The aged gaze once more fell upon Lin Moyu.
Xunzhi True Lord truly appraised Lin Moyu, and gradually he saw how out of the ordinary Lin Moyu was.
It was as if only at this moment did he truly awaken; a light of hope appeared in those old eyes.
"As expected… this little fellow is no ordinary one."
Po-Cang Emperor's remnant will likewise laughed.
"He is the only one whose light flares at the brink of death,
the last hope in the embers of heaven-and-earth."
Xunzhi True Lord looked at Lin Moyu, the more he looked, the more astonished he became.
"Fellow Daoist Lin, why is it that this lord cannot see your future?"
Po-Cang Emperor frowned.
"Look at yourself now—
isn't it perfectly normal that you can't see the future anymore?"
Xunzhi True Lord's aged body stirred, and outside the heaven-and-earth core he slowly condensed a corporeal form.
His body was already broken—only one half remained intact; the other half had vanished who knew where.
Po-Cang Emperor's brows knit even tighter.
"How did you end up like this?"
This was the second time he'd asked a similar question.
Previously, when Xunzhi True Lord still lingered within the heaven-and-earth core, that state Po-Cang Emperor could at least understand.
But now, his condition was even stranger than before.
Lin Moyu also saw that Xunzhi True Lord's state was bizarre.
His soul seemed torn apart—yet at the same time remained complete under some special condition.
It was very strange.
Lin Moyu asked the Hongmeng Stone; even the Hongmeng Stone couldn't make sense of it.
Xunzhi True Lord said,
"At present, half of this old man's soul is here,
and the other half is in that seven-cycle heaven-and-earth."
Po-Cang Emperor paused for a moment.
"You've become a bridge."
At the same time, the Hongmeng Stone sent a voice transmission to Lin Moyu.
"He's become a soul-bridge."
"Soul-bridge?"
Lin Moyu obviously didn't understand.
The Hongmeng Stone immediately gave him a quick explanation.
A soul-bridge was an extremely special state, rarely seen; the Hongmeng Stone had only encountered it a few times.
Simply put, a soul-bridge meant that one's soul had been divided between two different regions, yet the two parts had not completely severed their connection, forming a special spatial passage between them—like a bridge linking the two regions.
That was a soul-bridge.
Xunzhi True Lord spoke with a bitterness in his tone.
"Yes, I've become a soul-bridge.
So this old man's soul is whole, and yet incomplete.
I cannot even die if I want to.
But in this state, this old man can absorb a portion of the seven-cycle heaven-and-earth's power and can clearly see the future of every living being.
Yet your future, Fellow Daoist Lin—this old man cannot see."
Po-Cang Emperor naturally understood Xunzhi True Lord's abilities; his mastery of the Dao of Fate had already surpassed that of heaven-and-earth itself.
If even he could not see a future, then no one could.
But Lin Moyu found it odd—why had Destiny Venerable been able to see his future?
Could it be that Destiny Venerable's control over fate surpassed that of Xunzhi True Lord?
Obviously impossible.
Since he couldn't figure it out himself, he might as well ask directly.
"Senior Xunzhi," Lin Moyu said,
"in the heaven-and-earth where this junior resides, there is also someone skilled in the Dao of Fate.
He seems able to see this junior's future."
Before Xunzhi True Lord could answer, Po-Cang Emperor had already spoken.
"That fellow you're talking about—
he hasn't yet completed the barrier-breaking.
What he sees is not the true future, but a speculative future.
It isn't necessarily accurate."
"Barrier-breaking?"
Lin Moyu felt that he was really broadening his horizons today, encountering so many things he hadn't known before.
Po-Cang Emperor said,
"To become a Supreme Being, there is a necessary condition: barrier-breaking.
To break through the barrier of heaven-and-earth and fuse the illusory and the real, to behold the true heaven-and-earth.
Heaven-and-earth has a division of illusion and reality, of yin and yang.
To become a Supreme Being, you must shatter illusion and reality, yin and yang—
wherever your gaze falls, illusion and reality, yin and yang are merged into one.
Only then can you behold the true heaven-and-earth.
This is what we call barrier-breaking.
For the Dao of Fate, barrier-breaking is equally important.
Without barrier-breaking, any future you see is not the true future, but one that constantly changes.
Yet for an existence like Xunzhi True Lord, the future he sees is the real future, one that almost never changes.
That is why, when he saw the Great Annihilation, he sank into such despair."
Lin Moyu understood.
It was precisely because of this that Destiny Venerable could see his future—but that future was speculative, liable to change at any time.
Whereas the future Xunzhi True Lord spoke of was a fixed future that almost never changed.
Yet he couldn't see Lin Moyu's future.
Xunzhi True Lord was not disappointed;
"Not seeing the future is a good thing.
