In a giant hall, where marble pillars were carved in intricate designs, a young woman sat on a throne at the end.

Adorned with long silken clothes, her pale, youthful skin added a mysterious allure to her beauty.

Twisting some of her long, lustrous hair in her fingers playfully, she stared into the air with her brown eyes.

Right in front of her eyes, a translucent cerulean screen floated.

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[#~System Notification~#]

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[#-Worldwide Announcement-#]

[Due to the interference caused by the player—Hollow, the main quest of the gate has changed!]

[The system urges all participants to prepare accordingly!]

---

Reading through the content of the system screen, the woman couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"So you were here after all," Her voice came out sharp and cold. Unhinged.

Before she could react any further, another screen materialized.

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[#~System Notification~#]

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[#-Main Task-#]

[• Objective – Survive the Divine Purge!]

└ [Once the time limit reaches zero, the forces of heaven—Immortals and beings beyond the concept of time—would descend on this land to kill the kin of '???'.]

└ [Before such a day arrives, you are to grow stronger by any means necessary and survive this calamity.]

[• Time Limit – 30 years]

[• Difficulty – unachievable]

[•Rewards – ???]

└ [Rewards scale with your choices, alliances, and actions within the Gate.]

[• If the player fails to reach the mortal peak, their chances of survival will be reduced to "0."]

[• Failure – Immediate Death]

---

The woman's gaze quickly drifted through words, her lips curling into a devious smile.

Ever since she came into this world, her biggest concern has been the time limit. Three hundred years wasn't something to scoff at.

Although impossible, if one were to be lucky enough, they could easily achieve the goals with overpowered abilities, talents, or items.

However, now that her biggest concern had been erased, she felt at ease. Even in the novels she had read, not once had she seen someone achieve Mahayana in mere thirty years.

It was simply unheard of.

"A pity that you came in here, Hollow." She yelled at the top of her lungs. "For even if you do survive this purge, I will kill you myself. Just like anyone else."

Apart from her soft and gentle appearance, the woman began to giggle maniacally.

*Bang!*

A loud, thunderous sound appeared in the vicinity, causing her to halt her thoughts immediately.

The woman shuddered and quickly got up.

"What was that sound?" She asked loudly before quickly disappearing from her spot.

But the guards who were guarding the entrance of the hall didn't reply. They couldn't.

Appearing before the gates, she quickly swept her eyes and saw the guards lying unconscious on the ground.

"What...?"

The woman was naturally taken aback, however, she didn't have the luxury to stand still and ponder.

Almost instantly, she disappeared once again. She quickly leaped on roofs one after another and within seconds reached the inner grounds of the cult.

There, in the center of the brick ground, a human-sized intricate statue was placed on an elevated platform. Draped in real, aged, dark silken robes, the statue posed menacingly to convey the motto of never showing mercy.

With a bright golden dragon soaring through the robe's back, the stone-faced middle-aged man began to tremble.

The statue began to tremble violently.

The young woman quickly descended onto the ground and approached the statue with visible horror in her eyes.

Before her eyes, there should've been a normal statue. A statue that was carved out of a boulder.

'But... How's its hair flowing through the wind as if it were real...?'

At the same time, unbeknownst to the woman, the surrounding air began to repel. It was as if someone far beyond its capacity was descending into its grasp willingly.

In a heartbeat, a sudden, destructive yet concise pressure appeared. It forced the woman to kneel helplessly as the eyes of the statue began to glow bright red.

For the woman, it was simply mind-breaking. To make her kneel without a chance of rebellion. It wasn't a feat that could be done so easily.

She was a Mahayana Realm cultivator, after all.

Just like how Lucian entered the body of a child, this woman entered the body of a Mahayana realm cultivator.

For the past few years, she was one of the handful of people who had the final say over the course of this world.

Even more so, since she was the matriarch of one of the six great clans.

"I have felt it—"

A deep, authoritative voice tore through, crawling through her spine like a death's touch.

Her eyes instinctively focused on the statue and almost immediately, widened in shock. The statue, which should've been unmoving, moved like a human.

Its mouth opened and closed just as the words continued to flow out.

"A presence that Heaven itself hesitates to name."

"Kill him while he is still mortal."

"Should he take even one step beyond that boundary,

Heaven will abandon restraint and cleanse the world instead."

"For Heaven does not fear destruction—"

"It fears 'him'."

Muttering its last words, the statue stopped abruptly.

*Crack!*

With a loud crack, the statue crumbled into small pieces of stone and disintegrated at once. The robes fell on the ground, and the pressure dissipated as if it never even existed.

The woman let out long, hoarse gasps. She was desperately trying to breathe.

"What was... That!?" She gasped, clasping onto her chest tightly.

From what she had learned, Mahayana was said to be the highest realm possible. Just a step before reaching the realms of immortality.

Ever since she came into this world, there had only been two incidents where her presence was threatened. However, even those instances weren't this helpless. No, they were manageable.

'This statue... It belonged to the true ancestor, the immortal lord of this body's bloodline. According to its memories, it is said to contain a wisp of its remnant soul that can warn the bloodline about a calamity.'

Her eyes trembled.

"This... This is bad..."

At the same time, a sharp system alert sounded in her mind. A system screen materialized up front.

---

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[#~Status~#]

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[Name] - Ye Qingxue (Maya Vance)

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