In the darkness.

Yu Tian and Cheng Huanhuan had already left completely.

Meanwhile, The Silent One enveloped the remaining six disciples and the Black Spirit under his vast curtain. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

His Path-Scenic Land was unleashed again, and on one of the Dark Giant Stars, everything remained silent.

"Strange... Why have I failed to draw a piece of this world’s corner..."

He was operating some kind of Secret Force, seemingly trying to capture time and space!

"Wherever Mo Zhan has tread, it should be my place of proving the Dao... Yet, I can’t sense it..."

He hesitated slightly.

——He sought to transform the Forbidden World into his place to prove the Dao, and the location where Mo Zhan revealed the True Intent of the Demonic Path ought to be part of his proving ground. With merely a single thought, it should appear within his Daoist Scenery.

"You wish to seize this Forbidden World and the time and space within it?"

A lazy voice sounded from the Dark Throne above.

The Silent One hesitated upon hearing this, then spoke:

"The realms of the Immortal Path, the Saint Path, the Divine Path, and the Chaos Path... these vast time-spaces of life have all perished."

"The Path of the Forbidden is the final realm of life and time-space. If it can be vanquished by the Silent Way, then there will be no more concerns."

The entity on the Dark Throne chuckled upon hearing this, saying:

"So this is your true intention behind coming to the Forbidden World?"

"To send your nine disciples across the Nine Continents, turning them into your proving grounds, thereby mastering this proving-space... Did your master direct you to do this?"

The Silent One remained silent for a long moment before saying:

"My master’s name is not to be spoken... You should not recall it."

The entity on the Dark Throne responded indifferently:

"Afraid of what? He can’t hear anyway."

...

In a small mountain village.

At dusk, the villagers had gathered together.

The Big Black Bull had been butchered, turned into chunks of beef, boiled in large pots, stir-fried into big serving trays, and brought out in various gourmet dishes. Everyone ate to their heart’s content.

This time, since there wasn’t much beef, none was set aside for barbecuing, and no bonfire was lit. However, at the feast tables, the clinking of glasses and endless toasts carried on as lively as ever.

Li Fan had Dugu Yuqing bring out plenty of fine wine, and he drank gleefully with Uncle Zhang, glass after glass.

The rounds of drinks circulated, and most of the villagers had already collapsed in drunken stupor. Even Uncle Zhang stumbled over his words.

"Little Li... You don’t know how hard it was back then, when that Divine Jumper led us to establish the village. It was relentlessly difficult..."

His face reddened as he reminisced about those days, saying:

"If it weren’t for him, the villagers would have perished long ago... Back then, when he was leaving, Old Zhao and I couldn’t stop him. He left us these final words; we couldn’t disregard them..."

"It’s just slitting the wrist... even in death, it doesn’t matter... Drink!"

He poured himself another full bowl and clinked it with Li Fan for another round.

"Drink!"

Li Fan smiled, clinking bowls and downing a few more with Uncle Zhang.

Soon, Uncle Zhang began to teeter and was about to pass out. At that point, Li Fan supported him back to his home.

Upon entering Uncle Zhang’s house and settling him down to sleep, Li Fan noticed five calendars hanging boldly on the wall.

The calendars were old and faded, with four of them already torn away.

Li Fan, curious, glanced at them.

On the torn-away calendars, only a few incomplete characters remained, but they could still be discerned.

Immortal, Saint, Divine, Chaos.

The final calendar left intact bore the name Forbidden.

"The Divine Jumper’s calendars... the years and time torn away have already vanished eternally. When even the Forbidden time has... perished, everyone will inevitably go..."

Uncle Zhang muttered drunkenly, his speech slurred and incomplete as if too intoxicated to articulate his words clearly.

Li Fan, hearing this, chuckled quietly—such a Divine Jumper indeed...

Even the belongings left behind were imbued with an air of mysticism.

However, Li Fan didn’t meddle further. He skillfully, like clockwork, made a shallow cut on Uncle Zhang’s wrist.

Then he wrapped it neatly with gauze.

Only then did he take Uncle Zhang’s Ancient Bronze Lamp from atop the table.

Employing the same method as always, seamlessly.

After leaving Uncle Zhang’s house, Li Fan returned to the festive square but discovered that Dugu Yuqing, Long Zixuan, and Gong Ya were all absent...

Hmm?

