"You are that anomaly, Cheng Xi?"
The azure-robed Daoist's voice was calm and gentle, like a mountain stream flowing over smooth pebbles. It carried no trace of worldly dust, yet it rang clearly through every corner of the silent stone cavern. The voice was not loud, but it seemed to contain the rhythm of Words Manifested as Law, branding itself directly into the depths of the soul.
The words "anomaly" struck Cheng Xi's heart like an invisible sledgehammer!
The system within him instantly fell into utter silence. All scanning and deduction functions seemed to have encountered absolute zero, freezing completely!
[Encountered absolute high-dimensional suppression! Core functions entering Forced Dormancy! Passive perception module operating at maximum capacity...]
The icy notification carried unprecedented reverence and fear. The person before him was by no means an ordinary immortal!
A vast, boundless pressure closed in like an invisible firmament, gentle yet irresistible. Cheng Xi felt as though his soul had been cast into transparent amber. His thoughts slowed, and every inch of his flesh, every wisp of breath, even the newly born Sword Intent Imprint in his sea of consciousness, had nowhere to hide beneath that man's placid gaze. This was not Killing Intent, but absolute suppression originating from the level of life itself, from the Great Dao Origin! Like an ant gazing up at a galaxy, he felt only insignificance and shock.
Yan Lingji let out a muffled groan, her face instantly turning pale as paper. The violent, blazing power within her that Jianmu Vitality had only just calmed stirred madly once more beneath this supreme pressure, like a ferocious beast provoked into fury! The dark golden patterns beneath her skin flickered violently like red-hot iron, nearly bursting through her body! She bit her lip tightly, pain and instinctive terror filling her flame-like eyes as her body trembled uncontrollably.
Suppressing the tremors in his soul and the stiffness in his body, Cheng Xi struggled to raise his head and meet the azure figure's direct gaze upon the Lotus Platform. The other man's eyes were as still as an ancient well, as profound as if they contained an entire sea of stars. Cheng Xi felt that every secret he possessed—his reborn soul, the Chaos System, the Xirang Crystal, the Jianmu Fragment, even the hidden details of his journey to Mount Li—was laid completely bare and dissected with perfect clarity beneath that gaze.
"This junior... is Cheng Xi." His voice was dry and hoarse, every word weighing a thousand pounds. "May I ask... Immortal Elder's honored title?" He knew the answer, yet he had no choice but to ask. Before such an existence, any trickery seemed pale and laughable.
The azure-robed Daoist did not answer. His gaze swept across the Qingping Sword Sheath in Cheng Xi's arms, which was still humming faintly, then settled upon Yan Lingji. It lingered for a moment on the dark golden patterns flickering intensely beneath her skin. At last, the ancient-well-like eyes rippled ever so slightly, carrying a trace of... understanding? And something indescribably complicated?
"Qingping has a spirit and seeks its own master. Amid tribulation, Seize a Thread of Life." The Daoist slowly spoke, his voice still calm, yet seeming to contain the ultimate principles of the Heavenly Dao. "You bear a Chaos Variable, carry Jianmu Vitality, and have further awakened the imprint of my sword intent. You broke the River God's Water Tribulation and found your way here... This was neither coincidence nor luck."
He paused, his gaze returning to Cheng Xi. The invisible pressure seemed to withdraw ever so slightly, allowing Cheng Xi to breathe again.
"My Daoist title is Tongtian."
Boom!
Those two words exploded in Cheng Xi and Yan Lingji's seas of consciousness like the first thunderclap at the dawn of chaos!
Tongtian! Lord Tongtian! One of the Six Sages of the Primordial Era, master of the Jie Sect! The supreme existence who had cleaved apart the demonic claw in the mountain belly with a single sword strike from afar, whose sword scar had frightened Yinghuo away! He was truly standing before them! Appearing in this blessed cave paradise in such an understated manner!
The terror in Yan Lingji's eyes was instantly replaced by unimaginable shock. Even the restless bloodline within her seemed cowed by that supreme name, calmed down somewhat for the moment.
Overwhelming Rage churned within Cheng Xi's heart! Though he had long suspected it, hearing it with his own ears and seeing the man himself still brought an incomparable impact! He drew a deep breath, forcibly calming his surging emotions before bowing deeply. "This junior, Cheng Xi, and Yan Lingji pay respects to Sage Tongtian!" Yan Lingji also struggled to follow him in salutation.
