Chapter 167 Entering the Xuanxiang

Ji Xiang ascended into the Xuanxiang.

The shadow of the Wushi Wuzhong (Without Beginning Without End) Heavenly Lord was reflected from within the Xuanxiang. It appeared somewhat faint in that distant abyss, but precisely because of this, those who could see the Xuanxiang from the outside could clearly discern the Heavenly Lord's outline.

Seeing the Xuanxiang for the first time allows one to prove entry into the Grand Form realm.

Seeing the Xuanxiang again is something that can only happen during the Ascent to the Mysterious.

And the third phenomenon occurring at this time is the reflection of the Xuanxiang.

This is something that has never happened before in ancient times. No Grand Form Master has ever accomplished it. Until this moment, it was as if the "Genesis" of some new phenomenon was being pioneered.

If something has never appeared in the past, then it is a void and unknowable. But once it appears, at that instant, it has its own moment of Genesis, and it possesses a concrete image that can be described.

There is inherently nothing within the Xuanxiang. It is deep and desolate, the origin of all phenomena in the world. From the Xuanxiang emerges a wisp of ethereal thought, which causes countless dust motes to surge forth. The image of Genesis also appears from this moment, so that it can be found by the myriad beings born later, and can be drawn out.

"Xuanxiang! I am like a reflection projected by you!"

The Undying Immortal Shadow in the Undying Immortal Flower stood up, greatly shaken by this scene. His voice was desolate, gradually bringing up some long-ago memories:

"Once there was an 'I' who died in the Other Shore, annihilated by some Supreme Being. But that 'I' entrusted his last thought to this flower, merging into one, and was brought to this world."

"At that time, this world did not yet have much old time, and the reflected worlds were also different from each other, extremely far apart."

"But I don't know when, a kind of path was drawn down, and my thought awoke for the first time. Unable to speak, unable to think, only a living instinctual thought, sensed the path that appeared, and the person walking on that path made me feel very close."

"That is the path I should be walking. In the Other Shore, four hundred great *yan*, endless and inexhaustible years of time, from beginning to end, only one person has walked such a path, but the path he walks is only the remains of what I left behind. He calls himself myriad forms but cannot surpass me. I place no hope in him."

"The path of mastering 'Form' is the true ultimate truth beyond this world, but because I have a 'birth identity and origin', being 'transformed from someone's mouthful of vital energy', I have no way to draw out a path that can cultivate 'Form', because this origin cannot be erased!"

"I feel sorrow and anger in my heart. If it weren't for this uneradicable birth origin, I would be able to embark on the path of truly mastering Form, and walk out a path that is not bound."

"Someone came to bewitch me for this, hoping to obtain my power. I am willing to be bewitched by him, because that is my own wish."

The Undying Immortal Shadow's memories became increasingly distant, looking at the Wushi Wuzhong Heavenly Lord in that Xuanxiang.

"The Path of Genesis, the beginning of all 'beginnings' in the world, that is 'Form'! And the Xuanxiang is even before that!"

"No one is born with the Xuanxiang. It is hidden, invisible, and yet actually exists. I don't know who conceived and created it. It existed before the formation of the Dharmic Forms of all things."

And Ji Xiang, who had ascended into the Xuanxiang, said, "Are you a practitioner of the true Path of Genesis in some Other Shore? Your Form has reached the peak, making all things into a unified whole, but you have no way to transform the Grand Form Masters into it. This shows that your Dharma is far less powerful than you claim."

"Like the Tai Shang before, you utter astonishing words, claiming to be the source of all Daos and Dharmas, even the root of all roots of Dao. Are you the same kind of existence as the Tai Shang?"

"I am equal to the Tai Shang?"

The Undying Immortal Shadow choked on these words, and then a surge of anger soared into the sky:

"They are just some names! I am the first thing with substance in the world. The Form of all things originates from me. Their names can shine in the world because I have pioneered the way for them. How can I be equal to them!"

"The reason I can't transform Grand Form Masters like you is because you don't have your own origins! You are independent Forms, existences who have reached the extreme realm on the Path of Genesis, who have already set foot on the starting point within this level. Further up, even I don't know where you will go. You can resist me precisely because you have no origin!"

"This is the origin of my jealousy towards you!"

The Undying Immortal Shadow's words were full of resentment: "In these many old times, there have also been Grand Form Masters who have seen me, wanting to take away this flower that I am entrusted to, but they cannot do it. I cannot refine you into my body, but they also have no way to shake me."

