Secret **

As time flowed on, year after year, beneath the Ancient Tree on an island in the deep sea, a figure resembling a dried corpse remained utterly motionless.

It was Xiao Xuan, his consciousness undergoing Samsara again and again beneath the Ancient Tree's Dao resonance.

He did not know how many times he had reincarnated, nor could he remember. He knew even less how much time had passed outside.

With every cycle of Samsara, his soul became more condensed. His Emperor Realm soul had improved—he could sense it—but he did not know to what extent.

This was an unexpected delight. Yet his primary purpose in coming here was not to elevate his soul realm, but to pursue a far greater ambition: to comprehend a trace of the divine art and wondrous applications of Samsara.

That was his ambition—to experience Samsara firsthand through countless cycles of consciousness, to gain insight into it, and to glimpse a trace of how it could be used.

In the end, he intended to use that trace of understanding on those Dou Saints of the Xiao Clan whose lifespans were nearing their end or who lay gravely wounded and on the brink of death.

He did not know whether it would succeed, but what if it did?

If this mad idea of his became known to the clan, the other clans, or even the people of the Central Plains, who knew how they would mock his reckless disregard for his own life.

Naturally, he held no such hopes for the weak; their souls were too feeble.

But among the clan's Dou Saints, quite a few possessed Spirit Realm souls, and some even had Heavenly Realm souls.

If he could glimpse a trace of its wondrous applications, the odds of success would not be small.

After all, there had been precedents of those with Spirit Realm and Heavenly Realm souls seizing another body and being reborn when left with no other choice.

Fifty years after Xiao Xuan's disappearance, the major elders of the Xiao Realm became deeply worried. Could something have happened to their Patriarch?

A century later, with no other choice, Xiao Feng could only take up the position of Patriarch once more.

As time passed, more and more members of the clan believed that Xiao Xuan had met with an accident and perished.

Over these years, Dou Saints of the Xiao Clan would occasionally fall in conflicts with outsiders, yet not a single new Dou Saint was born.

Fortunately, Xiao Xiong and Xiao Chen had already become Six-Star Dou Saints, while Xiao Lan and Xiao Yun had reached Three-Star Dou Saint. They were the youngest Dou Saints in the Xiao Clan, yet they were already several hundred years old.

Until five hundred years later...

Within the Xiao Clan, Xiao Gong, Xiao Chen, Xiao Yu, Xiao Jing, Xiao Kong, and the others knew that their ends were approaching. It should not have come to this so soon.

Unfortunately, the Hun Clan had grown increasingly brazen over the past few centuries. They had sustained more or less some injuries in their battles against outsiders.

On this day, an existence they had never expected arrived in the Xiao Realm.

Xiao Yao, the founder of Sound Valley. He had largely secluded himself in the Central Plains, never interfering in the affairs of the Central Plains, nor involving himself in the matters of these ancient clans.

"May I ask who you are?"

Facing a Nine-Star Dou Saint, Xiao Feng and the others did not dare let down their guard.

A Nine-Star Dou Saint might not be able to destroy the Xiao Realm, but he could still gravely injure the people of the Xiao Clan. Moreover, they were not certain they could keep him here after paying such a price.

Xiao Yao smiled. "There is no need to be nervous. Xiao Xuan and I are on good terms.

"As for my identity, in my spare time, I founded a faction in the Central Plains called Sound Valley.

"I came to inform you that Xiao Xuan is safe, and he is close to succeeding.

"Once he succeeds, he may not be able to awaken the Xiao Clan's Dou Emperor bloodline, but he will be able to grant new life to the clan elders whose lifespans are nearing their end.

"If the day comes when you have no choice but to pass away in meditation, you may go to the Heavenly Tomb.

"The Heavenly Tomb is unique and can preserve your souls.

"Once Xiao Xuan succeeds, you will have a chance to be reborn.

"Of course, this is limited to those whose soul realms are at least at the Spirit Realm."

"What... the Patriarch is still alive? Wonderful!"

"Reborn!"

