Inside the Jade Immortal Pavilion, a thick, suffocating silence immediately enveloped the air. There was only the sound of water trickling from the crystal pool and the intoxicating scent of the Eternal Moon Flowers. The departure of Xu Sheng and Feng Yi had left an empty stage for the two main figures: the newly forged Devil and the Holy Fairy burdened by Karma.

  Zhu Qinglan was still standing, the water aura around her that had served as a shield now felt like a delicate curtain separating her from the mortal world. She looked at Zhi Xuan, her ocean gaze filled with a thousand swirling emotions.

  Zhi Xuan, who had returned to a cold and indifferent expression, waited. He sat casually, but every inch of his posture radiated the stable and dangerous aura of Peak Consciousness Transformation. He knew this moment was key to alleviating their karmic tension.

  After a silence that felt like the passing of an era, Zhu Qinglan finally spoke. Her voice was as soft as a sigh of a spring breeze, but contained a deep weight of powerlessness.

  “You always manage to surprise me, Zhi Xuan,” Zhu Qinglan said, her tone no longer containing anger or authority, but an honest acknowledgment. “Years have passed, your realm has soared, but your Dao has become increasingly difficult to comprehend. I once thought, after you escaped the Heavenly Thunder Calamity, you would be a little more careful. Yet, you came and provoked Xu Sheng, the Five Element disciple with the most stable foundation, and you defeated him with just one tattered furnace artifact.”

  Zhi Xuan shrugged slightly, the relaxed movement carrying the weight of hidden exhaustion.

  “Caution is a luxury for mortals who do not have a clear goal, Holy Fairy Zhu,” Zhi Xuan countered, his eyes radiating cruel sharpness. “I did not provoke; I established boundaries. If I let that jealous Five Element disciple trespass on my Dao now, then ten days from now, at the Annual Disciple Celebration, there will be ten thousand other disciples who think they can test me. I came to cultivate and have a peaceful life, not to be a trash bin for the Thousand Heavens Sect's arrogance.”

  “Your goal is always clear. You never change,” Zhu Qinglan replied, she walked slowly and sat back down on her jade cushion, now facing Zhi Xuan. “Peace? Since when can the word peace coexist with you? You came from a sea of blood, and you always bring chaos wherever you tread, Zhi Xuan. Even your arrival here has created irreversible ripples in the order of the Thousand Heavens Sect.”

  She looked at Zhi Xuan, her crystal-like ocean gaze piercing into the Black-Haired Devil's sapphire eyes.

  “I know, you have fulfilled the foundation I requested,” Zhu Qinglan continued, her tone turning formal, an official acknowledgment of the karmic promise. “Peak Consciousness Transformation with the Perfect Five Divine Organ foundation, an achievement that surpasses even my imagination. Your foundation is now unmatched in the mortal realm. You are indeed worthy of consideration, Zhi Xuan.”

  “Considered,” Zhi Xuan repeated, he leaned his back against the jade support, a faint, cold smile gracing his lips. “A gentle word from a Holy Fairy for someone you forced onto the most difficult Dao.”

  He did not allow Zhu Qinglan's formal tone to dominate. He wanted to reverse the narrative, reminding Zhu Qinglan that this bond was a burden on him, the Black-Haired Devil.

  “I have risked my life repeatedly, carving a Dao rejected by heaven, just to receive the word considered from you,” Zhi Xuan continued, his voice calm, but containing the weight of ironic complaint. “I have fulfilled my promise, not because I desire the title of Dao Protector, but because a promise is Law to me. Now, after I have passed the foundation test, what is the next step? You, who are bound to this thick karma, will not let me go so easily, will you?”

  Zhu Qinglan sighed, a subtle exhale carrying the scent of wood essence. She knew Zhi Xuan was a sharp individual and would not be easily manipulated by formalities. She had to be honest.

  “The next step is about karma,” Zhu Qinglan replied. She extended her graceful hand over the jade table. In her palm, water essence spun slowly, forming a delicate and pure water jade ring. The ring did not radiate a strong essence aura, but a calm and soothing resonance of Water Law.

  “Fifty years ago, in Shoutuo City, you had a mission. A mission to purify the Poison Sect and Young Master Gu,” Zhu Qinglan said, her crystal-like eyes staring straight into Zhi Xuan's eyes. “The Zhu Clan cleared the Gu Family because of corruption and cruelty. Unintentionally, I completed your mission.”

