For a time, neither of them spoke.

Wang Chen regarded Zi Han with an outwardly indifferent gaze, but the faint glimmer buried deep within his pupils betrayed his displeasure. It wasn't anger, not yet—rather a restrained sharpness, like a blade kept deliberately sheathed.

The cold winter wind swept between them, howling across the ruined land, carrying with it the distant stench of blood and demonic corruption. To the mortals far below, that wind was nothing more than nature's cruelty, but between these two figures it felt heavier, laden with intent and unspoken judgment.

Zi Han closed her eyes briefly, as if steadying herself, then exhaled a long, controlled breath. Only then did she speak.

"I do not doubt your strength, fellow Daoist Wang," she said softly, her voice calm but weighted. "But Original Existences cannot be destroyed by brute force alone."

She hesitated for the briefest moment. There were words she did not voice—if it were truly that simple, she would have erased the Original Demon herself long ago. Her hatred for the demons ran deeper than oceans and older than empires. Entire ages of bloodshed and ruin lay buried behind that restraint.

Zi Han understood Wang Chen's impulse better than anyone. A cultivator who had stepped into the Heaven-Shaking Realm possessed power that defied common sense, power that could flatten worlds and rewrite laws. But she also understood the nature of the thing awakening beneath the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo, and that understanding was precisely why her expression carried pity rather than confidence.

The Original Demon was not merely strong.

It was fundamental.

Raw force, no matter how overwhelming, could at best suppress such an existence—never erase it.

Wang Chen's expression did not change, but something subtle shifted within him. A chill—not of fear, but of sober acknowledgment—spread through his thoughts. He had no intention of yielding, yet he could not simply dismiss Zi Han's words as empty caution.

There was something deeply abnormal about the Original Demon. That much, even he could no longer deny.

With that in mind, Wang Chen forcibly reined in the urgency surging through his chest. He drew a slow breath, steadying both his thoughts and the restless authority coiled within him, before speaking again.

"Could you please elaborate, fellow Daoist Zi Han?" His voice was low and even, but his eyes shone with a sharp, probing light. If destroying the Original Demon were truly impossible, then Zi Han would never have appeared here simply to discourage him. Her presence itself was proof that another path existed.

The moment those words left his lips, Zi Han's expression shifted. The faint tension in her posture eased, and the corners of her lips curved upward into a subtle, knowing smile. Her eyes—beautiful yet dangerous—glimmered as if a blade had briefly caught the sun.

"Indeed," she said softly, amusement threading through her tone, "I did not misjudge you, fellow Daoist Wang Chen."

That single sentence confirmed Wang Chen's suspicion. Any lingering doubt vanished completely. Zi Han wasn't here to warn him off—she was here because she knew a way forward.

Still, Wang Chen did not interrupt. He remained silent, his composure flawless, giving her the space to continue. He knew better than to rush someone who clearly held a crucial piece of the puzzle.

Zi Han seemed pleased by his restraint. She released a gentle breath, and with it, the atmosphere around her subtly changed. The biting cold receded, replaced by a strange calm, as though her words themselves carried a pacifying rhythm that brushed against the soul.

"As you might already know," she began, her voice unhurried, "the Original Demon was born from remnants of Creation Qi itself. Its existence is not merely physical—it is interwoven with the world's foundation. As long as this realm persists, it will continue to regenerate, no matter how many times it is destroyed."

Her gaze sharpened slightly as she continued, each word carrying increasing weight.

"To truly kill it, brute force is meaningless. One must instead sever its source. And that requires finding something that stands in absolute opposition to Creation Qi within this realm."

At those words, Wang Chen's brows lifted almost imperceptibly.

Opposite of Creation Qi.

The phrase echoed through his mind, colliding with fragments of insight he had accumulated over centuries—memories of Non-Existence, of stolen fate, of concepts erased rather than destroyed. Zi Han's words did not clash with his understanding.

