Above the Nine Heavens

On the desolate Western Continent of the Primordial World, where spiritual energy was thin, Shi Mo sat meditating in a main leyline beneath a barren mountain. Golden light flickered faintly around him.

In the branching leylines nearby, more than a dozen Earth-Core Fire Dragons were also absorbing the swiftly surging power of the earth's veins to replenish their strength.

Before long, Shi Mo finished cultivating and couldn't help furrowing his brow slightly.

"Although my cultivation and magic power have improved a great deal, I still don't know what the cultivators' realms in the Primordial World are. I've been cultivating in isolation, after all. I don't even know whether Dao Ancestor Hongjun has become a saint and begun preaching!"

As Shi Mo was thinking, a vast, profound aura suddenly rippled across the Primordial World. He shuddered, and the dozen or so Earth-Core Fire Dragons absorbing the spiritual energy of the earth's veins all woke with a start.

In an instant, an unfathomably mysterious aura appeared throughout the Primordial World. Purple energy rose between heaven and earth, auspicious light stretched for ten thousand miles, and clouds rolled across the sky. Rich, surging spiritual energy poured toward the billions of living beings. All creatures reaped tremendous benefits, and countless beings made great strides in cultivation and unlocked their intelligence.

"What is this? A saint's aura? The signs of someone becoming a saint? Is it Hongjun—or Nuwa?"

Feeling the vast, profound aura that weighed upon him, Shi Mo couldn't help feeling startled and uncertain.

A moment later, an ancient, ethereal voice rang across the Primordial World, imbued with an indescribable majesty.

"I am Hongjun. Today, I have attained the Dao and become a saint. In one thousand years, I will preach at the Purple Heaven Palace beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens. All those with the fate to attend may come and listen."

"Hongjun? Hongjun has only just become a saint?" Shi Mo was astonished, and his eyes lit up.

"Wonderful! It seems I didn't arrive in this world too late. I still have a chance to go to the Purple Heaven Palace and hear the Dao. But the Purple Heaven Palace lies in the chaos beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens. Can I really reach it safely with my current abilities?"

At the thought, Shi Mo furrowed his brow slightly, then decisively left the underground leyline and made his way to the surface.

"Whether or not I can reach the Purple Heaven Palace, I have to give it a try. Better sooner than later. I'll set out now!"

Having made up his mind, Shi Mo shot straight into the sky, flying toward the heights of the Nine Heavens.

"This is the first time I've ever flown so high! No wonder everyone envies the immortals and wants to become one. Soaring through the Nine Heavens really is wonderful."

Riding the wind, Shi Mo glanced into the distance and spotted a mountain range that stood out like a pillar supporting the heavens.

"It joins heaven and earth—what a magnificent, precipitous mountain range. This must be Mount Buzhou, the backbone of the Primordial World, right?"

Though curious, Shi Mo had no time to explore Mount Buzhou. He continued flying toward the heights of the Nine Heavens, climbing higher and higher through layer upon layer of clouds, yet the sky of the Primordial World still seemed utterly out of reach.

"In the myths, the Heaven Realm has thirty-three layers. They say 'above the Nine Heavens,' but I wonder if the Nine Heavens are part of the Thirty-Three Heavens."

As Shi Mo pondered this, he flew for a long while before finally reaching a region where the clouds grew thin and violent astral winds raged.

Struggling to steady himself in the astral winds, Shi Mo felt them battering him and couldn't help wondering:

"Could this be the legendary Nine Heavens Gale Layer? Once I pass through this region, I should be close to the true Heaven Realm, right?"

"These winds are fierce, but they're no use against me."

After flying through the astral winds for a while, Shi Mo had a thought and brought out the Wind-Fixing Pearl. At once, the winds around him seemed to vanish.

Shi Mo shot upward and easily passed through the Nine Heavens Gale Layer. Soon, he arrived in a world filled with immortal mists, where colorful clouds spread out like carpets.

"Is this the Immortal World? It's so quiet!" Shi Mo looked around curiously. In the distance, beneath a radiant glow, he could see many floating mountain peaks and island-like stretches of land. A river even wound away into the distance.

As Shi Mo marveled at the beautiful scenery of the Immortal World, the clouds suddenly parted in the distance, revealing a dark-red figure.

The man looked middle-aged. He wore a dark-red Daoist robe and had blood-red hair and a gloomy expression. He seemed like the very embodiment of darkness; the light around him dimmed the instant he appeared.

At that moment, however, the gloomy middle-aged man in the dark-red Daoist robe stared at Shi Mo with burning greed, as if looking at a peerless treasure. "Boy, hand over the spirit treasure you're carrying!"

The instant the gloomy middle-aged man in the dark-red Daoist robe appeared, an invisible, surging, oppressive aura swept over Shi Mo and startled him. Hearing the man's demand, Shi Mo's expression changed and his heart sank.

"He wants my Wind-Fixing Pearl? He must have sensed the fluctuation of its aura when I used it just now. Is this guy a dog or something? How can he sense a spirit treasure's aura so easily?"

"What? You refuse? Are you trying to force me to act?" The middle-aged man in the dark-red Daoist robe curled his lips in a cruel smile.

"Who are you?" Shi Mo demanded with a frown. The man's aura was much stronger than his, but Shi Mo wasn't about to bow his head and hand over the Wind-Fixing Pearl without a fight.

"Then die!" The middle-aged man in the dark-red Daoist robe couldn't be bothered to waste words with Shi Mo. A Black Divine Sword appeared before him, then transformed into a gray-black streak of sword light and slashed viciously at Shi Mo.

Faced with the sword light, which was suddenly right in front of him and filled with a sharp, deathly aura, Shi Mo's expression changed. He hurriedly brought out the Wind-Fixing Pearl.

Clang! The moment the Wind-Fixing Pearl appeared, its invisible power stilled the space and erased all energy fluctuations around them. Yet the sword light still tore through space and slammed into the Wind-Fixing Pearl.

Hiss! Even with the Wind-Fixing Pearl blocking it, the sharp aftershock of the sword energy still struck Shi Mo, leaving a white mark on his chest.

Although the attack had barely broken his skin, an invisible deathly aura seemed to seep into Shi Mo's body. His limbs went weak, his chest throbbed with pain, and even the flow of magic power within him grew sluggish.

At the same time, the violently trembling Wind-Fixing Pearl sank into Shi Mo's body, leaving him feeling numb all over. A frigid aura invaded him, its chill even seeming to seep into his soul.

Alarmed, Shi Mo was flung backward and fell straight through the Nine Heavens Gale Layer.

Just as the cold-eyed middle-aged man in the dark-red Daoist robe was about to pursue and kill him, another fierce, swift aura suddenly drew near. An invisible, icy chill spread, as if it would freeze space itself.

"Minghe, this is no place for you to run wild!"

"Kunpeng?" The middle-aged man in the dark-red Daoist robe turned sharply. Seeing a colossal creature flying in from afar, its wings spread like clouds hanging from the sky, he furrowed his brow.

Right after that, two intensely hot auras descended. The clouds overhead scattered, and dazzling light spread in every direction, as if two suns had suddenly appeared.