Chapter 613 613 A Glimmer of Hope

The unknown region of the Black Sea.

A massive, seven-colored coffin floated slowly. Within its seams, endless pure white chains bound a grand and imposing suit of armor.

Black, sand-like petals scattered and drifted here like mist, sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing.

"The third, it is time for awakening..."

The armor slightly raised its head, revealing a blurred, humanoid face.

The Twelve Flower God Generals. When all the God Generals are awakened, it will be the time for the Royal City to reappear.

And the Royal City system is still on the Third Generation. Before that, before all the Flower God Generals are awakened, it must be completely retrieved.

"Only then will the original soil be complete..." The voice under the armor was deep and powerful, as if speaking to someone, yet also as if talking to itself.

Before long.

He raised his head, his blurred eyes seeming to pierce through the coffin, seeing the distant reaches of the Black Sea's unknown region.

His body was hundreds of thousands of miles tall, his muscles knotted powerfully. As soon as he revived, he gazed towards the coffin.

The Four Elders of Tian Ju Pavilion might seem strong in the eyes of other forces.

But even among those who have reached the pinnacle of omniscience, there are gradations of strength.

The four old Daoists sat facing each other, a point of translucent flame burning on the ground in the center.

At the same time, countless vibrations echoed throughout the Black Sea surrounding the coffin.

A massive monster with the upper body of a whale and the lower body of a human was slowly stretching, rising from this region.

"Yuan An failed. Next, you will be responsible for retrieving the Royal City system." The First Generation said calmly.

"So?"

"Soul Whale, pay your respects to His Majesty."

"So, we must first resolve Tian Ju Pavilion. The Four Elders of Cai Tian possess the strength of the pinnacle of omniscience, and any action might be hindered." The whale-headed man seemed to know everything upon awakening, understanding the situation thoroughly.

"Long live His Majesty!"

Tian Ju Pavilion.

"In that case... then we shall resolve Tian Ju Pavilion first..." The voice within the coffin said faintly.

This monster held a pure white three-pointed halberd above its head. A black metal cage was embedded within its chest, flesh and blood, imprisoning countless dense, black, twisted human figures.

*Whoosh.*

There was a special area emitting white light.

"When the tenth awakens, I will unseal myself, personally take action, and resolve the Four Elders of Cai Tian."

"Your Majesty... Yuan An's failure was entirely due to the obstruction of Tian Ju Pavilion. We have taken action twice in a row, and both times were disrupted by Tian Ju Pavilion. Clearly, they are determined to hinder our revival." The Soul Whale's consciousness wave crossed infinite distances, reaching the interior of the coffin.

But in his eyes, they were easily destroyed.

Omniscience was just a threshold, but apart from the Void Mother and the giant beast Asura Duni, who had touched the boundary, only the First Generation Flower Emperor knew how great the difference was within.

Crisp sounds of chains echoed from his body.

The flames rolled and danced, seeming to contain the pulse of countless living beings. Countless complex fluctuations spread out from it.

"There are some forces stirring, attempting to subvert the Grand Plan of our Pavilion."

A Daoist with a cyan crystal embedded in his brow spoke in a deep voice.

"No need to care. If they only target our external bodies, they will be courting death." Another person said indifferently.

"There may be nascent turmoil at the edge of the boundary. How should we deal with it?" Tian Xuanzi frowned and asked.

"Notify Lian Cheng, jointly sweep it away, and define it as the Void Mother." The last person said calmly. "No matter what, we must not slow down our Grand Plan. The concept of Tian (Heaven) is only lacking the final five puzzle pieces. Anyone who attempts to obstruct us is merely an螳臂当车 (táng bì dāng chē,螳螂擋車, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot)."

The other three elders nodded in agreement.

Behind the four people, more hideous spider legs stretched out again, rapidly digging out clusters of colored light from the void and stuffing them into the four people's abdomens and mouthparts.

