160: Zhang Shentong has achieved great success!

The moment the sprout broke through the skin, the withered immortal foundation within the Purple Mansion seemed to be infused with a Soul.

The originally deathly silent, grey space suddenly gained a breathtaking touch of emerald green.

However, before Gu Changsheng could feel the joy of this Rebirth, an indescribable, immense terror descended without warning.

The third trial of the Purple Mansion: Ignorance.

It was as if someone had struck him heavily on the back of the head with a club, or as if his Soul had been forcibly stuffed into an airtight iron canister.

Sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste—his five senses were completely stripped away in an instant.

Gu Changsheng felt himself falling infinitely.

All around was absolute darkness, absolute nothingness.

No concept of time, no boundaries of space, only endless loneliness.

This loneliness was enough to make any Cultivator with an unsteady mind go mad in an instant.

"You jinx, why haven't you died yet!"

"Give me back my life..."

"Why didn't you save me!"

"Gu Changsheng! You will die a horrible death!"

"Give me back my Storage Pouch!"

In the darkness, countless distorted faces abruptly emerged.

There was his aunt, Lady Li, who had mistreated him in the Mine Slave Camp, her hair disheveled as she reached for his throat.

There was the demonic Cultivator whose throat he had slit with a sword in the valley, black blood gushing from his severed leg as he bared his fangs to bite his Divine Soul.

And there was the Withered Bone Daoist whom he had schemed against in the Chaotic Star Sea, now transformed into a vengeful ghost, his skeletal claws lunging fiercely at the crown of his head.

Ten Thousand Ghosts Devouring the Soul.

Every bite brought an agonizing pain that pierced straight through the Soul.

Gu Changsheng's Divine Soul tottered in this torrent, as if it would be torn to shreds in the next moment.

But he did not move.

In the deepest part of that Sea of Consciousness, a tiny spark of spiritual light remained unextinguished, watching everything coldly.

"A bunch of trash."

Not even a ripple of emotion arose in Gu Changsheng's heart.

"When you were alive, you were either used by me or killed by me. Which one of you wasn't my defeated opponent?"

Lady Li's ghostly claws gripped his neck, the sensation of suffocation so real it was despair-inducing.

Gu Changsheng only looked coldly at that hideous face.

"You think you can turn the world upside down just because you died and became this ghostly mess?"

"As long as I do not acknowledge you, you are but illusions."

"Begone."

As that single word was uttered, it resounded like spring thunder.

His Divine Soul, which had been bitten until it was riddled with holes, suddenly erupted with a blinding azure light.

Absolute rationality forged the hardest Dao Heart.

Under his nearly cold gaze, those vengeful ghosts let out shrill screams and melted away instantly, like snow under a scorching sun.

The darkness shattered.

Next came a blinding white light.

The fourth trial of the Purple Mansion: Infinite Illusions.

Gu Changsheng snapped his eyes open.

He found himself sitting upon a throne that towered into the clouds.

Beneath his feet, a sea of clouds churned; above his head, the purple Qi came from the east.

The dark and damp Myriad Corpse Pit was long gone, replaced by a majestic and magnificent immortal palace.

" congratulate Old Ancestor for attaining the Golden Core and living as long as the heavens!"

A mountain-shaking roar of worship rose from below.

Gu Changsheng looked down.

He saw the once-unrivaled Great True Man You Quan kneeling on the clouds like an old dog, his body trembling, not daring to lift his head.

And the mysterious Great Immortal Master who had previously crushed Longevity Island with a single finger was also tied up, kneeling aside to await his sentence.

With just a thought, Gu Changsheng could turn them into ashes.

This pleasure of controlling everything and being the sole supreme was far too real.

So real that even the circulation of magic power and the comprehension of Laws within his body were flawless.

"Is this the power of a Golden Core True Lord?"

Gu Changsheng raised his hand. In his palm, a Golden Core spun rapidly, emitting an aura of immortality.

If he wished, he could stay here forever.

To be the Dominator of this world, revered by millions, no longer needing to hide in dark corners like a rat to scheme.

How wonderful.

How safe.

A slow smile spread across the corners of Gu Changsheng's mouth.

He stood up, his purple-gold Daoist robe fluttering in the wind, reflecting a dazzling light under the sun.

"No."

That smile suddenly froze.

Gu Changsheng looked down at the extremely ornate, eye-blindingly bright Daoist robe he was wearing.

"Too bright."

He shook his head, the daze in his eyes vanishing instantly, replaced by a familiar, bone-deep vigilance.

"I, Gu Changsheng, would never wear such reflective clothes in this life."

"Even less would I stand on such a drafty, unobstructed high place where everyone can see my back."

"This does not conform to my Dao."

"My Dao is to hide."

"It is to hide behind the scenes even if I am invincible in the world, letting others take the heat."

Before he finished speaking.

The azure light in Gu Changsheng's eyes surged. It was the remaining medicinal power of the wisdom bodhi fruit, transforming into an invisible Sword of Wisdom.

"Shatter!"

