The Stars Beyond

Navigating through the fabric of space in their Life Essence Furnace, Wang Xuan and the Celestial Sword Maiden not only escaped the Spirit Blood Pool but also evaded the higher spiritual world known as Mount Wuji. Indeed, such a treasure allowed them to reach the external world in an instant. However, their departure was not without consequence; it stirred up the creatures of Mount Wuji and affected neighboring realms.

Soon, from the higher spiritual world of the Moon Palace, a being appeared. It was only half-formed, its visage mangled, attempting to cross realms—a remnant of an unknown civilization's spirit.

"Super transcendental!" Wang Xuan exclaimed, overwhelmed by the terrifying aura that could, with a single thought, pluck corresponding spiritual planets from the outer realms.

"I've seen him from afar before; he’s the strongest monster within that high spiritual world," the Celestial Sword Maiden disclosed. She had once secluded herself in the Moon Palace to break through to the realm of the unmatched.

"Could it be that every high spiritual world harbors a super transcendental entity?" Wang Xuan speculated, growing increasingly concerned.

They had witnessed the mightiest beings of both Mount Wuji and the Moon Palace and heard that the Jade Pool was also under the sway of a monstrous entity, all seemingly confirming their suspicions.

"It's highly probable," Jiang Qingyao agreed, nodding. The renowned high spiritual worlds were few and known for spawning all manner of strange entities and innate divine artifacts.

Clearly, the more exalted the realm, the more perilous it was, harboring the remnants of transcendental spirits was not unusual.

Commandeering the Life Essence Furnace, unobstructed by any force, they vanished in a flash, swiftly entering a realm that was half-material and half-energy.

"Even if someone notices the Life Essence Furnace, it doesn't matter; they can't see us inside it. Let them think the treasure is in the high spiritual world," they reasoned as they calmed down, even though they were still on the move.

Inside the furnace, the world was ablaze with celestial red, suffused with immortal qi and radiant with intertwining rules. Jiang Qingyao smoothly advanced to the fifth layer, then enveloped in a cocoon of scarlet light, she prepared to ascend to the sixth, her spirit breathing richly with the scent of rebirth. Without facing a major boundary or needing to undergo tribulation, her progression was unhindered.

Wang Xuan felt he had reached a limit; was he finally completing the thirteenth segment? He faintly sensed an impending heavenly tribulation.Wrapped in the red haze of the spiritual world's primal matter, the benefits to his spirit were immense, like a phoenix reborn from flames. Then, he sensed at the core of his spirit, the condensed essence of his soul absorbing external spiritual forces voraciously. Outside, it seemed as though petals were withering, but inside, fruit was burgeoning.

Within the celestial sanctity of the Life Essence Furnace, Wang Xuan watched in awe as his spiritual essence teetered on the brink of birthing a "new soul." Every time this new genesis neared fruition, as the outer shell of his old spirit withered and detached, the Life Essence Furnace intervened, infusing it with life and rejuvenation.

Confounded, Wang Xuan could only wonder at the phenomenon. By all measures of strength and foundation, he was ready for this spiritual phoenix to rise from the ashes; yet time and again, the unexpected occurred—what should have withered was reborn with undiminished vitality.

Yet, this did not halt the burgeoning strength at the core of his spirit. That core condensed further, an imperceptible process to all but him. Deep within, at the very heart of his spirit, something new was gestating.

Through his spiritual vision, he saw it: a radiant figure, serenely meditative, absorbing endless streams of essence. The red liquid from the furnace nourished it continuously, augmenting its vigor.

As they tore through the fabric of space and nestled beneath the celestial terrain, they continued their transcendent breakthroughs. A day and a night later, the Celestial Sword Maiden emerged from her chrysalis, ascending to the sixth layer of the Heavenly Veil Realm, though her progress now slowed.

Wang Xuan, unable to define his own state, observed the core of his spirit absorb vast quantities of the celestial red mist. Beyond promoting his own metamorphosis, it seemed to amass a great reservoir of spiritual essence, akin to a squirrel hoarding for winter.

"You're acting like a squirrel stashing away for the winter," he mused, peering inward at the brilliant speck within him, uncertain even to himself what it entailed.

