News of the Demon Taming Sect's crushing defeat and the deaths of its two Void Return patriarchs swept across Youzhou like a hurricane at unimaginable speed, then shook the Great Xia cultivation world!
A mysterious cultivator had casually slain the Demon Taming Sect's two great Void Return patriarchs outside the Heavenly Gloom Mountain Range!
For a time, the name White Tiger Devil Venerable spread far and wide.
Meanwhile, Han Xuanji, far away in the Divine Profound Sect, leisurely began his daily check-in.
To keep the little white tiger from being exposed, he had taken the trouble to use the Heaven-Shrouding Technique to disguise him as a harmless spiritual pet. He had also placed some restrictions on him to keep him from causing trouble.
The little white tiger was happily counting his spoils.
Han Xuanji had no interest whatsoever in the possessions of those Void Return and Spirit Transformation cultivators, so the little white tiger had gotten a windfall.
"Ho ho ho, I'm rich! I'm rich!"
The little white tiger's eyes gleamed.
But when he saw Han Xuanji return to the sect and disguise himself as an utterly ordinary outer sect disciple, he was utterly baffled.
"Master, you're so powerful. Why are you only an outer sect disciple?"
"I feel like we could strike out on our own, found the White Tiger Sect, and then dominate the Nine Provinces!"
"Easier said than done."
Han Xuanji said irritably:
"With your abilities, you want to take in disciples?"
"If you're exposed, just wait to become tiger-meat hotpot."
The little white tiger didn't know what hotpot was, but he understood that he absolutely couldn't let his identity be exposed.
One day.
Lu Fan sent a message:
"Junior brother, let me tell you, something big happened in Youzhou a few days ago."
Han Xuanji swallowed a Spirit Sha Fruit and calmly replied:
"What happened?"
"Apparently, the Demon Taming Sect sent a lot of experts some time ago to capture a tiger demon with an extraordinary bloodline. But they never expected the tiger demon to have a master, and a powerful Void Return cultivator at that. Two of the Demon Taming Sect's patriarchs fell as a result, and many of its cultivators were killed.
"The major powers of Youzhou quickly swallowed up the Demon Taming Sect. Only then did they discover that it had secretly colluded with the Heavenly Devil Cult, planning to use the opportunity to eliminate Youzhou's other powers and dominate Youzhou completely.
"Tell me, is this White Tiger Devil Venerable a bad person?"
Hearing this, Han Xuanji hadn't expected that, through this unexpected turn of events, he had also wiped out a Heavenly Devil Cult lackey. He was quite pleased.
So it turned out he hadn't killed the wrong people.
Han Xuanji thought for a moment and replied:
"Hard to say, but the Demon Taming Sect did court death first. Maybe he was only fighting back?"
"True. Luckily, the White Tiger Devil Venerable stepped in, or the Heavenly Devil Cult would have gained another powerful ally."
"Yes, the White Tiger Devil Venerable did well."
Lu Fan then talked about quite a few things that had recently happened in the sect. Overall, many geniuses had emerged over the years, and Heaven Spirit Roots, once a rare sight, had appeared several at a time.
Lu Fan complained that if he kept cultivating diligently within the sect, sooner or later he wouldn't be able to keep up.
In the days that followed, Han Xuanji continued to lie low and cultivate in the sect.
The little white tiger's arrival brought a little more liveliness to the usual quiet.
The little white tiger was actually very young mentally and knew nothing at all about many human affairs. He often slipped out to wander around, but fortunately, Han Xuanji's concealment technique was formidable, and no one thought this harmless little cat was actually a Void Return demon king.
The little white tiger's bloodline defied the heavens, however. Even though he didn't cultivate diligently each day, his cultivation kept shooting up, so Han Xuanji let him be.
One day.
Inside Han Xuanji's cave abode.
The space, which had been as heavy and still as congealed mercury, suddenly rippled ever so slightly.
Han Xuanji, sitting cross-legged on a cushion, slowly opened his eyes.
Fifth Layer of the Void Return Realm!
It came as naturally as water flowing into a channel, without the slightest disturbance.
Even Han Xuanji himself felt a trace of surprise.
He hadn't deliberately tried to break through the bottleneck. He had merely been sorting through what he had accumulated over the years when he quietly crossed that threshold.
"Hmm?"
At a slight stir of Han Xuanji's thoughts, the Heavenly Divination Technique silently began to operate.
In an instant, the vertical eye deep within his Primordial Spirit reflected the subtle changes in the world outside.
"The concentration of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi has risen, and the rules have loosened considerably."
After a cultivator reached the Void Return Realm, drawing in Qi to cultivate was only the most basic of basics. What mattered more was comprehension.
