The butterfly flitted gracefully, tracing dreamy arcs.
In the fluttering of its wings, streams of dense, shimmering light swirled alongside it, causing even the surrounding heaven-and-earth origin qi to roil and churn.
At the sight of this creature, Luo Chen could not suppress a burgeoning joy in his heart, instinctively yearning to possess it.
Yet before a divine lord of his generation, how could he dare overstep?
Suppressing that inner longing, Luo Chen swallowed hard and asked, "Is this... the Fortune Gu?"
"Precisely."
"Yet rumor has it that the Fortune Gu is a mighty divine Gu brimming with providence, bringing good luck to cultivators. Could it be..."
"Have you forgotten what this old man told you earlier?"
Luo Chen paused, instinctively recalling what Divine Lord Youli had just said.
When providence grew too heavy, fortune turned into calamity.
The logic was not difficult to grasp. It was like an ordinary man becoming guilty simply for carrying a jade treasure, or a young child clutching gold in a bustling marketplace. When one was weak, possessing something too precious would only invite harm.
Yet could Divine Lord Youli and the sacred ground, the Gate of Life and Death, ever be considered weak?
Luo Chen swept his gaze across the ubiquitous heaven-and-earth origin qi, a pensive look crossing his face.
Manipulating the Fortune Gu, Divine Lord Youli looked toward Luo Chen with approving eyes, then offered an explanation himself.
"The Gate of Life and Death possesses three great divine Gu. Fortune and misfortune intertwine; they share life and death. Since ancient times, the Fortune Gu and Calamity Gu have coexisted. Once parted, an uncontrollable catastrophe is likely to brew.
"Back then, my senior brother, who held the Calamity Gu, had an urgent matter to attend to in the Xuan Realm, so he departed the Mountain Sea Realm via the Tianyuan Dao Sect's Star Gate passageway. Before leaving, for the sake of my cultivation, he left the Calamity Gu with me.
"Little did I expect the Calamity Gu would end up lost in the outside world."
Luo Chen frowned. "Are you referring to how the Nascent Soul cultivator Feng Jiang of the Eastern Desolation's Mingyuan Sect took it away?"
"Indeed!"
Luo Chen shook his head. "Though Feng Jiang was powerful, he was merely a Nascent Soul cultivator in the end. How could he have taken the Gu right under your nose?"
"Haha." Divine Lord Youli let out an airy laugh and said breezily, "I was the one who let him take it."
"Uh?" Luo Chen was dumbfounded.
Divine Lord Youli made no secret of it, speaking frankly: "Back then, this old man was stuck at the mid Soul Formation stage, unable to break through for a long time. Furthermore, the Fortune Gu was restrained by the Calamity Gu, preventing me from taking that most crucial step. Therefore, under the guise of an inheritance, I bestowed the Calamity Gu upon the younger generation, and even turned a blind eye to Feng Jiang carrying it away. In this manner, the Fortune Gu was freed from suppression, and this old man's cultivation realm began to advance by leaps and bounds."
So that was it!
Several doubts lingering in Luo Chen's mind were resolved in that instant.
Though Feng Jiang was strong enough to roam freely across the five continents, how could he have ever taken a treasure from beneath the hands of a Soul Formation cultivator?
Divine Lord Youli's decision to let Feng Jiang carry it off rather than a disciple of his own sect was likely because if the Calamity Gu remained parted from the Fortune Gu for too long, it would attract far too many tribulations and disasters.
Put that way, Feng Jiang had merely been used as a tool.
As for how to retrieve the Gu, to Divine Lord Youli with his cultivation at grand perfection, it was surely no difficult task.
Or rather, there was no need for him to act personally—hadn't Luo Chen just delivered it straight to him?
While Luo Chen pondered, the red butterfly danced around the Hunyuan Cauldron for a long time, yet still failed to coax out the gray butterfly.
Divine Lord Youli frowned instinctively.
Shifting his arts, he continued conversing with Luo Chen.
"However, later developments spun beyond this old man's control as well. The Fortune Gu not only aided my comprehension of law true intent and condensed my primordial spirit dharma idol, but it even drew in a colossal sea of heaven-and-earth origin qi, thereby bringing disaster upon the Southern Border's cultivation world.
"Under the deluge of massive heaven-and-earth origin qi, higher-ranking cultivators could scarcely preserve their mental clarity; the slightest lapse in concentration would cause them to succumb to inner demons.
