Chapter 425: Great Yang Rebirth, Master and Disciple Join Forces to Break the Void (Part 1)

Gray gas roamed throughout the universe, constantly shifting. Sometimes it drifted like wisps of silk before him; at other times it surged majestically like a mighty river, sweeping past planets.

The planets were blood-red, contracting and expanding as if breathing.

With each "breath," gray mist surged towards the land where Zhao Xing stood.

The land then began to pulsate and expand.

This challenge left by Zuo Qiyu was said to offer a glimmer of hope for passing, yet its difficulty was immense.

The challenge itself was extremely abstract! He didn't know where to begin, how to leave, or what he was even supposed to accomplish. It was like a painter at work, when suddenly the heavens poured down a bucket of paint, splattering it all over the canvas, making a complete mess. And then you're told this is a masterpiece that, if understood, would make you a top artist.

"Calm down, observe carefully."

Zhao Xing repeatedly told himself. However, he didn't even need self-suggestion; he had already calmed down. The excitement of finding the challenge was quickly overshadowed by the despair of its high difficulty, and he even immediately felt the urge to give up.

"Maybe I should just give up; it's already wasted too much of my time—wait, how can I think like that?!"

Zhao Xing was startled, then realized that a wisp of gray mist had actually permeated his Great Yang avatar.

The Great Yang avatar quickly repositioned itself, dodging the invading gray mist. As he moved, Zhao Xing felt that not only had he failed to evade it, but his Dao Heart had also become more tainted with 'dust,' and his dispirited thoughts grew increasingly severe.

Within three 'immeasurable hours,' he stopped moving, completely submerged in the gray mist.

The mist was warm, like a soft down quilt, covering the Great Yang avatar.

The Great Yang avatar lay on the ground, and Zhao Xing's main body also lay down on the reef. All his avatars in the outside world seemed to be affected by this emotion, even the avatars in Fengdu Boundary Star in the Northern River Galaxy and at the Jia-Chen Fourteenth Pass were impacted.

"Since the Star Annihilation Corridor, Da Zhou has adjusted its expansion strategy. I sent an avatar from Lord Qianhua to guard this place and temporarily handle new exploration matters. What's wrong with you?" Liu Tianning's avatar was conversing with Zhao Xing when Zhao Xing suddenly lay back.

"Is something wrong?" Liu Tianning leaned forward and asked. However, Zhao Xing didn't respond; his body just became more relaxed.

So relaxed that even this avatar seemed unable to maintain itself; "meridians" on its arm automatically dissolved, a sign of the grass-man avatar's disintegration.

"Zhao Xing!" Liu Tianning immediately grabbed Zhao Xing's arm. The willow branches on his hand unwound like silk threads being pulled apart, then coiled and spread onto Zhao Xing's arm.

"Spirit-Sealing Intent Lock. Cocoon Rebirth!" Liu Tianning used two divine abilities simultaneously. With ripples across his body, he finally stabilized Zhao Xing's form.

But his arm was connected to Zhao Xing's arm, like conjoined twins.

"Teacher, I'm so sleepy..." Zhao Xing said with difficulty.

"What happened to you?!" Liu Tianning's expression was extremely serious. He was already at the Yin-Yang Dao Domain realm, possessed a great divine ability of the mind, and his mastery of grass-man techniques was praised even by Lord Qianhua. Yet, he still didn't know what had happened to Zhao Xing's Great Yang avatar.

Liu Tianning exerted all his strength to cast spells, and magic power surged between them.

Upon reaching the Dao Domain realm, spiritual energy combined with spells to produce magic power, possessing the ability to turn decay into wonder.

And Zhao Xing had not hidden his Great Yang Grass-Man technique; he had shared it with Liu Tianning a long time ago.

Thus, he also knew the Great Yang Grass-Man technique and was very familiar with its structure.

"Zhao Xing, Zhao Xing!"

"Wake up..."