It means Fellow Daoist Lin truly has a chance to break this situation."
"Indeed," Po-Cang Emperor said.
"In any case, he's the only hope we've got.
Whether he succeeds or not—
if he fails, so be it, things won't get any worse than they are now.
You're a soul-bridge now, connected to another seven-cycle heaven-and-earth, correct?
Pass your method of fusing heavens-and-earth to Fellow Daoist Lin, then let him go to that seven-cycle heaven-and-earth.
You can't absorb that seven-cycle heaven-and-earth anyway—what's the point of keeping it?
Better to hand it over to Fellow Daoist Lin."
Po-Cang Emperor's words were blunt.
To hand that seven-cycle heaven-and-earth over to Lin Moyu was tantamount to telling Xunzhi True Lord to die.
Xunzhi True Lord did not become angry.
"Po-Cang, you're still as overbearing as ever."
Po-Cang Emperor chuckled.
"I've been overbearing all my life—can't change it now."
"This old man truly has lived enough," Xunzhi True Lord said.
"Rather than living like this, it's better to die.
If Fellow Daoist Lin can master this method and absorb that seven-cycle heaven-and-earth, this old man will have to thank him for sending me off."
To thank someone for letting you die—
it showed that, in his heart, he truly did not want to go on living.
From the heaven-and-earth core, a point of light flew out, drifting to hover before Lin Moyu without dispersing.
Lin Moyu touched the light with his soul, and in an instant a torrent of information surged into him.
Sky-Transcending Secret Art.
Lin Moyu had obtained a secret art.
This was a technique Xunzhi True Lord had created after watching the futures of Supreme Beings countless times, blending their traits and abilities, using what he saw of each heaven-and-earth through them, and basing everything on the Primordial-Heaven Art he himself had mastered.
Only after all that had he finally created this secret art.
The original intent of this art was to let his own heaven-and-earth tower above all others—yet he had failed and never succeeded.
After passing this art to Lin Moyu, Xunzhi True Lord said softly,
"Fellow Daoist Lin, you must not be impatient.
This secret art is extremely difficult to cultivate; it requires exceedingly deep comprehension of the Primordial-Heaven Art before it can be understood."
But Lin Moyu had already begun studying the Sky-Transcending Art and turned a deaf ear to Xunzhi True Lord's words—he did not hear them at all.
Po-Cang Emperor chuckled.
"What do you think—how long will it take Fellow Daoist Lin to grasp this art?"
Xunzhi True Lord thought for a moment.
"A thousand years if he's fast, ten thousand if he's slow.
Back then, this old man spent tens of thousands of years just creating this art, and another tens of thousands of years perfecting it.
It is incomparably complex—
even you, Po-Cang, couldn't comprehend it in a short time."
Po-Cang Emperor said,
"I think Fellow Daoist Lin will master it in a year if he's fast, ten years if he's slow."
Xunzhi True Lord clearly didn't believe it, but he did not refute it either.
He could not see Lin Moyu's future and thus could not make any predictions.
By this time, Lin Moyu had already sunk completely into the Sky-Transcending Art.
This secret art was vast and profound to the extreme; it touched upon the very root of heaven-and-earth.
If he could master it completely, his understanding of heaven-and-earth would surely reach a new level.
He plunged fully into it, using all the knowledge he possessed to comprehend and grasp it.
Day after day passed.
Half a year after Lin Moyu and the others had entered, Xunzhi Heaven-and-Earth grew quiet once more.
The storm that had raged for countless years persisted; any outsider would continue to be subjected to its continuous attacks.
Gold Supreme and the others went in and out many times; they seemed to have gained something and returned every so often.
To the entire Xunzhi Heaven-and-Earth, their presence was insignificant—they could only move within a range of several thousand li around the spatial passage and had almost no impact at all.
Xunzhi True Lord knew people had come, but he couldn't be bothered to pay them any mind.
He and Po-Cang Emperor spoke of the old days.
The two of them had lived for an unfathomable number of years; though they had some conflicts, they were still people of the same era.
Much of what they remembered could only be shared between them.
At last, after a year, Lin Moyu slowly opened his eyes.
"How is it?" Po-Cang Emperor asked.
Xunzhi True Lord also looked at him intently, hoping to hear an answer from Lin Moyu's mouth.
"I've more or less grasped it at a basic level," Lin Moyu said.
"It is indeed much harder than the Primordial-Heaven Art.
But all methods return to the same root—
it can still be understood."
At those words, Xunzhi True Lord's eyes flickered.
So Po-Cang had really guessed right.
He had not expected Lin Moyu to master the Sky-Transcending Art so quickly.
Even if it was only a preliminary mastery, that alone was astonishing.
Po-Cang Emperor chuckled.