As waves of messages emanated from the headquarters of Tian Ju Pavilion, the entire massive Tian Ju Pavilion also began to activate slowly.

Countless Daoist experts scattered in various places were like shooting stars, returning to the four departments.

The Omniscients teleported to the headquarters. The Dimensional Devils relied on their own dimensions, crossing infinite distances, arriving at the multi-dimensional tower, some quickly, some slowly.

The Sages carried their respective sacred artifacts to the Saint Department.

The True Department did not mobilize any disciples, but countless vassal dead zones surged out with massive numbers of powerful servant races, joining the Lian Cheng allied forces, becoming the vanguard.

Within the entire Black Sea, Tian Ju Pavilion, in conjunction with other Lian Cheng forces, under the pretext of a mysterious Daoist being attacked at the edge of the boundary, brazenly launched a search operation.

One dead zone after another was used as a pretext for establishing temporary Tian Ju Pavilion strongholds.

They were called temporary, but when they would be dismantled was up to Lian Cheng.

The Black Sea was vast. In addition to Lian Cheng, there were constantly transforming regions of the unknown and the known.

These regions appeared and disappeared, sometimes large, sometimes small, beyond the control of any force.

Tian Ju Pavilion used the excuse of searching these regions to encroach on the jurisdiction of other forces.

Dead zones that resisted were stripped of the concept of Tian.

Countless living beings were forced to submit. Even if internal forces within Lian Cheng disapproved, they dared not voice any dissent.

Only the Shenying Kingdom and the Eternal Ice Sea joined forces and began to compete with Tian Ju Pavilion for control of the dead zones.

Countless living beings were quietly annihilated in this turmoil, and countless dead zones also began to teeter and fall apart because they were stripped of the concept of Tian.

At this time, Li Cheng Yi was still troubled by proving the Dao of Sainthood.

Outside of Silent Extinction City.

The endless Black Sea and dead zones were frozen still, like a still picture, displayed before Li Cheng Yi and Xuan Yunzi.

Beside the two of them, streaks of meteors shot out, streaking across the frozen Black Sea, flying toward the periphery.

Looking closely, one could see that those were all Tian Ju Pavilion Daoists who had previously remained in Silent Extinction City to cultivate in seclusion.

"Not everyone can constantly improve themselves." Xuan Yunzi sighed. "Many fellow disciples, after reaching their limits, are unable to take another step forward no matter what, and begin to choose to enjoy everything, stagnating. They no longer cultivate."

"What restricts them?" Li Cheng Yi looked at the Tian Ju Pavilion Daoists he didn't recognize and asked in a low voice.

"Divine Fire. In fact, as long as you work hard, you can accumulate it over time, but the Divine Fire within the prescribed time is the only one that has meaning." Xuan Yunzi replied, "Divine Fire seems simple, it only needs to accumulate and produce qualitative change, but the time required in the middle is extremely long. Before the Divine Fire is the accumulation of material energy, after that, it is the accumulation of consciousness and spirit. Many people did not lay a solid foundation in the past, and only at the end did they discover that either the material was not perfect, or the consciousness was not perfect. Then they go back to check and make up for omissions. This will take a lot of time to check and screen."

He paused.

"Many fellow disciples are stuck like this. By the time they self-check and find the reason, a long, long time has passed. The moment when a qualitative change and sublimation just occurs is the easiest moment to ignite the Divine Fire. Once missed, it will take a lot of energy and time to find the opportunity to reach it again."

Li Cheng Yi nodded in understanding.

That was indeed the case. When he had just sublimated, he had followed the trend, and that was how he had easily ignited the Divine Fire, without any effort.

"There will be a major operation in the Pavilion. It is common to mobilize fellow disciples whose cultivation has long stagnated, but we don't need to go. As long as the Ziyun (Purple Cloud) Badge doesn't move, we don't need to pay attention to it. Unless it is the final moment, the Pavilion will not mobilize disciples in cultivation to fight." Xuan Yunzi continued to explain.

