"An anima of Heaven and Earth, born as a mortal..."
"An anima of Heaven and Earth, born as a mortal..."
The aged Xu Ke was filled with disbelief, frozen in place as he muttered repeatedly under his breath.
"There are supreme figures in this world who leave behind their own indelible marks upon Heaven and Earth. These traces are profound enough that even after they perish, they can be reconstructed from those very imprints."
"Mannerisms, conduct, exactly as they were back then."
"Yet after all is said and done, it is still merely a mold."
"Mr. Bai" spoke of the truth regarding himself with absolute calm, feeling no bitterness over being nothing more than someone else's shadow.
"Then... just how can he truly be brought back to life..." Subconsciously touching the black coffin strapped across his back, the aged Xu Ke asked with a hint of urgency.
Mr. Bai shook his head with a faint smile. "Perhaps that is something only the fated one can answer. After all, back then, even he himself never harbored the slightest desire to be resurrected."
Xu Ke wanted to say more, but "Mr. Bai" cut him off sharply.
"Enough. It is time for you to leave." He lifted his head to gaze at the firmament, his expression sterner than it had ever been.
A gentle breeze swept past Xu Ke.
Moments later, Xu Ke vanished into Heaven and Earth, his destination unknown.
And at that very moment...
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
The transparent crystal enclosing the Xuanhuang Realm shattered into pieces.
High above in the heavens, a face intimately familiar to every cultivator in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals abruptly surfaced!
From beyond the world, looking down upon the myriad living beings of Xuanhuang!
As if in an instant, the entire world was completely frozen in ice.
All living beings, their very thoughts seemingly congealed, froze where they stood.
At this moment, across the Xuanhuang Realm...
Absolute silence reigned!
From beyond the heavens flew several dark-gold chains, abruptly binding the limbs of Mr. Bai as he stood aloft in the air.
Mr. Bai seemed to have anticipated this long ago and offered little resistance.
He merely gazed down at the Xuanhuang Realm below.
Influenced by the terrifying might of Chuanfa's true countenance, a low droning began to reverberate from the depths of the earth.
Across the surface, deep chasms ripped open, spreading in all directions.
The entire world trembled faintly beneath the emergence of Chuanfa's countenance!
Blanketed beneath such horrifying might, every living being below the Longevity Heavenly Venerable realm lacked the slightest ability to resist.
The vast majority of them could not even comprehend what was happening.
Their consciousness remained stuck at the moment the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable had manifested!
The tremors grew ever more violent. High mountains collapsed; rivers surged in chaos.
Plains thrust upward into mountain ranges; plateaus leveled into flat expanses.
Transformations that would take thousands of years to unfold naturally across the Xuanhuang Realm now transpired in the span of a breath.
Yet this was not born of the world's natural evolution, but of violent destruction wreaked by an external force!
Just as even more catastrophic shifts were about to erupt, five distinct forces suddenly surged forth from within the Xuanhuang Realm.
In an instant, they swept across the vast land of Xuanhuang, striving with all their might to stabilize the fracturing world.
High above, the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable seemed to take note as well. Her revealed countenance blurred slightly.
The turmoil showed faint signs of subsiding.
Yet the chains entwined around Mr. Bai showed not the slightest hint of loosening.
Instead, they bound him tighter and tighter.
Watching the scene below, Mr. Bai let out a soft sigh.
"The Xuanhuang Realm of today..."
"No longer belongs to me."
"..."
"Then I shall return it to you."
Having spoken these words, Mr. Bai cast one last glance at the Xuanhuang Realm.
An enigmatic emotion flitted through his eyes.
Then, boundless white light burst forth from his body.
In that instant, his entire form dissolved into light!
Countless specks of white light, like an inverted starry river, soared upward toward the firmament.
Like countless stars returning to their home.
In the end, as if waking from a dream, they dimmed and dispersed between Heaven and Earth.
With the target gone, the now-empty dark-gold chains recoiled back beyond the heavens.
Yet the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable did not cease her actions.
Her countenance still faintly occupied the greater half of the firmament.
The rest of her facial features gradually grew faint, melding into the sky.
Only a pair of eyes grew increasingly profound, like two black suns hanging high in the heavens!
Because of this, the entire Xuanhuang Realm swiftly plunged into darkness.
Drawn by an inexplicable pull, the myriad living beings—whose thoughts had ground to a halt—looked up toward the sky in an oblivious daze.
Meeting Chuanfa's gaze.
Such was the fate of nearly every creature in the realm.
Only a mere handful of entities could not help but lower their heads, averting their eyes from Chuanfa's gaze.
Beneath the gaze of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable, the Xuanhuang Realm fell into a brief spell of absolute stillness.
Then...
Just as silently as it had arrived, Chuanfa's countenance faded imperceptibly from the firmament.
Moments later, the living beings of the Xuanhuang Realm gradually came to their senses.
At first, they felt somewhat bewildered, standing frozen for a moment.
Then they resumed their lives of cultivation, just as before.
Yet everything regarding "Mr. Bai," who had towered between heaven and earth to impart the Dao, everything regarding the method of establishing the foundation with oneself, and everything concerning this cataclysm had vanished entirely from their minds.
It was as though none of it had ever happened in this world.
...
Within the Valley of Longevity.
The people of the Medicine King Sect slowly came round. Looking at the disheveled ground, their expressions were filled with confusion.
They vaguely recalled that this seemed related to a peerless supreme powerhouse.
Yet upon deeper reflection, they could remember nothing at all.
As if they had forgotten something profoundly important, a wrenching discomfort welled up in their chests.
Several children present even burst into unexplained tears.
The three Dao Integration experts of the Medicine King Sect exchanged glances, terror flickering in their eyes.
Liu San was the first to regain his composure, directing the disciples to clear the chaos.
Jiang Yushan looked down at her hands, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes.
Fang Zaiji went to comfort the weeping children.
Suddenly, as if recalling something, he hurriedly retrieved an image-recording stone from his storage ring.
It seemed to contain images recorded not long before the strange phenomenon occurred.
However, when he viewed the scene captured within, he was bewildered once more.
Dozens of children sat cross-legged on the ground, chattering excitedly as though engaged in lively conversation.
Yet the figure they were all facing was completely empty. There was no one there at all.
Nor did any sound actually emerge from their mouths.
It was as though they were conversing with a nonexistent entity.
This utterly eerie scene sent a chill down Fang Zaiji's spine.
Subconsciously, he put the image-recording stone away, gripping it tightly.
*An existence erased...*
The thought flashed through Fang Zaiji's mind. Connecting it to the anomalies that had just struck the entire Medicine King Sect, his heart grew immensely heavy.
He resolved to bury this secret forever in the depths of his heart, never mentioning it to anyone again.
It took a full seven days for order to be gradually restored to the Valley of Longevity.
During the process of clearing the rubble, beneath the sand and debris of a ruined structure, a child named Gu Xinghan picked up a crystal-clear jade disc.
Chapter 796