At the entrance of the Hanging Mountain, the giant gilded gate was engraved with "Mountain Sealing Spirit Talismans," flowing with pale golden immortal light, containing a Third Layer Restriction.

Chen Sheng lightly tapped with his foot, his figure transformed into a purple beam flitting across the Cloud Sea, as if strolling leisurely, with each step releasing three or so strands of Sword Qi as thin as hair.

The Sword Qi, colored in blue, purple, and gold, silently merged into the void, like serpents slipping into the seams of the Restriction Runes.

"Buzz—"

The surface of the giant gate’s immortal light suddenly rippled slightly, instantly bypassing the First Layer Restriction.

The purple aura around Chen Sheng perfectly integrated with the immortal might of Hanging Mountain, never pausing, the purple beam flashing continuously, passing through the mountain gate in less than three breaths, with the Restriction along the way causing not even the slightest obstruction.

In the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall, the Ten Thousand Beasts Celestial Immortal was staring intently at the suspended Source Qi cluster in the hall, suddenly sensing the disturbance in the Restriction.

He abruptly turned his head, his blood-red eyebrows stood erect, his withered hand clutched the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Cauldron in front of him fiercely, his gaze like lightning sweeping towards the base of the mountain.

The Cloud Sea still roiled, the immortal light at the mountain gate showed unusual activity, yet not a single figure was in sight.

"Was it an illusion?"

He furrowed his brows tightly, just about to concentrate and investigate further, when suddenly a circle of faint purple ripples appeared in the void of the hall.

As the ripples spread, a white-robed figure gradually emerged, standing with his hands behind his back beside the Eight Treasure Lotus Platform in the hall, untainted white garments, surrounded by purple aura.

"Zhang Ling!"

The pupils of the Ten Thousand Beasts Celestial Immortal shrank rapidly, the other party could break through the Third Layer Restriction without alarming anyone, directly barging into the core of the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall?

He first realized that the developments could possibly exceed his expectations!

His heart sank. Being a Great Power traversing the Immortal Realm for countless ages, he made a decision in an instant, slamming his right hand onto the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Cauldron:

"Die!"

The body of the cauldron suddenly lit up, thousands of Demon Beast phantoms roared out from within, coalescing into a blood-red beast claw that covered the sky and obscured the sun, the claw tip carrying the momentum to collapse the void, grabbing fiercely towards Chen Sheng.

This was his signature immortal art traversing the Immortal Realm, "Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Art—Collapse"!

Chen Sheng remained indifferent, merely raising his sleeve slowly, with the slight wave of the cloak’s sleeve, black and white Qi emerged, circulating like Tai Chi, transforming into a depiction of a Yin Yang Fish about a foot in size.

The blood-red beast claw crashing upon the Yin Yang Fish chart was instantly engulfed as if a mud ox entering the sea, unable to stir a single ripple.

The black and white Qi spun slightly, completely dissolving the Evil Power within the beast claw, soon restoring tranquility, hiding back into the cloak’s sleeve.

"Dao Domain! How is this possible!"

The Ten Thousand Beasts Celestial Immortal’s eyes were filled with disbelief, he distinctly perceived the Yin Yang Dao Domain contained within that black and white Qi, incredibly mysterious!

Frantically enraged, the Ten Thousand Beasts Celestial Immortal dared not hold back any longer, twisting his left hand into gestures, muttering incantations:

"Ten Thousand Beasts Return to the Origin, Asura Devours the Heavens!"

The Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Cauldron trembled violently, a blood-red flood flew out from it, transforming into an Asura Giant Beast, spewing black fire from its mouth, wielding a Bone Blade, carrying the aura to annihilate everything and charging towards Chen Sheng.

Subsequently, he simultaneously launched three blood streaks, transforming into "Blood River Raging," "Bone-Eroding Demon Fog," and "Heaven-Burning Celestial Fire" three Divine Techniques, layering atop one another to envelop Chen Sheng.

