I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

Qin Yuan stood in the center of the disc, feeling the protective will surging from the twelve rings of array patterns. It wasn't just his own path of protection, but also Su Yao's gentle protection, Yan Lingji's passionate protection, Mu Hongyi's cold protection, Jian Wushuang's silent protection, Bingji's aloof protection, Hongyue's loyal protection, Yueyao's gentle protection, and Yanyue's stubborn protection. There was also Ye Wuji's fighting spirit, Sun Yuan's obsession, Bai Shuang's faith, and the gatekeeper's steadfastness. All the protective wills intertwined and merged within the array, transforming into an indestructible barrier of light.

"The Myriad Realms Return to Ruins Array." When Qin Yuan said this name, the corners of his mouth curved slightly, a rare occurrence. "It's a good name."

On the night the formation test was successful, a rare banquet was held in the Guixu Palace.

Su Yao cooked a table full of dishes. Taro was the main ingredient: braised taro, taro stewed with pork ribs, taro stir-fried with pork slices, taro ball soup, a pot of taro porridge without chili, and a large bowl of extra-spicy dipping sauce prepared separately for Yan Lingji. Yan Yue brought royal tribute wine brewed by the imperial chefs for three hundred years from the Great Yan Dynasty, Gu Changfeng brought Ice Soul Wine, a specialty of the Heavenly Pivot Holy Dynasty, from the Holy Dynasty, and Han Meng somehow obtained a jar of strong liquor from the Ancient Barbarian Clan, a sip of which could knock out any cultivator below the Creation Realm.

The table was set up in the courtyard of the Guixu Palace, and Yueyao placed a bunch of freshly picked wildflowers in front of each seat. When Ye Wuji and Gu Changfeng had finished their three-hundredth drinking contest, Han Meng had already fallen asleep at the table, still clutching half a taro in his hand. Although Sun Yuan was blind, he was incredibly skilled with chopsticks, discussing the next optimization plan for the Myriad Realms Guixu Array with Su Yao while eating. Bai Shuang sat quietly in a corner, drinking her Ice Soul Wine, occasionally glancing at Qin Yuan with gratitude mixed with wariness in her eyes—she was now a Holy Ruler, and due to her status, she couldn't be as unrestrained as she had been during the Heavenly Pride Battle.

The gatekeeper sat by the entrance, pouring himself a drink, an ancient book lying open on his lap. Qin Yuan walked over with his wine cup and sat down opposite him.

"Which is more boring, guarding the Heavenly Ladder for 100,000 years or guarding the gate of the Guixu Palace?" Qin Yuan asked.

The gatekeeper thought for a moment, then took a sip of wine: "Few people pass by the Heavenly Ladder; sometimes, not a single person is seen for hundreds of years. At least there are people coming and going in front of the Guixu Palace every day, and you can hear the sounds coming from the courtyard. The sound of Miss Su brewing tea, the sound of Miss Yan and Miss Mu bickering, the sound of Miss Yueyao's footsteps returning from picking flowers, the sound of Miss Hongyue practicing her spear. I haven't heard so many sounds in a hundred thousand years; it's quite nice."

He paused, looked at the wine in his glass, and lowered his voice.

"If my junior brother could hear these sounds, he would probably think it's quite nice."

Qin Yuan didn't reply, but simply raised his wine cup and clinked it against the gatekeeper's. The two cups struck together with a crisp sound. In the courtyard, Yan Lingji was arm wrestling with Mu Hongyi, with Yue Yao acting as the referee. Jian Wushuang, unusually, didn't wipe his sword, but sat next to Hongyue, quietly listening to her recount her past in the City That Never Sleeps. Bingji sat by the icy pond, her bare feet immersed in the cold water, holding a bowl of hot taro porridge. Yan Yue, leaning on his wooden cane, walked to Qin Yuan's side, saying nothing, simply standing there.

A night breeze rustled the taro leaves in the taro field. The lights of Guixu Palace shone brightly at the highest point of Wandao Peak, like an inextinguishable star.