Principles were endless, and rules were everywhere in heaven and earth, profoundly mysterious. Under normal circumstances, they were extremely difficult for ordinary people to comprehend, which was also why so few people could cultivate Divine Abilities.
If the Principles of heaven and earth before had been like intricately constructed walls of bronze and iron, nested layer upon layer, requiring cultivators to expend tremendous mental effort to comprehend and "pry" them open...
Then now, more "cracks" seemed to have appeared in those walls, and the "texture" of the Principles had become clearer and easier to discern.
For high-realm cultivators, this meant that comprehending Principles had become significantly easier, and the resistance to breaking through bottlenecks had also greatly weakened.
For low-realm cultivators, this "loosening" made Spiritual Qi more active and made it easier for them to experience flashes of insight while cultivating, or even touch upon a trace of the "Dao" ahead of time.
"Is it because the great age is arriving?"
Han Xuanji murmured thoughtfully.
"Master, I know!"
The little white tiger, lying on a piece of warm jade nearby and playing with a spirit pearl, batting it with his paw, suddenly raised his head. His amber vertical pupils gleamed with lively light.
"Oh? What do you know?"
Han Xuanji looked at him.
The little white tiger swished his fluffy tail and said with certainty:
"Heaven and earth are undergoing a great change. In my bloodline memories, I remember this happening many times, and every time, lots of people ascended."
He paused, seemingly trying hard to put his thoughts into words:
"My bloodline memories say this is heaven and earth's own protective instinct. The Spirit Realm we live in is itself a higher world.
"It can sense a tremendous crisis coming, or it needs greater power to maintain the balance.
"So it will give rise to more powerful beings on its own, hoping to nurture a savior strong enough to face the calamity to come."
"A savior?"
Han Xuanji nodded slightly, his gaze calm and untroubled. He didn't pay it much mind.
The will of heaven and earth and the flood of the greater tide were not things he could change, nor did he wish to force them.
He wouldn't take it upon himself to shoulder the banner of saving the world. But if a world-destroying devil truly dared to jump out before him, wreak havoc on all living beings, and endanger the people or things he cared about, he wouldn't stand by and do nothing.
On the road to immortality, what he sought was freedom and ease, not utter coldness and indifference.
Time slowly passed.
Ten years went by in a flash.
The White Tiger Devil Venerable and the Devil-Slaying Sword Venerable seemed to fade from people's sight. Apart from the few who had witnessed them, most people were troubled by the trivial matters before them and had no mind to think too much about anything else.
With a Void Return Realm Devil Cultivator holding down the fort, Devil Cultivators acted even more brazenly.
Numerous Rogue Cultivators cried out in endless misery, while the Divine Profound Sect was growing somewhat weary of dealing with them. After all, the enemy lurked in the shadows, and sneak attacks were impossible to guard against.
As far as Han Xuanji knew, more and more disciples were emerging from seclusion to slay devils.
Among them were True Disciples like Lu Fan and numerous inner sect prodigies. Some were even cultivators from the same intake as Han Xuanji, and all of them were already approaching the Golden Core stage.
Han Xuanji, meanwhile, cultivated in silence, his cultivation quietly reaching the Ninth Layer of Void Return.
Cultivation was becoming easier and easier for him. Now that he was in the Void Return Realm, he cultivated even faster than he had in the Spirit Transformation Realm.
And over those ten years, the arrival of the great age had become a topic of conversation for many people.
Many geniuses emerged within the Divine Profound Sect, and the bottlenecks holding back some of its experts also began to loosen.
"Master... your speed is just too discouraging for a tiger."
The little white tiger had already broken through to the Third Layer of Void Return, and he thought he was terribly impressive.
But watching Han Xuanji advance as though he had no bottlenecks, he couldn't help covering his face with a paw.
He owed his own speed entirely to the various heavenly materials and earthly treasures Han Xuanji regularly fed him and that precious drop of white tiger Essence Blood.
"Soon."
Han Xuanji looked beyond the quiet chamber, as though his gaze pierced through layer upon layer of halls and mountains.
"Next, it's time to start preparing for... the Body Integration Realm."
Elsewhere.
The tree wished to stand still, but the wind would not stop.
Yong Province, the Devil-Trapping Mountain Range.
Inside an underground cavern.
Lin Potian wanted to cry but had no tears. Looking at the hateful gazes of the many human cultivators, he explained:
"I really am not a traitor to humanity."
Ever since receiving Han Xuanji's guidance, he had cultivated diligently every day. Unfortunately, his aptitude was far too ordinary, and his cultivation hadn't changed much.
Unwilling to live out his life in mediocrity, he decided to go out and gain experience, hoping he might obtain some fortuitous opportunity.
He never expected that, as soon as he arrived in Yong Province, a demon king would capture him and, for no apparent reason, take him as an adopted son.