At the peak of the snow domain, the ruins of the holy hall.

This great battle destined to draw the attention of the entire Nineteen Continents finally welcomed new participants. This woman who suddenly appeared before everyone’s eyes, draping the holy lake as silk over her shoulders, the bundle of azure jade birds by her ear still vibrant in color, as shocking to the heart as her beauty.

No one knew who she was, and no one had ever seen her before.

Everyone was speculating about her identity, including Huinian who had just rescued Liao Kong, including Khandro Yangchen who had just delivered a heavy blow to Treasure Seal Dharma King, and also including Treasure Seal Dharma King and the newly arrived Treasure Bottle Dharma King…

No longer could anyone predict the victory or defeat of this battle, or guess their own life or death.

The whereabouts of that mysterious demon woman from before no longer drew anyone’s attention. Even if the Chan sect members had the heart to pursue, at this moment they dared not leave.

The deep, silent, and long night had already passed more than half.

The melting cold moon hung slanted at the edge of the sky, but was covered by dark clouds above. When that patch of dark clouds dispersed, above this vast snow domain, that moon-white figure had long since vanished without a trace.

Jian Chou’s head ached terribly.

For a full three to five breaths of time, she opened her eyes but could see nothing.

Not until she groped around and sat up, letting that dizzying and sharp pain leave her mind, did the vision before her eyes become slightly clearer.

The first thing that came into view was actually a wall.

A wall carved with Buddha statues.

A full three zhang high, the dignified statue of Shakyamuni was carved right in the center of the wall, eyes slightly closed, with compassion between his brows and eyes.

Not a Tantric Buddha.

Just from the carved lines of this Buddha statue and the overall feeling, Jian Chou could easily judge, immediately forming a guess in her heart.

Then as her gaze moved around the surroundings, this guess was confirmed.

Where she was now was actually inside a pagoda.

A massive Buddha statue was placed in the central position. But strangely, this pagoda had no layers – only two staircases spiraled upward from inside the pagoda. The higher they went, the smaller the interior space of the pagoda became, and the two spiral staircases connected together at the top.

On the eight-sided walls were Buddha statues of all sizes, in various forms, countless in number.

At the very top of the pagoda, something seemed to be hanging.

Golden light fell down like tassels, not particularly bright, but softly illuminating the massive Buddha statue in the tower, coating it entirely in golden light.

When Jian Chou first awakened, her body still bore countless wounds from being struck by ruler shadows, but under the illumination of this golden light, they healed completely in no time.

She clearly remembered that when she was struck by that strange mustard seed, her heart meridians had already suffered severe damage. Even under the continuous assault of those ruler shadows, her brow chakra had been in excruciating pain, her soul crushed by that strange force, nearly collapsing.

In that instant, she had already accepted that under Xie Buchen’s ruler, she would surely die.

Even if by some coincidence she was struck by Liao Kong’s mysterious treasure and escaped disaster, she should still be in a dying state.

This golden light above her head…

Was truly mysterious.

Jian Chou guessed she must have been unconscious for some time, which was why when she woke up, apart from her spiritual power not being very abundant, her whole person seemed as if she had never experienced that previous fierce battle.

Though she was inclined to investigate what was above her head, this was truly not the time for investigation.

Her brows furrowed slightly. She bent down to pick up the Burning Lamp Sword that had fallen to the ground, then looked toward the figure sitting motionless three zhang away from her.

Not until her gaze fell upon him did that figure move, lifting his head.

His azure robes were also stained with blood, his handsome brows and eyes covered with a layer of frost.

The Human Emperor Sword was nowhere to be seen, replaced by that ink-colored ruler of neither gold nor stone, placed flat across his knees. His slender fingers pressed lightly upon it, and as his aura flowed, the shadows of golden seal characters flickered one after another.

Xie Buchen’s eyes looked toward her, but he didn’t rise.

Something was wrong.

She and Xie Buchen were, in a sense, both the same type of people – they would be delighted to send each other to meet the King of Hell. Where would they care about propriety and shame?

When it was time to take advantage of your sickness to take your life, they would never show mercy.

But her consciousness had only just recovered, yet she remained safe and sound?

Jian Chou’s gaze swept in a circle behind him, then thought of something and turned her sight back to examine the pagoda she was currently in.

Thus some details she had previously overlooked suddenly became obvious.

Between her and Xie Buchen stood a thin barrier.

It was transparent overall, but because golden light was falling from above, when light passed through the barrier, there would be slight distortion. If one didn’t look carefully, it would indeed be difficult to detect.

She extended her hand and probed lightly with spiritual power, immediately knowing this barrier was indestructible – not something she could break with her strength alone.

