The Kindling Flame Curtain spread through the chaos beyond the heavens like an ever-expanding crimson-gold prairie, setting ablaze layer after layer of chaos giant beasts pouring into the defensive line. It transformed them into pure law energy, feeding it simultaneously into the flame curtain itself and the Great Desolation World's ascension process. Behind the curtain, Suiren stood like a steadily burning furnace, maintaining the uninterrupted operation of the Kindling Way with a constant rhythm of breath. Though the giant beasts appearing farther away continued to approach, their advance had already slowed by nearly half under the curtain's ceaseless burning. Like a prairie constantly being cut short, its roots still grew, but its height had been kept below the point where it could pose a threat.
Just as the edge of the Kindling Flame Curtain was about to reach a denser region of the beast tide, a glow of ochre and emerald rose from the Great Desolation World's barrier like an unfurling foundation of earth. Youchao appeared within that light, dressed in simple robes woven from grass and wood. His expression was composed, his gaze cautious, as though studying the veins of the land. He held no weapon. In his palm was only a law pattern circulating at an even pace—the Origin structure he had condensed after attaining Hunyuan Grand Unity Golden Immortal through the Settled Abode Way. Rooted in the Human Race's earliest concept of shelter, it had gradually become a unique form of law through its continued fusion with the Wutu Law and the Way of Yimu.
"The essence of the Settled Abode Way lies not in what kind of dwelling one builds, but in the word 'boundary,'" Youchao's voice rang through the void. It was neither loud nor soft, yet it carried the steadiness of experience tested time