Lord Shenxiu

Sun Yuan was gasping for breath, feeling for the first time that being able to breathe was a kind of happiness.

Thinking about the previous dangers, even he broke into a cold sweat.

Whether it was the will of his past life or that Evil Demon 'Taiyi,' they could easily destroy him in the sea of consciousness.

The reason he survived in the end wasn't some fisherman benefiting from the clams fighting; it was just that his past life's will spared him.

Specifically, it was that when it was determined that it would only perish together with that mass of will, his past life's will actively protected him.

At this thought, Sun Yuan's expression became incomparably complex.

The next moment, he got up, feeling a piercing pain in his body.

'Damn it, I remember my body was once strengthened, now it's all wasted...'

He mumbled: "Anyway, surviving is a good thing! It's just... how do I get out?"

The Under the Emperor City was deathly silent, completely unlike a place with living creatures, not even a trace of green could be seen.

Clearly, in such a city, a mortal cannot survive.

"How to get out? This is not simply underground ruins, but an alternate dimension... To get out, I'm afraid I must resort to spells, ah!"

As soon as Sun Yuan thought of spells, he suddenly covered his forehead.

He was shocked to find that he could no longer use a trace of spiritual power.

This was perhaps the aftermath of the previous battle between two powerful beings in the sea of consciousness, causing his spirit to suffer severe damage!

Even that magical "Classic of Mountains and Seas" could no longer be sensed.

"I... I've lost the ability to use spells, and become... an ordinary person?"

Sun Yuan felt an extremely complex emotion surge up in his heart.

Although spells often came with great consequences and costs, they were after all supernatural powers!

To lose them all of a sudden, indeed, was regrettable.

Not to mention... he was still in the Under the Emperor City, unable to use spells, he simply couldn't leave.

Perhaps, he would die trapped here.

"No... I cannot despair; I need to look for a variable... Besides myself and the Longevity Sect, Zhong Shenxiu also came in, finding him might lead to an escape route, even if not, I can teach him spells to get me out! Moreover... there might still be remnants of the Longevity Sect's spellcasters present..."

Half a day later.

Just when Sun Yuan had searched through numerous buildings, unsurprisingly finding no trace of water or food, and was gradually despairing, he finally saw a figure.

"Great, I finally found you."

He hurried over and found it was Zhong Shenxiu.

At this moment, Zhong Shenxiu was looking at a mural, seemingly admiring it.

"So it's you..."

Zhong Shenxiu nodded, not much surprised.

"You... didn't encounter anyone from the Longevity Sect?" Although already certain, this person wasn't the leader of the Longevity Sect, Zhong Shenxiu in Sun Yuan's heart, became increasingly mysterious.

"I didn't encounter them, after falling here, I was captivated by these prehistoric treasures, completely immersed... after all, I'm an ancient scholar..."

Zhong Shenxiu smilingly pointed at the mural: "Look..."

Sun Yuan looked at the mural, seeing that it depicted a battlefield scene, a giant mountain looming in the sky, and... a gate.

"This describes what should be the great transformation of the Cultivation World during the Yan Han Emperor Shenwu period—the Heaven and Earth Barrier!"

Zhong Shenxiu sighed: "In prehistoric times, deities walked the earth, in ancient times, cultivators wandered the world, but after the Heaven and Earth Barrier, cultivation ceased, immortals ascended, deities became ethereal... only a Gourd Cave Heaven was left in the world."

"Gourd Cave Heaven?" Sun Yuan was stirred, thinking of Zhong Shenxiu's mystery: "How do you know so clearly?"

Could it be, this person was actually a human cultivator from the Gourd Cave Heaven?

"There's a hint on the mural!"

Zhong Shenxiu pointed to the corner of the mural, where there was indeed a gourd mark, alongside some annotations in ancient characters.

Sun Yuan glanced a few times, nodded, then questioned: "Then why... can spells be mastered now, could it be... the resurgence of Spiritual Energy?"

This was a concept he learned from reading online novels.

"No... this world has never had a resurgence of Spiritual Energy."

Zhong Shenxiu shook his head: "Prehistoric times were for divine cultivation, ancient times for immortal cultivation... now, one can only cultivate through spell power to refine their spirituality... This is a completely different system! Or rather... a completely opposite power from the ancient Immortal Dao... Ancient Immortals possessed long life spans, did not have to continuously worry about going astray, but spellcasters constantly accompany danger, walk with madness..."

Sun Yuan suddenly felt a bit suffocated.

He felt that Zhong Shenxiu now, probably also connected through the mural, to something supernatural.

Even, perhaps, his spirit had already bordered on madness!

"Don't think too much, now what we need to focus on is how to get out... This is an alternate dimension, only by utilizing spell power can we open a portal to leave..."

Sun Yuan felt like many things appeared in his mind, whether about his past life or memories of Taiyi, he did not know.

But when he encountered a critical point, the past information would flow out like a stream.

"I'll teach you a spell, whether we can leave will depend on you."

...

Kunwu City.

In a deserted street.

The void seemed to open an invisible door, rippling.

Blurry light and shadow together formed a hemispherical arch shape.

Two figures stepped out directly.

"This is... the real world, we finally made it out."

Sun Yuan's face carried a trace of excitement.

He looked at the buildings on both sides, with a somewhat strange expression: "Just... how did we end up directly in a city?"

"A slight deviation in space can mean a thousand miles of difference in reality, I find this very normal."

Zhong Shenxiu nodded.

"Yes, the key was still you, I didn't expect you to succeed on your first try."

Sun Yuan looked at Zhong Shenxiu: "What's this? Not hiding it at all anymore? You... were already a spells practitioner, right? What was your purpose in entering the Under the Emperor City this time?"

As he spoke, the coldness in him seemed to grow.

But Sun Yuan gazed at Zhong Shenxiu for a long time, suddenly laughed: "Forget it... you don't need to tell me, because I already don't care."

At this moment, he was almost like a waste person, never to possess the ability of spells again.

If that's the case, why bother with so much?

Wouldn't it be better to peacefully live as an ordinary person?

"Then... farewell, I'm returning to Tianxing City, to continue my studies. Luckily, it's already my senior year internship period, otherwise being missing for so long, the counselor would've killed me..."

Sun Yuan waved his hand, walked out of the alley, and blended into the crowd.