In a silent manifestation, a realm where stars were scattered. A place surrounded by ancient, creeping stones that seemed to carry a primordial weight, there, a dull Lotus, its leaves seemingly withered, sat in the center of the place.

  Zhi Xuan let out a low growl and slowly tried to rise, his head spinning dizziness. His sky-blue robe was ripped to his waist, leaving him bare-chested. Zhi Xuan knelt and coughed, then tremblingly tried to stand up. His outgoing breath felt cold and sharp, a sensation that far surpassed the coldness of mortal ice.

  He was in the middle of absolute silence, in a place that felt like the border between life and death. The red rings in his sapphire pupils pulsed wildly, reflecting the essence turmoil within him. Around him, the Divine Furnace spun. It whirred silently, radiating a faint and distant Four Seasons Law resonance. He channeled his divine sense, especially to look for Mei Hua, but he found nothing within his divine sense's reach.

  The essence ripples within his Sea of Consciousness churned wildly. The Black Jade essence, which should have been his fortress of defense, felt cold and frozen, moving slowly as if obstructed by a layer of cosmic ice. Only the Devil Tree of Life stood firm, pumping a strong vitality aura, refusing to succumb to this absolute cold. He staggered and leaned against a stone.

  Zhi Xuan touched the primordial stone he was leaning on. The stone surface felt cold and rough, but he did not sense the demanding fluctuation of the Ancient Being's Will. The silence around him was a different kind of silence—not dead silence, but absolute silence, as if being outside the rotation of the wheel of life and death.

  "Where... is this?" Zhi Xuan muttered. His voice sounded hoarse and unfamiliar, a low vibration that was immediately absorbed by the cosmic silence around him. He channeled his divine sense deeper, trying to penetrate this layer of stagnation. This time, he was not looking for a threat, but searching for an existence. He was looking for the little girl he held until the last second before they fell into the Taiyin Holy Pool.

  "Mei Hua!" Zhi Xuan called in his mind, a voiceless shout filled with concern.

  Absolute silence was the only answer. He did not sense the Small Ape Statue, he did not sense Xiao Die's spiritual fluctuation. All his spiritual connections were cut off, as if he and Mei Hua had been thrown out of the Lower Realms.

  "Ancient Devil! What happened?" In his Sea of Consciousness, he tried to call Ruo Xianxue. For the first time, there was no answer. Absolute silence. Ruo Xianxue, whose soul was tied to the Nine Heavens Bead, was disconnected.

  This was the umpteenth time the Ancient Devil had truly not responded, an indication that they were in a place that even transcended the reach of a Great Saint from the Era of the Nine Heavens' Fall. Zhi Xuan let out a rough sigh; the bone-piercing cold now felt like a terrifying familiarity.

  He knew they were not at the bottom of the Taiyin Holy Pool, but inside a hidden realm supported by pure Taiyin essence. A realm that transcended the concepts of space and time. He looked around again, observing the scattered star realm and the creeping primordial stones, as if they were the veins of Heaven and Earth. The stones radiated an unimaginable ancient aura, a weight of history that transcended the Era of the Nine Plains.

  This was the core of the Ancient Being, or at least, a remnant of the Fall of the Nine Heavens itself. With instinctive strength, Zhi Xuan forced himself to let go of the stone he was leaning on. His legs felt heavy, his Black Jade essence moving like frozen mud. He began to walk slowly, limping, towards the only focal point in this desolate realm: the Dull Lotus in the center of the place.

  The Lotus was colorless. Its leaves were withered and almost fallen, radiating a very weak essence aura, a life that was on the brink of eternal death. It looked like the remnants of a battle that had lasted millions of years, awaiting destruction. However, in the midst of the Lotus's dullness, Zhi Xuan felt a familiar Taiyin aura, a cold resonance not found elsewhere.

  He stepped forcefully, his breath ragged, his eyes fixed on the Dull Lotus. After a struggle that felt like crossing a thousand li, Zhi Xuan finally reached the Lotus. He knelt, ignoring the pain that spread from his legs to his waist, and stretched out his trembling right hand.

  Zhi Xuan’s fingertip touched the dull Lotus leaf. The touch did not produce a hard essence shock, but a gentle vibration, a whisper that could only be heard by his deepest essence. Suddenly, the freezing coldness receded, replaced by a deep warmth, a warmth that felt strange yet calling.

  WHIRL!

  As his skin made contact, the frozen Black Jade Essence within him suddenly broke free from the obstruction. The Devil essence churned, flowing rapidly from his Perfect Five Divine Organs towards his fingertip, and channeling it into the Dull Lotus. A miracle occurred. The withered and almost fallen Lotus leaves suddenly jolted.

  Instead of Zhi Xuan's essence being absorbed, the Lotus seemed to come back to life. A very faint light, ice-blue and dark purple, began to radiate from its leaf veins. The resonance vibration that was initially gentle now became a wave of will emanating outward, a resonance that focused only on Zhi Xuan.

  Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the previously silent Devil Tree of Life now trembled violently. The roots of the Tree pumped energy at a frightening speed, and above its branches, the black vortex symbolizing the newly comprehended Thunder Law spun faster. Even the surrounding Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron, which had been spinning faintly, now released a more stable Four Seasons aura.

  "This Lotus, it is filled with a powerful charm." Zhi Xuan muttered hoarsely, trying to stand up with his tattered body. His muscles rippled under the burden of pain. "Why, did this Lotus suddenly come to life?"

  Zhi Xuan stood tall, his long black hair flowing down his back. He looked like a tall, handsome man, but also carried the will of an unimaginable Era. As if, silence was himself. Suddenly, from the Lotus emerged white roots that radiated a Grand aura.

  "You are not part of this world," the white roots seemed to speak to Zhi Xuan, its voice soft and subtle as if resonating with unimaginable Ages. "Who are you? And why could you wake me up?"

  The roots, which had just grown from the Dull Lotus, did not possess essence harshness, but carried the weight of a terrifying Supreme Law, a purity capable of destroying a mortal soul with just a touch. However, instead of attacking, the roots hovered slowly, surrounding Zhi Xuan with caution, as if they were observing an ancient puzzle that had just awakened.

  The red rings in Zhi Xuan's sapphire pupils faded, replaced by a cold strangeness. He looked at the Lotus with a furrowed brow, which now radiated a more stable purple and ice-blue light. He realized that the voice did not come from the Lotus itself, but from the Ancient Will residing within it. A Will that was pure and untainted by the Dead Mist outside.

  “I do not know what a world or not a world is,” Zhi Xuan countered, his voice calm, yet containing a sharp sense of strangeness. He no longer used a thought whisper; he spoke directly to the Will, purely unknowing of what the lotus roots were speaking of. “I am merely a cultivator from the Nine Plains, who fell into a hole that should have frozen over. I also do not know why you came back to life."

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  A deeper silence enveloped the realm. The sacred white roots trembled slowly, as if digesting every word Zhi Xuan spoke. On one hand, the words felt naive—a mortal cultivator claiming to have fallen into the sacred core of an Ancient Tomb. On the other hand, the Black Jade aura radiating from his body, although only slightly channeled, carried an ancient and unmistakable weight.

  “Nine Plains…” the Will replied, its voice now sounding like the gentle gurgling of crystal water, but carrying the weight of countless eras. “You are not of this Age. You… you are not who should be here. You, you are not part of all Ages. You, who are you? Are you an Immortal King? Or are you the trace of an Immortal Emperor?"

  Zhi Xuan frowned strangely; the pain from his tattered body was distracted by the series of questions that felt so odd. Immortal King? Immortal Emperor? Those were realms beyond his current comprehension, realms he did not even know the rank of. He was merely a Consciousness Transformation cultivator with a perfect foundation. He was no one in the eyes of this ancient entity that seemed to live within the Lotus.

  "I do not understand what you are talking about," Zhi Xuan countered, his voice now returning to flat and still feeling hoarse, reflecting a lack of comprehension of what was thrown at him. "There are no Immortal Kings or Immortal Emperors in the Nine Plains where I came from. There are only mortal cultivators, struggling to ascend to higher realms. And what is this about me not being from all Ages? I exist in this Age."

  The sacred white roots trembled more strongly, spreading in the air like tendrils of light, touching the edges of the scattered primordial stones, as if they were seeking resonance, seeking the truth in the absurd words. The Ancient Will residing in the Lotus seemed to be in great confusion. Silence once again enveloped the realm, but this time it was a heavy silence, filled with the bitterness of countless eras. Zhi Xuan felt the cold essence of the Lotus sending a wave of piercing sadness, a cosmic sorrow that transcended a mortal's emotional capacity.

  "If you could make me awaken," the Lotus Root once again reached out around his body, as if seeing something that the ancient Gods would bow to. "Then, you must have surpassed all Cause-and-Effect. Overstepping Heaven and Earth, an Unrivaled Grandeur Throughout the Ages."

  The frown on his forehead deepened; he stepped closer to look at the Lotus. Cause-and-Effect? That was the supreme Daoist Law that governed karma and fate, a concept embraced and feared by every cultivator in the Lower Realms. How could he, a cheeky and impulsive Consciousness Transformation cultivator who often acted without thinking, be considered to have surpassed such a Law? The contrast felt so insane, so illogical, that it created a cold sense of annoyance in his heart.

  "I do not understand what you are talking about." Zhi Xuan said with full, sickening annoyance; the Lotus Root had been talking about things outside his comprehension. "Cause-and-Effect? I am even just a Mortal."

  The sacred white roots retreated slightly, as if startled by the mortal annoyance that was so real and human. The Ancient Will, which had just awakened after a sleep that transcended eras, felt confused. For millions of years, it had only encountered Grand wills, the arrogant souls of Saints, or nothingness. Yet, before it now was a tattered young man who radiated an ancient Devil aura, but his mind was pure, untainted by the understanding he should have had about the Supreme Law.

