A great sun hung suspended in the void, unimaginably vast. Compared to it, the entire glowing red ocean shrank into insignificance, appearing like nothing more than a shallow puddle.
As for the dust specks atop the puddle—the grandmasters—they were utterly negligible beneath the sun's brilliance, which cast down hundreds of millions of golden rays.
Harsh, scorching light descended, causing wisps of dark smoke to curl up from the black turtle-shell vessel of unknown rank. It seemed on the verge of catching fire.
The blazing sun spanned the heavens, right before their eyes and seemingly within arm's reach. Beyond radiating terrifying heat, it poured out a divine substance, though this was halted by the barrier of light encircling the ship.
A grandmaster's hand could pass right out through the barrier; soft to the touch, it nonetheless kept out the divine mist shed by the sun.
The drop of golden liquid, laden with a rich fragrance, hovered motionless just outside the barrier.
Unable to hold back, a rogue cultivator summoned a small silver cauldron and sent it flying past the light screen, eager to claim the divine medicine before anyone else and swallow it down.
His gaze burned with an eagerness rivaling the dreadful beams shed by the heavenly sun.
Yet the moment the small silver cauldron cleared the ship's barrier, the strange substance radiating from the sun ignited it, burning through it as easily as if it were made of paper.
This was an extraordinary grandmaster-grade artifact, yet it proved utterly frail here.
The cultivator hastily withdrew his hand to call the vessel back. The relic was now riddled with holes, burned clean through, and a strange substance clung to its surface as it flew back toward him.
He struck out again and again, stirring his battle qi and unleashing divine radiance. But in the end, he grunted in agony; the flesh fell away from his right hand, laying bare the white bone beneath.
A chill gripped the hearts of everyone present. None dared make another reckless move.
Dachong broke the silence. "Has the sun been hiding away in 'ascetic cultivation' and finally become a god?"
It was not a funny joke. Every grandmaster frowned. There was something terribly wrong with this blazing sun; it bore little resemblance to what was recorded in ancient texts.
"This looks like karmic fire!" said the rogue cultivator with the burned hand, his expression wretched. Two of his finger bones were nearly severed by the flame, and for the moment, they could not heal.
No one spoke. All eyes fixed upon that boundless, titanic sun with heavy hearts. It looked tainted by endless "karmic sin," which it continuously radiated outward.
From the sky, within the magnificent sun, another drop of golden liquid dripped down. It too carried a refreshing, soul-soothing fragrance, hovering motionless outside the barrier of light.
In this manner, ten drops descended in total, seemingly corresponding to ten individuals. At present, however, only nine grandmasters were present in the flesh.
Suddenly, the turtle-shell vessel anchored on the sea tossed violently. The once-placid red ocean surged with monstrous waves, tossing the massive ship high into the air.
The group was dumbfounded. Were they about to fly straight into the sun?
The vessel was burning worse than ever, billows of smoke rolling from its hull as broad sections were scorched black.
Yet after being thrown upward, it soon plunged back down, crashing heavily into the ocean.
This seemed merely the prelude. The fifty-zhang ship was repeatedly hurled aloft by terrifying waves.
"What... is that?" The usually proud Shi Shiyong looked shaken. His clan was renowned across the world for fierce courage, yet even his voice trembled slightly.
The group looked up to see a pillar supporting the heavens falling toward them, blazing with ten thousand zhang of golden radiance. Its mere approach had unleashed the monstrous tsunami.
One end of this colossal object bore down directly upon the hull.
"A... a finger." At last, as it drew near, the grandmasters discerned its true form. It bore distinct fingerprints like gaping chasms, accompanied by dense divine radiance.
As it neared the vessel, it shrank continuously, until it was only as thick as a water bucket. It descended softly onto Dachong's head, frightening the insectfolk expert so badly his soul nearly took flight.
In truth, the finger was aimed straight at his consciousness; it gave him a gentle tap before quickly pulling back.
Everyone watched as it tore through the sky like lightning, snapping back into the enormous sun in an instant. This time, a colossal entity could be dimly discerned within.
He was clad from head to toe in golden divine garments, appearing majestic, sacred, and exalted above all creation.
Yet his entire body was bound by blood-red chains, leaving only that one hand free to reach out. Bringing the faint trace of conscious light clinging to his finger to his mouth, he gave it a gentle lick.
His eyes remained shut; he seemed to act purely on instinct.
"Brother, are you all right?" Erchong asked. His black-gold wings clattered behind him, ringing like struck steel. In the outside world he was a formidable grandmaster, but here, they felt as though they truly were mere insects.