This time, I don’t have to drag anyone along myself?

He headed straight back to the small courtyard. As he pushed its door open, he found Long Zixuan, Dugu Yuqing, and Gong Ya sprawled beside the well.

Walking over, Li Fan noticed half a bucket of water still untouched within the retrieval bucket.

Li Fan was puzzled—did the three of them come back just to drink water?

Moreover, he noticed faint traces of dirt at the corners of Long Zixuan’s mouth!

He not only drank water but also ate earth?

Li Fan was baffled, but seeing that they were fine, he took Gong Ya back to her room, then returned to drag Long Zixuan and Dugu Yuqing away.

After handling everything, Li Fan entered the study.

Inside the study, on the desk, a Black Bronze Lamp was burning steadily.

Fueled by the kerosene, the black flames showed no signs of extinguishing.

Li Fan placed the second Ancient Bronze Lamp on the desk and added some remaining kerosene from last time.

At once, the second lamp burned even more vigorously!

"I wonder how many lamps the Divine Jumper ultimately arranged..."

Li Fan murmured to himself.

He was slightly uneasy—guarding against catastrophe day in and day out was exhausting. If someday, while he wasn’t paying attention, another lamp was sent back into the village, then someone in the village might truly meet their end.

"Task No. 666 released: Collect nine Ancient Bronze Lamps."

Just then, the system’s voice chimed out.

Li Fan froze slightly upon hearing it.

Task No. 666...

Does that mean... the final one?!

When he transmigrated into this world years ago, the Dog System had told him that upon completing 666 tasks, an invincible path of cultivation would unfold, and he... would become a peerless, unstoppable cultivator.

Over the years, Li Fan had grown numb to it. He had long dismissed the Dog System’s promise, leaving it behind as a faint memory.

So much so that he hadn’t bothered keeping track of the progress toward the 666 tasks.

Now, it’s reached the end?

"Dog System... Do you still remember what you promised back then?"

He asked hesitantly.

System: "..."

"Of course!"

"Rest assured, Host. Once you complete the task, this System will fulfill its promise: to unveil your invincible path, where you will become... the unparalleled cultivator of all worlds."

"By then... I’ll even tell you a secret!"

The System rattled on at length.

Li Fan, hearing this, felt skeptical—could this Screwed-Over System possibly be conning him again?

After all, through the years, the system had always been utterly useless...

He was still a run-of-the-mill Nascent Soul cultivator. Just completing this task could make him invincible? Sounded preposterous!

Nevertheless, he didn’t overthink.

To protect the villagers, he had to collect all the lamps regardless.

Might as well complete the system’s task while he was at it... could work.

He stood up, left the study, went to his room, and fell asleep.

...

In the study, within the wick of the second lamp, a figure suddenly appeared!

This figure was identical to Li Fan!

He sat cross-legged on the wick, absorbing the source of darkness into himself.

At this moment, the ancient book on the bookshelf and the bow hanging on the wall trembled imperceptibly.

But the sword hanging on the wall let out a light resonance, calming the bow and the book.

In the small courtyard.

"The second lamp..."

The old hen murmured quietly:

"When twelve ancient lamps are all lit... it will bring a catastrophic disaster."

The Peach Tree remained tranquil, saying:

"The master has already chosen his path."

"All we have to do is follow, whether it means life or death, darkness or light."

At this time, on the other side of the pond, a massive dragon shadow soared into the sky, emitting heaven-shaking roars as True Dragons radiated endless golden light toward the study’s direction.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Their battle intent surged!

"They didn’t get to eat till satisfaction tonight!"

At that moment, the old hen turned toward the pond with icy disdain:

"Want me to roast you into barbeque on the bonfire?"

Upon hearing this, the group of True Dragons froze.

"Phoenix Matron, do you think you can scare us? With Long Zixuan back, what do we have to fear?!"

The Dragon King spoke arrogantly.

But just then, Kunpeng’s hesitant voice arose from the pond:

"Brother Long... I don’t know if I should bring this up, but Long Zixuan... ate quite a few fish back in the Waterway Imperial Court..."

"That guy is... unreliable now..."

The dragons were stunned upon hearing this.

"You... couldn’t have said so sooner!"

The Dragon King’s voice shouted hurriedly, and the dragon shadows instantly vanished as they all dived into the water in haste.

Kunpeng: "..."

More Chapters are still being written.