Chapter 82

Time had to go back over a thousand years, when I had just entered the Dou Saint realm, full of youthful vigor and ambition. Xiao Xuan's face showed a trace of reminiscence as he raised his head and glanced obliquely at the sky.

Before breaking through to Dou Saint, the elders in the clan were worried I might encounter accidents outside, so they kept me under family control. Only after I broke through to Dou Saint did this control end, and excited, I eagerly began my journey across the continent. Heavenly Reading Novels ultra-smooth, ⓣⓣⓚ. ⓣⓦ read anytime

Speaking of this, Xiao Xuan's eyes showed a hint of nostalgia, though I don't know if it was for his reckless youth or the nagging elders of that time.

Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran's faces also showed a hint of amusement and excitement—amused that even his ancestor had such times, excited that such a big scoop was truly rare to come by.

However, Xiao Xuan obviously did not give the two a detailed account of his travels across the continent, such as the romantic encounters they were looking forward to, but instead jumped straight to the world of the Life and Death Gate.

"That was when I impulsively ran to the Northwest Continent, and I unintentionally entered this world. At the moment of entry, I sensed something was wrong—the spiritual qi here was far richer than anywhere else on the Dou Qi Continent, even richer than the Soul Clan's small world. It could be said to be extremely suitable for cultivating soul power, but I soon discovered another problem: the order of this world has gone awry!" Xiao Xuan's eyes flickered slightly; although many years have passed, thinking back now still feels unbelievable.

"World order?" Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran exchanged glances, clearly not fully understanding Xiao Xuan's words.

"Every world has its own order, which you can also understand as the Heavenly Dao, or the rules that keep the world running." Xiao Xuan explained.

"Then what problem has arisen in this world's order?" Xiao Yan asked, his eyes flickering, already having some guesses in his heart.

"This is related to the origin of this small world." Xiao Xuan said solemnly: "In fact, this small world was not born on the Dou Qi Continent, but in another world!"

"What! Another world!" Nalan Yanran exclaimed.

"Mm." Xiao Xuan nodded: "According to the information I gathered back then, it should be a place called the Da Qian Shi Jie, far stronger than the Dou Qi Continent, and our current world originated from there, which is also why this world's order has problems."

"The world rules of this small world, born from the Da Qian Shi Jie, clash with those of the Dou Qi Continent, causing the two sets of rules to collide and produce disorder! One external manifestation of this is the inability to define life."

"Inability to define life?" Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran asked doubtfully: "What does that mean?"

"Life in each world is born under its original world order and defined by it. When such life leaves its original world and enters another, it is redefined by that world's order. However, this happens silently and imperceptibly, so normal life cannot perceive it, although there should be external manifestations. Since I have never actually crossed worlds myself, I am not entirely clear."

Xiao Xuan said this, and Xiao Yan, who had some understanding of crossing into the Da Qian Shi Jie, suddenly recalled the conversion of Dou Qi to Spirit Qi. Logically, Dou Qi Continent experts who never cultivated Spirit Qi should lose their cultivation directly, but in reality, their Dou Qi cultivation directly converts to Spirit Power cultivation—this is likely the result of life being redefined by the Da Qian Shi Jie.

"Now returning to this world, since it is disordered and life cannot be defined, all life entering this world will gradually fall into disorder and eventually collapse. Thus, on this world's wilderness, neither plants nor magic beasts exist! You should have felt this upon entering." Saying this, Xiao Xuan's gaze shifted to Nalan Yanran beside Xiao Yan: "Xiao Yan here seems to possess a Strange Fire, so he likely feels nothing, but you should."

"The ancestor means—" Nalan Yanran thought for a moment about the scene when she first entered the Life and Death World, then suddenly realized: "The pressure I inexplicably felt upon entering!"

"Mm." Xiao Xuan nodded: "Exactly. This is the sensation of bodily disorder, though you need not worry too much." Seeing their concern, Xiao Xuan promptly explained: "This disorder takes a long time—depending on strength, it lasts three to five years. If one reaches Dou Saint, one can even directly form a spatial barrier around the body to resist the erosion of disorder."

"Hah!" Xiao Yan let out a deep breath of relief. Although he already knew from the original work that Nalan Yanran stayed in the Life and Death Gate for three years without incident, he had just genuinely worried.

"So why did Ancestor Xiao Xuan specifically tell us this?" After organizing the information he had received, Xiao Yan continued asking.

"Regarding this, it is still related to the origin of this world. In fact, strictly speaking, this is not a world at all, but a treasure named the Life and Death Gate. What we are in is actually its inner world!"

"What!" Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran exclaimed in shock.

"A world and a treasure are two different things! Treasures can be recognized as masters! Moreover, the world within can exist independently of the great world! Although the worlds created by Dou Emperors are strong, they still depend on the Dou Qi Continent for existence, and due to lacking a true world origin, they cannot undergo master recognition. Furthermore, maintaining these Dou Emperor worlds requires at least Dou Saint-level strength. For example, the Dou Emperor world of the Xiao Family, long neglected, now exists only as remnants and broken walls, if at all."

