[Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven, Elder Ma Yun]

With those words, the summoning force from the Shrouding the Heavens Universe truly began to exert itself, competing with another summoning force to claim him.

Seeing this, Lin Xian hardened his heart and decisively tossed out the Ascension Talisman from his robes. It turned into a streak of light and landed securely in Feng Baobao's hands.

You had to give to receive.

Sure enough, after he cast away the Ascension Talisman, the summoning force of the Shrouding the Heavens Universe gradually gained the upper hand, carrying Lin Xian across endless space-time on a long journey.

In his daze, Lin Xian seemed to glimpse the supreme truth and witness the great terrors beyond dimensions. A tuft of red fur battled a tentacle at the edge of the Chaos Sea. Chaos shattered, primordial beginnings emerged, and even the Great Dao was ground away.

This was not the Human Dao Emperor's kind of obliteration, where the laws of the Great Dao were temporarily shattered only to recover later. This was the true eradication of the Great Dao from the Source.

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It was born and then extinguished, extinguished and then born again—so complex and profound that words could not describe it.

"I am the Heavenly Emperor!"

"Becoming an Emperor is forbidden here!"

"Chosen One."

"With the Heavenly Heart beneath your feet, defy the Dao!"

It was a wondrous sensation, beyond speech and words, something that could only be felt with the heart: great destruction, great creation, great terror, great majesty.

Lin Xian could neither comprehend nor understand it. He could not bear witness to the changes of the Great Dao, so he could only do his utmost to imitate the transformations of space-time, recording them with his Divine Runes and seizing those fleeting fragments.

"The four directions above and below are called space; all time from antiquity to the present is called time!"

"The universe is the Dao of space-time, the Dao of life and death, the Dao of yin and yang, and the Dao of the Sea of Bitterness."

"Between heaven and earth, there is only one breath. Movement and stillness divide it into yin and yang."

Who knew how much time had passed before Lin Xian slowly opened his eyes. A little light streamed in, and a magnificent landscape entered his vision.

"System, are you there?"

Lin Xian spoke softly.

"I am."

The familiar ethereal voice rang out, bringing him a measure of comfort.

"Have we returned to the Big Dipper?"

Lin Xian took a deep breath, silently reciting scripture as he sensed the mountains and land around him and drew in energy.

Though the Big Dipper cultivation world was in the Dharma-Ending Era, suppressed by the Great Dao, it was still vastly superior to the Under One Person World, which had come infinitely close to an age devoid of spiritual energy.

Lin Xian had not been wrong to call the Shrouding the Heavens Universe an Immortal Realm. This world truly allowed one to become immortal. Several eras earlier, it had been flourishing, filled with Longevity Substance, Immortal Kings gathered in multitudes, and True Immortals as common as rain.

It was only after several great calamities that the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths had fallen into decline, making it seem somewhat shabby compared to the Immortal Realm.

As he cultivated with all his strength, essence energy between heaven and earth surged toward him like a storm, filling his body and cleansing his entire Sea of Bitterness.

The divine power within him recovered rapidly. A Life Spring burst forth, giving him the genuine feeling of a Source that was inexhaustible and unending.

Crackling sounds rang from every bone in his body, as though long-sealed shackles had been broken open.

When he rose again, the fourteen- or fifteen-year-old Lin Xian was bathed in radiance, like a sun god standing within the blazing sun. His gaze was bright as torches as he looked toward the horizon, where mountain ranges rose and fell, towering thousands of feet high and blocking his view.

The Imperial Star of the Big Dipper, the Eastern Wasteland—he had returned.

Rainbow light rose beneath his feet, forming an Immortal Bridge across mountains and rivers. His magical power flowed without end, free from the trouble of running dry, and Lin Xian crossed several hundred li in a single breath, fleeing into the distance.

In the end, he stopped in a prosperous mortal city and rested for another night. An elderly cultivator with a full head of white hair, who had just opened his Sea of Bitterness, was stationed in the city.

Lin Xian asked him for information and finally learned where he was.

He had not gone far from the Desolate Antiquity Forbidden Zone. Instead, he had arrived in a country called Yan Kingdom.

Yan Kingdom stretched two thousand li from north to south and three thousand li from east to west. Yet in the Eastern Wasteland, such territory was merely a drop in the ocean. There were countless countries like it.

