Return to the Vast World of Xuanhuang

"The first layer of early warning is complete, but it is not enough."

Gu Changge was meticulous and deeply understood the principle of not putting all his eggs in one basket.

With a seemingly casual flick of his sleeve, void runes rippling with spatial waves shot out silently, accurately embedding themselves into the cores of the nine most turbulent natural void vortices in the surrounding chaos, where the laws were most intertwined and twisted.

These were places that ordinary immortals and gods avoided at all costs, impenetrable to divine sense, making them perfect hiding spots.

Once the runes settled, they were like stones dropped into the ocean, merging seamlessly with the violent void currents. If a powerful enemy attempted to directly tear through space to descend here, the resulting spatial tides would inevitably trigger these hidden traps first.

Immediately after, he pressed his hands down in the air, and the laws of formations surged from his body.

"Myriad Illusions Mirage, manifest!"

In an instant, the light and shadows around the Bronze Immortal Hall twisted, and an incredibly realistic illusion slowly emerged. The spirit veins within the hall appeared to operate exactly as usual.

Energy pathways seemed to continuously extract the origin of distant worlds. Even the phantoms of the pathways Gu Changge had previously severed were simulated. Everything looked normal, as if nothing had ever happened.

This illusion array not only simulated the form but also the spirit. It even perfectly mimicked the unique, faint Dao rhythm of the plundering array—an intertwining of greed and decay!

Unless one approached within a thousand miles and observed carefully with Immortal Eyes, it would be virtually impossible to discover that this was an elaborately woven deception. This move was solely to delay time and confuse the enemy's initial judgment.

Finally, his gaze flashed like lightning, locking onto the deepest part of the most inconspicuous crack at the core of the abandoned array disk.

Forming his fingers into a sword, he forced out a strand-like mark as thin as a hair, yet condensed with his origin immortal soul and the true essence of the Dao of formations—the Karma Soul-Tracking Mark.

This mark was almost ethereal; it did not involve energy but only entangled karma. He carefully drove this wisp of a mark deep into the crack, completely binding it to the last remaining trace of spiritual essence in the array disk.

"Done..."

Having finished all this, Gu Changge slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. He carefully scanned every arrangement with his divine sense, like the most demanding craftsman inspecting his own work.

After repeatedly confirming there were no errors, and that even he would find it difficult to detect these arrangements without fully mobilizing his formation cultivation base, a trace of satisfaction finally appeared on his tense face.

He took a deep breath, circulating his magical power to completely erase all the aura he had left behind, even the minute disturbances in the laws caused by setting up the arrays, making it seem as if no one had ever been there.

After doing all this, his divine sense attempted to approach a relatively close world barrier radiating a peaceful and upright light, but he felt a powerful repulsive force.

That was the origin will unique to that world, different from the Xuanhuang Great World, resisting the prying eyes of an outsider.

"World barriers are indeed mysterious. Without special secret methods or strength formidable enough to ignore the boundary wall, crossing worlds is as difficult as ascending to the heavens."

Thinking of this, a familiar figure could not help but surface in his mind—his master, Daoist Zizhu.

Back then, his master had relied on a Chaos Realm Crystal to leave this world, and his whereabouts were unknown.

"Master only had the cultivation of the Saint Realm back then. I wonder what his path ahead was like?"

A trace of reminiscence and complexity flashed through Gu Changge's eyes.

A strong urge welled up in his heart. With his current Perfect True Immortal cultivation, he might already be able to initially resist the erosion of chaos. Should he also embark on a journey to search for his master's tracks?

However, as soon as this thought arose, he forcibly suppressed it.

His gaze swept over the place where the Heaven Patrolling Immortal Envoy had just been annihilated, and his eyes returned to clarity and calmness.

"No. Now is not the time."

"I just killed the guard sent here by the mastermind behind the scenes. The opposing faction will definitely not let this go. They will surely send someone else to investigate, and might even draw out a stronger existence.

"The Xuanhuang Great World is just showing signs of recovery, and its foundation is unstable. If I leave now, this world will be in danger."

"At the very least, I must wait until the turmoil here temporarily subsides and the Xuanhuang World has the initial power to protect itself before I can leave with peace of mind."

Gu Changge sighed softly, burying that desire to explore deep in his heart.

His gaze once again turned toward the depths of the endless chaos, and a more distant, harder-to-reach thought quietly surfaced.

"Xuanhuang, and these worlds... they all exist within this Sea of Chaos."

"Then, is the world of my past life also a world in this boundless chaos, just like the Xuanhuang World? Only separated by an unimaginably vast distance?"

This thought made him feel a trace of inexplicable melancholy and insignificance.

The chaos was boundless, and worlds were like dust. What did an individual's destiny amount to within it?

But it was also this insignificance that stimulated an even stronger desire for exploration and determination to reach the absolute summit deep within his heart.

"One day, when I ascend to the pinnacle of the Great Dao, I will surely tread across all the heavens of this chaos, see the scenery of the myriad worlds, and also look for the way home."

Gathering his thoughts, Gu Changge no longer lingered.

Although this place was vast, it was fraught with danger and not a place to stay for long.

With a roll of his sleeve, he collected the remaining bits of Immortal Dao origin left on the battlefield, as well as the treasures left behind by the Immortal Envoy and within the Bronze Immortal Hall. His figure flashed, and like a drop of ink blending into water, he silently merged into the barrier of the Xuanhuang Great World and disappeared.

The chaotic void returned to deathly stillness.

Taking a step forward, Gu Changge's figure quietly returned to the inside of the Xuanhuang Great World.

At this moment, Little Black and Little White were anxiously waiting.

The instant his figure solidified, Little Black, who had been restless, suddenly raised his head, and Little White's huge dragon pupils also instantly focused on him.

"Master/Exalted One!"

The two spoke in unison, their voices filled with relieved surprise and lingering worry.

They could feel that Gu Changge's aura was steady, even more profoundly unfathomable than when he left. The heavy stones in their hearts were mostly lifted, but they were still eager to know what had happened outside.

Little White lowered his huge dragon head, leaning in closer, his voice carrying a solemn tone, "Exalted One, what is the situation outside? Has that existence been dealt with?"

Gu Changge's gaze swept over them, taking in Little Black's curiosity and Little White's concern.

His expression was calm, devoid of post-battle fatigue or the joy of victory. Instead, he carried a deep solemnity that came from understanding the situation.

"Yes," he nodded slightly, "but the root of the disaster has not been eradicated. There will be major trouble descending in the future."

His gaze became sharp, piercing through the world barrier to see the endless chaos and potential crises behind it.

"I killed that beast, destroyed its array, and severed its connections. This action is no different from poking a hornet's nest."

Gu Changge's voice was low and calm, yet it carried the oppressive feeling of an impending storm.

"The faction behind it will absolutely not let this rest. The next time they come, I'm afraid it won't be a lone wolf, but a much more troublesome existence."