The Prodigies War

Realm of All Mysteries, the Black Profound Domain.

Ape Ancestor sat cross-legged in silent meditation. Before him hovered two swords, one black and one white, radiating intertwined divine light. The white sword was called Serene Harmony. The black sword was named Heaven’s Lament. These names had been bestowed by the Alpha Origin Master and were said to originate from ancient tune names of the mortal world.

To Ape Ancestor, names meant nothing. What truly mattered was that this pair of dao swords had long become a part of his own dao path, accompanying him through countless epochs, through endless battles, loneliness and bitter cultivation. The swords were no different from his very life.

“I wonder why Master left her there.” Ape Ancestor murmured softly. “Was it to shield her from calamity? Or was he afraid she might stir up trouble? Or...perhaps both?”

He gently stroked the twin dao swords, his gaze distant, lost in thought.

Master’s mind is as deep as the sea, especially after arriving at the All-Wonder Dominion, it has become utterly unfathomable. Even when he was once suppressed beneath that swordsman’s seal, he did not utter a single word of resentment. Instead, he only sighed wistfully, saying that to lose such an opponent in the world was truly a tragedy.

Ape Ancestor could never understand this. The sword seal had imprisoned him for countless epochs, yet he bore not the slightest hatred toward that swordsman. On the contrary, when that swordsman chose reincarnation to rebuild his cultivation, he instead felt a deep sense of desolation.

Huh?

Suddenly, Ape Ancestor’s fingers froze mid-motion upon the twin swords. His eyes narrowed sharply. A trace of shock crossed his brows.

“That Lin Xun...actually defeated my dao manifestation?”

Clang! Clang!

The black and white swords trembled violently, releasing a low, restless sword cry that mirrored the turbulence within Ape Ancestor’s heart. After a long silence, Ape Ancestor slowly rose to his feet. He hesitated for a long while, then finally let out a sigh, abandoning the thought of going to pay respects to the Master and the young lady.

“Perhaps...this is precisely the variable that Master wished to see...?” Ape Ancestor murmured to himself.

......

Mortal Transformation Zone.

After defeating Ape Ancestor’s dao manifestation, Lin Xun cultivated in seclusion for half a month before once again setting off.

The Qi Kingdom, Dafeng Mountain.

This mountain towered thousands of feet into the clouds. At its summit stood an ancient temple, enshrining a divine statute. In ages past, it had been ablaze with incense, a place of immense spiritual significance that drew countless devout men and women.

On this day, Lin Xun arrived. Like an ordinary traveler, he climbed the stone steps at an unhurried pace. Along the way, he watched families, young and old, making the arduous ascent for nothing more than a single prayer, and could not help but sigh softly.

For mortals, when they found themselves powerless to change their circumstances, they would often place their hopes for transformation in nothing more than burning incense and prayer. However, Lin Xun, as a cultivator, understood even more clearly that in this Mortal Transformation Zone, the prayers of all living beings were destined to be nothing but flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water. Seeking the gods was never as reliable as relying on oneself.

Soon, Lin Xun arrived at the summit of Dafeng Mountain. A magnificent temple stood there, its buildings arranged in orderly rows, incense burning thick and unceasing. Beside the temple lay a lotus pond. Blossoms floated on its surface, while fish glided lazily beneath the water. However, Lin Xun’s gaze was fixed on a black lotus seed resting at the bottom of the pond.

Boom!

In the next instant, the seed shimmered with dark radiance and transformed into the figure of a girl clad in black. Snow-white hair cascaded down to her slender waist, while her ruby-like eyes glowed with a bewitching, eerie light.

Black Crow, the first dao servant under the Alpha Origin Master!

It was said that Alpha Origin had once expended the origin power of nine epochs to forge an unparalleled dao foundation for Black Crow, allowing her to step into the perfect Immeasurable Realm in a single leap. With the Alpha Origin Master now confined, the Nine Departments of Alpha Origin were all placed under Black Crow’s command.

Swoosh!

The moment the black-clothed girl appeared, a strand of black flame ignited between her slender, fair fingers. With a casual sweep of her hand, the flame streaked outward like a beam of light tearing through eternity, and the world seemed to change color in an instant. A dark, frigid, murderous aura flooded the air. Then, billions of flames surged forth like stars exploding across the heavens, filling the entire universe.

Each wisp of fire was like a vast world in itself, within which a set of profound and obscure dao laws was reflected. Those billions of flames were like billions of great daos, illuminating heaven and earth!

“All phenomena transform into the dao, the dao evolves without end, and all ultimately return to fire. Such attainment is truly extraordinary...” Lin Xun couldn’t help but marvel.

The cultivation of Chen Linkong’s dao manifestation was entirely fused into the dao of the sword. The cultivation of Ape Ancestor’s dao manifestation was entirely fused into the Taiji Two-Polarities Dao. Whereas Black Crow’s dao manifestation was entirely fused into the Dao of Fire.

Though simple, it was capable of evolving into infinite profound mysteries of the great dao! This was the ‘all daos converge into one, and from one arise all daos.’ Only by reaching an inconceivable height in the Immeasurable Realm could one forge such terrifying attainment.

Boom!

Billions of flames swayed and trembled, following an inscrutable trajectory as they surged toward Lin Xun with overwhelming force. He didn’t dare to be careless. He drew a slow breath and his entire being entered a state of absolute focus as he prepared for the duel.

......

The Realm of All Mysteries.

Within that primordial, chaos like gray world. On a branch, Black Crow suddenly let out a soft cry. With a dull boom, her form transformed into a young woman dressed in black with snow-white hair flowing down like a waterfall.

