At this moment, Xie Buchen raised his head to look at her once.

That gaze faintly contained some appraisal, but just the next moment, he withdrew his gaze and gathered his thoughts, immersing all his attention into cultivation.

His hands formed seals silently, and five-colored faint light emerged from his fingertips.

He should be attempting the “Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art.”

Jian Chou could see the clues at a glance.

She had already glimpsed the various methods of this technique in that scroll of “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records” just now, and her own calculation abilities weren’t weak, so she was very clear about all the manifestations of this technique.

However, she also clearly knew this technique wasn’t such a simple matter.

Sure enough, that five-colored faint light only lasted for barely less than a breath before vanishing instantly from Xie Buchen’s fingers, as if it had hit some bottleneck.

His two brows immediately furrowed as he looked down at his ten fingers, falling into contemplation.

Xie Buchen, who had already broken through to early Nascent Soul stage and possessed excellent talent for comprehending techniques, could only maintain this technique for one breath when attempting it, without displaying even a bit of power.

This technique…

Was even more troublesome than she had thought.

Jian Chou sat cross-legged, and without personally trying it herself, she was already mentally prepared from Xie Buchen’s first attempt: this “Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art” that could potentially save them was probably an exceptionally hard bone to gnaw.

Holding her breath and concentrating, she gathered all her spiritual qi.

All distracting thoughts in Jian Chou’s mind were instantly expelled completely. Her entire person, her entire heart, was transparent and clear like the sunny sky after snow, without finding half a shadow.

The spiritual qi around her gathered toward her palms as her ten fingers formed and turned seals.

“Hum…”

A slight humming sound immediately arose on this twentieth level stair, beating against the air and reaching her ears, vibrating her eardrums.

The Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art wasn’t like the Central Domain techniques they usually encountered, but rather somewhat similar to the techniques of the Yin-Yang Two Sects they had seen in scrolls.

Heaven and earth have Two Principles, all things are divided into Five Elements.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth – the five elemental factors needed to harmoniously coexist to fully manifest the power of this technique.

Jian Chou had never encountered Yin-Yang Two Sects techniques before, only understanding some basics of their cultivation, but had never deliberately practiced them.

She only relied on her powerful cultivation and the special nature of her Heavenly Void Body to barely maintain it.

The five-colored radiance represented those five elemental techniques. She strove to maintain harmony between the five elements according to the instructions in the technique.

But unexpectedly, one of the golden rays suddenly surged toward the blue ray!

The speed of its change was so fast that Jian Chou couldn’t react in time. Her pupils contracted as she watched the five-colored light that had achieved balance in her palm instantly collapse!

Gold became blue, blue became green, green became red, and red finally became deep yellow…

“Hum!”

Vanishing into nothing.

Nothing existed between Jian Chou’s palms anymore.

The five-colored radiance just now had been as fast as an illusion.

Even with her late Nascent Soul cultivation and Heavenly Void Body that could use dao seals at will, she couldn’t maintain it even a moment longer!

From beginning to end, she only lasted one breath longer than Xie Buchen.

Exactly like Xie Buchen moments before, Jian Chou’s brows immediately furrowed.

At this time, neither spoke.

Clearly, this was a dao seal completely different from all the techniques they had previously encountered, with no precedent for cultivation to follow.

“Five Elements techniques are completely different from the various common dao seals of the Central Domain, forming their own system.”

Xie Buchen had just experimented and only summoned faint light, while Jian Chou’s experiment lasted one breath longer. Though he was observing, he could faintly see the changes and differences within.

“Both Yin-Yang sects believe that all things in heaven and earth can be distinguished and composed by the Five Elements. Between the Five Elements, they both generate and overcome each other. This dao seal borrows the power of mutual generation and overcoming of the Five Elements to forcibly break spatial forces. It seems that to learn this technique, one must first study the Five Elements.”

“Heaven and earth have yin and yang, all things are divided into Five Elements. Five Elements techniques are the foundation of Yin-Yang Two Sects’ cultivation, but the two sects have opposed each other for a long time. Even in Yashan’s scripture pavilion, there are extremely few books related to this.”

Jian Chou recalled what she knew while also searching through the collection of books in that polar domain old residence in her memory.

“Even with both of us, to exhaust all the changes within and thoroughly understand the principles of mutual generation and overcoming isn’t a matter of a short time.”

“Then there’s no other way.”

