The pearl did not emit a blinding light; instead, it absorbed all the light around it, leaving a terrifying sensation of emptiness, yet in the center of that void lay a pulsating fetus, the core of an extraordinary ancient life. He had seen many treasures—the Divine Cauldron, the Heavenly Devouring Chalice, even the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit he had just plucked.

  But all of those were artifacts made by mortal hands or fertilizers grown from natural laws. The Kun Peng fetus was different. It was a symbol of the Origin, the fetus of a creature that transcended the concepts of space and time. Just by staring at it, the Dao foundation of a cultivator could shatter under the pressure of primordial majesty.

  The Kun Peng Fetus Pearl lay beside other treasures that were also extraordinary—the Eternally Thousand Ice Sword, which radiated an ice essence that could freeze millions of miles, and the Lantern of Ten Thousand Souls, capable of controlling millions of souls. However, in the presence of the Kun Peng Fetus, those treasures were nothing more than trash.

  Zhi Xuan, who finally managed to control his breathing, touched his forehead. His newly recovered spiritual blood fluctuated once more. He knew that if he took the Kun Peng Fetus, he would become an enemy of the entire Plains. Every cultivator, every Sect, and every Ancient Clan would hunt him to the Abyss of Origin. But that fetus was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a chance to build an unparalleled Primordial Foundation.

  "Why are you... giving me this?" Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice hoarse. He looked toward the ancient General, his eyes filled with cold suspicion. An ancient being like that would not hand it over easily.

  "It is not ours," the ancient General replied, the infinite aura of sorrow once again enveloping his shadow. "It is an artifact stolen by the Ancient Hua Clan from the Forbidden Plains during the Primordial Era. The fetus was sealed in the Tomb of Great Emperor Hua as a hidden treasure. This tomb is now on the brink of collapse because of that pressure. The containment runes on the chaos pearl will soon wither. The fetus will give birth. And when that Sacred Beast is born in this Tomb, it will destroy everything with Primordial Law."

  The ancient General stepped back. The dark mist around him trembled. "You took the Heaven's Fertilizer. We have no right to stop you from taking that fertilizer, but we will not allow the Kun Peng Fetus to detonate this Tomb. You possess the Cauldron carried by That Person. You possess the Breath of That Person. Take the chaos pearl and seal its existence with that Cauldron. After that, begone!"

  Zhi Xuan's mind spun rapidly. The Great Emperor Hua's formation must have weakened due to the chaos that occurred. Birthing a Kun Peng in the Tomb would trigger a catastrophe that would annihilate both himself and the Tomb itself. He had to take it. It was not just an opportunity, but also the only way to exit this Tomb without being destroyed by a Primordial explosion.

  Zhi Xuan took a cold breath, calming his racing heart. He stepped forward, his hands trembling not out of fear, but because of the ecstasy of his own courage. He crouched, reaching for the chaos pearl with both hands.

  Brrzzt!

  As the pearl touched his skin, the Primordial Law contained within immediately attacked. Zhi Xuan's spiritual essence, which had just recovered, jolted. He felt every cell in his body scream in pain, as if he were being forced back to the Primordial Era. That pressure nearly crushed his twenty remaining Slaughter Seals.

  "Great Saint!" Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice now filled with bone-chilling urgency. He could not use essence; the Primordial Law would harvest it brutally.

  In the Sea of Consciousness, Ruo Xianxue, who had been ignoring the chaos until now, stood tall before the Ancient Devil Monument. Her double-pupiled eyes of Sun and Moon stared sharply at the Kun Peng Fetus that had just entered Zhi Xuan's spiritual field of influence.

  "Stupid Monkey!" Ruo Xianxue roared, her voice cold and piercing, yet hidden within it was an irresistible thundering Devil desire. "A Sacred Creature that carries the Heavenly Dao! This is destiny! That fetus will give birth inside your Sea of Consciousness and detonate your foundation! Let it in! Devil seals cannot hold the Primordial Law outside, but I can hold it inside, in the place where I rule! Do it right now!"

  Wusshh!

  The dark robes of Ruo Xianxue dragging the Ancient Devil Monument immediately dissolved. Primordial Devil essence exploded, not as an aura of darkness, but as a cold and pure aura of Origin Chaos. Her body elongated and transformed, her long black hair condensing into dark fur that resembled a starless night.