"But, I have thought of another way. The Unified Whole, the Yuqing cultivators."

Ji Xiang's eyes flickered slightly. He said, "So that's it. In other old times, there were originally only cultivators of the Path of Genesis, and no so-called Yuqing cultivators."

"Just like the Taiqing cultivators, who are nothing more than derivatives randomly created by the Tai Shang here, are reflected paths, and the final path will return to the Dharma of the Tai Shang."

The Undying Immortal Shadow laughed: "Of course! The Tai Shang is a latecomer! Long before that, in many old times, I had cast the name of Yuqing, guiding those who first obtained the name of Yuqing, to obtain the Primordial Form!"

"Genesis descends, creating all things, so this Other Shore began to gradually prosper, and Grand Form Masters were constantly generated, and several Wuxiang realms were also born."

"You must be wondering, why a flower, which is not even as good as the Wuxiang realm, should promote the birth of so many transcendent existences, and what benefit it brings to me."

"There is a benefit!"

The Undying Immortal Shadow looked at Ji Xiang, or rather, the Xuanxiang itself. His long-cherished wish was about to be fulfilled at this moment. The Undying Immortal Shadow's voice was full of hope, as if he would never fail.

His Form can indeed overwhelm everything, completely different from the Nine Nether Heavenly Lord that Ji Xiang saw, and even from Grand Form Masters like himself.

And Ji Xiang also took over his words:

"It's the origin, isn't it?"

The birth of the Yuqing cultivators, the first Yuqing cultivator is bound to become a Grand Form Master, he derives all phenomena of the universe, and among all the subsequent Yuqing cultivators, there will inevitably appear someone like the Ancient Mister, who is responsible for assimilating everything, until he is so strong that he reaches the pinnacle, and the world comes to an end, then the first Yuqing cultivator can become a Grand Form Master, and then ascend to the mysterious.

And a person like the Ancient Mister, he will self-destruct in the old time, becoming nourishment for the next new time.

Or, forcibly break through the old time and become another Grand Form Master.

"In other words, all the old times could have avoided the situation of destruction, because you cast down the Yuqing." "It seems that Yuqing is just one of the paths in the Path of Genesis, and it was actually passed down by you. And the subsequent Grand Form Masters are all born from Yuqing, and a part of their origin Form is on your body."

The Undying Immortal Shadow made a rumbling, shaking sound: "Don't worry, these Forms have been integrated by me, into a unified whole, and have no impact on them. When they ascend to the mysterious, that origin has been cut off, so they can ascend to the mysterious. The reason I don't assimilate them is because at that time I didn't have the strength to assimilate and control them."

"Grand Form Masters are difficult to control. Of course, if they discover that there is still a source before they ascend to the mysterious, they can also cut it off themselves.... They can cut off the source and ascend to the mysterious autonomously."

"I am just using their part of the Form to get me closer to the Xuanxiang. Every time I get more of a Grand Form Master's 'residual Form', I will get closer to the Xuanxiang by one point."

"What I didn't expect was that you would be accepted by the Xuanxiang."

"Actively summoning the Xuanxiang is something that has never happened among the Grand Form Masters of the past. This proves that you have realized the priority of all things and stepped into the same level as me.... No, in terms of results, you have already 'manifested the body of true Dao', and in this level, you have gone further than I did in the past."

"Perhaps it is precisely because of this reason that you were not dragged into the realm of delusion by the Hunran Flower, you did not go mad, but instead went one step further. But this also means that you possess a part of what I lack, you are special!"

Speaking to this point, the Undying Immortal Shadow's words were already full of jealousy.

"Perhaps, the person waiting for the Yuqing path in the end is you. You are the thing that completes me, you have already reflected your own outline in the Xuanxiang. As long as I assimilate you, I can achieve the wish that I have never achieved since ancient times."

The Undying Immortal Shadow said this, but Ji Xiang did not say much, but took action to respond.

In the next moment, the Xuanxiang turned, and the deep and distant scenery expanded, without beginning or end, without boundaries. Ji Xiang's aura completely disappeared, leaving only the outline reflected in the Xuanxiang.

The Undying Immortal Shadow was stunned. He tried to respond. With the rise of his Hunran power, countless residual Forms of the Grand Form Masters who had been "guided" by him in the past were released by him.

These illusory forms of the Grand Form Masters twisted and merged with each other, each possessing the great power to turn the myriad phenomena of the universe.

