When all the members of the Bai Family had been captured, the Elders decided to return. However, while they were on their way to Lingxiao...
The space above their heads suddenly tore apart, and a one-armed figure seemed to fall from it. Close behind him, an enormous black hand relentlessly pursued him.
The aura emanating from that hand was something even the Elders could not sense. Had they been capable of sensing it, they would have died instantly, and even their souls would have been swiftly collected by the Divine World. Yet even the remnants of that aura were enough to paralyze everyone.
The silhouette narrowly evaded the black hand. The moment it struck the ground, it devoured an immense mountain range that stretched for hundreds of miles. The resulting explosions were powerful enough that even Qin Xue would have been vulnerable to them.
However, as though he did not care in the slightest, the silhouette flew in their direction. The figure was a terrifying man. His clothes resembled a suit of armor as black as night, and an aura that seemed capable of cleaving the heavens emanated from his body.
There was something else extremely strange about this man. His size was far from normal. He stood roughly three meters tall.
His gaze was piercing and frightening. He swept his eyes across the entire area in an instant before quickly releasing the members of the Bai Family who had been restrained.
With a single movement of his index finger, he healed all of their internal and external injuries, including Bai Lanyue's.
Of course, he did not leave them lying on the ground. Things were about to become complicated very soon.
She was still dazed. When she looked to her side, her little sister remained unconscious, causing her expression to darken. She held her in her arms while Bai Tianheng embraced them both.
Bai Lanyue knew that something was wrong. That enormous black hand tearing through the heavens was proof enough, but the relief in her heart did not fade when she saw the man.
"Senior Brother..." Bai Lanyue said, her voice weak and her gaze deep.
The man, known as Jiang Taixuan, one of Ye Xianrong's eldest disciples, grew another arm. Then, fixing his gaze on his Junior Sister, he said, "Dear Junior Sister, tell me."
"Kill them all!"
Bai Lanyue's gaze was filled with such profound hatred that there was no doubt what needed to be done. A thin stream of blood trickled from her left eye at that moment, and a disturbing aura began to emanate from her body.
Jiang Taixuan already knew that aura.
Ye Xianrong, his Master, was not someone who trained ordinary people. All of them shared a common Destiny...
...the Destiny of becoming a Spirit King.
Thus, the woman standing before him was not just any woman, but a future Spiritual Queen. Her Destiny and Karma were anything but ordinary.
Of course, Jiang Taixuan was no different.
He turned his gaze toward those responsible for this scene. The same people, insignificant in his eyes, had their bodies torn apart by an invisible force. Their souls were destroyed as well, leaving behind nothing but fragments of Divine Soul.
Those fragments were stored in a distant and isolated place. Jiang Taixuan had plans for them.
As long as he lived, those fragments would never be allowed to live again.
And so, his attention turned toward the enormous hand, which now appeared to be wrapped in chains. The same chains clung tightly to its body.
These were the Chains of the World.
However, unlike Jiang Taixuan, who possessed dozens of such chains, this hand had a far greater number—hundreds of them.
This was not surprising. Coming from a Spirit King, it was only natural that it would be this way.
The black hand had been severed by an even greater force, and the remaining palm began to writhe, transforming into a scorpion of tyrannical proportions.
It stood roughly six hundred zhang tall.
It was far larger than mountains, and wherever this Aberration passed, it left a trail of destruction in its wake.
The Black Scorpion quickened its pace and, with a single movement, lashed its tail toward Jiang Taixuan, attempting to pierce him with its stinger.
He narrowly dodged it, but the scorpion's enormous pincer was already coming toward him, catching him completely off guard.
His duty was to protect Bai Lanyue and her family, and that was not a problem.
Jiang Taixuan could have sent them back to the Small World, but space had been sealed, which came as no surprise.
Therefore, he formed sixteen hand seals and created sixteen spheres, each enveloping one of the members of the Bai Family. He then threw them into his gourd.
There was an enormous space inside.
The massive concentration of Spiritual Energy there could even serve as a place for them to cultivate.
