The coldness reached its peak. The ice melted into water, and a deep blue current surged toward Xi with lightning speed. Along the way, misty vapor froze into layers of colorful ice, creating a dazzling spectacle.
Xi was startled by the cry of “Precept Blade.” The words “Who is the sole sovereign in heaven and earth?” reverberated in his mind, throwing him into turmoil as a surge of memories suddenly flooded in. His primordial spirit seemed to split apart, locked in a fierce internal struggle. Though he swiftly suppressed the chaos, the deep blue icy torrent from the Ice Eye Crystal Soul had already reached him, leaving no time to dodge.
Meng Qi never expected that “Only I Reign Supreme” from the Tathagata’s Palm could instantly trigger a complete collapse of Xi’s mental defenses and secure victory without further combat. After all, Xi possessed the Five Virtues. Even if his Merit and Holy Virtue were momentarily shaken, a thread of survival would persist, allowing him to avert disaster and forcefully suppress the vulnerability, regaining clarity. Therefore, Meng Qi aimed for a brief destabilization, creating an opportunity to use the core material of his divine weapon, preventing Xi from breaking free from his lock.
The deep blue icy current engulfed Xi’s body. His Merit had already been restored, and the golden exquisite pagoda was frozen into ice. The Primordial Yellow light particles froze in midair. The black and white auroras, the auspicious purple glow, the Holy Virtue water waves, and the pale Yin Virtue all turned into ice—crystal clear, colorful, dazzling and dreamlike. The coldness spread inward, and even the phoenix’s phantom was frozen within the ice. When the ice melted, everything would turn to waste, revealing the terrifying power of the Ice Eye Crystal Soul.
Had Meng Qi not cultivated the “Primordial Golden Chapter” and mastered the Five Supreme and Five Virtues techniques, including the Three Treasures Ruyi Fist, it would have been nearly impossible for anyone else in his position to attain such profound comprehension of the Five Virtues!
Moreover, if Meng Qi did not possess the first stance of the Tathagata’s Palm, “Only I Reign Supreme”—the Primordial Spirit Palm, the Mind’s Palm, the most formidable palm technique across the Three Realms—even if he could momentarily disrupt the Merit and Holy Virtue, he would still be unable to truly penetrate them and delve into Xi’s deepest thoughts.
Of course, others might find different vulnerabilities in Xi and adopt alternative strategies. Meng Qi’s entire approach was tailored precisely to his own techniques and strengths.
Guided by the principles of “Dao Spreads Across the Universe” and the insights from the Seven Heaven-Cutting Sword Compendium, after months of arduous cultivation, Meng Qi’s blade techniques and sword methods had finally merged and become fluid once again, returning to the level he had previously achieved—executing freely without being constrained by rigid forms or fixed moves.
As the icy torrent froze everything, Meng Qi, despite his near-exhaustion, quickly retreated backward. Xi was quite mysterious and deeply connected to the Solar Sovereign. Now, the Solar Sovereign’s physical body was hidden in the “past” before him. In a life-or-death moment, unpredictable changes might occur, so the greater the distance, the better.
Had Xi not remained steadfast, Meng Qi would have genuinely considered making a pact to go separate ways, like travelers on opposite sides of a road. And as for the Ancient Void Piercing Talisman, since he had a way to kill his opponent, he was unwilling to use his last one. Being within the Nine Heavens Ruins, surrounded by danger, who knew what other perils might arise next?
The phoenix phantom, imbued with the Five Virtues, was completely frozen. The chill spread toward Xi, while Meng Qi summoned his remaining strength, stepping rapidly with the Somersault Steps to create a vast distance.
Suddenly, beneath the phantom of the Fusang Sacred Tree, a golden colossal figure opened its eyes. Within them burned twin suns, blinding and scorching, drawing one’s primordial spirit into their gaze, revealing only the eyes, not the face or body.
The Solar Sovereign had awakened!
A mighty being from ancient times, the Solar Sovereign had awakened!
Boom!
Meng Qi seemed to hear a phantom explosion and felt a searing heat capable of melting him, an extreme sense of danger rising in his heart. He was about to activate the Ancient Void Piercing Talisman and flee deep into the swirling mists.
At that moment, the Solar Sovereign slowly rose, like a towering mountain peak. Flames erupted from his eyes in a semi-circular wave, burning from the “past” into the “present.”
