Two women in peculiar mentor robes, their expressions grave, were deep in discussion near the mouth of a black hole, in the 'Tai Xu' space.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Zihan, who appeared no older than fifteen or sixteen, hesitated before finally asking, "You truly sensed the existence of the Tai Xu?"

"Yes, right here in the heart of the universe," Lingmeng nodded, pausing before continuing, "Billions of years ago, the Tai Xu descended upon our universe suddenly from a black hole. Its arrival is precisely what ushered in our universe's era of Dao arts. Otherwise, we would still be living in ignorant confusion, completely unaware of how to grasp and wield the powers of heaven and earth."

"Indeed. In our universe, regardless of which Daoist sect one belongs to, ancient legends passed down consistently indicate that all our Dao arts originated from the Tai Xu. It seems any person who touches the Tai Xu can obtain one or several divine Daoist abilities from it. One could say the source of our universe's Dao arts is the Tai Xu. Thirty million years ago, two Daoist sects fought over the Tai Xu, carelessly choosing the Savage Star Realm as their battleground. Midway through their clash, they neared a bizarre black hole. They pressed on with their engagement, forgetting that the Tai Xu possessed a strange consciousness, and inadvertently sent the Tai Xu into the black hole. From that moment, the Tai Xu completely vanished from our universe, and no powerhouse has ever been able to sense its presence again..." Zihan sighed wistfully.

"I always suspected the Tai Xu must have originated from this location. It seems my judgment was correct. Only the heart of the universe could nurture a miracle like the Tai Xu!" Lingmeng mused, then added, "In my view, the Tai Xu must have felt that while its arrival advanced our universe, it also destroyed too many stars and natural formations. That's why it actively departed, returning to its homeland—this very place."

"Then shouldn't we seek an audience with the Tai Xu? You must remember, when the Tai Xu left back then, no one could obtain Dao arts from it anymore. The Tai Xu is the progenitor of our universe's Dao arts; if we seek a breakthrough, the Tai Xu is our only opportunity!" Zihan's eyes flashed with a strange light, brimming with excitement. "I can only roughly sense its location. It is far from us; approaching it will certainly entail many perilous trials." Lingmeng deliberated for a moment, then suddenly smiled, "However, in the heart of this universe, any location could harbor immense danger. Nowhere is truly safe, and we likely wouldn't remain unscathed even here."

"Do we have time?"

"Let me calculate." Lingmeng closed her eyes. Behind her forehead, a massive divination trigram suddenly manifested. The image constantly shifted, showing the alternation of sun and moon, evolving the scenes of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

After a very long pause, Lingmeng opened her eyes, and the trigram behind her forehead abruptly vanished. "We have time."

"Good, then let's go find it. If we can find it sooner, it might greatly aid our current venture, especially since it originated from here!" Zihan exclaimed excitedly.

"Agreed!"

Two graceful figures sparkled like points of light emerging from the black hole. Their forms twisted and transformed, becoming two beams of light in the vast emptiness, accelerating toward a single direction until they vanished without a trace.

In the Chaotic Sea of Boundaries, in another vast, pale white region, Jiuwei, Mushen, Yulian, and Dite moved slowly, occasionally dodging massive explosions occurring randomly nearby. They had been in the Chaotic Sea of Boundaries for some time now but still hadn't found any trace of Ji Changkong or Ji Du.

Within the Chaotic Sea of Boundaries, these four cultivators, all at the Hunchen Realm, proceeded with extreme caution, unlike the composure they displayed in the Dead Star Domain. Here, they knew their cultivation was not invincible; the sheer cosmic might surrounding them could scatter their souls.

In the Dead Star Domain, they were functionally immortal, possessing various means to restore their soul imprints and regenerate through myriad divine abilities.

However, in the Chaotic Sea of Boundaries, they lacked that assurance. Legends claimed that even beings at the Apex Hunchen Realm could suffer complete annihilation here, let alone them?

"Dite, can you sense his location?" Jiuwei's gaze was distant, her tone listless, bordering on despair.

It had been countless years. She had hoped to use the divine power of the Third Eye of the Three-Eyed Clan to uncover some clue, yet Dite had disappointed her time and again. She had asked countless times, and every reply had been 'no.'

"There is a slight feeling!" Unexpectedly, Dite's reply this time was not 'no.' He frowned deeply, the divine light in his third eye blazing, as if he had genuinely discovered something.

Jiuwei's spirits lifted, and Mushen and Yulian also showed intense interest, all turning to Dite to await his answer.

