"Hmph, don't look down on me!" As the Daoist sitting atop the Crimson Cliff moved his Spirit-Dotting Brush, the mist among the weeds suddenly surged upward. Because the morning mist was dense, the water vapor, upon reaching the sky, descended like rain directly toward Ye Xiu and Liu.

Ye Xiu knew instantly this was bad. He looked up to see the falling rain resembling needle tips. He unleashed his Violet Flame, intending to scatter the fine needles, but unexpectedly, the needles pierced through the flames with an almost casual elegance: "Old Liu, run!"

"Run? Can this level of Daoist art stop me?" Old Liu scoffed, pulling an ice crystal from his waist pouch. This five-pointed ice crystal was the essence of Old Liu's Dao magic. The cold dew instantly froze upon contact with the ice, shattering into pieces as it fell to the ground. Old Liu glared up at the figure above and demanded, "Seeing as you are also a practitioner of Ancient Marvelous Dao, tell me your name quickly!"

"Heh, so you also understand Marvelous Dao techniques?" The youth lifted the Spirit-Dotting Brush and drifted lightly to the ground. He frowned deeply, scrutinizing Old Liu. "Looking at the Daoist implements on you and the sword tube on your back, you must be a practitioner of Sword-Type Marvelous Dao Arts. What's the matter? Let me see your Thin Face Saber in action!"

Ye Xiu did not interject. He watched the youth's every move; his power seemed no less than Old Liu's.

Old Liu certainly would not yield just because of a few words. He knew little about his own sect of Ancient Marvelous Dao: "Are you perhaps a Spell Talisman cultivator? No wonder your attack method is so peculiar. I need to return to the Boundless Realm, boy; seriously, don't stand in my way!"

"Stand in your way?" The youth spun the tip of his brush, pointing it at Ye Xiu behind him, and retorted to Old Liu, "You brought a God of Death with you and still talk about returning to the Boundless Realm? Do you have any idea that during the Great Desolate Chaos War, the entire Boundless Realm was nearly destroyed by the Death Nation? Has cultivating Dao methods made your mind dull, or what? Do you wish to be a traitor to the Boundless Realm?"

Ye Xiu was greatly shocked by these words. He had never sensed the threat the lineage of the Death Gods posed to the Boundless Realm. It seemed the clans here, especially the Daoist practitioners, did not hold a very favorable view of the Death Gods: "I was just accompanying my friend to the Boundless Realm for a visit. As for this Death Nation you speak of, I truly don't understand it. Will you believe me?"

The youth turned back and cast a fierce glare at Ye Xiu. At that moment, a burst of white light erupted from the tip of the Spirit-Dotting Brush in his hand, shooting toward Ye Xiu like a sharp sword: "I'm not as foolish as this low-grade Daoist to believe a word from a God of Death!"

"Whoosh..." The light flashed past. Ye Xiu originally thought he could easily dodge it, but just as he stepped out, the light split into three, forming a ring and converging on him. Caught off guard, he was pierced through the body by the three beams of light, instantly collapsing onto the ground, black blood flowing at the edge of the Crimson Cliff.

"Ye Xiu!" Seeing Ye Xiu injured, Old Liu was naturally enraged. He whipped out his Thin Face Saber, sweeping downward to pierce the Spirit-Dotting Brush in the youth's hand. However, the youth was prepared. Just as Old Liu's Thin Face Saber struck, he drew a phantom saber hilt with his right hand. A single clash sent Old Liu flying back several meters. "This... this is your Thin Face Saber..."

"Hmph! I wondered what sort of character you were." The youth's eyebrows rose, a smug look appearing on his face. He gestured with the hilt, which lacked a blade, and laughed, "Every person of the Ancient Marvelous Dao possesses a Thin Face Saber. You couldn't possibly not know that the depth of one's Dao cultivation can be judged simply by the thickness of the Thin Face Saber, right?"

Old Liu was forced back by the blow and was furious, but when he saw that the blade of the Thin Face Saber in the opponent's hand had already receded to just the hilt, a cold sweat broke out, and he exclaimed, "Your Thin Face Saber has already... already cultivated to the point of blade retraction..."

