Mu Chen of Yao Gu was the first to move. With a flick of his jade fan, he shot forward like an arrow of light, disappearing into the gateway without hesitation. His steps were followed by the other Yao Gu envoys, who moved in perfect harmony.

  Yan Fenghuang turned one last time toward Zhi Xuan, curling a bloodthirsty smile before he exploded into a golden fireball and charged into the gate. The other Feng Mie envoys followed behind him like grey shadows slithering through the air.

  "Let us go," Ye Ming invited his Xing Luo comrades.

  One by one, Zhi Xuan's brothers-in-arms leaped. Ling Huo with his burning crimson flames, Liu Feng with the tranquility of his eastern wind, and the Eighth Prince, who glanced briefly at Zhi Xuan before vanishing behind the curtain of light with a chime of his bell that vibrated through space.

  Zhi Xuan took a deep breath. He felt Mei Hua's head resting on his shoulder and the little girl's small hand clutching Lulu. He sharpened his mind for a moment to gaze into his Sea of Consciousness, where the Divine Furnace still spun calmly.

  "Xiao Die, Ao Sheng... guard Mei Hua with your lives if anything happens to me in there," Zhi Xuan whispered toward the Tree of Life. A warm vibration replied from within, signaling the readiness of the two mystic beings.

  Zhi Xuan stepped forward. Each step felt heavy, not just from physical weight, but from a force that seemed to try and tether him to this world. As he stood directly before the gate, he whispered softly into Mei Hua's ear. "Mei, close your eyes. We are going through a long dream."

  Mei Hua obeyed, closing her eyes and burying her face in Zhi Xuan's chest. "Do not leave Mei, Brother..."

  "I will not," Zhi Xuan promised. With a single stomp of his foot that triggered an explosion of spiritual essence beneath his heel, Zhi Xuan surged into the gate of light. Instantly, extreme cold and burning heat struck his body in alternation. The space around him seemed to twist, separating his body and soul in an endless dimensional vortex.

  The sensation of dimensional shifting felt like being pulled by thousands of invisible chains trying to tear every strand of meridian in his body. Zhi Xuan felt a dense darkness envelop his senses, followed by a silence so deafening that his own heartbeat sounded like the thumping of a war drum.

  Suddenly, the pull vanished. Zhi Xuan's feet landed on something hard yet vibrating. When he opened his eyes, the view before him was not a heavenly garden, but an expanse of a dying world.

  The sky above him was split into two contrasting colors; one side was blood red, symbolizing the killing intent of the Slaughter Pillar, and the other side was a thick ashen grey like ancient dust produced by the weight of the Xuan-Huang Energy. The ground beneath his feet was a vast desert of black sand, where every grain was the remnant of a shattered sword.

  "The Secret Realm manifests chaos based on the Dao..." Zhi Xuan murmured, his voice hoarse. He felt the cloth binding on his chest was still firm. Mei Hua was still deep in sleep, her breath remaining steady even though the world around them looked like hell.

  Strangely, the Lulu doll hanging in Mei Hua's embrace now emitted a faint jade-green glow, as if creating a transparent protective dome that guarded the little girl from the stinging aura of death in this desert.

  Meanwhile, in another isolated part of the Secret Realm, Mu Chen stood in the middle of a vast grassland. However, instead of peace, the grass grew as sharp as daggers and the sky rained jade needles that constantly tried to pierce the defense of his fan.

  "This chaos... the Heavens of Yao Gu are truly not joking," Mu Chen wiped a drop of blood from his cheek with the tip of his jade fan. "My Dao is about Balance, so this realm gives me extreme Imbalance. Seventy years here? Interesting."

  In a different corner of the dimension, Yan Fenghuang was standing on the peak of a volcano that erupted continuously. However, the lava flowing was not ordinary hot liquid, but black fire that tried to consume his soul.

