Chapter 25: Acknowledging the Master

At this moment, Li Ruoyu once again retrieved something from the Sumeru Mustard Seed—it was the Egg of the Fire-Devouring Ant. Gazing at it, he submerged it in his own blood once more, then used the Blood Refinement Evil Art to imprint his own mark upon it, deepening the bond between himself and the egg. This act left him even more weakened.

Next, Li Ruoyu took out a stone radiating a dazzling pale light, roughly the size of a fist. This was the Phoenix Marrow, obtained together with the Fire-Devouring Ant’s Egg. As he looked at the Phoenix Marrow, a thought stirred in his heart.

He produced the World-Destroying Pearl and placed it together with the Phoenix Marrow. The Phoenix Marrow was a supreme yang-attributed divine material, of a grade even higher than most. Li Ruoyu speculated that combining it with the World-Destroying Pearl might yield unexpected results.

Indeed, it worked. The World-Destroying Pearl began to slowly absorb the Phoenix Marrow, though not as quickly as it had absorbed the Extreme Cold Divine Marrow; the process was sluggish. “Is it because the Phoenix Marrow is more refined than the Extreme Cold Divine Marrow?” Li Ruoyu wondered. After all, Phoenix Marrow could only take form when genuine phoenix blood dripped upon stone, then was nurtured by time, refined by blazing fire, enduring countless ages before taking shape. Tempered by the world’s fires over millions of years, it was extraordinarily pure and condensed.

Though slow, the World-Destroying Pearl was indeed absorbing the Phoenix Marrow, confirming Li Ruoyu’s guess and bringing him joy. To possess such a treasure and not understand its use was akin to owning a mountain of gold and being unable to spend it. When only a small fragment of the fist-sized Phoenix Marrow remained, the World-Destroying Pearl finally ceased its absorption. Now, the bead’s black surface had transformed into a deep, mottled red-black.

Among all the items Li Ruoyu had obtained, the World-Destroying Pearl was the most mysterious. He only knew that once, a mighty being from beyond the domain had pursued him across realms solely to seize this very pearl—proof enough of its value.

Li Ruoyu took out the Grand Soul Banner and revived its power as a safeguard against any mishap. During his tribulation, he had learned firsthand that this treasure’s defense was extraordinary. Its only flaw was the enormous energy consumption, even when only a fraction of its power was awakened, making it impossible to maintain for long. Thus, Li Ruoyu rarely used it lightly. Yet for the World-Destroying Pearl, he deemed it worth the risk.

He dripped his blood upon the pearl once more. Instantly, the blood was absorbed, and Li Ruoyu felt the world spin; he collapsed to the ground.

“Am I inside the World-Destroying Pearl?” Li Ruoyu found himself in a vague, misty place, his form insubstantial—only a single thought remained. “Is this the essence of my soul?” he wondered. Around him, the fog was tinged with a peculiar hue, a blend of gray suffused with a faint white. Probing deeper with his consciousness, Li Ruoyu saw, in the distance, a pillar of light stretching from earth to sky, wreathed in strands of black and white.

He reached toward the white light. The instant he touched it, a searing pain tore through his soul, as if it were being ripped apart. A portion of his soul was indeed torn away and drawn into the pillar. Li Ruoyu’s consciousness slipped into darkness.

Three months passed before a flicker of awareness returned to him. As time went on, his consciousness gradually recovered, and by the fifth month he was fully awake. Looking around, he saw that the defensive barrier set by the Grand Soul Banner had long since faded; the banner lay discarded on the ground. After months of unconsciousness, his divine energy was nearly depleted, leaving him on the brink of death. Carefully, he placed a potent elixir in his mouth and slowly began to recover, inching away from the edge of death. Three days later, he had regained his strength.

After retrieving the Grand Soul Banner, Li Ruoyu felt a surge of relief that he had chosen a safe and well-hidden place to rest; had he been careless, survival in the Valley of Fallen Demons would have been impossible. Searching for the World-Destroying Pearl, he found it had vanished.

“The World-Destroying Pearl can’t have just disappeared. Could it be inside my body?” he speculated. Focusing his senses inward, Li Ruoyu discovered the World-Destroying Pearl now resided in his mind.

He knew that at a certain level of cultivation, one could store objects within oneself as in a Sumeru Mustard Seed. But his own cultivation was far from sufficient for such a feat—it must be the peculiar property of the World-Destroying Pearl itself, which made Li Ruoyu value it all the more.

Li Ruoyu directed his consciousness toward the World-Destroying Pearl and sensed the space contained within. At last, he could see its inner landscape: the foggy haze resembled two overlapping disks, and at the very center rose a pillar of light, which turned out to be a bead.

