Chapter 642: The Third Supreme Authority: The Abyssal Ruin

Is she also a high-level cultivator?

Upon hearing this, the Holy Master of Kongji's curiosity deepened further.

Although her guiding belief was "goodness," she herself possessed the seven emotions and six desires, and curiosity was naturally among them.

It was merely suppressed beneath her belief in "goodness," making it less apparent.

On the other hand, at her current height, very few things in the Taiyi Realm could move her.

But the arrival of Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu and Ming Yu clearly belonged to that rare category!

Earlier, when she saw the two of them cross the Chaos Sea to reach the Taiyi Realm without relying on the modified world, she assumed these two outsiders were among the top-tier beings in their own world.

But now, according to the outsiders' own words, they—and even stronger ones like her—

were far from being considered "top-tier" in their original world.

If so, then even she herself, in their original world, would not qualify as a "high-level cultivator" and would fall far short of the top tier.

Then just how powerful must their original world be?

"Let me put it this way," Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu carefully chose her words and continued explaining.

"Your cultivation base is indeed above ours."

"But there remains a great gap between you and the next realm—the one we name 'Dongzhen.'"

The Holy Master of Kongji nodded slightly, half-understanding, then asked curiously:

"What is cultivation base? What is realm?"

The beings of the Taiyi Realm, due to their unshakable beliefs, attract the world's attention, using the authority forged from the world's projection as a "key," to comprehend the Taiyi Realm's rules and absorb its transcendent energy to strengthen themselves.

Theoretically, as long as one's belief is strong enough, one can grow indefinitely until reaching a level comparable to Fan Xu's peak.

This entire process is broadly summarized as the "Saintly Stage."

Over the many years of the Taiyi Realm, many have attempted to subdivide the "Saintly Stage."

But since a transcendent's combat power depends entirely on the degree of development of their authority, the system is far too chaotic, and to this day, the Taiyi Realm still lacks a complete and clear "realm division."

Generally speaking, during the "Saintly Stage," one must fight to determine relative strength.

It is even possible for a transcendent whose total transcendent energy equals that of a Fan Xu cultivator to lose to one whose total energy matches only a Soul Transformation cultivator, simply because the latter possesses a destructive authority.

If forced to categorize, the transcendants of this world can roughly be divided into three types.

From the moment one first steps onto the transcendent path, up to the "Saintly Stage" comparable to Fan Xu.

The "Saint-Ascended," who undergo a nine-deaths-one-life transformation and elevation, comparable to He Dao and ordinary Tong Xuan.

And the Supreme Ones, the "Holy Masters," a title held by only two beings in the entire Taiyi Realm.

"..." Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu fell silent for a moment.

What is cultivation base?

What is realm?

These are things known to everyone in the Tai Xuan Realm, even in the vast majority of worlds—and now she had to explain them again...

It was quite strange to think about.

The Taiyi Realm, bound by the world's light, unites many worlds and has even brought order to the surrounding realms' "chaos" and "disorder."

Yet its internal transcendent system appears extremely disordered...

Several minutes later, Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu still explained to the Holy Master of Kongji what "cultivation base" and "realm" meant.

She showed great interest, listening with intense focus.

Among the outsiders who had previously arrived in the Taiyi Realm, she had never met the owner of that withered branch or the half-doll.

She had met a few others, and those beings had described their transcendent systems to her, but since they were far too crude and offered nothing worth learning from, she hadn't paid much attention.

But today was different.

Although Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu's explanations were simple, they struck straight to the core, especially her understanding of "cultivation base" and "realm," which gave her considerable insight.

"When the Taiyi Realm is no longer harmed by 'chaos,' I hope to visit your world." She spoke from the heart.

"There will be an opportunity," Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu nodded slightly, then added, "When you truly arrive in our world, an elder might..."

Mid-sentence, she suddenly remembered something and quickly fell silent.

The Holy Master of Kongji merely smiled at this and did not press further.

"Enough idle chatter—then I leave this place in your hands."

Ming Yu, who had been maintaining the Gao Ta with her own power and said little, glanced at her with surprise, and once again recalled Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu's earlier warning.

A person of extreme goodness...

During this time spent together, she had not sensed any "extremes" from the Holy Master of Kongji.

Moreover, the Holy Master of Kongji gave her the impression of calm composure, having seen through all worldly affairs.

"If you truly defeat the Holy Master of Dongming, what will you do?" she suddenly asked.

The Holy Master of Kongji paused, her tone still gentle and serene:

"I will strive to resolve conflicts between all beings, so that struggle and oppression no longer occur."

"What if someone refuses?"

"Why would anyone refuse?" the Holy Master of Kongji asked, puzzled. "Would any being willingly accept oppression?"

No one wishes to be oppressed—but many wish to oppress others...

Ming Yu was about to say this, but her gaze met the Holy Master of Kongji's eyes.

Within those pure, translucent pale golden eyes remained only stillness—and yet it sent a chill through her heart.

Another day passed.

Inside Gao Ta, Ming Yu sat properly before a crystalline wall that sealed away many items left behind by outsiders, with that broken-off dead branch floating before her.

Strangely, that dead branch trembled ceaselessly, as if it were a living thing.

Wisps and threads of tender-green aura, representing the origin of vitality and creation, were drawn out by it from the void, and the already withered leaves began to recover, little by little, to a tender green under the irrigation of that creation-vitality origin.

Strange Branch.

This was the name the Sovereign of Emptiness had given it.

Roughly two hundred-plus years ago, this Strange Branch had suddenly appeared in the Ephemera Heaven, one of the seventy-two 'Lower Heavens.'

When the Sovereign of Emptiness arrived, dense, layered roots had spread across the Ephemera Heaven, nearly draining the entire heaven's vitality dry.

It still took some effort to beat it back to its original form, but the outsider who had cast down the Strange Branch had vanished without a trace.

After the Sovereign of Emptiness searched without result, she had no choice but to bring it back and seal it away, to prevent it from harming the outside world.

"As expected, no real connection, huh."

Ming Yu lightly tapped out a finger; a ring of ripples spread open, wrapping the entire dead branch.

After cutting off the Strange Branch's continued draining of the creation-vitality origin, she sent it back into the crystalline wall to remain sealed.

She had originally thought this 'Strange Branch' might have some connection to Yuan.

After all, apart from that half a puppet, this was the only object whose owner the Sovereign of Emptiness had never seen.

Although it had been over two hundred years now…

Yuan was, after all, a Cave-True, and it was still possible for him to affect the timeline of the Grand Unity Realm.

But after a round of investigation…

It was entirely her overthinking!

This 'Strange Branch' had not the slightest connection to Yuan.

"How is it, any gains?"

In a gentle, warm voice, the Sovereign of Emptiness and Ning Sister Sister Sister Wan Zhu were seen coming side by side.

After a day of rest and adjustment, the Sovereign of Emptiness had already finished adjusting her own condition.

At this moment, the pure-white rhombic crystals in her eyes slowly rotated, a single white vertical mark between her brows, the tips of her hair glowing with pure-white dawnlight, and an eight-layered divine halo behind her head.

Lending an added few degrees of solemn majesty to an already sacred and pure bearing.

According to the rules of the Grand Unity Realm's transcendent system, the more 'radiant' one was, the higher the likelihood of drawing the world's attention.