Nie Kong remained unruffled; he had long suspected as much. After all, his origins were obscure. No matter how exceptional his talent or performance, the Pill Immortal Sect would never casually grant him access to the "Chaos Jade Tome," the repository where the Heavenly Fires intended for his absorption and refinement were sealed.

"Mirror Flower, Water Moon!"

Nie Kong's brow twitched, and he immediately channeled the ninth-rank skill the little one had comprehended using his Heart Aspect. If this Martial Marquis intended to probe his memories, then Nie Kong would simply fabricate one for him. Since awakening his Half-Spirit race bloodline and successfully gaining the Heart Aspect, Nie Kong could deploy these skills independently, even without the little one’s cooperation.

Most crucially, Nie Kong’s "Purple Luo Illusory Spirit Incense" Heart Aspect had already fused with the aura of a Dharma Aspect before he arrived at the Divine Firmament Peak, meaning there was no risk of detection.

Sensing the Dharma Aspect aura emanating from Nie Kong’s brow, Tai Shuyan smiled faintly. In his eyes, Nie Kong was resisting the Martial Marquis’s memory probe. However, given the vast gulf in realm and power between Nie Kong and the Martial Marquis, this resistance was doomed to be utterly futile.

Luan Yexin’s gaze held a subtle hint of worry. She held a favorable impression of this young man and naturally hoped the Martial Marquis would find nothing amiss within his memories. This regard was not born of romantic affection but rather the appreciation an elder has for a junior; by age, Luan Yexin could easily be Nie Kong’s grandmother.

Nie Kong’s resistance was merely a facade; his spirit was utterly immersed in the illusion woven by "Mirror Flower, Water Moon"—

On the fringes of the Divine Void Realm, in a secluded village, a community of low-cultivation Illusionary Spirit Masters and ordinary folk lived in quiet peace, devoid of strife or slaughter.

A little boy grew up carefree under the doting love of his parents, often causing mischief that turned the village upside down, yet he was always met with indulgent smiles.

This boy was named Tai Shuang.

Unbeknownst to them, the boy reached the age of ten, and behind him began to appear a porcelain doll-like little girl, following him everywhere like a shadow. Thus, spurred by the boy’s instigation, the village gained another four- or five-year-old imp, who was Tai Yan.

One day, the boy and girl wandered far away to play. When they returned to the village in the evening, they were met only with bloodstains and corpses scattered everywhere, most mutilated beyond recognition, some reduced to mere scattered bones. Among the bodies lay two Spirit Beasts.

A pack of Spirit Beasts had raided the small village!

Only the boy and girl, having ventured too far, escaped the massacre. Everyone else in the village had been slaughtered, with the villagers sacrificing their lives only to leave behind two vicious beasts.

The little girl began to sob uncontrollably, but upon seeing the carnage, the boy seemed to age instantly. Fearing her cries would attract more Spirit Beasts, he clamped a hand over her mouth, clutching her tight as he ran for over ten miles to a hidden, safe grotto before finally stopping. Exhausted by her crying, the little girl fell into a deep sleep.

The boy, his eyes bloodshot, quietly snuck back to the village, gathering dozens of bodies and remains, burying them all in a massive pit. Returning to the grotto, the boy, who often slacked off during cultivation, made a firm resolution. He began to practice diligently day and night while caring for the girl. The little girl, too, matured, slowly learning to wash clothes and cook meals.

Without a "Spirit Soul Phantom Crystal" or the guidance of elders, the boy managed, using only the most basic Spirit Gathering technique, to raise his cultivation to the second rank in just two years.

One day, the boy announced he would venture into the Fragmented Continent Belt to search for a "Spirit Soul Phantom Crystal," as that was where the highest probability lay for finding an ultimate-grade phantom crystal. Knowing the perils of the Fragment Belt well, the little girl was deeply anxious and cried, begging to accompany him.

The boy struggled with the decision for an entire night but finally agreed.

The next day, having packed only the bare necessities, the boy and girl left the grotto where they had resided for two years and entered the periphery of the Divine Void Realm’s Fragment Belt.

