Zhi Xuan flicked the blades of the Demonic Blood Sword between his fingers, twisting them back until they took the shape of needles. First, he launched two needles toward the small island in the center, watching for the reaction of the pillars that were set to incinerate any form in the air. The launch of the needles was swift and nearly invisible. The two blades of the Demonic Blood Sword, transformed into thin needles, streaked toward the small island in the center of the Pool of Pure Yang Essence, attempting to pass the towering four pillars of Pure Yang fire.

  Whush! Whush!

  As the needles reached the threshold of the first pillar, the Pure Yang fire reacted immediately. The wall of fire vibrated violently, and two tongues of pure flame as sharp as Heavenly Swords shot out, targeting the tiny needles.

  Zzzt!

  The Demonic Blood Sword needles, crafted from Zhi Xuan's spiritual blood, instantly evaporated into a painful red mist. The Pure Yang fire did not merely burn; it purified down to the very origin of essence. Zhi Xuan shuddered, feeling a searing pain in his Sea of Consciousness, a reaction to the destruction of his spiritual blood. He immediately withdrew the essence in his fingers.

  "Hot," Zhi Xuan hissed, yet he did not stop to decipher the secret placed by the Great Emperor. He pondered again on what he should do. "If it is only one launch, it is a single essence that will be considered an attack. However, if one forces an attack, and then a second is launched immediately after the first, would it not simply pass through?"

  Zhi Xuan stood tall; he waved his hand and flicked four Demonic Blood Swords twisted back into needles. This time he did not try the same strategy, only varying it to see if the needles he threw would stick or not.

  Whush! Whush!

  Two needles were launched from Zhi Xuan's fingers, piercing through like shadows toward the fire pillars. Zhi Xuan targeted two pillars simultaneously, and just as the two needles were about to reach the two pillars that began to vibrate and manifest tongues of flame.

  Zzzt! Whush! Whush!

  The tongues of flame from both pillars immediately lashed out fiercely toward the first two needles launched, but the two needles that arrived only a fraction of a breath after the first two did not trigger those tongues of flame; instead, they were ignored and dived sharply, gripping the fire pillars that had incinerated the first two needles.

  The fourth Demonic Blood Sword needle, which had touched the Pure Yang fire pillar, immediately began to evaporate. However, the needle did not completely vanish. It stuck firmly into the jade pillar radiating fire, only corroding as fast as a lightning strike.

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes; the stinging pain from the evaporating needle felt like a cold electric shock hitting his back. However, that pain was quickly replaced by a cold and controlled excitement.

  "This formation... only reacts to the first wave of attack," he murmured. "It is designed to repel a single invasion, but it is not designed to distinguish between the first attack and an attack coming a fraction of a breath later. The arrogance of a Great Emperor is to assume that no follow-up attack would occur."

  Zhi Xuan nodded faintly; it was natural for a Great Emperor not to place a formation that resisted follow-up attacks within a fraction of a breath. The Pure Yang Pillar Formation alone was capable of ensuring no object could approach; it was something that could annihilate anything in a single move but could not account for another movement occurring only a fraction of a breath later.

  Zhi Xuan closed his sapphire eyes. He calmed the fluctuations of his spiritual blood and locked all the remaining essence within himself. He had to rely on his physical foundation, the Heavenly-Blood Law, and the brutal speed of his twenty Slaughter Seals. His plan was a mad gamble relying on the arrogant weakness of the Great Emperor's formation.

  Zhi Xuan opened his eyes again, his sapphire gaze cold and full of calculation. He waved his hand and brought out the Heavenly Devouring Chalice, which immediately appeared in his hand. Stooping slightly, he took a stance that almost cracked the ground beneath his feet. With a powerful swing, Zhi Xuan threw the Heavenly Devouring Chalice, which was also of Pure Yang, straight into the center of the pillars.

  Whush! Whush! Whing!

  Zhi Xuan darted after it, positioned exactly a fraction of a breath behind the leading Heavenly Devouring Chalice. With a burst of pure physical speed, he propelled his own body to follow the velocity of the Chalice's throw.

  The Heavenly Devouring Chalice, the blood-red jade jar, streaked like an Extreme Yang comet, radiating a brutal heat. When the Chalice reached the threshold of the Pure Yang fire pillars, the formation reacted immediately.

