The Sacred Master let out a frenzied low growl before gradually falling silent once more.
His eyes were cold and fathomless.
With the fury and killing intent burning within him, he truly wished to slaughter all the countless believers under his control in a single thought. Although Dongbo Xueying had already severed at least ninety-nine percent of the believer marks, the Ancient Sacred Sect had spread its influence far and wide over the eons, infiltrating even the most obscure corners of the cosmos—some universes and unremarkable chaotic lands still harbored their teachings.
Dongbo Xueying could only save those he had intelligence on.
The Sacred Master’s chest seethed with wrath, yet he refrained from mass slaughter. For one, these believers still provided a trickle of faith. For another, he wished to use them to monitor the changes across the various Sacred Realms. If all his believers perished, he would truly become blind, utterly ignorant of the outside world.
**”Hiding so deeply…”**
**”The Swordmaster—not only has he reached the Ultimate realm, but his strength far surpasses mine. It seems my suspicions were correct. He must have obtained the Heartworld Token!”** The Sacred Master’s eyes gleamed with icy light. **”To remain so low-key without undergoing life-and-death trials, how could he possibly reach the Ultimate realm? And even if he did, how could he possess such overwhelming power out of nowhere?”**
**”And then there’s Dongbo Xueying! Back then, I clearly had him under control, yet he committed suicide. I thought it was some secret technique, but now it’s clear—he too must have had a Heartworld Token.”** The Sacred Master mused darkly. **”The one who infiltrated my Ancient Sacred Realm to rescue his wife, Yu Jingqiu—it must have been him! I had been wondering where that mysterious powerhouse had come from.”**
**”The Heartworld Token…”**
The Sacred Master gritted his teeth.
Having lived through countless epochs, he had long heard the legends of the Heartworld Token. In past eras, there had been those who obtained it, reincarnating into the Heartworld Continent. Yet none of them had ever reached the Ultimate realm!
Those who acquired the Heartworld Token were typically young, peerless geniuses.
Both Dongbo Xueying and the Swordmaster had obtained theirs while still at the Chaos realm. For a genius at the Chaos realm to reincarnate into the Heartworld Continent and ultimately reach the Ultimate? The odds were vanishingly slim!
**”Yet in this era, I’ve encountered two at once.”** The Sacred Master felt deeply aggrieved, defeated in the most humiliating way possible.
Faced with two supreme experts joining forces, he had been utterly crushed, left with no choice but to cower within the Labyrinth Corridor to survive!
—
In the Ancient Sacred Realm…
Three Dongbo Xueyings stood at different locations high in the sky, each casting a vast illusionary world that enveloped the entire realm. Every living being within fell into the illusion, completely immersed, offering no resistance—allowing Dongbo Xueying to manipulate their fates without hindrance.
The slightest resistance would cause the mark-severing to fail!
**”Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”**
Figures began appearing in the skies above the Ancient Sacred Realm.
The diminutive Stone Ancestor, the white-haired Swordmaster, Ancestor Tianyu, Void Primogenitor, Blade Emperor, Realm Ancestor, Witch Ancestor, Demon Mountain Primogenitor, Cloud Serpent Emperor, Chunyi the Law Ancestor, Mistress Yaoguang, Bone Ancestor—one after another, the Cosmic Deities manifested, gazing at the white-robed youth floating midair with closed eyes: Dongbo Xueying. Their eyes also swept across the vast lands below, where countless beings lay collapsed in slumber.
Humans, beasts, cultivators of all races—all had fallen into deep sleep.
The Ancient Sacred Realm had never been so silent.
**”Even those completely devoted to the Sacred Master, their souls branded—can they truly be saved?”** The Blade Emperor marveled. **”Remarkable.”**
**”Once the Mother died, all her countless believers regained their freedom. But the Sacred Master still lives, so we must save them one by one.”** The Swordmaster chuckled. **”Fortunately, Xueying has unparalleled mastery over the Illusory Path. Only he could accomplish this! Though the Ancient Sacred Sect and the Mother Sect are the two great cults, the Ancient Sacred Sect’s followers far outnumber the Mother’s.”**
**”Indeed.”**
All present nodded in agreement.
**”This is a deed of immense merit,”** Ancestor Tianyu remarked with a sigh.
**”Let’s hope nothing goes wrong in the process,”** the Witch Ancestor murmured, watching intently. They all understood how perilous tampering with souls could be. In the past, once a soul was branded, salvation was nearly impossible.
Would the Sacred Master or the Mother willingly release their believers? Or would slaying them be the only way? Or, as Dongbo Xueying was attempting now—forcibly severing the marks?
In the past, none of these methods had been feasible.
Now, the Mother was dead.
The Sacred Master cowered in the Labyrinth Corridor, clinging to life.