After all, they were currently trapped by this technique. Either sit and wait for death, or strive to seek a method of escape. Xie Buchen saw it quite clearly.

“Who told us that what this place lacks least is time?”

Yes…

Hearing this, Jian Chou couldn’t help but raise her head to look upward. Between them stood a dignified statue of Shakyamuni, with tassel-like golden light still falling from above, enveloping them.

In such eternally unchanging light, even the passage of time seemed forgotten.

Here, what was least lacking was time.

But for them, this was precisely what was most lacking.

Jian Chou’s hands that had just formed seals separated again, falling to rest lightly on her knees on either side. The moment she lowered her eyes and closed them, the light of calculation had already begun in her eyes.

“Let’s try calculating first.”

Xie Buchen had no objection either. He nodded slightly and closed his eyes as well.

Cultivators’ spiritual consciousness was extremely powerful, not to mention these two were naturally gifted prodigies. Their calculation speed would amaze even ordinary Out of Body stage cultivators.

But the principles of the Five Elements seemed simple yet almost exhausted the wisdom of generations of predecessors from the Yin-Yang Two Sects.

Seeing complexity within simplicity, seeing unity within multiplicity. To calculate it was almost as vast as smoke and clouds!

Just the two of them, no matter how genius they were, how could they compare to generations of predecessors from the Yin-Yang Two Sects?

So on this twentieth level stair, after the two had each calculated for only four or five days, they encountered calm and walked into dead ends, unable to advance another step no matter what.

At this time, both opened their eyes, their gazes naturally and unanimously falling on each other.

When under someone’s roof, how can one not bow one’s head?

Moreover, when both their lives were tied to the same rope?

There was no affectation between them. Xie Buchen directly stated where his calculations had been stuck, and Jian Chou was equally frank about the contradictions she encountered in her calculations.

Between people, even if they were similar, there were great differences, let alone the thoughts and ideas deep in their hearts and minds?

Sometimes what one person couldn’t figure out, another often had unusual and wonderful insights.

At this moment, the two trapped in the pagoda were geniuses with comprehension far beyond ordinary people. Often just a few exchanges could greatly benefit the other, even achieving sudden enlightenment.

Then they would bury their heads in their own calculations again.

The Five Elements system of the Yin-Yang Two Sects truly formed its own school.

This feeling was like discarding all their original learning and knowledge, starting anew from a blank slate. Its difficulty could be said to be identical to Jian Chou’s situation when she fell into the polar domain and had to restart with soul cultivation methods.

And what was even more terrifying was the complexity of this system.

It completely exceeded the expectations of both her and Xie Buchen!

Originally the two were each calculating their own, bringing up anything they didn’t understand for joint consideration, but the further they went, the more they discovered this wasn’t something one person could calculate and perfect.

Having no choice, the two finally divided the work and cooperated.

Just like when they were in Qingfeng Nunnery’s hidden realm.

Going from shallow to deep was easier.

After spending half a month on calculations, they unanimously overturned everything original and established a new direction.

Jian Chou was responsible for calculating Five Elements mutual generation, Xie Buchen calculated Five Elements mutual overcoming, and finally they would combine them to calculate and exhaust all changes.

This way, the speed was much faster.

Though both harbored reservations about each other and didn’t want to “discuss the dao” with their opponent, at this life-and-death moment, if they held back or concealed anything at key points, the outcome awaiting them both obviously wouldn’t be good.

So even if they were reluctant in their hearts, they completely displayed their understanding and comprehension of the Five Elements to each other.

Whether for Xie Buchen or Jian Chou, this process and experience was extremely complex, like honey wrapped around arsenic.

On one hand, the other’s understanding and comprehension were extremely superb, often bringing them dao-like pleasure.

Sometimes they would even fall into a selfless state, as if the two had no grievances at all, just two ordinary cultivators dedicated to comprehending some great dao.

On the other hand, after immersion and even fascination, they couldn’t help but become sober again.

The more superb the other’s calculations and comprehension, the stronger the wariness rising in their hearts, and the denser the hidden killing intent.

Xie Buchen was still that talented Xie Buchen, and Jian Chou was still that Jian Chou with exceptional comprehension. If there hadn’t been that unforgettable deep hatred from the isolated island in the human world, without this fateful entanglement…

The two of them, even if they couldn’t become husband and wife, could at least become compatible confidants.

In the end, it was still a pity.