Lord Tongtian gave a slight nod, accepting their bow. His gaze passed over Yan Lingji once more, carrying a trace of scrutiny. "Witch Clan Remnant? Fire Witch Origin? What a pity... mixed bloodline, deeply ingrained malevolence, and moreover... signs of External Demon Erosion." His voice was calm, yet he pierced straight through the Deepest hidden danger within Yan Lingji.
Yan Lingji shuddered from head to toe, her face growing even paler. Her lips moved, but she did not know how to respond. That so-called "External Demon Erosion" clearly referred to the chaotic power from the dark golden giant claw in the stone grotto that had polluted her bloodline.
Lord Tongtian's gaze returned to Cheng Xi. His calm eyes seemed to pierce through flesh and directly behold the Chaos Imprint of rebirth deep within Cheng Xi's soul. "As for you... a Soul from Another World, carrying a 'Chaos Artifact'—the system—and stirring the karmic fate of This World. With a mortal body, you commit acts against Heaven... the Mount Li Demonic Lair, the Secluded Valley Corpse, the Xianyang Undercurrents... All that you have done lies within the tribulation."
Cheng Xi's heart shook violently! Lord Tongtian had not only seen through his origins and the system—though he had not named it explicitly, he clearly knew it existed—but even knew every secret experience Cheng Xi had undergone! Before a Sage, there truly were no secrets!
"May I ask, Sage," Cheng Xi suppressed his shock, his voice carrying a trace of resolve, "what is tribulation? What is defying Heaven? All this junior has done is seek survival, seek a glimmer of hope for transcendence! Lu Buwei Colludes with Demonic Evils, breeding demonic creatures and seeking to overthrow Great Qin, to plague the common people! Could such conduct truly be permitted by the Heavenly Dao? Could that be 'Following Heaven'?"
He was going all out! Before a Sage, explanations and concealment were futile. He might as well speak his heart directly! He recalled the system's notification that Heavenly Dao's Gaze is Faint, the Ancestral Dragon lurking within Ying Zheng, and the shackled Earthly Dao and Human Dao Shackles!
At his words, the ancient-well-still face of Lord Tongtian showed the first extremely subtle... change? It was not anger, but like a stone cast into ice that had lain dormant for ages, sending out a faint ripple. His gaze seemed to pierce through the stone walls of the blessed realm and stretch toward the depths of the boundless primordial sky. Deep within those eyes flashed an indescribably complex meaning—desolation from Old Grudges from Investiture of the Gods, doubt toward Heavenly Dao's Injustice, and something more... deeply buried defiance!
"The Heavenly Dao?" Lord Tongtian's voice remained calm, yet it seemed to carry a chill from eternity. "Under the Heavenly Dao, All Things Are Dogs of Heaven. Those who follow prosper? Those Who Rebel Perish? Heh..." A nearly inaudible snort carried the mockery and unwillingness of countless ages.
He did not directly answer Cheng Xi's question. Instead, he changed the subject. "You speak of seeking survival, seeking transcendence. Do you know that this path is covered in thorns, with nine deaths and no life? Do you know that my Jie Sect's Seize a Thread of Life is itself an act of defying Heaven? The Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, the destruction of the Myriad Immortals Formation—those are lessons from the past!" At the mention of those old events from Investiture of the Gods, beneath his calm tone lay Overwhelming Rage capable of burning galaxies to ash, along with bone-deep desolation!
A Sage's Might, even merely a trace held back from release, was enough to make the spiritual energy within the blessed realm instantly stagnate! Yan Lingji let out a muffled groan and nearly fell to her knees. Cheng Xi felt as though his soul were being pierced by billions of Ice Needles, while the newly born Sword Intent Imprint trembled madly, on the verge of being shattered!
"This disciple... does not regret it!" Cheng Xi suddenly raised his head, unprecedented light erupting from his eyes! Bearing that terrifying Sage's Might, he spoke word by word, as though squeezing them from the depths of his soul. "If the Heavenly Dao is unjust and treats all living beings as chess pieces! If immortals and gods have no Dao and treat mortals as dogs! Then this 'defiance of Heaven,' this disciple is willing to undertake! This 'thread of life,' this disciple is willing to seize! Even if my body is shattered and my soul scattered, I will not regret today's resolve!"
"I am willing to use this mortal body to Shake the Heavenly Dao! I am willing to use One's Own Heart to Prove the Chaos!"
His voice seemed so weak beneath the Sage's Might, yet it carried an unshakable, desperate resolve! This was not empty bravado, but a cry and awakening from the deepest part of his soul at the edge of life and death, beneath a Sage's scrutiny! The existence of the Chaos System, his experience of rebirth, and his struggles to survive along the way had long made him unable to accept being a chess piece any longer!
Boom!
Before you continue