She turned and asked, “Did everyone hear the sound that was transmitted earlier?”

“Three years left?” Feng Qinxue spoke, her voice unexpectedly hoarse and deep.

“Yes.” Qin Ruqing glanced at the star chart in her hand. “The last bit of the barrier’s power was sealed within this star chart. Now that the barrier has dissipated, the largest barrier passage connecting the Beast Realm within the Void has opened to the outside. The two Dao Sovereign led the ancient souls, sacrificed the reincarnation, and sealed the gap, buying us the final bit of time. We can hold out for up to three years.”

“So, we have only three years left.”

Qin Ruqing’s tone was flat, simply stating a fact.

But the number “three years” still weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts, like a giant hourglass flipping before them—countdown has begun!

For a moment, no one spoke or moved.

The pitch-black sky was illuminated by lightning, revealing everyone’s anxious faces, accompanied by the rumbling of thunder.

The Thunder Plains were far from quiet.

“Since time is limited…” Qin Ruqing said softly, turning to look at someone with a smile. “Let’s get started on some things.”

She leaped towards Fifth Lingyu, swinging a purple-gold flame chain as if intending to bind him.

Fifth Lingyu seemed to be prepared, as he immediately countered.

A golden ring appeared, circling around him, and the airwave directly repelled Qin Ruqing’s flames.

Fifth Lingyu counterattacked, the golden ring transforming into a long spear, thrusting directly at Qin Ruqing without a moment’s pause.

It was as if Qin Ruqing had eyes on her back; the flame chain and the long spear collided with a clear metallic clang.

No one had expected these two to start fighting without a word.

Everyone was momentarily stunned.

It was Fifth Sheng who reacted first, shouting, “Stop it!”

The scene of the souls’ sacrifice seemed fresh in their minds.

Many things had not been settled clearly, including the handling of Qin Ruqing’s star chart… the subsequent arrangements in the cultivation world.

These were urgent matters!

Fifth Sheng stepped forward to intervene.

With pure cultivation suppression, and since neither of the two had intended to genuinely fight, they quickly separated.

Fifth Sheng’s face was stern as he scolded the two. “What’s the meaning of this? Huh! What deep hatred makes you fight here? If you have that kind of energy, go to the battlefield! Kill a dozen or twenty big demons, and I’ll respect you as a hero.”

“Clan Leader, don’t be angry.” Qin Ruqing smiled cheerfully. “I was just playing around with Director Lingyu.”

“I only approached to ask him a question, but I didn’t expect the director to be so alert, thinking I was going to attack him.”

Everyone was speechless.

Did they not see it?

Was there a need to throw a fire chain just to ask a question?

Can an ordinary person withstand that flame?

Fifth Lingyu stared at Qin Ruqing with a cold sneer, offering no explanation.

“So, Director, tell us about your Thread Guiding Technique? How did you devour the Second Generation Azure Lutos Dao Physique, and what has become of it? I’m too lazy to ask… I’m only concerned with that Thread Guiding Technique. It might help us find the Sixth Domain.”

Qin Ruqing emphasized “Sixth Domain,” making it clear to everyone.

She wasn’t trying to pick a fight.

As expected, even Fifth Sheng paused, his attention immediately shifting as he looked at Fifth Lingyu and said:

“Yes, Lingyu, the secret technique you obtained from the Dao Venerable… It can locate even the most mysterious Azure Lutos Dao Physique. It might indeed help us find the Sixth Domain.”

Fifth Lingyu’s cool gaze first swept over Qin Ruqing, locking eyes with her for a few seconds before slowly moving away to look at Fifth Sheng, his expression slightly mocking.

“If that secret technique alone could find it, I would have gone myself long ago. What use would you all be?”

“Listen up!” Qin Ruqing crossed her arms and deliberately smiled at Fifth Lingyu with a sharp edge, “You’ve said it yourself that the technique alone isn’t enough, so it needs to include my efforts and everyone else’s.”

At such a critical moment concerning the Sixth Domain, most people were on Qin Ruqing’s side.

