Chapter 40 - Entering The Cangyuan Vast Cosmos
Yao Chen stepped into the dark-gold passage.
The moment his foot crossed the edge, Dao Realm Academy vanished behind him. The wooden room, the dim lantern, the floating islands, the sleeping courtyards, and the mortal sky all disappeared as if someone had folded them into silence. Xue Lian's hand remained in his. That single touch became the only proof that he had not crossed alone.
Around them, ancient stars moved without sound.
They were not the distant lights seen from the Mortal Realm. They were vast, near, and terrifyingly clear. Some burned blue. Some glowed red like old wounds. Some were dark, dead suns surrounded by rings of broken stone. Rivers of starlight flowed between them like silver blood through the body of a universe.
Yao Chen looked around, and his breath slowed.
This was not an inheritance space.
This was not a secret realm.
This was a road through something far greater.
Behind them, the entrance closed. The last trace of the Mortal Realm vanished.
At that exact moment, above Dao Realm Academy, Heaven's law finally turned its gaze fully toward Yao Chen's room.
It found nothing.
No flame. No abnormal breakthrough. No soul pressure. Only an empty room, a cold lantern, and the faint scent of herbs left behind by Xue Lian. The spiral clouds paused as if confused. Then, finding no target, the pale line in the sky slowly closed.
Heaven had arrived.
But Yao Chen was already gone.
Inside the passage, the group stood within Siangshi's dark-gold protection. Xuner, Yan Shen, Sai Ka, Si Ka, Siangshi, and Xian'er had all appeared in human form. They had done so before in the Mortal Realm, but there their bodies had always felt slightly limited, like lamps burning behind thin glass. Here, beneath the laws of this unknown passage, that glass thickened. Their forms gained weight, steadiness, and a deeper sense of presence.
Xuner's body, woven from Primordial Flame and soul light, no longer flickered as easily. Though her face was pale from awakening, her golden eyes were clear. Yan Shen's form became sharper and colder, his pale-blue flame body carrying a quiet dignity. Sai Ka and Si Ka stood like true sword spirits given flesh, one silver-white and merciful, the other black-crimson and dangerous. Xian'er's flame-condensed body also steadied. Red-gold warmth moved beneath her skin, while Xue Lian's Frost Yin Flame wrapped around her like a thin protective veil.
Xian'er looked down at her hands. "I feel… heavier."
Xuner smiled gently. "That is good. It means the laws here can hold you better."
Yan Shen flexed his fingers and gave a faint nod. "The pressure is strong, but stable."
Si Ka looked into the star-filled passage with interest. "So this place is not weak."
Siangshi did not turn back. "No. And that is why you must all be careful."
Before anyone could answer, Yao Chen felt something break open within him.
At first, it was pressure.
Then heat.
Then a vast force rising from the deepest part of his body.
His Mortal Realm cultivation trembled like a clay cup before an ocean tide. Every stage he had crossed, every foundation he had built, every thread of Dao Qi inside him began to burn beneath the awakening of Xuner's origin. His meridians widened. His bones rang. His blood turned hot. The Primordial Flame rose from his dantian, no longer half-asleep, no longer incomplete.
Xuner's expression changed. "It is starting."
Yao Chen clenched his jaw. "Already?"
"The passage separated you from the Mortal Realm. I no longer need to suppress the origin as tightly."
Siangshi's voice came from the front. "Do not resist. But do not release it outward."
Yao Chen closed his eyes.
The Mortal Realm within him shattered like a shell.
Dao Qi Awakening. Dao Qi Condensation. Meridian Opening. Bone Tempering. Blood Refinement. Spirit Core Formation. Spirit Sea. Dao Vessel. Soul Awakening. Heaven Bridge. Dao Lord. Mortal Transcendence.
All twelve stages became a single river of light. That river surged through him, refined by Primordial Flame, then rose beyond the limit of mortality.
Immortal energy entered his body.
First Step.
Second Step.
Third Step.
Golden light spread beneath Yao Chen's skin. Space around him tightened, then bent. Siangshi raised her hand, and the dark-gold passage swallowed the leaking pressure before it could tear outward.
Fourth Step.
Fifth Step.
Sixth Step.
Yao Chen's breathing grew heavy. This was not like ordinary cultivation. He had not climbed these steps through meditation, battle, and slow understanding. He was being pulled upward by an origin that had finally awakened. His body could endure it. His soul could survive it. But his experience lagged behind every step.
He felt like a child suddenly placed inside the body of a giant.
Beside him, Xue Lian trembled.
Their joined hands became the bridge.
The bond between their Soul Seas opened, and the Frost Yin Flame inside her answered the Primordial Flame. It did not submit. It rose beside it, cold and pure, forming balance. Her own Mortal Realm boundary broke apart, and immortal energy poured into her body like moonlight over ice.
