Chương 232: Chapter 121: Mutated Primordial Soul, Drawing Attention from All Directions

Enveloped within this dazzling golden radiance, the haze that had clouded Reyn's consciousness dissipated with astonishing speed. It felt as though an invisible hand had plucked him from a realm immeasurably distant and plunged him straight back into reality. In an instant, the heartbroken weeping of Yu Meiren washed over his ears; the agony tearing through his body surged back in relentless, suffocating waves; and before his eyes, he captured the pain-filled, venomous glare of Mu Nianxing!

That unyielding, indignant will of his—which had been on the verge of scattering into nonexistence—recondensed in a heartbeat, burning brighter than ever before.

"My clan and my sect still rely on my protection! The vile enemies who harmed me have yet to be brought to justice! I cannot die—I absolutely cannot die here!" As if responding to the formidable, surging force of will exploding from deep within him, the Heaven-Defying Golden Seal flew out from his body for the very first time. It floated steadily above the crown of his head, showering down endless torrents of divine golden radiance that enveloped his entire physical form.

Under the soothing illumination of this golden light, the staggering frailty of Reyn's Primordial Soul was forcefully arrested, and the horrific, violent collapse of his mortal flesh was instantly suppressed! Such was the terrifying, divine power of the Golden Seal! The moment it exerted its supreme authority, it could reverse the very boundary between life and death in a fraction of a second! Reyn froze for a momentary second before an overwhelming wave of wild ecstasy erupted within his heart!

Ever since he had set foot upon the grueling path of cultivation, he had hovered on the brink of death time and time again, surviving solely by relying on this Heaven-Defying Golden Seal. However, unless he was truly trapped in an absolute, irrecoverable state of impending death, this enigmatic artifact would never manifest its power so readily.

As a result, Reyn had never quite realized that his ultimate trump card was neither Xiao Gu, Little Brick, nor the Little Divine Hall—nor was it the vast reserves of White Jade Dragon-Whiskers Rice stored in his spatial storage ring. His true, supreme reliance was this very Heaven-Defying Golden Seal! Its terrifying might required no further explanation; it was something that far transcended his current understanding of magical treasures and artifacts.

Now, with the aid of the Golden Seal, although Reyn could still feel the excruciating, endless waves of agony racking his internal organs and flesh, the pain was brought back within a threshold he could endure. Furthermore, under the domineering, absolute suppression of the Golden Seal, the violently clashing power of bloodlines within his body actually began to fuse together slowly! Though the pace was excruciatingly gradual, it offered Reyn a definitive ray of hope—a true lifeline amidst despair.

An expression of profound joy burst across Yu Meiren's face. Yet, as she looked at the tiny golden seal resting above Reyn's head, an almost imperceptible trace of awe and reverence crept into her eyes. It was as if the aura emanating from that golden seal possessed a nobility so primordial and supreme that even her exalted bloodline as a Royal Ancient Demon felt compelled to grovel on the ground before it!

Although she was filled with shock and suspicion regarding the true origins of this artifact, joy overwhelmingly dominated her heart. With such a miraculous treasure protecting him, her younger brother would surely survive this deadly catastrophe! Conversely, within the depths of the Spirit-Devouring Array, endless desperation instantly swallowed Mu Nianxing's eyes!

The situation had turned on its head in a flash, as if the stars themselves had shifted across the heavens—the matter of life and death had completely inverted within a single breath! Just one moment ago, he had been the butcher holding the cleaver while Reyn was the meat on the chopping block; now, their roles had been utterly reversed. Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The crimson filaments embedded within Mu Nianxing's body plunged once more, penetrating mercilessly into the deepest recesses of his bone marrow, completely draining every single drop of vitality from his physical frame! Not only did the bloodlines siphon back the vast life essence that Reyn had lost previously, but even Mu Nianxing's own inherent vital energy was stripped away without mercy! After a mere three breaths, his physical body withered into a decayed husk!