  "Only this much?" Yan Fenghuang laughed crazily, his eyes like pillars of fire flashing through the black smoke. "My Heavenly Eye can see the core of this chaos! Secret Realm, do you think you can imprison a Phoenix with fire? I will burn this entire dimension until only my name remains!"

  Back in the black sand desert, Zhi Xuan began to walk. Each of his footfalls triggered the appearance of shadows from his past—the figures of enemies he had slaughtered, the faces of the lost Star Village residents, to the shadow of himself laughing with silver hair drenched in blood.

  However, Zhi Xuan calmly moved his fingers, spinning the Heavenly Samsara Wheel in his chest to spread the spiritual Law of the Four Seasons that suppressed the area, immediately purifying the whispers of those shadows from his head. He was not easily affected by soul backlashes after the Xuan-Huang had anchored him.

  Zhi Xuan's footsteps echoed silently atop the roaring black sand. The wind in this place carried neither cold nor heat, but rather the scent of metal rust and the stifling dust of history.

  Whenever a shadow of the past tried to reach for the edge of his robe, the Law of the Four Seasons he released immediately changed the atmosphere around him; the withered autumn would shatter the shadow into fragments, while the frozen winter would lock their screams in eternity.

  "Seventy years," Zhi Xuan muttered while staring at a horizon that had no edge. "This place is trying to separate me from reality. It wants me to believe that there is only me and my sins here."

  He walked like a Devil in the midst of the stinging black sand desert, using his own robe to cover Mei Hua completely from the sting of the chaotic Secret Realm, which was a Mirror of his Dao. After walking for a while, in the distance, he found a city built in the middle of the desert.

  The city stood amidst the expanse of black sand like a giant tombstone protruding from the belly of the earth. Its walls were not made of bricks, but of the fossilized bones of ancient giants, radiating a cold and haunting grey aura. Its gate was wide open, like the mouth of a monster waiting for prey to enter its throat.

  "A city within the mirror of my Dao?" Zhi Xuan murmured, stopping his steps and narrowing his eyes. "What lies inside?"

  Zhi Xuan adjusted his robe, ensuring Mei Hua remained safely hidden behind the warm cloth, far from the gruesome sights that might mar her innocent eyes. Zhi Xuan felt a subtle vibration from his chest.

  Mei Hua stirred beneath the folds of his robe, as if her pure soul felt the presence of that unnatural structure. Strangely, the closer he got, the killing aura of the black sand slowly subsided, replaced by a more terrifying silence—the silence of a tomb forgotten by time.

  He stepped forward, entering the bone city gate with alertness reaching its peak. As soon as his feet crossed the threshold, the sound of the howling desert wind instantly vanished, replaced by a stifling silence. Inside, the city streets were paved with cracked jade slabs, and the buildings had thatched roofs he knew very well.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "My Dao does not only manifest sins, but also memories of the place where I began everything," Zhi Xuan whispered. His voice bounced off the bone walls, creating echoes that sounded like thousands of voices whispering in unison.

  This city was the manifestation of the regret and karma he carried. The city streets were floored with ash, and on the left and right sides of the road stood houses that looked like the huts of his Star Village, but mixed with the places where he had killed. However, instead of friendly villagers, faceless black shadows sat in front of the doors, as if waiting for his return.

  "Welcome back, traveler who brings death," a hoarse voice sounded from a street corner.

  Zhi Xuan stopped. In front of a ruined tavern sat an old man whose face was covered by a dull hood. On the table before him was a chessboard with pieces made of black and white jade.

  The old man did not look up; his thin, wrinkled fingers looked like the branches of a dead tree trembling as they touched a white chess piece. His presence in the middle of this Secret Realm manifestation felt so real, as if he were not part of Zhi Xuan's Dao illusion, but something that had been waiting there since ancient times.

  Zhi Xuan tightened his embrace on Mei Hua. His mind spun quickly, searching for a gap in the laws of this dimension. "Who are you?"