First Step.
Second Step.
Third Step.
Yao Chen turned toward her. "Xue Lian."
"I am still here," she said, though her face had gone pale.
Fourth Step.
Fifth Step.
Sixth Step.
The Frost Yin Flame wrapped around her body. For one breath, an image appeared behind her: a snow lotus blooming beneath a sky that did not dare command it. The image vanished almost at once, but Xuner saw it. Yan Shen saw it. Siangshi saw it too.
Xue Lian's path was not simply rising with Yao Chen.
Something inside her was also remembering.
Seventh Step.
Eighth Step.
The passage shook.
Yao Chen and Xue Lian both reached the peak of the Immortal Realm.
The power was immense.
And unstable.
Yao Chen could feel the movement of star wind. He could hear the faint pressure between laws. He could sense weak points in space around him. But instead of pride, a deep caution entered his heart. A careless movement might tear open a crack. A careless release of aura might crush weaker life.
Peak Immortal Realm.
In the Mortal Realm, such power would have been heaven-defying.
Here, inside this passage, it felt like the beginning of responsibility.
Xue Lian staggered once. Yao Chen caught her, but his own arm trembled from the force moving through him.
Siangshi turned back. "Remember this feeling."
Yao Chen breathed slowly. "This instability?"
"This humility," she said. "You are at the peak of the Immortal Realm, but you do not yet understand the Immortal Realm. Do not mistake realm for mastery."
Si Ka folded his arms. "If he does, something in this universe will correct him."
Sai Ka looked at him. "You make correction sound painful."
"It usually is."
Xian'er stepped closer, concern in her ember-gold eyes. "Are you hurt?"
Yao Chen looked at her. She had no memory. She did not know who she had been to him. Yet worry had come to her before fear.
"No," he said softly. "Only unused to myself."
Xian'er nodded, but she still looked uneasy.
Xuner watched them in silence, her gaze carrying a sorrow she did not speak.
The dark-gold passage began to widen ahead. The stars were no longer only around them. They opened into an endless sea. Galaxies turned slowly like vast wheels. Nebulae spread like colored clouds across the void. Planets shone in countless directions, some green and blue with life, others broken and dead, others covered in storms large enough to swallow continents.
Yao Chen's eyes widened.
"What is this place?"
Siangshi looked forward. "The Cangyuan Vast Cosmos."
The name entered the passage with weight.
Cangyuan.
The ancient fragment in Yao Chen's storage ring trembled. The Unburied Command Seal inside his Soul Sea pulsed once. Even the black mark on his palm remained silent, as if listening.
Xue Lian looked at the universe ahead. "You said a place Heaven cannot enter."
"Yes."
"This is not a place," she said quietly. "This is a universe."
Siangshi did not deny it.
Xian'er stared into the endless stars. "A whole universe…"
Yao Chen turned to Siangshi. "Who created it?"
For a moment, Siangshi was silent.
Then she said, "Someone who wished you to live long enough to grow."
Yao Chen's eyes narrowed. "That is not an answer."
"It is the only one I will give now."
He wanted to press further, but his power surged again. Immortal energy moved too strongly through his hand, and the space near his fingers twisted. A small crack appeared in the passage.
Siangshi's gaze sharpened. "Control your breathing."
Yao Chen immediately steadied himself.
The crack closed.
Siangshi's voice was firm. "This is why you must learn. In the Mortal Realm, a careless movement might break stone. Here, with your current instability, a careless breath may tear weak space or kill someone far below your realm."
Yao Chen looked at his palm.
The black mark remained closed. Beneath it, Immortal energy flowed like a river he had not yet learned to guide.
Xue Lian faced the same struggle. Frost gathered too quickly around her fingers and froze a layer of star mist nearby. She frowned and forced it back into her body.
Yan Shen said, "Your flame obeys you, but your realm has moved ahead of your heart."
Xue Lian closed her eyes. "Then my heart will catch up."
Xuner smiled faintly. "That sounds like you."
Xue Lian opened her eyes and looked at her.
The words had been too familiar.
Xuner turned away before the question could be asked.
The passage began to descend.
The endless cosmos opened fully around them. Below, a planet came into view.
It was enormous.
Blue oceans covered half its surface. Vast continents stretched across the rest, marked by mountain ranges, deserts, forests, and glowing lines of spiritual energy. Around the planet floated three moons: one silver, one red, and one pale green. A ring of broken stone circled the world like the remains of an ancient war.
Siangshi pointed toward it. "Tianxuan Star."
Yao Chen looked down. "Our first destination?"
"Yes. Its laws are stable. Its strongest cultivators will not force you into true danger too soon, but they are enough to teach you control."
Si Ka gave a low laugh. "So we begin by hiding."
"We begin by surviving," Siangshi said.
Sai Ka nodded. "And by learning."
