Shooting out of the space passage, Lin Moyu felt a completely different aura. This was another world; the rules of the Chaotic Ancient Wilds retreated here entirely—cleanly, without a trace. The Undying Dao was suppressed, its power cut to half of normal; all other Daos vanished outright. Little Tree, Chaos Child, and Little Peng were reduced to near-cripples here, with less than a tenth of their strength remaining. Only Lin Moyu's flesh and soul were unaffected—still intact and powerful.
Space twisted behind him. Without even looking back, Lin Moyu wove intent into a fist and blasted it out. A strangely shaped monster was blown to scraps. It was about five meters long—not large, but not weak. By Lin Moyu's estimate, even a Chaos Realm great-completion cultivator who came here, under this suppression, could be killed by such a creature.
This was a realm-ruin: Daos broken, power in chaos. Only flesh-and-soul power was not affected.
"What's this?" After the monster died, a tiny mote of dust remained, hidden among the torn flesh—easy to miss, but Lin Moyu spotted it. He drew it to hand, wiped off the blood, and saw its true form: a half-transparent crystal mote with a captivating sheen. From it Lin Moyu sensed Primordial Dawn Qi—very faint and very turbid, but Primordial Dawn Qi nonetheless.
The Primordial Chaos Gem said, "So this is a resource-type realm-ruin. No wonder."
"What's a resource-type realm-ruin?"
"Realm-ruins come in many kinds. By danger type, there are overt dangers and hidden dangers. The one you visited before was hidden danger; this one is overt. Overt dangers can be seen and touched—easier to handle than hidden ones. By category, there are barren and resource types. Barren splits into extremely barren and ordinary barren. The one you went to before was ordinary barren—nothing much there. In extremely barren ones, even the realm core is almost shattered; if your luck is poor, the ruin collapses as soon as you enter and takes the whole expedition with it. Ordinary barren ones still have a core with some Primordial Dawn Qi—that's the most common. If you're lucky, you find a resource ruin like this one. Here, once a world turns into a ruin, it evolves monsters; kill them and you get Primordial Dawn Crystals—like the one in your hand. To True Supremes, this kind of realm-ruin is extremely valuable."
Lin Moyu studied the crystal. The Primordial Dawn Qi inside was faint and turbid—he'd likely have to kill a million such monsters to get one full wisp. "What's the use of this?"
"Heh—many a little makes a mickle. A mosquito's still meat. You have endless Primordial Dawn Qi, so it seems useless. But for True Supremes, their worlds no longer produce it; to them, it's treasure—both for cultivation and exchange. The rich do not know the poor's hardships. When most True Supremes achieved the Dao, their worlds had already finished evolving—the Primordial Dawn Qi was exhausted. What remains is scarce; every wisp is precious. They seek it by all means, and the best source is realm-ruins. A resource-type ruin like this is a treasure land to them. Purple Star Calamity Supreme isn't a True Supreme; for her it's even more useful. Once she found this place, of course she'd exhaust every means to explore it."
"Beyond cultivation and trading, Primordial Dawn Qi must have another use for True Supremes, right?"
"There is: extending a world's lifespan. A world's existence has a limit, set at its birth. After several Great Calamities, a world collapses. Each calamity inflicts massive damage and shortens its life. If a True Supreme is born, the calamity disappears and lifespan extends—but there's still a limit. A world's life limit is also the True Supreme's life limit. Fortunately, True Supremes can extend world-life—with Primordial Dawn Qi. With enough of it, a world's life can be extended indefinitely, and a True Supreme can exist forever. But there's a flip side: they're shackled by their world—if they want to live on, they must keep extending it. So, hunting realm-ruins for Primordial Dawn Qi becomes a must for all True Supremes."
Lin Moyu said, "Will I need to do that someday?"
The gem shook its head. "You won't. You'll transcend worlds and step your flesh into the Forbidden Zone of Life."
Lin Moyu chuckled. "That confident?"
"I've seen countless people. You're the most exceptional. You will."
While they spoke, Lin Moyu had already locked onto Ning Yiyi and the others. This wasn't the Chaotic Ancient Wilds, so his sensing was hampered, but his soul was strong enough to feel them afar. He erupted with physical power and shot forward, sound streams rippling out behind him.
He flew faster and faster—no world could restrain his flesh. Soon, a lotus came into view—huge, over a kilometer across, thirty-six petals encircling the lotus heart. Purple star-points glittered above it, forming a star map; their light shone in all directions. At a glance, Lin Moyu saw the starlight wove a battle formation—not of the Chaotic Ancient Wilds. The formation's essence didn't match those rules; it belonged to this world and would be powerful here. He recalled Purple Star Calamity Supreme saying Ning Yiyi and the others needed to cultivate a formation—this must be it.
The gem added, "A Lotus artifact, also native to here. Looks like this resource-type realm-ruin left behind some decent things."
Lin Moyu's eyes tightened; in an instant the lotus swelled close. From a million li away he saw inside it.
