Chapter Sixty: The Creation of Spirit

“What a beauty.”

The plump cultivator in a yellow-brown Taoist robe, his face bloated and skin waxy, gazed with dark, burning eyes at the spot in the cosmic void where the woman’s immortal silhouette had disappeared. He stared unblinkingly for a long time before finally withdrawing his gaze.

Firebrand Boy grinned, peach-blossom eyes flickering with flames that bewitched the soul. He said, “Yellow Toad, you’ve missed the mark this time. There’s a scab on her cheek, quite ugly, and that veil is meant to cover it.”

“How do you know that?” The plump cultivator in the yellow-brown robe was taken aback, squinting with suspicion. “Have you cultivated the Starry Eye?”

“No, not yet, but I’ve just obtained a cosmic treasure that happens to reveal such things. Tsk tsk, at her level, a scar could heal in an instant, leaving flawless skin. To keep such an ugly mark must have some special meaning.” Firebrand Boy chuckled.

A flash of cunning gleamed in the plump cultivator’s eyes. He licked his lips and speculated, “Could it be the trace of a heartbreak? Women like her, with stories, temperament, and power, are the most alluring…”

“Transcendent temperament, unmatched methods—she’d never even look at your toadish character.” Firebrand Boy sneered.

“Get lost!” the plump cultivator roared.

“She wouldn’t look at you, that’s for sure! Ha ha!” Seeing the other’s rage, Firebrand Boy laughed even more heartily.

“…”

“Enough,” the Lord of Ancient Origin interrupted them calmly. Hands clasped behind his back, his eyes were dark and deep as the bottomless night. “Investigate her true identity. Among the alliance, there are some ancient, terrifying god-slayers—perhaps they might recognize her.”

“Really want to check? Then I’ll go ask Old Man Patchwork,” the plump cultivator muttered.

……

A blazing stellar sun in the cosmic void—vast, boundless, radiating light for billions of miles.

The mysterious woman arrived here. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with dawn’s light as she gazed steadily at the burning star, standing silently, lost in thought.

Here, she was close to the star; the heat could consume divine iron, and her white garments were tinged with crimson, her whole body aglow.

She seemed not to care.

After a moment, she drew forth a slender, luminous thread of divine power from her fingertip. The thread danced briefly, then shot swiftly into the distant cosmic void.

……

In a belt of starlit rings, countless fragments of stone moved in chaotic patterns.

A white meteor wolf, having dug through the rocky layers and feasted on energy crystals, lay atop a massive stone in a drowsy state.

Suddenly, the luminous divine thread arrived. The wolf sprang awake, baring its fangs, fur bristling, and spat out shards of ice. In the thin spiritual atmosphere of space, star beasts had grown fierce and wild.

Here, any lapse in vigilance could mean becoming another beast’s meal. Sensitivity was survival’s foundation.

The ice shards shattered, and the divine thread, sharp as a heavenly blade, sliced straight through.

The meteor wolf froze, stunned. In that moment, the divine thread suddenly curled, transformed into a rope, wrapping tightly around it and carrying it back toward its origin.

Terror gripped the wolf’s heart.

It possessed considerable intelligence and recognized its predicament: its life now hung by the thread of divine power.

The wolf curled up, tense and anxious.

In the blink of an eye, the vast distance of the starry void was traversed.

The mysterious woman, serene as a still lake, gazed indifferently at the captured meteor wolf. The wolf, too, watched her in fright, cowering, not daring to utter a sound.

Here, at the stellar sun, in boundless heat and forces of collapse and destruction—so close that even from tens of thousands of miles away, one would be reduced to ashes.

Yet the woman remained before the sun, unmelted!

The woman flicked her delicate fingers, and the divine thread on the wolf’s body trembled, piercing three inches into its forehead!

The wolf howled in agony, cold sweat pouring, its mind wracked with needle-like pain.

Its forehead glowed, a tuft of white fur quivering. Its aura surged, light spilling out.

The divine thread stirred within its skull. Soon, a white hole formed, opening directly into the brain, and a mottled spirit core of forty percent purity was swiftly pulled out.

Immediately, the wolf struggled violently, limbs thrashing.

The spirit core was its life’s center—if lost, death was certain!

But its struggle was futile.

The spirit core was forcibly extracted.

It was about to die.

The wolf’s eyes gradually lost their luster.

Time passed slowly.

Yet the wolf did not die.

A radiant, life-filled source replaced the spirit core, granting it a continuous flow of vitality.

The mysterious woman watched quietly. She hadn’t brought this ordinary wolf here merely to kill it.

Her purpose was creation, to assist her in certain tasks.

“Fortunate for you,” she murmured.

Her slender hand opened, and a refined silver shrine floated above her palm.

With a round base and a cloak-like silver cover, shaped like a pagoda, the shrine was surrounded by divine aura. At its top, a vague miniature figure sat cross-legged.

The shrine trembled, silver light cascading down, flowing through the white hole into the wolf’s brain. The divine thread withdrew, and the wound closed instantly.

Throughout this process, the wolf’s eyes remained shut, showing no pain.

After about seven breaths of silence,

A fierce, primordial aura seemed to descend from ancient times.

The meteor wolf suddenly opened its eyes.

They were no longer the ordinary dark eyes, but gleaming silver pupils, bright and divine, radiating profound power.

A long howl shook the cosmic void.

The great wolf’s fur shimmered, smooth and glossy like silk beneath the moon.

At the same time, its body swelled, greedily absorbing spiritual energy, shedding its former frailty and becoming a hundred-zhang-tall silver wolf!

The silver wolf stood proud, its sharpness revealed.

“Enter the sun,” the mysterious woman ordered, expressionless. The newly transformed, confident silver wolf, upon hearing her voice, bristled, all its aura subdued in terror.

Sometimes, the stronger one becomes, the deeper the fear.

She had created it in an instant; she could end it just as quickly.

The silver wolf nodded like a pecking chick and turned toward the terrifyingly hot star.

It had no fear of being consumed by flames.

Having been reborn, purified and transformed, it no longer feared the heat of the star.

Moreover, within its mind floated the silver shrine, bestowing endless power.

Most cosmic cultivators could not reach its current heights!

On the sun’s crimson surface, fiery energy surged, sweeping out for tens of thousands of zhang, spiritual particles shooting forth with immense power, capable of piercing stars.

Forces of destruction twisted space, tearing open black rifts.

The silver wolf plunged in.

After a long time,

A small crimson wolf emerged, wreathed in flames, its pupils flashing silver.

Soon, a second fire wolf appeared.

A third…

A hundredth… They emerged ceaselessly, as if without end.

Countless small wolves, bodies of fire and eyes of silver, intelligence sparkling, darting about, blinking and shifting instantly to distances that would astonish even expert space cultivators.

“Remember this person. Find him.”

The mysterious woman unfurled a scroll, revealing a youth with clear green eyes, refined features, and a rebellious smile.

The fire wolves quieted, eyes shining as they memorized the youth’s image, then scattered in all directions.