During calculations, Jian Chou’s heart couldn’t help but generate some strange feelings about life’s tricks, but there were no more emotions. Things that had become settled facts, no one could change, and she wouldn’t either.

Whether it was her or Xie Buchen, neither would abandon the direction already set in their hearts.

Time flew by rapidly in their dao discussions that were both yearning and subtly cool and delicate.

A full twenty years passed before the two exhausted the principles of Five Elements changes.

Their cultivation also improved somewhat in the flowing time. However, because neither person’s thoughts were on cultivation, this improvement wasn’t obvious.

After thoroughly researching Five Elements principles, the mysteries of the “Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art” finally clearly revealed themselves before them.

Only now did Jian Chou discover that the key to this technique lay in “balance.”

The Five Elements forces must constantly be in change, and couldn’t let one elemental force be devoured by another. Only by changing within balance could they generate the “prohibition breaking” power they needed.

Logically, at this point they should be close to getting out.

But who could have expected?

When they truly began displaying this technique again, they discovered it really wasn’t such a simple matter!

The “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records” was a notebook left by Shangren Buyu, a great power of the Nineteen Continents generation. Even though plagued by heart demons, how terrifying was his own cultivation?

Even seemingly simple techniques had a threshold for display, let alone a wondrous technique like the “Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art”?

Without reaching that cultivation threshold, they simply couldn’t successfully display this technique no matter what!

They understood the principles, but when it came to actual display, they discovered that with their current spiritual consciousness strength, they simply couldn’t handle the “balance” of Five Elements forces in this technique!

Not enough, far from enough!

Five Elements mutually generate and overcome each other. The Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art required simultaneously controlling five types of forces. How enormous were the various chain collisions of forces this caused?

This technique’s requirements for their spiritual consciousness were extremely strict!

When they discovered this point, not only Jian Chou, but even Xie Buchen, who usually didn’t show emotions, couldn’t help but darken his expression, like an overcast sky about to rain, shrouded in inescapable oppression.

Only one year had passed in the outside world, but they had already spent twenty years on this staircase!

During this time, this pagoda, this mustard seed, had no changes whatsoever, with no sign of being opened.

That demon woman…

Where on earth had she taken this mustard seed?

For a moment, Jian Chou felt somewhat dazed. She didn’t think the Chan sect would abandon them after such a major incident, didn’t think Kunwu and Yashan would ignore her and Xie Buchen, and didn’t think Fu Chaosheng wouldn’t use the Yu Eyes and Zhou Eyes to investigate her whereabouts…

But even so, this mustard seed hadn’t been discovered by them!

Forming hand seals, Jian Chou attempted the Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art for the tenth time.

“Boom!”

But after only four breaths, the five-colored radiance flowing between her hand seals began trembling, as if the “ropes” binding them had become powerless.

So the next moment, they completely collapsed, mixed together, and disappeared without a trace.

“The ‘Nine Curves River Chart’ was given to Shangren Buyu by Ancestor Luye before his ascension. At that time, Shangren Buyu’s cultivation had reached Out of Body stage. This means the various techniques in the ‘Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records’ require at least Out of Body stage cultivation and spiritual consciousness strength to control and manifest their power.”

Xie Buchen didn’t try again, only recalling what he had seen on the murals in Qingfeng Nunnery’s hidden realm.

Jian Chou couldn’t help but laugh: “Out of Body stage cultivation and spiritual consciousness – it seems our luck really isn’t very good. We spent a full twenty years comprehending the Five Elements, only to have to continue cultivating in the end. Moreover, Out of Body stage might not be the end point…”

After all, they had no contact with higher realms and only had guesses about the Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art. Out of Body stage was just the most basic realm.

Who said Out of Body stage would definitely be enough?

Perhaps Out of Body peak, or even Entering the World, or Void Refining might be needed…

How could Xie Buchen not understand the logic Jian Chou spoke of?

He raised his head to look at the Buddha statue standing in the pagoda, his gaze moving slightly, finally saying: “We can only try cultivating. After all, you and I have no other…”

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped.

Because Jian Chou, who was right across from him.

After saying “Out of Body stage might not be the end point,” Xie Buchen had thought she was despondent, so he wanted to say that besides continuing cultivation, they had no other options.

But unexpectedly, Jian Chou hadn’t been listening to him at all. After finishing her lament, she had already closed her eyes, formed hand seals, and begun cultivating!

At this moment, Xie Buchen was stunned.

