[You remembered something else and quickly emphasized that it would have to be a swift round trip.]
[You told Venerable Moon Sword about Fenghua Island's future invasion of Qijian Island.]
[To your surprise, Venerable Moon Sword looked puzzled.]
[She asked whether you had seen it before the Pillar of Heaven destroyed the Tianjian Sect, or after it happened.]
[You froze, then hurriedly said it was before.]
[Understanding dawned on her face, and she told you that this most likely would not happen anymore!]
[The Tianjian Sect held some renown among the surrounding islands. Since the Tianjian Sect had not been completely destroyed, Fenghua Island would not dare invade.]
[You were surprised by Venerable Moon Sword's confidence.]
[But with Venerable Blazing Sun having instantly slain the Purple Star Demon Lord as a precedent, you felt it was perfectly reasonable.]
"Perfectly reasonable indeed."
In reality, Su Yang also gave his approval.
After all, the Purple Star Demon Lord, whom Venerable Blazing Sun had instantly slain, had nearly counted as top-tier combat power among Spirit Transformation Venerables during the war between the two islands.
Although that had been with the aid of the damaged Heavenly Sword Record.
It also showed that Fenghua Island's Spirit Transformation Venerables could not have been all that powerful.
[Venerable Moon Sword soon left Qixia Island for the Seven Islands Alliance.]
[You continued diligently cultivating spells, striving to improve your cultivation.]
[During this time, the Tianjian Sect held several grand ceremonies to recruit disciples.]
[The new Sun Sword Peak also became much livelier.]
[Your senior brother, Gu Changfeng, accepted a disciple he was satisfied with.]
[He was a steadfast and hardworking youth!]
[Upon hearing that you were the sect's Sword Child, he formed the ambition to take your place.]
[You encouraged him a little, then sent him off to play somewhere else.]
[You understood in your heart that this youth's cultivation talent was even worse than yours without the Lifespan Burning Body. He was still far from becoming the Sword Child.]
[But what you had not expected was that, only a few years later, the youth's talent for battle emerged. He actually passed the Heavenly Sword Path of the Qi Refining Realm.]
[He truly became the sect's Sword Child.]
[You also remembered his name: Xu Xiao!]
[At age sixty-three, you broke through to the fifth layer of the Golden Core Realm. You had also mastered the basics of every Third-Order Origin Body Refining Technique for the Golden Core Realm. Your progress in sword-type spells was especially remarkable, with all of them reaching minor mastery, or even major mastery.]
[However, you still were not adept at other types of spells, remaining only at the introductory stage.]
[At age sixty-nine, you broke through to the sixth layer of the Golden Core Realm.]
[At age seventy-six, you broke through to the seventh layer of the Golden Core Realm.]
[At age eighty, all your Third-Order Origin Body Refining Techniques reached minor mastery, and several sword arts touched the threshold of perfection.]
[At age eighty-two, Venerable Moon Sword returned and summoned you to see her.]
[The moment you met her, you noticed that something was wrong with her condition. She seemed to be injured.]
[You asked whether some accident had occurred.]
[She told you that the Seven Islands Alliance had placed all high-grade cultivation resources under control.]
[Only those who rendered meritorious service could exchange for them.]
[Thus, in order to obtain the Pure and Turbid Qi and treasures needed by either the Tianjian Sect or herself, she participated in several extermination campaigns led by the Seven Islands Alliance.]
[Her current injuries had been inflicted when she was carelessly wounded during the final extermination campaign.]
[You were astonished. Could those capable of injuring Venerable Moon Sword be other peak Spirit Transformation cultivators, or even the legendary Void Returning Kings?]
[Was the Seven Islands Alliance at war with some other great power?]
[Venerable Moon Sword told you that was not the case.]
[They were hunting down a kind of Strange Lifeform.]
[Neither human nor beast, nor one of those sinister fiends or yin ghosts, yet if they remained in one place for a long time, the spiritual energy there would wither and decay, becoming difficult to restore.]
[Moreover, every one of them was incomparably powerful. Even the weakest could rival Spirit Transformation cultivators, while the powerful ones possessed the strength of Void Returning.]
[Their vitality was also tenacious beyond belief. They had to be killed hundreds, even thousands of times in succession before they would truly die.]
[However, the crystals left behind after these lifeforms died seemed to be of considerable use to the Seven Islands Alliance's grand alliance leader, who could be called a Saint.]
