The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

"There are always higher heavens and more capable people..."

Chu Xiu stood beneath the palace grounds, before a solemnly closed gate.

Jiang Wan'er's words still lingered in his mind.

"How...do you know all this?"

Chu Xiu looked at Jiang Wan'er.

Although this Lord Jiang was also a cultivator, his cultivation level was only at the level of an ordinary Jinyiwei centurion.

How did she learn about these messages that only the strongest people at the pinnacle of this world could know and understand?

"Let His Majesty explain this matter to you."

Jiang Wan'er slightly bent down and bowed her head, slowly retreating into the darkness behind the two.

Empress Murong Si, however, approached with a smile on her face and her hands behind her back.

"Champion Marquis."

Murong Si stood before Chu Xiu, her eyes bright, and reached out to touch the solemn gate in front of them.

"You...you've finally come this far!"

Chu Xiu raised an eyebrow. "Did Your Majesty know all along that I could break through to the ninth level of the Profound Immortal Realm and reach the pinnacle of this world?"

Murong Si was not wearing a dragon robe at this time, but only a brocade dress.

Removing the dragon robe that represented the pinnacle of power in this world meant that Murong Si now stood before Chu Xiu as a fellow traveler.

“I…I am not a prophet. Your growth potential and speed far exceed my expectations.”

"I originally thought that you could at most help me restore the prestige of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"But you, step by step, are moving towards the very top..."

"In the end, he surpassed everyone else and became the only one in thousands of years to stand before this door!"

"Perhaps, you, Chu Xiu, are the one who can lead my Murong clan back to the Upper Realm!"

"Now, I, Murong Si, will use my blood essence to sacrifice to this gate, opening the path to heaven for you!"

Before Chu Xiu could react, Murong Si clenched her fist and slammed it into her chest, spitting out a mouthful of blood that covered the solemn stone gate in front of them.

This single incident severely injured Murong Si.

"His Majesty!"

Chu Xiu exclaimed and stepped forward, pressing several times on Murong Si's chest, injecting extremely pure and stable true energy to temporarily stabilize her shattered heart meridian.

"Go... I'm fine, don't worry about me..."

Murong Si took out a ring from her bosom and placed it in Chu Xiu's hand.

"Here you will find what you need inside; you will know once you enter."

"It must be successful!"

Murong Si's eyes were filled with determination.

"it is good!"

Chu Xiu settled Murong Si aside, fed her a healing pill that melted in her mouth, and then went to the blood-stained door.

Just as he reached out, before he even touched the door, it suddenly opened, and a tremendous suction force pulled him inside!

The blinding light forced Chu Xiu to close his eyes tightly. When he opened them again, he found himself on a deep pool shaped like a mirror.

Thunderclouds surged overhead.

Below me lies a bottomless abyss.

Chu Xiu, however, was able to stand on the edge of an abyss without falling.

But he had a strong premonition that as soon as he had a thought, he would enter the dark pool below.

The Taiqing Zhenyue Blade in the storage space suddenly appeared in front of Chu Xiu on its own, circled him several times, and then plummeted into the dark pool.

"Is it... guiding me?"

Chu Xiu no longer hesitated.

With a thought, his body transformed into a streak of light and plunged into the abyss.

In just two breaths, they had reached the bottom of the abyss.

Upon arriving at this place, seven-colored light emanated from all directions, enveloping Chu Xiu before flowing into his lower dantian.

"These divine lights seem to be able to help me completely refine the golden pill given to me by Senior Nie and make it my own!"

Bathed in the seven-colored halo, Chu Xiu felt an itch in his lower dantian.

By observing the dantian using the method of qi observation, one can see that these rays of light are gradually purifying the impurities of the golden elixir, seemingly improving its quality.

Chu Xiu immediately sat down to meditate, suppressing all the violent power of the ninth level of the Profound Immortal in his dantian into the golden core, and then injected his primordial spirit imprint to completely refine the ownerless golden core!