Dachong looked terrible and shook his head. "Nothing feels wrong for now. It seemed he was merely tasting the flavor of my soul light."
Rumble!
The tsunami surged once more as that giant hand reached down again. Shi Shiyong "enjoyed" the experience of having his head patted, his soul light likewise tasted.
Qin Ming felt a headache coming on. He grew increasingly convinced that the denizens of this world were completely unreliable. He had gathered plenty of information, and the grandmasters had privately discussed this place as an immense opportunity. Yet having arrived, it was terrifying beyond measure.
Without hesitation, Qin Ming wrapped his consciousness in heavenly light and quietly attached himself to the old cloth.
Old Huang trembled slightly, seemingly terrified.
"Old Huang," Qin Ming said, "you've eaten so much. Spit out a living soul for him to taste."
Whether it worked or not, he had to try.
Qin Ming had no desire to have his consciousness licked by anyone, even a supreme deity.
"After the sun vanished, is it becoming a god?" one grandmaster whispered, voice trembling.
"The sun... has been kidnapped!"
Inside the immense sun, the figure grew clearer than before. He was dazzlingly brilliant, his divine attire ablaze with woven patterns.
He was shackled within the sun's silhouette. The blood-red chains binding him were ghastly, digging through parts of his golden raiment and embedding themselves into his flesh.
In moments, every grandmaster on board had their head patted in turn.
Qin Ming noticed that the bound deity acted purely on instinct. After taking a lick of the living soul spat out by the yellow imperial parasol, he spat it out with a puff, leaving it to burn to ash within the karmic fire.
Furthermore, when he licked the old goat among the rogue cultivators, the colossal deity in the sun not only spat, but actually gagged.
The curved-horned old goat's face twitched. He felt utterly humiliated. How thoroughly was he looked down upon?
Earlier, it had been him who tried to harvest the golden liquid with the small silver cauldron, only to nearly have his finger bones burned away.
The others remained silent, at a loss for words. This old goat was simply too pathetic!
Waves tossed inside everyone's hearts. This place was far too bizarre, and profoundly chilling.
The black turtle-shell vessel set sail once more, lingering no longer. At the same time, the ten drops of golden liquid breached the light barrier and vanished abruptly.
Looking inward, each person discovered a drop of golden liquid inside their body. Some grandmasters glanced around, eager to see who had received the extra drop, but could deduce nothing.
"Is this the divine medicine that extends life by half a lifetime?" the elderly goat grandmaster asked.
Golden script appeared in response: "No, only a portion. The complete medicine is still being concocted, to be perfected step by step along the path toward longevity."
Dachong asked solemnly, "Is that truly the sun? There was a colossal deity shackled within. What did he do to us? Is this also an ordeal required to obtain the divine medicine?"
The golden words appeared: "The pursuit of longevity is bound to encounter tribulations that none may evade. You have passed through this Tribulation of Longevity unscathed."
Shi Shiyong spoke up: "In truth, I wish to ask plainly—does longevity even exist?"
After a brief silence, the golden script manifested once more: "I have never seen it."
The grandmasters on board fell silent. They understood the implication: whatever rule or mysterious will governed this realm could not achieve longevity itself.
In a way, this was an answer. All things had their appointed lifespan, and all must ultimately perish.
Yet the grandmasters aboard did not sink into despondency, much less bewilderment. They were far from becoming Earth Immortals; whether they could even reach the Great Grandmaster level in this lifetime remained unknown. There was no need to dwell on problems of the distant future.
"Just now, when that bound entity in the sun tasted our consciousness, was he searching for a spiritual vessel?" one rogue cultivator asked.
The others had no time to stop him. They were still on someone else's territory, and they felt such a sharp question should never have been voiced.
Golden script emerged, yet offered no direct answer: "No need to worry. Bound by the rules, he cannot leave."
"Old Huang, what do you think? What is the story with that bound entity?" Qin Ming asked secretly.
The yellow imperial parasol replied, "He died long ago; only a trace of his spiritual nature has revived."
It stressed once more that even if Heavenly Gods and Heavenly Immortals exhausted every method, they could live no more than two to three thousand years before death claimed them. Generation after generation of the world's strongest had passed away without exception; true immortality was impossible.
"And you?" Qin Ming asked. "As a supreme treasure, can you attain immortality?"
The yellow imperial parasol paused briefly before answering, "Anything that gains sentience must eventually die. The world is nothing but old memories. My predecessor is already dead, but the vessel itself is forged of exotic metal, extraordinary enough to endure. I am merely a new weapon spirit revived within this supreme treasure, able to glimpse only faint, blurred imprints left by my predecessor—the rotting past."
