Just as Xu Sheng fell into a coma, an ethereal voice sounded beside his ear...
"Intruder from beyond, are you awake?"
This sentence echoed continuously throughout the entire space, as if it possessed some kind of magic...
At that moment, Xu Sheng's consciousness gradually awakened, and he slowly opened his dark eyes...
He first glanced around and realized he was in an illusory space, without any sign of other creatures...
Only then did Xu Sheng realize the gravity of the situation and said with a heavy tone, "Who exactly are you?"
Although he wasn't clear about what had happened, he could roughly surmise that this space must be within his spiritual realm...
Moreover, the other's reference to him as an "intruder from beyond" could mean it was aware of his true identity...
Upon hearing Xu Sheng's question, the previously ethereal voice sounded again...
"Me? To put it simply, I am the Plane Spirit of this plane; I have noticed you since the day you intruded!"
After a pause of several seconds, it continued, "And also, I realized that one day, I would meet you!"
Xu Sheng's pupils suddenly constricted, evidently surprised to encounter the other party here!
He thought to himself, "Now, things are complicated."
The owner of this ethereal voice was the controller of the Cultivation World!
He and the other could be considered the strongest beings of the Douluo and Cultivation planes respectively!!
In some instances, they could even decide the future of both planes...
Xu Sheng tried to calm himself down as much as possible and said, "Plane Spirit of the Cultivation World, you have entered my spiritual space uninvited; you must have something you wish to ask?"
The Plane Spirit did not deny it but said coldly, "Intruder from beyond, what exactly is your purpose for coming to this plane? Do not attempt to find excuses to deceive me, after all, I have witnessed everything you have ever done!"
Being the Plane Spirit, it naturally knew everything about the Cultivation World!
Just like Xu Sheng in the Douluo plane, who possessed Creation Divine Power and could easily sense everything that happened in the Divine Realm and the Lower Realm...
Even to the extent of pinpointing any individual!
Xu Sheng's dark eyes gleamed with a chilly light, and without concealing anything, he said, "The purpose of my arrival in the Cultivation Plane is naturally to resolve the dimensional rift. I'm sure you are also aware that if it is allowed to continue expanding, the ultimate result would be the merge of both planes! And..."
He didn't continue with the rest of the matter, but the Plane Spirit, with its intelligence, would surely be able to guess what he intended to say!
When the Plane Spirit heard Xu Sheng's explanation, a few notes of "Oh?" mingled with intrigue in its ethereal tone, "So you're saying... you are a God from another plane?"
Otherwise, who else could possess such terrifying power to tear through space and enter another plane...
Even though his strength had been greatly weakened!
Xu Sheng looked up into the void above, speaking calmly, "Correct! So... what are your thoughts?"
Whether this dimensional rift could be stopped still depended on its own will!
Upon hearing this, the Plane Spirit fell silent for dozens of seconds...
After a long while, it finally spoke, "Although I too wish to stop this dimensional rift, it is clearly no longer possible. Even if I were to sacrifice all of my Origin Power, I could only slow down its expansion!"
It had exhausted a lot of its Origin Power in an attempt to suppress this dimensional rift. When its power completely collapsed, the two planes would merge and reconstitute at an extremely fast pace!
As for what would happen afterward, no one could know...
Upon hearing this statement, Xu Sheng realized that stopping the plane rift from expanding further might be more difficult than he had imagined!
While he was deep in thought, the Plane Spirit seemed to have already discerned his intentions...
It said with a tone of certainty, "Although I am not able to resolve it... you might be able to!"
These abrupt words made Xu Sheng frown slightly, "What do you mean by that?"
Without responding to his question, the Plane Spirit continued on its own, "That door will allow you to return to your own plane in the form of a shadow and reclaim the power that has been weakened from you! I hope... you can succeed!"
After these words were spoken, Xu Sheng's spiritual space once again fell into an eerie silence...
However, not long after, two urgent voices suddenly came from the outside world...
"Xu Sheng! Xu Sheng! Wake up quickly!"
"Qingruo, what should we do? Xu Sheng has sustained such serious injuries, could something have happened to him?"
Upon hearing these familiar voices, Xu Sheng said with some surprise, "Qingruo, and Duanmu Lian? How did they come here?"
Hadn't he told them to leave the Xuanming Domain beforehand? He had not expected them to come back now!
However, it was time for him to wake up...
...
As soon as Xu Sheng closed his eyes and opened them again, he awoke...
The first thing he saw was the faces of Zhou Qingruo and Duanmu Lian in front of him, their cheeks filled with worry...
Seeing Xu Sheng awake, Zhou Qingruo urgently said, "Xu Sheng, are you alright? How did you get injured so badly?"
Duanmu Lian angrily said, "Could it be that you've encountered the Elders of other clans again?"
Xu Sheng shook his head and explained, "It's alright, I was just blasted by the pressure of these stairs."
Zhou Qingruo asked puzzledly, "Stairs? Pressure? Xu Sheng, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Duanmu Lian also scratched her head in confusion, "When we stepped onto this place, it was just like any ordinary staircase!"
There was none of the pressure Xu Sheng mentioned; could something unknown to them have happened before they arrived here?
Xu Sheng's pupils suddenly dilated as he looked down at the Sacred Staircase below, only to see that they had become dull and indistinguishable from an ordinary stone stairway!
It must have been the Plane Spirit that wiped away the pressure!
Shaking off these thoughts, he curiously asked, "Let's not talk about that. Why are you here? Didn't you leave the Xuanming Domain?"
Hearing Xu Sheng's question, Duanmu Lian and Zhou Qingruo's expressions darkened even more...
Duanmu Lian pressed her lips together, her tone filled with a chilling coldness, "Xu Sheng... indeed we did leave the Xuanming Domain before and returned to the Duanmu Mansion, but... but..."
At this point, Duanmu Lian's eyes started to redden...
Seeing her reaction, Xu Sheng turned his gaze to Zhou Qingruo, giving her an inquiring look...
The latter said in a cold voice, "The Duanmu Clan has been annihilated, including the Elder Family Head; no one survived!"
Xu Sheng's eyes narrowed as he pondered, "Is that so? I'm afraid that no single clan could achieve this on their own; they must have joined forces!"
They chose to strike while we were on our way to the Xuanming Domain, quite the timing!
...