Chapter 486

Chapter 486: Obsession Reborn, Dao Lord Qingyuan (Part Six)

"Why haven’t you left yet?"

Ye Xu stared at Huang Zimo in surprise. After Feng Wuji left, he undid Huang Zimo’s restraints, and she had already regained her freedom. However, Huang Zimo still stood motionless right there.

"I treated him so well, how could he just leave like that?" Huang Zimo murmured, a hint of sorrow flashing in her large, expressive eyes, and her tender heart couldn’t help but overflow with threads of resentment.

Ye Xu’s gaze grew even more astonished.

"Young lady, are you unwell?" Ye Xu said earnestly, "He is the Mad Daoist; as his name implies, he is mad for the Dao. He would not invest his feelings in romantic trivialities. If you cling foolishly to him, it can only be one-sided wishful thinking, and in the end, you will inevitably be cast aside by him."

"I don’t believe it," Huang Zimo insisted stubbornly. "Master, tell me his location. The Taixu Domain is a Forbidden Domains of time and space, with heaven and earth inverted. His strength is too weak; entering the Taixu Domain is nearly an assured death."

Ye Xu shook his head.

"I’ll pay," Huang Zimo said.

Ye Xu still shook his head.

"I’ll double the payment," Huang Zimo bit her lower lip with a pearly tooth, but Ye Xu remained unmoved. Huang Zimo pressed firmly, "Master, are you refusing to do business?"

"Before the Mad Daoist left, he instructed me not to disclose his whereabouts," Ye Xu sighed. "He has gone to such lengths to avoid you; why torment yourself?"

"I’ve waited for so many years…" Huang Zimo said despondently, "Only he—only he is most likely him. We’ve already missed each other once… Master, I beg you to grant me this favor."

Almost pleadingly, Huang Zimo gazed at Ye Xu.

Ye Xu frowned.

"The Mad Daoist is not a reincarnated being; he is a person of the Pangu universe," Ye Xu said solemnly. "Perhaps, he only resembles an old friend you’ve known before."

At this moment, Ye Xu vaguely guessed Huang Zimo’s reason for persisting so stubbornly.

In the past, he had checked the Mad Daoist’s background and found no signs of the extraordinary. The Mad Daoist could not be some person’s reincarnated form.

"It’s impossible for him to be reborn," Huang Zimo laughed bitterly. "His primordial spirit and Dao were obliterated long ago, leaving behind only a faint, clouded wisp of obsession. For the rest of his life, he could never achieve rebirth, nor could he ever restore his memories."

Ye Xu’s pupils contracted slightly.

If it were a wisp of memory-scarred obsession, was it even possible?

"System, check this for me."

"[Host, if you ever ask such an elementary question again, the system refuses to answer.]"

"……"

An obsession differed from a primordial spirit; it differed from a divine soul. Once all memories had been erased, only a single thought remained. Through a twist of fate, it might have the chance at rebirth.

But even if reborn, it would become a brand new being, severed entirely from its previous existence.

To put it simply:

The Mad Daoist was the Mad Daoist.

Feng Wuji was Feng Wuji.

They were two separate individuals.

Ye Xu gazed at Huang Zimo. "You know they are separate individuals. Why cling so desperately? Furthermore, the Mad Daoist might not even be Feng Wuji’s lingering obsession."

"He must be."

Huang Zimo was utterly certain. The Mad Daoist was far too similar to Feng Wuji.

Both were fanatically devoted to their Dao. Both were driven mad by their Dao.

She truly could think of no other explanation.

Ye Xu sighed helplessly.

This woman was consumed by her obsession too.

He mused: Ah, affairs of the heart are indeed the true hell; better to remain free and unencumbered. How carefree life is alone!

"To be an eternal loafer!"

Whoosh!

Ye Xu waved his sleeve, temporarily sealing Huang Zimo within the time and space domain of the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. This woman had shown kindness to the Mad Daoist; she was a hopeless romantic. Yet in her current state of mental instability, letting her leave would surely bring disaster.

Besides it cost nothing to keep her here at the pavilion.

He would release her once her mind steadied.

His senses extended, observing the changes in the two separate time-space domains.

Ning Wudao had scattered his cultivation base and re-trained. Within the threefold time acceleration domain, over seventy years had passed. He had already progressed to the emperor realm, his cultivation speed terrifyingly swift.

Every single cultivation stage had been perfected by him.

Xixi’s advancement actually outpaced Ning Wudao’s.

Her source of disaster had been unleashed, merging fully into flesh and bone. In seventy years, she had reached the peak of the Emperor Venerable Realm. Without invoking the source of disaster, she could likely find few rivals at that level.

Of course,

should she unleash the source of disaster, even an Immortal Venerable standing at the end of the Great Dao would be destroyed instantly.