“It seems I thus escaped disaster, and you also thus retrieved your life…”

Jian Chou withdrew her hand and looked at Xie Buchen sitting cross-legged on the ground opposite her, then laughed. Only this laughter no longer contained any killing intent, as warm and kind as old friends meeting.

Without this barrier, when they first fell into this place, Xie Buchen would certainly have taken advantage of her weakness to take her life. But with this barrier present, he could only watch helplessly as she gradually recovered.

Without this barrier, now that she had awakened and Xie Buchen’s cultivation was still inferior to hers, she could try again to kill Xie Buchen. But with this barrier present, she could only watch helplessly as well.

Clearly just moments ago they had been fighting until heaven and earth darkened, yet now fallen into this situation, they could instantly become pleasant and agreeable. Changing faces faster than flipping through books – nothing exceeded this.

Xie Buchen naturally understood the meaning in her words.

Because when he first fell into this place, his condition was far better than Jian Chou’s – he completely still had the ability to take Jian Chou’s life. But because of this barrier, the excellent opportunity was lost for nothing!

Heaven had placed an opportunity to resolve his heart demon before him, then ruthlessly destroyed it.

That feeling…

Was truly not very pleasant.

Previously it was Jian Chou failing to kill him; now it was he failing to kill Jian Chou. Counting it up, it was all endless entanglement.

Hearing her speak to him, without needing to feel carefully, Xie Buchen could hear the mocking intent hidden within. For a moment he only formed a new hand seal again, slightly closing his eyes and saying: “Being unable to take Fellow Daoist Jian Chou’s life is indeed regrettable. But compared to missing a good opportunity at the crucial moment, letting this Xie escape with his life, Fellow Daoist Jian Chou should have more to regret.”

“…”

Hearing his words, the corner of Jian Chou’s eye twitched.

Missing a good opportunity at the crucial moment…

Who could say otherwise?

If her mental state had been a bit firmer, or if that female cultivator who looked exactly like her had appeared a moment later, the Xie Buchen opposite her would probably already be a dead man.

Better not to think about it. Once she thought about such an existence, Jian Chou only felt a gloom immediately cover her heart.

Before being struck by the mustard seed, she had seen that female cultivator going for the mustard seed.

So were they now inside the mustard seed? And whose hands was that mustard seed in?

They knew nothing about the situation in the outside world.

For a moment, looking at Xie Buchen, killing intent surged up in Jian Chou again, and she almost raised her sword to strike at him! But with the barrier right in front of her, she ultimately restrained herself.

Turning the Burning Lamp Sword, she sneered: “It seems Fellow Daoist Xie is truly very unhappy.”

Who didn’t know that Xie Buchen rarely had emotional fluctuations?

Even if others cursed him in every way, he could remain unmoved. Yet now because of her one mocking remark, he couldn’t help but respond with something close to a retort.

If this wasn’t his heart being less calm than his surface showed, what else could it be?

Jian Chou understood him very well. Just from these few short exchanges, she had already seen through his current state.

The fingers pressing on the ink ruler tensed. Xie Buchen finally closed his eyes again, suppressing all inappropriate emotions.

“Rather than having time to talk with me, Fellow Daoist Jian Chou might as well investigate the situation of this place.”

“Fellow Daoist Xie has already investigated, yet still sits here now. This place must be impregnable – not so easy to get out of.”

In this regard, Jian Chou had confidence in Xie Buchen.

Spreading her spiritual consciousness, she could easily discover that this pagoda’s body material seemed ordinary, but was actually very special – a mixture of gold and wood that spiritual consciousness couldn’t penetrate at all.

Moreover, all the walls gave people an extremely strange feeling.

As if the space at the walls had all folded up, even light accumulating there.

Jian Chou walked over. Her foot had just stepped toward the wall when the next moment, opening her eyes she saw again the pagoda’s two spiral staircases leading upward, and Xie Buchen sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Her entire person, without changing direction herself, had somehow gone from facing the wall to having her back to the wall.

“Spatial rules…”

Among Nineteen Continents cultivators, once their cultivation reached the Void Refining stage, they could be called “great powers.”

Because once they entered this realm, it proved they had already understood their true hearts, truly letting their hearts reach the “void” state. At this time, they began comprehending the rules of the universe, most importantly “space.”

The strong could use their own power to open up small worlds – this realm was called “Having Boundaries.”

Among the people Jian Chou had encountered, the master of Qingfeng Nunnery’s hidden realm, Shangren Buyu, had naturally reached this realm. Besides him, Kunwu’s First Seat, True Person Hengxu, was also in this realm.

What she was experiencing now should be the methods of such great powers at this level.

She just didn’t know which great power had created this pagoda, and who controlled it now.

