Chapter 630 – Final Madness, Life Star Art - Part 1

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.

During that time, the group ventured in and out of the Hall of Life roughly once every two months.

A quarter of that time was spent on the journey itself, three-quarters on internalizing what they’d gained, and when it came to actually contemplating the painting, they only had two days per trip.

Now, the

final cutoff point

had arrived.

There was, at most, another year and a half before the Great Upheaval of Heaven and Earth. That meant this was the last relatively safe window to travel from the Eastern Sea to the Deathless Tomb in the Western Extremes.

Put plainly, if they didn’t leave now, they were placing their lives on the line. Either they’d break through to second rank, or they'd be gambling that they'd somehow survive the coming cataclysm. The only other path was death.

But everyone knew once the spiritual energy vanished, once Yin and Yang collapsed, who could possibly come out unscathed?

More news had arrived from Central Capital.

That imperial hub of martial glory was already running out of ninth rank meat fields. Martial artists were regressing in cultivation, and waves of refugees were flooding the Eastern Sea.

They poured in like fish and shrimp scrambling back to the ocean after a tide receded, frantic and desperate.

Even Zhao Chunxin had fled here.

But the Eastern Sea was no true ocean, just a shallow pond.

And soon, even that pond would dry up.

Once the water was gone, not even ocean overlords like the

whale sharks

could survive.

The bigger you were, the faster you'd die.

That was the brutal truth.

Li Yuan moved quickly. He began organizing a second group of people to head to the Deathless Tomb.

By now, only two people remained by his side, Bai Xinxuan and Ying Zhuoyao.

That night, he spent hours in quiet conversation with Bai Xinxuan.

Bai Xinxuan refused to head west. She had grown obsessed, nearly mad. She couldn’t accept it, not when she was just half a step away from reaching second rank. She had already glimpsed those carvings, the ones that appeared to aid the soul’s breakthrough.

In just six months, she’d made clear progress. With another year and a half, she was sure she could break through.

Next, it was Ying Zhuoyao’s turn.

Li Yuan spoke gently to his little maid. “You should go to the Deathless Tomb too. The Great Upheaval is coming, and I have much to do. When the time comes, things will change in an instant. Anything could happen. I’ll barely be able to look after myself, let alone you. If we ever need to meet again, I’ll come to the tomb to awaken you myself.”

“...” Ying Zhuoyao said nothing. She simply leaned her lovely cheek against his side and murmured, “I’ll go wherever you go, Master. I will never be a burden to you.”

Li Yuan knew she had her own strange skills and secret arts, so he fell silent.

Ying Zhuoyao added softly, “Besides, I’ve learned many things from the Northern Dipper. When Heaven and Earth shift, I’ll be able to help you for sure.”

She clung tightly to Li Yuan, as if afraid he might cast her aside at any moment.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The next morning.

At first light, Li Yuan went to see Ping'an. He found Ping’an just as he was breaking through to the second stage of the Human Soul Realm.

Once a brash and unruly youth, Ping'an now stood as a composed man with graying temples. Even so, the breakthrough had clearly lifted his spirits. When he saw Li Yuan, his face lit up with delight.

“Father, I did it! I’ve broken through!” he said, beaming. “That painting, it’s so profound, so hard to grasp when you're looking at it, but once it sinks in...it really feels like it’s patching up my soul. It’s truly useful!”

Li Yuan looked at his son’s animated expression and hesitated. After a brief pause, he cleared his throat.

“The final moment is here. If we don’t head to the Western Extremes now, we might not make it before the Great Upheaval begins. Son, what’s your choice?”

Ping'an clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

“Of course I’m staying. Father, you know better than anyone. Once the spiritual energy fades, this world will only keep deteriorating. And once it does, where else could we ever find another chance like this? This is the last chance for this world...and the last chance for me. When I was young, I was a genius. I broke through barriers others couldn’t even dream of. This time...I’ll do it again. I’ll create another miracle.”

His eyes gleamed with a fire that hadn’t been seen in years, fierce and brilliant.

Li Yuan had a thousand things he wanted to say, but he also knew that sometimes the path of cultivation hinged on a single breath of resolve. That breath mustn’t be broken.

He couldn’t bear to snuff out his son’s fire. After all, he wasn’t sure that heading back to the Deathless Tomb wasn’t just a slow, drawn-out death sentence.

If that was the case, then better to take a gamble...to fight, even if it meant dying in the attempt.

And if he tried to force Ping'an to retreat now, his son might resent him for a lifetime.

Besides, Ping'an was no longer a child. He could make his own choices.

So instead, Li Yuan asked, “What did you see in the carvings?”

Ping'an thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“I don’t really know. But they’re...mysterious beyond words. Just looking at them makes my head throb, and I can feel my soul quivering. But if I grit my teeth and push through, there’s a strange sense of comfort afterward, like my soul has grown stronger.”

Li Yuan understood. His son couldn't comprehend the full lives of the figures depicted in the paintings, but his soul could still sense something vast pouring into him.

A fragile soul, suddenly exposed to the overwhelming tapestry of mortal lives, the four seasons of the human world, all its joys and sorrows, was bound to be shaken like a shepherd seeing the sea for the first time.

Ping'an smiled. “Father, I know you prefer the cautious path. But who in this world escapes death? I’d rather die chasing the Dao than waste away in some cold, dark tomb. Who knows...maybe this time, I’ll get there first. Maybe I’ll be the first to catch a glimpse of what the heavens look like at second rank. And when I do, I’ll come back and tell you what I saw.”

His voice burned with resolve.

Li Yuan took a deep breath, then smacked the back of his son’s head.

