Projection of the Heavens: I prove my immortality through slaughter.

The immense fortune brought by the position of the Star Domain's Overlord, like a warm ocean current, continuously nourished Lin Xuan's physical body, golden core, and the nascent primordial universe. His cultivation was steadily improving, and his understanding of the laws was becoming increasingly profound. Under the new order, the Xuan Tian Star Domain was also gradually recovering from the wounds of the demonic calamity, even exhibiting an unprecedented vitality and centripetal force.

However, Lin Xuan did not become complacent with the steady increase in power and strength. His Dao heart always pointed towards a higher and farther realm. In addition to handling affairs of the star field and consolidating his cultivation, he devoted some of his energy to sorting out and deeply exploring his past gains.

On this day, he had a sudden thought and took out several items he had obtained from the Desolate Ancient Realm.

Most of them were rare and precious materials, but they were no longer unusual to him. His gaze finally fell on something that seemed the most inconspicuous—an ancient tortoise shell the size of a palm, with broken edges and a dull gray color.

He found the tortoise shell while cleaning up the relics left behind by Lei Yi, the son of the Thunder God. It was mixed in with a pile of glittering gems and metals. Because it had no magical fluctuations, he didn't pay much attention to it at the time and just casually put it away.

At this moment, when he picked up the tortoise shell again and examined it carefully with his divine sense now that he was a fourth-stage Golden Core cultivator, he sensed something unusual.

The surface of the tortoise shell is covered with naturally formed, chaotic cracks. But beneath these cracks, there seem to be some extremely fine, non-natural engravings. These engravings are unimaginably ancient, as if they were born with the tortoise shell itself, and they are surrounded by an extremely faint, yet incredibly ancient and desolate aura.

A wisp of purplish-gold flame flickered at Lin Xuan's fingertips as he carefully scorched the surface of the tortoise shell, not to destroy it, but to stimulate its inner spirituality in a unique way.

As the fire of alchemy ignited, the natural cracks on the surface of the tortoise shell seemed to come alive, beginning to wriggle and recombine slightly. Meanwhile, the hidden markings, like a star map that had slumbered for billions of years, were gradually illuminated, emitting a faint, hazy glow as if from the very beginning of time.

Gradually, these illuminated markings converged in the center of the tortoise shell to form an extremely complex, indescribable three-dimensional rune!

These runes are not static, but constantly changing and flowing. Their structure is exquisite, as if they contain the mysteries of time and space, the true meaning of dimensions, and a kind of "freedom" and "transcendence" that transcends existing cognition!

The moment this rune fully manifested—

"Buzz!"

Within Lin Xuan's body, the projection origin that had been dormant and granted him the ability to travel through the heavens suddenly emitted an unprecedented, violent tremor, as if in resonance!

An aura, originating from the same source yet even more ancient and profound, emanated from the three-dimensional runes on the tortoise shell, resonating with and attracting his projected origin!

At the same time, a massive, fragmented stream of information forcefully surged into Lin Xuan's mind through this bridge of resonance!

He "saw" the endless void, where countless worlds rose and fell like bubbles; he "saw" indescribable, seemingly composed of pure laws, great beings roaming and vying for power within the void; he "saw" marks shining with a radiance similar to the runes on tortoise shells, but more complete and brilliant, like lighthouses embedded in special world barriers, or pursued by those great beings; he even "saw" an unimaginable war that engulfed countless worlds, causing many of these "marks" to shatter and scatter, flowing to every corner of the myriad realms…

The information flow came to an abrupt halt.

Lin Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, and a fleeting image of countless worlds arising and ceasing flashed in the depths of his pupils. He stared intently at the slowly rotating three-dimensional runes on the tortoise shell, a tidal wave of emotions surging within him!

"Transcending the imprint..."

A noun naturally came to mind.

What is recorded on this tortoise shell is not a complete mark, but a clue to a "transcendent mark", or rather, a tiny imprint of a part of its Dao pattern!

According to the information stream, his ability to project the heavens is likely to originate from the same source as this so-called "Transcendence Mark"! He even suspects that his ability is part of a broken, incomplete "Transcendence Mark," or rather, a product of a fragment of the mark merging with his soul!

"Transcendence"... what is being transcended? Is it the constraints of the world? The trajectory of fate? The limits of the Great Dao?

Lin Xuan couldn't fully understand it, but he could feel the immense weight and ultimate allure that those two words represented.

This tortoise shell was like a key, opening a door to a higher level of secrets for him. It pointed him in the right direction, revealed part of the truth, and made him realize the true origin and potential of his abilities.

"So, my projection of the heavens is not accidental... but rather an unconscious process of collecting, completing... or rather, pursuing these scattered 'marks of transcendence'?"

He recalled that each time he projected his image, he seemed to gain some insight into the mysteries of the world's origin, receiving immense benefits. Perhaps this wasn't just the result of his efforts, but rather the unseen guidance of this "imprint" source?

Within the Ancient Realm, traces of "Transcendence Marks" clearly existed, as evidenced by this tortoise shell. What about other worlds? Do those world clusters of light he marked, radiating powerful auras, also conceal clues to these marks?

His gaze returned to the "Celestial Map" projected in his mind. The powerful world coordinates that had previously caught his attention—the world filled with ultimate power, the world of life and death in balance, and even that dangerous and bizarre Cthulhu-esque world—now seemed shrouded in an even more mysterious veil in his eyes.

They are no longer just places of cultivation resources, but more likely... potential hiding places for fragments of the "Transcendence Mark"!

An unprecedented desire to explore burned within him like a raging fire.

Becoming the ruler of a star field and gathering immense fortune can certainly accelerate cultivation. However, if one truly wishes to transcend and touch that supreme state of "transcendence," then pursuing these "marks" scattered throughout the myriad realms may be the real shortcut, or even... the only path!

He carefully put away the ancient tortoise shell that contained the clues. The Dao patterns imprinted on it were of immeasurable value to his understanding of the origin of his own projection, and even to his future search for other fragments of the imprint.

"Transcending the imprint..."

Lin Xuan repeated those four words in a low voice, his eyes becoming incredibly sharp and profound.

Originally, the plan was simply to acquire resources through projection to accelerate growth. Now it seems that such a shocking secret is hidden behind this path.

His path of projecting into the heavens now has a clearer and more ultimate goal.

---