Although she didn't know what these guys were up to, Su Min had no reason to pass up the opportunity to beat a drowning dog. Since they had foolishly exposed themselves to her, she didn't hesitate to thrust her sword straight in.
In the blink of an eye, two more immortals perished. This smoothness was so bizarre that even the onlookers were stunned—let alone Su Min herself. At the same time, inside the spatial tunnel, the remaining three individuals were equally dumbfounded as they watched a small crack tear open in front of them.
Then, a near-death message reached their ears, freezing them in place.
The content was just one sentence, but that one sentence was enough to make their expressions change drastically.
"The Chaos Body is unfathomable—do not engage. The Zhexian Curse missed its mark. Report back immediately."
The three exchanged glances. Though the message was brief, it filled them with dread.
"Do not engage."
These three words spoke volumes.
Seven of them had already gone out—which meant all seven had fallen to the Chaos Body. Aside from the first one who had been ambushed, the rest were all immortals—six in total.
And yet, the Chaos Body was only at the Mahayana late stage. They hadn't participated in the great war of the past, nor had they witnessed the terror of the Chaos Body firsthand. The survivors of those three eras were long dead, so they had no real understanding of its power.
When they learned that Su Min hadn't died, they had been eager to test their strength against her.
Now, they had tested it—and perished.
The message before them was nothing short of a death note, a final plea of despair. The implications were clear.
So, without hesitation, the three made a decision—
Run.
They turned tail and fled, not daring to look back. But soon, their faces twisted in horror. The arrival of ten immortals, combined with their earlier infighting, had stirred up a violent storm of energy within the tunnel. Retreating was now impossible.
But these three weren't trying to escape—they only wanted to deliver the message.
When the tunnel opened again, Su Min was slightly surprised to find it empty.
"Those three charged back in, but the path ahead is filled with chaotic energy. If I follow, it would be extremely dangerous. More importantly, if I enter the Nether Prison, I'd be facing enemies on all sides—certain death."
Narrowing her eyes, Su Min assessed the situation. This battle was over. Pursuing them now was unrealistic. With a wave of her hand, seven corpses materialized before her.
"This sword strike will be enough to sever the ages... No, it will buy this world tens of thousands of years."
Facing the raging storm, Su Min drew her weapon. Taking a deep breath, she channeled her power into the blade. Her sword now radiated an extraordinary aura—one that surpassed even an Emperor's weapon.
It had become an Immortal Artifact.
Bathing in the blood of these immortals, it had finally ascended.
"Time. Space. Karma."
She pushed her three great laws to their limits, then used the corpses as fuel to unleash a devastating slash.
In an instant, the coordinates of the rift were completely obscured by the three laws. Even if the storm subsided, no one would be able to trace it. For anyone in this universe to break through Su Min's seal, they would need power surpassing hers—meaning at least an immortal, and not just any ordinary one.
From this moment on, this world would be isolated from the outside.
Soon after...
"This is roughly what happened. For now, everything is over—at least temporarily."
Upon returning to the universe, Su Min relayed the events to the others.
"Huh?"
They were stunned. After Su Min's explanation, their expressions remained grim.
"If the Nether Prison isn't destroyed, will they return?"
"Yes. So from now on, everyone should focus on cultivation and try to survive as long as possible. My sword strike has bought us tens of thousands of years."
Shrugging, Su Min vanished—taking Xie Yingying with her. The two soon returned to the Immortal Gate.
"What are you planning?"
Xie Yingying asked warily, sensing that Su Min was about to do something drastic.
"My path has reached its limit. As a Chaos Body, I have not achieved Transcendence. The next step is immortality. But just like the Golden Core Tribulation, the Immortal Tribulation has different levels. The one I must face is the highest—and as I am now, attempting it would mean certain death."
"What?"
Xie Yingying was stunned.
For Su Min—who could already slay immortals—to feel despair before the Immortal Tribulation...
How was that possible?
"The Chaos Body, despite its power, has now become my shackle. I will sever my cultivation entirely—even the Chaos Body itself."
This was an extremely dangerous path, so Su Min had no intention of telling anyone except Xie Yingying.
"Hiss—"
Xie Yingying inhaled sharply. Clearly, Su Min didn't plan to stay in the Immortal Gate.
With so many eyes here, it wasn't safe. This wasn't like Yao Xian'er's era—now, the dangers were far greater.
"I've chosen a relatively isolated planet. I've prepared a temporary barrier around it. Now, I need your jade slip—as a final safeguard."
"Take it."
Without hesitation, Xie Yingying handed over a jade pendant—one that could summon a Mahayana cultivator at will. It would be an absolute lifeline.
