Chapter 316: Refining the World into a Pill

The thin old man stood motionless, helplessly watching the sword pierce toward him; he wished to resist, but the very thought of resistance was washed away.

Just as the sword's edge neared his body, a flicker of despair finally rose in his heart.

Yet even that despair was swiftly washed away.

"…"

They don't even let you have despair?

At that moment, the mountain's mist suddenly churned and reversed, rolling apart.

Hu hu~

Meng Xuan, who had been maintaining the Principle of Purification, paused, then gently raised a finger.

A tiny point of light, no bigger than a bean, seemed to have two layers: the outer layer blazed like the sun, while the inner core glowed dimly, like a flame about to die.

That bean-sized light moved faster than either of their swords, landing directly on the old man's third eye; his gaze dimmed instantly, and his life ended.

Huh?

Chi Jiuyu and Zhang Yunlu turned back, confused, and saw Meng Xuan gazing up at the sky.

Following her gaze, they too looked up—and saw faint light flickering across the heavens, like leaping flames, refracted through the mist into seven radiant hues, spreading across the entire dome of the sky, strangely magnificent.

It looks like fire?

But how could fire burn in the sky?

"Huh?! What's going on?"

"I don't know." Meng Xuan's palm revealed a jade token.

Dull and unremarkable, it was no larger than an inch.

It was the one Gu Mo had given her in the Alliance of Righteous Sects, sealed with his hundred blade intentions; without Xiang Yuanjun's intervention to process it, she could never have brought it into the Three Heavens.

But something major must have happened.

Even though she had once been a Dongzhen who had knocked on the Immortal Gate, her current realm was merely Nascent Soul—she could not fully comprehend Tai Xuan Tian, let alone disturbances from beyond the world.

Yet…

If this sudden phenomenon had stirred Gu Mo's blade intentions, it could not possibly be ordinary.

Meng Xuan tucked away the jade token and swept her hand.

The thin old man's body instantly turned to ash and vanished without a trace.

This man, to feed the Qilin's birth, had killed countless innocent lives—most of them ordinary people who had never even begun cultivation.

And he had harbored murderous intent toward them; he could not be spared.

Originally, they had merely intended to practice their skills and let him taste the consequences—but…

"Let's go down the mountain." Meng Xuan glanced up at the sky.

The phenomenon was breathtakingly beautiful, yet she felt uneasy.

Seeing the worry in her eyes, Chi Jiuyu and Zhang Yunlu said nothing more and silently followed her down the mountain.

Of course, after descending, the three dug up the Qilin egg, extinguished its life force, and dispersed its divine essence.

A Qilin nourished by human souls would feast on human souls upon birth—it could not be left alive.

But none of the three had much energy left; they simply carried the egg and began searching for the cause behind the sky's anomaly.

In truth, it was not only San Qi Mountain that showed this phenomenon—everywhere in Tai Xuan Tian, indeed throughout the entire Three Heavens!

Behind the sky of the entire world, across all three layers of heaven, flickering flames of fire could faintly be seen.

Residual traces of a recent ascension?

Or an immortal descending to spread the Dao?

Or perhaps the collective cultivation of all cultivators in the realm had risen, triggering this phenomenon?

Hmm…

This burning fire… surely it's not someone refining pills or forging weapons…

Speculation ran rampant, wild and absurd theories spreading everywhere, yet most revolved around words like "ascension," "cultivation," and "upper realm."

There was no help for it—after all, such an anomaly had appeared right after one person had just ascended; it was impossible not to suspect a connection.

Even some Xuanzhen cultivators, who could leave the realm, were utterly bewildered.

Even they, long ago, had only glimpsed a faint crimson glow swirling beyond—hardly able to peer outward, let alone leave the realm.

Now, this firelight was entirely invisible to them.

…………

In the boundless chaos sea, unseen by all beings.

A long, slender hand, as white as jade, descended from infinite heights, extending as if casually reaching out, vast beyond measure.

Unyielding through countless eons, yet brimming with boundless creation.

Infinite chaotic energy spontaneously swirled around it, flowing between its pillar-like fingers.

The hand seemed to be Creation itself—worlds that glimpsed its form, influenced by its Dao essence, shattered their level limits and ascended to new tiers.

Worlds below the baseline became solid; worlds already above it underwent level leaps—even some worlds at the Xuanzhen limit, upon glimpsing it, gained insight and began trending toward further advancement.

The beings within these worlds suddenly understood various pill-refining methods.

Yet the Dao essence of Creation quickly retracted, leaking not a single trace.

It was intentional—by the Pill Ancestor.

It was good that worlds ascended through the essence of Creation, but if the worlds themselves and their inhabitants were altered too drastically, if their fundamental natures changed and every cultivator within became a "pill refiner," that would be unacceptable.

Soon, that vast hand, wreathed in infinite chaotic energy, arrived above the Three Heavens.

Even a single palm line dwarfed the Three Heavens themselves—there was no comparison.

"Refine."

Above the Chaos Sea, a shockwave erupted, stirring up furious waves.

The chaotic energy swirling around his fingers transformed into roaring flames.