The head of Taiyi sect frowned and said, “Young Master Fifth, if you’re not involved in the battle, you might not know how many people have already died.

Anyone with hope and means to find the Sixth Domain bears an irreplaceable responsibility, especially someone of your Fifth surname.

With the title of Celestial, there comes the duty of an Celestial. At such a crucial juncture, are you unwilling to even share a secret technique?”

With the heavy responsibility of the Celestial title being brought up, Fifth Sheng’s scalp tingled, and he naturally could not sit idly by.

He said, “Taiyi, don’t be hasty. Lingyu isn’t unwilling.”

He turned to look at Fifth Lingyu, who was giving him frantic signals.

Unfortunately, Fifth Lingyu was not someone easily intimidated by a few words.

His gorgeous face remained indifferent, unmoved, and his gaze remained fixed on Qin Ruqing.

Qin Ruqing, undeterred by his stare, remained relaxed and smiled generously.

“There’s no need for pretense, Director.” She tilted her chin slightly.

“Things have been progressing exactly as you hoped.”

“I don’t care why you’re obsessed with the Azure Lutosü, or why you’re fixated on the identity of the Dao Ancestor’s successor. Your personal grudges are irrelevant to me.”

“If you want to claim the title of successor, then come and take it. I’m really tired of it and would be overjoyed if someone else could take it.”

The title of Dao Ancestor’s successor was initially a mark of glory.

But it had become a huge burden, an irremovable responsibility.

She had been pushed forward all the time. She couldn’t stop, nor could she afford to stop.

She was exhausted.

If Fifth Lingyu could truly take this title, she would definitely be overjoyed and willingly hand it over.

“I believe that finding the Sixth Domain is our common goal. You’ve probably searched countless times yourself, haven’t you? You might even be starting to doubt whether the Sixth Domain really exists.”

“I have a new idea now.”

“If you teach me the secret technique, I will share my ideas with you, and we can cooperate.”

“Once we find the Sixth Domain, we’ll rely on our own abilities. How about that?”

Qin Ruqing looked at Fifth Lingyu, speaking with heartfelt persuasion, her tone and demeanor completely sincere.

Fifth Sheng found Qin Ruqing’s suggestion very constructive.

He couldn’t help but look back and forth between the two.

Fifth Lingyu maintained his calm and stared at Qin Ruqing.

His gaze seemed to be sharp as a blade, yet carried a sense of mutual understanding.

After a long while, he finally said:

“Alright.”

---

Qin Ruqing immediately studied the new clue she received for the entire afternoon and found that the misunderstood Dao Venerable indeed had some merit.

Not to mention his astonishing idea of splitting the Immortal Tomb to create a moving residence for himself, just his research on the Dao Ancestor was indeed deep, surpassing even the understanding of the two Daozuns.

Initially, when listening to Fifth Lingyu’s description, she thought the clue was just another traditional method of using bloodline and aura to find people and objects.

But it turned out to be more profound than she had anticipated.

The clue involved two main elements.

One was the divine power within the Dao body.

This was the true key to supporting the Dao body’s mystique.

According to Fifth Lingyu, the second-generation Azure Lutos Dao Physique he found remained intact after five hundred years because the divine power had not dissipated.

Fifth Lingyu’s absorption of the Dao Physique and the chaotic aura was also due to his refinement and absorption of divine power.

The second element, which surprised Qin Ruqing the most, was that the clue also involved the laws.

These laws were numerous and complex, encompassing the laws of the entire human realm.

After clarifying the mechanism of the Thread Guiding Technique, Qin Ruqing almost immediately conceived a direction for improving this method.

The Wise Immortal(Dao Venerable)… ultimately is not the successor of the Dao Ancestor.

Although he discovered the first Azure Lutos Dao Physique in ancient times and conducted targeted research, he was never the actual owner of the Dao Physique, so all his insights were based on guesswork.

Qin Ruqing, however, is different.

Even though she is no longer the “only” successor, she is still the one with the highest development level of the Azure Lutos Dao Physique.

Her two predecessors—the first never awakened, and the second could only have possibly advanced the Dao Physique to the second stage at most.

