The clouds began to darken with raindrops starting to fall onto the leaves of the old trees. Zhi Xuan walked behind the herd of livestock that were starting to grow sluggish as the rain hit their fur.

  "Come on, one-eyed goat, do not go into the bushes!" Zhi Xuan stepped into the thicket, patting the goat on its back.

  His wet hair fluttered in several places, and his black robe embroidered with red silk absorbed the water, preventing him from becoming completely soaked. Each step felt heavy; not because of fatigue, but because his mind was filled with the image of a half-decayed body in a muddy pond.

  "Look up, this is rain, understand? You will get sick if you are out in the rain for too long!" Zhi Xuan shouted, his voice forced out so as not to sound like a desperate murmur. He knew his words were in vain; the livestock only responded to the pressure of the essence he emitted, not to human words.

  He allowed his Heavenly Samsara Wheel to rotate, emitting a warm silvery essence aura. That wave of warmth, though faint, was enough to ward off the cold and make the livestock move a little faster.

  Zhi Xuan wiped the hair framing his forehead, his eyes still radiating doubt and fear. "Why do cultivators kill each other..." Zhi Xuan muttered to himself. He did not understand why those who cultivated could end up wounded or dead like that.

  He had seen death. He had witnessed wild animals killing. However, the terrible corrosion he had witnessed was spiritual evil, not animal instinct. It was a planned cruelty driven by something more than mere food.

  "Is this the reason those who live only for the Divine Wheel do so? To avoid such a horrific death?"

  Mud began to clump at his feet, and the rain grew heavier. The sky grew darker, obscuring the remnants of the sun's shadow, and the branches drooped due to the puddles of rainwater on the tree leaves.

  Zhi Xuan looked around; the journey to the hay barn would be hampered if the rain continued to fall. The livestock had to take shelter if they did not want to get sick and die in vain. "I must find a place for these naughty animals to take shelter."

  Just as he thought that, he felt a weak resonance from his Heavenly Samsara Wheel. To the right, about fifty meters away, the forest suddenly thinned, revealing a large stone wall that was almost invisible, covered by thick climbing plants.

  "A cave?" Zhi Xuan muttered. He immediately directed his livestock there. With steady essence pressure, he managed to get the one-eyed goat to lead the herd toward the opening in the stone wall.

  The livestock entered the cave with relief. The cave was dry, and although the air was filled with the scent of earth and fungus, it was much better than the mud outside.

  Zhi Xuan stood at the entrance, observing. Heavy rain poured down on the forest outside, creating a gray curtain of water that isolated them.

  "What really happened to that man," Zhi Xuan muttered, staring blankly at the rainwater dripping onto the ground. "And what caused a powerful cultivator like that to submerge himself and become corroded?"

  Zhi Xuan closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh; the scene must have been disturbing him to make him feel this restless. He opened his eyes again, turning back to see the livestock squatting on the dry ground.

  "If all of you were cultivators, wouldn't you surely fight over the most valuable grass?"

  Zhi Xuan stepped deeper into the cave, leaning against the cold rock wall. The sound of raindrops outside and the grumbling of the livestock were the only noises. He decided to use this time. He sat cross-legged on the dry ground and closed his eyes, immediately allowing his consciousness to sink.

  He reappeared in his Sea of Consciousness. The Sea was dark, but its water was calm, without any ripples. In the center of the Sea, his Heavenly Samsara Wheel shone silver, spinning slowly, radiating a pure, calming essence.

  And at the bottom of the dark Sea stood the Ancient Devil Monument.

  Zhi Xuan focused his consciousness on the Monument. Usually, as soon as he called, Ruo Xianxue would respond, often with mockery or demands. However, now there was only silence.

  "Alright, Red Stone. You are a devil who is now renting a place inside my body," Zhi Xuan said, the corner of his lip curving into a slight smile. "This world feels so strange, and so do you."

