Zong Shou cast another indifferent glance at the phoenix egg, noting the flame light on its shell had already turned golden; it seemed the hatching was, at most, two days away.

The Crimson Fire Golden Phoenix could manifest the spirit of the Vermillion Bird. Although the Cold Nether Tiger was counted among the beast kings of the same tier, it was, regrettably, a soul beast. Only after its flesh and blood regenerated and its lineage was purified could it possibly evolve into the spirit of the White Tiger.

As for the other three spirit beasts, where to find them remained unknown. Those of too low a rank were beneath his notice and could not bear the Five Elements Spirit Contract.

With a sigh, Zong Shou withdrew his gaze. Then, he looked at his right hand, where a thumb-sized black dot rested upon it.

It was the Devouring Heaven Primordial Transformation Art, constantly sucking in everything around it, acting like a 'black hole' capable of swallowing all things. At this moment, however, Zong Shou controlled its magnitude to be extremely gentle.

The so-called 'black hole' was an artifact from a Grand Thousand World. This was a brand-new, massive world conquered by the Cloud Realm God Emperor thousands of years hence.

It was said that this world was thousands of times larger than the Cloud Realm, its borders almost unreachable. However, its spiritual energy was thin, making cultivation entirely impossible, save for certain star fields with unique environments where life forms existed.

In that new world, the sun of the Cloud Realm, the Great Sun, was referred to as a star.

It was also rumored that when this star decayed to its extreme, it would become the so-called 'black hole.'

Thousands of years ago, cultivators inadvertently discovered it—a phenomenon capable of devouring all matter, including all the spirit of heaven and earth, light, and the spiritual consciousness of cultivators.

It existed within the cosmos. It was fundamentally invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by spiritual consciousness; its location could only be confirmed by observing the surrounding star fields in contrast.

It was said that countless experts from across the realms subsequently rushed there, seeking to comprehend its profound mysteries, but most returned frustrated.

Zong Shou was fortunate enough to have seen a few treatises concerning this 'black hole.'

"To evolve this Great Sun Dharma Form to its extreme, or perhaps to directly reverse it, that would be Sun Devouring!"

"And there is a saying that all Great and Minor Thousand Worlds were born from a singularity, expanding through explosion. And when the end arrives, both time and space will return to one!"

"Does the Daoist tradition not also state: the Dao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things?"

"It is rumored that beyond the black hole, there is the concept of a white hole, conjectured by an expert who reached the Supreme Realm. Opposite to the black hole, it emits endless light, endless heat, endless energy. Yet, to this day, no one has ever discovered one. Because that light cannot enter, it is equally invisible to the naked eye, and spiritual sense cannot probe it. That expanse of the world is simply too vast—"

As his thoughts drifted, Zong Shou’s eyes grew increasingly sharp. He felt as if he might have finally discovered the true path to his Great Dao.

"My sword techniques also follow the path of myriad flows converging into one. Fundamentally, it is about reducing thousands of world laws to a single entity. Viewed this way, this Sun Devouring Dharma Form can also be approached through this martial path. I just wonder, once this kind of Dharma Form is condensed, what grade might it be rated in the Buddhist system?"

Muttering to himself, Zong Shou suddenly clenched his right hand, causing the thumb-sized black sphere to vanish completely into his palm.

With his current cultivation, achieving such a feat was utterly impossible. Therefore, Zong Shou was not greedy; he only sought its form, not daring to hope for its essence. That, he realized, was a matter for when he stepped onto the immortal path.

Yet, even so, Zong Shou could foresee the difficulty in condensing this Sun Devouring Dharma Form.

The future remained shrouded in mist; the road ahead was long and arduous, requiring persistent seeking.

But though the path would be arduous, Zong Shou had a feeling that once successful, it would undoubtedly carve out a distinct path of the Great Dao.

"Why think so much? What path? I am not yet at the stage to contemplate such things."

With a self-deprecating smile, Zong Shou left the door and took to his sword light, heading into the distance.

This time, he flew directly beyond the boundary of the Azure Life Firmament Realm.

The Azure Life Firmament Realm was constructed within the void. Unless one left via the formation array, or if their power reached the Seventh Tier and they could tear open some weak points in the void barrier, leaving in any direction would lead to a region similar to the spatial rifts found in the spirit rivers.

The destination he was heading to was relatively close to the Azure Life Firmament Realm, a relatively stable, ultra-small spirit sea.

However, unlike his current location, this place was situated behind the Azure Life Firmament Realm, meaning beast spirits and fiends rarely ventured here. Consequently, the disciples of the Azure Life Dao used it as a trading market.

Many disciples attended classes within the Firmament Realm during the day, and every night, they would set up stalls to conduct business within this realm outside the Firmament. It was rumored that some businesses directly affiliated with the sect participated, offering pills, spirit artifacts, and everything in between.

This was also information he gleaned from Han Fang, one of the uses for Merit. To acquire Merit, one had to act personally. But if Merit was used to trade with fellow disciples here, the sect acknowledged it, though a half-percent transfer fee was charged.

It was said that eight thousand years ago, this market was situated inside the Azure Life Firmament Realm. Later, when Wei Xu inherited the seat of the Venerable Master, he found the atmosphere of the market too dense, too vulgar, and unseemly. Although he couldn't close or abolish it, he had the power to move the market outside the Azure Life Firmament Realm.

