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nHe cleaned her up and changed the bedsheets along with the mattress, laying her down and hugging her from behind to sleep.

nShe had a slightly shy look on her face, as they did much more than she thought, but at the same time a happy smile could be seen on her lips.

n‘Hehehe, I guess I didn’t disappoint him after all’, she thought as he tirelessly pursued her, seemingly not being able to get enough.

nThey spent the whole day and night in bed, indulging in each other, and now she was completely out of strength.

nAt the same time, Wu Long looked at her with a slight surprise in his eyes.

nThe moment he went inside her, he felt pleasure so intense that if he was not who he was, it would likely have caused him to finish at that exact moment.

nAnd even for him, it was not easy to hold back at all.

nHe then examined his Yang Root, and a shocked expression appeared on his face.

n‘What the… this is-…?’

nHis Yang Root now had a cluster of unknown and mysterious mass as its part, that even he could not control nor clearly identify.

nIt was so tiny and unnoticeable, that only someone with his level of control and knowledge of Yang Roots would be able to even notice its existence.

nHis eyes opened wide, as he turned to Yu Huan in his embrace again.

n“Huan’er, can I check something?”

n“Hm? Of course”, she was a bit surprised but nodded without any hesitation.

nHe placed his hand over her abdomen, and received a confirmation to the guess that appeared in his mind before, as the same was with her Yin Root.

nAs he pondered on the mysterious condition, one memory came to his mind, that caused a shiver of both shock and excitement to run through him.

n—

n“If my guess is correct, it should be the Grandmist Keepsake…”, Wu Long said as he and his ladies were sitting on the terrace, Yu Huan sitting at his side and looking at him with a slightly worried look.

nNo matter how many times he soothed her and told her it was alright, she feared that she had done some kind of harm to him.

n“Grandmist… Keepsake?”, Ye Ling raised her eyebrow as even she has never heard of this term.

n“Mm, it is something that is described in texts of ancient era, but I have yet to encounter it myself, and though there were people claiming to have witnessed it throughout the history of the Seven Boundless Worlds, all of the accounts had shaky sources… until now I treated it more as a myth…”, Wu Long nodded with a thoughtful look.

n“Grand…mist… is that some sort of water-type power?”. Gong Cui raised her eyebrow as Wu Long shook his head with a chuckle, while Luo Mingyu made a wry smile.

n“Grandmist refers to the Primordial Chaos, Sister Cui. It is the source of everything there is in the Universe, and the first being born of the Grand Dao”, the purple-eyed lady explained.

n“So it is Chaos Physique?”, Wu Mengqi widened her eyes.

n“Not exactly, but almost. Grandmist refers particularly to one specific Chaos. The Chaos that existed before everything.

nAlthough Grandmist is its archaic name. Now it is more known as the Mist of Genesis, The Source, The First Chaos, and of course, ‘The’ Primordial Chaos.

nSo in the context of the Dao it is an even more senior concept than Chaos, only second to the Grand Dao itself”, Nie Xiwang added in a peaceful and calm tone.

n“”Then isn’t it great news?””, both Gong Cui and Wu Mengqi made slightly confused faces, speaking at the same time.

n“Very likely, it is described as something incredibly powerful and precious.

nIn fact, I have not only advanced all the way to the peak of Core Formation, but quite easily broken through to the gate of Core Reformation, and have half of Yin Qi that Huan’er gave me left still.

nBut nothing specific is known about its effects beyond that, and it remains to be discovered what other benefits it can bring”, Wu Long nodded, slightly tightening his hug around the shoulders of the still guilty-looking alchemist.

n“H-how sure are you it is… that it is that Grandmist Keepsake?”, she meekly asked, finding slight hope in the fact it already gave him something positive, and also potentially in that it might be something good for him in general, and he reassuringly smiled toward her.

n“Although I cannot be absolutely certain, it fits certain traits attributed to it, which are fortunately found in the records about it.

