Sweeping Through the Immortal and Divine Paths

A wheat-skinned female drudge carefully set several sealed jars on the table, then retreated far into the distance. The jars were made of different materials—some of lead, some of spirit crystal, others of exotic bone—yet all were carved with the special runes of the immortal dao arena. An inner sect disciple explained, "Inside these jars are extraterrestrial castoffs. They are extraordinarily hazardous. Should you become tainted by them, little good will come of it." Qin Ming nodded, waved a hand to dismiss them, and prepared to handle them with care. He had immersed himself deeply in the role, throwing his entire being into it. When his spirit reached peak focus, he continuously "turned the pages," advancing the progression of this trial. "What is going on?" Four months later, one side of his neck actually swelled up. Looking inward, he found a head that was nearly fully formed. Not only that, but other parts of his body were bulging as well. Was he about to undergo some terrifying mutation? He hastily looked down to inspect himself carefully. He could not allow organs to sprout wildly like this! This counted as a malignant growth that burdened the body without yielding the slightest divine marvel. What use was such a "tumor"? Qin Ming sighed inwardly. No wonder they were called castoffs—they were entirely harmful! At first, he had hoped to study them and see if he could use his heavenly light to absorb some of their dangerous properties. That way, landing a palm strike on an opponent might gift them an extra head, or a second palm might induce mutation and cause them to sprout another leg afterward. In the end, however, he abandoned the thought. The return was nowhere near worth the cost; injuring a thousand enemies would require self-inflicting three thousand casualties. "Searching for forbidden substances isn't a matter of 'the stranger, the better' or 'the weirder, the stronger.'" Qin Ming sighed. Fortunately, he was merely playing a role, gaining experience rather than living through it in reality; otherwise, it would have been truly perverted. He continued testing, opening the second jar. Once again, he plunged into the role, experiencing the hardships and trials of an Outer Sage. This time, the "foreign substance" possessed considerable lethality, severely corroding his flesh and blood. Once tainted, ridding himself of it proved exceedingly difficult. Qin Ming accelerated the "progression" of time. Within his unique field of vision, after prolonged exposure to the substances, his condition turned tragic as portions of his flesh dissolved. A cold shiver ran through him. For the masters of the ancient immortal dao arena to classify them as "extraterrestrial castoffs" made complete sense; they were nothing but dross. Refusing to give up, Qin Ming dragged his "mutilated body" and remained immersed in the role, testing the castoffs in every jar until he was on the verge of breathing his last right then and there. This was already the result of his status as a quasi-core disciple, which allowed him to consume various precious medicinal powders daily to restore his vitality; otherwise, he would have dropped dead long ago. It could truly be said that during this trial, he had pushed himself to the absolute limit. When he stepped out of character and observed from an outsider's perspective, he discovered that the so-called wondrous medicines and castoffs were mere wisps of qi, entirely illusory. Qin Ming knew his time in this immortal dao arena was running short. As he "died abruptly," he would be forced out of character and compelled to depart. During this time, he had gathered several immortal dao medicinal formulas and obtained scriptures accessible only to quasi-core disciples. At last, he "died an early death" here and was forced to leave. Chen Bingyan, Ren Yiping, and the others were all somewhat stunned. The person reputed to be the strongest young drudge had actually "passed away peacefully" so quickly? Qin Ming sat within the dense fog before the mountain gate, taking a long time to recover. Because he had immersed himself so deeply, the arduous years of grueling cultivation and the final experience of death felt like genuine reality. "This place is absurd. If you regret how your life went, you can simply do it all over again!" He knew this place offered the greatest benefits to immortal seeds and divine seeds. Some of them had already stepped into the third realm, and a few might even be able to replace the core disciples here. Qin Ming prepared to rest and digest what he had gained. He passed along the elixir formulas and other knowledge to Yu Gensheng and Zhao Ziyuan. *** Zheng Maoze and Zeng Yuan wanted to invite high-level experts of the immortal path to take the field and retaliate against that Newborn, but after asking around, they could not find a suitable candidate. They simply lacked the influence. The top immortal seeds had infiltrated different arenas and were busy competing for core disciple positions to reap various benefits; who had time to care about them? The two were on familiar terms with Li Qingxu, but the Immortal Seed Li had currently fallen into a bizarre slump. After his crushing defeat in the secret