The sound of a sword and a blade piercing through flesh could be heard. The weapons ran through Shen Jinxiao's ruined body, nailing him to the wall of the ancient altar that towered into the sky. As the wind howled, his body flapped against the wall like a tattered cloth, making squelching noises. The terrifying energy undulations that had previously filled the air had vanished.

Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e were both standing in the sky, their expressions pale. It was the first time both of them had wielded a Transcendent Art. After all, Li Luo's Myriad Resonances Dragon Fang Sword Formation had to reach the Five Sword Realm to be considered a Transcendent Art, and he was only at the Four Sword Realm now.

The Apex Resonance Crystal Core on Li Luo's forehead began to rapidly break down and he felt a wave of exhaustion course through his body. This was the power of a Transcendent Art, and it had its corresponding price.

Even though he had an upper ninth-grade light resonance, he was completely spent. Furthermore, he had joined hearts with Jiang Qing'e and worked together with her to wield it. It was hard to imagine just how much of a struggle it would be if he had to do it alone.

Jiang Qing'e nodded and said softly, "Transcendent Arts are the most powerful arts in the world. Although the two of us have Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfrieds, our cultivation levels are low and thus, it is quite a stretch to use one."

They had faced Shen Jinxiao, who had reached the Ninth Duke Stage, and he was left fighting for his life! The rest of their trump cards had posed no threat to him, but the Transcendent Art had completely reversed the situation.

Both of them had been holding in their bitter hatred and murderous intent towards Shen Jinxiao for a long time. They had been weak in the past and were forced into the depths of despair repeatedly; Jiang Qing'e had even been forced to ignite her Heart of Light! This resulted in the two having to separate for quite some time as well. Now that the two parties had met once again, Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e had no intention of letting history repeat itself. Thus, they directly activated their Transcendent Art and resolved their grievances in one blow. This was the most practical decision.

"Is he dead?" Li Luo asked.

Jiang Qing'e glanced at Shen Jinxiao's ravaged body. "I can sense a hint of life within him."

"Everyone, I'd kindly like to invite you to destroy him," Li Luo called out, directing his words towards Diwu Mingxuan, Sheng Qiao'er, and the rest. The duo was completely exhausted, so it was best for the rest to take action now.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Hearing Li Luo's words, the originally dazed Diwu Mingxuan and the rest were forcefully awakened. They roused their resonant power without hesitation, raining down a hail of vicious blows intending to obliterate the remnants of Shen Jinxiao's body.

However, just as the attacks were about to hit Shen Jinxiao, a dense wave of grayish-black resonant power suddenly surged out of his body and his nine Duke Bergfrieds began to float up and down.

The Duke Bergfrieds managed to resist the attacks, but even more cracks appeared on them. It was clear they were on the verge of complete collapse.

Everyone could see that Shen Jinxiao was in his dying moments after getting struck by the Light Transcendent Art.

"Don't stop. Shatter his Duke Bergfrieds and he'll definitely be killed!" Li Luo shouted.

Diwu Mingxuan, Sheng Qiao'er, Ning Meng, and the rest nodded their heads as they channelled all of their resonant power into a series of impressive attacks that landed onto the ruined Duke Bergfrieds.

It was at this point that the Duke Bergfrieds began to crumble.

"Hehe..." Yet the impaled Shen Jinxiao suddenly let out an ear-piercing laugh and forcefully raised his head. Grayish-black blood was flowing from his eyes, giving him a ghastly appearance.

Staring at Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e, he said, "Wield a true Transcendent Art despite being Dukes... The Astral Sage College has produced two demonic geniuses. After this battle, the two of you will definitely rise to prominence within the divine continents. Qing'e, as your previous mentor, this brings me great joy."

Jiang Qing'e indifferently retorted, "Stop spouting such disgusting words. There will be no chance for you to escape today."

Diwu Mingxuan and the rest renewed their ferocious assault and very soon, the nine Duke Bergfrieds were on the brink of complete destruction. Shen Jinxiao spat out a mouth of black blood before he continued, "I don't plan to repent in any way. After all, it's a pity that your Heart of Light is just so tantalizing. When I first set my eyes on you, I almost couldn't stop myself from taking action immediately and digging out your heart to eat it in public. Do you know just how much effort I had to put in to suppress those urges?"

