This was the Pavilion Master of Wen Tian Pavilion in the Qingxuan Holy Land, and Gu Xiu's Senior Sister.

Nian Chaoxi!

She was versed in the Art of Heavenly Secrets of divination, had predicted fortune and misfortune for the sect several times, and was highly revered. Even the Zongzhu, Guan Xuelan, had to treat this rarely seen first disciple with courtesy.

But now.

This highly revered Pavilion Master of Wen Tian Pavilion.

Her face was a mask of terror and unease:

"This is impossible!"

"Something must have gone wrong!"

Nian Chaoxi muttered to herself, hastily taking out six copper coins. But halfway through the hexagram divination, the coins crumbled to dust, as if crushed in someone's hand.

Unwilling to give up, Nian Chaoxi took out a tortoise shell. This time, the divination had just begun when the shell suddenly caved in, as if smashed by a fist.

Nian Chaoxi gritted her teeth and produced a Star-Patterned Chessboard. This time was even more horrifying. The moment the board appeared, it suddenly split down the middle, as if cleaved by a single stroke.

These were all items intrinsically linked to Nian Chaoxi's life force. Their destruction, one after another, caused her to spit out a mouthful of blood.

She had suffered a backlash.

But at this moment, Nian Chaoxi couldn't be bothered with her injuries.

A look of determination flashed in her eyes.

Then, she took out an ancient bronze mirror from her robes.

The bronze mirror didn't shatter, but Nian Chaoxi's life essence began to drain away rapidly. Not daring to delay, she used the Art of Heavenly Secrets once more.

This time.

She succeeded!

A figure appeared on the surface of the bronze mirror. The person had white clothes and white hair, their back to the mirror, exuding an air of loneliness and transcendence.

Suddenly, the person in the mirror seemed to sense something.

They turned and glanced at the bronze mirror.

With just a single glance, the bronze mirror exploded into pieces!

Nian Chaoxi spat out a mouthful of essence blood and collapsed to the ground, knocked unconscious by the mirror's backlash...

An unknown amount of time passed before an anxious voice called out:

"Senior Sister, Senior Sister, are you alright?"

"Senior Sister, wake up!"

Nian Chaoxi opened her eyes to see her Third Junior Sister, Xu Wanqing, looking at her with anxious eyes. When she saw her awaken, Xu Wanqing said worriedly:

"Senior Sister, the Art of Heavenly Secrets of divination is an act that defies the heavens. You forced a divination today. If it hadn't been stopped at the critical moment, I'm afraid your lifespan would have been drained, leading to your soul's dissipation. What could possibly be worth such a risk?"

"I..." Nian Chaoxi hesitated, but ultimately decided against speaking. The divination alone had nearly cost her life. If she were to reveal the results, not only she, but even Xu Wanqing before her, would likely suffer Heaven's Retribution.

However, the memory of that fleeting glimpse from the divination jolted Nian Chaoxi back to her senses. She scrambled to her feet, ready to leave.

"Senior Sister, you've lost a great deal of your lifespan today. You need to rest and recuperate..."

"There's no time! I have to see him!"

"What do you mean there's no time? Who do you need to see, Senior Sister? I can go find them for you."

"I'm looking for my junior brother."

"Junior Brother has already entered the Sword Pavilion  to cultivate. You won't find him even if you go now."

"Gu Xiu went to the Sword Pavilion ?" Nian Chaoxi frowned.

"Gu Xiu? He's not our junior brother anymore. I'm talking about Junior Brother Jiang Xun. He's our only junior brother now."

"Not our junior brother... What do you mean?" Nian Chaoxi was confused.

Xu Wanqing explained, "Senior Sister, you were in seclusion and didn't know. Gu Xiu signed the Abandon Sect Covenant with Master today and has left the sect."

"What did you say?" Nian Chaoxi was shocked.

Xu Wanqing continued, "Gu Xiu was jealous of Jiang Xun. He felt that Master and all of us senior sisters were favoring our Little Junior Brother, so he threatened to leave the sect. Master was angered and agreed to his Abandon Sect Covenant on the spot. So, he is no longer a disciple of our Qingxuan Sect, no longer our junior brother..."

Nian Chaoxi didn't hear the rest of her words.

Her mind was filled with the image of the figure from her divination, followed by the thought of the sect's fortune scattering away.