The scorching, majestic, and terrifying presence directly overwhelmed Meng Qi’s primordial spirit, nearly freezing his thoughts. The surrounding area seemed engulfed in layers of flames. Suddenly, his Taoist robe caught fire, burning his body, while the Solar Sovereign’s flames from the past had not yet reached him.
The might of this flame was terrifying beyond words!
Within Meng Qi’s primordial spirit, a golden Buddha figure appeared, pointing to the heavens and touching the earth, declaring, “Only I am supreme.” This dispelled the oppressive force and restored some clarity to Meng Qi’s mind, enabling him to activate the Ancient Void-Piercing Talisman and escape.
But at that very moment, the Solar Sovereign’s golden flames were already upon him. The intense heat vaporized his Taoist robe into blackened ash. Even if he fled, he could only escape with his body, leaving behind his physical form.
The disparity between them was simply too immense. Even separated by the boundaries of time, the Solar Sovereign’s strike traversing the ages still retained the power of an ordinary Dharmakaya!
This was legend!
As the Tianxin Woyi Method activated, a sense of extreme danger surged within Meng Qi. Death seemed near, yet he seemed unable to use any other divine weapon core material in time.
Suddenly, an ethereal, distant voice echoed in his ears, and a graceful white figure appeared before him. White lotuses drifted down, blooming gently.
“Humanity is like a prison, all beings suffer, the wheel of rebirth never stops, calamities never cease. Pity these mortals, a god descends from heaven, the Eternal Mother, the Pure Land of Emptiness!”
Gu Xiao Sang? Meng Qi stared in astonishment at the figure before him, hearing the divine voice reverberate through the void.
At that moment, Gu Xiao Sang appeared solemn and holy, holding a white lotus in her hands, a lotus formed from condensed emptiness.
Petal by petal, the lotus unfolded. The surroundings became serene and pure. The Five Virtues and Five Greats merged. The Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams converged into a single point, returning to nothingness. From “non-being” arose “being,” the mother of all things.
The Eternal Mother, the Pure Land of Emptiness—the ultimate refuge, the final destination, the shore beyond the shore!
The golden flames surged forward, melting petal after petal of the white lotus, burning through the Pure Land of Emptiness, piercing layer after layer of void until reaching Gu Xiaosang.
The firelight illuminated her face. Gu Xiao Sang’s eyes were deep and emotionless, her expression still solemn, filled with a sacred and transcendent aura, yet tinged with a mischievous, enigmatic allure.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, she stained the white lotus crimson, her aura rapidly weakening.
The white lotus radiated brilliant light, but under the terrifying golden flames, it quickly dimmed, only greatly weakening the flames.
The flames burned the air, creating howling winds. Gu Xiao Sang swayed, barely managing to hold her ground.
At this moment, Meng Qi fully unleashed the Tianxin Woyi Method. Behind him, the Indestructible Primordial Image emerged, chaotic and indistinct, coalescing into a single point—beyond time, beyond space, indescribable.
At a glance, this point seemed like a Taoist immortal, ageless, dignified, ancient and eternal, filled with the weight of ages.
The Taoist figure abruptly rose to his feet, his eyes snapping open—their depths unfathomable, transcending time and void. With both hands forming mystic seals, one clutching the Ice Eye Crystal Soul while the other lashed outward in a phantom strike.
The heavens and earth shifted. The Ice Eye Crystal Soul turned crimson, the golden flames dimmed, the temperature dropped, and a chill emerged.
The Nine Primordial Seals—Yin Yang Seal!
The Yin Yang Seal, executed with the Ice Eye Crystal Soul as the core!
As the golden flames engulfed her, Gu Xiao Sang shivered, her face turning deathly pale. Meng Qi trembled all over. Together, barely, they managed to withstand the strike.
Yet the Ice Eye Crystal Soul developed slight cracks. One more use would cause a significant loss of power, rendering it unsuitable as a divine weapon core!
Crack! A phantom sound of rupture echoed. The Solar Sovereign shattered the past and arrived in the present. With merely a glance, it seemed he could reduce Meng Qi and Gu Xiao Sang to dust, vaporizing them.
However, his aura rapidly declined, his body swiftly shrinking, as if layers of his outer form were being stripped away by the passage of time!
From the past to the present, how many tens of thousands of years had passed? He should have long since perished, his power dissipated, leaving only immortal flesh imbued with world-shattering might!
Thus, with this single step, the torrent of countless eons washed over him. The Solar Sovereign seemed on the verge of vanishing, with no strength left to “glare” at Meng Qi. Gathering his remaining power, his entire body erupted in multicolored flames—from within outward, from formless and colorless to orange-yellow and dark red—then transformed into a streak of radiant light, melting the ice crystals, melting the deep blue, and plunging into Xi’s forehead.
