Chapter 603: Hidden Turmoil in the Tai Ping Realm

The Emperor Supreme Dao Lord paid no mind to the molten-gold blood continuously dripping from the back of his hand.

He merely lifted his gaze toward the heights above, his mind pondering endlessly.

Whether this mysterious sword cultivator of obscure origin, or the recent phenomenon of swordlight ascending and converging—none failed to signal that the Yuan Zhen Realm itself was undergoing changes he did not understand.

"What exactly… has happened?"

Unknown.

Such things had rarely occurred since he consolidated his myriad selves, merged with the Dao, and seated himself at the source of countless great cosmic timelines.

Yet now…

The Emperor Supreme Dao Lord slowly raised his hand, and the golden cracks behind his palm repaired themselves, ceasing all blood flow.

"Time" itself had become, at this moment, something tangible.

Within his dark-golden eyes reflected a vast river surging forward, piercing the entirety of the Yuan Zhen Realm.

Yuan Zhen—Primary Timeline.

Higher in ontological standing than the myriad great universes within the Cosmic Sea, even one who had merged with the Dao could only glimpse it, never touch it.

Yet in the Emperor Supreme Dao Lord's perception, this endless, ever-forward river now flowed at a speed slightly inconsistent with his memory.

"Is it an illusion… or…"

Out of nowhere, the Emperor Supreme Dao Lord suddenly recalled the several peculiar great universes that had abruptly appeared within the Cosmic Sea.

"Cut, Kill, Cause…"

Kill?

Could the appearance of those great universes, and the anomalous flow of time, be connected to the Lord of Infinite Carnage?

Heavy doubts filled him, yet none found resolution.

His heart grew tangled and chaotic.

…

…

The Yuan Zhen Realm's Cosmic Sea.

Tides stirred by countless universes twisted, howled, and resonated in unison.

Yet a figure bearing a crimson longsword walked atop the myriad great universes, utterly unaffected.

He occasionally paused, gazing toward one direction.

"He really knows how to stir up trouble…"

Xu Xing finally halted above a great universe named "Residual Life Realm," gazing across countless universes toward the Bingjie Great Universe.

Everything occurring within it—including the Emperor Supreme Dao Lord's attempt to deduce the "Slaying Annihilation Sword Scripture," which led to his own collapse, and his discovery of the anomalous flow of time in the Yuan Zhen Realm—was all seen by him.

Xu Xing found it unsurprising that the Emperor Supreme Dao Lord had sensed the anomaly in the Yuan Zhen Realm's time flow.

Cultivators who had merged with the Dao were regarded as "Great Ones" even within the Tai Xuan Realm.

Due to their consolidation into singularity, they were not easily disturbed by external environments, unlike Reversing Void cultivators.

Moreover, Xu Xing had never intended to conceal his actions.

It was perfectly normal for him to detect slight anomalies.

In fact, it was better if he noticed—perfect preparation for the upcoming Ascension platform.

Watching the Emperor Supreme Dao Lord, seated in confusion atop the time sources of Bingjie and other great universes, Xu Xing sighed softly.

"If the 'Slaying Annihilation Sword Scripture' were so easy to cultivate, there wouldn't have been so few successors over so many eons."

This was the most ferocious and perilous sword scripture of the Sword Sect.

Even Chi Jiuyu, whose affinity with the "Slaying Annihilation Sword Scripture" was extremely high, dared not begin practicing its sword techniques until he reached Soul Transformation.

And Zhang Yunlu, who forged her Creation Dao foundation upon the Principle of Risk, possessed a foundation among the absolute pinnacle of the myriad realms.

Yet she still had to first complete the "Nine Revolutions of Returning the Golden Core" and forge an Imperishable Jin Dan before she could switch cultivation paths.

As for the sword techniques and divine arts above the "Slaying Annihilation Sword Scripture"?

Before reaching Soul Transformation, one need not even think of them!

For a cultivator like the Emperor Supreme Dao Lord, who merged with the Dao through an Emperor's Heart, his affinity with the "Slaying Annihilation Sword Scripture" could be said to be nonexistent…

It was fortunate he only deduced a minuscule fraction of its content, and thus suffered only minor effects.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been merely a matter of injury.

Xu Xing withdrew his gaze and turned toward another direction.

This time, his eyes pierced straight through the Yuan Zhen Realm's Cosmic Sea, and beyond the Yuan Zhen Realm itself.

He saw Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu and Ming Yu approaching ever closer through boundless chaos, near the Tai Ping Realm.

If he remembered correctly, the Xuan Ling Daoist within the Tai Ping Realm was also nearing Ascension.

He had previously asked Elder You to seize the opportunity to intimidate the Tong Xuan entities within the Tai Ping Realm and stabilize its situation…

He wondered how Elder You would act.

As he thought this, Xu Xing turned his gaze once more.

Within the Earth Immortal Realm…

It seemed close as well.

…

…

The Chaos Sea.

Two exceptionally bright streaks of light swept across the infinite number of worlds.

The secondary immortal power blazing within them carved a straight path through the churning chaos, one that remained open long after they passed.

【Approaching this cross-realm destination, closing preset Ascension Platform beacon guidance program…】

【Warning! Closing the guidance program will cause slight jolts; please prepare in advance】

Some jolts?

In the very instant these prompts appeared!

Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu and Ming Yu felt all directions suddenly blur; within an overwhelming, irresistible force, their entire bodies seemed crushed flat and stretched thin.

In an instant, they felt as if they had lost all their cultivation, like ordinary people tossed into a spinning drum.

Even though they were Masters of the Xuan Realm, they felt dizzy and disoriented, completely losing control of themselves.

When Xu Xing and the others fell out of the Tai Xuan Realm, it took them a long time to reach the Tai Ping Realm.

Now, this extremely long distance has been compressed into a thirty-four-standard-hour journey, and since the nearby realms of Tai Ping Realm are not within the Tai Xuan Immortal Network's coverage, this cross-realm transit relied mostly on the beacon guidance from that previous Ascension Platform…

So even with sub-immortal force protection, some side effects were unavoidable.

Hmm.

Just a little.

Faced with this, both chose to grit their teeth and endure in silence.

Thus, an unknown length of time passed…

Finally, they felt their own existence return, the strange sensations around them gradually fading, and the blurred scenery before them slowly clearing.

Until their vision became completely clear.

Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu and Ming Yu stood outside the Tai Ping Realm, feeling as if their entire bodies had been crushed and ground to dust, a weariness rising from the depths of their souls.

You call this "slight jolts"?!"

Both felt speechless inside.

After adjusting their condition with magic power for a while, they looked up ahead.

There, not far ahead, lay a vast world resembling an ancient star.

Its "presence" was extraordinarily high; each pulse swallowed boundless chaos energy.

The web of cosmic laws within was extraordinarily dense, separating chaos and transforming it into pure heavenly and earthly qi, releasing it into the realm.

Though its scale could not compare to the Earth Immortal Realm they had seen before.

Yet outside the Earth Immortal Realm, no other world could rival it.

Looking at the world just ahead, a flicker of something inexplicable passed through their eyes.

Because they were still in the "Perception Ascension" state, they could now perceive the world's entirety, even see its internal scenes.

But…

In their vision, a box enclosed the entire world, with an arrow pointing sideways along its edge.

Lines of pale golden text were neatly arranged, detailing the world's basic information.

【World Name: Tai Ping Realm】

【World Tier: Tong Xuan】

【World Type: Regular】