Shengui Changsheng: Start from Zhenwuwei and add some points to cultivate immortality

He stepped into the hilly area. The ground beneath his feet was no longer soft, but hard, cold, twisted rock. The stagnant feeling in the air lessened, replaced by an omnipresent sense of disorientation. Direction became extremely unreliable here; though he was walking forward, he felt like he was moving backward; though he was turning left, his body involuntarily veered to the right. The colorful mists further interfered with vision and consciousness, creating all sorts of bizarre and fantastical hallucinations.

Fu Shaoping had to constantly maintain his "Spiritual Eyes of Law Breaking" in order to barely see through some of the fog and discern the relatively correct location. At the same time, he tried to expand the "Law Harmonization" domain of the Source Core to its maximum to resist the erosion of the chaotic laws here.

They came to a narrow mountain hollow, flanked by black rock walls twisted like pretzels. Suddenly, the colorful mist ahead began to churn violently, and at the same time, a faint yet alluring and mesmerizing "song" drifted into Fu Shaoping's ears.

The singing was indescribable; it seemed to act directly on the depths of the soul, stirring up the deepest desires, regrets, and obsessions within, making one unable to resist wanting to get closer and wanting to hear more.

Fu Shaoping's eyes sharpened instantly, and the source core in his sea of ​​consciousness trembled slightly. A cool power of the contract's origin flowed through his soul, instantly smoothing out the slight ripples brought about by the strange and seductive song.

"Bewitching mists, seductive melodies..." Fu Shaoping's vigilance deepened. This place not only distorts space but can also directly attack the mind!

He quickened his pace, wanting to cross the ravine quickly. However, the singing suddenly became clearer and more urgent. At the same time, several graceful and beautiful figures, whose faces were indistinct, appeared in the thin mist ahead. They sang and danced lightly, drifting towards Fu Shaoping, exuding an even stronger psychedelic aura.

Fu Shaoping snorted coldly and stopped trying to dodge. He stopped and formed a hand seal. The true meaning of the contract regarding "right mindfulness," "breaking through delusion," and "guarding the mind" in the "General Principles of the Origin" in his sea of ​​consciousness, combined with the power of the source core, instantly condensed on the tip of his tongue.

He opened his mouth and uttered a syllable, not words, but a strange, clear sound containing the power of contractual order and spiritual protection!

"Moo-!"

The voice was not loud, yet it was like a resounding bell, or like a clear spring flowing, carrying the supreme majesty of dispelling falsehoods and suppressing inner demons, and instantly swept across the entire mountain valley!

The seductive singing stopped abruptly, like a duck being choked! The dancing phantoms let out a silent scream, like bubbles in the sunlight, instantly bursting and disappearing!
The surrounding colorful mist seemed to have been purified, its colors becoming much dimmer, and the intense psychedelic feeling was greatly weakened.

Fu Shaoping's face paled even further. This "Soul-Suppressing Clear Sound" consumed even more soul power than the previous "Sealing" technique. But he dared not linger, and taking advantage of the opportunity, he moved like lightning, quickly passing through the dangerous mountain pass.

The journey ahead was fraught with bizarre dangers: invisible rifts that appeared out of nowhere and could cut through space; the ground suddenly collapsing to reveal bottomless, foul-smelling dark caves; multicolored venom seeping from the rocks that could corrode true essence and flesh; and once, he even felt as if he had stepped into a region where the flow of time was disordered, and in just a few steps, he felt as if he had experienced a long period of aging and rebirth, which frightened him so much that he immediately retreated and took a detour.

Every step was fraught with peril, constantly draining his mental and physical energy. Had it not been for the source core providing a continuous supply of the contract's original power to replenish and harmonize it, he would have long since given up.

Finally, after overcoming countless dangers and traversing numerous twisted and bizarre terrains, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

The twisted hills came to an end.

What appeared before Fu Shaoping was a breathtaking scene that defied description.

It was an enormous, circular crater, as if scooped entirely from the earth, its diameter unknown and its depth unfathomable. The crater's edges were smooth, mirror-like, eerily glassy black surfaces. Above the crater, countless fragments of land, palace ruins, broken mountains, and even twisted rivers, varying in size and emitting a faint glow, floated silently. They slowly rotated and revolved, occasionally connected by thin bands of light, forming a starry sky painting—a tapestry of stillness and motion, fragmentation and wholeness, filled with a destructive and eerie beauty.

