Ten Years Later, the Pagoda Crumbles; All That Remains Is Soul Dregs

His voice sounded in Li Qingjue's mind at the same time. The girl offered no resistance and followed his instructions, silently contemplating.

"This is the Quieting Spirit Mantra. It can help you cleanse stray thoughts from your Origin and keep your Spiritual Terrace clear. When you devour the Origins of others in the future, you must be even more careful and refine them more thoroughly."

"As your master, I have removed the flaws and traps within the Devouring Source Scripture. Then, through your own cultivation, enlightenment, and integration, the technique you now practice has become vastly different from the original Devouring Source Scripture. It is no longer that original scripture..."

Ten Years, the Tower Collapses, Taking All Soul Fragments

"You have unknowingly created a cultivation technique suited to yourself. However, it is only a crude prototype for now. Your cultivation is shallow, and your time on the path has been short. The technique you created is far from complete. This method takes an unorthodox path, devouring Exotic Origins, and its hidden dangers run deep..."

Tan Lin's calm voice continued to echo through Li Qingjue's mind, guiding her patiently.

"Especially when the other party's realm or constitution far exceeds yours. Their Origin contains fragments of will and Great Dao imprints. You are like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. If you cannot completely refine and purify them, the accumulation will eventually erupt one day, causing you to fall into depravity and become a fiend. You will no longer be yourself, damned beyond redemption..."

At this point, Tan Lin paused before changing the subject.

"Perhaps you have already felt it recently. The violent aura in your heart has been growing heavier and heavier. That is not a good sign..."

As he spoke, Li Qingjue had already grasped the Quieting Spirit Mantra. She silently recited it within her Sea of Consciousness.

In an instant, a cool and tranquil aura flowed through her limbs and bones before finally surging into the depths of her soul.

It soothed some of the hostility and restlessness that had arisen from her frequent devouring of others' Origins and repeated slaughter of enemies lately. Even her injuries, which had yet to recover, seemed to ease somewhat.

In truth, the main source of that hostility came from Cang Yuhang alone.

The other Origins she had devoured during this period did not even amount to a fraction of Tyrant Blood.

Cang Yuhang had lost control because he cultivated the Devouring Source Scripture, and because the level of his Origin was too high, that loss of control had indirectly affected her as well.

"From now on, whenever you devour another's Origin, use this mantra to transform hostility and the demonic baleful aura of exotic blood into demonic qi. Let it fill only your fleshly body and not taint your divine soul. That will preserve your true self."

Tan Lin spoke slowly.

"This disciple understands. Thank you, Master!"

After a while, once Li Qingjue had finished refining the Origins of the master and servants, she opened her eyes and moved to kowtow to Tan Lin, only to be held up by an invisible force.

"There is no need for such ceremony."

Tan Lin's remnant soul waved a hand and spoke indifferently.

He knew that this guidance would only help her avoid some detours. Given her talent, comprehending the separation between body and divine soul and using demonic qi to temper her body was merely a matter of time.

At the end, Tan Lin's remnant soul glanced at the faint scent of blood spreading through the surroundings, as well as several concealed auras farther away.

"You have continuously devoured others' Origins for over a year. I fear you have already drawn attention. This is not a place to remain for long... You have now completed the Other Shore Realm. It is time to rise another level..."

As he spoke, his deep gaze seemed to pierce through the world within the tower and look toward the endlessly distant void outside.

"The Big Dipper is vast, and the universe is even more boundless. The road ahead of you is also very long..."

Yet the more Li Qingjue listened, the more something felt wrong. She raised her head, her eyes slightly red as she looked at Tan Lin.

"Master... You are not leaving again, are you?"

Her voice was full of unease and reluctance.

Tan Lin could not help but fall silent. She had clearly misunderstood his meaning. His remnant soul lowered his eyelids and answered frankly.

"You have seen my condition. It is extremely unusual, and I am destined to be unable to remain by your side at all times. But the day of our true parting is still far away."

Hearing this, the little face beneath Li Qingjue's Bronze Mask finally relaxed somewhat.

Then she asked,

"But Master, although this disciple has completed the Other Shore Realm, I have not yet entered the Dao Palace Secret Realm. How can I enter the next small world above?"

