Ch. 1352 - The True Violet Mist Saint Sovereign

Xu Zimo did not return to the Violet Mist Holy Lands. Instead, he followed the direction indicated by Paimon, heading steadily northward.

After some time on the road, he finally stopped before an open field.

The area lay in the middle of a vast plain, surrounded by endless grasslands and completely devoid of people.

Xu Zimo swept his gaze around. The Infinite-Samsara Demon Eye opened, and he scanned the void again and again, searching carefully.

At last, he seemed to have found something. The shadow of his great blade, Shadow Tyrant, came unsheathed behind him and slashed fiercely toward a point in the air.

Instead of the explosion one might expect, the void split open, revealing a glowing portal.

“Found it,” Xu Zimo murmured, and without hesitation, he darted into the gate.

As soon as he entered, ripples spread outward through the air like waves on water.

The scene before his eyes changed, above him, the heavens glowed with radiant colors, dense clouds of divine light rolling like the dawn of creation itself, pregnant with powerful life energy.

Then, a slow clap clap clap echoed through the tranquil world, unnaturally sharp against the silence.

Within the blazing sea of radiance, a gaze pierced through countless layers of void and locked directly onto Xu Zimo.

“Should I call you the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign?” Xu Zimo asked with a faint smile, looking toward the figure hidden within the light.

The figure said nothing for a long time, then finally asked, “When did you find out?”

“From the very first moment we met,” Xu Zimo replied with an easy smile.

“I was certain my disguise was flawless,” the figure in the glow said. “Even the other Saint Sovereigns were fooled. How did you see through it?”

“There’s only one reason,” Xu Zimo said. “Someone like you would never entrust your fate to anyone else. If it were me, I wouldn’t either.”

As he spoke, the radiant light began to fade away, and the figure’s true face was revealed.

It was He Changkong, the lord of Skywind City.

He was the true reincarnation of the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign.

As for Zi Yan and the Saint Sovereigns who guarded her, they were merely decoys, bait to distract the Heavenly Court and other powers.

Meanwhile, the real Violet Mist Saint Sovereign hid within this particle world, quietly completing her reincarnation and rebuilding her cultivation, preparing to break through to the Sage Monarch realm.

In truth, when Xu Zimo had first met Zi Yan in Skywind City, he hadn’t noticed any flaw in her disguise, it was perfect, nearly impossible to see through.

But there had been two things that raised his suspicion.

First, the Heavenly Court had just finished its campaign against the Ancient Demon Realm, its main forces still stationed in the Godfiend Abyss Heaven. Why would Violet Mist Saint Sovereign choose that exact time to reincarnate?

Second, a cunning old fox like the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign, someone who had lived for countless eras, would never leave her fate in the hands of others.

If her guardian Saint Sovereigns failed to protect her from the Heavenly Court, her entire plan would have collapsed.

That was why, when He Changkong had left the Violet Mist Holy Lands, Xu Zimo secretly ordered Paimon to follow him.

Sure enough, while the Heavenly Court’s forces were battling the guardian Saints, He Changkong had entered this hidden world to begin his breakthrough.

Xu Zimo looked around. Reincarnating and rebuilding one’s cultivation was no simple task.

Since He Changkong had abandoned the traditional Rebirth Altar, he must have found something else to replace it.

Then Xu Zimo’s gaze landed on a pure white flower behind He Changkong.

The flower looked as though it had been sculpted from ice. Its stem glimmered like frozen crystal, and its five petals each radiated a different kind of Primal Dao.

One burned with fiery heat, another gleamed with cutting sharpness; one carried the vitality of rebirth, another the omen of death itself.

The flower was so beautiful that it seemed unreal, something that shouldn’t exist in this world at all.

“This is… the Soulflower of Ghost Faces,” Xu Zimo said in surprise, then chuckled softly. “Quite the clever scheme.”

The Soulflower of Ghost Faces was extremely difficult to cultivate.

It could only grow using the Life-Death Souls of Saint Sovereigns as its foundation. To fully mature, it had to consume large quantities of the true blood of both Grand Emperors and Saint Sovereigns.

It seemed the Violet Mist Holy Lands had poured nearly all its resources into nurturing this single flower, waiting for this exact day.

When the Soulflower of Ghost Faces bloomed, it would last for only three hours. After that, the heavens themselves would strike it down with divine tribulation and erase it from existence.

Its miraculous power was so defiant that the natural order would not permit it to survive.

It was common knowledge that once a cultivator reached the Saint Sovereign realm, they would form their Life-Death Soul, a core of existence that ensured immortality.

As long as that soul remained intact, a Saint Sovereign could not truly die.

At that stage, they faced two choices.

The first was to fuse the Life-Death Soul back into their body.

The advantage was clear, this granted immense power, allowing them to overwhelm peers of the same level who hadn’t fused theirs.

But the weakness was equally severe: if they were ever slain, their opponent could easily locate and destroy the fused soul, wiping them out completely.

The second option was to hide the Life-Death Soul in a secret place.

That path granted less power, but made them far harder to kill. Even if their body perished, they could resurrect from the hidden soul’s location.

The Soulflower of Ghost Faces before them, however, granted something beyond either choice, a second Life-Death Soul.

Such a heaven-defying effect was forbidden by the natural Primal Daos themselves.

That was why Violet Mist Saint Sovereign had to attempt her breakthrough today, even though the Heavenly Court’s main force was still away in the Ancient Demon Realm.

If she missed this window, the flower would be destroyed, and the opportunity lost forever.

“Your ambition’s a bit too grand,” Xu Zimo said with a faint smile.

He Changkong met his gaze, eyes gleaming coldly. “Fellow Daoist Xu,” he said slowly, “does our agreement still stand?”

“What agreement?” Xu Zimo asked.

“You guard my ascension,” He Changkong said, “and I’ll give you the remaining half of the Wind God’s inheritance.”

“It still stands,” Xu Zimo replied, “but I’ll be adding one more condition.”

At those words, He Changkong’s expression darkened, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. “I won’t give you the Soulflower of Ghost Faces,” he said coldly.

“Don’t be so hasty,” Xu Zimo said with an easy smile. “You’re attempting reincarnation and rebuilding, aren’t you? I can help you.”

“Fellow Daoist Xu,” He Changkong said, narrowing his eyes, “don’t push me too far.”

He wanted not only to complete his rebirth but also to use the Soulflower of Ghost Faces to gain an extra Life-Death Soul for himself.

“If you force me,” he warned, “we’ll both lose everything.”

“No,” Xu Zimo said with a light laugh. “There’s nothing I’ve ever wanted that I couldn’t take.”

“Kill!” He Changkong roared, unwilling to delay any longer.

His body burst with boundless radiant light, and he dove like a falling star from the heavens, a storm of divine power crashing down toward Xu Zimo.

The entire small world shook, thunder crackled across the sky, and the very ground began to fracture.

“It’s not enough,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head. “With your current cultivation, you’re still not my match.”

His blade, Shadow Tyrant, rose skyward, and with one sweep, he slashed toward the heavens, splitting the world with a single strike.

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