"With my power, I could only shelter the cultivators of the Gate of Life and Death. Toward the other sects, I was utterly powerless.
"To prevent the situation from worsening, this old man had no choice but to seal the mountain gate and forbid the cultivators of the sacred ground from treading upon the mortal world."
As he spoke, he suddenly let out a muffled grunt.
"Come forth!"
With a flick of his finger, the Hunyuan Cauldron once more emitted a deep, sonorous drone.
The gray butterfly finally broke free of its restraints and emerged from the cauldron.
*Is this the Calamity Gu?*
Luo Chen looked up at the gray butterfly. In truth, this was his first time seeing the Gu's true appearance as well.
The moment it emerged, it entangled itself with the Fortune Gu.
The surrounding dense heaven-and-earth origin qi also seemed to quiet down.
Such a change caused ripples of emotion to churn in Luo Chen's mind.
"The Dao of Gu is truly profound and extraordinary!"
Watching this scene, Divine Lord Youli also breathed a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Though profound, it is ultimately not the orthodox path of our cultivation. It was merely stumbled upon by the main sect in the Xuan Realm by chance, brought down when pioneering the Mountain Sea Realm, and gradually developed. Precisely because of this, there is currently no method within this path to break through to Void Refining. My senior brother had no choice but to travel to the upper realm, attempting to rely on the main sect's power to advance to the Void Refining stage."
As he spoke, he gave a casual toss.
The Hunyuan Cauldron twirled and flew before Luo Chen.
"This destiny magical treasure of yours is quite extraordinary!"
Seeing him return the destiny magical treasure of his own accord, the great stone weighing on Luo Chen's heart finally fell away.
Naturally, he showed nothing on his face, feeling more curious about the ancient secrets revealed in the elder's words.
Having extracted the Calamity Gu, Divine Lord Youli seemed to be in a better mood, generously introducing secrets scarcely known to the world to Luo Chen.
Why did the Mountain Sea Realm have the tradition of opening wars?
Because the human race's very rise had been a grand opening war!
Ten thousand years ago, the five sects of the Xuan Realm, led by the Tianyuan Dao Sect, descended upon the Mountain Sea Realm and embarked upon a campaign of conquest and pioneering across this domain.
The transition from antiquity to the ancient era had occurred precisely during that period.
Only after the five human sects secured the five continents of the Mountain Sea Realm did the history of the realm proclaim the end of that bloody era of wars between humans and demons.
"The Star Gate of the Tianyuan Dao Sect is not merely the name of an organization. It is an even more powerful heavenly spirit treasure endowed with the ability to traverse space and roam the cosmos. It is said to have been personally forged for Great Venerable Tianyuan by a powerhouse of the Fiend race.
"It was only by relying on this treasure that our five sects could traverse the void and descend upon the Mountain Sea Realm.
"Yet for some unknown reason, after antiquity, the Star Gate passageway grew exceptionally unstable and could scarcely be used under ordinary circumstances. Only when a cultivator ascends, drawing down immense spiritual opportunities from this realm, can it be activated to return to the Xuan Realm.
"Consequently, the Tianyuan Dao Sect came to value this treasure above all else, rarely lending it to members of the other four sects. The ties between the five sects gradually cooled because of this, and contact with the main sects in the Xuan Realm was severed completely.
"Under such circumstances, the five sacred grounds stranded in the Mountain Sea Realm competed with increasing ferocity for the interests of this realm. Now that the Tianyuan Dao Sect has dispatched armies against three continents, seeking to swallow the world whole, it was something foreseeable long ago."
Listening to these ancient secrets, Luo Chen felt his blood surge.
He had harbored similar suspicions in his earlier years, and now they were finally confirmed.
Moreover, history was far more vast and magnificent than he had imagined.
Five sects from beyond the heavens, descending upon a world.
Slaying demons, banishing the wild, opening five continents.
"If you wish to learn more, you may peruse this book in your leisure time."
With that, Divine Lord Youli produced a jade slip.
Luo Chen accepted it respectfully and swept his eyes over it—*Secret Records of the Xuan Realm*.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, he said, "Such a precious item must be one of your esteemed sect's inheritances. Junior feels unworthy of receiving it!"
Though he said so, his hand gripped the jade slip tightly.
Divine Lord Youli chuckled. "No matter, what I gave you is merely a rubbed copy. Furthermore, when it was inconvenient for me to move, you brought back the Calamity Gu. Giving you a bit of compensation is only right."