  The old man moved one white piece, producing a grinding stone sound that broke the silence of the bone city. He slowly raised his head, revealing the hood that hid a face full of burn scars, yet his eyes—a pair of pupil-less grey marbles—stared straight toward Zhi Xuan's chest, where Mei Hua was hiding.

  "A name is dust blown by the wind, young man," the man's voice vibrated again. "I am merely one who fell because I wished to overstep the Heavens. I have been here since long ago, when everything was still in white."

  The old man exhaled, a breath that carried the scent of wet earth and the remnants of burnt incense. He pointed to the empty chair before him with a stiff hand gesture. "Sit. Seventy years is a long enough time to finish one game, or a lifetime to contemplate the meaning of life."

  Zhi Xuan stared at the old wooden chair with a look that was hard to interpret. In the outside world, geniuses might be gambling their lives against elemental storms, but before him, the test manifested in its calmest yet most deadly form: a dialogue with silence.

  He did not sit down immediately. He felt Mei Hua move in his embrace, the girl's small fingers clutching the fabric of Zhi Xuan's robe as if seeking reassurance. "Brother... why does that person smell like dusty bones?" Mei Hua whispered, her voice muffled by the robe and heard only by Zhi Xuan.

  Zhi Xuan finally stepped forward and sat in the creaking wooden chair. He placed Mei Hua on his lap carefully, letting the girl's head peek out slightly so she could breathe easily, while his left hand, wrapped in blue cloth, remained alert near the hilt of the Heavenly Sword.

  "Seventy years for one game of chess?" Zhi Xuan stared at the chessboard in front of him. The pieces were not just still; they seemed to throb with a fading essence of life. "I am not one who has the patience to move stones on a table while my own world is burning."

  "That is why you are trapped in this desert, Zhi Xuan," the old man said, mentioning Zhi Xuan's name as if they were old friends. "You are always running. Running from the devilish aura, running from destiny, running toward a peak you yourself do not know if it truly exists. You think strength is an anchor, when it is merely a wave dragging you further into the ocean of delusion."

  The old man slid a black piece toward Zhi Xuan's right hand. "Black for you. The color you chose since you left that village, is it not?"

  Zhi Xuan reached for the black piece. Instantly, he felt a cold sting that traveled to the marrow of his bones. Inside the small piece, he seemed to hear the screams of thousands of souls he had once cut down. He spun the piece between his fingers, then pressed it firmly onto the cracked jade board.

  Tuk. The sound echoed to every corner of the Bone City. Instantly, a building in the distance collapsed into dust, and the black sand outside the city gate began to swirl into a giant tornado.

  "You start with an aggressive move," the old man commented while moving his white piece calmly. "Just like the way you cultivate. Striking the wall without caring if your hands are shattered."

  Zhi Xuan smirked thinly, an expression that appeared wild under the faint glow of the blood-red sky. "Shattered hands can grow back with spiritual essence, but time lost to doubt can never be turned back. I did not come here to learn poetry from a ghost of the past."

  He moved his black piece again, cutting off the path of the old man's white piece. Instantly, flashes of grey lightning struck the sky above the Bone City, and a violent tremor occurred beneath their feet. Each move on this chessboard seemed to be a manifestation of the clash between the laws he studied and the chaos he stored.

  "Fox of Darkness," the old man stared at his now-cornered white piece, but his face remained expressionless. "Do you not wish to greet the man who has not yet been able to awaken?"

  In an instant, the shadow of a dark robe appeared beside Zhi Xuan. Ruo Xianxue's spiritual body stood towering with nine flickering tails of darkness; her dual pupils of the Sun and Moon stared sharply, yet also looked with a full familiarity as a thin smile curled on her cruel lips.

  Ruo Xianxue stood in a stifling silence, her sudden presence making the temperature around the chess table drop drastically until a layer of black ice crawled up the legs of the jade table. Her nine tails of darkness no longer swayed wildly but stood frozen like pillars of shadow piercing the blood-red sky.

