Feng Zikang’s heart gave a sharp lurch. He saw Sun Su’s eyes were blazing crimson, his expression drastically altered; clearly, the monk was calling upon his ultimate, final technique.

“Brother Sun…”

“Worry not!”

Sun Su offered a faint smile. “Brother, you know my nature. I always sought nothing but carefree enjoyment. Only after Master’s enlightenment did I truly grasp the suffering of this world. How could I not avenge him!”

Though his tone was measured, his resolve was absolute; the decision was clearly made.

Master Yuanyuan, True Man Qunyang, and Master Yan Haoran launched a combined assault, light blazing everywhere, overwhelming everything. Feng Zikang grit his teeth, struggling to hold the line, when he heard Sun Su behind him, mumbling incantations under his breath.

“Bad! That monkey is going to self-detonate!”

Master Yuanyuan’s face shifted. His attack intensified, and Feng Zikang couldn't shield effectively. Struck squarely in the chest by a towering golden Buddha, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward.

Then came Sun Su’s furious roar. His golden Dharma body manifested—a massive, dark-gold figure threaded with faint streaks of crimson.

Master Yuanyuan flicked his hands, and a thousand zhang of golden light descended from the heavens, acting like an immense, solid wall separating the combatants.

At that moment, Sun Su convulsed once, and then exploded with a deafening boom!

Feng Zikang was shielded by a sphere of light that hurled him far away. Looking back, he witnessed total devastation: the sky collapsing, the world annihilating, torrents of chaotic earth, water, fire, and wind raging.

The self-destruction of one who had attained the Fruit of Longevity was indeed no trivial affair.

After a long silence, the smoke finally cleared. Standing suspended in the air, hands clasped in prayer, was only the bald monk, eyes closed. All the others were gone!

Master Yuanyuan!

The others had all turned to ash. The formidable True Man Qunyang and Master Yan Haoran had suffered the fate of complete obliteration of both body and spirit. Only Master Yuanyuan remained standing, though two lines of blood now streamed from his eyes.

“Fellow Daoists, though you have died, the plan to unmake this world remains unchanged!”

He chanted a profound scripture, and countless golden Buddhas descended, magnificent and glorious beyond measure.

Feng Zikang watched his display from afar, his heart gripped by apprehension.

“Nameless Celestial Demon, though I perish today, the destruction of the Profound Realm and the recreation of the Primordial Wilderness is inevitable! Amitābha!”

Master Yuanyuan proclaimed the Buddhist invocation loudly, but then a gust of wind swept past, and he too dissolved into motes of ash, vanishing completely. Feng Zikang’s great revenge was exacted; his mind cleared, suddenly grasping the cause and effect. A burst of long laughter escaped him, signaling a new opportunity for breakthrough.

The Primordial Profound Realm was nothing more than a cycle of birth and demise.

These sages of the Three Teachings, though they held their own expectations, ultimately could not see past the cycle of emergence and extinction, thus setting themselves upon this irreversible path.

Feng Zikang laughed heartily. He saw the entire bottom layer of the Hellish Realm beginning to crumble and shatter. Daring not to linger, he swiftly retreated, finding Luo Lianxin and the others. After informing them of the situation and pondering how to return to the Main Profound Realm, he saw that the King of Hell’s Palace was already fractured. The speed of this Profound Realm’s collapse far exceeded his expectations.

“This is bad. If we don’t leave now, being caught in the turbulence will mean certain doom!”

Feng Zikang’s heart tightened. Suddenly, a crisp sound came from his waist. The Star River Shuttle, which he had never deployed, transformed into a colossal bird, enveloping all four of them within its form.

“This… this is…”

Luo Lianxin fell inside, feeling as if she had crossed into another era, suddenly recalling something distant.

Feng Zikang, having now seen through the way of birth and death, smiled faintly, calculating instantly, and understood.

“So, Junior Sister is also a descendant from the Outer Realms, merely undergoing her tribulation in our Main Profound Realm. Now that the ordeal is complete, these treasures that have been by our sides can finally be put to use…”

The four of them piloted the Star River Shuttle, piercing through the vast cosmos and the shattered Profound Realm, heading directly toward the Main Profound Realm.