Meanwhile, with the assistance of the Golden Seal, Reyn successfully suppressed the violent bloodline rejection, allowing his body to stabilize and return to normal. Only his pitch-black eyes remained slightly dim and lackluster, a testament to the severe wounds his Primordial Soul had sustained, which were yet to be fully mended. The Fourth Suction! Mu Nianxing's body convulsed violently as a significant portion of his Primordial Soul and spiritual mana was violently dragged out of his body!

A series of crisp cracking sounds echoed from within Reyn's body, and his essence, energy, and spirit instantly recovered by more than half. The Fifth Suction! The light in Mu Nianxing's eyes instantly turned utterly lifeless, and the mana fluctuations within his body dwindled to near nonexistence! In that split second, Reyn's Primordial Soul surged back to its absolute peak condition—becoming even more pristine and pure than before.

The mana fluctuations coursing within his veins rapidly swelled, reaching the very threshold of the Foundation Establishment Great Circle! Yet, right at that moment, as the Sixth Suction hit, Reyn suddenly felt a fragile shell inside his body shatter with a clear snap. A strange, otherworldly fluctuation instantly rippled outward from deep within his core! A breakthrough! The Eighteenth Level of Qi Condensation!

Having endured the brutal cycle of being devoured and devouring in return, having hovered repeatedly on the thin line between life and death while suffering countless agonies, the final barrier of the Qi Condensation realm had at long last been smashed into oblivion! Yu Meiren stared in shock for a fraction of a second before a dazzling light of joy erupted in her phoenix eyes.

"My younger brother truly is blessed with immense providence! Every time he encounters a fatal disaster, he turns misfortune into blessing and reaps astonishing harvests. By surviving this tribulation, he has shattered his shackles in one fell swoop, advancing to the absolute limit of the Qi Condensation stage—a realm that existed only in ancient times!" Deep within his heart, Reyn was equally overwhelmed with wild jubilation.

The profound transformations brought forth by breaking through to the Eighteenth Level of Qi Condensation far surpassed anything he could have ever imagined! At this moment, Reyn's Primordial Soul condensed into a single sphere, roiling violently like boiling water. Yet, rather than feeling the slightest discomfort, a sensation of profound, infinite bliss surged through him.

Amidst this intense churning, the strength of Reyn's Primordial Soul exploded exponentially, skyrocketing all the way to the Late-stage Golden Core realm! At the same time, an extremely faint trace of golden hue gradually emerged. It spread with astonishing speed, dyeing his entire Primordial Soul a pale, luminous gold.

For some mysterious reason, the moment Reyn caught sight of this golden hue, the golden tone of the Heaven-Defying Golden Seal came to mind—the two shades were virtually identical, except that the golden tint of his Primordial Soul possessed only a fraction of the seal's density. And the very instant his Primordial Soul transformed into gold, it immediately caught the attention of numerous unknown, colossal entities across the vast cosmos. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent.

Report sightings. Far beyond, amidst the boundless starry expanse, floated a magnificent, majestic palace forged entirely of solid gold. Standing tens of thousands of zhang tall, it radiated a majestic, suffocating pressure that seeped into the cosmic void, looking as though it had endured since time immemorial! Right at this moment, a soft sound of surprise—a light "Oh?" —echoed from within the lofty golden palace.

At the sound of this voice, the rotation of the surrounding cosmic nebulae ground to a sudden, absolute halt, as though an incomprehensible, supreme power had suppressed the entire galaxy in a single heartbeat. Tens of thousands of miles beneath the earth's crust, in a realm deep within the subterranean abysses, endless fires burned with incandescent ferocity.

Hot, molten lava, glowing with a pale, milky whiteness, churned and tumbled endlessly, radiating waves of stifling, suffocating heat that permeated every corner of the vast domain. Yet at this very moment, this immense world of magma—stretching across untold hundreds of millions of zhang—suddenly came to a jarring, abrupt halt. The leaping tongues of fire froze mid-flicker, and the churning, white-hot molten rock instantly stood still, locked in time.

