Within the quiet chamber, the black and white energies that had enveloped Zong Shou finally faded completely. Yet, two new halos, flickering intermittently and shifting constantly, now circled him.

The skin and flesh of his entire body had not ceased their transformation either. One moment they were utterly frozen, the next they steamed with vapor.

But beneath the skin, a different reality was unfolding. Blood surged within his veins, and the inner breath flowed powerfully through his meridians.

Almost all of his vital essence was converging upon the Shenxiao acupoint in the center of his brow. Zong Shou’s mind drifted in a vast emptiness, nearing a state of thoughtlessness.

Even the agonizing internal shift between freezing cold and scorching heat—a pain like a myriad of ants gnawing at his heart—could not rouse his consciousness. Deep within his Nascent Soul, the transformation of the black and white voids had reached its zenith.

The eighteen true talismans and the eighteen earth veins were cooperating with the black hole, frantically drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, causing them to grow at an astonishing rate. The two great soul-sea vortices, which had manifested as the black and white voids, also changed accordingly.

They ceased expanding; instead, they condensed considerably. Yet, this condensation made them appear deeper than the abyss, intensely bright and scorching hot.

The entirety of the Nascent Soul was undergoing sublimation. All soul-thoughts were regenerating, splitting, and expanding ceaselessly.

Its very origin was in flux. It had already been tempered by the Heavenly Mirror Soul-Illumination Art, baked daily until its Yin nature shifted toward Yang, reaching a state comparable to that of a Day-Wandering Spirit Master.

Now, that Yang energy was transforming into an even deeper level. It no longer scorched, but rather exuded a soft, jade-like warmth—neither cold nor hot.

The fragmented cracks along the edges of his divine soul were slowly beginning to heal. And the Nine-Layered Golden Pagoda, though it was unclear when it descended, now rested between the black and white voids, absorbing the refined spiritual energy converted by these two great whirlpools.

It emitted the faintest shimmer, filling the entire soul sea. Below, the body of the ‘Primal One Soul Sword,’ predominantly golden, continued to act as an anchor.

However, the sword’s hilt now displayed two auras—one black and one white—flanking its sides. Because of the Pagoda’s suppression, the golden energy was unable to diffuse outward, keeping the dragon pattern strictly confined to the sword body.

After an immeasurable passage of time, Zong Shou suddenly awoke from that state of absolute self-forgetfulness. He observed his Nascent Soul internally, and a surge of elation filled his chest first.

Ten days of nurturing had finally allowed the crude embryo of these black and white voids to merge completely with his soul sea, becoming inseparable. His entire Nascent Soul had reached its optimal state.

Immediately after, his focus tightened, pouring all his attention inward. The nurturing was complete; this meant the final step could commence!

As his will commanded, every corner of Zong Shou’s nascent spirit began to spontaneously combust, igniting with a fierce ‘Heart Flame.’ The black and white voids, centered around the Glazed Fire Fierce and the Dark Extreme Cold Origin beads, began to revolve, their speed increasing exponentially. The entire Nascent Soul started to rapidly condense, and all his conscious awareness was forcibly compressed, as if attempting to tear free from some invisible constraint binding it to heaven and earth.

Within his consciousness, Zong Shou continuously visualized the form and characteristics of the black and white voids. After an unknown span of time, his soul sea suddenly exploded once more.

It transitioned from extreme concentration to a wild outward expansion, as if it had utterly detonated. The core of the Nascent Soul, in that single instant, swelled by more than a hundredfold, appearing infinitely vast.

The intertwined black and white voids separated from each other, their distance increasing a hundredfold from before. They were like water and river, existing independently yet remaining intimately connected.

The black hole continuously swallowed, while the white void perpetually radiated light. A cycle was established between the two.

What was somewhat unexpected was the appearance of countless, dazzling stars surrounding the black and white voids. At that very moment, the quiet chamber where Zong Shou sat transformed again.

Boundless darkness and scorching white light radiated outward from his body. Previously contained within the chamber walls, this energy now thoroughly pierced the barriers, obscuring the entire expanse of the heavens.

※※※※ Outside the quiet chamber, Ruoshui and Zong Yuan were seated opposite each other, both with their eyes closed, following the familiar practice of gazing inward—eyes fixed on the nose, nose on the heart. Only a few threads of consciousness were maintained, constantly monitoring the events unfolding inside the chamber.

As protectors, this was their inherent duty. Beyond guarding the Spirit Master’s safety during the execution of spirit arts or cultivation, they were sometimes required to assist the Spirit Master’s practice.

Another person sat beside them: Zhao Yanran, also outside the chamber, but drenched in sweat, her heavy robes clinging to her. The seed planted within Zong Shou by the Reversal Cauldron Fetus Art was now surging, feeding back waves of pure soul power, while simultaneously drawing away some of her own vital blood essence.

However, her Nascent Soul was still growing rapidly. The gains from these ten days alone were equivalent to two years of arduous cultivation for her.

Moreover, the fifteen True Talisman Spirit Seals gathered in her soul sea via the Reversal Cauldron Fetus Art were expanding. Of the fifteen spiritual veins, the remaining four were consolidated within this half-day, reaching complete readiness.

Her long-suppressed divine soul cultivation began to loosen, showing signs of an imminent breakthrough. Every change brought her immense joy.

