Qin Renhuang just became an immortal, and you told me this is the prehistoric time

"Nine massive source stone veins... Purple Mountain was once an ancient battlefield, the residence of the Undying Emperor, and was later suppressed by the Great Emperor Wushi... How many cultivators have died here? Ancient races, humans, and even other races..."

Ying Xuan remained silent.

These nine seemingly heaven-sent treasures of source crystal veins likely conceal an unimaginably vast number of deaths! They are the result of countless cultivators' suffering and remains, accumulated and transformed over long periods of time under unique terrain!

"Do the cultivators of this realm know that the 'source' they rely on for cultivation, breakthroughs, and longevity is essentially the 'remains' of their predecessors?"

Ying Xuan suddenly had this question. Perhaps some people know, but keep it a secret; perhaps most people have no way of knowing, and simply regard it as a rare treasure born of heaven and earth.

"The world is so impoverished that it needs the 'remains' of previous generations of cultivators as resources for future generations to cultivate... The path chosen by the 'consciousness' of this world in order to survive is so cruel and realistic."

Ying Xuan couldn't help but sigh.

This is completely different from his path of cultivating the Great Qin world, guiding it to draw energy from the void and autonomously nurture spiritual veins and objects.

After a moment of silence, Ying Xuan shook his head, casting aside the complex emotions in his heart.

He is a passerby, a ruler of other worlds. No matter how cruel the survival rules of this world are, they have no direct relation to him.

"My path does not rely on external means, nor does it deign to use the legacy of others' suffering as sustenance."

Ying Xuan's eyes regained their clarity and determination.

He would rather give the pure spiritual energy, which contained blood-red resentment, to the spiritual plants in the formation to absorb than allow himself to be contaminated in the slightest.

Looking at the several huge source crystals and countless fragments in front of him, Ying Xuan no longer hesitated.

With a wave of his hand, he threw all the source crystals, which contained pure spiritual power and the essence of life but made him feel somewhat "disgusted", into the still surging and blood-red torrent of spiritual power within the array space.

"Let them serve as nourishment for the spiritual plants in my formation."

Ying Xuan muttered to himself indifferently.

"As for the cultivation methods in this world... they are unacceptable and need not be adopted."

Having done all this, he no longer paid attention to the remains of Purple Mountain. With a thought, the massive Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Array began to rapidly contract and condense, preparing to completely refine the last remnant. Then… he would take what he had gained from this trip and head to his next target—Undying Mountain!

Those source crystal fragments that Ying Xuan threw into the vast torrent of spiritual energy in the array space seemed to be attracted by something. Instead of drifting with the current, they slowly rose and fell, and their surfaces began to glow faintly.

The purer and more essential element was not the spiritual power that was still mixed with resentment after being refined, but the life essence that remained after the Undying Empress and her subordinates were refined. Although it was tinged with blood, it was of extremely high quality. As if drawn by an invisible force, it gathered and permeated into these source crystal fragments.

Ying Xuan cast several spells, attempting to guide this power.

The largest source crystal suddenly trembled, bursting forth with dazzling, multicolored light, and its size began to expand rapidly! In the blink of an eye, it grew from the size of a house to tens of meters high, resembling a small, multicolored crystal mountain!

However, Ying Xuan keenly realized that the spiritual power consumed by the growth of the source crystal was not much. What it was really frantically absorbing was the essence that was blood-red and contained the life essence of the royal path powerhouse!

"So that's how it is... The key to the formation of Source Crystals, especially high-quality Source Crystals, is not ordinary spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but pure and powerful 'life essence'!"

Ying Xuan understood, and felt a pang of emotion.

"In order to survive, this broken world's underlying laws or instincts tend to transform the life essence of the fallen strong into a 'source' that can be absorbed by future generations... What a cruel and realistic cycle this is."

He seemed to see another root cause of why cultivators in this world could not truly achieve immortality—even if an individual was exceptionally talented and broke through numerous shackles, the "underlying logic" of the entire environment seemed to be guiding the strong to fall and become "fertilizer" to nourish future generations.

Unless someone can mend the heavens and earth and reverse this cycle that is almost like "drinking poison to quench thirst," the overall decline of cultivation civilization in this world will likely be difficult to truly stop. Perhaps the extraordinary talents like the Great Emperor Wushi and the Ruthless Great Emperor saw this and thus sought their own methods of transcendence.

No longer pondering the natural order and ethics of this world, Ying Xuan turned his attention back to the present.

He pointed down to the original site of Purple Mountain, which had been refined to the point where only the core of the strange rock layer and the giant pit remained.

"Whoosh whoosh—"

Tens of thousands of rare medicinal herbs, each with a unique shape, shimmering with spiritual light, and aged at least several thousand years, were temporarily moved from various "star islands" by the power of the array and suspended in mid-air.

