The Next Morning
The sun of the Middle Plane rose, casting a pale, filtered light over Heiyun City. It lacked the vibrant, chaotic warmth of the ancient suns Shen Xuan remembered, feeling more like a cold lamp in a prison cell.
After emerging from his own Chaos Sea, Shen Xuan had slept dreamlessly. He woke with the dawn, his mind sharp but heavy with the revelations of the night.
In the private courtyard of the Cloud Rest Inn, the group gathered for a morning meal. The air was crisp, scented with blooming Spirit-Plum blossoms. Shen Xuan sat at the head of the table, Xiao Yang, Xiao Ding, and Gui Ran arrayed around him.
The mood was somber.
"Young Master Shen," Xiao Ding began, his voice low. He placed a small, rectangular token in the center of the table. It was made of crimson jade, pulsing with a faint, rhythmic light. "I believe you have seen this."
Shen Xuan frowned. His gaze lingered on the object. It felt... intrusive. Like an eye that never blinked.
"This is the token used to enter the city," Shen Xuan said slowly. "And to check into this inn."
"Correct," Xiao Ding nodded gravely. "But it is far more than a key. It is a shackle. Without it, you do not exist."
Shen Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Explain."
"In the current Chaos Era," Xiao Ding said, his voice dropping to a whisper, "every sentient being must possess an Identity Token. It is the decree of the Central Alliance. Without it, you are a ghost. You cannot buy resources. You cannot enter cities. You cannot trade."
"A bureaucratic annoyance," Shen Xuan dismissed. "Is that all?"
"No," Xiao Ding said, leaning forward. The shadows under his eyes seemed deeper today. "This token records everything. Your cultivation realm. Your talent grade. Your bloodline origin. Your movements across the planes. It is linked to the Grand Formation that spans the entire Chaos Universe."
He tapped the table. Tap. Tap.
"Without it, you cannot board Void Ships. You cannot access Teleportation Portals. You cannot join Sects or enter Secret Realms. And most terrifyingly... without it, you cannot undergo Heavenly Tribulation."
Shen Xuan froze. His eyes narrowed into slits. "Explain that part. Carefully."
"The Heavenly Tribulation is now regulated," Xiao Ding said, his voice trembling slightly. "The token acts as a lightning rod, dispersing the lethality of the tribulation for recognized citizens. If you attempt to ascend without a token... the Grand Formation designates you as a 'Foreign Anomaly'. It will direct the full, unsuppressed wrath of the Heavenly Dao upon you. Not to test you. But to erase you. Body and soul. No reincarnation."
Silence.
Absolute, suffocating silence descended on the courtyard. The wind stopped rustling the leaves. Even the koi in the pond seemed to freeze.
Shen Xuan stared at the red token. His expression was calm, a mask of jade, but inside, his mind was a tempest.
Regulated Tribulation? A Grand Formation spanning the cosmos? This was not administration. This was absolute control. It was a cage built around the entire universe.
"From your perspective," Shen Xuan asked softly, looking up at Xiao Ding, "is this a blessing or a curse?"
Xiao Ding sighed, the sound heavy with the weight of centuries.
"For the mediocre... for the ants... it is a blessing. It provides order. Safety. But for those whose talent suppresses the heavens... for dragons like you... it is a chain. A collar. It ensures that no one can rise high enough to challenge the ones who hold the leash."
"What...?" Xiao Yang whispered, his face pale. "Grandpa... you're talking treason. The Registry Token protects us. The system maintains peace among the trillions of planes!"
"Peace?" Xiao Ding laughed bitterly. "Xiao Yang, you are still a child. You see the walls and think they are for protection. I see them and know they are to keep us in. Go to the Ruin Worlds. Talk to the remnants of the neutral clans. Ask them about 'peace'."
Shen Xuan listened, a cold smile touching his lips.
So, he thought. The usurpers didn't just destroy my clan. They enslaved the Dao itself.
He felt a familiar fire ignite in his chest. Indignation. Rage. But also... amusement.
They think a token can stop me?
He didn't need their resources.
His body was a masterpiece of the Old Era. The resources he had consumed in his first ten years of life exceeded the entire output of this pathetic Middle Plane.
He didn't need their protection.
He would reincarnate even if they burned the cycle of Samsara.
But he needed mobility.
Even a Supreme Realm cultivator would need thousands of lifetimes to cross the Chaos Universe physically.
