Yu Xuan entered the pagoda alongside the butterfly and imdiately felt himself in front of a being.
Hundun stood before him.
But not alone.
Several other existences were present, each radiating pressure no weaker than Hundun’s.
Their presence did not crush the space; rather, the space seed to adjust itself around them out of respect.
Yu Xuan’s breathing slowed as the first gaze he felt was burning.
He turned instinctively, and saw a blue figure.
The mont his eyes t it, the being beca translucent in his vision, as if it were both there and not there.
Its outline flickered, like an idea struggling to remain defined.
And Strangely.
Everyone present perceived this being differently.
To so, it appeared as a scholar or monster.
To others, a faceless sage.
It was a Thought born of Thoughtlessness.
A conceptual existence.
Its wide eyes studied Yu Xuan intently, though its expression did not change.
’Why do I sll Enlightennt from him... and it is recent,’ it mused internally.
The scent was unmistakable.
It examined him further.
Carefully.
And then it found it.
A faint Blessing of Enlightennt resting upon Yu Xuan.
The being was not surprised.
Enlightennt favored sudden breakthroughs.
Short-lived combustions of brilliance.
Looking toward the black-orange butterfly beside him, it sensed that the butterfly, too, had noticed.
The chamber remained silent.
But Yu Xuan understood one thing clearly.
Every gaze here was dissecting him.
"He’s not bad... but if he were Immortal Race, his starting point would have been far higher."
"He has already broken several restrictions."
"Are we performing the ceremony imdiately?"
"Why wait? This is already his fifth cycle. It should be fine."
"...I still need to secure the ti-link."
"Then do your job properly for once."
The chamber filled with discussions, so direct, so transmitted through will alone.
Then.
Hundun released a subtle yet absolute pressure.
"Enough."
Silence fell instantly.
"We have already discussed this. Take your positions and access that power."
Its presence thickened.
"I will remain with him and Changhe Daojun, do your job properly."
Changhe Daojun’s expression darkened slightly, but he said nothing.
One by one, the gathered beings vanished.
Not by teleportation.
But by repositioning themselves within a greater structure of this realm.
They were situated in a special location within the Heavens, a sealed convergence point.
The Future Blessing Ceremony was not just symbolic.
It required drawing upon the energy of the entire isolated realm.
To reach that point.
To make contact.
And Hundun would act as the conductor.
Because, where there was Chaos.
There was Hundun.
The black-orange butterfly also departed, dissolving into streaks of light to fulfill its own role.
Now,only Yu Xuan and Hundun remained.
Then.
Light gathered beside Yu Xuan.
And she appeared.
Sheng Mu, the Dao Blessed Primordial Heaven and Earth Divine Spirit Tree.
She manifested in humanoid form, crowned with living leaves, her body draped in verdant layers that shimred like layered worlds.
Her presence felt calming.
She looked at Hundun.
Then at Yu Xuan.
"Everyone is ready," she said gently, her voice like wind.
"Let us begin."
Space shifted.
In the next instant, Hundun, Sheng Mu, and Yu Xuan stood above the pagoda.
The sky stretched infinitely around them.
Below, the structure beca a node within a far greater array.
Yu Xuan had a feeling that the entire realm was watching.
The great Tree shimred from both inside and outside.
The Future Blessing Ceremony had begun.
***
Beyond the Tree.
Outside the embrace of Sheng Mu.
Beyond its protective canopy.
The atmosphere was different.
There was no sky.
No stars.
No conventional void.
Everything that existed here was rejected by the Heavens.
Not destroyed.
Rejected.
Like foreign matter embedded in living flesh.
In that vast, lawless expanse stood a single small hut.
Yet it endured where even celestial constructs could not.
From a distance, the truth of this location revealed itself.
And only certain beings had ever perceived that truth.
The Absolutes.
Those equal to the ancient figures gathered within the Tree.
Or beings born here.
This place was the [Origin of Ti]
Not rely a river.
Not rely a flow.
But the axis.
The gate.
The convergence point from which infinite tilines could be accessed.
Every tiline that had ever existed within the Heavens.
Past and present held no hierarchy here.
Future did not precede outco.
Singularity and infinite possibility coexisted without contradiction.
This place did not dwell in the three states of ti.
It encompassed every conceivable state.
Every imagined branch.
Every collapsed probability.
This, was the strategic objective.
The invaders from beyond the Heavens had understood this long ago.
If one could control this location.
One could penetrate every corner of the Heavens.
They could rewrite inevitability.
Erase defeat before it occurred.
Since their arrival, they had poured imasurable power into conquering this point.
Yet they failed.
The Heaven and Earth Council had intervened.
They had been sealed.
Though so infiltrators had slipped into other regions.
The majority remained trapped here.
At the threshold.
At the Origin.
And then, the door of the hut creaked open.
A teenage girl stepped out.
She appeared ordinary.
Barefoot.
Simple clothes.
But the instant she erged.
The entire atmosphere shifted.
One by one, monstrous presences surfaced from the surrounding nothingness.
They did not descend from the sky.
The nothingness darkened.
Decay began spreading in as conceptual rot seeped into the edges of space, warping structure and distorting distance.
These presences solidified gradually.
Each one was grotesque in a different way.
And all of them.
Turned their attention toward the girl.
But she did not react.
Instead, she lifted her gaze.
Her eyes looked toward the distant place where the Sheng Mu shimred faintly within the sealed place.
More precisely.
She looked toward the disturbance near the [Origin of Ti].
And she smiled.
Brightly.
"Another chance has arrived," she said, almost cheerfully.
Her voice carried no malice.
Only anticipation.
She had sensed it.
The activation of a ceremony powerful enough to brush against the Origin.
In the past, those within the Tree had dared to make contact only a few tis.
Because, each attempt was dangerous.
That was precisely why this place had been sealed so tightly.
The invaders could not directly access it.
The Heaven and Earth Council had ensured that.
But contact was enough.
Each ti the Origin was touched, even indirectly, the barrier thinned ever so slightly.
The monstrous entities around her shifted restlessly waiting for her command.
They too felt the disturbance.
The girl folded her hands behind her back.
She had originally intended to wait.
To wait for Sheng Mu to weaken further.
To wait for the seal to naturally decay.
But now, another opportunity had presented itself.
And this ti.
She would be ready.
And when the mont ca, she would claim this place.
The Origin.
And through it.
Every tiline.
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