I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

The guardian's remains transformed into this tower. Qin Yuan raised his head and looked towards the center of the hall. The suspended luminous pearl was slowly lowering, its light illuminating the ground. On the ground was a circular magic circle, and in the center of the circle sat a person sitting cross-legged.

A white-haired man. His body was petrified, his skin turned into the same black stone as the tower, and his clothes had long since weathered away. His hands were folded on his knees, palms up, holding a transparent bead in his palms. A faint light was sealed within the bead, the shape of which was exactly the same as the Eternal Bone Blade in Qin Yuan's hand.

Su Yao walked up to the stone statue, squatted down, and looked at its face. Although it had been petrified for 100,000 years, the outline of its face was still clearly visible.

She turned to look at Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan stood before the stone statue, and his Chaos Eye detected the last vestige of divine consciousness remaining inside. That consciousness was so faint, almost nonexistent, yet the Chaos Eye could still perceive it. Qin Yuan placed his hand on the statue's palm, probing it with his divine consciousness.

An old yet gentle voice resounded in his mind.

"The latecomer, you've finally arrived."

"Who are you?" Qin Yuan asked.

"I am the first generation of the Seven Star Guardians. My name is no longer important. The blade in your hand was forged from your bones, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"That's right." The voice held a hint of amusement. "Because we walk the same path. We use our bodies as weapons, our bones as blades, and protection as our way. At the end of this path lies this tower, this statue, and this solitude of ten thousand years. Are you afraid?"

Qin Yuan did not answer that question. Instead, he asked, "Why preserve this tower?"

"Because the seal needs someone to suppress it. In that battle, I shattered the passage of the invasion from the outer realms, but the passage was not completely closed. As long as the passage exists, things from the outer realms will continue to try to pass through. I transformed my remaining body into this Seven Star Tower, using my last strength to suppress the entrance of the passage. For 100,000 years, the passage has been eroding the seal, and my power is almost exhausted."

He paused.

"Those who come after, you need to make a choice."

"What choice?"

"First, reinforce the seal. Use your power and the power of the Seven Star Sacred Body to reinforce the seal again, which can last for another 100,000 years. The cost is that your cultivation and the cultivation of the seven Sacred Body possessors will drop by one major realm, and it will take hundreds of years to recover. Second, completely destroy the passage. Prevent the outer realms from ever approaching the Void again. The cost is... the origin of the Seven Star Sacred Body needs to be sacrificed, this tower will collapse, and the last wisp of my divine consciousness will completely dissipate."

Qin Yuan fell silent.

The voice from within the stone statue ceased its urging. The hall was so quiet that only the soft breathing of the seven women could be heard. Qin Yuan gazed at the statue's final expression before it petrified—an expression neither of pain nor resentment, but of a calm resolve. This person from ten thousand years ago, at the moment of turning into stone, had already prepared to protect forever.

"Is there no third option?" Qin Yuan asked.

The voice inside the stone statue chuckled softly.

"Yes. But that's the hardest path."

"explain."

"Go in yourself," the voice said. "Enter the sealed passage. On the other side of the outer realm, find the source of the passage and destroy it at its root. This path does not require the sacrifice of the Seven Star Sacred Body, nor does it require a drop in cultivation. But the price is—you may never be able to come back."

Before Qin Yuan could speak, Yan Lingji had already stepped forward.

"no."

Qin Yuan looked at her. Flames blazed around Yan Lingji, illuminating the entire hall in a crimson glow. Her chin was raised, her eyes were red-rimmed, but her voice was firm.

"You're going alone again? Last time you went to Taixu alone, we waited for you for three months. Now you're going to the Outer Realms alone? And you expect us to stay here and wait for you for the rest of our lives?"

"He said he might not be able to come back," Qin Yuan said.

"That means they might not come back!" Yan Lingji's flames suddenly surged three feet higher. "Qin Yuan, you never let us stand with you. In the Sealed Palace, you went into the cave alone; in the Battle of the Pride of the Void, you faced the Immortal Realm alone; and now you're going to the Outer Domain alone. What do you take us for?"

Her voice echoed in the tower for a long time before fading away. Yueyao tugged at Yanlingji's sleeve, but Yanlingji ignored her. She glared at Qin Yuan, tears finally falling from her eyes, but her voice remained firm.

"We'll go with you," Yan Lingji said. "No matter what the outer realms are like, we'll go together."

Qin Yuan looked at Yan Lingji, then at the other six women. Su Yao's hand holding the tea tray was steady, but her gaze was more serious than ever. Mu Hongyi's sword was already half an inch out of its sheath. The ice beneath Bing Ji's feet spread silently. Hong Yue's knuckles were white as she gripped her spear. Yue Yao bit her lip. Jian Wushuang had already walked to Qin Yuan's side.

"She's right," Su Yao said softly. "You always shoulder the burden alone because you feel you're the guardian, and we're the ones who need to be protected. But Qin Yuan—the guardian sitting in this tower—his Seven Star Sacred Body users didn't hide behind him. They poured all their essence into his blade and fought alongside him to the very end."

She walked up to Qin Yuan and placed her hand on his chest.

"We can too."

Qin Yuan stared at her for a long time.

Then he turned his head and looked at the remaining divine consciousness in the stone statue.

"What's that in the Outer Realms?"

The voice within the stone statue remained silent for a moment before replying, "Unknown. I only slashed open the passage back then; I didn't truly enter the outer realm. But judging from those things that attempted to invade through the passage, the outer realm is not the celestial realm, nor the star realm, but a chaotic sea entirely composed of chaotic laws. There, all the laws we know are ineffective. The only thing you can rely on is the sword in your hand."

"That's enough," Qin Yuan said.

He summoned the bone blade from his body and held it in his hand. Then he knelt down on one knee in front of the statue and placed the bone blade flat on the statue's knee.

"Senior, let's go."

He stood up and turned to walk deeper into the hall. At the far end of the hall, on the wall, was a black crack, its edges shimmering with silver light. That was the entrance to the sealed passage. For a hundred thousand years, this seal had suppressed the invasions from the outer realms, but now, Qin Yuan was going to do the opposite—walk through the seal and reach the core of the outer realms.

The seven women followed in his footsteps. Yan Lingji walked at the front, her flames illuminating the dark rift. Mu Hongyi stood beside her, her longsword already drawn. Bingji and Hongyue flanked her on either side, while Yueyao and Jian Wushuang brought up the rear. Su Yao and Qin Yuan walked side by side, the auras of their Chaotic Holy Body and Chaotic Bone Blade merging to form an invisible yet resilient barrier.

Qin Yuan paused at the crack.

"Are you ready?" he asked.