She knew that even if the flow from the Cauldron Fetus Seed were to cease, and her soul power stopped increasing, she would reach the Day-Wandering realm in no more than ten days. The only discomfort Zhao Yanran experienced was the feeling in her divine soul, half of which was searing hot like a flame, and the other half chillingly cold to the bone.

She could not fathom what secret art Zong Shou was practicing that could affect her own Nascent Soul through that Cauldron Fetus Seed. Struggling to endure, Zhao Yanran suddenly heard a deafening roar beside her ear.

Within her Nascent Soul, stars flashed without warning, and a dot of black shadow and a dot of scorching white abruptly appeared. Zhao Yanran was stunned for a moment, then comprehension struck her like lightning.

She realized Zong Shou had utterly shattered the bottleneck of the Sixth Order and entered the Seventh Order, the Returning Yang Realm. He had completely transitioned from the ‘Earth Realm’ to the ‘Heaven Realm.’ Then, a terrifying sensation made her scalp tingle: the changes occurring within her soul sea seemed to be a rumored ‘Nascent Soul Projection’?

But wasn’t that a Buddhist technique? Why was it manifesting within her?

It was widely known that the most common cultivation method in Buddhism involved ceaseless recitation of the scriptures passed down by the Buddhas and constant visualization of their methods. When one’s cultivation reached a certain level and one’s mind merged with a Buddha, projections of that Buddha’s Dharma Body would form within the Nascent Soul, allowing the practitioner to employ unique secret arts.

Though they could not coalesce their own Dharma Body or ascend to the highest pinnacle, these projections often wielded immense power and accelerated cultivation tremendously. For instance, the Three Times Buddhas who controlled the Past, Present, and Future; Shakyamuni, Akshobhya, and Amitābha who governed Space; the Primordial Ancient Buddha who governed ‘Source One’; Vairocana who possessed the Great Sun Divine Power; and the Sambhogakāya and Nirmāṇakāya Buddhas who grasped partial laws of causality.

The Dharma Bodies of these beings were the pinnacle powers in the world. Even a mere fraction of their projections could command boundless might.

Yet, these so-called ‘Buddha Lords’ were ultimately beings from legend who had reached the ultimate state! What kind of meditation technique had that boy cultivated?

And what secret method allowed him to form ‘Nascent Soul Projections’ in her soul sea via the Dao Fetus? As Zhao Yanran wrestled with disbelief, Zong Ruoshui and Zong Yuan also opened their eyes, their expressions a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

After exchanging glances, they realized the other shared the same look of astonishment. Both felt that something inexplicable had suddenly been added to their very bloodline—something that inspired both dread and exhilarating joy.

Ruoshui pondered for a moment, then asked with a hint of confusion, “Is it the Heavenly Fox bloodline? Do you feel something extra?” Zong Yuan nodded, confirming he felt the same, before frowning and focusing his gaze on the quiet chamber beside them.

It must be correct; this strange, indefinable power was almost certainly originating from the ‘Seven-Tailed Heavenly Fox’ bloodline within him. And if he wasn't mistaken, it was linked to Zong Shou, who was currently in seclusion attempting to break into the Seventh Order.

He and Ruoshui shared the same ancestral origin, derived from the Seven-Tailed Zong Clan, even if their lineages had somewhat diverged. If the situation was identical for both, the source could only be found within their shared clan.

The primary suspect, by far, was Zong Shou. However, his heart was filled with surprise and suspicion.

What exactly had Zong Shou done to cause the bloodline to elevate, potentially even ‘retroactively’ tracing back through the lineage? And to the extent that it could influence them, distant relatives of the same clan?

If this bloodline alteration could be awakened, it would be akin to the innate ‘divine abilities’ inherited through blood by spirit beasts— Yet, such a phenomenon was said to only be achievable by legendary Saint Realm experts and those at the very pinnacle of power. For example, the family of the Sovereign’s mother, the Lu Clan, who controlled eight hundred worlds, possessed the inherited ‘Sky-Burning Blood.’ It was rumored that six Saint Realm experts and one Supreme Realm expert had appeared consecutively in their ancestry twenty thousand years ago, fortifying the Sky-Burning bloodline to its absolute peak!

Exchanging glances, both Zong Yuan and Ruoshui were clouded with doubt. Then, in the next instant, they felt the world suddenly darken before them, losing all visual perception.

An intense cold enveloped them, and every particle of heaven and earth’s spiritual energy was being sucked away by a massive force. No light whatsoever could reach their eyes.

Even extending their spiritual senses to their full capacity proved useless. Startled anew, they almost descended into panic.

This was the first time they had ever encountered such a state. Almost simultaneously, Han Fang, who was observing Shi Ruolan meditating within the Scripture Repository Building B, raised his white eyebrows.

The benevolent expression vanished instantly, replaced only by shock and intense concentration. Without hesitation, he rose, taking a single stride that shattered space and time, arriving outside the repository.

He then ascended to the very apex of the entire Dome Realm, looking down, yet still finding nothing—only perceiving that the entire Dome Realm had been cleaved into two halves: black and white. One side was ink-dark, where all light had utterly vanished; the other was blazing white, the magnificent radiance filling everything, yet simultaneously repelling all vision.