The Creation Pool was brought back to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, and all those who had followed Zhu Xuan there returned in full.
The young girl named A'Li, who wore a gauze hat, did not follow Zhu Xuan back; she had left midway after making sure there was no danger.
According to Zhu Xuan himself, A'Li had helped him many times, and it was with her demon‑breaking arrows that they finally managed to return to the Pan Clan's ancestral land and safely retrieve the Creation Pool.
Gu Changge, as previously agreed, rewarded everyone and helped the aboriginal inhabitants of the Floating Continent settle down peacefully within the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance.
He knew the origin of that girl called A'Li, but he did not expose it at the time, and still let her stay by Zhu Xuan's side.
Originally, according to that girl's plan, she would have snatched the Creation Pool along the way, but Gu Changge knew that Wu Yue's side must have already told her about the relevant matters; otherwise, Zhu Xuan's trip to bring back the Creation Pool would not have gone so smoothly.
As for whether Zhu Xuan knew of A'Li's plan, Gu Changge did not care.
Zhu Xuan was merely a small chess piece he had casually kept; even if he had not brought back the Creation Pool, Gu Changge had other ways to retrieve it.
The Creation Pool, from its outward appearance, was only an ancient bronze pool, within which a haze of iridescent mist swirled, and streams of matter like flying immortals soared out, resembling an ancient flying‑immortal pool, yet containing an exceedingly deep intent of creation.
When a cultivator enters it, they can change their original physical essence, revert to the innate, and obtain a flawless Post‑Innate foundation, giving them a much greater chance to step into the Dao Realms in the future.
Gu Changge placed the Creation Pool at the center of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance, refined it with his magical power, and the vast, archaic pool body shone with a rust‑like light, illuminating all worlds, like the ancient Human Emperor's cauldron for sacrificing to the heavens; all manner of thick divine radiance surged.
As his vast magical power poured in, the Creation Pool also seemed to come alive.
Every high‑ranking member of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance clearly felt the Alliance's fortune, like a soaring dragon, ceaselessly converging into it.
This power spread at extreme speed, instantly sweeping through one True World universe after another, covering all the territory of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance.
"Is this the power of the Creation Pool?" Many existences at the Ancestral Dao Realm were shocked, sensing within it a subtle change in the hearts of the people and in fortune, secretly alarmed.
"The Creation Pool contains the origin of creation within. Through sacrificial offerings, one can receive reciprocal blessings. The more devout the faith, the more blessings one receives…"
Gu Changge casually remarked. During the refining process, he slightly altered the internal laws of the Creation Pool, making some originally crude imprints much more complete.
To be precise, this should not be called offering, but sacrifice—a ritual. This sacrificial method can take many forms, just as descendants offer incense to their ancestors, praying for protection for their sons and grandsons. This method of sacrifice, to a greater extent, tests the sincerity of the one making the sacrifice.
Because Gu Changge intended to condense and extract the power of the people's hearts through this method.
And according to the original plan, as well as the voting views of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance's many high‑ranking members,
half a month later, Gu Changge held a grand assembly in the council hall, selecting suitable envoys to go to the Dark Clans' lair and convey the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance's stance to the Dark Clans.
This was tantamount to venturing into a dragon's pool and a tiger's den. Many high‑ranking members who had originally expressed agreement now paled.
In the end, only a few steady and bold individuals dared to take this risk.
At the same time, it was also because they trusted Gu Changge, believing that since the Dark Clans did not dare to move against the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance lightly, they must have reservations and absolutely would not dare act recklessly.
The envoy team for this mission was led by the Ethereal Sacred Ancestor, accompanied by several other existences at the Ancestral Dao Realm. After the assembly concluded, they set out for the Dark Clans' lair.
Gu Changge had not originally wanted such trouble, because Jing Tianyun was still in the Nightmare Demon Domain, and he could perfectly well convey his intent to Wu Yue.
