Chapter 1175: A New Turn of Events!

Inside a cave abode on the back mountain of Tianji Mountain.

Xiao Dongxu sat with his hair completely disheveled and his robes in disarray. His tangled locks hung over a pair of dim, sunken eyes. He had not stepped foot outside in half a year.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, I've left the Fasting Pill outside for you."

A voice echoed from outside the cave abode. A disciple of Tianji Mountain set down a box of Fasting Pills and immediately left, not daring to step inside.

This was his fourth time delivering Fasting Pills here.

During this entire period, he had never once seen Fellow Daoist Xiao emerge.

The disciples on the mountain whispered endless speculations about him. The most common rumor claimed he was entering fire and falling into demons. The gossip was relentless, persisting even now.

Inside the cave abode, Xiao Dongxu sat with his head buried in his hands, slumped over his desk.

Countless discarded pages littered the floor, covered in a chaotic array of ancient characters. The pages furthest away bore mostly intact writing, but the closer they got to the desk, the more they were covered in frantic crossed-out scribbles and illegible inkblots.

Xiao Dongxu had hit a wall. He could feel how incredibly close he was—just a hair's breadth away—yet that final sliver of understanding remained entirely out of reach.

Because of this, he had driven himself to the brink over the past six months, leaving himself looking like a haggard ghost.

"Hah..."

A heavy sigh echoed from within the cave abode.

Even an eccentric genius like Xiao Dongxu could run out of patience.

Compared to how he was half a year ago, he had swung to the complete opposite extreme.

Back then, he had been obsessively dissecting Divine Abilities and Arts and Techniques. Now, he was genuinely on the verge of madness.

"Where exactly..."

"What am I missing..."

Xiao Dongxu muttered. With his head still resting on the desk, he dazedly opened his eyes.

Then, he suddenly froze.

His gaze fell upon a piece of paper pinned beneath his foot.

It was a discarded sheet, heavily smeared with ink.

Xiao Dongxu leaned down and picked up the paper bearing the ancient characters.

He held it up to his eyes to study it.

He had crossed out that cluster of ancient characters with his brush, but under that very stroke, one specific character seemed to reveal something unusual.

Xiao Dongxu brushed his fingers over it, suddenly feeling a spark of inspiration.

He pulled out a clean sheet of paper and copied the character onto it.

And then...

He added a single stroke to the character.

The moment the tip of his brush left the paper, that character suddenly pulled at the forces of yin and yang. A surge of life and death energy burst forth from the page.

Rustle, rustle!!

The countless papers scattered across the room instantly lifted into the air and swirled around him.

Xiao Dongxu's eyes lit up as the floating pages fluttered past his gaze one by one.

"So that's it!!"

"Hahahahaha!!"

"So that's how it works!"

Maniacal laughter tore from his throat.

The papers rustled loudly as they whipped past him.

Amidst the winding green mountains where the path seemed lost, a thousand sails suddenly pierced the mist!

His crazed laughter echoed from the cave abode on the back mountain. Half the disciples on Tianji Mountain heard the commotion.

Meditating by a nearby pool, the Fox Lord heard the laughter as well.

He opened his eyes, and in the next moment, his figure vanished from the spot.

He stepped into the cave abode.

Su Junhan beheld the sight of thousands of papers swirling through the air.

He stared at the scene, opening his mouth but unable to utter a single word.

Half a year of painstaking effort had culminated in a single moment of enlightenment.

Spotting the Fox Lord through the gaps in the swirling paper, Xiao Dongxu called out, "Fox Lord, I've figured it out! I've figured it out! Hahaha, I've finally figured it out!"

A smile spread across Su Junhan's face.

The man before him had relied solely on his own intellect and a single flash of inspiration to knock upon the gates of the Underworld and Yellow Springs.

His Dao began in books and returned to nature.

Xiao Dongxu raised his hand and beckoned. At this moment, the magic followed his will.

