Han Zhen Appears, the Grand State Preceptor of Dashang

Within the secret realm, a tempest raged as the awe-inspiring might of the heavens descended.

From the unseen depths, the mournful cry of a phoenix seemed to echo between heaven and earth.

A vast and ancient vision pressed down like reality itself.

In the void, the phantom of a bronze divine tree emerged—majestic and profound, transcending time and space, embodying boundless cycles of creation and destruction.

Upon its branches perched phoenixes, vermilion birds, golden crows, and dark-winged avians... each lifelike, exuding the aura of sovereigns ruling their domains.

This was but a shadow.

Yet it seemed to suppress the very heavens.

"The Bronze Divine Tree."

"The Great Shang's Heaven-Blessed Artifact?"

Fragments from The Annals of Divine Forms flashed through Li Mo's mind.

He glanced at the girl's retreating figure, knowing now was not the time to disturb her.

"Senior Brother Xiaobao."

"Hmm?"

"Be ready to act when the moment comes."

Ying Bing's jade-like face was slightly pale.

The Seventh Realm was, after all, the Seventh Realm.

Regardless of how one attained the rank of Martial Sage, their body became a self-contained cosmos, capable of traversing the void, roaming tens of thousands of miles, and with a mere gesture, sinking a thousand miles of land—akin to a human-shaped calamity.

Her guess had been correct.

This Blood Phoenix Secret Realm was no mere secret realm.

It was the inner cosmos of a Xuan-Sovereign.

Only, compared to a true Xuan-Sovereign's domain, it appeared desolate and ruined.

Hum—

From the phantom of the Bronze Divine Tree, the gaze of a divine bird descended.

As if demanding submission from this presumptuous young maiden.

Ying Bing met it calmly.

Her other foot stepped onto the summit of the staircase.

Instantly.

Every divine bird perched upon the Bronze Divine Tree turned its frigid gaze upon her.

Blazing, frigid, eerie—countless overwhelming divine intents bore down upon her.

A thousand pressures weighed upon her body.

Ying Bing's black hair whipped wildly, her face cold as frost under moonlight.

"Merely a broken phantom."

"Even if the true form descended, it would kneel before me as if before a god."

A radiant glow swirled around Ying Bing, intertwined with the essence of the Supreme Yin.

The two forces spiraled like the sun and moon in tandem, casting endless radiance.

The Xuan Core Realm.

And not just one—but two Xuan Cores, both fully formed.

Upon closer inspection, each seemed to pulse with wondrous mysteries.

The girl was now luminous as polished jade, the sole light before the dark bronze hall.

"Retreat."

Her form remained small.

Yet wherever she stepped, the phantom of the Bronze Divine Tree receded like a tide.

After just two steps.

Ying Bing's ears twitched slightly.

She heard footsteps following behind her.

Not Tang Xiaobao's.

His.

He... was truly peculiar.

She couldn't help but recall the scene on the Celestial Stairway.

As if no pressure, no matter how overwhelming, had any effect on that youth.

Though the divine form of the Bronze Divine Tree was incomplete, its will alone should have been unbearable for those below the Inner Breath or Insight Realm.

Yet Li Mo had followed her with leisurely ease.

For some reason.

At this critical moment, having him behind her gave her an inexplicable sense of reassurance...

"Now is not the time for such thoughts."

A few dozen meters later.

The two stood before the palace gates.

This palace was clearly grander and more imposing than those below.

An inscribed plaque hung above:

"Court of Heaven's Ascent."

"Enough of these games."

"Show yourself."

Ying Bing narrowed her eyes at the palace entrance, her tone brooking no argument.

The space before the palace was empty, devoid of any stone stele.

Yet the moment her words fell—

Boom—

The towering gates of the Court of Heaven's Ascent slowly creaked open.

Li Mo peered inside but saw only an abyssal darkness.

Whoosh—

Suddenly.

Two lamps flickered to life, followed by a chain reaction as torches ignited in rapid succession, forming two fiery lines.

The resplendent hall within was revealed—adorned with solemn, archaic furnishings, yet pristine as if untouched by time.

The floor was etched with intricate Xuan patterns, sprawling like a spider's web, forming an array.

At its center.

A skeleton of pale gold and jade sat cross-legged, its hollow gaze fixed upon the heavens, as if demanding answers from an unjust fate.

Though dead for untold years.

It still exuded an indomitable majesty.

"Is this the remains of that Xuan-Sovereign?"

Li Mo was puzzled.

Was this the heart of the secret realm—the burial site of this sovereign?

He glanced at Ying Bing, only to find her icy gaze fixed on the depths of the hall.

"This is my corpse... or rather, the me of the past."

A voice suddenly echoed through the hall, haunting and distant.

"You?"

Li Mo's brow rose slightly, his guard up.

He recognized this crimson-robed youth.

The one who had arrived with the Crimson Whale Gang during the Nine Peaks Tournament.

He had intended to observe him with his Heaven's Eye then, but circumstances had prevented it.

Now, Li Mo's eyes shimmered with obscure light as he activated his divine sight.

[Name: Han Zhen]

[Age: 22 (5,330)]

[Bone Structure: Blood Phoenix Immortal Body]

[Realm: Insight Realm, Three Apertures]

[Fate: Purple tinged with Gold]

[Evaluation: Former Grand Preceptor of the Great Shang Dynasty. After the fall of Shang, he clung to life through the Blood Phoenix's essence. On the verge of soul and flesh collapse, he attained deeper enlightenment into its mysteries, allowing rebirth through reincarnation. Now in his seventh life.]

[Recent Events: Upon seeing Ying Bing, he believes the restoration of the dynasty is possible and seeks to recruit her for Great Shang's cause. To accumulate the Blood Phoenix's power, he has wrought countless storms of blood.]

"Grand Preceptor... of Great Shang?"

Li Mo understood now.

So it wasn't just a shared name—this was the author of The Annals of Divine Forms himself!

No wonder the Karmic Flames within him had stirred upon entering.

This Han Zhen bore sins too numerous to count.

Han Zhen stood with hands clasped behind his back, atop the steps.

"You are even more extraordinary than I imagined—a masterpiece of the heavens, unparalleled in all of history!"

His voice trembled with near-fanatical fervor.

He had witnessed Ying Bing's defiance of the Bronze Divine Tree.

Han Zhen did not possess a complete Great Dao Divine Form.

In ancient times, even with the Blood Phoenix's essence and his reforged Blood Phoenix Immortal Body, he had barely managed to manifest a wisp of the tree's phantom.

Yet that alone should have been unbearable for an Inner Breath cultivator.

But that wasn't the point.

What truly mattered was—

Han Zhen sensed within this girl an essence far nobler than his own.

Not even the emperors or crown princes of old could compare.

"I must apologize for my earlier disrespect."

To Li Mo's surprise, Han Zhen actually bowed. His eyes burned with intensity.

"I originally intended to recruit you... but now, my plans have changed."

He paused, glancing at Li Mo.

This youth, too, held his own uniqueness.

Otherwise, even with Ying Bing shouldering most of the pressure, he would never have made it here.

"Would the two of you join me in a grand endeavor?"

Han Zhen spoke solemnly.

Ying Bing's gaze remained frosty.

Li Mo, observing her expression from the corner of his eye, smiled faintly.

"What's in it for us? Let's hear it."