The Eight Regions of the lower realm were vast and boundless, divided into eight great territories: Heaven, Earth, Mystery, Yellow, Space, Time, Vastness, and Desolation. Each region stretched endlessly, its mountains and rivers spanning millions of miles. A mortal could spend an entire lifetime without traversing even one. Yet in the eyes of Upper Realm cultivators, these eight regions were merely a gigantic cage, contemptuously known as the "Eight Regions Prison."
A year earlier, a world-shaking confrontation had erupted in the Eight Regions of the lower realm. Two peerless prodigies of the Shi Clan-Shi Yi, born with double pupils, and Shi Hao, a born supreme-had fought their fated battle in the Void God Realm. This pinnacle clash, later known as the "Battle of the Two Stones," had taken place at the Spirit Transformation Realm, yet displayed terrifying combat power far beyond that level.
Shi Yi, the double-pupiled youth, had two pupils in each eye and had stirred extraordinary phenomena throughout heaven and earth from the moment of his birth. His double pupils could pierce the origins of all things and perceive every law. He had also mastered ancient secret arts such as the Heaven Mending Technique.
Shi Hao, meanwhile, was a born supreme. Though his Supreme Bone had once been stolen, he had returned to the summit with an invincible bearing, cultivating secret arts of the Ten Fiends, including the Kun Peng Precious Technique, to consummate mastery. Their grudges had been entwined for years. This battle would determine not only who was superior, but who would live and who would die.
When the battle erupted, the entire Void God Realm trembled. As Shi Yi opened and closed his double-pupiled eyes, chaos energy spread, and the void shattered wherever his gaze fell. Shi Hao transformed into a Kun Peng and soared ninety thousand miles into the sky, golden runes illuminating the heavens.
They fought from the Ninth Heaven down to the Nine Netherworlds. Their precious techniques collided, setting the Great Dao roaring and even snapping the Void God Realm's Order Divine Chains. Every spectator was aghast. Even the first-generation prodigies who had descended from the Upper Realm paled.
After witnessing the battle, a veteran venerable sighed. "If these two are allowed to mature, they will surely stand shoulder to shoulder with the mighty figures of antiquity." A hidden titan declared, "Combat power like this has already touched the domain of the ultimate limit. It is rare throughout all of history."
After a grueling struggle, Shi Hao finally won by the narrowest margin. As supreme blood stained the Void God Realm red, the double-pupiled youth's radiance slowly dimmed. This prodigy, who had once dazzled an entire era, finally fell amid a sky filled with a luminous rain of runes. Among the spectators, some wrung their hands and lamented his death, while others were shaken by Shi Hao's invincible bearing.
After this battle, Shi Hao's formidable name spread throughout the Eight Regions. Even the traditions of the Upper Realm began taking notice of this rising prodigy. The story of the two Stones' battle also became a legend that later cultivators delighted in recounting, its far-reaching influence exceeding anything anyone present could have imagined.
Before the repercussions of the Battle of the Two Stones had subsided, turmoil stirred again in the Void God Realm. While everyone was still reeling from Shi Hao and Shi Yi's world-shaking confrontation, a blazing figure tore through the void and descended upon endless divine flames.
He was a mysterious man enveloped in towering divine fire, with laws interweaving around him and an incomparably terrifying aura. In his hand was an incomplete ancient artifact. Though only one corner remained, the power of reincarnation flowed through it. It was none other than a fragment of the legendary Six Paths Reincarnation Disk!
The moment the man appeared, he displayed unparalleled dominance. Ignoring the Void God Realm's rules, he attacked the Domain Envoy directly, suppressing heaven and earth with the power of the six paths of reincarnation. Furious, the Domain Envoy marshaled the laws of the Void God Realm to suppress him. Yet the man merely sneered. The Reincarnation Disk in his hand erupted with limitless light, reversing the laws and unraveling every one of the Domain Envoy's attacks!
"The paltry rules of the Void God Realm think they can stop me?" His voice was cold, like heavenly might descending upon the world. With a lift of his hand, divine flames burned the sky, and the power of the six paths of reincarnation erupted, grinding the Domain Envoy out of existence!
The sight stunned every spectator. Even the old monsters lurking in the shadows changed expression in shock. The Domain Envoy of the Void God Realm had actually been slain by overwhelming force! What kind of heaven-defying means were these?
With supreme divine abilities, he seized the blessings of the gods, then departed at his leisure beneath the bombardment of laws filling the sky. No one could stop him!
The incident shook the Eight Regions and even alarmed the great sects of the Upper Realm. Some speculated that he came from an ancient tradition, or was perhaps a hidden titan himself. Others believed he might be connected to the legendary Reincarnation Immortal King. How else could he wield a corner of the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk?
Whatever the truth, this battle once again made the world realize that the truly powerful could disregard the rules and seize the blessings of heaven and earth against their will! The mysterious man's identity and purpose also became the greatest puzzle in the hearts of countless cultivators.
The years turned, and time flew like a shuttle. A year slipped quietly past. The winds and clouds of the Desolate Region shifted, yet the Medicine Capital-this sacred land steeped in medicinal fragrance since ancient times-remained as tranquil as ever.
Legend held that the ancient Medicine God had been born here and had also fallen here. The supreme resonance of his Dao nourished all things, allowing this land to produce countless rare spiritual medicines. Medicinal fields stretched as far as the eye could see, their spiritual herbs swaying and shining. Rich medicinal fragrance filled the countryside, while spiritual energy gathered into mist and wreathed the fields. Spirit butterflies and medicinal insects danced gracefully among the herbs. Life flourished everywhere, as though this were an immortal realm.