Silence fell over the deck. Every person aboard was a grandmaster possessing sharp discernment. Each began carefully drawing in the wondrous substances radiating from the sun outside the barrier.
Some attempted to refine it, while others sought to merge it into top-tier relics.
Qin Ming also probed it. The so-called "karmic fire" was dreadfully potent, resembling boundless karmic sin mixed with some variety of heavenly fire.
"Too much negative essence!" Qin Ming opened the Eye of the Newborn and saw that the entire massive sun was tangled in endless "karmic sin."
It gave off an aura of towering transgression, with vast quantities of black mist hidden within the golden radiance.
Qin Ming summoned the Samadhi True Fire, followed by the Mundane Fire taught to him by Lu Zizai, and then circulated the Eight Views Divine Radiance Classic. Naturally, he did not dare refine the Dragon-Tiger Great Medicine internally this time, conducting the process outside his body instead.
He was purifying the boundless "karmic sin" entangling the kidnapped sun, stripping away all negative elements to extract the pure, positive spiritual substance he needed.
"This truly exceeds ordinary boundaries. The flame extracted from it is no weaker than my three divine fires; it's well worth cultivating."
Moreover, Qin Ming discovered that once cleansed of sin, the flame merged seamlessly when brought into contact with the Mundane Fire.
"Severing karmic sin and fusing it with Mundane Fire... I'll call it World-Purifying Fire from now on." Qin Ming felt a surge of joy, though he refrained from merging it immediately into his unique Samadhi True Fire.
He worried it might still harbor traces of karmic sin that had not been thoroughly purged.
*Better to take it outside first. Soaking it in heavenly lightning later should wash it entirely clean.*
The process was far from smooth. Towering karmic sin surged from time to time, and a single misstep could severely wound any grandmaster attempting to extract its fire essence.
"The power of karmic sin is terrifying. It is far too negative, unsuitable for tempering either the body or weapons," several grandmasters sighed, forced to extract only beneficial elements and discard the rest.
Someone gazed back at the sun and remarked, "Endless karmic fire, towering sin, all wrapping around a sun... Just how immense a slaughter was committed in the past to bring this about?"
The vessel set sail again, as if traversing the void. Dizziness struck them all at once; they broke free of that sea region, and the sun vanished from sight.
"We've fallen into an immense eye of the sea!"
As if heaven and earth had inverted, the turtle-shell vessel tumbled and crashed into a swirling, pitch-black domain, plunging down as if into an abyss.
"The road ahead is fraught with perils. Lighten the load before proceeding," the golden script reappeared in the void.
Dachong sent a secret transmission to Qin Ming: "Fellow Daoist Great Sage, what of my earlier proposal?"
He had previously contacted Qin Ming, expressing strong suspicion that the High Priest of the lionfolk's ancestral land had followed them, urging an alliance to take down Shi Shiyong.
"Agreed!" Qin Ming replied.
Shi Shiyong was the grandmaster backing the band of brigands; Qin Ming felt not the slightest goodwill toward the old lion.
Dachong transmitted: "The three rogue cultivators have agreed as well. Now! Strike!"
In an instant, a melee erupted on the ship.
Even as the vessel tossed and tumbled down the abyss, the battle between grandmasters remained unhindered.
Dachong and Erchong were enveloped in what seemed like black-gold armor, the flap of their wings booming like thunder. The three rogue cultivators were no weaklings either; even the "pathetic goat" lunged forward fiercely.
Qin Ming held nothing back, unleashing the nine-colored sword baleful aura from the start.
Caught in this sudden peril, Shi Shiyong's allies, Fubao and He Xilan, backed away at the crucial moment, not daring to stand beside him.
The old lion was formidable indeed. As he opened his maw, tangible golden ripples rippled outward like a golden divine lion's roar, shaking the entire ship violently.
The old goat was instantly flung back, coughing up large mouthfuls of blood. The two rogue cultivators beside him fared little better, blood dripping from the corners of their mouths.
Yet against so many grandmasters, no matter how powerful Shi Shiyong was, his body was torn apart, and a brilliant cluster of conscious spiritual light was knocked free.
Beside himself with rage, he roared, "You thought my clan's High Priest possessed me? Not at all!"
A talisman inside his flesh and blood flared with light, forcefully pulling his mangled body back together. It was unmistakably an invaluable, life-saving treasure.
Within his consciousness, another golden talisman burned as he activated it, unleashing the aura of a Great Grandmaster. With a thunderous boom, it blew apart the rogue cultivator lunging at him.
