Dense darkness drowned heaven and earth. Standing atop the clouds, Sun Taichu wore an increasingly grave expression as he said, "It is not even limited to several peril lands, but encompasses the entire domain of Kunling!"
If so, that was terrifying in the extreme. After all, Kunling was a land of legend!
In ancient times, the murals carved into the stone cliffs of this domain were all linked to the deeds of near-immortal creatures and godlike entities, containing all manner of records and descriptions.
"What manner of monster has emerged from the esoteric sect?" The person behind Sun Taichu felt a chill run down his spine. The worldly said that the immortal path was resplendent and teeming with talent, with the outer realm displaying absolute dominance.
Yet certain paths had never been weak since ancient times.
The esoteric sect possessed a frighteningly profound foundation, with a presence in every domain. The deeper one understood them, the more terrifying they proved to be.
Sun Taichu's personal arrival in Kunling was not purely for the auspicious beast; he had sensed something amiss. A mere slight probe now had already verified several matters.
The dark shadow behind him whispered, "Is a new peerless powerhouse rising?"
Then, the dark shadow suddenly looked up and said, "Or could it be... an ancient god has been reborn, harboring even loftier ambitions...?"
Manifested from pure yang conscious spiritual light, Sun Taichu parted the pitch-black clouds and gazed out across the entire domain of Kunling, his eyes unimaginably profound.
***
Inside the cavern in the secret realm, Qin Ming was dazed and feverish, his body burning hot. Blood scabs covered him from head to toe, overlapping layer upon layer like dragon scales.
In a daze, he dreamed that he had turned into a great serpent. In the torrential downpour, he was struck again and again by thunder and fire. His scales shed, his body shattered, dripping with blood.
It continually reared its head in defiance, only to collapse time and again, ultimately unable to withstand the might of the thunderous flames until its entire body was charred black and its bones were fractured. After a long silence, faint signs of life stirred within its broken flesh. Mingling with the extreme yang left behind by the lightning and fire, it slowly revived in a desperate situation where survival was impossible.
Tearing through its old body while bathed in blood, it struggled free, striving to transform into a dragon.
Yet the process was arduous beyond measure, fraught with torment. On the verge of death, it buried itself deep underground, panting as it entered a long slumber to gather its strength.
Inside the cavern, the layer of blood scabs on Qin Ming's body shattered. Like a serpent molting to welcome a fresh phase of growth, his dragon-snake force underwent a transformation.
As the Dragon Snake Scripture circulated, his yin-attribute force became tainted with yang-attribute essence. As if struck by lightning and fire, wisps of extreme yang aura emerged.
Of course, this was only a partial yin-yang transmutation. Most importantly, the power of rebirth was exceptionally dense right now, driving a genuine metamorphosis within him.
After the blood scabs sloughed off, Qin Ming reached his peak threshold and stepped across the border of his ninth rebirth. His physical constitution began to rise.
By now, the two fragmented demon seeds had long been ground to dust, reduced to faint streams of light that were eroded beyond recognition.
Inside him, his dragon-snake force transformed into two tangible root systems—one in the shape of a serpent, the other a dragon—taking root in the soil of the shattered demon seeds to absorb nourishment.
In the end, the soil of the demon seeds exploded in an upheaval... They ceased to exist entirely, their final dying backlash attempting to snap the dragon-snake roots.
Qin Ming's entire body ruptured once more, reduced to mangled flesh and blood before new dragon-scale scabs formed over him. Like a serpent or flood dragon hibernating and lying dormant, vibrant life stirred within.
"The dragon battles in the wilderness, its blood black and yellow..."
This time, he dreamed of endless battles, tragic and brutal. It was as if he were participating in person, constantly fighting across a chaotic world.
Slithering through an era of bloodshed, he fought his way forward. His body shattered and reconstituted repeatedly; he weathered axe cleaves, was impaled by divine swords, and was struck by fresh thunderbolts and fire.
Born from the jaws of death, his flesh and blood continually reorganized in the direst peril, growing stronger each time. At last, he ushered in a qualitative transformation, sloughing off his mortal frame. A dragon's roar resonated across heaven and earth as he soared into the sky.