From the deepest depths of the earth, a raspy, ancient voice echoed slowly and hollowly:"How many tens of thousands of years has it been? Now, at long last... has it finally appeared once more?" …… On a distant planet almost entirely engulfed by vast, restless oceans, wild tempestuous storms raged continuously across the surface. Howling winds tore through the sky, pitch-black clouds drifted in dense layers, and fierce bolts of lightning cracked with deafening thunder.

The climate was treacherous and hostile to the extreme. Yet what was even stranger was that not a single living creature inhabited this desolate world. Though the sea, the wind, the storm clouds, and the thunderous lightning possessed terrifying, boundless might, there was no mortal or spirit alive to witness or feel their awe-inspiring majesty. However, in a single fleeting instant, the raging ocean abruptly ceased its turbulence.

The howling winds died down to an utter whisper, the dark clouds dissolved into nothingness, and the flashing lightning vanished without a trace. A huge, gigantic gourd slowly bubbled up from the bottom of the ocean floor, breaking through the calm surface. Lying lazily upon the floating gourd was a young man wearing a short-sleeved garment, with a tiny, iridescent seven-colored gourd resting atop his head. At this moment, he held a gourdfull of spirit liquor, tilting his head back to take a long, satisfying gulp.

A sigh of sheer contentment escaped his lips as he muttered softly to himself, "My liquor is running out again... If this little fellow manages to pass the trial, the Old Alcohol Ghost will surely be overjoyed. He ought to give me a little bit of his secret stash, shouldn't he?" Saying this, a bright look of eager anticipation surfaced on his face. …… Within a bustling mortal city, a lean, gaunt old man with remarkably sharp and spirited eyes stood by the side of the road.

Draped in a traditional Daoist robe and holding a divination compass in his hand, he called out in a clear, resonant voice: "I calculate the Heavens, calculate the Earth, and calculate the Yin and Yang! I know the past, know the future, and know the present! I am Suan Wuqiong—The Boundless Reckoner! My divination skills reach the sky! I perform only one divination per day, first come, first served!"

"Hmph, what a complete old fraud! He comes here every day to swindle people. Just yesterday, he tried to convince me that our Mo City would face a cataclysmic disaster today, claiming he stayed here specifically to help us avert this crisis. But take a look around! The weather today is bright, warm, and clear for ten thousand miles. Where is this supposed cataclysmic disaster?!" Not far from Suan Wuqiong, two young men dressed in the extravagant robes of wealthy secular scions were gesturing and pointing at him.

"Young Master Wu, you were definitely scammed by him," the second young man snorted in disdain.

"I never believe these charlatans. If he truly had the ability to calculate the Heavens, the Earth, Yin and Yang, and know everything past, present, and future, he could just head straight to the gambling den, place a few winning bets, and walk out with piles of silver! Why on earth would he need to stand on a street corner doing fortune-telling for small change?"

"Sigh, Brother Zhang, you are absolutely right!" Young Master Wu sighed angrily.

"Just thinking about it makes my blood boil. Wait for me here; I'm going to confront that old fraud and get my string of copper coins back!" With those words, Young Master Wu strode aggressively toward Suan Wuqiong, glaring furiously.

"Old fraud! Hand back my divination money from yesterday right now, and then scram out of Mo City immediately! Otherwise, I'll beat you up every single time I see your face in the future! Do you hear me?!" A commotion on the main street always attracted a crowd, and in no time at all, passing pedestrians gathered in a thick circle around them. Once the onlookers gathered the full story of what had happened, the looks they cast toward Suan Wuqiong turned into expressions of disdain and contempt.

Seeing the crowd taking his side, Young Master Wu grew even more arrogant and insufferable, shouting relentlessly and making a grand scene about dragging the old man to the magistrate's office. Yet Suan Wuqiong remained exceptionally calm. With a subtle, barely perceptible movement of his wrist, he effortlessly freed himself from the young man's harsh grip.

