The corners of Ye Xuan's mouth lifted into a slight smirk. "You're welcome to try!" Off to the side, the Great Daoist Brush Master looked alarmed. He quickly turned to the man, saying, "This has nothing to do with him. Don't be reckless..." However, the man completely ignored the Great Daoist Brush Master. He looked at Ye Xuan and smiled, "And you are?" Ye Xuan grinned, "Ye Xuan's the name... I heard you're trying to distinguish truth from illusion? Tsk, why go through all the trouble? Beg me, and I'll teach you! Hahaha!" "Arrogant!" A voice thundered in fury. The voice had come from Dao Xiao. He pointed at Ye Xuan, shouting, "Who do you think you are?! You think you're worthy to stand alongside my master—-" Before he could finish, Ye Xuan casually pointed a finger at him, and Dao Xiao instantly exploded into nothingness. He was killed instantly! Everyone present, including Fan Tian and the others, was shaken to the core. Ye Xuan turned to the man and the Great Daoist Brush Master. His smile faded as he said, "If it were a fair fight between equals, fine, fight however you want. But bullying the weak? Do you really think he has no one to stand up for him?" He casually pointed at Fan Tian in the distance. Fan Tian's face turned pale. He tried to act, but before he could even move, a mysterious force locked him in place. In the blink of an eye, he also exploded into nothingness. Another instant kill. Ye Xuan didn't stop there. He calmly pointed at every person standing behind the man. A top-tier powerhouse was obliterated on the spot whenever Ye Xuan's finger pointed at them. They were all instant kills; no one could resist. In just a few moments, every elite expert that the Great Daoist Brush Master had gathered was wiped out. "Ye Xuan!" Finally, the Great Daoist Brush Master could no longer hold back his anger. He shouted, "Are you still planning on respecting the rules?!" "Hahaha!" Ye Xuan laughed. "Great Daoist Brush Master, you're even more shameless than my old man!" Ye Xuan looked at the Great Daoist Brush Master with disdain. "You're allowed to gather forces to gang up on my son, but my son can't call for help? What kind of ridiculous rule is that?" The man beside the Great Daoist Brush Master opened his palm and made a grasping motion. Instantly, the space around Ye Xuan turned illusory. A mysterious Great Dao force emerged and surged toward Ye Xuan. Yet Ye Xuan didn't even bother to dodge. He let the Great Dao force engulf him, but he remained completely unharmed. The man's eyes flashed with surprise. Ye Xuan smiled and said, "Why play around with these cheap tricks? Didn't you want to distinguish reality and illusion? Let me show you." He took a step forward. With that single step, both Ye Xuan's and the man's bodies began to blur, and countless ancient runes appeared around them, flickering with light. Seeing those runes, the man's eyes lit up with a realization. He burst out laughing. "So that's how it is... Hahaha!" His aura suddenly skyrocketed; he had made a breakthrough! Everyone was stunned. Even the Great Daoist Brush Master looked confused at first, but then, his face darkened upon realizing something. "Ye Xuan, you shameless bastard! You" Ye Xuan didn't even glance at him. The Great Daoist Brush Master, furious beyond reason, swung a punch at Ye Xuan. However, Ye Xuan simply flicked his sleeve, and the Great Daoist Brush Master's fist imprint shattered like glass. Ye Xuan ignored him and stared at the man. The man's power surged crazily, growing stronger and stronger. This wasn't just a minor breakthrough; it was a fundamental transformation. Originally, the man had only grasped the illusion, but now, he was beyond the illusion, stepping into the reality behind it. The difference was like the gap between heaven and earth. Ye Guan, standing nearby, frowned slightly. He could feel it; his father had actually helped the man make a breakthrough. The man was becoming terrifyingly powerful. Even Ye Guan couldn't help but grow wary. Beside him, Sui Gujin was watching Ye Xuan and the man closely, her mind clearly spinning with thoughts. Somehow, a faint smile appeared on her lips. Meanwhile, the Great Daoist Brush Master's expression was growing uglier by the second. Just then, the man turned to Ye Xuan and chuckled. "I must thank you. You've helped me resolve a question that's plagued me for years." Ye Xuan calmly asked, "And how exactly do you plan to thank me?" The man smiled wider. "Am I obligated to thank you?" "I once separated myself into three different