By the Boundary-Surging River, Zhao Xing's main body opened his eyes again, and two perspectives suddenly appeared.

One perspective came from the Great Yang avatar, which was currently attempting the challenge in Taichu City.

The other perspective appeared inside a splendid, golden hall, where Liu Tianning was looking at him with a slight frown.

It was Liu Tianning who was calling his name.

"Teacher? You, I'm—" Zhao Xing was puzzled. "This is my great divine ability, the Mind Palace. It can draw your consciousness into a shared mental space and sense everything happening to you in real-time." Liu Tianning explained, then added, "I saw your main body sitting by a river, and one of your avatars seems to be in a mist. What happened?"

"A great divine ability, the Mind Palace?" Zhao Xing was somewhat shocked. "Teacher, what level have you cultivated to, to be able to affect me across such a vast distance through an avatar?"

"It's already perfected," Liu Tianning said. "How strange, I can see your main body's perspective, but your avatar's is unclear, just a patch of gray mist, seemingly blocked by some force. Are you in the Primal World? Are you safe?"

The Mind's great divine ability perfected? No wonder!

His Great Yang avatar housed the great divine abilities of Rice-Grain Blending Heaven Technique and Five Fingers Mountain, while Liu Tianning's was the Mind Palace. It was precisely because they shared the same origin and were very familiar with each other that a connection could be quickly established.

Zhao Xing quickly realized what was happening and then reassured him: "Teacher, I'm fine. I'm participating in a trial in the Primal World. If I pass, I'll be able to learn a rare grass-man technique."

"It's just that the trial set by that senior is too harsh."

Liu Tianning immediately breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. "So that's it. I thought you had fallen for some trick. It's good that you're okay."

"This challenge is very difficult; I fear I won't be able to pass," Zhao Xing sighed.

Even now, he was still affected by the Grand Illusion, completely unable to rouse his spirits.

Liu Tianning noticed Zhao Xing's sudden despondency and immediately exclaimed, "How can you think like that? Pull yourself together!"

"You spent a thousand years trying to pass, and you've finally reached the last step. How can you easily talk about giving up?!"

"Where's that spirit you had when you asked me to step down?"

Zhao Xing saw Old Liu bring up old memories and could only respond with a wry smile.

"Teacher's lesson is well-taken. Please don't dispel the Mind Palace; keep spurring me on."

"I'm just afraid that senior won't like it."

"No," Zhao Xing shook his head. "Senior Zuo's challenge is not afraid of bystanders giving guidance."

The true Grand Illusion challenge could only theoretically be passed by Origin Realm cultivators. How could Zuo Qiyu be afraid of people giving guidance? By letting avatars attempt it, he was essentially giving people a chance. Zhao Xing's main body could cultivate in various treasure lands within the Primal World while his avatar tackled the challenge. The sheer difficulty of the challenge itself demonstrated this confidence.

In front of the Boundary-Surging River, Zhao Xing's main body stood up again and took a deep breath.

"I've experienced one of the difficulties of the Grand Illusion challenge set by Zuo Qiyu: the illusion. An illusion that can make people sink into despair."

"Illusions typically test mental willpower and soul strength. These two are the foundation for controlling grass-man avatars."

"My current soul level, after a thousand years of cultivation, is already at the Five Elements Dao Domain realm. In terms of mental willpower, both divine abilities, Slaughtering Mind Blades and Mind Bell, are perfected, but I haven't comprehended a great divine ability."

"Facing Zuo Qiyu's trial, it's still somewhat insufficient."

"However, fortunately, I was prepared."

Zhao Xing's main body flipped his hand, and a large quantity of purple pills appeared before him.

"Soul Spirit Pills!"

"Each of these pills costs 10,000 points. Even Dao Domain realm cultivators benefit from them, as they strengthen the soul."

"They are ineffective only at the Reincarnation Realm, where cultivators typically consume 'True Spirit Fruits' instead."

