Taizhen smiled brightly at his words, her eyes clear and bright as stars. "Since we came together, naturally we should return together."
Her fingertips brushed gently over the Kunlun Mirror, its surface shimmering with a warm radiance. "Besides, with me by your side, if we encounter danger, we can face it together and look out for each other as we make our escape."
Donghua glanced at Taizhen, a trace of helplessness flashing through his eyes, but in the end, he smiled.
"Very well. Since the passage is sealed, come with me. Let us see what sort of world lies beyond this rift."
Once they had reached an agreement, they both used their Evasion Techniques. Their streaks of light cut through the sky as they headed toward the other side of the Space Rift.
The scene before them suddenly opened up, yet it shook them to their very souls.
An endless desolation stretched across the land.
A bleak wind swept past with howling red sand. In the distance, collapsed mountain ranges resembled the remains of giant beasts, and even the firmament was shrouded in a lifeless gray haze.
The crooked branches of dead ancient trees pointed toward the sky, like desperate hands reaching up from the earth.
Though Donghua had never visited the Western Continent, he knew its Spiritual Mechanism had withered and all life had fallen into decline.
Yet this world was even more desolate than the West, whose ley lines were said to have been utterly destroyed. Not only was its Spiritual Mechanism gone, it seemed that even the Daoist rhythms of heaven and earth had been severed, leaving behind only an eternal, heart-chilling silence.
Just as Donghua took out the Jade Disk of Creation Fragment he had been nurturing in his Nascent Soul, intending to use it to sense the whereabouts of the other fragment—
"Ah!"
A shrill scream suddenly tore through the silence!
"Let's go see."
As Donghua spoke, the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler glimmered with Mysterious Yellow Daoist Rhyme. The Clear Radiance of several spiritual treasures appeared around him, forming a curtain of light that protected Taizhen as well. The two of them transformed into streaks of light and hurried toward the sound.
Following the scream, they soon found its source.
Looking ahead, they saw that the True Spirit of the Illusory Daoist, who had fled earlier, was now in a wretched state.
The once-clear True Spirit was entangled in thick, ink-black baleful qi. The qi seemed alive, constantly corroding his spirit with a teeth-grating hiss.
His True Spirit twisted violently within the baleful qi, letting out anguished cries that sounded nothing like a human voice.
Donghua stood motionless in the air, calmly watching the scene. There was no satisfaction in seeing his foe suffer, nor any unnecessary pity.
A flash of Mysterious Yellow Qi passed over the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler in Donghua's hand. He did not attack the True Spirit; instead, it became a streak of Clear Radiance that temporarily drove away the Soul-Eroding Sha wrapped around him.
This had nothing to do with grudges or right and wrong. It was simply because they were both Dao-seekers struggling along a difficult path.
The True Spirit gained a moment's respite. His illusory face showed disbelief and relief as he bowed to Donghua.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist, for freeing me from the agony of this baleful qi devouring my soul."
The True Spirit's light grew fainter and fainter, but a strand of pure Mysterious Light separated from him and slowly floated toward Donghua.
"I have nothing of value on me, only a legacy I obtained through fate. I'll give it to you, fellow Daoist."
Countless Great Dreams turned to emptiness,
My body perished, my Dao faded—I blame not the wind.
I give my remnant art to you, fellow Daoist,
May it help you take your first step on the path to the Dao.
"Go cultivate, go cultivate!" As his lingering words faded, the True Spirit turned into specks of firefly light and scattered into the world on the wind.
Taizhen gazed at the True Spirit as it slowly vanished and asked softly, "Will we... also meet a day when our bodies perish and our Dao fades?"
"No." Donghua's voice was calm, yet firm as iron. He turned to Taizhen, his gaze deep as the starry sky across countless eons. "Even if the path ahead runs against the current of karma, you and I will face it together and cross it without fear."
Donghua paused briefly, then spoke like a mountain breeze drifting through the clouds.
"Across the countless eras to come, Taizhen, are you willing to pursue the Great Dao with me and watch the clouds gather and disperse?"
