To it, every pretense and act of double-dealing was a loophole in the soul.
Zhu San controlled Feng Ji’s mind, just as it had once controlled the faction’s representative.
It did not devour Feng Ji.
It loathed Feng Ji and did not want its or Ruan Mo’s divine soul to be tainted by him.
Knowing how much Ruan Mo loved Feng Ji, it did not kill him either.
It simply altered Feng Ji’s consciousness through subtle, long-term influence.
This included the town-sealing city, as well as other matters.
And until the moment he died, Feng Ji still believed he was merely playing along with Zhu San and that he was going to rescue Ruan Mo.
Li Yunxian silently watched Feng Ji’s face blur completely in the images until the fragment of consciousness finally dissipated.
It was also decomposed by the merit golden light, turning into energy for her divine soul.
Afterward, Li Yunxian saw one scene after another of Zhu San’s subsequent cultivation to increase its cultivation level, step-by-step devouring other cultivators and other races until it reached the very end.
Li Yunxian saw her own battle against Zhu San.
Because these were Zhu San’s memories, Li Yunxian could hear its inner thoughts:
A spider that had lived for 10,000 years — by this time, Zhu San was no longer some ignorant young beast.
‘Its curses are truly foul,’ Li Yunxian thought, rolling her eyes as she gave her final assessment.
After the last fragment of memory shattered, Li Yunxian’s consciousness finally drifted up from the chaos.
It kept floating upward.
Wait, no!
Li Yunxian suddenly regained her awareness.
It seemed it was not just her consciousness that was floating!
Li Yunxian opened her eyes and realized her entire being was being drawn by some force, slowly drifting within the Void.
Li Yunxian stared blankly at a passage emerging before her eyes.
She could perceive that she was still in the Wandao Sea.
She could also sense the presence of those around her… Su Wenjing… and Min Juan… and Tang Shaoqi…
So, what was this tunnel?
Why did she feel Immortal Spirit Qi leaking out of it, gradually remolding her body?
Her body had already completed eight refinements, leaving only the final one to reach perfection.
Li Yunxian had not been in a rush; she had not planned on ascending so early anyway. She had plenty of time and opportunities to handle this.
But now…
This Immortal Spirit Qi seemed to carry a strange aura. It was so overbearing that it completely ignored Li Yunxian’s personal will, forcibly completing that final refinement.
The legendary nine-refinement body!
Before Li Yunxian could even process it, she felt the transformation from the Immortal Spirit Qi continuing.
Her body was still becoming stronger.
‘Could there be a ten-refinement body?’
Li Yunxian was shocked, but she soon realized something was wrong.
It was not a tenth refinement; this was… the physical transformation that supposedly only occurred after passing the ascension lightning tribulation.
The end result of this transformation was an immortal body!
Li Yunxian’s eyes widened.
What?!
‘When did I pass the ascension lightning tribulation that only happens after the Great Circle of Crossing Tribulation? How did I not know?!’
This was wrong! She could clearly feel that her cultivation level was still at the perfect integration realm; she had not broken through!
Li Yunxian was incredibly shocked.
She looked up abruptly at the spatial tunnel drawing closer.
‘Why does the area beyond it feel more and more like the legendary immortal realm that one can only reach after ascending?!’
“Is this… the legendary attainment of full merit and ascension on the spot?” Li Yunxian heard a murmur of wonder.
Li Yunxian: “…”
Li Yunxian: “…”
‘Where did I get so much merit golden light! Didn’t I use most of my merit golden light to temper my divine soul?!’
Just as Li Yunxian was about to say that, she swept her consciousness through her body. She immediately felt her abundant divine soul and the merit golden light that filled her entire being, nearly solidifying.
Li Yunxian’s pupils dilated in shock!
‘Where did all this merit golden light come from?!’
Even ignoring the part used to repair her divine soul, the process of absorbing and processing Zhu San’s shattered soul should have consumed a vast amount of merit golden light!
How was there still so much?!
Where did it all come from?!
The answer, of course, was that it was new… the interstellar world was inherently much larger than the cultivation world.
The merit golden light Li Yunxian received from saving a single planet was not a small amount.
This time, although she only received a portion of the merit for the city modifications on various planets, there were simply so many planets in the interstellar world!
This portion of merit golden light was already enough to cover the consumption from absorbing Zhu San’s divine soul, with a surplus remaining.
However, that was not the main reason she possessed such massive merit golden light now.
The key factor in obtaining this merit was… as a major source of destruction designated by the world to be dealt with, Zhu San had been handled almost entirely by Li Yunxian alone.
This immense contribution was credited 99% to her.
Back when Li Yunxian saved the cultivation world, the merit had been shared among many people.
With her merit now surpassing the standard for ascension by a huge margin, it would be stranger if she did not ascend now.
Li Yunxian, realizing the situation: “…”
Once she felt the transformation into her immortal body was complete, she immediately used her divine soul to wrap the merit golden light within her, cutting off the force of ascension.
Under the astonished gazes of Min Juan and the other righteous path of righteousness cultivators at the transcendence stage who longed to ascend, Li Yunxian’s figure landed gracefully.
She looked at Su Wenjing, who was staring fixedly at her from a short distance away.
Li Yunxian smiled and said softly, “I’m back.”
Su Wenjing was stunned for a moment before stepping forward to pull Li Yunxian into his arms.
“You’re back.”