Immortal Dao is dead, I am the mastermind behind it all.

Shen Moyan prepared hundreds of underground caves, but 70% of them collapsed due to the power of the cultivators.

Now, only a little over one million people remain in the entire Great Yan Kingdom.

Shen Moyan counted the number of survivors, took out the ascension ceremony diagram he had copied decades ago, and pondered it carefully in his mind.

The broken sword exerted a powerful aura; if Shen Moyan were to get close and inscribe ritual runes, he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

So, after several years, he came up with a clever idea.

One by one, the others approached the Broken Sword with stone tablets bearing demonic runes, carving the ascension ritual diagram on the ground for him.

"One million people should be enough. This ascension ceremony diagram only has eight important nodes, and it should be possible to fill them in by people."

Shen Moyan, with the heart of a bodhisattva, saved one million people.

It's not unreasonable to ask them to do something for us, is it?

Heavy snow fell, plunging the world into darkness. Shen Moyan led ten thousand strong men from the Great Yan Kingdom, along with provisions, on their journey back to the Central Plains.

Two months later, they returned to the Central Plains.

Even though he had already experienced it once, stepping onto this scorched earth again, Shen Moyan deeply felt the power of cultivation.

Beneath the towering broken sword, everyone present felt a deep sense of their own insignificance and a profound appreciation for the wisdom of the Great Yan Martial Emperor.

"Take this stone tablet and go over there."

Shen Moyan directed the carefully selected men to work in an orderly manner.

The stone tablets were all infused with Shen Moyan's true energy, and then these people led them to fixed locations, which was considered as his own arrangement.

"ah!--"

The man's face contorted in pain as he let out a desperate roar.

He stopped before the giant sword with the ceremonial stone tablet, unable to withstand the oppressive force, and his head exploded.

"After returning to the Great Yan Kingdom, I will erect a monument for all the heroes who sacrificed their lives."

"You are destined to go down in history."

Shen Moyan addressed these brave warriors.

He told everyone that in order to restore the brightness of the world, a ritual had to be performed around the giant sword.

Because it was him, these young men had no doubts.

With determined eyes, they shouldered the stone tablets and charged towards the giant sword one after another.

Shen Moyan looked at the people rushing forward one after another, his eyes calm and still.

The ecosystem is destroyed, the sky is shrouded in gloom, the soil cannot be planted, and the stockpiled food is not enough to feed so many people.

The people of this world are already finished, so we might as well make the best use of them to lay the foundation for Shen Moyan's path of cultivation.

Soon, more than 10,000 people were killed, and the last person fell in front of the giant sword, but in his dying moments, he placed the stone tablet used in the ceremony in the right place.

"Of the eight locations, only three were correct; the rest of the stone tablets were misaligned."

The ceremonial stone tablets are erected at eight points: Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun.

The eight trigrams represent the directions and symbolic representations of all things.

Shen Moyan had considered going himself, but it was too risky.

Although he has now accumulated internal strength over sixty years and can temporarily withstand the pressure of the giant sword, he still dares not gamble.

"We still need people."

Shen Moyan turned around with a flick of his sleeve, as snowflakes fluttered down, and he embarked on his journey back to the Northern Border.

Three months later, another 10,000 people arrived.

They followed one after another, setting up a ceremony for him within a ten-kilometer radius of the giant sword.

"not enough."

Three months later, Shen Moyan brought another 10,000 people.

"It's still not enough." Shen Moyan stood in the wind and snow, gazing calmly at the mountains of frozen corpses piled up around the giant sword.

Cold, very cold.

This snow seems like it will never stop.

Shen Moyan looked up at the sky, the scalding internal energy within him dispelling the pervasive chill.

"This snow is so strange."

The stone tablets that had already been arranged were covered by the heavy snow and needed to be rearranged.

"Something's wrong. Is this dimension doomed?"

Shen Moyan sighed, even though he felt no sadness in his heart, he found it difficult to stand in the vast snowstorm.