At the center of the Medicine Capital stood an unremarkable low mountain. This was the home of the Divine Medicine Sect, founded by the ancient Medicine God. Though the mountain was not tall, it concealed profound mysteries. Rumor held that immortal energy swirled beneath it and that firelight sometimes flickered into view, as though some supreme blessing were being nurtured there.
Deep within the low mountain lay a secluded ancient well. Luminous mist rose within it, and it led straight into the depths of the earth's veins. More astonishing still, an ancient medicine cauldron bobbed inside the well. Runes flowed across its body, as though it were undergoing refinement by some mysterious force.
And within the cauldron sat a figure, cross-legged!
He was a boy of fourteen or fifteen, his ink-black hair falling loosely over his shoulders. Even seated motionless, he still revealed traces of the peerless grace and exceptional bearing he had possessed in life. Yet closer inspection showed that his vitality had long since been extinguished. All that remained was an empty shell.
More alarming still, cracks covered his body, and the wounds of battle remained upon him. He had clearly suffered devastating injuries in a brutal struggle and ultimately died here.
Who could have imagined that such a prodigy would be buried without a sound inside a mysterious ancient cauldron? What fierce battle had he endured? And who had placed him here?
Everything lay shrouded in mist...
Within the medicine cauldron, rosy light flowed and auspicious energy rose. Countless rare spiritual medicines floated inside, each one a treasure seldom seen in the world. Precious medicines gleamed, and spiritual herbs breathed luminous clouds. Several stalks of quasi-sacred medicine, red as blood from root to tip, had even taken root within it-blood phoenix grass, potent enough to bring the dead back to life. Vast stores of life essence flowed over its translucent leaves.
Most astonishing of all, among the many divine medicines floated an actual fragment of sacred medicine. Though only a corner remained, it radiated a might that could suppress heaven and earth. Its medicinal power surged like an ocean, making the entire cauldron rumble and tremble.
Any cultivator who saw this would surely turn pale with horror. Gathering so many divine medicines in a single cauldron was extravagance beyond all reason. Even an undying tradition would likely covet them enough to seize them.
Extraordinary phenomena unfolded within the cauldron. Sometimes rosy light pierced the heavens; sometimes thunder rolled. Spiritual energy so dense that it had become tangible flowed through the cauldron as liquid. Vast life essence intertwined with spiritual substances, actually forming miniature laws of heaven and earth inside, as though seeking to reverse the cycle of life, death, and reincarnation.
Raising it, heaven moved in reverse; if clearly divided, the writing hand startled heaven, and such.
-to resurrect the person within the cauldron! If word of this spread, it would surely shake the Eight Regions. Such a violation of the order of heaven and earth was nothing less than a challenge to the rules of the Great Dao.
As time passed, the medicinal power within the cauldron surged ever more fiercely. Under the influence of the mysterious force, those priceless precious medicines, quasi-sacred medicines, and even the sacred medicine fragment slowly melted, finally becoming a pool of brilliantly multicolored medicinal paste. The paste flowed as though alive, gradually enveloping the young man's wounded body completely.
A miracle was unfolding. Nourished by the medicinal paste, the horrifying cracks across his body were healing at a pace visible to the naked eye. Though the process was slow, that immense life force was indeed awakening the silent shell little by little. Shattered bones reassembled, torn meridians reconnected, and even his dried-up blood regained its vitality.
This was clearly an attempt to forcibly reverse life and death through supreme medicinal power!
The sun rose and the moon set, and time flowed on. Within the medicine cauldron, the young body had been utterly renewed. The hideous cracks that had once covered him had vanished completely, replaced by a flawless, precious body-skin like jade, bones like gold, every inch of flesh harboring explosive strength, as though the slightest movement could shatter mountains and rivers.
Yet although this body had been restored, it still lacked the most crucial thing-a soul.
On this day, ripples suddenly spread through the space within the medicine cauldron. The void split silently open, and a soul long sealed in ice fell out! This soul had drifted through the cold, desolate universe for endless ages before some mysterious force finally drew him here.
Crack-
The solid ice encasing the soul shattered. In that instant, a silver rune suddenly lit up, streaking through the darkness like a meteor before plunging straight into the soul. The rune shone brilliantly as starlight, radiating ancient, profound fluctuations, as though it contained some supreme law.
The soul remained silent and did not immediately awaken. But a soul could not remain apart from a physical body for long. This soul, in particular, was not one of those supreme divine beings capable of roaming heaven and earth. Any further delay would surely cause him to dissipate between heaven and earth.
Acting on instinct, the soul suddenly moved. Like a weary bird returning to its nest, he slipped without hesitation into the boy's body within the cauldron, plunging straight into the sea of consciousness! The entire process was utterly smooth, without the slightest resistance, as though this body had been prepared for him all along-the original owner's imprint had long since vanished completely.
Within the sea of consciousness lay boundless darkness and deathlike silence. There were no memories, no fluctuations; even the concept of time had ceased to exist. Only the faint silver light that occasionally flickered within the soul, like a lone boat drifting upon an endless dark sea, offered any sign of life in this deathly stillness...
As everyone knew, the relationship between body and soul was like that between a divine sword and its sword spirit. Each sustained and depended upon the other; neither could be absent. The soul granted the body awareness and spiritual essence, while the body provided the soul a dwelling. Only when the two meshed perfectly could true life be formed.
Now, although the sea of consciousness remained as silent as the night, subtle changes were taking place within this flawless body as the soul settled into it.
Blood that had been motionless began to flow slowly. A faint beat stirred within the silent heart, and every inch of skin gained a soft sheen of life. Like the first warm ray of early spring after a bitter winter, signs of life were quietly awakening within this perfect shell.
The precious body, tempered by countless divine medicines, was now resonating with its resident soul with astonishing efficiency. Muscle fibers trembled faintly, and bones gave off a soft hum, as though welcoming their new master. This perfect union of spirit and flesh was life's most miraculous creation.