Inside the gourd, a vast field stretched beyond the horizon in every direction, while enormous snow-covered mountains covered much of the landscape.
The people were shocked by the sight. It was their first time seeing something of such magnitude.
Bai Lanyue explained in detail what this place was.
The place inside the gourd was the Black Earth, created through the Third Law of Space. This was one of the ways Transcendents perceived the Domain of the Spirit Kings.
"It seems there are even kingdoms here."
Farther away from where they stood, a gently sloping hill revealed tall buildings and what appeared to be a Royal Palace.
This was not particularly impressive, Bai Lanyue concluded. Even Nascent Soul Immortals were capable of sheltering entire civilizations within their Secret Realms.
However, there were rumors that Soul Transformation Immortals were already capable of creating life through countless processes and transformations.
The place was rich in Spiritual Energy, and their bodies absorbed it uncontrollably.
Bai Lanyue sighed at that moment. The plan had not gone as expected.
The other Spirit Kings were Ye Xianrong's archenemies. They were always lurking, searching for an opportunity to interfere with her plans.
She looked at her sister's sleeping face and felt deeply remorseful over what had happened. It was something she would never forgive herself for.
Bai Lanyue understood that all of this could have been avoided if she had taken her family away first.
"It was my carelessness..." she concluded.
Her gaze was filled with remorse.
Outside, the Black Scorpion had just gathered an uncontrollable amount of Divine Essence and was about to release it.
Jiang Taixuan could not allow that to happen. Otherwise, the entire Region would be destroyed.
The Aberration fired the beam of Divine Essence, and at that very moment, an earthquake shook the Region.
What appeared to be a massive crater was about to swallow the entire Region, but Jiang Taixuan diverted the cause of the event and redirected it into the space beyond the Worlds.
The violent energy surged away without a destination.
Then, with a single movement, Jiang Taixuan cleaved the Aberration apart using the Divine Severing Technique.
However, the beast did not die.
Instead, it transformed into two scorpions.
Jiang Taixuan understood that cutting this thing was useless. It would simply continue splitting as many times as necessary.
Jiang Taixuan formed four hand seals, and suddenly, everything seemed to illuminate the four cardinal directions.
Four enormous obelisks rose toward the heavens, while a thunderous roar echoed in every direction.
This was an ancient Formation...
The Suppression and Collapse Formation.
This Formation used four Laws as its foundation: the Law of Death, the Law of Karma, the Law of Destiny, and the Law of Space.
The two beasts were sealed inside the Formation and were unable to escape.
The space suddenly cracked like glass, and a tremendous aura descended upon the bodies of both monsters.
That force was powerful enough to vaporize them without destroying the Region.
When it was over, an unfamiliar gaze settled upon Jiang Taixuan's shoulders.
With a cold expression, he looked back toward a certain direction.
In the Immortal Region, the North...
At the peak of a hill, surrounded by a Formation that covered the heavens, a thousand-mile radius was filled with an abundance of Spiritual Energy.
There was not a single trace of snow there.
Several cities and kingdoms existed within this Formation.
But the hill was the center.
And there, sitting in the lotus position, was an existence capable of shaking the Secular World...
A Transcendent.
This man focused his senses on Jiang Taixuan's body and suddenly discovered just how powerful he was.
"This..."
The man's arrogant expression vanished.
"This person... is about to reach the Monarch Realm..."
Swallowing hard, the man concealed his presence and disappeared without leaving a trace.
On the other side, Jiang Taixuan paid no attention to him.
He looked toward a nearby direction and understood the explanation his Master had given him.
The secrets of the Heavens were difficult to unravel.
He was referring to Feng Qi, the young man who had just departed.
...
A moment ago, Qin Xue had innocently been holding the Jade Pendant her new Disciple had given her.
She had never imagined that she could be deceived in such a manner.
There had been no lies in Bai Lanyue's words. Qin Xue had examined her thoroughly, and on the surface, everything seemed perfectly reasonable.
Yet something told her that the girl was not ordinary.
Her eyes suddenly turned toward the top of an enormous temple, where she was greeted by the breathtaking sight of a surreal dawn.
