The stolen magic is a bit magical

"The cause and effect are unknown, but life... the cultivation method he cultivates is the life system." Du Yuexin's forehead had been covered in beads of sweat.

"I hope he didn't get involved in karma." Lone Sword Dust sighed deeply.

“Yes, if he were to comprehend cause and effect, he would be the greatest cause and effect!” Du Yue thought to herself.

The Seven Laws of Heaven are laid out before the world. Heaven encourages people to comprehend them and will never forbid it. If you can thoroughly understand them, Heaven will bestow various rewards upon you: supernatural powers, Dao realms, status, etc.

However, if you attempt to study all seven paths simultaneously, that would be a grave transgression!
The seven paths converge into one, which is the Way of Heaven!
What are you trying to do, kid?

To usurp the throne and replace it?
Therefore, the Six Paths are for contemplation, the Seven Paths are for reversal, and if the Seven Paths are achieved, it is the greatest cause and effect...

This matter is extremely taboo.

Even Du Yuexin and Gu Jian Youchen, these fearless and unrestrained super-powerful beings who only wanted to live a brilliant life, fell silent at this moment.

Several hours later, they slowly returned to their original course and discussed whether a month would be enough for him to advance the Yin-Yang Law from the Dao Flower to the Dao Fruit.

Just ten days!

Lin Xiaosu's Yin-Yang Dao Circle suddenly changed!
The yin-yang symbol within the circle began to flow, faster and faster, until finally, it transformed into a single, crystal-clear point of light…

The Yin-Yang Dao Fruit has been formed!

The elderly couple were dumbfounded.

Twenty more days!

Lin Xiaosu opened her eyes again and slashed down with her sword!
This sword...

Space is divided, time stands still, yin and yang are separated!

The ultimate swordsmanship that Gu Jian Youchen achieved in his lifetime, the Canghai Hengliu Sword, was split in two.

At this gap, space and time were completely disrupted. The left side was as bright as day, while the right side was pitch black. Lin Xiaosu stepped out of the passage, a smile on his face...

"Does this sword strike have a name?" Lone Sword Dust raised a cup of wine.

“I call it ‘Night Never Ends’!” Lin Xiaosu took the glass of wine and gently clinked it with his father-in-law.

"Yin and Yang divide day and night, time and space are endless, the night is endless, these three words contain three laws, which is just right!" Gu Jian You Chen said, "But I think my son-in-law, there is another layer of meaning. The long night is endless, without beginning or end. With a sword in hand, one can pierce through the eternal night. Is that what it means?"

Lin Xiaosu smiled and said, "Father-in-law, you are so refined and elegant, I admire you greatly!"

"Come, drink your fill and embark on your journey!" said Lone Sword Dust.

"Please, Father-in-law!"

The two wine glasses clinked lightly, and they drank it all in one gulp.

Lin Xiaosu bowed to Du Yuexin: "Farewell, Mother-in-law!"

One step forward, and the Yin-Yang Step vanishes without a trace.

Leaving the gate of reincarnation, we embark on the next journey...

Within the Gate of Reincarnation, after nearly two months, he had taken a giant leap forward on his journey.

Two laws yielded Dao fruits; of the Seven Laws of Heaven, only one Dao fruit remained unfulfilled, due to cause and effect…

The Flower of Cause and Effect is currently spinning before the Mirror of the Heart, and a primordial spirit is comprehending it day and night. It is estimated that it will achieve great success within a few days...

The gate to upholding the Way will eventually open.

The most important gain came from Lone Sword with Dust.

He tore through the layers of illusion surrounding Lin Xiaosu's swordsmanship, allowing Lin Xiaosu to clearly glimpse the path of sword exploration.

He doesn't need to comprehend any new sword techniques; he only needs to complete the layering of the Seven Laws of Heaven.

The fusion of time and space is far more powerful than the Time Sword Dao or the One Leaf Divide.

Time and space combined with yin and yang create the endless night.

This sword strike truly surpassed his own combat power, almost rivaling that of a sword master like Lone Sword Dust.

What if we add another cause and effect?

What if we add chaos, life, and reincarnation on top of that?

The seven techniques combined into one sword—that is divine punishment!
With the body of a mortal, yet bearing the punishment of Heaven, who in the world can stand against him?

Of course, this superposition is not simple. He has already tried it. If the difficulty coefficient of unifying space and time is one, then adding yin and yang would increase the difficulty coefficient to three. If another law is added, the difficulty coefficient would probably be ten. The difficulty increases exponentially, and time will also increase exponentially...

