A familiar voice jolted Nie Kong awake. He realized with a start that the crushing pressure surrounding him had vanished completely. His inner self, his Xin Xiang, was its normal size, his soul undiminished, and the suffocating sensation of becoming infinitesimally small had dissipated.

Looking beside him, Mu Zu, who had taken the form of an elder, was watching him with a gentle smile.

Reliving the recent sensation, Nie Kong couldn't help but feel suspicious. He asked, "Mu Zu, what was that just now? A hallucination?"

"It was a hallucination, yet not entirely," Mu Zu chuckled. "To be precise, it was a Ling Jie, a Soul Tribulation. If you had persisted in that state, the illusion would have solidified into reality, and your soul would have continuously weakened until it vanished entirely. Over the last ten thousand years, countless Tian Ling realm experts have met their end just like that, unknowingly dying during their Ling Jie."

As he finished, Mu Zu couldn't help but shake his head, letting out a soft sigh.

Nie Kong let out an internal sigh of relief. The initial suction and pressure hadn't been the terrifying part; rather, it was the subsequent feeling of almost no danger that left him chilled to the bone. Thankfully, Mu Zu had only brought him here for a brief experience, not to actually endure the Ling Jie.

"Look, that’s the Jie Men!"

At that moment, Mu Zu pointed toward the circular opening diagonally above them. "The Ling Jie that the Tian Ling Masters of the Tian Ling Continent endure all originates from this Jie Men. Normally, given your current strength, you wouldn't be able to sense the Ling Jie or even see the Jie Men. I let you experience it early so that if it suddenly descends in the future, you won't be caught off guard. The most crucial aspect of surviving a Ling Jie is maintaining an unmoving spirit (Xin Shen Bu Dong)."

Recalling his experience, Nie Kong nodded in agreement. However, he mused that while the four words Xin Shen Bu Dong sounded simple, achieving that state was far from easy. Otherwise, over the past ten millennia, only a select few would have broken through the limit to become Ling Shen.

Squinting at the Jie Men, a trace of inexplicable regret flickered across Mu Zu's face. "Nie Kong, did you know that ten thousand years ago, this Jie Men did not exist, and neither did the Ling Jie?"

"Ah?"

Nie Kong blinked in surprise, finally processing Mu Zu’s words. The Illusionary Spirit Continent of ten thousand years prior had no Jie Men... His heart gave a sudden jolt, and Nie Kong experienced a flash of sudden enlightenment. Without the Ling Jie, the probability of successfully breaking through to the Ling Shen realm would have been vastly increased. No wonder the Illusionary Spirit Continent had once produced numerous Ling Shen, while in the last ten thousand years, their numbers here were pitifully few. The real reason was this!

The Jie Men was condensed by that Supreme Venerable named Chong Xu. The Ling Jie must have also originated from him. What was his motive for doing this? Was it to control the population of Ling Shen?

That couldn't be right. Supreme Venerable Chong Xu came from the Illusionary Spirit Continent. Logically, the more Ling Shen who departed from here, the stronger the external Ling Shen would be in the 'Supreme Venerable Spirit Realm'... Restricting the number of Ling Shen through the Ling Jie would only harm their own side.

There must be another underlying reason!

Nie Kong suddenly thought of Mu Zu beside him. The elder undoubtedly possessed the strength of a peak Ling Shen, yet his realm remained fixed at the Tian Ling level. Was he truly constrained by his physical body, making advancement difficult?

Perhaps a secret was hidden here as well.

Nie Kong pondered this silently. Mu Zu also remained quiet, simply staring fixedly at the elliptical Jie Men, lost in his own thoughts.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a deafening roar swept out.

Nie Kong snapped back to attention and looked toward the sound. It seemed as if ten thousand catties of explosives had been detonated simultaneously within the Jie Men. The elliptical opening shuddered violently, and the already churning, milky-white aura, as if fiercely stimulated, shot wildly outwards, slamming against the cavern walls.

"The people on the other side have made their move," Nie Kong instantly understood.

"It doesn't matter," Mu Zu said, unhurried, slowly waving his hand. The Soul Orb materialized out of thin air, and a pitch-black aura flickered forth, devouring the surrounding light.

With a faint smile, Mu Zu pressed his withered right palm against the Soul Orb.

Moments later, a bizarre scene unfolded before Nie Kong’s eyes: the five fingers of Mu Zu’s right hand had transformed into five dark green root tendrils, which pierced effortlessly into the core of the Soul Orb, as easily as a needle penetrating tofu, encountering no resistance whatsoever.

Influenced by this contact, the Soul Orb shone with an increasingly intense black luminescence.

Nie Kong watched Mu Zu's right hand without blinking, filled with immense admiration. This Soul Orb appeared small, but it contained soul power equivalent to dozens of Ling Shen strengths, with several portions reaching peak soul power. He dared not touch that soul power, yet in Mu Zu’s hand, the Soul Orb seemed to have become a toy devoid of any danger.

After a few seconds, Mu Zu raised his hand, his right arm rapidly lengthening, holding the Soul Orb aloft and pressing it straight into the Jie Men.

"Boom!"

It was as if the heavens and earth were splitting apart; the entire dome-like sky trembled violently. The instant the Soul Orb entered the Jie Men, thousands of long tendrils branched out from the root tendrils that formed Mu Zu's five fingers, penetrating the Soul Orb ceaselessly. In one or two breaths, a massive, dark green net woven from root tendrils sealed the entire elliptical opening.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"..."

The piercing screams howled, and the rolling white aura surged forward like monstrous waves, continuously battering the green net, causing it to sway precariously like a small boat in a hurricane.

Nie Kong couldn't help but worry. Perhaps the ones making the move from the Jie Men side were the Five Great Divine Sovereigns of the 'Supreme Venerable Spirit Realm.' He wasn't sure if Mu Zu could hold them off. By reflex, he turned to check Mu Zu, seeing his expression calm and his bearing composed, Nie Kong unconsciously felt his anxiety ease.

Tss! Tss! Tss! Tss!...

Just then, a rapid series of piercing shrieks tore through the void.

The Soul Orb resembled an overinflated balloon punctured in countless places, releasing streams of dark black energy that leaked out along the green root tendrils, surging outwards in all directions and melting into the Jie Men's wall.

After the time it takes to snap one's fingers, the milky white Jie Men dimmed, and the roaring sounds began to abate. Meanwhile, the soul power inside the Soul Orb poured out at an even faster rate, and the green net woven from root tendrils was gradually consumed by the dark aura.

Seeing this transformation, Nie Kong felt even more reassured.

After about ten minutes, the howling sound emanating from the Jie Men completely died down, and the turbulent aura within the opening had long since vanished.

As the soul power drained away, the Soul Orb slowly contracted.

Half an hour later, the Soul Orb completely disappeared. The Jie Men, which had spanned several dozen meters, had transformed into a gigantic black hole, and the sky across several thousand meters around it had turned a dull, ashy gray. No movement came from the other side of the Jie Men; the interior of the black hole was steeped in deathly silence.

Mu Zu gave his right arm a slight shake, and the arm broke clean off at the shoulder. A dark green glow flashed intensely, and the severed limb completely sank into the black hole, while a new right arm grew from Mu Zu's shoulder socket.

By now, Nie Kong was accustomed to this. Mu Zu's body was formed entirely of condensed power; as long as the power remained, no matter how many times his arm broke, a new one would grow back.

"Finally, the great task is accomplished."

Gazing at the silent black hole, the weight lifted from Nie Kong's mind. His thoughts instantly flew to the Ling Shen Temple, wondering if Kou Xilai and the others had truly managed to escape.

... ...RO