A massive explosion erupted, causing the Saintly Forest Courtyard to shake. It was as though the world was falling apart. If it wasn't for the formation around the courtyard, the entire imperial city would probably shake as well.

  Abruptly, the stele shone with a dazzling radiance, flooding the Saintly Forest Courtyard with light. Eventually, the radiance broke through the seal around the courtyard and connected to the sky, manifesting an astonishing phenomenon that hung above the imperial city. First, the people of the city were amazed by the phenomenon they saw. Then, the amazement was replaced with sheer shock.

  "Th-this light is coming from the Saintly Forest Courtyard. What's happening?"

  "I remember that when the imperial uncle challenged the Saintly Forest Ranking 1,000 years ago, something similar happened as well. However, the phenomenon back then wasn't this bright."

  "Has someone succeeded in challenging the ranking? If that is true, then this would be the biggest event in the city in the last 1,000 years."

  "Who is the genius capable enough to enter the ranking? We need to go get a look!"……

  Numerous cultivators rushed toward the Saintly Forest Courtyard. All of them wanted to know the identity of the person who had just entered the Saintly Forest Ranking. After all, the appearance of a new name on the ranking signified the emergence of a new genius cultivator.

  In the imperial palace was a middle-aged man clad in a golden dragon robe with a golden crown on his head. His gaze pierced through numerous obstructions to reach the sky. With a bright radiance in his eyes, he muttered, "It has been 1,000 years. Has someone finally broken the shackles?"

  In the Imperial Teacher Residence, the current imperial teacher, Meng Youfang, had also noticed the phenomenon. As he stroked his beard, he said, "Chaotic times will give rise to many heroes. Looks like this saying is right, after all. I wonder who it is. If I can recruit that person to the Imperial Teacher Residence, it would be greatly beneficial for the first prince. With this new helper, the first prince will have an even greater chance at inheriting the throne."

  The imperial teacher then sent some people to figure out the identity of the person who had just entered the Saintly Forest Ranking. Many hidden experts in the imperial city also noticed the phenomenon. All of them sighed at how the ranking was finally changing again after 1,000 years.

  Little did they know, those in the Saintly Forest Courtyard were even more shocked than those outside. The phenomenon they saw was even more spectacular than what the others saw outside. Clumps of dazzling radiance swirled around the stele before converging on Xiang Shaoyun as though they were giving him a baptism of light. The entire scene looked incredibly sacred and filled the surrounding onlookers with envy.

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  They were sure that the dazzling clumps of radiance were the purest of energies that could strengthen one's body and cleanse one's marrow. These clumps could even have some other unknown functions. This process was basically the stele's reward to a successful challenger.

  Meanwhile, Xiang Shaoyun, who was bathing in the light, felt extremely comfortable. Every inch of his body had been cleansed while his body was brimming with life. His flesh, meridians, and organs had all been strengthened, as though he had once again regained his filthless body.

  If he was to take off his clothes right now, one would be able to see that his entire body had turned sparkling and translucent and that his flesh was as tender as a newborn. His flesh was also extremely durable. Not even saint-grade weapons could harm him.

  In the midst of his transformation, Xiang Shaoyun seemed to hear sounds of chanting in his head, as though these were the voices that had traveled through the passage of time to the present. The voices resounded in his head repeatedly like the ringing of the bell in the morning. Eventually, the voices triggered some sort of resonance with the Desolation mantra.

  Slowly but surely, the missing parts of the Desolation mantra started appearing. Without knowing it, Xiang Shaoyun started chanting the Desolation mantra. The Desolation mantra, an ancient scripture with vast knowledge, contained the supreme truth.

  As Xiang Shaoyun chanted the mantra, he seemed to see through the long passage of time. His gaze eventually reached the beginning of time. There, nine supreme experts could be seen working together to create the Desolation mantra. The nine supreme experts were all the supreme geniuses of an era. They possessed unrivaled wisdom and strength, each representing the peak of a different power. Together, they created the Desolation mantra to serve as the hope of humanity.

  Xiang Shaoyun started chanting the Desolation mantra alongside the nine supreme experts. As he chanted, his comprehension of the numerous powers deepened incessantly. Slowly but surely, he gained an understanding of how to regain his astral cultivation.