  "Well, so eager to escape the restraint of the Nine Heavens Bead that you appear here?" Ruo Xianxue's voice sounded like the scraping of silk over a tombstone, full of acknowledgment, even a subtle temptation mixed with deep hatred. "Do not be hasty, even putting on an old face for pity."

  The old man before Zhi Xuan fell silent for a moment. His hands, which originally trembled when touching the chess pieces, were now suddenly calm and solid like the roots of an ancient tree. A thin smile full of secrets was etched on his burn-scarred face. He did not turn toward Ruo Xianxue, but his aura slowly expanded, neutralizing the cold aura brought by the Great Devil Saint.

  "Pity is a luxury item that does not sell in this place, Devil Saint," the old man's voice now changed, no longer hoarse but authoritative and clear, echoing with the same frequency as the vibrations of the world outside. "I am merely testing whether the child carrying the bead is strong enough to bear the Nine Heavens Bead."

  Zhi Xuan was stunned, his eyes shifting from the majestic figure of Ruo Xianxue to the old man who now appeared so mysterious. He felt the pulse in his left hand grow stronger, as if even the blue cloth wrapping it was no longer able to contain the surge of energy trying to explode.

  The old man slowly moved his white piece, leaping over Zhi Xuan's line of defense with an unexpected movement. "The Nine Heavens Bead is a blessing for those who are pure, but also becomes an eternal curse."

  Ruo Xianxue snorted coldly, stepping closer until her shadow covered part of the chessboard. "Do not speak as if you are still a Heavenly God; Ancient God clans like yours always speak with a glib tongue."

  Ruo Xianxue flicked one of her tails of darkness, breaking the silence with the sound of a spiritual boom that collapsed the tavern roof above them. "You call betrayal purification, and you call slavery destiny."

  The old man laughed, a laugh that sounded like distant thunder. Gradually, his aged body peeled away into a figure so majestic and radiating an aura no less than Ruo Xianxue's. He finally looked up fully, and this time, his grey eyes slowly turned to pure gold, radiating a light so bright that the shadows in the Bone City lengthened and trembled in fear.

  "However, did you not once allow me to enter your Holy Land?" replied the man, who now wore a faint golden robe, appearing like a blurred soul yet radiating a pressure that made Zhi Xuan feel crushed. "I am quite relieved to see you rise before me, Xianxue."

  The atmosphere in the Bone City instantly turned into a battlefield of auras that paralyzed common sense. On one side, Ruo Xianxue stood with dark devilish majesty, her nine tails of darkness whipping the air until they created spatial cracks. On the other side, the figure of the man in the faint golden robe radiated a purity so blinding, yet it felt rotten.

  "Fine," Zhi Xuan said suddenly, standing up and mediating the storm of the two entities, although his own body felt stifled by the pressure of these two equal beings. "You know each other, do you not? Do not make it difficult for me here; this is not like a meeting of old friends, I am undergoing the Dao test of this competition."

  Ruo Xianxue glanced at Zhi Xuan with a gaze that could freeze the ocean, but she slowly withdrew her tails of darkness, letting the temperature around them soften slightly. Meanwhile, the figure of the golden-robed man before Zhi Xuan dimmed his glow, returning to a figure that appeared calm yet remained intimidating.

  "Forgive this chaos, son of the Ancient Heaven," said the golden-robed man while leaning his back against the creaking bone chair. "My reunion with this Great Saint always ends with a desire to tear down the Heavens. I am Zhan Xianwang, the remnant of a god once mentioned to you by the Great Saint."

  Zhi Xuan fell silent for a moment, staring at the figure of Zhan Xianwang, who now radiated an aura between rotting heavenly purity and unextinguished ambition. His memories spun—about a lower-class God who colluded with the Monkey Sage, one who dreamed of occupying the throne of the Heavenly Emperor until finally being cast into the River of Time and sucked into the Nine Heavens Bead.