CHAPTER 980: CHAPTER 310: THE ASCENSION CONFERENCE OF THE TIDAL IMMORTAL REALM

Just like that, another half year passed.

And then one day.

The Second Grade Continent, "Vast Continent," welcomed an unexpected guest, Chen Qiu’s only nominal disciple, the Seventh Prince of Da Xia Country. He successfully broke through to the late-stage Divinity Transformation and arrived at the Vast Continent.

Lands in the Xuantian State.

"..."

In Cloud City, the Seventh Prince glanced into a teahouse where many storytellers were recounting tales of Chen Qiu. He was slightly dazed. In this continent, Chen Qiu hadn’t shown himself for a long time, yet his existence seemed to have become something of myth, a dearly loved story among people. Even though they had heard it many times before, each time they heard it again, they would inevitably stop in their tracks.

After all, Chen Qiu was the one who created the most miracles, the greatest miracle in this continent.

He stood there in silence for a long time, then silently clenched his fists. It seemed there was still a long way to go to catch up to his master, but he wouldn’t give up. He would keep striving, to let his master know who truly was the top sword cultivator of Da Xia!

...

"Heh."

At this time, in an unknown small space above the Xuantian State, the third son of the Qi Family, who had once led people to surround Chen Qiu only to be imprisoned in the small space, was now in a state of spiritual collapse.

He was devoid of spiritual energy, completely unrecognizable as a powerful cultivator.

His eyes were vacant, clothes tattered, sitting in a corner incessantly chuckling, his pupils unable to focus, lost in thought.

It had been a full eight or nine years.

Anyone who was imprisoned in such a completely sealed, spiritual energy-less small space for eight or nine years would probably end up like this. If one could cultivate, they might pass the time, but the problem was the lack of spiritual energy, leaving them nothing to do but patiently await the passage of time.

And in a moment of despair.

The third son of the Qi Family used the few spirit stones he had to set up an illusion array for himself, running continuously for 24 hours a day to immerse himself in another world, using this self-deceiving method to numb himself.

To open a new Chapter in life.

However, spending years in the illusion array, the third son of the Qi Family now found himself somewhat deranged, nearly indistinguishable between reality and the illusion.

The heart demon had severely taken hold, and even if he were released now, it would be a long time before he could cultivate, as trying would surely lead to chaos.

Fortunately, the illusion array was a low-consumption formation, allowing the third son of the Qi Family to keep it running for years. However, over these years, the spirit stones were nearly depleted, and once they were gone, without the illusion array, the third son of the Qi Family would fully experience utter loneliness.

...

On the other hand, in another unknown small space.

Taoist Bai He was gasping for breath, continuously doing push-ups on the ground. Although he still had no trace of spiritual energy, his overall state seemed normal, his face flushed with health.

After doing push-ups, he ran laps around the space, appearing to live a disciplined, extremely healthy lifestyle.

On the wall were countless vertical lines recording how many days had passed.

The third son of the Qi Family initially kept a similar daily record, but as time went on, he grew agitated, scribbling a few lines on the wall before completely abandoning the practice, whereas Taoist Bai He continued to carefully keep track.

Though their situations were the same.

In terms of life attitude, it seemed wisdom does indeed come with age. Actually, Taoist Bai He’s situation wasn’t good in the beginning either; in the face of extreme loneliness, he even began forcibly abusing his Void Refining Avatar to seek amusement, which was utterly ridiculous.

Now, it seemed he had improved considerably, pulling himself together again.

The Void Refining Avatar was bound and shackled in the corner.

Wait... something seemed off.

Just at this moment—

"Cough, cough!"

Curled up in the corner, bound in chains, Taoist Bai He looked at the other self who was gasping for breath while running and filled with hopelessness and ridicule in his eyes: "How ridiculous, you are clearly myself, why pretend to have awakened consciousness?"

"How could a Void Refining Avatar awaken consciousness?"

"You have no ground to awaken consciousness!"

"You think you’re an artifact spirit?"

Indeed.

The disciplined Taoist Bai He was precisely his avatar. The circumstances were complicated; essentially, in the long solitude, his mind split, creating two personalities, with their frequent interchange causing him extreme distress.

During these switches, he did not forget what the other personality did, instead observing everything from a third-person perspective.

This sensation gradually weakened his control over his body.

Until one night.

The awakened alternate personality took over his Void Refining Avatar, seizing that body and claiming to have awakened self-awareness, using the opportunity to bind him.

He could only respond with ridicule.

Clearly, it was just his alternate personality, still himself, why believe it to be awakened consciousness?

But...

Aside from ridicule, he had no means of resistance, and what was worse, this personality decided to avenge the Void Refining Avatar, replicating all that had been done to the avatar on him.

This was truly the source of his despair.

As a Supreme Elder of his family, a strong individual of the Body Integration Realm, he never imagined he would one day end up in such a state. He used to be one of the strongest on the "Vast Continent," so how... how could he fall into such circumstances?

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