  There was no answer. Zhi Xuan frowned, he dropped himself and sat cross-legged on his sea of consciousness.

  "Are you really asleep? I still don't even understand what has happened to me until now," Zhi Xuan sighed, tapping his finger on his thigh. "A year ago I reached the Divine Wheel, and now, I still don't even understand the Nine Heavens Bead or you."

  Zhi Xuan sighed softly and dropped himself backward, lying on his sea of consciousness. Staring up at his dark sea of consciousness, which had no sky yet.

  "Grandpa Wu said my sea of consciousness will have a sky when I reach the third stage of Body Transformation," Zhi Xuan said, his voice filled with pure admiration and a distant look in his eyes. "Wouldn't that look very beautiful?"

  Then, his eyes dimmed, accompanied by his expression changing to one full of longing. A longing for something he had never even seen or felt. He touched his robe, the robe he had worn since birth.

  "Sometimes, I envy my friends. They all have loving parents. Even though Aunt Lian loves me like a mother," his voice trembled momentarily, his eyes staring into the distant darkness. "But it's not the same familiar feeling, why did my parents abandon me in that basket..."

  The eerie silence did not last long. As soon as those words of longing filled the Sea of Consciousness, a ripple suddenly spread from the bottom, where the Ancient Devil Monument resided. The ripple was not strong, but cold and unsettling.

  The Ancient Devil Monument, which usually radiated a faint red light, now pulsed with a faint bluish-black light. The aura from the monument felt cold and smelled like burnt iron—the same smell he had detected near the pond.

  "Longing is the most fatal mortal poison," Ruo Xianxue's voice whispered, her voice now hoarse and weak, as if she had just woken up from a forced sleep. "It will not give you power, boy. It will only trap you in this realm of mortality."

  Zhi Xuan smiled faintly, unperturbed by Ruo's statement. "Then why is the path to immortality always one of sacrifice? They are humans, not livestock."

  The Ancient Devil Monument trembled once more, and this time, the bluish-black light became stronger, spreading beneath the silver-shining Heavenly Samsara Wheel. Two auras, cosmic purity and demonic corruption, clashed in the Sea of Consciousness.

  "Sacrifice, you say? Every path is a price, every moment is a payment. I have traversed countless eras, only to lose my memory and be sealed with you in this fragile body." Ruo Xianxue snorted, her tone full of disappointment. "Seeking immortality is a selfish journey to avoid the most fatal price: Mortality."

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Zhi Xuan rose and sat upright, frowning again at Ruo's words. "Then why do humans cultivate if it's only to be sacrificed for the strong?"

  "To become the strong," Ruo Xianxue replied, her voice now possessing a slight return of strength, cold and sharp. "If you are not sacrificed, you will be the one sacrificing. There are only those two choices in this world, no third, especially on the path of Immortality."

  Zhi Xuan flinched, Ruo's words seemed to pierce right into his doubt. "Sacrifice and be sacrificed? That seems... completely unreasonable." Zhi Xuan shook his head, he didn't believe there was such a cruel thought, all this time he had only wanted to protect the village and those who had cared for him.

  "Folly!" Ruo Xianxue roared, the Monument trembling violently. "Do you dare to disregard the Immortal Law that underpins the Three Thousand Worlds just because of mortal morality? Power is unjust. That is reality. And you, Zhi Xuan, with your Heavenly Samsara Wheel, you have chosen to be the sacrificer, not the victim!"

  Zhi Xuan shivered down his spine, his eyes widening at Ruo's roar. "Hey! Don't shout so loudly, red stone!"

  The ripple produced by the Devil Monument was so strong, even Zhi Xuan's Heavenly Samsara Wheel trembled. Zhi Xuan got up, standing in his Sea of Consciousness.

  "If I have chosen, why am I still a Gold Foundation tending to a blind goat?" Zhi Xuan retorted, his tone calmer now, but filled with irony. He used mortal reality to temper Ruo's cosmic cruelty.