**”Hummm…”**
A faint ripple spread through the world.
The Swordmaster, Stone Ancestor, Ancestor Tianyu, and the others held their breaths, sensing the strange fluctuations.
**”Erase them.”**
Dongbo Xueying’s three avatars poured their full power into gradually eroding the marks.
**”Disperse.”**
At that moment—
Across the Ancient Sacred Realm, an uncountable multitude of beings—spanning roughly one percent of the original Ancient Sacred Realm’s territory—were freed from their shackles. The marks upon their souls vanished, and at last, they attained true liberation!
**”Ha!”**
Countless souls across the realm instinctively resonated with joy—waves of elation, freedom, and release.
Cultivators were born free!
Born to pursue transcendence, unshackled existence, and boundless liberty!
For eons, they had been enslaved, generation after generation, willing to slay their loved ones or even themselves at the Sacred Master’s command. They were no longer true cultivators—alive, yet like walking corpses. Only now, with their chains shattered, did they experience the clarity and liberation their hearts had always yearned for.
The souls of the countless liberated instinctively sang out in exultation—a chorus so profound that even the Cosmic Deities observing from above felt its impact.
Souls…
Were inherently mysterious.
The collective rejoicing of countless freed souls sent ripples through the Ancient Sacred Realm, touching even these supreme beings. They, too, felt their own souls tremble with shared exhilaration.
**”Freedom!”**
**”Freedom!”**
Not just in the Ancient Sacred Realm—in other lands like the Ninecloud Continent, the saved humans, beasts, and cultivators of all races awoke to clarity.
Tears streamed down their faces—tears of joy, of overwhelming emotion.
Though their souls had been marked for ages, they had remained conscious throughout, generation after generation, eerily devoted to the Sacred Master as if by their own will. Only now did that unnatural compulsion fade, replaced by true, unfettered euphoria.
**”From this moment onward, I am truly myself!”** The sole Thunder Cosmic Deity raised his head, gazing through spatial barriers at the distant white-robed figure.
Though most did not know who had saved them, their hearts overflowed with gratitude—gratitude for being pulled from the abyss of darkness.
—
High above…
The three Dongbo Xueyings remained with closed eyes. As he and his other avatars saved countless lives, the liberated souls’ instinctive rejoicing washed over him.
The sheer magnitude of countless souls exulting in unison had shaken even the Stone Ancestor and the Swordmaster. For Dongbo Xueying, the sensation was overwhelming.
Wave after wave of jubilation crashed into him.
**”Souls…”**
**”Freedom…”**
Unconsciously, tears streamed down Dongbo Xueying’s face.
Tears of profound emotion—moved by the souls’ desperate yearning for liberty.
In this moment, Dongbo Xueying glimpsed the path forward for merging the fifth branch—the Soul branch—into his Illusory Path. Before, he had lacked direction. Now, he saw the way.
**”Innumerable souls are the foundation of this Source World.”**
**”The collective will of all living beings influences the will of the Source World itself. To enslave them… is a path of error.”** He even sensed that while spreading faith might offer a means to grasp the Supreme Laws, soul enslavement violated some deeper, fundamental taboo.
This path, he intuited, could never lead to mastery of the Supreme Laws!
Figures like Yuan and City Lord Luo had never delved deeply into soul-based cultivation. Dongbo Xueying now stood at the pinnacle of soul-based paths across countless spaces, yet even he could only vaguely perceive this truth.
**”When the five branches merge, perhaps I will understand more.”**
Before today, he had been uncertain about reaching the Ultimate realm in the Illusory Path. Now, he had direction—and confidence.
**”Given time, I can walk this path to its end.”** Dongbo Xueying opened his eyes, smiling at the countless grateful, joyous cultivators below.
He had saved them.
And in turn, they had illuminated his path of soul cultivation.
Cause and effect—this, too, was part of the cosmos’s grand design.
**”Xueying!”**
**”Hahaha! This is exhilarating!”**
**”The most satisfying day of my life! The Sacred Master, who has threatened us for so long, is now cowering for his life. Hah!”**
Voices rang out as the Stone Ancestor, Swordmaster, Ancestor Tianyu, and the other Cosmic Deities approached, faces alight with joy.
This day, they had witnessed the death of the malevolent Mother and the humiliation of the Sacred Master, who had plagued the Source World for eons.
This day, they had been delivered from the brink of annihilation.
This day, they saw both the Swordmaster and Dongbo Xueying ascend to the Ultimate realm.
This day, they beheld nearly a tenth of the Chaos Void’s living beings regain their freedom, their souls singing in unison.
Never had they felt such unbridled satisfaction.
Dongbo Xueying smiled and stepped forward to meet them.
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