He pointed his fingers like a sword and slashed fiercely at the scene of prosperity and the worship of ten thousand immortals.

Crack.

A massive rift tore across the sky.

The kneeling True Man You Quan, the majestic immortal palace, and the immortal Golden Core all shattered like reflections in water or a moon in a mirror.

All the clamor and glory turned to ashes under this single strike.

Boom!

A thunderous roar sounded, as if the world was being created anew.

Gu Changsheng's consciousness returned to his body.

Deep within the Ancestral Aperture at his brow, the long-closed gates of the Purple Mansion burst open at this moment.

A vast, sea-like power of Divine Sense surged out from that grey space, instantly washing through his entire body.

The Lifespan Lock was broken.

His original limit of three hundred and fifty years surged wildly at this moment, only stopping once it reached six hundred years.

In the center of the Purple Mansion space.

That withered wood immortal foundation finally ceased all its changes.

It was only three feet tall, its entire body a purple-grey color that was neither metal nor wood, with only a touch of tender green at the top emitting vibrant life.

One side withered, one side flourishing; life and death in circulation.

An extremely obscure piece of information flowed along the immortal foundation into Gu Changsheng's Sea of Consciousness.

Technique Divine Ability—Withered Meets Spring.

Gu Changsheng closed his eyes to sense it. A moment later, he snapped his eyes open, his pupils filled with uncontrollable ecstasy.

"Good! What a fine Withered Wood Meets Spring!"

This Divine Ability was neither for attack nor defense.

Instead, it was an extremely bizarre, even somewhat shameless, life-saving technique.

[Effect: When a Cultivator's lifespan is near its end or they suffer a fatal injury, they can disperse their cultivation and flesh to transform into a piece of withered wood, escaping with their Divine Soul and a speck of true spirit into the Great Void. When the time is ripe, they can live another life.]

Although cultivation would drop slightly after Rebirth and there would be a long period of weakness.

This was equivalent to having an extra life!

In this Cultivation World where human life is as cheap as grass, no matter how strong an attack is, one fears being backstabbed; no matter how high the defense, one fears being surrounded.

Only this kind of "reload and restart" method is the true supreme Dao.

"With this technique, I truly have the capital to place my pieces in this world."

Gu Changsheng took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

He knew now was not the time for celebration.

This was the Corpse Yin Sect.

Right under the nose of True Man You Quan.

Although the commotion from the Breakthrough to the Purple Mansion just now was suppressed by the Seal, the Dao rhyme originating from the leap in life level was very difficult to completely hide.

Three thousand feet above.

The inner Sect of the Corpse Yin Sect, the Floating Black Palace.

True Man You Quan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open.

Two purple-black divine lights, like two sharp swords, pierced straight into the depths of the earth.

"Something's not right."

True Man You Quan stood up, his brows locked in a frown.

That moment of fluctuation just now was too "clean."

If the Nine Nether Corpse King below were evolving, it should be a torrential surge of corpse Qi, violent and disordered, full of chaos and madness.

But that aura just now, though it vanished in a flash, carried a sense of Perfection, transparency, and even a hint of holiness.

That was the aura of the "Dao."

How could a zombie that only knew how to kill and devour comprehend the Dao?

"Someone is down there."

True Man You Quan's expression instantly darkened.

He thought of the taiyi green wood heart that had mysteriously vanished three months ago, and of that mysterious ant he had "erased" with a finger.

"Good methods."

"To actually be able to use the Death Qi of the Myriad Corpse Pit under my very nose to perform that transformation between withered and flourishing."

"Is he treating me as a Dao-Protecting Boy?"

A bone-chilling killing intent erupted from True Man You Quan, and the temperature inside the entire hall instantly dropped to the freezing point.

He took a step forward, his figure disappearing directly from the hall.

At the same time.

At the bottom of the Myriad Corpse Pit.

Gu Changsheng had just stabilized his Realm and hadn't even had time to familiarize himself with his surging power when the System panel in his Sea of Consciousness began to pop up frantically, the crimson font appearing as if it were dripping blood.

[Shock - Conflict]

[Special Grade Intelligence Refreshed!]

[Target: True Man You Quan (Purple Mansion Late Stage).]

[Status: Extremely Suspicious.]

[Description: The "Perfection" of the Spiritual Qi conversion underground has exposed a flaw. True Man You Quan has overturned the "corpse king evolution" hypothesis and determined that an external enemy has invaded or a Sect traitor is using the area to Cultivate.]

[Warning! Warning!]

[True Man You Quan's true body has left the palace and is diving down using the Earth Escape Divine Ability. He is expected to arrive at the bottom of the Myriad Corpse Pit in thirty breaths!]

Thirty breaths!

A Purple Mansion Late Stage old monster personally coming down to catch him.

If he were cornered here, even if he had just mastered the Divine Ability Withered Meets Spring, he would be beaten until not even dregs remained and forced to reload and restart.

Moreover, restarting cultivation immediately after a Breakthrough would surely destroy his Foundation, leaving no hope for the Great Dao.

"Damn it, this old ghost reacts too fast."