Ye Xiu endured the sharp pain and stood up, clutching his wound. The black blood pouring from him now stained the Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome an even deeper shade. He never imagined that such a seemingly ordinary youth could inflict such suffering with a casual strike. Are the people from the Earth Vein Boundless Realm all this powerful? "Who exactly are you? What is your name!"

"Ah..." Old Liu seized the moment while Ye Xiu distracted the youth, bringing his Thin Face Saber up again, aiming for a surprise attack. Who knew that the youth, while looking at Ye Xiu, aimed the Spirit-Dotting Brush toward him instead? He moved his saber along with his body to close the distance, but was fended off by a flourish of the brush, neutralizing all his offensive moves. "You..."

The youth paid no attention to Old Liu. He leaped toward Ye Xiu and plunged a saber—the one missing its blade—into Ye Xiu's chest. Black blood erupted, flowing over the entire Crimson Cliff. "My only target is to kill you, this God of Death. I truly don't care about that foul Daoist. Want to know who I am? Heh, Dao Wan Deng, chief disciple under the Ancient Marvelous Dao of the Myriad Dao Mountain in the Boundless Realm!"

"You, don't force me!" Upon hearing this, Ye Xiu gripped the hilt of the Thin Face Saber embedded in his sternum. The flowing blood was beginning to unbalance his mind. Once again, he felt the surging violent energy within his blood vessels. In this instant, he held the Thin Face Saber firmly in one hand and was already cultivating supreme Black Flame with the other. "How about this!"

"Ah, bad!" Dao Wan Deng broke into a cold sweat, already sensing the power of the Black Flame in Ye Xiu's hand. He wanted to retreat, but the Thin Face Saber was now held fast by Ye Xiu. At this moment, if he wished to flee, he would have to abandon the Thin Face Saber.

"Rumble..." A violent explosion nearly shook the Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome apart. Flying stones trembled, dust billowed, and this morning was destined to be anything but peaceful.

"Hoo... what a reckless fellow!" Dao Wan Deng let out a long breath and jumped onto the Crimson Cliff. He glared down fiercely at Ye Xiu, whose grip on his Thin Face Saber remained tight. "God of Death, what kind of place do you think the Boundless Realm is? You think you can just go whenever you please?"

"Ye Xiu, are you alright?" Old Liu rushed over immediately, supporting Ye Xiu. Seeing Ye Xiu bleeding black blood all over, he had never seen this fellow so gravely injured. "Damn it, just how strong is this Dao Wan Deng!"

Ye Xiu's face was starting to turn ashen. The Daoist Thin Face Saber indeed inflicted immense damage upon the Gods of Death. He tightly grasped the saber hilt—the only part remaining—not daring to loosen his hold for a moment: "I just felt like I was about to lose control again, but I don't know why I suddenly calmed down. It seems the Dao magic on the Thin Face Saber somehow neutralized the tyrannical Nether Blood inside my body."

Dao Wan Deng had assumed this one strike would surely kill the God of Death. However, just as he prepared to strike a finishing blow with his most favored spell, he was startled by waves of Buddhist energy emanating from within Ye Xiu. Within a God of Death, both righteous and evil forces existed simultaneously, or perhaps an even more complex third force. "No matter what you two plan to do by going to the Boundless Realm, I only want to tell you that successfully reaching the Boundless Realm is not that simple. This Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome realm has already been laid with intricate mechanisms by the Four Clans of the Boundless Realm. Outsiders seeking entry must break through these mechanisms. If I don't kill you, you will die within these mechanisms anyway."

"What are you doing here?" Old Liu only managed to ask after Dao Wan Deng's tone softened, "If you weren't waiting for us, then what are you doing here?"

Dao Wan Deng held Old Liu's cultivation in contempt. He tilted his head up and stated, "The Demon Qi in the Corpse Fiend Forest is rampant. As the chief disciple of the Myriad Dao Mountain, it is my duty to stop the demon race from invading the mortal realm and uphold righteousness for all sentient beings."

