Zi Lingling finished speaking, then got up and walked to the side, sitting down cross-legged. She placed Ye Lingyuan's "Chong'er," on which he was lying, on her lap and closed her eyes to recover. Having gone through two major battles and healed Shen Liuxing, she was also severely depleted.
Moreover, exchanging blows with the spatial beasts had caused her qi and blood to surge. She had been suppressing the metallic sweetness in her throat, not wanting to worry everyone. Now that everyone was settled, it was time for her to heal.
Time flowed by under these circumstances. Soon, everyone entered a state of deep cultivation. It was also fortunate that this place was relatively remote, a place where one might not encounter anyone for a hundred years. Therefore, the safety of the group was not a concern.
Before entering deep cultivation, Zi Lingling had released Long'er, Xiao Hu, Bai Ze, and Xuanwu, entrusting them with guarding the others. Inside "Chong'er," Ye Lingyuan slept peacefully, with wisps of law power coiling around "Chong'er" and slowly seeping into it.
After an unknown period, faint glows began to appear on everyone. Zi Lingling's vast divine sense spread out, and the scenery within a radius of ten thousand miles was imprinted in her divine sense. She saw the distant peaks, the blades of grass swaying in the gentle breeze. She heard the chirping of insects in the distance, the roars of beasts in the distant mountains. Everything around was clearly etched into her soul.
A mysterious feeling made Zi Lingling feel incredibly liberated. At this moment, she felt as if she had merged with nature itself. Strange energies surged towards her, filling her body with power. Her soul drifted upwards, reaching the clouds, as if touching a barrier.
"This must be the protective shield of Azure Star," Zi Lingling muttered to herself, continuing to observe the shield. "Huh, there are traces of repair in this area!" Around these traces, black demonic energy was continuously seeping in. Zi Lingling found this black demonic energy very familiar; it was the same aura as the thirty-three demonic creatures from the sealed land.
"Could this be the great hole that the Nine Guardians sacrificed their lives to seal?" she wondered. "It must be! But how did I get here?"
Just then, the voice of the Azure Star Soul sounded. "Child, congratulations! Your soul power has broken through the limit of the Supreme Realm and entered the Origin Return Realm!"
"Origin Return Realm? What is that?" Zi Lingling asked.
The Azure Star Soul said, "Child, do you remember the division of soul realms?"
Zi Lingling replied, "I remember: Entry, Microscopic, Minor Accomplishment, Great Accomplishment, Supreme!"
The Azure Star Soul said, "That's right, child! The Origin Return Realm is the realm beyond Supreme. All things return to origin; I am all things; what I see, all things become!"
"All things return to origin; I am all things; what I see, all things become?" Zi Lingling murmured, repeating the words.
The Azure Star Soul said kindly, "Yes, child, this realm can only be understood, not explained in words. Contemplate it yourself!" With that, the Azure Star Soul fell silent again.
Zi Lingling was suddenly startled and opened her eyes. The moment she opened her eyes, she was so frightened that her soul almost left her body. Eight dark, lustrous eyes were all staring at her curiously. They looked as if they wanted to dissect her and study her carefully. Zi Lingling immediately felt like a lamb in a wolf's den.
Her heart pounded as she asked, "Why are you... looking at me like that?"
Xuanyuan Xun, Rong Guang, Shangguan Yulin, and Shen Liuxing suddenly came to their senses. They awkwardly turned their heads away, pretending to cough lightly.
Zi Lingling found it even stranger. "What do you mean by this?"
Xuanyuan Xun coughed again, his gaze evasive, and said, "Miss Zi, you were sitting right here, but we couldn't sense your presence just now. Isn't that strange?"
"Huh?" Zi Lingling was very surprised. What kind of description was this? She looked at the other three, awaiting their explanation.
Shangguan Yulin suddenly looked at her and said, "Miss Zi, Ninth Uncle means that you seemed to have merged with heaven and earth just now."
Rong Guang also nodded, "Guild Master, you have a very fresh, natural aura about you, as if you are the trees, the grass, the air..." He himself felt that his description might be misunderstood, so he stopped himself.
Shen Liuxing thought for a moment and said, "Sister Zi, you were in a very wonderful state of cultivation just now."
Zi Lingling finally understood. It seemed that her soul's breakthrough to the Origin Return Realm had created an illusion for the four of them.
"Yes! My soul power broke through just now!"
"Broke through!" The four were greatly surprised, then wrung their hands in distress.
Xuanyuan Xun: "Miss Zi, to what realm did you break through?"
Shangguan Yulin: "Miss Zi, didn't your soul power already break through to the Supreme Realm?"
Rong Guang: "That's right, Guild Master!"
Shen Liuxing: "Sister Zi, what exactly is going on?"
Zi Lingling said a bit sheepishly, "I only know that this realm is called the Origin Return Realm, but I don't know how I broke through."
"Origin Return Realm? What is the Origin Return Realm?" Xuanyuan Xun and the others gathered around Zi Lingling, listening to her explanation.
Zi Lingling shook her head and said, "I'm not very clear about it myself. If I have to say it, there are only sixteen words!"
"Which sixteen words?" Shangguan Yulin eagerly asked.
Zi Lingling shrugged her shoulders and said, "All things return to origin; I am all things; what I see, all things become!"
The group looked at her with blank expressions. But Zi Lingling could do nothing. As the Azure Star Soul had said, it could only be understood, not explained.
Xuanyuan Xun and the other three muttered to themselves, repeating the words for a long time without gaining any insight, only making their heads feel like they were about to explode. In the end, they had no choice but to give up reluctantly. However, their gazes towards Zi Lingling became strange.
Xuanyuan Xun sighed and said, "A monster!"
Rong Guang followed his example and sighed, "A monster is indeed a monster!"
Shangguan Yulin also shook his head and said, "I don't understand, I don't understand! The world of monsters is not something we ordinary mortals can comprehend!"
Shen Liuxing retorted, "You are all just jealous! You are jealous of Sister Zi!" He then said to Zi Lingling, "Sister Zi, don't pay attention to them!"
Zi Lingling smiled and said, "Alright, let's go!"
Upon hearing about serious matters, everyone stopped fooling around and said in unison, "Okay!"
The five of them set a direction and flew into the air. However, after flying for three hours, all they saw was forest and rivers, not a single human figure.
Shangguan Yulin curiously asked, "Huh? Is the Divine Remnant Continent so desolate? Did we come to the wrong place?"