"After devouring those few sneaky fellows who came over, would you not be a Dao Palace cultivator?"

Tan Lin's voice was faint and eerie.

After leaving those words behind, his illusory remnant soul sank back into the ring, falling completely silent.

The Sun-Moon passed like flowing water, and time raced like a galloping horse.

Ten years seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

The tenth small world of the Drill Tower.

Unlike the vast starry sky of the ninth level, this place was a void realm resembling primordial chaos before the world had opened.

Earth, water, fire, and wind raged within it. Fragments of laws were as sharp as Forbidden Weapons, while countless powerful Primordial Era war souls and law creatures roamed about.

The Bronze Puppets that served as "enforcers" on the lower levels could be found everywhere here. Every one of them possessed combat power at the Saint King Peak, or even touched the threshold of the Great Saint Realm.

This was the Ultimate Land that the Human Emperor had once used to deduce the true harmony of yin and yang. After failing, he turned it into a place to temper his strongest generals.

Only peerless geniuses could enter, and only those with great perseverance could gain enlightenment here.

In the more than ten years since the Weapon-Refining Grounds emerged, there had already been too many Saint King cultivators from within and beyond this region to count who had perished here.

Their corpses were entered by Primordial Era war souls one after another and "came back to life." The laws of the small world manifested, turning them into new enforcers and trial puppets.

However, they could only move within this world. Once they left the Weapon-Refining Grounds, they would be like duckweed without roots, liable to perish in the wind.

Rumble...

On this day.

This place, where cultivators below the Saint King Realm found it exceedingly difficult to survive, was filled with an annihilating aura that had not appeared for a million years.

At the center of the boundless chaos, lunar and solar power swept through the air as an incomparably beautiful immortal figure sat quietly in meditation.

The Cloud Leopard, Gu Qingying's ever-present spirit pet, could only remain on the ninth level below because of the Saint King Realm difference in this place.

As she sat in meditation, Gu Qingying no longer covered her face with a gauze veil, revealing a jade-like face of breathtaking beauty. A teardrop mole at the corner of her right eye made her resemble a divine maiden truly existing in this world, blooming with heavenly splendor.

At this moment, the aura radiating from her exquisite body had already climbed to a terrifying height.

Even the place where she sat resembled a star undergoing fusion, making all who saw it pale in alarm.

Ten years of tempering within the tower. She had climbed from the bottom level upward while suppressing her cultivation, comprehending anew the mysteries of the Sea of Reincarnation, Dao Palace, Four Extremes, and Dragon Transformation Secret Realm.

By now, she believed she had polished every realm before the Immortal Platform to flawless perfection, her Dao foundation incomparably solid.

At this moment, she finally stopped suppressing herself and intended to trigger the Great Saint Tribulation here!

Whoosh...

Above her head, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Diagram fully unfurled. The eight divine maidens within the painting merged into one before sitting back-to-back with her behind her.

With this, Gu Qingying's aura became even more terrifying.

"Today, I shall enter the Great Saint Realm."

Gu Qingying slowly opened her autumn-water eyes. Within them, spring and autumn, withering and flourishing, seemed to cycle endlessly as time changed.

She spoke softly, her voice not loud, yet it clearly spread throughout the tenth world, where more than ten Saint Kings still remained. It even passed through the tower itself, faintly echoing across the skies above the Vast Mountain Range outside.

"This... is this?!"

"Is she about to break through?"

"This is a Great Saint Tribulation! The divine maiden who holds the diagram of Spring Autumn Pavilion is about to achieve the Great Saint Realm here!"

"This woman truly possesses heaven-defying talent. Not only is she the foremost beauty of our Big Dipper, she may also be the greatest genius of this millennium..."

"Heavenly Martial Holy Land must regret its decision so deeply that its intestines have turned green by now, right?"

"With the Ancient Road about to open and the great age about to begin, if she steps onto the Ancient Road with Great Saint cultivation, who could possibly oppose her?"

"..."

"Retreat quickly! A Great Saint Tribulation is no trivial matter, much less Gu Qingying's Great Saint Tribulation. We must not get caught up in it..."

The aura of the Tribulation Clouds spread.

