Five Phoenixes Continent.
Compared to the blood-soaked carnage on the battlefield, the heartland of the continent remained eerily peaceful.
Though the sky stayed overcast, reflecting a crimson glow as though a sea of blood churned within, it was still far gentler than the battlefield where blood rained and soul fragments drifted like snow.
Thanks to the Great Xuan Academy, news of the enemy invasion had long spread across the realm. Both cultivators and mortals knew exactly what was happening.
Students of the academy burned with righteous fury, yet the King of North Xuan never summoned them to fight.
Not only because their strength was too weak, but because these young talents were the future seeds of the Five Phoenixes.
Should the battlefield suffer catastrophic losses, it would fall to them to carry the continent forward.
Thus, despite their burning desire to charge into battle and spill their blood, the King ignored their pleas.
Immortal Legacy Ruins.
The Origin Waterfall had frozen in place, its dense origin energy forming a canopy across the heavens.
Within the ruins, among towering pavilions and palaces wreathed in immortal mist, a figure in coarse hemp robes emerged, hoe slung over his shoulder.
Wiping sweat from his brow, Lu Changkong sat cross-legged on the ground.
He uncorked a teapot; instantly, rich spiritual energy billowed out.
This was tea brewed from rare spiritual herbs.
One sip made his spiritual energy boil, his mind clear, his spiritual sense crystalline.
The farmer-clad man was none other than Lu Changkong, who had spent the past decade tending his medicinal fields in the ruins.
Ten years had passed, yet he looked much the same—only now his body glowed faintly from years of tasting hundreds of herbs.
He, too, had heard of the bloodshed on the battlefield.
BOOM!
The entire world began to quake violently.
Lu Changkong looked up, a brilliant light flashing in his eyes.
“Hm?”
He had felt this sensation before.
“The world is transforming again…”
“It begins.”
He murmured, taking another sip of spirit-medicine tea, fragrant mist escaping his lips with every word.
Rising with his hoe, he strolled leisurely back to his fields—like a scholar gathering chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence.
In his medicinal garden, rows of crystalline spirit herbs sparkled like works of art.
He entered his little wooden hut and soon emerged carrying two large buckets filled with fertilizer—origin energy mixed with rare mineral dust.
Scooping with a gourd ladle, he walked the rows, pouring shimmering fertilizer over the plants.
The herbs seemed to come alive, greedily absorbing the energy, swaying and glowing brighter.
Lu Changkong’s eyes curved into happy crescents.
After one full round, he returned to the hut.
This time he brought out top-grade spirit stones and arranged them into a formation around the garden.
Then he sat cross-legged once more, waiting quietly.
BOOM…
Heaven and earth roared as though ancient demons howled.
Every cultivator felt the change clearly.
“It has begun…”
Lu Changkong drew a deep breath, anticipation on his face.
He was not alone—nearly every cultivator sensed it.
They had experienced many world transformations, each one a leap forward for cultivation.
And now, another had come.
This one meant countless cultivators could seize the chance to breakthrough dramatically.
The Vast Ocean churned.
Waves towered.
A colossal whale breached the surface, its cry shattering the water.
On its back rested an immense immortal island.
All manner of spiritual beasts surged from the depths.
A long, dragon-like sea beast shot into the sky, lightning crackling around it, attempting to evolve.
An ancient turtle surfaced, gulping and expelling seawater in great torrents.
A mountain-sized octopus stirred whirlpools that threatened to swallow the heavens.
Not just the ocean—on land, every spiritual creature welcomed the transformation.
In dense jungles, a titanic python burst from its burrow, crushing ancient trees.
A jade-green willow whipped its branches, lashing the void.
The entire world celebrated in silent reverence.
All beings waited.
After a long, long time…
The transformation truly began.
Four massive stars appeared in the firmament, slowly spinning within a colossal vortex.
BOOM!
The earth quaked; mountains rose and fell; stones danced.
Many looked up.
The blood-red sky vanished, replaced by a dazzling seven-colored canopy.
Rainbow clouds piled higher and higher, the atmosphere growing oppressively heavy.
Then…
A single drop of rainbow rain fell.
Spiritual energy rain—condensed to the extreme!
Crash!
Every cultivator rushed out to bathe in it.
The rain poured into their bodies, triggering massive transformations. Joy and exhilaration filled them—they could feel the world itself ascending!
A qualitative leap in the plane’s level!
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The cultivators of the Five Phoenixes continent were the most ecstatic.
They had lived through the low-martial era—when no spiritual energy existed.
Then mid-martial—when spiritual energy first appeared, but cultivation was still sparse.
Now cultivation flourished, and the dense spiritual energy painted the world in vibrant color.
They had witnessed a world rise from weakness to strength.
What greater honor was there?
Eastern Yang River.
Luo Mingsang stepped out of her tent.
The river roared; fish leapt high.
A mirage dragon soared, bellowing at the sky.
Rainbow rain fell.
Luo Mingsang stood dazed beneath it, feeling both body and soul transform.
…
Origin Space.
All was silent.
Only Lu Ping’an floated alone, white robes pristine, hair lashing his cheeks in the void.
