In the teahouse, the friend smiled and said, "He truly lives up to being an immortal seed—good news has arrived so quickly. No doubt he is at that age where high spirits run free."
Pu Heng wore a smile as he unfolded the letter, but in an instant, his expression froze.
Then, with a spray, the tea in his mouth spewed out, for the gap between the information before his eyes and what he had anticipated was simply too immense!
Brilliant enough to dazzle an entire era? His junior brother had been defeated right off the bat!
"What is it?" asked Xu Chengdao, the silver-haired elder sitting opposite him.
"His path is about to break—he actually lost to a demon!" Pu Heng's eyes turned icy cold, and pure yang conscious spiritual light spilled from his body.
In an instant, many throughout Kunling City felt a jolt of dread.
As Pu Heng sat there, a blood-red sun enveloped him. Pure yang crimson light penetrated the walls of the teahouse, illuminating the entire vicinity as if a bloody sunset had cast its pall over the area.
Xu Chengdao guessed that the old habit of their lineage was acting up again: Pu Heng wanted to step into the fray himself. He cautioned, "External power cannot interfere with those paths!"
"I shall go retrieve the demon-revealing mirror and wait for him to emerge. That plateau is on the brink of destruction; under such circumstances, how dare a mere demon seed come out and stir up trouble!" Pu Heng said in a heavy voice.
His junior brother's defeat was a minor matter, but the face of his master, Cao Qianqiu, was of paramount importance.
Deep in the plateau, demonic winds swept the high heavens and night fog surged. Unfathomable old demons crossed the borders, rushing toward the region of the secret realm.
Amid the clouds and mists, mountainous black silhouettes could vaguely be discerned. Along the way, various non-human creatures trembled with fear upon seeing them, unable to stop themselves from prostrating on the ground.
Great demons were on the move, shaking the night sky!
In the secret realm, on the damaged path, how could Li Qingxu possess any demeanor of high-spirited youth? His chest felt thoroughly stifled right now. The other's statue stood right there, yet he could not even budge it.
Upon learning the truth, he felt even more as though he had taken a blade to the heart: that demon possessed higher innate talent than him and had prospects of becoming a new-generation demon god.
He had already issued a challenge, quietly waiting for the opponent to reach the second plaza!
Qin Ming knew nothing of this. Keeping to his own rhythm and advancing along both paths in parallel, he reaped double the joy.
"Overview of Primordial Heavenly Light..." In a dilapidated building along the way, he discovered such a fragmentary booklet and read it attentively.
Without realizing it, he became immersed in it. Although it was written in archaic script, everything visible had been imprinted directly, allowing him to understand and study it.
It was neither some peerless art nor a secret scripture, yet it engrossed Qin Ming deeply. It recounted the research and utilization of heavenly light in ancient times.
One could say this traceable progression revealed a certain trajectory to him—the various evolutions of heavenly light force techniques from crude beginnings to refined mastery, like the shifting tides of history.
"A rich harvest!" Qin Ming sighed after finishing. Several millennia's worth of the essence of heavenly light force techniques and their developmental trajectory were captured within this fragmentary booklet. He "hopped back and forth" between the two paths, and on the demon path, he discovered a book titled Records of Kunling's Godkin, which instantly piqued his interest.
Just the opening chapter made his expression shift slightly. In ancient times, this place had been a domain where godkin creatures were active, far more extraordinary than he had imagined.
Naturally, referring to all of them as godkin was not entirely accurate; some were immortal-adjacent beings.
"Kunling connects to Yujing; godkin flicker in and out, immortal-adjacent beings roam, wandering at leisure within..."
Qin Ming did not treat it as an ordinary miscellany. Since he had found it along the path, he naturally read it carefully. Within it were accounts of the deeds of gods, immortals, and similar beings in the domain of Kunling.
"The ancient cicada splits, the new cicada emerges, spreading its wings to flee far away. Yet another godkin either perishes or attains rebirth."
Reading this section, Qin Ming fell into deep thought. He felt this touched upon certain scriptures, such as the Golden Cicada Scripture, and the Divine Cicada Scripture above it.