"Wait!"
She thought.
"It was still late... does that mean I'm in a Secret Realm?"
The cool breeze and the position of the sun gave it away.
Qin Xue seemed bewildered.
All around her was a massive concentration of something she still could not comprehend, and the place seemed incomparably richer and superior to the Secular World.
As her thoughts raced, a strange woman emerged from the dawn.
Qin Xue did not understand how, but something told her that this woman had always been there.
A forced smile formed on her lips. She was clearly nervous.
For something like this to frighten her, only old monsters like the Lord of the Shanyue Continent could cause her such fear.
"Who are you?!" she shouted.
There was nowhere to run.
Qin Xue could feel it. In this place, she had no options left.
She was completely trapped, as though she were in the palm of someone's hand.
The woman, whose face could not be seen, remained silent.
She took a step forward and was suddenly face-to-face with Qin Xue.
At that moment, her face could finally be seen.
This was the Master of the Cloud Palace.
"I am Ye Xianrong... Empress of all Kings, daughter of Shen Huang, the Sovereign. And your future Master."
Ye Xianrong's gaze was beyond Qin Xue's ability to comprehend.
Her heart told her to flee with all her strength, but it was impossible.
She was already completely within Ye Xianrong's grasp.
"Ye Xianrong?... I've never heard of that name. And what do you mean by future Master? I don't need a Master!"
"Your cultivation has stagnated... Even possessing a great Destiny, it is perfectly normal for you to be unable to advance any further."
Ye Xianrong extended her palm and gathered a small amount of Divine Essence.
"Can you see this?"
Qin Xue's eyes widened.
She was incapable of seeing the Divine Essence, yet even so, that palm seemed to contain the mysteries and secrets she had sought for so long.
The silhouette of something greater was gradually taking shape.
"The Truth?!"
She shouted in shock.
"I-Is this the legendary Truth?!"
"No."
Ye Xianrong replied.
At the same instant, she closed her palm, and everything disappeared.
"You already know the so-called Truth."
Qin Xue's eyes suddenly blinked.
She seemed to realize something.
"That?... Wasn't it merely a Myth? I've never been interested in such things, to be honest. I always thought it was nothing more than an invented story."
"It never was... I know you, Young Xue... I've known you since the day you were conceived in your mother's womb."
The so-called Truth spoken of throughout the Immortal World was something Qin Xue had never shown any interest in.
To her, the world was already vast enough that she had no reason to concern herself with such things.
Hearing those final words planted a seed of distrust in Qin Xue's heart.
What kind of being could possess such an ability?
The Spirit Kings were no secret in her eyes, yet deep within her heart, they still seemed like a myth.
This was the first time she had ever seen such a being.
The Great Lord of the Continent was the only existence she could imagine possessing such an ability, but even he was one step below.
Actually...
Could it really be described as being one step below?
The thought seemed completely illogical, Qin Xue concluded.
The difference between a Soul Transformation Immortal and a Transcendental was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Even if these Immortals possessed bodies made entirely of Laws, what were Laws before Divine Essence?
Nothing...
Absolutely nothing.
The being standing before her was not an ordinary existence.
It was something that even Myths seemed insufficient to describe.
"What are you saying?..."
"Exactly what you heard. By the way, the Small World you found that day was a gift from me to you."
A laugh echoed through the air.
The statement seemed so absurd to Qin Xue, yet it was true that many strange things had happened throughout her life.
"I always knew that Small World couldn't have been created by a Transcendent. But something like that in Tianlu?
"I heard that the Spirit Kings abandoned the Secular World thousands of years ago to live in a Higher World.
"The Divine Continent, birthplace of the first Spirit Kings, is a land contested only by Transcendentals. That place is a lawless land, where chaos and slaughter are as common as breathing, and its rulers govern with iron fists.
"I have never been there personally, but history says it is a place filled with Black Earths, and life is harvested by the trillions every day.
"Are you telling me that the Small World was created solely for me?"
"Yes...
"And as for that story..."
Ye Xianrong lowered her gaze at that moment, seemingly saddened by a certain event.
