Chapter 1588 - Life and Death Transformation

The lesser realm splintered further, fracturing into countless shards.

The pirates of the Seventy-Two Caves, the Oceanic Clan, and the Peach Blossom Gate had already fled. The ordinary cultivators ran even farther, terrified of being swallowed by the aftermath.

Only Gong Gong and another expert of the Witcher Clan stayed behind, hovering in the sky and refusing to leave.

Word of Liu Wuxie's death swept through the Spirit Martial Astral Domain like a violent gale. Countless sect outposts dotted the Thousand Islands Sea Region, and the moment they received the news, they relayed it back to their headquarters.

When the Grand Unity Sect experts stationed at the border between the two astral domains heard of Liu Wuxie's death, they began withdrawing their manpower as well. The Nalan Clan had already sent them word that Nalan Qiwen and Liu Wuxie had perished together.

A quasi-immortal dying alongside an earth immortal was far too explosive for anyone to believe. Yet it didn't take long for the four astral domains to receive confirmation that Liu Wuxie was dead.

"Sect Master, the Immortal Slaughter Palace's experts have arrived," Bai Ran reported to Sheng Yuan as he rose to his feet.

The Divine Alchemy Sect had fallen into chaos over the past few months. Their income and number of disciples had dwindled while internal conflict had torn through the sect, and nothing seemed to go right. But the moment they heard Liu Wuxie had died, they erupted into celebration.

"Wait for the Grand Unity Sect's news," Sheng Yuan said. The Grand Unity Sect experts were still returning, and waiting a few extra days meant nothing.

Back in the Heavenly Dragon Sect, a heavy silence blanketed the entire sect.

Facing the questions from Liu Wuxie's five wives, Hua Feiyu answered with only one word: wait.

The five beauties standing before Hua Feiyu were Liu Wuxie's five wives. When Liu Wuxie had departed for the Spirit Martial Astral Domain, Hua Feiyu had concealed the news from them.

Sun Xiao tried to comfort the five women. "Junior Sisters-in-law, I believe Junior Brother won't die so easily. You don't have to worry too much. Since the sect master told us to wait, there must be a turning point."

"The Memory Talisman shows my husband perished with Nalan Qiwen," Xu Lingxue said as she wiped her tears. Many cultivators had recorded the battle with Memory Talismans, and the recording clearly showed Liu Wuxie's body collapsing.

"Go back and wait if you trust me. There will be news in three days," Hua Feiyu said. Even if they stayed behind, they couldn't change anything, and the Heavenly Dragon Sect had already dispatched experts to the Spirit Martial Astral Domain.

"Big Sister Xue'er, let's go back and wait. I believe our husband will be fine," Vanya said. She trusted Liu Wuxie unconditionally, and she refused to believe he was dead just because the entire world declared it.

To her, there was nothing her husband couldn't accomplish, and she believed no one alive could kill him.

"Young Sister Vanya is right. Let's go back and wait," Murong Yi said as she stepped forward to support Xu Lingxue.

The Thousand Islands Sea Region fell into an uneasy hush. Many cultivators departed, while many more arrived to investigate what had happened that day.

The Peach Blossom Gate kept an unusually low profile over the next few days. Even the pirates of the Seventy-Two Caves stopped raiding passing caravans, and the Oceanic Clan stayed buried beneath the sea, rarely surfacing.

That battle had shaken the world to its core because a quasi-immortal had fallen. How many years had it been since a quasi-immortal had died within the four astral domains?

"King, why are we still guarding this place?" The other expert of the Witcher Clan asked.

"Wait," Gong Gong said.

"What are we waiting for?" the Witcher Clan's expert asked.

"Wait for him," Gong Gong said.

"Can he really come back?" The Witcher Clan's expert asked, scanning the surroundings in disbelief. He saw nothing but roaring waves and an icy wind cutting across the sea.

"He can," Gong Gong said, as terse as ever.

Time flowed on, and a full day passed after the battle. The discussion of Liu Wuxie's death slowly began to fade.

"Who am I? Where am I?" Liu Wuxie couldn't see anything around him, as if he had fallen into another realm.

"Am I dead? Or am I still alive?" Liu Wuxie asked as questions piled higher and higher. If he had died, how could he still think? But if he lived, why could he no longer sense his body?

His consciousness drifted downward into an endless gray world with no flow of time and no ripple of laws. This place lay beyond Liu Wuxie's comprehension. It wasn't the void, the Realm of Death, or the Realm of Life.

"The Samsara Realm!" Liu Wuxie's consciousness suddenly stirred, and his awareness drifted like the wind.

When the heavenly dao turned, everything would repeat, and nothing could be rebuilt without breaking first.

A thought struck Liu Wuxie without warning, and he realized he had fallen into the Path of Samsara. If he couldn't walk out, he would truly die for eternity.

"The Great Samsara Mythical Art!" He knew he could revive by comprehending the Great Samsara Mythical Art. The divine son had also revived through it and used death itself to grasp samsara's true essence.

In the next instant, countless desolate characters coiled around Liu Wuxie's consciousness and wove through it. There was no Heavenly Dao Book, no Desolate World, and even the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron had vanished.

When Liu Wuxie focused inward, each character rang like the great dao inside his head. The profundity was there, yet whenever he nearly grasped something, it slipped away in the next instant. His consciousness kept sinking, and he teetered on the edge of tumbling deeper into the Path of Samsara.