  "Because you are foolish, but not entirely foolish," Ruo Xianxue hissed, the Monument dimming, its shock diminishing. "You indeed have mysterious origins, and those Four Seasons Law runes you also obtained accidentally."

  Zhi Xuan frowned again, this time feeling slightly annoyed and pointing down into the bottom of his sea of consciousness. "Alright, alright. I don't care if you talk about the Four Seasons, Six Directions, or even the Sacred Devil you revere."

  Zhi Xuan paced back and forth in his own sea of consciousness, then the frown on his forehead deepened as he found something in his mind. "You are quite useful here, even though your form is a helpless red stone."

  The Devil Monument was silent for a moment. The silence was filled with wounded pride.

  "I am the Sacred Devil Monument, Ruo Xianxue! I once shattered stars with just my intent! How dare you call me a helpless red stone! If it weren't for that cursed seal from the Heavenly Realm—"

  "Of course, Star Destroyer Miss," Zhi Xuan cut in, his tone sarcastic and cheerful. "But the fact is, you are helpless. And you just saw spiritual decay in that pond. If you truly know everything about sacrifice and immortality, what is it? And why does it smell the same as your aura now?"

  This time, Ruo Xianxue did not get angry. A long silence ensued. When the voice returned, her tone was utterly serious, with a layer of coldness that far surpassed her usual mockery.

  "That is merely poison corrosion," Ruo Xianxue said, her voice filled with pure disgust. "To those who are mortal, it indeed looks very fatal. But to me, it is not even worthy of discussion."

  Ruo Xianxue sighed, a sigh that shook the bottom of the Sea of Consciousness.

  "Arrogant boy. I will give you a hint, not because I care, but because I do not want my host to die due to such a low-level power. That spiritual decay, as you call it, is the remnants of a weakened spiritual poison talisman. It is used by evil cultivation sects that steal cultivators' foundations. This is their way of ensuring the victim is completely annihilated and cannot reincarnate."

  Zhi Xuan stopped pacing, staring back at the bottom of his sea of consciousness. "Spiritual poison talisman? I have heard the same thing while at the exchange market."

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes, trying to recall. "Yes. Merchants use it to scare jade miners who try to sell stolen goods. They say the poison can shatter the Divine Wheel and prevent the cultivator's residual essence from returning to the realm. So, the talisman... is used for spiritual theft?"

  "Precisely. That talisman can devour the spiritual essence of a Blood Transformation cultivator, leaving a corroded corpse. The dying cultivator must have used a technique to sever his own waist and seal half of his body within the muddy pond. He was trying to hide something," Ruo Xianxue explained, her tone returning to sharp analysis. "That talisman works fast, boy. The person who did it is not far."

  Zhi Xuan gasped. "Not far? But we didn't detect anything! Not even at the Broken Bamboo Gate."

  "A powerful spiritual talisman has the ability to mask the aura of its user. Especially if they are a cultivator focused on Organ or Consciousness Transformation—they can hide right under your sight," Ruo Xianxue countered. "Listen, Zhi Xuan. You obtained the Nine Dew Leaf. That is good, but it is useless if you die from being hunted by a low-level cultivator who possesses an evil heirloom."

  The Devil Monument pulsed again, this time with a stronger, calmer pure red color. A subtle chuckle sounded like the voice of a Devil capable of collapsing a soul with just a smile.

  "So, the wilting stem must become strong so as not to be easily trampled by a great tree." Ruo Xianxue said, her voice like a whisper that touched Zhi Xuan's ear directly.

  Zhi Xuan shivered and took a step back momentarily, his neck slightly flushed. "I-I... am not a wilting stem."

  Zhi Xuan calmed himself with a spiritual breath. Although Ruo Xianxue had tempered her anger and even provided crucial information, her cold touch and demonic laughter had made the hair on the back of Zhi Xuan's neck stand up.