Without the portals, he was trapped in this backwater galaxy.
"Is there a way to bypass the search?" Shen Xuan asked, his voice calm.
"Your bloodline is the problem," Xiao Ding said bluntly. "If the formation scans you and finds ancient Shen blood... the alarm will ring across the universe. The Protector of this Galaxy, an Ancestral Saint, will descend personally to erase you. If it doesn't recognize you... you are labeled a 'Foreign Invader' and hunted down."
"So," Shen Xuan said, "death or death."
"Unless..." Xiao Ding hesitated. "Unless we deceive the heavens."
Shen Xuan's eyes sharpened. "Speak."
"Can Young Master produce the spear your father left you?"
Shen Xuan nodded.
He didn't hesitate. With a thought, a spatial ripple distorted the air next to him.
Hummm.
The Eternal Spear materialized. It hovered in the air, three meters of dark, blood-stained metal etched with dragons and forgotten runes. It radiated a sorrow so profound it made the air heavy.
"It was in your Sea of Consciousness?" Xiao Ding asked, impressed.
"Not a storage ring?"
"Yes," Shen Xuan replied.
"Young Master... why did you leave me outside?"
A voice, clear as a bell, chimed from the spear.
Whoosh.
A spiritual body materialized. Ling'er floated in the air, her dragon horns glinting in the sunlight, her expression pouty.
"A Weapon Spirit?!"
Gui Ran and Xiao Yang gasped in unison. Weapon Spirits were legends in this era, found only in artifacts of the highest grade.
"She's... beautiful," Xiao Yang murmured, entranced.
"Xiao Yang! Silence!" Xiao Ding barked, sweating.
"Do not be rude!"
"Hey! You!" Ling'er floated over to Xiao Yang, crossing her arms. She looked down at him with imperious disdain.
"A hundred-year-old toddler in the Divine Transformation Realm dares to ogle this lady? Speak again and I'll beat you until your ancestors feel it!"
"Ling'er. Enough," Shen Xuan said lazily.
"Hmph!" She stuck her tongue out at Xiao Yang, then shrank down to the size of a doll and sat on Shen Xuan's shoulder, swinging her legs.
Xiao Ding stared at the spear lying on the red sandalwood table. It looked rusted, old, dead. But his instincts screamed that it was a sleeping monster.
"This spear..." Xiao Ding murmured. "It feels... beyond Emperor Grade."
"Hmph," Ling'er sneered from Shen Xuan's shoulder.
"Frogs in a well. This spear was forged from the World-Tree Core of a primordial dimension, tempered in the blood of Chaos Origin Dragons, and inscribed by two Quasi-Sovereigns. Calling it 'Emperor Grade' is an insult."
The three cultivators stared at her, mouths agape. They didn't recognize half the materials she listed, but the names alone carried a crushing weight.
"Ling'er," Shen Xuan warned. "Quiet. Or no Soul-Nourishing Jade for a month."
"Zip!" She mimed locking her mouth and throwing away the key.
Shen Xuan turned back to Xiao Ding. "You asked for the spear. What is your plan?"
Xiao Ding took a deep breath. He stared at the weapon, his eyes gleaming with a mix of fear and calculation.
"Young Master," Xiao Ding said slowly. "The Heavenly Registry Formation scans three things: Bone Age, Cultivation Realm, and Soul Signature. We can fake the first two easily. But the Soul Signature... that is connected to the origin of your existence."
He pointed a trembling finger at the spear.
"This weapon... it carries the aura of a destroyed timeline. It exists outside the current laws of the Heavenly Registry Token because it predates them."
He looked Shen Xuan in the eye.
"The plan is dangerous. We must use the spear's aura to mask your own soul. We need to trick the formation into believing you are not a 'person' but an 'artifact spirit' inhabiting a human body.
Artifact Spirits are exempt from bloodline scans."
Shen Xuan's eyes widened slightly. "You want me to register as a weapon?"
"It is the only way," Xiao Ding said grimly. "But if the formation sees through the disguise... the backlash will shatter your soul and detonate the spear."
Shen Xuan looked at the spear. He looked at Ling'er, who looked back with concern.
He smiled. A cold, dangerous smile.
"A weapon?" Shen Xuan whispered. "Very well. In this era, perhaps that is exactly what I need to be."
He stood up.