Silently, the freezing around Xi vanished. His eyes revealed twin suns, as if merging with the phoenix’s flame.
His mask cracked with a “kacha” sound, covered in icy fissures and burn marks. Before it even touched the ground, it turned to ash. His face was ancient and rugged, as if carved by knife and chisel.
Spitting a mouthful of blood—flame-like blood—Xi turned and fled, leaving behind a scene of utter devastation.
His condition was extremely dire, a kind of deterioration Meng Qi couldn’t comprehend, so severe that even the nearly powerless Meng Qi and Gu Xiao Sang terrified him.
Watching him vanish, Meng Qi finally exhaled in relief, feeling drained and gravely wounded, with no strength left to activate the Ancient Void Piercing Talisman.
Gu Xiaosang coughed lightly, her voice weak. Meng Qi struggled to move forward, supporting her as he asked, “Are you alright?”
Regardless of her motives or intentions, having just received her life-saving grace, he couldn’t ignore her.
Gu Xiaosang’s lips were pale and bloodless, yet she smiled sweetly: “This humble wife has saved her husband once again.”
Her eyes sparkled with laughter, concealing her true thoughts.
“We should leave here first and find a place to recover,” Meng Qi said, watching Gu Xiao Sang swallow a healing pill, then taking a Medicine Master’s Heart Pill himself.
Gu Xiaosang struggled to raise her hand and pointed into the distance, saying, “There are some remnants over there.”
Meng Qi focused his gaze and saw Xi’s blood still burning with enduring flames, golden in hue, similar to what the Solar Sovereign had unleashed earlier. Beside the blood lay a small piece of glass-like debris.
A sudden realization struck him. He stepped forward, taking out the Heart of Solar Flame and placing it within the blood’s fiery glow.
Within a breath, the Heart of Solar Flame radiated brilliant light, absorbing every trace of the blood’s flames, leaving not a drop. When it returned to normal, its glow was more restrained, its power more terrifying, and it now resembled a miniature sun.
With just a naked-eye observation, Meng Qi sensed that its grade had improved, and its usable frequency appeared to be restored.
“The Solar Sovereign had been preparing for countless eons, yet you disrupted everything, causing conflict and leaving remnants behind,” Gu Xiao Sang said, weak as a willow in the wind, slowly catching up as the medicine’s effects spread, her speech no longer halting.
That explained it… Meng Qi put away the Heart of Solar Flame and picked up the glass-like fragment. He discovered it was a shard of the Mirror of Reincarnation, riddled with cracks, unable to reflect any image, yet brimming with an unfathomable, indeterminate aura.
“A shard of the Mirror of Reincarnation!” Meng Qi exhaled. So it had been taken by Xi all along. Truly, after searching high and low without success, it had appeared effortlessly.
“Dear husband, this place is no longer safe. Let’s go somewhere else—it’s secure and perfect for recovery,” Gu Xiao Sang suggested.
Meng Qi naturally agreed—the previous commotion had been too great!
As he was about to step forward, Gu Xiao Sang suddenly cried out in pain, smiling at Meng Qi: “Dear husband, I’m severely injured and can barely walk. Please help me.”
Though suspecting Gu Xiao Sang might be lying, having just received her life-saving grace, Meng Qi could only subtly curl his lips and nod in agreement.
Gu Xiao Sang leaned close, her warmth soft and fragrant.
Supporting each other, they quickened their pace. Following Gu Xiao Sang’s guidance, they headed back toward the Hall of This Life.
After walking a while, Meng Qi spotted a gray stone hall ahead—empty inside!
Stepping in and confirming its safety, Meng Qi had just begun to relax when Gu Xiao Sang spoke: “When the Nine Heavens shattered, the Hall of the Past and the Hall of the Future remained intact at first, only later deliberately destroyed.”
Later destroyed? By the Thunder God who sealed this layer? Or someone who entered before Him? Thoughts churned in Meng Qi’s mind, shifting his focus.
Suddenly, a slender white finger pressed against his chest, unleashing a surge of force that sealed his primordial spirit.
“You!” Still weakened from the backlash, Meng Qi was momentarily too slow to react. He watched helplessly as Gu Xiao Sang subdued him. “What are you planning?”
Gu Xiao Sang straightened, her aura still weak, like a sickly beauty, smiling faintly: “Guess.”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage