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Chapter 580, The Beginning of Self-Cultivation

The void is silent, and the black island rises and falls.

Hua Changxi clenched the shimmering white pebble in his palm, stood at the edge of the black island, looked down at the pitch-black island below, and remained silent for a long time.

Reshape the essence of Black Island!

She understood the logic, but the real challenge was how to get started—how could a world shrouded in darkness truly turn towards the light?

Hua Changxi raised her head and looked at the small black figure.

The Nascent Soul remained engrossed in salvaging the ruined island, constantly dragging back fragments stained with a chilling aura from the void, piling them up, devouring them, and expanding them. Its movements were mechanical and silent, like a tireless "puppet."

Hua Changxi's eyes flashed. She thought that the first step in reshaping the background of Black Island might be to see!

One must know what the ultimate destination of one's life's journey truly is.

Hua Changxi watched as the black flame in the Nascent Soul's heart flickered slightly, like a lurking beast, breathing out anxiety and unease in the darkness.

She knew that in this gray void, stopping meant being exposed to the storm and becoming nourishment for others.

Therefore, she did not stop the nascent soul from tirelessly absorbing and constructing a ring-shaped barrier around the islands.

She knew all too well that with each additional planetary island, the eerie atmosphere permeating Black Island would intensify, and the suffocating chill would grow even stronger.

But she just watched quietly as the nascent soul wove armor with fear.

The reason is simple: the Nascent Soul's anxiety and fear are real. If she were to intervene, it would inevitably trigger the Nascent Soul's instinctive resistance, thus fueling the black flames.

One by one, circle after circle.

The Black Isle is now surrounded by four rings of planetary islands, one more than the defensive ring that was swept away by the vortex storm last time.

The densely packed satellite islands, like layers upon layers of armor, heavily envelop Black Island.

Only then did the Nascent Soul's speed slow down.

Hua Changxi was waiting for this very moment.

She didn't say anything, but with a movement, she slowly flew away from the surface of the black island, hovering in mid-air, turning her head to quietly look at the Nascent Soul on the island.

The nascent soul paused for a moment, seemingly puzzled, and did not move.

Hua Changxi flew outwards at a leisurely pace for a while, then stopped again and looked back.

This time, the Nascent Soul understood her gaze. After a slight hesitation, it rose from the ground and followed her.

Hua Changxi, carrying the Nascent Soul, flew through four circles of planetary islands until they reached the void high above the entire island group.

From here, looking down, the entire Black Island is finally revealed to them without any obstruction.

Below, the majestic and vast core island was surrounded and protected by four layers of satellite islands.

They slowly rotated in the void, the black light between the islands intertwined and permeated each other, and the chilling aura continued to deepen and solidify.

The enormous gravitational field was like an invisible black hole, greedily twisting and devouring all the light around it.

That ferocious layout, that all-consuming posture.

As the Nascent Soul watched all this, its pupils suddenly contracted, and its face was filled with astonishment.

The islands were built for survival, but now, the islands are clearly a... swirling storm in the making!

When the Nascent Soul finally realized that the ultimate fate of constructing the island barrier was nothing more than turning itself into another storm vortex that devours everything, it did not stop there. However, every time it tried to absorb the planetary islands, its movements became noticeably hesitant.

Having weathered numerous storms, the Nascent Soul has etched a cruel survival logic into its very marrow: without devouring, it cannot grow stronger; without growing stronger, it will be crushed by the storm; without plundering, it cannot cope with the next destruction.

The fear of survival is the underlying logic behind all its actions.

Hua Changxi watched the nascent soul struggle quietly. She knew the nascent soul's unease. The human and the infant shared the same origin, and she felt the deepest fear in the nascent soul's heart.

As the Nascent Soul paused again, staring blankly at the increasingly massive and menacing black island before it, Hua Changxi stepped forward and gently offered it the luminous white pebble she had been holding in her hand. The Nascent Soul took the pebble, its dark eyes fixed on it for a moment, its brows furrowing slightly.

It seemed to sense something incompatible with this empty space. Its fingertips caressed the warm surface of the fragment, and a complex expression appeared on its small face—confusion, curiosity, and a touch of something indescribable.

The second step in reshaping the essence of Black Island: Understanding!

The initial repair of the island was construction, a force that grew towards the sun, which gave rise to the white light that dispelled the darkness.

The subsequent annexation and sacrifice were plunder, a fear of sinking into darkness, which could only fuel the black flames and make the world grow ever darker.

After thoroughly understanding the nature of these two forces, Hua Changxi made up her mind. No longer standing by, she swayed and soared into the sky, landing steadily on a planetary island on the outermost edge of Black Island.

The island's rock strata are loose and its texture is fragile; it has been used as a "sacrificial shield" from beginning to end.

In the past, both she and the Nascent Soul only thought about the stability of the core main island and only wanted to use these planetary islands to avoid disaster and perish. They never thought about repairing them.

But at this moment, Hua Changxi raised her hand and condensed spiritual power, spreading her divine sense across the void, and began to salvage the floating rubble and debris around her.

She no longer used the rubble to expand the core island, nor did she take devouring and plundering as her mission. Instead, she began to repair the cracks in this subsidiary planetary island.

In the void behind them, the nascent soul had floated out at some unknown time.

It hovered in mid-air, separated by a ring of islands, its dark eyes fixed on Hua Changxi's back.

It doesn't understand why it should bother repairing islands that are destined to become "consumables" in the next storm.

Isn't it all in vain?

Hua Changxi sensed the Nascent Soul's gaze but did not turn around.

The nascent soul hovered in place, the black flames in its heart flickering eerily, burning rapidly and erratically. Its tiny fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly, as if it were struggling against itself.

Finally, it landed very gently, not far from Hua Changxi, and began to repair the planetary island, just like her.

As the last crack in the planetary island was closed, Hua Changxi looked at its master—the gray Nascent Soul that had been lifeless and puppet-like. At this moment, a faint but real light reappeared in its empty eye sockets.

Without pausing, she turned and flew to the next planetary island.

Despite being filled with confusion, the nascent soul silently followed.

One, two.

Once the outermost planetary islands were completely repaired, a ray of white light finally emerged from the Nascent Soul's chest and gently merged into the void.

Upon seeing the white light, even the Nascent Soul cultivator was stunned.

It remained motionless for a long time before belatedly realizing that a long-lost, bittersweet, and scalding warm current was surging in its chest.

Unlike the pleasure derived from plunder, this was a strange, yet very reassuring and peaceful joy.

What shocked the Nascent Soul cultivator even more was that she had complete control over this pleasure.

It was initiated by her and ended by her; it relied on nothing external, was not driven by black flames, and did not fluctuate with fear.

Thanks to being able to "share the same feelings and thoughts as the Nascent Soul," Hua Changxi's emotions were also fluctuating greatly at this moment.

Her original plan was to guide the Nascent Soul to understand the difference between plunder and construction.

But at this moment, she realized that her understanding was still too shallow—she only saw the difference in behavior itself, but failed to realize that this was the beginning of "self-shaping".

Is it to continue wallowing in fear-driven desires, endlessly devouring, plundering, and sinking into deeper darkness?

She would rather carve a crack in the darkness herself and let the light in, even if the light is as faint as a firefly, it would be enough to prove that she still has a choice, rather than being forced to obey.

A single thought can be the starting point of self-cultivation and the beginning of choosing one's path. (End of Chapter)