In another space-time domain:

Ye Xian’er’s cultivation progress was the swiftest.

Her innate talent was immense. Back in the Divine Spring Realm, she had been able to grasp the profound mysteries of the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. Within the time acceleration domain, just a few decades had propelled her to the end of the Great Dao.

Yet, the one with the most dramatic leap in strength was Su Mu.

Having obtained the Zhimiao Tianxuan Scripture, Su Mu attained the end of the Great Dao and cultivated all the way to its peak. He was now utilizing the resources given by Ye Xu, attempting to condense his Great Dao World.

Success would elevate him to Sovereign of the World.

The Formless Demon Lord’s progress ranked next.

Yue Lingxi had the slowest cultivation speed.

Her talent was similar to Formless Demon Lord’s, but her techniques were inferior; she only barely reached the peak of True Immortal Realm after decades of dedicated cultivation.

Everything was moving in a positive direction.

After fully understanding everyone’s situation, Ye Xu focused his mind.

Currently, he still had twenty-two million Hongmeng points.

Advancing to Four Tribulations Dao Lord required 2.4 million.

It doubled each time.

Therefore, he could only cultivate to the realm of Six Tribulations Dao Lord.

"There’s no need to rush too much," Ye Xu’s gaze flickered slightly.

Currently, that group of Dao Sovereigns hadn’t taken the bait; making a big profit wasn’t easy for him, at least temporarily.

"When the Old Madman stirs up big trouble in the Taixu Domain, perhaps I can consider announcing a Dao Lord ranking," an idea popped into Ye Xu’s mind.

Wasn’t the Ninth Young Master of the Hongmeng Dao Realm the ceiling of the Dao Lord realm?

Then bring him onto the ranking!

"System, consume 2.4 million Hongmeng points to advance my cultivation to Four Tribulations Dao Lord," Ye Xu said.

[Congratulations, host…]

A voice sounded.

Once again, a powerful force infused his body.

Ye Xu’s cultivation surged explosively.

"Top-tier techniques can forge one hundred and eight Great Dao Worlds, but my Book of Changes can only form one Dao Realm," Ye Xu murmured.

"Could it be because of the principle that Dao creates one, one creates two, two creates three, and three creates all things?"

Ye Xu suddenly realized that his knowledge on the cultivation path was pitifully scarce; no wonder the system often said his questions were childish.

"You can’t cultivate to the peak while being completely ignorant of cultivation knowledge, right?"

Thinking of this, Ye Xu suddenly felt awkward.

Upon reflection, it made sense.

It would be the world’s funniest joke for a peak expert to not understand cultivation.

"System, give me a crash course on cultivation knowledge,"

Ye Xu commanded.

[Five hundred thousand Hongmeng points.]

"Pretentious!"

Ye Xu said, "Learn as much as you can!"

Bang!

Like a breached celestial river, endless streams of knowledge flooded Ye Xu’s mind—insights into divine abilities, weapon forging, pill refinement, technique analysis, and soul profundities…

Ceaseless wisdom poured in.

Bang!

Ye Xu’s brain exploded.

Too much knowledge.

Yet mere breaths later, his brain slowly knitted itself back together, restored as before.

Simultaneously…

He also sensed his avatar.

After over a month, his Second Primordial Spirit remained within the Taihuang Ancient Realm, witnessing Immortal Emperors ascending… and the downfall of many.

Acting as an observer, the Second Primordial Spirit Avatar broadcasted to Ye Xu the ancient realm’s brutality and wonders.

Huff…

"Finally digested it all."

After an uncertain span, Ye Xu fully internalized all cultivation knowledge—his grasp of forging, alchemy, and divine arts crystallizing.

Channeling mana casually, he pinched empty air, manifesting an immortal artifact.

"System, how many Hongmeng points can this exchange for?"

[0.09…]

"Prospering through hard work? Utterly impossible."

Ye Xu abandoned all thought of crafting artifacts or pills.

Materials were necessary for forging, and treasures conjured from emptiness held low quality—worth pitiful Hongmeng points.

Woo!

Suddenly, a mournful sob echoed.

Within Canglan City, willow branches swayed gently in the wind. One slender tendril, seemingly traversing space-time, drifted from the heart of Canglan Divine City… swaying slowly until it touched down before Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

A woman in green descended barefoot, her robes flowing loosely. Like an obsidian waterfall, her hair cascaded down as she walked along a tender-yet-resilient branch—stepping from the old willow tree onto the pavilion grounds.

She stood barefoot at the gate, snow-white feet luminous. Her features seemed heaven-sculpted, her aura like that of an exiled immortal… ethereal and detached. Yet amid the bustling street crowd, no soul seemed aware of her.

"Dao Lord Qingyuan of Canglan Divine City… seeks an audience with the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion."