In Chun Xu's personal quarters, an unconscious Xiao Hu rested on the Sword Fairy's bed, with said fairy sitting by her side, watching over her. Unspeakable words and emotions intertwined in the Sword Fairy's mind. Strands of red mist flickered within her pupils, and Tusha replaced her as the body's owner.
By now, although Tusha and Xinzi usually picked perfect moments to have the infernal nun replace the Sword Fairy, Chun Xu had started to sense some inconsistencies—especially now that she knew Tusha wasn't dead. This new takeover, rushed due to the circumstances, would add to the list of inconsistencies—a matter for another time.
A cluster of soul orbs flew past the Tusha-controlled Chun Xu, diving into the inert Xiao Hu. Xue Yuanshao thus regained his place in Xiao Hu's soul.
'Let's go.' Without delay, the two got to work. Tusha placed one hand on Xiao Hu's forehead, Xue Yuanshao worked from within, and the two cooperated to create the blanks that Xinzi demanded. Meanwhile, carried by the skeletal arm and Xinzi's spiritual sense, the Klesha Heart found a little mysterious beast to pour the foul orb into and shape into a brand-new demon.
That mysterious beast, a scrawny snow direwolf, barely had the time to glance at the skeletal arm and heart that eldritch forces and transformations wracked its body, coming alongside a clear purpose infused by Xinzi's Spiritual Sense.
'I didn't expect you to fall into Xinzi's hands as well.'
'I didn't expect you to serve another master than Qiu Meng.' Tusha started the mental exchange, but in Xue Yuanshao's reply, she sensed a blend of surprise and suspicion that rattled her senses.
'It's a temporary setback.'
'Unless he bound your life to his, which doesn't seem to be the case, letting him die is about the only way to escape his control. You had the perfect opportunity with these beasts, but still jumped right to the rescue. Your words…do not match your actions.'
'Nonsense! Have you seen all his means? Who is to say that he doesn't have the tools to defeat them regardless. And even if he doesn't now, what about his master? Xinzi is unfathomable enough, but that master of his, now that's a man I do not want to mess with.' Tusha tried her best to justify herself. Though she'd never met Qingxin, thanks to the month she spent in the Ice-Fire cave with Xinzi, feeding him her blood and formation techniques while he plowed Dong Ling on the daily, the nun had learned much about Abbot Qingxin.
The following events added to Xinzi's praises, making the nun realize that Abbot Qingxin wasn't one that the current her could afford to offend. Xue Yuanshao understood this better than anyone. The mere fact that Qingxin could appear in Xinzi's Soul World and suppress them both from within showed that his level of divinity likely exceeded all the divines that Xue Yuanshao crossed path with: all except for Hengye Wuxin, of course.
In Xue Yuanshao's mind, the names of the Thousand-Faced God and Solar Dragon God might bring mortals and divines alike to their knees, but it was Hengye Wuxin that equaled invincibility.
When he was born, the mortal world's Heavenly Dao sang for seven days. His fetal spirit seemed devoid of emotions, animated only by the need to spread the eternal night to all corners of the Great Desolation world. For that reason, they named him…Hengye Wuxin. The boy condensed a mortal body with Celestial Dao Bones, further adding to his hype. Back then, all elders of the Evernight Palace and the previous God-Monarch had settled on him as the only worthy God-Child.
But Hengye Wuxin shocked them all with one boisterous statement: "So long as I cultivate in this palace, I can never reach the peak of my potential. Invincibility is my birthright. To seize it, I must accomplish the unprecedented and harness both the Holy and Divine."
Afterward, he left the Evernight Palace to join the Black Lotus Temple. Three centuries later, the legend of the invincible monarch swept through the Great Desolation world.
'On the eve of his Divine Consecration, the monarch took three steps. With the first, he brought the newly enthroned deity of the Central Domain to his knees. With the second, he ended the rebellion of the Great Kun Emperor. With the third, he sent the Immortal Dragon King and his underwater palace to oblivion. Henceforth, Immortals dared not to refer to themselves as Venerable. Gods sent avatars to witness the monarch's Consecration, and the night entered a golden age.' Xue Yuanshao, who'd chased Hengye Wuxin for half his life and worked under him for decades, would never forget this legend—alive or dead.
Little did he know that the Qingxin who saved him from Xinzi's ruthless hands, and his eternal idol, were but one and the same. Then again, he'd already figured it out, but got that part of his memories erased by a finger snap.
