He stood, panting, with three Beast Cores in hand. The Fire Beast Core, the Illusion Beast Core, and the Metal Beast Core. He had completed his mission and exceeded Zhi Xuan's demands. The third incense stick at the top of the cliff had just gone out, leaving behind a thin trail of spiritual smoke. Ao Sheng sped back up the cliff, ignoring the pain and fatigue. He arrived at the summit. Zhi Xuan sat cross-legged, his eyes closed, the Heavenly Sword floating calmly beside him.

  "Senior," Ao Sheng said, his voice containing a mixture of exhaustion and hidden pride.

  Zhi Xuan opened his eyes. He glanced at the three Beast Cores in Ao Sheng's hand, then at Ao Sheng's face, which was covered in sweat and fatigue.

  "Three Azure King Cores—two that I ordered, and one that you added," Zhi Xuan said, his tone flat. "You challenged the Ancient Iron-Horned Rhino with an already exhausted body. That was foolishness."

  Ao Sheng lowered his head slightly. "Forgive me, Senior. But my Azure King Dragon instinct would not allow a challenge from a lowly beast to be ignored. It was an honor I had to assert."

  Zhi Xuan smirked thinly, a cold smile that nevertheless showed approval. "A good instinct, Golden Dragon. Cunning and arrogance—that is a deadly combination. Take those cores. They are your provisions. You will absorb their essence on our journey to the North."

  Zhi Xuan rose to his feet, reached out his hand, and the Heavenly Sword shot into his storage bag. He wasted no time lingering. The air at the peak of the Azure Mountains, which had been cold, now began to be warmed by the morning sun piercing through the mist.

  "Now, let us move," Zhi Xuan commanded, his voice returning to being efficient and concise. He took out the Seven-Star Boat, which immediately hovered and emitted a faint aura of Pure Lightning.

  Ao Sheng carefully stored the three Beast Cores into his storage bag. He knew those cores were not just spiritual stones; they were keys to understanding the Laws of Metal, Fire, and Illusion that would enrich his own Dao. He jumped onto the Seven-Star Boat, taking a position beside Zhi Xuan.

  "The Azure Mountains are located on the border of the Zhao Kingdom, separating the territory of the Heavenly Lotus Sect from the wild forests stretching to the North," Zhi Xuan explained, his eyes staring sharply into the distance. "We will avoid the main routes. The Shi Clan must have spread their spy network, suspecting we would flee to the North."

  Zhi Xuan channeled the Law of Pure Lightning into the base of the Seven-Star Boat. The artifact gave a low roar, and without soaring high into the air, it glided downward, cutting through the air with extraordinary speed, following the hidden gaps and valleys shown only by the Ancient Heaven Memory Legacy.

  The boat moved at a low altitude, almost touching the tops of the giant trees, utilizing the thick morning mist to cover its tracks. Zhi Xuan occasionally channeled his essence into the Seven-Star Boat, activating the Camouflage Formation installed on the vessel, ensuring their spiritual trail was completely severed.

  "To the North," Ao Sheng murmured, feeling a strange excitement, as if he were finally breaking free from the chains of fate that bound him to the Zhao Kingdom. "Of the five continents on this Xing Luo Plain, the Northern Continent is a place dominated by Ice Plains and Volcanoes. Senior, do you intend to master the Five Elements of the Laws of Fire and Water there?"

  "Correct," Zhi Xuan replied calmly, staring at the far horizon. "Actually, I intended to understand the Law of Fire at the Devil Fire Abyss, but since the Shi Clan now knows I carry the Heavenly Sword, I can no longer go there. The Laws of Fire and Ice reside there. And perhaps, I will find the Laws of Wind and Earth in the Northern Continent as well."

  Zhi Xuan closed his eyes for a moment; the Ancient Heaven Memory Legacy presented a mental map of the Northern Continent. It was a continent filled with unrest, where cultivators had to struggle against extreme weather and ancient beasts adapted to extreme elements. The cultivation realms there might not be as dense as in the Zhao Kingdom, but the experts who emerged would be tempered by the cruelty of nature.