At the very center of the deep pit, where all the suspended, broken landmasses are surrounded, floats a relatively complete and largest piece of land. On this land, one can vaguely see a large cluster of collapsed but still magnificent palaces, broken stone steps leading to the sky, and a colossal statue that is as tall as a mountain but is now only half intact.

The statue's face is now blurred, but the remaining posture is a poignant gesture, as if it is making some kind of supreme pact with the sky, or questioning the heavens.

An ancient contract aura, a hundred times richer and a thousand times purer than that of the Ancient Contract Valley, yet also ten thousand times heavier and more sorrowful, like the breath of a sleeping dragon, slowly spread from the central landmass as the connecting light bands flickered.

This is the core of the ancient Xuan Yuan Qi Sect's mountain gate—or rather, the largest fragment that survived after that catastrophe.

The source core trembled violently in Fu Shaoping's arms, radiating a strong desire for return, and conveying an indescribable sadness and longing.

Fu Shaoping stood at the edge of the deep pit, gazing at the shattered sect ruins suspended in the void, his heart filled with shock and complex emotions.

He finally found his goal. But how to get there?

Below the abyss lies endless darkness and nothingness, emanating a chilling aura that can freeze even the soul. Above, between the floating landmasses, the surface appears calm, but within the connecting bands of light, terrifying spatial turbulence and fragments of laws are contained.

Moreover, he could sense that on that central land, within those magnificent ruins, besides the vast aura of the contract, something far deeper and more dangerous lurked. Was it the lingering resentment of a sect's destruction? Was it the powerful protective barrier guarding the ruins? Or... a more terrifying and bizarre being drawn there?

The road ahead is so close, yet it feels like an insurmountable chasm lies between us.

Fu Shaoping took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart. Having come this far, he had no way out. He sat cross-legged and began to regulate his breathing, restoring himself to his optimal state. At the same time, he focused his mind on the source core, attempting to communicate more deeply with this fragment of the sect's core, searching for a safe "path" or "method" to enter.

The light of the Source Core seemed to shine even brighter under this shattered starry sky. It appeared to be engaging in a silent dialogue with the distant ruins of a sect, a dialogue that transcended countless ages.

What awaits Fu Shaoping is the final test, and also the ultimate opportunity to uncover the truth behind the destruction of the ancient contract tradition and inherit its true legacy.

Fu Shaoping sat cross-legged at the edge of the deep pit, his mind closely connected with the Source Core. Pale golden contract essence flowed into the Source Core like a trickle. The light of the Source Core flickered rhythmically in his palm, like a beating heart, creating a strange resonance with the broken sect ruins suspended in the void in the distance.

He could sense that the Source Core was "scanning" or rather, "calling" to that core continent in an ancient and mysterious way. Countless subtle, almost imperceptible contract fluctuations, like invisible tentacles, traversed the void, reaching towards the shattered palace complex, the broken stone steps, the half-carved statues...

Time flowed slowly in the silence. The sense of time in this area was already chaotic, but now it seemed even longer.

After an unknown amount of time, the resonance emanating from the source core suddenly became clearer and more rapid! Immediately afterward, an extremely faint yet incredibly resilient beam of pale golden contract light, like the first spark ignited in the dark void, shot out from the source core, pointing towards the edge of the core landmass, to a seemingly ordinary small platform surrounded by broken stone pillars!
The beam's target was not the platform itself, but the seemingly empty void above it. Under the "enlightenment" of the Source Core Contract power, Fu Shaoping's "Law-Breaking Spiritual Eye" finally clearly "saw" that hidden there was an extremely tiny, yet exceptionally complex and intricately structured "Void Contract Node"! This node was like a forgotten "Contract Beacon," whose function could only be revealed and activated by being activated at a specific frequency with the same source of Contract power.

"Is this... the 'Bridge of Contract' leading to the core?" Fu Shaoping understood. This node was probably one of the hidden passages that once connected various parts of the Xuan Yuan Qi Sect, a remnant after the great calamity, which could only be opened by those who possessed the Source Core.

Without further hesitation, he held the Source Core in his hands and slowly stood up. He adjusted his own Contract True Essence to a frequency completely synchronized with the Source Core's guidance, and then channeled this synchronized Contract Power along the beam of light emitted from the Source Core into that distant void node!
"Om-!"

A deep, resonant hum came from that void node!

The node shone brightly, and countless ancient contract runes, as fine as tadpoles, appeared out of thin air, spinning and combining rapidly. In an instant, they formed a semi-transparent arched bridge phantom, made of pure golden contract runes, that could only allow one person to pass through! One end of the arched bridge connected to the node, while the other end crossed the dangerous and chaotic area above the deep pit, landing steadily on the small platform at the edge of the core land!