Shen Jinxiao stared at Jiang Qing'e with a strange look in his eyes. His contorted smile filled the crowd with a sense of unease.

"After all, it was only later that I realized why my urges were so hard to control. After all... you're the Genesis Seed from the legends."

These words caused Diwu Mingxuan, Sheng Qiao'er, and even Lu Qing'er to look at Jiang Qing'e in absolute shock and at a complete loss for words.

......

"Genesis Seed?"

In Celestial Mirror City, Principal Wang Xuanjin, Elder Bai Yu, and Elder Jin Xi's eyes shrunk. They had managed to spread their senses through the transmission jades that the mentors carried so they could keep track of the situation on the thirty-fourth layer. Thus, they had heard each and every word uttered by Shen Jinxiao.

"Jiang Qing'e is actually the Genesis Seed?" At this point, even Wang Xuanjin, a Triple Crowned King, took a deep breath and his gaze turned feverish. After all, the Academic Federation had always been searching for news of the Genesis Seed!

It was the most mysterious existence in the world and since ancient times, the Genesis Seed had always become that generation's supreme expert. Most importantly, there was the saying passed down from ancient times that even the Heavenly Emperors believed in without a doubt.

When Chaos Descends, Genesis Dawns.

They all believed that the endless Other Disasters would be brought to an end by the hands of the Genesis Seed.

Thus, finding the Genesis Seed was of utmost priority for the Academic Federation. However, it was very rarely seen, and over the tens of thousands of months and years, the number of times it had appeared could be counted on one hand. Thus, the Heavenly Emperors had placed their hopes on another path: to evolve the Sacred Seeds into Acquired Genesis Seeds!

The Academic Federation had once spent an immense amount of effort and resources to nurture an Acquired Genesis Seed. That individual later on became the leader of the Academic Federation and led them through countless disasters.

Unfortunate, the Others had not been eliminated.

Perhaps there was a gap between the acquired and natural Genesis Seeds. It was precisely because of this that Wang Xuanjin, Bai Yu, and Jin Xi immediately lost their composure upon hearing this.

"Is that true?" Elder Jin Xi blurted out.

The Genesis Seed wouldn't show its presence before it fully awakened and thus, he couldn't ascertain if Shen Jinxiao's words were true.

"It's best that we investigate this closely once the situation in the Celestial Mirror Pagoda concludes," Elder Bai Yu responded.

Wang Xuanjin nodded in agreement. Locating the Genesis Seed for the Academic Federation was considered a massive contribution, and even the five Heavenly Emperors that led it would be pleased.

......

Thirty-Fourth Layer.

Li Luo icily glared at Shen Jinxiao. The secret of Jiang Qing'e being the Genesis Seed was something he had never dared to reveal. The matter was simply too complicated and was beyond their control. He didn't know how Shen Jinxiao had managed to discover this secret, but now that it was out in the open, he could no longer hide the fact.

The bright side was that Tantai Lan had returned and he had the full backing of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li. Thus, if anyone dared to covet Jiang Qing'e, they'd have to think twice.

Bang!

At this point, the nine Duke Bergfrieds before Shen Jinxiao shattered, creating a horrifying energy tempest that ravaged the world around him.

And despite this, he only let out a mocking laugh.

His shredded robes were billowing in the air, revealing his ravaged chest. However, Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e's eyes shrank when they saw that another pitch-black stick of incense was stabbed into his gross heart that resembled a contorting tumour.

That stick of incense was identical to the one on Zhou Jun's corpse.

The stick of incense then ignited, and Shen Jinxiao's body began to melt away. However, he didn't reveal any fear; a look of piety and fanaticism appeared on his face. He began to chortle with glee as his voice echoed throughout the heavens and the earth.

"My flesh, my blood, and my broken body... I offer it all! Greetings, Honored One!"

After the remnants of his body turned completely to ash, a sticky black smog rose into the air, transforming into a bottomless black hole that resembled a portal. At the same time, everyone could feel their hearts stop. A bone-white hand stretched out from the black hole, gripping the edge of it in a pulling motion. Then a smiling figure dressed in white strode out.