From this point on, Chu Xiu's danger of self-destructing his golden core was averted!

These seven-colored rays of light continued to refine his inner core.

Half a month later, the inner elixir had almost turned into pure gold.

Compared to Chu Xiu's previous dull golden inner core, it was much purer.

At this moment, he had completely stabilized his realm of the ninth level of the Profound Immortal, but he could not advance any further.

For Chu Xiu, that feeling of complete fulfillment was unprecedented.

"Is this the end...?"

Chu Xiu waved his hand, dispersing the true essence that could no longer be absorbed from his dantian.

Not far away, the Taiqing Zhenyue Blade was stuck straight in front of a stone tablet.

Behind the stone tablet was a gate sealed off by layers of arrayed light.

"Destroy and then rebuild..."

Chu Xiu silently read the words on the stone tablet and looked at the door.

"Do you want me to go through this door?"

He drew his Taiqing Zhenyue Blade and came to the gate.

Under the illumination of the seven-colored divine light, Chu Xiu finally saw that there was a groove in the very center of the door, perfectly matching the outline of the Taiqing Zhenyue Blade in his hand.

"This knife is actually the key to open this door?"

Without any hesitation, Chu Xiu drew his sword and embedded the Taiqing Zhenyue into the groove.

boom!

A divine light burst forth from Taiqing Zhenyue, tearing apart the array light that was sealing the gate.

Then, the door slowly opened by itself.

The instant Chu Xiu drew the Taiqing Zhenyue sword and stepped through the gate,

A powerful surge of energy shot directly at Chu Xiu from the shadows behind the door, its power comparable to a strike from a ninth-level Xuanxian!

In just one exchange, Chu Xiu's physical body and the golden core that had just been refined and condensed were almost completely shattered once again!

In such excruciating pain, he collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from his seven orifices.

That surge of energy not only shattered his physical body but also directly attacked his dantian. Even though Chu Xiu summoned the Formless Sword Intent to resist, he had no way to defend against it.

However, under the still-lingering seven-colored divine light, the nearly shattered physical body and inner core were healed again in just a few breaths.

Immediately afterwards, an undefendable surge of energy attacked again...

After repeated cycles, Chu Xiu became numb to the intense pain throughout his body, and his physical body and golden core gradually became unafraid of that primordial energy.

An hour later, Chu Xiu was able to withstand the impact of Yuan Power without any damage.

"Is this what the stone tablet meant by 'destruction before construction'?"

The purpose of this Yuan energy was to temper his physical body and golden core to an indestructible degree!

Chu Xiu withstood several impacts of Yuan Power, ventured deep into the gate, and arrived at the source of the Yuan Power.

It was a pale blue lotus that Chu Xiu had never seen before.

After Chu Xiu performed the Qi Refining Technique, a system notification sounded in his mind.

【Soul-Refining Lotus】

Consuming Soul-Refining Lotus Seeds can cleanse the primordial spirit and soul, allowing the power of the primordial spirit to reach the same level as internal energy cultivation.

After the Soul-Refining Lotus recognizes its master, sitting in meditation and breathing in its fragrance can completely restore the primordial spirit, spiritual power, and physical strength consumed within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

"nice one!"

Chu Xiu's face lit up with joy. Now, his internal energy cultivation had reached the ninth level of the Profound Immortal Realm.

Previously, only his primordial spirit realm and physical body realm were still around the seventh level of the Profound Immortal realm.

With the impact of the Soul-Refining Lotus's energy, his physical body's realm broke through to the ninth level of the Profound Immortal Realm.

Now, all that's left is to reach the Nascent Soul realm!

Chu Xiu immediately offered a drop of his essence blood, leaving a primordial spirit mark on the unclaimed Soul-Tempering Lotus, making it recognize him as its master. He then began to meditate around the lotus.

Perhaps only by raising one's primordial spirit, internal energy cultivation, and external energy cultivation to the peak of this plane can one find the path to the upper realm!