After locking the three areas where the Demonic Entity might be hiding, the alliance machine began operating efficiently. The "Shadow Hunting Department," under Third Senior Sister Liu Yun's command, combined with silicon-based civilization's deep space detection technology, began preliminary reconnaissance and infiltration preparations for the "Abyssal Sea's Eye,""Desolate Star Nebula," and "Shadow Plane Rifts." This was work requiring time, patience, and full of risks—no rushing it.
And Tang Xiaoqi, after participating in the initial strategic deployment, did not choose to personally lead a team to any of the areas. He entrusted the specific search command authority fully to Senior Brother Mu Qingfeng and Third Senior Sister Liu Yun. He himself entered short-term seclusion once more.
This seclusion was not for healing, nor for cultivating some special art. It was for sorting out and introspection.
In the Star Realm, Xiao Qi sat cross-legged. His surrounding aura was harmonious. His Nascent Soul peak spiritual power flowed like a vast star sea within his body, endlessly circulating, having already reached the extreme of this realm, nothing further to advance. His fusion with the Green Lotus Origin had also neared perfection. Where his thoughts moved, the purification Dao rhythm would naturally flow, cleansing evil.
His power already stood at the summit of the Nascent Soul Stage in this world. Even if he were to battle the Demonic Entity at full strength once more, he was confident he would not again barely escape death as he had before.
However, when he used his current state to project the future final showdown with that hidden Demonic Entity, a faint, cloud-like gloom always lingered around his heart.
That Demonic Entity was essentially an "Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon." Its form of existence was bizarre, its vitality strangely strong beyond imagination. Even when severely wounded to only a spark of true spirit origin, it could still escape and hide, difficult to completely destroy. Had it not been for Second Brother's serendipitous discovery of the Void Dragon Crystal's characteristics, they would not even have known generally which direction the Demonic Entity had fled.
What about next time?
If the Demonic Entity recovered some strength and returned in a more covert, more cunning manner, or lay dormant within living beings' hearts and eroded them secretly, could his current Nascent Soul peak cultivation, combined with the Green Lotus Origin, once more defeat and severely wound it—but could he guarantee completely purifying it and eliminating all future troubles?
The answer seemed to be no.
He recalled the final showdown with the Demonic Entity. Its origin core containing boundless negative emotions and destructive will was resilient and strange far beyond ordinary energy structures. Though the Green Lotus purification power could restrain and weaken it, there always seemed to be lacking a most critical, most essential force to completely dissolve it from the root and return it to nothingness. That was a kind of erasure involving the origin of life, soul imprint, and even karma-law levels.
"The Nascent Soul realm, refining qi and transforming spirit, condensing the primordial spirit, manipulating heavenly laws within an inch of space—already the pinnacle achievable by mortal cultivators." Xiao Qi's heart was clear as a mirror. "But to touch that deeper origin, to achieve true 'purification' and 'protection,' to completely resolve an existence like this Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, nearly conceptual in nature... perhaps, only by transcending the Nascent Soul, stepping into that legendary—Spirit Transformation Stage!"
Spirit Transformation Stage!
This realm only existed in ancient legends and fragmentary mentions in certain incomplete ancient texts. It was said that once a cultivator entered this realm, they would no longer be a mere energy accumulator and law applier. Their life form would undergo fundamental transformation. The Nascent Soul and soul would completely fuse, transforming into a higher-level "primordial spirit" that could detach from the flesh body's constraints, wandering the great void, penetrating cosmic mysteries. Comprehension and control of heavenly laws would reach a completely new dimension, even initially touching the underlying rules of world operation—speaking establishes law, influencing karma.
Only the power of such a realm might truly possess the ability to completely erase this Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's origin from the level of existence!
However, the path to Spirit Transformation was elusive and hard to find. Ancient texts recorded that after ancient times, as the heavenly earth environment changed and laws became hidden, few cultivators could reach this realm. This was not a barrier that could be forcibly broken through by diligent cultivation, resources, or talent alone. What it required was the ultimate comprehension of "the Dao," a profound recognition of the meaning of one's own existence, a "turning point" achieving deeper resonance with the heaven-earth cosmos.
Xiao Qi clearly felt he had reached the end of the Nascent Soul Stage. Before him seemed an invisible yet tough barrier blocking his path. This barrier was not from insufficient spiritual power accumulation nor inadequate law comprehension, but rather a kind of... "obstacle of knowledge." He needed to break his existing cognitive framework and comprehend a higher-dimensional "principle."
After half a month of seclusion, Xiao Qi quietly emerged.
He did not alert too many people. He only briefed Mu Xue, Senior Brother, and a few other core friends.
"The turning point for Spirit Transformation lies not in closed-door hard cultivation, but in the vast mortal world, in having a deeper understanding and integration with this heaven-earth we are determined to protect." Xiao Qi's gaze was calm, looking toward the starry sky beyond the realm and the vibrant Three Realms below. "I need to walk among the world, experience the myriad conditions of living beings, illuminate my heart and see my nature, seeking that mysteriously glimpsed turning point."
Mu Xue looked at him. Flowing from those ice-blue eyes were understanding and support. She deeply knew Xiao Qi's Dao was always closely connected to this heaven-earth, to all living beings. His breakthrough would inevitably be nourished by this land as well.
"Go. The alliance's affairs, we will handle." Senior Brother Mu Qingfeng solemnly promised. "Be careful. Though the Demonic Entity is hidden, its remaining claws or remnants may not be completely cleared."
Xiao Qi nodded. He gently embraced Mu Xue. He nodded to Senior Brother, Third Senior Sister Liu Yun, Zhao Tiezhu, and others who had come to see him off.
He did not ride a magnificent flying ship, nor display stunning cultivation. He merely changed into an ordinary blue cloth robe, completely restraining all his surging spiritual power within him, like a wandering scholar just beginning the path of cultivation. One step forward, and he disappeared from the "Watcher's Barrier" port, merging into the vast mortal world.
His figure appeared in mortal towns, watching common folk toiling for their livelihoods, experiencing the most simple joys, sorrows, anger, and resilient vitality;
He lingered in frontier villages, feeling the villagers' helplessness when facing natural disasters and the warmth of mutual support;
He walked on the border between the demon realm and human lands, observing the subtle changes from estrangement to initial integration between different races;
He even concealed his aura, sitting outside a school, listening to children recite ancient sages' classics, feeling the strength of civilization's inheritance...
His pace was not fast, but each step was solid. Wherever he went, he did not deliberately do anything, only quietly watching, listening, feeling. He used a previously unprecedented perspective to re-examine this world he had fought to protect, comprehending its complexity, contradictions, vitality, and the seemingly fragile yet incredibly resilient "human nature" and "living nature."
He did not know when he could touch the threshold of Spirit Transformation, nor in what form that turning point would appear.
But he knew this path he must walk. To completely end the demonic catastrophe, to protect this beloved world full of flaws yet full of hope.
The cultivation bottleneck had appeared. Spirit Transformation enlightenment had dawned. A journey of pursuit concerning personal Dao path and the Three Realms' fate had begun.