"In the past 1,000 years, I've already consumed 500 pills. Here are another 500, which is the maximum I can take," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

"Originally, I should have taken them slowly, following a two-thousand-year plan to maximize their effect and avoid side effects. But now, I can't worry about that anymore!"

At that moment, a figure passing by the Boundary-Surging River saw Zhao Xing suddenly take out 500 Soul Spirit Pills and couldn't help but freeze, subconsciously exclaiming, "Zhao Xing, are you crazy? You're going to swallow 500 Soul Spirit Pills at once?"

Zhao Xing turned his head and saw that the speaker was Fairy Youling. He grinned and said, "How can we, from the Ego Sect, not be a little crazy?!"

"I'm eating them!"

He opened his enormous mouth and swallowed all 500 pills in one go.

"Hey, you—"

Fairy Youling wanted to say more, but Zhao Xing had already swallowed them in one gulp. She looked at Taichu City in the distance, a thought sparking in her mind: "This guy is so crazy; is it really possible to pass Zuo Qiyu's challenge?"

Fairy Youling, also curious, sent an avatar flying towards Taichu City, while simultaneously transmitting a message to Zhao Xing: "Zhao Xing, have you discovered something? Why not tell me about it?"

"Fairy, would you be willing to teach me the Profound Spirit Borrowing Seed Technique? If you are, I'll tell you." Zhao Xing was currently under the influence of the Grand Illusion, feeling as if an ordinary person had suddenly developed depression. Having someone to talk to and lighten the mood was helpful.

"Oh?" Fairy Youling became interested. "Okay, you go first."

"You teach first."

"But you say it first."

"You first—never mind, pretend I didn't say anything."

Zhao Xing didn't bother to argue further. The Profound Spirit Borrowing Seed Technique was a top-tier sect secret, and Fairy Youling likely wouldn't hand it over easily.

Unexpectedly, Fairy Youling actually walked over. "I'll first transmit a portion of the foundational technique to you. If you have talent, you can come with me to the Three Treasures Dao Sect someday."

"Fairy, don't tease me. I was just joking. Even if you were willing to teach me, I couldn't learn it; it wouldn't conform to your sect's rules."

"What's the problem?" Fairy Youling said, "If you come to the Three Treasures Dao Sect and pretend to be my Dao companion, then you'll meet the requirements."

Zhao Xing, who was digesting the Soul Spirit Pills, couldn't help but be stunned. "Fairy, you... you're serious?"

"Of course," Fairy Youling blinked.

"I can't tell you," Zhao Xing shook his head.

"Are you messing with me?" Fairy Youling was a little angry.

"Just messing with you."

Fairy Youling also noticed that something was wrong with Zhao Xing's state. Over the past thousand years, she had interacted with Zhao Xing, Han Chuchen, and others quite a bit, and Zhao Xing was usually not like this.

"If you won't tell me, I'll try it myself!"

Fairy Youling immediately stopped talking and sent a large number of avatars towards the Boundary-Surging River.

Zhao Xing, beside her, focused on digesting the Soul Spirit Pills.

At this moment, within his Sea of Consciousness, his three souls—Heaven, Earth, and Human—stood upon a tall mountain, continually strengthening.

In the blink of an eye, his soul aura reached the Yin-Yang Dao Domain realm!

A sun symbol appeared on the Heaven Soul's forehead, while a Taiyin (lunar) mark appeared on the Earth Soul's forehead.

"1,000 Soul Spirit Pills originally held the promise of raising my soul level to the Life-Death Dao Domain realm. Now, taking them all at once, I can only reach the Yin-Yang Dao Domain realm."

"I've exhausted the benefits of the Primal World. However, there are many ways to upgrade the soul, but Zuo Qiyu's grass-man technique is hard to learn, so it's worth it!"

