A six-cycle heaven-and-earth is a heaven-and-earth capable of withstanding six cycles of the Great Calamity.
Any Supreme Being who manages to attain the Dao in such a heaven-and-earth is among the absolute peak of all Supreme Beings.
Back then, that unique Po-Cang Emperor also attained the Dao from within a six-cycle heaven-and-earth.
It was just that he attained the Dao very early—right after that heaven-and-earth had only just survived its first Great Calamity—so his foundation was even deeper, allowing him to become the strongest existence among all Supreme Beings.
When Lin Moyu heard that this was a six-cycle heaven-and-earth, he immediately became cautious.
Having confidence did not mean being arrogant.
"I remember that the number of six-cycle heavens-and-earth isn't large.
Do you know which one this is?"
There were countless heavens-and-earth, but those that could reach six cycles numbered no more than a hundred.
Lin Moyu believed the Hongmeng Stone should recognize all of them.
The Hongmeng Stone looked around in all directions; whatever it saw made its small face turn a bit strange.
"That's not right.
How come I've never seen this six-cycle heaven-and-earth before?
Something's off—there must be a problem inside.
Let me take a closer look."
Lin Moyu did not disturb it.
The Hongmeng Stone focused even more intently, as if it had raised its vigilance to the highest level, scanning bit by bit.
All around, attacks continued to rain down without pause.
He could not find where the attacks originated, but none of them could be dodged—he was completely locked on.
Lin Moyu was also sensing these attacks.
Vaguely, he could feel a strand of strange power within them.
He had felt this same aura on Destiny Venerable—it was the power of fate.
"No wonder I can't dodge it—so it's fate."
From the moment the attack was launched, it had already locked onto his fate, as if it had been 'written' into his destiny, so there was no way to avoid it at all.
But what puzzled him was: why would attacks from a heaven-and-earth remnant contain the power of fate?
The Hongmeng Stone watched for a while and suddenly shouted,
"I get it! So that's how it is!"
"What's going on?" Lin Moyu asked.
The Hongmeng Stone said,
"Didn't master chat with Po-Cang Emperor's remnant consciousness before?
He mentioned a person—the one with the deepest mastery of the Dao of Fate among all heavens-and-earth: Xunzhi True Lord."
Lin Moyu nodded.
"Po-Cang Emperor did mention him.
That heaven-and-earth called Xunzhi—its Supreme Being once got beaten up by him."
"Mhm," the Hongmeng Stone said.
"That person is called Xunzhi True Lord.
The heaven-and-earth where he attained the Dao was a five-cycle heaven-and-earth.
Among the many Supreme Beings, he was also one of the standouts.
He mastered the power of fate, and not just within his own heaven-and-earth—he could even influence other heavens-and-earth.
He was extremely arrogant—so arrogant he even looked down on Supreme Beings stronger than himself.
But many Supreme Beings often needed his help, so as long as they could tolerate his rotten temper, they let it slide.
Then he ran into Po-Cang Emperor.
Po-Cang Emperor wasn't the type to indulge him—so he gave him a thorough beating.
He was beaten so miserably that his very foundation was almost shattered.
After that, Xunzhi True Lord went into seclusion and stopped seeing anyone.
I didn't pay attention to him after that.
I didn't expect that he actually managed to elevate his heaven-and-earth from a five-cycle heaven-and-earth to a six-cycle one.
But this ascension isn't perfect—there are still many flaws.
And I also saw some other things."
Lin Moyu understood what the Hongmeng Stone meant.
"What things?
Explain in detail."
The Hongmeng Stone chuckled.
"Since master is asking so sincerely, I'll talk.
The time this heaven-and-earth collapsed is quite early—it seems to have been actively destroyed.
It's different from those other heavens-and-earth—it didn't shatter because of the Great Annihilation; it shattered of its own accord."
"Actively destroyed…"
Lin Moyu was slightly stunned; his thoughts raced.
The time Xunzhi Heaven-and-Earth collapsed was earlier than the Great Annihilation.
