Lin Xuanxuan’s gentle narration caused the five people present to feel their hearts flutter with emotion.

Though what she spoke of concerned only Zong Shou, everyone present, including Chu Xue and Shen Yuexuan, held a sliver of hope for attaining longevity.

With the cataclysmic changes in the world, the supreme Realm Saints were no longer constrained by the limit of forty-nine positions. This meant the coming millennium might be the optimal period to achieve the Dao.

If this chance were missed, who knew how long they would have to wait? Even if they achieved eternal life later, it would most likely be through unorthodox, heretical methods.

Zong Shou’s gaze flickered slightly before returning to stillness. He frowned instead: “This world-altering upheaval, is it truly only a thousand years? Does that mean Master Xi Zi also needs to complete his resurrection within this millennium?”

Lin Xuanxuan offered a wry smile; this was another matter troubling her.

The first difficulty in resurrecting Xi Zi was that the locations sealing parts of his body had yet to be found; the second was the half-step True Realm entity lurking in the shadows with malicious intent.

As for the restriction of forty-nine positions, the Cang Sheng Dao sect wasn't overly concerned. If positions simply did not open up, with the current strength of the four Supreme Realm Saints in the Cang Sheng Dao, they could easily join forces to eliminate any Supreme Realm expert they disliked.

However, the current celestial upheaval was precisely what made things troublesome.

This domain world had existed for at least a million years. Within this span, how many Supreme Realm Saints had arisen and how many had perished was known to no one.

And within this coming thousand years, how many cultivators would accumulate enough strength to seize the Dao realm upon this opportunity was also hard to estimate.

In the era following these thousand years, the number of Supreme Realm experts would far exceed the usual amount.

For the Cang Sheng Dao to wait for a Supreme Realm position to become vacant, they might need at least a hundred thousand years or more.

“Your senior brother and Elder Yuan Jing are also working on solutions for this. There is no need to rush.”

Lin Xuanxuan sighed and waved her sleeve, gathering everything inside the great cauldron into her robes.

Yet, Zong Shou was quick-eyed and swift-handed; he retrieved one item from within and handed it to Chu Xue.

It was an ornate pendant, exquisitely styled and inlaid with a ruby. It should be an Immortal Treasure capable of boosting the soul sense. Zong Shou only recognized at this final moment that it was likely the Phoenix Blood Cloud Stone.

Besides enhancing one's spiritual thought, wearing this object could sharpen intuition and even offer premonitions of fortune or disaster.

For others, the effect of this item was negligible. But for a Grandmaster of Articulation, or someone like Chu Xue who possessed the Martial War Body, it was undoubtedly a supreme treasure.

Innate Spiritual Markings had also formed within this object, capable of healing injuries. Although the effect was not pronounced, it could still be considered a wondrous treasure on the level of a half-step Divine Artifact.

Lin Xuanxuan was initially puzzled, but upon closer inspection, a look of realization dawned, her gaze shifting to one of appreciation.

“Phoenix Blood Cloud Stone Pendant? Fine eyesight! While this item is excellent, Xue’er, you should avoid using it regularly. Relying too much on it will only cause your intuition to stagnate—”

Chu Xue was somewhat bewildered, only sensing that after donning the pendant, her soul sense, which was weaker than her True Force, was now suppressing the latter. The range of her soul sense expanded several times over, and the entire world seemed clearer.

She could even perceive Zong Shou’s next move.

She adored this feeling, yet she still followed Lin Xuanxuan’s counsel. She sequentially formed several hand seals, temporarily severing the mental connection with the Phoenix Blood Cloud Stone Pendant.

Lin Xuanxuan had not collected everything from the cauldron. At least half of what remained in the basin was a misty, chaotic grey mass of gas.

This was the power of Vitality condensed over ten thousand years; it was not as pure as the previous Jade Vitality Marrow, being mixed with considerable terrestrial energy.

However, Zong Shou had no need to worry about this; Xiao Ri had long since scurried out on its own. It spat out a small, earth-yellow bead and began to slowly devour this Vitality and terrestrial energy.

“This is the Earth Sinking Bead? So this is its function—”

When the Xiu Yun Sect was annihilated, Xiao Ri had specifically taken out this recently formed Earth Sinking Bead. Afterward, this fellow had never used it, which had always puzzled Zong Shou—it turned out it was meant for this purpose.

The earth-yellow treasure bead was clearly different from before; as soon as Xiao Ri spat it out, its internal power already contained a good deal of vital, benevolent energy.

After devouring and integrating this Vitality and terrestrial energy, it now emitted a brilliant radiance nearly a thousand zhang wide.

The area surrounding this Celestial Altar was steeped in the color of grey decay. But under the illumination of this radiance, the colors began to shift, gradually recovering and transforming.

Legend held that wherever a Qilin passed, the land became fertile, and bountiful harvests would follow.

Did this legend originate from this very phenomenon?

Judging by the appearance of this Earth Sinking Bead, it looked as if it had become Xiao Ri’s second Golden Core.

Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, so—

Zong Shou peered closely and indeed saw a trace of sharp Metallic Qi contained within the Earth Sinking Bead.

It was the essence of Sharp Metal birthed from the purest Earth Yuan.

Zong Shou didn't dwell on it much; even if this Earth Sinking Bead granted Xiao Ri some new divine ability, it certainly wouldn't be at this moment.

And besides this Vitality and terrestrial energy, there was one ‘person’ inside the cauldron.

To be precise, it was a human body frozen within a block of Primordial Profound Ice.