At the same time, the dragon-scale scabs on the exterior of Qin Ming's body burst apart, scattered by a surge of masculine, yang power. Astonishingly, a lifelike dragon phantom materialized within his flesh and blood, ascending amid the heavenly light—a truly startling sight.
He awakened completely. The power of rebirth was exceptionally rich, and every inch of his body was undergoing change. He had not merely arrived at the threshold of the ninth rebirth; he had strode boldly right into it.
This rebirth was swift, violent, and far from ordinary.
Golden threads intertwined across his skin as jade radiance flowed, swiftly forming the Golden Thread Jade Clothes that enveloped him. His constitution steadily climbed, and his heavenly light force boiled alongside it.
Qin Ming was certain he was currently undergoing his ninth rebirth, and it did not appear that it would need to last long.
He experienced the changes within himself. In the past, after each rebirth concluded, he would use fallen fruit, five-colored spirit branches, and the like to elevate his heavenly light force. Now, however, that was unnecessary.
Because his dragon-snake force had already elevated in lockstep.
Furthermore, before he formally broke through to the Outer Sage realm, he still had time to cultivate the Golden Cicada Scripture and the Immortal Butterfly Scripture, both of which could be integrated as well. Sure enough, in less than half a day, Qin Ming's rebirth was nearing completion.
Advancing through the Dragon Snake Scripture brought an extraordinarily violent boost to his physique. Most crucially, his heavenly light force transformed as well, taking on rumored characteristics.
Namely, overbearing and vastly more fierce strength. This was part of Patriarch Qingtian's signature traits; back when his name shook the night mist world, he was said to possess peerless divine strength capable of holding up the heavens with both hands.
Evidently, in Patriarch Qingtian's early days, the dragon-snake force was an essential component in combining various force arts. During his foundation-building phase, this was one of the vital supreme arts recorded on the Single Page of True Heritage.
Even before fusing the dragon-snake force, Qin Ming could already appreciate its various wonders.
Within his flesh, blood, and internal organs, a dragon-shaped light coiled, surged aloft, and set off dragon roars that resounded through his whole body. Finally, it dispersed into a rain of light resembling dragon scales, scattering throughout his limbs and bones to merge completely with him.
Qin Ming had the illusion that he could uproot mountains!
"Sigh, what a pity. This is merely Patriarch Qingtian's forte—supreme hardness and ferocity. If only I could integrate the traits of several other patriarchs during this ninth rebirth as well."
He had concentrated wholly on transforming through the Dragon Snake Scripture to complete this rebirth, making it difficult to attend to anything else at the time.
"Everyone says the ninth rebirth is far from simple—only mutants can set foot here. Others stop after the seventh rebirth, forced to ingest great medicines and break into the Outer Sage realm before continuing their path."
In fact, books clearly recorded that the stronger a mutant's initial foundation, the more terrifying the eruption of this final rebirth. Qin Ming pondered: what made his ninth rebirth different?
He felt that although the increase was drastic, making him exceptionally strong and allowing him to trace Patriarch Qingtian's path of old, it was still not dazzling enough compared to his expectations.
His innate gifts were extraordinary, and his foundation was so profound that even past patriarchs would look upon it with envy. He should be even more formidable.
Amid Qin Ming's doubts, the ninth rebirth drew to a close, bestowing upon him a new ability.
He felt a warm current surge toward his eyes. His vision instantly blurred, rendering him unable to distinguish his surroundings. After a fleeting moment of unease, he regained his composure.
He felt nothing could have gone wrong or developed into an adverse change.
A moment later, his sight returned. As he stepped out of the cavern and looked across this secret realm shrouded in "twilight," everything appeared far clearer.
When he focused his mind, a warm current flowed through his eyes. The intricate veins on the leaves before him and the crystalline dewdrop cradled by a blade of grass on a distant mountain seemed right before him, vivid and unmistakable.
"An ability akin to spirit pupils?" Qin Ming was surprised. He sensed there was likely more to this power, though it remained to be tested later.
