Chapter 399: Passage

That night, the Spirit Realm knew no sleep.

The silver stone gate hovered above the Ninth Dao Institute, emitting a soft and profound light. That light was not blinding, yet it illuminated the entire sky, illuminating every mountain peak, every river, every forest, every city. Everyone looked up at that gate, at the endless light beyond it, and a feeling beyond words welled up in their hearts—as if something great was about to happen.

Wang Ping stood at the cliff edge behind the Ninth Dao Institute, gazing down at the sea of clouds, motionless. Moonlight fell, stretching his shadow long and long. At his waist hung the Chaos Star Token; in his bosom he carried the Jiang Token left to him by Jiang Mingyuan; in his hand he held a jade slip—this was his master's lifetime cultivation insights, which he had found among his master's relics before the master departed.

The jade slip warmed in his hand, as if his master's hand still held it. Wang Ping closed his eyes, his divine sense probing into it. In an instant, countless words flowed into his mind like a stream—

"I have cultivated for thirty thousand years, and I have often asked myself: What is the Dao?"

"In my youth, I thought the Dao was power. With power, I could protect whatever I wished to protect. So I trained desperately, day and night without rest. After a hundred years I attained Nascent Soul, after a thousand years I achieved Unity, and I believed myself invincible under heaven. Until that great war, until I personally witnessed the Lord of Order destroy a world with a single palm, until countless fellow cultivators fell before my eyes, did I realize how insignificant power is."

"In middle age, I thought the Dao was law. Grasping the law meant controlling heaven and earth. So I contemplated the principles of heaven and earth's operation, probed the ways of all things' birth and demise. After a thousand years of contemplation, I believed I had fathomed heavenly secrets. Until I encountered the survivors of the Myriad Phenomena Observer, seeing them wield the void law with mortal bodies, did I realize how superficial my understanding of law was."

"In my later years, I thought the Dao was transcendence. Transcending life and death, transcending reincarnation, transcending all bonds. So I entered deathly seclusion, cut worldly ties, severed the seven emotions, extinguished the six desires. After a hundred years of austere sitting, I believed my mind had become clear. Until I took you as my disciple, watching you grow from a tiny child into a pillar‑of‑heaven cultivator, did I realize how empty the notion of transcendence was."

"The Dao is not far away; it is beneath your feet. The Dao is not high; it is low. The Dao is not elsewhere; it is——here."

"Ping'er, in my life, the thing I am most proud of is having taken you as my disciple. Your path is harder than anyone's. But I believe you will go farther than anyone."

"Go. Go find your Dao."

Wang Ping opened his eyes; tears fell silently. He carefully put the jade slip back into his bosom, gently pressing it, as if promising his master—his disciple would find his own Dao, his disciple would not disappoint him.

"Brother Wang."

A stern voice came from behind. Wang Ping turned and saw Cangxuan striding over. He still wore his dark tight‑fitting outfit, bore a long sword, and his face was stern. But in his hand he carried a bundle.

"What is this?" Wang Ping asked.

Cangxuan opened the bundle; inside were three jugs of wine, three bowls, and three sticks of incense. He sat cross‑legged, placed the three bowls on the ground, filled them with wine. Then he lit the three incense sticks and planted them at the cliff's edge.

"To Director Jiang, to the Master of Thunder Valley, to the Senior of Moving Mountain." He lifted a bowl of wine and poured it onto the ground, "To all who died for the Spirit Realm." The second bowl he offered to Wang Ping: "To ourselves." The third bowl he raised and drank in one gulp.

Wang Ping looked at him, a warm current rising in his chest. He took the bowl and drank it in one gulp. The fiery wine burned like fire going down his throat, yet it warmed his heart.

"Brother Cangxuan, you……"

"I'm going with you." Cangxuan cut him off, eyes firm, "The Immortal Realm fragments are peril beyond measure; if you go alone, I cannot rest easy."

Wang Ping shook his head. "No. The Spirit Realm needs you to guard it."

Cangxuan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled—a rare, utterly sincere expression on his stern face. "Brother Wang, do you know why I practice the sword?"

Wang Ping shook his head.

Cangxuan gazed into the distance, his eyes deep. "When I was a child, bandits raided my home. My parents died before my eyes, and I could do nothing. Then I thought, if I had a sword, I could protect them. So I took up the sword, training desperately, day and night without cease. Later I had a sword and could protect those I wished to protect. But my sword grew ever colder."

He lowered his head, looking at his own hand. "These years, following you through life and death, I have gradually realized one thing—a cold sword cannot have a cold heart. A sword without feeling cannot be wielded by a feelingless person. When Senior of Moving Mountain died, I wept. When Director Jiang died, I also wept. My sword did not dull; on the contrary, it grew sharper. For I know I must wield this blade to protect those worth protecting."

He lifted his head, looking at Wang Ping. "You are the one worth protecting."

Wang Ping gazed at him for a long time, then smiled. "Good. Let's go together."

In the distance, a zither melody drifted slowly. Yuliuli cradled her ancient zither, walking from the moonlight. Her strings had been restrung, and the immortal sound bell trembled gently at the instrument's head. A faint smile played on her face.

