Chapter 398: Silver Stone Gate Reappears

The atmosphere in the council hall was heavy, almost solidifying.

The projection of Profound Extension Dao Venerable's divine sense had dissipated an hour ago, yet everyone present remained immersed in that suffocating oppression. Void Refinement Stage, Lord of Order, three-year deadline—these terms were like three great mountains weighing on each person's heart, making it hard to breathe.

Wang Ping sat at the round table, the tea before him long cold, yet he still did not drink. His hand rested on the tabletop, fingers unconsciously tapping lightly, producing a steady "duk-duk" sound. The sound was faint, but in the silent hall it was especially clear, like his heartbeat at that moment—steady yet hurried.

He was thinking.

The fragments of the Immortal Realm lie deep in the Return to the Void. The Return to the Void is the end of the universe, the boundary of life and death, the source of all laws. There lie countless seals, remnant souls, and chaotic law torrents left from the ancient immortal-demon war; without great perseverance and great fortune, entering means certain death. Yet he has only three years. Within three years he must find the Immortal Realm fragments and find a way to oppose the Lord of Order. Otherwise, the Spirit Realm will cease to exist, and all worlds will fall under eternal order's rule.

This path is more perilous than any before. But he has no retreat. He raised his head, about to speak—suddenly, his whole body shuddered.

A familiar aura came from above the Spirit Realm. That aura was ancient and vast, carrying a profundity that transcended time and space. It did not belong to the Pure World Court's order power, nor to any law of the Spirit Realm, nor to any existence he knew. Yet it was so familiar, as if he had encountered it long, long ago.

Wang Ping's pupils contracted sharply.

He remembered. Before the Chaos Immortal Palace opened in the Azure Void Heavenly Domain, there hovered in the void a silver stone gate. The person who stepped out claimed to come from the "Immortal Realm," a being transcending all worlds. He told them the secret of the "Primordial Chaos Origin," told them of the threat of the Pure World Court, then vanished, never to appear again.

At this moment, that aura appeared again.

Wang Ping sprang to his feet; the chair toppled backward with a dull thud. Everyone jumped at his sudden move—Cang Xuan's hand was already on his sword hilt, Yu Liuli clutched her guqin, You Ying instantly appeared beside Wang Ping, and Jiu Er, frightened, hid under the table.

"Brother Wang?" Cang Xuan frowned. "What's wrong?"

Wang Ping did not answer. He simply lifted his gaze to the hall's dome. His look seemed to pierce the thick stone walls, pierce the layered palaces of the Ninth Dao Institute, pierce the Spirit Realm's sky, and land straight upon something.

"It's here." He murmured, voice soft, yet it made everyone's hearts rise.

"What's here?" Yu Liuli asked, her voice tinged with unease.

Wang Ping drew a deep breath, enunciating each word: "Silver Stone Gate."

The moment his words fell, the entire Spirit Realm trembled. Not an earthquake, not a spiritual energy fluctuation, but a tremor from the level of laws—as if something was descending from a higher dimension, forcefully squeezing into this world.

Outside the hall came a series of exclamations.

"Look quickly! What is that?!"

"A silver… door? What a huge door!"

"It's glowing! So bright! I can't keep my eyes open!"

Wang Ping strode out of the hall. Behind him followed Cang Xuan, You Ying, Yu Liuli, Yun Hao, Jiu Er, and the Spirit Transformation elders closely.

As they stepped out of the hall, everyone froze.

Above the Spirit Realm's sky, a colossal silver stone gate slowly emerged. The gate stood over a thousand zhang tall and over five hundred zhang wide, its entire body forged from an indescribable silver material. It was not solid, but existed between the virtual and the real, seeming to be condensed light, yet also woven from laws. Countless intricate patterns were carved upon it—patterns unknown to any known runic system, but far older and more profound.

On each side of the gate lay a silver giant dragon. The dragons were not carvings but living beings—their bodies coiled around the gateposts, heads raised, eyes shut, as if slumbering. Each scale was the size of a grinding disc, flowing with countless law trajectories. Their breaths were slow and long; with each exhale, specks of silver light drifted from their mouths and dissipated into the void.

Above the gate were carved two large characters. They were not Spirit Realm script, not ancient sigils, nor any known writing system. Yet everyone who saw them could read their meaning—"Transcendence."

