The Prodigies War

“Lin Xun, I’ll be waiting for you in the Dark Zone.”

After fully refining the Chaos Dao Fruit, Xia Zhi’s voice drifted back like a lingering echo. In the next instant, her figure transformed into a streak of radiant light and vanished through the heavenly gate. All eyes turned toward Lin Xun. Is he going to attempt the trial immediately as well?

Before the thought had fully formed, Lin Xun moved. With hands clasped behind his back, he strode calmly toward the vast, surging river.

At once, the river erupted. Waves towered skyward, churning with boundless force. Then, under astonished gazes, the roaring waters suddenly split apart. The current recoiled to either side as though pressed down by an unseen authority, opening a broad, straight path that led directly to the opposite bank.

Lin Xun did not rush. He merely stepped forward. His figure blurred like a passing shadow, and in the blink of an eye, he stood upon the far shore.

Dead silence fell. Everyone’s eyes were wide with disbelief. The Test of Heart Knocking was known to be perilous beyond measure. Across the ages, countless earth-shaking powers had perished beneath those very waves.

Now, the river parted of its own accord, clearing the way for Lin Xun! Such a situation was unheard of!

Buzz!

On the opposite bank, dazzling radiance intertwined in midair. A torrential surge of primal chaos origin power descended like a celestial rain, engulfing Lin Xun until he appeared half-real and half-illusory.

As expected...it is the origin power of this All-Wonder Dominion!

Lin Xun’s heart trembled. Just as when he departed the Mortal Transformation Zone, what he received was not merely a Chaos Dao Fruit. What descended upon him was something more profound. It was primal chaos origin power!

Within him, his cultivation surged. He could clearly sense the astonishing transformation unfolding within his dao. Step by step, it advanced deeper into the advanced stage of the Immeasurable Realm. Only after a long period of time passed did the transformation finally come to an end.

Lin Xun sensed it clearly. Within his dao, centered around Nirvana, there now existed an additional presence: a primal, obscure origin power. It was difficult to describe what kind of origin dao it was. It resembled chaos itself, yet within it lay the potential to transform into all the myriad daos of heaven and earth!

“Could this be the fundamental law of the All-Wonder Dominion? Primal chaos...primal chaos...nameless and beyond form, yet possessing the power to nurture innate Principles of Chaos. If I could fully comprehend its mysteries...would that not mean I could grasp the power of ‘dao creation’?”

Lin Xun closed his eyes and quietly sensed the changes within. Unfortunately, although he had twice obtained fragments of the primal chaos origin power of the All-Wonder Dominion, they were ultimately incomplete. All he could sense was only a faint and subtle mysterious aura, an obscure hint of the power of nurturing the great dao.

As for whether he could one day truly grasp the power of dao creation...that remained uncertain. He shook his head lightly. With a single thought, a heavenly gate manifested before him. Taking one step forward, he vanished from the Calamitous Zone in an instant.

Along the banks of the great river, the gathered mighty beings stood in a daze, as though they had just witnessed a miracle never seen before. Their hearts churned violently.

......

No one realized that from the moment Lin Xun and Xia Zhi entered the Calamitous Zone to the moment they departed, less than a single day had passed. Within that short span of time, they had passed the three great trials, the Test of Past Life, the Test of Dao Building, and the Test of Heart-Knocking, and drew forth the Chaos Dao Fruit and soared away in a single bound!

......

The Dark Zone.

The world was drowned in a dense, impenetrable gray fog. Even beings of the Immeasurable Realm found their spirit sense suppressed, unable to extend beyond their immediate surroundings. With sight alone, one could perceive no more than three feet in any direction.

From ancient times until now, no one had ever determined how vast this Dark Zone truly was. Within the fog lurked countless fierce and savage creatures. They moved silently, drifting through the mist without sound, striking and killing without warning.

Most unsettling of all, their bodies were like vapor, intangible, elusive, and indistinguishable from the surrounding haze. In this dim, mist-choked world, they were impossible to guard against. These creatures were known as mist spirits!

Rumor spoke of two ways to leave the Dark Zone. The first was to hunt down forty-nine mist spirits, seize their power, and use it to forge a dao altar. Then, by drawing upon the Chaos Dao Fruit, one could open a heavenly gate and depart. This method was both perilous and time-consuming.

The mist spirits possessed strength capable of threatening even beings of the Immeasurable Realm. They were terrifying beyond measure. Worse still, according to legend, there existed sovereign entities among them, creatures no weaker than an Immeasurable Dao Lord. They were known as Mist Spirit Kings.

In the past, many mighty figures of the Immeasurable Realm had fallen beneath their slaughter. In short, for any cultivator who entered this Dark Zone, there was one absolute taboo: never provoke a Mist Spirit King. If one encountered such a being, survival would be a miracle.

The second method of leaving the Dark Zone was through sacrifice. By sacrificing one’s dao body, one’s primordial spirit alone could escape this realm. However, doing so meant forfeiting the Chaos Dao Fruit. The price paid would be immense. Generally speaking, unless driven to utter desperation, no one would choose such a path.

“If we want to leave,” Lin Xun said softly, standing beside Xia Zhi in the boundless gray haze, “we must each hunt down forty-nine mist spirits ourselves. No one else can intervene.”

His gaze swept slowly through the fog. “It may be troublesome...but it’s not truly dangerous.”

