Ziling Sect. Thick clouds and mist curled around the sect, and purple energy rose above it, emanating boundless auspiciousness. As days went by, the Ziling Sect started looking more and more like a super organization.
Many new buildings had been constructed in the Buried Monarch Mountain Range. The human traffic in the area was also constantly increasing. Apart from new living spaces, most of the new buildings were cultivation spaces. In an era of chaos, it was extremely rare to see a place so prosperous.
After the Guardians Guild disqualified Xiang Shaoyun's candidacy for the young guild master position, his reputation had gone up, not dropped. That was because the Ziling Sect had conquered the entire Western Desert apart from the zombie territory.
Those who had submitted to the Ziling Sect had not been affected by the Guardians Guild's propaganda as the sect had put in place a series of policies to benefit the masses.
Firstly, they offered subsidies to the impoverished mortals. Secondly, they encouraged the children of the many provinces to join the different local organizations, allowing them to step on the path of cultivation. Thirdly, they had taken out some rare saint-grade and god-grade materials to auction or sell off to indirectly strengthen their many subordinate organizations.
Thus, the subordinate organizations were very happy with the Ziling Sect's rule. The Ziling Sect's act of not restricting their freedom or exploiting them for their wealth had won the sect popular support.
The sect had also sent some people to secretly spread Xiang Shaoyun's exploits against the devils and aliens in their territory. Slowly but surely, the Western Desert came to accept their hegemony.
After all, Xiang Shaoyun was someone who had slapped the Celestial Alliance's master yet suffered no consequences. That feat alone was enough to intimidate many people. With that, being the young guild master of the Guardians Guild no longer seemed so important.
When Dugu Qiubai heard of Xiang Shaoyun's disqualification, he returned to the dominion from the outside domain battlefield without hesitation. Instead of questioning the Guardians Guild, he returned to the True Martial Academy and focused only on protecting the academy.
That left Qin Jiu as the sole remaining candidate. After the Guardians Guild informed Qin Jiu that he was appointed the young guild master, one of his trusted aides tried to assassinate him when he was feeling the happiest with himself.
He survived thanks to the trump card he received from Qin Hongyan and killed the assassin. One could thus say that Qin Jiu had dangerously won the position. After winning, he left the outside domain battlefield and returned to the guild to receive his formal appointment.
Since Gongsun Sanyang had returned to the dominion in advance, he was no longer a valid competitor. As for Xiang Shaoyun, he was still missing. Ever since Xiang Shaoyun had returned to the Ziling Sect with the Saintly Forest Courtyard people, he had been in secluded cultivation. Even when the Celestial Alliance's master had visited, he had only sent out a soul clone. His main body had stayed in seclusion.
That was 15 years ago. Where was he, exactly? Not even Xiang Yangzhan and Purple Lightning Marquis could answer that question.
Once upon a time, Xiang Shaoyun had accidentally entered the Spacetime River at the Ziling Sect's back mountain. From that incident, he had obtained an inheritance pertaining to the dao of time. Afterward, the Spacetime River had vanished completely.
But after mastering the dao of time, entering the One Revolution Realm, and gaining the Saintly Forest Stele, he received another chance to enter the Spacetime River. He had not intended to look for the Spacetime River. As far as he was concerned, what was in the past should be left in the past. But after he returned to the sect with the Saintly Forest Stele, the stele started shifting, ultimately leading to his return to the Spacetime River.
The Spacetime River led to the Spacetime Grotto, which was cut off from the rest of the universe. Numerous ancient and rare life forms could be found in the grotto. These life forms were extremely powerful, presenting a dangerous environment when Xiang Shaoyun was first there with a much weaker cultivation.
But with his new cultivation, the Spacetime Grotto was naturally much less dangerous to him. Following the Saintly Forest Stele, he reached the Spacetime Stele. As the Saintly Forest Stele descended to the ground, strands of indescribable energy started converging on it.
Xiang Shaoyun could sense a power flowing backwards as a massive stone stele slowly materialized beside the Saintly Forest Stele. He was filled with astonishment. After the massive stone stele was fully formed, the Saintly Forest Stele started emanating an indescribable power. The massive stone stele responded by emanating the profundity of time.
Once again, Xiang Shaoyun experienced all the changes brought about by the passage of time, greatly deepening his comprehension of the dao of time. Connecting to the yin yang power in his body, he traversed the river of time to the times of antiquity. He witnessed the first division of the primal chaos, the birth of countless living beings, the emergence of primitive and savage humans, and their slow evolution into intelligent life forms. He seemed to have become one of them: living with them, leaving home when the sun rose and returning home when the sun set, getting married, raising children, growing old, and dying.
Antiquity, distant past, near ancient, future.
In different eras, he experienced different lives, learned different things, and experienced a different time period. It was as though he had dreamed of tens of millions of years. When he woke up, he had transformed into an ailing old man with a crooked body.
Xiang Shaoyun did not panic. Instead, a calm smile formed on his aged face as he muttered, "In the ancient texts, records of a dream through a thousand years existed. Looks like the ancient people are telling the truth, considering my dream through tens of millions of years."
He stepped forth and wrapped his hands around the massive stone stele before pulling it out. He then stuffed it into his astral cosmos sea.
Then, he lightly stroked the Saintly Forest Stele and sat down cross-legged before it. He started chanting the Desolation mantra, forming a resonance with the Saintly Forest Stele. At that moment, the Saintly Forest Stele seemed to transform into an old man with an unassuming appearance. He had seen this old man in his dream. This old man was the founder of human cultivation, the Dao Monarch.
The Dao Monarch was a deity worshiped by everyone in the dominion. He was the reason humanity had managed to break free of their weakness and obtain the ability to stand against the numerous powerful races.
While Xiang Shaoyun chanted the mantra, the Dao Monarch in the Saintly Forest Stele also chanted the mantra. However, the version the Dao Monarch chanted seemed to be even more abstruse and profound. Imperceptibly, Xiang Shaoyun's incomplete mantra was completed.
The Dao Monarch was only an ordinary man. However, he was able to experience nine deaths and births, surpassing the cycle of reincarnation and creating the Desolation with his experiences of nine lifetimes. The Desolation mantra was humanity's strongest cultivation mantra, one that suited all humans. It was also the same mantra that had helped Xiang Shaoyun obtain his strongest physique.