Then he laughed at the illusion that had arisen in his mind: probably these twenty years of dao discussion had given him an illusion, making him mistakenly think she was someone who would become dejected when trapped in difficulties.

She was clearly too sober and understood their current dangerous situation better than he did.

If they couldn’t reach the minimum requirements for displaying the Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art before their lifespans were exhausted, then many years later, when this mustard seed reappeared in the world and the pagoda opened, what would appear before the world…

Would only be two sets of dry bones!

So even if hope was too slim and the road ahead too long, they had neither room for choice nor time for hesitation.

Jian Chou chose to continue cultivating, so naturally Xie Buchen was no exception.

His gaze looked again at those layers of stairs, pondering for a moment, then actually stepped up again, heading toward higher places!

Twentieth level, twenty-first level, twenty-third level…

Step by step, finally stopping with some difficulty on the twenty-fifth level stair!

Jian Chou naturally sensed such actions.

She lifted her eyelids again, looking up at him once. Her calm eyes seemed to show no fluctuation, and she didn’t follow his example by going to higher stairs, only sitting on this twentieth level stair and closing her eyes again.

Xie Buchen dared to cultivate on the twenty-fifth level stair, but she had no such necessity.

Out of Body and Heart-Questioning were a hurdle for her.

Xie Buchen only needed to worry about lifespan issues, but she had to strictly control her own realm. Qu Zhengfeng, such a naturally gifted genius, had only suppressed his realm for less than four hundred years. Even if she was confident in herself, she didn’t dare overestimate herself too much.

So, biting off more than one could chew – twenty times the time flow rate was already sufficient for her.

Now, what she should consider more was how to let her spiritual power and consciousness reach Out of Body stage without actually crossing that realm boundary, to avoid encountering the Heart-Questioning Dao Tribulation upon leaving this realm.

Jian Chou placed her hands in seals on her knees, absorbing the abundant heaven and earth spiritual qi within this pagoda while recalling the contents of the “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records” in her heart…

Was there some technique that was exactly what she needed now?

As soon as this thought emerged, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration, remembering her cultivation in the polar domain and a certain technique in the “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records”:

Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon Dharma Body!

When trapped in the polar domain, spiritual qi was exhausted across the hundred thousand li of evil earth, with only “earthly yin essence” available for ghost cultivators to practice. Jian Chou had been forced to begin cultivation with her damaged divine soul.

Later, with the help of the Nine-Headed Bird’s remnant soul, she had unexpectedly advanced from Soul Pearl realm to Jade Nirvana.

She still clearly remembered the various cultivation details and realm divisions related to the polar domain—

Jade Nirvana was the fourth realm of polar domain soul cultivation.

After that was “Golden Body.” This realm required polar domain cultivators who only had souls to cultivate their own physical bodies through special methods, even cultivating “dharma bodies.”

The Ten Great Ghost Clans and Eight Directions Yama Halls all had their respective dharma bodies.

For example, the Ghost King clan’s Lihan, who hadn’t yet been killed by Fu Chaosheng at that time, cultivated the “Immovable Bright King Dharma Body” and had once displayed the Netherworld Ghost Claw technique that shocked everyone.

And the bird-beaked clan girl Gu Ling she encountered in the cauldron competition naturally possessed the Three-Legged Golden Crow aspect. If Jian Chou’s guess was correct, she would likely cultivate the very promising “Three-Legged Golden Crow Dharma Body” in the future.

Strictly speaking, the term “dharma body” actually originated from Buddhism, but after reaching the polar domain, it was given richer meaning.

The Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon Dharma Body – wasn’t this exactly a technique for cultivating dharma bodies?

Unlike Nineteen Continents cultivators who began cultivation from body cultivation, polar domain cultivators had no “body” at all, so they always started from “soul.”

Dharma body, dharma body – though emphasizing “body,” due to polar domain cultivators’ characteristics, how could they abandon “soul”?

In just an instant, Jian Chou’s heart became completely clear, faintly having a burning sensation of glimpsing a “shortcut”!

The various contents of “Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon Dharma Body” instantly appeared before her eyes.

The Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon, also called “Heavenly Dragon Eight Divisions,” “Dragon God Eight Divisions,” or “Eight Divisions Assembly.”

Legend said that when Buddha preached, eight divisions assembly often followed to listen to the dharma, led by “Heavenly Assembly” and “Dragon Assembly,” with the other six divisions being Yaksha, Gandharva, Asura, Garuda, Kinnara, and Mahoraga.

