Inside the tavern, Huang Shan and Han Bai drank and reminisced about the years that had passed.
The Huang Shan of today no longer possessed the fiery passion of his youth, only a tranquility that had settled over him with the passing of years.
When he heard that Du Santong and Zhou Yuxuan had both passed away, he was filled with a sense of melancholy.
"To think, back in the day... this little Drunken Immortal Inn was always bustling with customers..."
"I remember Du Santong was still working here as a waiter, and Brother Zhou would come by often."
"I never thought that after a few decades... everything would change."
Han Bai took a sip of wine. "Yes... everything’s changed... and you’ve changed, too."
Huang Shan sighed. "Only after becoming an official did I realize that court politics is a battlefield. I live in fear every day... I originally wanted to be a good official... but in the end, I found I’d become the very person I used to despise."
Han Bai said softly, "It hasn’t been easy for you, either..."
"Perhaps my choice... was a mistake from the very beginning."
"If I could do it all over again... I would never let myself become what I am today."
Huang Shan looked dejected.
The two drank until nightfall, when a servant finally came to the Drunken Immortal Inn to escort Huang Shan home.
"Perhaps it’s time for me to go, too."
Han Bai smiled.
He stood and closed the doors of the Drunken Immortal Inn one last time.
Heavy snow filled the sky.
Han Bai walked down the street under his umbrella, a lonely and desolate figure.
As he was leaving Ancient River Town, he couldn’t help but look back.
"Shopkeeper Han, where are you going?"
A young Du Santong stood at the town gate, waving to him.
"Brother Han, it’s been a while."
A young Zhou Yuxuan smiled and greeted him....
And so many others, all of them appearing before Han Bai’s eyes.
They were the patrons of the Drunken Immortal Inn.
Over the years, people had come and gone. Inside the Drunken Immortal Inn, Han Bai had witnessed too many joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, life’s endless waxing and waning....
They were all looking at Han Bai with smiles on their faces.
"Goodbye... everyone."
Han Bai smiled faintly.
The next moment.
His life seemed to reach its end, his breath growing fainter and fainter until it was almost gone.
Finally, he went completely still.
At the very moment of his death.
His entire body erupted in dark, cold black flames.
The frail, old body was instantly incinerated.
Han Yuan reappeared in the world.
’After Nirvana... comes Celestial Essence.’
The insights from all those years coalesced and sublimated in Han Yuan’s mind.
With a flash, Han Yuan vanished from the wilderness and reappeared on Wutong Mountain, at the very spot where the Black Phoenix had once undergone its Nirvana.
He sat down cross-legged.
His recent enlightenment on the cycle of life and death surged within him.
The Five Emperors Great Demon Divine Skill, the Primordial Divine Fist, the Innate Great Demon Skill...
A multitude of Cultivation Techniques surfaced in his mind, transforming into countless flashes of inspiration.
These insights and inspirations gradually blended together, forming a new Cultivation Technique.
Han Yuan knew that to forge a new path for himself, he had to create a completely new Cultivation Technique.
An unknown amount of time passed.
A profoundly mysterious Cultivation Technique began to take shape in his mind.
The Primordial Annihilation Technique.
As the technique formed, the Five Elements Evil Qi within Han Yuan’s body fused into a gray torrent, brimming with infinite destructive power.
Han Yuan’s eyes seemed to have become pools of chaos, devoid of emotion, filled only with pandemonium and disorder.
He fell into a state of epiphany, which in turn triggered a reaction from the world itself.
Inexplicably, the Spiritual Qi from hundreds of thousands of miles around instantly converged upon the Wutong Mountain Range. It formed a massive, mystical funnel of Spiritual Qi that poured ceaselessly into Nirvana Cliff.
In an instant, countless people across the Great Cang Dynasty were alarmed.
The phenomenon was simply too conspicuous to ignore.
"Could another Upper-class Spiritual Land be emerging?"
"Even for an Upper-class Spiritual Land... the range shouldn’t be this vast."
"Hurry, go see what’s happening!"
All the experts in the Great Cang Dynasty rushed toward the Wutong Mountain Range.
Yet, not a single one could set foot within the mountain range.
The Spiritual Pressure in the Wutong Mountain Range was simply too terrifying.
Even Innate Martial Artists dared not enter.
Anyone who entered would likely be blown apart by the Spiritual Pressure, reduced to a bloody pulp.
Later, Zhang Cang himself rushed to the scene.
When he witnessed the phenomenon in the Wutong Mountain Range, he too was aghast.
The entire Wutong Mountain Range was shrouded in dark clouds, roiling with countless terrifying bolts of lightning.
All kinds of Spiritual Qi converged into a gigantic funnel, channeling an immense volume of energy downward.
"This is..."
Even Zhang Cang couldn’t explain what he was seeing.
After a moment’s thought, he attempted to enter the Wutong Mountain Range.
However, he was struck by an indescribably violent Spiritual Pressure that even he found difficult to withstand.
BAM!
Zhang Cang was thrown back several steps by the violent Spiritual Pressure.
"Zhang Cang, are you alright?"
Seeing this, Huang Xian’Er, who was standing nearby, rushed forward to ask.
"I’m fine... just repelled by the Spiritual Pressure."
"But I think I know what’s going on."
"Send men to seal off the Wutong Mountain Range. No one is to approach!"
Zhang Cang ordered in a grave voice.
"Yes!" Huang Xian’Er replied solemnly.
Given Zhang Cang’s current prestige in the Great Cang Dynasty, no one would dare defy his command.
In an instant, the Wutong Mountain Range was sealed off, with no one allowed to approach.
Zhang Cang even stayed behind to personally stand guard.
...
Inside Nirvana Cliff, a massive amount of Spiritual Qi frantically poured into the cave.
The place had become a veritable ocean of Spiritual Qi, a mixture of all its different attributes.
Strangely, however, these different types of Spiritual Qi did not react violently with one another. Instead, they fused together in perfect harmony.
And it was all because of Han Yuan.
All Spiritual Qi is derived from the Five Elements.
But this time, Han Yuan was converting all the Spiritual Qi into Primordial Qi, continuously raising his own Cultivation.