The Yuan Mo Seven Emotions Art was excellent, yet who knew what else Li Yuanmo had tampered with within its depths? Although it was a process of breaking down to rebuild, Su Xiaoxiao dissolving her power and severing her ties would inevitably affect her fundamental vitality.

Switching to the Source Life Breath Art served to solidify the foundation and nurture vitality, capable of cultivating Yuansheng.

Cultivating it over the years would slowly restore what was lost; it was the most suitable technique.

Furthermore, it was the Source Life Breath Art possessing the Myriad Spirit Primordial Fetus— The Myriad Spirit Primordial Fetus was only useful for an unborn child, but what if its power were reversed? What then? Others could not manage it, but he, at this moment, borrowing the boundless elemental energy within his body, might perhaps barely achieve it.

The path of life and death, the art of karma, and even the means by which Ao Kun’s existence could fade away.

Zong Shou proceeded with extreme caution, completely dismantling Su Xiaoxiao’s spiritual foundation.

Then, in that very instant, he reabsorbed and coalesced the soul fragments, shattered into more than a thousand pieces.

Compared to Su Xiaoxiao’s body where life force had vanished, the spiritual layer was actually the most difficult aspect to manage.

Intervening with the cultivation of the Saint Realm, employing divine abilities: reshaping the cyclical meridians, shattering the Golden Core, and within the spirit, meticulously identifying and purging any components related to the Demonic Devouring Purgatory Seal.

Then, using this vast essence and vital energy, he rebuilt her Dao foundation, constructing her primordial spirit.

First came the heart meridian; only when this region resumed beating did relief flood Zong Shou’s eyes.

Subsequently, the Sea of Souls gradually stabilized.

Su Xiaoxiao’s consciousness also settled into tranquility.

The influence of the Demonic Devouring Purgatory Seal upon her was now clearly negligible.

After several dozen breaths like this, Zong Shou was once again jarred awake by intense pain surging through his body.

His brow was tightly furrowed.

Even after dedicating his full effort to rebuilding Su Xiaoxiao’s Dao body and spirit, the expended essence and vital energy amounted to less than a tenth of the total.

This was not entirely unexpected; after all, this energy was amassed over ten millennia by the entire Two Extremes Dragon Gathering Array.

Had Emperor Qin managed to fully absorb it, he could have directly ascended to the Ultimate Realm.

One issue was that his physical body could not withstand the influx.

The second was that his own vital energy, propelled by this pure essence, was slowly crossing the threshold past the peak of the Immortal Realm.

Taking this next step meant becoming a Divine Realm cultivator— And the Heavenly Tribulation would inevitably follow! Zong Shou was not worried about being unable to survive the tribulation; he even felt a degree of confidence in weathering the Saint Realm calamity without injury.

The problem was that this essence, no matter how pure, was ultimately a borrowed external force for achieving enlightenment.

It did not bring true advancement at the fundamental level of the Great Dao.

Ascending overnight was appealing—using this essence, the Ultimate Realm seemed unimaginable, and even the Half-Step Ultimate Realm was slightly out of reach.

However, if the foundation was built on sand, risking collapse with a single push, then it was pointless.

“This essence is too immense; advancing now is unavoidable.

However, stepping beyond the Divine Realm would be courting death.” Despite the agony wracking his body, Zong Shou’s thoughts remained exceptionally clear.

“I cannot advance my cultivation further, so—” His entire body suddenly began to vibrate.

The elemental energy within his parallel meridians that could not be purged was violently shaken loose by Zong Shou, inch by inch.

He forcibly dispersed it, driving it into his limbs and bones, into his flesh and blood.

He was directly using this essence to strengthen his physical body.

“Besides this, there is also this power of life and death.” This, too, was troublesome; the energies of life and death were inherently opposed, neutralizing and yet actively combating one another.

Zong Shou resolutely separated them, integrating them into two parallel, spiraling cyclical meridians, allowing them to resonate without interfering.

At this point, Su Xiaoxiao’s condition had begun to improve, allowing him the focus to divide his attention and slowly reorganize his own energy pathways.

But just then, Zong Shou’s entire flesh and blood abruptly exploded outward.

Externally, he appeared unharmed, yet beneath the skin, the muscle and flesh had become nothing more than pulverized fragments utterly disconnected from any structure.

The bones were the same; if not for the sustaining power of his primordial spirit, the entire being would have instantly dissolved into a mire of blood and rot.

This was because his physical form could no longer bear any further influx of elemental energy.

Yet Zong Shou showed no mercy, seemingly feeling no pain at all.

Within this ruined flesh, with not a single part intact, he began to rebuild, piece by painstaking piece.

Breaking down to rebuild—Su Xiaoxiao had done it, and so would he.

To avoid plunging directly into the Saint Tier, he had to find a release valve for this surging essence.

And Zong Shou’s choice was his physical body.

Unrestrained, he pushed this vessel to the absolute limit of physical reinforcement! A short while later, a faint ripple of spiritual energy trembled through the void.

The forces of time and space here were already inherently unstable.

The appearance of this single trace of energy immediately caused the surrounding environment to become even more turbulent.

But after a moment, a woman in blue robes materialized there.

It was Lin Xuanxuan, her expression now intensely cold.

It seemed as if she had just emerged from battle, her entire presence still subtly imbued with an aura of slaughter.

Her gaze swept the area with icy intensity.

This was a fragment of a shattered Lesser Thousand World, remaining after the destruction within Emperor Qin’s tomb.

The ensuing explosion of Five Elements spatial-temporal energy had impacted a full sixty surrounding worlds! Within this radius, cultivators below the Immortal Realm would struggle to even enter the outer void for some time.

This shattered Lesser Thousand World had directly detached itself from the location of Emperor Qin’s Tomb, from the Cloud Realm.

Fragments of it slipped into the temporal interstices outside the Cloud Realm.

The spot where Lin Xuanxuan stood was one such fragment.

About half a day earlier, as she prepared to carry out the agreed-upon destruction of the resurrection array to the south, she sensed something amiss.

At that time, she had intended to locate Zong Shou so the six of them could regroup.

However, she was intercepted mid-journey and held fast for a full two hours, unable to break free and rush to him.

Finally managing to disperse or eliminate her interceptors, dealing with the chaos, she was then confronted by the shattering of the Lesser Thousand World.

Though reluctant, she had to ensure her own survival first.

Now, searching for him was exceedingly difficult.

Not only was it dangerous, but deploying divine sense was severely restricted.

They could only search collaboratively, combing the area inch by inch like a carpet search.

“Still haven’t found him.

He shouldn’t be here.” Shen Yuexuan was the first to flash to Lin Xuanxuan’s side, his expression displeased.

“I wonder how His Majesty is faring now? After all, fifteen Saint Tier experts attacked simultaneously—” “His life is not in danger!” Lin Xuanxuan shook her head; she had long since confirmed this by connecting with the Cangsheng Dome Realm.

“His name is still on the Profound Fate Golden Scroll.

Furthermore—” At this point, Lin Xuanxuan’s expression grew profoundly strange.

“Not only is he still there, but his position recently shifted abruptly forward, landing on the fifth page.” “The fifth page?” Shen Yuexuan was astonished.

He had heard of the Profound Fate Golden Scroll used by the Cangsheng Dao.

It was ranked according to cultivation realm and potential.

And currently, the Cangsheng Dao already possessed four Ultimate Realm experts.

In other words, the Profound Fate Golden Scroll had recognized Zong Shou as the foremost figure beneath the Ultimate Realm within the Cangsheng Dao.

This situation meant either Zong Shou’s cultivation had seen a significant surge, or his potential had undergone a transformation.