Beneath the night sky, along every street of the Divine City, prominent orthodoxy factions and numerous outstanding disciples arrived, locked in fierce competition over the divinity within the blue Fire Springs.
Before long, the bluestone paving was stained with blood. This time, casualties were not limited to yin spirits; geniuses of flesh and blood were severely wounded or slain as well.
Earlier, several factions had traveled together from the direction of Chixia City. Now, over the dense divinity of the giant centipede, they came to blows with lethal intent.
Reality was bloody and cruel. Even those who once knew each other now harbored mutual suspicion, or had already turned hostile.
A single pool of divinity was by no means small, yet it was far from enough to go around. Cries of slaughter shook the heavens.
Not far off, a severed head rolled past Qin Ming's feet. He merely stepped aside to avoid it, his expression unperturbed.
A five-meter-long scarlet raptor enshrouded in blazing flames swooped down to maul its opponent, only for its skull to be shattered by an arrow crafted from lightning-struck wood.
Bloodstained plumage drifted down as the massive, headless bird carcass crashed beside Qin Ming, a reeking gust of blood whipping his hair back.
With an unruffled expression, Qin Ming reached up, smoothed back a strand of black hair from his cheek, and strolled through the battlefield with utter composure, completely devoid of restlessness.
"What's with you? Charge forward, quickly!" Yu Zhuohan urged.
"What is destined to be yours will be; what is not meant for you should never be forced," Qin Ming said placidly, showing no fighting spirit whatsoever, looking completely detached from the fray.
Yu Zhuohan wanted to smack him across the face. When the two of them sparred, this guy hit hard and heavy; so why was he here cultivating inner peace all of a sudden?
"That's concentrated divinity, do you understand? It can nourish spiritual weapons, raise the tier of exotic treasures, and help open divine wisdom. It's even a rare primary ingredient for concocting great medicines! It's useful in every field—its wonders are boundless!" Thinking Qin Ming was simply ignorant, Yu Zhuohan tried to enlighten him.
Yet Qin Ming remained unmoved, wandering near the fringes of the battlefield. As long as the fighting did not spill toward him, he maintained an attitude of watching flowers bloom and fade before the courtyard, unmoved by either favor or disgrace.
Exasperated by his lack of ambition, Yu Zhuohan could not be bothered with him anymore. Of course, at crucial moments, Qin Ming still stepped in. When an arrow imbued with conscious spiritual light shot toward Yu Zhuohan's back, Qin Ming intercepted it before Old Yu even had to dodge.
"Thanks!"
"No need to be polite. We're brothers," Qin Ming replied.
The youth who had sniped from the shadows narrowed his eyes, rapidly drawing his bow and unleashing a barrage at Qin Ming. Over a dozen arrows flew in a tight volley, sealing off all avenues of retreat.
Clearly, he had provoked the wrong person.
Before long, onlookers witnessed "Brother Stroller" fly into a rage, lunging forward like a humanoid rampaging bear, crackling with sparks and lightning as he launched into a brutal pummeling.
Fine arcs of lightning intertwined around his body, flashing with thunderous brilliance. Anyone who dared move against him was blasted to the ground, twitching with a charred face.
"Are you out of your mind? Why did you provoke the guy who was just slacking off? Look at the trouble you've caused! That's obviously a natural ability wielder!" someone from an outer realm Pure Land barked at the young archer.
Initially, the youth had remained defiant, but his face soon drained of color. Once Brother Stroller stopped slacking off, he was terrifyingly powerful. He had already charged right up before him, unleashing bursts of electricity without a single word of warning.
"..."
The youth collapsed, unable to rise, only to be finished off by an esoteric sect disciple whose follow-up strike sent his head rolling away.
With that, many realized that the esoteric sect side had a natural ability wielder who controlled thunder and lightning—someone not to be provoked lightly.
"Yu Zhuohan, your friend is formidable! Just like you, he's exceptionally gifted," a core disciple from the esoteric sect praised.
Yu Zhuohan was also a rare natural ability wielder. Before even reaching the corresponding cultivation realm, he had manifested the anomalous phenomenon of a silver fire moon enveloping his entire body.
The "great entity" had truly projected the imagery of Chixia City, making the Tier 4 Fire Spring pool here quite large, and many people surged toward its edge.
Qin Ming accompanied Yu Zhuohan as they fought their way to the poolside. Once there, he became idle again, perfunctorily refining iron arrows. Only when he saw the speech sparrow in dire straits, nearly slain by an enemy, did he intervene once more.
Over in that direction, the four-tusked white elephant and Li Qingxu clashed violently, sparking a horrific, chaotic melee across the entire area.
"Many thanks, young brother! You're truly a good person. My judgment of character is spot-on—you have the makings of a god!" After escaping the battlefield, the speech sparrow's beak never stopped moving, pouring out compliments by the basketful.
*Boom!*
A terrifying explosion rang out. After a brief clash with the four-tusked white elephant, Li Qingxu parted from it and hurled six short spears toward this sector.
Clearly, he walked more than just the immortal path. After his master had slain the Overlord, he had also instructed his disciples in various practical combat techniques of the Newborn path.
Li Qingxu was extraordinarily strong. Every short spear he hurled claimed the life of a youthful expert; once impaled, victims were even blown apart on the spot.
Such overpowering methods stunned many present. The six war spears claimed the lives of five geniuses, splattering blood and bone fragments everywhere.
Only Qin Ming evaded his spear, deflecting its trajectory with lightning.
His expression grew solemn. He realized that this old acquaintance's cultivation had grown by leaps and bounds. Was this the deep foundation of the immortal path? The second major realm seemed completely incapable of slowing their pace.
Moreover, he realized keenly that without entering the second major realm himself, he could not afford to face this man head-on.
The four-tusked white elephant spoke up: "It seems your master is determined to push you into the position of an immortal seed no matter what. Did he find a mountain-river secret nest for you, or did he harvest dragon blood from a dragon-draws-water phenomenon to grant you a rebirth through nirvana?"
At the same time, it retaliated in kind. Auspicious haze surged around its body, and its four jade-white tusks unleashed four beams of blinding white light. Like sweeping lightning, they reaped the lives of several disciples from the outer realm Pure Lands in succession, either shattering them, decapitating them, or piercing through their hearts with unstoppable force.
After a round of bloody fighting, all sides grew wary of one another, as each faction had formidable experts.
Qin Ming observed carefully. As bustling as it was here, people of the Newborn path were entirely marginalized; aside from him, virtually none had appeared in the Divine City.
Maintaining a neutral demeanor, he secretly assisted the speech sparrow in reaching the poolside, only to find the bird remarkably bold, actually using the divinity to temper its claws, beak, and plumage.
"Be careful not to suffer a backlash!" Qin Ming warned.
"Don't worry, young brother. As long as I don't merge it into my own innate divinity, it's not a big problem," the speech sparrow replied. It was indeed extraordinary; back at Black-White Mountain, it had claimed to have already birthed divinity of its own.
Now, the speech sparrow transformed at a visible pace. Radiant lusters flickered across its feathers, and its beak and claws sparkled brilliantly.
"What are you doing?" the crowd noticed Li Qingxu hurling six banners, which immediately drew the pool's divinity toward him.
Moreover, a crystal bottle shimmering with seven-colored haze appeared in his hand, directly swallowing the concentrated, purified divinity pulled toward him.
"Brother Tang, lead your people to hold them off for a moment. I'll share the divinity with you afterward!" Li Qingxu called out, seeking Tang Xumi's aid, fully aware that the other's strength was formidable and on par with his own.
"That's an exotic treasure refined by his master, Cao Qianqiu! He's not just taking a share of divinity; he wants to haul away the entire pool! Everyone, take him down first!" a core disciple of the esoteric sect shouted.
Instantly, cries of slaughter shook the sky. All factions were incensed. How could anyone tolerate someone trying to monopolize the entire haul?
Qin Ming had originally intended to stay out of it, but Li Qingxu unleashed the six banners in succession, churning up overwhelming spiritual brilliance that placed even him in danger.
With spiritual weapons and exotic treasures dancing through the air and streams of light filling the sky, Qin Ming's patience ran out, and he joined the offensive.
For a moment, he even considered using his pendant forged from exotic metal to breach the crystal bottle swirling with seven-colored light.
However, remembering that Cao Qianqiu was nearby, he suppressed the urge.
*Crack!*
To everyone's surprise, the purple lightning beast transformed into human form, unleashed a lethal weapon, and drove a small purple hammer to shatter the crystal bottle into pieces.
"My little ancestor, Old Cao is nearby!" The white owl guarding her was so startled that it nearly plunged into the pool of divinity.
In the distance, four suns traversed the sky, rapidly approaching Chixia City. They had succeeded in slaying the godkin, killing the blue giant centipede that had reached the boundary of godhood and reaping a bountiful harvest.
"Hm?!" Just then, Cao Qianqiu sensed the disturbance, and his expression darkened immediately. Someone had shattered the divinity bottle he had personally refined.
He glanced down toward the city and pointed a single finger. Instantly, a terrifying beam of light shot forth, about to strike down into the city!
*Bang!*
The six-tusked dragon elephant swung its trunk, scattering the blinding beam of light.
"That's the descendant of an old brother of mine. What do you think you're doing?" the six-tusked dragon elephant demanded.
"Hmph!" Cao Qianqiu snorted coldly.
Then his gaze shifted. "Why is there another Newborn here, and one who uses wind-thunder force at that?"
Over a century ago, someone had wielded wind force, Overlord force, and other techniques, combining them with a unique spirit field to upend heaven and earth and draw upon peerless might, piercing right through Cao Qianqiu's right hand in a bloody clash.
Standing within a blinding crimson sun, Cao Qianqiu extended a finger once more, pointing downward.
With a muffled bang, he was blocked yet again, the light radiating from his fingertip shattering into dispersed motes.
Meng Xinghai's Martial Granduncle, whose divine wisdom shone like a blazing sun, projected his voice: "You need to fix that foul temper of yours. Consider your standing. How long have the disciples down there been on their cultivation paths? Do you have no shame? Let me make it clear to you: that boy is one of mine!"
"I, Cao Qianqiu, have always acted as I please, following my own whims. Whether it's a junior or a creature seeking godhood, if they displease my sight, there is nothing I cannot strike!"
The youthful disciples in the Divine City had no idea how dangerous the mercurial elder in the night sky truly was—a mere casual point of his finger could blow people to smithereens.
Before long, they withdrew from the Divine City.
Meng Xinghai and the others appeared, beginning to dismantle the buildings. Because these structures were formed from refined vitality and spirit, they were considered great fortunes in their own right! Soon, Li Qingyun's wait was finally over; he and several old men stepped in to unearth the city walls and foundations, sweeping through the ruins of the entire city.
The grand, earth-shaking operation to hunt a godkin creature had come to a complete close. All factions were fairly satisfied, having taken their fill.
Meanwhile, Chixia City was bustling with activity. The anomalies, the outer realm disciples, and the esoteric sect members had not departed; they were deeply curious about this region. From Black-White Mountain radiating out to Chixia City, quite a few secrets remained, all connected to godkin creatures.
"Uncle Meng!" Qin Ming met Meng Xinghai at the City Lord's Manor, preparing to have a thorough discussion with him, as far too much had happened recently.
"Well done. You've made rapid progress, and your strength has advanced another step!" Meng Xinghai nodded in satisfaction. Soon afterward, Li Qingyun arrived as well.
Qin Ming sought their advice on where he should go from here.
"Li Qingxu is here to visit," an attendant reported, noting that the visitor had specifically named Qin Ming and wished to see him.
"Just him alone?" Qin Ming furrowed his brow.
"There are others as well. You probably know most of them," Meng Xinghai's confidant informed Qin Ming.
Chapter 165