  Behind her, nine towering fox tails radiated a light of pure darkness. Ruo Xianxue had transformed into her true form. The Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox, an Ancient Devil Entity from the Primordial Era. The Ancient Devil Monument shook violently under the presence of the Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox. The aura radiated by the Fox was far more oppressive than the combined aura of two Great Emperor Tombs if allowed to escape.

  "Quick! The Divine Cauldron!" Ruo Xianxue hissed in the form of the Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox. "Use the Law of the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron to transport that pearl into your Sea of Consciousness! Do not use spiritual essence! Use the Law! Only the Law of a Heavenly Artifact can resist Primordial Law!"

  Zhi Xuan, whose knees had now touched the Primordial stone floor due to the overwhelming pressure, had no other choice. He focused his entire will, not on essence, but on his spiritual connection with the Divine Cauldron.

  "Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron! Transport!" Zhi Xuan roared in his Sea of Consciousness.

  Brrumm!

  The Divine Cauldron, which he had stored, immediately vibrated violently. There was no fire or blinding light; only a calm Eternal Law was released from the ancient bronze Cauldron. That Law coiled around the Chaos Pearl containing the Kun Peng Fetus, lifting it slowly from the stone floor, piercing through the layers of the decaying Tomb barrier, and pulling it into Zhi Xuan's Sea of Consciousness.

  Krakk! Wussshh!

  The Chaos Pearl entered the Sea of Consciousness. The sky of Zhi Xuan's Sea of Consciousness, which had been calm and filled with orange nebulae, now surged violently. The Primordial Law of the unborn Kun Peng Fetus collided with the Law of the Heavenly Samsara Wheel, the Law of the Devil Tree of Life, and Ruo Xianxue's Primordial Devil Dao.

  Inside the Sea of Consciousness, the Kun Peng Fetus encased in the pearl pulsed with a lethal majesty. The Devil Tree of Life twisted wildly, its black and green leaves secreting a thick spiritual fluid.

  "Now, Stupid Monkey! Help me! We must seal it with Primordial Devil runes!" Ruo Xianxue roared, now in her Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox form. The Fox trampled upon the Sea of Consciousness, radiating a Chaos aura that surpassed mortal understanding.

  Ruo Xianxue swung one of her nine tails. One hundred and eighty dark and lethal Ancient Devil runes, which she had once used to support Zhi Xuan's foundation, immediately detached from the Ancient Devil Monument. The runes swirled wildly around the Kun Peng Fetus, attempting to suppress it.

  The Primordial Devil runes clashed with the Primordial Law. Each collision produced a spiritual shock that nearly paralyzed Zhi Xuan. The sharp, searing pain was far worse than the previous Extreme Yang burns.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "Focus! Use the Purification Law of the Heavenly Samsara Wheel!" Zhi Xuan hissed, even though the pain forced him to scream. He immediately focused the Heavenly Samsara Wheel.

  Alongside the lethal Ancient Devil runes, the shadow of the Heavenly Samsara Wheel appeared. Not to attack, but to purify the energy around the Kun Peng Fetus, calming it so that Ruo Xianxue's Ancient Devil Runes could work.

  Dug! Dug! Dug!

  The Heavenly Samsara Wheel and the Ancient Devil Runes collaborated in a terrifying spiritual storm. Zhi Xuan felt his spiritual essence being forcibly pulled to support this purification effort. His spiritual blood boiled, but he did not give up.

  "Divine Cauldron! Sealing Runes! Quick!" Ruo Xianxue hissed. The Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox now looked exhausted, her black fur trembling in the midst of the Chaos storm. Zhi Xuan immediately focused the Divine Cauldron.

  Brumm!

  "I will add more, this time it will truly be mine!" The Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox roared within the Sea of Consciousness, a roar that split the spiritual space. Her nine towering tails radiated countless Ancient Devil runes, forcibly taken from the Ancient Devil Monument. Those runes, forged by a will that rejected the Heavenly Dao, streaked like pitch-black chains.

  Zzzzhhh!