  The Desolation mantra created by the nine supreme experts also had a deeper meaning. The nine experts hoped that those after them would be able to cultivate nine different powers and create the strongest battle physique a human could ever have. They named the physique the Primal Inception Physique. Primal inception, the most original and strongest of energies, was something that existed during the beginning of time. No other energy could compare with it.

  Xiang Shaoyun had been cultivating nine different energies all along. Eventually, he relied on his astral cosmos sea to fuse the nine energies into primal inception energy. However, that wasn't the best method of utilizing the primal inception energy. As such, he wasn't able to forge the proper Primal Inception Physique.

  Now that his nine stars had been destroyed, he only had his astral cosmos sea remaining. He could no longer absorb the ambient energy of the world. How should he regain his astral cultivation? How was he supposed to replenish his primal inception energy?

  Reversing the cosmos, nine stars become one!

  After chanting the Desolation mantra again and again, those words suddenly surfaced in his mind.

  "Reversing the cosmos, nine stars become one!" Suddenly, Xiang Shaoyun's mind became fully fixated on that single sentence. As he bathed in endless radiance, the broken pieces of the stars in his body started to shine brightly and slowly fuse with the dazzling radiance seeping into his body.

  Xiang Shaoyun felt himself standing amidst the universe, witnessing numerous celestial bodies orbiting around him. He personally witnessed the birth and destruction of stars. No matter what happened to these celestial bodies, they would still remain in the boundless universe, forever unable to escape the prison of existence known as the cosmos.

  Abruptly, the Light of Wisdom started shining. During that instant, he seemed to have seen through the truth of time and fully grasped the great dao. Countless strands of energy came pouring into his body. Even the ambient energy in the Saintly Forest Courtyard started converging on him, entering his shattered stars. Instead of coming together, the shattered stars headed toward the astral cosmos sea.

  The first shattered piece to arrive adhered itself to the astral cosmos sea. In a perfectly natural manner, it became one with the astral cosmos sea, causing the astral cosmos sea to become even more corporeal than before. More and more shattered pieces adhered themselves to the astral cosmos sea, causing the astral cosmos sea to rapidly grow and become more and more corporeal. All lives in the astral cosmos sea also underwent a massive transformation. It was as though a brand new universe was rapidly taking form.

  Chapter 1417: Robbing the World of Its Fortune, Ranked First on the Saintly Ranking

  The birth of each star required a long process and a long passage of time. Of the many stars, there were life stars that could support a myriad of lives. Of the many stars, there were also death stars that could not support any life.

  Death stars could come into existence easily, while life stars rarely came into existence as they required a massive amount of energy. Only with primal chaos energy and yin and yang energies would life be supported. After the nine shattered stars merged with the astral cosmos sea, a true life star had taken form.

  Meanwhile, high in the sky, numerous phenomena manifested. The sun and the moon revolved while the river of stars surged. Dragon roars and phoenix cries reverberated in the sky while the mythical qilin and black tortoise also manifested in the sky, covering the world with a nine-colored radiance.

  In the imperial palace, the person in the dragon robe shouted in excitement, "Men, prepare to head to the Saintly Forest Courtyard!"

  Such a unique series of phenomena was destined to bring great fortune to the Dusk Dynasty. As the ruler of the dynasty, he could no longer maintain his calm. The imperial teacher also personally set off from the Imperial Teacher Residence, and the other first-rank officials also headed toward the Saintly Forest Courtyard one after another.

  One could say that this was the day worthy of being recorded in the Dusk Dynasty's history. Auspicious phenomena appeared one after another, the emperor personally left the palace, and numerous officials gathered. This was a scene that wouldn't appear even if a God was to personally appear in the city.

  In the Saintly Forest Courtyard, the many plants started emitting life force. Even the spring water started pulsing with life force. This was something that had never happened before. As for the various Saints in the Saintly Forest Courtyard, they could all feel some sort of energy wash over them, giving them a comfortable sensation that caused them to be relaxed. Their cultivations started rising, and their comprehension of what they cultivated also deepened.

  It seemed like Xiang Shaoyun had created quite a karmic reaction. One ought to know that to influence the comprehension of others while one was comprehending the dao, one needed to first enter the God Realm. Nobody below the God Realm was supposed to be capable of such a feat.

