Across the God World, a ferocious beast rampaged freely, spreading chaos everywhere, seeking to dominate the entire world.
Heading north, it crushed everything in its path. From Ancient Moon City onward, dozens of cities had already fallen to its onslaught.
The news had spread across the continent, becoming more exaggerated with every retelling.
Many paid close attention to the beast’s movements, and it was said that an allied force, gathering the world’s strongest cultivators, was forming to destroy it.
But Xu Zimo felt no concern. None of the so-called strongest on the God World could rival Chaos.
As long as Chaos didn’t grow careless, it wouldn’t fail.
Upon returning to the God World, the first thing Xu Zimo did was cultivate.
He had made progress in understanding the Dao of Zhurong, the Way of Fire, but still felt there was something missing. Hidden within the void, he sat before the Grand Dao itself, drawing on its power to deepen his insight.
It took over half a month for the formation wall to be repaired, but at last the people of the Ghost God Collegium completed their work.
When Xu Zimo finally opened his eyes after those two weeks, a wisp of black flame flickered in his pupils.
He exhaled slowly, releasing a breath of pale vapor.
If one could see within his body, they’d find a black flame burning deep inside, shaped like a human, curled upon itself, silently nurturing and growing.
The Dao of Zhurong had begun to take form.
“The Northern Frontier has already fallen under Chaos’s rule,” Paimon reported the moment Xu Zimo awoke.
“Let it continue,” Xu Zimo replied calmly.
Without enough suffering in the world, his own appearance would lack impact.
Leaving the God World behind, he rejoined the Ghost God Collegium’s group, now ready to depart.
Besides the six who had descended from the Academy, about twenty surviving students from Celestial Sage Academy chose to accompany them to the Ghost God Heaven.
Before them, the surface of the formation wall shimmered with countless glowing symbols.
Nocturne stood at the front, waving his hands in intricate patterns. The characters moved, aligning into new configurations.
As his hands grew faster, the energy radiating from the wall surged stronger and stronger.
At last, a massive beam of light shot skyward, vast and boundless, filled with tremendous force.
In the heavens above, the beam tore open a passage. Clouds and winds churned as the very sky trembled.
“Let’s go,” Nocturne said, stepping into the formation first.
The rest followed closely behind.
As soon as Xu Zimo entered, a powerful suction seized him, pulling him inward.
Roaring winds and shattering spatial walls filled his ears.
It wasn’t as painful as when he’d crossed from the Primordial Heartlands through the Nine Heavens, but it was still far from gentle.
Without a certain level of cultivation, traversing worlds like this was impossible.
Though the Ghost God Heaven was said to be only one “heaven” away from the Mortal Ascension Heaven, the true distance spanned tens of thousands of miles, practically unreachable.
Their journey through the void was monotonous but swift.
In less than seven days, they arrived.
Xu Zimo remembered that when Nocturne and the others descended before, it had taken only a few seconds. Clearly, the formations were not the same.
The Ghost God Heaven was a strange and mysterious world, because it had no sun.
Yes, here it was eternally night.
Not the pitch-black kind where one couldn’t see their hand before their face, but a heavy, oppressive darkness, like a world forever shrouded beneath storm clouds.
Legend said that ages ago, the Primal God Race of the Grand Desolate Heaven and the Spectral Ghost Race of the Mirage Tides Heaven fought a great war here.
The cause and details of that war were long lost to history.
But what was known was that the battle of ghosts and gods utterly destroyed the Ghost God Heaven.
Even the sun itself was said to have fallen during that war, plunging the world into endless shadow.
Though the gods and ghosts had long departed, their traces still lingered everywhere.
Suddenly, the void before them rippled.
In the blink of an eye, everyone appeared in a wide open plaza.
They had arrived within the Ghost God Collegium itself.
“Lord Nocturne, honored seniors, you’ve returned,” greeted a student standing nearby, one of those assigned to guard the formation wall.
He wore a gray robe, his hair black as ink, and his eyes entirely black, no white at all.
“Mm.” Nocturne replied coldly, giving a curt nod before striding off, leaving only a short command behind.
“Take Kongde to be treated. Xuan Ming, you handle the Celestial Sage Academy group.”
“Yes, my lord,” several disciples replied immediately.
Once Nocturne disappeared from sight, Xuan Ming turned toward the newcomers.
He was the same young man who had embodied the Black Tortoise among the Four Symbols earlier.
The students from Celestial Sage Academy, newly arrived, looked around curiously.
Everything about this place was new and strange to them.
Even Xu Zimo observed with interest.
The sky above was thick with black clouds, heavy and oppressive, as though a giant blade hung suspended over their heads, pressing down with invisible weight.
The Ghost God Collegium was vast; they could only glimpse part of it.
Its architecture was grim and eerie, black eaves, grotesque carvings, even the iron gates exuded a menacing aura.
All around hung countless bronze bells, and statues, half divine, half demonic, stood watch in every direction, sacred yet sinister.
The trees were gray-black, twisted, and clawlike, radiating a strange evil.
“Follow me,” Xuan Ming said evenly.
He led them down a side path beside the plaza, and the group followed.
“These trees are called ghost trees,” Jiang Mozi explained to his students as they walked.
“Because this world has no sunlight, most plants can’t survive. Only those that require no light can grow here.”
“Chancellor,” one of the students asked, “since we’ve come here, does that mean we’re now part of the Ghost God Collegium?”
The Ghost God Collegium was the most powerful and revered institution in the entire Ghost God Heaven.
For the survivors of Celestial Sage Academy, joining it would mean they finally had a home, a powerful backing.
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Xuan Ming sneered ahead of them.
“Do you think just anyone can enter the Ghost God Collegium? This place stands above all others. Only a one in a million genius is qualified to join. It’s not a place for useless trash.”
“You…” The Celestial Sage students glared, fury flashing in their eyes.
But none dared strike first. They could only clench their fists and glare in silence.
“What’s wrong? Still not convinced?” Xuan Ming said, smirking.
“I’ll give you a handicap, you can use only one hand, and all of you can come at once. If you manage to land a single hit, I’ll apologize. So, what do you say? Want to give it a try?”