Such was the situation with Han Fang; the rest of the Cang Sheng Dao members were even less composed. Inside the dozen or so scripture halls of the Academy, though the disciples maintained a semblance of calm, visible hints of panic and helplessness had already surfaced.

“What in the world is happening?”

A voice suddenly cut through the air. Han Fang turned his head. He saw Wei Tian arriving from nearby, seemingly traversing the void.

Han Fang couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, shaking his head. “I don’t know either!”

He reflected that with two Divine Realm experts stationed here, any unforeseen event could surely be managed. This wasn't within the Cloud Realm where cultivation was constrained. They were in the Boundary River itself, utilizing the aid of the Sky Realm. Both he and Wei Tian possessed their full fighting potential.

He extended his spiritual sense again, deliberately probing toward the direction of his 'Jia' () numbered First Courtyard.

Moments later, a fresh wave of horror struck him. As soon as his spiritual thought approached the courtyard by ten feet, it lost all connection. Those delicate threads of spiritual sense were brutally 'swallowed' by an immense suction force!

The rest of his spiritual thoughts also began to show signs of losing control.

Han Fang’s eyes narrowed, and without hesitation, he swiftly retracted his consciousness. Looking at Wei Tian, he saw that the other man wore an equally ghastly expression of shock. His face was slightly pale, suggesting he had suffered a minor loss.

They exchanged a look. Wei Tian then spoke, his eyes full of confusion.

“It must be Zong Shou! I wonder what kind of secret art this fellow has employed—”

“Not a secret art. It must be a divine ability!”

Han Fang shook his head again. Though his expression was calm, his heart churned like a quiet sea: “Junior Brother Zong Shou has been studying the Buddhist path of Dharma Manifestation these past few days. It seems he is preparing to walk the path of the Faxiang to break through to the Seventh Order, the Reverting Yang Realm!”

“Truly?”

Wei Tian raised an eyebrow, not bothering to ask Han Fang why Zong Shou could manifest a Faxiang at the Seventh Order. After all, the reality was laid out before him. After a moment of deep contemplation, Wei Tian looked down again.

“But why have I never heard of this kind of Faxiang? Boundless Light, Endless Darkness. Does such a Great Dao truly exist between Heaven and Earth? Even we, being Divine Realm masters whose spiritual senses are tantamount to avatars, can be consumed by it. It is truly unbelievable.”

Sensing carefully, the slivers of spiritual sense that had been lost seemed to be permanent damage, utterly irrecoverable.

Han Fang’s gaze was now thoughtful. He then stared toward the direction of the 'Jia' First Courtyard and mused, “It truly is impossible! Unless this divine ability, this Great Dao, pierces directly to the foundation of Law itself, far surpassing our own…”

Upon saying this, both men were startled anew, their eyes flashing with sharp light as they met each other’s gaze once more. After careful consideration, this seemed to be the only possible explanation.

“Senior Brother Wei, does this current spectacle not remind you of the Daoist Taiji Diagram?”

Wei Tian looked closely and saw that the scene before them indeed resembled a Taiji Diagram. At the core resided infinite darkness and boundless light, but on the periphery, as the light scattered, it was influenced by the dark aspect, causing the light to twist and swirl. A cycle was formed between the two.

It did bear a resemblance to the Daoist diagram of Yin-Yang fish, merely rendered in three dimensions. And the area around the 'Jia' First Courtyard was precisely the 'eye' of the Yin-Yang fish. Yet, it felt subtly wrong, as if something crucial was missing.

Wei Tian gasped, letting out a sharp intake of breath. After a long pause, he let out a clicking sound. “Though I don’t know what kind of Dao or what kind of Faxiang can devour the divine sense of Wei Tian, it must be extraordinary. Just looking at it feels profound. What kind of monstrous talent has Junior Brother Wei brought to the Cang Sheng Dao this time? Never mind. Today, I, Wei Tian, will bear this black pot.”

Han Fang remained silent, his thoughts unable to settle for a long time. He had repeatedly urged Zong Shou to abandon the path of the Faxiang. He hadn’t known what kind of Faxiang Zong Shou’s Tunyuan Secret Art was suited for. Yet, just when he was preparing to watch the boy fail completely and come to him for help, Zong Shou had given him such a tremendous surprise. Not only had he successfully manifested a Faxiang, but it was likely one based on the most fundamental Dao laws of this world.

Hearing the final sentence, Han Fang snapped back to attention. Naturally, he gave a slight nod. “That is precisely how it should be! Senior Brother, why couldn't you demonstrate your Dao techniques elsewhere, but insisted on causing chaos within our Cang Sheng Sky Realm? You are truly too unreliable.”

Wei Tian’s eyebrows shot up, followed by a muffled grunt. He remained silent.

—Boundless Light, Endless Darkness!

He bore this ‘black pot’ willingly.

Within the Cang Sheng Dao, Zong Shou was the fourth person to take the world’s core Dao foundation as his basis—no wonder his name suddenly ascended a rank on that Profound Fate Golden Register. Then he recalled the sudden heavy snow not long ago, which had caused the northern walls of all Buddhist temples in the world to collapse.

The strange expression on Wei Tian’s face deepened. The North held the position of honor; all Emperors and Divine Ranks faced South. Walls served to separate the inside from the outside and shelter from the wind. Could this omen mean that their Cang Sheng Dao had deliberately undermined the foundation of Buddhism?

