Primordial Era: Starting with the repair of Penglai Immortal Island

"good!"

Houtu nodded and said, "Is this also the source of Fellow Daoist Styx's confidence in learning the methods of other saints to achieve sainthood and in wanting to attain sainthood?"

Huang Long nodded thoughtfully, then turned his gaze back to the countless true spirits struggling in the sea of ​​blood.

"So, after the deaths of countless beings in the primordial world, their true spirits could only come to this place, where they were completely annihilated?"

Houtu did not answer immediately.

She stood barefoot on the edge of the reef, her deep eyes gazing at the sea of ​​blood, her gaze sweeping over every struggling point of light, taking in their suffering.

After a long silence, she finally spoke, her voice low and deep:

"Yes and no!"

Huang Long was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

Houtu pointed to a cluster of light near the sea of ​​blood.

The light spot was brighter than many of the surrounding ones, and it could be vaguely seen that it was a primordial being. Its phantom shape constantly shifted between human and bamboo forms, clearly indicating that it was a spiritual bamboo that had attained enlightenment and had a high level of cultivation in its previous life.

"Look at this true spirit," Houtu said, "it was at least a True Immortal in its previous life. Only when one's cultivation reaches the True Immortal realm can a true spirit condense into a physical form. Only a fallen true spirit has enough strength to cross billions of miles of space and be drawn here by the sea of ​​blood."

She then pointed to a dim area of ​​light in the distance: "And those are mostly ordinary creatures, wild beasts, plant spirits, and other spirits that haven't yet entered the Dao. After they fall, their true spirits are too fragile, and they often completely dissipate beside their corpses, without even having the chance to reach the sea of ​​blood."

Huang Long was shocked: "So, only beings at the True Immortal Realm or above can have their True Spirits gather in the Sea of ​​Blood?"

"That's generally true," Houtu nodded, "but there are exceptions, though they are extremely rare!"

She paused, then added, "Therefore, although you see many true spirits in the Sea of ​​Blood, they are actually only a tiny minority among all living beings in the primordial world. Every moment, hundreds of millions of living beings die in various parts of the primordial world, but only one in ten thousand true spirits can withstand the Sea of ​​Blood."

Huang Long silently gazed at the sea of ​​blood, a wave of emotion washing over him.

It turns out that even after death, heaven and earth are not fair.

The weak cannot even preserve their true spirits, while the strong must endure eternal torment in the sea of ​​blood. This sea of ​​blood, rather than being called a "destination," is more like another kind of purgatory.

"Then... what about the Great Luo Golden Immortals?"

Huanglong, not seeing any true spirits of Great Luo Golden Immortals above this sea of ​​blood, looked up and asked, "Great Luo beings transcend the river of time, encompassing their past and future forms; their true spirits are immortal. If they perish, do their true spirits also come to this sea of ​​blood?"

This question made Houtu glance at her slightly.

She looked at Huanglong, a hint of approval flashing in her eyes: "You were able to think of this, which shows that your years of travel have not been in vain. Indeed, the true spirit of a Great Luo Golden Immortal is immortal; even if one perishes, the true spirit will not be drawn away by the sea of ​​blood."

"Where did they go?"

Houtu gazed higher into the sea of ​​blood, her eyes seemingly piercing through the crimson mist, seeing a more distant existence beyond the primordial world:

"Return to the Ruins".

The two words exploded in Huanglong's ears like thunder.

Return to the void!

The most mysterious forbidden land in the primordial world, the legendary end of all things, the final destination of all water, time, and cause and effect!

Even sages rarely mention this place. Huanglong only mentioned it briefly when he listened to the Tongtian Sect Leader preach at Biyou Palace last time.

At this moment, Houtu mentioned Guixu.

"You mean... after the beings above the Great Luo realm perish, their true spirits will enter the Void?" Huanglong's voice trembled slightly.

"Exactly." Houtu nodded. "The Ruins of Return is the 'Domain of Ending' set up by the Heavenly Dao. Once those who transcend the river of time perish, their immortal spirits will be drawn into the Ruins of Return and sink into it, waiting... perhaps forever for the day of their return."

