Chapter 508: Cosmic Singularity Space: Celestial Pavilion

Zuo Fan was a step too slow. Xu Ziyang had arrived first and immediately began a massacre.

This resulted in enormous losses for the Yanghuang Sect. Fortunately, Zuo Fan arrived in the nick of time. By combining the Undying Fire Element True Technique with the Pure Yang Wuji Heart Method, the Innate Li Fire Sword Technique, and the Flame Demon Body Refining Technique, he managed to use a clever trick to temporarily repel Xu Ziyang.

Because of this incident, the survivors of the Yanghuang Sect came to understand that their own Sect Leader had gone mad from his cultivation of a Spiritual Technique, transforming into a bloodthirsty monster similar to a Seven Kills Disciple.

In the end, they could only abandon everything and flee with Zuo Fan.

Zuo Fan lived up to their expectations, finding a relatively safe place to settle the remaining members of the Yanghuang Sect.

At the same time, with the people’s support, he became the new Sect Leader of the Yanghuang Sect.

In Qi Suian’s eyes, this experience was another major step in the formation of Zuo Fan’s protagonist halo.

All that was left was for him to go from Sect Leader Zuo to Alliance Leader Zuo, and the halo would be complete.

Then, at Qi Suian’s instigation, he began to contact the remaining eight—no, now only seven—major sects.

News of the Purple Gold Pagoda’s destruction spread quickly. It was the largest sect to have been wiped out by the Seven Kills Disciples.

As for how the news could spread when everyone was supposedly dead, it was naturally because there were survivors.

The Purple Gold Pagoda was a large and influential sect, after all. No matter how strong Mu Can was, he couldn’t possibly have killed every last person. A few lucky ones were bound to survive.

Of course, the seven major sects soon lost interest in Mu Can. Their attention was now focused on Xu Ziyang.

Zuo Fan had told the seven major sects the truth, explaining that even Mu Can hadn’t lasted more than a few moves against the former Sect Leader, Xu Ziyang.

What’s worse, Xu Ziyang was now insane and on a rampage, not even sparing his own Yanghuang Sect.

This meant that Xu Ziyang had become the greatest danger.

This left the seven major sects speechless for a time.

It was one crisis after another. The rapidly changing situation left them terrified.

Then, Zuo Fan sent out an invitation, proposing the formation of a mutual defense alliance as a safeguard.

This proposal was naturally met with opposition from the seven major sects.

‘Your Yanghuang Sect has fallen on such hard times, yet you still dream of uniting us?’

But Zuo Fan insisted that even if they disagreed, they still had to meet and discuss the matter.

Of course, that was just the official line. In reality, Zuo Fan planned to go and display his strength, showing the seven major sects the consequences of disunity.

So, after settling the survivors of the Yanghuang Sect, Zuo Fan set off for the meeting.

The seven major sects only agreed to the meeting on the condition that forming a mutual defense alliance would not be mandatory.

For Zuo Fan, as long as they could meet, the rest would be easy to handle.

He was confident he could ‘persuade’ the seven major sects to form the alliance.

Especially after he displayed his own strength, he would then add, “Xu Ziyang is a thousand times stronger than me.” Then it would be simple.

His plan was good, but it had an obvious flaw: he had invited seven major sects, but it was possible that not nearly that many would show up.

It wouldn’t be because the sects were breaking their promises, but because Xu Ziyang had already begun his slaughter. In the time it took to convene, one or even several of the major sects could be wiped out completely.

Xu Ziyang was far more efficient than the Seven Kills Disciple, Mu Can.

Zuo Fan even worried that the remaining major sects wouldn’t survive until the meeting ended, so he wanted to resolve things as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Qi Suian turned part of his attention to Yaksha.

It was the seventh day since his arrival, and the Celestial Pavilion Leader, Celestial Dao, was about to convene a new Celestial Pavilion meeting.

Qi Suian was just waiting to use Yaksha as a tracking device.

“The Leader has issued the summons. I’m preparing for my soul to leave my body and enter the Spirit Shadow,” Yaksha said immediately.

“Respond at once.” Qi Suian was already fully prepared, waiting for precisely these words.

With Qi Suian’s approval, Yaksha immediately responded to the Celestial Pavilion Leader’s summons. His soul was then drawn away, unseen.

Qi Suian immediately began tracking, locating, and analyzing the process.

‘I thought it existed somewhere in the universe, but it’s actually in some kind of cosmic Singularity Space.’

‘It seems I underestimated the technology of this universe’s natives.’ Qi Suian watched as the soul underwent quantum transmission through the Singularity Space, quickly arriving in a unique dimension.

‘It’s so much easier when someone shows you the way.’ Qi Suian’s perception squeezed directly into the space.

Dozens of souls were loaded in simultaneously, then stripped down to independent consciousnesses and installed into fixed vessels.

Then, a final, uniquely vast consciousness loaded in. This, of course, was the Celestial Pavilion Leader, Celestial Dao.

‘A bit strange… it’s like a hive mind, but with individual thoughts?’

‘The Tree-Born Demon must have once been a plant-based cosmic civilization, similar to the Insect Race.’

‘Could it be that because of the Spirit Master humans, this Celestial Pavilion Leader is actually a hybrid?’

‘Just like the Spirit Master humans, with the genes of the Tree-Born Demon mixed into its own?’