"Perhaps it's because we are drawing nearer to him. I truly seem to sense some residual aura left by him." Dite's face was stern. His other two eyes were closed tight, while the third eye shone brighter and brighter. "We entered late, but we've been moving toward the depths of the Sea of Boundaries continuously. After so many years, our distance from them has closed significantly. He is only at the Tongshen Realm. The perils he faced on the way were greater than ours, and residual traces of power usage linger in many places. While the auras from those places fade quickly, they are clustered in one area. For some reason, a significant amount of his aura has lingered in that region, refusing to dissipate..."

Upon hearing this, Jiuwei immediately gave a cold laugh. "Very good. It seems we are approaching the target. However, one aspect is very strange." Dite did not appear overly optimistic. His three eyes slowly closed, and the previously shut two eyes slowly opened, revealing a thoughtful expression. Dite pondered for a while before continuing, "The area I sense is still there, but from the residual power, I have drawn a highly unfavorable message..."

"What is the situation?" Yulian snapped.

"The residual power alone possesses the might to annihilate a life-bearing star!" Dite stated deliberately.

"What?" Jiuwei cried out in shock, then repeatedly shook her head. "Impossible! Dite, you must be mistaken! That brat is only at the Tongshen Realm; his power is insufficient to destroy a life-bearing star, let alone a mere residual aura possess such divine majesty!"

"Yes, Dite, are you certain you aren't mistaken?" Yulian also looked utterly disbelieving. "You and I both know there might be masters from other universes in the Chaotic Sea of Boundaries. Those individuals might wield power even greater than ours. Could it be they caused this?"

Mushen's face darkened, but he remained silent. He knew Dite was the foremost figure among the Three-Eyed Clan, currently the only one at the Original Chaos Realm. Given the innate divine abilities of the Three-Eyed Clan for sensing, such an error was impossible.

If Dite said so, the matter must be true: residual energy alone carried the power to destroy a star.

"Do you think I could be wrong?" Dite grumbled unhappily. Jiuwei and Yulian immediately fell silent. "That area is still some distance from us. Any power exerted in that region leaves behind some trace, but that trace continuously weakens over time until it vanishes entirely. That residual aura—I don't know how long ago it vanished—but if it still retains such potency after so long, then..." Dite stopped speaking.

The three looked at him. Although they knew what he was about to say wouldn't be pleasant, they couldn't help but ask, "Then what?"

"Then we should retreat early," Dite sighed helplessly, offering a wry smile. "If that is truly the case, this brat must have broken through to at least the Original Chaos Realm, reaching the same cultivation level as us, with the possibility of having advanced even further. If that's true, and we continue to pursue him, even if we find him, the one who suffers will be us."

After a pause, Dite looked at Yulian and Mushen with a half-smile. "By then, not only will you fail to obtain the Source Fire from him, but he might absorb the Source Fire within your own bodies. My friends, don't blame me for not warning you; you need to be mentally prepared."

Mushen and Yulian's expressions turned to horror!

The reason they were so eager, besides eliminating the Demon of Pestilence, was precisely their desire for Ji Changkong's Source Fire. The Source Fire held the magic to propel them into the Apex Chaos Realm. They had braved the dangers and traveled thousands of miles solely for the Source Fire.

If they failed to obtain the Source Fire and instead had it absorbed by their target, wouldn't that leave them weeping tears of regret?

Jiuwei was the same. Her relentless pursuit of Ji Changkong was not only because she absolutely had to destroy the Demon of Pestilence but also because she knew the Tianyuan Pearl was on him. She understood the secrets contained within the Tianyuan Pearl. Her primary objective when cornering the High Priest Ouro years ago was the Tianyuan Pearl, but the High Priest Ouro had played a trump card, leading to her complete failure.

"Impossible!" Jiuwei's face changed color. "Absolutely impossible! That brat is only at the Tongshen Realm; he cannot possibly break through to the Hunxian Realm in such a short time!"

"I heard that brat once visited the Nine-Story Pagoda. You all know that guy Jiu Ye is the foremost alchemist in our universe. To my knowledge, the reason this brat advanced so quickly to the Tongshen Realm is inseparable from the Ruyi Pills left by Jiu Ye. Where there are Ruyi Pills, there are Tong Shen Pills. You should all know Jiu Ye's attainments in alchemy," Dite sneered.

Jiuwei and the others fell silent again.

"Whether you continue the pursuit or not is up to you," Dite stated calmly. "We must continue!" Jiuwei hesitated, then gritted her teeth. "We have no choice. Once he reaches an extremely high realm, the Purgatory Ghost Tribe will resurrect. If he and that venomous woman join forces, all our clans will once again become vassals! If we don't fight, we will all slowly be suppressed!"

Mushen and Yulian nodded with grim faces, apparently agreeing with Jiuwei's assessment. "Then we continue. This time I'm confident we will see him soon. As long as we quicken our pace." Dite sighed internally, knowing that further dissuasion was useless. This chapter was manually updated by Shushu members.