"I'm going too."

Wang Ping frowned. "Lady Jade Fairy, your wound……"

"It's fine." Yuliuli lightly plucked the strings; the zither's tone was soft and ethereal. "With me, the Fallen Immortal Clan is safe. But the Immortal Realm fragments may offer only this chance. Moreover——"

She paused, looking at Wang Ping. "My zither longs to hear the truth of the universe."

Wang Ping looked at her, at the resolve in her eyes, and nodded slowly. "Good."

Youying emerged from the darkness, walked to Wang Ping's side, and lightly took his hand. Her hand was still icy, but this time Wang Ping felt——beneath the cold lay a burning heart.

"I'll accompany you." Her voice was soft, yet beyond doubt.

Wang Ping lowered his head to look at her. "Your cultivation……"

"Enough." Youying lifted her head, eyes flashing. "My cultivation may not have recovered, but my grasp of the void law remains. The Immortal Realm fragments were left by the Myriad Phenomena Observer; I know their history. Moreover——"

She gave a faint smile. "I have said before: wherever you are, I am there."

Wang Ping looked at her, a feeling beyond words welling up in his chest. He gently tightened his grip on her hand. "Good. Let's go together."

Four people, four silhouettes, stood beneath the moonlight, at the cliff's edge, on the soil of the Spirit Realm. They were about to set out, heading for the unknown Returning Ruins, for the Immortal Realm fragments that were peril beyond measure. They did not know what lay ahead, nor whether they could return. But at this moment, their hearts held no fear, only resolve.

"Big brother!"

A tiny figure came running from afar. Jiu'er ran so fast she nearly tripped. She flung herself into Wang Ping's embrace, clinging tightly to him.

"Big brother…… Jiu'er also wants to go…… Jiu'er doesn't want to be left alone……"

Wang Ping squatted down and gently held her. "Jiu'er, listen to big brother."

Jiu'er cried in his arms, saying nothing.

Wang Ping spoke softly: "The place big brother is going is very dangerous. If Jiu'er goes, big brother will be distracted. If big brother is distracted, he might not make it back."

Jiu'er lifted her head, eyes brimming with tears, and looked at him. "But…… but if big brother goes alone, Jiu'er won't be at ease……"

Wang Ping smiled, gently wiping the tears from her face. "Big brother isn't going alone. Brother Cangxuan accompanies big brother, Sister Yuliuli accompanies big brother, Sister Youying accompanies big brother. With so many people, big brother will be fine."

Jiu'er looked at Cangxuan, who gave her a nod. She looked at Yuliuli, who gave a faint smile. She looked at Youying, who gently stroked her head.

"Then…… then big brother must promise Jiu'er that he will surely come back."

Wang Ping looked at her and said solemnly, "Big brother promises you."

Jiu'er stretched out her pinky. "Pinky promise."

Wang Ping also stretched out his pinky and linked it with hers. "Pinky promise, hang for a hundred years, no changing."

Jiu'er finally smiled. That smile, blooming through her tears, was brighter than sunshine.

In the distance, a silver light flared. The Transcendent One stood before the silver stone gate, gazing at them. His visage continued to shift, but his eyes remained constant—deep, calm, bearing a compassion that transcended time and space.

"Are you ready?" his voice was soft, yet it reached each person's ears clearly.

Wang Ping rose, drew a deep breath. "Ready."

The Transcendent One nodded, raised his hand and gave a light wave. The silver stone gate swung open once more. Beyond it lay endless light, warped spacetime, the unknown Returning Ruins.

"Go. The passage can only stay open for three days. Within those three days you must find the Immortal Realm fragments. Otherwise the passage will close and you will be trapped forever in the Returning Ruins."

Wang Ping gazed at that gate, at the endless light beyond. He turned, facing the Spirit Realm, facing the Ninth Dao Institute, facing those who were watching him. Then he bowed deeply.

Everyone, wait for me to return.

He turned and strode toward that door. Behind him, Cang Xuan, Yu Liuli, and You Ying followed closely.

The four figures vanished into the light.

The moment he stepped into the passage, Wang Ping felt heaven and earth invert, time and space chaotic. The world before him was no longer the mountains and rivers of the Spirit Realm, nor the familiar starry seas, but a strange space that words could not describe.

Here there was no up or down, no left or right, no front or back. Every direction was chaotic, every position blurred. He felt as if he floated in an endless void, as if countless beams of light shone on him from all sides, and as if countless hands pulled at him simultaneously.

This is the Return to the Void Passage—a bridge linking the Spirit Realm and Return to the Void, a temporary passage opened by transcendent beings with supreme divine powers. Here, time and space are twisted. Here, past and future coexist. Here, life and death have no boundary.

Wang Ping steadied himself, and his Chaos Domain instinctively unfolded. But the next moment he froze—his Chaos Domain, here, could not actually unfold. Not because it was suppressed, but because the laws here were completely different from those of the Spirit Realm. His Chaos Dao, here, was like a newborn infant that needed to relearn how to walk.

"This is..." his voice echoed in the passage, but he couldn't tell if it was his own.