"It is true. Many things happened during that time. Let us just say that everything spiraled out of control after a certain point.
"The world was plunged into unprecedented chaos, and the only way to maintain order was through such means."
"That doesn't answer my questions."
"The Chains of the World within me are not ordinary.
"They do not merely restrict my power... There aren't many ways to circumvent them.
"To be honest, even thinking is difficult.
"Therefore, I must maintain a certain distance from my Disciples. Consequently, this began to affect them."
Ye Xianrong spoke.
"And then?"
The Master of the Cloud Palace seemed about to say something more, but she remained silent.
It appeared painful.
Qin Xue did not care about her enigmas.
"You said you know me... Did you also hear my pleas? Did you watch my suffering?" she suddenly asked.
Ye Xianrong chose to remain silent as she watched her.
"You won't say anything? Fine...
"To think I prayed so much for a God to save me that day.
"Who would have thought that he would actually hear me?
"It is only a pity that he ignored my pleas."
"It isn't like that. Things are more complicated than you can imagine."
Ye Xianrong pointed toward something invisible that surrounded Qin Xue.
"The Chains of the World.
"Have you never felt as though you were trapped inside a cage?
"Have you never felt that your strength, your power, could not reach the perfection it should?"
"This..."
It was not that she had never heard of such things.
It was simply that the body of a Soul Transformation Immortal was untouchable even by the Soul World.
The bodies of these Immortals were made purely of Laws, allowing them to transcend Spiritual Energy, compressing and refining it to the utmost extreme and transforming their Soul, body, and mind into Essence.
Therefore, the thought of having something clinging to her without being able to perceive it left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Immortals like Qin Xue were incapable of seeing these chains, but they could perceive the subtle limitations imposed upon their bodies.
Qin Xue preferred not to believe in such things.
Just as she had done with the Truth and the history of the wars between the Monarchs, refusing to believe and refusing to care was a way of preserving her sanity.
"My case is a little special.
"I have been weakened for a very long time. I estimate that in a few decades... I will have only half of my current power."
Ye Xianrong explained.
"So what?
"It is Destiny, isn't it?
"Destiny has also left its mark on me.
"Life was never easy... especially for the weak."
Qin Xue suddenly remembered something.
Something that still made her heart ache.
"You... saw it, didn't you?"
Her expression was filled with pain.
The other party remained silent.
Qin Xue's tragic history was something Ye Xianrong felt deeply for, as the two of them had similar histories, but very different endings.
"For three days...
"For three days, I remained over my brother's rotting body while maggots crawled across my face.
"People took pride in saying that war brought honor and glory, but all it brought was disgrace and hatred.
"That day, I accepted my fate.
"I was willing to die there... without even trying."
Her gaze carried profound sadness.
Those moments of anguish had become her worst nightmare.
"Then that man appeared..."
In Qin Xue's memories, a nameless Wanderer found her.
He called her a poor little thing, showed her affection, and offered her what appeared to be benevolence.
"Consequently, I learned another truth about the world...
"No matter how many times someone is trampled upon and humiliated, their hearts will fill with hope when a light appears."
Qin Xue's body trembled slightly as she spoke those words.
In her ancient memories, the Wanderer took not only Qin Xue, but many other children and young people as well.
He promised them stability and safety...
"I was abused countless times...
"At eleven years old, I was pregnant with the child of the man who had promised to help me.
"My life was one disgrace after another!"
Suddenly, her eyes darkened, and a strange aura began to emanate from her.
"I became an object.
"For many years, I believed this miserable fate would follow me to the grave, but I managed to break the chains that bound me to it.
"I turned my curse into a blessing, and today, I am the one who dictates the rules!
"I learned the Truth of the Heavens!
"I traveled through the River of Time!
"I saw my loved ones again..."
And so, a tear slipped down her face without her noticing.
"I think about it every day...
"I think about bringing them back!
"Changing the course of the Spiritual Realm!
"Bringing their souls back!
"But this Cursed World does not deserve them!!!
"Gods, Benevolent Immortals?
