My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

In the myriad realms and countless spaces, many ancient beings opened their eyes, their faces filled with shock.

"I... have fallen in rank?"

"No, my combat power hasn't been affected at all!"

"Wait... the fifth stage of Yang God is now the Dao Lord?"

"I see the path ahead... no, it's not the sixth stage of Yang God. It's still the fifth stage."

"Omniscient and omnipotent, the cycle?"

At this moment, all fifth-stage Yang God cultivators suddenly sensed the path ahead.

It was a path of even greater power!

"Entering the cycle means eternal existence. Even 'Return to Nothingness' can do nothing against it!"

At this moment, across the myriad realms, countless fifth-stage Yang God cultivators discovered the path ahead.

The path ahead was to become a Dao Lord, to enter the cycle.

This was a path available to all fifth-stage Yang God cultivators, aside from reaching the sixth stage of Yang God.

However... this path was fraught with danger, requiring complete mastery of a Dao.

In an instant, wars erupted across the Yang Realm, the Yin Realm, and even the Rebirth realm.

The struggle for the Dao was fiercer than the hatred between a cheating husband and a murdered father.

More and more powerhouses emerged, known as Dao Lords.

Cycle-like worlds began to appear, forming great walls that spanned the Yang Realm.

More and more instances of "Return to Nothingness" were blocked by these great walls.

For a time, "Return to Nothingness" seemed to diminish, its expansion slowing.

However, at that moment, an unexpected change occurred.

"Disaster! Even we fifth-stage Yang God cultivators, who have mastered a Dao, find it difficult to become Dao Lords!"

"Three Calamities and Three Tribulations!"

It seemed that "Return to Nothingness" had noticed that the cycle was hindering its spread, and thus it unleashed the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations to block fifth-stage Yang God cultivators from becoming Dao Lords.

After all, it was too easy for fifth-stage Yang God cultivators to become Dao Lords, hence the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations.

Of course, for third-stage Yang God Realm Lords, there were no Three Calamities and Three Tribulations to hinder them from becoming Dao Lords.

After all, there were too many existing fifth-stage Yang God cultivators. If everyone became a Dao Lord, the spread of "Return to Nothingness" would slow to a halt.

Naturally, the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations were known by different names and manifested differently in the Yin Realm, Yang Realm, and Rebirth realm.

At the same time, in the Rebirth realm, San Sheng's eyes flashed with confusion.

The Three Calamities and Three Tribulations had descended, blocking the path to becoming a Dao Lord for all beings.

And he, the cultivator who had proven the cycle, suffered the greatest blow.

"Return to Nothingness"... had fallen upon him.

"Cycle!"

San Sheng used the cycle to resist "Return to Nothingness."

The place where he had achieved the Dao was in the Rebirth realm, where time and space were trapped in a cycle. As long as he did not die, even if the world was destroyed, he could retrieve it from the cosmic river.

But at this moment, "Return to Nothingness" seemed to awaken with consciousness, viewing him as a threat and instinctively seeking to destroy him.

In an instant, the power of "Return to Nothingness" from countless spaces and myriad realms fell upon San Sheng.

A crack appeared on San Sheng's face.

His body shattered like a porcelain doll.

Experiencing "Return to Nothingness" up close, a look of sudden realization crossed his face.

"So this is 'Return to Nothingness.'"

"There is life and death, stillness and movement."

"The Heavenly Emperor is 'Return to Nothingness.'"

"Stillness is 'Return to Nothingness.'"

"'No Law' is 'Return to Nothingness.'"

"Even I... am 'Return to Nothingness.'"

All Dao techniques, divine abilities, ultimate truths, Great Daos, and rules fall within the scope of "Return to Nothingness."

The stronger living beings become, the more powerful "Return to Nothingness" grows.

All things revolve, and people move from life to death.

The universe moves from creation to "Return to Nothingness."

"Cycle!"

San Sheng roared, using the power of the cycle to resist "Return to Nothingness."

At this moment, he felt an overwhelming pressure.

It was as if several sixth-stage Yang God powerhouses were attacking him simultaneously.

Or perhaps, all the Dao Lords, all the fifth-stage Yang God cultivators, all living beings, and all inanimate objects in the world were attacking him at once.

Having achieved the Dao at the fifth stage of Yang God, his strength was comparable to that of a sixth-stage Yang God powerhouse.

However, this was not reincarnation, not the Dao he sought.

In just an instant, his arm was destroyed.

The power of the cycle reformed it.

Such collisions happened every moment.

Even a single overflow of power could annihilate tens of thousands of Realm Lords.

The collision between San Sheng and "Return to Nothingness" reached a stalemate.

Destruction, rebirth, shattering, and renewal.

"Is this... illusion?"

After an unknown number of years, San Sheng's consciousness grew hazy, and he became muddled.

As for the erosion of "Return to Nothingness"... it also weakened.

At this point, San Sheng's soul was dim, and his true spirit was shattered.

He saw his body transforming into illusion.

"This is the curse of sinking."

"It curses me, curses the lineage I belong to."

"Everything will eventually return to nothingness."

By using the cycle to resist "Return to Nothingness," he had incurred the curse of sinking.

This curse was not only destroying him but also destroying his world.

This destruction was so severe that even the cycle of a Dao Lord could hardly recover.

After all, this was the power of all destruction.

"Cough..."

San Sheng coughed up blood, his mouth filled with bloody foam.

It had been countless years since he had suffered such injuries.

He was muddled, his consciousness blurred, stumbling like an ordinary cultivator.

"This karmic force cannot be resisted without reincarnation."

"What is reincarnation?"

"Where is my reincarnation?"

He fell into the mortal world.

His figure was thin, like a wounded swordsman.

"Hey, beggar, here's a bun for you."

"Miss, stay away from this kind of person. What if he has enemies..."

"Beggar, get out of here!"

"This person must be an immortal. He hasn't frozen to death despite three years of heavy snow!"

"Immortal, please take me as your disciple. I want revenge!"

In the mortal world, San Sheng, in his muddled state, met many people.

Suddenly, he seemed to realize something, and a glimmer of clarity appeared in his eyes.

"Someone has become a Dao Lord?"

"A Dao Lord of Devouring?"

"It feels familiar."

That aura felt familiar.

It was as if... it belonged to the being that had once taken a bite out of him.

"Reincarnation... what is reincarnation?"

He did not try to sense that Dao Lord further but continued to search for his reincarnation.

Time passed, and an unknown number of years went by.

The curse of sinking affected him more and more.

The place where he had achieved the Dao was now known as the Forbidden Land.

Over the endless years, he saw the Heavenly Emperor descend into the Rebirth realm, seemingly trying to find him.

He also saw the last breath of the Divine One transform into a Heavenly Emperor, full of ambition.

However, all of this was irrelevant to him.

His true spirit and consciousness continued to dissolve.

Only a wisp of obsession remained.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something.

"In reincarnation, there is Meng Po."

"Who is Meng Po?"

"Forgetfulness?"

"Is reincarnation missing forgetfulness?"

"Yes, I need to forge a... Sword of Forgetting."

San Sheng's obsession was muddled.

The Sword of Forgetting could erase the curse of sinking.

It was also a part of reincarnation.

"This is my only chance... to enter reincarnation."

At this moment, San Sheng's body completely shattered, turning into illusion. Only a shadow remained, like a ghost wandering the world.

He lingered in the Rebirth realm, searching for the materials to forge that sword.

"Proud bones are the bones of the sword."

"Only bones filled with fearlessness and obsession are the best."

He traversed mountains and rivers.

Later, he saw a young boy burdened with hatred. He took away all the boy's emotions and gave him the greatest talent for swordsmanship in the world.

Later still, he saw, within the cycle, the man thrusting his sword at the woman.

Snow fell heavily, but the sky rained blood.

The woman was covered in blood, her expression cold, like a lonely figure under a lamp.

She held the sword tightly in her hand.

The sword that the Sword Disciple had become.

Later still, within the cycle, he saw the remnant spirit of the Dao Lord of Devouring.

She seemed to have died in the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations.

The shadow that San Sheng had become went to the Cosmic Alliance and found Wu Shi, using her to replace the Dao Lord of Devouring.

Later still.

The Moneybags Yang God perished, and Wu Shi held a blood-red sword, her expression suppressed yet fierce.

Looking at the lonely figure of the young girl, San Sheng's eyes were filled with confusion.

"Has this sword... succeeded?"

"No, it hasn't succeeded yet. What is it missing?"

For Wu Shi, the sword was already powerful enough, strong enough to resist the curse of sinking.

But for San Sheng, the sword was still too weak.

It could not serve as the pillar of reincarnation.

"What is it missing?"

San Sheng was puzzled. He did not retrieve the sword.

On the other side, Wu Shi, holding the blood-red sword, repelled the Nine Heavens Divine Palace, avenging her master.

The Yang God who had once injured her master was also slain by her.

The expanding curse of sinking was also quelled by the sword in her hand.

"Master..."

Wu Shi's eyes were red.

She stood on Ming Ri Xue, where snow fell heavily, but the familiar figures of the past were nowhere to be seen.

"The Zhou Mountain Great Realm... and the Forbidden Land... because of the curse of sinking, delving deep into them causes time and space to go mad. Past and future exist in a single thought..."

She thought of the Sword Disciple.

She thought of the Sword Disciple who had thrust his sword at her on Cloud Dream Mountain.

"Master, I will surely see you again."

She no longer actively roamed the Rebirth realm but ventured deep into the Forbidden Land.

The Zhou Mountain Great Realm had long been pulled into the Forbidden Land, becoming a part of it.

She delved deep into the Forbidden Land, standing at the edge of time and space in the Zhou Mountain Great Realm.

She waited, for in the madness of time and space, perhaps in some crack of time, she could see the Sword Disciple again.

Unfortunately, even though she traversed the cycle through the Forbidden Land, she did not see that familiar figure on that timeline.

At the same time, in the cracks of time, San Sheng's eyes were calm as he murmured, "Quite the actor."

If others were to observe Wu Shi, they would think she was a lovesick fool, always wanting to see the Sword Disciple again and change the reality of him becoming a sword.

But in reality...

That was part of it.

But Wu Shi, at every moment, was subtly investigating San Sheng's identity, strength, and methods of increasing her power.

It was clear that Wu Shi wanted revenge.

After all, San Sheng had toyed with her and her master.

San Sheng, cloaked in a black robe, his muddled eyes showing a rare glimmer of clarity, muttered, "Could it be... that this sword is missing me?"

Later, in the Forbidden Land, Wu Shi had a fortuitous encounter. She found a strange treasure.

This treasure had drifted in from the Yin Realm, seemingly transformed from a fourth-stage Yang God.

Without drawing attention, she integrated this treasure into the Sword of Forgetting that her master had become.

The snow fell heavily, and she held the sword in her hand, her expression cold. "Can I... kill him?"

She was not confident.

The shadow that had toyed with her and her master was too mysterious and unfathomable, far more terrifying than an ordinary Dao Lord.

The only consolation was that his condition did not seem to be good.

She lay in wait for an unknown amount of time.

Finally, on a day of heavy snow, she chose to draw her sword.

She would avenge her master!

She would avenge the Sword Disciple!

Those who play with fate will eventually be played by fate!