"Yiyi." Ning Yiyi and the others sat on the lotus heart—all eight present, apparently unharmed. Lin Moyu exhaled—then, in the next breath, frowned. They were injured. They looked fine, but their auras were off, slightly hollow—all eight were wounded, not heavily, but clearly, and not for the first time. Old injuries hadn't fully healed before new ones came. Repeated treatment had suppressed things, but such accumulation would one day explode; then healing would be hard—even now, a full cure would take work.
He flew to the lotus—blink—and stood upon it. The formation auto-activated, countless blades of light pointing at him.
"What are you doing here?" A slightly surprised voice sounded as a figure appeared before him—Purple Star Calamity Supreme in violet robes, gentle-eyed yet sharp-gazed. One look and Lin Moyu judged her decisive and lethal—the sort to start a fight over a word; far more volatile than Bóyáng. Battle-intent still clung to her; a fierce fight had ended not long ago.
Here, Purple Star's power was far below her norm. In the Chaotic Ancient Wilds, Lin Moyu would have shown more caution; here he didn't need to. Still, he gave due respect, inclining slightly. "I greet you, Calamity Supreme Purple Star. I'm here to take them." He was blunt: he'd come to take his people.
Purple Star frowned. "How did you find this place?" To her, Lin Moyu was a Chaos Realm great-completion—how could he locate this site? Yet there he stood.
"I have my ways. Since I'm here, please allow me to take my wives."
Purple Star neither refused nor agreed—she hadn't figured Lin Moyu out. His sudden appearance left her feeling things were out of her control. Standing before her, he felt unfathomable—making a decision hard.
Ning Yiyi and the eight sat with eyes closed, clearly fresh from battle; fighting will still hung on them, their wounds unhealed. Closer now, Lin Moyu saw better: the injuries weren't light in depth—even if surface cuts seemed minor. Old damage unhealed, new damage piled on—inevitably it would erupt.
Lin Moyu didn't want to dither. "If you want to hesitate, that's your business." He stepped once and appeared on the lotus heart. To him, the formation was meaningless.
"What are you doing?" Purple Star flashed back to the lotus heart and challenged him, shocked that the core formation couldn't stop him.
"Healing." His tone cooled. Life Force surged out like a dragon, one into eight, each stream falling upon one wife. Here, the Ancient Wilds' Daos were suppressed—as good as gone—but the Undying Dao was only halved and still usable. For healing, Life Force had no equal.
Purple Star's face changed. "You can still wield the Dao here?" She herself could not—her battle power was greatly reduced—yet Lin Moyu could. The "weakling" in her memory was gone; she couldn't see through him, and the less she saw, the less she dared to act rashly.
Guiding Life Force, Lin Moyu treated not only surface wounds but deep, old injuries. Years of accumulated damage smoothed under the nourishing flow.
Calmly he said, "Since Daos are suppressed here, I won't hold today's injuries against you. I'm taking them now. Please don't stop me."
"No." Purple Star finally chose. What lay here mattered too much; Ning Yiyi and the others mattered too much—and not only for obvious reasons. They must not be taken.
Lin Moyu met her gaze. "Senior Purple Star, I respect you. Senior Bóyáng helped me before—I remember. But that's not a reason for you to take my wives. Back then I was weak and you were strong; you could do as you liked, hand me any reason, and I had no power to refute it. Now I have a choice. I'm taking them. You can't stop me."
Her face grew solemn—he wasn't joking; he could take them from her hand.
"You won't even ask if they are willing?"
Lin Moyu shook his head. "Whether they are or not, I'm taking them—just as you took them before without asking whether they were willing."
Purple Star stalled. Tit for tat. If not for her uncertainty about his depth, she would already have acted.
"You try to take them, and I will block you," she said. "And not just me—someone else as well."
Lin Moyu looked into the distance. "You mean my elder sister?"
A figure approached—Lin Mohan riding a sword, here in a blink. Heroic, peerlessly beautiful, sword-qi bristling and razor-keen—like a walking blade that could sever all obstacles. She alighted within the formation, eyes bright with joy. "Xiaoyu, you actually found this place."
For the first time since arriving, Lin Moyu smiled. "Surprised? I said I missed you; do you believe me?"
"Believe you? Sure, when pigs fly." She snorted, then added, "You're here to collect your sisters-in-law, right?"
Lin Moyu nodded. "Yes. What do you say, Sister?"
Purple Star cut in. "Sword Sovereign, you know—they cannot leave."
Lin Mohan glanced at her. "Of course I know. But you forget—I'm his elder sister. They are my sisters-in-law. Which side do you think I stand on?"
Purple Star stalled again, unwilling to yield. "This matter is important. You should reconsider. Don't you want to take that step?"
Lin Mohan said, "I do. But what my little brother wants comes first." She decided without a flicker—crisp, decisive, like her sword.
Lin Moyu sensed something else—almost as if Lin Mohan had been waiting for him to arrive; his arrival meant strength. Without strength, you wouldn't even find this place, much less enter.
Anger filled Purple Star's eyes. "I won't agree to this. Sword Sovereign, so you've chosen to be our enemy?"
Lin Mohan laughed—clear and pleasant. A sword rose behind her, pointing straight at Purple Star Calamity Supreme.