Qin Yuan finished the last drop of wine in his cup and looked up at the night sky. Above the stars, the pillars of light from the Eternal Ladder flickered faintly, and the light curtain of the Myriad Realms Returning to Nothingness Array shimmered in the night breeze. He knew this peace wouldn't last forever, the Myriad Array Dao Court wouldn't give up, the undercurrents among the various forces in the Great Void were still surging, and the primordial will of chaos in the Outer Chaos Sea would one day awaken again, at which point another great war awaited him.

But not today.

Today, let's drink.

The pillar of light from the Eternal Ladder shone brightly in the night sky above the Guixu Palace for an entire night, then suddenly went out at dawn.

The gatekeeper was the first to notice. He had been sitting cross-legged at the entrance of the Guixu Palace for half the night, with the same old book lying open on his lap, his eyelids half-closed, his breathing even, looking as if he were dozing. But the instant the pillar of light of the Eternal Ladder went out, his fingers, which were turning the pages of the book, stopped.

"Dao Ancestor." He didn't use a communication token, but directly transmitted his voice with his divine sense. His voice rang out in Qin Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness, calm and short, "Something has happened to the Heavenly Ladder."

Qin Yuan sat up from the stone bed beside the taro field. Su Yao had woken up earlier than him; her Chaotic Saint Body's perception had already detected the anomaly in the direction of the Heavenly Ladder. She frowned and said, "It's not extinguished, it's being blocked by something. The light is still there, but it can't get through."

Qin Yuan summoned the bone blade, and the stars and Milky Way on its blade lit up in the night. The Eye of Chaos pierced through the protective light barrier of the Guixu Palace, through the clouds at the peak of ten thousand paths, and saw the scene at the entrance of the Eternal Heavenly Ladder—the jade gatehouse was still there, but the pillar of light that pierced straight into the void above the gatehouse was completely wrapped in a layer of grayish-white film, and the light struggled and crashed inside, like a firefly entangled in a spider web.

"I'll go take a look," Qin Yuan said.

Yan Lingji, already dressed in her outer robe, rushed out of the house, her hair still disheveled, but the flames in her hands leaping high: "Who's causing trouble in the middle of the night?" Mu Hongyi appeared silently behind her, her long sword already in her hand. The other women also woke up one after another, and seven beams of holy light shone in the courtyard of Guixu Palace.

"Don't move." Qin Yuan raised his hand to suppress Yan Lingji's flames. "The gatekeepers stay here, and the seven women maintain the operation of the Myriad Realms Returning to Ruins Array. Su Yao, come with me."

"You only brought Su Yao again?" Yan Lingji was about to explode when Su Yao walked up to her and shoved a pot of freshly brewed hot tea into her hands. "We'll be back before dawn. The porridge is in the pot, keep an eye on the fire, and don't let Yueyao add sugar." Yan Lingji stared blankly for a moment, holding the teapot, while Su Yao disappeared into the night with Qin Yuan.

The entrance to the Eternal Ladder. Beneath the jade gatehouse, the Old Man of Ten Thousand Paths stood in the very center of the doorway, arms outstretched, using his body to block the ever-spreading grayish-white membrane behind the gatehouse. His cultivation was far inferior to the guardian of the ladder, only at the initial stage of the Creation Realm; he couldn't withstand this level of erosion for even the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. When Qin Yuan arrived, his legs were already covered up to his knees by the grayish-white membrane, which was slowly spreading upwards.

"Dao Ancestor..." When the old man of ten thousand paths saw Qin Yuan, he forced a smile that was more like a grimace. "This old man is incompetent and cannot even guard a gate."

Qin Yuan didn't waste any words. He strode in front of Elder Wandao, his bone blade slashing horizontally, the edge precisely cutting half an inch above Elder Wandao's knee, slicing off the entire grayish-white membrane that had covered his body. After the membrane detached from his body, it twitched a few times in the air, turning into a wisp of gray mist and dissipating. Elder Wandao's legs went weak, and Qin Yuan reached out to support his arm, pulling him out from under the gatehouse and handing him to Su Yao behind him.