nIt is described as a tiny piece, a remaining particle, a “Keepsake” of Grandmist that lives on throughout time without dissipating.

nIt only is revealed when Innate Harmonic Qi is released.?Only when Yin and Yang come together, does the Primordial Chaos manifest itself.

nUntil that time it remains completely undetectable, with one notable exception, which is the Heavenly Daos.

nBut when it manifests, the ‘Keepsake’ gives its blessing to both the Yin and Yang that awoke it”, Wu Long said as the eyes of the beauties around widened.

n“So you are saying that this… ‘Keepsake’ gave you its blessing alongside Huan’er? And it is no longer there?”, Bi Rui carefully asked, sitting beside Yu Huan from the other side and patting her back, and he nodded, confirming her interpretation.

n“So… Sister Yu Huan is the only possessor of this Keepsake to ever exist in the Current Era?”, Shen Min asked with a bit of puzzlement as why this was considered a myth, as the odds of her being the only one were quite minimal if the scale of the Seven Boundless Worlds was as big as Wu Long described, and its history so long as he claimed.

n“Well… not exactly. Although it is incredibly rare, far more rare that the Extreme Yin or Extreme Yang Physiques that already are considered some of the rarest conditions in the universe, it still should have had a few possessors.

nIt is that, much like possessors of other rare innate physiques, they have to survive the trial of ascending to higher Cultivation Realms and higher Boundless Worlds to be known. And the more potent the physique, the harsher that trial is.

nHowever, unlike the others who are often haunted by problems of mortal struggles, most of them falling victim to hands of fellow cultivators…”

nWu Long’s words trailed off a little as he came to that part, while Luo Mingyu’s and Nie Xiwang’s eyes revealed a shocked look, realizing what he was about to say.

n“…, those possessing the Grandmist Keepsake or its blessing have to go through a more literal trial, as instead of the Heavenly Tribulation they face Heavenly Punishment in between ascending through Great Realms”, he finished amid the shocked faces, as Yu Huan slightly paled.

n“H-Heavenly Punishment? B-but why?”, Hua Ziyan asked for everyone.

n“Because Grandmist is still Chaos, and therefore lack of Order. The Laws of the Heavenly Daos, while born from that Chaos, represent Order”, Nie Xiwang explained as the first to have calmed down.

n“Yes. The Laws of Heavenly Daos detect the dormant Grandmist Keepsake, or the already manifested blessing of it, and seek to destroy the vessel possessing them, as that is the seed of Chaos and Disorder that threatens them.

nAt least that is the explanation contained in the same records that have the description of its traits.

nThus even if there were people possessing the Grandmist Keepsake in the past, they were likely unable to pass through the first hurdle between Nine Mortal Realms and Seven Profound Realms.

nAnd, given that even for me it took specifically looking for it to notice, people who received the blessing likely never even knew they had it too, thus facing the Heavenly Punishment completely unprepared much like the holders of the Keepsake”

nWu Long nodded, adding to the explanation.

n“But you don’t have to be worried. We’ll deal with it when it comes to that”, he then added, chuckling as he saw the worried looks appear in the eyes of the beauties.

n“But still, i-it’s Heavenly Punishment…”, Yu Huan feebly spoke, devastated not because of herself, but because she brought this upon Wu Long.

n“Hahaha, don’t worry, its not like no one has ever denied the Will of the Heavenly Daos or their Laws.

nBesides, I already have some experience with Heavenly Punishment. And I also have the Lightning Rune… I was already thinking if i was possible to safeguard the passing of Heavenly Tribulation for all of you.

nI think there was even something in those records about people surviving Heavenly Punishment, but that part of the text was heavily damaged, and thus I do not know whether it had ways to do so”, he lightly laughed, making a gentle shaking motion with the arm that was wrapped around her shoulder to shake her gloomy mood off, his confidence and words he said with it making her feel a bit better.

