544: The old me is gone, the new me will be born.

Inside the Qiankun Great World, it had now completely transformed into a sea of Chaos.

Earth, water, fire, and wind raged fiercely, and the Dao returned to Grandmist.

In the center of this Chaos, Xu Qing sat cross-legged. His body was wreathed in Chaos Dao Fire that burned Karma, and endless Chaos Dao Lightning generated from the void continuously struck down, washing over his Dao body and Divine Soul.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes. Sensing the assistance of Pan Yu and Earth Sovereign, a hint of gratitude flashed in his eyes.

"Two Seniors, Xu Qing has remembered this favor."

He then closed his eyes once more.

After severing the Karma connecting him to Earth Sovereign, Pan Yu, and the others, Xu Qing meditated quietly in the Chaos for several millennia.

He was adjusting his state, preparing for the most difficult and crucial step: severing the Karma of Bloodline kinship.

Compared to other entanglements arising from benefits, conflict, or Dao friendship, Bloodline Karma, which originates from the same lineage and source, is the most troublesome and mentally taxing to sever.

After all, Bloodline Karma is inherent from birth. The Bloodline Karma he accumulated from birth until now was intricate, deeply rooted, and the most complex.

He began stripping away this Bloodline Karma, moving from external to internal, from distant relatives to close kin.

First, he severed the Karma lines connecting him to the ordinary Members of the Xu Clan whose Bloodlines were faint and separated by countless generations.

These lines were relatively thin, and with the scorching of the Chaos Dao Fire, they silently turned into nothingness.

Correspondingly, within the Xu Clan ancestral land in the Xuanhuang Great World, the impression that these distantly related clan members had of Xu Qing, their legendary Clan Chief, began to blur. It was as if a thick fog separated them, and the image in their memories was no longer clear.

Subsequently, the severing proceeded step by step, and then it was the turn of the high-ranking members of the Clan.

Xu Jie of the Hall of Merit, Xu Qiao of the Internal Affairs Hall, Xu Song of the External Affairs Hall, and others—these core figures who had managed the Family alongside him—their Karma lines with Xu Qing were much thicker.

As the Dao Fire burned, Xu Qing could clearly feel the throbbing and resistance coming from the direction of the Bloodline source, but his Dao Heart was strong and remained unshaken.

Consequently, within the minds of these high-ranking members, the specific appearance of the Clan Chief and the details of the major events they had experienced together rapidly peeled away and dissipated.

They only remembered that the Family once had a powerful Clan Chief who led the Family to glory, but who that Clan Chief was, or what he looked like, they could no longer recall.

Moving further inward, it was the turn of those closer to him, such as his second uncle Xu Liang and Grand Elder Xu Ming.

When severing this Karma, the resulting ripples were even more pronounced.

"What is going on? Why do I feel like something is missing? As if I have lost something?"

One day, while Xu Liang was handling ancestral affairs, he suddenly felt an inexplicable emptiness and sadness in his heart, as if an extremely important part of his Life had been forcibly ripped out. He did not understand the reason and could only stare blankly for a long time.

"What is wrong with this old man? This feeling..."

Xu Ming was startled awake from his seclusion, shedding tears without realizing it. He only felt that a heavy reliance and concern had mysteriously vanished, causing even his Dao Heart to tremble.

Within the Xu Clan ancestral land, inside the Ancestral Hall, the name enshrined at the highest position silently faded away, eventually disappearing completely. Along with it, the great achievements recorded beneath it also turned into a blank space, as if they had never existed.

On the Family's main peak, an inexplicable power placed a Seal on the entire peak. Above the main peak, the Ancient Plum tree swayed, seemingly weeping.

In the center of the plaza, the statue that once embodied countless beliefs and reverence—its features began to blur, and the contained supreme Dao charm dissipated along with them, eventually turning into a stone statue with an unrecognizable face, possessing only a human form.

The first page of the Family genealogy also became completely blank at this moment.

The cultivation levels of the Members of the Xu Clan were generally not high, so they did not feel strongly about this erasure originating from the Karma level. They only vaguely felt that the Family history seemed to be missing the most crucial link, but since there was no way to investigate, they grew accustomed to it over time.

However, for Xu Yuan, who was already in the Dao Ancestor Realm, and his exceptionally talented nephew Xu Xie, this feeling was like having their hearts gouged out and their bones scraped clean.

Xu Xie's Cultivation was interrupted inexplicably several times. He felt uneasy, always sensing the loss of an extremely important guide, a presence that was once incredibly close and revered like a towering mountain.

However, he couldn't remember the identity of that person no matter what, and this cognitive gap drove him almost insane.

As Xu Qing's biological younger brother connected by Bloodline, the Karma entanglement between him and Xu Yuan was the deepest, almost interwoven with Xu Qing's own Origin.

When the Dao Fire began scorching this Karma line, Xu Yuan, far away in the Chaos Sea, suddenly clutched his chest and spat out a mouthful of vital blood. His eyes were filled with incredible grief and confusion.

"Big Brother... it's Big Brother... what is he doing?"

He could clearly feel that the bond crucial to his Life was being forcibly stripped away, and an unprecedented sense of loneliness swept over him.

He tried to use his own Dao Ancestor might to hold onto it, but he found that the severing of the Karma line originated from the other end and was irreversible. His power was like a mayfly shaking a tree; he was fundamentally unable to stop it.

He watched helplessly as everything about his elder brother disappeared little by little.

From relying on each other in childhood, to supporting each other during their growth, to the protection his brother offered the Family after reaching the peak... scene after scene of memory, like a faded scroll, rapidly turned pale, blurred, and finally shattered, completely disappearing from the depths of his Divine Soul.

Tears slid down uncontrollably, yet Xu Yuan did not know why he was crying.

He only felt a large void in his heart, as if a part of his Life had been drawn away, and an inexpressible sadness and loss overwhelmed him.

He forgot the figure who once supported his entire sky, forgot the brother he deeply loved and was immensely proud of.

Finally, all struggle and grief subsided into silence.

Xu Yuan stood blankly in place, his eyes hollow. He could no longer remember who Xu Qing was.

Throughout the Xu Family, from the closest kin to the most distant relatives, all traces and memories concerning Xu Qing had been completely severed and erased.

Having completed this most difficult step, Xu Qing, located at the center of the Chaos, felt a slight ripple in his Dao Heart, which immediately returned to tranquility.

Kinship was severed, and mortal ties were concluded.

At this moment, the Qiankun Great World had completely reverted to Chaos. Earth, water, fire, and wind surged ceaselessly, like the Grandmist before creation.

Meanwhile, his own Cultivation base, having undergone a long period of self-dispersal and tribulation fire, had fallen to rock bottom, retaining only the cultivation of the Dao Lord Realm.

However, Xu Qing's Dao Heart was as calm as an ancient well, instead surging with the joy of rebirth.

"The old me is gone; the new me shall be born."

He slowly rose in the center of the Chaos, spreading his arms as if embracing the entire Chaos.

His will replaced the original World Will, becoming the sole Dominator of this expanse of Chaos.

"Reshape!"

As his Dao sound fell, the entire Chaos began to boil violently and evolve!

The clear separated from the turbid, and Yin and Yang were initially distinguished.

Under the guidance of his supreme will, the endless Chaos Qi began to reconstruct the foundational Law and evolve the framework of heaven and earth.

The prototypes of the once-familiar mountains, rivers, sun, moon, and stars reappeared, but their internal Dao structure was completely different from the old world, aligning more closely with Xu Qing's own understanding of the Dao and filled with infinite possibilities.