“If I’m not mistaken, you and I are currently inside the mustard seed. This object is one of the three great treasures of the Chan sect, able to contain the vastness of Mount Sumeru within the minuteness of a mustard seed. This pagoda might be the mustard seed itself, or might just be part of Mount Sumeru stored within the mustard seed.”

Xie Buchen guessed she had already sensed the strange spatial forces around them, so he didn’t explain much.

“When you were unconscious, I calculated – about three hours have passed.”

Three hours…

Jian Chou walked along the wall, stopping right in front of the staircase on her side, looking up. This staircase led directly to the very top.

“You mean that since we haven’t been released yet, this mustard seed must have fallen into someone else’s hands?”

“And the Chan sect hasn’t been able to retrieve this object for the time being.”

What Xie Buchen wanted to say was that this mustard seed might be with that female cultivator who looked exactly like Jian Chou, but he didn’t say it because he didn’t know how to address this female cultivator, much less what relationship she had with Jian Chou.

That feeling was truly difficult to express.

Listening, Jian Chou raised an eyebrow.

Even if Xie Buchen didn’t say it, she could guess what he hadn’t said. He must also be wary of that female cultivator, but wasn’t she equally wary?

Lifting her foot, she had already stepped onto the staircase: “Has Fellow Daoist Xie also explored what’s above this staircase?”

“I walked up once. The strange aspects within…” Xie Buchen watched Jian Chou’s movements, paused, then continued, “Fellow Daoist Jian Chou should be able to feel it if you walk up a bit more.”

Walk up a bit more?

This answer was rather unusual.

Jian Chou found it somewhat strange and stopped her steps, momentarily suspecting there might be some trap waiting above. But considering that Xie Buchen was sitting there perfectly fine, it couldn’t be too dangerous, so she dismissed her concerns and continued upward.

First step, second step, third step…

Each step had seal script carved on it corresponding to its position number – from one, to two, to three. She saw it at a glance, and that strange feeling in her heart immediately arose.

Truly as Xie Buchen had said, the higher she went, the heavier that indescribable strange feeling became.

When she reached the tenth step, she was already suspended on the inner wall of the pagoda’s body, positioned right behind the large Buddha in the center.

Jian Chou raised her head and saw a line carved on the lotus platform where Buddha sat.

“One day in the cave, a thousand years in the world.”

At that moment, she couldn’t help but shudder!

A possibility she had never considered suddenly appeared in Jian Chou’s heart.

Standing on this tenth step, she glanced at the nine steps she had passed, thought for a moment, then took out two sandalwood incense sticks from her qiankun bag.

With just a gentle breath, they were simultaneously lit.

Her two delicate brows furrowed slightly. Jian Chou placed them respectively on the ninth and tenth steps, then stepped back slightly and watched quietly.

Xie Buchen below also remained silent, just watching all her actions.

Time flowed slowly in the flickering sparks of the thread incense…

However, the more Jian Chou watched, the more shocked she became. She didn’t even need to wait for the two incense sticks to burn completely – the real answer had already settled in her heart.

When the incense on the tenth step burned out, the incense on the ninth step still had more than an inch left!

One day in the cave, a thousand years in the world!

Standing on this step, Jian Chou felt even her feet becoming stiff. After realizing this staircase’s secret, she couldn’t help but raise her head to look upward.

Step by step, the staircase spread out. Counting carefully, there were exactly one hundred and eight steps!

“Fellow Daoist Jian Chou must have already felt it – the flow of time on this staircase is different from the outside world. One step is one times the outside, one hundred and eight steps is one hundred and eight times.”

Xie Buchen only looked at Jian Chou’s expression as she gazed upward to guess she already understood.

“One day outside, one step is one day, two steps is two days, one hundred and eight steps is one hundred and eight days.”

In other words, if one could stand on the one hundred and eighth step and cultivate there for one hundred and eight years, only one year would have passed in the outside world.

Besides spatial rules, within this mustard seed there were also changes in time!

The four directions above and below constitute the universe – space; past and present constitute time.

What realm must the creator of this mustard seed have reached to construct such a mysterious, miraculous, and breathtaking pagoda?

Jian Chou’s heart surged like ocean tides, unable to calm down for a time.

After a long while, she finally spoke with some complexity, sighing: “For Fellow Daoist Xie, this should be a rare opportunity. Taking the chance to sit and go into closed-door cultivation for thousands of years before going out – only ten or so years would have passed outside. Wouldn’t that be twice the result with half the effort?”

“This realm doesn’t connect with the outside world. Even if one’s realm breaks through, heaven and earth cannot sense it.” Xie Buchen wasn’t so confused by this sudden opportunity. “Though cultivators are strong, their lifespans are determined by heaven. Even if entering this realm is fortune, if the time spent in the realm exceeds one’s lifespan, I fear when one exits they’ll already be a pile of dry bones. Moreover, Fellow Daoist Jian Chou will know if you continue upward – the one hundred and eighth level isn’t so easy to reach.”

