With a slight twitch of the Sacred Emperor's golden chains, one of the paper figurines was dragged before Li Ping.
Unlike the others, this paper figurine showed little fear on its face. Instead, it looked somewhat listless, weary, and weak.
Its thick eyebrows bristled upward, giving it an oddly comical appearance.
"Seeking survival?"
"If the skin is gone, where can the hair adhere? If the Xuanhuang Realm itself is destroyed, where could any of you possibly survive?" the Sacred Emperor demanded in a cold voice.
The bushy-eyebrowed paper figurine offered a wry smile. "The strength of our Crossing Adversity Sect is entirely mediocre. If the Xuanhuang Realm truly were destroyed, there wouldn't be anything we could do anyway, would there? We'd just have to accept it.
"Surely Your Eminence wouldn't blame the mortals of this world for not stepping forward to save the Xuanhuang Realm? One does as much as one's ability allows..."
Li Ping did not argue with the figurine. Applying slight force to the golden chains once more, he said, "Sharp-tongued to the end, unrepentant even in the face of death."
The golden light slowly condensed, shrinking from the thickness of heavy chains until it was as slender as thread.
It coiled around the bushy-eyebrowed figurine turn after turn.
The other captured paper figurines cried out and screeched in sheer terror.
Yet this bushy-eyebrowed figurine alone sat as if upright in formal meditation, its expression turning solemn and severe.
It murmured under its breath, "Years turn to void, tribulations endure eternal. Through a hundred lifetimes and a thousand calamities, forge my golden body..."
The golden Source Power that had hitherto been invincible for the Sacred Emperor lost its effect for the first time.
Li Ping felt only the power applied to the figurine being subtly and ingeniously defused.
It was even absorbed by the other party, becoming part of its foundation.
The golden threads gradually dissolved. The bushy-eyebrowed figurine sat motionless, but the hue of its paper body shifted from aged yellowish-white to a brilliant gold close to Source Power Essence.
Stone Slab, who had been watching from the side, instantly took on a grave look. "Careful, Fellow Daoist. This is the Crossing Adversity Sect's supreme art, Eternal Calamitous World. It can transform all the power of tribulation in the world into nourishment for one's own cultivation."
Li Ping sneered. "Nothing more than a tortoise shrinking into its shell. You want to use my power to cultivate? Then I shall satisfy you!"
A brilliant golden glare like blazing fire erupted from the Sacred Emperor.
The flames roared, bathing the entirety of the Crossing Adversity Sect's space in brilliant gold.
Golden flames, almost condensed into substance, surged along the remaining chains and poured directly into the figurine's golden body.
Those paper figurines who were not even the Sacred Emperor's primary targets, merely caught in the periphery, wailed heaven-shaking cries as if being roasted alive. One could easily imagine the immense pressure borne by the golden-bodied figurine. It appeared warped, as if on the verge of melting.
Yet the bushy-eyebrowed figurine remained unmoving, its expression placid.
This sight secretly startled Stone Slab.
Though turning into paper figurines made it impossible to recognize their original appearances, someone who could remain composed and unharmed under such terrifying might from the Sacred Emperor would have been rare even during the peak of the Crossing Adversity Sect.
Stone Slab began guessing at the figurine's identity.
Meanwhile, the Faceless Sacred Emperor did not relent in his torment of the sect's paper figurines.
The golden flames burned ever more fiercely. While they did not incinerate the figurines completely, they gradually plated them in an indelible layer of gold.
The bushy-eyebrowed figurine in particular, enveloped in blazing fire, glowed with an increasingly conspicuous golden radiance.
"You wish to seclude yourselves to escape disaster, but I will not permit it!"
"The rise or fall of Xuanhuang is the responsibility of you all!"
The Sacred Emperor's voice boomed like thunder as the Source Power Essence burst forth.
It illuminated every corner of the space. So brilliant was the light that even Stone Slab could not help closing his eyes to shield them.
When the light receded, the darkness within the hall of the Crossing Adversity Sect had completely vanished.
That terribly uncomfortable, gloomy aura was gone as well.
Stripped of the chains' bindings, the paper figurines tumbled to the floor in a chaotic jumble.
Compared to before, they seemed to possess a bit more vitality.
As for the bushy-eyebrowed figurine at their lead, it had turned directly into a little golden man.
The golden man still wore that listless, dejected expression. He sighed, "For Your Eminence to waste so much Source Power Essence on useless trash like us is truly a reckless squandering of heavenly gifts!
"A terrible bargain!"
Li Ping said in a low voice, "If matters in this world were decided purely by rationality, the Xuanhuang Realm would likely have perished long ago! Would you even be here making such a racket?"
Before his voice had finished fading, a large 'X' suddenly appeared across the golden paper figurine's face, sealing its mouth shut.
The same happened to the other paper figurines in rapid succession.
The hall of the Crossing Adversity Sect, previously as clamorous as a marketplace, went dead silent in an instant.
