This is the true immortal of the Taoist sect.

Shenhuang stood there, stunned, looking up at the sky.

In sight, Li Daoxuan was stepping through the void, descending step by step from the sky.

With each step he took, it was as if a tangible step was supporting him beneath his feet, and a pale golden halo gently rippled outwards.

Even after Li Daoxuan landed in front of the Divine Phoenix, she still hadn't come to her senses.

At that moment, she had only one thought in her mind: Perhaps gods are like her master?

She was unaware that the gods she had previously worshipped were not real gods at all.

Instead, they are remnants of alien souls that feed on human souls and steal human fortune.

"This place has been discovered, let's go..."

As soon as they finished speaking, a void magic array suddenly appeared beneath their feet.

With a flash, the void twisted, and he vanished instantly.

Not long after the two left, a void passage that seemed to connect to the underworld appeared in the sky above the city.

A terrifying hand, as large as the heavens, descended from the sky and slapped down, turning the entire city and the surrounding area within a radius of nearly a hundred miles into dust. Everything tangible was utterly crushed.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, golden light appeared, and Li Daoxuan emerged from the void with the Divine Phoenix.

Li Daoxuan looked back, his eyes filled with an indescribable nonchalance.

"The Ancient Path of Xuanhuang... is indeed extraordinary..."

Countless Daoist runes flowed in Li Daoxuan's eyes, and this world could no longer confine him.

He can leave immediately if he wants to.

But Li Daoxuan did not choose to leave.

Like the ancient battlefield, this journey through time and space seems illusory, like a dream, but in reality it lies between the real and the unreal.

If we treat it as a complete illusion, we will inevitably suffer unimaginable consequences.

Li Daoxuan dispersed his martial arts cultivation because he had figured out the true purpose of this trial.

The world they were in was not a fictional world constructed by the Xuanhuang Ancient Path, but a real era that existed in the history of the Xuanhuang Great World.

Li Daoxuan even accurately calculated that this era was very likely the period known as the Dark Chaos, which was between the Immortal Ancient Era and the Desolate Ancient Era.

He traveled through time and space to arrive here for only two reasons.

The first one can be considered a trial, a trial of one's Dao heart.

The second is to change this era, to leave behind a seed that can help this era successfully emerge from darkness.

He has passed the trial of the Dao Heart.

After breaking through to the eighth level of the Heavenly Realm, Li Daoxuan's soul underwent a transformation, allowing him to grasp a glimpse of heavenly secrets and comprehend the true intention behind the Xuanhuang Ancient Path Trial.

That's why he resolutely abandoned his martial arts skills and destroyed his cultivation.

Because he was never truly sincere about martial arts from beginning to end.

He is the Xuanhuang Dao Ancestor, and he has only one path: the Dao.

Li Daoxuan felt somewhat relieved, but also a little self-deprecating.

Fortunately, he was able to wake up in time before becoming an Earth Immortal and tell the Xuanhuang Ancient Path in the most resolute manner that he would not continue on the path of martial arts, even if it meant crippling his martial arts and being completely swallowed by the Dark Tide.

The ending was good. Xuanhuang Ancient Path sensed his attitude and unlocked his memories of Daoist magic, allowing Li Daoxuan to return to the state of a pure Yang immortal.

His self-deprecating humor stemmed from the fact that when he first arrived in this world, with his level of Taoist cultivation, he actually chose to compromise and abandon Taoist practices in order to protect himself, turning instead to martial arts cultivation.

This shows that his resolve to follow the Dao is not firm enough.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Composing himself, Li Daoxuan turned to look at Shenhuang, shaking his head slightly inwardly.

Shenhuang was ultimately too mediocre. With her talent, comprehension, and even temperament, she would probably have difficulty becoming an Earth Immortal even with his guidance.

To expect her to fight against this era is tantamount to climbing to the heavens.

So he can't leave yet.

He needs to find that so-called seed.