※※※※

In the quiet chamber of the 'Jia' First Courtyard, Zong Shou was ecstatic as his nascent soul soared out of his physical body. The black and white holes manifested upon his form, instantly reducing the quiet chamber to dust. In Zong Shou’s perception, it was as if two great suns—one black, one white—hung suspended in the sky. Fortunately, knowing that Zong Yuan and Ruoshui were nearby, he had exercised careful restraint, ensuring they were unharmed.

In that very instant, the Dark Extreme Cold Primordial Pearl, which had transformed into a black hole, captured a few wisps of spiritual sense.

“How pure the soul thought is…”

With a brief consideration, Zong Shou knew these must originate from Han Fang. Among the inhabitants of the Cang Sheng Sky Realm, this old man was undoubtedly the strongest. However, by the time this thought crossed his mind, those wisps of thought had already been erased by the black and white holes through more than a dozen cycles, scrubbing away every trace of consciousness, leaving them utterly pure.

At this point, even if he wanted to return them, he couldn't. Zong Shou also saw no need to be polite with his Senior Brother; he directly absorbed these few streams of soul thought into his own sea of consciousness.

In a flash, his sea of consciousness swelled and expanded once more. All the starlight surrounding the black and white holes became brighter and more dazzling. Their number also increased several times over in that instant.

The eighteen True Charms—Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Thunder, Lightning, Fortune, Overlap, Devour, Purity, Illusion, Yin, Yang, Qian, Kun, and Cosmos—hovered between the black and white holes, each shimmering with golden light. The patterns of the Eight-Tailed Celestial Fox, Thunder Luan, and flames also appeared more vivid. It was as if massive totems existed within this expanse of void.

His soul power was now stronger than ever before, almost enveloping a large portion of the Cang Sheng Sky Realm. Zong Shou’s gaze flickered slightly with enchantment before he cleared his mind. He pursued advancement in cultivation with fierce determination, daring not to slow or delay in the slightest. However, the reason for this relentless pursuit of power was solely to reach the pinnacle of the Sword Dao, not to be seduced by this illusory strength.

After perceiving for a few more moments, a sense of joy welled up within him. “So this Spirit Splendor Jade Marrow possesses such an ability.” No wonder Long Ying had said the Spirit Splendor Jade Marrow could help him break through the Celestial Barrier—the hurdle between Man and Heaven.

The Ninth Order of Spirit Masters could indeed be classified within the Earth, Man, and Heaven Realms, though they also had alternative designations: Spirit Connection Stage, Artifact Control Stage, and Spirit Manipulation Stage. Spirit Masters, in their initial stages of cultivation, had very weak soul power, capable only of using and creating talismans, and casting minor Dao techniques—hence, the Spirit Connection Stage. The middle three tiers were Artifact Control, allowing command over spiritual artifacts. The final three tiers were the Spirit Manipulation Stage, which was the Heaven Realm, enabling the manipulation of the surrounding spirits with formidable soul power.

Upon entering the Immortal Dao, the Fourth Realm—the Spirit Realm—began to align closely with the Martial Cultivators, yet follow a different path. Practitioners could perceive and understand the structure of some Heaven and Earth spiritual energies, utilizing them more effectively. The cultivator themselves became equivalent to a massive spiritual meridian, self-sufficient. Naturally, this amplified the might of spirit techniques and martial cultivation methods by a hundredfold!

And the Spirit Splendor Jade Marrow not only strengthened the spiritual meridian but also allowed him to perceive the surrounding spirits more clearly, enabling the user to master some techniques of the Spirit Realm cultivators ahead of time. His Man-Heaven Celestial Barrier—the threshold before breaking the Ninth Order and stepping into the Immortal Dao—was a barrier ten times more solid than the previous Man Barrier. Gaining foresight into the methods of Spirit Realm cultivators was indeed helpful for breaking through that Celestial Hurdle!

As Zong Shou willed it, a scorching rocket suddenly materialized in the void, reordering the gathered Heaven and Earth spirits. Then, the aura of this common Third Order Rocket Art began to climb furiously, the flame at its core transforming into a brilliant white color. It had forcefully elevated this Third Order spirit technique to the Fifth Order!

This was the Spirit Realm! Even the most basic spirit technique possessed considerable power in the hands of those within it. Zong Shou at this moment had only grasped partial abilities, and the speed of modification was slow; before mastering it, it was unusable. Those who truly entered the Immortal Dao realm were a hundred times stronger than he was currently!

Several dozen breaths had passed since his spirit had left its shell. Zong Shou finally managed to bring the overwhelmingly vast sea of consciousness fully under his control. Previously, his body had acted against his will; his nascent soul had automatically departed his essence centers, and the black and white holes had engulfed the entire Cang Sheng Sky Realm. Now that he could control it, Zong Shou no longer wished to continue in this manner. If he could avoid it, he preferred not to cause such a massive disturbance, as if broadcasting his actions to the world.

With another thought, the black and white colors enveloping heaven and earth began to rapidly contract and fold inward. The two ‘black and white great suns’ also rotated once, re-entering from the back of Zong Shou’s head, vanishing without a trace.

Watching the Cang Sheng Sky Realm gradually return to normal, Zong Shou’s heart stirred. His soul power was now as robust as that of an Eighth Order master. The eighteen True Charms were handled with ample reserve, and the black and white suns were unimaginably powerful. He wondered if he could borrow their strength to sculpt a physical body and form.

This thought arose and could no longer be suppressed. Zong Shou acted immediately, using the eighteen True Charm spiritual restrictions as the core to shape a physical form. The black and white suns cast two beams of light, one black and one white, illuminating the area as they converged toward him.