  “You do not originate from the Past, for all traces of the age before the Fall of the Nine Heavens do not recognize your aura. You do not originate from the Present, for the Present has been shattered and nothing remains. And you… you do not belong to the Future written in the scrolls of fate,” the Will whispered, each word carrying cosmic weight. “You are the Variable that exists out of all Ages, something that can only be explained by the Supreme Truth, which even I dare not touch.”

  Zhi Xuan felt a layer of coldness pierce him again, not from the environment, but from the depth of the words spoken by the Ancient Will. His annoyance subsided, replaced by cold calm. He had often dealt with Phenomena that rejected logic, but this was the first.

  "I do not care which Age I originate from," Zhi Xuan countered, his voice now flat again, reflecting a newly forged sharpness. He ignored all cosmic labels—Variable, Supreme Truth, Immortal King. His focus returned to the only thing that mattered: survival. "I am here now. And you speak of things outside my comprehension. Now, how do I get out of here?"

  The sacred white roots trembled for the last time; the confusion and awe in the Ancient Will finally subsided, replaced by heavy acceptance. This Variable, an entity that transcended the logic of Ages, only cared about its present existence and how to get out. That unintentional humility, wrapped in mortal annoyance, felt far stronger than the arrogance of a Great Saint.

  "You are like the trace of That Person," the Lotus Root's voice suddenly changed to one of admiration and slight, faint memory, like a calm and unrippling river. "Although now you are not That Person. I have only met once, that was you. Yet with you who is also not you. Only you, could enter this Tomb of Primordial Fall. If that is you, then I am very lucky to meet you for the second time."

  “That Person?” Zhi Xuan repeated the Ancient Will's murmur, his eyebrow slightly raised. He leaned against the Dull Lotus, trying to absorb a little of the Taiyin essence that now flowed gently from its leaves. His tattered body and frozen Perfect Five Divine Organs began to feel a deep warmth, a quick healing from the absolute cold effects of the Taiyin Holy Pool.

  He ignored all the nonsense about Immortal Kings, Supreme Truth, and the Variable. But the statement about That Person caught his attention. This Ancient Will, which had the weight of an era, linked itself to an entity that was—somehow—similar to Zhi Xuan, yet also not Zhi Xuan.

  "Who is That Person you are referring to?" Zhi Xuan asked, his tone now cold and demanding, reflecting a sudden interest. The sacred white roots trembled, as if reluctant to continue the heavy memory.

  “He is someone who walked among the ruins of the Realm,” the Lotus Will replied, its voice containing a deep tone of admiration and sorrow. “Living in the Void with Seven Stars and One Sun. He once stood here, millions of years ago. At that time, I was just a small Lotus, but That Person gave me Immortality until That Person disappeared behind Heaven and Earth."

  The Lotus Root directed its petal towards Zhi Xuan, as if repeating an unimaginable Past. Where the Lotus was a small Lotus on someone's palm. And now, as if the same person stood before him again. It slightly bowed, as if a form of recognition. A recognition that carried the weight of countless Eras.

  Zhi Xuan only stared at the Dull Lotus, letting the flow of the ancient story seep into him. His muscles, which were previously rippling with pain, now felt more relaxed; the pure Taiyin essence flowing from the Lotus bathed his Perfect Five Divine Organs, removing the trace of absolute coldness. His Black Jade Essence churned with familiarity, absorbing the strange yet familiar warmth sent by the Lotus.

  "Why... Does this feeling feel so Familiar... As if, I have truly been here before..."

  Zhi Xuan closed his eyes, leaning completely against the Dull Lotus. If previously he struggled against the coldness of the Black Jade essence, now he let the unfamiliar warmth surrounding him seep in. The familiar feeling struck him, not as a clear memory, but as a resonance in the depths of his soul. As if, every inch of the scattered star realm and the creeping primordial stones was part of a very old dream he had forgotten.

  That feeling, it was as if he had truly come and been here. All the statements made by the Lotus Root seemed to be and become a part of him. He could feel the resonance, but he did not feel anything deeper than a subtle and calming resonance. As if, he truly once existed yet also did not exist here. He could not say anything; everything felt confusing.

  Zhi Xuan opened his eyes, staring at the Lotus; his Black Jade essence resonated with the strange warmth surrounding him. He ignored all the crazy cosmic labels thrown at him—Variable, Future, That Person. He focused on the deep familiarity that struck his soul. This sense of familiarity transcended logic, an ancient instinct that seemed to whisper from the depths of the Sea of Consciousness.

  “What is your name?” Zhi Xuan muttered. The question felt like an anchor, an attempt to bind this ancient Phenomenon into the reality he understood.

  The sacred white roots surrounding Zhi Xuan trembled again, this time not from confusion, but from deep emotion, as if a long-lost memory had finally been found.

  “I… I am the Primordial Yin Chaos Lotus. I did not have a name in our Age, only a designation,” the Will replied, its voice returning to the soothing tone of crystal water, but now filled with deep respect. “But That Person… That Person once called me Qingyin Xuelian. The aura flowing from your body, Master… is very similar to my Master's palm of the past.”