Chapter 1077: That Person, Who Is It?

The sigh of the Xia Xian Palace echoed through the lonely passage of time.

Within this ancient temple, only a small butterfly could hear it. At that moment, however, she didn't understand the sigh's true meaning. She was still preoccupied with why her master always called her 'slow-witted' and why her master insisted on helping someone she disliked. She didn't notice the fleeting look of determination in her master's eyes.

Xu Qing, too, had not heard this sigh. He was currently in secluded meditation at Ming Yan's cultivation site. Within his mind, he gazed at the dandelions floating in his sea of consciousness. After a few moments of silence, he made a decisive choice.

“Eight Extremes…” Xu Qing murmured. His spiritual consciousness suddenly expanded, merging with the dandelions. In an instant, Xu Qing's mind roared as if the sound of creation itself had erupted within his soul. This sound shattered time, forming a guide that led Xu Qing's soul into the Thick Earth Immortal Source, a place he had visited before.

It was an endless void filled with a mire of flesh and blood. Above this fleshy mire, the colossal dandelion continued to grow. Innumerable imprints were branded onto its branches, each emanating astonishing power. When combined, these made the dandelion divinely extraordinary and unique. The fleshy mire beneath, which nourished it, was formed from the corpses of countless deities. It supplied the dandelion with eternal power. Simultaneously, the divine souls of these deities were confined there, forced to kneel and utter shrill, terrifying wails. Their divine cries served to further enhance the dandelion's operation. This was the Immortal Source, created by the nine great Xia Immortals, formed by burying a divine realm.

Even having visited once before, Xu Qing's heart still stirred upon entering for the second time. His gaze settled on the dandelion. It was in full bloom, scattering countless fluffy seeds that continuously drifted further and further away. At the same time, these seeds also returned, merging back into the dandelion to be absorbed, transformed, and then dispersed once more. This formed a continuous cycle.

As he gazed upon this, Xu Qing's spiritual consciousness, in the next instant, merged into it. There, his myriad spiritual thoughts boomed outward, expanding into hundreds of thousands, millions, and even tens of millions of strands. They followed all the seeds, covering the void, the starry sky, and every single inheritance. Countless Dao methods appeared before his eyes, and numerous indistinct figures emerged within his perception. They were practicing and cultivating. Here, time seemed to lose its effect, and space lost its bearings. The only thing that existed was the boundless record of inheritances. It was like a vast library.

Gazing at all this and perceiving everything, Xu Qing silently recited the words 'Eight Extremes' within his soul. Almost immediately after his spiritual consciousness was projected, the boundless inheritances within the Immortal Source suddenly blurred. Only three clusters of seeds slowly emerged from its deepest reaches.

“These are the inheritance visions of three Eight Extremes. You only have enough time to comprehend two clusters. I cannot help you choose.”

As Xu Qing looked at the three clusters of seeds, the ancient voice of the Xia Xian Palace Master echoed within the Immortal Source. Xu Qing remained silent, his gaze fixed upon them. In the first cluster, only a single figure was vaguely visible, seemingly meditating and comprehending. The second contained two figures gazing at each other, though their forms were indistinct. The third cluster showed three figures, seemingly engaged in an inheritance ritual.

There were only two opportunities. The choice… After scanning all three, Xu Qing's gaze decisively locked onto the second cluster. He chose the second cluster because he vaguely sensed that the two indistinct figures within it seemed to share a common origin. “A clone and the main body?” Xu Qing mused.

Lost in thought, Xu Qing took a step and poured his spiritual consciousness into the second cluster of dandelion seeds. The next instant, the heavens and earth roared. A scene recorded in the history of Thick Earth appeared before Xu Qing’s eyes.

The scene depicted an unfamiliar continent. To Xu Qing, it couldn't compare to Wanggu, yet it possessed unique characteristics. Beneath it, numerous fierce beasts were sealed. It seemed these beasts were used as the continent's driving force. Xu Qing's main focus, however, was on a palace on this continent. The sky above it seemed to be cut off from the surroundings, existing independently. Night and day were constantly alternating!

As Xu Qing looked down, a soft hum emanated from within the palace. The remarkable sound shattered the heavens and earth, giving birth to shimmering runes. Xu Qing's eyes narrowed as he recognized that each rune contained primeval power. “It’s a restriction,” Xu Qing murmured. His interest piqued, Xu Qing wished to see the cultivator inside the palace, but something held him back. It wasn't the cultivator, but the dandelion's power, that prevented him. Xu Qing thoughtfully understood he was merely an observer, able only to witness the unfolding scene, not to interact with it.

As time slowly passed, more and more restriction runes appeared on the palace's sky canopy. However, they began to show signs of instability and started to dissipate. Just then, an earth-shattering roar emanated from the palace, immediately followed by five long rainbows that soared from within. Although Xu Qing's view remained indistinct, the moment these five figures appeared, he immediately sensed the power of the five elements emanating from them. “Those are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.”

Xu Qing stared intently, continuing to watch. He watched as the five rainbows on the sky canopy each radiated the essence of their respective five elements. Then… the five rainbows converged, forming a single Five-Element True Body. This True Body stood between heaven and earth. With a single inhale, its body abruptly expanded, transforming into a giant a thousand zhang tall! Standing tall, it began to stabilize the erratic primeval restriction runes surrounding it.

Just as the countless runes slowly stabilized and the signs of collapse subsided under its influence, a brutal roar erupted from deep within the earth. A grotesque soul manifested with the roar. It was a spherical mass of flesh with a single giant eye that exuded ferocity and madness. The moment he saw the creature, Xu Qing’s eyes glinted. This creature bore a striking resemblance to the Netherfei he had encountered. Most notably, it shared the same earth-shattering malevolence.