  One thousand ancient and sturdy bronze sealing runes detached from the Cauldron, floating and embedding themselves into the surface of the Kun Peng Fetus chaos pearl. The Cauldron's sealing runes, the Primordial Devil Runes, and the Purification Law of the Heavenly Samsara Wheel worked together, creating a sealing formation that surpassed the understanding of mortal cultivators. The runes locked away the chaotic Primordial Law, forcibly sealing the existence of the Kun Peng Fetus.

  The Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox used one of her tails to strike the pearl toward the bottom of the Sea of Consciousness, forcing it to remain still near the Devil Tree of Life and the Devil Seed. The pearl fell silent, and the Primordial Law attacking the Devil Tree of Life immediately ceased, leaving only a muffled Primordial thundering.

  In the outside world, Zhi Xuan fell to his knees on the stone floor, his body trembling and drenched in cold sweat. His face was deathly pale, his lips slightly bleeding from the spiritual backlash. He opened his eyes and immediately looked toward the ancient General and the surrounding wills. Everything had returned to a calm state; the Primordial aura that had been raging was now suppressed.

  Fortunately, the ancient General and the ancient figures would not know what had happened inside his sea of consciousness. Remnants of wills that had passed through long eras would not know that he had just used an Ancient Devil figure to help him seal the Kun Peng Fetus until its Primordial aura was completely gone and suppressed.

  "Take the rest," the ancient General said, his voice now calm again, but feeling distant. "The Eternally Thousand Ice Sword, the Ten Thousand Soul Lantern. Take them. They are gifts for holding a Destiny heavier than we imagined."

  Zhi Xuan raised an eyebrow, a small and cunning smile appearing on his lips. He did not expect to get two more artifacts, but he knew he had enough trouble. He stood up, no longer caring about the twenty Slaughter Seals that now felt purer and denser due to the Primordial pressure they had just experienced. He disregarded the two artifacts and ignored them.

  "I will not take them," Zhi Xuan replied, his tone cold and full of calculation, but he did not want to offend the ancient General again. "Thank you, General. I will convey your message to the Ancient Zhu Clan. And I will return here... someday."

  He gave a simple bow, not as a disciple respecting an elder, but as a cultivator respecting a dead will. Zhi Xuan stepped toward the passage behind the Ancient Coffin of Great Emperor Zhu Yan Tian. It was a dark passage, a passage he knew would lead him out of the Ancient Tomb Core.

  Zhi Xuan walked with a calm, limping stride. The passage felt like a tunnel that had not been used for a long time; ancient dust fell from the ceiling every time he took a step. He did not look back. In this dark and silent passage, there was only one sound echoing in his Sea of Consciousness—the humming voice of the exhausted Nine-Tailed Darkness Fox and the muffled pulse of the Kun Peng Fetus now sealed at the bottom of his Sea of Consciousness.

  "You owe me thousands of runes, Stupid Monkey," Ruo Xianxue hissed, her voice returning to a cold, grumbling hum. She returned to her female form, sitting cross-legged atop the Ancient Devil Monument, reabsorbing the Primordial Devil essence she had used. "Thousands of runes; you must give me an offering someday to restore them. And if that fetus gets loose... I will not help you again."

  "I know, Great Saint," Zhi Xuan replied, his tone calm and slightly amused. "But does that fetus not belong to us now? A Primordial Creature that will surpass Heaven and Earth. We must find a way to perfect it when I reach a higher realm. We will raise a Sacred Beast, not let it detonate my foundation."

  "Accelerating its birth and making it your spiritual beast," Ruo Xianxue murmured, her voice filled with deep Devil intent. "A Sacred Beast that must bow before a Devil. That is a ridiculous arrogance, Stupid Monkey. But, that is exactly what we will do. That Kun Peng's foundation will be very useful for your Devil Tree of Life."

  Ruo Xianxue fell silent. Her cold and grumbling hum soon vanished, replaced by a haunting silence. She was fully focused on recovering the Primordial Devil runes she had sacrificed to restrain the Primordial majesty. The Ancient Devil Monument vibrated subtly, absorbing the residual aura of essence in Zhi Xuan's Sea of Consciousness.

  Zhi Xuan, now left by the will of the ancient General and enveloped in silence within the dark passage, smiled slightly. He had left the Great Emperor's Tomb with the Seven Lotus Yin Fruit, the sealed Kun Peng Fetus, and the Seal of Will capable of threatening the Ancient Zhu Clan. It was the greatest robbery he had ever committed in his life, and he had nearly lost his life because of it.

