Ao Sheng jumped out from the protection of the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron, which now shrank back to the size of a bronze cup in Zhi Xuan's hand. His golden face was pale, but his eyes shone with unparalleled admiration. Around him, the air still vibrated from the spiritual pull of the Heavenly Devouring Chalice, which had just been forcibly separated from the Soul Lantern.

  "Senior Zhi Xuan, that harvesting technique..." Ao Sheng whispered, his voice catching. He had never witnessed a way of fighting so brutal and efficient; utilizing the opponent's spiritual weakness with an Extreme Yang Artifact and paralyzing them with Pure Lightning Law.

  Zhi Xuan exhaled, ignoring the spiritual pain throbbing in his Sea of Consciousness, a result of the illusion of Zhu Qinglan that had almost claimed him. That spiritual pain reminded him of how fragile the will could be in the face of deep longing. He gently patted Ao Sheng's shoulder.

  "Every battle is a gamble, Golden Dragon," Zhi Xuan replied, his voice returning to a flat and cold tone. "If you must fight, ensure you harvest more than you stake. Those Spirits are merely hungry souls, not true opponents."

  Zhi Xuan shifted his gaze from Ao Sheng's admiring face, focusing on the stone island before them. The island was a formation of black basalt stone about fifty zhang from their position, located in the middle of the churning sea of magma. There, in the center of the stone formation surrounded by magma pools, the Fire Heart Fruit glowed, radiating a pure red fire essence that felt warm and full of vitality, contrasting with the fierce Devil Fire around it.

  "The Fire Heart Fruit," Zhi Xuan murmured, closing his eyes for a moment to look at the spiritual map refined by Yan Xu and Nian Qin. "That is the fruit said to be exactly one thousand years old. The fruit for the medicine of the Heavenly Lotus Sect's Supreme Elder, who was afflicted by Yang poison."

  Zhi Xuan looked around and sharpened his divine sense; he furrowed his brow upon realizing that many of the cultivators' bodies seen earlier were Five Elements or Soul Transformation practitioners who now remained only as dead husks, without souls. Zhi Xuan felt a chill; even Soul Transformation experts could not escape the Illusion.

  "Fortunately, the Heavenly Devouring Chalice and the Soul Lantern are with me," Zhi Xuan murmured, thinking he would not have survived without the Extreme Yang artifact and the Soul Lantern, as those souls indeed could not be blocked by shields. "The disciples of the Heavenly Lotus Sect truly all fell here."

  Zhi Xuan fell silent for a moment as a desire arose to keep those dead bodies. The Cauldron had previously stored the dead bodies of the Shi Clan's Consciousness Transformation experts. Here, however, was a sea of dead bodies belonging to Five Elements and Soul Transformation practitioners. The Scroll of Ancient Nirvana Puppet Technique in his storage bag felt cold and gripping.

  Zhi Xuan shook his head slightly, brushing away the mad thoughts beginning to creep into his mind—the thought of utilizing the corpses of these high-level cultivators. Such an act would be too reckless. He had just struggled to restrain himself from being hunted by Orthodox Daoists, and collecting Soul Transformation corpses would be equivalent to proclaiming himself the vilest puppet-making Devil.

  "Why do you fear?" the whisper of the Devilish Thought, from the Devil Seed residing at the bottom of the Sea of Consciousness, began to echo. "If you can create puppets that possess only will without souls, would we not both master the Great Necromancy?"

  "Silence," Zhi Xuan hissed in the Sea of Consciousness, directing his spiritual Sea-Breaking Thunder Sword toward the Devil Seed as a cold warning. He could feel the strong pull from the Scroll of Ancient Nirvana Puppet Technique resting in his storage bag. Those corpses were a deadly temptation, but the risk was too great to bear.

  However, the image of possessing a grand army, puppets filled with the will of the Souls inside the Soul Lantern, was too good for Zhi Xuan not to consider. Simultaneously, it would shield him from the soul backlash of every soul absorption. Zhi Xuan turned again toward the dead bodies, a thin smirk appearing on his lips.

