The shimmering, placid sea stretched endlessly to the horizon as a woman and a divine beast stood side by side on its surface.
Compared to the turbulent, storm wracked East Sea, the West Sea was eerily, unnaturally calm.
The neighboring regions bordering the West Sea were relatively weak in cultivation, none of the local powers even had a Dao Comprehension Stage cultivator to their name. The Kirin Ancient Emperor had chosen this remote location well for his clan's refuge, but unfortunately, his foresight hadn't prevented his own ambush and fall.
"Now that we've located it, pull it out."
Glancing dismissively at a Divine Transformation Stage cultivator hundreds of kilometers away who had fled in terror upon sensing her overwhelming aura, Su Min turned to the Ink Kirin beside her.
Having reached the Unity Stage, her spiritual perception had reached terrifying heights. She could now easily envelop an entire planet with her divine sense. Any Divine Transformation Stage cultivator who sensed even a flicker of her hostility wouldn't dare approach.
The gap between cultivation stages only widened as one progressed, some chasms were simply insurmountable.
"Found it."
The Ink Kirin's massive, ancient pupils slowly opened, focusing on a point in the empty air. Despite being only at the Dao Comprehension Stage, her true form was as towering as a small mountain range.
Then, in a ripple of light, the colossal kirin vanished, and Mo Yun returned to her human form. Like most supreme divine beasts, she typically remained in human form for convenience, their true bodies were too cumbersome for daily life and travel.
"Follow me."
With that, the little kirin transformed into a streak of black and white light, and Su Min followed closely behind. Soon, they arrived above an unremarkable, empty patch of ocean.
Mo Yun channeled all her spiritual energy, her hands moving in a complex pattern.
A massive, shimmering spatial gate tore open in the void before them.
Su Min instinctively swallowed hard, her blood surging with excitement.
Her Five Elements Holy Body was acutely sensitive to divine treasures of heaven and earth. And what she sensed radiating from inside the gate was even more shocking, nearly ten such treasures.
No wonder the Kirin Clan had been so eager to hand over the Central Wutu Divine Earth and seek her protection. With their current weakened strength, guarding such immense wealth was impossible.
The Golden Crow Clan, for comparison, only possessed two such core treasures.
"Let's relocate your secret realm first. Leaving it here is too dangerous."
Taking a deep breath, Su Min suppressed her mounting excitement. Now wasn't the time to absorb the Central Wutu Divine Earth, she needed a completely secure location.
A magnificent, ornate scepter flew out from the heart of the secret realm, landing firmly in Mo Yun's grasp. Her expression relaxed slightly, this was the Kirin Ancient Scepter, their clan's Imperial Artifact. With it, she at least had some measure of self protection.
With another wave of her hand, the vast spatial passage rapidly shrank, folding in on itself before merging into the scepter's glowing tip.
Once the task was done, she nodded at Su Min.
The two then vanished from the West Sea, traversing the void toward the distant Eastern Mulberry Continent. Only there, under the layered protection of the Golden Crow Clan's Imperial Runes, and with the Golden Crow and Xie Yingying personally guarding her, could Su Min truly focus on her breakthrough.
The following month, Eastern Mulberry Continent
"I will be entering a long seclusion. Once I emerge, I will journey to the end of the world."
Su Min's declaration sent a ripple of shock through the small crowd gathered around her.
Xie Yingying's eyes flickered with a complex mix of worry and realization, she, too, had sensed that faint, persistent summons from the cosmos.
"The same place Senior Yao went? When I last spoke with Senior Jiang, she mentioned something about 'them' descending soon."
"Mn."
Su Min nodded grimly. As for what this "darkness" truly was, she only had a vague idea from her game knowledge, something far more terrifying than the fallen cultivators they had just defeated.
The Fallen Immortals.
Unlike the Skeleton Emperor, these beings were what all cultivators once aspired to become, true Immortals.
They were ancient, unfathomable, existing beyond recorded history.
They were the masterminds behind everything, the architects of the great calamity.
In the game, they had never appeared directly, only hinted at in scattered lore, likely reserved for future expansions.
But in this real world, their looming presence was undeniable.
The ancient battlefield, where countless Mahayana and Unity Stage experts had fallen, forcing the White Tiger to sacrifice itself to suppress it, was their handiwork.
"Senior Jiang warned me not to venture there unless I reach the Mahayana Stage. Su Min, do you know where the corpses of all those great emperors lie?"
"Hm?"
Su Min paused, her train of thought interrupted.
So many Mahayana experts, even in death, their power should have lingered for millennia. Yet none had risen as powerful undead, save for the singular Skeleton Emperor.
"That is the final resting place of the emperors. Countless great beings, one after another, forged themselves into a wall to shield this universe from what lies beyond."
"Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
Su Min frowned, a slight reproach in her tone.
"What use would it have been? Both of us are merely Unity Stage cultivators, far from that level of confrontation. But since you've decided to go, I'll share what I know."
Xie Yingying smiled bitterly, then glanced at the Golden Crow. The latter shook her head, her fiery feathers rustling.