As he spoke, his voice paused slightly, and he abruptly produced another object.
"I shall bestow this item upon you as well!"
Luo Chen fixed his gaze on it. Remarkably, it was that pair of yin-yang fish.
The Life-and-Death Gu!
"This..."
At this moment, Luo Chen truly hesitated.
With polite refusal in his voice, he said, "This Gu is one of your esteemed sect's three great ancestral divine Gu. This junior cannot accept it."
"There is nothing you cannot accept. In the end, it has not reached the fifth rank; it is merely fourth-rank." Divine Lord Youli appeared indifferent, his aversion toward the Life-and-Death Gu far outweighing his fondness for it. "To cultivators of our generation, a fifth-rank Life-and-Death Gu is a shortcut; it can bolster combat power and aid cultivation. Yet shortcuts inevitably come with a price. My senior brother Yin-Yang Zi was in the prime of his life, with a lifespan of barely over a thousand years, yet perished prematurely, all because he was burdened by this. If this fourth-rank Life-and-Death Gu remains behind, younger generations within the sect will surely be tempted. Leaving aside whether they could succeed in the future, the sheer process of nurturing it from the fourth rank to the fifth rank would unleash untold bloodbaths."
Luo Chen still hesitated.
Divine Lord Youli smiled. "You need not worry. This Gu is only at the fourth rank now and cannot form a contract with a Soul Formation existence at all. Moreover, I possess a secret art that can help you preserve your life should your contracted partner perish. With this Gu by your side, it might prove miraculously useful at a critical juncture."
Hearing this, Luo Chen's eyes lit up.
A secret art capable of eliminating the negative effects of the Life-and-Death Gu?
He could tell that Divine Lord Youli was in high spirits to talk, so he took the initiative to ask, "If such a secret art truly exists, why didn't Senior Yin-Yang Zi use it back then?"
"Because it did not exist back then!" Divine Lord Youli broke into a faint smile.
Luo Chen paused. Well, evidently, this secret art had only been researched and developed over the past two thousand years.
"Before setting up the Yin-Yang Realm, Senior Brother Yin-Yang Zi did study such secret arts, but time was too pressed. He had no choice but to abandon it and seek the method of feigning death to reincarnate instead. Alas, feigning death turned into true death, and what reincarnated was merely a strand of evil thought. The only fruit of his efforts was leaving behind a juvenile Nether Earth Dragon, which barely stepped into the fifth rank after the passage of ages.
"This secret art of mine was derived from the foundation of his early research.
"However, do not rely on it blindly. Its scope of effectiveness is ultimately confined within the fourth-rank Nascent Soul realm. Once both parties' realms break free of this level, its efficacy will plummet.
"Naturally, there is no need to worry about what happens after the Nascent Soul stage. Once both you and your contracted partner break through the Nascent Soul realm, this fourth-rank Life-and-Death Gu itself will not be of much use, causing merely a minor backlash at most."
After this series of explanations, Luo Chen finally accepted the gift.
In truth, he could not flatly refuse either.
When a Soul Formation powerhouse bestowed something, who could forcefully turn it down?
After sealing the Life-and-Death Gu along with that secret art using restrictions, Luo Chen curiously asked about the Nether Earth Dragon that had preliminarily stepped into the fifth rank.
Divine Lord Youli's answer was—let it go!
Luo Chen was quite puzzled by this answer.
Although that Nether Earth Dragon had only just entered the fifth rank, which aligned with his basic assessment of its strength, it was still a fifth-rank desolate beast no matter how one looked at it!
If properly enslaved and nurtured, it would be more than enough to serve as the guardian spiritual beast of the Gate of Life and Death.
Why just let it go?
To this, Divine Lord Youli offered a simple explanation.
"Once this old man departs, no one within the sect will be able to tame that beast. Leaving it behind will only bring calamity upon the sect."
"Depart?" Luo Chen froze.
Divine Lord Youli smiled. "Indeed. This old man accomplished his realm long ago. The reason I lingered without leaving was because I was suppressed by the ocean of origin qi drawn by the Fortune Gu. Now that fortune and misfortune intertwine, this ocean of origin qi can naturally no longer suppress me. At present, departure is the only path."
Luo Chen subconsciously looked upward. "Are you returning to the Xuan Realm?"
Yet he realized the truth almost immediately.
To return to the Xuan Realm required the aid of the Star Gate.
This was the Southern Border's Gate of Life and Death; where would the Dao Sect's Star Gate come from?
