The external world roared with boiling Flame Force, a thousand streaks of thunderous light clashing against the pure flame that sought to incinerate the void.
Inside Zong Shou’s Sea of Consciousness, terrifying waves surged and crashed.
His scattered spiritual senses were continually losing control, rippling outwards in ceaseless pulses.
That massive Soul Wheel descended once more, directly shattering the outer perimeter of his soul sea, aiming straight for the origin point.
Zong Shou’s true Dharma Aspect raised the 'Sword' again, confronting the colossal wheel.
It was an agonizing struggle; the true form constantly exploded, allowing stray thought-spirits to escape.
Fortunately, the Source Spirit Respiration Art, transmitted by Lin Xuan Shuang, sustained him, allowing instantaneous recovery.
Though he endured the agony of dispersing thought-spirits, this process gradually refined the structure of his soul body into something more flawless to resist the enormous wheel.
At this moment, Zong Shou knew this giant wheel must be the manifestation of Jue Yan’s Dharma Aspect.
He could not fathom what kind of Great Dao possessed such boundless, awesome power—
Even one percent of it forced him into a purely defensive posture, unable to strike!
He manifested his demon form, channeling every bit of his bloodline power. After the black flames of Thunderous Thousand Splendors ceased to intimidate him with their scorching heat, the water power of the Qilin’s divine ability manifested.
This allowed Zong Shou to move unharmed through the fire, proceeding step by cautious step. But then, inexplicably, he proceeded unimpeded for over two thousand zhang.
When he was merely a hundred zhang from the Abyss Gate, Zong Shou looked up, his gaze fixed upon Jue Yan with confusion.
Did this Holy Venerable Jue Yan not intend to stop him? However, the Flame of Sky Burning and the pressure of his spirit sense were hardly sufficient to halt him.
He saw the figure standing there, eyes half-open, his expression serene and profoundly inscrutable.
Zong Shou frowned but stepped forward without hesitation.
One step, one zhang; only ninety-nine zhang separated him from the Abyss Gate!
This step, though as effortless as the ones before, instantly felt like stepping into another world!
True Force—that vast, surging, endless tempest of True Force Qi—was suddenly thick in the air, coupled with a sharp intensification of soul pressure in his divine sense. Zong Shou staggered, nearly brought to his knees.
In his sea of consciousness, he finally understood the Great Dao embodied by that massive disk:
Wheel!
The Wheel of Turning Cycles, the Wheel of Samsara for all things.
He could clearly see dozens of inscribed prohibition runes etched onto the disk: life, death, fate, the Five Elements, Yin and Yang—
Corresponding to each other, they formed twelve complete sets of constantly cycling Law Powers!
Horror seized Zong Shou’s heart. Was this Jue Yan’s Dao?
No wonder he felt his efforts absorbed into emptiness; no matter how much power he threw back in resistance, it vanished without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea!
He sought to unify hundreds of laws by integrating the concept of 'Dao' into one.
Jue Yan, however, believed that everything in existence was subject to ceaseless rotation—
Life and death were thus! Karma was thus! Cause and effect were thus!
Beginning and end were likewise thus!
Even now, Zong Shou’s true form of thought-spirit fiercely resisted, straining to expel this wheel from his void of spirit consciousness.
But no matter how he exerted his strength, he was pulled in by the giant wheel. Samsara turned, returning source to end, and end back to source!
Cold sweat streamed down his brow. Zong Shou took one more step and felt he could no longer sustain it.
His very bones creaked under the unbearable strain.
No matter how much power he mustered, it was all returned to himself.
Jue Yan on the opposite side sneered, seemingly mocking his overreach.
Zong Shou’s fists clenched involuntarily again. Anger and hatred boiled in his chest—hatred for his own incompetence, anger at Jue Yan’s scorn.
To end like this? Impossible!
The accumulated malevolence in his chest, the rising tide of fury, began to churn rapidly.
The pain in his eyes was now bone-deep, and the forbidden technique’s power constantly eroded his Primordial Soul.
Yet, it could not shake his resolve; his will to fight only surged stronger.
He had to walk through!
Behind him, a deafening boom sounded, and a massive Nether Gate materialized.
Innumerable forces of Death and the Nether surged in, forcibly controlled by Zong Shou’s intent and gathered upon the sword.
This finally tore a fissure in the viscous space, allowing Zong Shou to step forward again.
In the distance, Jue Yan frowned. “Nether Gate? Your Dao of Death and the Nether shows considerable mastery. But to employ it thus—do you not value your own life?”
Zong Shou remained silent. At this moment, any power that could help him reach the Abyss Gate, even dabbling in demonic ways, was acceptable.
How much more so this utilization of the Death and Nether arts, which merely consumed some lifespan.
Nether energy wreathed his exterior, while inside, his life force flowed ceaselessly, unending.
A pair of wings, one gray and one white, manifested around Zong Shou’s body.
In his spirit consciousness, while the giant wheel could cycle the forces of life and death through its rotation, the sheer magnitude of these forces made the wheel’s turning speed slightly sluggish.
Zong Shou’s idea was simple: if every spiritual art, every Dao, could be spun through Samsara, then the only solution was to overburden the wheel itself until it could no longer function.
Jue Yan seemed unconcerned, studying Zong Shou intently. In moments, his eyes flashed with a strange light, revealing sudden understanding.
“Evil cannot invade, demons cannot corrupt! It is the white Qi enveloping you, the body of a Holy King. No wonder you are so fearless!”