Within the tenth level, the Saint Kings still tempering themselves there either turned pale in horror, wore grave expressions, or fled at top speed, terrified of being dragged into the Heavenly Tribulation.

Outside the tower, countless cultivators who noticed the disturbance erupted into an uproar.

Before the great age had even begun, how long had it been since anyone in the Southern Region of Eastern Wasteland had undergone a Great Saint Tribulation?

Amid the commotion, the cultivators gazed up at the Drill Tower's top level, which pierced the clouds. They could not see the small world within the tower, but they could see endless Tribulation Clouds gathering above its summit.

Lightning writhed like dragons, and the annihilating aura shook heaven and earth.

Rumble!!!

The next instant.

The unimaginably terrifying Great Saint Heavenly Tribulation descended with a crash!

An endless sea of lightning poured down.

Within that lightning sea was no ordinary thunder. Strands of Chaos Qi, yin-yang Dao laws, and fragments of Space-Time Grand Dao laws all manifested as humanoid lightning and lunged at Gu Qingying together.

Whoosh...

Gu Qingying no longer remained seated. She rose to her full height and shot out of the Drill Tower, while the "Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden" behind her merged with her as one.

The Divine Maiden Diagram unfurled. Her robes fluttered, and the tip of her crystal jade shoe touched the ground as she entered the diagram alone, battling wave after wave of humanoid lightning.

The more she fought, the stronger she became. She struck those humanoid bolts back into their original forms, then used the supreme divine ability of the diagram to refine them!

Within the diagram, her figure moved like a startled swan and a wandering dragon, strolling through the sea of tribulation. With every step she took, golden lotuses of the Great Dao beneath her feet withered and bloomed in turn.

Her bearing stunned everyone. All cultivators who witnessed the sight, friend and foe alike, were completely captivated, dazed in mind and soul, their hearts and dreams bound to her.

Because she refined the humanoid lightning, her Great Saint Tribulation lasted an entire day and night.

At last, Gu Qingying stepped gracefully out of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Diagram. With a light sweep of her jade hand, the last remaining mass of Tribulation Clouds scattered with a boom. Threads of auspicious light and radiant colors then descended, draping over her exquisite body clad in a plain dress.

Immediately after.

A vast Great Saint pressure that stood above all living beings flashed past in an instant.

The Saint Kings on the tenth level were left dumbfounded. She had only just completed her tribulation, yet without needing to adapt, she could already control her Great Saint aura freely?

Whoosh...

At the top of the tower, Gu Qingying's immortal figure stood in the air, riding the wind. Her waterfall-like black hair danced in the breeze, her robes fluttered, and a wisp of divine radiance transformed into gauze, covering that peerlessly beautiful face which had already bewitched the souls of all living beings.

However.

Just as the various inheritances outside were recovering from their shock and preparing to offer their congratulations.

Crack... Crack...

Rumble!

The Drill Tower, which had been present for nearly twelve years and whose Primordial Era Method clashed with the methods of the present age within, suddenly began to develop dense cracks that spread rapidly over its surface like a spiderweb!

It was on the verge of collapse.

The Great Saint Tribulation triggered by Gu Qingying was like the final straw that broke the camel's back, causing the Drill Tower to begin collapsing completely!

"This is bad! The tower is falling! Get out..."

"Leave, quickly!"

"Run for your lives..."

At that moment, cries of alarm and screams rose one after another without end.

Inside and outside the tower, chaos broke out everywhere.

Countless cultivators surged madly from the exits of every level like a tidal wave, terrified that taking one step too late would see them buried with the ancient tower.

Amid the chaos, Gu Qingying floated down and arrived beside the Cloud Leopard, her spirit pet that had also left the tower.

Her expression was composed, and her shimmering eyes were calm, as though she had long expected the Drill Tower's collapse.

However, her calm did not last. She noticed that the Cloud Leopard's condition seemed somewhat unusual.

"Qinghan, what is wrong?"

Gu Qingying's delicate brows furrowed slightly.

Whimper...

The Cloud Leopard raised its head and looked at the master who had raised him for nearly a thousand years.

At that moment, his once-lazy vertical pupils were filled with complicated, indescribable emotions: attachment, guilt, pity... and even a sense of farewell.