Zhao Xing's soul body now exhibited extensive swelling, like a common person covered in acne. These were the side effects of swallowing all the Soul Spirit Pills at once.

Originally, Zhao Xing's aura was handsome; now he looked like a foul-smelling, pus-oozing ugly man.

Furthermore, he would have to endure itching and pain from his soul until the side effects vanished.

However, the benefits were also clear: Zhao Xing felt terrifyingly strong all of a sudden and quickly broke free from the Grand Illusion's influence.

Zhao Xing's main body exhaled a long breath.

Above Taichu City, Zuo Qiyu stood on the city wall, looking into the distance, and Emperor Wudu also appeared beside him.

"This kid is really ruthless. To learn your technique, he actually dared to ruin his own soul's appearance. With his talent, with 1,000 Soul Spirit Pills, he potentially could have directly raised his soul to the Life-Death Dao Domain level, suffering less."

Zuo Qiyu ignored Wudu.

"Still angry?" Emperor Wudu cast a cautious glance. "Alright, I was wrong, wasn't I? I repent to the great and supreme Primal Emissary; consider it my foul mouth—"

"Enough. What do you mean 'consider it my foul mouth'?" Zuo Qiyu retracted his gaze from Zhao Xing and gave Wudu a sidelong look. "You were always vulgar!"

"Thank you for the compliment, Emissary." Wudu smiled shamelessly.

"Get out!"

The Great Yang avatar broke free from the gray mist, but not entirely.

Zhao Xing found that although he was no longer affected by the illusion and had become withdrawn, the gray mist still influenced him.

Only this time, it affected the grass-man body.

"Something's wrong; why am I expanding?!"

Zhao Xing watched as wisps of gray mist passed through him, and then his body involuntarily grew larger, like a balloon being inflated.

"Treasure Mountain Divine Ability!"

Zhao Xing used Wu Tian's divine ability, attempting to control his body size. However, his body continued to expand, quickly surpassing the Five Extremes.

And it was still growing at an alarming rate. It was as if the gray mist was some kind of nutrient, nourishing the Great Yang avatar, making it completely uncontrollable!

"My Great Yang Grass-Man's maximum size is Seven Extremes. If it gets any bigger, I'm going to explode!"

"Rice-Grain Blending Heaven Technique, shrink, shrink, shrink!"

Zhao Xing immediately switched and activated his second divine ability.

The Rice-Grain Blending Heaven Technique was a great divine ability. It could shrink one's body, making the physical form extremely hard, turning the body into indestructible particles that could pierce through anything.

Typically, cultivating the Rice-Grain Blending Heaven Technique to the third stage allowed one to become the size of a normal person's thumb. From the fourth to sixth stage, one could become the size of a grain of rice. If cultivated to perfection, it would be a true particle form, undetectable, purported to break through all defenses, bore into Dao soldiers or enemies to cause destruction, or expand again to directly explode enemies.

"Shrink, shrink, shrink!!"

Due to the unique nature of the Great Yang avatar, the main body couldn't even use the Rice-Grain Blending Heaven Technique, but the Great Yang avatar could, having already reached the fourth stage of the great divine ability.

It instantly reduced its size to less than one extreme. But under the gray mist's proliferation, it quickly transformed back to a size beyond three extremes, surging towards its limit.

The tug-of-war between shrinking and expanding put Zhao Xing in a very bad mood.

"The expanding force exceeds my casting limit. At most, I can hold on for half a year."

"Zuo Qiyu, learning something from you is really damn hard."

Zhao Xing couldn't help but want to curse.

Cursing aside, he still had to pass the challenge. Zhao Xing quickly pondered countermeasures, beginning to sort through his knowledge to find a way to resist.

"I can only try my luck. I don't know if that move can be used on an avatar; my success rate is only 30%."

Within Gu Luo River's inner world, Zhao Xing had already traversed four cultivation grounds.