With that, he let out a strange, light chuckle. “I never expected another Holy King to arise from the Lu Family of Burning Sky.”
His tone carried deep self-mockery, rich with complex emotion.
Zong Shou paid him no mind. He advanced ten steps, only to be blocked again by the steel-wall barrier of Qi.
Zong Shou sharply bit his tongue, momentarily pulling himself back from the extreme agony.
Then, another lotus pedestal appeared beneath his feet—not a fire lotus formed by Thunderous Thousand Splendors, but a true lotus condensed from the power of pure faith.
As this lotus platform formed, seven-colored glazed light manifested around Zong Shou, Buddhist power surging forth.
At this moment, he cared about nothing else. The consequences were irrelevant.
All that mattered was advancing, crossing these final few dozen steps!
“Lotus platform? How is this brat connected to Buddhism now? This manifestation—it looks like the Fruition Karma of a Buddha…”
This time, it was the red-clothed maiden who spoke. A flash of crimson flame brought her beside Jue Yan.
She stared in shock at the handsome youth dozens of zhang away, who had completely lost rational control due to the pain.
Jue Yan was equally stunned, gazing at the faint, indistinct black and white points emerging behind Zong Shou.
Though not fully materialized, they already possessed a power that made the heart palpitate.
After a long pause, only when Zong Shou was within ten zhang did Jue Yan regain his composure.
“It seems both of us underestimated him! The boundless beginning and end of Buddhism—”
With a low sigh, Jue Yan extended a hand toward the center of the youth’s brow.
He could clearly see that Zong Shou had reached the absolute limit of his endurance.
The skin across his body was splitting, soaking his robes in blood, and the bones within his frame showed several unnatural twists.
His physical body could no longer bear the strain.
It truly could not sustain the black flames, the forces of life and death, or the protective water patterns of the Qilin—
Zong Shou’s body, already suffering from rebellious Qi and blood flow due to the forbidden technique, was now overloaded by over a dozen immense divine abilities!
A preliminary stage Immortal Realm expert, he was displaying strength far exceeding a normal early-stage Divine Realm master.
His flesh was the first price he paid.
The attempted manifestation of his Dharma Aspect was the final straw that broke the camel's back.
What troubled Jue Yan even more was that open Nether Gate.
Wailing, grieving specters gathered; the open gate had transformed this thousand-zhang underworld space into a true realm of Death and the Nether.
He could also sense dozens of corresponding Nether worlds pouring potent consciousness into the area. Even with the suppressive Qi of the Supreme Realm present, it could not entirely block them.
Considering this, Jue Yan couldn't help but shake his head slightly. He did not want the Lu Family’s Nether Prison to truly become a realm of death.
The Nether Worlds had been chaotic for millennia; were those entities truly so impatient?
Flicking his finger, a stream of vital power seeped in. It was no longer oppressive force, but a direct resonance reaching the deepest layers of Zong Shou’s Primordial Soul.
Zong Shou felt a shock ripple through his mind and faintly heard Jue Yan utter, “Disorganized and without structure! Laughable!”
However, his entire body suddenly flew backward, retreating a hundred li, landing outside the black mist.
After that, his consciousness could no longer coalesce; he drifted in a daze, experiencing an agonizing sensation close to death.
The last thing he saw was the surprised face of the woman outside the fog.
Then, the Illusory Heart Mirror could hold no longer. Its light retracted, automatically flying back into Zong Shou’s Sea of Consciousness.
Zong Shou’s consciousness completely collapsed into a deep coma.
Lu Han Yan leaned against the great tree and, without overthinking it, used a strand of her hair to pull Zong Shou’s body closer to her side.
She then watched a man and a woman step out of the black mist.
This startled her further. “Holy Venerable?”
Without a second thought, she pulled her body back, subtly shielding Zong Shou.
“Holy Venerable, this youth trespassed into the Death Prison; he is guilty. However, while inside the Death Prison, he is already undergoing unforgiving punishment. Furthermore, the rules of our Burning Sky Lu Family state that passage beyond the ninth layer of the Abyss Gate clears all previous offenses—”
She had initially speculated that Zong Shou had barely escaped after failing to defeat that formless Demon God.
Seeing these two emerge from the black mist, she realized the situation was not as simple as she imagined.
Her tone unconsciously betrayed a note of anxiety. Only after speaking did she realize her words to the Holy Venerable before her might be slightly disrespectful.
Jue Yan, however, did not seem to care. He glanced at Zong Shou with complicated eyes, then looked at Lu Han Yan, and finally smiled: “Is this perhaps the bond between mother and son?”
Lu Han Yan raised an eyebrow, even more perplexed. A bond? What bond?
She hadn't truly registered the first few words from Jue Yan.
“Very well, you must take meticulous care of this child! You may let him consume this—”
Jue Yan offered no explanation, merely waving his hand, sending a jade box floating over.
When Lu Han Yan accepted it, she was startled again.
Inside the jade box was the finest medicinal balm from the Lu Family—'Jade Bone Spirit Recovery Marrow.'
It could heal injuries and aid in body refinement. And this box contained a full ten drops.
“One drop per day. When he wakes, tell him I am waiting for him at the Abyss Gate.”
Jue Yan said this, then laughed heartily and walked back into the mist. Lu Han Yan looked down at the youth beside her, suspicion clouding her expression.
She wondered: what was this youth’s true status within the Lu Family?