Everyone recoiled, their hair standing on end.
"Do you see clearly now? My clan's High Priest never came!" Shi Shiyong bellowed, a small half of the talisman in his conscious spiritual light already consumed.
While the others retreated, the old lion's consciousness returned to his flesh.
He glanced at Fubao and He Xilan, then turned his gaze to Qin Ming and the two surviving rogue cultivators. "You've all been used! It must be that old insect who came by possession. Sixty-three years ago, he took part in the bloodbath over the divine grain!"
Dachong denied it flatly: "Our ancestor passed away long ago. How could he possibly be here?"
"Who are you fooling?" Shi Shiyong sneered. "Earlier, I suspected that upright ape fiend from the outer domain was hiding an old monster, but looking at you now, it's clear the old insect of your clan isn't dead at all, but came possessing your body!"
Qin Ming felt a chill. No grandmaster was simple; their sharp senses had nearly exposed his roots.
When he struck, he had done his best to mimic this world's divine path power, yet they still saw through it.
Dachong retorted, "No Great Grandmaster possesses me! The insectfolk ancestor truly passed away. In that case, it must be this outlander!"
"You insect, crying thief while being the thief yourself!" Qin Ming stepped back.
"The load must be lightened further!" The golden script reappeared. A single death was not enough.
By now, the obliterated rogue cultivator had been swallowed silently by the dark abyss.
At the critical moment, the old goat snatched up the victim's storage bracelet with his uninjured left hand. But seeing Shi Shiyong look his way, his hand trembled, and the spoils dropped to the deck.
Shi Shiyong still had more than half of the golden talisman remaining, capable of unleashing Great Grandmaster power that kept everyone on edge.
He called out, "Everyone, the old insect is hiding inside one of these two brothers. Strike together!"
Without hesitation, Fubao and He Xilan joined his assault.
The remaining two rogue cultivators dared not join in immediately, stepping back instead.
"Old Huang, no one understands soul light better than you. Can you truly not sense which body the old monster is possessing?" Qin Ming asked secretly. He had initially assumed the lionfolk High Priest was the culprit.
The yellow imperial parasol replied, "I am a new weapon spirit, not having even attained the grandmaster tier. If a Great Grandmaster conceals himself using secret arts, how could I tell?"
"Ah—!"
The rogue cultivator beside the old goat shrieked. Dachong used a mysterious shifting technique to swap positions with him, leaving the cultivator to take Shi Shiyong's blow. His body burst apart, dying on the spot.
Golden script appeared: "Sufficient. Cease fighting. No further combat is permitted aboard."
Shi Shiyong looked sullen and reluctantly pulled back.
The old goat stared at Dachong, who had swapped into his proximity. Terrified, the goat scrambled backward.
Dachong said, "The possessing old monster is either within this outlander, or still on you, Shi Shiyong, masked by secret techniques."
Shi Shiyong snarled, "Cut the nonsense! Old insect, come out!"
...
The turtle-shell vessel stabilized, crashing onto an oasis. The crisp fragrance of vegetation washed over them.
In the distance, the boundless glowing red sea shimmered faintly.
"An island covered in flora?" The interior of the island was dark and somber, resembling lifeless black earth, with trees growing only across select areas.
In the void, a drop of emerald liquid exuding fresh fragrance emerged. In the blink of an eye, eight drops appeared in succession.
At the same time, a colossal hand reached out from deep within the island, looking as though it were fashioned from ancient tree roots. Starting once more with Dachong, it drew a wisp of vitality from his flesh.
Qin Ming did not hesitate to enlist the yellow imperial parasol, which spat out a cloud of blood mist from its surface, while he concealed his blood and spirit within the old cloth.
Inside this island too, an enigmatic being bound by Dao chains resided, long muddled in mind, tasting the vitality of outsiders purely on instinct.
In the end, the group felt sullen and trapped, utterly passive.
Before long, each person gained a drop of emerald liquid inside their body, teeming with rich vitality.
Qin Ming circulated the World-Abiding Scripture here, drawing in the concentrated plant energy. The wood-attribute essence of this place was astonishingly pure.
A thought struck him. If he could refine some of this, could it push his Longevity Sword Intent to higher realms? It might even bring him closer to the Longevity Dao Body.
"Endless karmic sin entangles this place as well!" Qin Ming did not dare absorb it directly, choosing instead to refine it repeatedly, gathering the emerald wood essence to cleanse later with lightning outside.
The turtle-shell vessel set sail once more, and slaughter arrived right on schedule!
