The flood of information wasn’t written text, nor was it a spoken mantra. Instead, it was a majestic cascade of imagery—vast, boundless, and spanning endless spacetime!

Zhou Kai felt his Divine Sense forcibly extracted, stripped away until he was nothing more than an insignificant cicada larva, dormant in the sunless, pitch-black depths of the earth.

Time lost all meaning.

One year. Ten years. A hundred years…

Darkness. Solitude. Endurance.

This was the entirety of its existence.

It stockpiled strength. It waited. It condensed every ounce of its life essence into a single, singularity point, all for that one fleeting instant of breaking through the soil!

The vision shifted violently!

Crack—

The hard earth was pushed aside, allowing a sliver of faint light to pierce the eternal gloom.

Using every ounce of its strength, it crawled out of the depths. It climbed the highest branch. And there, in the final heavy darkness before dawn, its back suddenly split open!

Molting!

A brand-new life struggled free from the old husk, shedding all restraints and filth. Facing the rising sun, it spread its wings!

The old shell remained behind—lifelike, perfect enough to deceive all natural predators.

This is Concealment. This is Accumulation. This is Endurance!

It is Transformation. It is Liberation. It is Substitution!

Buzz—!

After rebirth came the ultimate splendor!

It soared into the sky, singing at the top of its lungs. That resonant cicada song was no longer a mundane sound; it was a frequency that shook the soul and shattered all techniques!

Zhou Kai’s mind trembled violently as countless realizations flooded his heart.

Only by enduring tribulation can the heart be clarified. Only by shedding Wang (Delusion) can one see Zhen (Truth)!

The so-called Wang is falsehood, the old self, the bindings, the shackles!

The so-called Dao is the true self, rebirth, unfettered freedom, and ease!

Shed the old skin to attain the pure Dharmakaya!

The cicada shell is the Delusion; the true form is the Reality!

A complete and supreme cultivation art spontaneously evolved in his mind, seemingly formed by nature itself.

[Delusional Dao Cicada Scripture]!

Hum…

The buzzing of the stone stele shifted from deafening to a distant, lingering resonance, as if the heavens themselves were celebrating the birth of this divine art.

Outside.

“Xia Min” stared at the earth-shattering pillar of light, sensing the profound and mysterious aura radiating from Zhou Kai.

After the initial shock, a flash of brilliance shimmered over her body. The appearance of the charming maidservant melted away like snow, revealing her true face.

A black dress fluttered without wind. Her temperament turned icy and murderous. In her hand, a pitch-black, ghostly banner appeared out of nowhere, radiating a sinister, chilling energy.

She stood directly beside Zhou Kai, her cold gaze sweeping across the field. She offered no more disguises.

“Stop comprehending! This Grand Miss will stand guard for you!”

Fu Weilun and Fu Hongchang, who had been pretending to meditate, were startled out of their wits by Li Youci’s true appearance.

“It’s… It’s Li Youci! She isn’t at the first level of Foundation Establishment… She’s at the ninth level!” Fu Weilun’s voice trembled.

“Don’t panic!” Fu Hongchang was also greatly alarmed—he hadn’t seen through the woman’s disguise at all. “So what if she’s ninth level? No matter how strong her Divine Sense is, can she rival a Golden Core? As long as we kill Zhou Kai and seize the legacy, it’s all worth it!”

The soaring pillar of light acted like a beacon in the night, attracting the attention of everyone in the Secret Realm.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two streaks of light sped over from the distance, landing in the underground space almost simultaneously.

“Youci?”

One of them, a man with sharp brows and bright eyes, was Li Youci’s biological brother, Li Qiwen!

He immediately spotted his sister protecting Zhou Kai. His gaze swept over the heaven-reaching light of the stele, and his brow furrowed slightly. Without a word, he stepped to Li Youci’s side.

The heavy Aura Pressure of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator pressed down like a mountain, locking onto the Fu uncle and nephew from afar.

Fu Hongchang and Fu Weilun instantly felt their breath catch, their expressions turning hideous.