realm, he had run into walls here one after another. Li Qingxu had entered three lineages in succession. Immersing himself deeply, he clashed with ancient paragons, only to suffer disastrous defeats every single time. He had even mocked himself, saying he ought to change his name to Li Defeat. However, no one criticized or looked down on him this time. The opponents he faced were formidable, and many who refused to accept it had gone to challenge them, only to be vanquished without exception. In the ancient, foremost arenas, certain extraordinary geniuses of the second realm were indeed powerful beyond anyone's expectations. Across several mountain gates, a few exceptional figures had become widely renowned, regarded as quasi-core disciples who must not be provoked. After his "abrupt death," Qin Ming could no longer enter the first arena. Having recuperated, he stepped through another mountain gate. He resolved to keep his feet on solid ground rather than casually picking baleful qi and foreign substances. He planned to cultivate first, lay down a solid foundation, and only then seek rare substances to nourish his heavenly light and verify his techniques. Before that, however, he needed to secure a sufficiently high status; otherwise, he would be unable to obtain resources here. The second arena possessed extraordinary immortal grandeur. Clouds and mist coalesced into massive dragons coiling across the sky, while hillsides covered in golden sun-tree groves shone with radiant splendor. Just then, the tranquil scene shattered as a fierce battle erupted within the golden sea of trees. "It's him! I went out of my way to avoid him and didn't even want revenge anymore, so why did he follow us here?" Zheng Maoze's pupils shrank as he caught sight of that abominable Newborn once again. Zeng Yuan was even more flabbergasted. That contemporary drudge was currently confronting one of the toughest nuts to crack—someone against whom swarms of immortal path disciples had recently slammed into an iron wall, completely outmatched. Qin Ming was beginning to doubt his own life, for the battle was proving extraordinarily grueling. His opponent was a white-haired youth with an endless array of immortal arts. The youth even possessed a mind-slashing technique that seemed to ignore distance, sending a dazzling sword light sweeping right before Qin Ming's forehead. At the critical moment, Qin Ming channeled the Golden Silkworm Classic, utilizing the trump card known as the Golden Silkworm force field to warp that sword light of consciousness, thereby neutralizing the attack. In this clash, Qin Ming exchanged over a hundred blows with the white-haired youth. He unleashed his trump cards in succession, hammering repeatedly with the Wuji Seal and deploying his lethal strike—the Li Fire Shuttle—before finally beating the opponent until he coughed up mouthfuls of blood and his body tore apart. Each of the eight extraordinary arts corresponded to a lethal trump card. Qin Ming had deployed at least five supreme arts before finally slaying this tenacious adversary. He sat there in self-reflection. Had he grown arrogant lately? Why had this fight been so difficult? This opponent was in the middle of the second realm, merely one minor boundary above him, yet Qin Ming had been forced to employ vicious measures and exhaust every technique just to overcome him. Li Qingxu was likely around the middle of the second realm as well. Qin Ming had assumed that even at the early stage of this realm, he could slay the man, but now he began to ponder seriously whether he had overestimated himself. "Well, early stages aren't all the same. I haven't absorbed foreign substances or mastered the corresponding arts yet; I'm still a blank slate with room for improvement," he reassured himself. In the distance, both the ancient disciples and the contemporaries immersed in the illusion were deeply shaken. Who was that? That was the hardest "immortal bone" across several mountain gates! Many ruthless figures from the pure lands, immortal lands, and calamity lands had challenged him, only to be battered relentlessly. Now, a Newborn had actually wiped out this white-haired youth and taken his place! Li Qingxu's crushing defeats had begun precisely against this person, leading to his downward spiral. "Impossible, right?!" Some could not bring themselves to believe it; it was simply too preposterous! Could this be a cloistered disciple personally trained by an ancestral master of the Newborn path who had taken him as a final apprentice in this era?! Otherwise, there was no way to explain how an Outer Sage could exceed all reasonable limits to such an extent. "You two again. Come over here!" Qin Ming spotted Zheng Dazhuang and Zeng Yuan in the distance. "What... what do you want?" Both of them harbored deep psychological scars. This Newborn was simply defying heaven; even the person the immortal seed Li Qingxu couldn't handle had been slain by him. Qin Ming said, "You two... will serve as my drudges." "You're... turning the world upside down!" Zeng Yuan shouted. With a pop, his conscious spiritual light shattered, though this time he was not banished. He knew the opponent had intentionally spared him by holding back strength. Afterward, people