Therefore, the Eight Divisions Assembly was also called “Dharma Protector Gods.”

The “Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon Dharma Body” cultivated the “dharma bodies” of the strongest in each of these eight divisions!

As Jian Chou focused her thoughts according to its cultivation method, an extremely blurry phantom had already appeared behind her like a giant disc.

Heavenly Dragon Eight Divisions Assembly!

At the very top of this disc, directly facing Jian Chou’s head, was the image of the strongest among the Heavenly Assembly, “Great Brahma,” riding a peacock – a four-faced Buddha.

At the bottom was Asura, with one face, three eyes, and four arms, holding the sun and moon, with a body exceeding Mount Sumeru.

On both sides were the Dragon Assembly in the form of giant turtles, Yaksha with fierce ghost-like faces, Garuda in the form of golden-winged great peng birds, Mahoraga with human heads and snake bodies, Kinnara holding glazed qins with single horns yet extraordinary beauty, and the voluptuous maiden Gandharva wearing colorful ribbons, holding flutes and pipes, dancing barefoot.

Though this phantom was extremely blurry, the outlines of the eight divisions were clearly visible!

Almost the instant this dharma body phantom appeared, the golden light above immediately became several times brighter, as if sensing the existence of this eight divisions dharma body and thus bestowing more compassion!

Without needing to pay attention, Jian Chou felt that enormous difference.

If the originally descending golden light was like gentle drizzle nourishing Jian Chou, then the golden light descending now was like a heavy spring night rain, watering the earth back to spring, with grass and trees suddenly growing.

Compassionate Buddha light…

Bathed in it, Jian Chou only felt as if she had been brought into a glazed, transparent realm.

The Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon aspect that appeared behind her according to the dharma method was now also rotating, presenting an indescribable solemnity and grandeur.

Faintly, there seemed to be heavenly sounds and Sanskrit chants echoing.

Jian Chou sat cross-legged within it. Her originally calm and cool face now looked as if it carried a kind of solemn and compassionate dignity.

In a trance, like gods and Buddhas from the nine heavens!

Shedding all worldly qi, compassionate and merciful…

Xie Buchen naturally couldn’t fail to sense such changes.

Just as Jian Chou had opened her eyes when he stepped onto the twenty-fifth level stair, the moment that Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon aspect materialized behind Jian Chou, he also opened his eyes.

With just one look, his brow center immediately furrowed tightly.

This was absolutely not a cultivation technique from any Central Domain sect!

On the contrary, Xie Buchen still recognized those slowly rotating eight divisions.

This was clearly a Buddhist technique!

Instantly, he thought of that “Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon Dharma Body” in the “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records”!

Unlike the “Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art” which was just a dao technique and dao seal, “Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon Dharma Body” was a cultivation method.

Dao techniques and dao seals had minimum thresholds for display, but cultivation methods generally had no thresholds for practice.

So generally speaking, even with extremely low cultivation and insufficient spiritual consciousness realm, one could directly cultivate.

However…

Buddhist technique?

For some reason, the wariness he had previously suppressed actually deepened another layer.

Xie Buchen also had a photographic memory. At this moment, he naturally recalled all the content related to “Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon Dharma Body” in the “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records” and studied it carefully.

But what amazed him was that he only understood this technique half-way!

Not only did he not understand terms like “Jade Nirvana” and “Golden Body,” even the entire cultivation method seemed incomprehensible to him, as if it shouldn’t be something that Nineteen Continents cultivators, at least Central Domain cultivators, could understand.

He only saw that this technique cultivated both internal and external aspects.

But why could Jian Chou cultivate it?

Was it because of… the polar domain?

Those missing sixty years were probably the only secret about Jian Chou still shrouded in layers of mystery. No one knew why the Nine Heavens Tablet had changed so strangely, and Jian Chou and Yashan had never explained Jian Chou’s cultivation and realm changes in the polar domain to anyone…

Xie Buchen silently attempted several times, but this usually genius man not only made no progress with “Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon Dharma Body,” he couldn’t even find the entrance!

After thinking for a long time, he couldn’t help but laugh.

But that was it.

If he couldn’t cultivate it, then he couldn’t cultivate it. At this moment, he couldn’t possibly do anything to Jian Chou, and could only watch helplessly.

The urgent matter, after all, wasn’t fighting.

People have Zhang Liang’s strategies, he has wall-climbing ladders – who doesn’t have their own cultivation methods?