Her brows knit together as she folded her slender, pale hands into a mysterious seal, instantly unleashing a wisp of unfathomable Fate and Karma power. Gradually, a hazy, illusory light screen formed between her palms, projecting the fierce battle unfolding atop Dafeng Mountain in the Qi Kingdom of the Mortal Transformation Zone.

Unfortunately, before the image could stabilize, the light screen shattered and dispersed. The black-clothed girl let out a muffled groan as a trickle of blood slid from the corner of her lips. Her bewitching ruby eyes instantly turned cold and ruthless, and her entire aura surged violently.

“Heh, little crow, you really brought this upon yourself.” A laugh echoed from the depths below. “In the All-Wonder Dominion, with such meager cultivation, you still dare to pry into the variables of destiny?”

The girl in black lowered her head slightly. “Master, I only wanted to see how capable Lin Xun has become...who could have expected this?”

“This is the All-Wonder Dominion. To act this way is to invite trouble. Not to mention you, even I cannot forcibly divine matters here. Otherwise, karma will be born, variables will descend, calamities will emerge. One ripple will stir the entirety of existence.” His voice softened. “Just stay here in peace and watch. Let us see what kind of changes that variable will ultimately bring. With me here, what is there for you to worry about?”

“But Ape Ancestor and the experts of the Nine Alpha Origin Departments are here as well...if they...”

Before she could finish, Alpha Origin cut her off, “On the path of the great dao, each walks their own road. Do you know why the Nine Heavenly Mandate Dao Lords have long been unable to perfect their realm?

“It is because they cannot sever the reliance in their hearts upon me. To them, I am their shackle. They have already reached their present level of cultivation, yet if they cannot even see through this, then in this lifetime, they will never take another step forward.”

At this point, his voice softened once more. “As for Ape Ancestor, there is no need for concern. He has already reached the perfect state of this realm and is qualified to contend within the All-Wonder Dominion.”

The girl in black nodded, but a question lingered in her heart that she dared not voice. Why was Ape Ancestor permitted to roam freely beyond this place, while I am kept here?

She did not ask.

Suddenly, Alpha Origin spoke again, “Little crow, tell me, how many of the Heavenly Cycle Dao Laws ranked first do you think Lin Xun can defeat?”

“About that...” the girl in black hesitated, her voice trailing off.

Alpha Origin said softly, “Think it over. There is no hurry.”

Time drifted by in silence. After a long while, the girl in black finally spoke, carefully choosing her words. “Master, speaking from my own selfish heart, I do not wish for Lin Xun to defeat even a single first-ranked dao manifestation. After all, the more victories he claims, the more it proves that this variable is far too dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Alpha Origin’s voice took on a subtle, inscrutable tone. “No, this is far from enough.”

The girl in black froze. At that moment, her heart trembled violently. Her expression changed, and she stammered, “He...he...”

“He defeated your dao manifestation?” Alpha Origin asked calmly.

The girl in black nodded bitterly. “Yes.”

“Back when you were in the Mortal Transformation Zone, you were already an Immeasurable Dao Lord, only one step away from reaching perfection. By that logic, Lin Xun’s current cultivation should likewise be within this same realm.”

Alpha Origin paused, his tone growing contemplative. “But this is still not enough. Since he is an unprecedented variable, he must possess something extraordinary...something unlike anything seen before. Let us wait and see.”

He let out a soft sigh. “Do not disappoint me.”

The girl in black was stunned. Why did Master sound as though he hoped Lin Xun would grow stronger and stronger?

......

Lin Xun emerged victorious. It had not been an easy battle, but neither could it be called truly perilous. Unlike his battles against Chen Linkong and Ape Ancestor, defeating Black Crow did not take Lin Xun too long. From the very first exchange, the battle had escalated to its most intense state, leaving him no room whatsoever to hold back.

After nearly an hour of ferocious combat, Lin Xun, despite suffering grave injuries, finally crushed his opponent in one decisive strike.

As he recalled his battles with Chen Linkong, Ape Ancestor, and now Black Crow, a realization gradually dawned on him. The reason these three supreme beings all stood shoulder to shoulder at the top was not a coincidence.

Though their dao paths differed, the cultivation each of them possessed at that time had encountered the very same bottleneck. In addition, that bottleneck was precisely the key to stepping into the perfect Immeasurable Realm!

“It seems that their cultivation back then all lay within the scope of the Immeasurable Dao Lord,” Lin Xun murmured thoughtfully. “They were all only a single step away from true perfection...”

He even faintly sensed that his master, the Lord of Fangchun Mountain, as well as the golden cicada, had likely been in a similar state when they first arrived in the Mortal Transformation Zone. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for five individuals to stand shoulder to shoulder at the very top.

However, Lin Xun knew all too well that he was different from them. At present, his cultivation could only be regarded as the perfect intermediate stage of the Immeasurable Realm. He had yet to step into the advanced stage, let alone reach the pinnacle of the Immeasurable Realm.

“Among the Heavenly Cycle Dao Laws, the only dao manifestations absent are those of Alpha Origin, Chen Xi, and that mysterious swordsman.” A thought suddenly occurred to him. “Could it be that when they arrived, their cultivation had already reached the peak Immeasurable Realm so their own dao manifestations could no longer be reflected within the Heavenly Cycle Dao Laws?

“Or perhaps...among them were figures like myself, who, even after defeating the first-ranked dao manifestations, still failed to draw forth Chaos Dao Fruit?”

The thought left Lin Xun with a tangle of emotions. Despite fighting battle after battle, the Chaos Dao Fruit had yet to manifest. That inevitably left him uneasy. After all, Xia Zhi was still waiting in the Calamitous Zone.

However, beneath that unease, there was also an indescribable, irrepressible anticipation. If he could defeat the dao manifestation his master had left behind back then...then perhaps that could truly be called ‘surpassing the master.’

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