  Guroooh!

  The four fire pillars unleashed a deafening roar of fury. Four tongues of pure flame, far larger and denser than those that had attacked the previous needles, shot out simultaneously, targeting the Heavenly Devouring Chalice. The fire, forged by the Law of Pure Yang, immediately enveloped the Chalice, attempting to incinerate it into dust.

  Zzztt!

  The Heavenly Devouring Chalice vibrated violently under the assault of the Pure Yang fire, the sealing runes on its surface flickering wildly. The artifact was indeed made of jade capable of withstanding Extreme Yang, but the combined attack of the Great Emperor's formation far exceeded its endurance.

  However, that was exactly what Zhi Xuan expected.

  While the four tongues of flame were fully absorbed in destroying the Heavenly Devouring Chalice—the first attack—Zhi Xuan, propelled by the brutal power of his twenty Slaughter Seals, lunged in. He was the second attack coming at the moment the formation was busy with the first.

  Whusshh!

  Zhi Xuan pierced through the threshold of the fire pillars currently focused on the Heavenly Devouring Chalice, entering the space of the formation. He felt a wave of residual heat hit his body, trying to evaporate the moisture in his eyes, but the Divine Cauldron he had prepared, radiating the resonance of a calm Summer, managed to hold back the remnants of that heat.

  He wasted no time. In a fraction of a second, Zhi Xuan reached for the Heavenly Devouring Chalice, which was now spinning uncontrollably in the midst of the fire. He gripped it tightly, using his body as a shield, and immediately pulled the artifact to his chest.

  At that moment, the Great Emperor's formation realized its mistake. The tongues of flame did not immediately vanish after engulfing the Chalice. They turned, swirling with lethal speed, targeting the intruder who now dared to touch the protected treasure.

  Zhi Xuan was ready. He felt four Pure Yang wills locking onto him. He could not run; he was in the center of the formation. He immediately focused all his will. Releasing the spiritual energy he had suppressed, he flicked ten Demonic Blood Swords.

  Whish! Zhing! Zhing! Srak!

  He immediately swung his hand, launching the ten Demonic Blood Swords toward the four pillars simultaneously. Meanwhile, Zhi Xuan used the Demonic Blood Swords as stepping stones to propel himself away from the surge of the Pure Yang Pillars.

  The Demonic Blood Swords, now forged purer by the previous danger, streaked like shadows, five blades targeting each pillar to create a distraction. As the Demonic Blood Swords collided, the four tongues of pure flame swirling in the air, which had been targeting Zhi Xuan, immediately split. A small portion turned to destroy the blades, while the rest continued to lunge.

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  Dug! Dug! Dug!

  Zhi Xuan, clutching the Heavenly Devouring Chalice to his left chest, used a still-intact Demonic Blood Sword as a mental stepping stone. He pressed down with both legs, driven by twenty Slaughter Seals, and leaped forward with a brutal push, disregarding the pool of Pure Yang essence below him. His goal was the tiny island in the center where the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit grew.

  Whusshh!

  The leap carried him gliding over the Pool of Pure Yang Essence. He felt the Law of Pure Yang beneath him trying to pull at his physical foundation, attempting to evaporate the water essence within his bones, but his Heavenly-Blood Body Law roared, refusing to submit.

  As he glided through the air, the two remaining tongues of pure flame chased after him, ready to annihilate the intruder.

  "Great Saint!" Zhi Xuan roared in his Sea of Consciousness, pleading for Ruo Xianxue's help, not to fight, but to distract.

  The Ancient Devil Monument dragged by Ruo Xianxue in the Sea of Consciousness vibrated. An ancient dark rune, originating from the Primordial Era, immediately detached from the Monument. The rune did not attack; it merely resonated with the will of the Great Emperor's formation.

  Guroooh!

  The Primordial Devil Rune collided with the Pure Yang Law of the Great Emperor's formation. The collision produced a momentary disruption of will. The two tongues of pure flame chasing Zhi Xuan stopped, as if the formation were debating internally between fulfilling its duty or responding to the presence of an unknown Primordial Devil Dao.

  That fraction of a breath's disruption was enough. Zhi Xuan, seizing the moment of silence, landed heavily on the small island in the center of the Pool of Pure Yang Essence. The landing produced a sound that was nearly inaudible, but the vibration was felt throughout the cave.