The first ground was an Emperor-grade tough vine. The second ground was a ten-thousand-year-old willow tree. The third ground was a Reincarnation Realm weed. The fourth ground was an Emperor-grade green bamboo.

"Gu Luo River once said that I had embarked on the path of the Great Dao of Life, taking the first step into the Dao Realm."

"Every three cultivation grounds counted as one step. The first step was Life Origin, and my Stem Combat divine ability was enough to shake the life essence, comprehensively strengthening my variant techniques and world techniques."

"Now taking the second step, I've comprehended Life Resurgence, a Dao realm applied to spells, benefiting grass-man techniques, world techniques, parasitic techniques, divine splendor techniques, and more."

"However, I haven't fully comprehended the second step of the Great Dao of Life. Applying Life Resurgence to grass-men only has a 30% success rate."

At this point, it was too late to make any breakthroughs. Zhao Xing could only give his best shot.

Half a year later.

The Great Yang Grass-Man burst apart amidst its rapid expansion.

As previously anticipated, caught in the tug-of-war of size changes, Zhao Xing's Great Yang Grass-Man still couldn't hold on.

Zuo Qiyu's voice appeared in the vast void.

"Zhao Xing, you have failed."

"Wait a moment, Senior!" Zhao Xing suddenly stood up. "I haven't failed yet!"

"Oh?" Zuo Qiyu looked at the scattered remnants of Zhao Xing's grass-man. "Have you not yet shaken off the Grand Illusion's influence, unable to see that your grass-man has exploded?"

Zhao Xing transmitted his voice from afar: "Senior, the consciousness within my avatar has not dissipated. I actively dissipated it just now. Please wait patiently, Senior."

Zuo Qiyu's heart stirred, and he looked again at the grass-man remnants on the ground. Then a strange glint flashed in his eyes.

He saw that a portion of the scattered grass-man remnants had slanted into the soil, and a touch of green emerged from a branch, quickly sprouting a tender leaf.

"Scattered grass re-seeded, cyclical rebirth—so he comprehended the second true meaning of the Great Dao of Life, Life Resurgence." Emperor Wudu also looked at the grass-man remnants below. "A genius, truly a genius, Brother Zuo. This kid has quite the demeanor you had back in the day."

Comprehending the Dao is one thing, and spells are another. Being able to apply the comprehended Great Dao to learned spells is truly rare and valuable. Emperor Wudu had seen many geniuses, but Zhao Xing's aptitude truly astonished him. Even if Zhao Xing were a reincarnation, Wudu would find him astonishing, let alone the fact that he believed Zhao Xing was not a reincarnated being.

"Being able to create great divine abilities, Zhao Xing's genius level is already close to Du Yun among cultivators. Although he's still very young, brother, just teach him," Wudu urged.

"Speak one more word of nonsense, and you'll get out of Taichu City," Zuo Qiyu glared at Wudu.

"Alright, I won't say anything more. I'll shut up." Wudu covered his mouth with his hand.

Seeing that Zuo Qiyu had not ended the challenge, Zhao Xing breathed a sigh of relief.

At the peak of his mental and spiritual energy, he finally didn't let himself down. He successfully performed Great Yang Resurgence—an original great divine ability that applied Life Resurgence to the Great Yang Grass-Man. This caused the foundational materials of his Great Yang Grass-Man to scatter around him according to his predetermined trajectory.

At this moment, a portion of his divine sense resided in a 'left rib,' which was a 'Soul Mulberry Wood.' The presence of the gray mist accelerated its growth.

A month later, Zhao Xing discovered that many materials had regained vitality and now possessed the magical foundation to allow the Great Yang Grass-Man to regenerate.

"Great Yang Rebirth, rise!!"

The Soul Mulberry Wood lifted from the ground, floating in the air. The underground forest shook, and flowers, grass, and leaves flew everywhere, transforming into torrents of materials that converged towards the Soul Mulberry Wood in the sky.