"In the blaze of desire, death gives rise to rebirth... So this is the true profundity of achieving unity with heaven and earth. I had only grasped the surface of it earlier," Liu Wuxie murmured, and his mind cleared more than before. He still hadn't mastered the Great Samsara Mythical Art, but he had finally comprehended the deeper meaning behind unity with heaven and earth.

Flame wrapped around Liu Wuxie like a phoenix reborn from ashes. The world around him brightened, and Liu Wuxie could see again. The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, the Heavenly Dao Book, and even the Desolate World reappeared, hovering before him.

"Samsara laws, I need a vast amount of samsara laws!" Liu Wuxie's consciousness roared, though he couldn't open his mouth because he still had no body. Even with the true profundity of unity with heaven and earth, he couldn't restore his body in an instant.

Unity with heaven and earth meant that even if Liu Wuxie's body collapsed, he could remain one with heaven and earth as long as his consciousness endured. Even reduced to a speck of dust, he could still coexist with heaven and earth.

However, the real problem was that he didn't know how to leave the Path of Samsara. When the black gate had shattered, the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron had devoured all that energy.

In that same breath, countless samsara laws surged out of the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and wrapped around Liu Wuxie's consciousness. The Heavenly Dao Book had already recorded much of samsara's power during Liu Wuxie's battle with the divine son, and he had already comprehended fragments of it.

Because of that earlier absorption, Liu Wuxie could grasp a wisp of samsara intent so quickly. Without that battle against the divine son, comprehending samsara would have been nearly impossible.

"So, this is samsara!" As the samsara laws poured in, Liu Wuxie finally understood. His consciousness began forming seals, and a strange rune appeared in the air. It was the samsara rune.

Another day passed, and the talk of Liu Wuxie had nearly faded across the Thousand Islands Sea Region. Two days had gone by, and the sea remained calm while Gong Gong hovered above the surface with his eyes closed, and the other Witcher Clan expert sat nearby in silence.

"Great Samsara Mythical Art. Those who are struck by it would be subjected to the torture of hundreds and thousands of lifetimes until they dissipate. This is the true profundity of samsara," Liu Wuxie murmured. Reviving was only one application of the Great Samsara Mythical Art.

The true Great Samsara Mythical Art could torment a target across countless lifetimes and doom them never to be reborn again. The Heavenly Dao Book emitted a gentle glow and wrapped around Liu Wuxie's consciousness, like an embryo slowly taking shape.

After achieving unity of heaven and earth, Liu Wuxie no longer needed a mortal physical body, because the laws of heaven and earth could shape him. Countless laws of heaven and earth began gathering toward Liu Wuxie.

Gong Gong's eyes snapped open, and a faint smile lifted the corner of his lips. The other Witcher Clan member rose as well after sensing the subtle change in the atmosphere.

"Could it be him?" There wasn't a single living thing within a radius of over three thousand meters. Even the Oceanic Clan didn't dare to come closer, and no one could understand why such a powerful fluctuation of law had begun to stir there.

"It has been two days. It's time for him to return now," Gong Gong said.

Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning appeared alongside the five elements, yin, yang, and light. Countless laws converged as the five elements formed internal organs, light and darkness wove Liu Wuxie's flesh, and the four elements forged bones and meridians. Every element took its proper role.

At this moment, Liu Wuxie was no longer a mortal body. His flesh had been forged entirely from the laws of heaven and earth, completing unity with heaven and earth.

"Desolate World! Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron!" Liu Wuxie called, and the Desolate World and the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron surged into him. At that moment, his physique finished its transformation.

"Ghost Pupil, it's time for you to return," Liu Wuxie said. This time, no eye appeared on his forehead, because Ghost Pupil fused directly into his eyes and became part of him. His gaze sharpened until he could see hundreds of millions of miles and overlook heaven and earth.

With Ghost Pupil's advancement, Liu Wuxie's field of vision expanded countless times. Yet after condensing his body, his soul remained empty. The Nether Deity Harvest erupted into boundless soul energy and filled his soul sea, but the price was absolute. He would never be able to use the Nether Deity Harvest again.

As the laws of heaven and earth merged, this outcome became inevitable. The weaker mythical arts in his arsenal began to fuse into the stronger ones. On the path of cultivation, all paths ultimately converged toward the same destination.

The Soul Forge Art began to evolve. The Soul Spear, Soul Shield, and Soul Fire gradually merged into a single entity, becoming a white primordial spirit wielding a spear. With this new primordial spirit formed, Liu Wuxie would be able to control his soul energy far more smoothly in the future.

The Heavenly Dao Book also slid into Liu Wuxie's soul sea and hovered there, resembling the outline of heaven and earth itself, with a thick samsara law rune imprinted upon it.

The instant the Heavenly Dao Book settled into Liu Wuxie's soul sea, cracking sounds erupted from the Desolate World and the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron that had already fused into his world, and the two began to merge into one.

The change stunned Liu Wuxie on the spot.

"Is the Desolate Devouring Art finally going to advance?" Liu Wuxie wondered. He had long suspected there were further chapters to the Desolate Devouring Art, and the chapter he had cultivated so far was only the mortal version.

If he wanted to become an immortal, relying on the current chapter would never be enough. The ground split open as the world overlapped, forging a new Desolate World.

"Desolate Devouring Art, the Life and Death Transformation!" Liu Wuxie said as the world transformed before his eyes, and countless desolate characters gathered together to form a new chapter.