Jiangbei, the Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea.
Looking over, the boundless white filled heaven and earth. Faintly visible were perilous peaks, scattered like stars, arranged in thirty-three intersecting lines.
Like a go board.
And situated at the center of the go board, the [Tengen], was the Sacred Fire Cliff, the core of the Saint Sect. Only Golden Core Perfected Lords and the Sect Master could take up residence here.
Walking into the Sacred Fire Cliff, arriving at a bedchamber, and pushing open the main doors, what met the eye wasn't a magnificent palace, but a vast and boundless sea of blood and mountain of corpses. Atop the towering mountain of bones, a woman was boredly resting her chin on her hand. Behind her head was the setting sun in the west, reflecting a blood-red halo.
[Cinnabar Mountain Red Water Grotto-Heaven].
A Grotto-Heaven that was once illustrious in the Immortal Nexus. Every bone within the Grotto-Heaven was a defeated opponent of Perfected Lord Feixue, a stepping stone in her cultivation.
Five thousand years as number one in combat, born precisely because of this.
However, at this moment, this formerly high-spirited and vigorous Perfected Lord now displayed an unusual despondency, merely staring blankly at the scenery of the Grotto-Heaven.
Right now, she was facing an unprecedented predicament.
Chong Guang had failed to seek the [Overtuned Lamp Fire]. The Old Dragon Lord overseas had restored the Supreme [Vast Ocean Water], and hope had also been lost in roping in the other Great Sages of the Monster Race.
'The path of a Great Perfected Lord has been completely sealed off; there's no way forward.'
In a daze, Perfected Lord Feixue seemed to see layer upon layer of invisible shackles wrapping around her body, making it difficult for her to move her steps.
This was something she had never experienced before.
Up to this point, it seemed like many years had already passed.
So many that even she was surprised.
Time is always like this. When you're passing through it, it feels incredibly long, but when you look back, you are startled by how fast it went.
She walked out from the false history.
She didn't even have parents; she was an abandoned baby girl by the river. It was only by good luck that she was saved and raised by mortal farmers, barely managing not to starve to death.
After growing up, she helped with farm work. Although a woman, she never did less work than the men. Later, due to the chaos of war, her hometown was burned down, and she was captured by passing government troops. Sent to the Saint Sect as a blood tax, she became a Saint Sect disciple from then on, growing step by step to this day.
Had she experienced predicaments and obstacles?
Many, very many.
But she actually knew in her heart that, essentially, her journey had been very smooth. Because no matter how many difficulties she encountered, she ultimately pulled through by relying on her wisdom and strength.
And as her cultivation increased, she gradually understood.
'I came with a mission.'
She didn't know the contents of the mission, but it definitely existed. This mission caused her to encounter predicaments beyond imagination, yet also allowed her to overcome them one by one.
The predicaments stemmed from [Variable].
Overcoming them was due to [Inevitable Fate].
Her walking out of the false history as an abandoned baby girl, and then growing all the way to become the number one Perfected Lord in combat in the Immortal Nexus—all were the results of the clash between the two.
However, now, she was completely stuck.
Halted at the mid-stage of the Perfected Lord realm, unable to find a second Perfected Lord to attach to, the late-stage Golden Core of the Grotto-Heaven Method was seemingly out of reach... Did a [Variable] win in the end?
Otherwise, how could she be unable to overcome it?
Was [Inevitable Fate] also powerless? What about the Primordial Saint Ancestor? Why didn't he...
"Boom!"
Perfected Lord Feixue's thoughts abruptly ceased. Intense anger filled her heart, causing the entire [Cinnabar Mountain Red Water Grotto-Heaven] to begin shaking.
Until a voice sounded:
"Fellow Daoist Feixue."
The gentle voice was like a warm breeze, blowing away the drastic changes within the Grotto-Heaven. A figure formed entirely of a sea of fog stood out of thin air within the Grotto-Heaven.
It was exactly [Sky-shrouding]!
This sole Heaven Treading Realm Great Perfected Lord in the current world currently had his long, narrow eyes full of smiles. With a tone that was unclear whether it was concern or mockery, his deep voice said:
"You can't hold on anymore?"
"..."
Perfected Lord Feixue's eyes abruptly sharpened, staring fixedly at the smoky figure. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke slowly: "A rare guest indeed."
"Fellow Daoist Feixue hasn't answered my question."
[Sky-shrouding]'s tone was faint: "A person must rely on themselves. Fellow Daoist's persistence is very good, but up to this day, when have you ever truly relied on yourself?"
A person must rely on themselves—this was Perfected Lord Feixue 's persistence, a thought inherited by Chong Guang.
However, no one knew that the Perfected Lord Feixue who spoke these words was actually, to a certain extent, the one who "never relied on herself."
Her achievements were inherently an [Inevitable Fate].
"This phrase is less a persistence and more a warning. You are constantly warning yourself to rely on yourself, that you cannot truly entrust everything to that person."
"Until just now, you wavered."
[Sky-shrouding]'s voice was like the sharpest knife, carving into Feixue's heart: "You were wondering why that person's [Inevitable Fate] didn't help you."
"..."
Perfected Lord Feixue didn't speak. She merely closed her eyes, seemingly pondering something. After a long while, she opened them and suddenly let out a deep sigh:
"Fellow Daoist is right."
"It's just that true temptation never appears suddenly."
"When you have put in months and years of accumulated effort and finally see an opportunity to go further but cannot grasp it, only by breaking your bottom line is there hope to obtain it."
"This is the temptation no one can refuse."
"It is precisely because of the previous effort and hardship that it becomes increasingly enticing. Like a sweet, poisoned apple, it makes it hard for people to give it up."
"But once you accept this temptation, your spirit goes along with it."
Perfected Lord Feixue's voice gradually grew firm. From the initial slight weakness when she opened her mouth, it became like solid rock, like metal, until finally, there was no more wavering.
"This path, I will not take it."
Unbeknownst to them, a fierce wind began to blow again within the [Cinnabar Mountain Red Water Grotto-Heaven]. [Sky-shrouding]'s figure was blown away out of thin air, dissipating into nothingness just like that.
Only a strand of divine sense remained in its place, containing astonishingly a scroll of scripture.
Perfected Lord Feixue took the scripture. Sweeping it with her divine sense, she first revealed a look of surprise, then realization. When she looked up again, the bewilderment in her eyes was gone:
'They all want my life.'
The originally destined trajectory had been disrupted. A certain variable affected everything, as if pressing a fast-forward button, shortening the great tribulation that was supposed to last for a millennium.
Her mission, her destined ending, was coming.
'[Tribulation]?'
Perfected Lord Feixue looked up at the sky, sneering in her heart: 'That old thing wants me to attain this Dao, and [Sky-shrouding] wants to destroy it, which is why he specially came here to see me.'
But no matter what it was, she didn't care.
She would walk her own path.
'Since the Grotto-Heaven Method has no path forward, then I'll abandon it. I will forcefully attempt Void Attainment. As long as I can attain [Nourishing Descend], at worst I'll use the Grotto-Heaven to feed it!'
If successful, then a path forward would open again.
If she failed, she would die on the path!
She wouldn't extravagantly hope for anyone's help. Reaching this final step, no one could be relied upon. She could only rely on herself, and would only rely on herself!
The Grotto-Heaven shook. The woman threw her head back and laughed loudly, as if finally untying a knot in her heart:
"I will wait for you all, come take my life!"