Upon its appearance, this malevolent soul fixated on the Five-Element True Body above the palace. A flicker of greed crossed its enormous single eye. It then charged forward. As it drew nearer, its roars grew sharper. But just as it neared, a calm voice echoed through the heavens and earth. “Still.”

With that single word, all things became still, utterly motionless. The charging malevolent soul, its entire illusory body, was frozen in place between heaven and earth, as if perfectly still. The ferocity in its single eye remained, but it too was solidified. Witnessing this, Xu Qing’s eyes shone with a strange light as he continued to observe.

He saw that after the malevolent soul was frozen, all the surrounding primeval restriction runes, as if ravenous after countless years, rushed towards it like starving beasts finding food. They drilled one by one into the malevolent soul's body. The malevolent soul trembled, emitting a faint glow as it dissipated, being devoured. The ferocity in its eye vanished, replaced by an illusory human figure that emerged from within. It stepped out of the single eye, standing between heaven and earth, its entire being imbued with vast primeval restriction power.

This scene stirred Xu Qing's mind. “Is this the shaping of a Primeval Restriction True Body? Luring the malevolent soul with the Five-Element True Body, then using the soul's body as special nourishment to complete the formation!” As Xu Qing pondered, the shaping process had not yet concluded.

Within the alternating black and white sky, the daytime transformed into a nascent sun, becoming a streak of light that instantly merged into the motionless malevolent soul. The malevolent soul trembled, its body shrinking further. From its single eye, a second figure emerged. This figure, radiating brilliant light like the sun, stepped from the single eye and stood beside the Primeval Restriction True Body. Next, the remaining darkness, drawing in all the blackness from the heavens and earth, also merged into the malevolent soul's body. The malevolent soul trembled, and its single eye collapsed, from within which emerged a third Primeval True Body! The moment this body appeared, an intense killing intent erupted from within it. It intimidated all.

Xu Qing stared intently at the third Primeval Body, his heart profoundly stirred. The next instant, the Five-Element True Body also began absorbing the malevolent soul's power, one by one. Xu Qing immediately saw the underlying principle. “When a soul is torn apart, there's an inherent instinct to become whole again. This instinct generates a powerful pull, and the more malevolent the soul, the stronger this pull. By leveraging this instinct as a medium, all true bodies can fuse through this bridge!”

As Xu Qing absorbed all this, a sheet of black lightning suddenly surged from within the palace. Accompanying it was a cold voice. “Return to One!” Almost instantly, a vast spiritual consciousness boomed forth, enveloping the heavens and earth. All bodies converged into one! Forming a black-haired Malevolent Body! An ultimate aura emanated from its body—the primeval power of slaughter, capable of destroying all beings and shattering heaven and earth!

“From this moment forward, you shall execute all enemies on my behalf, disseminate destructive thoughts, and slay all opposing souls! You are hereby named Lumo, and your Daoist title shall be Punishment!” A resounding voice emanated from the palace on the earth. Concurrently, the vision ended.

Before Xu Qing’s eyes, the world instantly collapsed, and his spiritual consciousness returned to the Immortal Source at the moment of its destruction. The second cluster of dandelion seeds before him dissipated.

“This is a precious record of the Eight Extremes Dao, of fusion into one. Whether you can master it depends on your fortune.” The voice of the Xia Xian Palace Master echoed within the Immortal Source.

Xu Qing remained silent, the scenes he had just witnessed replaying in his mind. After a long moment, he suddenly spoke. “Senior, who… was that person?”

The Xia Xian Palace Master did not answer Xu Qing’s question. Instead, after a brief silence, a low voice resonated. “Perhaps, with the passage of time, you will encounter him. You two are of the same kind.”

Xu Qing’s gaze lingered on the spot where the second cluster of dandelion had just been. After a moment, he turned his attention to the first cluster and poured his spiritual consciousness into it. The next moment, an even more ancient scene unfolded before Xu Qing’s eyes.

The scene depicted a majestic middle-aged cultivator, clad in imperial robes. He was revered as an ancestor by countless clansmen, who hailed him as the Immortal Ancestor. Yet, at this moment, he was bowing before a broken stone, upon which a blurry totem was carved. The totem depicted a crystal shattered into ten fragments. Five of these fragments contained Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, respectively. One contained space, and another contained time. The remaining three were unknown. Around the crystal, infants and stars were depicted, seemingly representing creation. As the Immortal Ancestor worshipped, he seemed to comprehend a cultivation technique from the shattered crystal fragments. Afterward, the totem completely blurred and ceased to exist.

Witnessing all this, Xu Qing’s mind was even more profoundly stirred. He didn't know if that Immortal Ancestor had grasped the full significance, but in that moment of intense observation, Xu Qing seemed to witness the birth of a star-ring. And the power contained within those ten shattered crystal fragments was clearly… the Eight Extremes Dao.

“The origin…” Xu Qing murmured.

He returned to the Immortal Source. He remained silent for a long time, closing his eyes and expanding his spiritual consciousness to analyze and comprehend everything he had witnessed during his journey. Time flowed onward. He didn't know how many years had passed within the dandelion. It felt as if centuries had elapsed, yet in reality, only thirty breaths had passed.

“Time is up.” The voice of the Xia Xian Palace Master resounded.

Xu Qing opened his eyes. His eyes now held the essence of the five elements. He rose and bowed.