"No, that's not Yu Chang," Celestial Venerable Suizhu said, his expression suddenly changing.
Back on the edge of the Dao God Continent, he had briefly clashed with Celestial Venerable Yu Chang and clearly remembered her demeanor and aura. But now, within the dim light curtain, though the figure's appearance resembled Yu Chang's, both her demeanor and aura were completely different.
The figure within the light curtain was cold and detached. Her aura, though still Heavenly Venerable-level, exuded a deathly chill, unlike the Dao resonance he had sensed during their initial battle.
Suddenly, Celestial Venerable Suizhu's brow twitched again, as if he had just thought of a more suitable explanation.
"No, that's not quite right. She is Yu Chang, yet she isn't Yu Chang."
"She is Yu Chang because this physical body is undoubtedly a Heavenly Venerable's. Judging by how it was destroyed earlier, it must be her."
"But she isn't Yu Chang because the Divine Soul within this body is no longer hers. It's possible she was refined into an Extracorporeal Incarnation... no, not exactly an Extracorporeal Incarnation, but something more akin to a puppet."
As he spoke, Celestial Venerable Suizhu suddenly recalled what had happened outside the mysterious space earlier. He took a deep breath, his expression grave, a sense of dread welling up in his heart.
"Anyone capable of refining a Heavenly Venerable into a puppet is terrifyingly powerful. If we encountered such a force, we would likely not escape unscathed."
After he spoke, the other Heavenly Venerables and Divine Venerables nodded in agreement. Something was indeed amiss with Celestial Venerable Yu Chang, and the reason, as Age Candle had said, was that she was no longer herself.
The true Yu Chang may have died long ago.
"This place is unsafe to linger in," Celestial Venerable Suizhu said to Fellow Daoist Tianqing after suppressing Celestial Venerable Yu Chang's Ancient Artifact. "Please find a safe direction and lead us out of the Myriad Burials Origin."
Heavenly Venerable Tianqing nodded solemnly. They had slain the other side's puppet, and that terrifying existence might come looking for them. If found, it would mean certain disaster.
Using his innate talent, Heavenly Venerable Tianqing sensed the Space Spirit, then led the cultivators in a different direction from the one they had entered, employing an escape technique.
Meanwhile, at the moment of Celestial Venerable Yu Chang's death, in a distant region of the Primordial Demon Dao Domain, southwest of the Myriad Burials Origin, a gaunt old Daoist emerged from the depths of Chaos. His expression flickered slightly, but he paid little attention. A Heavenly Venerable-level puppet was hardly worth mentioning to him.
As for the accelerated Dao Grave, he had set numerous puppets to act independently in the Chaos, providing only minimal guidance. He harbored little hope for their success; his true strategy lay elsewhere.
The gaunt Daoist effortlessly traversed a Dao Domain Channel, heading toward the most peculiar of the Nine Great Dao Domains: the Burial Calamity Dao Domain.
Legend held that a Transcendent had fallen in the Burial Calamity Dao Domain, saturating it with boundless deathly energy so terrifying that even ordinary Heavenly Venerables struggled to traverse it.
In the Primordial Great World, within the Sui Zhu Immortal Court on Heavenly Kui Mountain, time flowed like a gentle stream, a thousand years passing in the blink of an eye.
To mortals, a millennium marked the shifting landscapes, the rise and fall of dynasties, the transition of epochs, and even the decline and fall of some small Cave Heavens.
For low-level cultivators, a thousand years represented the vast journey from Qi Refining to Nascent Soul, a span that bridged the divide between cultivation realms.
For high-level cultivators, a millennium might be an exceptionally long period of seclusion, a time for profound transformation in the Transformation God stage, or the development of Near-Immortal Techniques by Demigods.
But to Immortals, and even Dao Ancestors, a millennium was merely the fleeting time between opening and closing one's eyes, a change that occurred in the snap of a finger, or an unintentional moment of enlightenment in an Immortal Art.