  Zhi Xuan clenched his jaw. A flash of the shadows of Qin and Liu, Zhu's guards who forcibly took him, crossed his mind. The old grudge was still deep-rooted, but now he had to face the greater karma.

  "You are right," Zhi Xuan said with a slight nod. "But I also will not forget the day when Senior Brother Qin and Junior Brother Liu treated me like a dog in the Divine Wheel realm."

  Zhu Qinglan closed her eyes for a moment, a rare expression of regret flashing across her veiled face. "I know about that. That was the foolishness and arrogance of the Zhu Clan, not my will. I have punished them, Zhi Xuan. They have been sent to the dangerous Northern Continent to atone for their mistakes. I can only offer an apology on behalf of the Zhu Clan."

  “An apology will not restore a humiliated Dao, Holy Fairy Zhu,” Zhi Xuan countered, his voice remaining flat, but a layer of steel wrapped around it. “However, I understand that they have paid the price. The matter between me and the Zhu Clan is the past. Now, what do you want from me, after giving me the word ‘considered’?”

  Zhu Qinglan opened her eyes, looking at Zhi Xuan with renewed firmness. She pushed the water jade ring slightly forward, across the surface of the jade table.

  “This jade ring contains a small portion of the Gu Family's wealth,” Zhu Qinglan said, her voice returning to a formal and authoritative tone. "You are entitled to it, especially since I know your mission was about saving your mortal village by eliminating the Gu Family and the Poison Sect."

  Zhi Xuan glanced at the water jade ring. Inside, he could feel a large essence fluctuation, thousands of high-grade spiritual stones, Divine Jade Stones, and perhaps some heavenly herbs. That was a wealth that would greatly aid his cultivation, especially after he only received an allocation of a thousand Divine Black Jade Stones from the Disciple Hall.

  “Compensation, an effort to purify karma,” Zhi Xuan murmured, he did not immediately take the jade ring. He stared at Zhu Qinglan with sharp eyes. “The Zhu Clan is one of the Nine Ancient Clans. The Gu Family's wealth is merely crumbs to you. I do not believe you called me here just to give this gift, Holy Fairy Zhu. What do you want from the Dao Protector you are considering?”

  Zhu Qinglan smiled faintly, a subtle and almost imperceptible smile behind her veil. “You can never be fooled, Zhi Xuan. I will not force you to take this jade ring. This is karmic compensation, it is up to you whether to accept it or not. But, there is one more thing I want from the ‘considered Dao Protector’.”

  She sighed again, letting the silence speak. The water aura around her rippled faster, showing her internal anxiety.

  "I want you," Zhu Qinglan whispered, her voice now containing a hidden urgency. "Six months from now, a Divine Stone Mine in the Ancient Wasteland will open soon. I want you to go there, and search for the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit."

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes, the blood-red ring around his sapphire pupils pulsed faintly. His gaze was no longer indifferent; it radiated sharp analysis, piercing through Zhu Qinglan's delicate veil. Seven Lotus Yin Fruit. The name immediately triggered a resonance in the newly awakened Ancient Devil's memory.

  The Seven Lotus Yin Fruit was not an ordinary heavenly herb. It was an extremely rare natural treasure, only growing in areas with extreme Yin-Yang essence fluctuations, and had the ability to purify and condense a cultivator's soul, making it immune to will attacks and Devil temptations.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  For Five Element realm cultivators, this fruit was a heavenly foundation for preparing to step into the Soul Transformation realm—a realm where the soul became a tangible entity and was vulnerable to spiritual corrosion.

  "Seven Lotus Yin Fruit," Zhi Xuan repeated, his voice now low and dangerous. "That is a treasure only sought by Five Element cultivators who are about to break through the gate to Soul Transformation. Why are you sending me, a Peak Consciousness Transformation, to the Divine Stone Mine in the Ancient Wasteland, a place full of dangers from the Five Element realm and perhaps higher, just to search for a herb you need? The Zhu Clan, with their wealth and foundation, can surely send dozens of elite Five Element disciples or even Elders."

  Zhu Qinglan looked down for a moment, her gaze touching the water jade ring on the table, before looking back at Zhi Xuan.

  "The Divine Stone Mine that will open this time is special," Zhu Qinglan countered, her voice containing the weight of a secret she did not want to share. "It is a Mine bound to an Ancient Formation from the Era of the Great Emperors' Fall. That Formation has a brutal Realm Suppression Law. All cultivators, regardless of their realm, will be suppressed to a maximum of the Consciousness Transformation realm, and perhaps even lower, while inside the Mine."

