Chapter 1849

In the age when chaos was yet undivided, the world-barrier of Outer Shenzhou remained intact, yet the shadows of the Dark World had already seeped in like spider silk.

On the land at that time, aberrant beings gnawed at living creatures, war flames scorched mountains and rivers, and the surviving human race huddled in ruined walls and broken walls, their very breath reeking of blood.

By the bank of a turbid stream, five-year-old Xiao E poked at the sludge with a withered branch.

Half of her sheep-horn braids had come loose, her dirt-smudged little face was so thin only a pair of astonishingly bright eyes remained, like molten gold of a setting sun fallen into the night sky's canopy.

Her parents had died beneath the claws and fangs of aberrants; she followed the fleeing crowd for three days, until they were scattered, leaving only herself to guard this stream whose destination she did not know, surviving by gnawing wild grass roots.

Something hard in the sludge pricked her fingertip; Xiao E strained to dig it open—it was a cold mask.

No one knew how long the mask had lain at the bottom of the water; its edges were worn smooth, its material neither metal nor jade, warm to the touch, engraved with intricate patterns that seemed to be the flowing true rhythm of some affinity.

As she cradled the mask in her palms, a mysterious light unfurled from within it, shaping into the tall figure of a man.

The man also wore a similar mask, revealing only a pair of smiling eyes; his voice was gentle as a warm breeze over the stream: "At last I have waited for you."

Xiao E clenched the grass root in her hand, shrank back, and warily stared at him.

In this chaotic age, a stranger's kindness was more unsettling than an aberrant's claws.

"Will you come with me?" The man crouched down, level with her gaze, palms open, showing not the slightest fluctuation of affinity power, yet Xiao E inexplicably felt reassured: "Come with me, and you will never go hungry again."

Xiao E's stomach chose that moment to let out a hollow sound.

She licked her dry, cracked lips, hesitated for a long while, then finally rubbed her sludge-stained little hand again and again on her tattered clothes before placing it into the man's palm.

That palm was broad and warm, enveloping her icy little hand, as if holding a handful of starlight about to fade.

"Do you have a name?"

The man led her along the stream, his steps light and unhurried, avoiding the traces of aberrants along the way.

"None."

Xiao E's voice was as fine as a mosquito's hum—this was the first time she had ever spoken to another person, her throat dry and hoarse with pain.

"Then I shall call you Xiao E—how does that sound?"

"Oh, good."

Xiao E nodded, then tilted her head to look at him: "Then what should I call you?"

The man clapped his hands and laughed loudly, his clear, ringing laughter startling waterbirds from the stream bank: "Mm… you may call me Master." Xiao E gazed at the crinkled corners of his eyes beneath the mask; though she did not understand what "Master" meant, she still nodded firmly and cried out in a clear, childish voice: "Master!"

That cry of "Master" became the warmest bond of her life, and also the heaviest destiny of her life.

Master took Xiao E on a journey across much of Outer Shenzhou.

He never taught her killing techniques; when passing through ruined cities, he would point out the children lying in pools of blood and tell her, "The true purpose of affinity is not conquest, but protection."

; when ascending lofty mountain peaks, he let her feel the flow of affinity between heaven and earth, teaching her, "All affinities possess spirit, and from the formless arise all affinities."

; when lodging in ruined temples at night, he used withered branches to draw the outline of an affinity palace on the ground, softly saying, "Your eyes hold sun and moon; you should not be confined to this tiny space."

; When spending the night in a ruined temple, he used dry twigs to draw the outline of the Xiang Palace on the ground, and whispered softly: "Your eyes hold the sun and moon; you should not be confined to this small space."

With only slight guidance from Master, she could grasp the true rhythm of affinity; at six she opened her first affinity palace, at seven she condensed a single affinity, and at eight she could already draw forth the light-affinity power between heaven and earth, reducing low-ranking aberrant ambushers to ashes.

Her affinity palaces were unusually numerous; by ten she already faintly possessed six-palace affinity, yet Master always said, "The time has not come," and would not allow her to breakthrough rashly.

This day, they arrived before a desolate Dashan. On its summit stood a rough stone tablet, its surface carved with four ancient-style large characters, half-covered by moss, only faintly revealing the two characters "Wu Xiang."

"This is the Wu Xiang Holy Sect."

Master halted his steps, gazing at that earthen slope which could scarcely be called a mountain gate, his voice tinged with regret: "I built it with my own hands, yet I can only accompany you this far."

Xiao E's heart sank sharply.

Though young, she had long sensed Master's difference—his figure often turned illusory, he never spoke of his origins, his gaze upon her held both expectation and reluctance, as if separated by vast ages.

