Chapter 1423: Cloud Wangji's True Form

As Xiao Hua finished speaking, an incredibly powerful aura suddenly appeared before the group of four. The figure, dressed entirely in white and standing as straight as a sword, finally revealed himself.

"Sword Immortal Yun Wangji, I've finally met you in person!" Xu Yang said with a smile. The figure slowly turned around, and when his true face was revealed, Xu Yang and his three companions were all astonished by his almost perfect features.

Despite being a figure from hundreds of thousands of years ago, his skin and appearance were indistinguishable from those of a young man in his twenties or thirties. His exquisite, flawless face was no less striking than Xu Yang's; in fact, he possessed an additional unique charisma that made him even more captivating.

Only his long, flowing hair was completely white, appearing to be the sole indicator of the vast passage of time he had experienced.

"My goodness, this senior has no discernible aura, yet he exerts such terrifying pressure. Is this the unique realm of a Sword Immortal?" This thought echoed in Xiao Hua's mind. He even felt that Yun Wangji's mastery of the sword was more formidable than Xu Yang's, a sentiment Xu Yang himself actually shared.

"I have awaited your arrival for hundreds of thousands of years, Xu Yang. Fortunately, you have not disappointed me, nor have you disappointed the woman who passed her angelic bloodline to you. Even that old fellow, Fenghuo Wuji, can now rest in peace in the netherworld, because, in a sense, you have achieved the long-cherished wish he diligently pursued but ultimately failed to realize. At least in the realm of original power cultivation techniques, you have surpassed everyone."

This initial encounter felt somewhat like a mutual flattery session. Sword Immortal Yun Wangji exhibited no sharp edge; instead, he showered Xu Yang with praise, a scenario Xu Yang had not anticipated for their meeting.

"There's no need to flatter me so much, honored sir," Xu Yang replied. "I'm well aware of your influence and standing. You are truly deserving of your reputation as the foremost sword master of all time. My primary reason for coming here is to resolve a problem in the Great World: the absence of a moon for hundreds of thousands of years. Secondly, I am here to fulfill a promise I made to the Goddess of Angels. She once told me that only by finding you and entering the Moonless Heaven realm can I obtain the angelic lineage's supreme divine artifact, the Reincarnation Mirror—the very source of civilization in the Great World. This is something I promised her, and no matter how difficult, I am determined to achieve it."

Yun Wangji's eyes showed approval, and he nodded solemnly. "Very well. Your strength and spirit are commendable. Rest assured, only you can obtain the Reincarnation Mirror. However, much preparatory work remains. The first task upon entering my Moonless Heaven is to defeat me. This is the first test I've set for you. Only by completing all my trials will you receive my guidance to find the Goddess of Angels' supreme divine artifact, the Reincarnation Mirror, and thus, accept your ultimate mission. It is important to note that this assessment is purely one-sided and mandatory. The four of you have entered my Moonless Heaven, a place with no exit. Even if I wished to let you leave, I wouldn't know how. Therefore, your only option to depart from my domain is to advance to a stronger realm, thereby gaining further guidance."

Hearing Yun Wangji's words, everyone looked bewildered. What did he mean by "no exit"?

"Isn't the path we just took to get here the exit?" Long Kun suddenly asked. Yun Wangji responded with a gentle smile.

"The path you took has already vanished completely. In fact, it wasn't a path at all, but a guiding light I manifested for your arrival. Once traversed, that passage can never reappear. Moonless Heaven is so reclusive because it had no exit from the moment it was created. This place was never meant to exist in this world."

As Xu Yang had just realized, because there were no spacetime laws influencing this place, it was theoretically a non-existent space. This very fact allowed it to safeguard the secrets of the Reincarnation Mirror to the greatest extent.

Ling Yao's face showed confusion again. "May I ask, Sword Immortal, given how mysterious this place is, how did you initially create such a space that shouldn't exist?"

Yun Wangji smiled and shook his head. "When did I say I created Moonless Heaven? Essentially, this space was created by the Reincarnation Mirror. I merely brought this secret here at the behest of the Goddess of Angels, waiting for the person destined to carry the legacy and fate of the entire Great World to appear after hundreds of thousands of years. Now, Xu Yang's arrival has given me hope. As for how to break free from this place, that will be part of your later trials. For now, you can do anything you wish in this space, or even remain here forever if you choose. The only way to advance the flow of time is to complete the first trial I've set: defeat me. Not just Xu Yang, but all three of you must also undertake this test. As long as one of you succeeds, you can help the others progress to the next trial. Whenever you are ready, summon me with your spiritual power, and I will immediately appear before you to accept your challenge."

As Yun Wangji finished speaking, he vanished into thin air without leaving even a ripple of aura. This action utterly stunned the other three individuals present, leaving only Xu Yang unfazed.

"My heavens, what kind of realm is this? It's truly incredible!" Xiao Hua exclaimed. "Boss, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe such a mythical figure truly exists in this world. How did he do it?"

Xu Yang calmly smiled. "Didn't he just say? The Moonless Heaven space is entirely unaffected by the laws of time and void. The fact that he can freely traverse this space indicates his actual power has reached a level beyond spacetime laws, or perhaps his realm allows him to manipulate spacetime laws at will without being affected by them. However you assess it, his current strength is beyond our ability to contend with. Even for me, defeating him would only be possible by using my absolute strongest combat power and sacrificing everything. But doing so would render our purpose for entering Moonless Heaven meaningless. We came here to improve ourselves and earn the right to advance to the next challenge. If we can't even defeat him, what could we possibly accomplish if we returned to the Great World? We don't know how much those hidden God-King level powerhouses have grown over the past few centuries; we cannot afford to be complacent."