The vortex rose and fell like his own soul—powerful and strange.
Four origin stars—Golden Body, Tian Luo, Praj?ā, and Tian Yuan—maintained a delicate balance.
They pulled at one another like a miniature star system.
Lu Ping’an gazed calmly.
The origins had fused. This was the moment of world transformation—the chance for the Five Phoenixes to step from mid-martial into high-martial.
He exhaled slowly.
Truthfully, the pressure was immense.
From Qi Liujia and Bu Nanxing, he had learned the secrets of the Nihility Heaven. Creating a high-martial world here was nearly impossible.
Not only did the heavenly laws resist, but countless predators coveted the newborn high-martial origin.
Lu understood perfectly: a high-martial origin born under such restrictive laws would be an unimaginable treasure.
To the mighty beings outside, it was supreme fortune.
Once he pushed the Five Phoenixes into high-martial, its origin would become the sweetest bait—every expert would hunger for it.
Yet would he cower just because wolves circled?
His dream was to forge the Five Phoenixes into an ultra-fantasy great world.
If he shrank back now, when would he ever reach that goal?
Leaning against the Thousand Blade Chair, he gazed at the serene origin.
The origin space held its own unique beauty—the root of a world’s evolution.
Each spin of the origin stars seemed to record the rise and fall of a realm.
He exhaled again.
“High-martial…”
A faint smile tugged at his lips, excitement flickering.
Finally, the Five Phoenixes could attempt the leap.
He was truly curious—what was a high-martial world like?
What defined high-martial?
It was a broad concept with no strict boundary.
At its simplest: cultivators could split mountains with a palm, sever rivers with a kick.
At its strongest: a glare could shatter landscapes; a roar could crush stars.
A realm with nearly limitless ceiling.
“Hence the grading—Yān-Nine to Yān-One…”
Lu Ping’an tapped the Phoenix Feather Sword guard, deep in thought.
He had no idea how strong a Yān-One high-martial world truly was.
Even Bu Nanxing couldn’t explain.
According to him, every Yān-Nine already possessed mighty beings beyond Out-of-Body. “Mighty being” was a loose term—anything above Out-of-Body qualified, including holy lords.
The gap between mighty beings was vast. Some were merely Body-Spirit Unity (the stage above Out-of-Body), others far beyond.
What lay above Unity, Bu Nanxing didn’t know—perhaps only when his Southern Mountain world reached Yān-Eight would the answer appear.
So yes, Lu felt pressure.
That mighty being from the High-Martial Buddhist World had threatened that once the Five Phoenixes became high-martial, he would personally descend to “convert” all beings.
In Lu’s eyes, “convert” clearly meant slaughter—like what Monk Wuxing had done to the Golden Body Continent.
With Lu’s current strength, a mere Unity-realm expert held no fear—even if slightly weaker than true Primordial Spirit Unity, he could still crush them.
If that bald donkey was only Unity realm, Lu would beat his skull open the moment he arrived.
But if that monk had surpassed Unity…
Then things might get tricky.
“Whatever.”
Lu shook his head, banishing the thoughts.
The more he dwelled, the more anxious he’d become.
Screw it—just do it.
BOOM!
The Thousand Blade Chair flashed, carrying Lu into the origin space.
He raised a hand and pressed it against the Tian Yuan origin star.
Slowly, he pushed.
Terrifying power surged from his body.
The origin vortex thundered deafeningly.
The next instant, energy exploded in blinding radiance.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Under Lu’s force, the four origin stars began to turn in unison.
His spiritual sense spread, watching every detail.
He was nervous—more nervous than ever before.
One mistake, one broken balance, and the four stars would collapse, the vortex detonating.
The Five Phoenixes’ origin would shatter.
High-martial ascension would become a pipe dream.
BOOM!
Lu’s hand glowed like sacred jade.
It was the hand of a god, gently plucking the string of world evolution.
At first the rotation was slow.
Pushing felt like moving an entire world.
Even Lu found it exhausting.
His white robes flapped wildly.
He frowned.
After a long while, the rotation stabilized. Lu released his hand—the origin now spun on its own, maintaining a strange new equilibrium.
Lines danced in his eyes.
He looked up.
BOOM!
Within the origin space, a terrifying presence rapidly approached.
Lu understood.
This great horror…
Was surely the heavenly law tribulation Qi Liujia and Bu Nanxing had warned about—the disaster that forbade high-martial birth in the Nihility Heaven.
…
Blood-Colored Battlefield.
Seven-colored spiritual energy rain poured from the heavens.
Everyone stood stunned.
Then brilliant light ignited in every eye.
“The world… is transforming!”
Breathing grew ragged.
All sat cross-legged, bathing in the rain.
Being close to the clouds, they absorbed origin power far denser than usual.
Their transformations were astonishing.
BOOM!
The ice tower imprisoning the holy sons and maidens crashed onto the battlefield.
The rainbow rain fell—but the tower blocked every drop.
Crack!
On the thick ice walls, the golden boy and jade girl pressed their faces, eyes bloodshot, staring greedily at the rain outside.
“That’s… fortune!”
