He paused, looking back at the towering Divine Body behind him. It was stalled at an altitude of ninety thousand feet, repelled by the Law and unable to advance a single inch.
The matter here was not yet fully settled.
This Lingma Mountain God had lost its divine authority, but its physical form—a rocky shell nourished by the Earth Veins for ten thousand years, one that had withstood the frenzied bombardment of three Foundation Establishment Evil Gods without falling—was a true treasure of heaven and earth.
To abandon it to the void, allowing it to crumble into Annihilation along with the Cyan Nether Realm, would be an egregious waste. It would also be a betrayal of the bond they had forged fighting side-by-side.
"Land God."
Chu Bai called out softly to the silent rock giant.
"I am here."
From deep within the Divine Body, a faint yet reverent ripple of Divine Thought immediately responded. After their flight from death, the Land God’s awe for Chu Bai was bone-deep. He had come to see him as his only anchor in these apocalyptic times.
Chu Bai watched as blades of void-wind peeled away the surface of the Divine Body, layer by layer. His tone was calm as he spoke.
"This realm is about to collapse, and the void is merciless. This Mountain God Dharma Body is the last trace of your Commanding Officer. If left here, it will turn to dust in a matter of minutes."
"I intend to bring it back to the living world. Are you willing to leave with me?"
After a brief silence, the old voice returned, choked and trembling.
"My Commanding Officer is gone. I should have perished with this realm... To think that you, Lord Envoy, would not forsake me and are willing to preserve my master’s Dharma Body... This is a blessing from the heavens. I... I offer you my deepest thanks, Lord Envoy!"
"Good."
Chu Bai gave a slight nod and said no more.
He raised his right hand, palm facing up. Inside his Dantian, the newly forged [Circulation Wheel] Dao Foundation rumbled to life.
The Five-Colored Divine Light erupted once more, not for attack or defense, but to form an invisible furnace.
At the same time, Chu Bai pushed the overwhelmingly powerful conversion ability of his [Nourishing and Exquisite] Fate Chart to its absolute limit.
"Refine!"
With Chu Bai’s sharp cry, the Five-Colored Divine Fire instantly enveloped the entire thousand-foot-tall shell of the Mountain God.
RUMBLE—
Before the utterly horrified eyes of the thousands of Cultivators on the Celestial Ladder, the behemoth that had just been protecting them began to visibly collapse and compress.
The once-hard Dark Gold rock melted into flowing lava under the heat of the Five Elements Divine Fire. All impurities were burned away, leaving only the purest essence of the Earth Veins.
"A thousand feet..."
"Five hundred feet..."
The Divine Body thundered, as if a great mountain were undergoing its final metamorphosis.
"Three hundred feet... one hundred feet..."
As its volume shrank, the Earth Element aura it radiated didn’t weaken. Instead, it grew heavier and more condensed, to the point that the surrounding space began to emit faint cracks, unable to withstand the sheer mass.
Finally, as the last Spell was cast...
The mountain-like giant vanished completely.
In its place, a dark-yellow, fist-sized Square Seal hovered above Chu Bai’s palm.
The Seal was an ancient, earthy yellow. Its handle was a miniature replica of a Taiyue Mountain peak, and its face was naturally etched with intricate Divine Patterns of the Earth Veins. It emanated a terrifying weight, heavy enough to hold down rivers.
[Mountain God Seal]
Chu Bai beckoned, and the Square Seal slowly descended.
The moment it landed in his palm, Chu Bai’s arm plunged downward, and the golden tier of the Celestial Ladder beneath his feet let out a muffled THUD.
’So heavy!’
A flash of delight appeared in Chu Bai’s eyes. ’This isn’t just some rock; it’s an entire mountain, compressed to the extreme!’
’It’s not just an incredibly precious material for Artifact Refining, it’s also a ready-made heavy weapon.’
’In the future, even without any fancy Magic Techniques, just tossing this thing at someone... I doubt many Foundation Establishment Cultivators could take the hit.’
"Away."
With a flick of his wrist, Chu Bai stored the Mountain God Seal—which now carried the last of a world’s Earth Veins—into his sleeve.
Just as he was about to step through the Light Gate into the living world, at the very last moment when everyone assumed he would leave, Chu Bai stopped.
With his back to the radiant Life Gate that led to the world of Great Zhou, he slowly turned around.
His eyes, which reflected five-colored star-wheels, were devoid of all emotion. He gazed down upon the three figures below, who were struggling frantically upward against the crushing pressure of the Celestial Ladder.
’Run?’
Hearing the roars from below, a faint, detached smile touched Chu Bai’s lips. He shook his head gently, as if mocking himself, or perhaps simply stating a fact.
"Before, I truly had no choice but to run."
"But now... I have established my Dao Foundation, refined a mountain into a Seal, and wield a mighty Artifact brimming with immense power..." Chu Bai’s voice was calm, yet it echoed like rolling thunder across the Celestial Ladder.
"Since you’ve all come this far... let us fight."
Below, the three Divine Spirits were seeing red.
With the utter collapse of the Cyan Nether Realm, they had lost the very ground that sustained them. If they could not reclaim the Heaven and Earth Origin that Chu Bai had stolen, they would be annihilated along with this world.
This was the last, desperate struggle of a cornered beast.
"Give it back! Give me back the Origin!"
The [Beastkeeping Commissioner] was at the very front, its sinister face twisted into an unrecognizable mask of fury. Its usual lofty arrogance was long gone.
Fueled by its desperate expenditure of Divine Power, the Bone Whip in its hands transformed into thousands of hissing vipers that defied the immense pressure of the Celestial Ladder and surged madly toward Chu Bai.
"Annoying."
Standing high above, Chu Bai simply raised his right hand. The newly refined, dark-yellow [Mountain God Seal] in his palm trembled slightly.
"Go."
There were no flashy Magic Techniques, no complex maneuvers—only a pure, ultimate... smash!

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