  "Perhaps you are right this time," Zhi Xuan whispered coldly, as dead bodies would not emit spiritual fluctuations. "I can store them inside the Cauldron without anyone knowing."

  Zhi Xuan smirked coldly. That was the natural disposition of a Devil: seeing danger as opportunity and atrocity as a shortcut to power. He knew that as long as these corpses were not manifested or brought to life, the risk could be tolerated. If he ever had to face an enemy beyond his realm, possessing high-level Nirvana Puppets would be a trump card that would change destiny.

  He wasted no time. He waved his hand toward the calm sea of magma. With a sharp mind and cold calculation, he channeled the Devil Blood Law into the Cauldron. The Cauldron, now the size of a bronze cup in his palm, suddenly emitted a soft vortex of Devil Blood.

  WHIRL!

  The vortex expanded. Unlike the Heavenly Devouring Chalice that pulled souls, the Cauldron moved with hidden spatial Laws. The corpses of cultivators floating in the magma sea—some of whom wore different sect robes and radiated the aura of Soul Transformation remnants—suddenly vanished from sight. They were absorbed into the hidden space within the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron.

  Ao Sheng, witnessing the scene, did not ask. He knew that Senior Zhi Xuan had made another mad decision, an act transcending the boundaries of the Orthodox Dao. He simply chose to hold tightly to his Black Water Dragon King Spear, realizing he was tied to a Devil far deeper than he had thought.

  "Ao Sheng," Zhi Xuan called calmly, his tone cold and revealing the cruelty of the world. "If you die like them, then you too will be harvested like this by others. So, do not hesitate toward anyone. The world is merely about harvesting and being harvested."

  Ao Sheng nodded vaguely, not daring to voice his shock or discomfort. He only lowered his head, understanding the harsh truth spoken by Zhi Xuan. In this Devil Fire Abyss, where the fate of even Peak Soul Transformation cultivators ended as soulless corpses, morality was a luxury that could not be maintained.

  "If I die, then I will be like them," Ao Sheng murmured, looking up to see Zhi Xuan again. "But Senior, I have never seen you kill mortal humans."

  Zhi Xuan only smiled thinly, shaking his head slowly as he pulled in all the dead bodies, which were immediately processed by the Law of Autumn and stored inside the Cauldron. Zhi Xuan pulled the Cauldron back and stored it within his body, turning to look at Ao Sheng.

  "Because I, too, began from a mortal promise," Zhi Xuan answered calmly; he looked like a Devil possessing an anchor within his heart against madness, appearing now like a Heavenly God shrouded by a Devil. "Mortal humans are not food; they are life that gazes upon us as Gods; they flatter yet also fear us. However, mortals possess something we do not. Mortal life—they live, they grow, they die. Mortal life is the most beautiful thing in my eyes, Ao Sheng."

  Zhi Xuan took a long breath and laughed coldly, his sapphire gaze looking up to stare at the starry Sky that felt distant and shrouded by Devil mist. "Their lives, though brief, are filled with revolving destiny. They are not chased by hundreds of kalpas or forced to endure millions of years of solitude on the Heavenly Path. That is why they are precious. Once they enter the path of cultivation, they lose that mortal beauty and become prey like the others."

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  Ao Sheng fell silent. He looked at Zhi Xuan's back, which now appeared majestic yet filled with loneliness. The words of the Devil hit the core of his consciousness. He was a Pure Golden Dragon, an existence destined for thousands of years of cultivation and inevitable Heavenly Calamities. The brief happiness and death experienced by mortals—a revolving destiny—was indeed a beauty he did not possess. The path of cultivation was the sacrifice of that beauty for a cold immortality.

  "I understand, Senior Zhi Xuan," Ao Sheng replied, his tone low. He no longer saw Zhi Xuan as a Devil merely thirsty for blood, but as a wandering man carrying a long burden of destiny who chose to keep a mortal promise as an anchor against Primordial madness.

  "Good," Zhi Xuan said, refocusing on the task at hand. All that philosophical reflection was merely a waste of time in this dangerous place. He pointed toward the Fire Heart Fruit glowing in the distance. "That fruit requires careful harvesting. Although it has no Spirit guarding it, it is surrounded by extremely dense magma pools. We cannot take it directly."

