Upon hearing Zhou Bai's words, Zuo Dao didn't believe him at all. He had personally seen Zhou Bai hugging Ming Yue in Heaven, and then turning around to hug Xuan Nu in Donghua City. He reminded, "Zhou Bai, you're playing with fire. Xuan Nu is the chosen Holy Maiden of Yuanshi Tianzun, and Ming Yue is an Immortal of Heaven. Both are outstanding, but it's best if you choose just one." "Both outstanding?" Zhou Bai chuckled and looked at Zuo Dao. "You don't understand." Zhou Bai pondered inwardly: 'If Ming Yue knew my true identity, would she still treat me this well? If Xuan Nu knew I wasn't a Deformed Shadow, would she still be with me?' Christina advised, "Zhou Bai, don't be so pessimistic. I think Xuan Nu really likes you; even if she knows you're not a Deformed Shadow, she might still want to be with you." "But what if she finds out about all the things I've deceived her about?" Zhou Bai said calmly, "Expose the lies, and we become enemies. Keep weaving lies, and I'll forever fear them finding out the truth." Zhou Bai's mouth curled into a slight smile, "Because our everything is built on lies, and one day those lies will be torn apart. The fondness they feel for me now will turn into hatred then." Christina sighed, licking her paws while saying, "Ugh, why is this so complicated?" Zhou Bai: "Don't overthink it. Right now, strengthening our power is our top priority. You also need to hurry and cultivate Primordial Dao Repository 07, quickly increase your power to the seventh realm." Zhou Bai sighed inwardly: "Two months from now, on the day of the grand wedding, it might be the day we are enemies with the world. At that time, only power will be our sole reliance." Christina said, "Being enemies with the world doesn't seem likely, don't the cultivators of Donghua City stand with you?" "Maybe." Zhou Bai replied casually, his gaze becoming increasingly indifferent. "But if anyone lets them know the cost of Primordial Spirit Armament, knows the true meaning of retainers, how many will still stand with me then?" "Christina, not just Ming Yue and Xuan Nu, all my companions… are born from lies." There was one thing Zhou Bai didn't voice in his consciousness, only in his mind, he slowly said to himself, 'Perhaps from the very beginning… I was destined to be alone…' Zhou Bai's thoughts seemed to drift back to his awakening at Dr. Zhuang's base, from Dr. Zhuang's base… to Donghua City… to Donghua Dao School… special cultivation class… West Mountain City… Heavenly Demon Base… Heaven. Along the journey, countless people and things flashed by like a carousel before his eyes, yet none stayed truly. At the end, he stood alone in the darkness. Until he closed his eyes, he could hear various sounds gradually rising in the darkness—the prayers of the retainers. "Zhou Bai, are you there? I really like you." "You don't have to respond; I just want you to know." He heard Xuan Nu's passionate confession. "Yuanshi Tianzun is so powerful, I feel I can definitely reach the ninth realm." "Yuanshi Tianzun, can you let me get stronger without cultivating? Best if I can lie still." He heard the admiration from classmates toward Yuanshi Tianzun. "Yuanshi Tianzun! Please extract all the filth from my body." "Yuanshi Tianzun, please grant me a wife." He heard the grateful, admiring, and longing prayers of countless commoners. "Mechanical Bank No. 49587 feedback: currently performing the 128th manufacturing task..." "Mechanical Bank No. 22834 feedback: currently maintaining armor form, no anomalies…" He heard the cold information from the mechanical retainers. At these times, he seemingly felt himself surrounded by countless figures in the darkness, crowding around him, making him feel he was not alone. While Zhou Bai was pondering, Zuo Dao beside him furrowed his brow, still full of doubt, always sensing an unseen, intangible barrier between them since meeting again after Heaven. Zhou Bai looked at him, "This matter has no explanation, nor can it be explained. You should seriously cultivate and be your cool young man." Seeing Zuo Dao's puzzled expression, Zhou Bai said, "Alright, when you reach the ninth realm in your cultivation, take me to your family vault for Primordial Dao Repository 08, then I'll tell you why." Zuo Dao looked at Zhou Bai's eyes, knowing his determination. Although he didn't understand Zhou Bai's actions, he realized he couldn't change his decision, so he sighed and began his own cultivation. Yan Pressure experienced strengthening from the eightfold cyan fortune—indeed, the effect was extraordinary. Zhou Bai then cultivated the five Divine Skills, and in just a few days opened five apertures in Supreme Mysterious Divine Thunder Breath, storing five times his own power. The binding effect of Ice Soul Freeze Light reached a 10-meter radius, with a 0.5-second freeze of all things. The Great Black Flame Fire Dragon Formation was also condensed into five Black Yan Dragons, which were currently roving his back, emanating a destructive aura. 'Great, at this rate, once I cultivate to the eighth realm, performing the Five Divine Skills together, I might achieve the power of second calamity, even third calamity.' Zhou Bai contemplated. Zhou Bai knew the combination of Five Divine Skills in Mixed Element Star Constellation Calamity involved a total of 129,600 calamities, with each calamity's power exponentially growing, requiring improvement in the cultivation of the five Divine Skills, and the cultivator's own realm and level. 'At that time, combining the five Divine Skills with the power of the Frenzy Diagram, how strong will my destructive power be?' Zhou Bai shook his head, even he couldn't fully imagine it. 'Perhaps at that time, I might accidentally kill myself.' Over these days of trials, Zhou Bai had become accustomed to the so-called enlightenment effect, which closely matched his expectations. It involved receiving information or power from the void at a certain probability during his cultivation. Moreover, whatever he cultivated, he would gain related memories or power from enlightenment. Sometimes, a single enlightenment equaled several days of cultivation, instantly elevating his cultivation results. At this moment, Zuo Dao, who was chanting Dao repository, dropped it and suddenly stood up. Then, his entire person floated into mid-air, his aura steadily rising, the frantic Primordial Spirit power rushing outward, quickly intercepted by Zhou Bai. Follow current novels on novelꞁire.net After previous accumulation, combined with the recent uplift in cultivating with enhanced Yan Pressure, Zuo Dao already broke through the 70% Dao conversion rate, reaching the seventh realm. Woosh~~ Zuo Dao felt the changes within his body, experiencing a dreamlike sensation. 'Did I really reach the seventh realm this fast? Though it's the weakest seventh realm.' Currently, Zuo Dao hadn't cultivated the Divine Diagram, nor any Dao techniques or martial arts, purely elevating Dao conversion rate to reach the seventh realm—undoubtedly the weakest seventh realm in history. But the speed was truly alarming, at this rate, in one to two months, he might actually reach the ninth realm. Inside the Heavenly Demon Base, the Deformed Shadow held Em's hand tightly. Before them, a pitch-black gap slowly opened. Zhou Bai could feel a peculiar power continuously transmitting from Em's hand, aiding her in controlling the opening of the Void Gap. 'As a Heavenly Demon, how did Em grasp the power of the void?' Zhou Bai kept this question in mind, though he probed several times, the other party consistently refused to divulge. At that moment, Em's excited voice emerged, "Damn! Finally succeeded with finding useful information… no… many!" Zhou Bai's eyes focused, sensing a change in the light and shadow before him. As he reacted, he was already enveloped in absolute darkness.