So after just this moment of wariness, Xie Buchen buried all his thoughts deeply, refocused his mind, and activated his own technique. Immediately, his entire body emanated somewhat different qi, spreading like water waves.

In this pagoda isolated from the world, everything seemed to have stopped.

Except for the continuously falling tassel-like golden Buddha light above, except for the various flowing qi and phenomena around Jian Chou and Xie Buchen during their cultivation…

The pagoda walls stood tall, the carved gods and Buddhas remained silent, dust stayed between their compassionate brows and eyes, motionless.

Time flowed past, carving different traces on the two people.

Everything in the pagoda remained as before, seemingly unchanged; but outside the pagoda, outside the mustard seed, the world had already seen shifting stars and several autumn colds.

Time, in this pagoda, was stretched, endless and seemingly without limit.

Extremely quiet, and extremely lonely.

For the first time, Jian Chou had such a clear and realistic understanding of the existence of “cultivators.”

Ordinary people lived mediocre lives for barely a hundred years, from birth to death almost constantly rushing about for livelihood and pleasure, with almost no time to think about the meaning of their existence.

But for cultivators, time was so long.

They needed to cultivate, and one retreat session lasted decades or hundreds of years, facing the loneliness of having only themselves in heaven and earth, experiencing that indescribable solitude.

So-called cultivators, whether pursuing the great dao, pursuing power, or pursuing time, were all exhausting everything to struggle against this endless time…

Too long, too enduring.

Over and over, repeating boring cultivation…

If she couldn’t see Xie Buchen sitting diagonally across when she opened her eyes, Jian Chou would almost think she was the only remaining existence in this world;

If he couldn’t see Jian Chou still cultivating below when he opened his eyes, Xie Buchen would also inevitably suspect this world was originally void, and perhaps even he himself didn’t exist.

In this long, lonely cultivation that blurred everything around them, they were both each other’s fated enemies to grit their teeth and persist, and also the only glimmer of light in the darkness that reminded each other of their existence…

Hatred, yet sharing life and death.

In this nearly static pagoda, Jian Chou initially still counted the passing time, but as it became longer and seemingly endless, such calculations became confused.

Three hundred years, four hundred years…

Or perhaps five hundred years?

No one could say clearly.

Jian Chou only knew that when she reopened her eyes, the Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon aspect quietly floating behind her had become transparent and brilliant like glazed glass.

The flowing radiance it emanated even surpassed the Buddha light streaming from above.

At this moment, Xie Buchen seemed to sense something and almost simultaneously opened his eyes, revealing pupils that had become increasingly profound through the long years.

Four to five hundred years of cultivation – how terrifying was this for such two geniuses?

Jian Chou didn’t know what realm Xie Buchen had cultivated to on the twenty-fifth level stair, but she was crystal clear about her current realm.

Divided by polar domain realms, she had already broken through Jade Nirvana, achieved perfect Golden Body, and directly reached the sixth realm of Unity!

Body cultivation at Nascent Soul peak great perfection, soul cultivation at mid Unity stage!

From ancient times to now, from the Nineteen Continents to the polar domain, no one had ever achieved such a shocking accomplishment!

Body and soul realms differed so greatly – one still at the fourth realm Nascent Soul, the other already at the sixth realm Unity – yet she had stubbornly stabilized it without dying from body explosion, truly a miracle!

“Try it?”

Having not spoken for too long, whether in tone or voice, there was a strange hoarseness and harshness. Jian Chou finally broke the silence here, asking Xie Buchen a question.

Xie Buchen pondered for a moment and nodded, not saying much.

The two stood up together, stepping down from the stairs for the first time in hundreds of years, returning to the bottom level. The faint barrier still existed, and the two halves of the “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records” scrolls still lay on the ground as before.

They each collected their respective portions, then turned to face the wall in front of the pagoda.

The various gods and Buddha images carved on the wall remained compassionate and solemn, just as when they first fell.

“Hum!”

Forming hand seals again, no longer the previous difficulty.

At this moment, standing before this wall, Jian Chou once again displayed the “Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art”!

Xie Buchen’s movements weren’t slow either, following immediately after.

The two, one after another, almost simultaneously displayed this technique.

The five-colored radiance representing Five Elements forces instantly gathered between their hand seals. As they gradually separated their palms, the radiance became increasingly brilliant, dazzling beyond approach!