“You little brat. Haven’t even broken through yet, and you’re already getting cocky?”

Ping'an burst into laughter. “Hahaha!”

He threw his head back and roared with laughter, shedding all signs of restraint and solemnity. Though his hair had gone silver at the temples, for a moment, it was as if time had rewound...he looked like the fiery youth he once was.

Still basking in his triumph, he declared proudly, “If Heaven had never given birth to me, Ping'an, the martial path would be shrouded in eternal darkness! I, Ping'an, haven’t become the World’s Number One Swordsman yet!”

That long-forgotten title,

World’s Number One Swordsman

, landed in Li Yuan’s ears like a stone dropped into a deep well, rippling through memories over a hundred years old.

Back then, the boy clutching a wooden sword had been a weepy cry-baby.

Li Yuan reached out and pulled his son into a half-embrace, clapping him on the shoulder.

“Good!” he said, voice full of pride.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

After that, Li Yuan sought out several others, Meng Xingxian, Han Feng, and Sheng’er.

The first two chose not to return to the Deathless Tomb.

But the three Tree’ers along with 26 crows, had stockpiled an enormous amount of Heavenly Fire Spirit Stones and were preparing for the journey back west. If they could break through along the way, great. If not...so be it.

Next, Li Yuan checked in with a few old friends and familiar faces.

If any of them were willing, he didn’t mind at all letting them lie down in the Deathless Tomb for safekeeping.

After all, in this long, drawn-out life, even with eternal youth, he still hoped to have a few people left to share a drink with, to reminisce with when all was said and done.

In addition to that, he began selecting the brightest talents from every sect across the Eastern Sea. These prodigies were the lifeblood of their sects, their future and their potential.

And so, the second expedition to the West Pole Deathless Tomb was formed.

Leading the way were the three Tree’ers and 26 crows.

The team included Zhu Ban, Tie Sha, Fang Jianlong, Zhao Chunxin, Yan Mu, Gu Xuejian, along with a group of their personally selected elites, plus 21 prodigies from the Eastern Sea.

Among these geniuses, the lowest cultivation level was peak fourth rank, but their actual age was far below what their cultivation would suggest.

They carried a large supply of spirit stones to prolong their lives. Once they exited the Moon River Beach, they would detour through the Central Capital to pick up Zhen’er, Xie Yu, and several of their relatives before heading west together.

If all went according to plan, this group should reach the Deathless Tomb before the Great Upheaval struck.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Central Capital

At 62 years old, Zhen’er’s hair had already turned silver. But her smile remained serene, her manner unshakably composed as she sipped lightly brewed tea in the courtyard.

When Sheng’er told her about the plan to travel to the Deathless Tomb, she readily agreed because she was still curious about what the future held.

However, when they tried to locate Xie Yu, they found she had disappeared.

There was still a several month journey between the Eastern Sea and the Central Capital, so Zhen’er began organizing a search for her mother.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

A few days later.

The long caravan of the second group heading to the Deathless Tomb finally departed from the Eastern Sea.

Li Yuan watched many of them leave.

By the end, only a handful of familiar faces remained beside him in the Eastern Sea, Ping'an, Bai Xinxuan, Ying Zhuoyao, Meng Xingxian, and Han Feng.

A quiet chill settled over him.

The catastrophe was looming. The end-times had already begun to show their shadow.

And under a collapsing sky, there would be no room for luck.

Li Yuan had made his decision. He would stay behind a little longer to help his son and Bai Xinxuan as much as he could.

He didn’t leave with the others.

If he were the type to prioritize safety above all, he’d have gone back by now, headed for the Deathless Tomb, and waited out the end in peace.

But even so, he had drawn a line. No matter what, he would set out by year’s end at the latest and rush to the tomb before the upheaval arrived.

The fourth expedition into the Hall of Life began.

This time, their goal wasn’t the painting.

It lay deeper far beyond the murals, deep in the stone corridors.

They would follow the ancient map from the early days of the Age of the Ancient God and head toward a specific marked destination.

Far off on a high cliff overlooking the Hall of Life, Ying Zhuoyao watched Li Yuan disappear into the distance. She let out a quiet breath and turned away.

But this time, instead of heading back to the Immortal Alliance, she made a detour to a secluded spot.

In a low voice, she said, “Come out.”

As the words fell, a shadow flickered into view.

When it landed, the figure radiated a sharp, oppressive presence, it was none other than the long-dormant Celestial Sovereign.

He had spent years in hiding among the common folk, quietly gathering information. Once he learned that a large number of people had left the Eastern Sea, he knew the time to act had come.

But he was nothing like Bai Xinxuan and the others.

Those people had been stuck at peak third rank for thousands of years.

He, on the other hand, had been stuck for tens of thousands.

To be fair, he hadn’t spent those ten thousand years in a normal state of existence, he’d survived through strange and secretive means. His current body, rebuilt and repaired, had only managed to claw its way back to peak third rank thanks to the rich spiritual energy of the Eastern Sea.

Technically, he was a

slave

under the Northern Dipper’s control.

So, escape had never been an option for him.

His only path forward was to break through to second rank.

That was why he’d come here, to follow behind the main group and sneak into the Hall of Life.

He hadn’t dared to attempt it before. Ying Zhuoyao’s soul-clones had been patrolling the skies overhead, making any approach impossible. But now, although guards still lingered, they could no longer stop him.

He landed and faced Ying Zhuoyao head-on, smiling politely. “Miss Ying. Long time, no see.”

Ying Zhuoyao snorted coldly. “Look again.”

The Celestial Sovereign frowned slightly. Then his gaze sharpened and slowly, his expression began to change.