"Return..."

Huanglong astutely grasped the meaning of this phrase: "After a Great Luo Golden Immortal falls, can they return?"

"Theoretically, yes." Houtu's voice became ethereal. "The Ruins of Return is not a place of destruction; it's more like a... prison, or rather, a tomb."

"When a true spirit sinks into it, it will be sealed and put into slumber by the power of the Void. Theoretically, if there is external intervention, it can be awakened again and brought out of the Void."

He had previously suspected that Great Immortals could indeed be resurrected, and now this had been confirmed by the Ancestral Witch Houtu.

He suddenly thought of another question: "Since Great Luo True Spirits can enter the Void and await their return, why has no fallen Great Luo ever truly returned since I began my cultivation? Logically speaking, the primordial world has experienced the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation and the Dao-Demon War, and quite a few Great Luo have perished. With so many top-tier experts, has no one tried to save anyone from the Void?"

This question silenced Houtu for even longer.

Her gaze returned to the sea of ​​blood, looking at the struggling true spirits, and her voice became more solemn than ever before:

"Because of the price."

"cost?"

"The price of bringing the true spirit out of the Ruins is too high," Houtu said slowly. "The Ruins are the final order established by the Heavenly Dao. Forcibly bringing the true spirit out of it is tantamount to violating the fundamental laws of the Heavenly Dao. Even if a sage intervenes, he will still incur a huge karmic debt to the Heavenly Dao."

She paused, her tone growing even more somber: "This cause and effect cannot be offset by simple merit. It may require a sage to pledge their own path, it may require the fate of an entire clan to pay the price, it may require... paying something unbearable."

"During the initial calamity of the Dragon-Han era, several powerful dragon and phoenix cultivators at the Great Luo realm perished, their true spirits sinking into the Void. Later, the Ancestral Dragon and the Primordial Phoenix forcibly summoned several back from the Void at the cost of their clan's fortune, but those Great Luo cultivators who returned had severely damaged true spirits and incomplete origins..."

She looked at Huanglong, a profound meaning flashing in her eyes: "Moreover, the 'return' of Guixu is not a true resurrection. The true spirits brought out need to reshape their physical bodies and rebuild their Great Dao, which consumes resources no less than rebuilding several Great Luo Immortals."

Huanglong couldn't help but sigh.

It turns out that the so-called "immortality of the true spirit" is not true immortality. Even someone as powerful as a Great Luo Immortal, after falling, is merely placed in a higher-level prison, and the price to pay for "escaping" is so high that even a saint would hesitate.

"So," Huanglong said with difficulty, "unless a sage is willing to pay an enormous price, a fallen Grand Luo Immortal is essentially no different from a True Immortal who has sunk into a sea of ​​blood?"

"There is a difference," Houtu corrected. "When you sink into the Blood Sea, your true spirit will gradually be eroded and assimilated by the Blood Sea, and eventually completely dissipate, leaving no trace of your true spirit. But when you sink into the Ruins of Return, although your true spirit is sealed and dormant, at least your true spirit's trace is completely preserved, and theoretically there is always a possibility of 'returning,' even if the possibility is extremely small."

She looked at Huanglong, her eyes flashing with a complex light:

"This is the rule of life and death in the primordial world. Below the True Immortal level, the True Spirit is fragile and mostly dissipates directly after death; from the True Immortal to the Great Luo level, the True Spirit can survive, but it will either sink into the sea of ​​blood and suffer eternal torment, or sink into the Ruins of Return and sleep eternally; only the Sage, whose True Spirit is entrusted to the Heavenly Dao, coexists with the Dao, and is truly immortal and indestructible."

Huang Long remained silent.

These rules are cold and cruel, yet they have truly ruled the primordial world for billions of years.

Countless beings have devoted themselves to cultivation, pursuing the Great Dao and transcendence. But even if they cultivate to the level of a Great Luo Immortal, once they perish, they are merely "sleeping" in another place.

"This rule... is wrong..." Huang Long suddenly said.