The whole Ten Thousand Beasts Hall was filled with Evil Power!

Chen Sheng remained calm, the purple aura around him slightly rippling, forming an invisible barrier, with the blood river hitting the barrier transforming into a widespread blood mist, the demon fog being purified by the purple aura, and the celestial fire upon encounter instantly extinguished.

The Bone Blade wielded by the Asura Giant Beast struck the barrier, merely producing a soft "clang," the bone blade shattered, and the beast’s figure shattered like glass.

"You’ve been plotting against me for years, yet you’ve helped me immensely!"

Chen Sheng’s voice echoed in the hall, cold as ice:

"As for this ’favor,’ let me send you off with good grace!"

Before the words were finished, Chen Sheng slowly raised his right hand, lightly tapping with his fingertip.

This tap seemed slow, yet contained the ultimate truth of the annihilation of heaven and earth, with the fingertip emitting a ray of gray light, wherever the light reached, space began distorting and collapsing.

The Ten Thousand Beasts Celestial Immortal only felt his Divine Soul locked by an invisible force, visions of the sun and moon’s decline and the end of all things appeared before him.

He wished to urge the Immortal Cauldron to resist but found that the surrounding Dao Domain had long been suppressed by the other’s aura, his fingertip unable to move.

"No!"

The Ten Thousand Beasts Celestial Immortal let out a desperate roar, yet his Yin Spirit body rapidly crumbled like weathered rock, transforming into specks of blood light.

...

Chen Sheng raised his hand with a beckon, the thoughts within the blood light containing the Divine Soul being absorbed entirely into his palm, transforming into a faint red light cluster.

With a flick of his fingertip, the light cluster immersed into his forehead, the memories of the Ten Thousand Beasts Celestial Immortal surged into his sea of consciousness like a tide.

Despite the memory’s incompleteness due to not advancing to the Primordial Spirit, it still sketched out a rough outline of the Immortal Realm:

"The Immortal Realm is divided into Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, each of the Ten Lands ruled by an Immortal King, while the Nine Heavens are governed by an Immortal Lord."

"Heavenly Immortals have a lifespan of ten thousand years, Immortal Kings can live a second lifetime, Immortal Lords can endure a third... Only the Heavenly Emperor is supreme, living nine lifetimes, transcending reincarnation, enduring endless tribulations, forever undying and eternal."

Chen Sheng closed his eyes to organize his thoughts, aligning his memories with his understanding:

"The Heavenly Immortals of this realm correspond to the First Layer Void Refining in the Spirit Realm, the Immortal King is the Second Layer Void Refining, the Immortal Lord is the Third Layer Void Refining... The Heavenly Emperor has surpassed nine Longevity Dao Tribulations!"

He suddenly opened his eyes, a gleam of light flashing through them, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth:

"Such a cautious Heavenly Emperor! Suppressing his subordinates so severely, with the strongest under him being no more than the Third Layer Void Refining."

He looked up towards the dome outside the hall, his gaze seemingly piercing through the world’s barriers, witnessing the scene above the Nine Heavens:

"To pass nine tribulations, one’s strength certainly doesn’t stop there; perhaps it’s the Twelve Tribulations, or even comparable to the Celestial Desolate Divine Master, invincible in Void Refining!"

But immediately, his gaze grew even more intense:

"Yet regardless, as long as still transcending the Longevity Dao Tribulation, the essence remains a Void Refining Cultivator, and this realm has fate with me; it should be the place where I achieve Dao!"

...

In the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Domain of the Immortal Realm, an Immortal Palace stood on the Kirin Peak shrouded in Qingyun.

The palace halls stretched for a thousand miles, jade-carved railings encircled a clear jade pool, surrounded by ever-blooming exquisite flowers and grasses, wafting celestial fragrance in the wind, attracting fluttering colorful butterflies.