As for Han Yi, this millennium had not only allowed him to mend his Dao Injury and reintegrate the Dao Fruit into the Dao Realm, restoring the External Dao, but also...
Having endured this tribulation, the Dao Fruit was reborn, its power more than doubled. The External Dao, rooted in the Dao Fruit and the Dao Realm, had become over twice as potent.
Such a transformation would likely require tens of thousands of years of cultivation for an ordinary Outer Dao Cultivator to achieve.
At the summit of Heavenly Kui Mountain, within the Palace, a dense Dao resonance permeated every corner, transforming the place into a world manifesting the Great Dao.
At the heart of this Dao resonance, Han Yi sat with tranquil eyes. With a single thought, a massive azure sword slowly ascended from above his head, hovering in the hall. This sword existed in a peculiar state, neither entirely tangible nor intangible, but suspended between the two realms.
This azure sword was not one of Han Yi's physical sword artifacts, but rather his Heretical Dharma Manifestation.
At the Third Step of the Dao Realm, the fusion of the Dao Fruit and the Dao Realm gives birth to the Heretical Dharma Manifestation. These manifestations come in myriad forms, but they are the most fundamental embodiment of a Third Step cultivator.
Some Heretical Dharma Manifestations merge with Dao Artifacts that carry Dao Techniques, enhancing combat power. Others fuse with a part of the cultivator's body, becoming extensions of their will.
The azure sword now manifesting above Han Yi's head was his Heretical Dharma Manifestation.
On the Immortal Path, Han Yi was the purest of Sword Cultivators. He had cultivated the Sword Dao for over ten thousand years, from his very first steps into the Cultivation World, beginning with the Sword Control Technique.
To be precise, this Heretical Dharma Manifestation was formed by merging numerous Sword Dao techniques, born from his Dao Realm and the Myriad Transformations Profound Truth Dao Fruit.
Any damage to this azure greatsword would result in a recoil affecting both his Dao Realm and Dao Fruit.
During his battle with Daoist Suxi, Han Yi refrained from using this azure greatsword, the Heretical Dharma Manifestation. He knew that any harm to this manifestation, when facing an Ancient Artifact, would have severe repercussions.
Moreover, the combat power of this manifestation paled in comparison to the Ancient Artifact Yueguang. Using it at that moment would have been unwise.
As he had anticipated, his Dao Fruit was severely damaged by Suxi's attacks. Had he summoned the manifestation then, it would have been shattered, causing even greater harm.
Han Yi named his Heretical Dharma Manifestation the Myriad Transformations Dharma Aspect, also known as the Myriad Transformations Dao Sword.
He had never tested the full power of the Myriad Transformations Dao Sword in actual combat, but he estimated that when unleashed, it could even sever a cultivator in the Dao Harmonization Realm with a single strike.
This Heretical Dharma Manifestation was undoubtedly more powerful than his most formidable peak-grade high-tier Dao Artifact, the Profound Abyss Dao Sword.
Of course, he possessed thirty-three high-grade Dao Swords. With his current Dao Power, he could control approximately eighteen of them. When deployed within the Void Sword Realm, their combined Sword Dao might far surpassed the power of the Myriad Transformations Dao Sword.
In his vision, once he ascended to the Harmonization with the Dao realm, with sufficient Dao Power, he would be able to fully activate all thirty-three high-grade Dao Swords and unleash the Void Sword Realm. This would undoubtedly pose a threat even to a Heavenly Venerable.
This was the ultimate display of combat power on his Immortal Path.
Within the Palace, the azure great sword slowly descended from the crown of his head and merged into his body.
The "azure" hue of this Heretical Dharma Manifestation originated from the Green Ripple Sword. This sword had played a pivotal role in his Sword Dao journey, hence the azure color of his External Dao manifestation.
