Chapter 1210 - Destiny

For ordinary cultivators, finding a single Wisdom Stone was a nearly impossible task. For Liu Wuxie, however, it posed no challenge at all.

"Wuxie, what does a Wisdom Stone look like?" He Yingwu asked. He had never seen one before and doubted he would recognize it even if someone were to place one in his hand.

"Wisdom Stones contain soul laws," Liu Wuxie explained patiently. "When you hold one, you'll feel faint ripples of soul energy. They don't have a fixed shape; Sometimes, they're round, sometimes oval, sometimes square, and sometimes, they look entirely different."

As he spoke, he spread out his divine sense, fusing it with the Ghost Eye. Instantly, everything within a thousand meters was engulfed in his perception. His soul sea already rivaled that of cultivators at the fourth or fifth level of the Origin Conversion Realm, but what truly gave him the advantage was the Heavenly Dao Book.

It sharpened his perception to a level ordinary disciples could never match. Where others could only sense Wisdom Stones up close, Liu Wuxie could sweep across the land with ease.

"Over there!" he called. In a flash, his figure vanished and reappeared a hundred meters away.

Outside the mountain range, the twelve elders and over a thousand disciples fixed their eyes on the Memory Stone. All attention was fixed on Liu Wuxie as he placed his palm on a massive boulder.

With a light tap, the rock split open. Three fist-sized stones rolled out, each one glowing faintly with a blue radiance, stark against the dull earth.

At once, the puzzle of the "blue region" became clear to him. Vegetation filled the first segment's lush green mountain range, while toxins stained the second range a yellowish hue. He had been wondering why this third segment bore the word "blue" when the mountains seemed no different.

Now, he had the answer—the stones themselves carried the color of the trial.

"That's impossible! How come he has already found three of them?" The disciples outside gasped. Faces twisted with disbelief, and some even clutched at their hair as if they were losing their sanity.

"He must have a way to sense treasures!" others muttered bitterly. Even the twelve elders exchanged knowing looks. They had already suspected something, as he had gathered a vast number of jade tokens during the first trial.

Liu Wuxie collected the stones calmly and handed one to He Yingwu. "Familiarize yourself with it."

As soon as He Yingwu took the stone, a faint stream of soul energy seeped into him and merged with his soul sea. His eyes widened with shock at the sensation.

"I'll use these to break through to the third level of the Transcendent Realm," Liu Wuxie said, "Stand guard."

"Understood." He Yingwu drew his longsword and stationed himself at his side, vigilant against any threat.

By now, no one dared to provoke them. The moment Liu Wuxie entered the blue region, he had moved east, while the rest of the disciples scattered away, too fearful to cross paths with him.

He sat cross-legged, gripping a Wisdom Stone. The instant he began refining it, its soul energy surged into him.

"Elders, isn't it against the rules for him to refine one alone?!" Several disciples shouted in protest. The thought of Liu Wuxie making another breakthrough filled them with despair.

"Shut your mouths!" a Heavenly Martial Institute elder barked. "If you have the ability, refine one yourselves!"

His words were sharp enough to silence them. The disciples lowered their heads, choking on their bitterness. They could only ponder how they could kill Liu Wuxie among themselves.

Liu Wuxie ignored them all and activated the Soul Forge Art of the Spirit Clan. Though he had not yet fully mastered it, he had reached the third form—Soul Fire.

His soul sea, unlike that of ordinary cultivators, was vast and boundless. He had long since cleared his channels to the upper dantian, and three divine gates anchored its depths. At the center floated the Heavenly Dao Book, steady as a mountain.

As the Wisdom Stone melted away in his palm, its energy poured into him. His soul sea expanded further. Unlike the desolate world, which brimmed with rivers, mountains, and forests, this sea felt ancient, primordial, and nurturing, like the cradle of creation itself.

A portion flowed into the desolate world to give it more spirituality.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron within him stored the laws he had stripped from Origin Conversion Realm cultivators. Until now, he hadn't found a safe chance to attempt a breakthrough. Here, with no threat nearby, the moment to make a breakthrough had finally come.

The soul energy surged like a tidal wave. His mist-like sea condensed into liquid, rippling like rivers flowing through a world. The unprecedented phenomenon sent a deep rumble through him.

For most cultivators, soul seas always remained in mist form. To see it condense into liquid... if news about that were to spread, even Primal Origin Realm experts would tremble in disbelief.

As Liu Wuxie's soul energy surged, his soul sea expanded endlessly. A cultivator's soul sea had no actual limit, and with the aid of Wisdom Stones, he could excavate it further, making room to store even greater reserves of power.