existences—past, present, and future. When I did, I already calculated everything, even how my future self will make a breakthrough. To prevent that future from happening, the 'me' back then went to great lengths to interfere. "Still, losing to myself isn't exactly a disgrace, is it?" Ye Xuan replied, "I wouldn't call it a loss either. Would you?" The man nodded. "For the 'present' me, yes, it is a loss. But for the entire 'me' no, not at all." As he spoke, a mysterious energy flowed out of him and dispersed into the world. When that energy faded, the light in his eyes dimmed. He had pursued the truth his entire life. Now that he had found it, his lifelong dream had ended. It was like someone who spent a lifetime chasing science, only to realize that at the end of the road, theology awaited them. All of it was like a dream. The man smiled. In his final moments, there was no regret or disappointment in his gaze, only realization. Above his head, the final vestiges of his consciousness dissipated into nothingness. Strangely enough, his eyes, which had been growing lifeless, suddenly flickered with confusion. Then, it began to regain vitality. Before long, he turned and looked at Ye Guan with wide eyes. "Brother Ye!" Hearing that familiar voice, Ye Guan couldn't help but smile. Just as he guessed, his father helped the man make a breakthrough, but not without a goal—his goal was to erase the future self and preserve the past one. And who was the man's past self? An instant turnaround from enemy to ally! In the distance, the Great Daoist Brush Master's face turned eerily calm. The Old God walked slowly up to Ye Guan and smiled warmly. "Brother Ye, I'm heading off." Ye Guan asked curiously, "Where to?" The Old God replied softly, "To find the meaning of life." Ye Guan watched him silently. The Old God opened his palm, and an ancient tome condensed from thin air. It was the Breaking Wall Scripture, and it was the complete version. The Old God handed it to Ye Guan. "This might be useful for you." Ye Guan accepted it without hesitation. "Brother, so... who exactly are you now?" The Old God chuckled. "The 'me' from before is dead. What stands before you now is my past self. But thanks to your father, I've retained my memories. So in a way, I'm still the final victor." The Great Daoist Brush Master coldly said, "You chose him from the start." The Old God turned to him and smiled. The Great Daoist Brush Master stared hard at him. "You chose him all along." "You think too much." The Old God simply shook his head. "I never chose him." The Great Daoist Brush Master frowned deeply. The Old God sighed. "You... you always overthink everything... always scheming and always plotting. Have you ever considered that for some people, just living honestly is the most important thing?" The Great Daoist Brush Master said nothing. The Old God turned back to Ye Guan. "I'm glad we met, Brother Ye. This is all because both of us insisted on being true to ourselves. We have our own bottom lines that we are never going to cross." Ye Guan smiled. "Exactly." The Great Daoist Brush Master sneered. "If you were really staying true to yourself, why bother with all this manipulation?" The Old God calmly replied, "Pursuing truth and staying true to oneself aren't contradictions. And I never schemed against anyone. I was merely conducting my own experiments. "It was you who insisted on interfering, trying to use my future self against Brother Ye..." "Anyway, there's no point dwelling on it now." The Old God shook his head again. Then, he looked seriously at Ye Guan. "Brother Ye, the core of the Breaking Wall Scripture is awakening the true essence within your heart. "By completely discarding worldly attachments and recognizing the 'reality beyond appearances,' you can awaken your true nature. That is the Dao of the virtual world." Ye Guan asked, "And the Dao of the real world?" The Old God laughed. "That's what I'm going to seek." Ye Guan also laughed. The Old God waved his hand. "Until we meet again." Ye Guan asked, "Will we meet again?" "It depends on fate." The Old God smiled. His figure turned illusory, and soon, he disappeared completely. Ye Guan stood there, curious. Where is he going? Will he find his way to the so-called real world? Ye Xuan seemed to have seen through Ye Guan's thoughts and chuckled. "He can't go there at this point." "Father," said Ye Guan. "He is a good person, and that is the reason he lives." Ye Guan walked up to Ye Xuan and stared down at the Great Daoist Brush Master below. "Father, are we going to kill him?"