Regardless, he felt it was beneficial.

Soon after, they traversed the vast lands of the Immortal Realm and entered the dark void, ready to return to the tangible world.

"I feel I can't suppress it any longer." Emerging from the Life Essence Furnace, Wang Xuan heard thunder rumble above. He braced himself, striving to suppress his own burgeoning power.

He had no desire to cause a spectacle here.

With the power of the Life Essence Furnace, they could have torn through the great veil directly into the mortal realm, but the spectacle would have been too grand, revealing a glowing curtain visible to all beneath the heavens. Such an act would unequivocally reveal the presence of the Life Essence Furnace in the earthly realm.

Instead, they opted for silence and subtlety, traversing back through Wang Xuan’s unique pathway of misty command soil, returning quietly.

Jiang Qingyao remarked, “It’s actually beneficial that the Life Essence Furnace made its presence known in the higher spiritual realms. Everyone will assume it remains there or perhaps even in the Immortal Realms, not suspecting its presence in the mortal world.”

They re-emerged into the tranquility of a wild mountain, under a crescent moon with insects chirping and night birds calling, the breeze gently stirring. Wang Xuan opened his eyes just as a flash of thunder cracked overhead.

Swiftly, he summoned the Life Essence Furnace, diving into its sanctuary, not yet ready to face the lightning or his own unresolved thoughts about his transformation and the vast domains beyond the thirteenth stage he was preparing to navigate.

“Wow, what a treasure!” exclaimed the miniaturized version of Jiang Qingyao, her eyes wide as she clambered up to touch the furnace, her gaze sparkling with astonishment and joy.

Wang Xuan ignored her distractions, contemplating his metamorphosis and the forthcoming Expanse Realm beyond the thirteenth stage. “After the thirteenth stage, could I potentially breach several minor barriers in the Expanse Realm?” he pondered, considering ancient manuscripts and preparing thoroughly for what lay ahead.

Then with a splash, Jiang Qingyao’s physical form too entered the Life Essence Furnace, bathing in its radiant red mist, which soaked into her flesh, benefiting her as well.

“I want in too!” declared the diminutive Celestial Sword Maiden, fully aware of the rarity and potency of such a universal concoction.

Undoubtedly, after arriving in the mortal realm, the transcendence celestial substance, rarely seen even a few times in an entire mythic era, was subdued. In the Immortal Realms, it could cast a sky-wide red glow; here, upon opening the furnace lid, the burst of red light merely tinged the mountaintop.

Wang Xuan quickly closed the lid, but not before a bolt of lightning struck.

“Thirteenth stage complete? Your state is quite peculiar, a new soul born within while the old exterior hasn’t shed?” Jiang Qingyao, having never witnessed such an anomaly, expressed her astonishment.

"Can I smoothly transition into the Wanderer Realm with my current condition?" Wang Xuan was uncertain, his situation indeed very unusual.

"You’ve stepped onto the wrong path; you can't enter the Wanderer Realm!" the miniaturized Celestial Sword Maiden exaggeratedly exclaimed, trying to spook him.

"My physique is also evolving. After completing the thirteenth stage, my soul nourishes my body," Wang Xuan quickly focused on his own changes.

Deep within his flesh, a bright speck ignited, drawing in the essence of his blood and life force, as if his very form was collapsing inward toward this central core.

Simultaneously, his inner landscape manifested signs of decay, while a new inner realm formed into a condensed speck, drawing closer to his flesh and soul.

"There's something unusual. The soul, body, and inner landscape are all contracting, each rebirthing into a speck of light that merges into the unknown. However..." the Celestial Sword Maiden was unable to predict his future changes.

At the moment, the transformations of his body and inner landscape could be paralleled with those of his soul, almost identical. The external flesh, organs, and external inner landscape were nourished by the Life Essence Furnace, gradually reviving with abundant vitality.

For the next two days, Wang Xuan hid within the furnace, not rushing to break through but studying his condition, primarily focusing on the scriptures recorded on the Life Essence Furnace, believing everything was connected to it.