These spiritual herbs were obtained from Ying Xuan's previous plunder and the formations that generated them on their own. They are full of spirituality, but after all, they have not been growing for long and lack sufficient "essence" to accumulate.

The moment they appeared, they were like sharks that had smelled blood, frantically absorbing the remaining, relatively pure spiritual energy and life essence within the array space! Visibly, the branches and leaves of these spiritual herbs became more translucent, their roots grew thicker, their fragrance filled the air, and their age increased rapidly, breaking through the ten-thousand-year mark in the blink of an eye!
However, when the medicinal herbs reached about ten thousand years of age, no matter how much pure energy they absorbed, their growth suddenly stopped! Their spirituality and medicinal properties stabilized at a certain peak and no longer changed, as if they had encountered an invisible ceiling.

"Hmm? Plant life also has its limits? Ten thousand years is the natural lifespan of spiritual plants in this world?"

Ying Xuan was slightly surprised.

This seems to be another manifestation of the incompleteness of this world and the imperfection of its laws, with even the spirits of plants and trees having their growth limits restricted.

With the destruction of the greatest obstacle, the Undying Empress, the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation, now without its core resistance, suddenly increased its speed in refining the last remnants of Purple Mountain!

In just a short while, the strange dark purple rock layer and the remaining restrictions on the spot were completely refined and absorbed, leaving only a regular circular giant pit with a diameter of more than ten miles and a depth of more than a thousand meters. The pit wall was as smooth as a mirror, and it shone with the luster of glass after being melted by high temperature and high pressure, indicating that an ancient divine mountain once stood here.

At the very bottom of the giant pit, just as the last layer of rock was being refined, a unique light suddenly flashed!

With a thought, Ying Xuan unleashed the power of the array, transforming it into an invisible hand that pulled two items from the bottom of the pit. One was a massive source crystal, the size of a millstone, its entire surface displaying a chaotic hue, with yin and yang energies seemingly flowing and swirling within it! The other was dozens of strange mountain stone fragments, also emanating faint yin and yang energy, surrounding this unique source crystal.

As soon as these two things entered the array space, especially the huge "Yin-Yang Source Essence", the pure Yin-Yang Dao principles contained within it seemed to be strongly attracted by the top-level array that simulates the stars of the heavens and earth and conforms to the changes of Yin and Yang, and immediately resonated with it!
"Om-!"

Within the array space, the weather suddenly changed! The previously flowing starlight and azure waves suddenly separated into two energies, clear and turbid, accompanied by the faint sounds of dragon roars and tiger howls! The trajectory of the 108 star islands seemed to become even more mysterious and unpredictable, not only conforming to the numbers of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends, but also incorporating the supreme principle of the rotation of Yin and Yang and the endless cycle of life!

The formation seemed to have been infused with the most fitting soul, spontaneously beginning to absorb all the remaining spiritual energy and life essence in the space. Its core control center—the jade tablet with rippling blue waves—began to slowly change color, from emerald green to black and white.

Like a yin-yang symbol, it slowly rotated, radiating an even more vast and unfathomable pressure! At this moment, the power of the entire Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Formation increased by more than several times out of thin air!
However, when Ying Xuan felt the power of the formation increase, he felt not much joy, but rather a bitter taste.

"The enhancement of the formation's essence and the increase in its power are good things. But this also means that the 'nutrients' it will need to devour and assimilate next—especially the life essence of the Bitter Sea that is connected to the origin of my life—will be more numerous and demanding!"

Ying Xuan frowned slightly.

"Although the life essence contained within this Origin Crystal is immense, it is mixed with the resentment of its former owner and the will of a different species, so I dare not absorb it directly. Moreover, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is so scarce, and my own recovery is slow..."

He estimated that, given his current state of not yet fully transforming into a pure yang immortal body and the severe depletion of his Bitter Sea due to the previous refinement of the formation, he was simply unable to support the subsequent nurturing needs of the "Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Formation," which was moving towards becoming a true immortal artifact!
Unless he immediately returns to the Great Qin World and uses the vast national fortune, incense power, and relatively gentle energy of heaven and earth gathered there to replenish his own consumption and help nurture the formation, this formation will not only fail to be an aid, but may instead become a bottomless pit that drags him down!
"What a difficult problem..."

As Ying Xuan was pondering, another unexpected event occurred!

"Hahaha! Purple Mountain is in turmoil, a treasure has appeared! It is destined that this old man is here!"

A domineering and arrogant laugh suddenly pierced through the outer barrier of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation, which was not yet fully contained. A burly man dressed in gray hemp clothing, with a body as strong as a mountain and exuding terrifying blood energy, forcibly tore open a tiny spatial rift and broke into the outer area of ​​the formation space!