from the contemporary world wore strange expressions as they watched two disciples of the immortal path actually serve as drudges for a Newborn. Zheng Maoze and Zeng Yuan caved very quickly. It took merely two slaps to thoroughly overturn their worldview. Qin Ming, on the other hand, lost interest. He waved a hand and dismissed them; he intended to test his arts here and could not possibly expose his methods to people like them. This time, taking advantage of his quasi-core disciple status, he obtained various precious medicines and resources, then began cultivating from the second-realm portions of the silk book method. This was his foundational scripture, profoundly unfathomable. Naturally, it included the health-preserving arts required for the second realm, which could counter the bodily corrosion caused by refining baleful qi and absorbing foreign substances. "Having reached the second realm, the vegetation qi gathered by circulating the Yimu Scripture isn't suitable for fusing into heavenly light, but it is exceptionally suited for nourishing the physical body. Not bad." In truth, every extraordinary art contained a method of health preservation. Each constituted an entire system rather than merely a technique of force or a single trump card. Even the violent Departing Fire Classic could temper the flesh with flame, serving as an unconventional form of preservation that stimulated the body. "The five-phase extraordinary arts internally correspond to the five viscera. When the doctrines of all five resonate together, their health-preserving efficacy appears sublime." During the early phase in this arena, Qin Ming focused on cultivating to achieve "internal strengthening," consuming the sect's precious medicines to accelerate his progress. Afterward, he gave solemn, earnest thought to how he should select divine substances. "Before an Outer Sage breaks through to the middle stage, how do I want my heavenly light to transform? A single thought of day, a single thought of night!" With a clear goal in mind, the choice became straightforward. Qin Ming leveraged his identity to requisition various earthly baleful qi and ninth-heaven pure qi. "Substances related to the night are mostly yin-attribute foreign substances, while those related to the day are mostly yang-attribute." Qin Ming once again embarked on his journey of testing arts. In the end, with a single thought, his heavenly light turned pitch-black like ink, enveloping the ground where he stood; with another thought, he shone like a blazing sun hanging in the sky. "Even with resources piled to the brim, it still takes no small amount of time." Qin Ming frowned. Most importantly, when he tested the heavenly light's power, it could only be rated as decent, still falling short of his expectations. "This won't do. It relies too heavily on external objects. If I had solar fire essence and lunar marrow, my day and night heavenly light would undoubtedly be far stronger." Yet where in the present world could he gather every top-grade foreign substance? "Since external objects must ultimately be discarded to wash away all superficial brilliance, could I perhaps dispense with foreign substances from the very beginning, while still rapidly stimulating the heavenly light toward nirvana?" For now, the time consumed, the foreign substances required, and the ultimate power all left Qin Ming dissatisfied. He felt there had to be an even more ingenious path. Qin Ming repeatedly experimented and verified his methods, until in the end, he tormented himself to an "early death" in this arena as well. Having dropped dead once more, he hurried to the next arena. In the third arena, Qin Ming learned that the lineage's treasury contained sap from the undying tree of the Kunling Ruins. He thus suspected that living people might exist in this sect as well. While experimenting here and pushing himself near death, he sensed something unusual—a living person was peeping on him. "Are drudges of later generations this desperate? What is he doing, drawing extraterrestrial astral fire essence into his flesh and blood? Has he lost his mind? Ah, as expected, he dropped dead. The trial ended in failure." Qin Ming proceeded from one lineage to the next as if rushing from gig to gig. The arena he currently entered contained many disciples of the esoteric sects. He drew inspiration here: the terrain was remarkably complex, seemingly subdued by an ancient figure who had borrowed the land to attain godhood before severing ties with it. "Could my heavenly light do the same? Borrow a hen to lay an egg." Qin Ming contemplated many possibilities, inevitably drawing connections to the contents of the Destiny-Altering Scripture. Before long, he became a core disciple and discovered a variety of paths after stepping onto the divine path. He studied one of them while pondering those peculiar terrains. "Hmm?" In the end, Qin Ming placed himself into the setup, "dropping dead" within a cavern that possessed an abnormal magnetic field. "Though deeply immersed in the role, I take none of it to heart afterward. Why should death be feared? I'll simply switch to another!" In the second esoteric arena, Qin Ming defeated an exceptionally powerful young disciple, causing another massive