With a light flick of his palm, the flames surged downward like a torrent, but just before reaching the Three Heaven Realms, they fractured into countless tiny streams of fire, spinning to envelop the entire world. The flames blazed a bright yellow, yet as they danced, they emitted seven-colored radiance—when merged together, they became nothing but a hazy gray.

The Three Heaven Realms themselves floated and sank within the flames, rotating unpredictably, faint golden light swirling within them, radiating an aura of indestructibility.

Chaos as fuel, Creation as the forge, refining a realm as a pill—to achieve indestructibility!

This act was to guard against the "Ancient" or the "Xuan."

Having anchored the Infinite Realm, how could one know if the young ones' trial worlds harbored any hidden traces left by them?

Ultimately, one must refine them, purging all "impurities" before feeling at ease.

Moreover, for the world itself, this is also a stroke of Creation.

After being refined by the Pill Ancestor, the Three Heaven Realms' future potential for realm ascent far surpasses that of other worlds—its chance to achieve a merged Dao Great Realm is vastly greater!

The flames blazed fiercely, the power of Creation permeating every corner, as if truly refining medicinal properties—within them, an extremely faint purple qi was separated out by the chaotic-creative fire.

Neither real nor unreal, it represented the Purple Pure Observatory's method of "refining humans into pills" and more…

All traces left by the Xuan's various schemes and transmissions were refined out, drifting within the chaotic-creative pill-fire.

!.

"Hmph!"

The Xuan was the transcendental origin of the Tai Xuan Realm; now that its "body" was dead, it could no longer conceal itself.

Thus, the Pill Ancestor easily detected—in the Purple Pure Observatory's "refining humans into pills" method, extracted from the Three Heaven Realms—clear traces of his own pill-refining art!

Using his own pill-refining art to refine humanity into pills…

Xiong!

The flames surged higher, growing stronger, engulfing several nearby small realms.

That extremely faint purple qi could no longer withstand the roaring flames and vanished entirely.

After several more refining cycles, the beings within the realm remained unaware.

Once confirmed free of all "impurities," the flames instantly extinguished.

The golden Three Heaven Realm became a perfect sphere, radiating an aura of indestructibility and imperishability; fine threads of chaotic energy flowed in to circle around it, like pill markings.

The giant hand gently retracted, clasping the pill formed from the Three Heaven Realm, then sent a single thread of purest spiritual essence toward the Fuliu Realm.

"You have done well in preserving Brother Dao's traces—you deserve a reward."

The voice echoed across the Chaos Sea, spreading outward.

Though human in tone, the worlds themselves understood.

Splash!

Countless immature, hazy consciousnesses instantly surged, emitting waves of envy, longing, or regret…

But the giant hand had already withdrawn, returning to the infinite heights.

Only a faint echo remained.

"Brother Dao, three friends, may all go well for you."

…

…

At the edge of the Chaos Sea.

Xu Xing had now been pushed by the Tai Xuan Realm's terrifying repulsion to near the Beast God Realm.

Though a few worlds had retained the gifts he bestowed, the power they returned was negligible—utterly incomparable to the Tai Xuan Realm's repulsion, barely better than nothing…

But as soon as he neared the Beast God Realm, he sensed a connection.

The three veins: 【Yin】, 【Yang】, 【Sword】, and the historical imprints he left during major events in the Beast God Realm.

All of these now formed solid ties, their returned power nearly tens of thousands of times greater than that of all previous worlds!

Hum~

Correspondingly, the Tai Xuan Realm's filtering force against the Beast God Realm was equally terrifying.

The Beast God Realm itself was a terrifying entity spanning the Chaos Sea like a dam, constantly radiating boundless light.

Yet the moment the Tai Xuan Realm's filtering force struck, the boundless light twisted as if solid—like the entire world was roaring in protest!

Resist head-on!

While those Reversal Void-level realms allowed the Tai Xuan Realm's filtering force to enter and merely defended themselves, the Beast God Realm resisted head-on, allowing not a single speck of force to penetrate!

Not to mention extracting any traces from within.

After a stalemate, the Tai Xuan Realm, as before, ceased its harassment and withdrew its filtering force.

To the Tai Xuan Realm, the Beast God Realm appeared no different from other small realms.

With the power feedback from the Beast God Realm's traces, Xu Xing's speed of being pushed away slowed slightly.

Good—I, Xu, admire this kind of stubbornness!

The Beast God Realm flashed past, and Xu Xing cast a lineage transmission into it, deepening his own traces.

This lineage transmission was named—【Jie】.

It was the Dao Xu Xing upheld; even among his disciples, few had awakened to this Dao—most awakened only to the sword Dao he taught.

If someone in this realm awakens to it, taking them as a disciple would not be unwarranted.

At his current realm, taking a disciple—even in a Beast God Realm, a True Void Great World—would still add substantial depth to his foundation.

It serves as repayment for borrowing its power.

After all, his current state offered no other form of repayment…

At that moment, Hong Zun's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

"Brother Dao, I've discovered a unique world."

A unique world?

"It's a cosmic-type world, its spacetime fragile, yet constantly branching off multiple possibilities from a single timeline, and the overall world formed by integrating these multiple timelines is also immensely vast."

"Its characteristics match perfectly the Multiverse type we previously classified."

Multiverse? (End of Chapter)