She immediately pressed, "When did Gu Xiu leave the sect?"

"Well... I think it was during the Hour of the Snake."

"The Hour of the Snake!" Nian Chaoxi calculated the time. It was precisely when the sect's fortune had departed. Her conviction grew stronger. "Where is Gu Xiu now? Where did he go?"

"Senior Sister... you?"

Xu Wanqing was a bit surprised, but seeing Nian Chaoxi's anxious expression, she answered, "Gu Xiu used the Abandon Sect Covenant, so the sect can no longer track his whereabouts. Besides, I doubt anyone paid attention to where he went after leaving..."

Nian Chaoxi erupted in fury. "Gu Xiu is the one who suffered five hundred years of torment in the Forbidden Land for the sect! And now you let him leave, without even sending anyone to protect him?"

"Well... it was Master..." Xu Wanqing hesitated. "Gu Xiu just left today. He has no cultivation now, just a mortal. He couldn't have gone far. The only place he could go is Qingxuan City at the foot of the mountain. If Senior Sister..."

Before she could finish, Nian Chaoxi's figure flashed, and she flew swiftly away from Wen Tian Pavilion.

She had to find Gu Xiu!

Regardless of why the person in the mirror was Gu Xiu, or why the sect's fortune had suddenly abandoned it.

All of this was clearly related to Gu Xiu.

She had to find Gu Xiu and bring him back to the sect!

But it was a pity...

Her trip...

Was destined to be in vain...

Because after leaving the Qingxuan Holy Land, Gu Xiu did not head towards Qingxuan City as one would expect. Instead, he turned in the opposite direction, towards the perilous, beast-infested Tianqi Mountain Range.

Having seen the future in the Illusory Realm, Gu Xiu would not underestimate his Little Junior Brother.

In the Illusory Realm, even when he was being so oppressed within the sect, Jiang Xun had still wanted to kill him, terrified that he might rise again. Now that he had left the sect, Gu Xiu had even less guarantee that Jiang Xun would let him go.

So.

To be safe.

Gu Xiu preferred to head towards the seemingly more dangerous Tianqi Mountain Range.

In truth, it was only dangerous to others.

Five hundred years ago, Gu Xiu had trained in the Tianqi Mountain Range more than once and was extremely familiar with it. Although five hundred years was enough for people's hearts to change...

...the beast-ridden Tianqi Mountain Range, in contrast, would not have changed much.

Just like now.

Gu Xiu was in an extremely hidden cave dwelling, lighting a bonfire and cooking food.

This was a hidden cave he had carved out five hundred years ago. Back then, because he often came here to train and occasionally enter seclusion, the location was chosen to be exceptionally concealed, and he had even set up several formations around it.

Moreover, thinking that someone from the Qingxuan Holy Land might stumble upon it, he had even left some Spirit Stones inside for the convenience of his fellow disciples.

He never expected that after five hundred years, besides a nest of snakes and vermin that had made it their home, no one else had set foot inside. Even the Spirit Stones he had stored back then were still untouched.

After chasing away the snakes and vermin, he placed Spirit Stones into the formation to activate the concealment array.

With a little tidying up, the place became a relatively safe hideout.

While waiting for the food to cook, Gu Xiu did not remain idle.

Instead, by the light of the fire, he looked at the two items placed before him.

The Green Bamboo Rod and a nameless ancient tome.

These were the items that had come out of the Forbidden Land with him.

It was just that he didn't know how to use them, so they had been left neglected until now.

Even the sect had given up on them after a period of study.

But today, having witnessed tens of thousands of years of changes in that Illusory Realm, Gu Xiu had finally seen the true nature of these two treasures.

And he finally knew.

These two items.

Had always been his greatest opportunity!

First was the Green Bamboo Rod.

This item was said to be capable of Heavenly Fishing and could be used once every ten days. However, it required a special technique to activate. Now that he had lost his cultivation and had no Spiritual Power, Gu Xiu was temporarily unable to use it.

Skipping over it, Gu Xiu picked up the ancient tome.

This was a nameless ancient tome.

Opening the first page, he saw the words:

"The I Ching is in accord with heaven and earth, thus it can encompass the Dao of heaven and earth... Essence and qi form things; the wandering soul causes change, thus one knows the states of ghosts and spirits..."