Rustle...

Thousands of pages merged into one. The ink faded away, transforming them into a single blank sheet of paper.

He tapped a finger at the empty air.

An ancient character surfaced on that final sheet of paper.

It was completely flawless, as if formed by nature itself!

When the entire text was complete, a resonant hum rang out!

The gates to the Underworld opened!

...

Within the Sand Sea.

Zhong Zhengyuan searched for a way out. The surroundings were vast and desolate, with wind and sand swirling violently around him.

He did not know how long he had been walking through this barren wasteland, but he still could not find the path he had taken to get here.

It seemed it truly was exactly as that Fellow Daoist had said—there was no turning back from this place.

But on this very day.

Zhong Zhengyuan suddenly sensed something unusual. The sandstorm ahead abruptly began to churn.

He halted his steps.

Squinting against the fierce yellow grit, Zhong Zhengyuan suddenly felt a surge of yang energy up ahead.

The wind and sand gathered in one spot, forming a massive vortex.

Zhong Zhengyuan stared at it, snapping back to his senses.

"A door..."

That abundant yang energy meant that what stood before him was the gate back to the living world.

Braving the wind and sand, Zhong Zhengyuan stepped right into it.

The moment he entered, the sandstorm scattered, leaving the area perfectly calm, as if nothing had ever happened.

...

When Zhong Zhengyuan opened his eyes again, he found himself standing inside a room.

A voice called out beside his ear.

"Mister Zhong!"

"Mister Zhong!!"

Zhong Zhengyuan gathered his wits and looked over.

He saw Xiao Dongxu. However, Xiao Dongxu's appearance was drastically different from before. With tangled hair, messy robes, and sunken, dark eyes, he looked just like a madman.

"Young Fellow Daoist Xiao..." Zhong Zhengyuan said.

As his spiritual energy recovered, color gradually returned to Zhong Zhengyuan's face.

His complexion grew ruddy, and his breathing slowly became deep and steady.

"Quickly, sit down and rest."

Xiao Dongxu supported him as he sat down.

Looking at Xiao Dongxu in disbelief, Zhong Zhengyuan asked, "How did you manage to do it...?"

Xiao Dongxu promptly explained the whole sequence of events.

After learning what had happened, Zhong Zhengyuan let out a long sigh. He patted Xiao Dongxu on the shoulder and said, "You've suffered."

But Xiao Dongxu shook his head, merely saying it was not a difficult task.

He had spent half a year agonizing over the Ancient Character Formation like a madman, but now, he brushed it all off lightly, claiming it was not difficult and he had not suffered.

Zhong Zhengyuan knew very well how grueling the process must have been. He told Xiao Dongxu, "I do not need to rest, but you definitely need a good sleep..."

Xiao Dongxu blanked for a moment before letting out a chuckle.

"I really should get some sleep."

...

Meanwhile, in the Underworld.

Manyue immediately sensed that the gate between the realms of yin and yang had been opened from the outside.

She was briefly taken aback.

"To think someone actually saw through the yin and yang of life and death and opened the gates to the Underworld..."

She found it quite unbelievable.

Mostly out of sheer curiosity, she did not intervene right away. Instead, she watched it all unfold, observing as Zhong Zhengyuan stepped into the vortex leading back to the living world.

This actually saved her some trouble. Manyue had been wondering how to send Zhong Zhengyuan out without him noticing, but it seemed there was no need to go through the hassle anymore.

Noticing Manyue acting out of the ordinary, the Demon Sovereign asked, "What is it?"

Manyue shook her head, choosing not to explain too much to him.

She was deeply curious about the cultivator who had opened this gate.

In all her memory, such a thing had never happened before. Never!

A sudden feeling washed over Manyue, bringing various possibilities to mind. Out of curiosity, or perhaps anticipation, she made a mental note of it, eager to see what heights this person would reach in the future.

Would this world experience another turn of events because of them?

How truly fascinating.