In his life, Zong Shou had witnessed countless beautiful women—the eyes of Zhao Yanran, the seductiveness of Su Xiaoxiao, Chu Xue’s innocent charm—all were peerless beauties in the mortal realm.

Yet, none compared to the figure within this Profound Ice. Her skin was like flawless white jade, glowing against the snow. Her face was like a crescent moon, with cherry-red lips. Her features were exquisitely refined, reaching a state of absolute perfection.

Sleeping within this block of Primordial Profound Ice, she likely wasn't dead, merely having her vitality frozen.

However, after ten thousand years, reviving this person would require some effort.

“Could she be a concubine buried alive with Emperor Qin?”

Zong Shou speculated internally, knowing that in ancient times, when a monarch died, concubines outside the primary empress were often interred with him to prevent loneliness in death.

He mused that Emperor Qin must have held this woman in unusually high regard, for he hadn't ordered her death but merely sealed her in Profound Ice.

Xi Zi was also strange, hiding this woman’s body in the cauldron to shield it from the deathly aura—was this an act of lingering affection?

Yuan Wushang and Shen Yuexuan examined the figure closely. Su Xiaoxiao pouted, a hint of sourness in her tone: “She’s truly beautiful. Such beauty actually exists in this world—”

Lin Xuanxuan glanced at the few who were slightly dazed by the beauty of the person in the ice, a faint smile in her eyes.

“Don’t misjudge; this person is male!”

If she were female, she would have taken her away for careful study long ago.

“Male?”

Zong Shou was momentarily stunned. Looking closer, he indeed spotted a subtle Adam’s apple on the throat.

Yuan and Shen, standing nearby, also showed slight blushes. However, both men possessed faces as thick as city walls, and the latter maintained the demeanor of a proper gentleman, making it difficult to discern any trace of embarrassment.

Su Xiaoxiao let out a breath of relief; no matter how beautiful, he was still a male—

Zong Shou subconsciously recalled Cha Houhu; in terms of looks, among the men he knew, only that individual could compare.

But who exactly was this person? To warrant such great attention from Xi Zi that he went to such lengths to preserve their life, they must possess extraordinary merits.

They wore silver-white armor, the standard battle attire of the First Qin Dynasty, and held a high rank.

However, the First Qin favored black, yet this individual’s armor was silver-white.

“He must be a great general from the First Qin era, but who could it be?”

Yuan Wushang also guessed: “I heard that during the Cloud Wasteland Era, before Emperor Qin Shi Huang, there was a peerless famed general, Lord Wu’an, whose appearance was also womanly, utterly captivating—”

Lord Wu’an had died before Emperor Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne, and although the Cloud Realm was unified under Emperor Qin Shi Huang, in the eyes of many military strategists, the reason the First Qin could sweep across the realm was entirely due to Lord Wu’an.

Having endured great campaigns and decimated most of the world’s powerful armies, the three great powers that once stood as equals with the First Qin were thoroughly crippled by Lord Wu’an, their vital manpower decimated and their strength severely weakened, allowing Da Qin to dominate.

This led to his achievements overshadowing the sovereign, and it was rumored he was forced into suicide.

“Impossible! The timeline doesn't match—”

Shen Yuexuan shook his head, pondering: “It could also be Meng Tian, Wang Jian, Wang Ben, or perhaps Li Xin. But I never heard these men possessed such beauty? Could it be Lord Longyang?”

Zong Shou listened from the side, feeling too lazy to guess. He thought these two were becoming more outlandish with every guess. It was a fact, however, that after Emperor Qin unified Da Qin, many of his famous generals perished one after another within a few short decades, and several were executed after his death.

After a moment of thought, Zong Shou ultimately decided to keep the block of Profound Ice.

If he was in a good mood later, he might revive this person to see. With the Life and Death Epiphyllum, he possessed the necessary divine ability.

Seeing this, the others also calmed their thoughts. They all knew the Corpse Army was approaching and began their preparations.

Lin Xuanxuan consecutively deployed over three thousand formation flags, creating a circular Yin-Yang Taiji diagram outside the Celestial Altar.

Once formed, golden flames ignited within the formation, driving away the corpse miasma.

It merged seamlessly with the formation left by Xi Zi, showing no conflict.

Clearly, she had known the layout of this formation like the back of her hand before entering.

This flag formation was specifically prepared to counter the Corpse Army.

Shen Yuexuan, a master of formations, could not set one up here, but he produced countless components. Then, before the others' eyes, they quickly assembled two hundred puppets, each wielding a scarlet bow and arrow, positioning them atop the Celestial Altar.

Another hundred shield puppets guarded the steps below.

Yuan Wushang, meanwhile, affixed talismans around the Celestial Altar.

His Myriad Spirit Void Divine Power could drain all spiritual energy from a location or channel and gather it.

This ensured that when the people here cast spiritual arts, they would not suffer from a lack of spiritual energy.

Zong Shou also exerted his full effort, releasing Xiao Jin Han Xi and the Scarlet Fire Golden Ants, hiding them within Lin Xuanxuan’s Crimson Flag Golden Flame Array.

He himself sat cross-legged in the center of the Celestial Altar, prepared to merge Buddhist Vows and condense the Boundless Beginning and End Buddha Body at any moment.

This Celestial Altar occupied a superior location, gathering nearly half of the spiritual meridians in this minor thousand world, making it the optimal Dharma Altar. With Lin Xuanxuan and the others guarding him, he could safely let his primordial spirit depart his body.