"For divine beasts, bloodline is both a great treasure and a profound shackle. I can reach the Mahayana Stage, even its peak, without hindrance. But going beyond is nearly impossible. Our Golden Crow Clan has existed since ancient times, yet only a single emperor ever emerged, my ancestor, the Donghuang Taiyi. I know nothing of these deeper secrets. Perhaps our ancestors deemed such knowledge irrelevant for our survival and sealed it away."
"Enough speculation. First, I'll achieve Great Completion. Then, I'll annihilate the Skeleton Emperor, ending this universe's final trace of internal darkness."
Su Min set aside the disturbing matter for now.
As always, she would advance step by step, dealing with the immediate threat first. But before that final journey, the Skeleton Emperor had to die.
In the game, the Skeleton Emperor's strength varied wildly, anywhere from Unity Stage to Ascension Stage, depending on when players faced him. The "perfect" ending required defeating him at Unity Stage, otherwise, countless planets would be devoured before his forces descended upon the Heavenly Continent.
Su Min had no intention of dragging this out. But storming his fortified lair wasn't a numbers game, she needed her Five Elements Holy Body at its full, perfected power.
"Understood."
Xie Yingying and the Golden Crow exchanged a worried glance but said no more.
They knew Su Min's chosen path was perilous, but inaction would surely doom the world eventually. Had Yao Xian'er and the Great Thunder Temple's master still been present, the Black Seal would never have run so rampant.
Only after Su Min reached the Unity Stage had they been eradicated. If even those two prodigies couldn't spare attention from the cosmic threat, the situation was dire indeed. Were it not for their soul lamps still burning brightly in their respective sects, many would assume they were already dead.
~
Su Min stepped into the Kirin Clan's secret realm, now relocated and brimming with harmonious, vibrant elemental energy.
If this were a beast taming world, her perfect partner would undoubtedly be the Ink Kirin, both were natural darlings of the five elements. The ancient Kirin training grounds were a breathtaking sight of pristine nature and powerful ley lines.
The rambunctious young kirins, who had once wreaked havoc in Su Min's sect, now slumbered peacefully in a grove, their bodies visibly growing by the day. With their pure divine bloodlines, they would advance directly to the Divine Transformation Stage without any bottlenecks. Beyond that, their progress would slow to a more natural pace.
Su Min paid them little mind, striding purposefully toward where Mo Yun waited.
In the kirin's hands swirled a peculiar, dense element, the Central Wutu Divine Earth, one of the Kirin Clan's foundational heavenly treasures. She had already erased its bloodline imprint, leaving it pure and neutral for Su Min to refine.
"The Central Wutu Divine Earth is yours. Do not tarnish its legacy."
Mo Yun spoke reluctantly but knew the stakes were non negotiable. Su Min had saved their clan from extinction, this was the price.
"Rest assured. The Central Wutu Divine Earth is finally mine."
Su Min's lips curled into a rare, genuine smile of triumph. With this, her Five Elements Holy Body would achieve Great Completion. But she knew in her heart this wasn't her ultimate end goal. Perhaps the legendary Chaos Body was.
As a "player," she could inherently harmonize all things, a hallmark of the Chaos Body. An existence so transcendent that its mere birth terrified the world's strongest beings.
"Yin and Yang shall never meet."
That was the ultimate measure taken by those lurking in the shadows to prevent a Chaos Body's birth, altering the very rules of the Heavenly Dao itself.
The cost?
Su Min didn't know the full price, but she was certain even a Unity Stage cultivator couldn't pay it. Not even Mahayana or Ascension Stage experts could. It demanded the sacrifice of a true Immortal, perhaps even more.
"The Great Completion Five Elements Holy Body, what intoxicating power. Time to begin."
Stowing her grander ambitions for later, Su Min bid Mo Yun farewell and vanished into the deepest, most secure depths of the Eastern Mulberry Continent.
Her exact seclusion location? A secret she would share with no one.
~
In the cold, cosmic abyss, a pair of furious, soul fire eyes snapped open. The Skeleton Emperor, once forced to flee in humiliation by Su Min, seethed with pure, undiluted killing intent.
"That woman."
She was on the verge of Great Completion.
His plan to stop her had failed utterly.
Now, she would inevitably claim the Central Wutu Divine Earth.
A pre Great Completion Su Min was already terrifying enough to challenge him.
At full power?
She might genuinely rival a Mahayana Stage expert while still at the Unity Stage.
An unthinkable, monstrous threat.
The moment Su Min had left the battlefield, he had driven his lair deeper into the cosmic void, fleeing like a whipped dog.
But that wasn't enough. He knew it wasn't enough.
He needed fuel. Power. Mass.
More.
More.
Before Su Min finished her seclusion and came for him, he would devour as many living worlds as possible. Lifeless, barren planets were useless, only thriving, vibrant, life filled ones held the value he needed.
Thus began the Cosmic Plague.
World after world was discovered by his probing consciousness.
Then, a nightmarish, fleshy sac, larger than their entire star system, would descend upon them. Entire civilizations watched in utter despair as their planet was consumed whole. Even those races who had transcended their homeworld, wielding planet destroying weapons, were powerless.
Their most powerful attacks, even star shattering cannons, were futile against the ancient, corrupted formation. For the first time, these arrogant conquerors of space tasted true, cosmic despair. The heavens, it seemed, had finally come to collect their debt.