The Ancestor gently coughed after he spoke. The old man’s complexion was pale and his aura was weak. His small body currently looked so frail that a simple gust of the wind might knock him over.

Seeing his condition, a wave of guilt washed over Zongying.

The old man noticed this. With a smile on his face, he tapped her hand a couple of times to reassure her.

“There’s no need to be so hard on yourself all the time.”

The youthful-looking woman sighed before returning to the topic.

“Ancestor, you mentioned you can no longer see a figure?”

“Right. The shadow of that person is no longer there.” The old man nodded. “Either something has changed or that individual has already ascended.”

Zongying shook her head, “It can’t be the latter, Ascension would’ve caused a huge commotion and we haven’t seen any world phenomena since your last divination.”

“Then perhaps it is the former.” The old man said after another cough.

Although he was injured, he appeared quite calm and his expression remained kind and gentle. A warm smile constantly hang on his face that would make anyone feel at peace.

Zongying’s eyebrows pinched together upon hearing this. It seems they can no longer rely on divinations, but she wasn’t too affected by this. Despite its popularity of being one of the rarest abilities to exist, she had never found it reliable, for the future is always ever-changing.

Instead, she looked at the Ancestor worriedly.

This gentle-looking old man is the sole reason why the Mortal Desolate World was finally able to prevail over the Graha race centuries ago, and quite possibly the only person of that era left to still be alive. If anything were to happen to him…

As though he can read her thoughts, the old man laughed and said, “You don’t need to worry, child. I may not look like it, but I’m actually still young and healt- cough! cough!”

“…”

Cough! Cough!

“…”

Zongying bitterly smiled. She wouldn’t be surprised if he coughed out a lung at this second.

“Ancestor, since we can now confirm that there are other Chaos Tunnels out there, there isn’t a need for you to continuously stay here any longer.” She said.

Since there was more than one Chaos Tunnel, the Grahas can use any one of those to cross over and not necessarily the one at the Arcane Mountain.

Cough! Cough!

The old man quietly contemplated before shaking his head, “For now, let’s wait for those two experts to arrive first before making the decision.”

He lift his head towards the sky and smiled.

“They sound like interesting people, I look forward to meeting them.”

…

Cough! Cough! Cough!

"..."

"Ancestor, your robe is being dyed red from all your coughing..."

———————————————-

Three Months later.

With the appearance of the Universal Will, not once, but twice, the factions throughout Mortal Desolate have been on edge. But after seeing how calm and peaceful the world has been, they began to ease up.

During this time, Xiao Yueyin’s mood had only gotten worse after still seeing no sign of Ji Xian and Xia Lihua. Her eyes were much colder and indifferent than usual. With her presence alone, she would almost always successfully scare away the disciples when they crossed paths, keeping them and even the other Elders from approaching her.

Not only that, but perhaps somehow affected by her, even Zeng Shihao has been acting rather unhappy lately. He was even quicker to anger than usual, something that the people of the Sect didn’t even know was possible!

On one particular day, a couple of disciples were walking together and talking amongst themselves.

“What’s going on with the Combat Hall? Everyone there seems like they’re stepping on eggshells.”

“Oh, I hear the Dragon Saintess and the Hall Master are in a bad mood again so they’re all trying to be careful, lest they get punished for no good reason.”

“What! Again? I was planning to head over there later to pick up a new Divine Art, looks like I’ll have to wait now...”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Heh, you’re lucky I told you. I heard the Molten Saint tried to talk to Elder Yueyin two weeks ago and he ended up returning to the Blacksmith Hall with serious injuries."

“Wow, even the Molten Saint, Elder Hu Yeming got beaten up. He’s obsessed with Elder Yueyin, I guess he must’ve been trying to pursue her again."

"Yeah, and he picked a bad time..."

As they talked, suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud explosion reverberated throughout the Arcane Mountain! Shaking even the ground they're standing on!

“What the fu-“

“That's… it came from the Combat Hall!”

“Wait... what is that?"

"Oh no! Brace yourself!”

A powerful burst of wind violently struck these disciples like a cannon and sent them flying into the air! The one with the weaker cultivation base even spat out a mouthful of blood.

Following that, a shockwave blasted out in every direction of the mountain causing even further destruction!

This immediately alerted the Elders, Hall Masters, and even Sect Master!

The gale caused a humongous dust cloud that temporarily blocked out the sun. As it settles, some disciples who were unharmed by staying in their immortal caves cautiously stepped outside. Seeing the scene in front of them, they all gasped.

The trees were bent and some even snapped in half. Buildings here and there were completely demolished, and even the formation protecting the mountain showed itself. Usually, it was hidden!

Zongying appeared in the sky. Ignoring the destruction around her, she looked in the direction of the Combat Hall with a frown, looking a little worried.

Shortly after, some of the Hall Masters showed up one after another.

“Sect Master.”

After greeting her, they all turned and looked in the same direction with mixed feelings.

Among them, Elder Fu, the middle-aged man giving off a strong medicinal scent, sighed and said, “Yueyin is attempting to break through to the Ninth Life Destruction.”

None of them were particularly surprised about this. Xiao Yueyin had told them of her intention a month ago and they had already prepared themselves for this moment.

Although she expressed her confidence in succeeding, they can’t help but worry.

After all, throughout history, the number of people who had successfully completed the Ninefalls can be counted on two hands!

It’s simply too difficult!

————————-

In a certain area of the Sect Hall.

A handsome young man wearing a robe of blue and white was standing on a thick tree that was over sixty meters tall with his hands behind his back. He gave off a profound aura of someone in the Life Destruction realm.

This young man is the current generation Heaven Chosen of the Arcane Mountain, Xie Wen!

Currently, his hands were tightly clenched into a fist as he sullenly stared ahead.

“The difference between us is so big.”

Xiao Yueyin was the previous generation Heaven Chosen but she had long graduated from that title and became an Elder of the Sect.

Although Xie Wen's talent can be said to be the best of this generation, compared to Xiao Yueyin when she was his age, he was still far too lacking.

If she were to successfully break through into the Ninth Life Destruction, the gap between them will only become larger! He can't accept it!

But with this…

A talisman appeared in his hand and he stared at it excitingly.

With this… there’s hope for me to catch up.

The appearance of this talisman was a little odd. It didn’t have the usual mysterious scribble drawn on it, but rather, it had what looked to be a rune. A single complex-looking rune. It emitted an unnoticeable fluctuation that seems to be communicating with the Heaven and Earth, drawing in True Essence at a natural flow. Then, as though having absorbed enough Essence, the talisman gently glowed with a foggy light before being absorbed into Xie Wen’s hand.

His eyes sparkled as he felt its power. Ninefalls, he will complete the Nine Life Destruction as well, not with his Will, but with his soul!

A terrifying smile appeared on his face, causing his appearance to go from handsome to creepy.

Only I, Xie Wen, am worthy of standing beside the Dragon Saintess!

As he was looking forward to his limitless future, he wasn't aware that at a distance away, a figure was silently observing him.