Luo Lianxin, bewildered, pondered for several days before a sudden clarity struck her. This insight allowed her to finally break through the Golden Core stage, achieving the transformation into an Infant Soul.

※※※

Traveling through the Profound Realms knows no past or future; they had no idea how much time had passed. When the Star River Shuttle finally pierced the barrier, they had returned to the Main Profound Realm.

They retracted the Shuttle and, after a brief inquiry, learned that while only months had passed in the Trial Tower, decades had elapsed in the Main Profound Realm. Peace had settled upon the land, and the Empress had ascended the throne—it was Wu Mei, that little imp.

The Three Teachings were in decline, while the Nine Schools flourished.

The military strategists of Dragon-Tiger Mountain were now the undisputed leaders of the orthodox path.

Sect Master Yuan Buhuan had grown noticeably heavier. He was overjoyed to see them return, and greatly praised the fact that the two of them had achieved Nascent Soul attainment. He immediately appointed them as Elders. Although Ye Tiansheng’s Nascent Soul had been shattered, he still had time to recover with future cultivation. They settled down within the Little Bamboo Grove.

Feng Zikang knew that the destruction of this Main Profound Realm was only a matter of time. His own Dao cultivation deepened daily, and he understood the ultimate truths of the world more profoundly. He held no lingering attachment to this realm and led his group to enter his own Profound Realm; Ye Tiansheng and Luo Lianxin agreed wholeheartedly.

His Profound Realm, by then, was already thriving and flourishing.

Feng Zikang then recalled the Investiture of the Gods roster. Using the residual divine power, he selected those among the dead over the past few decades who were suitable and invested them as the deities protecting the four directions of his Profound Realm, causing it to prosper even further.

Seeing the Main Profound Realm showing clear signs of decay, he was about to sever the connection between the two realms entirely when a thought struck him. He remembered one last person.

He smiled faintly and, under the cover of night, shot a streak of sword light directly into the capital city.

The Forbidden City was now merely an ordinary gateway to him; no one could stop his entry. Upon entering the palace, he found a woman draped in white gauze seated upon the Dragon Throne, staring fixedly at him.

“You have finally come…”

The veil slipped from the woman’s face, revealing a countenance forever youthful—it was the current Empress, Wu Mei.

Feng Zikang smiled lightly. “I was always going to come. Are you willing to leave with me?”

Wu Mei gave a graceful smile. “I have waited all these years just for you to ask that question…”

She leaped gracefully from the throne; the seat of worldly emperor was now of no consequence to her.

Feng Zikang chuckled softly, drawing her into an embrace as they shot away. A distant flash of sword light was followed by a stumbling, white-bearded, white-haired old general rushing out, shouting loudly.

“Martial Uncle! Martial Uncle! Why didn’t you take me along!”

This was Luo Kedi, who had enjoyed all the glories the mortal world could offer. But now, with his Mortal Immortal path fading, how could he possibly follow?

The Nameless Celestial Demon vanished across the void.

From that moment on, no trace of this group remained in the Main Profound Realm, leaving behind only legends whispered in the mortal world. Many years later, even the traditions of immortal cultivation disappeared, with scarcely a single cultivator to be found.

The entire human world was consumed by mundane affairs. In just a few short decades, life became a bustling scramble for fame and fortune, abruptly losing all tranquility. The orthodox doctrines of the Three Teachings devolved into tricks for extracting money; the true transmissions of the Nine Schools became mere tales.

The fulfillment offered by worldly splendor far surpassed that of the Immortals. Barring the gift of longevity, what advantage was there to bitter cultivation?

Yet, at this very moment, a tiny corner of the Profound Realm began to crumble.

Sun and moon dimmed, dark clouds gathered. The day of world destruction predicted by Master Yuanyuan was finally arriving.

However, the people carried on with their cheerful activities, utterly oblivious to the shadow looming over them.