In other words, Xunzhi Heaven-and-Earth did not shatter because of the Great Annihilation.
Then it was highly likely that an accident occurred while it was being elevated from a five-cycle to a six-cycle heaven-and-earth.
It was also possible that Xunzhi True Lord himself had actively shattered his own heaven-and-earth.
"Back then, Po-Cang Emperor asked Xunzhi True Lord to deduce the future, and he saw the Great Annihilation," Lin Moyu thought.
"Po-Cang Emperor then forcibly erased that portion of Xunzhi True Lord's memories.
But since he could deduce the future, he naturally also saw that Po-Cang Emperor would erase his memories, so he must have left some kind of backhand.
So he very likely also knew about the coming of the Great Annihilation.
And since he could deduce the future, he could also think of ways to preserve himself.
He didn't enter the Life-Forbidden Zone, but instead chose the method of elevating his heaven-and-earth."
Lin Moyu's thoughts flew, and he finally arrived at a startling conclusion:
Xunzhi True Lord might not be dead—at least, not completely dead.
Since even Azure Dragon had found a way to cling to life, how could Xunzhi True Lord—who wielded the power of fate and had seen the future—die so easily?
Terrifying as the Great Annihilation was, he was bound to have a way to scrape by, perhaps living better than Azure Dragon.
While Lin Moyu was thinking, the Hongmeng Stone said,
"Master, you have to be careful.
I feel there's something strange about this heaven-and-earth, as if someone's manipulating things behind the scenes."
"I think Xunzhi True Lord probably isn't dead," Lin Moyu said.
"I have the same feeling."
The Hongmeng Stone nodded very solemnly.
It was rare for it to be this serious—after all, it didn't even take Supremes seriously, but if the other party was a Supreme Being, that was another story.
It wasn't afraid—but Lin Moyu couldn't match a Supreme Being yet.
Even with the Calamity Scepter in his hand, he could not guarantee absolute safety in front of a Supreme Being.
"But there's no need to worry too much," Lin Moyu said.
"Even if Xunzhi True Lord isn't dead, he couldn't have had an easy time surviving the Great Annihilation.
Even Po-Cang Emperor couldn't withstand the power from the Life-Forbidden Zone.
Even if Xunzhi True Lord managed to survive by luck, how much of his strength could he have kept?
Besides, I'm very interested in his method of elevating his heaven-and-earth.
This trip might bring quite a harvest."
Lin Moyu also wished to elevate Yushen Heaven-and-Earth.
Through his study of the Primordial-Heaven Art, he had formed some of his own ideas, but in concrete execution there would surely be many issues.
Now that he had discovered Xunzhi True Lord had elevated his five-cycle heaven-and-earth into a six-cycle heaven-and-earth, he might be able to extract the essence from it and perfect his own method.
"The heaven-and-earth core should be in that direction," the Hongmeng Stone said.
"And I feel there are some other unusual things there as well."
"We'll know once we look," Lin Moyu said.
He turned into a streak of light, flying toward the direction indicated by the Hongmeng Stone, as if advancing through a storm of wind and rain.
Countless attacks imbued with the aura of fate rushed at him head-on.
Lin Moyu had already gone far from the exit; at this point, the attacks he suffered every second were extremely powerful.
A Half-Supreme would not last a hundred breaths under such attacks—and if they were any stronger, even a Half-Supreme would fall in a short time.
A Supreme wouldn't fare much better.
Lin Moyu's entire body shone with light—the treasure-light of his flesh.
The strength of his body had already surpassed that of a Supreme; he was at the strongest possible state short of a Supreme Being.
The same was true of his soul.
In this state, he still regarded these attacks as nothing.
Moreover, Lin Moyu had another thought: he actually hoped the attacks could become stronger.
If they could instantly kill him, that would be ideal—he might even use it to take another step forward, further tempering his body and soul.
But he knew that was unlikely.
Unless a living Supreme Being stood in front of him and cooperated with him in killing him over and over, it wouldn't work.