stir. Without question, this was another unyielding "divine bone" that had blocked many esoteric elites, handing every single one of them defeat. "Who is this guy? He's terrifying! He actually cleaved that ancient paragon blocking the path right in two! Heavens, the shock made my ears ring!" Though all of them were acting within an illusion and the ancient figures they encountered had not survived to this era, their combat strength was genuine. Such a scene stunned countless onlookers. Among them were old acquaintances like Xin Youdao, Lu Yuzhi, and Zhuo Ya—all practitioners treading dual paths—who watched with dropped jaws. Only Xin Youdao understood who that was. Even though he knew the truth, he was still lost in dazed contemplation. On this day, Qin Ming swept through both the immortal and divine paths solely to eliminate errors through trial and explore a path suitable for himself! Over the course of the day, he "dropped dead" eight times in succession. The experimentation yielded solid results, allowing him to summarize a wealth of invaluable experience. Mainly, by continuously pushing his limits and courting death, he was putting the theories into practice. During this process, Qin Ming noticed that some people who had immersed themselves too deeply were indeed unable to step out, slowly becoming assimilated into this place. However, he did not spot Ning Siqi, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief. Qin Ming believed that at least three lineages still harbored living people! He was not the only one to notice; certain immortal seeds and divine seeds had also sensed it, and they sought to facilitate contact between the ancient immortal dao arenas and the contemporary immortal path and esoteric sects. In the first arena, white mist swirled as life revived within several crystal coffins, their occupants conversing with one another. Chu Pianran said, "In this era, even drudges have grown unimaginably powerful. We ought to step outside, lest we be left behind by time." "Indeed. We must seize this opportunity to escape Kunling. If this place is sealed once more, who knows when the next era will arrive." "The descendants who inherited our lineages border on the immortal yet forsake immortality purely to seek truth. They possess greater boldness than we do. We can interact with them more and witness just how dazzling this era of contending schools truly is." *** Qin Ming pondered that between the immortal and divine paths, plus the ghost path of the Yin soil, at least three ancient paths were sealed within the Kunling domain! This time, with portions of Yin soil emerging and immortal dao arenas coming to light, it was equivalent to releasing gods and ghosts, adding several new shades of color to the night-mist world. That day, Xiao Wu also toured multiple arenas and gained a great deal. "Let's go. We leave this place for now," Qin Ming said. In truth, people from the Six Imperials ancestral court, the Qingtian Cult, the Yuqing Sect, and others had arrived, and having learned that living people inhabited this place, they too were preparing to withdraw. In a sense, the reviving immortal dao arenas shared a close kinship with the later outer realms and esoteric sects. The scriptures Qin Ming obtained all pertained to immortals and gods. He had little regard for the methods of ancient drudges; those seniors had lived lives of sheer hardship. Such people were dubbed drudges in name, but were servants in reality. Yet in this era, some wished to recreate that arrangement, defining Newborns as drudges. Qin Ming frowned and remarked, "As several ancestral masters pass away, could practitioners of the Newborn path truly be reduced to drudges?" "That is precisely our worry!" In Huangsha City, Yu Gensheng and Zhao Ziyuan were both sighing. However, when they arrived at Hongyan Tavern and saw the former foremost beauty who was now over a century old, smiles blossomed across their aged faces once more, like wrinkled orange peels smoothing out. "A-Yan, you are as radiant as ever!" When Qin Ming and Xiao Wu heard those words, goosebumps cascaded across their bodies, and they hastily beat a retreat. *** Several days later, the recently tranquil Kunling underwent another astonishing upheaval. Blood-colored heavenly thunder surged, and crimson lightning intertwined, blanketing the sky across the entire territory. The dense black clouds were shattered, and the land once more beheld the night sky. That day, wails of ghosts and howls of wolves echoed across the Yin soil region; calling it a night march of ten thousand ghosts was hardly an exaggeration. Whether slumbering or already roaming about, semi-rotted monsters howled and fled in panic. Their disadvantage lay in being truly on the verge of decay, their consciousness blurred. The freezing Yin soil had been unable to fully halt the erosion of their lifespans. Consequently, many walking the ghost path were currently in a muddled daze, having made no advance preparations for an escape route. Only a small handful of fully revived ghost cultivators fled frantically, bursting out of the Kunling domain. Without doubt, from this point forward, the night-mist world had gained an additional path. The ghost path, one of the foremost ancient