"This is the supreme entity condensed from countless Forms in the world. As long as you have not reached the Heaven Above Heaven, you can't do anything about it, and you can only be crushed and assimilated by these countless Grand Form Masters."

"You were once a Yuqing cultivator, and I am your origin. Even if you cut off this origin now, I have already obtained a part of your residual Form. You can use the Wushi Wuzhong Heavenly Lord's holy name to obtain my Hunran power, and now I can also use your Wushi Wuzhong power to swallow you."

"No matter where you escape, even if you enter the Xuanxiang, I can now follow you and enter the Xuanxiang together!"

The Undying Immortal Shadow also exuded a distant scene, which was an illusion, just as he said before. His positioning of himself seemed to be a reflection of the Xuanxiang, with the help of Ji Xiang's Without Beginning Without End power, and the residual Forms of countless Grand Form Masters, he has finally emerged from his cocoon and can enter the Xuanxiang.

But Ji Xiang's next voice clearly descended:

"This is not escape."

"This is liquidation."

Ji Xiang obtained the Xuande, which is a level of returning to simplicity with all things, echoing the Hunran of the Undying Immortal Shadow, and also two forces that are essentially the same but have different manifested "phenomena".

And reflecting the Xuanxiang, Ji Xiang completely entered the depths of the Xuanxiang, reaching another realm different from the Wuxiang realm.

There are indeed many Paths of Genesis.

"Emperor of Forms! You must return to simplicity and abandon everything before the beginning."

Ji Xiang called out a name, and the Undying Immortal Shadow suddenly trembled. The name seemed to have some kind of suppressing power, awakening the distant origin in the Undying Immortal Shadow's body.

The uncontrollable change shocked the Undying Immortal Shadow, and he also used the Wushi Wuzhong power, trying to suppress that change to the endless past or future, but no matter how he suppressed it, that connection still existed, entangled with him from the distant era of Without Beginning Without End.

Vital energy, he felt as if he was turning back into a vital energy, his Hunran power was shaking, and the twisted residual Forms of those Grand Form Masters also began to tear each other apart, as if his Hunran power was collapsing, unable to continue to maintain the residual Forms of these Grand Form Masters.

"I don't need to return to simplicity, no matter why you suddenly learned my name! My intention is to come before all Forms, only in this way can I get rid of my origin!"

"If you want to get rid of the origin, there is only one way to return to simplicity, liquidate all the favors and disasters you have left behind, and transform you back into a light vital energy. You return from that vital energy again, and cut off your origin."

Ji Xiang's tone carried a bit of pity: "There is no other way. You have reached the extreme on this path. Even if you swallow and assimilate the Xuanxiang, into a unified whole, you can only take this path."

"Your will and thoughts will disappear, and the new you will start all over again, but the you at that time will not be the you now."

Just like the Tai Shang's thought seized Jiajing, the road ahead does exist, but the Undying Immortal Shadow is not enough to compete with the Xuanxiang, so even if he assimilates the Xuanxiang, he will eventually lose his own thoughts.

"You are just a Grand Form Master, who has been favored by the Xuanxiang, and you can speak wildly about the road ahead and talk about the Providence of Heaven!"

"I have waited for so long, and you tell me that if I want to cut off, I have to start all over again, and everything is a great emptiness. No one can accept it, even if it is true, let alone, I can also connect with the Xuanxiang. As long as I assimilate you and use the Wushi Wuzhong's thoughts to enlighten for a long time, there may not be a road ahead!"

Ji Xiang smiled: "As a seeker of the Dao, I sympathize with you, being bound by not being able to cut off your own origin. In contrast, I who have cut off the origin, and even the other Grand Form Masters, should all feel fortunate for this. Whether we are favored by the Heaven Above Heaven, or favored by the Xuanxiang, or have our own opportunities, we have reached this point."

"But also as a seeker of the Dao, you want to kill me to open up your own road, and I cannot agree either."

"Because I also have a road ahead. The principles of the world are nothing more than this. I cannot be willing to sacrifice for you just because you are a firm seeker of the Dao. This is because different Daos do not conspire together. But I still sympathize with you, so after I liquidate you, I will again revert your vital energy and open up the Dao for you."

"You are the creator of Yuqing, and I am the terminator of the Yuqing path. You are the Emperor of Forms, unified with all phenomena, and I have broken through the Grand Form, not ascending to the mysterious, but returning to the mysterious, then entering the realm of 'harmony with the Dao'....."

"Even before the Emperor of Forms."