He had already tried extending his spirit sense, but the surrounding mist suppressed it completely. Even his eyesight was reduced to a radius of barely three feet, and within that narrow range, everything was still swallowed in gray obscurity. In this place, one might as well have been blind.

There were, of course, many ways to guard against danger. One could circulate one’s cultivation and let its power radiate outward, forming a protective domain. In that way, any approaching threat would be detected and repelled before it drew near. As an alternative, one could summon divine treasures, suspending them around the body as layers of defense.

However, the drawbacks were obvious. Such vigilance required one to maintain their cultivation at all times. It would be manageable for a short while, but over time, even the strongest would find their strength steadily drained.

As for treasures, though they possessed their own spirituality, Lin Xun had already tested their limits. Within this mist-shrouded Dark Zone, the moment a treasure drifted more than three feet from him, its connection would be severed instantly.

In short, the fog of this Dark Zone was profoundly strange. It suppressed the perception of all Immeasurable Realm cultivators, reducing even such beings to near blindness and placing them in extreme peril.

However, Lin Xun remained unperturbed. Danger might strike without warning, but with his current cultivation, he had nothing to fear from the sudden assaults of those mist spirits!

“Lin Xun, which direction shall we take?”

Xia Zhi remained just as composed, her clear eyes sweeping calmly through the surrounding haze.

“There’s fog in every direction. Any path will do...or perhaps...”

Before he could finish, Lin Xun’s brows lifted slightly. His arm shot out to the side in a sudden motion.

Boom!

Within the churning gray fog, a figure like a wisp of smoke suddenly twisted and writhed violently, only to be seized firmly within Lin Xun’s outstretched hand. The very next instant, it burst apart with a muffled bang, scattering into countless strands of gray light. Like drifting embers, they slipped free from his grasp and shot toward the depths of the mist.

“Come here.” Xia Zhi suddenly said in a soft voice. A vast net woven from the power of karma spread silently into the fog, like the inescapable net of heaven, letting nothing slip through.

The fleeing strands of gray light thrashed wildly, like fish caught in a tightening net, but their struggle was futile. In the end, they were seized and drawn back by Xia Zhi in a single motion. Lin Xun raised his eyes and looked closely. The scattered gray strands had already re-condensed into a grotesque creature. Its entire body was formed from eerie, mist-like dao laws.

However, from within it pulsed the unmistakable aura of life. There was no doubt that this was a mist spirit, and the power it radiated was no weaker than that of an ordinary Greater Boundless Realm cultivator.

“Let me see.”

Curiosity flickered in Lin Xun’s eyes. He extended a finger and pressed it gently against the mist spirit. In an instant, a torrent of chaotic, fragmented memories surged into his mind, forcing his pupils to narrow.

Only after a long while did he slowly exhale a breath of turbid air. His expression had grown noticeably more solemn.

“This mist spirit...” he said quietly, “was born from the remnant soul of a fallen cultivator. It awakened into a silver of spiritual consciousness, absorbed the primal chaos origin power scattered throughout this world, and gradually took form. No wonder it wields strength on par with the Immeasurable Realm...”

This was not what he had expected.

“But if that’s the case,” Xia Zhi said, faintly startled, “then the very first cultivator to enter this Dark Zone could not have encountered any mist spirits. If there were none in the beginning, how did that person leave?”

Lin Xun fell silent for a moment before replying thoughtfully, “The two methods of departure we know have been passed down since ancient times. But as you said, if the mist spirits scattered throughout this realm are all formed from the remnant souls of cultivators who perished here...then the very first person to arrive in this Dark Zone must have either been trapped here and died...escaped through sacrifice...or there exists another unknown path hidden within this Dark Zone.”

“There must be,” Xia Zhi said, nodding lightly.

Lin Xun said quietly, “We’ve only just arrived. There will be plenty of time to explore this Dark Zone. For now, this is your prey. Suppress it.”

With a casual flick of her sleeve, Xia Zhi turned the mist spirit into a streak of gray light and sealed it within her sleeve. Seeing this, Lin Xun was about to speak when his brows suddenly knit together. He turned his gaze toward the distant fog.

“What is it?” Xia Zhi asked.

“I thought I sensed someone watching us from the shadows,” Lin Xun said in a low voice. “But it vanished in an instant.”

“Perhaps another cultivator who has entered the Dark Zone like us,” Xia Zhi replied casually, unperturbed.

Lin Xun nodded, choosing not to dwell on it. “Let’s leave this place first.”

Without further delay, the two chose a direction and set off. Along the way, they remained extremely cautious. They did not teleport, but instead flew steadily forward, advancing slowly into the depths of the fog.

......

On a towering mountain within the Dark Zone stood a grand palace hall. Around it, layer upon layer of restriction formations had been laid, sealing out the surrounding mist entirely. Inside the hall, lantern light blazed brilliantly, illuminating the interior as bright as day.

An elderly man in white robes, frail as a candle guttering in the wind, sat alone upon the throne in the center of the great hall. His clouded eyes were fixed on a geomantic map crafted from brown beast hide that he held in his hands.

“What exactly is hidden within that Dark Spring? Why did the Lord mark it on this map as a forbidden and ominous land, forbidding us from setting foot there?” he murmured.

He had thought about this question for many years.