At that moment, the massive stone gate was slowly opening. Light seeping from the crack illuminated the entire sky. This light was not golden sunlight, nor silver order-light, but a purer, more primordial presence. It lit every mountain peak, every river, every forest, every city in the Spirit Realm. It lit every person's face, no matter where they were or what they were doing.

Everyone halted their tasks and looked up at the sky. Some knelt, some wept, some laughed, some stood dazed, motionless. For they all felt—beyond that gate, some presence was watching them.

Wang Ping stood atop the highest hall of the Ninth Dao Institute, gazing at the gate slowly opening. His robes snapped in the wind, his hair danced, his eyes nearly blinded by the light—but he did not close them. He fixed his stare on the gate, on the figure emerging beyond it.

The stone gate finally opened fully.

Beyond the gate lay endless light. Within that light, a figure stepped out slowly. He moved slowly, each step as if crossing endless spacetime, each step carrying an ineffable rhythm. His form was tall and slender, clad in a plain silver-white robe that bore no decoration yet flowed with a faint radiance. His hair was silver, long, hanging to his waist, swaying gently in the breeze. His face could not be made out—not because it was obscured, but because the visage itself constantly shifted: sometimes young, sometimes old, sometimes handsome, sometimes ordinary, sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes human, sometimes… not human.

Yet everyone knew it was the same face. It was the face of the Transcendent One—a being transcending all worlds, transcending the cycle of life and death, transcending time and space, and thus possessing such a visage.

He stepped out of the gate, hovering above the Spirit Realm. His gaze swept slowly over the entire realm; wherever it passed, everyone felt a warm power brush their souls, as if gently embraced by some presence. Then his gaze fell upon the Ninth Dao Institute, upon its highest hall's summit, upon Wang Ping.

He smiled. That smile was gentle yet profound, carrying a familiarity that crossed time and space, and the gratification of an elder seeing a junior's growth.

"You have grown up."

His voice was soft, yet it clearly reached every ear. It had no source, no direction, as if it came from all sides at once, yet also resonated directly in the depths of the soul.

Wang Ping stood still, unmoving. His eye sockets warmed slightly. He recalled the first time he had seen this person—before the Chaos Immortal Palace opened in the Azure Void Heavenly Domain. Back then he was merely an early Nascent Soul cultivator, ignorant of everything, capable of nothing. He had watched this person emerge from the silver stone gate, feeling only profound mystery and utter unattainability.

Now he had reached Spirit Transformation. He could already fight five mid Spirit Transformation opponents alone. He could already perform Void Grand Translocation. He could already protect the Spirit Realm. Yet seeing this person again, he still felt profound mystery and utter unattainability. Only this time, he felt no fear.

He drew a deep breath and bowed deeply toward that figure in the sky.

"Senior."

The Transcendent One looked at him, the smile in his eyes deepening. He took a step forward, and in the next instant stood before Wang Ping. No one could see how he did it—not teleportation, not evasion, not spatial folding. He merely stepped, and from the heights of ten thousand zhang he arrived on the ground before Wang Ping. It was as if distance held no meaning for him.

He stood before Wang Ping, examining him up and down. His gaze seemed able to see through everything. Wang Ping's cultivation, his Dao foundation, his true spirit, the Fusang Tree power within him, his Primordial Chaos Origin, his Dao of Chaos—all of it lay bare before that gaze.

"Dao of Chaos, fifth realm, true intent—not bad." He nodded, a flash of appreciation in his eyes. "Thirty thousand years have passed, and finally someone has reached this stage again."

Wang Ping staggered. Thirty thousand years? Someone else again?

"Senior, you mean…"

The Transcendent One raised his hand and lightly placed it on Wang Ping's shoulder. His palm was light, yet Wang Ping felt a hard-to-describe power flow from that palm. It was not spiritual energy, not law, but something more primordial. That power circulated once through his body, then quietly dissipated.

"The founder of the Myriad Phenomena Star Observer also reached this step." The Transcendent One lowered his hand, speaking lightly. "He was the most talented cultivator I have ever seen. With a mortal body, he grasped the Dao of Chaos and entered the Void Refinement Stage in merely five thousand years. Unfortunately—"

He paused, a flicker of regret in his eyes.

"He was too hasty. He rushed to oppose the Lord of Order, to save his kin, to prove the Myriad Phenomena Star Observer's Dao was correct. Unprepared, he battled the Lord of Order. The result: mutual grievous injury. The Lord of Order fell into slumber, he perished, and the Myriad Phenomena Star Observer was destroyed."

