Chapter 117: The Supreme Profound Realm

The Ancient Star Path is less a road than a mystical, illusory realm. It is a place filled with opportunity, serving simultaneously as a path to transcendence and a road paved with blood.

Anyone who ventures here and manages to return to their original world becomes a hero among men. Those who leave their names upon the peak of the Great Mountain at the very heart of this realm—should they survive the journey home—invariably become true overlords of the vast universe. It is even rumored that the peak of the Great Mountain conceals an even greater secret.

"This entrance has been abandoned for thousands of years. The plane on the other side must have either perished or descended into a wasteland of the Dao. How could anyone still be coming? Xuan Daozi, you aren't mistaken, are you?"

"It is absolute, Demon King in White. I am, after all, a practitioner of the Profound Heaven Realm. Even if my power is sealed, my instincts as a Profound Heaven cultivator remain. How could I be wrong about something like this?"

"Is that so? Then this becomes interesting," the Demon King in White said, a smirk curling his lips. "Hmph, every time the Star Path opens, it requires a compatible soul. A plane that hasn't seen a traveler in so many years must be incredibly weak. Such weakness—what a wonderful opportunity!"

The others around him burst into laughter.

"It’s a pity that brat from earlier managed to run off," someone sighed. "By convention, the first few to appear usually include a compatible soul. If we had caught one, it would have been a significant windfall."

"No matter. We were simply unprepared. Even if he is a compatible soul, he is just a novice. No matter how fast he improves, he is far behind us. We have plenty of time. We only need to capture a few people from that plane and use their inherent life aura as a guide; we’ll track him down eventually!"

"But what if a Dao Heaven powerhouse comes through from the other side?" a plump man in blue asked, frowning.

At this, the group exchanged glances and laughed heartily.

"Rest easy, Fatty Blue. Once you enter the Ancient Star Path, even a Dao Venerable’s cultivation is completely sealed. That plane hasn't seen a powerhouse in thousands of years; they must know next to nothing about the Ancient Star Path. If a Dao Heaven powerhouse suddenly loses all their cultivation, they will be panicked and disoriented. Even if we can't take them down, they certainly won't be our match. At worst, we just let them go."

"But what if they seek revenge later..."

"Fatty Blue, where do you think we are? This is the Ancient Star Path, the Taixuan Space! Every step here is a dance with death. A Dao Heaven powerhouse is formidable, but gaining a foothold here is no easy task. Even if they become powerful enough in the future, they will have endured countless slaughters—how could they possibly remember us?"

The plump man in blue nodded, though his expression remained uneasy. Survival in the Taixuan Space is so arduous that people form teams to support one another, as they had done. Although he was a new addition, he had survived in the Taixuan Space for quite some time and understood his teammates' logic. His anxiety stemmed from his own constitution: his clan was born with the ability to foresee crises. It was precisely because they had foreseen the last great cosmic catastrophe that his family had managed to escape in time.

That was why he felt such profound unease about this current situation. Yet, his teammates were right; even a Dao Venerable would lose all cultivation upon entering the Taixuan Space, and they could surely protect themselves. Furthermore, it was impossible for a plane that had been desolate for eons to harbor a Dao Venerable. Such beings were overlords, possessing fame even in the boundless stars; they were rare even in the most powerful of realms.

"They're here!"

At that moment, the void before them suddenly twisted, and a spatial vortex emerged.

In that very instant, the scalp of the plump man in blue went numb. An intense, overwhelming sense of mortal peril flooded his entire being.

*Something is wrong!*

Unable to help himself, he turned and fled into the distance.

The others frowned, some even contemplating giving chase.

"Leave that newcomer be. He’s a coward; he’s useless anyway!" The Demon King in White impatiently barked at them, then turned his full attention back to the vortex.

A moment later, a delicate figure stepped out of the swirling void. She appeared to be no more than thirteen or fourteen years old.

"Ha! To think it’s just a Half-Step Profound Heaven. Perfect! Everyone, get her!" The Demon King in White laughed and charged forward, taking the lead.

But Xiao Cai did not even spare him a glance. After stepping out, she merely swept her gaze across the surroundings and flicked her finger forward. The gesture seemed effortless, yet the Demon King in White’s eyes widened in horror. He found himself unable to control his own body, as if he had been pulled directly into the path of her finger. Then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, he withered away until nothing remained but a layer of empty skin.

"What!"

Seeing such a grotesque sight, the others who were about to charge were frozen in terror, stopping in their tracks.

Xiao Cai paid them no mind. Having finished the task, she acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to observe her surroundings. "The structure of the Southern Ring freezing point, the suppression laws are the Northern Profound Heaven laws... Is this the Northern Profound Heaven Star Domain?"

She murmured to herself, then couldn't help but close her eyes and take a deep breath, sniffing the air before opening them again.

"So that’s it. It’s Northern Hong Qi. In that case, this must be the Taixuan Space in the Three Spirits Sea of the Northern Profound Heaven Star Domain."

She looked surprised. Only after saying this did she seem to notice the people around her, and she frowned as she looked at them.

"What are you doing?"