Even the grievously injured Azure Dragon hadn't been able to do that back then; Xunzhi True Lord in his current state likely couldn't either.
After flying for a full day, Lin Moyu emerged from the endless barrage of attacks into a region of calm space.
He had passed out of the storm into the eye.
The area where the heaven-and-earth core lay was calm and still, the most tranquil place in the entire heaven-and-earth remnant.
There was a hint of regret in Lin Moyu's eyes.
The overwhelming attack he had been hoping for—one strong enough to instantly kill him—never appeared.
Those fate-laden attacks had only grown stronger up to the level where they could kill a Supreme, then ceased to increase, as if they had reached their limit.
At that level, the attacks were far too weak for him—unable even to injure him, let alone kill him.
Still, this was not entirely a bad thing.
It meant that Xunzhi True Lord and this heaven-and-earth were both severely damaged, unable to wield any stronger power.
In the center of the tranquil space floated a rhomboid crystal about a hundred meters in diameter.
Countless images flashed over its surface, each one reflecting a different corner of the heaven-and-earth.
Through the crystal, Lin Moyu saw a figure sitting cross-legged within it.
That figure was looking at him.
His gaze was old and desolate, as if he had been waiting for countless years.
Even upon seeing Lin Moyu, an outsider, there was no joy in his eyes, as though he had already lost hope for the future.
Lin Moyu tightened his grip on the Calamity Scepter and approached cautiously, bowing slowly.
"I greet Xunzhi True Lord."
At the moment those four words were spoken, a subtle change flickered in the other's eyes—traces of reminiscence appearing.
A moment later, an aged voice slowly echoed out:
"It has been… a very, very long time since anyone called this name.
Little one, how did you learn this old man's name?"
From his voice, Lin Moyu could hear a deep, heavy loneliness.
It was as though he had already lost all hope of living; his Dao-heart seemed nearly shattered.
For a Supreme Being to be reduced to such a state, he must have experienced things beyond imagination.
From that one sentence alone, Lin Moyu could feel his isolation and deathly stillness.
He wasn't clinging to life so much as someone who wanted to die but couldn't.
He was controlling this heaven-and-earth, yet also seemed not to be controlling it.
His whole state was strange beyond words.
"Junior once happened to obtain the Po-Cang Crystal and learned a few things from it," Lin Moyu said.
At the mention of "Po-Cang," a faint light appeared in Xunzhi True Lord's eyes.
"The Po-Cang Crystal?
Something Po-Cang Emperor left behind?"
Lin Moyu nodded.
"Yes. It is indeed an item of Po-Cang Emperor."
Xunzhi True Lord suddenly let out a low, hoarse laugh.
"So it seems he really did die.
The future was right after all—that fellow was long overdue."
Although he said that, for some reason his tone grew even more helpless, even carrying a trace of disappointment.
It was as if he had truly hoped Po-Cang Emperor would succeed.
But weren't the two of them at odds?
Lin Moyu trusted his own sense of things; his heart stirred.
"There is a strand of Po-Cang Emperor's awareness preserved within the Po-Cang Crystal," he said.
"Would you like to see him?"
"…Very well," Xunzhi True Lord said. "Let us meet."
Lin Moyu took out the Po-Cang Crystal and activated it, briefly explaining the situation here.
A few breaths later, a phantom appeared from within the crystal—Po-Cang Emperor's awareness manifested in the air.
Xunzhi True Lord let out a low laugh.
"Po-Cang, you really did fail."
Po-Cang Emperor snorted.
"Even in failure, this emperor is still better off than you—neither man nor ghost."
Xunzhi True Lord was not angered.
"Yes, indeed, you're better off than this old man.
This old man now… can't even die if he wants to."
Po-Cang Emperor didn't jab at him further.
"How did you end up like this?"
Xunzhi True Lord sighed.
"Isn't it all thanks to you?"
Po-Cang Emperor understood a bit.
"You tampered with yourself and recovered your memories.