  Zhi Xuan opened his eyes again, looking at Ao Sheng, who was now sitting cross-legged and closing his eyes, beginning the absorption of the Beast Cores one by one. Zhi Xuan sharpened his divine sense for a moment, searching for faint fluctuations that might be left by traps or the divine sense of other cultivators. After feeling that all was safe, he sat cross-legged on the rear deck of the boat.

  Zhi Xuan sank into his Sea of Consciousness, looking at Ruo Xianxue, who was now nearly finished forming her Spiritual Body, while Xiao Die still huddled, waiting for the right moment to release her form transformation. Zhi Xuan walked upon the Sea of Consciousness and simply gazed at the two figures situated near his Devil Tree of Life.

  The spiritual figure of Ruo Xianxue, the Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox, was no longer just a dense black mist. She had formed the spiritual body of a majestic woman, enveloped by the aura of the Ultimate Darkness Law and deep Devil Blood. Her nine tails were now visible, fanning out in her spiritual form, radiating a calm Law of Darkness, no longer as wild as when she was first awakened.

  "The tails have appeared?" Zhi Xuan muttered, frowning strangely. "Won't she look odd if her spiritual body carries nine tails?"

  Her spiritual body stood under the shade of the Devil Tree of Life, absorbing the essence released by the Summer Law from the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron. Although her body was formed, her eyes—the Sun and Moon dual pupils—were still tightly shut, indicating she had not yet fully awakened and integrated her Incarnation Spiritual Body.

  On the other side, Xiao Die, the Thousand Feathered Moth, looked like a small rainbow cocoon. She was enveloped by the gentle Law of Spring, her spiritual essence churning, waiting for the peak moment to release her human form transformation. Zhi Xuan knew this process had to occur naturally, without interference, so that Xiao Die's spiritual foundation would be stable upon becoming an entity equivalent to a high-realm cultivator.

  "The two of you are truly troublesome creatures," Zhi Xuan muttered, his voice in the Sea of Consciousness sounding heavy and majestic. "You, Old Fox, formed an incarnation so quickly. And you, little Moth, insist on changing your form in an unstable realm."

  Zhi Xuan glanced down again at the base of the Devil Tree of Life, where at the bottom of the Sea of Consciousness lay the dark black Devil Seed with the eclipse rune pattern, and the Kun Peng Fetus which appeared to be still suppressed by the Ancient Devil Monument Rune. The Chaos Pearl looked safe and calm, though Zhi Xuan knew that if the Kun Peng were born, the entire Plain would become his enemy.

  "Kun Peng," Zhi Xuan whispered; he had not yet had time to think about where he would take this Kun Peng. "It requires vast energy to reincarnate that fetus; at least not now."

  Zhi Xuan took a deep spiritual breath, ignoring the burden carried by the two ancient creatures and the hidden Kun Peng Fetus. He shifted his attention to an aspect of his own Dao—the Ancient Heaven Memory Legacy. The knowledge he had obtained felt so vast, like an endless expanse of stars. Rather than trying to digest everything at once—which would tear his Primary Soul apart—Zhi Xuan focused on the clusters of knowledge most practical for the journey to the Northern Continent.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Ancient Heaven," Zhi Xuan murmured; he was still guessing what had happened back then, even though Ruo Xianxue and the Ancient Heaven Guardian had given him a picture of how great the enemies from the Forbidden Realm were. "The Forbidden Realm—it might not just be like the Soul Transformation or Weaver Transformation I have seen before."

  Zhi Xuan closed his eyes for a moment in the Sea of Consciousness, before a hand that felt smooth and piercing pressed against his back. He immediately jolted and turned around, only to receive a slap to his face and a swipe from a Fox tail that felt like it pierced through his body.

  SLAP! THUD! THUD! THUD!

  Zhi Xuan was instantly jolted. He turned back, only to find that Ruo Xianxue's Spiritual Body had fully formed. She now stood tall, radiating a majestic aura of darkness, and her nine thick tails, enveloped in Darkness Runes, whipped Zhi Xuan's spiritual body with unexpected strength.

  the slap on his face—which felt like a collision of pure Darkness Law—along with three whips from the Fox's tails, all channeled a sharp pain into his Primary Soul. His spiritual body staggered upon the Sea of Consciousness, the piercing cold from the Fox's spiritual strength reaching all the way to the Devil Seed.