In the Heavenly Steed Garden, dozens of majestic heavenly steeds were bowing their heads to graze on spirit grass, their manes adorned with fine golden light, leaving points of starlight as their hooves tread on clouds.

An elder in a gray Daoist robe was standing in the garden; his hair and beard were white, holding a jade comb, gently brushing the mane of the leading unicorn heavenly steed.

This elder seemed ordinary, but was actually the founder of the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Palace here—Xuan Ji Zi, also a Heavenly Immortal cultivator who dominated the region.

The jade comb passed through the heavenly steed’s mane, causing waves of Spiritual Qi ripples, the unicorn heavenly steed snorted comfortably, nudging Xuan Ji Zi’s arm with its head.

Xuan Ji Zi smiled and shook his head, just about to take out a Concentration Pill to feed it, when a burst of severe pain suddenly came from the center of his forehead, as if something important was being forcibly stripped away.

The jade comb in his hand dropped to the ground with a "clack," his face changing instantly from calm to deathly pale, then turning bright red, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

"My Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Cauldron! And the cosmically fortuitous fate and Power of Origin of that Small Thousand World! All gone!"

That Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Cauldron, though not his Lifebound Magical Treasure, was a precious treasure he had crafted over the years at great expense, given to his incarnation in the Lower Realm, connected by a faint link with his Divine Soul, for early arrangements.

Yet just now, that connection was completely severed, along with the rich cosmic fortune he could sense in the Small Thousand World, and the seemingly maturing Power of Origin, all dissipating like tidal waves, leaving only an abyss of void.

"Who? Who dares meddle with my arrangement!"

Xuan Ji Zi’s eyes blazed red, a subtle Heavenly Immortal aura surged around him, startling the heavenly steeds in the garden into retreating anxiously, paws furrowing the ground uneasily.

He forcibly suppressed the blood surging within, the Power of the Divine Soul spreading like a tide, tracing back the last seen scene.

It was a white-robed figure, who with an effortless gesture, broke the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Techniques, the black and white energies swirling within the sleeve forming a complete Yin-Yang Dao Domain!

"Zhang Ling! Damn Zhang Ling!"

Xuan Ji Zi gritted his teeth and spat out this name, captured from the final remnant of consciousness left in his incarnation.

He could not comprehend how a Yin Spirit cultivator from the Lower Realm could ruin his setup!

"Yin-Yang Dao Domain! How could there possibly be such a heaven-defying cultivator!"

Xuan Ji Zi stared intensely into the void, as if trying to pull out that white-robed figure from it:

"Such Dao Domain expertise, it absolutely could not have been a native of the Lower Realm! It must be a Heavenly Immortal incarnation!"

Yet the moment this thought emerged, he overturned it himself, shaking his head with force, his eyes filled with bewilderment:

"No, if it were a Void Refining incarnation, it could never be accepted by the world’s Origin of the Lower Realm, let alone become the Child of Destiny."

Utterly unable to comprehend, he forced himself to calm down:

"This matter cannot be concealed; I should first report this to the Dubhe Hall, possibly recovering some loss through minor celestial compensation."

Xuan Ji Zi casually tossed the jade comb to an immortal child nearby, striding quickly towards the communication platform.

With a pinch of his fingers, he activated the jade talisman engraved with the characters "Dubhe," attempting to speak as calmly as possible as it lit up:

"Xuan Ji Zi of the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Palace in the Resplendent Heaven reporting: The Lower Realm Small Thousand World setup may face destruction, with this realm’s Child of Destiny, Zhang Ling, having comprehended the Yin-Yang Dao Domain..."

The jade talisman turned into a beam of golden light, shooting upwards, vanishing into the clouds of Resplendent Heaven.

Xuan Ji Zi sighed heavily as he watched the direction the golden light disappeared, turning back towards the Heavenly Steed Garden. Yet, looking again at those majestic heavenly steeds, there was no longer the leisure of the past, only a sense of an unfathomable path ahead.