  Zhi Xuan fell silent. A flash of quick thought crossed his eyes. Realm suppression. That meant Five Element, Soul Transformation, or even Weaver Transformation cultivators would be on the same level as him, or even lower, depending on how perfect their foundation was after being suppressed.

  “Realm Suppression Formation,” Zhi Xuan muttered, his sapphire eyes radiating a cruel calculation light. He finally understood why he was chosen. With the Perfect Five Divine Organ foundation he had just forged and stabilized, driven by the Devil-Heavenly Law that resisted suppression, Zhi Xuan would become a highly dominant existence in the Divine Stone Mine.

  Where other Five Element cultivators would falter and their foundations would crumble under the pressure of Realm Suppression, Zhi Xuan's foundation would remain stable, or even stronger, because his Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron was already accustomed to bearing weights that exceeded mortal limits.

  "The Era of the Great Emperors' Fall," Zhi Xuan continued calmly, his face cold but harboring calculation. "Didn't that happen more than tens of thousands of years ago?"

  Zhu Qinglan sighed. "True, the former Great Emperors descended from the Immortal Realm and secluded themselves in the Ancient Wasteland. Heaven and Earth surged, and they faced danger, until finally melting together with time. Their Legacies and Relics are scattered in that Wasteland, opportunity and danger side by side."

  "My Great Emperor ancestor, Zhu Yan Tian, may be buried with his legacy there," Zhu Qinglan said again, her eyes staring directly at Zhi Xuan. "My Clan has traveled there before, only finding an incomplete legacy. And, the Emperor Ancestor placed a Prohibition Formation that refuses Zhu descendants from stepping into his tomb."

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes, a chill running down his spine. Zhu Qinglan's crystal-like ocean eyes radiated an indescribable complexity. Great Emperor Zhu Yan Tian. The name carried the weight of extraordinary history, resonating with Ruo Xianxue, the Ancient Devil from the Era of the Nine Heavens Fall.

  "Prohibition Formation that refuses Zhu descendants," Zhi Xuan repeated, his tone flat, but his mind spinning rapidly. That was a clever constraint; a Great Emperor refusing his own blood to claim his legacy. This meant his chance, a Devil bound by karma to the Emperor's descendant, was the only way in.

  "Great Emperors always know how to make a deadly game," Zhi Xuan muttered. "The Seven Lotus Yin Fruit is just a superficial excuse. The core is, you need an outsider, bound to you, but not carrying the Zhu Clan blood, to enter your ancestor's tomb."

  Zhu Qinglan closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and her gaze became melancholic. "Great Emperor Ancestor, I am not bluffing you into coming there. He was one of the strongest Great Emperors in his Era, no one can step into his tomb alive, not even you."

  Zhi Xuan was silent for a moment. A Great Emperor's Tomb was an unparalleled treasure. Something that once captivated Heaven and Earth was finally unable to resist time, reuniting with the dust of cultivation. Zhi Xuan stared blankly at the jade ring, however, he was not stupid. This karma was leading him to something that was either a disaster or an opportunity.

  Zhi Xuan smiled coldly, a smile that showed he no longer saw Zhu Qinglan as the majestic Holy Fairy, but as a noble daughter forced to negotiate with a Devil to obtain her Ancestor's Legacy.

  “You are right, Holy Fairy Zhu. A Great Emperor's Tomb is a Great Emperor's Tomb. Even a newborn Devil like me would not dare enter it recklessly,” Zhi Xuan countered, his voice calm and measured, reflecting the sharp thinking he had just used. “However, I would not be surprised if among those scattered Legacies there is something far more valuable than the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit you need to stabilize your Soul.”

  Zhu Qinglan did not refute. Her silence was confirmation. Of course, the Zhu Clan wanted everything related to their Great Emperor Ancestor, especially the Emperor's Laws and Arts that might still be intact.

  “I will accept this karmic compensation,” Zhi Xuan said, finally extending his left hand and taking the water jade ring from the table. The ring felt cold and pure, a contrast to his Devil Metal aura. He channeled a bit of divine sense into it, and was surprised to see the wealth within—not just thousands of spiritual stones, but also a large amount of Black Jade Stones and several high-grade herbs needed for his cultivation.

  "I will fulfill this mission," Zhi Xuan finally decided, the opportunity to have support to enter the Tomb of the Great Emperors was something he could not waste. Zhi Xuan rose from his seat, cupping both hands. "Of course, whatever I may obtain from the Tomb of the Great Emperors is my personal will and has nothing to do with the Zhu Clan.”

