"Alas... that’s enough. I don’t know how long I’ve been dead. I tried to snatch this very fragment back then, and I never expected you to still have it. Can you tell me when you obtained this fragment in your possession?" The old Daoist phantom asked Wang Yufan.

Wang Yufan replied:

"The fragment in my hand, you ask? I obtained it by chance. I thought it was strange at the time, so I kept it with me.

Oh, and before this, people from your Primordial Spirit Realm came looking for this fragment, but they didn’t find it and returned empty-handed."

Hearing Wang Yufan’s words, the old Daoist phantom was stunned for a moment and said: 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"I didn’t say I was from the Primordial Spirit Realm, how did you know?"

"Uh... that’s not important. I guessed. I knew it was just a lower-ranked sect in the Primordial Spirit Realm. They all wanted this mysterious fragment, so it’s clear that many people know the secret of this fragment, except for me, of course," Wang Yufan said.

"Alright, it seems this is no longer a secret. Someone probably announced it to the public a long time ago.

This fragment holds the secret to breaking through to the Yuanshi Realm. In the Primordial Spirit Realm, above the Eternal Realm are the Primal Spirit Realm, Yuankun Realm, Yuanji Realm, Yuandao Realm, Yuanyu Realm, Yuanzu Realm, and Yuanshi Realm. The Yuanshi Realm is merely a legend. It is said that reaching the Yuanshi Realm allows one to create a plane of existence; with a single thought, all things are born, and with a single thought, all things die. What people call ’creating heaven and earth’ is mere child’s play.

Breaking through to the Yuanshi Realm is true eternal life and immortality. Of course, what I’m saying is just a legend. I don’t know if anyone has broken through to the Yuanshi Realm now; at that time, there was no one.

And those two fragments in your hand are, as far as I know, the key to breaking through to the Yuanshi Realm. There are a total of nine fragments, scattered across the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, so collecting them all is extremely difficult. But I never expected you to have one in your hand. Perhaps this is destiny.

Back then, when I, this old Daoist, had just advanced to the Original Ancestor Realm, I unexpectedly learned that this fragment had appeared in a forbidden area of the Primordial Spirit Realm. At that time, there were five Original Ancestor Realm powerhouses in the Primordial Spirit Realm. During the struggle to obtain it, I was fortunate enough to get this fragment, but I was ambushed from behind by a despicable scoundrel. He hit me with his full power, an attack when I was completely unprepared, and it was a poisonous palm strike. With that palm, my cultivation fell. I used my last breath to open a path to the lower realm and came here. Then I sat in meditation and passed away.

Presumably, you should know why I came here now, right?" The old Daoist phantom finished describing these events, still filled with resentment.

Just then, the Feng Ling Sword spirit in Wang Yufan’s hand emerged.

"Hello, I am the Feng Ling Sword’s sword spirit. How did I get here? You said you were a Prime Ancestors before, so do you know my master?"

Hearing the sword spirit’s words, the old Daoist phantom was stunned for a moment, then said: "May I ask who your master is? I found you in the space leading to the lower realm. You should have been in a deep sleep at the time. I saw you drifting in the endless void. I took you into my hand, and when I held you, I knew you were extraordinary, so I brought you here."

Hearing the old Daoist phantom’s words, the sword spirit said:

"My master is named Ice Moon. You should have heard of her; she doesn’t often show herself, so people know very little about her."

"Your master is actually the Ice Moon Yuanzu, who was once known as the number one immortaless of the Primordial Spirit Realm? I didn’t know that. But I do know the Ice Moon Yuanzu; she can be considered my senior. Before my time, there were five great Prime Ancestors in the Primordial Spirit Realm: Ice Moon, Soul Reaper, Shuai Yang, Yang Xiu, and Huang Gu.

But one day, news spread that the Ice Moon Yuanzu failed to break through to the Yuanshi Realm and ultimately met an end where her body perished and her Dao dissipated." The old Daoist phantom was halfway through his explanation when he was directly interrupted by the sword spirit.

"Nonsense! My master didn’t fail her tribulation at all! It was that Prime Ancestors named Soul Reaper, who had always admired my master, but my master cultivated the Dao of Ruthlessness. How could she be with him? Soul Reaper took advantage of my master’s weak period and used despicable means to trap her in a grand formation. In the end, my master was no match, but not wanting to be humiliated, she self-destructed, destroying the grand formation and throwing me out. After that, I fell into a deep sleep," the sword spirit said.

Hearing the sword spirit’s words, the old Daoist phantom took a deep breath and said: "I advanced to the Original Ancestor Realm a thousand years after that incident, but the despicable scoundrel who ambushed me, as I mentioned before, was also that Soul Reaper. Although we were both Prime Ancestors, his strength had already reached Prime Ancestors Third Layer, while I was only at First Layer. At that time, as my senior, I didn’t guard against him. We had agreed to explore beyond the Yuanzu Realm together. But after I obtained the fragment, it was he who delivered the fatal blow to me.

So, both the Ice Moon Yuanzu and I were victims of that despicable and vile Soul Reaper."

Hearing the old Daoist phantom’s words, the sword spirit’s heart was also greatly shaken.

"This Soul Reaper doesn’t seem simple. Did the other Original Ancestor Realm powerhouses not notice his actions?" Wang Yufan interjected at this moment.

"You don’t know, that Soul Reaper is best at pretending to be a good person in front of others. He’s very good at putting on an act when interacting with the other Prime Ancestors. His schemes are generally inscrutable to ordinary people. Both the Ice Moon Yuanzu and I were deceived by him like this. Truly, life is unpredictable; this is fate," the old Daoist phantom said.

After speaking, the old Daoist phantom looked at Wang Yufan and said:

"Alright, this phantom of mine is about to dissipate. I’ve stayed long enough. I now have only one wish: I hope I can take you as my disciple. What do you think?"

"Huh?!... What? You want to take me as your disciple? Old man, you’re not serious, are you?" Wang Yufan said with a touch of surprise.

"That’s right, I want to take you as my disciple. Your aptitude is the best I’ve ever seen. I can tell that your physique ranks in the top three on the Myriad Body List, but I don’t know the specifics. You should know that the physiques of those great Prime Ancestors were all in the top twenty of the Myriad Body List, and they were able to reach the Yuanzu Realm. Your future achievements are bound to be limitless," the old Daoist phantom said.

"So, does that mean you also ranked in the top twenty of the Myriad Body List?

Moreover, if you want me to be your disciple, will I also have to avenge you or something? It’s not that I’m speaking rudely, but you’re just a remnant thought now. What can you teach me? Do you want to just pick up a handsome, talented, and youthful prodigy like me for free? Old man, I think you’re thinking a bit too much." Wang Yufan said.