"The Heavenly Palace is a treasure forged by the emperors of past eras, surpassing even imperial artifacts. The only thing comparable to it now is the Golden Core Avenue."
At this moment, Yao Xian'er was leading a group of people, including Xie Yingying, beneath a colossal palace. Its sheer size was enough to rival the entire Heavenly Continent.
Now that a true immortal had arrived, they had to act. They couldn't allow it to recover freely—they needed to buy this universe at least a few more centuries. Soon, the group surged out from Heavenly Continent and ventured deep into the cosmos.
"What about that Great Desolate Sacred Body? His combat power is only slightly below Su Min's."
Yao Xian'er frowned slightly as she scanned the gathered crowd. Of the top four from the Heavenly Rankings back then, only she and Xie Yingying remained. As for Su Min, she was in the midst of a frenzied closed-door cultivation session—she was their final trump card.
Their goal was to buy her enough time to grow. If the Primordial Chaos Body could truly descend, even if she were only at the Mahayana stage, she could contend with that immortal. Until then, they had to protect her.
Since Su Min wasn't here, they needed reinforcements.
But that young man named Tian Hao was nowhere to be found.
"I don't know."
Xie Yingying shrugged indifferently. That guy had vanished from the continent after the great battle to eradicate the Black Seal.
No one knew whether he had gone deep into the starry skies or somewhere else. They had even used special tracking methods, only to find his little girlfriend, who was now living in seclusion, raising their two children alone.
Later, she joined the Immortal Sect for protection. But as for Tian Hao, even Xie Yingying had no clue. Either he had stumbled upon a great opportunity, or he was trapped in some bizarre place.
As long as his soul lamp was still burning, the rest wasn't for them to worry about.
This time, every Unity stage expert on the continent had mobilized—except for Su Min, who was in life-and-death seclusion.
As for Su Min at this moment…
"Cough, cough… Finally killed it."
Watching the watery figure before her shatter into pieces, she finally let out a sigh of relief. She had been trapped in this damned space for nearly a hundred years. Aside from the first law creature she encountered, none of the others had lasted more than seven days under her attacks before being obliterated.
After the initial chaos, she had regained full control of her power. Moreover, as she continuously slew and absorbed more laws, her combat prowess steadily increased.
More importantly, a blazing fire now burned in her heart. Over this century, she had nearly exterminated all the chaotic law fragments left behind by Yao Xian'er. Countless laws surged wildly within her body.
"Time to forge the Myriad Laws Crucible. Success or failure hinges on this moment. And judging by my current state, I might not even need the Mahayana Pill anymore."
Feeling the changes within her, Su Min had no choice but to halt her movements. She had already absorbed all the law remnants here—truth be told, she was a little shocked.
The condensed law essence here was enough to create over ten thousand Dao Comprehension stage cultivators—a number surpassing the total in the current universe, including the Dark Universe.
It just went to show how terrifying Yao Xian'er, a peak expert of her time, truly was. However, those who reached the Dao Comprehension stage through these law essences had a fatal flaw: the laws weren't comprehended by them. Advancing to the Unity stage would be exponentially harder.
Of course, if you told this to Divine Transformation stage cultivators, ninety-nine out of a hundred would agree without hesitation. After all, out of a hundred Divine Transformation experts, maybe one would reach Dao Comprehension.
Only supreme divine beasts or descendants of emperors had slightly better odds—but even then, the numbers were limited.
Take the Golden Crow Clan, for example. There were currently seven of them, but only three had reached Dao Comprehension. The other four were stuck at Divine Transformation, and who knew when they'd break through?
"Time to refine."
Su Min's hands moved swiftly, forming seals. Her face twisted in pain—after all, she wasn't a Spirit Vein Body. While a mortal body had a high ceiling, every step forward was agonizingly difficult.
"Pfft—"
The next moment, she couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. The myriad laws inside her raged violently, pulverizing her bones, organs, and meridians in an instant.
This level of pain would have been unbearable for the Su Min who had just transmigrated. But after a thousand years of life-and-death struggles, her endurance had reached monstrous levels.
"Steady my breath, guard my heart."
As a Unity stage expert, her regenerative abilities were terrifying. She didn't even care if her organs were mangled, what mattered now was avoiding Dao injuries.
Physical wounds were trivial at her level, but Dao injuries were another matter. Just look at what happened to Tian Hao, he had begged left and right to heal his little girlfriend, even agreeing to follow Su Min into the ancient battlefield. (Though, admittedly, that expedition had been extremely fruitful for him.)
"Avoid Dao injuries. As long as my body doesn't fall apart, it's fine."
Her physical form was important, but not irreplaceable. As long as her origin wasn't damaged, she'd be okay.
"Still need pills."
Assessing her dire condition, Su Min flicked her wrist, summoning two pills.
[Heartguard Pill (8th Tier, 7-Colored)] – Protects the heart meridian and origin.
