The sky over the Great Desolate World was no longer a serene blue. It had turned into a terrifying, scorched bronze. High above the 33 Heavens, ten radiant spheres of fire—the Ten Suns, sons of the Demon Emperor Di Jun—were parading across the firmament simultaneously.
The earth was cracking. Rivers that had flowed since the dawn of time were evaporating into mist, and the weaker spiritual plants were turning to ash. This was the beginning of the Great Calamity.
Inside the Heaven-Veiling Pavilion, the temperature remained cool, shielded by the Chaos-Concealment Array. However, Daoist Wu-Ji could feel the "Karma" of the world becoming chaotic.
"The Ten Suns... the tragedy of the Human Race and the fall of the Kuafu giants is beginning," Wu-Ji muttered, standing atop his obsidian peak. "I am at the Peak of the Golden Core. If I don't break through to the Nascent Soul Realm now, I will be nothing but a butterfly in the storm when the Hou Yi shoots his arrows."
He turned to his disciple, Yun'er. She was sitting cross-legged, the Haotian Mirror fragment floating before her. Her skin had taken on a jade-like translucency, a sign that she was nearing the breakthrough to the Golden Core herself.
"Yun'er, I am entering 'Death Seclusion' (Si Guan)," Wu-Ji's voice was solemn. "The arrays of the Pavilion are linked to your mirror. If any soul below the Nascent Soul stage approaches, the mist will consume them. If someone stronger comes... use the mirror to hide in the void."
"Master, please be careful," Yun'er bowed deeply, her eyes filled with worry. "The Heavens seem angry."
Wu-Ji smiled thinly. "The Heavens are always angry at those who seek to live forever."
The Great Breakthrough: Shattering the Core
Wu-Ji entered the deepest chamber of the Grotto. He sat upon a lotus throne carved from the Chaos Fiend Finger he had refined years ago.
"System, I have 2000 units of energy. I want to run a 'Life-Death Breakthrough Simulation'. I don't just want a normal Nascent Soul; I want a Chaos-Purple Nascent Soul."
[Ding! Warning: A Chaos-level breakthrough will trigger the 'Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation'. Death rate: 92%. Do you wish to proceed?]
"Proceed! Show me the path through the lightning!"
[The Simulation: Breaking the Chains of Fate]
[Year 1: You begin to compress your Golden Core. The violet and gold energies resist each other. You use the 'Innate Morning Dew' as a buffer. The core cracks, but instead of a soul, a blast of chaotic energy destroys your meridians. Death!]
[Year 10 (Attempt 4): You successfully shatter the Core. A tiny infant, looking exactly like you but glowing with purple light, begins to form. This is your Nascent Soul. However, because you lack 'World Law' understanding, the infant is born blind and deaf. Your cultivation stagnates. Failure!]
[Year 50: You realize that a Chaos Nascent Soul requires the 'Breath of the Void'. You use the system to 'extract' a wisp of the primordial void from your bloodline. The infant opens its eyes! It holds a miniature version of the 'Chaos Axe' in its hands. Success!]**
[Year 51: The Tribulation arrives. 54 bolts of purple lightning strike your Grotto. In the 40th bolt, your physical body is turned to ash, leaving only your Nascent Soul. Without a body, you are hunted by wandering ghosts. Death!]
[Year 100 (Final Attempt): You find the secret. You must use the 'Innate Phoenix Source' you stole earlier to 'reforge' your body during the lightning strike. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, your body and soul will merge into a Chaos-Indestructible Entity.]
[The Simulation has ended. You have found the 0.8% chance of survival.]
[You may choose one of the following rewards:]
[Cultivation: Early-Stage Nascent Soul (Chaos Grade).]
[Divine Ability: 'Chaos Void Step' (Instant Teleportation).]
[Bloodline Evolution: 'Chaos-Phoenix Immortal Body'.]
"I choose Option 1! Bring the power to the present!"
BOOM!
The entire Mist-Veiled Valley shook. Outside, the Ten Suns seemed to pause in their flight as a column of purple light erupted from the earth, piercing through the bronze clouds and reaching the 33 Heavens.
Inside Wu-Ji's dantian, his Golden Core—the product of centuries of toil—began to vibrate at a frequency that threatened to tear his atoms apart.
"Shatter!" Wu-Ji roared.
CRACK.
The core didn't just break; it imploded. A vacuum was created in his center, sucking in all the spiritual energy of the Grotto-Heaven. From the shards of the core, a tiny, translucent figure emerged. It was only three inches tall, but it carried a majesty that made the surrounding space bow.
This was his Nascent Soul.
At that moment, the sky above the valley turned black. The Ten Suns were eclipsed by a gathering of clouds so thick they looked like solid mountains of iron.
[Warning! The 'Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation' has begun!]
The first bolt didn't even make a sound. It was a spear of pure, black lightning. It bypassed the Grotto's arrays as if they were made of paper and struck Wu-Ji directly on the crown of his head.
"Argh!"
Wu-Ji's skin peeled back. His obsidian bones were visible, glowing with a fierce purple light. He didn't use any shields. Following the simulation's path, he released the Phoenix Source from his heart.
"Burn! Reforge my flesh in the fire of destruction!"
As the second, third, and tenth bolts struck, Wu-Ji was engulfed in a dual vortex of black lightning and crimson fire. His old body was being systematically destroyed, and a new one—one made of higher-order matter—was being woven together by his Nascent Soul.
By the 50th bolt, the valley was a crater. Yun'er stood at the edge, protected by the mirror, tears streaming down her face as she watched her Master be hammered by the wrath of the Heavens.
Then, the final bolt—the 54th—descended. It wasn't a bolt; it was a hammer of golden light, carrying the 'Will of the Dao' to crush the anomaly.
Wu-Ji's Nascent Soul flew out of his forehead. The tiny infant grew in size until it was as large as a mountain, mirroring Wu-Ji's posture. It raised a hand and caught the golden hammer.
"I am the Void, and the Void is me!"
With a thunderous clap, the lightning was absorbed. The clouds vanished.
Wu-Ji stood in the center of the ruins. His hair was now a deep violet, trailing down to his waist. His skin had a metallic luster, and his aura was no longer that of a mortal or a simple immortal. He was a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, but his battle power... his battle power could now challenge an Earth Immortal or even a Heaven Immortal.
[Ding! Breakthrough Successful!]
[System Level Up: 'World Mapping' unlocked. You can now track the location of 'Fate Characters'.]
Wu-Ji didn't look at his stats. He looked at the map in his mind. Two glowing dots appeared. One was in the East, at the Mount Fenghuang. The other was in the Monster Court.
"Fuxi," Wu-Ji whispered. "The Monster Emperor's brother is about to fall in the Lich War. If I can intercept his soul before it reaches the Six Paths of Reincarnation... I can ensure the Human Race has a leader that belongs to my Pavilion, not to the Saints."
He looked at Yun'er, who had rushed to his side.
"Master! You did it!"
"This is just the beginning, Yun'er," Wu-Ji said, his voice echoing with the power of the void. "The Ten Suns are still in the sky. Hou Yi is preparing his bow. We are going to the East Sea. We have a soul to catch."