After another month and a half, the Great Yang Grass-Man reappeared, its vitality even more immense!

"From now on, the growth-inducing expansion caused by the gray mist is no longer a difficulty for me." Zhao Xing was now full of confidence because, having experienced this critical Great Yang Resurgence once, his system panel showed a rapid increase in the skill's proficiency. It had already reached the third stage of a great divine ability. If it were only at the first stage, there might still be a chance of failure across such a distance. But having entered the third stage of a great divine ability, failure was no longer possible; it was considered truly mastered.

Upon seeing Zhao Xing's Great Yang Grass-Man reappear, Zuo Qiyu's voice sounded again.

"The final trial of the Grand Illusion challenge is very simple."

"If your avatar or divine sense can leave this world, you pass."

Zuo Qiyu's voice was calm, as if certain Zhao Xing could not pass. Zhao Xing was not annoyed; instead, he cupped his hands.

"Thank you for the guidance, Senior!"

After speaking, he began to ponder seriously.

"My avatar or divine sense can leave? But this world looks like an infinite universe; how can I get out?"

Zhao Xing scanned his surroundings, finding the current scene indistinguishable from the real cosmic starry sky. He used Soul Heaven-Sight but couldn't see the end of the world. The Great Yang Grass-Man left the land and flew outwards, but even after flying 100 million li, Zhao Xing saw no barrier. The endless void, vast and empty, seemed to trap Zhao Xing here.

"I can't fly anymore. My Great Yang avatar, away from the land covered by gray mist, has no spiritual energy support, and will fall apart sooner or later."

The cold, spiritless void reminded Zhao Xing of the Barren Domain. But this place was even more desolate than the Barren Domain; no spiritual energy could be absorbed at all.

"Return!"

Zhao Xing's avatar fell back onto the gray land.

Time slowly flowed, and a period of thought led to thirty years passing.

"Still no clue," Zhao Xing shook his head within the Mind Palace. "Teacher, I always feel that Zuo Qiyu is intentionally making things difficult."

"You can remove 'feel' from that sentence; he *is* making things difficult," Liu Tianning laughed. "Wanting to learn someone's technique, how could it be so simple? There's no free lunch in the universe."

"Countless geniuses haven't obtained his grass-man technique, so of course it's difficult. If there were no difficulty, would it be your turn?"

"Don't dwell on the difficulty; find a way," Liu Tianning said. "Analyze the problems, then solve them. Come on, tell me what you've seen in these thirty years."

Zhao Xing nodded, transmitting his observations to the Mind Palace for Liu Tianning to see. Liu Tianning also closed his eyes, remaining silent.

Three years later, he suddenly spoke.

"Heaven and Earth are great, but in the Grand Void, they are but one thing."

Zhao Xing suddenly looked up: "Teacher, what did you say?"

"The Grand Void is formless, the essence of qi. Its gathering and scattering are but the forms of change." Liu Tianning said another sentence, then opened his eyes. "What I just said is my understanding of the rumored Grand Void Grass-Man... Zhao Xing, I feel like you're not inside a world right now."

Zhao Xing's mind stirred: "Teacher, are you saying—"

"Yes," Liu Tianning affirmed. "Your avatar is inside the Grand Void Grass-Man."

"When you entered Taichu City and were swallowed by the black light, you were actually swallowed into the Grand Void Grass-Man's belly."

Zhao Xing suddenly understood: "The Grand Void Challenge, so this is the true Grand Void Challenge. I understand now."

"Teacher, is this challenge from Zuo Qiyu actually meant for me to control the Grand Void Grass-Man that exists within Taichu City?"

"Very likely. Zuo Qiyu said that both your divine sense leaving and your body leaving would count as passing," Liu Tianning laughed. "So, controlling the Grand Void Grass-Man naturally counts as a method. No, it should be the only method!"

"I see that the planets connected by the gray mist resemble the structure of human meridians, though they are quite scattered. You might want to start there."