"Haha, I knew the Patriarch would be fine."

"With the Patriarch's talent, even he required such a long time.

"I truly wonder what heaven-shaking divine art he is researching."

"Thank you, Valley Master, for informing us. Otherwise, we would still have been kept in the dark."

With a sweep of his divine sense, Xiao Yao found that while the Xiao Clan's number of Dou Saints had only decreased, the number of Dou Zuns and Dou Zongs had increased considerably.

Xiao Ruoruo in particular had not only advanced to become a Ninth Grade Treasure Pill Grandmaster, but her cultivation had also broken through to the level of a Five-Star Dou Saint.

Among Xiao Xuan's generation, the only Dou Saints were Xiao Xiong, Xiao Lan, Xiao Yun, Xiao Chen, and Xiao Ruoruo.

Among the younger generation that followed, not a single Dou Saint had emerged.

It was worth mentioning that although Xiao Wu's talent was lacking, he had spent all these years in the Central Plains cultivating and honing himself relentlessly, with Xiao Feng and the others secretly protecting him.

His perseverance, however, was undeniably extraordinary. He had now reached the Half-Saint realm, and was even an Advanced Half-Saint.

As for Xiao Wu's descendants, they had long since multiplied through who knew how many generations.

Unfortunately, the highest level any of them had ever reached was Dou Zong. They had stopped at Dou Zong and eventually died when their lifespans ran out.

Among his descendants now, there were Dou Emperors, but not a single Dou Zong.

He had even become the master of Sound Valley, his might shaking the Central Plains.

After advancing to Dou Saint, Luo Tianyin had remained at the one-star level. She had stepped down to devote herself to secluded cultivation.

Xiao Wu becoming the master of Sound Valley was also due to the time he had accidentally wandered in after being severely injured.

He had since developed many ties with Sound Valley. With descendants close to him passing away one after another, he left that place of sorrow—the clan—and joined Sound Valley.

After Xiao Yao returned from the Xiao Realm, music echoed throughout the valley. It turned out Xiao Wu was in the rear mountain.

"Patriarch!"

The moment he appeared at Sound Valley's entrance, he did not conceal his aura. Before long, the music stopped, and Xiao Wu appeared outside the entrance, greeting him respectfully.

Looking at this fellow who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, Xiao Yao's mouth twitched. He looked more like the son here.

"Ahem, not bad. Peak Half-Saint. Strive to break through to Saint Level.

"You may not have much talent, kid, but your perseverance is unmatched in my life.

"So many people with exceptional talent fall far short of you."

"Thank you, Patriarch. This disciple will not give up easily!"

Xiao Wu's expression was resolute. Though he did not know what level of expert stood before him, he was certainly Saint Level, and he had progressed quite far within the Dou Saint realm.

"This is the Void Record. My research over the years has not focused on combat techniques, but on some applications of spatial traversal!

"Study it when you have the time. It is very convenient for traveling."

His centuries of research into space flooded into Xiao Wu's sea of consciousness along with the sphere of light.

"Thank you, Patriarch!"

After Xiao Yao left, Xiao Wu began examining the contents within his sea of consciousness.

The Void Record was entirely about certain applications of space.

Even without being a Dou Zun, a Dou Zong-level practitioner could perform short-distance spatial traversal, provided their comprehension was sufficient.

The more he read, the more astonished he became by this technique. It had no rank, yet its wondrous applications were vastly different from other cultivation techniques and combat skills.

On an island in the deep sea, five hundred years had brought vast changes. Xiao Xuan had finally gained something.

And his gains were considerable. One Qi Transforms into Three Purities had finally reached the great completion of the Three-Part Realm, and he had begun cultivating the Three-Unity Realm. He began attempting to merge the two avatars back into himself, combining all three into one to elevate his own cultivation realm.

The Samsara Secret Art had also achieved some success. It was not some divine ability, but merely a method to help someone protect their soul, preserving it intact along with its memories as it entered a mother's womb, then began to take shape, develop, and be born from an embryo that had not yet developed intelligence.