You brought this suffering upon yourself—some things were never meant for you to know."
"I only realized that later," Xunzhi True Lord said.
"Back then, when the emperor erased this old man's memories, it was actually for my own good."
Po-Cang Emperor said,
"You people—even if you know about the Great Annihilation, so what?
It only wrecks your Dao-hearts, and you have no way to deal with it."
Xunzhi True Lord gave a long sigh.
"Indeed.
What use is knowing?
It only adds to your troubles."
Lin Moyu finally understood that, back then, Po-Cang Emperor hadn't erased Xunzhi True Lord's memories out of selfishness, but because he knew that the Great Annihilation brought them no benefit at all.
They could not deal with it, could not stop it, and would only be forced to wait in despair for it to arrive.
For any Supreme Being, that would be a form of torture.
Thus Po-Cang Emperor had erased Xunzhi True Lord's memories; when it came to the Great Annihilation, only he knew the truth.
But Xunzhi True Lord had later used his own methods to recover those memories.
Even so, he hadn't spread news of the Great Annihilation.
Instead, he used his own methods to search for a way out.
The two of them, once Supreme Beings, now spoke like old friends who hadn't met in many years, reminiscing together.
They talked for a very, very long time.
Lin Moyu listened quietly at the side, not speaking a single word, playing the part of the perfect listener.
They spoke of the past, of the path Po-Cang Emperor had sought, and of the path Xunzhi True Lord had chosen.
Po-Cang Emperor's path was simple: strengthen himself and, by his own power, charge into the Life-Forbidden Zone.
It was like forcing the heaven-and-earth to produce a Supreme Being in hopes of stopping the Great Calamity.
In Po-Cang Emperor's view, as long as he could break into the Life-Forbidden Zone and reach a height no one had ever reached before, he could halt the Great Annihilation.
The result was that Po-Cang Emperor failed.
He lasted only ten breaths in the Life-Forbidden Zone before his body and Dao dissipated.
Xunzhi True Lord walked a different path.
He sought to elevate his own heaven-and-earth, deducing the future again and again, searching for a way to make his heaven-and-earth ascend.
In the end, he found a method: he could absorb the power of other heaven-and-earth remnants.
He succeeded in elevating his heaven-and-earth from a five-cycle to a six-cycle heaven-and-earth.
Although there were still many imperfections, it was at least a success—this was an unprecedented feat.
He then wanted to elevate his heaven-and-earth from six cycles to seven.
If he succeeded, he would become the Supreme Being of the first seven-cycle heaven-and-earth in history.
He found a seven-cycle heaven-and-earth, established a spatial passage, and used his method to draw on the power of the seven-cycle heaven-and-earth.
But he never imagined the power of a seven-cycle heaven-and-earth would be so overwhelming, far surpassing that of his six-cycle heaven-and-earth.
The hidden flaws left from the earlier ascension from five cycles to six erupted under the impact of the seven-cycle power, causing his heaven-and-earth to collapse rapidly.
Xunzhi True Lord tried to stop it, but he could not.
Not only could he not stop it, he himself collapsed along with it.
In the end, he merged into the heaven-and-earth core, using all his remaining strength to barely hold the heaven-and-earth together, allowing it to persist as a remnant rather than completely shattering.
The price was that he would forever be bound within the heaven-and-earth core, never able to escape, never again able to control the heaven-and-earth; he could not even die if he wanted to.
His power scattered throughout the heaven-and-earth, stirring up storms that never faded.
As time passed, Xunzhi True Lord's Dao-heart sank into stillness.
When the Great Annihilation finally came, he sensed the collapse of other heavens-and-earth, and in that moment his Dao-heart completely shattered as well.
Yet he still could not die—he could only exist like this, forever and ever.
After hearing their story, Lin Moyu could only sigh softly.
A single wrong choice had led to consequences beyond imagination.
Po-Cang Emperor said,
"Both our paths were wrong.
Hand this method over—perhaps Friend Lin still has a chance."