With a thought, the spiritual consciousness refined over hundreds of years of cultivation, powerful and robust, instantly covered it.

A scene that shook the soul immediately unfolded before them!

Starting from that ray of golden light, the five-colored radiance actually shot toward the preceding radiance in sequence, then rapidly gathered like stars emanating countless rays of light!

Countless forms and phenomena flashed by in an instant!

Countless changes and transformations hidden in a breath!

Just in this moment of thought, the Five Elements forces in their palms had already exhausted all the various changes in their previous calculations, and suddenly erupted with infinite power like heaven collapsing and earth caving at a silent place!

“Boom! Boom!”

Two deafening explosions, like nine-heavenly silver waterfalls suddenly descending, successively arose from before Jian Chou and Xie Buchen!

In an instant, Jian Chou saw the five-colored radiance gather, and in the blink of an eye, it became a brilliant and blazing snow-white light column, shooting toward the wall!

“Hum!”

Immediately there was the lingering resonance of a great bell being struck!

Countless golden scriptures instantly appeared on the wall, filling Jian Chou’s entire field of vision!

Faintly, something solid seemed to have been shaken. But this sheet of scriptures before her eyes didn’t disperse, and this wall also didn’t collapse because of it!

Jian Chou immediately frowned.

But the next moment, Xie Buchen’s Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art on the other side of the barrier also sent its light column toward the pagoda body!

Mystical changes occurred at this time, at this moment!

The instant both rays of light fell, all the golden scriptures written in Sanskrit on the pagoda body immediately brightened greatly, then seemed to sense something and quietly dimmed.

As they dimmed, the countless carved bodhisattvas and Buddhas on the pagoda walls also gradually faded.

Three breaths later, the entire wall had disappeared, and what appeared before them was actually a pure blue sky canopy with several floating white clouds!

Success!

Seeing this, both Jian Chou and Xie Buchen first froze, then immediately reacted and without thinking rushed straight out!

The Great Five Elements Prohibition Breaking Art could only “break prohibitions” for a moment – who knew what would happen if they delayed even slightly!

The two figures were simply like two flashes of lightning!

In just a blink, the pagoda that had confined them disappeared completely.

The two of them were like suddenly emerging from a speck of dust floating in the air, appearing all at once in this real world!

A clear breeze brushed their faces, faintly carrying bursts of delicate fragrance.

All around them were rolling mountain ranges, but beneath their feet was a strange yin-yang pool.

The broad water surface was divided into two distinct colors. The left side was snow white, the right side ink black. Where the two pools of water met, they curved into a strange line, making the snow white on one side and ink black on the other look like two fish biting each other’s tails.

Even more peculiar were those two wells.

One black well was not on the ink-black water side, but rather on the snow-white water side; one white well was not on the snow-white water side, but rather on the ink-black water side.

You within me, me within you, vaguely harmonious yet distinctly separate.

This curved line where the two-colored pool waters met emanated a faint chaotic aura, remarkably similar to those chaotic qi that Jian Chou had once sensed outside the Heaven-Releasing Creation Array in the polar domain!

Even though they had never been here before, this yin-yang pool was already famous to them!

How could they possibly fail to recognize it!

This place was none other than the boundary forbidden ground between two other opposing sects in the northern domain of the Nineteen Continents – the Two Principles Forbidden Pool of the northern domain’s Yin-Yang Two Sects!

This shock was extraordinary.

Xie Buchen frowned and immediately wanted to say something.

But unexpectedly, just as he turned to look at Jian Chou, Jian Chou, who had originally been standing not far from his side, suddenly focused her gaze and looked toward the other end of the Two Principles Forbidden Pool—

On this same chaotic curve, this end had the two people who had just escaped their predicament, while the other end actually had a female cultivator who looked exactly like Jian Chou!

Seemingly never having expected they could escape, this female cultivator also showed astonishment when she saw them.

But just moments later, she realized something was wrong, suddenly turned around, activated the Wind-Riding Dao Seal, and was about to flee!

Today’s Jian Chou was no longer yesterday’s Jian Chou.

Having been schemed against by her above the snow domain’s holy hall and trapped in the mustard seed for who knows how long, how could she now possibly watch helplessly as she escaped from before her eyes?

Killing intent in her heart ignited instantly!

With a cold expression, Jian Chou teleported in pursuit, simultaneously striking with the Burning Lamp Sword. The dim yellow radiance had already illuminated the entire Two Principles Pool!

“Stop, or die!”