  Before him, the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit—a pitch-black lotus with seven petals—radiated a cold Yin aura. The contrast between this black lotus and the Pool of Pure Yang Essence radiating pure white light was stunning, a miracle forged by the Extreme Yin-Yang Collision.

  Zhi Xuan wasted no time. He knelt, ignoring the heat penetrating the small island, and reached out with a trembling hand. He gripped the cold lotus stem with both hands, and with a strong, pure pull, he plucked the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit. The black petals immediately closed, and the hidden Yin energy transferred, absorbed by Zhi Xuan's hand.

  Zzzztt!

  As the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit was detached from its roots, the Great Emperor's formation, having resolved its internal debate, reacted with overflowing rage. The loss of the vital Heaven's Fertilizer triggered the formation to the limits of its power. The four pillars of Pure Yang fire roared. A wave of fire far larger and stronger than before enveloped the small island, intending to destroy the intruder and purify the stolen Yin energy.

  Zzzhhh! Shttt! Flicker!

  Zhi Xuan only looked back and smiled coldly. Raising his hand, he carved a cosmic step rune, exerting his spiritual essence. With a nod and a cold smirk, he dashed back to the edge of the pool. The Pure Yin essence he had just absorbed gave him the opportunity to use the cosmic step rune and save himself.

  His breath came in gasps. In his right hand, which tightly gripped the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit, his skin seemed to radiate a thin ice aura colliding with the residual heat. The Extreme Yang aura in the cave swirled wildly, its heat waves hitting Zhi Xuan like whips.

  However, he no longer cared. The Seven Lotus Yin Fruit was secured. Zhi Xuan closed his eyes for a moment, letting the Divine Cauldron spinning in his Sea of Consciousness radiate a Spring resonance to calm the fluctuations of Yin and Yang essence in his body. He immediately sealed the Seven Lotus Yin Flower into his storage bag.

  "Qinglan, you almost killed me," Zhi Xuan hissed. He rose slowly and stood tall. He stepped back toward the passage that would lead him to the Ancient Tomb Core, leaving behind the chaos of the Pure Yang pool now roaring behind him. The thundering sound of fire from the wrathful Great Emperor's formation sounded like the scream of an angry Heaven, but his footsteps felt light, filled with cold satisfaction.

  Zhi Xuan's steps were calm and triumphant as he re-entered the cold passage of the Tomb Core. He left the thundering sound of wrathful fire behind him, a reminder of the anger he had triggered in the heart of the Great Emperor's volcano. Inside the Tomb Core passage, the cold spiritual mist felt welcoming, a soothing contrast after the heat that had nearly annihilated him.

  He stepped out of the suffocating Pure Yang passage, returning to the Ancient Tomb Core room shrouded in Primordial aura. Zhi Xuan looked toward the center of the room, toward the intersecting gravestones and the chained Ancient Coffins. The dark mist forming the wills of the Great Emperor's followers still swirled around the Coffins, but they were now far calmer.

  The worship and the boundary-crossing arrogance he had just displayed seemed to have succeeded in silencing, even intimidating, those dead wills. Zhi Xuan turned his gaze to the shadow of the ancient General, who still stood in the corner of the Tomb, staring at the carving of his name on the wall.

  "I have taken that Heaven's Fertilizer, General," Zhi Xuan said, his voice calm, without a challenging tone, just a cold statement of fact. He did not ask for praise or permission; he simply informed them of his action.

  The shadow of the ancient General vibrated slowly. He did not turn toward Zhi Xuan; his empty eyes remained fixed on the characters 'Zhi Xuan' forcibly carved into the Primordial wall. The Dao oath and the act of desecration were still an unspoken burden fettering the General's will.

  "The legacy of the Ancient Zhu Clan," the ancient General's shadow spoke, his voice dripping with the affirmation of the oath to protect all the Emperor's Artifacts. "Can only be held by the bloodline of the Ancient Zhu Clan. You shall only tell them that the Bloodline Restriction will only be destroyed if the Zhu Clan Patriarch returns the Great Emperor's Heavenly Scripture to this Tomb."

