Yun Che’s consciousness was, in an instant, completely swallowed by these four characters.

He seemed to see four sword lights that had cleaved through time and space from the primordial beginning, silently and invisibly, yet flawlessly, severing his Soul Sea¹ from his body and dragging it into a vast, boundless void constructed entirely of sword intent.

This void had no sky, no earth, no light, and no darkness.

This unprecedented sense of nothingness, this extremely strange space—it was completely unfamiliar, yet a realization emerged clearly within his consciousness of its own accord:

Chaos.

This chaos seemed as if the heavens and earth had not yet opened, yin and yang had not yet separated, and all things had not yet been born. There was only one sword intent... a sword intent that seemed to have existed before the birth of all things, older than time itself.

It seemed to be quietly slumbering in the very center of this chaotic world, neither sinking nor floating, neither moving nor swaying, yet silently touching every existence within the world.

And if it were to move...

It would cause life and death to alternate, the heavens and earth to collapse, the stars to flicker and fade, the flow of time to break, and causality to crumble...

Yun Che!

Yun Che!!

Within the chaos, someone seemed to be calling his name, distant and blurred, yet gradually becoming urgent.

Yun Che—

A "foreign impurity" appeared in the chaotic world... a pure, flawless, minute trace.

That slumbering sword intent remained silent and still, allowing this pure, minute trace to rapidly invade, until it bit by bit filled the entire chaotic space.

Yun Che’s consciousness gradually regained clarity within this pure whiteness. The four characters "Zhu Tian Sword Manual"² were still clearly reflected in his Soul Sea, still carrying that soul-piercing sword intent, but they no longer swallowed his consciousness.

"You... just now..."

Li Suo’s voice carried deep worry, and even a faint trace of lingering fear.

"I'm fine." Yun Che was silent for a long while, as if reconstructing his own cognition, then calmly replied: "I think I saw... the original state of Chaos for a moment."

"..." Li Suo had no words to respond.

"Can you see these characters?" Yun Che asked.

Li Suo spoke slowly: "Zhu Tian Sword Manual."

Even though her existence was extremely faint and her cognition incomplete, it was impossible for her to forget what these four characters meant.

Following the cognition that had been deeply touched, she softly recited: "The Zhu Tian Ancestor Sword is the ancestor of all swords in the world. The Zhu Tian Sword Manual is the origin of all sword manuals in the worlds."

"Mo E spent his entire life using the Zhu Tian Sword Manual as a foundation to create over nine hundred thousand sword manuals. Except for a few core manuals, the rest were spread across all worlds and races."

"These nine hundred thousand manuals have circulated and evolved throughout the heavens, like a tree branching out or a torrent creating streams, deriving countless sword manuals and sects. But tracing back to their ancestor, none can escape the Zhu Tian God Emperor and the Zhu Tian Sword Manual."

This was the cognition that had just awakened within Li Suo as she was touched. She spoke as if reciting memories that did not belong to her, every word carrying a sense of remoteness that spanned countless years and fates.

"Among the sword manuals created by the Zhu Tian God Emperor, the Zhe Tian Sword Manual³ practiced by the Zhe Tian God Kingdom is the strongest. Although it was only taught to his subordinate clans, it was not an absolute secret. Only the Zhu Tian Sword Manual... was inscribed into Mo E’s soul foundation by the Ancestor God when he created the four Creation Gods, and it was never shown to anyone."

"Now... to think that..."

The four Creation Gods did not hide their self-created divine abilities from one another. For instance, Ni Xuan had completely mastered the ninety-nine Zhe Tian Swords created by Mo E, and had once combined Xi Ke’s Order power with Jie Yuan to co-create 'Moon Pulling, Stars Returning.'

Mo Su was not surprised that Ni Xuan understood the Life Miracles created by Li Suo.

However, each of the four Creation Gods had their own exclusive, forbidden domains that even the other Creation Gods could not touch.

Belonging to the first Creation God, Mo E, was the Zhu Tian Sword Manual!

And if Mo E were to choose a successor for the Zhu Tian Sword Manual, it could only possibly be the former Zhu Tian Crown Prince, Mo Su.

And yet, right now, this Zhu Tian Sword Manual—which should have belonged solely to the Zhu Tian God Emperor, the ancestor of all swords in the world, a domain untouchable even by other Creation Gods—had been bestowed upon Yun Che.

Li Suo’s astonishment was far beyond what Yun Che could empathize with.