But in order to reassure the high‑ranking members of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance, he went to the trouble of holding such an assembly and personally drafted a decree.
Now that the overall unification of the Vast Expanse was already a foregone conclusion, the dispatch of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance's envoy team naturally drew the attention of all sides; every True World civilization kept a close watch.
And very soon, the Dark Clans' side responded, willing to accept.
At the same time, a Sacrificial Priest appeared—the Fourth Sacrificial Priest Qiluo, clad in a bewitching red dress, bringing along many high‑ranking members of the Dark Clans. They also set out toward the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance, expressing their willingness to coexist with the Alliance, and henceforth the well water would not interfere with the river water.
Such a situation had long been anticipated by many; it was not at all unexpected. Unless they truly wanted to fight to the death, reaching a peace pact was only a matter of time.
The Heaven‑Slaying Alliance would not meddle in the Dark Clans' Grand Sacrificial Ritual, and the Dark Clans would not set half a step into the territory of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance.
As for how long such a situation could last, no one could say.
And after the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance and the Dark Clans reached a coexistence pact,
the remaining True World civilizations in the Vast Expanse truly fell into despair and panic.
Before, they had still placed their hopes in the idea that the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance could not possibly ignore the life and death of the other True World civilizations, allowing those True Worlds to be sacrificed by the Dark Clans, for that would only feed the enemy, making the Dark Clans ever stronger.
Once the Dark Clans returned to their full peak, they would certainly not let the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance off. But who would have imagined that the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance now adopted an attitude of simply sweeping the snow before its own door.
Thus, in the following years, the Dark Clans directed their attention toward those scattered civilizations and clans.
The various True World civilizations, clans, and traditions within the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance also welcomed a relatively peaceful and stable period.
Time passed unhurriedly; in a blink, a thousand years had already passed since the Dark Clans' Grand Sacrificial Ritual began.
A thousand years, to ordinary mortals, might be a dozen lifetimes, but to many cultivators, it was merely a snap of the fingers.
At the Land of the Dark Source, the magnificent sacrificial altar sat there, brimming with bloody light that veiled heaven and earth.
Thick beams of bloody light, one after another, directly pierced through and connected to the outside world.
With each passing day, the bloody light grew denser by one layer. Under the very eyes of many civilized True Worlds, the Land of the Dark Source had already fallen toward the Vast Expanse, beginning to border the Dark Clans' lair.
This thousand‑year‑long Grand Sacrificial Ritual had reaped origins and lives so vast that they surged like mighty rivers, enough to fill universe after universe. Guided by the four High Priests, they rose like wolf smoke, endlessly converging into the altar.
And within the Dark Clans' lair—the Nightmare Demon Domain—
before the Heaven's Proxy Hall, the Coffin of World Burial rumbled and shook violently. One terrifying mass of Dark Matter after another boiled there, like smoke and haze.
As it spilled over profusely, the boundless void split open, black crack after black crack appearing, within which there seemed to be a kind of inexplicable force guiding the arrival of the Land of the Dark Source.
The vast dark masses of the Dark Clans prostrated themselves before the Heaven's Proxy Hall, kowtowing and praying ceaselessly, chanting ancient scriptures.
One could see a mass, seemingly wrapped and shrouded by endless Dark Matter, reflected within the coffin. It resembled flesh and blood, yet also a vague silhouette.
All clans of all worlds, and the civilizations of every True World, were closely watching the Dark Clans' situation, hearts pounding with terror.
Within the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance.
Seeing that so many years had already passed, and yet no other situation had occurred in the Vast Expanse,
Gu Changge had originally intended to flip the table, but in the face of this situation, he could only change his mind.
After all, those fellows no longer even cared whether the table was still there. Even if he flipped the table, it would be to no avail.
Thus he decided to act from a different angle. If the situation in the Vast Expanse did not concern them, then what about the Sea of Fate?
