460: Goodbye to Taoism

Xun Xiuyuan gazed at Ye Mao's receding figure, his brows furrowing involuntarily, and an indescribable heaviness welled up in his heart.

He had originally thought that successfully breaking through to the Eight-System Saint King Realm would be enough to calmly handle the endless troubles and challenges from the Cosmic Alliance.

However, reality dealt him a heavy blow, and the outcome was far less smooth than he had expected.

Perhaps it was because the process of suppressing the Void Spirit Beast had been too easy, leading him to mistakenly believe that existences in the Hongmeng Realm were nothing special, and even causing him to develop a sense of contempt for higher-level powers.

It was not until he unleashed his strongest killing move and still failed to pose any substantial threat to Ye Mao that Xun Xiuyuan suddenly realized the truth.

It turned out that even within the Hongmeng Realm, the disparity in strength between experts was so vast, like the difference between heaven and earth—the gap between Ye Mao and the Void Spirit Beast was like one perched high above the Nine Heavens while the other crawled in the dust.

This mistaken perception could not really be blamed on Xun Xiuyuan.

Since he came out of seclusion, he had only seen two existences in the Hongmeng Realm: one was the Void Spirit Beast, which, although in the Early Stage of the Hongmeng Realm, had unstable strength; the other was the Shadow King, who, despite reaching the Middle Stage, was actually inferior to the Void Spirit Beast in terms of combat power.

It was precisely these experiences that had invisibly planted the illusion in Xun Xiuyuan's heart that "the Hongmeng Realm is nothing special".

Although he had seen an existence like the Star Swallower before, Xun Xiuyuan was only at the six-system Realm at that time and could not perceive the truly terrifying level of the Star Swallower's power; thinking back on it now, he realized that he had been like a frog at the bottom of a well.

Thinking of this, Xun Xiuyuan lowered his head slightly, his gaze falling on the Void Spirit Beast at his feet, his eyes revealing a hint of contemplation.

He spoke softly, his voice low and slightly hesitant: "Is Bai Guang's strength actually stronger than Ye Mao's?"

Upon hearing this, the Void Spirit Beast kept its head tilted up, looking at Xun Xiuyuan with eyes full of reverence.

It recalled the scene where Ye Mao was thwarted; such a thing, let alone seeing it with its own eyes, it had never even heard of.

At this moment, Xun Xiuyuan's question still stirred waves in the Void Spirit Beast's heart; it knew Xun Xiuyuan's strength, but the existence of Bai Guang seemed to exceed its imagination.

The Void Spirit Beast docilely approached Xun Xiuyuan's feet, gently rubbing against the corner of his garment, and then spoke in a low voice, its tone filled with a bit of awe: "Bai Guang's strength is in a league of its own throughout the entire Cosmic Battlefield, and almost no one can match it."

You must know, even the Dao Law Progenitor of the past would have to expend great effort to kill Bai Guang, and might even have to pay a significant price.

I estimate that Bai Guang's current strength is probably not far from the Realm of the Dao Law Progenitor.

Xun Xiuyuan listened to these words, his expression remaining calm, and he just nodded slightly.

He did not say anything more, only calmly instructing the Void Spirit Beast: "Continue to stay here and guard the base, and be sure to remain vigilant."

If you encounter any abnormal situations or have anything that needs to be handled, you can contact me at any time.

The Void Spirit Beast respectfully acknowledged, watching as Xun Xiuyuan turned and left.

His figure quickly disappeared from view as he returned to the Yuan Ling Universe, leaving the Void Spirit Beast to guard this base alone, quietly awaiting the various possibilities of the future.

Xun Xiuyuan did not choose to return to Xiuyuan City in the abyss, but instead stepped into the new friend adjacent to the Cage Domain—the Initial Domain.

Although this place bordered the Cage Domain, it exuded a completely different, primitive aura.

He stood once again on the familiar mountain Peak, with the same simple, ancient small temple before his eyes, as if time had frozen here and nothing had changed.