The master stopped in his tracks, gazing at the earthen slope that could not even be called a mountain gate, his voice tinged with a hint of regret: "I built this with my own hands, yet I can only accompany you this far."

She clutched the corner of Master's robe, her fingertips whitening from force—this was her sole reliance in this world, and she did not wish to let go.

Master crouched down, brushed aside her forehead strands, and his gaze beneath the mask softened nearly to a sigh: "Xiao E, you must walk your own path.

The chaos of this world will one day need an end, and you will be that light which splits the darkness."

He extended a finger, lightly tapping her brow.

With a soft "peng" sound, not painful, yet as if a mark had been etched deep into her soul.

"Remember, Wu Xiang is not nothing; all affinities return to the One.

If one day you reach the road's end, do not forget to turn back and look— the initial emptiness-affinity is the final answer."

As his words faded, Master's form began to turn transparent, like smoke blown apart by the wind.

Xiao E lunged forward, but grasped only emptiness; all that remained was a hearty laugh echoing between the mountains, gradually dissipating in the wind.

If one day you reach the end of the road, do not forget to turn back and look— the original emptiness of form is the final answer.

That day, Xiao E knelt before the stone tablet from dawn to dusk, from dusk to deep night.

The mountain wind carried chill, snow settled upon her, yet she felt nothing.

She gazed at the four characters "Wu Xiang Holy Sect" on the tablet, at that humble earthen slope, and suddenly understood Master's meaning.

She must guard this place, must let the name of Wu Xiang Holy Sect echo across this land shrouded in darkness.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye. The once frail little girl had grown into a tall, graceful maiden.

She wore the mask left by Master, held a crimson-tasseled spear; its shaft was forged from millennium-old wood, its tip tempered with light-affinity power, the crimson tasseled snapping like an unextinguished flame.

Taking Wu Xiang Holy Sect as her foundation, she gathered the fleeing human cultivators, taught them to cultivate affinity, taught them to use light affinity to counter the aberrant dark power.

Her affinity palaces were fully opened—six palaces, three single affinities, three double affinities—such talent unmatched in ancient or modern times.

Her spear technique was fierce as well; with one crimson-tasseled spear she overturned numerous cities occupied by aberrant strongholds, earning her the title "Wu Xiang Holy Maiden"

She wore the mask left by her master, holding a spear with a red tassel; the shaft was made of thousand-year-old ancient wood, the tip tempered with luminous-phase power, the red tassel fluttering like an unextinguished flame.

She took the Formless Holy Sect as her foundation, gathering the displaced human cultivators, teaching them to cultivate phase power, teaching them to use luminous phase to suppress the dark phase of the alien beings.

Her phase palace was fully opened—six phase palaces, three single phases, three double phases; such talent, unmatched from ancient times to the present.

Her spear technique was even more fierce; with a single red-tasseled spear she overturned numerous cities occupied by alien beings, the "Formless Holy Maiden".

His reputation became an existence that made all strange beings tremble with fear upon hearing it, and also became the hope in the hearts of humanity.

The mountain gate of the Wu Xiang Holy Sect, from its initial earthen slope, transformed into magnificent halls; from its initial handful of people, it grew into a sect of over ten thousand.

She sat upon the sect master's seat, her mask covering her visage, revealing only those eyes like molten gold, calm as a deep lake.

Yet none knew that whenever the night grew deep and the world fell silent, she would always walk alone to the stone tablet on the mountain peak, tracing its patterns, recalling the man who once held her hand as they crossed the stream.

She tried to use phase power to deduce her master's whereabouts, but saw only a blurred river of time, as if he had never existed.

The counterattack of the Dark World grew ever fiercer.

Rumors said that deep within the Dark World lay the "Source of All Evil," the aggregation of all negative emotions, capable of devouring phase power and corrupting divine souls.

Several Heavenly King-level powerhouses attempted to penetrate the Dark World, yet none returned.

The sect's elders advised her: "Sect Master, the Dark World is perilous; do not act rashly.

We need only guard Outer Shenzhou and await the opportune moment."

She gazed at the sky beyond the hall, dark clouds surging, as if seeking to engulf the entire world.

She recalled her master's words: "The true intent of phase power is not conquest, but protection."

Yet if the root is not severed, protection is but a fleeting illusion.

"My resolve is set."

She rose, her crimson-tasseled spear pointing obliquely at the ground, the spear tip's radiant phase power illuminating the entire hall: "In three days, I shall personally lead the sect's elite into the Dark World to slay the Source of All Evil."

None could dissuade her.