Oh?

This was somewhat beyond Jian Chou’s expectations. Standing on the ninth step, she felt around slightly before continuing upward. The first eighteen levels weren’t too difficult, but when she reached the nineteenth step, she faintly felt that resistance becoming obvious.

The higher she went, the stronger the resistance, as if thousands of pounds of stones were pressing on her body!

Even with her powerful body that had cultivated the “Human Weapon” technique to the sixth level, she could only barely support herself to the thirty-sixth step!

From this, one could see what pressure would have to be endured to continue further up!

Jian Chou was already struggling and retreated from the steps, withdrawing all the way to the thirtieth step before taking a long breath of relief, finally feeling her whole person had come back to life.

Undoubtedly, this pagoda was absolutely a good place for cultivation!

No wonder this mustard seed could become one of the three great treasures of the Chan sect. Just these one hundred and eight steps already surpassed countless other hidden realms and small worlds by thousands of times!

Imagine if sect disciples were put into this place to cultivate – how terrifying would the entire sect’s power become?

For a moment, she truly wanted to consider nothing else and just sit down to cultivate directly.

But as countless thoughts flashed through her mind, she ultimately descended slowly along the spiral staircase, sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the pagoda together with Xie Buchen, quietly regulating her breath.

At this time, the most crucial thing was still getting out.

With the Chan sect’s participation in that battle between the new and old schools in the snow domain, who knew what the final result would be. Moreover, with their sudden fall into such circumstances, they couldn’t even pass out the information they had originally learned.

Heaven knew when the snow domain and polar domain would engage in great war!

Now in this place, they couldn’t fight anymore either. The thoughts in both their hearts were roughly similar. So she didn’t speak, and Xie Buchen also didn’t speak. Both meditated and regulated their breath while secretly calculating the time that had passed…

Though they didn’t know what origins that female cultivator had, she appeared to be only at the Golden Core stage.

Normal people would think that even if she had snatched away the mustard seed, she couldn’t possibly hide for too long. As long as the Chan sect retrieved this treasure, they would be close to getting out.

But no one had expected that this wait would last a full two months.

Even though Jian Chou and Xie Buchen trapped here were both people of resilient temperament, they couldn’t withstand such wasteful consumption of time and gradually couldn’t keep their composure.

On the sixty-second day, Jian Chou finally couldn’t help but open her eyes, directly saying: “Waiting like this isn’t a solution.”

Xie Buchen looked up. The faint aura that had been overflowing during his previous cultivation instantly withdrew completely. He only looked at her and asked calmly: “Does Fellow Daoist Jian Chou have an idea?”

“Yes.”

Although they had previously been mortal enemies, facing this predicament and engaging in some expedient cooperation, Jian Chou thought Xie Buchen shouldn’t mind at all.

“This pagoda body contains spatial rules. To get out we must break this pagoda. Neither your nor my realm is sufficient – we don’t know how to break it. But other places might not lack methods of breaking it.”

Other places?

If someone else heard this statement, they would definitely ask Jian Chou what place she was referring to.

But here with Xie Buchen, those two cold brows furrowed slightly, and he instantly understood what she was pointing to, only looking at her with a strange gaze: “Nine Curves River Chart, Qingfeng Nunnery’s Forty-Eight Records?”

“Correct.”

Jian Chou didn’t beat around the bush and directly confirmed Xie Buchen’s guess.

In the past, they had explored Qingfeng Nunnery’s hidden realm together. Before the final battle at Buddha’s Crown, each had grabbed half of the “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records,” which recorded some insights and even techniques from Shangren Buyu’s comprehension of the “Nine Curves River Chart.”

Only their competition that day had been to tear it horizontally.

The half each person held was incomplete. They could only see half of every technique and insight, with even the sentences disconnected – how could they cultivate?

She had previously wanted to directly snatch the remaining half from Xie Buchen’s hands, not leaving him even a bit. But given the current situation, they really couldn’t sit and wait for death.

That female cultivator who looked exactly like her must have used some special method to avoid the Chan sect’s detection.

In this case, getting out wouldn’t be a matter of a short time. If they died here, that would be truly unjust.

Jian Chou wasn’t someone who didn’t understand adaptation. On the contrary, she had always been measured in her advances and retreats when considering the big picture.

Putting the two parts together, if there was a way out, everyone would be happy, and she would still have opportunities to kill Xie Buchen later. If there was nothing inside, there wouldn’t be too much loss.

So at this moment, she directly took out her half scroll and spread it flat in front of the barrier between them.

Then she asked Xie Buchen: “Cooperation benefits both, fighting harms both. Which side will you choose?”