  Zhi Xuan sharpened his divine sense, and the Cauldron immediately emerged from his body. The Cauldron hummed loudly before shooting tens of zhang forward; with divine sense as a guide, the Cauldron stopped and faced its opening toward the Fire Heart Fruit. Around it, the magma pool thrashed like a volcano that could annihilate anything.

  Ao Sheng was silent for a moment. He saw the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron hovering above the churning magma, its dark opening pointed straight at the Fire Heart Fruit. The basalt stone formation beneath the fruit seemed to radiate lethal heat, a pure Fire essence even hotter than the Devil Fire surrounding it.

  "Senior, what are you going to do?" Ao Sheng asked, his tone full of vigilance. He knew that Zhi Xuan's Cauldron possessed functions beyond ordinary Dharma Artifacts.

  Zhi Xuan smirked coldly. That smile was no longer cynical, but full of the sharp calculation of an experienced cultivator. "The Fire Heart Fruit is an extremely pure Yang essence. The magma around it has been cultivated by the fruit's essence for thousands of years. If I touch it by hand, the fruit will burn, or the magma will react violently."

  "We will not use brute force. We will use an equivalent Law," Zhi Xuan continued. He closed his eyes, and in the Sea of Consciousness, he channeled the Pure Summer Law embedded in the Cauldron. The Law of Summer was the essence of Fire and controlled Purification, the opposite of destructive Devil Fire.

  WHIRL! WHIRL!

  The Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron began to spin slowly in the air, radiating the Law of Summer. The Summer essence did not burn the magma; instead, it resonated with the Pure Fire around the Fire Heart Fruit. A controlled heat vortex formed between the Cauldron's opening and the fruit.

  Ao Sheng watched in amazement. The magma churning around the Fire Heart Fruit instantly became calm, as if soothed by the Summer essence. The vines supporting the fruit began to soften, welcoming the warm Law of Summer.

  Zhi Xuan channeled more spiritual essence into the Cauldron. He was not only using the Law of Summer; he was using the Laws of Spring and Autumn simultaneously. Spring was used to wrap the Fire Heart Fruit in a soft protective layer, preventing it from sudden thermal damage. Autumn was used to subtly sever the Fire Heart Fruit from its vines.

  The three Laws from the Cauldron—Spring, Summer, and Autumn—spun in perfect synchronization in the air. The gentle vortex did not create destruction but only Harvest and Harvesting. The Fire Heart Fruit, glowing like a blood-red gem, began to lift slowly from the vines, drawn into the opening of the Cauldron with a gentleness impossible in such a hot place.

  The pull was so subtle, as if the fruit itself voluntarily jumped into the Cauldron. There was no magma eruption, no flare of fire. It was a perfect harvest. Within a split second, the Fire Heart Fruit vanished into the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron. The Cauldron's opening immediately emitted a golden glow, sealing the Fire Heart Fruit inside the controlled storage space.

  Zhi Xuan did not have time to celebrate the perfect harvest of the Fire Heart Fruit. He felt his spiritual connection with the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron instantly cut off. The Cauldron, after sealing the fruit, vibrated violently. It was not a vibration from sealing, but a wild resonance driven by an external force.

  The ancient artifact shot away from Zhi Xuan like a fired arrow, moving with a spiritual speed only achievable by a Heaven-Grade Artifact driven by Full Will toward the increasingly dense depths of the Devil Fire Abyss.

  "Dammit!" Zhi Xuan hissed, his face instantly turning tense. Whose will was driving the Cauldron? At the same time, he felt a sharp vibration in his storage bag. The Shabby Coffin, the mysterious artifact that served as an anchor for the Eclipse Rune and visions of the fallen Ancient Heavens, responded with wild ecstasy.

  The Eclipse Rune on the coffin instantly lit up, emitting an invisible dark gray light, resonating with the speeding Cauldron. The two artifacts, the Cauldron and the Shabby Coffin, resonated in sync, targeting a single point in the depths of the Devil Fire Abyss.