  "I... am not a wilting stem," he repeated, but this time his tone was calmer and colder, suppressing the emotion Ruo Xianxue had just triggered. He used arrogance to prop himself up. "I am Zhi Xuan. And I will not be trampled by anyone."

  "Entertaining nonsense," Ruo Xianxue hissed, the Devil Monument trembling in silent laughter. "You are not even stable in the Gold Foundation, let alone condensing the Divine Wheel into First Ember. You know, the Gold Foundation is just a foundation. If your foundation is not hardened, you will not be able to withstand the soul flame you need for the next realm."

  "I know my limits," Zhi Xuan countered, his voice now returning to his typical flat and analytical tone. He was no longer provoked by Ruo Xianxue, but rather used the Sacred Devil as a source of cold information. "That is why I did not fight at the pond. But you are right about the weakness of the Gold Foundation."

  Zhi Xuan crossed his arms over his chest, standing firm atop his dark Sea of Consciousness.

  "We, the Star Village Gold Foundations, have extraordinary essence purity, but we lack true spiritual resilience. We are vulnerable to corruption like what I saw. We have not reached First Ember."

  Zhi Xuan sighed softly, as if embarrassed to admit his weakness in front of the Devil Monument he believed to be a cruel entity in the past.

  "However," Zhi Xuan paused, searching for words to speak. "You look like someone who can be relied on, even though yes... Your form is a red stone."

  The Ancient Devil Monument was silent again. The silence that followed this time was not silence due to wounded pride, but silence due to calculation. Ruo Xianxue liked that cold seriousness and pragmatism.

  "Precisely," Ruo Xianxue replied, her voice calm, like flowing ice. "Your foundation is fragile. And your greatest weakness lies in the Divine Wheel itself. It is pure, but exposed. The First Ember soul flame serves to seal that purity and protect it from external corruption. You must reach that realm as quickly as possible."

  "As quickly as possible?" Zhi Xuan whispered, his voice filled with hidden frustration. "I don't have the money to buy the flower... I forget the name. All I know is that merchants in Shoutuo city often mention it is sold in their trading market."

  "The Flame of Sunrose Flower," Ruo Xianxue hissed, the Monument trembling faintly. "Or Flame of Sunrose Flower. A ridiculous mortal name for a Heavenly Artifact. That flower is not bought with silver coins or anything of the sort, boy. Sold? You are truly foolish!"

  Zhi Xuan flinched, his voice filled with surprise. "You mean... it's not sold in the trading market?"

  Zhi Xuan felt confused, his recently rebuilt pride crumbled. The Ancient Devil Monument trembled in voiceless laughter, Ruo Xianxue's mockery could not be clearer.

  "The cultivation world does not run on mortal silver coins, Gold Foundation boy," Ruo Xianxue hissed, her voice filled with disdain. "The cultivation world runs only on determination and luck, if you are afraid to step forward, then you will forever be a frog in a well."

  "I am not afraid," Zhi Xuan countered, cutting in immediately. Although his face was hot from the humiliation, his tone remained calm and cold. "I am only realistic. The Gold Foundation does not have enough power to go anywhere. We lack information."

  Ruo Xianxue snorted, but no longer mocked. Zhi Xuan knew his cold pragmatism had successfully caught the Sacred Devil's attention.

  "Information? Quality Flame of Sunrose Flower can only be obtained through Heavenly Accomplishments or Ancient Heritage Sites. It is a treasure that only falls when the destiny of the universe turns," Ruo Xianxue explained, her tone returning to that of a reluctant teacher. "It must be a place full of danger and challenges, not a dany market."

  "Ancient Heritage Site?" Zhi Xuan repeated, he stepped forward, pointing back at the Devil Monument. "So, you know where I can find a place like that?"

  Silence once again enveloped the Sea of Consciousness. This time, the silence was not because of wounded pride, but because of a complicated calculation.