Master of Strange Dao

Because it's particularly troublesome, although he doesn't know much, he knows that if King Xiang personally gets involved, then Emperor Zhen must be behind it.

And this Qing Ziyu has a wide circle of connections. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Dean of Lihuo Institute dislikes him tremendously; after all, not just anyone is worthy of being avoided by the Dean.

He didn't expect the changes in the Extremely Cold Forbidden Land to be so vast, nor did he expect to encounter the old Family Head frozen in ice. He was also surprised by how keen Qing Ziyu was, almost uncovering their deepest secrets.

He still dared to use fire so decisively.

As a result, things developed in this direction, and Wei Jing wasn't prepared for it.

He's somewhat regretting agreeing to this matter for the sake of the sweet rain and is now full of conflict. On one hand, he feels that it's actually quite good that Qing Ziyu is dead; at least their secret won't be revealed. On the other hand, he is troubled about what to do next.

Wei Jing sighed inwardly. He understood his predicament: even though there is danger, he still hides the truth, which is a major taboo in Forbidden Land exploration. It might harm his teammates, yet he still did it. Now, he regrets it, feeling somewhat indecisive.

But he can't help but think this way.

"Let's go quickly, if I find something suitable here this time, I might also end up like the old Family Head, fallen here, and you'll inherit the position of Family Head after you return. With Qing Ziyu dead, it's still justifiable."

...

On the other side, Yu Ziqing called for Wang Zixuan.

"Did you find the place I was looking for?"

"I found it, but there are some monsters here. You better come and see for yourself."

After confirming the location, Yu Ziqing's Yang God opened his eyes, and those blue halos appeared in his vision.

He avoided the areas with dense blue halos and continued forward.

The flame he swallowed allowed him to resist the not-so-powerful Extreme Cold Stream.

The blue halo here flows naturally, without deliberately avoiding him, proving that its power is not under that one's control.

Continuing forward, after half a month of wandering, Yu Ziqing arrived amidst a group of mountains.

This time, Wang Zixuan wasn't crouched at the peak of a snowy mountain but hidden at the bottom of a valley. Upon seeing Yu Ziqing, he pointed toward the distance.

"The place you're looking for should be over there. I can't handle those monsters, so you'll have to deal with them yourself."

"Were you familiar with the one who fell here?"

"Back then, that one was one of All Gods; how could I be familiar? I'm here seeking refuge in the Land of Divine Fall."

"That one isn't completely gone."

"Uh..." Wang Zixuan was slightly stunned, nodded knowingly: "Makes sense, after all, he is part of All Gods. I'll be off now."

As Wang Zixuan finished speaking, he turned and left.

"Where can you go? How long can you keep escaping? Can you escape at all?"

Wang Zixuan paused in his steps, somewhat dejectedly nodding.

Though vast is the world, when the time comes, where could one hide? There's always a day when you can't escape.

"I have a few questions for you; since the one in the Extremely Cold Forbidden Land isn't completely gone, he really..."

"Please, don't say anything. I'm begging you; I really don't want to know. I've already fallen to this point because of knowing secrets, I don't want to know another secret."

"Why are you so cowardly?"

Wang Zixuan turned a deaf ear, pretending not to hear, lying in the snow, covering himself with snow, lying flat.

Yu Ziqing shook his head, stealthily moving forward a bit.

Soon, he saw in the snow, there were some transparent, shapeless forms wriggling about. They filled their bodies with snow, taking on shapes like snow rabbits, scampering across the snow.

Yu Ziqing blinked, switching perspectives, then noticed that inside those snow rabbits, there was a cluster of light blue halos.

No flesh, no Divine Soul, just some things that seemed to be fragments of rank, yet they weren't fragments of rank.

Yu Ziqing quietly retreated and dug Wang Zixuan out of the snow.

"What are those ghostly things? Are they fragments of rank?"

"No, since you said that one hasn't completely fallen, then these are his Subordinates from back then."

"Does that one have kin?"

"Not kin, the meaning of Subordinates isn't the same as now, more like a race born from him.

Back then, humans referred to them as shackles, and now, the term bottleneck might be more fitting.

The earliest Qi Refiners among humans didn't have any realm divisions in cultivation.

This was also the case for the Demon Clan and other races.

Later, it was said that during the first war, that one sacrificed the original shackles, exhausting its rank.

From then on, all living beings, as long as they cultivated post-birth, have shackles, have bottlenecks.

Hey, unfortunately, having shackles and limitations actually allows living beings, when breakthrough shackles during cultivation, to experience a qualitative change.

But this move can't be undone, can't be changed now."

Wang Zixuan's tone was either lamenting or schadenfreude.

"Tell me first how to deal with these things."

"I'll say again, now I'm considered human, and I can't deal with them.

They turn into shackles, then disappear, with only one opportunity to become shackles in their lifetime.

I don't want to be ensnared."

"One more question, do they count as deities or devils?"

"Neither, just some monsters, I advise you not to be reckless, if you get shackled, you'll never breakthrough.

This is what you humans call the truth limitation."

"Truly unsolvable?"

"Not entirely, I've heard these things impose little limitation on some extreme Daoists, those who have pushed a Dao to its utmost."