Within the Misty Cold Palace of Mount Qiantian, Zong Shou violently sneezed, jerking him awake from his meditation.

He inwardly wondered what was happening today. Given his cultivation, he hadn't been severely injured or weakened recently, so catching a cold was unlikely. Yet, the sneezes kept coming—how many people could possibly be thinking of him?

Speaking of which, his own heart was indeed stirred, unable to settle down. This must be the 'Heart Tide Sensation' that martial cultivators and spirit masters reach when they ascend to profound levels.

The long-awaited day should have arrived.

At that very instant, Zong Shou suddenly felt a surge in the drop of latent dragon blood residing in his right arm. A vast, alien power stirred, drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy until it vibrated intensely.

It also sent waves crashing through his Sea of Consciousness.

"It's Ao Kun—"

This drop of true dragon essence blood belonged to Ao Kun. Now, Zong Shou could feel this blood transforming.

—It seemed to be sublimating; the current Zong Shou found it even harder to fathom its mysteries. He could only vaguely sense that the dragon blood was becoming purer, transitioning to a pure golden hue that resonated with the Great Dao of heaven and earth.

Even the few wisps of aura it had just emitted gave him a distinct feeling of oppression.

Zong Shou couldn't help but look up toward the sky. Although this place was called the 'Quiet Chamber,' he had accidentally blasted a hole through the roof not long ago, allowing the myriad stars to be reflected in his eyes.

Ao Kun wasn't in the Cloud Realm, so naturally, he couldn't be above the starry sky. He should be somewhere in the outer domains, in some other world. Zong Shou made this gesture out of instinct.

"This situation... he must have broken through to the Saint Realm?"

Zong Shou murmured, yet he was certain. Ao Kun had now achieved Sainthood—

It made him even more perplexed: what exactly was inside that jade bead spat out that day? Not only did it allow Ao Kun to fully restore his former cultivation, but it pushed him even further?

However, this question was destined to remain unanswered.

At least his heart finally settled. He recalled that the ancestor of the Lingyun Sect was already a Venerable of the mid-Saint Realm three thousand years ago.

It was rumored that this ancestor was widely connected. Perhaps he could recruit one or two helpers.

But it didn't matter much. Long Ying was a peak Martial Saint. According to Han Fang's description, he was a half-step to the Transcendent Realm, only needing his emotional knots to be untied before he could face his tribulation. Three or five individuals should be enough to hold them off.

As for the Dao Ming Sect, they should still be in the Divine Realm—two of them, in fact: one at the peak of the Divine Realm and one at the initial stage. The Shangxiao Sect was also at the peak of the Divine Realm—

Although he had spent fifty or sixty years in the God Emperor Game in his previous life, he wasn't very familiar with the absolute top figures of that era.

This information came from the Cang Sheng Dao, so it should be correct, it should be—

If all else failed, he would have no choice but to ask the Cang Sheng Dao for assistance.

Shedding his distracting thoughts, Zong Shou tightened his grip on the 'Autumn Severing Sword.' His intent was ethereal, almost nonexistent, striving to merge perfectly with this plane of existence. Then, with a sudden thrust, he stabbed forward.

The sword stance was utterly ordinary, just a simple forward stab. Yet, at that moment, fierce winds raged within the 'Quiet Chamber.'

Behind Zong Shou, two phantom dragon shadows appeared. This time, however, he was attempting to coalesce them into one.

But just as they were about to merge, and a faint, six-clawed dragon shape was about to manifest, it suddenly twisted and then exploded apart.

The sword energy, which Zong Shou had been controlling and confining to a single point at the tip of the sword, instantly burst, scattering everywhere.

The room, already stripped bare and nothing more than ruins, was ravaged further into utter devastation. The path where the fierce winds passed completely flattened everything, sparing nothing, not even the surrounding houses over a hundred feet away.

Fortunately, besides Ruoshui guarding nearby, no one else was present, so no one was harmed.

"It still won't work!"

Zong Shou sighed, looking at the Autumn Severing Sword in his hand. He knew he couldn't continue practicing; the sword needed time to nurture and repair. Otherwise, even with its artifact-grade material, it might not withstand the strain.

For the past two months, he had been studying this issue. His battle with Yuan Wushang had exposed many of his shortcomings. Zong Shou was no longer satisfied with his Nine-Nine True Dragon Sword only being usable through layering techniques. After fully digesting what he learned from that fight, Zong Shou began attempting to merge the Nine-Nine True Dragon Sword into a single form.

He started from the most rudimentary level, trying first to combine his most familiar Thunder Dragon Sword and Blazing Flame Dragon Sword.

The medium for this fusion was the Qi of Primordial Beginning! The Core of Primordial Beginning he had glimpsed—

The universe originates from one, and it will also conclude in one; one only needs to trace back using the Primordial Beginning.

Although he had failed time and again, the more Zong Shou attempted, the clearer he understood that he was indeed walking the most correct path.

This path also suited the Yuan Yi Sword Art he created himself—

Having hit a bottleneck, continuing now would be useless effort. Zong Shou had no intention of switching swords to try again.

Instead, he stilled his form and quietly observed his nascent spirit.

In his Sea of Consciousness, countless True Talismans and Spirit Seals had now been added. After the characters for Qian and Kun merged into the character Yu (Universe), the empty talisman position had found a replacement: the character 'Death' ().

He did not use the character 'Ming' (Underworld) that he had previously considered, but this 'Death' character.

This was because this single character could better interpret the Law of Death. Furthermore, the two talismans of Yin and Yang now showed signs of merging.