If one looked into the River of Fate of each world, one could see the countless billions of living beings and individuals within, each carrying their allotted share of fortune and destiny, some more, some less.
Whether it was the River of Fate in a minor world, a grand realm, or even the River of Fate of a multiverse, they all ultimately converged into the Vast Expanse, forming that ocean‑like Sea of Fate.
Beings who thought they had broken free from the River of Fate, once they fell here, became tiny creatures in an ocean.
This ocean was far too vast and boundless, so much so that even the current Gu Changge could not see it completely through, unless he used True Ancestor‑level power to personally go in and scour it.
And it was also precisely because of this that those deeply hidden big fish and massive creatures could remain concealed until now.
Of course, although he could not cover the entire picture of the Sea of Fate, he could still use the changes in the destinies within it to deduce and discern the location of certain individual living beings.
But this method was far too troublesome, requiring a vast amount of time.
It was like a still, silent pond, windless and calm. Occasionally, through some traces and ripples, one could judge the movement of the fish inside. This process, unless one had extremely good patience, the usual hundreds or thousands of years—or even longer—spent in observation and deduction would be utterly meaningless.
And as long as a living being was in the Vast Expanse, it could never truly break free from the Sea of Fate. Whether small fish and shrimp, or giant whales and true dragons, all were bound by fate.
A hidden true dragon, its body so enormous, even if it only opened its mouth, could stir up sky‑high waves.
Right now, Gu Changge planned to toss some lively catfish into this long‑silent pond. Those catfish would devour the small fish and shrimp, constantly growing, until one day they would stir the true dragon and make it turn over and move.
"After the Grand Dark Sacrificial Ritual began, more and more worlds have collapsed and perished. The immortal matter born from the dark unknown has also increased…"
"Still, ordinary minor worlds only have a one‑in‑ten‑thousand chance of producing such matter during their shattering. Even when the world origin disintegrates and dries up, hardly a trace can be seen."
"Only worlds like True Worlds, even if they are newly born True Worlds, can produce a considerable amount of immortal matter after shattering…"
"After the Grand Dark Sacrificial Ritual began, this dispersed immortal matter will also become more and more."
"This immortal matter is something I can temporarily use for my own purposes."
Minor worlds, Great Thousand Worlds, grand realms, multiverses, and then on to True Worlds—this is truly like the leap of life levels. In the Vast Expanse, worlds can also be considered a kind of individual. From the moment they are born from the collision of chaos, they possess corresponding destinies.
During this period, Gu Changge was also working on condensing immortal matter and creation matter.
All matter in all worlds is formed by the constant recombination and arrangement of immortal matter and creation matter; they represent things including chaos, faith, fortune, and so on.
When universes shatter, or True Worlds are destroyed, in those collisions and explosions, these two types of matter may appear.
Immortal matter can evolve into opportunities, while creation matter can transform the level of life.
When ordinary living beings come into contact with these two substances, infinite changes evolve within their bodies, thereby obtaining fortuitous encounters and golden fingers, becoming what are commonly called protagonists.
For example, existences at the Dao Realms, the Dao they comprehend at this stage is essentially an exploration based on the various derivations of immortal matter and creation matter.
Gu Changge had previously bestowed creation matter upon Ling Huang and others, allowing their cultivation strength to quickly increase. Although they could not understand the essence of these two substances, they were able to enhance their Dao Realm cultivation through the method of refinement.
Now in the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance's Hall of War Merit, a considerable amount of creation matter was placed; as long as one accumulated enough war merit, one could exchange for it.
Even existences like the Demon Ancestor Di Huang, who had passed eight Heavenly Decline Tribulations, were incomparably eager for it. The substance Gu Changge had the Demon Emperor Di Kun deliver back then was creation matter; it was precisely because of this that Di Huang chose to serve the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance.
However, extracting creation matter and immortal matter was somewhat difficult. Gu Changge achieved it by refining the Orb of Great Vow into a World Orb, collecting pure faith power, and from it extracting creation matter.