They aligned with it.

The opposite of Creation Qi?

Wang Chen's thoughts stirred. A few possibilities surfaced immediately, each more dangerous than the last, but he kept them buried. Guessing blindly in front of Zi Han would gain him nothing, and if he revealed ignorance too easily, it would only weaken his position. He chose silence, his expression unreadable.

Zi Han did not keep him waiting.

"We must find a mote of Destruction Qi," she said, her voice steady and unadorned. "Even a single mote would be sufficient to end the Original Demon's existence entirely."

Wang Chen's gaze sharpened, though his face remained calm. Destruction Qi… That explained much, yet raised even more questions. The Original Demon had endured since the dawn of this world, untouched for countless ages. If such a solution existed, there had to be a reason it had never been used before.

As if sensing his unspoken doubt, Zi Han continued.

"I have a way to acquire that Destruction Qi," she said suddenly, her eyes locking onto his. "But for that… I need your help, fellow Daoist."

The instant those words left her lips, Wang Chen's instincts flared. There it was. Not a warning, not advice—this was the true purpose behind her appearance.

He did not respond verbally. Instead, he lifted a single eyebrow, his silence a clear invitation for her to explain herself further.

Zi Han met his unspoken question without hesitation.

"Other than myself," she said slowly, "you are the only person capable of using One Thought to Cross the World with sufficient precision. The Destruction Qi is sealed within a Void Pocket—a fractured space outside the normal flow of reality. Only the two of us together can enter it safely."

At that moment, the final piece slid into place.

Wang Chen understood why she had come in person, why no emissary or subordinate had been sent. Entering such a place alone would be no different from suicide, even for someone of Zi Han's standing. She needed an equal, not a pawn.

He did not agree immediately.

Instead, he inclined his head slightly, neither rejecting nor accepting her proposal.

"I believe I understand your intention, fellow Daoist Zi Han," he said at last, his tone calm and measured. "However, I cannot abandon my disciples so lightly. Before I involve myself in such a venture, I must first see with my own eyes whether this Original Demon is truly as invincible as the legends claim."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward the distant horizon, where demonic qi continued to churn like a festering wound in the world itself. He released a slow breath, the faint tension in his shoulders easing—not from relief, but from resolve.

Zi Han's offer was dangerous. Extremely so.

But it was also tempting.

And Wang Chen had never been one to shy away from danger when the reward was worth the risk.

Partnering with a beauty like Zi Han to seek Destruction Qi would have tempted even emperors who had stood above millions. To many, such an alliance would be irresistible—power, danger, and legend intertwined. But Wang Chen did not waver. Compared to fleeting alliances or momentary gain, his disciples stood on an entirely different level.

They were his foundation. The anchor that kept him moving forward even when the heavens themselves turned hostile. Everything he had built, every path he had chosen, ultimately circled back to them.

A faint trace of regret brushed his thoughts. Earlier, he had truly believed Zi Han was wasting his time, offering empty warnings wrapped in dramatic words. Now, that doubt dissolved completely. With the truth laid bare—the true weakness of the Original Demon revealed—the entire situation transformed.

For others, Destruction Qi was nothing more than a myth. A concept spoken of in ancient texts and forbidden records, unreachable even to Heaven-Shaking existences. Countless supreme experts might exhaust entire lifetimes without ever glimpsing it.

But Wang Chen was different.

He was the Master of the Non-Existence Authority.

And for him, impossibility was merely a matter of perspective.

If Creation Qi was the beginning of all things, then Non-Existence was what lay before that beginning. In his eyes, nothing truly failed to exist—only things that had not yet been pulled into reality. As long as he possessed sufficient Existence Runes of Authority, as long as he could pay the price demanded by the laws themselves, even Destruction Qi could be dragged forth from the void where nothingness reigned.

For Wang Chen, it was never a question of whether something existed.

Only whether he was willing—and able—to pay the cost to make it appear.

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