nThe others also remembered the time he had once already came into contact with the Heavenly Punishment, and that his Chaos Refining Body Tempering Art allowed him to become more resilient to the same types of damage he already received by refining that damage.

nAnd his words about the Tribulation brought surprised faces, along with warm smiles to them as they realized he already thought about it long ago. Perhaps, it was the reason he was so focused on the Lightning Rune in the first place, was what occurred to them in that moment. 𝑓𝓌𝘯ℴ𝑣.𝒸ℴ𝘮

nAfter all, the amount of people who were lost to the Heavenly Tribulation was not small at all, and they all inwardly were worried about it as they realized that it was not that far off. They now understood, that Wu Long thought about that all that time ago, not wishing to lose even a single one of them.

n“Ehm… I have heard you speaking about ancient times now and then… and it is as if the knowledge from then has been lost… shouldn’t it be preserved, with how many immortals there were from then… or is it hidden on purpose? Rather, shouldn’t there be some ancient people from back then alive now?”, Feng Yi made a slightly squirmy look, speaking with pauses and hesitating as she was afraid to look foolish with this question.

nBut contrary to her fears Wu Long nodded with a look saying ‘good question’, and proceeded with “It may sound contradictory, but the history of the Seven Boundless Worlds is not continuous, or rather, it is not one monolithic whole.

nIt is generally divided into three main periods.

nThe Prehistoric Era, the Ancient Era, and the Current Era, sometimes called the Revival Era.

nOur history and legacies are complete only concerning the Current Era. The events of rise of cultivators from Mortals to first Immortals we told you about with Ye Ling are also included in the scope of the Current Era.

nBut everything before that is very vague and indistinct, often contradictory, and only bits of knowledge or legacy, and ruins remain from the Ancient Era.

nAnd then, the only thing we know about the Prehistoric Era, is that it once existed, since that term is taken from the bits of knowledge surviving from the Ancient Era.

nThough since we do not know how long exactly the Ancient Era lasted, as the accounts on time are contradictory, and the ruins discovered throughout the Seven Boundless Worlds are in too vast of an age range, we may have legacy and ruins of the Prehistoric Era that we take for the ones of the Ancient Era”

nAs he spoke, his ladies except Ye Ling were exchanging looks of astonishment at that revelation.

n“So you mean to say… that even before people started cultivating in our Current Era, there was already a more advanced civilization that cultivated before that, that left no survivors or even a single intact legacy?”, Luo Mingyu slowly processed his words and translated their meaning as he nodded.

n“Exactly, the Current Era’s cultivators did not start from a completely blank slate.

nIn fact, a great many breakthroughs in cultivation of the Current Era were only possible due to obtaining or breakthroughs in understanding of the partial legacy remaining from the Ancient Era.

nThe Supreme Cultivation Techniques that I collected over the course of my past life and has also taught you all have their origins in the ruins of the Ancient Era.

nAs well as some ancient technologies, like Spatial Rings, knowledge about different types of physiques, and so on”

nWu Long explained to the bewilderment of his audience.

n“But, if that civilization was so powerful and advanced, how could it have fallen to such a state that not only it doesn’t exist anymore, but even its traces are mostly gone?”, Feng Yi who first started the topic asked the question that was on the minds of all the beauties.

n“Haha, that’s a very good question, Yi’er. One that has fascinated the minds of historical scholars for as far as the history of the Current Era spans. It is just that it has no certain answer”, Wu Long chuckled, as it was ‘The’ question.

n“Hmm, whatever it is, it seems their power and being so advanced didn’t help them much”, Wu Mengqi shrugged her shoulders not particularly interested in the past, as the ladies revealed wry smiles.

n“Hahahaha, that is a good assessment, Mengqi. Although there is no consensus on why that civilization no longer exists, there is a general consensus that unless we are able to reach even more power and advancement, we could one day face the same fate. Thus we must strive to surpass what was in the past and move forward to the future”, Wu Long nodded with a light laughter.

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