"I said it, didn't I?
Fellow Daoist Lin's comprehension has no equal among the ancients."
Lin Moyu said,
"It was thanks to Senior Po-Cang having given me so many Primordial-Heaven Arts.
Without them as reference and support, I wouldn't have been able to master this art either."
Po-Cang Emperor said,
"That's only right—after all, you're our only hope."
Xunzhi True Lord couldn't help asking,
"He's learned many Primordial-Heaven Arts?"
Po-Cang Emperor replied,
"All the Primordial-Heaven Arts this emperor collected—Fellow Daoist Lin has mastered every last one of them, and it didn't even take him many years.
So, this so-called Sky-Transcending Art of yours really isn't that difficult for him."
Xunzhi True Lord's eyes shone; he seemed to glimpse hope.
For beings like them, grasping a single Primordial-Heaven Art took thousands of years at least, tens of thousands at most.
From this, it was clear that Lin Moyu's talent was vastly above theirs.
If that was the case, there might truly still be hope.
"This junior will first get more familiar with this art," Lin Moyu said,
"and then I want to go take a look at that seven-cycle heaven-and-earth."
"Good," Xunzhi True Lord agreed at once.
He too seemed to be anticipating it—anticipating release.
This state of not being able to die, yet not truly living, had lasted for countless years; he'd had enough and didn't want it anymore.
Po-Cang Emperor cautioned,
"A seven-cycle heaven-and-earth is not like a six-cycle heaven-and-earth.
Its power of heaven-and-earth is tens or even hundreds of times stronger, and there may be some unexpected things inside.
Be careful in all things."
Lin Moyu nodded.
"Thank you, Senior. I will be careful."
Xunzhi True Lord opened a spatial passage leading to the seven-cycle heaven-and-earth.
This spatial passage was somewhat peculiar; it was filled with powerful soul force, and walking within it felt like stepping upon Xunzhi True Lord's soul.
Lin Moyu left the Po-Cang Crystal behind, so the two old men could continue chatting and not be lonely.
The soul-bridge was very long; he had to fly for some time.
As he flew, Lin Moyu sent a voice transmission,
"Hongmeng, you've seen seven-cycle heavens-and-earth, right?
What's special about them?"
"I have seen them," the Hongmeng Stone replied.
"What's most special about a seven-cycle heaven-and-earth is that its heaven-and-earth power is extremely strong and its rules are exceedingly strict.
But the living beings within aren't necessarily that remarkable.
Those cultivators are heavily suppressed by the heaven-and-earth rules; every step is difficult.
Precisely because of this, it's hard for Supreme Beings to be born among them.
However, in theory, once a Supreme Being does appear, that one would be the strongest of all Supreme Beings—
possibly even surpassing Po-Cang Emperor."
"Then calculate for me," Lin Moyu said.
"What would a seven-cycle heaven-and-earth look like after the Great Annihilation?"
Although half of Xunzhi True Lord's soul was in the seven-cycle heaven-and-earth, he could not sense anything; his soul merely formed a passageway.
The power of the seven-cycle heaven-and-earth suppressed his sense.
But given so many years had passed and that half of his soul had met with no calamity, it was clear that place was still relatively safe—
at least the area near the exit was safe.
After flying along the soul-bridge for most of a day, Lin Moyu finally sensed a different kind of aura—vast and heavy, almost tangible.
Passing through the soul-bridge, it slammed into him.
"What dense heaven-and-earth power."
Lin Moyu took a deep breath; he felt as if he had inhaled a vast tide of heaven-and-earth power.
Within this power was some strange rule, flowing through his body for a while before scattering again.
The rules were shattered and no longer formed a complete system.
It seemed this seven-cycle heaven-and-earth remnant had also suffered a devastating blow.
Flying out from the passage, his vision was filled with blue.
He stood in midair, wind blowing in his face, and the sound of water roaring in his ears.
The ocean.
Lin Moyu looked far into the distance but saw no boundary; underneath his feet was indeed a vast ocean.
The sea stretched out towards the horizon, and even with his eyesight he could not see its end.
There were only two possibilities: either the ocean was large enough, or this heaven-and-earth was not flat at all, but curved.
Glancing back, he saw that the spatial passage was still behind him, unchanged.
Beneath the passage, countless strands of soul force hung down like threads, falling into the sea.
Following those soul threads, Lin Moyu dove under the surface.
A tremendous pressure surged in from every direction.
The seawater contained vast heaven-and-earth power, infused with broken rules; even a Half-Supreme might be injured by the pressure here.
The feeling was somewhat like the Realm Sea.
After descending several hundred meters, Lin Moyu saw the seabed, and the soul threads also reached their end.
Lin Moyu saw the half of Xunzhi True Lord's soul.