Three million years of obsessive waiting and loneliness... for the current Mo Su, was there truly nothing else of real importance besides that obsession?

Yun Che’s Soul Sea trembled, and his heart beat wildly.

Bestowed personally by Mo Su, deriving from the primordial... this was a truly ancestral sword manual that even Ni Xuan could not obtain. How could he remain calm in its presence?

Without responding to Li Suo, his heart and soul seemed to be pulled by an irresistible force, covering the slowly appearing sword manual:

【Zhu Tian Sword Manual】 The Heavenly Palace crumbles, the sword splits the primordial wilderness. Exterminating the Heavenly Dao, severing the firmament. One sword slaughters the heavens, ten thousand kalpas return to the origin. Hongmeng⁴ as the foundation, life and death as the sorrow.

Yun Che spent a very, very long time on these mere thirty-two characters of the general manual. Because every time a character became clear in his consciousness, it felt as if an invisible sword intent was embedded into his Soul Sea—not heavy, not painful, but it felt as if his entire soul was being completely pierced through... a full thirty-two times.

Until these thirty-two characters were deeply inscribed into the deepest part of his soul, never to be forgotten for all eternity.

And before his soul could even rest, the originally quiet sword manual suddenly released a soul-piercing sharpness. His violently pierced Soul Sea emitted waves of intense tremors, nearly shattering:

【Chi Shen Sword】⁵ God’s edict over the nine heavens, the sword guides the mysterious yellow. Cleansing the sins of the God Marquis, severing the demons of deceit and delusion. Ten thousand gods bow their heads, the universe serves as the scabbard. The fruit of caution condenses the edge, the Dao evolves in the abyss.

【Yan Ji Sword】⁶ Nightmare flames burn the firmament, the sword rises from the secluded abyss. Severing the roots of nightmares, shattering the folly of delusions. Ten thousand nightmares are annihilated, the nine depths serve as the tomb. Karma fire tempers the blade, the nightmare abyss is sealed forever.

【Tai Xu Sword】⁷ Ten thousand phenomena return to one, the sword hides in the empty void. Without birth or destruction, without filth or purity, without void or reality. The Law escapes into silence, Chaos serves as the heart. The Great Harmony matches the breath, all return to the Great Void.

Yun Che’s pupils had completely lost their color, and the profound energy around his body was darting out of control.

Chi Shen, Yan Ji, Tai Xu... the three sword manuals were imprinted on his soul. But the appearance of the sword manuals did not stop...

【Zhu Tian Sword】 The Heavenly Palace crumbles, the sword splits the primordial wilderness. Felling the laws of the Heavenly Dao, slaughtering the nexus of the firmament. Ten thousand kalpas return to the origin, Hongmeng as the foundation. The mysterious yellow is reopened, the primordial is re-judged. Relying on the Ancestor, the sword leaves with no return.

Clang————

Yun Che’s consciousness instantly turned into a complete blank.

When he finally struggled to wake up, he was already slumped on the ground, gasping violently, his whole body drenched in sweat like rain.

"Yun Che..." He heard Li Suo’s call, which seemed to have been going on for a long time: "Are you... alright?"

"Hah... huff!!"

He took two more heavy breaths before slowly standing up from the ground, then bit by bit wiped the look of astonishment from his face.

"No matter how profound a sword manual is, it should just be lifeless, silent text. Yet this Zhu Tian Sword Manual actually derives such terrifying sword intent on its own."

He seemed to still have lingering fears.

This was not the first time he had encountered such a situation. Thinking back to when he first practiced the Great Dao Futu Manual, the divine manual would also derive faint wild god divine thoughts upon entering his heart... but compared to the sword intent derived from the Zhu Tian Sword Manual, it was a world of difference.

"Because that is a sword manual personally created by the Ancestor God." Li Suo’s ethereal voice was tinged with awe originating from the depths of her soul and the source of her cognition: "It only needs to exist, only needs to be known, and it can stir the most primitive sword intent between heaven and earth."

"Just like the Void Laws you possess; they only need to exist within you to easily harmonize with everything between heaven and earth."

Yun Che closed his eyes and re-examined the Zhu Tian Divine Manual... but this time, his Soul Sea was calm and waveless. No matter how many times he recited it, no matter how many times his divine sense touched it, there was no longer the terrifying anomaly from before.

"Have you... gained any understanding?" Li Suo asked, seemingly with faint anticipation.

Yun Che shook his head directly: "None at all."