  Ruo Xianxue, with her Sun and Moon dual pupils now open and radiating a cold light, stared at him with an expression of great anger, a mixture of ancient majesty and a woman's revenge bearing an ancient burden.

  "So this is how it feels to slap a shameless vessel," Ruo Xianxue hissed with a cunning smile. Her long hair now looked perfect with a silvery sheen reaching down to her back, and her dark robes displayed the majesty of a Great Ancient Sacred Devil. "I must thank you, for you brought me an Immortal Sword."

  Zhi Xuan knit his brows and brushed his hand away from Ruo Xianxue's tail sweep, though he was slightly shocked that Ruo Xianxue had so suddenly formed a spiritual body without any Tribulation or fluctuation. "You! That is my sword, not yours! And what is that? You have tails? What kind of joke is this?"

  Zhi Xuan immediately took a spiritual step back, distancing himself from the oppressive aura of the Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox. He rubbed his spiritual cheek, which felt sore. The pain inflicted by Ruo Xianxue was real; it was a direct attack on his Primary Soul, an attack that could only be launched by an entity with full control over its Incarnation Spiritual Body.

  "That sword," Ruo Xianxue hissed, stepping forward. Every step she took upon the Sea of Consciousness seemed to radiate the majestic Law of Darkness, suppressing the spiritual waves generated by the Devil Seed. "Its dark blade, struck by the Heavenly Calamity and forged under the Ancient Will. It is a perfect blade to channel the Law of Darkness, you foolish Devil."

  The nine tails of the Fox, which were now hovering and radiating the light of Darkness Runes, spun slowly behind her, as if each tail were a manifestation of a different Darkness Dao. Ruo Xianxue gave a small laugh, a cold and melodious sound that nonetheless rang like a death knell.

  "Do you think I must follow mortal rules, undergoing tribulations like that small insect of yours?" Ruo Xianxue sneered, glancing briefly toward Xiao Die's rainbow cocoon. "I am the Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox, an Ancient Spirit bound to the Ancient Devil Monument. The Monument is the tribulation, and your Devil Blood is the fuel. When you refined the Heavenly Sword, the resonance of that Immortal Calamity accelerated the tempering of my Spiritual Body to perfection."

  Zhi Xuan tilted his head slightly, furrowing his brow as he examined Ruo Xianxue's body. Although she did not have ears like a fox, the nine tails behind her seemed distracting and even ill-suited for Ruo Xianxue, who was a Great Saint, yet her spiritual body possessed tails.

  "In any case, you are still a fox," Zhi Xuan muttered, his eyes narrowing as he raised his hand and pointed at Ruo Xianxue. "You aren't like those foxes that seduce men, are you? I cannot imagine that face of yours going out and seducing men even when you don't have a physical body."

  Zhi Xuan jolted, immediately pulling back his pointing hand, feeling a cold whip of spiritual air that almost struck his fingers. He could not help but comment on Ruo Xianxue's appearance, letting his mischievous and impulsive nature out without control, even though he knew he was facing an ancient entity that had just given him a real spiritual slap.

  Ruo Xianxue's face, which had been majestic and full of authority, instantly changed. Her angry expression was now mixed with deep disdain. Her Sun and Moon dual pupils radiated an even colder light.

  "Seduce men?" Ruo Xianxue hissed, her voice now like that of an angry snake. "You! Manners-less vessel! I am an Ancient Sacred Devil who rules the Ultimate Darkness Law, not a lowly Devil Fox from the mortal world seeking cheap profit from lustful cultivators!"

  The whipping of her nine tails now became faster. They swirled around Zhi Xuan's spiritual body, no longer whipping, but threatening to strangle his Primary Soul.

  "This spiritual body, these tails, are the manifestation of the Nine-Tailed Darkness Dao! Each tail is a different Darkness Law, foolish Devil! This is the emblem of the majesty of the Darkness Fox Clan, not a tool for seduction!" Ruo Xianxue's roar echoed throughout the Sea of Consciousness, shaking the Devil Tree of Life and making Xiao Die's cocoon vibrate.