[That was why the grand alliance leader began controlling high-grade cultivation resources—to drive the high-level cultivators within the Seven Islands Alliance's territory.]
[You asked what a Saint was.]
[Venerable Moon Sword told you that only those in the Integrated Body Realm could be called Saints.]
[You asked further whether there was any news of Pillars Reaching Heaven descending within the Seven Islands Alliance.]
[Venerable Moon Sword's expression turned solemn.]
[She told you that there was not only news, but a great deal of it.]
[Within the Seven Islands Alliance's territory, aside from those seven large islands, there were hundreds of medium-sized islands like Qixia Island.]
[And dozens of islands had been struck by Pillars Reaching Heaven.]
[Among them was Feather Island, one of the Seven Islands Alliance's main large islands.]
[On Feather Island, even a Void Returning King had fallen beneath a Pillar Reaching Heaven.]
[According to eyewitnesses, the Void Returning King had likewise possessed no ability to resist.]
[Once again, you were shocked by the terrifying might of the Pillar of Heaven.]
[You asked whether those islands where Pillars Reaching Heaven had descended shared anything in common.]
[Venerable Moon Sword said there were no obvious commonalities, but viewed from the sky, the islands visited by Pillars Reaching Heaven roughly formed two lines.]
[Furthermore, based on later analysis, there might have been far more than one Pillar Reaching Heaven.]
[Because many Pillars Reaching Heaven descended at nearly the same time, perhaps even simultaneously, and even more had fallen into the sea.]
[Not only that, the Strange Lifeforms seemed to have appeared only after the Pillars Reaching Heaven fell. They very likely had been brought by them.]
[A Spirit Transformation Venerable had once seen Strange Lifeforms crawl out from the deep pits left by the Pillars Reaching Heaven.]
[You felt lingering fear.]
[Fortunately, there had been no Strange Lifeforms beneath the Pillar Reaching Heaven that descended upon Qixia Island.]
[Otherwise, Qixia Island would likely have suffered further devastation.]
[At the same time, you thought of how rapidly the spiritual energy on Fenghua Island had declined. Could it be that the destruction of the island's core was not the only cause? Could Strange Lifeforms also be involved?]
[You told Venerable Moon Sword your thoughts, and she also felt it was possible.]
[She decided that after recovering from her injuries, it would be necessary to investigate Fenghua Island thoroughly—and incidentally teach a lesson to those Spirit Transformation Venerables who dared covet Qixia Island.]
[Afterward, Venerable Moon Sword handed you high-quality Pure and Turbid Qi.]
[She told you to carefully consider what kind of Nascent Soul transformation you should choose.]
[You bade farewell to Venerable Moon Sword.]
Outside the simulation.
Su Yang was deep in thought.
He had obtained a great deal of information just now.
There was more than one Pillar of Heaven, their landing sites formed two rows of lines, and they might even have descended simultaneously.
They had also brought strange lifeforms that were difficult to kill.
And all of this had been caused by a terrifying existence merely passing by unintentionally.
What exactly could all of this amount to?
Since that terrifying existence had merely passed by unintentionally, why had it left behind so many Strange Lifeforms that absorbed and destroyed spiritual energy?
Could that, too, have been unintentional?
But a high-level lifeform should be able to control everything about itself. How could there be so many accidents?
Unless... this terrifying existence did not possess true self-awareness.
Su Yang was startled by his own thought.
But he felt that it was not impossible.
And the Seven Islands Alliance's grand alliance leader, who could be called an Integrated Body Saint, surely knew far more.
It was simply that he was still far too removed from someone at that level.
His status was still too low.
He could be considered distinguished on Qixia Island, but on a larger map, he was not worth mentioning.
"So in the end, it still comes down to status."
"As long as my status is high enough, forget merely speaking with the Seven Islands Alliance's grand alliance leader—even making that terrifying existence passing by kneel and call me Dad might be possible!"
"When will I be able to draw an identity even more badass than the Tianjian Sect Sword Child?"
"After the system upgrades, it should be possible, right?"
Su Yang looked forward to it eagerly.
[At age eighty-three, you broke through to the eighth layer of the Golden Core Realm.]
[At age ninety, you broke through to the ninth layer of the Golden Core Realm.]
[At age ninety-two, you had consumed seventy-two True Yang Flowers. Your True Yang Body (pure white) transformed into a True Yang Spirit Body (light green), and your Yang attribute talent greatly increased.]
Before you continue