Taizhen was slightly taken aback, then a faint smile touched her lips. The radiance flowing across the Kunlun Mirror at her fingertips quietly mingled with the Mysterious Yellow Daoist Rhyme of the Sky Measuring Ruler.
"If I'm traveling with you, Donghua, then even an immeasurable Great Tribulation will be like a clear moon and a gentle breeze."
No more words were needed. The two figures shone together in the desolate world, as if they had always been meant to be.
As the True Spirit vanished completely into the world, a rust-covered Bronze Ancient Door appeared where he had been, along with a withered, lifeless Willow Branch.
Donghua did not refine or study these things. With a gentle sweep of his sleeve, he put away the two mysterious objects, then looked around at the barren land shrouded in crimson baleful qi. A glimmer of understanding appeared in his eyes.
"I think I know where we are."
"Only the Beast Tribulation Battlefield from the beginning of heaven and earth could have gathered such an enormous amount of baleful qi and kept it from dispersing through the ages. I can't think of anywhere else."
"You mean this is the Extreme North Land..." Taizhen said softly, a hint of incredulous realization in her voice.
"Correct." Donghua nodded. Even his eyes held a trace of surprise.
No one could have predicted that the Space Rift would send them straight from Buzhou Mountain, in the heart of the Primordial Wilderness, to this place at its northernmost edge.
"This place is not only deadly, but also hidden from the heavenly secrets, with karma in utter disorder. Once we find what I need, we'll leave immediately."
Aside from those who had taken part in that Great Tribulation, there was likely no one who understood this land's past better than Donghua.
The usual tale claimed that although the beasts were physically powerful, they knew only killing and devouring, with no awakened minds.
Thus, when the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin clans rose to power, each ruling over the scaly, winged, and beastly races, they led the Myriad Races of the Primordial Wilderness in a united campaign. They ultimately slaughtered the entire Beast race, and the world was restored to peace.
But the truth was far more grim than the tales suggested.
Though most beasts were dull and mindless, a rare few possessed sentience.
Once they awakened their intelligence, their cultivation far surpassed that of ordinary beasts, and their Supernatural Abilities and combat prowess were terrifying.
Among them was the extraordinary Shenni. Not only was he exceptionally intelligent, he also used his supreme ferocity to suppress all opposition, establishing the strictly ordered Beast Dynasty and becoming its emperor. He then stirred up the Beast Tribulation in an attempt to destroy the Primordial Wilderness.
In truth, the Beast Tribulation was quelled only after a bloody war led by former Chaos Gods and Devils such as Hongjun, Yangmei, and Luohu, who completely defeated Shenni and the Beast Dynasty he had founded.
The beasts later exterminated by the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin clans were merely the remnants left after the tide had turned.
Though the beasts had been slain, the corpses of countless beasts and beings from the Myriad Races had turned into a flood of baleful qi. It settled over the land, impossible to dispel, and remained there through the ages.
Since then, the Extreme North Land's ley lines had been destroyed and its vitality extinguished, leaving it a lifeless wasteland for all eternity.
In this land of swirling baleful qi, Donghua held the Jade Disk of Creation Fragment and followed the faint guidance of the Daoist Rhyme. Mysterious Yellow Qi flowed around him, protecting Taizhen as they steadily advanced through the sky-concealing baleful qi.
Donghua's gaze sharpened. On the ground in the distance, a Jade Fragment was embedded in the earth. Judging by its appearance, it was the Jade Disk Fragment that had been knocked away.
But now its surface was entirely dim, without the slightest trace of Daoist Rhyme or any hint of treasure light. It looked like an ordinary, crude stone.
Had the fragment in Donghua's hand not guided him, he would never have given it a second glance, even if he had stepped right over it.
Just as Donghua was about to step forward and retrieve it—
"Shhk!"
A killing intent of utter savagery suddenly erupted from the void. The baleful qi surging to their left was ripped open, and five condensed, pitch-black claw shadows tore through the air toward them!
Wherever they passed, five distinct Space Rifts were carved into the air, and dark baleful qi poured madly from the cracks like ink.
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