  "Ao Sheng! Follow me!" Zhi Xuan commanded, his voice filled with absolute urgency.

  He gripped Ao Sheng's shoulder firmly. Pure Lightning Law exploded from his feet, turning them both into a purple-blue flash that sped through the sea of magma. Zhi Xuan's speed was now driven by pure obsession—they were chasing his Origins. The Eclipse Rune, the pattern that appeared on the baby basket, the fragments of the Cauldron, as well as the scroll in the Shabby Coffin, and what he saw in the vision of the collapsing Ancient Heavens, were the only clues to his destiny.

  ZZRT! WHUSHH!

  They leaped from stone formation to stone formation, passing green Devil Fire eruptions. The magma beneath them churned violently due to the speed of Zhi Xuan's Pure Lightning tearing through the hot air. Ao Sheng held on tight, his face radiating determination. He knew this pursuit was more important than their lives.

  "The Cauldron and the Shabby Coffin originated from this Devil Fire Abyss," Zhi Xuan murmured in his mind, his intuition telling him that perhaps he would truly understand his origins.

  Zhi Xuan channeled more Thunder Law into his legs, ignoring the spiritual pain from the illusion he had just passed. He needed speed; he had to catch the Cauldron before the artifact was absorbed into the magma or fell into the hands of an entity far more terrifying than the Ancient Spirits.

  Finally, after dashing for about ten breaths of time at maximum speed, Zhi Xuan saw the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron stop. The Cauldron hovered quietly above a much deeper chasm, a chasm emitting a bluish-white magma glow—a temperature surpassing ordinary Devil Fire.

  In front of the Cauldron stood a tall black basalt cliff wall, as if carved by a God's Sword. In the middle of the cliff, hidden from the view of cultivators afraid of extreme fire, was a statue resonating with the Eclipse Rune found in the Scroll of the Shabby Coffin.

  Zhi Xuan and Ao Sheng landed on a stone formation across from the cliff. The quiet Cauldron hovered between them and the cliff. Zhi Xuan felt the Shabby Coffin in his storage bag vibrate so much that he had to catch his breath, as if the artifact were pleading to be released. Zhi Xuan carefully took the Shabby Coffin out of his storage bag. The statue, the Coffin, and the Cauldron immediately created an oppressive resonance, an aura of deadly Ancient Will.

  The statue was in the shape of a man in a pose standing upright and challenging the Heavens. His figure was carved with extraordinary detail. On his back were carved six neatly folded wings, wings that appeared to be made of ancient black bronze. Those wings were not the wings of a devil or a mortal angel; they radiated an ancient aura that was so oppressive.

  However, the thing that most caught Zhi Xuan's attention was the statue's face. The statue had a cold and majestic face, but on the statue's forehead, right between the eyebrows, was carved a pattern recognized by Zhi Xuan—the same eclipse pattern found on the fragments of the Cauldron swallowed by the Devil Seed, and also on the embroidery of the robes of the Ancient Heaven Clans.

  The Cauldron and the Shabby Coffin approached the statue, as if they were servants returning to their Master. The Cauldron suddenly emitted a dense Law of the Ancient Heavens, while the Shabby Coffin emitted an aura of the fall of the Ancient Heavens. The Eclipse Rune on the statue's forehead lit up, emitting a dark gray light. The statue was not alive, but the aura it emitted pressed down on Zhi Xuan until he almost knelt.

  It was an immeasurable Ancient Will, an existence residing outside the realm of the Lower World or even the Higher Levels. Zhi Xuan fought against that pressure. He felt the essence of his pure Devil Blood, suppressed by the statue, respond with a brutal rebellion.

  Zhi Xuan rose and, with the Heavenly-Blood Body Law, pressed back against that compulsion, looking up to stare at the towering Statue, stomping his foot to break the compulsion. He turned toward Ao Sheng, who had fallen to his knees, and applied the Four-Directional Blood Shield which immediately calmed him, before turning back toward the towering Six-Winged Statue.