[Healing Pill (8th Tier, 3-Colored)] – Restores injuries.
In an instant, she swallowed both—pills that would drive outsiders mad with envy. A warm, soothing energy spread through her body, rapidly healing her wounds. Then, they were torn apart again. Healed, then destroyed once more. The pain was excruciating, but Su Min finally stabilized the situation. The myriad laws began to merge, and a peculiar sense of completion made her eyes widen.
"This is… the missing piece? But no, something's still lacking. One final step."
Her eyes gleamed as she sensed tremors from the two great origin powers within her.
Yin-Yang Dual Qi. Five Elements Origin. Myriad Laws Crucible.
These were like puzzle pieces she was assembling—now, only the last one remained.
But what was it?
"No matter. Finish the fusion first."
Her eyes flashed. Though the missing piece frustrated her, she knew she had to take things step by step.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the Dark Universe…
A massive palace slowly materialized. Under the leadership of Yao Xian'er and Tian Yang, the absolute powerhouses of various factions stood with grim expressions.
They could all sense an ominous, deathly aura ahead. Even their spiritual energy grew restless. The faces of these Unity stage experts darkened instantly.
"Listen well—inside the Dark Universe, never absorb the spiritual energy there. For us, it's pure corruption. If tainted by darkness, the best-case scenario is a drop in cultivation. The worst? Instant insanity."
Yao Xian'er's voice was calm but firm. The others exchanged uneasy glances.
"You three fought in such an environment? Your strength must've plummeted, while those dark cultivators grew even stronger."
Xie Yingying's expression was grim. Now she understood just how harsh the conditions were—and her heart ached for Su Min.
"Exactly. Even with Tian Yang and me working together, killing a Mahayana expert was nearly impossible. Unless they were foolish enough to fight us to the death, which they never were."
Yao Xian'er's face darkened. Against opponents of the same level, she could crush them effortlessly. But those dark cultivators were masters of escape. Worse, they were far more ruthless than normal cultivators. Upon awakening, they slaughtered and devoured everything familiar, erasing their humanity.
Then, they turned on each other, consuming until they were no longer themselves.
As for the cultivators from the Dark Abyss, they were even more terrifying, they were revivals of ancient experts. Even Transcendence stage emperors had fallen there.
No matter who they were in life, in this corrupted place, they became slaves of darkness.
"The Heavenly Palace's greatest use isn't just protecting this universe—it also gives us a place to recover. It can isolate and filter dark energy, and it contains hundreds of high-grade spirit veins."
Yao Xian'er held nothing back, explaining everything.
"So, what's the plan? Charge straight into the Dark Abyss?"
The others knew the stakes and pressed for details.
"No."
Yao Xian'er shook her head. That would be suicide.
"First, understand this—those in the Dark Abyss, especially that general, cannot leave. The dark energy there shields them from heavenly detection, but only to a limit. If they venture into thinner regions, the heavens will lock onto them and strike them down with divine lightning."
"Our best chance is to lure them into our universe, where they'll be suppressed by the heavenly laws."
"Then what do we do?"
"Storm the Dark Continent. Kill every Mahayana expert there. Slaughter as many dark cultivators as possible."
The group sighed in relief. At least they weren't being sent on a suicide mission.
All of them carried imperial artifacts. Even if they couldn't defeat a Mahayana expert, they could stall them.
Only someone like the Skeleton Emperor who could wield an imperial artifact without restriction, had ever made them feel true despair. But these Mahayana experts, even if they were once their ancestors, would no longer be recognized by imperial artifacts after being tainted by darkness.
Soon, the colossal palace surged into the depths. The moment they neared the Dark Continent, they clashed with another group.
The battle erupted instantly.
This time, with the Heavenly Palace purging dark energy and serving as a recovery base, Yao Xian'er no longer held back. But she didn't rampage freely, two Mahayana peak experts blocked her path.
"The Wind and Thunder Emperors?!"
Her face turned grave. These two were her seniors, legendary figures who had once led countless cultivators against the darkness. But they had fallen here. The only silver lining was that their imperial artifacts had been retrieved by their descendants, preventing them from being corrupted.
The downside? Their bodies had never been recovered. Now, they were being puppeteered.
Like the puppet-path cultivator Su Min had once fought, their combined strength was terrifying.
Of course, as reanimated corpses, they were far weaker than in their prime. Even in this ideal environment, they could only barely hold Yao Xian'er back, keeping her occupied.
"The rest of you—move out! Head for the Dark Continent!"
Seeing that most of the enemy forces were tied down, Yao Xian'er barked orders.
"Lady Yao… Please, let our ancestors rest in peace."
Three cultivators stepped forward, bowing deeply. They were descendants of the Wind and Thunder Emperors. Seeing their ancestors' corpses defiled like this filled them with rage.
But all three were only at the early Unity stage. Even with imperial artifacts, they couldn't intervene.
"I'll try."
Yao Xian'er sighed. The suppression here was brutal, even for her.