They first drifted among the larger fragments nearby, then ventured progressively deeper. Their steps carried them farther and farther. When the girl tired of walking, the boy would simply strap her onto his back. Before long, the twelve-year-old boy and six-year-old girl were utterly lost within the Fragment Belt.

They stopped searching for a way back, instead moving continuously between the continental fragments.

When thirsty, they would collect dew in a bamboo tube; when truly desperate, they dug up the local specialty from the fragment soil—a type of slimy, repulsive little worm—to sustain themselves. Only with great luck could they encounter sparse vegetation, using leaves or roots to marginally improve their meager diet.

One year! Two years!

Three years...

Countless times they narrowly evaded being swallowed by spatial rifts; countless times they survived abuse from other Illusionary Spirit Masters... Like tenacious cockroaches, the two small lives miraculously persisted.

In the blink of an eye, five years passed. The boy had grown into a sturdy youth, and the little girl was now eleven. That year, relying on his foundational Spirit Gathering technique, the youth pushed his cultivation to the peak of the third rank. He still had not abandoned his search for the phantom crystal.

Perhaps favored by destiny, during that winter, the two unintentionally triggered an illusion array within a landmass deep inside the Fragment Belt, leading them into a small Spirit Mansion abandoned for countless eons. There, the youth unearthed a "Spirit Soul Phantom Crystal" and also found several volumes of Spirit Arts.

The youth and the girl held each other and wept throughout the night.

The next day, the youth began absorbing the phantom crystal. In a mere half a month, his spirit soul successfully nurtured a Dharma Aspect—a dark-red plant. The moment his Dharma Aspect fully coalesced, the youth, tempered by years of hardship, was fundamentally transformed; his cultivation leaped directly from the peak of the third rank to the peak of the fourth.

From then on, the youth and the girl finally settled down within the Spirit Mansion.

The mansion possessed a water source and fruit-laden vegetation; the two no longer worried about sustenance or safety. However, the youth’s cultivation never slackened. With his Dharma Aspect, his training speed became astonishing. In just six months, he broke through to the fifth rank. A year and a half later, he reached the sixth rank.

By the time he was twenty-six, he was an eighth-rank Illusionary Spirit Master, and the girl from that time had blossomed into a graceful young woman of unparalleled beauty. It was that year that the two, who had depended on each other for over a decade, formally became husband and wife, and after crossing that boundary, their life together grew even sweeter.

They remained in the Spirit Mansion for another four years, during which the man’s cultivation reached the ninth rank.

At this point, his progress stalled. The man often wore a troubled expression. One time, in a fit of frustration, he consumed the only medicinal herb in the Spirit Mansion. He then discovered that the herb’s medicinal properties could enhance the power of his own Dharma Aspect. This sparked the idea of leaving the mansion and returning to the Divine Void Realm.

However, she had grown fond of the simple, sweet life within the Spirit Mansion, forcing the man to keep his thoughts buried. Finally, one night, he voiced those intentions in his sleep. The next day, she informed him of her own willingness to leave the mansion alongside him without hesitation.

After many years of separation, the couple finally returned to the continent!

The first thing the pair did was traverse the edges of the Divine Void Realm. Several months later, they located the village from years ago. The man then slaughtered every Spirit Beast within a thousand-mile radius surrounding the village and rebuilt the tombs for the villagers. With his vow fulfilled, the couple wandered throughout the Divine Void Realm like ordinary people.

The man slowly began teaching himself alchemy, using the resulting pills either to nourish his wife’s health or to consume himself. In just three years, the man’s cultivation climbed to the peak of the ninth rank, and he simultaneously attained the strength of a ninth-grade Medicine King. Yet, none of this was known to the outside world.

A few days prior, the couple moved to Ascending Dragon City and heard news of the "Pill Palace Immortal Assembly." The man, feeling restless, impulsively participated in the assessment beneath Divine Radiance Peak. Subsequently, at the invitation of Luan Yexin, an elder of Divine Radiance Peak, he took up residence at the Creation Villa. Finally, the man followed Tai Shuyan and Luan Yexin to Divine Firmament Peak...

... ...RO