People feel the same sorrow for their kind.

The giant sword pierced the earth as if it had pierced the heart of the entire plane, leaving it on its last legs, like a sun setting in the west.

Shen Moyan closed his eyes, trying to dispel the distracting thoughts in his mind.

His goal is to go to the world of cultivation; he can't stay in this small world.

A year later, when the last person collapsed in the snow and ice, the stone tablet used for the ceremony was finally set up.

"It's done."

Seventy-two-year-old Shen Moyan has graying temples and wrinkles etched on his face like old tree bark.

He carried the Jinghong Sword on his back, his boots grinding through the knee-deep snow, each step sinking half a foot into the ground with a low thud.

The cognitive techniques, the ascension ceremony, and the extraterrestrial artifacts are all in place.

"Success or failure hinges on this one battle!"

Facing the shadow that obscured the sky, Shen Moyan suddenly took a step forward, his knees slightly bent and his back straight.

The true energy within his dantian erupted like a dormant volcano, and a warm current surged rapidly along his meridians. Wherever it passed, the meridians emitted a burning pain, and white mist rose up.

Shen Moyan ran wildly through the snow, charging straight towards the majestic Sword Mountain!

As the two drew closer, he gradually became able to see the patterns on the towering giant sword.

Sword Mountain remained unmoved, but Shen Moyan's eyes gradually filled with a blood-red mist, and blood overflowed from his seven orifices.

Sword intent! That's the residual sword intent of a cultivator!

Shen Moyan gritted his teeth, and the oppressive aura surged like a tide, tearing his robes apart.

His skin was cut by an invisible force, leaving fine wounds. Blood seeped out, congealed into beads in the wind and snow, and then evaporated into white mist by his true energy.

"call--"

Shen Moyan pushed his Ziyang True Skill to its limit, causing his entire body to roar with true energy.

Almost there! Closer!

According to Yun Wangshu's original method, as long as one remains conscious, one can make contact with the extraterrestrial object through the ascension ritual set up, establish cause and effect, which is that giant sword, and thus achieve "ascension"!

That sword mountain is so close, only a mile away!

As he approached, Shen Moyan's bones began to creak under the strain, his vision blurred, and all he could hear was the roar of surging true energy.

Five hundred meters to go!

The closer they got, the stronger the sword intent became. Shen Moyan felt his body gradually disintegrating and losing his senses.

but……

[Visitor from Another World: Can adapt to new things quickly, has a photographic memory, and is inclusive and adaptable, drawing on the strengths of many.]

This sword intent pressure was also a new thing, and Shen Moyan was able to adapt to it!

Just as he was about to be crushed by the oppressive force, Shen Moyan suddenly leaped up and lunged at the giant sword.

"Void... Shatter for me!!!"

In mid-air, Shen Moyan roared and suddenly drew his Jinghong Sword, slashing at the foot of the sword mountain!

In an instant, the stone tablets in the eight directions of the ascension ritual array burst forth with dazzling light, and the true energy that Shen Moyan had left behind beforehand transformed into pillars of light that shot into the sky.

The whole world seemed to have been put on pause.

The space around Shen Moyan began to shatter like glass, and a crack spread out in mid-air.

The crack leaked out a strange, multicolored energy that instantly evaporated the surrounding wind and snow.

Shen Moyan's eyes flickered slightly as he looked into the depths of the crack.

The dazzling Milky Way, the misty fairy mountains, and the magnificent wonders of the world were reflected in his old eyes.

That was the higher plane he had pursued throughout his life.

Then, a tremendous suction force came from the shattered void, pulling his swaying body toward the crack.

He ascended to heaven; he succeeded.

At this moment, Shen Moyan couldn't help but laugh with relief. He released his body, letting gravity pull him down into the crevice:

"Breaking free from the cage of worldly constraints, I dedicate myself to the path of cultivation!"