  Zhu Qinglan looked at Zhi Xuan with a deep gaze, a hidden admiration swirling in her ocean eyes.

  “You always know how to calculate the value of Heaven and Earth's weight, Zhi Xuan,” Zhu Qinglan countered, her tone returning to authoritative calmness. “Take that wealth. It is yours, as a cleansing of past karma and as an advance payment for your future mission.”

  She rose, her graceful posture radiating a pure Wood and Water aura, like a sacred tree deeply rooted in a crystal sea. “Regarding the Great Emperor's legacy, I will not promise anything. If your Dao allows you to take any artifact or Law, that is your destiny. The Zhu Clan only desires the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit for my needs and, if possible, artifacts explicitly made by the Emperor Ancestor for the clan.”

  Zhi Xuan nodded. The statement was more than enough. With the Realm Suppression Formation that would hold back all other powerful cultivators, the Divine Stone Mine was the perfect arena for his Devil-Heavenly foundation. A cold and calculating smile twisted his lips.

  “Very well. Six months from now,” Zhi Xuan said. He looked at Zhu Qinglan's beauty wrapped in majesty, and sighed, heavy with irony. “If I must enter a den of danger created by a Great Emperor just to fulfill this karmic promise, then do not blame me if I return stronger and more arrogant than before, Holy Fairy Zhu. Because in the end, you will be bound to my rotten destiny.”

  Zhu Qinglan only smiled faintly, a smile that carried a hint of mysteriousness and an indescribable charm. “I always accept my destiny. Now, go, Zhi Xuan. You need to stabilize your foundation further and prepare for the Annual Disciple Celebration. I believe, after tonight's demonstration of strength, no other Consciousness Transformation cultivator will dare to test you.”

  Zhi Xuan nodded. He did not waste time. He cupped his hands once more, a brief salute. Then, without looking back, he turned. But just as he was about to step away, his body tensed and stiffened, his eyes changing into golden rings and filled with a tilted smile.

  The golden rings were not the color of his spiritual essence; they were the reflection of ancient light, an aura of a Great Saint that only manifested for a moment, radiating the weight of arrogance that transcended millions of eras. The locked Ancient Devil's aura had seized control of Zhi Xuan's body in a fraction of a second.

  Zhu Qinglan was shocked to see the sudden change in his aura. She saw the golden rings that appeared in Zhi Xuan's sapphire eyes, his calm expression replaced by a deadly arrogant sneer. She stepped back slowly, the pure water aura around her pulsing erratically, as if she sensed an indescribable danger.

  “Zhi Xuan, what is wrong with you?” she asked, her voice containing a tone of strangeness.

  Zhi Xuan's face, possessed by the ancient will, turned with a graceful yet deadly movement. His golden eyes stared straight into Zhu Qinglan's eyes, a gaze that now no longer belonged to a Consciousness Transformation, but to an existence that once challenged the heavens.

  Before Zhu Qinglan could react further, a hand shot out with the speed of lightning. The hand was no longer Zhi Xuan's casual hand, but a hand that contained the weight of the Supreme Law of Darkness. The hand circled Zhu Qinglan's slender waist, tearing her protective water aura without resistance, and forcibly pulled her into Zhi Xuan's embrace.

  Zhu Qinglan froze, shocked and angry. Her veiled face was now flushed crimson, her five element essence surging wildly. She was the majestic Holy Fairy, descendant of an ancient clan, and she was pulled into a man's embrace, an unintentional and humiliating contact. She was about to unleash her Water Law, but a whisper that came from Zhi Xuan's lips halted all her essence.

  Zhi Xuan, with a low, hoarse, and inviting voice, a voice that carried the weight of Ancient Devil Temptation, whispered right into Zhu Qinglan's ear, his cold breath touching the delicate skin behind her hair.

  “Bear a child for me.”

  The tilted sneer on Zhi Xuan's lips was so challenging, as if he had just thrown out the most savage and absolute karmic promise. The whisper did not contain mortal desire; it contained a decree from a Great Saint who wished to give birth to a descendant capable of shaking Heaven and Earth. Inside Zhi Xuan's Sea of Consciousness, Ruo Xianxue snorted, his will immediately withdrawn back to the Devil Tree of Life.

  "Damn it, you idiot Monkey. I will give you a promise you cannot forget," Ruo Xianxue grumbled, regretting his action driven by boredom. "But, isn't this good? This boy is even afraid of women.”