A brilliant, snow-white light filled his vision. Xiao Yan stood motionless in this world of pure white, surrounded by no figures at all. For some reason, his memories seemed subtly disordered. "What has happened?" Xiao Yan furrowed his brows, murmuring to himself. After a while, he suddenly raised his head. Nearby, there was a circular glow. He hesitated slightly before stepping forward and entering the circle. Though the transition lasted only an instant, Xiao Yan felt as though decades—or even centuries—had passed. When he regained his composure, his body jolted suddenly, and before his eyes, the vast expanse of lush grasslands replaced the white world. "Is this… the Primordial Ancient Domain?" Xiao Yan murmured, gazing at the expansive grasslands. Amidst the confusion in his memories, this place felt strangely familiar. His body suspended in midair, Xiao Yan scanned the surroundings, yet all he saw was an empty plain. The entire realm exuded a sense of solitude, as if he were the only being present... "Roar!" Suddenly, as Xiao Yan was surveying the horizon, a thunderous roar erupted throughout the surrounding heavens and earth. Instantly, a tide of red beasts surged forward, flowing like a streak of crimson blood from the far horizon, arriving within a hundred paces in mere moments—its pungent, blood-tinged scent now filling the air. Staring at the overwhelming tide of beasts, Xiao Yan furrowed his brow, lifted his hand, and a terrifying energy—unimaginable in its power—began to radiate from his palm, spreading out like a wave of annihilation. As this wave of destruction surged, every beast within a hundred paces of him, regardless of its strength, instantly turned to ash in that very moment. Xiao Yan gazed in stunned silence at the now-thinned-out wave of beasts, then turned to his palm, utterly astonished. This power was beyond description—so immense that, if he so chose, he could collapse this very realm with mere thought. "Is this... the power of a Battle Saint?" Xiao Yan murmured, a surge of exhilaration spreading across his eyes. After years of pursuit, had he finally attained it? "Roar!" As Xiao Yan was submerged in this force capable of destroying the heavens and earth with mere gestures, a roar of fierce rage erupted, countless beasts with blazing crimson eyes surged forward in relentless waves. "Hah... hah..." Facing such a torrent of animal surges, Xiao Yan chuckled, then suddenly pressed both hands firmly into the ground. With that single press, the grassland instantly sank, forming a vast handprint nearly ten thousand feet wide. A terrifying ripple radiated outward in a circular pattern, sweeping across the surrounding terrain. Whenever the waves of beasts encountered this ripple, they barely managed to emit a cry—instead, they were instantly reduced to fine powder. With just one palm-down motion, the countless fierce beasts across the entire grassland were completely erased, vanishing without a trace. Such power... evoked a profound, deep-seated fear. Gazing at the vast, immense palm print etched upon the ground, an unusual emotion surged from the depths of Xiao Yan's heart, prompting him to burst into laughter that echoed like thunder across the heavens. This power—he had finally earned it! "The Spirit Jade was startled by Xiao Yan's actions, immediately turning to flee. However, as soon as it shifted its body, it realized that the space had been completely sealed off—so thoroughly that even before its internal Qi surged, the space collapsed like a crumpling dome, making a loud 'thud' and transforming into a dark void. The Spirit Jade and all other members of the Spirit Clan were crushed into a mass of blood and flesh. 'This power is enough to allow me to avenge myself,' Xiao Yan said, tossing aside the pile of flesh with a cold smile. He then turned and stepped through the void, swiftly moving toward the outer reaches of the Primeval Ancient Domain. Any fierce beasts appearing within a thousand zhang of him were instantly crushed under the overwhelming pressure that permeated the heavens and earth, their forms dissolving into blurred masses of blood and flesh." A streak of brilliant light flashed across the azure sky, and beneath it, explosions roared in deep, resonant waves, rivers of blood flowing where it passed. This streak moved with extraordinary speed, traversing the vast, wild ancient domain in just a matter of ten to fifteen minutes. By the time it reached the edge of the domain, the relentless flow of blood had deepened the crimson hue in Xiao Yan's eyes—yet as if unaware of this transformation, his smile grew increasingly strange. "Whoosh!" On a mountain peak at the edge of the Primordial Ancient Domain, streams of light shimmered, revealing Xiao Yan's form. His eyes were now nearly blood-red, radiating a dense aura of murderous intent that slightly distorted his facial features. He gazed toward a distant town—the Manghuang Town. Watching it, the lines of confusion on his face deepened, as though he sensed something amiss. Yet the fragmented memories swirling in his mind prevented him from fully recalling what exactly was wrong. With the influx of this cool breeze, Xiao Yan's body instantly trembled, and the disordered memories, along with some inexplicable additions, immediately faded away. As these elements dissipated, the blood-red hue in his eyes began to vanish at a rate clearly visible to the naked eye. When the final trace of blood red disappeared, Xiao Yan's expression grew completely somber. He slowly raised his head, gazing into the void before him and said, "Indeed, the Bodhi Ancient Tree is no ordinary thing—such a realistic illusion can be created, and one remains unaware of it being there." "Here, though my strength is powerful and one I have always strived for, it still remains false." Xiao Yan gently lifted his hand and spread it open, revealing a serene jade-like sphere resting within it—the very lotus seed he had previously obtained. Had it not been for this seed helping to expel the hidden entities from his mind, he likely would have remained immersed in this vivid, living illusion for a long time. Now, he finally understood why there were half-saint puppets—these beings, evidently, too, had been ensnared within the illusion of the ancient Bodhi tree, losing their souls and transforming into mere ghosts of their former selves. At the very moment Xiao Yan raised the lotus seed, the entire realm underwent a violent distortion, ultimately shattering like a broken mirror with a thunderous burst. And when this realm burst open, Xiao Yan's spirit grew hazy, his vision blurring. When he regained his composure, he found himself in a space filled with vibrant green hues. Within this space stood an ancient tree, roughly ten to twelve zhang in height, seemingly eternal and unchanging, its entire body a lush, jade-like emerald, radiating an astonishing vitality. This tree was identical to the massive Bodhi tree from the outside world—only scaled down by countless measures! Xiao Yan gazed at the smaller Bodhi tree before him with a dark expression. He was certain that the illusion that had previously imprisoned him must have been created by this very tree. Under Xiao Yan's gaze, the ancient bodhi tree, its entire body emerald green, suddenly trembled subtly. One by one, luminous orbs drifted out from within it and hovered before Xiao Yan. As the orbs shifted and transformed, images began to unfold inside them. Upon a quick glance, Xiao Yan's face instantly paled—those figures were precisely the ones who had entered the bodhi tree alongside him: Xun'er, Hunyu, and Jiu Feng. Clearly, they were now all trapped within their respective illusions. Faced with Xiao Yan's thunderous command, the Bodhi ancient tree shuddered once more, and a luminous sphere materialized within it. Inside the sphere stood a Bodhi ancient tree towering ten thousand feet high. Yet Xiao Yan's gaze did not remain fixed on the tree. Instead, it drifted to the space before it—where a figure clad in black stood suspended in the air, radiating an aura of supreme divinity that slowly spread from within his body. Under this aura, even the colossal Bodhi tree seemed remarkably small.