They had seen two blurry figures loitering around the Five Elements trial grounds earlier and assumed they were mere Qi Condensation juniors. Who could have imagined one was a Foundation Establishment peak expert, and the other was the infamous mid-Golden Core powerhouse, Li Qiwen?

Big trouble!

But immediately after, five more figures landed, settling Fu Hongchang’s heart slightly.

One was a handsome young man in luxurious robes, his expression arrogant. His aura was on par with Li Qiwen—another mid-stage Golden Core.

Beside him stood a gloomy-faced middle-aged man at the early Golden Core stage, along with three late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

“Xue Yang! You’re stretching your hands too far,” Li Qiwen said coldly.

The young Golden Core named Xue Yang sneered. “Li Qiwen, you lot from Calamity Abyss Valley really have dogs’ noses. You smelled the treasure and came running.”

As soon as he spoke, the early Golden Core cultivator behind him, Chen Yao, proactively walked to Fu Hongchang’s side, fixing his gloomy gaze on the laziest-looking person present—Li Yunmian.

Instantly, the killing intent in the arena interlocked.

Li Qiwen faced off against Xue Yang.

Li Yunmian faced off against the Golden Core layer-three Chen Yao.

And the Golden Core layer-one Fu Hongchang found himself locked down by Li Youci’s terrifying Divine Sense—which rivaled a mid-Golden Core’s—and didn’t dare make a rash move!

Swoosh!

Two more graceful figures descended—Shen Hanyi and Fish Baibai.

“Junior Brother!”

Fish Baibai spotted Zhou Kai surrounded by the crowd and immediately tried to charge forward.

Shen Hanyi grabbed her, her cool gaze sweeping the scene before finally settling on Zhou Kai. Seeing his aura was complete and he was in no immediate danger, she let out a small sigh of relief.

She looked at the stele. She didn’t touch it, merely sensing it from a distance. Her Sword Heart trembled slightly—not in resonance, but in rejection.

This Dao is strong, but it is not my Dao.

She withdrew her gaze and shook her head. “I will not comprehend. I will not learn.”

With that, she took her place beside Li Youci. Her long sword hummed faintly, Sword Intent surging, clearly stating her stance.

Seeing this, Fish Baibai puffed out her cheeks in anger. She whipped out her [Hundred Change Little Rabbit Hammer] and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Shen Hanyi, glaring fiercely at the three late-Foundation Establishment cultivators opposite them.

The scene fell into an eerie silence.

Two factions, clearly divided. Killing intent condensed into frost in the air, ready to shatter at the slightest touch!

Everyone was waiting.

Waiting for Zhou Kai to wake up.

Everyone was also sending voice transmissions, picking their targets.

—Except for Gao Feiyang.

This flashy “expert,” with the words ‘Crushing All Enemies of the Era’ embroidered on his back, was currently hiding behind a large rock, shivering.

He looked at the row of Golden Core titans on one side.

He looked at the row of Golden Core titans on the other side.

Then he looked at Fish Baibai, hefting a massive hammer to face off against Foundation Establishment experts.

He silently buried his head deeper.

I think… I can’t beat anyone here?

Especially since Li Youci had just sent him a cold voice transmission: “Leave Fu Weilun to Zhou Kai.”

Gao Feiyang almost cried out loud.

Grand Miss! I was beaten half to death by that bastard Fu Weilun too, you know? Why won’t you let me get some revenge?

Oh… right. I can’t beat him. Never mind then.

He calculated in his heart that once the fighting started, he should just keep hiding.

Time seemed to stretch, every second dragging out ten thousand times longer, the pressure suffocating.

Finally—

The gray-white pillar of light piercing heaven and earth began to dim at a visible speed. It slowly contracted, eventually withdrawing completely into the stone stele.

The underground space returned to a gloomy twilight.

In the dead silence, Zhou Kai’s tightly shut eyes slowly opened.

What kind of eyes were they?

Profound. Ancient. As if they contained a vast starry sky, yet carried the crystal-clear purity of a newborn.

The moment his eyes opened!

Two completely different, yet equally murderous voices exploded simultaneously!

Xue Yang’s eyes flashed with savage light:

“Do it!”

At the exact same instant, Li Qiwen roared to his allies:

“Kill!”