"Fellow Daoist Yijue?" Stone Slab finally looked at the golden paper figurine and asked tentatively.
Unable to speak, the golden paper figurine merely blinked at Stone Slab.
It was impossible to tell whether it was confirming or denying.
There was no time for the two to reminisce. Having lost the support of the Source Power Essence, this space was slowly turning unstable.
"Let us leave first."
Leading Stone Slab and the host of senseless paper figurines, Li Ping flashed out of the Crossing Adversity Sect.
At this moment, the ancient immortal sect that had been sealed and suppressed by Chuanfa revealed its true form.
It was a book unfolded in the middle.
There were no words inside, only bas-relief-like mountains and empty scenes of architecture.
As the pages turned naturally, the scenes displayed within shifted accordingly.
Yet all of them were silhouettes, appearing both comical and eerie.
Li Ping grasped the Book of Crossing Adversity with a colossal hand, and the magnificent landscapes within were instantly stained with a layer of gold.
"Gather!"
The Sacred Emperor gave a low shout. The dense, jumbled pile of paper figurines—including the little golden man with bushy eyebrows—flew uncontrollably into the Book of Crossing Adversity.
*Thud!*
Li Ping pressed his right hand down, shutting the book.
All the bizarre phenomena vanished in an instant.
"It is not wise to linger here. Although the method I used to dismantle Chuanfa's restrictions was ingenious, restoring them even as they were undone, there is still no guarantee that the abnormality here will escape his notice.
"Follow me."
Li Ping spoke gravely, his form already vanishing from the sealed space.
Stone Slab followed the Sacred Emperor through a spatial corridor of the Xuanhuang Realm, arriving in an endless void.
Even at their speed, they flew through the void for quite a while before sensing the aura of a world ahead.
"That is..."
Stone Slab was slightly taken aback.
"The Yishi Sect's Five Elements Grotto-Heavens? To think it is here. Does that not mean the Longevity realm cultivator who relocated the grotto-heavens back then..."
While Stone Slab was still pondering, Baihua had already flown out to greet them.
After lingering on Stone Slab for a moment, Baihua sent a voice transmission to Li Ping.
Li Ping gave a slight nod.
Baihua then nodded in greeting to Stone Slab before flying back into the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens.
"This is where I rest and recuperate. How does Fellow Daoist think it compares to the Xuanhuang Realm proper?" Li Ping brought Stone Slab into the Daqi pocket world.
With a sweep of his divine sense, a general view of the pocket world surfaced in Stone Slab's mind.
Even though certain places were veiled by mysterious power and remained beyond his full awareness, what was revealed on the surface alone shook Stone Slab profoundly.
Although the Genesis Stone Slab's reputation for recording every single thing under heaven was somewhat inflated nowadays, Stone Slab had still known the events of the Xuanhuang Realm's early provinces with absolute clarity.
Yet, compared to this Daqi pocket world...
It was as though the outside world lagged hundreds of years behind, an entire era adrift.
There were many things here that even Stone Slab could not fathom.
Furthermore, he sensed the aura of old acquaintances here.
Such as the Earth Vein Ancient Tree, and that Beast Taming Sect disciple.
Following Li Ping all the way to the Sacred Emperor Throne, Stone Slab's shock finally began to settle.
"I have carried this stone slab for so many years, believing that all affairs under heaven lay within my mind. Little did I expect that after seeing and hearing what I have today, I would realize the world's developments have long since surpassed my reckonings..." Stone Slab said, feeling somewhat lost.
"There is no need for Fellow Daoist to feel dejected. Daily renewal and constant progress are the proper path. If the world remained stagnant for several millennia...
"Wouldn't that make us seem utterly incompetent?" Li Ping smiled faintly.
For a moment, Stone Slab did not know how to respond and fell silent.
Ever since coming into contact with this 'Avatar of the Heavenly Dao,' the shocks he had received were simply too great.
Compared to the scenes he now witnessed, the Xuanhuang Realm in his mind seemed like an act on a stage—a false illusion performed purely for his eyes!
This left Stone Slab feeling faintly dispirited.
"I knew long ago that the Five Elders Association, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, and the other supreme experts of the Xuanhuang Realm—anyone who knew of the stone slab on my back—would do everything possible to avoid its records. Yet I never imagined that the truth of the world had already evolved to such an extent..."
Faintly discerning Stone Slab's thoughts, Li Ping said slowly, "The Xuanhuang Realm is the final sanctuary of the Pitch-Black Star Sea. The Xuanhuang Realm proper, fragments of other worlds, survivors of the star sea, and even forces from beyond the High Wall...
"All converge here. The complexity of the situation is such that let alone Fellow Daoist, even Chuanfa and the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao itself cannot claim to know it like the back of their hand."
"Indeed..." Stone Slab sighed and nodded.
He recalled the fishing pond he had seen earlier.
How many more such hidden treasures existed within the Xuanhuang Realm?
As an ancient relic of the Xuanhuang Realm, he was finally feeling what it was like to be left behind by the times.