Could it be that the origins of certain peerless arts and higher-level secret scriptures could be traced back to godkin creatures?
"What happened in Kunling back then? A divine cicada once fled with all its might... It truly makes one want to return to that era to see what actually occurred." Qin Ming read with keen interest, learning about several ancient godkin creatures.
Even the "Six Imperials" he had mentioned when duping Cui Chongxuan no longer seemed quite so baseless; the book made a vague reference to "one imperial," who was a dead old god.
"'Godkin have finite lifespans, and immortal-adjacent beings have limited lives; they cultivate arts to alter destiny, seeking metamorphosis to prolong their years...'" Qin Ming closed the book, walked toward the distance, and set off once more.
He began pondering the true origins of certain cultivation methods.
Qin Ming felt these books broadened his horizons, allowing him to stand at a higher vantage point to contemplate his future path. Afterward, he encountered a bloody trial on the demon path.
A battle at an equal cultivation realm unfolded within an enormous palace, with demons appearing incessantly.
These were all non-human creatures of the first realm, every one of them formidable. At first, their numbers were limited, but they steadily increased thereafter—progressing from one-on-one duels to fighting against many, until he was wading through a sea of demons bathed in blood.
For a time, Qin Ming fought until his eyes grew sharp as blades. He pushed his dragon-snake force to its utmost peak, sweeping aside all resistance and boring straight through the host of demons.
By the end of the slaughter, no more demons appeared in this realm; every last one had been wiped out by his hand.
After a brief silence, the Heavenly Demon Mirror delivered a cold evaluation: "Within the first realm, you may reign supreme for an era!"
Qin Ming asked, "Do you mean this current era?"
The Heavenly Demon Mirror informed him, "The era when demons first arose, when arts were relatively unrefined."
Then, surprisingly, it offered a few more cold remarks of its own accord, opining that given his natural talent, if he failed to successfully restore a complete demon seed, it would truly be the jealousy of the heavens.
Was it cherishing his talent?
Qin Ming was certain that it was indeed a damaged treasure, rather dull and mechanical, allowing him to slip by undetected.
At last, he heard a notification that he was about to set foot in the second node, where someone intended to challenge him at an equal cultivation realm—in an actual combat trial.
Qin Ming knew who was waiting for him and was not the least bit intimidated. Dueling under the rules here, there was no reason to retreat at all.
The sky of the secret realm shook violently.
Startled, everyone raised their heads, only to see two paths spanning the sky like divine rainbows.
What was more, the two paths actually intersected, mutually blocking one another.
"Still the demon seed and the immortal seed—another duel? But that immortal path is already crippled and on the verge of breaking. There is no chance whatsoever."
The secret realm fell into an uproar, with many looking up toward the heavens.
"Is Li Qingxu refusing to accept it, seeking one final battle? But I don't favor his odds. Come to think of it, he loses every time in a crucial fight."
Before long, people recalled how, during the contention over the near-immortal item, he had been severely wounded by Li Qingyue and ended up in crushing defeat. "Today, if he is eliminated in the 'path contest,' his title as an immortal seed will be rather undeserved!"
...
In the sky, on a demon path, red mist rolled and purple vapor curled, magnificent to behold. As it stretched forward, a robust figure stood upon it, commanding and imposing.
The other path was battered, dim, and teetering on collapse, its immortal mist now thin and wispy. A youth clad in feather robes, holding a bamboo staff, walked forward.
Where the two paths intersected, they arrived at a node at the same time, stepping onto a plaza. In the secret realm, many rushed madly toward the high mountains.
The two paths did not hang at the very apex of the firmament; their height was limited. By climbing the mountain peaks, onlookers might catch a hazy glimpse of this contest.
A demon spoke up: "Fierce clash of titans? Those people are overthinking it. Our demon race's heaven-sent prodigy will naturally sweep that immortal seed aside. After all, that fellow has already tasted defeat at his hands."
As for the disciples of the outer realm, though many disliked Cao Qianqiu's lineage, neither did they wish to see Li Qingxu suffer a humiliating loss. This concerned the face of the immortal path.
In truth, many understood that the immortal seed had little hope of turning the tables.