  The passage continued, narrowing further and sloping upward. After walking for an hour, the dark tunnel suddenly opened to a vast sky. Zhi Xuan, who had anticipated the end of the Tomb, used his remaining strength to leap out.

  Bruk!

  He fell onto the hard, sandy ground, his body covered in ancient dust. The air that greeted him felt hot and dry, contrary to the cold and damp air inside the Tomb Core. He looked back. The entrance to the Great Emperor's Tomb had shrunken. It was only a small hole behind a large rock, which was now slowly disappearing; Primordial runes flickered faintly before everything vanished, swallowed by the formation.

  As he was about to stand, strands of magnificent light and a Flying Ship descended from the sky and surrounded him. There, a group of cultivators with realms of Five Elements, Soul Transformation, or even higher—Zhi Xuan could feel a Weaver Transformation expert atop the flying ship. The Ancient Zhu Clan.

  Zhu Yanghai stood gracefully atop the Flying Ship decorated with golden runes, his aura at the Soul Transformation realm radiating with the majesty of a Saint Son. He looked down toward the Black-Haired Devil figure rising from the dust, his body covered in dirt and blood, looking pathetic yet radiating a characteristic aura of madness. Beside him, Zhu Qinglan, with a pearl face covering that vibrated slightly, stared at Zhi Xuan's silhouette. Her eyes, as cold as eternal snow, now radiated a sharp light of hope.

  "Black-Haired Devil," Zhu Yanghai's voice echoed, calm and authoritative, as if he were greeting a guest rather than a fugitive. "Or should I call you Zhi Xuan? You have returned. That is a surprise that surpasses the Ancient Zhu Clan's best calculations."

  Zhi Xuan looked up, his sapphire blue eyes staring sharply at Zhu Yanghai and the group of powerful cultivators around him. His head still throbbed from the spiritual backlash of sealing the Kun Peng, but his arrogant nature immediately surfaced. He ignored Zhu Yanghai, forcing a cold smirk filled with satisfaction.

  "I always keep my promises," Zhi Xuan replied, his voice hoarse and slightly mocking. "Especially the promise to return before the Holy Fairy. Unfortunately, the welcome is a bit excessive. Did you all miss me?"

  Zhu Qinglan's gaze, though blocked by her face covering, felt like a piercing ice blade. The relief in her eyes was immediately replaced by cold anger at Zhi Xuan's arrogance. Behind Zhu Yanghai, several Ancient Zhu Clan cultivators at the Early Soul Transformation realm growled in anger at the mockery.

  "Shut your mouth, Devil," hissed an Elder of the Ancient Zhu Clan, his aura surging. "How dare you mock the Saint Son!"

  "Silence," Zhu Yanghai commanded, his voice low and absolute. He ignored the Elder and refocused his gaze on Zhi Xuan. "We are not here to listen to the mad words of a Devil. We felt the fluctuations of the Great Emperor's Tomb as it closed."

  Zhi Xuan simply spat into the sand, ignoring the statement. He waved his hand and brought out the tattered Coffin carrying the ancient General's seal of eternal will. He immediately opened that seal and let the Ancient Zhu Clan see for themselves what would be conveyed by the Seal of Will.

  Zhi Xuan placed the grimy, tattered Coffin on the sand. His smirk was cold and calculated. Even though he was spiritually exhausted, he knew this was the only chance to turn the tables.

  Krakk!

  He touched the shimmering ancient spiritual Seal carved onto the surface of the coffin. The fine spiritual light from the Seal of Will exploded, piercing the hot desert sky. Atop the Ancient Zhu Clan's Flying Ship, Zhu Yanghai and the other cultivators were shocked. The seal did not radiate battle energy, but rather an oppressive Primordial majesty.

  Even the Weaver Transformation cultivator atop the flying ship frowned, feeling an ancient authority they could not comprehend. The spiritual light merged in the air, swirling wildly. Slowly, before the eyes of the entire Ancient Zhu Clan, the shadow of the decaying and mossy ancient General manifested. The figure wore ancient armor that radiated infinite sorrow and cold authority.