Thus, departure could only mean two things.
One was passing away; the other was ascension.
Judging from how long he had lived, his lifespan had likely long exceeded the two-thousand-year limit of Soul Formation powerhouses.
Luo Chen asked cautiously, "May I ask what realm Senior has reached?"
Divine Lord Youli countered, "Do you know why the world addresses me as a Divine Lord?"
Luo Chen blurted out, "Could Senior have reached the realm of a Void Refining True Monarch?"
"Not quite. In this realm, aside from a few top native Great Desolates, no living being can break through to the True Monarch realm. However!" Divine Lord Youli changed the subject, his magic power gently rippling outward like rolling waves. "Should I ascend successfully, the True Monarch realm will be well within reach!"
Beneath the colossal tide of magic power, Luo Chen retreated uncontrollably.
Wonder flashed in his eyes as he stared at the blue-robed elder standing atop the zenith of the sea of clouds.
A massive primordial spirit emerged from above the elder's head.
The lingering ocean of origin qi transformed into thousands of streams of rosy light, billowing and surging into the primordial spirit.
Not only that, beneath the gaze of Luo Chen's Scarlet Eye Golden Pupils, an immense amount of spiritual opportunity converged toward Divine Lord Youli's primordial spirit.
In merely a few breaths, that initially somewhat illusory primordial spirit became exceptionally solid.
Even its form and state underwent an inexplicable metamorphosis, shrouded in hazy law true intent that formed the illusory image of a giant.
In the blink of an eye, it stood a hundred zhang tall, looking down upon heaven and earth like a colossus.
The dazzling rosy light pierced through the mists of the sea of clouds, shooting downward like celestial radiance.
This transformation surpassed even that of Alchemy Saint Chu Yan's ascension back then.
Connecting the elder's realm with his earlier words, a thought surfaced faintly in Luo Chen's mind.
*A dharma idol!*
The path of Qi Refinement was the shared transformation of magic power and soul.
The latter in particular ran through all of a cultivator's realms!
Soul, spiritual perception, divine sense, Nascent Soul, and then the metamorphosis into a primordial spirit upon advancing to Soul Formation.
What about after Soul Formation?
Rumor had it that to break through to the Void Refining stage, one had to condense a dharma idol to replace the physical body, thereby roaming the ocean of origin qi and never again fearing the peril of assimilation by heaven and earth.
As for how to condense a dharma idol, Luo Chen did not know.
Yet judging from what was before him, Divine Lord Youli had truly achieved this step.
*No wonder he said that so long as he ascended successfully, he could step into the Void Refining stage. He has already begun condensing a preliminary dharma idol.*
Meanwhile, beneath the zenith of the cloud sea,
upon the battlefield of the Gate of Life and Death that resembled an asura purgatory,
countless cultivators noticed the anomaly in heaven and earth.
Celestial radiance pierced the mist, rosy light illuminating the boundless world.
An illusory giant image stood above the sea of clouds, looking down upon mountains and seas.
Everyone froze, bewildered by what this scene signified.
Yet the cultivators of the Tianyuan Dao Sect reacted the fastest!
For decades ago, they had witnessed this very spectacle.
"Ascension!"
"Someone is ascending!"
"Who would ascend at a time like this? Could it be Divine Lord Youli, the ancestor of the Gate of Life and Death?"
A figure abruptly appeared before the crowd. It was none other than Ancestor Liancheng, one of the five great ancestors of the Tianyuan Dao Sect.
At this moment, he stared upward, his expression uncertain and alarmed.
*It is indeed an act of ascension. Yet why does Divine Lord Youli manifest the form of an illusory idol? Rumor has it that to prolong his life, his cultivation realm ground to a halt. He could not even move freely, forced to sit withered within the Gate of Life and Death.*
At this thought, Ancestor Liancheng felt an inexplicable sense of danger.
Why did the man choose to ascend neither earlier nor later, but precisely when their grand army bore down upon the sect?
Ancestor Liancheng began to retreat.
Yet it seemed a step too late.
The illusory giant standing upon the sea of clouds snapped its eyes open.
Those eyes contained the sun, moon, and stars, the vicissitudes of boundless ages.
Casting its gaze downward, it casually pressed down a palm.
*Boom!*
The lingering ocean of origin qi suddenly sank.
Terrifying origin qi instantly poured down into the Gate of Life and Death.
