After clearing the level, the fairies were reborn!

As if passing through a curtain of water, the scene before my eyes suddenly changed.

The sky was still azure, but Mu Yan was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, you crazy woman, give him back to me!! You..."

Mu Yan's voice came from outside, anxious and angry.

But the next moment, Lin Yueyan waved her hand, directly shutting down the connection between the formation and the outside world.

Suddenly, all the sounds vanished.

All around was silent.

Xu Ze stood there, marveling at the terrifying power of this first-order formation.

It isolates the inside from the outside and cuts off perception, so even a powerful cultivator like Mu Yan in the Mahayana stage cannot penetrate it.

What is this concept?

He composed himself and began to take in the scenery around him.

Underfoot is a path paved with bluestone slabs, winding forward.

Both sides are planted with exotic flowers and plants, which emit a faint fragrance. Taking a breath of the fragrance makes you feel refreshed.

In the distance, clusters of buildings can be vaguely seen, built against the mountain and stacked up.

Just then—

"You, come here to me."

That clear, melodious voice resounded deep within my mind, followed by a probe from the divine sense of a Mahayana stage cultivator.

In that instant, Xu Ze felt a strange fluctuation sweep across his entire body.

It penetrates clothing, penetrates skin, and probes deep into the soul, as if trying to uncover every secret of his.

"Even the [Immortal Concealment Talisman] can't work?!"

Xu Ze was inwardly turbulent, but he did not resist.

Because he knew that resistance was pointless in the face of this first-order formation.

A moment later, the ripples subsided.

Ahead lay a deep, secluded passageway.

The stone walls on both sides of the passageway are inlaid with countless luminous pearls, emitting a soft glow.

"Never mind, we can only keep moving forward."

As the saying goes, there's always a way out.

So Xu Ze stepped forward.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a huge square.

The square is circular, with a diameter of a thousand feet. The ground is paved with whole pieces of jade, smooth as a mirror, reflecting people's shadows.

"Holding the sun and moon in my hands and plucking stars from the sky, there is no one like me in this world."

"An immortal touched my head, granting me eternal life..."

Nine towering stone pillars, each a hundred feet tall, stand around the square. The pillars are covered with reliefs depicting immortals playing chess, mythical beasts soaring, mountains and rivers, the sun and moon, and the changing of the sea and the mulberry fields.

Above these stone pillars sat hundreds or even thousands of figures.

Each of them exuded a terrifying aura; the lowest level was the Nascent Soul stage, and some were even at the Tribulation Transcending stage.

They were oblivious to everything else, engrossed in their books, and didn't even notice Xu Ze's arrival.

Xu Ze walked past them, and those people didn't even lift their eyelids.

"Is this the foundation of Canghai Academy...?"

Xu Ze was deeply shocked.

He continued walking forward.

At the end of the square stands a grand hall.

The main hall features flying eaves and bracket sets, carved beams and painted rafters, exuding a magnificent aura. The hall doors are open, and light faintly shines through from inside.

Above the massive door frame hangs a plaque with four characters written on it.

"The world changes like the sea turning into mulberry fields..."

Xu Ze walked over, and stopped in front of the palace gate.

Inside the hall, a figure stood with his back to him in front of a huge painting.

It was a woman.

She wore a moon-white long dress, her back slender and upright, like a green bamboo in the mountains, pure and otherworldly.

She stood there quietly, as if she were one with heaven and earth, or as if she were detached from them.

Xu Zene could sense that there was no trace of her aura leaking out.

But it was this very "absence" that made him instinctively feel an indescribable sense of oppression.

It wasn't intimidation or murderous intent, but something deeper.

It was as if what stood before him was not a person, but a rule.

A rule called "Ruthless".

It is similar to the ruthless path that Xu Ze had seen in Feixue Valley in Beiju Luzhou.

Fairy Qing Shuang initially practiced this technique, but later she used herself as a subject of visualization and then abandoned it.

"Come in."

As I was lost in thought, that voice, as clear as a spring, rang out.

Calm and still, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Xu Ze took a deep breath and stepped into the main hall.

The furnishings inside the hall were extremely simple.

Apart from the huge painting, there was only a desk, a futon, and a few bookshelves.

A small green lamp sat on the desk, its light dim yet illuminating the entire hall.

The woman remained with her back to him, gazing at the painting.

Xu Ze stopped three zhang behind her.

"Junior Xu Ze greets senior."

Although he felt that the person in front of him was very familiar, he could not remember who the other person was, so he could only try to perform a junior's greeting.

The woman did not respond.

She simply stared at the painting, as if she hadn't heard him.

Xu Ze wasn't in a hurry; he just stood there and waited.

The main hall was completely silent, with only the occasional crackling sound of the blue lamp.

I don't know how much time passed.

The woman finally turned around.

It was a face that could make one lose their senses.

Her eyebrows were like distant mountains shrouded in mist, her eyes like autumn waters rippling across the surface, her nose was straight and elegant, and her lips were light in color.

Her skin was as white as snow, yet devoid of any color; she was like an ice sculpture, her beauty otherworldly.

Only his eyes seemed out of place.

Because those eyes were too calm.

It was as calm as a stagnant pool, devoid of joy, sorrow, anger, or any other emotion.

She just looked at Xu Ze as if he were a stone, a blade of grass, or an inanimate object unrelated to her.

Xu Ze felt a slight chill run down his spine.

Is this the true path of ruthlessness?

"It seems you don't remember me."

The woman spoke, her tone flat, not asking a question, but stating a fact.

Xu Ze nodded.

"Yes."

The woman remained silent for a moment.

“That’s fine,” she said. “If I don’t remember, I won’t have any worries, and if I don’t have any worries, I won’t suffer.”

She turned around and continued looking at the painting.

Do you know what this is?

Xu Ze followed her gaze.

It was a huge scroll, about ten zhang long and three zhang wide.

The painting depicts a vast starry sky.

Countless stars, some large, some small, some bright, some dim, dot the scene, creating a magnificent and mysterious picture.

"This is……"

“A star map,” the woman said. “A star map passed down from ancient times, recording the original celestial trajectories of this world.”

She reached out and gently stroked a star on the painting.

"This one represents one of my senior classmates."

Xu Ze looked at that star.