If nothing unexpected happens, when the great calamity arrives two years from now, he will be able to combine up to five laws.

Yes, time is mentioned here.

At this moment, the yellow leaves in the deep mountains have fallen, it is already autumn, and the time is the end of August.

Lin Xiaosu traveled westward, further west...

The West is the Spirit Ruins.

He also had an old friend, a very special one. Initially, this friend was his enemy, but later, on the shore of Tashan Lake, amidst the heavy snow, they reminisced about that night: "Today we are both drenched in snow, and in this life we ​​can be considered to have grown old together."

We've also set the path for the future: we'll walk this path together!

She is Catherine.

She is the Holy Maiden of a Thousand Spirits.

Upon entering this world, he and she were initially companions on the same journey, ascending Qingqiu together, descending Qingqiu together, and entering the Great Wilderness Capital, Huangjing, together drawing up a "strategy" for the new world.

He discovered from the Heart Gate's scriptures that the Heart Gate had already infiltrated the Spirit Ruins and colluded with the Demon Ruins, using demonic mechanisms to infiltrate the Spirit Clan's spiritual springs and silently carry out the "Speed ​​Change Plan." After informing the Thousand Spirit Saintess, she hurriedly returned to the Spirit Ruins.

Before he left, he told her: "I will come to Lingxu to find you after I finish what I have to do."

How did she respond to him?
It was her first kiss in her life, followed by a sentence that evoked endless emotions—she said: "From your perspective, I really can't think of any reason why you would have to come to me, so I'll give you a reason! If one day you really appear before me, I will wash my hands and prepare a meal, and wear a veil to serve you."

This was the promise made by the former Holy Maiden of the Spirit Clan.

She has been away from her home for millions of years.

She lay asleep in her coffin, unaware of the changes that had taken place in the world.

When she woke up, she was also separated from two worlds, which were not connected.

She didn't know if any of her relatives remained in the world, nor did she know what awaited her upon returning to her homeland after millions of years.

She simply couldn't bear to see the Spirit Race, which had continued from ancient times to the present, completely transformed. She returned to her homeland as a member of the Spirit Race to save the sentiment deep within her.

Therefore, she could not give him any other promises, only the promise of a woman.

Come here, I'm your woman!
More than a year has passed since she left.

From the day Lin Xiaosu impersonated Li Chengnian, to her gradual conquest of the Great Wilderness, her journey to Jiangnan, her entry into the Northwest, her change of emperor, and her conferment of the title of Prince Ding, there has been no news of her at all.

Now, he has arrived!

This was in accordance with the agreement made that day.

This will bring boundless turmoil to the Spirit Ruins...

The Western Regions are vast and boundless.

The mountains are far away, the forests are dense, the land is vast, and the sky is high.

Gone is the elegance of Jiangnan, and gone is the prosperity of the desolate capital.

In the vast wilderness, giant beasts push mountains.

In the deep swamp, a black dragon covered the ground.

Ordinary humans could no longer survive in such an environment.

Those who have come and gone in the past are probably only those at the level of enlightenment above Lin Xiaosu...

Everyone he saw was above the Enlightenment Realm, and those above the Enlightenment Realm were just hunters in this wasteland, hunting strange beasts and earning a meager living.

Lin Xiaosu effortlessly traversed the densely fogged, desolate forest, the treacherous swamp where giant pythons hissed, the bizarre and fantastical demon realm, and several imposing sects…

Finally, I saw the legendary Lingxu Sacred Realm.

Lingxu, after the Great Wilderness.

A precipice, seemingly isolating it from everything outside.

A towering tree grows from the abyss; each branch is a kingdom, and each leaf is a homeland.

The origin of this large tree is unknown.

We also do not know where the summit is.

The giant tree is a barrier between heaven and earth.

Because it is the Jianmu tree, the foremost of the four sacred trees, also known as the Tongtian Tree.

The Spirit Ruins are in the tree.

Therefore, every member of the Spirit Clan is born with the attribute of wood.

Lin Xiaosu used the Yin-Yang Step to cross countless abysses. The giant tree in front of him slowly disappeared, and to the naked eye, it appeared as an extremely vast continent.

Lin Xiaosu landed and saw the Spirit Clan members.

They are not actually very similar to modern Westerners; they are more like the elves of Western legends.

Her hair was multicolored, and her skin was fair.

Pointy ears.

He stared at a little spirit girl by the roadside for a long time. The little girl's pointed ears turned red, looking like two drops of blood, which was particularly interesting.

Lin Xiaosu smiled at her, then took a step and began to climb the mountain...