From the depths of his soul sea, mysterious runes surfaced, radiating an ancient aura. They felt foreign, unlike anything found within the soul seas of ordinary cultivators. It was as if his soul sea had connected with the heavens themselves, and invisible laws were pouring into him.

"That's... primordial laws!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed. The instant the ancient force descended into him, his figure trembled violently.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"How can this be?" His thoughts spiraled in disbelief. "The primordial era vanished billions of years ago. The laws should have long dissolved into the universe. How come ancient laws still exist?"

He knew truths that most could not grasp. Universes, worlds, and stars bore lifespans and would decline and fade. Eras had come and gone—the primordial, the archaic, the ancient—and the cycles of time had erased countless mysteries.

Even Immortal Emperors couldn't claim eternity.

When heaven and earth themselves perished, even Immortal Emperors would crumble. Only those who transcended heaven and earth could break those shackles.

Liu Wuxie's memories stretched only as far as his former life as an Immortal Emperor in the Celestial Realm. After cultivating the Desolate Devouring Art, he realized that even the Immortal Emperor's throne was not the end of the path.

The primordial laws dissolved into his soul sea, releasing a strange, uncontrollable force. That power intertwined with him like strands of destiny, inseparable and unyielding. For an instant, he glimpsed another version of himself—blurred, indistinct, but undeniably there.

"Is this destiny? Who am I, truly?" he murmured, and doubt shook his mind as it gnawed at his sense of self. Before, his path was clear. With the sudden binding of destiny, he discovered that some unfinished thread had tethered itself to his existence. However, he had no idea where it came from.

"Could this be tied to being a chosen one?" Countless thoughts flooded his mind as he recalled the Barefooted Elder's words, "Heavenly burial's summit, chosen by the earth."

He had searched countless ancient texts without finding answers. The Barefooted Elder had long vanished, leaving only riddles. If he could not unravel the mystery himself, then this binding force would remain—an unseen thread linking him to something beyond his comprehension.

Though it would not halt his growth or endanger his life, destiny's power still clung to him, tying him to an unknown fate.

Gradually, that force faded from his senses. Yet he knew it still existed, lurking within him, its connection stretching across worlds, universes, and even eras.

The gateway to the third-level Transcendent Realm opened within him, pulling his focus back. He could no longer linger over the mystery. Destiny had become part of him, inseparable from his being.

In time, he would uncover the truth. For now, he would forge strength, find the Dragon Origin Herb, and open the Astral Domain Path.

With a thunderous rumble, his cultivation surged upward, reaching the pinnacle of the third-level Transcendent Realm. The moment he crossed the threshold, spiritual energy from a radius of ten thousand meters converged overhead.

Outside the mountain range, disciples witnessed the spectacle for the first time.

"What terrifying power!" Gasps echoed all around.

The twelve elders remained steady, as they had already seen his earlier breakthroughs. To the disciples, however, the scale of his breakthrough dwarfed their own to the point of absurdity. Compared to Liu Wuxie, the commotion from their breakthrough wasn't even one-tenth as great.

After cutting down so many foes, he amassed nearly five hundred thousand astral stones, enough to fuel his advance. Without them, this breakthrough would have been far more arduous.

One hundred astral stones shattered in his grasp, their essence liquefying into torrents that poured into his desolate world. With that, the inner realm doubled in size.

The true essence within it swelled to a terrifying degree. By his own reckoning, his foundation now equaled that of a fourth-level Origin Conversion Realm cultivator.

With the Heaven-Severing Strike, he was confident he could slay even those at the sixth level.

Above him, a giant vortex churned, devouring every strand of spiritual energy in the area. The Avatar Star's underground spiritual veins trembled as their power siphoned upward to nourish his advance.

The spectacle struck the disciples outside the trial ground, dumbfounded. Some had entertained thoughts of competing with him, but those illusions crumbled.

Now, all they wished was to stay as far from him as possible and cultivate in peace.

He Yingwu, however, had already grown numb to such a commotion.

The Wisdom Stones expanded Liu Wuxie's soul sea by another third. Old injuries within it vanished, healed entirely. His mind sharpened, his thoughts as clear as crystal, as though he had been reborn. For the first time, he felt he had planted his feet firmly in the Astral Domain.

Another rumble tore through the valley. Stones exploded outward under the pressure of his aura. A divine dragon's presence erupted from him, soaring into the sky as if to declare his newfound realm to the heavens themselves.