He attempted to store his Sumeru Mustard Seed within the World-Destroying Pearl, and it worked. The seed appeared inside the pearl. He transferred the contents from both Sumeru Mustard Seeds into the pearl, discovering that, like the seeds, it could preserve living things—the Fire-Devouring Ant egg survived the transfer. Then he tried to enter the pearl himself, but failed, unsure whether it was due to his low cultivation or some other reason.

Acknowledging that recognizing the World-Destroying Pearl as its master must have cost him a great deal of time, Li Ruoyu realized he now lagged even further behind his peers. He resolved to cultivate diligently until he reached the Realm of Comprehending the Dao, so as not to fall too far behind.

“This place is still fairly safe—after some arrangements, I can begin my seclusion here.”

After setting up protective wards, Li Ruoyu began his closed-door cultivation. The Realm of Comprehending the Dao was a mysterious stage, attainable only through personal insight; no earthly treasure could help, unless it specifically aided enlightenment.

“What is Dao? What is the Way? How does one seek it? Is the Dao like the rain, the wind? Or like the blazing sun and its yang path, or the moon and its yin path? These are the paths written in the ancient texts, said to exist between heaven and earth. But is this truly so?” Li Ruoyu recalled the records in the Heaven Burial Forbidden Art. If one cultivates the Dao of Heaven and Earth, might one become entangled in cosmic cause and effect, ultimately affecting oneself? “Heaven and Earth have their own Dao, not mine,” he thought, remembering the teaching: ‘Being arises from being, non-being from being.’ If it is not his path, then he would carve out his own, forging a Dao from nothingness—his own unique way.

Li Ruoyu remembered his Innate Withered Desolation Body and decided to begin his insights from there, seeking to comprehend its peculiarities. He extended his consciousness throughout his body. Three days later, he began to discern a unique quality within the Withered Desolation Body, especially apparent in his left hand. There, immense divine power dwelled, yet it was shrouded in a layer of deathly aura—seemingly from the very dusk of heaven and earth. This was not a literal mist, but more a feeling, like the faint whiff of decay that clings to one standing at death’s threshold. “Is the sorrow of the Withered Desolation Body related to this aura of decline?” he wondered. He did not know, but he could sense the divine power within his left hand. If he had to describe it in a word—

“Desolation.”

Yes, that was it—desolation. Sensing this power, Li Ruoyu felt a breath of ancient times, as if this energy had traveled through endless ages along the river of time to reach the present. It seemed imbued with the essence of time itself, able to cross the current of years, though now it was bound by the shroud of dusk, unable to break free—sealed away.

Li Ruoyu summoned all his divine power, including the strength of the Chains of Order, and poured it into the desolate energy. At last, it broke through the shackles of dusk and burst forth. As his consciousness touched this force, he sensed the spirit of ages past, as if drifting through the river of time, wandering through history.

“The Dao of Time?” Li Ruoyu channeled the desolate energy into a nearby sapling. Instantly, the tree shot skyward, becoming a towering giant. Its leaves then rapidly yellowed, crumbled into dust, and the trunk itself withered and rotted, turning to decay. This was the power of time. Previously, when awakening his left hand, all he had sensed was its raw strength, which seemed at odds with the ancient descriptions of the Withered Desolation Body. In terms of pure power, many constitutions—like the Immortal Blood Body or the Sacred Blood Body—could surpass it. That did not match the saying, “All bow before the Withered Desolation.” Now, having touched the divine resonance of time, and wielded its force, Li Ruoyu finally understood the true defiance of his unique body.

Time—who can grasp it?

Time—who can comprehend it?

Time—who can reverse it?

Now, with the Withered Desolation Body, Li Ruoyu seemed to possess a faint glimmer of possibility.

Having just brushed the Dao of Time, he smoothly broke through into the Realm of Comprehending the Dao. Heart racing, he emerged from his hiding place. Overhead, black clouds began to gather, spreading ever wider across the sky. Li Ruoyu looked up at the endless, boundless clouds that seemed to brim with immeasurable might.

He quickly drew forth the Grand Soul Banner, gripping it tightly in preparation for the impending tribulation. After about half the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the first bolt of heavenly lightning struck toward him. Li Ruoyu, holding the Grand Soul Banner in his right hand, refrained from activating its full power, curious to see if he could withstand the lightning on his own. He guided a thread of desolate energy, now infused with the Dao of Time, to meet the lightning head-on.

As the two forces collided, a sizzling sound filled the air. Gradually, the lightning pressed down the desolate energy and struck Li Ruoyu directly. His hand was instantly split open, skin flayed to the bone, but at the same time, he felt a surge of vitality rise from the wound, helping it heal and even strengthening his body further.