Spiritual Qi," he murmured, after a moment of observation.
"Useless to ordinary cultivators. But we… we can use it."
"Channel its power. Infuse it into the True Immortal scripts, activating their true potential…"
He continued, his voice barely a whisper, his excitement growing. "The resulting power… it would be comparable to a True Immortal!"
"And if we unleash our entire stockpile…"
"…we might even be able to transcend the Wall!"
His words united the Celestial Barge, their earlier doubts and fears forgotten.
They were about to demand that Legacy Transmission step aside, allow them access to the Xuanhuang World, when…
"Beware!" Zhong Daogong's voice, sharp and urgent, echoed through the vessel.
Too late.
The familiar landscape of the Star Sea vanished, replaced by… something else.
Somewhere… unfamiliar.
Zhong Daogong reacted instantly, unleashing a True Immortal script.
Silence descended upon the Celestial Barge as the cultivators, their faces pale with shock, stared at the… bizarre scene outside.
They were… in a pot. A massive cauldron, filled with a swirling, viscous liquid.
And outside the pot, an unseen entity was… stirring.
The liquid churned, their vessel tossed about like a leaf in a storm.
The temperature plummeted.
"What do we do?" Elder Gan's voice, transmitted through a private communication channel, was strained, barely a whisper.
But the entity outside… it seemed to hear them.
It peered into the cauldron, its gaze fixed on them.
The temperature dropped further.
One-tenth of the Celestial Barge's population perished instantly, their bodies unable to withstand the sudden, intense cold.
And then, something even more terrifying happened.
The dead… their bodies dissolved into wisps of white light, floating upwards, out of the cauldron.
A small sphere materialized in the entity's hand, its surface shimmering.
And within… the souls of the dead Celestial Barge cultivators, their forms intact, their expressions serene, as if… sleeping.
The entity pocketed the sphere, then, its gaze returning to the cauldron, seemed to… notice the remaining cultivators.
It reached into the cauldron, its massive hand, its form still unseen, attempting to… grab them.
Terror, cold and absolute, gripped the Celestial Barge.
At the last moment, Zhong Daogong unleashed another True Immortal script.
The entity's movements slowed, then stopped, its hand retracting.
It seemed to… forget what it had been doing.
But it remained, its presence still felt, still stirring the liquid within the cauldron.
The cultivators of the Celestial Barge, shaken by this near-death experience, no longer dared to use their communication talismans, their fear of attracting the entity's attention too great.
They resorted to more primitive methods, writing messages in the air, their fingers tracing characters, their movements furtive.
"Elder Zhong, what was that thing?"
"Its gaze… it steals our life force! A single glance… and so many of us… gone."
"And it doesn't discriminate. High or low cultivation… it doesn't matter. It's… random."
"Such a terrifying being… hidden within the Xuanhuang World…"
…
Fear and chaos gripped the Celestial Barge.
…
Li Fan, however, observing the scene from afar, recognized the entity.
He had encountered it before, before leaving the Xuanhuang World, during his exploration of the Reverse Life and Death Grand Formation with Shang Shaojun.
He had initially believed it was the combined consciousness of all the smaller worlds trapped within the formation. But he had been wrong. The smaller worlds were merely… vessels. Containers. Each one holding a single Yin-Yang Orb. And within each orb, countless souls, frozen in time.
"Legacy Transmission… he can control it."
"He's connected to the Samsara Celestial Venerable. It makes sense."
"This being… its aura… it's ancient. It must have existed since… the dawn of the Xuanhuang World."
His understanding of this entity, this… thing, had deepened.
And Zhong Daogong's analysis, transmitted through the air, confirmed his suspicions.
"This is not a living being," he wrote, his finger tracing the characters in the air. "There is a record of it… within our archives. A legend."
"In ancient times, those cultivation worlds that maintained close contact with the upper realms… they not only appointed Grand Celestial Venerables to manage communication, but also… safeguards. To prevent… unforeseen events. Loss of control."
"These… Watchers… they weren't present in every world. And they weren't always… living beings. Cultivators."
"But their purpose… it was clear. They served the will of the Celestial Realm. Their mission… different from that of the Grand Celestial Venerables."
His words caused a ripple of fear to spread through the Celestial Barge.
A being created by the Celestial Realm… that was far beyond their ability to comprehend, let alone… control. They knew, perhaps better than anyone, the true power of the Celestial Realm, the might of True Immortals.
And a Watcher, a being entrusted with a mission by the Celestial Realm itself… how could it not be powerful?
Despair threatened to consume them.
But Zhong Daogong's next words rekindled their hope.
(End of Chapter)