"Damn them all!
"Tell me, O Spiritual Goddess, did you spend your time admiring the suffering of others?
"Your heart... did you feel nothing?"
...
Ye Xianrong was completely different from Qin Xue.
After all, who was this powerful Spiritual Queen?
Just like Qin Xue, the Master of the Cloud Palace had also endured a difficult childhood.
She was not an orphan, but she had been an abandoned child.
Suddenly, Ye Xianrong remembered the day she had met that man.
His kindness and vast knowledge had won everyone's hearts back then.
He was upright, just, selfless, detached, honorable, generous...
Ye Xianrong loved describing his qualities.
There were so many of them!
That year, this man founded a Great Sect and helped tens of thousands of children and young people build their futures.
Ye Xianrong owed everything to this man.
And so, as she recalled those good old memories, tears filled her face without her realizing it.
"I... am sorry for everything you went through.
"The state of the world is not something we can interfere with.
"The Will of Heaven is merciless.
"Even we Spirit Kings can do nothing but bow our heads."
"What a great excuse!
"You are always surrounded by Disciples.
"Entire nations fight for the chance to become your servants.
"To you, the Secular World is nothing more than a pea...
"It seems rather convenient to use the Will of Heaven as an excuse.
"But that isn't how it works.
"You will answer for it, won't you?"
Qin Xue did not want to hear reason.
Her anger and resentment had completely taken control of her.
"I don't care about my life!
"Everything I have done, everything I have fought for, I did to help the people who truly needed it.
"My hands are stained with filthy blood.
"My wings shelter wounded hearts..."
There were lies in her words.
She knew it.
Most of the Bai Family did not deserve to be sacrificed in such a manner.
Even if indirectly, her hands were stained with innocent blood.
"In the Northern Region, things are different.
"People live good lives today.
"I did everything I could to preserve everyone's happiness.
"I gave them the ability to protect themselves!"
This reminded her of the countless faces she had left behind.
Disciples she loved.
Elders she trusted.
And ordinary people who struggled to survive.
In truth, her coming to the Southern Region had been a way of separating the good from the bad.
Soon, she would deal with those...
But it was a pity, she thought.
She formed two hand seals, and a pitch-black sphere took shape.
In the same instant, she hurled it forward.
Qin Xue knew it was useless to use such a tactic against this being, but she tried anyway.
The next second, her right hand stiffened.
Scales erupted from her skin and covered her arm.
With the tips of her claws, she attempted to slash Ye Xianrong's neck.
On the other hand, the Spiritual Queen did not regard her as an enemy, nor was she offended by the sudden attack.
The pitch-black sphere vanished in the blink of an eye.
Before Qin Xue could take a third step, her body shrank.
Her hands, which had previously been covered in scaled armor, became tiny, as though she had returned to the age of nine.
Her clothes loosened.
The anger and resentment on her face changed into shock.
And in the next instant, her body returned to its newborn state.
And so, Qin Xue's path of hatred and resentment came to an end.
Ye Xianrong slowly walked toward the pile of clothes that had once belonged to Qin Xue.
There, she found her.
Now, she was a baby.
She cried with the same intensity as she had on the first day of her life.
"Calm down, my dear. I'm here."
The Monarch gently held the baby and looked into her eyes with an expression of genuine joy.
It was not the first time she had done this.
There were no more ways to circumvent the Will of Heaven.
She was trapped within her own Domain.
To bring forth one new shoot, another had to be used.
That was how things worked.
The Chains of the World had reached their maximum possible level and quantity.
...
Ye Xianrong was dying.
She intended to gather these people—the best of the best, the Divine-level Talents—and train them for the Great Day.
"Elder Sister, only you know the outcome of the Great Day...
"Is it truly inevitable?" Ye Xianrong asked.
Elsewhere, in some strange and distant place, surrounded by enormous Formations, the space seemed to contain something beyond the Domain.
There stood the silhouette of a beautiful woman...
Strangely, this woman was identical to Ye Xianrong.
There was only one difference...
...
She was regarded as Senior by Ye Xianrong.