The boundless pressure at the South Bright Volcano climbed higher and higher. This monumental Divine Might (Aura) was all-encompassing, sweeping through the world like a primordial gale. Centered on the Southern Honghuang, it spread frantically outward; every living thing felt it, their faces filled with shock and their Divine Souls (Divine Soul) trembling.
They felt a familiar resonance in this pressure—it was much like the day Dao Ancestor Hongjun achieved Sainthood, and it was drawing closer and closer to that peak.
Did this mean another Living Being was about to Achieve Sainthood?
Countless beings were horrified, finding it difficult to even breathe under the weight of this presence.
"The Aura comes from the South. Is Ling Xiao about to become a Saint?"
The world was in an uproar. Not long ago, they had watched Ling Xiao tear through the Wu Clan, and now he was rushing to achieve Sainthood. He was truly a master of time, wasting not a single second.
When the monumental Aura reached Yujing Mountain, the seated Sanqing turned pale. They stood up in a sudden, violent movement.
"This... Ling Xiao is becoming a Saint?!" Yuanshi cried out, his voice cracking. One could guess with their toes that this pressure belonged to Ling Xiao; there was no one else in the Honghuang World capable of this. His face was ash-gray, and his Divine Soul felt as if it might shatter; a weight of a billion divine mountains seemed to press on his heart, nearly suffocating him.
"How is this possible... variables, nothing but variables, far beyond my expectations." Laozi's expression was grave. An Auspicious Cloud manifested above his head, and the Taiji Diagram rotated to block the pressure, preventing it from disturbing their Dao Hearts.
"I haven't even slain my third corpse, yet Ling Xiao is achieving Sainthood?" Tongtian's expression was incredibly solemn, his eyes flickering with sword-light that seemed to slice through the void for ten million miles. He had wanted to duel Ling Xiao after his third corpse was gone, but now the gap was becoming a chasm!
"It's impossible! Absolutely impossible! We are the Orthodox Lineage of Pangu; we should be the first to achieve Sainthood by all rights of heaven!" Yuanshi roared in fury, unable to accept this reality. Not long ago, his Big Brother had said Ling Xiao might not beat them to Sainthood. He had believed it. The reversal had come far too quickly.
Laozi felt a sense of desolation. "I have slain the three corpses, yet I cannot merge them. I cannot find the path to Sainthood... I do not know when I will decipher the Heavenly Secret..." He had thought that after slaying the corpses, merging them would be fast. But he was stuck, as if the road ahead had been severed. It frustrated him deeply.
Western Mount Sumeru.
The Two Sages of the West had only just reclaimed their home. Their seats weren't even warm before they were startled onto their feet.
"The South Bright Volcano has been extinguished. Is Ling Xiao using this to achieve Sainthood?" Zhunti shouted, his Dao Heart shaking. The joy of reclaiming his home was wiped away; he would have preferred to lose Mount Sumeru a hundred times over than have Ling Xiao become a Saint now. If Ling Xiao succeeded, how could they ever compete? Their only choice would be to hide in Zixiao Palace under the Dao Ancestor's wing.
"A calamity, a world-ending calamity..." Jieyin's face shifted through various expressions of dread and fear. To them, a Saint Ling Xiao was a threat infinitely greater than the Wu Clan. It was a completely different concept.
"Wait! Things might be changing!"
Suddenly, Jieyin's eyes flickered, his expression shifting from shock to a growing joy. Zhunti gave him a suspicious look, but Jieyin continued to explain without looking back.
"Look at the southern heavens. The sky itself seems to be in a rage. Perhaps Teacher has successfully Merged with the Dao and is enraged by this!"
"Is that so?" Zhunti whispered, his eyes fixed on the South. Slowly, a trace of joy began to spread across his face as well.
In a great mountain in the Northern Honghuang, Nuwa stood alone. Her phoenix-like eyes shimmered as she gazed toward the South. Feeling that boundless, surging Aura, she felt herself becoming increasingly small.
"Ling Xiao is about to achieve Sainthood... but where is my own opportunity?"
Nuwa murmured to herself. After tens of thousands of years of wandering, she still had no realization. She was stuck at the final step, a barrier she could not surmount. She held the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil in her hand, which pulsated like a living creature. She had meditated on it day and night, yet she couldn't understand how to use it to achieve her destiny.
"Hmm?"
Just as her brows knitted in frustration, the Primordial Violet Qi within her body suddenly pulsed, as if providing some form of guidance. She closed her eyes to sense it, her body surrounded by a misty Dao-resonance as she calculated the Heavenly Secret. Nuwa manifested her true form—a colossal, brilliant serpent tail covered in shimmering scales and Dao-patterns, radiating a mysterious Aura.
"The Eastern Desolation!" (Donghuang).
"My opportunity is there!"
A moment later, Nuwa opened her eyes, a flash of joy passing through them. Her long-dormant heart began to race with excitement. After eons of waiting, she finally had a lead! Without a second thought, she hurried toward the East. She no longer had to fear the Witches; they had been beaten into the deep void by Ling Xiao, their fates unknown. From now on, the world was wide, and she could go anywhere.
Across the Honghuang World, countless great powers—once the regulars of Zixiao Palace—were stirred by the aura of Ling Xiao's impending Sainthood. They were restless. Who in this world didn't want to become a Saint?
On the Three Immortals Island, Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun were dumbfounded. They had only just returned, and Ling Xiao was already breaking through? It was too absurd.
At the other end of the island, the Sanxiao Fairies stood together, watching with faces full of nervous anticipation.
Sun Star.
Two powerful auras shot out one after another, radiating intense fluctuations. Two golden silhouettes stepped out from the depths of the Sun Star.
South Bright Volcano.
Thunder boomed across the heavens, stretching for hundreds of millions of miles. The Void Realm (Void Realm) shattered with a world-destroying momentum that terrified all souls.
Ling Xiao stood tall in the depths of the volcano. The aura leaking from him tore through space. His sharp, sword-like brows seemed to slice the heavens, and his long hair danced like strands of the Great Dao Laws.
Zing!
He pointed a finger, and a golden light struck the ground, as if turning stone to gold. From beneath his feet, the light expanded until it was boundless, covering the entire South Bright Volcano. The extinguished mountain was reignited—but this time, it was filled with his own Origin Fire.
Ling Xiao's Aura continued to surge. There was a chasm of difference between a Quasi-Saint and a Saint; only by completing this molting process could one truly be said to have ascended. At this moment, the aura rolling off him could crush infinite space; the Chaos Divine Light in his eyes could obliterate countless experts.
"Will Hongjun strike?"
Ling Xiao looked up at the firmament, his gaze profound. At his current realm, a single thought allowed him to understand many things far beyond common logic. Even the world he saw was different now—it was a web of Laws and Order, a giant net covering the entire universe. If a Cultivator wished to transcend, they had to break this cage-like net to truly become immortal and indestructible across all calamities.