  Zhi Xuan shrugged his spiritual shoulders, showing a manufactured indifference, though he admitted the anger of this Ancient Fox was quite terrifying. "Well, fine. I was just commenting. But with your current appearance—majestic, yet still carrying nine tails—you won't be able to appear in public. Your Incarnation Spiritual Body will trigger an uproar in the mortal world. It will attract every Devil hunter and power-hungry Devil Fox worshiper."

  Zhi Xuan touched his chin, thinking hard within the Sea of Consciousness. "But it's fine; you are also transparent and cannot be seen by anyone but me when outside. Fortunate, otherwise even the Supreme Elders would prostrate themselves and send me lotus flowers just to offer them to you as a form of their love sacrifice."

  Ruo Xianxue clenched her teeth, her nine tails spinning ever more wildly, almost touching Zhi Xuan's spiritual face. This Devil acting as her vessel was truly vexing. Every sentence he spoke contained a blend of condescending praise and absolute insult, reflecting his mischievous and impulsive nature. He truly did not care for Ancient Majesty and only saw the Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox as a strange, precious fox.

  "Shut your mouth, Devil," Ruo Xianxue hissed, her voice filled with burning rage. "I do not need your advice on appearance or ways of seduction. Focus on your Dao. I require more pure Lightning Law and Devil Blood Law to stabilize my Incarnation Body. Do not let your realm stagnate by acting like a naughty brat."

  Zhi Xuan grinned widely. He knew that by triggering this Ancient Fox's rage, he had diverted her focus from himself and, more importantly, verified the stability of Ruo Xianxue's Incarnation Spiritual Body.

  "I know, I know," Zhi Xuan replied, his tone returning to being cheerful. He stepped forward, and his spiritual Heavenly Sword appeared and hovered between himself and Ruo Xianxue, acting as a spiritual shield that radiated Pure Lightning. "I just wanted to make sure you won't cause trouble. I already have big problems with the Shi Clan. I don't want any Supreme Elders trying to kidnap you and offering you lotus flowers in the Northern Continent."

  Ruo Xianxue snorted coldly, her Sun and Moon dual pupils radiating absolute indifference. She no longer pursued Zhi Xuan, choosing instead to return to floating and sitting under the Devil Tree of Life.

  "Your focus now is to forge the Five Elements as quickly as possible," Ruo Xianxue commanded, her voice fading, returning to a calmer tone. "And do not forget, that Heavenly Sword requires the Law of Darkness. It is an artifact born from destruction and tempering. Darkness is the foundation of true destruction."

  "Yes, fine," Zhi Xuan murmured, looking back at the Heavenly Sword whose blade was dark and emitted golden lightning runes. "The Law of Darkness... Perhaps your Law is too strong to be the foundation of the Heavenly Sword. Wouldn't any artifact fail to contain it if the one providing the Law is you? Wait until I become stronger first."

  Zhi Xuan smirked within his Sea of Consciousness, satisfied that he had won this childish debate, even though he had just received a real spiritual slap and whip from the Ancient Fox. He knew Ruo Xianxue would not be able to force the Law of Darkness upon him or the Heavenly Sword; that would destroy the foundation of his newly stabilized Lightning Dao.

  He took one last look at Ruo Xianxue, who was now once again graceful, and at Xiao Die, who was huddled and trembling slightly there. He pulled his Primary Soul back into the real world. On the deck of the Seven-Star Boat, Ao Sheng sat cross-legged, his eyes tightly shut, enveloped by a calm yet dense spiritual aura.

  He had begun the process of absorbing the Beast Cores. The Seven-Star Boat glided quietly, leaving the boundaries of the Azure Mountains and entering a wild forest region rarely inhabited by cultivators. This forest was a chaotic border where Ancient Beasts roamed and the Laws of Heaven felt harsher.

  Ao Sheng, immersed in his cultivation, slowly absorbed the essence from the Three-Headed Fire Beast Core. He was not just absorbing power; he was absorbing a fundamental understanding of pure Fire Law. That Fire Law, driven by his Azure Dragon Golden Core, slowly began to align itself alongside his newly obtained Water and Metal Laws.