When Yunxi heard Xun Kun's words, her eyes lit up. She had been confined by what the book had shown her, always assuming the other party existed to steal her opportunities, a chess piece of the fake Heavenly Dao. She had not considered that this could be a nail planted early by evil cultivators, driven in specifically for the cultivator who would one day disrupt their arrangements.
"Xun Kun, your hypothesis makes more sense. It gives me a new line of thought."
Yunxi narrowed her almond eyes. If this was a real world rather than a world inside a novel, then what she had read before crossing over was essentially foreshadowing laid down to help her avoid traps.
After she sidestepped her death tribulation and grew stronger, Wei Yunqing could no longer gain the slightest advantage over her. Neither Wei Yunqing herself, nor her clan, nor even her sect could support her rise. Her growth slowed, and at the very least, she could no longer surpass Yunxi.
Yunxi also remembered clearly what Feng Fen, heir of Tianyun Gate, had once said. Before the first Ancestor of Tianyun Gate underwent lesser ascension, he received a revelation from the Heavenly Dao and cast a divination. He foresaw a cataclysm in the Weiyu Realm, but also that a Daughter of Fortune and a Chosen One would descend upon the Weiyu Realm. One of them would become the realm's standard-bearer. Whether the realm marched toward ruin or broke free of control depended on whom the cultivators of the Weiyu Realm chose to follow.
It was then that Yunxi confirmed she was the Chosen One, the variable fated to change the game.
The sentence that left the deepest impression on Yunxi from Feng Fen was this: this is the last chance. If they chose wrong again, there would truly be no saving the realm.
After Yunxi advanced to Out-of-Body and returned to the Weiyu Realm, she could sense it and finally understand Feng Fen's words. The Weiyu Realm bore traces of a reset in time. In other words, the realm had been rebooted.
That meant that before the reset, the cultivators of the Weiyu Realm had chosen wrongly, leading to the realm's fall to the evil cultivators. The Evil God's body was surely unsealed, and no one could stop the Evil God's return.
She did not yet know what roles Wei Yunqing and Sheng Yuhong had played, but they had certainly tripped up the Heavenly Dao and created an opening for the fake Heavenly Dao.
Perhaps the fall of the Weiyu Realm had been the beginning of all calamities, the first domino to topple and trigger even worse chain reactions. That would be why a mighty saint reversed time, reset the realm to a point before its fall, sent her here with the mission to turn the tide, and gave her vital hints, so that through her hands the Weiyu Realm might be saved.
Which meant this was the last chance as well. If the evil cultivators succeeded again and the realm became their territory, there would be no room left to maneuver.
Yunxi drew a long breath and suddenly felt the weight on her shoulders. It only strengthened her determination to push the entire Weiyu Realm to ascend. It was crazy, but it had to be attempted.
Xun Kun watched Ran Xi in thought and did not disturb her. He took out a tea set, brewed a pot of spirit tea, pushed a cup toward Ran Xi, then lifted his own and took a sip.
When Yunxi returned to herself, she raised the cup on the table. "Xun Kun, please keep a tight watch on Wei Yunqing. She may lead us to the place where the Evil God's body is sealed."
Xun Kun nodded. "Do not worry. Even if you had not asked, I would keep a close eye on her. But after we find the place where the body is sealed, what then? The Evil God's body cannot be destroyed, and we do not even know which part is sealed within the Weiyu Realm."
Yunxi sipped the spirit tea. "It will be difficult. Since it cannot be destroyed, we add more layers of seals. We can set up the Demon-Slaying Array and borrow the power of the stars to suppress the body. That should hold until help arrives from the upper realms, or until the entire Weiyu Realm ascends."
Xun Kun nodded. "I understand. By the way, my master Lin Lang wishes to invite you to Kunmo Sect as a guest and to discuss your ascension plan. Do you have time?"
Yunxi smiled. "Since you have asked, I certainly have time."
Yunxi then visited Kunmo Sect as a guest. After staying for a day, she returned to Haoran Sect.
Back at the Hive, a stack of jade slips already covered the jade table. Yunxi rubbed her brow and sent Dian Dian off to play with Li Li. She resigned herself to processing the work that had piled up during the two days she had been away.
While she was reading through the slips, one note caught her eye. Mu Zijun of Spirit Beast Peak had scored a lucky find in the street-stall district of Haoran City. He bought an empty pill bottle, but a Soul Mending Pill had been sealed in the bottom. It healed the damage to his soul.
After reading this, Yunxi rubbed the jade slip between her fingers, a glint of mockery in her eyes. The fake Heavenly Dao was leveling an alt with all its might, terrified the boy would fail to advance. One move and Mu Zijun's injuries from Li Li were gone.
Yunxi summoned a high-ranking cultivator of the Law Enforcement Hall and ordered a watch placed on Mu Zijun. She wanted to know his every action, including which fellow disciples and friends he associated with.
The Enforcement Hall suspected Mu Zijun of leaning toward evil cultivation and took it very seriously. They assigned a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator to shadow him, with reports to Yunxi every three days.
One year later
When Yunxi received the latest report from the tracking Nascent Soul cultivator, doubt flashed in her eyes. She sent her divine sense into her space and logged into the group chat once more.
The last time she logged in was when she proposed the plan to ascend the entire Weiyu Realm. She had asked the Sacred One for help, but Ethereal Grace had not been online.
When Yunxi floated her outlandish proposal, she had expected the senior to laugh at her. Unexpectedly, the Sacred One replied with a single line: follow your idea, and you will have an outcome beyond expectation.
After that, no matter what Yunxi asked, the Sacred One gave no further response, and soon went offline.
This time when she logged in, the Sacred One's name was gray. The senior was clearly offline.
Yunxi sighed, greeted everyone out of habit, and traded a batch of supplies with Star Trek, Tribal Warrior, and Survival is the Ultimate Truth.
Then she messaged Ox-Head Horse-Face privately, explaining that since her return to the Weiyu Realm, the Soul-Receiving Mirror had shown no reaction. The evil souls that had slipped into the realm seemed to have vanished.
[Ox-Head Horse-Face]:No need to rush. They are soul bodies. They cannot hide for long unless someone shelters them. But no one will help such things for no reason. They will show themselves eventually.
Yunxi knew she was being impatient. After reading Ox-Head Horse-Face's words, she felt grounded again. She then contacted Ethereal Grace.
[Ethereal Grace]:Little Cloud, long time no see. What have you been busy with? You have not logged in for a while.
[Fleeting Cloud]:I have been busy with ascension matters. Senior, I have a question.
[Ethereal Grace]:Tell me, what is it?
[Fleeting Cloud]:There is a cultivator here with average aptitude and average luck, yet good things tend to seek him out. It feels as if he enjoys the favor of the Heavenly Dao, but when I probed his fortune, he scored lower than an ordinary cultivator.
[Ethereal Grace]:Oh? Is that so? Then when he obtained those good things, was he alone, or were other cultivators nearby?