He had never seen such a sword manual... no, aside from the anomaly when it was inscribed into his soul, anyone who saw it would never think it was a sword manual.

No pivot of sword foundation, no form of sword moves, no essence of sword intent... only short, obscure, incomprehensible characters.

Just like... the Ni Shi Tian Shu (Heaven-Defying Book).

All he could understand were the names of the four sword moves: Chi Shen Sword, Yan Ji Sword, Tai Xu Sword, and Zhu Tian Sword.

Among them, the Zhu Tian Sword was the most special. The other three swords all had four-line manuals, only this one had five lines, and its last line...

Relying on the Ancestor, the sword leaves with no return.

Relying on the Ancestor...

Did it mean that it could only be unleashed using the Zhu Tian Ancestor Sword?

Calming his state of mind, he sat down again, sank his consciousness, and focused on comprehending... it was, after all, a sword manual created by the Ancestor God. If he could understand even a tiny bit, it would surely derive unimaginable power, which would undoubtedly be a huge help to him.

————

Xiao Die God Kingdom.

The hall was as deep as an abyss. Gray, dim light seeped in from the cracks in the dome, and after being filtered by layers of dark aura, it was almost non-existent when it landed on the floor. There were no extra furnishings in the hall, only a figure with his back to the hall door, and the silhouette of that figure cast on the wall, stretched extremely long and pale by the ghostly light.

"Why have you returned alone? Where is Buwang?"

The Ninth Imperial Son of Xiao Die knelt on one knee. The Qi Heng God Venerable in front had his back to him, his voice flat and waveless, but the Ninth Imperial Son’s heart and soul still shrank, and his head bowed a few inches lower.

"Reporting to Father God, Younger Brother Buwang... is unwilling to return." He answered truthfully. And facing his solitary return, the cold aura hidden beneath Pan Yusheng’s calm far exceeded his expectations.

"Then keep looking, keep chasing!!" Pan Yusheng’s voice became a fraction more impatient: "He is merely venting his residual resentment, using retreat as a means of advance! He has no reason to truly not return!"

"If ten times isn't enough, then twenty times! If that's not enough, then thirty times!! Who told you to come back so early!"

The last sentence already carried a sharp tone that had lost a bit of its composure.

The Ninth Imperial Son’s throat rolled violently, and his lips moved for a long while before he said nervously and tremblingly: "Father God, at first, Child also thought so. But... Younger Brother Buwang seems to be... truly unwilling to return."

"..." Pan Yusheng finally turned his head. His face was calm, but the gloom in the depths of his eyes was something no one dared to look at directly: "What did you say?"

"At first, Child could easily detect his tracks and found him twice within half a month. I lowered my posture, my words were earnest, and I invited him to return in the name of Father God, but Younger Brother Buwang refused decisively... The third time I found his tracks, as soon as I approached, he fled quickly, not even willing to meet with Child."

The Ninth Imperial Son took a deep breath, and his speech quickened: "After that, Child could no longer find any trace of him. Later, Child invited the Seventeenth Younger Brother and the people of the Shadow Court to help. Three thousand men, for over a month, yet we didn't find even the slightest trace."

"As such, Younger Brother Buwang must be deeply hiding himself, and will constantly erase all traces of his existence. If he were truly using retreat as a means of advance, feigning refusal to welcome, how could he leave absolutely no traces, how could he hide so resolutely and thoroughly." After quickly reporting everything, the Ninth Imperial Son bowed his head deeply, waiting for his father's command.

He could not see what expression Pan Yusheng had at this moment, but he could be sure that it was definitely not the calm indifference he had when he first ordered him to go searching.

For a long time, Pan Yusheng’s voice sounded in his ears: "Retire... no need to look anymore."

"Yes."

The Ninth Imperial Son breathed a huge sigh of relief and left as if fleeing.

Pan Yusheng stood in place, looking ahead, silent for a long time.

He actually knew the situation Pan Buwang faced after losing the title of God Son better than anyone else.

But...

"Ji Yao." He looked ahead and suddenly spoke.

Dark aura swirled, and a figure quickly appeared in front of Pan Yusheng: "Venerable, what are your orders."

He looked at the man in front of him, his voice calm: "You go find Buwang yourself and persuade him to return."

Pan Ji Yao looked up abruptly, but did not answer immediately, his expression complex.

"Although you 'betrayed' him, you are, after all, his master."