Suddenly, a thought struck Han Yi. The Green Ripple Sword currently on his person was merely a Ninth-Tier Immortal Sword, not yet a Dao Sword.
The Green Ripple Sword's true peak state was as a Heavenly Venerable Ancient Artifact. Moreover, considering the Master of the Heaven-Piercing Sword's strength at the time, which was undoubtedly that of a high-ranked Celestial Venerable, his personal sword would have been a high-grade Ancient Artifact, even among such relics.
Therefore, Han Yi deduced that the Green Ripple Sword he possessed was merely a small fragment that had circulated outside its true form. In fact, the sword in his hand was likely a Sub-Sword, not the True Form as he had previously believed.
"My karmic bond with the Green Ripple Sword is too profound; I cannot casually sever it."
"Then, while I've just emerged from seclusion and the Primordial World has remained stable for these past millennia, I should first seek out its Sub-Sword and attempt to elevate it to a Dao Sword."
Han Yi stood up, and the surrounding Dao resonance gradually subsided.
He walked out of the Palace. With a thought, information about major events that had occurred in the Primordial World, the Eastern Fuhang Realm, and even the Chaos over the past millennium was transmitted to him by his Dao Realm Avatar.
After reviewing this information, his expression visibly relaxed.
For the past millennium, there had been no news related to him. And for him, no news was the best news.
Han Yi's greatest concern had been that the True Saint Palace might send a Palace Master to assassinate him. However, over the past millennium, his Dao Realm Avatar had diligently monitored this possibility, and not a single piece of relevant information had surfaced. Moreover, the Sui Zhu Immortal Court had remained completely unscathed throughout this time, with no signs of impending crisis.
Beyond the Immortal Court, the situation in the Primordial World had also become significantly more stable.
Two pieces of news, however, caught his attention.
The first was a report from three hundred years ago, indicating that the Ancient Celestial Lords of the Primordial World had gathered at Kunlun Mountain's Purple Heaven Palace. Han Yi had learned of this through intelligence gathered by the Second High Priest of Purgatory Island.
What puzzled him was that, despite extensive investigation, there was no record of the Grand Heavenly Venerable Hongjun—the Lord of Kunlun Mountain and the strongest power in the Primordial World—having attended. Who, then, had summoned these Celestial Lords? And what were the matters they discussed? Han Yi lacked the means to discern this.
He took this matter seriously, but his current strength and cultivation realm were insufficient to act. All he could do was keep it in mind for future consideration.
The second piece of news concerned the Dao Tomb Ripples in the Chaos. These ripples had intensified dramatically over the past millennium, their amplitude increasing exponentially, as if influenced by some external force.
The frequency of Tomb Explosions has increased by about tenfold compared to a thousand years ago, and their destructive power has grown significantly.
Among these, a supermassive Tomb Explosion even destroyed a Great World in the North Boundary of the Subduing Constellation. There are even rumors that a Dao Realm cultivator escaped from that destroyed world and witnessed a Tomb Beast that had already reached maturity.
Under the influence of these Tomb Explosions, the temporal-spatial distortions caused by ordinary ripples have become far more frequent. Now, even the Grand Unity Immortal Monarch and the Great Luo Immortal Venerable find it difficult to move even a single step through the Chaos. While the Dao Realm remains relatively safe, caution is still paramount. Being swept into a Dao Grave could result in anything from injury to complete annihilation.
Han Yi's brow twitched slightly as he recalled his experience in the Heaven's Mandate Dao Domain. During a Tomb Explosion in the Chaos, he had ventured to the edge of the core and glimpsed a massive, vaguely humanoid figure that he suspected was a Tomb Beast. The memory still sent shivers down his spine.
"At most, it's been 12,000 years since the Dao Tomb Ripples began. We're still far from the 100,000-year mark of the first stage. How could the situation have evolved so quickly?"
"Mature Tomb Beasts should only appear during the second stage of the Dao Tomb Ripples."
"Could something have happened to make it appear so much earlier?"