The siblings were mad with envy.
Not just them—every captive holy son and maiden beat their chests, eyes blazing.
Outside, fortune rained down.
Inside, they were trapped in cold ice.
The blow to their pride was devastating.
“Can’t we break this damned cage?!”
One holy son roared.
BOOM!
Someone immediately attacked.
Terrifying energy exploded against the walls.
Ripples of force rocked the tower.
“Stop…”
The burly holy son atop his bird said coldly.
“Are we just going to watch these natives steal this fortune?!”
A Yān-Nine holy son snarled.
“You’re so bold—why don’t you break it?!”
The confined space drove one holy son mad; he roared like a beast.
“Shut up!”
BOOM!
The burly man’s aura erupted—terrifying.
The roaring holy son’s head exploded instantly, blood filling the air.
Silence fell.
The burly man’s aura revealed he had just stepped into Out-of-Body realm.
Among the captives, he was the strongest.
Unfortunately, Out-of-Body meant nothing in this catastrophe.
Outside, blood still rained—the blood of their protectors.
“This cage was set by a mighty being. Only another mighty being can break it!”
“If your reckless attacks trigger a backlash and kill us all…”
His vicious gaze swept the tower, chilling every heart.
“Calm yourself, Holy Son Tuoba…”
Holy Son Qingling spoke.
The others fell silent, not daring to breathe loudly.
An Out-of-Body expert held absolute authority here.
The burly man said no more. He pressed his face to the ice, staring outside.
Now their only hope was for this world to become high-martial…
And either be destroyed by heavenly laws, or rescued by other mighty beings.
Otherwise, escape was impossible.
…
The world transformation continued; spiritual rain fell endlessly.
Everyone returned to the battlefield, quietly absorbing the fortune.
The Overlord, Nie Changqing, and the others cultivated madly.
Every world transformation was critical—miss this chance and you’d fall behind forever.
Young Master Tianxu, freshly advanced to Yang God, along with the Empress, Du Longyang, and the other Yang Gods, landed on the battlefield.
They had no time to marvel at Lu annihilating dozens of Out-of-Body experts in an instant.
Before true fortune, composure was impossible.
Even Zhulong returned, standing quietly, feeling the changes in heaven and earth.
Everyone shared the same powerful intuition.
This transformation was the greatest in history.
Perhaps…
The entire world would be reborn!
The whole planet fell silent.
Only the soft patter of spiritual rain remained.
Of course, there was one exception.
Dantai Xuan stood up from the battlefield, speechless.
Around him, Jiang Li, Xie Yunling, and others bathed in the rain, auras soaring, breaking shackle after shackle.
He rose expressionlessly.
The rain fell cold on his skin.
Yet unlike everyone else, he felt no spiritual energy entering his body.
Others skyrocketed in realm; he gained a little strength, but…
Far too slow.
Dantai Xuan pressed a hand to his chest.
Immortal fortune…
The whole world bathed in it; only he repelled it.
This must be…
The loneliness of being the only one sober while the world is drunk.
Dantai Xuan’s gaze deepened. Hands behind his back, he closed his eyes, letting the cool rain slap his face, pores opening in simple pleasure.
Fine, fine…
Just treat it as the most luxurious shower ever.
…
In the void.
The wanderers were utterly shaken—then burning with greed!
This world was assaulting high-martial!
The high-martial origin—their ultimate fortune—was about to be born!
Those who had wanted to flee stopped.
No more running!
With the Out-of-Body experts dead and the holy sons imprisoned…
Perhaps this fortune was truly within reach!
Greed blinded them; they chose to gamble their lives.
Suddenly every wanderer felt terror.
The Nihility Heaven itself seemed enraged.
A terrifying rumble shook the void.
On the withered continent.
Qi Liujia—flesh dried like a corpse—looked up, complexity in his deep eyes.
“The heavenly laws will not allow it…”
“This is the first great tribulation of high-martial ascension. Can you withstand it?”
He murmured slowly.
He had failed once—his world torn apart, flesh and primordial spirit severed, utterly miserable.
Now he seemed to see Lu walking the same doomed path.
Yet still, he held a sliver of hope.
Suddenly his gaze pierced the distance.
Within the vortex-shaped origin space, the white-robed youth sat upon the Thousand Blade Chair.
White as snow, peerless grace, head raised against apocalyptic pressure.
The pressure grew heavier, heavier…
Until above the youth’s head, a vast thunder sea formed!
Qi Liujia looked away, heart stirring.
His profound gaze turned outward.
Beyond the Nihility Heaven, colossal auras gathered, making the void tremble.
Primordial spirit power wove into a giant net, locking onto everything within.
Some mighty beings even laughed lightly, casually discussing how to divide the newborn high-martial origin.
Arrogant fools, Qi Liujia thought.
He glanced back at the white-robed youth facing the heaven-destroying thunder sea.
A smile spread across his face—full of stubborn faith and hope.
Then his corpse-like body shuddered.
BOOM!
Countless array runes intertwined.
He rose from the withered continent, dust cascading from him like a millennium’s grave.
One step.
He left the dead land behind.