"In short, compared to this, the so-called Dou Emperor world is nothing but trash!"

"This is why I specifically wanted to tell you about this world—because it is a treasure, a treasure that can be recognized as a master!"

"Then, how does one recognize it as master?" Xiao Yan asked, having taken several deep breaths, his voice excited as he posed this most core question.

Xiao Xuan turned his head, his gaze toward the depths of the world behind him, and said: "In that direction, moving forward about five hundred thousand li lies the center of this world, where the creator of this treasure left behind a trial. Passing it grants mastery of the Life and Death Gate!"

"Ah, I see!" Xiao Yan followed Xiao Xuan's gaze, took a deep breath, turned back to look at Xiao Xuan, and said: "Ancestor Xiao Xuan knows this so well—you must have tried it yourself back then!"

"Mm." Xiao Xuan nodded, his face revealing an indescribable regret: "Indeed I tried. Back then, seeing such a powerful treasure, if I could obtain it, I might use it to break through the Dou Emperor's shackles, and thus the crisis of the Xiao Clan's bloodline exhaustion would naturally be resolved."

"Unfortunately, I failed the trial, and later I learned that breaking through to Dou Emperor requires Origin Qi! And Origin Qi exists only on the Dou Qi Continent—this place simply has none!" Xiao Xuan sighed.

"Even Ancestor Xiao Xuan couldn't pass?" Although Xiao Yan believed he was no inferior to Ancestor Xiao Xuan, he still felt immense pressure at such difficulty.

"Mm! However, although I failed the trial, I was not completely empty-handed—I still managed to gain partial control over the outer regions. Speaking of which, young lady, you should be from the Yun Lan Sect, right?" Xiao Xuan suddenly turned to Nalan Yanran and asked.

"Ah! Yes! Ancestor!" Faced with the sudden question, Nalan Yanran replied somewhat nervously.

"Then it's correct. Speaking of which, the reason your Yun Lan Sect's Ancestor Ancestor could establish a connection with this place is thanks to my help!" Xiao Xuan laughed, revealing the answer to the question that made Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran's hair stand on end when they first entered this place.

"Why is that?" Xiao Yan asked, somewhat puzzled.

Although she was the next Sect Master of the Yun Lan Sect, Nalan Yanran also glanced over strangely, clearly not understanding why Xiao Xuan would give such an opportunity to an outsider.

"The reason is very simple: for secrecy!" Xiao Xuan said solemnly.

"Before that battle, I entrusted the Ancient Clan to take care of the Xiao Clan one or two if anything unexpected happened. Now, if the Soul Clan and other Ancient Imperial Clans, who eye the Xiao Clan like tigers, knew of this place, what would be left for our Xiao Clan? And furthermore, the Ancient Clan—how reliable could they be?" Xiao Xuan stared at Xiao Yan; this answer, Xiao Yan naturally understood.

"To say the Ancient Clan betrayed the Xiao Clan—indeed they did not. But to say they cared for the Xiao Family—well, that's nonsense. If they truly cared, the Xiao Family wouldn't have fallen to living in huts in Wutan City!"

"So Ancestor Xiao Xuan gave the entrance to the Yun Lan Sect's Founding Ancestor, Yun Potian?"

"Exactly. Before the war, when preparing a retreat, the plan was to flee to the Northwest. Thus, I earlier left the Yin-Yang Twin Flames and part of the bloodline here, and cultivated Yun Potian as a Dou Zun to establish a sect here. As long as we wait a few hundred years until Yun Potian dies and the fuss fades, when later Xiao Clan descendants arrive, I can safely pass these on."

"I see, but did Ancestor Xiao Xuan never worry that no Xiao Clan descendants would come here?"

"That's why I cultivated Yun Potian to Dou Zun! The Northwest Continent is extremely barren, with hardly any Dou Zun. Even if the Xiao Family sent over a few clan members to build relations, they would still come."

"What if the Xiao Clan members sent here fail to become Deputy Sect Master?"

According to the Yun Lan Sect's rules, only the Sect Master and Deputy Sect Master may come here, and without unexpected circumstances, this rule is eighty percent likely set by Xiao Xuan for secrecy.

"This—" Xiao Xuan's face suddenly turned somewhat awkward; seeing this, Xiao Yan immediately understood.

"Could it be that for a full thousand years, no one from the Xiao Clan entered the Yun Lan Sect or even wanted to? Perhaps they just never made it this far."

"It must be said, the worthless ones Xiao Xuan has seen are still too few—he cannot imagine the Xiao Clan producing no one capable of claiming the Yun Lan Sect Deputy Sect Master position, and what kind of situation that would be!"

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