Xian'er looked at the planet quietly. "Will I be able to walk there?"
Xuner answered gently, "Yes. The laws here can hold your body. You will need practice, but you will walk."
Xian'er lowered her gaze. "I do not know where to go."
Yao Chen said, "Then come with us."
She looked at him.
He did not speak like someone paying a debt. He did not speak like a savior. He spoke like someone who refused to let a lost person stand alone.
After a moment, Xian'er nodded.
The dark-gold protection around them fell toward Tianxuan Star. As they descended, the planet's laws pressed against their bodies. They were much heavier than the laws of the Mortal Realm, but cleaner and more complete. They did not reject Yao Chen. They measured him.
A thin layer of golden flame moved beneath his skin.
Siangshi said sharply, "Suppress your realm."
"How?"
"With intent. Fold the power inward. Do not command it outward."
Yao Chen closed his eyes. The Immortal energy inside him roared like a sea. Slowly, he imagined it becoming a deep well. Not gone. Not weakened. Only contained. The pressure around him shrank little by little.
Xue Lian did the same. Frost light withdrew into her body and became a faint snow-lotus mark beneath her skin.
Xuner guided the Primordial Flame.
Yan Shen helped calm the Frost Yin Flame.
Sai Ka and Si Ka restrained the sword auras.
Siangshi carried them through the atmosphere.
They landed at dawn.
Not the dawn of Dao Realm Academy.
A different dawn.
The sky of Tianxuan Star was pale gold, with three moons fading above the horizon. The group stood on a high cliff overlooking a vast valley. Rivers moved like silver threads through forests below. Mountains rose in the distance, their peaks hidden in clouds. Beyond those mountains, Yao Chen could sense cities, sects, beasts, and countless living souls.
The air was filled with spiritual energy.
But it was not the Dao Qi he knew.
It was denser. Older. Layered with the breath of the planet itself.
Yao Chen took one breath and nearly lost control of his aura again.
Siangshi glanced at him. "Slowly."
He exhaled.
Xue Lian stood beside him, eyes fixed on the horizon. "This world feels alive in a different way."
"It is," Siangshi said. "Tianxuan Star cultivates through Spirit Veins. Its cultivators open inner veins inside the body and connect them to the spiritual rivers of the planet. Their path is different from the one you know."
Yao Chen looked at her. "Different planets have different methods?"
"Many."
"How many?"
Siangshi's gaze moved across the sky.
"Enough that if you are arrogant, this universe will break that arrogance seven thousand times."
Yao Chen became silent.
Seven thousand.
The number struck him.
"You said time flows differently here," he said slowly.
"Yes."
"How long inside?"
"If your path reaches completion, seven thousand years may pass within Cangyuan."
Xue Lian's eyes sharpened. "And outside?"
"Seven years."
The cliff fell silent.
Seven thousand years here.
Seven years outside.
Lin Xiao. Huo Yuan. Qinglin. Feng. Radha. Krishna. Dao Realm Academy.
The separation had already hurt.
Now it became vast.
Xue Lian reached for Yao Chen's hand. "We left them methods."
"That does not make it easier."
"No," she said. "It means we left them a road."
Yao Chen looked down at their joined hands. The same hand that had written letters now held power that could harm worlds if left uncontrolled.
Xuner stepped beside him. "Heaven cannot reach us here."
Yao Chen asked, "And Above Heaven?"
"Not here," Xuner said.
For the first time since the cocoon cracked, Yao Chen felt part of the pressure in his chest loosen.
Then Siangshi spoke again.
"Do not mistake hidden for safe."
Everyone turned to her.
"This cosmos has its own dangers. Its highest reaches stand at the peak of the Supreme Verse Realm. Celestial, God, Higher Order, and Supreme Verse beings exist in its deeper regions. Compared to them, Peak Immortal Realm is only the first step beyond childhood."
Yao Chen looked toward the rising sun.
Only the first step.
He had left the Mortal Realm because he had become too dangerous for it.
He entered Cangyuan only to learn that here, he was still inexperienced.
Somehow, that truth steadied him.
A true road lay ahead.
Not an easy gift.
Not a memory forced open.
Not strength handed to him without cost.
A road.
He closed his eyes and felt the Primordial Flame burn quietly within him. Beside it rested the black mark, silent for now. Around him stood Xue Lian, Xuner, Xian'er, Siangshi, Sai Ka, Si Ka, and Yan Shen. Ahead lay Tianxuan Star. Beyond it, countless planets, galaxies, ruins, enemies, lost truths, and perhaps the first answers to his forgotten life.
When Yao Chen opened his eyes, the sun had risen above the valley.
He had thought Siangshi had brought them to a hidden refuge.
Instead, she had brought them to a universe.
And somewhere among its endless stars, the first answer to his forgotten life was waiting.