Wang Ping's heart sank. The founder of the Myriad Phenomena Star Observer, a Void Refinement Stage Chaos cultivator, was still no match for the Lord of Order—and he was only an early Spirit Transformation cultivator. What could he rely on?

The Transcendent One seemed to see through his thoughts, shaking his head slightly.

"You're thinking you're not as good as him, right?"

Wang Ping remained silent.

The Transcendent One continued: "You need not be inferior to him. He walks his path, you walk yours. His path is Myriad Phenomena Return to the One, entering the Dao through myriad laws. Your path is Chaos Inclusivity, entering the Dao through non-Dao. Your roads differ, and so do your destinations."

He paused, his gaze deepening.

"Moreover, what he has, you lack; what you have, he lacks."

Wang Ping raised his head. "What?"

The Transcendent One gave a faint smile.

"He has the full support of the Myriad Phenomena Star Observer clan, the accumulation of countless sages, and a foundation of thirty thousand years. You lack these. But you have the Fusang Tree, the Primordial Chaos Origin, Void Grand Translocation, and comrades willing to die for you. He lacks these."

He looked at Wang Ping, enunciating each word.

"So, you don't have to become him. What you must become is yourself."

Wang Ping fell silent for a long time. The wind blew, the clouds drifted, sunlight fell. He stood there, countless thoughts surging in his mind. Then he raised his head and looked at the Transcendent One.

"Senior, Lord of Order, are you really going to awaken?"

The Transcendent One's smile gradually faded. He gazed into the distance, toward the void where the silver light dissipated, toward the direction of the Primordial Chaos Sea.

"Three years." His voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable certainty, "At most three years. He will awaken."

Wang Ping clenched his fists. "Three years... can we make it in time?"

The Transcendent One looked at him without answering. He simply raised his hand and gave a light wave. In an instant, the surrounding scene changed: the Ninth Dao Institute vanished, the Spirit Realm vanished, the sunlight vanished. They stood in a void, surrounded by endless darkness, with only occasional starlight flickering in the distance.

"'This place is...' Wang Ping looked around, a sense of familiarity welling up in his heart."

"'This is the edge of the Return to the Void.' the Transcendent One said calmly, 'the end of the universe, the boundary between life and death, the source of all laws.'"

He raised his hand, pointing into the distance. There, a patch of chaotic-colored light flickered faintly in the darkness.

"'The Immortal Realm Fragment is there. It is a remnant of the Ancient Immortal Realm, the last resort left by the progenitor of the Myriad Phenomena Stargazers before his fall. Inside it are sealed his lifetime of insights, and the sole method to oppose the Lord of Order.'"

Wang Ping gazed at that light, an indescribable urge surging in his heart. He wanted to go, he wanted to go immediately. But the Transcendent One's next words calmed him.

"'Inside the Immortal Realm Fragment lie countless seals, remnant souls, and chaotic law turbulence left from the Ancient Immortal-Demon War. Only those with great perseverance and great fortune can enter; otherwise, death is certain.' He looked at Wang Ping, his gaze calm, 'Are you ready?'"

Wang Ping fell silent. He thought of his master, the Mountain-Moving Old Ancestor, Lei Wan Ting, and all those who died for him. He thought of Jiu Er's tears, Youying's wait, Cang Xuan's sword, Yu Liuli's lute. He thought of the Spirit Realm, and of those still waiting for his return.

He took a deep breath and raised his head.

"'I'm ready.'"

The Transcendent One looked at him for a long time. Then he smiled.

"'Good. Then go.'"

He raised his hand and gave a gentle push. Wang Ping felt his body lighten, his whole self flying toward that patch of chaotic-colored light. Faster and faster, everything around blurred, only that light growing nearer and brighter.

From behind, the Transcendent One's voice came, soft yet perfectly clear.

"'Remember, inside the Immortal Realm Fragment you can enter alone. This is your path, yours to walk alone.'"

Wang Ping turned back, wanting to say something, but the Transcendent One's figure had already vanished into that void. Only that silver stone gate remained, still floating above the Spirit Realm, emitting a faint glow.

He took a deep breath, turned, and faced the patch of chaotic-colored light.

"'Immortal Realm Fragment...'"

He murmured, his eyes resolute.

"'I have come.'"