Zong Shou was quite speechless about this. He finally started to believe the words of Wei Xu, who claimed his previous background was rooted in the Confucian school.

Only such pedantic scholars would fuss over such trivial matters.

Upon arriving at the market, Zong Shou went directly to the few shops managed by the sect.

This place truly lived up to its reputation as an internal market for the Azure Life Dao. Many items forbidden outside could be purchased here; everything was available.

Zong Shou did not examine everything. The items he required had already been pre-ordered several tens of days ago; he only needed to pay now.

After transferring the Merit, these few items were successively delivered, and their quality was quite excellent.

A trace of joy flickered across Zong Shou's face.

His cultivation technique was, after all, closer to the Daoist lineage, vastly different from the Buddhist school. Unless something unexpected happened, gathering those Yin-Yang Dharma Forms would require assistance from external objects. Many steps needed preparation right now.

And these few spiritual items were the foundations and mediums he had selected to help him coalesce the Dharma Forms.

"A pity, I am still missing two supreme treasures to serve as the core of the Dharma Forms. The Great Sun Dharma Form now has a prospect. In the Demonic Corpse Mountain, a Glazed Fire Fierce Pearl is also buried. I had secretly set off a few days ago to retrieve it for me; it will surely be done without anyone noticing. Only a supreme treasure with the dark attribute and devouring capability is difficult to find. In my memory, there were only three such items. One of them has already fallen into others' hands. The other two are still buried in ancient ruins. But both those locations have not yet emerged."

Frowning, Zong Shou walked to the sect’s Talisman Tower and directly picked up an Immortal-tier 'Nine Transformations Obstacle-Breaking Talisman.'

This single talisman cost him two hundred thousand Merit points.

The ranks of talismans were categorized as: Nine Ranks of Spirit Talismans, Nine Ranks of Law Talismans, Nine Ranks of Immortal Talismans, and Nine Ranks of Supreme Talismans.

This Immortal Talisman was inscribed by a Divine Realm expert within the sect. According to the deacon here, they sought no return on investment; simply mentoring the juniors of the Azure Life Dao would satisfy them.

And this Nine Transformations Obstacle-Breaking Talisman was probably of a slightly higher grade than that Profound Supreme Heart-Locking Soul-Fixing Talisman, possessing richer spiritual power.

Thinking of this, Zong Shou looked at the sleeve of his left hand with a degree of resentment.

Inside, Sha Xi was currently dormant, transformed into a silver egg.

That Profound Supreme Heart-Locking Soul-Fixing Talisman, even if inferior to the Nine Transformations Obstacle-Breaking Talisman, could have been exchanged for a price of one hundred and fifty thousand Merit points.

If it had been sold, perhaps more Beast Crystal Spirit Stones could have been acquired.

But such an Immortal Talisman initially could not completely suppress Sha Xi’s consciousness; it suffered a backlash.

Just how robust must the innate spiritual will of this natural anomaly be, that even an Immortal Talisman couldn't suppress it?

And Senior Brother Han’s words were confusing, but his motive for actively seeking him out was crystal clear: it was entirely for Sha Xi. This mutated queen ant would probably be extremely important to him in the future.

Shaking his head, Zong Shou carefully placed the Immortal Talisman in his Qiankun Pouch.

If all else failed, he would have to risk everything in a desperate gamble. He knew of a location where this Nine Transformations Obstacle-Breaking Talisman would be enough to open the sealing restriction.

However, the place within was equally perilous, a situation offering nine deaths for every one life.

The last item secured was a furnace specifically for artifact refinement, along with several dozen Fire Essence Stones mined from the depths of the lava.

Zong Shou's skill in artifact refinement was about the same as his alchemy—neither was particularly superior. In his past life, he had no means to learn. In this era, the paths were available, but he lacked the time to study. Purchasing these items served another purpose.

After obtaining all these things, Zong Shou finally had time to relax. He sauntered around leisurely, looking at things here and there.

The most precious items here belonged to the main shops of the Three Sects and Six Schools and his own halls.

However, sometimes one could unearth good things from the disciples manning the stalls.

For instance, during his previous visit, Zong Shou had bought a rare spiritual item, the Lightning Diamond, which could be used to forge new weapons for Zong Yuan. He had also traded a phoenix egg for a Xuan Shadow Sculpture of the same rank—a direct descendant of the ancient divine beast ‘Shadow Leap’—whose value was no less than the phoenix egg, designated as the natal spirit pet for Weak Water.

It was also the best at stealth, utterly silent. It was said that its ancestor, Shadow Leap, could not only stealth but also traverse space and time. When it struck, it often carried spatial power, which few could withstand.

It was one of the most troublesome types of spirit beasts from the ancient Cloud Wasteland era—

Indeed, a month later, many more good things had appeared on these small stalls.

Several of them tempted even the wealthy Zong Shou; they were items he could never obtain, no matter how hard he tried in his previous life.

But in the end, he restrained himself and did not buy them. For him, these spiritual items were no longer essential; buying them would be a waste.

Instantly, Zong Shou’s gaze fixed upon a stall near the exit of the market.

A burly man, whose physique was no less imposing than Yin Yang’s, sat there. In front of him, there was only a simple white cloth spread out, bearing just two items.

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