"Understood..." Li Cheng Yi nodded, "Next, I plan to continue returning to the previous dead zone, to find other worlds nearby, to find an opportunity to become a Saint. I wonder if Senior Brother has any advice?"

For some reason, he vaguely felt that something was slowly approaching him.

He couldn't distinguish its direction or source, but as time went on, the irritability in his heart continued to grow.

"When I achieved Sainthood, I aimed to achieve an eternal thing that could not be erased, but this is not the only path. In this process, you have several paths."

Xuan Yunzi explained.

"First, according to the classic path recorded in the Yin Classics, you must experience natural calamities one after another, survive them, and comprehend the principles of myriad calamities, thereby comprehending the essence of Sainthood. This is the lowest and most secure path, which I call the Path of Avoiding Calamities."

"Second, the essence of Sainthood is to be indestructible by myriad calamities and not be eroded by the world's calamities. So what kind of things are eternal and indestructible? The answer is the world itself. So this second method is to harmonize with the Dao. As long as you become a part of the world, you cannot be eroded by calamities. The world will naturally replenish the parts you lose, so it can be said that if the Dao does not perish, you will not perish."

"Third, is the most difficult, but also the strongest. You create a world that belongs only to you. From the beginning, you are the world, and the world is you. Nurture and strengthen it, and you will naturally achieve Primordial Unity."

"Self-creation?" Li Cheng Yi's heart stirred.

"This is the strongest, but also the most difficult." Xuan Yunzi nodded, "You need to first find a cornerstone of the world. With the cornerstone as the core, start from scratch, and gradually shape the world's dead zones. The cornerstone must be strong enough, otherwise it will collapse when impacted by debris in the Black Sea, and you will not be able to complete the Dao of Sainthood." Xuan Yunzi said softly, "Many fellow disciples have tried self-creation, but their painstakingly constructed world embryos were crushed by the countless dangers in the Black Sea. The feeling of having thousands of years of accumulation collapse in one fell swoop is something you cannot know unless you have experienced it."

"...I can imagine it." Li Cheng Yi nodded.

"Creating the Dao requires great perseverance and great determination, at least ten thousand years of slow time, and cannot be time-accelerated, it must develop on its own in the Black Sea." Xuan Yunzi introduced.

"Not being able to accelerate time really doesn't suit me." Li Cheng Yi shook his head.

"No matter which one you choose, after Sainthood, remember to hide the world where you proved the Dao, lest the world be destroyed and your status fall. Once you fall from Sainthood, it will be almost impossible for you to prove the Dao again." Xuan Yunzi reminded.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother."

Li Cheng Yi nodded.

"Now, without further ado, you should leave. The time solidification near Silent Extinction City makes it easier to enter the bottom layer of the rift." Xuan Yunzi said.

Li Cheng Yi nodded, made a Daoist salute, and took a step forward.

His Wisdom Sword condensed into a blade more than ten meters wide, holding his feet and flying toward the distance.

He looked the same as the other departing Daoists around him, but before long, his figure flickered silently and suddenly disappeared into the void.

Xuan Yunzi watched him leave, then turned his face to look at Que Ru and Chun Fan, who were also being quietly instructed by another Senior Brother in the distance.

They had not yet ignited the Divine Fire, and were now preparing to go out and train, to prepare for the accumulation of consciousness.

Not only that, further away, disciples of the True Department were being led by their masters and elders, floating on the edge of Silent Extinction City, preparing to go out to find the world where the Divine Fire could be ignited.

Xuan Yunzi shook his head slightly. He had instructed Zhou Lu and Qian Yan not to tell others about Li Cheng Yi's ignition of the Divine Fire.

According to the timing, Li Cheng Yi had ignited the Divine Fire at almost the same time as the Three Sons of the Stars. If it wasn't luck, then he really had hidden talent.

"But luck cannot influence Sainthood. Next, it will be clear whether he is a hero or mediocre."

Turning around, Xuan Yunzi flashed and disappeared in place.