"This time, a major 'incident' is likely going to happen—Li Qingxu might truly be knocked off the immortal path."
"If Senior Cao Qianqiu finds out, will he fly into a furious rage?"
"Are you tired of living? Don't touch that subject!"
A small clutch of disciples who harbored dissatisfaction toward Li Qingxu muttered in secret.
In midair, hazy luminous mist drifted across the plaza, which then simulated a mountainous terrain to receive the pair, setting the stage for an imminent battle.
Qin Ming stepped forward. His thick black hair hung loose, wild and unyielding, his gaze brimming with aggression. No matter how one looked at him, he resembled a shape-shifted demon, brimming with primal ferocity.
Looking at the familiar acquaintance opposite him, the corners of his mouth curved up slightly. He truly could hardly wait, for he had anticipated this moment for a long time.
Setting aside past grievances, the immediate benefits alone made it well worth fighting: it pertained to completing his fragmented demon seed, furthering his rebirths, and cultivating other peerless arts.
Li Qingxu looked across, his heart sinking despite himself. Though he loathed this demon, he could sense the other's overwhelming confidence. Yet he had no choice; his path could no longer ram through the other's, leaving him no option but to step forward in person.
Li Qingxu struck first with a fierce assault. A portion of his conscious spiritual light had already acquired pure yang attributes and now condensed into a dazzling sword that slashed forward, accompanied by the rumble of wind and thunder—a tremendous spectacle!
He too shifted instantly, swinging the purple bamboo staff to smash toward his opponent.
Qin Ming was equally swift as lightning. Facing the attack empty-handed, he clenched his right fist, which hung like a blazing sun; with a thunderous boom, he blasted the pure yang sword to pieces. His left hand chopped like a blade against the purple-glowing bamboo staff, stirring up layered ripples of runes and jolting Li Qingxu's arm until it went numb, the staff nearly slipping from his grasp.
This shocked Li Qingxu—they had only just engaged, and he was already on the back foot?
His opponent's fist was as blinding as a scorching sun, searing his conscious spiritual light with throbbing pain.
In an instant, Li Qingxu was covered in runes from head to toe. From flesh and blood to conscious spiritual light, he seemed engraved with dense, packed scripture.
This was the sect-guarding art he had comprehended on the immortal path with the help of the special incense and prayer mat.
Rumble!
Qin Ming's fist seemed to burn, wrapped by what looked like a dazzling dragon. Supreme in hardness and ferocity, he held nothing back; this was the most powerful dragon force from the Dragon Snake Scripture bursting forth.
At the same time, his left palm seemed coiled by a great serpent, wrapped in wisps of black mist with rising dark radiance; this was the snake force of the Dragon Snake Scripture, leaning toward yin and softness.
Now, one yin and one yang, the two types of force poured from his body, forming a black-and-white dragon-snake diagram ahead of him with an unstoppable momentum.
In the secret realm, many were appalled as they genuinely heard waves of dragon roars!
The runes on Li Qingxu's body clanged like armor, yet they were continually worn away by the black-and-white dragon-snake diagram, which severed many of their patterns.
With a heavy bang, in their first clash of full power, Li Qingxu was sent flying backward.
His face looked ghastly. Landing on his feet, he stumbled backward several steps and stared ahead. What sort of monster was that? He could hardly believe it.
Many distinctly heard a sharp crack in the sky as the immortal path fractured further.
At this moment, the immortal seeds and divine seeds on other paths were alarmed, all gazing over in this direction. Li Qingyue fixed her gaze upon the battlefield at that node.
Cui Chonghe, Su Shiyun, Zhao Yaoting, Leng Feiyue, and others all raised their heads to watch this battle.
Li Qingxu gave a cold snort. Deep within his flesh and blood, nine dazzling divine chains burst forth, wrapping around his body and spreading toward his conscious spiritual light, exuding a perilous aura.
Qin Ming sneered. With his black hair hanging loose, yin and yang qi steamed around him as the black-and-white dragon-snake diagram expanded, enveloping him within and whirling at high speed.
And in his left and right hands, black and white light surged, taking the shapes of a snake sword and a dragon saber respectively, their resonant clangs chilling the soul.
Chapter 213