Jiang Qingyao and the miniature Celestial Sword Maiden also joined in, helping him analyze his peculiar physical condition. Suddenly, the world trembled dramatically, a sensation clear to all transcendents but unfelt by ordinary people. Then, the aftereffects of transcendent powers violently surged, causing all cultivators everywhere to pale, their foundations shaken, their spiritual paths destabilized.

The seclusion of Wang Xuan and the Celestial Sword Maiden was also disturbed; both were alarmed, sensing that a major event was underway—likely the grand conflict of the immortal paths had begun, with sacred relics colliding, and the supreme laws of the great barriers and Immortal Realms resonating, affecting all transcendents.

"Am I being backlash?" Wang Xuan looked surprised.

The Celestial Sword Maiden stepped out of the Life Essence Furnace and stood on the desolate mountain, back in the mortal realm. Even though she returned as a supreme transcendent, she felt greatly suppressed. In the mortal world, there was no foundation for her spells—not merely a drought of supermaterial but a complete rupture of the transcendental rules and mythical order.

In the Immortal Realms, she could manipulate the forces of nature, plucking stars and seizing moons with ease. However, in the mortal world, her divine powers were limited to slicing through mountains and cleaving spaceships; her godlike abilities were dimmed.

"As everyone's caught up in this grand battle, I might as well take advantage of the chaos to undergo my own tribulation. If someone loses their realm during this, it won't be my fault—it's all due to the tumult of the sacred relics' clash stirring the cosmos."

Wang Xuan decided to face his tribulation, curious about his state after completing the thirteenth stage. No amount of planning or simulation could substitute for actual experience.

"I'll head to the Void. The disturbance would be too great if I stayed here." He took the lid of the Life Essence Furnace with him, venturing into the ethereal Void.

Leaving the body of the furnace in the open, he ensured that if the sacred relics clashed too fiercely, resonating with the supreme laws of the Immortal Realms and violently impacting the mortal world, the Celestial Sword Maiden could use it for protection.

In the Void, the heavenly tribulation appeared instantly, terrifyingly formidable. Wang Xuan struggled against it, managing to fend off the brutal assaults. Blood-red lightning repeatedly struck him down, making him suspect it was the manifestation of the red substance in the form of a heavenly tribulation.

Meanwhile, in the outside world, his physical body also transformed, charred and then rejuvenated, reborn anew.

"Now it's clear, I've indeed completed the thirteenth stage, but what does the new light within the old soul mean? Why hasn't it undergone nirvana yet?"

Everything was evolving for the better, his power and realm both advancing. However, such unconventional changes—his soul, body, and inner landscape each transforming into a speck of light—left him wondering about their ultimate evolution.

He felt as if he stood at a crossroads on his path.

Back in the mortal realm, the earth continued to tremble violently due to the immortals of the undying realms waging frenzied war. Transcendent beings entered the fray, wielding sacred relics, shaking every transcendent domain to its core.

The mightiest deities and the supreme immortals, their avatars in the human realm, were mostly shaken down to the first level of the Wanderer Realm. Some even fell beyond this grand realm altogether.

The crushing ceiling was not descending. Rather, it was hanging upon everyone’s heads. The end of myths and the collapse of the transcendence were clear trends that everyone could discern, requiring no prophecies, as everything unfolded along a predetermined path.

Only sacred relics could sustain the transcendent beings, allowing them to endure through the eternal night. Those with power were engaged in fierce battles, all vying for such relics.

In the highest realms of the spirit world, the madman had set forth, tearing through the fabric of the spiritual universe, heading far away. Behind him, a man, a woman, and a creature—all remnants of superlative spirits—watched him depart, not daring to intervene, for he wielded the Sword of the Mortal World.

“This life is doomed to be ordinary,” Qing Mu sighed, brutally cast back to reality.

Chen Yongjie and Liu Huai'an felt the aftershocks of the transcendent world’s complete disintegration. They were smashed down from the ninth to the eighth stage, and then bombarded down to the seventh.

This time, the impact was widespread, affecting everyone like never before.

“The age without immortals, demons, or deities is almost upon us!” Zhao Qinghan murmured softly, her words carrying the weight of an era about to dawn.