The mountain is just an insignificant branch of the Jianmu tree. Ordinary people who have lived here for generations probably will never see the true appearance of their home in their entire lives. Perhaps in their minds, their home is no different from the mountains and rivers outside.

But Lin Xiaosu knew it.

His direction should be upward.

The core leadership of Lingxu resides above the Third Heaven.

Yes, this realm also has the concept of three heavens...

In fact, it's just a branch that's one level higher.

He didn't choose to break through the void and enter the core area of ​​the Spirit Ruins for two reasons. First, he didn't know whether the current Spirit Ruins were righteous or evil. Second, the core area of ​​the Spirit Ruins was enveloped in a layer of spiritual energy, which was a naturally formed array, unlike traditional arrays, and was almost impossible to break.

That's perfect, he can take this opportunity to get a good look at the current state of the Spirit Ruins.

With my six senses activated, I overheard the conversations of passersby.

The veil of the Spirit Ruins is being lifted little by little...

A slight stirring ran through him...

Because he detected an extremely dangerous signal.

That is, the Lingxu tradition recorded in historical books has faded.

What kind of tradition?

It refers to the purity of one's bloodline.

Men guard the land, women guard the bloodline; this is the legacy of Lingxu for millions of years.

But now, things are starting to change.

People's aesthetic sense has become distorted.

They actually consider "mixed-race" to be beautiful.

He personally witnessed several mixed-race children with obvious demonic features being fawned over by the crowd.

This was absolutely unimaginable in the past, but now it has gradually become something that everyone accepts and even admires.

Could this be the effect that the Heart Gate and the Demon Clan's "Speed ​​Change Plan" are intended to bring about?

Three thousand years ago, the Transformation Plan began. Any offspring of the Spirit Race born within these three thousand years who bathed in the Spirit Spring would carry the Demon Seed of the Demon Race within them. The pure bloodline of the Spirit Race was corrupted by the Demon Seed, and their bloodline was no longer pure.

How can this group of people uphold the traditions passed down from their ancestors once they grow up?
If they themselves are not pure, how can they expect future generations to be pure?
Thus, the Heart Gate Project became something that wasn't just the Heart Gate pushing; these Spirit Clan members who had fallen for the trick were pushing even harder than the Heart Gate itself.

Because they had no choice but to "debate scriptures" for the sake of the demonic sect.

Over time, the aesthetic values ​​of the entire Lingxu area have become distorted.

Once this trend takes hold, the Spirit Race will face extinction, or even irreversible extinction.

Qianling, how do you deal with this situation?
Suddenly, a sense of pressure came from ahead.

Lin Xiaosu looked up and saw two people, both of whom were mixed-race with characteristics of both the demon race and the spirit race.

The two men stared at Lin Xiaosu with rather unfriendly gazes: "Are you a human?"

"Yes!" Lin Xiaosu stopped.

"Humans dare to tread the path to the sacred lake?"

The Road to the Sacred Lake?

Lin Xiaosu looked around and realized that she had unknowingly strayed from the main road and stepped onto a side path. There was no one else around, only the three of them.

"What? Demons can enter the Sacred Lake, but humans can't?" Lin Xiaosu asked.

The two men's faces suddenly turned cold: "You lowly humans, how dare you compare yourselves to us? It's simply..."

Lin Xiaosu interrupted directly: "You two bastards dare to compare yourselves to the human race? You are truly going against the heavens!"

Swish!
A sharp claw pierced through the air, aimed directly at Lin Xiaosu's throat.

This attack possessed the characteristic of Catherine's fingers extending infinitely in the past, as well as the domineering killing intent inherent in the demon race. In terms of combat power alone, it truly combined the strengths of both races.

However, their fingers suddenly broke off inch by inch.

Lin Xiaosu placed two fingers on the space between their eyebrows.

The two were only at the Heavenly Sight realm and had not yet cultivated their primordial spirits. However, under Lin Xiaosu's Sub-God Technique, they learned what the Sacred Lake was...

The Sacred Lake is the most sacred lake in Lingxu.

It is directly connected to the spiritual spring.

It is also the true entrance to the core area of ​​Lingxu.

Only by traversing the Heavenly Ladder of the Sacred Lake can one be qualified to be absorbed by the Spirit Ruins Palace and become a renowned prodigy of the Spirit Ruins.

Today is the annual opening day of Lingxu.

There is a one-month period for children from all over the country to compete.

Disciples from all over Lingxu traveled thousands of miles to compete for a spot to enter the village today.

The excitement has lasted for twenty-one days.

There are only nine days left before this passage is to be closed.