So from that day on, Li Daoxuan began to travel around this despairing world with the Divine Phoenix.

Go find the survivors, find the people who can be the seeds to change this era.

For Li Daoxuan, who had already recovered to the Three Flowers Immortal realm, the so-called undercurrent could no longer pose any threat to him.

Wherever he goes, the undercurrents recede like the tide.

This also attracted the attention of the so-called gods of this world.

As soon as Li Daoxuan's whereabouts are discovered, a deity will descend to punish him.

This is an era where no great emperors exist, so Li Daoxuan is an absolutely invincible being in this era.

If he so desired, he alone could end this dark age.

But he can't do that.

Because he was not a person of this era.

The causal relationships involved are extremely complex.

Li Daoxuan could only follow the steps and go along with the arrangements of the Xuanhuang Ancient Road.

Otherwise, it might have unimaginable consequences for future generations.

Thus, the master and apprentice walked through the vast world, and three years passed in the blink of an eye.

In the fourth year, Li Daoxuan met a young man who could be described as exceptionally talented.

At first, Li Daoxuan also thought that he was the seed he was looking for.

But when Li Daoxuan spent fifteen years meticulously cultivating him into an Earth Immortal, the first thing this boy, who had grown up in the Dark Ages, did was to murder his master...

Helpless, Li Daoxuan had no choice but to casually kill him.

Nearly twenty years have passed, and the Divine Phoenix has already cultivated to the Ninth Heaven Realm.

Now she is no longer afraid of the undercurrents, and even some gods are no match for her.

But Shenhuang grew tired of constantly traveling every day, and she told Li Daoxuan that she wanted to stop.

Returning to my former hometown, I will use my own strength to build a shelter and protect as many people as possible.

Li Daoxuan agreed and left her a talisman that could protect her from the undercurrents.

From then on, the master and apprentice went their separate ways.

Li Daoxuan continued walking forward to find the seed.

Day after day, year after year, without interruption.

During this process, his mind became calmer and calmer, and his cultivation level improved considerably without him even realizing it.

At this level, even the slightest improvement is considered a huge leap forward.

Li Daoxuan realized that this might be another opportunity.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The road ahead is long and the world is vast; three hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Over the course of three hundred years, Li Daoxuan encountered many people.

He has also saved many people.

However, he never taught martial arts to anyone again.

Three hundred years later, on this day, Li Daoxuan suddenly stopped, turned around and looked behind him. His gaze instantly traveled across millions of miles and saw the disciple with whom he had parted three hundred years ago.

Li Daoxuan's heart stirred, and he lightly stomped his foot.

When he reappeared, Li Daoxuan returned to the village where he had first transmigrated.

However, this place is no longer a village, but a ruin.

Before it became ruins, this place must have been a city, a large city with at least 100,000 people.

Just as a strange deity with power comparable to an Earth Immortal left, this great city, built by the Divine Phoenix, was reduced to ruins by the power of that strange deity.

Three hundred years later, when Li Daoxuan saw his disciple again, she was nothing but a broken shell.

The soul has already been devoured.

Li Daoxuan was momentarily lost in thought, but quickly regained his composure.

On this day, Li Daoxuan dug out a baby boy from a pile of ruins.

The talisman he had left for the Divine Phoenix was then pasted on the baby boy's swaddling clothes.

It was because of this talisman that the newborn baby boy survived.

Holding the baby boy in his arms, Li Daoxuan immediately recognized that this was the child of the Divine Phoenix.

The baby boy had a jade pendant on his chest with a single character engraved on it – "荒" (huang).

Li Daoxuan stood there in silence for a long time, looking at the baby boy with a complex expression.

The baby boy neither cried nor fussed, but simply looked at Li Daoxuan with a calm expression.

After a long while, Li Daoxuan let out a long sigh and murmured to himself:

"I've searched for three hundred years, and I never expected... to find you here..."