Only Qin Ruqing herself knows how the Azure Lutos Dao Physique evolves into its final mature form—mastering the six major inheritances and, most importantly, three drops of the blood of a Heavenly Realm expert to fully activate the Dao Physique’s divinity.

These conditions have all been met in her case, and her “predecessors” never had a chance.

As the person who understands the Qinglian(Azure Lutos) Dao Physique the best today, Qin Ruqing believes that using the Thread Guiding Technique to draw on divine power to search for the Sixth Domain and the Dao Ancestor is likely to be ineffective.

According to the principle of “the old king does not die, and the new king does not appear,” the Dao Ancestor’s physical body probably perished long ago.

Divine power relies on a physical body, so using divine power to search for the Sixth Domain is destined to fail.

The direction for improvement lies in the second point: the guidance of laws.

The Wise Immortal has realized that the Dao Ancestor is above all things, and the Qinglian Dao Physique, as the Dao Ancestor’s inheritance, can practice almost any inheritance.

Therefore, this technique almost affects the entire Human Realm’s laws.

But that’s still not enough.

Qin Ruqing discovered after truly entering the Beast Realm that the laws of the Human Realm are incomplete and have gaps.

Simply encompassing the laws of the Human Realm is not sufficient.

The laws of the Beast Realm also need to be incorporated.

Although she is unsure if combining the laws of the Human Realm with those of the Beast Realm equals a complete set, improving the Thread Guiding Technique in this direction is certainly correct.

After all, her chaotic power was realized by integrating the laws of the Beast Realm.

The chaotic power mastered by the Dao Ancestor would be even more powerful.

Thus, the Sixth Domain, related to the Dao Ancestor, must also be influenced by chaos!

Qin Ruqing shared her research findings through the Virtual Realm Conference.

By the way, Fifth Lingyu was also present at this conference.

This esteemed person, also seeking the Sixth Domain, finally aligned briefly with the cultivation world and gained a slight sense of involvement in the Dao Ancestor’s apocalyptic prophecy.

The direction of improvement for the Thread Guiding Technique proposed by Qin Ruqing made Fifth Lingyu look at her several times.

Those glances…

Qin Ruqing completely ignored him—she had already said she was the genuine successor of the Dao Ancestor.

What could this latecomer really figure out on his own?

Except for Fifth Lingyu, everyone else was confused by this improvement plan.

Qin Ruqing raised her hand. “Not understanding this isn’t important. What I’m about to say is the key.”

“The key is that I finally understand why our first attempt to find the Sixth Domain failed.”

“The Dao Ancestor’s physical body is very likely no longer in existence. He might have transformed into another special state, much like the two Dao Sovereign in the Void Realm. Therefore, relying solely on the Dao Physique’s connection to search for the Dao Ancestor is like trying to retrieve a needle from a sea without needles—pure fantasy.”

“So, do you think the Dao Ancestor might have transformed into a soul body like the two Dao Sovereign?” Lord Taiyi asked, tucking his hands and expressing doubt.

Qin Ruqing shook her head. “Whether it’s a soul body… that can’t be confirmed. Dao Sovereign’s soul bodies can last for a thousand years because of the special space in the Void. Now that we can confirm the Dao Ancestor is not in the Void, whether his soul body can remain undying for a long time is unknown.”

“The Dao Ancestor is the supreme of heaven and earth, nearly a divine being, and must have some way to resist time.” The people of the cultivation world have a blind reverence for the Dao Ancestor.

Qin Ruqing didn’t have the heart to shatter their illusions.

If the Dao Ancestor could truly be eternally immortal, why would we need to search for Him?

“Anyway—” Qin Ruqing returned to the main topic, “If we are to search for the Sixth Domain again, we must adjust our approach. We should start from the divine soul or other special forms.”

“So, a new question arises.”

“Should we continue searching for the Sixth Domain—in the face of our previous failure?”

“If we search, when should we start?”

“The Beast Tribe’s Blood Pool Plan is still accelerating. This is a pressing issue that we can see and need to address.”

“Should we deal with the Blood Pool first or search for the Sixth Domain? This order still requires careful decision-making.”