At this moment, the origin qi seemed endowed with sentience, bypassing every cultivator of the Gate of Life and Death and crashing toward the enemies.
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
Continuous explosions rang out. With every sound, a bloom of bloody mist burst forth, signaling the extinction of a life.
Cultivators of the Fierce Peak Zombie Alliance, cultivators of the Tianyuan Dao Sect...
Watching this, Ancestor Liancheng's eyes nearly tore at the corners.
"Youli! How dare you strike at the cultivators of my sect? Are you not afraid of the Dao Sect's retaliation?"
In the sea of clouds, sheltering in a corner, Luo Chen also suddenly came to his senses.
Indeed!
In his peak state on the verge of ascension, Divine Lord Youli had few rivals in the world; wiping out all invading enemies was effortless.
Yet once he ascended successfully, the Gate of Life and Death would be left without a Soul Formation powerhouse.
The main force of the Fierce Peak Zombie Alliance was here; annihilating them was fine.
Yet the Tianyuan Dao Sect still endured. Did Divine Lord Youli not fear that the Dao Sect would retaliate against the Gate of Life and Death afterward?
Was he a coldhearted individual who cared only for the immediate present?
Luo Chen did not think so!
From the way he had sealed the mountain gate to shelter his disciples for hundreds of years, his earnest devotion was plain to see.
Why act in such a manner?
Divine Lord Youli gave Ancestor Liancheng no answer. While pressing down the ocean of origin qi, he pointed a finger across the void.
His target: Liancheng!
*Swoosh!*
As the finger thrust forward, the void ruptured, and a black line stretching thousands of li cleaved the world in two.
Scared out of his wits, Ancestor Liancheng fled into the void without hesitation.
Yet a moment later, he was forced back out, as if this sky were no longer under his control.
A thumb-sized bloody hole appeared between his chest and abdomen, massive quantities of magic power leaking out uncontrollably.
With madness on his face, he shot toward the distance at a fleeing speed unprecedented in his life.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from everyone's sight.
Absolute silence fell over all creation.
All that remained was Divine Lord Youli's faint warning.
"Step into the Southern Border again, and die!"
The illusory idol amidst the sea of clouds slowly withdrew its hand, seemingly intending to strike no further.
Within the Gate of Life and Death, a few enemies remained, such as Alliance Leader Songyang, Zhan Bingtao, and Old Man Zangsheng.
Far stronger than ordinary cultivators, they had narrowly survived Divine Lord Youli's sweeping strike.
Even so, every last one had lost their nerve.
When the foremost Soul Formation powerhouse of the contemporary age struck, annihilating a million cultivators with a single blow and routing Ancestor Liancheng with a single finger, how could they dare continue the offensive?
One after another, they fled along the path they had come in utter desperation.
The cultivators of the Gate of Life and Death put up a token interception before holding back.
Everyone's eyes were fixed tightly upon their ancestor, as if terrified of losing something.
A faint sigh drifted down.
"From now on, it will be up to yourselves."
Three streaks of light descended from the sea of clouds—one red, one gray, and one green—landing respectively in the hands of the Gate of Life and Death's three late Nascent Soul Great Cultivators.
Divine Lord Youli withdrew his gaze and looked toward Luo Chen in the distance.
"Young friend, I have extracted the Calamity Gu. Yet that small cauldron of yours is wondrous, and a sliver of the Calamity Gu's aura still lingers within it. In the future, a great tribulation may arrive unbidden. I have left behind a measure; you may lightly activate that lingering Calamity Gu aura, which may perhaps draw upon heavenly tribulation to ward off some danger.
"Now, allow me to send you on your way!"
A gentle wave of origin qi surged toward Luo Chen, carrying him into the distance.
Luo Chen's gaze was quite complicated. His contact with this powerhouse had been exceedingly brief.
Though brief, the goodwill the man had shown was undisguised, and he had offered guidance on many matters.
Now that he was on the verge of ascension and had taken the trouble to send him off, how could Luo Chen fail to be moved?
He bowed deeply.
"My thanks to Senior. If Luo Chen has strength to spare in the future, I shall certainly look after the Gate of Life and Death."
Divine Lord Youli smiled faintly. "You are very kind."
"Congratulations to Senior on your ascension! May your immortal path flourish!"
Only these words of Luo Chen's lingered in the sea of clouds.
Meanwhile, amidst the rolling mountains below, a tsunami of voices rose in farewell.
"Respectfully sending Ancestor off to ascend!"
Chapter 970