The Qi Heng God Venerable’s voice remained calm, showing no emotion, and the word "betrayed" was spoken with particular clarity and directness: "After thinking it over, you are the most suitable."

"I... understand."

His expression was complex and hard to describe, but he was destined to be unable to refuse the God Venerable’s order.

"Remember, it is to persuade him back." Pan Yusheng specifically instructed: "If he is unwilling, do not force him back."

This time, Pan Ji Yao did not answer, just nodded faintly, and then retreated silently.

Anyone could see clearly that since returning from the Pure Land, Pan Yusheng’s attitude when mentioning Pan Buwang had been changing, from the initial indifference, to gradually showing slight impatience, and the frequency of mentioning him had also become higher and higher.

…………

Although Yun Che used a heavy sword as his weapon, strictly speaking, he was not a true sword practitioner.

With the Dragon Body and the Wild God’s power as the foundation, and using the Evil God Manual to trigger the amplification of power... his fighting style had always been dominated by rigidity and violence, and the heavy sword was just the most suitable vessel for carrying and unleashing such destructive power.

Unlike Hua Caili, whose sword moves, sword heart, sword intent, sword spirit, and sword soul... all had the sword as the core.

Yun Che focused on comprehending the Zhu Tian Sword Manual for six hours, but gained nothing.

He did not even have a single moment of epiphany.

"Forget it..." Yun Che opened his eyes and gave up helplessly.

"No need to rush." Li Suo comforted him softly: "Epiphanies in high-level domains often require long years. For a high-level plane like the Zhu Tian Divine Manual, a million years is quite normal."

Yun Che twisted his lips and said helplessly: "In my current situation, let alone a million years, I can't even wait a hundred years."

"If a sword manual of the highest plane cannot be comprehended, it can only become a useless, dead object... In that case, I exchanged the Hongmeng Life-Death Seal, which is useless to Mo Su, for the Zhu Tian Sword Manual, which is useless to me. That really is quite fair."

He stood up, relaxed his shoulders, and smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Do you... want to take a look at He Ling?"

Yun Che’s expression stiffened instantly. He didn't have time to respond, but had already closed his eyes and focused, sinking his consciousness into the Sky Poison Pearl.

The Sky Poison space, which had lost its emerald vitality, now had a touch of the emerald radiance he had once been infinitely familiar with.

This radiance used to appear in every corner of his Soul Sea whenever he needed comfort, accompanied by the soft voice of that forever gentle girl, preventing him from being completely swallowed by darkness even during those most hopeless years.

Now, only such a weak cluster remained, lying quietly in the palm of Li Suo’s pure, flawless hand.

This was the first time he had sensed her existence again since He Ling passed away. Thousands of emotions surged into his soul. He stood there stunned for a moment, watching silently, not daring to approach, not daring to touch.

Li Suo gently closed her hands, and a mass of white light spread silently, completely covering it, like snow falling from late spring, gently and carefully embracing the last seed that had not yet withered.

It also made He Ling’s aura completely disappear from Yun Che’s perception again.

"Although forced to leave the Hongmeng Life-Death Seal, these life auras snatched from the Hongmeng Life-Death Seal are enough to protect her for hundreds of years without dissipating."

Yun Che opened his mouth, but still asked: "Can her current state really... recover as before, right?"

Li Suo knew his worry and replied softly: "The Wood Spirit Clan was the first race I created, possessing my most primitive and purest life aura. Therefore, her life is far more resilient than you imagine."

"She will recover as before, the complete version in your memory, and she will not lose any of her own past."

Li Suo gave him the most beautiful answer.

"As long as I manifest a body and recover enough life divine power, I can gradually restore her, and I can also summon back the Hongmeng Life-Death Seal at any time." At this moment, a voice came from the outside:

"Young Master, Dragon Clan Young Master Long Wangchu requests an audience, he is already outside the hall."

Yun Che opened his eyes instantly.

It had only been three days since he left the Dragon Clan, truly impatient, fearing changes.

"Invite the Dragon Clan Young Master in, do not lose etiquette."

Yun Che walked slowly, and the moment he stepped out of the hall door, all the gloom in his eyes subsided, leaving only a very warm, light smile on the corners of his mouth, like a breeze brushing against clouds.

————

Question: Why ban He Ling before going into the Abyss? Answer: Because the Zhou Tian Pearl recovers energy too quickly in the Abyss, afraid that a certain man surnamed Yun would cheat using the Zhou Tian Divine Realm!