"Things remain, but the people have changed; the old stories are no more."
Scenes of the earliest Xuanhuang Realm from long ago surfaced in Stone Slab's mind, causing him to daze slightly.
It was the Sacred Emperor's voice that broke his reverie.
"The convergence of the myriad realms is a foregone conclusion. A battle between Chuanfa and me is inevitable. Yet no matter who wins or loses, it will not change the fact that the Xuanhuang Realm shall be reborn amidst ruin."
Li Ping did not bring up relieving the mental overload on Stone Slab, speaking instead of this unexpected topic.
Stone Slab reined in his thoughts and looked intently at Li Ping.
"The crux of the matter lies in where the new legitimacy of the Xuanhuang Realm will reside.
"Does Fellow Daoist know Chuanfa's background?"
Li Ping's divine intent locked onto Stone Slab as he asked in a deep voice.
Stone Slab pondered for a moment before replying, "When Chuanfa first revealed his presence back then, our Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao investigated him. He was indeed a native cultivator of the Xuanhuang Realm. The trajectory of his life from childhood to adulthood was thoroughly accounted for and recorded without a blemish.
"His surname was Xuanyuan, his name Tuo. He lived in the rural countryside from an early age. Because he was frail and sickly in his youth, his parents gave him the childhood nickname Goudan.
"Before the age of fifty, his life was no different from that of an ordinary farmer. Only after turning fifty-one did he suddenly comprehend the Dao and rise abruptly.
"Because of this, in the initial investigations by the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao, his origin simply could not be uncovered. For he truly had attained the Dao overnight."
Stone Slab recounted slowly.
Scenes from those bygone years manifested one after another within the hall of the Sacred Emperor Throne.
...
"Xuanyuan Tuo." Li Ping looked at the slightly foolish-looking youth in the images, watching him gradually turn into a taciturn middle-aged farmer, and then slowly into a white-haired elder.
"For a mortal to comprehend the Dao overnight is indeed possible. However, it usually happens in one's youth. For Chuanfa, this transformation occurred almost when his lifespan was at its end...
"It truly is baffling and suspicious," Li Ping remarked.
Stone Slab nodded. "The ten sects harbored the same suspicions back then. However, we employed secret arts and verified with the Heavenly Dao, confirming that no body possession or impersonation by an outsider had taken place.
"Yet Chuanfa was genuinely uncanny, like someone born with innate knowledge. Back then, several Longevity experts of the ten sects launched a surprise strike to kill him, but he somehow neutralized it through unknown means. From then on, he slipped entirely beyond our control. Perhaps if the ten sects had struck with all our might back then, the outcome might have been different..." Stone Slab lamented.
The grand hall suddenly fell into silence.
After a long while,
Li Ping suddenly spoke up, asking, "Verified with the Heavenly Dao... What if the means used to steal that identity transcended the Heavenly Dao itself?"
Stone Slab froze in astonishment.
At first glance, this question sounded like baseless contrarianism.
Yet as Stone Slab considered it carefully, it was precisely because the ten sects had possessed absolute confidence in their methods back then that they had held fast to that conclusion for thousands of years without doubt.
*At this point, what use is there in pursuing Chuanfa's background?*
After a fleeting sense of loss, this thought welled up in Stone Slab's mind.
With confusion, he looked toward the Sacred Emperor once more.
The Sacred Emperor's voice echoed through the hall like thunder: "As I stated before, the key to the newborn Xuanhuang Realm lies in the word 'legitimacy.'
"Much like a new body assembled from severed limbs, who serves as the brain is of paramount importance.
"At present, the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao still regards itself as the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao. But before long, that might no longer be the case..."
Li Ping's tone was faint and eerie.
Knowing that the other party was an Avatar of the Heavenly Dao and would never speak without cause, Stone Slab's expression shifted. "Please elaborate, Fellow Daoist."
"Everything you observe through the stone slab can be viewed from an outsider's perspective, detached and uninvolved. Yet when worlds merge, the memories feel as though personally experienced, half-real and half-illusion. As time passes, one can no longer distinguish between false and true, between the self and the foreign.
"Especially..."
Li Ping directed his gaze toward the Xuanhuang Realm proper, countless myriads of li away.
"The Heavenly Dao today is frail; its power of resistance is already negligible.
"If one day, the remnant wills of the myriad realms' Heavenly Daos come crashing down like a collapsing flood all at once...
"The Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao would likely be unable to endure it from the very first instant, losing its true self to madness."
A trace of self-deprecation crept into Li Ping's tone.
"After that, if someone were to use a relatively complete Heavenly Dao intent to guide and corrode it, they could pull off a grand deception and seize the legitimacy of Xuanhuang. When that time comes, though it may still be called the Xuanhuang Realm, from inside out, it will no longer be the original Xuanhuang."
Hearing this, Stone Slab fell into deep thought.
The person the Sacred Emperor was referring to was obvious: Chuanfa.
Chapter 1252