"This is the Return to the Void Passage." You Ying's voice came from beside her. Her Void Laws, here, were instead like a fish in water; her figure remained clear in the distorted spacetime: "Here, all laws are chaotic. Time is chaotic, space is chaotic, causality is chaotic. Even—"

She paused, a hint of gravity flashing in her eyes. "Even memories are chaotic."

Wang Ping blinked. The next instant he understood You Ying's meaning.

In his mind, countless images began to flash—some from his past, some from his future, some from worlds he had never experienced. He saw his younger self on the Dao Inquiry Platform of the Ninth Dao Academy, first condensing his Chaos Spiritual Root. His Master stood behind him, lightly patting his shoulder, eyes full of satisfaction. He saw his older self standing on an unfamiliar mountain peak, gazing at distant clouds of mist. His hair was completely white, his face lined with wrinkles, yet his eyes remained bright as ever. He saw a world he had never known, where towering immortal palaces pierced the heavens, divine dragons soared through the nine skies, and immortal herbs glowed with seven-colored light. Countless cultivators flew through the air, their auras stronger than the Transformation God Stage, stronger than the Union Stage, even stronger than the Refining Void Stage. That was the Immortal Realm—the ancient Immortal Realm, not yet fallen.

"This is..." Wang Ping murmured, unable to tell which were real and which were illusory.

"This is the truth of the universe." Cang Xuan's voice came from the other side. His sword hummed in its sheath, sword intent flowing around him, resisting the invasion of chaotic information: "In the Return to the Void Passage, time and space are twisted. Here, past and future coexist. What you see may be the past, may be the future, may be a parallel world, may be a possibility that never came to pass."

Wang Ping took a deep breath, steadied his mind. He closed his eyes, no longer trying to judge the truth of those images, but instead feeling them with his heart.

He felt it—the truth of the Dao.

Those images, though chaotic and hard to discern as true or false, all shared a common point: they were manifestations of the Dao. Whether memories of the past, possibilities of the future, real worlds, or illusory phantasms, they all followed some law in their operation. That law was neither order nor chaos, nor any known rule. It was a more primordial existence, the source of all things, the foundation of the universe.

This is the Dao.

Wang Ping's mind and spirit immersed in that wondrous realization. His Chaos Primordial Spirit opened its eyes in his dantian. That tiny figure, identical to him, was now greedily absorbing the chaotic fragments of law around it. Those fragments came from the past, from the future, from worlds that never existed. Yet they were all part of the Dao, all part of Chaos.

The aura of the Chaos Primordial Spirit rose gradually—not an increase in quantity, but a qualitative transformation. Those law fragments were absorbed, digested, and fused, becoming part of itself. Around it began to appear countless phantom images of laws—those phantoms clearer, more refined, and closer to the source than before.

Cang Xuan sensed Wang Ping's change, turned his head to look at him. "Wang Brother, you..."

"I'm fine." Wang Ping opened his eyes; the chaos-colored light in his pupils flowed, deeper and brighter than before. "I merely... saw the truth of the Dao."

Cang Xuan looked at him, a flicker of relief in his eyes. "That's good."

Yu Liuli's voice came from the other side, trembling slightly. "Quick, look!"

Wang Ping and Cang Xuan raised their heads at the same time, following Yu Liuli's pointing finger.

In the distance, at the end of the passage, lay a sheet of chaos-colored light. Boundless and unfathomable, it resembled a slumbering ocean. Within that ocean, countless fragments of law could be seen drifting— the fierce blaze of fire law, the stillness of ice law, the violence of thunder law, the profundity of space law, the vicissitudes of time law—everything appeared and disappeared within that light. At its deepest point lay a vast tract of land, stretching millions of miles, suspended in the void. Upon that land stood ruined immortal palaces, collapsed divine halls, withered immortal trees, and dried immortal springs. The air was thick with an ancient, desolate aura—the aura of immortals, the traces left by beings transcending the Transformation God Stage.

Immortal Realm fragments.

Wang Ping's heart leapt. He sped up, rushing toward that light. Behind him, Cang Xuan, Yu Liuli, and You Ying followed closely.

No one knew how long had passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years—when they finally burst out of the passage and stepped onto that chaos-colored light.

Beneath their feet was soft void. Around them, countless law fragments drifted. Ahead lay that enormous landmass—the Immortal Realm fragments, the goal of their journey.

Wang Ping stood in the void, gazing at that land, silent for a long time.

He felt it—within the Immortal Realm fragments, a power was calling to him. That power shared the same origin as his Chaos Dao, resonating with his primordial chaos. It was the power left by the progenitor of the Myriad Phenomena Stargazers, the ultimate secret of the Chaos Dao, the sole hope against the Lord of Order.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Behind them, Cang Xuan, Yu Liuli, and You Ying followed closely. Their figures vanished into the chaos-colored light. Before them lay unknown dangers—the countless seals, remnant souls, and turbulent laws left by the ancient Immortal-Demon War. Behind them was the Spirit Realm, and those waiting for their return.

But they did not turn back, for they knew—the Dao lay ahead.