"Young Master, what divination did you ask for yesterday?" he asked softly. Young Master Wu was momentarily stunned before recovering his bravado and turning to the crowd.

"Listen up, fellow townsfolk! Yesterday, having nothing better to do and seeing this old fraud spouting gibberish as if he actually possessed some real skill, I handed over a string of copper coins and asked him: Will our Mo City suffer any calamity over the next hundred years?" At this point, a look of righteous indignation flushed across his face.

"This old scammer took my string of coins and actually had the nerve to tell me that Mo City would face an absolute, catastrophic doom today! He claimed he paused his travels here solely to defuse this disaster, keeping me tossing and turning all night, unable to sleep a wink! But as everyone can see today, the sun is already sinking in the west, and the day is nearly over. Yet here we stand, perfectly safe and sound! Where is there even a shadow of a disaster?

Tell me, shouldn't we drag this old fraud off to the magistrate and have him beaten soundly with wooden planks?!" Hearing this, the crowd burst into a roar of laughter. Some jeered and egged Young Master Wu on, while others offered words of mediation, suggesting that since the old man was advanced in years, they should simply take back the money and let him go. Faced with such a clamorous scene, Suan Wuqiong did not show the slightest hint of panic or fluster.

He raised a slender finger and pointed toward the sky, speaking calmly: "The sun has not yet fallen below the horizon, and the day is not yet over. How can you be so certain, Young Master, that my words were inaccurate?" Young Master Wu sneered repeatedly, his fury mounting.

"What a stubborn old fraud! Fine! This young master will stay right here and wait it out with you! Let's see what excuses you have left once darkness falls!" Suan Wuqiong merely smiled serenely, pointing his finger toward the heavens once more.

"There is no need to wait that long. The great tribulation has already arrived." Everyone present froze in place, bewildered by his statement. They instinctively turned their gazes upward, following the direction of his finger. In an instant, every face in the crowd turned deathly pale with terror. A vast meteorite, shrouded in roaring, incandescent flames, was screaming through the sky. It tore through the heavens like a blood-red scar, hurtling directly toward Mo City!

Estimating its massive size, the flaming rock spanned dozens of li across. If such a colossal object were to strike the earth, the entirety of Mo City would be obliterated, leaving countless living beings crushed and slaughtered in a catastrophic hellscape! Yet in that brief instant of paralyzing terror, no one noticed that Suan Wuqiong's figure flickered and vanished completely from the spot.

"Ah! It's that old scam... no, the Old Immortal!"

"Look! Look over there! Someone is flying into the sky!"

"It's the Old Immortal! We beg the Old Immortal to show mercy and save us!" Across the entire city, countless mortals fell to their knees, bowing desperately and knocking their heads against the ground in frantic prayer. Suan Wuqiong did not offer them even a single glance. Facing the howling meteorite hurtling down from the sky, he calmly thrust a single finger forward. Buzz! As his finger came to rest in the air, a peculiar, otherworldly wave of energy instantly rippled across the heavens and earth.

The lightning-fast descent of the massive meteorite came to a sudden, absolute stop in mid-air, and the roaring flames enveloping its surface instantly sputtered out and vanished. With a gentle flick of his wide Daoist sleeve, the colossal stone was swept away, falling softly onto an uncultivated wilderness tens of li outside Mo City. It crashed into the earth, carving a massive crater and causing a powerful tremor that shook the ground, throwing countless people off their feet.

When the terrified inhabitants of Mo City raised their heads to look back into the sky, the vast expanse above was completely empty. By now, Suan Wuqiong was already standing high outside the atmosphere of the planet, gazing solemnly toward a distant direction across the cosmos. He murmured softly under his breath, "It seems that in this world... yet another person whom this old man cannot see through has emerged."

Although his voice carried a tinge of melancholy regret, his deep, piercing eyes were illuminated with intense anticipation.