Myriad Dao Mountain again? The scene Old Liu experienced within the Seven Star Array seemed to mark the very first rise of the Ancient Marvelous Dao arts. That person named Liu Yunzong must have been the grandmaster of the Ancient Marvelous Dao, but later, as the Marvelous Dao arts branched into eight divisions, they scattered across different realms. It seemed the main lineage must reside within the Boundless Realm: "We are tracking the werewolf demon creature here."

"Hmph, with your level of cultivation, you expect to attain Daohood?" Dao Wan Deng scoffed dismissively, pointing at the Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome. "I have already killed that werewolf. One more reminder: the Death God's blood just accidentally opened the entrance to the Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome realm. To enter the Boundless Realm, you must pass through the Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome's mechanisms. Don't blame me for not giving you a chance; hurry up. Once this blood dries, the formation's eye will vanish."

"This..." Old Liu certainly did not want to miss such an opportunity, but Ye Xiu was currently immobilized by the shock from the Thin Face Saber, his stamina clearly severely depleted. He watched the black blood on the Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome already starting to seep into the stones. "Ye Xiu, are you alright?"

"Whoosh..." At this moment, Dao Wan Deng took advantage of Ye Xiu's momentary lapse to summon back his Thin Face Saber. He flew up and stood on the Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome, stating coldly, "Don't worry, it's just superficial damage. I believe such injuries are not fatal to a God of Death—provided he's a God of Death who still has some fighting capacity!"

The Thin Face Saber flew out, and Ye Xiu felt a significant relief. It turned out the saber wound wasn't particularly serious; the difficulty in breathing was due to the oppression of Dao energy. At this point, he could barely stand upright: "Dao Wan Deng, what do you mean by letting us through?"

"No particular meaning. I just feel you are unworthy of dying by my hand—one Death God, one Daoist traitor. Heh, those mechanisms within the Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome will certainly take good care of you." As Dao Wan Deng spoke these words, his mind wandered. Eliminating Death Gods was indeed the duty of every Daoist. However, the moment he wounded Ye Xiu, he sensed a wave of Buddhist power. He recalled something the Limitless Dao Master of Myriad Dao Mountain had once told him: all worldly phenomena are contained within the myriad existences; nothing in the world is absolute.

Old Liu glanced at Ye Xiu. The certainty in Ye Xiu's eyes was familiar to him. At this moment, a wall of blood actually appeared on the stone surface of the Crimson Cliff. Illuminated by the sunlight, the blood-red wall dyed the entire mountainside a deep crimson. He supported Ye Xiu and stepped together into the blood wall. No matter what, this was the first step toward the Boundless Realm: "Let's go, Ye Xiu. Just by looking at you, I know you are dying to find out what kind of place the Boundless Realm is."

"Hmph, you really know me." At this moment, Su Su's energy began to flow over Ye Xiu's body. This type of bleeding superficial wound was not severe for a God of Death. He stepped into the deep crimson before Old Liu. At that instant, the two seemed to enter a descending elevator, but the surroundings of the elevator were not uniformly black; instead, they were endless patterns of the red Heavenly Tome. Indeed, this Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome was not as simple as imagined. "Old Liu, are all you people of the Ancient Marvelous Dao this formidable? Isn't this just giving me a show of strength right from the start?"

"No matter how formidable, are you more formidable than me?" Old Liu was unconvinced by Ye Xiu's statement and proceeded on his own. "Stop dampening your own spirit by praising others. Haven't we both held back our divine weapons?"

"But that guy also didn't really use his Spirit-Dotting Brush much," Ye Xiu joked. In his view, no power in the world was absolute; combat experience told him that only conviction could sustain victory. "Haha, alright, I was just kidding. We need to go see what kind of place this Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome realm is!"

The wind blew lightly. Dao Wan Deng sat alone beside the Crimson Cliff Heavenly Tome, watching the black blood dry. He rotated the Spirit-Dotting Brush in his hand, and a strange sense of dread rose in his heart. The Death God harbored an external Buddhist force, and that Marvelous Dao practitioner contained a sinister energy. Worldly affairs are unpredictable; every unusual occurrence signals that turmoil will arise in the world. That which is called Dao must maintain flexibility and balance the universe.