"…Qing…" the black mist let out a guttural sound.
The Samsara Brush said, "Oh? You followed Dao Lord Qinglan, didn't you?"
The black mist nodded humanly.
With the black mist's help, Bai Shengyi no longer feared the endless stellar energy. She quickly located the Myriad Universe Secret Realm again and charged forward with her sword.
"Boom boom boom!"
Loud roars erupted from the divine palace, causing the statues to tremble incessantly.
The Myriad Universe Secret Realm was shocked and terrified to find that Bai Shengyi had escaped its innate power. It fled in all directions, feeling fortunate.
Fortunate that Bai Shengyi had not yet reached the Sage realm—
"You!"
Just as the Myriad Universe Secret Realm thought this, a mass of black mist surged into Bai Shengyi's body, and her cultivation level soared!
At the same time, within the secret realm, a ball of flame suddenly erupted from the statue next to the Tomorrow Emperor and burned fiercely around Bai Shengyi, forcing the Myriad Universe Secret Realm, which had intended to do something, to retreat.
"Taoyuan, you were hiding here all along!" the Myriad Universe Secret Realm exclaimed, a mix of surprise and anger.
A hoarse voice emanated from the flames, "Myriad Universe, stop. If the Tomorrow Emperor were still here, he would not have allowed you to continue."
"I won't!" the Myriad Universe Secret Realm's childish voice was filled with obsession. "I want to transform! I want to resurrect Jiming. Jiming was so good, why did the Heavenly Dao destroy him!"
The Taoyuan Sunfire, the only divine fire in this world that retained the memories of the gods, sighed deeply upon witnessing this.
"Myriad Universe, your thoughts are too extreme. The demise of the Tomorrow Emperor was not solely the act of the Heavenly Dao, but the celestial disc, the sea of stars, and the laws of the world."
"The power of gods is too immense, capable of destroying a small world at will, severing a thread of causality in an instant, and breaking through time and space. They occupied vast amounts of cultivation resources, and all the world's fortune and spiritual energy were supplied to the gods. How could all other beings survive?"
"The Tomorrow Emperor was benevolent and compassionate. He had already prepared for his demise when he realized this paradox. If they do not fall, and demons are not suppressed, all beings can hardly prosper."
The Taoyuan Sunfire spoke, its flames burning even hotter.
It was born from the first peach forest in the Age of Gods. Unlike the Sui Xing divine fire that drifted to the Green Rong Small World, or the Long Zhu star fire in the Divine Enlightenment Small World, it contained the auspicious power of peach wood within it.
The Myriad Universe Secret Realm, having harbored resentment due to its desire for transformation, not only feared this pure power but also wished to devour it.
Seeing that the Myriad Universe Secret Realm was unheeding and charging forward, the Taoyuan Sunfire suddenly flared.
"Myriad Universe, since you are so insistent, I shall help them one last time!"
A sharp, yet not piercing, cry suddenly emanated from the Taoyuan Sunfire, spreading far and wide. Before the Myriad Universe Secret Realm could react to what it had done, it heard the collapsing cry of Qiong Yuan.
"Myriad Universe Secret Realm, what exactly are you doing?"
A fragrance suddenly permeated the divine palace.
The scent was long and ethereal, like a wisp of smoke from the mortal world, a touch of elegance from blooming flowers, gently drifting in.
Yet, this seemingly harmless fragrance sent Qiong Yuan's alarm bells ringing.
This was because Qiong Yuan had smelled this scent before, shortly before he had nearly perished. It was this ordinary fragrance that had caused Lou Chong, the foremost general among the gods, to perish in battle.
This scent was called the World-Slaying Fragrance, also known as the scent of human life. However, it was not a fragrance at all, but a divine fire.
That battle was the last great war between gods and demons. Lou Chong could have survived, but after smelling that scent, he charged into the demon ranks like a madman, perishing together with a demon general.
The Myriad Universe Secret Realm whined, "I didn't do anything! It was all the Taoyuan Sunfire!"
As the Myriad Universe Secret Realm and Qiong Yuan began to quarrel, Bai Shengyi was astonished by her continuously rising cultivation.
"Little Black! Enough! Stop spitting!"
In the past, she was the one constantly pressuring the black mist to expel spiritual energy. Now, the black mist was unexpectedly expelling spiritual energy on its own, which was truly bizarre.
While others might have been lost in the ecstasy of such cultivation advancement, Bai Shengyi felt a profound sense of unease.
She had a premonition that something was about to happen.
At that moment, the Samsara Brush exclaimed, "Taoyuan Sunfire!"
Bai Shengyi's eyelids twitched. She could not afford to wait, even with her cultivation still advancing. She opened her eyes just in time to hear the Samsara Brush continue, "World-Slaying Fragrance?"
Bai Shengyi was utterly stunned, "Little Samsara, you must be joking, right?"
However, the Samsara Brush had no time to answer Bai Shengyi. The two divine fires that suddenly surged into her body ignited the entire brush, and the tip of the brush erupted with a clear, jade-green radiance, instantly completing the missing parts.
The body of the brush instantly gleamed, and the five characters "Nine Revolutions Samsara Brush" floated with golden light, a true spectacle of splendor.
With the complete recovery of the Samsara Brush, a large surge of spiritual power was injected into Bai Shengyi's body. Bai Shengyi watched, dumbfounded, as her cultivation rose from the late stage of Void Breaking realm to the early stage of Sage realm, the middle stage of Sage realm... to the peak of Sage realm!
Just as she thought it would not increase further, the celestial disc, the sea of stars, reappeared.
"Pick it up! Kill it!"
A voice from nowhere reached Bai Shengyi, yet she understood what both "it"s referred to.
The first "it" referred to the celestial disc, the sea of stars, and the second "it" referred to the Myriad Universe Secret Realm.
"Kill!"
As Bai Shengyi's will directed, the celestial disc, the sea of stars, shrunk and targeted the Myriad Universe Secret Realm! The Samsara Brush unleashed astonishingly sharp and fierce intent, carrying a powerful killing aura! The Tianji Sword intent traversed the ancient times, pulling forth the primordial era and the river of time!
The sudden outburst of the three great powers overturned the Myriad Universe Secret Realm. Before it could even react, it was sucked into the celestial disc, the sea of stars!
"No!"
Within the celestial disc, the spiritual body of the Myriad Universe Secret Realm, already no larger than a palm, was instantly devoured by the Star Kun!
Unnoticed, a large area on the reverse side of the river of time suddenly brightened.
With the disappearance of the Myriad Universe Secret Realm, Qiong Yuan was the most affected.
He had just made a deal with Dao Lord Qinglan, only for this useless Myriad Universe Secret Realm to perish on its own!
Qiong Yuan accelerated his battle with Dao Lord Qinglan.
Bai Shengyi stood on the divine palace, still somewhat dazed, "Am I human or ghost?"
She had never imagined that after reaching the Sage realm, she would be left with only a spinal bone!
Bai Shengyi was utterly bewildered!
If she hadn't clearly registered that her consciousness was still intact, and hadn't checked her body, she would have screamed, even though all her other bones had turned to nothingness, leaving only that spinal bone while still maintaining a human form.
"You are a spiritual entity."
Dao Lord Qinglan appeared, clutching his chest. He knelt on the ground, with azure-green blood seeping from the corner of his lips.