Having deciphered these, Lin Xiaosu flicked her finger, and her two disciples turned into chaotic particles, vanishing without a trace.

The laws of chaos are the truly effective way to destroy evidence.

In the past, when Lin Xiaosu entered an unfamiliar environment, she would disguise herself.

But today, he is not easily swayed.

He wanted to see just how much of the Lingxu inheritance had been ruined by later generations.

For millions of years, the Spirit Race and the Human Race have been on good terms, while the Spirit Race and the Demon Race have been enemies to the core. Back then, the Holy Maiden of the Thousand Spirits stood firm at the Iron Pass, joining hands with the Human Race to fight against the Demon Race. That was the mainstream of that era.

Now, the people of the Spirit Race actually look down on humans as lowly and take pride in having demon blood.

The changes at Lingxu were beyond imagination.

After crossing the mountain pass, a long lake came into view.

The vast Changhu Lake, though in autumn, still exudes the richness of spring.

This is probably a typical characteristic of the Elven race; regardless of the season, they are full of vitality.

A rich spiritual aura covers the long lake.

The spiritual energy extends outwards, bringing birdsong and fragrant flowers.

The lakeside is an ancient city with a quaint and elegant atmosphere, complete with pavilions and towers that exude charm.

The lake is bustling and vibrant, offering endless enjoyment.

Someone rode a strange bird across the lake.

Some people are riding in bamboo boats.

Someone is riding the waves...

Together we head towards the long ladder ahead.

This ladder is an ancient vine, extremely large, divided into nine colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, with gold at the top and jade at the very top.

On the nine-colored vine ladder, someone is struggling to climb.

From the consciousness of the two participating disciples, Lin Xiaosu had already deciphered the ingenious use of this vine ladder.

This rattan ladder is named Lingyun Heavenly Ladder.

There are nine colors in total, and each color represents a different quality.

The better the aptitude, the greater the potential, and the higher one can climb.

The clan elders assigned the disciples based on the color of the Heavenly Ladder they were assigned when they entered. Those in red and orange were disregarded and considered failures. The true starting point for entry was yellow!

Those who enter the Spirit Ruins via the yellow Heavenly Ladder represent those with poor aptitude, who are nominal disciples and mostly engage in external commercial trade within the Spirit Ruins; green represents those with good aptitude, who can become outer disciples; cyan represents those with good aptitude, who are formal disciples; blue represents those with excellent aptitude, who are inner disciples; and purple represents those who are exceptional talents, who will surely be noticed by a top elder and taken as personal disciples.

The setup of the Heavenly Ladder was very similar to the Enlightenment Platform in the Snowfield that day.

They do not take into account the disciple's own cultivation level.

Instead, it matches the corresponding attack power based on the user's cultivation level.

In other words, it tests potential and aptitude.

This is the way almost all sects test their disciples.

The path of cultivation is extremely long. As long as one does not die, one will eventually reach a high level. True geniuses are never those who slowly grind up to a high level of cultivation over time, but rather those who demonstrate actual combat power that surpasses their own cultivation level even at a low level.

These things seemed far too low-end to Lin Xiaosu at this moment.

He listened to the discussions of the crowds on both sides, but his gaze was fixed on the lake in front of him.

The lake water is connected to the Lingquan Spring.

The Spirit Spring was infected by the demonic machine three thousand years ago.

The Holy Maiden of a Thousand Spirits traveled a million miles back to her hometown, bringing back this news. So, what was the final outcome?

From his perspective, the situation is worrying.

At least, the matter of the demonic invasion in Lingxu was completely ignored.

A deafening cheer erupted.

Lin Xiaosu looked up and saw a person waving at her from the fifth step of the vine ladder. This person had black hair, a fair complexion, and deep-set eyes, clearly another mixed-race person.

"A fifth-level ladder! Another fifth-level ladder!" someone exclaimed. "This year really is full of geniuses."

"Have you all noticed that among the 217 people who have ascended to the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder and the 7 people who have ascended to the sixth level of the Heavenly Ladder in the past 21 days, half of them are of mixed race!"

"Yes!" An elderly Spirit Clan member's eyes were filled with confusion: "Could it be that our ancestors were ultimately wrong? The fusion of two bloodlines, each taking the best of the best, does indeed produce more extraordinary characteristics?"

A middle-aged man next to him said, "The Spirit Race possesses the vitality of wood, while the Demon Race possesses the ability to devour. By combining the two and absorbing the essence of heaven and earth through wood, they will surely achieve even greater things. This is not just the opinion of us young people; this is the truth of the Great Elder!"

