382: If needed in the future, I will do my utmost to help.

At that moment, the figure that had defeated him, yet seemed to have only done a trivial matter and was about to turn and leave, paused slightly.

Ling Xi did not look back. A cold and calm voice transmission, which only Wang Zhan himself could hear, rang out directly in the depths of his chaotic and collapsing mind:

"The Heavenly Azure Sacred Body is a blessing, but also a shackle."

This voice carried no emotion, yet it was like a basin of ice water, extinguishing the frantic flames in his heart and causing his struggling movements to suddenly halt.

"Your defeat was not in Realm, nor in Battle Intent," the voice continued, every word clear and pointing directly to the Origin.

"But in the Dao!"

The voice transmission paused slightly, as if having a clear understanding of his state, before continuing with a hint of recognition in its tone.

"Within the Imperial Mausoleum, you comprehended the Dao before the stone wall, realizing the Concepts of 'inclusion, bearing, and transformation,' intending to use the Sacred Body as the Foundation to absorb the essence of the myriad Daos and walk a path that transcends yourself..."

"This thought is quite good. It broke through a layer of fog in the cultivation of the Sacred Body and saw the scenery further away. That is the embryonic form of your own Dao."

This casual affirmation caused a massive wave to surge in Wang Zhan's heart!

She actually knew even his most secret process of Dao comprehension?!

However, the words that followed made him feel even more bone-chilling cold and ashamed than the previous defeat.

"But, it is only an embryonic form." Ling Xi's voice returned to its usual flatness, yet every word pierced his heart.

"You speak of inclusion and bearing, but in that punch just now, besides the power of the Sacred Body pushed to the limit and crude Laws, where was the Dao of inclusion you comprehended? Where was the principle of bearing?"

"Your fist was intended for sorrowful unyieldingness, but when you struck, was what you held in your mind the Concept, or were you looking at how this Sacred Body's power would crush everything?"

"Your Dao, your techniques, and your will, in the moment of life and death, victory or defeat, still subconsciously became subordinates to the power of the Sacred Body!"

"You comprehended the Dao, but you never used it."

"Your heart and your Dao are still trapped within your body, blinded by its power, never truly transcending."

"You have merely trained a more powerful mortal body to the Saint Realm and treated the occasional glimpse of Dao Rhyme as an ornament."

The voice transmission paused here. The final sentence split a sliver of light in his despair and exploded in Wang Zhan's dead heart:

"What you need to do is truly take the Body as the Seed, the body as the Foundation, and the Dao as the soul."

"Your opponent has never been any Prodigy of the same generation."

"But rather your dependence on and submission to that glorious cage within your body called the Heavenly Azure Sacred Body."

"When you can use your comprehended Dao of inclusion to truly master this Heavenly Azure power, rather than being swayed by its power, only then will you have truly stepped onto the path that belongs to you, Wang Zhan."

"For this step, you still have a long way to go."

The voice fell, and the transmission was cut off.

Wang Zhan froze completely, lying in the ruins as if struck by five bolts of lightning, his very thoughts coming to a standstill.

Ling Xi's words were sharper, colder, and more real than the finger that had defeated him.

Every word was like a precise scalpel, dissecting his self-righteous results of Dao comprehension and revealing the deep-seated dependence on the Sacred Body's power that remained unchanged within.

She affirmed his Comprehension Ability but completely negated his current practice!

She pointed out the essence of his problem and even pointed out a vague but incredibly correct direction for him!

This feeling of being completely seen through, with even the slightest hint of luck in his heart being ruthlessly punctured, made him feel more ashamed than mere failure, yet it also brought a nearly cruel clarity.

Past glories, the praise of others, and the honor of the Sacred Body melted away like snow under the sun at this moment, revealing the hollow Foundation underneath that had been ignored for a long time.

He had always stood at the peak of the mountain that was the Sacred Body, but he had never thought that perhaps he had never truly owned this mountain.

Ling Xi's finger not only defeated his Sacred Body's power but was also like a key that pierced through the cage of his self-perception.

Confusion, pain, and shame still existed, but on the ruins of those emotions, a faint yet incredibly clear fire of realization began to burn.

The madness and emptiness in his eyes quickly receded, replaced by a complex expression mixed with extreme pain and a kind of liberation, which eventually turned into a deep calm.

Struggling, he used his intact left hand to support his broken body and, with difficulty but extraordinary determination, slowly stood up under the gaze of countless suspicious and uncertain eyes.

Then, he made a move that no one expected—

Facing the direction where Ling Xi had just stood, ignoring his twisted right arm and his overall wretched state, he bowed deeply and solemnly.

"I have received your kindness today. If there is a need in the future, I will help with all my might!!!"

A firm voice reached Ling Xi's ears. Ling Xi's pace paused slightly, and then she moved forward again, returning to her Senior Brother's side.

This bow lasted for three breaths.

There were no words, but the meaning contained within caused everyone who saw this scene to be deeply shaken.

Was it an admission of defeat, a thank you, or...?

On the wasteland, there was an uproar!

"What is Wang Zhan doing?!"

"To whom is he bowing?!"

"Could it be that the Azure Rakshasa said something to him in secret just now?"

"What does this bow mean? A complete submission? Or..."

The members of the Wang Family were even more suspicious and uncertain. The expression of the Wang Family Head shifted, and he wanted to step forward, but he was blocked by the aura on Wang Zhan that was calm to the extreme and also resolute to the extreme.

After bowing, Wang Zhan straightened up. He didn't even look at his own clansmen, but only used his left hand to slowly and laboriously take out a spare robe from his Magic Treasure and draped it over himself, covering his body full of wounds.

He took one last look in Ling Xi's direction, his eyes complex, eventually returning to a deep, pool-like silence.

Then, he turned around and walked alone into the depths of the wasteland, one step at a time, treading on the earth full of scorched soil and cracks.

His back actually had a bit of solitary resolve, yet it also carried an indescribable uprightness like a new life.

On the wasteland, countless gazes followed that receding figure. Whether enemy or friend, a strong premonition rose in everyone's heart simultaneously.

When Wang Zhan returns again... he will surely shake the world!

For a moment, all the Prodigies fell silent.

Outside the Emperors Tomb, the setting sun was like blood, and a silent, heavy sense of oppression weighed heavily on everyone's heart.

Wang Zhan.

This name was once again branded in everyone's heart today in the most tragic and shocking way.

Counting his trajectory during this period, he first lost to the Battle Asura Xiao Ruobai, then to the Sword White Robe Fang Hanyu, and was even in a wretched state at the hands of Wang Xiaopang.

He was defeated again and again, becoming a footnote to the glory of others time and again.

However, it was such a person who lost repeatedly, yet preceded all the Prodigies of the same generation present, boldly triggering the Chaos Heavenly Tribulation before the Imperial Mausoleum and becoming a Saint on the spot in full view of everyone!

And those Prodigies who were once as famous as him or even thought they were not weaker than him, such as the Jiang Family Divine King Body, the Great Zhou Crown Prince, Yaochi's Su Qingyuan, Heavenly Secret Pavilion's Xing Lan, and so on.

At this moment, most of them were still lingering at the Peak King Realm, bitterly knocking on the door of the Saint Realm.

Even more terrifying was that today's defeat, which could be called destructive, not only failed to completely crush him but instead, like a most cruel fire of Nirvana, seemed as if it would bring him an unimaginable and more thorough transformation!

"The more he fights, the more he loses; the more he loses, the stronger he becomes..."

In the crowd, someone whispered these eight words, speaking the complex and difficult-to-describe feelings in everyone's heart.