"Enough. I'll only feel at ease after seeing it for myself."
On Heavenly Kui Mountain, after digesting this information, Han Yi sent a message to the Myriad Tribulations Dao Ancestor, who presided over Sui Zhu Mountain, informing him that he would be away on business. Then, with a flash, he used the Escape Technique to leave the Immortal Court.
Apart from the Myriad Tribulations Dao Ancestor, no one else knew of his departure.
The Myriad Tribulations Dao Ancestor wasn't surprised by Han Yi's departure. Over the past ten thousand years, Han Yi had done this many times, and it had long become routine.
After leaving the Immortal Court, Han Yi didn't immediately search for the Qingping Sword Division. Instead, he went to Donghuang and infiltrated the Eastern Sovereign Ancestral Court, where he secretly investigated the area around Ten Thousand Demon Mountain.
Within Ten Thousand Demon Mountain, Eastern Emperor Buer remained in seclusion, absorbing the Demon Race's luck and cultivating. He hadn't yet fully digested the opportunities left behind by the Great One.
Han Yi observed for a moment without disturbing him, then silently departed.
His purpose for this visit was to assess Eastern Emperor Buer's status. If she emerged from seclusion and ascended to the Heavenly Venerable level, it would be ideal if he could enlist her help in searching for the Green Ripple Sword.
Unfortunately, as Han Yi had anticipated, the accumulated luck of the Demon Race in the Great Luo Realm, spanning countless millennia, combined with the legacy left by Eastern Emperor Taiyi, was far too vast to be fully absorbed and assimilated in a short time.
After leaving the Eastern Sovereign Demon Court, Han Yi paused high above a Demon Territory within the Eastern Sovereign Territory. There, he retrieved the Green Ripple Sword from his Divine Aperture World.
Sensing his intent, the sword trembled slightly, its aura surging with excitement.
Han Yi stroked the blade, using the aura of this Ninth-Tier Immortal Sword as a focal point to sense the presence of its Sub-Swords.
Though the Green Ripple Sword had fallen to the level of an Immortal Sword, its inherent essence remained exceptionally high. The connection between the Sub-Swords persisted, but their individual power had previously been insufficient to detect the others.
Through Han Yi's intervention, the Green Ripple Sword's sensing ability was temporarily elevated to the peak level below that of a Heavenly Venerable.
After a full quarter of an hour, Han Yi's eyes snapped open. Deep within his gaze, a vast Star Chart flickered—a map encompassing not just the Great Luo Realm, but the entire Primordial Great World, including Kunlun, Penglai, Eternal Life, Wild Desolation, Wicked Demon, and even the Three Realms of Absolute Yin.
On this star chart, several points of starlight shone brightly. These luminous spots corresponded precisely to the locations where Han Yi sensed the presence of the Qingping Sword Division.
"There are numerous scattered locations, present in all eight realms except Great Luo. However, there are only two places where the starlight is most concentrated and brightest: one is Kunlun Mountain, as I expected. The other, surprisingly, is the Ferocious Realm, which I didn't anticipate."
Among the Nine Primordial Realms, the Three Realms of Absolute Yin—Ferocious Realm, Netherworld, and Dark Realm—occupied a unique position. These three realms were each ruled by a single Heavenly Venerate-level Overlord, with no other major factions present.
Han Yi was no stranger to the Ferocious Realm.
Within the Ferocious Realm lay the Heavenly Revelation Ruins, a site sacred to the Primordial Ancient Gods. It was through this ruin that he had completed his transformation into a true Ancient God, ascending to both the Primordial Realm and the Supreme Truth Realm.
These two ascensions had broken free from the shackles of the Primordial Great World's constraints on Ancient God cultivators, allowing him to step into a new realm of existence.
"As for the Kunlun Mountain location, let's set that aside for now. After collecting the Sub-Swords from the other locations, we'll make a trip to the Ferocious Realm."