In many mortal kingdoms, entire dynasties could rise and fall without anyone ever seeing a cultivator, and people could only worship them as immortals.

Yan Kingdom was special because it attracted cultivators.

That was entirely because one of the Eastern Wasteland's seven great forbidden zones, the Desolate Antiquity Forbidden Zone, lay at the center of the country. Surrounded and enclosed by endless mountains, this primeval region spanned more than eight hundred li.

Lingxu Cave Heaven, Golden Radiance Cave Heaven, Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven, Misty Radiance Cave Heaven, Purple Sun Cave Heaven, and Evening Moon Cave Heaven—these six blessed cave heavens all surrounded the outer perimeter of this primeval region.

"Senior, this junior is a registered disciple of Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven." The elderly cultivator, already more than a hundred years old, asked cautiously, "May I ask whether you plan to settle in Yan Kingdom? If you do, this junior can recommend you to Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven. With your cultivation, you will certainly enjoy resources at an elder's level."

"Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven?" Lin Xian's heart stirred. He asked, "Since you are a disciple of Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven, why did you not remain there to cultivate?"

"Senior, this junior merely has a Mortal Body." The old cultivator revealed a bitter smile. "I am not like you, blessed with extraordinary talent and a vast immortal path. Being qualified to step onto the path of immortality was already incomparably fortunate."

"After passing fifty, I was never able to advance another step on the path of cultivation and could see no hope of reaching the Life Spring. This junior simply gave up cultivation. Since I was born into the royal family, I returned to the mortal world and stationed myself in this city, selecting disciples with aptitude for the sect."

"Cultivation is difficult..." Lin Xian shook his head and repeated the word difficult three times.

This was the reality for the vast number of low-level cultivators in the Eastern Wasteland. If an ordinary mortal body lacked a fortuitous opportunity, it would remain trapped in the Sea of Bitterness for life, with no hope of ever seeing the Life Spring.

In Yan Kingdom, reaching the Life Spring was enough to be considered an expert. The Divine Bridge was the level of an elder, while the Other Shore was the realm of a sect leader who controlled a cave heaven.

The second secret realm above that, the Dao Palace, was already legend—a foundational existence.

Lin Xian possessed a complete Sea of Bitterness scripture passed down by a Saint Realm expert, and based on Sage Tianxuan's scripture, he had cultivated the Stars Illuminate the Azure Heavens phenomenon. Such treatment was beyond anything an ordinary Mortal Body could even dream of.

Even registered disciples of Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven were not qualified to learn the Life Spring scripture. They could only cultivate the Sea of Bitterness scripture. Only by rendering great service to the sect and selecting immortal seedlings could they earn the right to receive the scripture for the next realm.

Seeing this, Lin Xian gave the old cultivator a pointer or two regarding the Life Spring scripture. The old cultivator immediately treated it as a priceless treasure, and his attitude became increasingly respectful.

Not to mention worldly gold, silver, and treasures, he presented all manner of polygonatum, ginseng, and lingzhi as tribute as though they cost nothing.

On the third day, after obtaining Lin Xian's permission, the old cultivator reported the news. At last, people from Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven arrived.

Three streaks of rainbow light flew over, and all three had Divine Bridge cultivation. The leader was an old man with flowing white hair, who looked every bit the immortal sage.

"Are you the cultivator seeking to join our Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven?" The old woman on the left, her forehead tattooed with runes, asked bluntly. "Why are you hiding your face?"

To avoid causing too great a stir over his age, Lin Xian had deliberately put on a black robe and black cloak, concealing his figure.

Facing the old woman's questioning, Lin Xian smiled calmly. Without even looking at her, he gazed directly at the white-haired elder leading them and asked, "How should I address you, Fellow Daoist?"

"Gladly." The white-haired, white-bearded elder smiled faintly. "This humble Daoist is Ma Yun, an elder of Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven. How should I address you, Fellow Daoist? May I know which master you learned from?"

"Lin Xian, a lone cultivator with no sect or school, making my home wherever the world takes me." Lin Xian raised a brow and asked in return, "Does Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven require a certain background when accepting people?"

"An itinerant cultivator from elsewhere?" The old woman on the left sneered, and the contempt in her eyes grew even heavier.

A stinking itinerant cultivator from out of town had come running to our Yan Kingdom!