The bridge of contracts is complete!

Fu Shaoping could sense that maintaining the bridge's existence required a continuous drain on his contractual true essence and soul power, and a close connection to the source core. He dared not delay and stepped onto the arched bridge's illusory form.

The ground beneath one's feet didn't feel like solid ground, but rather a strange tactile sensation, as if stepping on flowing "contractual rules," stable yet rhythmic. The turbulent void and fragments of laws surrounding the bridge, upon contact with the golden light of the contract emanating from the bridge, seemed to encounter their nemesis, silently sliding away and annihilating.

He composed himself and steadily made his way along the only safe path toward the core ruins of the Xuan Yuan Qi Sect.

Walking on the Bridge of Contracts is like strolling along a long river where history and laws intertwine. The broken scenery around him becomes clearer. He can even "hear" the silent lament of the broken stone pillars, "see" the traces of solidified spiritual energy bursting on the palace ruins, and "feel" the earth-shattering sorrow and indomitable will contained in the half-statue.

The closer he got to the core land, the stronger the vast, heavy, and sorrowful aura of the contract became, almost tangible, making it hard for him to breathe. The source core trembled violently in his arms, radiating emotions that were both excited and sad.

Finally, he stepped onto the platform at the edge of the core landmass.

The bridge of contracts slowly dissipated behind him, disappearing once more as invisible contract nodes.

With his feet firmly planted on solid ground (though this "ground" was also suspended), Fu Shaoping truly felt the vastness and antiquity of this fragment of the sect's core. The rocks beneath his feet were a warm, jade-like black, covered with long-faded protective and spirit-gathering runes. The concentration of spiritual energy in the air was astonishingly high, yet it carried a sense of deathly stillness accumulated over millennia, making it difficult to absorb and utilize directly.

He looked up. Ahead lay a vast, immeasurably wide stone staircase, riddled with massive cracks and impact craters, winding upwards like a ladder to heaven, leading to a cluster of palaces higher above. Scattered on either side of the staircase were countless fragments of shattered magical artifacts, withered spiritual plants, and some skeletons that had long since turned to jade, some still in fighting stances, others seemingly in worship.

Instead of climbing immediately, he carefully unfolded his "Contractual Spiritual Consciousness" and tried to establish a connection with the "Earth Vein Contract" and "Sect Guardian Contract" of this place through the Source Core.

However, the feedback was a far more complex and chaotic scene. The contract structure here was far more complex than that of the Ancient Qi Valley. In addition to the heavy protective contracts, spirit gathering contracts, and other conventional sect contracts, there were also a large number of "disintegration contracts," "curse contracts," and "resentment contracts" arising from the destruction of sects, as well as... some more obscure, powerful, and ominous "external invasion contracts"!
"As expected... the reason for the sect's destruction was definitely not simple. Not only were there internal problems (the backlash of the Heavenly Blood Pact), but also a powerful external invasion!" Fu Shaoping's heart tightened. The information transmitted by the Source Core also confirmed this. The great calamity that caused the complete collapse of the Xuan Yuan Pact Sect came from outside the heavens and was related to some kind of powerful and distorted "devouring" or "erosion" law.

He slowly ascended the broken stone steps. He took each step with extreme caution, his "Spiritual Eye of Breaking Laws" operating at full power, observing the remaining traces of energy and the patterns of contracts around him.

The stone steps stretched on endlessly. Along the way, he saw some relatively intact ruins of side halls, their interiors empty, the valuable items long since lost to time or calamities. He also saw some broken stone tablets bearing inscriptions, most of the text blurred and illegible; the few he could decipher were merely basic contractual theories, of little use to him now.

Just as he was about to reach the top of the stone steps and approach the main palace complex, a sudden change occurred!

From the shadows of what appeared to be ordinary palace ruins ahead, a jet-black shadow, moving with incredible speed, suddenly darted out and hurtled straight toward Fu Shaoping's door!
This shadow had no life force, yet it exuded a pure malice and corrosive power targeting the soul, as if it were formed from the purest "resentment" and "curse" contract!

"A vengeful spirit!" Fu Shaoping instantly recognized the origin of this ghostly thing. It was a bizarre existence born from the combined resentment, curses, and unwillingness of a powerful cultivator or being who died in extreme hatred, curses, and resentment, their obsession merging with the negative power of the contract from the collapse of their sect. Formless and intangible, it specialized in attacking the soul and was extremely difficult to deal with. (End of Chapter)