[Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness].
For a moment, Xiu Zhen felt confused by the thought that had suddenly surfaced. What use was that thing? It was impossible for him to enter it. However, he soon reached a realization.
'The [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] of the Ancient Era was still complete and flawless; furthermore, the eighth secret realm had opened, and that place allowed a Primordial Spirit to enter!'.
Could he hide inside? There was hope.
That being said, there were many problems with this plan. For instance, if he could hide inside, the Primordial Saint could follow him, leading to a dead end. But Xiu Zhen could not worry about that now; at least this plan allowed him to live a little longer, whereas doing nothing meant death now. With this thought, he turned around and began tracing back frantically toward the most distant era he could contact.
'I must get as far back as possible!'
'In the late Ancient Era, the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] seemed to have become damaged, and [Supreme Grandmaster] mysteriously vanished... so I must trace back further.'.
Xiu Zhen moved at high speed. His actions naturally did not escape the Primordial Saint's gaze. The Saint let out a derisive laugh, feeling that Xiu Zhen was merely clutching at straws in his final moments.
The Great Karmic Net was not omnipotent; the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] did not enter Karma, and there were only pure phantasms within the Great Karmic Net. Tracing back further was useless. If entering the eighth secret realm were that simple, why would he have approached Lu Yang for cooperation?.
Nevertheless, even if there were a one-in-a-billion chance, the Primordial Saint would not gamble. He struck decisively, a single finger pressing down once more toward Xiu Zhen.
Yet at that moment, as if having waited for a long time, Lu Yang struck again. It was still a palm, dark and chaotic, intercepting the Primordial Saint's finger halfway.
"You again..."
The Primordial Saint shifted his gaze, watching the black-robed figure step through the years to block him with one hand while the other slowly reached toward Xiu Zhen.
Trying to save him?
The Primordial Saint sneered. The brush-tip manifested from [Inevitable Fate] was gripped in his hand, and under the infusion of majesty, the originally white bristles strikingly manifested a point of gloom.
Then, the brush fell.
In an instant, the black-robed figure seemed to sense the terror of this stroke.
In fact, a year ago, the Primordial Saint had used a similar method. This was the combination of [Time] and [Inevitable Fate], simultaneously erasing a person's existence from the past, present, and future, thereby triggering massive karmic shifts and the changing of years.
If it landed on the Dao Lords of the [Paramita], it was enough to make them drop in layers even if it couldn't kill them.
Lu Yang watched, finding it familiar.
'An imitation of the Final Tribulation...'
The black-robed figure took a step back, not daring to contend with it. After all, a year ago, Lu Yang had nearly died from this strike, relying entirely on his metamorphosed essence to survive. And as he retreated, Xiu Zhen was left in peril.
At this moment, his Primordial Spirit burned regardless of the cost, a blazing fire dragging a meteor-like brilliance through the dark universe.
'As long as I reach that place...'
Finally, the view before him opened up.
[Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness]!.
Without hesitation, Xiu Zhen crashed directly into the secret realm before him. In this instant, even the Primordial Saint could not help but narrow his eyes. Despite his prior certainty, a thought surfaced: He wouldn't actually get in, would he?
Whoosh!
He passed right through.
Xiu Zhen failed to enter the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness]; the entire scene was merely a phantasm. In an instant, the Primordial Saint's brow relaxed imperceptibly.
However, Xiu Zhen found it difficult to accept.
"Why!?"
The hope that had climbed to the absolute peak instantly plummeted to the deepest despair. Xiu Zhen grit his teeth, finally realizing something was wrong.
'Why did I struggle to this point?'
'If the matter was impossible, I should have continued hiding. I've hidden for so many years; hiding longer wouldn't have mattered. Why did I have to fight for a moment's impulse?'
'This isn't me!'
His Primordial Spirit thoughts operated to the extreme between life and death, the fire illuminating all thoughts in his sea of consciousness, yet he failed to find even a shred of shadow.
This left Xiu Zhen—who was certain someone was secretly plotting against him and obscuring his thoughts—somewhat dazed.
Having found nothing, had he overthought it? Was it truly just a momentary impulse? And if someone wanted to obscure his thoughts without being discovered, how high would their cultivation have to be?
Doubt muddled Xiu Zhen's thoughts. The approaching end made this confusion even more violent, turning his mind into a mess of stray thoughts. His originally clear Primordial Spirit became stained.
—He had flaws after all.
As a "patched-up" spirit, Xiu Zhen's Primordial Spirit was only on par with Du Xuan's. Now, under the pressure of life and death, he finally exposed a fatal flaw!.
The Primordial Saint saw this as well. He wasn't surprised; many cultivators had flaws in their Primordial Spirits.
Even he had flaws before completely cutting away his emotions. Every Dao Lord had them; it was simply a matter of some being large enough to be exploited—like Du Xuan, Dao Tianqi, and Lu Yang—while others, like Sword Lord, Cang Hao, and Myriad Laws, were almost unaffected.
This was unrelated to the Primordial Spirit method practiced; the method was merely a means to enter the threshold.
"He has fallen into a state of obsession."
Seeing this, the Primordial Saint shook his head, losing all interest in Xiu Zhen. The brush-tip continued to fall.
On the other side, Xiu Zhen, with his wavering Primordial Spirit, suddenly looked up at the descending brush. Amidst his chaotic thoughts, a single emotion surfaced.
It was [Anger].
"Even if I die, I will never let this go!"
Before the words finished, Xiu Zhen's Primordial Spirit abruptly expanded. Blazing fire exploded, instantly transforming into a sun that radiated in all directions.
Primordial Spirit self-detonation!.
As he exploded, countless remnant thoughts surged out. Nearby, the black-robed figure reappeared, seemingly wanting to save one or two of the remnant thoughts. It was a Primordial Spirit, after all; as long as one escaped, he could slowly recover over time.
But how could the Primordial Saint allow it?
"Leave it all behind!"
The brush-tip tapped down, and ink-color agitated time. All images were frozen, then churned into nothingness with a single, casual stroke of the brush.
All scenes vanished without a trace.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, the Primordial Saint narrowed his eyes. Not only had Xiu Zhen vanished in the self-detonation, but also Perfected One Subduing-Spirits, whom he had brought with him.
This was wrong.
Logically, after being killed by this move, the Karma of the entire sea of light should have been reset to a state where the "target had never appeared.".
Thus, once Xiu Zhen died, Perfected One Subduing-Spirits—who had been brought there and caught in the aftermath—should have been revived instantly, returning to his cave abode on Extreme Heaven Cliff in the Sword Pavilion, completely unaware of what had happened.
However, this did not occur; the Karma of Perfected One Subduing-Spirits had also vanished.
Why did this happen? Could it be that the Perfected One held some secret that Xiu Zhen didn't want him to have, so he killed him along with himself in the explosion?
It was logical. But the Saint did not believe it!
'Where there are doubts, there are conspiracies.'
'Where there are conspiracies, there are hidden dangers!'
In an instant, the images in the Primordial Saint's eyes began to reverse. He intended to bring back the Karma of Perfected One Subduing-Spirits; he would not permit a single doubt to remain!