The desert dissolved, leaving only a hollow void.
The shattered Great Void knitted itself back together bit by bit, gradually stabilizing. Black-and-white life-and-death qi surged ceaselessly, revolving around each other.
Xu Xuan opened his eyes to a dim world. Black and white filled his surroundings, with no other colors remaining. Only belatedly did he examine himself inwardly: his Dharma Body was intact, his soul unchanged.
He was still alive-or rather, he had returned from death.
Vast patches of mottled black and gray remained tangled together. Looking west, he saw water and fire towering ten thousand feet high at the limit of his vision, surging against each other. Cold and dry heat intertwined inseparably, while an essence of slaughter and finality slowly arose and faded.
Before this spectacle, Xu Xuan felt his flesh and magical power suppressed and diminished. Of all his Daoist arts, perhaps only half their strength remained.
Amid the illusory water and fire stood a Jade High Terrace, gleaming white throughout, with nine steps in total. Images of feathered ascension, rosy ascension, dragon-riding, and crane-riding adorned it. Immortal light billowed, and the sounds of the Dao rang without cease.
"A True Qi divine ability, [Ascension Platform]. Ascending bodily in broad daylight, nature and life returning together... and another divine ability belonging to Lesser Yin?"
A muffled voice sounded as Tiantuo spoke quietly, seemingly unharmed.
Xu Xuan was just about to ask a question when a bronze sword casket slowly descended from the sky. Its lid had already opened a crack, releasing mighty torrents of life-and-death qi that wove together into this world.
A pure-white figure manifested atop the terrace, a round mirror of condensed cloud vapor behind him. The bronze sword casket pointed toward him from afar, and the towering water and fire shattered. The jade terrace gradually