The white jade plaza was vast beyond measure. The closer they got to the chaotic palace standing at the void's end, the more terrifying the dao rhyme pressure permeating the air became. At this moment, that invisible pressure was nearly substantial, as if the entire universe's weight pressed down on their shoulders. Every step forward required consuming massive spiritual energy and willpower, with the sounds of bones groaning under the strain barely audible.
Ao Qin's forehead was already beaded with sweat. The dragon race's powerful flesh also felt strain under this pressure that pointed directly at one's origin. His dragon yuan surged around him, transforming into a pale blue light halo as he struggled to resist the washing of law fragments. His steps were steady but noticeably slow. Behind him, the Black Turtle elder's turtle shell phantom flickered unsteadily, his breathing heavy. The mermaid woman and night patrol yaksha were even paler, almost at their limits, relying solely on willpower to stay standing.
Tang Xiao Qi firmly guarded his "protection" original heart. His white-gold light halo was like a candle in the wind, flickering in the violent law torrent but never extinguishing. Every step he took was exceptionally difficult, sweat soaking his clothes, but his eyes remained determined. The purification source operated at full power, filtering and absorbing law fragments compatible with his dao as he struggled forward.
But Mu Xue had fallen into a strange state.
The ice-blue spiritual power crystal shell she originally used to resist the pressure had quietly dissipated at some point. She just stood there quietly, eyes closed, long eyelashes casting faint shadows on her jade-white cheeks. Her expression was serene, almost holy, as if the terrifying pressure that could crush Nascent Soul cultivators had nothing to do with her.
Yet her aura wasn't being suppressed at all - instead, it was climbing and transforming at a visible speed!
At first, only a thin layer of pure, flawless ice crystals formed on the white jade floor tile beneath her feet. Those ice crystals weren't caused by cold energy leaking out, but instead contained an extreme "stillness" and "stability" meaning.
Then, one, two, three... ice lotuses condensed from the purest ice-element laws and her original dao rhyme began blooming around her. These ice lotuses weren't solid, but semi-transparent energy forms flowing with great dao runes. Their petals were crystal clear with visible veins, emitting eternal coldness and otherworldly detachment.
The ice lotuses slowly rotated, each turn seemingly triggering some rhythm in the surrounding chaotic law torrent. Those violently rushing law fragments representing heat, slaughter, chaos, and desire, upon approaching the ice lotuses, had their violent "movement" neutralized and soothed by an extreme "stillness." Like boiling water thrown onto snow, they instantly lost all agitation, transforming into the purest, calmest law information streams, quietly absorbed and converted by the ice lotuses.
What Mu Xue cultivated was one of Xuanji Holy Land's supreme inheritances - the "Ice Heart Clear Brightness Dao." This dao didn't pursue extreme low temperature and destruction, but rather pursued the supreme state of mind where the heart was like ice, heaven could collapse without alarm; ten thousand changes remained stable, spirit pleasant and qi calm. Using extreme "stillness" to reflect the great thousand's "movement," thereby understanding all things' essence and comprehending heaven and earth's ultimate principles.
For Mu Xue who cultivated the "Ice Heart Clear Brightness Dao," this plaza's chaotic and vast law fragment torrent that was a huge burden and test for other cultivators, requiring them to struggle against or painfully filter, became the perfect whetstone for tempering her dao heart and reflecting her own dao!
She no longer "resisted" the pressure, but transformed herself into a flawless "ice mirror" to "reflect" this entire plaza's dao rhyme. Let ten thousand laws wash over her - her ice heart remained clear, seeing the truth.
Under her "mirror heart's" reflection, the originally disordered and violently chaotic law torrent began revealing internal patterns and connections. Fire's violence originated from energy's extreme activity, earth's heaviness from matter's stable condensation, metal's sharpness from structure's extreme order, wood's vitality from life's tenacious continuation, water's flexibility from form's adaptability... Destruction accompanied rebirth, order and chaos begot each other, time and space interwove...
Countless mysteries about heaven and earth's composition, energy operation, and life evolution slowly unfolded in her heart like a scroll. Her understanding of "ice" no longer limited to coldness and stillness, but extended to energy's inertization, matter's stable state, information's purity, and even rules' fixability.
Her dao realm was undergoing an essential leap!
More and more ice lotuses rotated around her, gradually forming an ice lotus vortex that guarded her at the center. Wherever the vortex passed, the violent law torrent became gentle, and the heavy dao rhyme pressure seemed separated by an invisible barrier. Her originally stopped footsteps lifted again.
This step was taken lightly and calmly, as if walking on an ordinary garden path rather than a dao rhyme plaza bearing the universe's heavy pressure. Her speed suddenly increased!
The ice lotus vortex swirled around her like loyal guards, opening a relatively calm path for her. Her clothes fluttered, black hair like a waterfall, her beautiful face calm as an ancient well. Only the increasingly deep and cold aura around her revealed the amazing transformation she was experiencing.
"This is... enlightenment?!" Ao Qin's dragon eyes widened as he watched Mu Xue walk forward almost unaffected, his face filled with disbelief. He knew how terrifying this plaza's pressure was - even he could only rely on profound cultivation and dragon bloodline to resist it hard, his speed greatly reduced. Yet Mu Xue could enter enlightenment here and turn the tables, adapting to and even utilizing this environment!
Xiao Qi also saw this scene. Besides shock, he felt more happiness for Mu Xue. He could sense her aura becoming purer, more ethereal, more profound, as if resonating more deeply with this plaza and that Heavenly Dao Palace. He knew this was Mu Xue's great opportunity.
Mu Xue's enlightenment didn't last long. When her dao realm elevated to a new level and completely stabilized, the ice lotus vortex around her slowly converged, finally transforming into a faint ice-blue halo that merged into her body. She opened her eyes, and in her pupils, thousands of ice crystal snowflakes seemed to flash and vanish, becoming clearer and more transparent, as if able to pierce through illusion and see directly to the origin.
She looked back at the others still struggling forward, her gaze lingering on Xiao Qi for a moment, nodding slightly. Then she turned and walked steadily and quickly toward the Heavenly Dao Palace gate. At this moment, she seemed to have completely adapted to this place's dao rhyme pressure, her speed far exceeding everyone else, leaving them all behind.
With Mu Xue's example, Ao Qin and the others' spirits lifted. They too gritted their teeth and employed various methods to speed up. Xiao Qi took a deep breath, his protective sword intent becoming more condensed. He silently committed the "stillness" realm Mu Xue radiated during enlightenment to heart, integrating it into his steps, and immediately felt the pressure decrease slightly, his forward speed increasing a few points.
The Heavenly Dao Palace gate was now within sight. And Mu Xue, who was first to complete a breakthrough, had undoubtedly injected a powerful stimulant into everyone, also signaling that the true test and opportunity was about to unfold behind that door.