This was also one of the most stable sources of creation matter in all worlds, because the faith power of individual living beings actually represents the power of their hearts and minds.
The power of the heart is infinite; it can constantly evolve and create, giving birth to all kinds of power. Even a mortal, through the power of the heart, can imagine so‑called eternal life and flying through the heavens or burrowing into the earth.
The heart power of cultivators is even more terrifying. Therefore, faith power became one of the power sources that Gu Changge valued most at that time.
As for the source of immortal matter, it lies within destiny and fortune. Every living being in all worlds possesses it from birth; the only difference is whether they have more or less.
Thus, in order to obtain more creation matter and immortal matter,
Gu Changge had the many high‑ranking members of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance begin to propagate the grand plan of slaying heaven, discussing how to defy heaven and change one's fate.
Heaven's Dao is unkind; the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance would carry out the Way on behalf of Heaven. They spread its many tenets and doctrines far and wide, propagating them in all the minor worlds, Great Thousand Worlds, multiverses, and True Worlds.
At the same time, Gu Changge personally created a law. He took the ideals and faith of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance and created them in the form of a scripture and cultivation method, naming it the "Summoning Scripture."
Adherents of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance who recited the "Summoning Scripture" could strengthen and stabilize their faith power. As long as they called upon the Alliance Leader of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance in their hearts, they would receive a response, and their faith power would be stabilized.
At the same time, the "Summoning Scripture" was, in a sense, also a method of cultivation. Believers could use it to temper the power of their hearts and minds, thereby excavating and invoking the potential of their own hearts.
Such a cultivation path could be said to have never appeared before. Even many existences at the Ancestral Dao Realm secretly marveled. Although they were unwilling to easily change their own cultivation paths, they still used this opportunity to verify it, believing that Gu Changge would not create such a cultivation technique without reason.
The reason for his immense strength was very likely related to his cultivation method…
In the central region of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance, Gu Changge re‑refined the World Orb.
Originally, this had been condensed from the Orb of Great Vow, and later he had used it to suppress the fortune of the Heaven‑Slaying Alliance. But now that the Alliance's grand power had been established, no one in the Vast Expanse could threaten or shake its status.
So Gu Changge refined the World Orb into a World Cauldron. Within the cauldron, faith power surged thickly, gathering into rivers and seas, boundless and filling several universes.
Inside the World Cauldron, Gu Changge further refined numerous worlds, each like a container. The purified and condensed creation matter was stored and accumulated within them.
What is the essence of the Great Epoch Cataclysm's descent?
In truth, countless beings in the Vast Expanse, including many existences who had reached the End of the Path, had only a partial understanding. Why did the Cataclysmic Tribulation appear in the Vast Expanse, and why did it reap at intervals?
Everyone's understanding and ideas about this were completely different.
Some believed the Cataclysm's descent was related to the Land of Truth, because the Land of Truth was akin to an even vaster, boundlessly expansive world with more complete laws. The existences there did not permit forces in the Vast Expanse that could threaten them to emerge.
This had always been the commonly accepted explanation in the Vast Expanse.
But Gu Changge, as one of the Three True Ancestors, knew perfectly well that this kind of speculation was the complete opposite of the real truth.
The existence of immortal matter and creation matter was proposed by "Shen" among the Three True Ancestors, and even the rules of the Cataclysm were created by him.
Throughout all worlds, from ancient times to the present, the limit that all individual life could reach had already arrived at an unimaginable point.
Yet the Three Ancestors could still sense that they could reach another, even more ineffable and unimaginable realm. For this, three different philosophies emerged.
"Xuan" only recognized himself, believing that he was not strong enough, and still sought to find another path within himself, wanting to derive a set of methods to make himself stronger through different paths. He ceaselessly deduced and created, never stopping his exploration and derivation.
"Shen" believed that the heaven and earth that existed could not accommodate power surpassing theirs, and that the Land of Truth was incomplete.