This young sect master, since assuming leadership of the Wu Xiang Holy Sect, had never shown the slightest hesitation; her will was the sect's will.

On the day they entered the Dark World, the heavens darkened as if about to collapse. She led the charge, her crimson-tasseled spear piercing the dark mist, radiant phase power spreading like the blazing sun; wherever she passed, strange beings turned to flying ash.

Behind her were the disciples of the Wu Xiang Holy Sect, countless human cultivators embracing death, their cries drowning out the howls of the strange beings.

The depths of the Dark World were darker than imagined.

Here, phase power was in chaos, even radiant phase suppressed, the air floating with viscous malevolence; a moment's inattention would corrode the divine soul.

The accompanying disciples fell one by one, until only she remained, arriving before the "Source of All Evil" coiled in the dark core.

Before.

It was a mass of twisting black mist, within which surged all the world's malice—greed, hatred, despair, venom—it had no substance, yet could perceive the deepest weaknesses of the human heart.

"You wish to kill me?"

The Source of All Evil emitted a grating laugh, its voice like countless voices whispering simultaneously: "Your obsession is no less than mine.

You seek that man, wish to know your origins, wish to fulfill his command... these obsessions are my nourishment."

Her spirit trembled violently, the face beneath the mask paling.

The Source of All Evil spoke truly; these years, she seemed unbreakable, yet deep within lay an obsession—an obsession for her master, an obsession for the true intent of "Wu Xiang."

The black mist seized the opportunity, seeping through her pores into her body, attempting to corrupt her phase palace and devour her phase power.

She felt her phase nature being contaminated; within the radiant phase, dark patterns began to sprout.

"Surrender, merge with me, and you shall become the sole ruler of this world."

The voice of the Source of All Evil brimmed with temptation.

Her consciousness began to blur, flashing before her eyes: the encounter by the stream, the sect gate standing in snow, her master's words: "Wu Xiang is not non-being; all phases return to one."

Suddenly, she gripped her crimson-tasseled spear tightly, the spear tip piercing her own phase palace! The intense pain instantly cleared her mind, radiant phase power erupting from the depths of her phase palace like a tsunami, sweeping through her body and expelling all the malevolence that had invaded.

She knew she could not utterly destroy the Source of All Evil, only contend with it, sealing it within her own phase palace.

This was a grand gamble.

Betting her will could withstand its corrosion; betting the future would bring one who could break this deadlock.

She dragged her broken body out of the Dark World. Upon returning to the Wu Xiang Holy Sect, her breath had become extremely unstable, radiant and dark phase surging alternately within her.

She knew her time was short.

Thereafter, for a hundred years, she lived in seclusion, entrusting sect affairs to her six most trusted disciples—later known as the Wu Xiang Six Sons.

She, in the seclusion hall, engaged in endless contention with the Source of All Evil.

Malevolence ceaselessly sought to devour her divine soul; she countered by refining her divine soul with radiant phase power and stabilizing her original heart with the true intent of Wu Xiang.

In this contention, her visage gradually froze, no longer aging, yet also losing its former vitality; only those molten-gold eyes remained bright.

She foresaw that the Source of All Evil would one day break its seal.

Within her body, it drew upon her phase power while nurturing a new existence—a dark being fused from her radiant phase and the Source of All Evil, later known as the Dark Sect Master.

She could not allow the Dark Sect Master to destroy this world.

Thus, she began laying a plan spanning ages.

She calculated that the Wan Xiang Seed would become the Dark Sect Master's reliance, so she left a contingency, hiding the true intent of the Wan Xiang Seed within the river of time; she calculated that a boy born with empty phase would arise, able to discern the true intent of Wu Xiang, so she used Jiang Qinge as a medium, concealing his three innate phase natures, paving for him a path of proof from emptiness to being, from being to emptiness; she calculated that she would eventually dissipate, so she merged a portion of her consciousness into radiant phase, fusing it with a strand of the Source of All Evil's power, thus bringing forth Jiang Qinge—another "her"

, bearing light and hope.

In the seclusion hall, only a lone lamp burned dimly.

She sat upon the futon, watching the lamp's flame flicker and die, deducing the future's course.

She saw the boy named Li Luo, beginning from empty phase, step by step walking the path she once trod, step by step approaching the true intent of Wu Xiang.

Her disciples often came seeking audience, wishing to share her burden, but she only bade them guard the sect, awaiting that boy's arrival.

"Sect Master, you have endured too long."

Yin Tianwang of the Wu Xiang Six Sons knelt outside the hall, voice choked: "The Source of All Evil is too powerful; why do you persist thus?"