Qi Suian suddenly recalled that the original Spirit Master humans weren’t hybrids. It was only after they exterminated the plant-based cosmic civilization of the Tree-Born Demon that they became corrupted.

So the Tree-Born Demon was never completely wiped out. Instead, it integrated itself into the human race, leading to the current situation.

More theories surfaced in Qi Suian’s mind.

Unfortunately, this was only a soul consciousness. To study it further, Qi Suian would have to find the real Celestial Pavilion Leader, the true Celestial Dao.

‘Huh, I can’t trace it?’ Qi Suian tried to track the Celestial Pavilion Leader, only to find there was no trail to follow.

It was like rootless duckweed, completely unanchored.

‘Two possibilities. One is that I genuinely can’t find it.’

‘The other is that he *is* this Singularity Space known as the Celestial Pavilion.’ Qi Suian quickly analyzed the two possibilities.

He leaned toward the latter.

After all, the entity was already so bizarre; being a little more so wasn’t out of the question.

‘With the Tree-Born Demon’s level of technology, fusing a living being into a Singularity Space wouldn’t be that difficult… probably.’

Qi Suian didn’t know much about the Tree-Born Demon’s technological capabilities, but any civilization capable of cosmic colonization must have had a few tricks up its sleeve.

‘Then what is the Celestial Pavilion Leader’s true goal?’ For a moment, Qi Suian couldn’t grasp the situation.

If the leader really was the Singularity Space itself, it could annihilate the current Spirit Master humans with ease. Why resort to the childish tactic of instigating a war?

It wouldn’t need to do much—a slight shift in its coordinates and parameters could easily swallow five planets, dooming the human race.

To Qi Suian, it felt like a ridiculously roundabout way of doing things.

Inside the Celestial Pavilion, once everyone had arrived, the leader, Celestial Dao, finally spoke. “Yaksha, how did the Ghost King die? Have you obtained the Pure Yang Fire Seed?”

He questioned Yaksha right away. The death rate in the Celestial Pavilion was typically very low, as every member was one of the most powerful experts of their time.

Yet now, on a minor world like Red Meteor, two members had been lost in a short time. Fortunately, some precautions had been taken, so it wasn’t a total loss.

“The Pure Yang Fire Seed has not been obtained. The enemy this time was incredibly powerful. Even the Ghost King and I together were no match for them.”

“I was lucky to escape with my life, but the Ghost King was overpowered and killed,” Yaksha reported factually.

He was telling the truth, but not the whole truth.

He knew that within the Celestial Pavilion, the leader, Celestial Dao, could read minds; any lie would be easily detected.

So he told no lies, but he did omit certain details.

The Celestial Pavilion Leader didn’t grow suspicious, because Yaksha was, in fact, telling the truth.

“How powerful?” the Celestial Pavilion Leader asked without doubt, as such a thing was not impossible.

“We were completely unable to resist,” Yaksha said at once.

At these words, the already quiet atmosphere inside the Celestial Pavilion grew heavy.

“Is the Pure Yang Fire Seed in their hands?” the Celestial Pavilion Leader finally asked.

A being so powerful that neither Yaksha nor the Ghost King could resist was truly beyond his expectations, which was why he had to ask.

“I don’t know. They are too powerful, so I can’t be sure if they have the Pure Yang Fire Seed. After all, with that kind of strength, concealing its aura would be a simple matter,” Yaksha explained.

This wasn’t a lie either, as it was what Yaksha genuinely believed.

“Leader, I’m afraid you will have to retrieve the Pure Yang Fire Seed personally, otherwise…” Yaksha knew that for him to survive, his only hope was for the Celestial Pavilion Leader, Celestial Dao, to take action himself.

However, the Celestial Pavilion Leader’s words made his heart sink. “It is not convenient for me to act at the moment.”

“Are you in danger? If so, I can help you leave Red Meteor.”

“Yes, the danger is great. I need the Leader’s help to evacuate.” Yaksha’s heart leaped with joy. ‘It’s fine if he doesn’t act himself, as long as he gets me off Red Meteor.’

“Very well. I will bring you back after the meeting,” the Celestial Pavilion Leader said calmly. “As for the Pure Yang Fire Seed, I will retrieve it myself once I am free. The rest of you are not to set foot on Red Meteor.”

Having settled that matter, he turned to the others. “What of the other four Five Elements Spiritual Treasures? What is your progress?”

“The Qianyuan Golden Mother is in hand.”

“We’ve found traces of the Wind-Thunder Wood Element. We should be able to acquire it before the next meeting.”

“There’s no news on the Profound Marsh Water Spirit. It’s rumored to be in the sea, and we are still searching.”

“We’re in the process of acquiring the Earth Element. It’s a bit tricky and will take some time.”

Several members spoke up, summarizing their progress.

The Celestial Pavilion Leader did not press them. If the Five Elements Spiritual Treasures were that easy to obtain, they wouldn’t have remained lost for so long.

“Work quickly, especially on the Profound Marsh Water Spirit. Any members who complete their current tasks are to go and assist,” the Celestial Pavilion Leader instructed.

One was obtained, and there were leads on two others. Only the Profound Marsh Water Spirit remained completely missing, which was why it required more manpower.

The fact that it couldn’t be found was the main issue; otherwise, it wouldn’t be a major problem.

“Next is the exchange period. The usual rules apply: one hour.” Having addressed the Five Elements Spiritual Treasures, the Celestial Pavilion Leader naturally had nothing more to say.

After that, all the members began their period of exchange.