Chen Xun smiled warmly, his aura as gentle as a spring breeze—an unusual sight in the War Realm.

On the shore:

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“Moo!”

Black Ox let out a loud bellow, preparing to leap through the air toward Chen Xun. It didn’t care about Chen Xun’s cultivation level—whether he was a mortal or an almighty powerhouse, he was forever its big brother!

“Old Ox.”

“Moo?!”

Black Ox paused mid-air, stunned.

“Don’t come over. Let me have a moment of peace. I promise you’ll have something to enjoy later!”

“Moo moo!”

“Huh?!”

Xiao Chi, standing at the front of Brother Crane, widened his eyes. ‘Something to enjoy?’ Wasn’t that a sign they were about to get punished?

Black Ox waved its hoof, signaling it understood, and returned to Brother Crane’s side, keeping its gaze fixed on Chen Xun in the distance.

Chen Xun calmed his breath, sitting cross-legged in the air, still processing everything that had transpired.

He was observing his internal state. He had expanded his body’s apertures to 160—double the limit for a Nascent Soul stage body cultivator. The immense energy from the tribulation had left him no choice but to absorb it.

The vital energy coursing through Chen Xun’s apertures moved rapidly, shimmering as it flowed, with a power as vast as a dragon’s. A single punch could shatter mountains.

Even if a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator confronted him now, Chen Xun could knock the Nascent Soul out of their body with one strike, shattering their physical form.

The most intriguing aspect was that his Nascent Souls had solidified into tangible Primordial Spirits. These could leave his body at will, fighting enemies independently until his Five Elements energy was depleted.

With six of himself in battle, his current power was such that he wasn’t worried about anyone in Da Li being able to stop him. The issue with the Yu family would soon be resolved…

His eyes turned cold at the thought. With a wave of his hand, a massive tombstone, honed over time, appeared on the ground—a memorial for Long Guan Zi!

On the ship at the shore:

Black Ox and Xiao Chi both flinched as they watched the enormous tombstone materialize out of nowhere. They exchanged a silent glance.

Despite Chen Xun’s kind nature, he truly held grudges. The faint yet terrifying killing intent indicated that someone was bound for disaster.

Chen Xun exhaled deeply, his gaze turning calm once more.

He had finally broken the shackles of his immortality points, enhancing his body’s attributes to an overwhelming degree.

His current immortality points: Strength 200, Speed 200, Vital Essence 200, Mana 200, Defense 200.

With the apertures and the boost from the 200 defense points, aside from heavenly tribulations, he doubted any Deity Transformation cultivator could breach his defenses!

His speed had also become terrifying. Combining body cultivation and movement techniques, he moved like a flash of lightning—over 200 times faster than an ordinary Deity Transformation cultivator, even in out-of-body combat!

As long as the energy of the Five Elements was abundant, he could continuously augment his power, each attribute supporting the others in perfect harmony.

Strength needed no explanation. One punch could obliterate a Nascent Soul cultivator without fancy spells—an embodiment of brutal force that showcased the violent aesthetics of cultivation.

His Vital Essence allowed him to accelerate the growth of spiritual herbs—equivalent to 200 months’ growth in a single day, amounting to 6,083 years per year.

Once Black Ox broke through, they could cultivate celestial herbs thousands of years old annually. The future of their cultivation path was promising, and they could proceed steadily.

“Heh, this is getting interesting.”

Chen Xun couldn’t help but chuckle, feeling excited for the future. “Even though I’ve just entered the Deity Transformation stage, even a mid-stage cultivator might not stand a chance against me.”

His eyes softened as he turned his focus to his divine apertures. With the breakthrough, he found them the most fascinating aspect.

The mountain-splitting strike he unleashed earlier was to test if slaying corrupted beings would still enhance his spiritual sense, and it didn’t disappoint. Although the increase was minor, his divine apertures continued to grow!

It seemed that the development of his divine apertures didn’t rely on any cultivation technique and had become independent of his cultivation level.

Currently, without a Deity Transformation technique, his progress was limited to consolidating his base.

However, with endless corrupted beings around, he planned to push his limits and see how far he could advance!

Afterward, he intended to return to the Heaven’s End Ravine to collect more Extinguishing Spirit Stones, using them to activate new divine apertures—without being overly greedy, of course.

Several small notebooks floated in the air as he started sketching.

A Deity Transformation cultivator could multitask with ease, and his thoughts flowed rapidly. Cultivation truly opened up the mind, and the wisdom of ancient sages was proven true.

“Damn it, Old Ox, my intellect now is beyond your imagination.”

Chen Xun smirked, his eyes glinting with insight as his understanding grew clearer. “It seems that the Deity Transformation realm is the true beginning for cultivators to explore the mysteries of heaven and earth.”

He felt the essence of the world, like its very skeleton, and comprehended the might of the heavens—the mountains, rivers, and all were filled with this energy.

Deity Transformation cultivators used spiritual energy as a medium to harness this power, commanding immense destructive force.

However, he had always used the energy of the Five Elements as his medium, combined with his system’s mana-enhanced techniques to draw upon this energy.

Now, his Star Fall technique was a true celestial phenomenon, capable of annihilating everything.

If he unleashed it without hesitation, even the Qian Nation could be wiped off the map with a flick of his hand.

Chen Xun shivered at the thought, realizing how terrifying a cultivator could be.

The future grand era would likely see cultivators surpassing the Deity Transformation stage, their numbers unknown. It was essential to proceed with caution, staying humble and discreet.

“The heart demon tribulation… the memories of ‘Chen Xun’ have faded like smoke, confirming it was all a simulation.”

Chen Xun furrowed his brow as he filled the notebook with words. “Why wasn’t Xiao Chi present there? Is the effect of the heart demon tribulation truly that terrifying?”

He had assumed that the heart demon would recreate his past to entrap him, aiming to destroy his Dao heart.

But he wasn’t like other cultivators; he had never taken the heart demon tribulation seriously. He thought it would be like the mind-refining trial, something he could casually observe and overcome.

Or perhaps he expected a version of himself gone rogue, battling it out, both mentally and physically, until he unlocked his potential with a furious roar.

However, all his precautions proved wrong. The heart demon tribulation pulled him in completely, creating a new world and characters.

Strangely, it wasn’t his past that was recreated, but one of countless future possibilities deduced by the heart demon!

They weren’t trying to harm him; they simply urged him to return as if everything was for his own good.

The harsh reality of the cultivation world was clear: heart demons didn’t emerge at a specific stage to be slain and then disappear. They intended to stay, influencing one’s immortality silently—an insidious and terrifying realization that left Chen Xun wary.

“Brother Crane is female? Impossible. Trees don’t have genders. These heart demons are messing around. After all, no one can see the future.”

Chen Xun shook his head, chuckling as he gazed at the black-and-white leaves on the shore. “No matter what form you take in the future, you’ll always be my brother.”

A hint of emotion flashed across his face as he thought about what would happen if it took a male form. He knew he’d have to give proper guidance, educating and nurturing it to prevent it from straying.

It certainly wouldn’t be as lenient as he had been with the other three—rules would be stricter to keep things on track.

“Yes… that’s the way it should be.” Chen Xun nodded to himself, slowly shifting his gaze away. “I’ll personally mentor this one; Old Ox and Xiao Chi can’t interfere.”

*Rustle, rustle.*

On the shore, the Crane Spirit Five Elements Tree began to sway wildly, causing Black Ox and Xiao Chi to look up, puzzled. What was going on? There was no more lightning storm.