  Zhi Xuan raised an eyebrow, his sapphire gaze reflecting cold understanding. The Great Emperor's Heavenly Scripture. A heavy name, something perhaps lost or hidden by the Ancient Zhu Clan itself, causing them to be cursed by their ancestor, Great Emperor Zhu, preventing them from entering the Tomb due to their greed for the Heavenly Scripture.

  "Bloodline Restriction," Zhi Xuan murmured. He looked toward the chained Ancient Coffin of Great Emperor Zhu Yan Tian. "How shall I convey this? If I leave this tomb, surely the Ancient Zhu Clan will hunt me down and not believe me."

  The shadow of the ancient General, who had been merely staring at the carving on the wall, now slowly turned. His empty gaze, filled with sorrow and primordial authority, anchored onto Zhi Xuan's figure. The aura around the chained Ancient Coffin of Great Emperor Zhu Yan Tian vibrated faintly, as if responding to the question.

  "The Law of the Tomb has its own way," the ancient General hissed. His voice echoed in the cold Tomb Core, bringing a haunting silence. He waved his hand and suddenly, the tattered Coffin storing Zhi Xuan's two wings and the vision scroll of the Ancient Sky, which he had been keeping, emerged just like that.

  From the dark mist forming the wills of the followers around the room, a pinpoint of fine and indescribable spiritual light appeared. Those lights, which were the remnants of essence and the eternal promises of fallen followers, floated into the air.

  Zhi Xuan clenched his jaw, his sapphire eyes narrowing sharply. He was shocked by the ancient General's casual action of bringing out his tattered Coffin. That shock was quickly mixed with concern as he saw the points of spiritual light merging in the air.

  The points of light contained no killing intent; they carried a cold affirmation. They began to merge, forming a single shimmering ancient spiritual seal, a rune radiating an authentic aura from the Primordial Era. The seal felt like an Eternal Will, a karmic record witnessed by the Tomb.

  "Take this out when the Ancient Zhu Clan or any other clan captures you," the ancient General said, waving his shadow and returning the tattered coffin to Zhi Xuan's storage bag, continuing his words with a tone of cold affirmation. "At least if they threaten you, you can use this to threaten them. It will manifest my form when you open your coffin and surrender that seal."

  The General floated closer and stood directly in front of Zhi Xuan, his hollow shadow eyes staring straight at Zhi Xuan, as if remembering the face that dared to desecrate the tomb wall with his name and make a Dao oath before the two Great Emperors' Coffins. The General only spoke a few words.

  "Only one request remains for you," the General finally said, floating back again, and from one of the passages, the whistling of artifacts flying toward the Ancient Tomb Core was immediately heard. Several artifacts came to rest right in front of Zhi Xuan. "You may choose one; choose quickly and get your foolish face out of here!"

  Zhi Xuan snorted harshly; he did not like being yelled at or told to hurry. However, before him were things that made his eyes sparkle slightly. Between the Eternally Thousand Ice Sword radiating a pure ice aura and the Ten Thousand Soul Lantern emitting a golden-grey light, lay a treasure that transcended all logic of cultivation.

  It was a pearl the size of a fist, enveloped in a faint mist of primordial chaos, a chaos pearl that felt like the core of an unformed universe. And inside it, perfectly encased, was a tiny and faintly pulsating fetus.

  The shape of the fetus was that of a faint winged fish, radiating an oppressive Primordial aura. Just the aura from that fetus alone was enough to make Zhi Xuan's twenty Slaughter Seals vibrate wildly, as if his physical foundation were screaming to prostrate.

  "A... A... Kun... Kun Peng fetus?" Zhi Xuan staggered back, his face turning as pale as a corpse. His breath hitched, making his throat feel tight. "That... That is a Kun Peng fetus?"

  Kun Peng. A Primordial creature, one of the Ten Sacred Beasts that supported Heaven and Earth. The giant Kun fish could swallow the ocean, and the Peng, the giant bird, could spread its wings across millions of miles, its wings carrying the Sky Wind that symbolized freedom and rivaled the Heavens.

  In ancient times, even a single drop of Kun Peng blood was enough to cause wars that ravaged the entire Lower Plains. And here before him lay a whole, intact fetus radiating Primordial essence, a foundation of life yet to be born. Zhi Xuan's brain, which had been filled with cold calculation, now felt empty.