  All the old cultivators in the Saintly Forest Courtyard left seclusion. Looking at Xiang Shaoyun, who was standing before the Saintly Forest Stele, their eyes shone brightly. Those at their level would rarely be affected by the affairs of the world. Today, the phenomena created by Xiang Shaoyun had affected them.

  Nobody knew what was happening in Xiang Shaoyun's body. If they knew, they would probably have the urge to dissect and study him. He was basically robbing the world of its fortune to create a never-before-seen star.

  There were historical records detailing how one could reach the apex even with one star. However, it was never recorded that someone could actually form a true life star in one's body. This had never happened before.

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  At present, all the shattered stars in Xiang Shaoyun's body had fully merged with his astral cosmos sea. The astral cosmos sea had transformed into a single star. Within the star, all the spiritual plants were growing lushly on the ground. Up in the sky, primal inception energy floated about like clouds. The amount of primal inception energy increased as time passed.

  All the different energies in his astral cosmos sea, such as his dark origin energy, flux goldthorn energy, lightning origin energy, mystic earth essence energy, and Yun Flame, had also converged upon the primal inception energy, helping the primal inception energy to rapidly grow. Eventually, the entire star was filled with primal inception energy, shrouding the astral cosmos sea in a nine-colored radiance that looked incomparably beautiful.

  While a large amount of energy was entering the astral cosmos sea, the stele finally changed. The token hanging on Xiang Shaoyun's waist suddenly flew out. The name carved on the token formed some sort of connection with the stele. Next, Xiang Shaoyun's name appeared on the stele, accompanied by a brilliant golden radiance.

  The moment the name appeared, it started rising rapidly, surpassing one legend after another. All the surrounding Saints were stunned. Finally, the name stopped at the very top of the stele. The surrounding Saints felt like they were in a dream, unable to believe that Xiang Shaoyun had reached the top of the ranking just like that.

  First rank on the Saintly Forest Ranking, Xiang Shaoyun!

  News of his ranking rapidly spread throughout the Imperial Sunset City. Before long, the same news would probably spread throughout the world.

  The radiance surrounding the stele slowly receded while the radiance around Xiang Shaoyun's body started slowly withdrawing into him. Numerous cracks sounded from his body. Those were the sounds made by the evolution of his meridians, organs, and bones. His saint body shone with a bright luster that filled the surrounding onlookers with envy.

  At present, Xiang Shaoyun's saint body had surpassed that of a regular Saint. He had gained a filthless body comparable to the body of Great Saints. One could even say that his body was comparable to a semi-God's body. After all, no Saint had ever obtained such a body before.

  Xiang Shaoyun was akin to a deity that had descended from the heavens. He had truly become an existence that stood aloof from the mortal world. He had fully recovered his astral cultivation. His meridians were once again filled with surging energy, which circulated rapidly within his body before converging on his astral cosmos sea. After absorbing the incoming energy, the astral cosmos sea responded by sending out primal inception energy, covering his body with a nine-colored radiance that made him look incredibly sacred.

  The true Primal Inception Physique had finally come into existence. Rising from the ashes, he reversed the cosmos and converged the nine stars, achieving the supreme dao!

  The Desolation mantra became Xiang Shaoyun's new cultivation method, and the nine different profundities formed a resonance with each other within his body. Any outside energy would instantly be transformed into primal inception energy upon entering his astral cosmos sea.

  He no longer needed to use his stars as the filter to create new primal inception energy. To be precise, his astral cosmos sea had gained the functions of a star and an astral cosmos sea—it could carry his cultivation base and still maintain its storage capabilities.

  Finally, Xiang Shaoyun opened his eyes. It was as though various stars were revolving within his eyes, allowing him to see through the world. This was an ability far superior to his gift of instincts, an ability known as the divine dao eyes.

  The divine dao eyes was an ability that even Gods would have a hard time obtaining. As for Xiang Shaoyun, his body had become completely different from before after gaining the Primal Inception Physique. Even his eyes became far more powerful than before. One could say that the Primal Inception Physique was a unique and unmatched physique capable of defying the natural law.

  The moment Xiang Shaoyun stood up, the world around him changed. Black clouds covered the sky above him as though the monarch of devils had arrived, filling the hearts of everyone in the city with fear. A berserk rain of lightning started falling upon Xiang Shaoyun.