In the past three years, Gu Xiu had already memorized these words by heart.

Before, he had only half-understood them, gaining nothing.

In that Illusory Realm, even Jiang Xun had taken the ancient tome for several years but had gained nothing from it. It wasn't until Gu Xiu was on the verge of death that he suddenly comprehended its meaning and, relying on this nameless tome...

...started his cultivation anew, eventually coming close to Ascending to Immortality.

Unfortunately, the Qingxuan Holy Land later faced a great disaster. For the sake of the sect, he came out of seclusion early and forcibly used a power he couldn't control, ultimately perishing along with a powerful enemy.

"I don't know what that Illusory Realm was. If it was a complete story, then I suppose I was cast as a tragic supporting character, doomed from birth, wasn't I?"

"Fortunately."

"I no longer have to walk that tragic path as I did in the Illusory Realm."

Gu Xiu muttered to himself, glanced at the ancient tome again, and finally cast aside his distracting thoughts. He took out a dagger, hesitated for a moment, and plunged it into his own heart!

He was already a mortal.

With this stab, what little lifespan he had left drained away in an instant. The piercing pain left Gu Xiu breathless.

But Gu Xiu dared not stop.

Instead, he dipped a finger from his other hand into his heart's blood and, gritting his teeth, began to write on the blank cover of the nameless ancient tome.

In the Illusory Realm.

He had done this to give up the Zongzhu's jade tablet.

Afterwards, he had used his heart's blood to write two words on the ancient tome.

"No Regrets!"

It was to tell others that he did not regret his actions.

How laughable that seemed now!

This time, however, after writing the character for "No," Gu Xiu had a flash of inspiration. He changed the character he had originally intended to write, "Regret," to "Shame."

"No Shame!"

The moment the final stroke was completed, Gu Xiu's life force was completely extinguished. His hands fell limply to his sides.

But just then.

The two words "No Shame" that Gu Xiu had written on the tome suddenly erupted with a brilliant golden light. Then, as if drawn by some force, the nameless ancient tome slowly rose into the air, hovering above Gu Xiu's head.

Next.

The ancient tome began to slowly disintegrate from the corner of the first page. The fragments danced in the air like thousands of butterflies, landing all over Gu Xiu's body. After the last page had turned to dust, these butterfly-like fragments, as if answering a summons.

...began to burrow into Gu Xiu's flesh, bit by bit!

After entering his body, these tome-butterflies began to travel slowly along his meridians.

Wherever they passed, withered wood bloomed anew!

His originally shattered meridians, like parched earth receiving sweet rain, began to rapidly repair themselves. And it was not just a simple repair.

They were becoming stronger!

His meridians were widened bit by bit, and then, complex strands of Dao Rhythm began to appear upon them.

This was Innate Dao Rhythm!

A legendary sacred physique for cultivation, rarely seen in a million years!

Gu Xiu's Little Junior Brother possessed Innate Dao Rhythm, making his cultivation speed and future potential far superior to ordinary people. But even Jiang Xun merely had Dao Rhythm accompanying his body.

He was nothing like Gu Xiu, whose Dao Rhythm was contained within, adhering directly to his meridians!

Strictly speaking.

This was no longer Innate Dao Rhythm.

This was...

Innate Sacred Rhythm!!!

And after his meridians were fully repaired and perfected, the tome-butterflies still did not stop.

Instead, they burrowed towards Gu Xiu's bones.

Five hundred years of torment in the Forbidden Land had long since filled Gu Xiu's warrior bones with cracks and scars. Now, as the tome-butterflies drifted among them, the cracks and scars did not disappear, but instead transformed into markings.

As the tome-butterflies fluttered, these markings began to form intricate patterns, bit by bit.

If anyone were to witness this scene.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "p𝑎wread.com".

They would likely cry out in shock on the spot.

This was...

Supreme Dao Bone!!!

If an ordinary person possessed even one piece, they would, barring any accidents, be destined to become a Supreme in their lifetime!

And Gu Xiu.

All 206 bones in his body were now transforming into Supreme Dao Bones!

Even more terrifyingly.

After remodeling all of Gu Xiu's bones and meridians, the tome-butterflies still did not stop. They continued to drift...

...heading towards Gu Xiu's Dantian Sea

---

Proofreader: Peter Pan