Just as Xun Xiuyuan steadied himself, the statue in the temple suddenly radiated vibrant life, becoming lifelike, as if it had been infused with a Soul.

The voice of the Dao Law Progenitor immediately rang out, carrying a hint of understanding: "Xun Xiuyuan, did they go to find you?"

Xun Xiuyuan had come with the intention of testing the waters, hoping to glean some clues about Bai Guang and Ye Mao from the Dao Law Progenitor so he could plan early for future actions.

Unexpectedly, the moment he arrived, the Dao Law Progenitor had already manifested, as if he had long anticipated his arrival.

This scene was exactly the same as their last meeting, as if there was a destined outcome in the dark.

Xun Xiuyuan could not help but feel surprised and replied: "How did you know I would come? By 'they', do you mean Bai Guang and Ye Mao?"

The Dao Law Progenitor slowly explained the reason: "The spirit of the myriad things cauldron is attached to you; although separated by a vast distance, some information can still be transmitted here."

Xun Xiuyuan suddenly realized, just as he and Xiao Xuan could sense each other through summoning even when separated by thousands of mountains and rivers.

A similar connection existed between the myriad things cauldron and the Dao Law Progenitor, only the main body of the myriad things cauldron was not present, so the transmission ability of its spirit might not be as mysterious as Xiao Xuan's.

Xun Xiuyuan followed up: "Oh? Since you already know, Senior, I would like to ask, what exactly is the strength of Bai Guang and Ye Mao?"

The statue turned slightly, scrutinizing Xun Xiuyuan with a deep gaze, and after a moment said: "It seems the one who went to find you was Ye Mao."

Even I can hardly see through your aura now, but if Bai Guang had gone personally, you probably would not have had the chance to come here and see me at all.

Hearing this, Xun Xiuyuan could not help but furrow his brows tightly, a sense of gravity rising in his heart.

Does Senior mean that Bai Guang's strength is much stronger than Ye Mao's?

The Dao Law Progenitor nodded in confirmation: "Although Ye Mao has also reached the Peak of the Hongmeng Realm, his combat ability is not top-tier; in the vast Cosmic Battlefield, he cannot even be ranked in the top ten."

Xun Xiuyuan remained silent, listening intently; clearly, the Dao Law Progenitor's words had not yet revealed all the mysteries.

The Dao Law Progenitor nodded slowly, his expression carrying a hint of reminiscence and gravity, and continued: "Apart from me, the most top-tier figure in the Cosmic Battlefield is probably none other than Bai Guang."

As far as I know, he has already reached the limit of the Hongmeng Realm, and his strength is almost on par with what I was back then.

Not only that, this person has excellent Luck; in his early years, he accidentally obtained an extremely powerful defensive treasure in a mysterious place known to no one.

The power of that treasure is vast, enough to be mentioned in the same breath as the three supreme treasures of the Blue Star Great Universe.

Xun Xiuyuan heard this, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes; he finally could not help but ask: "There is such a divine object... it is actually comparable to the xuanhuang one qi pagoda?"

The Dao Law Progenitor nodded slightly and answered with a firm tone: "Exactly."

I have also heard of that mysterious place, and have even seen that treasure with my own eyes. The place where my original body finally fell just happens to be in that same mysterious location.

Hearing this, Xun Xiuyuan could not help but pause, guessing that there must be some hidden story behind this.

Xun Xiuyuan's expression became even more solemn as he asked: "Then what kind of 'mysterious location' is it exactly? Where is it located?"

The Dao Law Progenitor's gaze was profound, as if looking through infinite time and space, and he answered in a deep voice: "It is a passageway—more accurately, it is one of the extremely ancient, almost forgotten space-time tunnels in the Blue Star Universe."

And the existence that killed my original body has strength far exceeding the Hongmeng Realm. I speculate that he has likely already stepped into the Ultimate Realm."

As his voice fell, both of them fell into silence for a moment.