"The Grand Elder has always held this view. At first, there were dissenting voices among the other top elders in the clan. However, three thousand years ago, when Holy Son Lingdu stepped onto the Eight-Step Heavenly Ladder and entered the Spirit Ruins, his astonishing cultivation achievements silenced those elders. Now, the entire Spirit Ruins probably has to accept the Grand Elder's idea that the fusion of two bloodlines is stronger than that of a single bloodline!"

In an instant, almost everyone was convinced.

Because it involves the acting patriarch, the Grand Elder, and Ling Du, the most outstanding disciple.

The Grand Elder favored racial integration.

His personal disciple, Ling Du, is himself a mixed-race individual and has already demonstrated to the entire Lingxu that mixed-race individuals have an advantage.

However, an untimely voice rang out: "Is mixed blood always stronger than single blood? Have we all forgotten the peerless genius from millions of years ago, the Thousand Spirit Saintess? She possessed pure spiritual blood, and she ascended the ninth level of the Heavenly Ladder!"

Finally, we've mentioned the Thousand Spirit Saintess.

Lin Xiaosu stopped walking down the embankment...

The middle-aged man said, “Elder Yun, I understand your feelings. However, the deeds of the Thousand Spirit Saintess are only from a million years ago. She has long since died and disappeared. You should not cling to the past and refuse to face the present.”

Although he showed respect for Elder Yun in his address, his words were anything but polite.

Elder Yun was furious: "Fine! Let's not talk about a million years ago, let's talk about a year ago! That Fairy Ling Su who came across the sea, with a pure human body, didn't she also ascend the eighth level of the Heavenly Ladder? And the mixed-bloods you advocate, in the past thousand years, who can compare with her?"

Lin Xiaosu moved swiftly and suddenly appeared in front of Elder Yun: "Senior, I have a question to ask you."

The old man frowned and stared at him.

Those present also stared at him; a handsome young man, seemingly a human scholar.

"What can I do for you, young master?" Elder Yun seemed to find the human young master in front of him more pleasing to the eye than the other young people of his own race, and his expression softened slightly.

"I would like to ask, you said that a year ago, there was a fairy named Ling Su who came from across the sea. I wonder what she looked like?"

"Her? She was the brightest star in last year's Cloud Ladder Competition. I was fortunate enough to record her image. Would you like to see it, young master?"

"I can't ask for it!"

With a gentle lift of his hand, Yun Lao raised two fingers as if plucking a flower, and slowly separated them, revealing an image between them.

A fairy in white, a blonde woman, ride the waves, ascending the eight-tiered heavenly ladder...

The flowers bloomed for her at that moment.

The events of that moment stirred up the Spirit Ruins...

Countless humans screamed along the lakeshore, their passion boundless...

As Lin Xiaosu watched the images, her heart was also stirred...

It really is the Holy Maiden of the Thousand Spirits!
This girl didn't reveal her true identity as the Thousand Spirit Saintess from millions of years ago, but instead took the name: Ling Su!
This name...

Then, following the tradition of Lingxu, she ascended the Lingyun Heavenly Ladder.

I've passed level eight!

Millions of years ago, she was a level nine prodigy!

Now, I can only reach level eight!
This shows that even after all these years of conditioning, Catherine's physical body has not been able to recover to its best condition, and is at least not as good as that of the legendary saintess from millions of years ago.

She also failed to complete the task.

Just by hearing these philosophical discussions and seeing this scene before her, Lin Xiaosu knew perfectly well that her purpose in returning had been thwarted!

Because the "species swapping plan" implemented by the Heart Gate and the Demon Clan in the Spirit Ruins was not a conspiracy in the conventional sense, but a calculated open scheme.

The "open strategy" is to publicly promote mixed-race individuals, using exceptionally talented mixed-race prodigies to demonstrate the advantages of mixed-race heritage.

Moreover, it has already occupied the high ground of the Dao.

Even if the Holy Maiden of the Thousand Spirits returns and tells the higher-ups of the Spirit Clan that the Spirit Spring has been tampered with and contains a demonic seed, it will be of no use. Given their completely distorted aesthetic sense, people will not be surprised or afraid to learn that the Spirit Spring contains a demonic seed; they might even become obsessed with it!

So, what is the value of your secret?
The wind has shifted!

It's hard for Lingxu to return to what it used to be!

Therefore, the Holy Maiden of the Thousand Spirits cannot return to her former identity. She cannot even reveal this great secret. If she makes too much noise, the elders who represent the mainstream might kill her with their own hands!
So, does this sacred lake beneath our feet, infused with the waters of the spiritual spring, truly harbor demonic energy? (End of Chapter)