"What comes next will be a long journey. Yao Xian'er's techniques were truly formidable. Now, I must abandon everything and return to my origin."
With that, Su Min ruthlessly severed her own foundation, sealing it within her body. Then, her cultivation plummeted—first to the Divine Transformation stage, then further, until she was nothing more than a mortal.
Lifting her head, she gazed at the towering mountains before her.
This was the planet she had chosen—a remote world in the cosmos, untouched by higher civilizations.
Its spiritual energy was thin, but slowly growing. Thousands of years had passed since the world's rebirth, and only now had the changes reached this place.
"Another familiar journey. A completely mortal body—it feels like I've returned to the beginning. It's just a pity that those from back then are all gone."
Taking a deep breath, Su Min recalled her most vulnerable moment—when she had first crossed into this world, nearly sold into a brothel, then hunted by an army of hundreds of thousands.
"At least this time, I won't start off so wretched. It's time to cultivate anew. But now, I don't just lack the Chaos Body—I don't even have the Five Elements Holy Body. The five divine artifacts have also been returned to the world."
Looking at her body, Su Min mused. Once she had become the Chaos Body and condensed the Chaos Flame, the five divine artifacts had become useless to her.
So she had left them in the sect, forming a unique inheritance ground.
This time, Su Min had severed herself completely. But since she had no lifespan limit, time was meaningless. By the time the spatial tunnel reopened, she would have long since regained her peak strength. With that, Su Min stepped into a cave deep in the mountains.
Here, she had prepared her starting resources—a spirit vein abundant enough for a mortal, and a protective formation.
Then, she entered seclusion.
A mortal body was the most malleable—but also the hardest to use.
First, Su Min needed to forge a cultivation method.
Given the vast knowledge in her memories, this wasn't difficult.
In just a month, she had crafted a suitable technique.
A year later, without the aid of any pills, she painstakingly reached the Body Tempering stage.
As the protective formation crumbled, Su Min stepped into society. Before her was a world in chaos—a dynasty in its final years, plagued by disasters. Now, with nothing but a battered sword, she would carve order from the madness. While Su Min advanced slowly, the rest of the world had settled into an uneasy peace.
Though everyone knew it was temporary, peace was still peace. For most beings, tens of thousands of years was an unfathomably long time. Even Mahayana or Transcendence-stage cultivators couldn't live to see the end of it.
"After I'm dead, let the floodwaters rage."
Many forgot the looming threat, focusing instead on their own lives. This wasn't entirely bad—it allowed them to cultivate without pressure. But soon, people realized Su Min had vanished again. Even the Immortal Gate had no idea where she was.
No one was too concerned. Su Min had disappeared before—she'd return in a few centuries. But this time, a thousand years passed with no sign of her.
Suspicions grew—especially when the world's Heavenly Mark manifested.
No one dared covet it. Everyone, including Tian Hao, assumed it belonged to Su Min. She was unrivaled—the only one who could slay immortals, the only one qualified to reach Transcendence.
Anyone else who tried would be crushed by her.
Yet the Heavenly Mark lay untouched.
Years passed. Decades.
Finally, after a century, someone made a move.
Many had reached the Mahayana stage. Every cultivator dreamed of Transcendence—of becoming the universe's supreme being.
Like vultures circling a dying king, they fought for the crown.
A brutal war began.
Mahayana was the peak of this world. To go further, one had to fight—to seize the Mark.
The Immortal Gate remained aloof, making no attempt to claim it.
Even Xie Yingying and the Little Golden Crow, both at the late Mahayana stage, stayed out of the conflict.
After centuries of bloodshed, a new monarch emerged.
On this day, the universe trembled.
The Great Desolate Holy Body—a peerless physique—ascended to the throne, becoming the new Great Desolate Martial Sage.
The moment Tian Hao claimed the title, Su Min opened her eyes on a distant planet.
"So it's him. But this so-called Mark means nothing to me."
Rising to her feet, Su Min felt her cultivation return to the Mahayana stage.
The moment she reached it, her severed foundation reintegrated.
Her power surged back to the late Mahayana stage.
But this accumulation was still far from enough.
"I must continue. Next time, I'll try severing my meridians. But first, I should return. If I stay gone too long, people will think I'm dead—or guess what I'm doing. My reappearance will serve as a warning. Besides, it's only been a few thousand years. There's still plenty of time."
Stretching lazily, Su Min reflected on the past millennia.
"Xie Yingying stayed with me through all of this. She could have left. She should have. But she didn't."
No one brought a Mahayana cultivator as a bodyguard to such a desolate place. But Xie Yingying had stayed—for centuries—quietly guarding her, refusing to leave.
But she couldn't stay forever.
And now, Xie Yingying had reached her own limit.
Her path too had ended.