In the mountain terrain, he unleashed his dragon-snake force. Instantly, this fierce power swept through like a colossal beast, whipping up howling gales across the forest and setting the ground trembling.
He thought to himself that if he encountered the silver-robed youth again now, even if that foe went mad and fully activated the fragmented demon seed, he would not fear him in the least.
Next, black and white light intertwined between his hands accompanied by bursts of dragon roars.
"What a pity that the Dragon Snake Scripture only touches upon partial yin-yang transmutation. Still, the Golden Cicada Scripture holds some of the true principles as well, which can be continuously refined later."
Qin Ming prepared to fuse the dragon-snake force. His heavenly light force would undergo another transformation as a result, becoming even more terrifying.
"Hm?" Suddenly, he noticed something and paused, lost in thought. He could no longer see that glowing trail, which made him frown.
Without question, he had thoroughly shattered and crushed the two fragmented demon seeds, selectively absorbing the nutrients within their "soil" rather than fusing with them completely like the silver-robed youth.
"No matter. There is still that person with 'two demon seeds' searching for me. The tiger may intend to harm man, but man has the will to hunt the tiger!"
Qin Ming took a deep breath and began fusing the dragon-snake force. It was not difficult; using the scriptures of the silk book to govern all arts, he handled it with practiced ease. His sixth supreme art was swiftly unifying!
Until finally, with a boom, dragon shadows tumbled. His brilliant heavenly light force gained yet another supreme art, reaching complete perfection. He felt an explosive surge of strength flooding his entire body.
Every time he integrated a supreme art, his heavenly light force underwent a qualitative leap! Without doubt, this was the fundamental source and root of his surging combat power!
"Now that I have integrated six supreme arts, I fear no legendary heavenly light force in the Newborn stage," Qin Ming murmured to himself, brimming with confidence.
In the Newborn stage, the highest achievers in the Six Imperials ancestral court were those endowed with the Three Imperials force; in the Rulai Sect, they were the Golden Body Nirvanic Ones; and in the Qingtian Sect, they were known as Sky Shakers.
Qin Ming casually tested his strength—it swept through everything like crushing dry twigs, supreme in rigidity and force, gouging a massive hole in the cliff face! He was slightly stunned. This increase was truly ferocious!
"Sigh!" He let out another sigh. There were nine chances in total in the Newborn stage, and all of them were exhausted now. Once he reached the Outer Sage level, would he still be able to make rapid breakthroughs?
According to what everyone said, once Newborns set foot in the second realm, they would begin to falter. Some things were fated and could not be altered! The primary reason was that their rate of progress could not keep pace with other paths; they would be swiftly overtaken and left behind until they could not even catch a glimpse of their peers' backs.
Qin Ming felt a twinge of melancholy as he pondered the future.
Even though he was confident in his heart, the precedent of his predecessors stood plain before him. The road ahead was rugged and treacherous, devoid of light. "I must hack through the brambles and thorns to maintain my current state. Under no circumstances can my cultivation speed drop." His expression turned resolute.
Suddenly, Qin Ming sensed something. His body was still faintly warm—had the metamorphosis not completely finished?
He examined himself carefully. Wisps of rebirth aura still dwelled within his flesh. The first stage of his rebirth had indeed ended, yet it seemed to be gathering strength for more!
Qin Ming's eyes took on an unusual gleam, followed by sparks that seemed to dance within them. He looked toward the distant forested mountains. Was that peak powerhouse with "two demon seeds" still searching for him?
He murmured softly, "It seems I still have a chance to foster further rebirth with the Golden Cicada Scripture, touching upon certain domains where Rulai excels."
***
In the secret realm, within the region where disciples of the outer pure land gathered, many were engaged in heated discussion.
Because yet another person had "set out on the road"!
In his feather robe, looking ethereal like an immortal, Li Qingxu held his purple bamboo staff and was walking away along a glowing trail, leaving behind an increasingly faint silhouette.
Many were astonished, envious, and jealous, having recalled the reason he was able to step onto that road—rumors had already circulated some time ago.
"If... he gets defeated and knocked off that path, he won't look good at all then," someone among his former rivals whispered.
Chapter 208