…
Satisfied by his performance, Abbot Qingxin kept his arms folded and stuck his chest out, hoping that his grave words and swagger would feel his unfilial disciple with overwhelming emotions. Alas, time flew by, Qingxin maintained the pose, but got no response besides the whistling elemental laws rushing back and forth in this uncanny Dao space. Nerves beat on the senior abbot's temple, and he flew into a rage.
"Bastard brat! All this posturing, and you don't even have one word of compliment to throw your master's way? Today, if I don't discipline you, my name is not Qingxin!" Qingxin rolled his sleeves and turned towards Xinz. But instead of a loitering disciple making childish grimaces at his back, Qingxin found Xinzi crossed-legged, eyes shut in meditation.
"Master, hush. Your name is not Qingxin and I'm trying to break through." Xinzi clapped back, not bothering to open his eyes. Qingxin's signature skill might be of great appeal to other cultivators, but as far as Xinzi was concerned, it'd have to wait at the back of his mind.
Not only could he not master anything with his current cultivation level, but in his heart and soul, Xinzi was a formation master. No, with his Five Elements Transmutative Technique to rely on, he'd exceeded the traditional definition of formation master already.
One day, his formations would bend the rules of reality and turn all lands into paradises—paradises driven by faith in debauchery.
"Increasing your cultivation level is indeed the correct path. You've wasted enough time in Qi Refinement already. This just so happens to be the perfect environment for a realm breakthrough," Qingxin said and fell silent.
The multicolored rays of the five elements coiled Xinzi's form. Divine Power billowed upward, a lotus formed underneath his legs, and within his dantian, Evil and Spiritual Qi rotated at maximum speed. With Xinzi at the center, a golden sun took shape, rotating three times before grinding to a halt—then resuming the rotation.
'Third-level of Yang Revolution? Chun Xu and him have cultivated the Yin-Yang Array to the third level already? I don't know if Hanxing would feel thrilled or terrified.' Qingxin appraised the golden sun—Xinzi's Yang Revolution. For the White Immortal sect, who'd never seen anyone cultivate the the array to the sixth level, the news that Xinzi and Chun Xu had gotten to the third in merely three days might prompt some elders to commit suicide out of shame.
Of course, the first session was by far the most productive one. But even the founders had stagnated at the peak of the first level—to say nothing of the third.
By relying on the Yin-Yang Sword Array and his Five Elements Transmutative Technique, Xinzi could quiet the destructive clash between his Evil Qi and Divine Power. Qingxin initially thought that his disciple merely planned to use that those skills to pave the way for future harmonization, but as he nodded in approval at Xinzi's moves, the junior abbot did the unthinkable and activated his Swallowing Skill—aiming it at the first of his seven Inverse Dao Seals!
"Bastard! What are you doing?" Qingxin, who'd never seen such an outrageous move, lost his composure. But undisturbed, Xinzi carried on. The two Nascent Souls harvested in the Soaring Crane mountain appeared at his left and right, burning to fuel his breakthrough while the Heaven-Trampling Dao Bones cast their suppression force on the seal.
"Since it seems dead-set on interrupting my growth, I will make Heaven my food, and on its carcass build a peerless foundation. Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, Dao Revelation, Void Tribulant and Integration. One seal per realm. If it dares to send more, I will adjust accordingly. But on the day that I break through to Integration, I will transcend Heaven's authority." No other explanation would come from Xinzi's lips. Yet Qingxin could imagine that any "adjustment" would likely involve a myriad of nefarious deeds.
For how long could the senior abbot keep turning a blind eye to his disciple's actions? Ultimately, would it not end like back then, with failed Transcendence and irredeemable losses?
'Perhaps it's time.'
As the senior abbot's thoughts trailed off, Xinzi's Qi Spiral rotated at maximum speed. His Swallowing Skill peaked, pairing with his Void Spiritual Root's absorbing properties to drain the Inverse Dao Seal. In tandem with the drainage, the Qi Spiral expanded, stretching to become a pool, then a lake, and at last a seven-colored ocean that seemed to stretch infinitely.
Sensing the five elements, yin and yang, standing in harmony within that ocean, Qingxin couldn't prevent his face from twisting into a frown.
Previously, he'd dubbed the Heaven Trampling Dao Bones as Xinzi's greatest achievement. But that was because he didn't like his new cultivation method. Orthodox in appearance, but potentially more ruinous than the foulest of infernal arts. In the wrong hands, this skill would produce delusions of supreme divinity and turn the world upside down.
But were Xinzi's hands….not some of the worst to put such a skill into?