"The earthquake a few days ago?"
The group of old scholars exchanged glances, their expressions growing solemn.
The timing was too coincidental.
The Great Wilderness had just appeared on Earth, triggering some mechanism that caused the spiritual energy of the planet to recover. At this juncture, the Kunlun Mountains had an earthquake, leading to this yellow paper.
This could not help but make everyone vigilant.
The old professor spoke, "Regardless, this cultivation technique is indeed real. It can guide spiritual energy into the body and cleanse oneself. This is an extremely significant discovery, and we need to report it to the higher-ups immediately."
They had already deciphered the ancient text on the yellow paper and successfully verified how to cultivate the immortal technique.
"Should we agree to the requests from other research institutions?" someone asked, referring to the requests from other organizations that also wanted the cultivation technique.
"No need to bother. This yellow paper was classified as top secret after it was deciphered. Even I cannot decide its ownership," the old professor stated.
Hearing this, everyone stopped mentioning it.
Next, they had to repeatedly verify whether the cultivation technique recorded on the yellow paper was correct and if there were any hidden dangers.
Only after confirming there were no safety hazards could it be practiced.
...
In the northern region of the Great Wilderness, within a mountain valley filled with thunderclouds, the Great Jin Empress was enduring the fifth wave of heavenly lightning. Her clothes were tattered, and a large portion of her fair, smooth skin was exposed.
However, she paid no mind to covering herself, instead focusing her attention on dealing with the heavenly tribulation. Simultaneously, a small mirror hovered behind her back, guarding against Xu Mo in the distance.
She sighed inwardly, never expecting to be discovered by the Emperor of the neighboring Da Gan while undergoing her Saint Tribulation.
By the time she noticed Xu Mo, the heavenly tribulation had already begun, and there was no way to stop it. Thus, she could only grit her teeth and endure the tribulation.
The Great Jin Empress was most worried that the Da Gan Emperor would take advantage of her perilous situation.
If she were to be ambushed and interrupted, the consequences would be dire, leading to eternal damnation. Even if she survived by chance, her path to cultivation would be ruined, and she would never hope to reach the Saint realm in this life.
At the same time, she was immensely shocked. The Da Gan Emperor, whom she had never taken seriously, was not at the Heaven-Treading realm as rumored, but had already become a Saint, and was ahead of her.
She could not even imagine it. She recalled meeting Xu Mo in the Southern Region last time, and he was merely a cultivator at the early stage of the Heaven-Treading realm. Although powerful, he was still beneath her notice.
Yet, after a few decades, the current Da Gan Emperor had become a Saint. And it seemed he had been a Saint for quite some time, having stabilized his realm and reached the early stage.
She did not know what fortuitous encounter the Da Gan Emperor had, but she knew that this time, she was likely in grave danger. If the Da Gan Emperor made a move, she would surely die.
However, she was not weak. She had already prepared to self-detonate her Dao fruit and Saint artifact. Doing so, even if it could not kill a Saint, would at least heavily wound them.
In the distance, Xu Mo stood still, showing no intention of interfering. Instead, he was watching the Great Jin Empress's figure with great interest, as well as her exposed fair skin.
Putting aside other things, the Great Jin Empress was indeed a peerless beauty, possessing an air of imperial majesty that looked down upon the world, making her incredibly commanding.
"The fifth wave of heavenly lightning, and even the sixth, are too weak. They contain too little energy to be refined into Dao rhymes," Xu Mo murmured to himself, shaking his head as the fifth wave of heavenly lightning descended.
After being refined by the Chaos Furnace, these few waves of heavenly lightning could only be converted into pure spiritual energy.
To obtain Dao rhymes without imprints, one needed at least the seventh wave of heavenly lightning and above. This was also why Xu Mo had not made a move; he was waiting for the seven-tribulation heavenly lightning to arrive.
At this moment, the drifting bottle within the Chaos Furnace struggled, flashing intermittently, as if wanting to come out.
Xu Mo frowned. After a moment's thought, he decided to let it out. Perhaps it had something to say?
He opened the Chaos Furnace, and the drifting bottle shot out with a whoosh, then quickly summoned a strong wind to blow away the chaotic fire on its body.
It was burning hot!
It was quite annoyed by Xu Mo's actions but dared not speak now. When under someone else's roof, one had to bow their head.
Xu Mo spoke, asking what was the matter.
The drifting bottle said, "The rules of the Crossing have shown anomalies. I sensed it, and a Saint on Earth has preemptively begun the Crossing."
"What!?" Xu Mo was startled, and his brows immediately furrowed. "Where did this Saint come from? Didn't you say that only the Great Wilderness has appeared on Earth now?"
He remembered the drifting bottle saying that the Crossing would only begin in a year, and the Great Wilderness appearing on Earth was an accident.
Could it be that other worlds had also experienced accidents?
"It's not a Saint from your remote world, but 'old zombies' who were dormant on Earth. The appearance of the Great Wilderness on Earth caused the spiritual energy to recover, causing them to awaken prematurely," the drifting bottle replied.
"There are Saints on Earth too!?" Xu Mo was truly shocked. His own homeland was so extraordinary?
The drifting bottle: "Naturally. They are all failures from the last Crossing. Having failed the Crossing and missed out on the immortal realm, they went into seclusion on Earth, waiting for the next Crossing."
"Hiss..." Xu Mo gasped, finally understanding what the drifting bottle meant by 'old zombies.' They were remnants of the previous Crossing!
But soon, Xu Mo became somewhat confused: "Why did they go into seclusion on Earth? Wouldn't it be safer and better to return to their own worlds?"
The drifting bottle floated above Xu Mo's head, looking as if it was looking down on him. "Because the time flow is different. A year on Earth is equivalent to ten years in your remote world! And Saints can only live for ten thousand years. The last Crossing was over two thousand years ago. If they had returned to their remote worlds, they would have long since died of old age. Conversely, by staying on Earth in seclusion, they only needed to endure over two thousand years, and their lifespan would still hold up."
At the same time, it informed him that after the Crossing ended, the spiritual energy on Earth would gradually deplete, entering a period of spiritual desolation. Only when the next Crossing arrived and the extraordinary worlds manifested would the spiritual energy recover again.
Saints were powerful, but on Earth during the period of spiritual desolation, they dared not act rashly. This was because the spiritual power and Dao rhymes they had stored were limited, and they would not consume them unless absolutely necessary. They would generally pass through the period of spiritual desolation by sleeping.
Some Saints committed evil deeds during Earth's period of spiritual desolation. After exhausting their extraordinary powers, they discovered that without the augmentation of spiritual power and Dao rhymes, their ten thousand-year lifespan was but an empty promise. In the blink of an eye, they became mortals, and after a hundred years, only a handful of yellow soil remained.
Xu Mo understood. The Crossing occurred approximately every twenty thousand years, but on Earth, it was about every two thousand years.
Having failed the Crossing this time, Saints could only go into seclusion on Earth to have a chance to endure until the next Crossing arrived.
Xu Mo looked at the drifting bottle and asked, "So, the Crossing not only has new Saints participating, but also old Saints from the past? What exactly is the Crossing like? Is it just a fight to the death?"