His gaze greedily swept over the vast torrent of spiritual energy inside, the suspended millennia-old spiritual herbs, and the core jade tablet undergoing transformation, his eyes gleaming with a bright green light.

"Hmph! Old Devil Li, you think you can monopolize it all? Have you even asked the blade in my hand?!"

Immediately afterwards, a sinister old man's voice rang out, and another black light flashed in. It was a gaunt old man with a dark face and hawk-like eyes. His aura was equally powerful, and he was holding a rusty but menacing ghost-head knife in his hand.

"Swish swish swish—!"

As if a floodgate had been opened, within just a few breaths, nearly a thousand figures of varying strengths, but all at least at or above the Sendai Secret Realm, used their respective methods to force their way in from all sides of the formation, like flies that had smelled blood!

Some of them were lone monsters, some were groups of three or five holy land elders, and some were clearly from the Primordial Clan, their aura ancient and obscure.

As soon as these people entered the array space, they were stunned by the unimaginable "abundance" inside. Then, their eyes burst with an uncontrollable greedy green light, and they pounced on the floating spiritual herbs, the scattered fragments of source crystals, and even the jade tablet that was transforming at the core of the array like hungry wolves!
Many people even dispersed to try and find other treasures left behind in Zishan.

Ying Xuan's eyes suddenly turned cold.

"A test?"

He understood instantly.

While the fact that these people were able to break through was partly due to their own momentary negligence and the fact that the formation was undergoing a transformation and was unstable internally, the more important factor was probably that the old man from Zhuofeng outside, Li Ruoyu, did not truly go all out to stop them!
Perhaps this human ancestor also wanted to take this opportunity to see how he would react to the covetousness and pressure from various forces in the Big Dipper, and whether he had enough strength and courage to cope with the future storms.

"Since you're here, then stay."

Ying Xuan's voice was cold and devoid of any emotion.

He had a slight thought, but he was too lazy to even use the power of the core formation that was undergoing transformation.

"Buzz!"

The "star islands" closest to the intruders merely adjusted their trajectories slightly, seemingly casually "skimming" towards the direction where the crowd was densest.

"call--!"

There was no direct impact; the terrifying air currents and spatial pressure generated by the island's high-speed movement alone were enough to prevent the dozens of cultivators at the forefront from even letting out a scream. Their protective divine light shattered instantly, and their physical bodies burned and vaporized like candles thrown into a steel furnace! Not even ashes were left!
Those behind were terrified and immediately stopped their charge, staring in horror at the islands that were slowly moving away like ancient demonic mountains, their faces drained of color.

Ying Xuan didn't even glance at the ants that had been killed by the airflow. His gaze fell on the edge of the giant pit at the original site of Purple Mountain, where, due to the final refining, the power of the formation had "spit out" hundreds of thousands of scattered, dimly lit but extraordinary objects—knives, swords, bells, cauldrons, pagodas, seals, mirrors, banners... in various shapes.

Without exception, they all retained an extremely strong, chaotic aura of the original owner, filled with resentment and unwillingness! These were the natal magic treasures left behind by powerful figures of various races who had fallen within the Purple Mountain range over the long years, or spoils of war collected and sealed by the Undying Emperor lineage.

The magical artifacts in the Shrouding the Heavens system are cultivated with the life essence of their masters, and the original owner's imprint is extremely difficult to erase.

"These are some decent raw materials, but unfortunately the original owner's will remains too strong. With the incense and spiritual power I can currently mobilize, it will be difficult to completely erase them in a short time."

With a thought, Ying Xuan waved his sleeve and collected all the tens of thousands of magical treasures, which had mixed auras but were made of pure materials, into the "Stone Gate Space" deep within his primordial spirit.

There, time and space are relatively stagnant, and it is independent of any world, making it a perfect place to temporarily store these "troublesome" things.

Having done all this, Ying Xuan took a step forward, his figure appearing in the sky outside from the core of the array space, directly above the illusory image of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Array that covered the heavens and earth.

Outside, the old man Li Ruoyu of Zhuofeng had not left. In front of him, a huge, towering green tree phantom stretched across the void, with nine killing diagrams hanging below it, slowly rotating and emanating a terrifying aura that suppressed everything.

Beneath each Dao diagram lay hundreds, even thousands, of cultivators, each with their own distinct attire and formidable aura, suppressed! These individuals were clearly forces from various factions attempting to breach the formation or lurking on the periphery, yet they were now firmly trapped by the Dao diagrams derived from Li Ruoyu's "Nine Slashes of the Azure Emperor," unable to move, their faces filled with terror and resentment. (End of Chapter)