When both talismans were cultivated to their extreme, they would merge into One.

One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things.

The 'Two' here refers to Yin and Yang, the Taiji. This is also the Great Dao, which can be ranked alongside the character for the Universe—

That is to say, Limitless (Wuji) generates Taiji, Taiji generates the Two Poles (Liangyi), and the Two Poles generate all things.

Then there are the Five Elements, which can also be reduced to One.

This 'One' is not a 'character,' but a diagram that cannot be described by speech, nor written down with characters.

It could be called 'Wuji,' or perhaps 'Primordial Beginning,' the Origin Point, Taiyi, Taishi, and so on—

Unfortunately, Zong Shou could not yet fully grasp its profound mysteries. The day of their convergence into one seemed extremely distant.

However, he was already preparing: opposing the character 'Death' is the character 'Life' (), which is also a Great Dao close to the origin of heaven and earth.

Finally, there is the character 'Combine' (). Zong Shou had also gathered dozens of True Talismans and Spirit Seals in his Sea of Consciousness, awaiting a future time.

But at this moment, he was observing his nascent spirit not because of these recently formed talismans.

As the thought arose, two True Talismans between the black and white holes in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly shone brightly.

Following Zong Shou's will, the 'Swallow' () and 'Purify' () talismans were rapidly perfecting themselves at an astonishing speed.

When the final spirit restriction was added, the two True Talisman Spirit Seals immediately shone with a golden radiance, and countless spirit lines spread outward, integrating more tightly with the other talismans.

More significantly, however, they connected firmly with the black and white holes.

The entire process took less than a few breaths. As the two talismans gathered, Zong Shou effortlessly crossed the threshold of the Eighth Stage.

His Sea of Consciousness immediately expanded again, this time stretching all the way into his Nascent Soul, filling every corner, and showing no sign of stopping.

If it were the Zong Shou of the past, with his damaged spirit, he would have shattered immediately. But now, supported by immense soul power, it continued to swell outward.

Only after Zong Shou's soul had more than doubled in size did the change cease.

Throughout the entire process, Zong Shou maintained a completely placid expression, waiting motionlessly in place.

It was utterly peaceful, without surprise or danger, without any warning or spectacular phenomena—he had simply crossed the threshold into the Eighth Stage of a Spirit Master.

He was now an Eighth Stage Form Shaper!

Bending his fingers into a sword, he pointed forward. The true energy within Zong Shou immediately erupted from his fingertip, merging with his soul power. Instantly, a beam of sword energy materialized in the void—

It was Spirit-Martial Unity!

Even without a sword, with the true energy of a fused Heavenly Vein combined with his Eighth Stage soul power, the might of the sword energy surpassed that of two months ago.

If he had fought Yuan Wushang at this moment, that Sword Maniac would likely not have escaped his grasp.

More precious still, he no longer had to rely on luck; Spirit-Martial Unity could now be executed at will.

That day had been incredibly perilous, but the rewards afterward were immensely rich!

Smiling with satisfaction, Zong Shou took to his sword once more, flying out toward the military camp to the north. Tens of miles away, he sensed nothing unusual. But as he drew closer, he only felt surging, vast waves of vital energy converging, shooting straight toward the heavens.

This was due to a high-level spirit master from the Lingyun Sect using the local spirit formation to conceal this phenomenon.

Otherwise, the Blood Cloud Cavalry, which already numbered over four thousand, could never have been hidden.

This visit was Zong Shou's sudden impulse, coming alone. These thousands of Blood Cloud Cavalry were not gathered waiting for him; rather, they were divided into more than ten units. Some were scattered within the camp cultivating.

Zong Shou had specifically requested Ming Du Lie He to temporarily gather several dragon veins here, allowing the numerous Blood Cloud Knights to receive sufficient spiritual energy.

Furthermore, another contingent was training formations and cavalry charge drills in a nearby valley bottom.

Moments after Zong Shou's sword light descended, Yin Yang hurried over. Beside him were several commanders of the Blood Cloud Cavalry, and one other person: Ling Xueyun.

"My Lord, why have you suddenly come?"

Seeing that Zong Shou didn't answer but instead scanned his surroundings with a critical gaze, Yin Yang stopped questioning and reported directly: "Four thousand three hundred and fifty men! Six hundred of them have joined the Blood Cloud Cavalry in less than a month. They are still quite unfamiliar with the Blood Cavalry Killing Intent Art, and their mastery of formation warfare is very rudimentary. However, if they are only following in a charge, I believe there is no need to worry!"

He then looked toward Ling Xueyun beside him: "These past few days, with Senior Ling personally lecturing us on martial arts, we have all benefited greatly. Even I, Yin Yang, feel my martial path has significantly advanced—"

Ling Xueyun's mood at this moment was complex and hard to describe. He still remembered the indescribable shock that washed over him when Zong Shou brought him here and he saw the gathered Blood Cloud Cavalry.

This Demon King was open and honest, not concealing anything in the slightest. He also knew that Zong Shou truly had no need to hide things from him.

Because even if the Lingyun Sect knew, they would likely face the consequence of being expelled from Donglin anyway—

Seeing this scene, he finally understood that he had underestimated this Lord. He then felt how laughable, pitiful, and ultimately tragic the Lingyun and Shangxiao Sects truly were—

Zong Shou, however, now looked toward the direction of Danling Mountain. For some reason, his heart grew increasingly unable to settle.

It must have begun. As expected, they are going to make a move against Yi Ren—