heterodox paths, had reappeared in the mortal realm. In this blooming era of contending paths, it too was destined to reopen its trail. As for the region of the immortal dao arenas, some living people had truly "frozen" their lifespans, emerging fully intact. When Kunling underwent another upheaval, they crossed the night mist unhurriedly and departed into the distance. In the outside world, people saw the dark mist dissipate as numerous mountains and rivers blurred and slowly vanished. The recently expanded Kunling was returning to its former state. "Kunling has been sealed once again!" "Are the ancestral masters about to return?" Uproar erupted everywhere. The news spread far and wide, unsettling the entire night-mist world and shocking all under heaven. Between heaven and earth, terrifying blood-red lightning shattered the dark clouds, striking down at various locations across the legendary lands. Those gazing from afar observed that if the strikes were connected, they followed a distinct pattern, resembling some mysterious pattern. Rumble! The earth blurred, mountains and rivers receded, and certain areas vanished completely! Just as everyone anticipated, terrifying ripples surged from the distance that very day. Figures of the ancestral-master caliber were returning, locked in ferocious battle. "You demons and fiends delusionally sought to seal us permanently within the unknown reaches of ancient Kunling. Did you think that possible? The time for settlement has come!" With that single sentence, the world understood what had occurred during this period. The ancestral masters of the various paths had unexpectedly left the mortal world and entered the sealed lands, but in the end, they had returned unhindered to wage a decisive battle against the auspicious beast and its allies. The auspicious beast and its companions had continuously reinforced the seal, hoping to sever their path of return, but had failed. Now, the passage had been blasted open. In truth, had these ancestral masters not sought to explore the secrets, they would have returned long ago. "What bold audacity you possess, colluding with races from the depths of the night-mist world! Before we even began reclamation, demons from afar dared cross over first." Outside the Third Peril, a battle of cataclysmic scale erupted. It was not merely the initial fighters taking action; in the distance, trumpeting calls penetrated the night curtain as dragon elephants arrived from afar to join the fray. Senior figures of the immortal path, standing amidst golden suns and treading upon clouds, swooped down toward the battlefield. Though fierce, the battle's outcome had long been decided. All the auspicious beast had relied on was catching everyone off guard and trapping them within the ancient lands of Kunling, but that gamble had failed. Beneath the night sky, a colossal golden silhouette roared, towering like a small mountain. Already wounded, its body was now torn apart. Multiple ancestral masters joined forces against the auspicious beast, competing for the lifespan-extending auspicious blood! In addition, several other demons and fiends were severely crippled. That day, the plateau outside the Third Peril was gouged open. The auspicious beast dwelling nearby and the reinforcements it had gathered were slaughtered to the last; not a single top-tier demon escaped. Spectators watched as golden blood from the auspicious beast splattered in all directions. After it exploded, it was carved up by the crowd. Multiple blazing suns spanned the sky, sweeping across all directions to claim every last drop of blood. "According to the original plan, the hunt begins now! All juniors may participate—do not allow a single demon on this plateau to escape!" "This is a rough rehearsal for the Great Reclamation!" "Participants will be rewarded based on their strength and merits achieved, which naturally includes the blood of the auspicious beast!" That night, these words echoed across all regions surrounding Kunling. Like a great ship that had veered off course, the situation was righted and returned to its original trajectory. "The entire plateau has been cordoned off! No demon can escape, even with wings! Slay them all within half a day!" That night, every faction made urgent preparations. The following morning, armies mobilized from every direction, charging toward the plateau outside the Third Peril. "Hear me, all of you! Whoever captures the demon seed 'Demon One' shall be rewarded with a double portion of auspicious beast blood!" As the forces advanced, a voice rang through the night sky like rolling thunder. Meanwhile, discussions arose one after another. Different factions and major organizations each harbored their own thoughts. "Speaking of which, there has been no news of him for quite some time. He didn't enter the Six Imperials ancestral court, so where did he end up?" "So what if he's an anomaly? Even with unmatched talent, he has no future. In the end, he can only walk the hopeless Newborn path; he is not worth worrying about." "And yet, I suspect he might have mastered the silk book method!" Winds and clouds surged across the Kunling domain as every faction charged toward that plateau, aiming to conclude the battle within half a day.