This time, Shi Shiyong and Dachong clashed in a fight to the death. In the end, Erchong fell, He Xilan was killed, Qin Ming held the yellow imperial parasol before him to guard himself, and the old goat sat pale-faced on the ship's edge, ready to leap into the waters at any moment.
Dachong possessed a rare ancestral talisman that was already mostly burned away, which was how he had withstood Shi Shiyong's assault. His eyes were icy cold, utter silence settling over him.
Fubao's silver wings trembled. Once an elegant, dashing middle-aged man, his face was now deathly white. He sensed disaster looming; on this unending journey, he was bound to be offered as a sacrifice sooner or later.
They reached the third stop, where the group beheld a kun thousands of li long slapping the waves of the ocean.
Ultimately, six drops of black liquid fell, vanishing into the bodies of the five survivors.
Qin Ming practiced his arts here, extracting a water-attribute substance that was likewise rife with endless "karmic sin," intending to take it away as well.
A realization gradually dawned upon him. Could it be that they had to gather five rare medicinal liquids corresponding to the Five Elements, which would then fuse into the divine medicine capable of granting half a lifetime of longevity?
Along the way, not a word was spoken. The atmosphere was suffocating.
Qin Ming felt equally heavy-hearted. A Great Grandmaster was hidden among them; he had to remain on high alert, for a single mistake could destroy him body and soul.
By now, he had formed a clear idea of who it was.
Moments later, the golden script appeared: "Load must be lightened. Cast two aside."
If this continued, only two people at most would live to see the longevity medicine fully concocted.
With a boom, Shi Shiyong and Dachong attacked the old goat and Qin Ming simultaneously. Their hearts were grim; they found these two the most suspicious.
As for Fubao, Shi Shiyong had personally searched his consciousness and cleared him long ago.
Qin Ming leaped off the vessel in advance, using the yellow imperial parasol to block the terrifying shockwaves.
Even so, the immense force shook him so violently that blood leaked from all seven orifices, his body tumbling uncontrollably through the air above the glowing ocean. Deprived of the ship's protection, the terrifying heat rising from the sea proved almost unbearable.
Fortunately, he had tested it beforehand; relying on the Scripture of Harmonizing Body and Dao alongside the Extreme Dao Golden Body, traversing the night sky briefly posed no fatal threat.
Aboard the ship, a fierce battle erupted. The old goat discarded all meekness, standing tall as he struck out again and again, head-on meeting the assaults of Dachong and Shi Shiyong, detonating the last of their talismans.
Fubao's eyes widened in disbelief. It was not the rumored High Priest, nor the terrifying old insect. Instead, this pathetic goat had "risen from the dead," radiating the presence of an unrivaled expert with an indescribable aura.
The old goat's gaze was peculiar, looking upon powerhouses like Dachong and Shi Shiyong as mere ants.
Yet the old goat paid a terrible price to act. His body seemed to be undergoing a feathering dissolution; portions of his flesh withered, turning to falling ash.
"I had hoped to coexist with you peacefully. Why did you insist on pressing? Wouldn't it have been better for us all to reach the end in peace?" the old goat said calmly, as though feeling no pain in his flesh.
"You are... a god!" Dachong watched his ancestral talisman shatter, his body breaking apart in turn, his eyes filled with horror as the truth dawned on him.
Shi Shiyong sank into despair as well, his voice trembling. "You are a degraded True God! Without altering your life form, you stood in the seventh realm, but decayed with old age... You are undergoing feathering dissolution and fell to the Great Grandmaster realm!"
Both men perished, the light fading from their eyes. Even degraded, this foe was beyond their power to fight.
Gripping the decayed fan obtained from the Feixian Mountain remnant range, Qin Ming flew back aboard the ship, vigilant and guarded to the utmost.
Fubao collapsed onto the deck, knowing there was no way out for him.
The old goat remained calm as he looked at Qin Ming, his voice devoid of emotion. "What did we come here for? To gather the medicine of longevity. Truly, I wish to mind my own business and leave you to yours; killing serves no purpose."
"I also wish to coexist peacefully with Senior," Qin Ming answered earnestly.
Time was on his side. After striking, the old fellow's feathering decay had accelerated.
Yet this was no ordinary figure, but a former peerless powerhouse who had lived to the very end of his natural lifespan. The mere thought of his capabilities was terrifying.
"Very well," the old goat nodded.
He then added, "In truth, I could have become a Heavenly God, had I not been ambushed back then."
Clearly, this was an unspoken deterrent, meant to keep the youth from acting rashly on an erroneous judgment.
They reached the fourth stop and harvested the earth-attribute precious liquid.
Setting off once more, Fubao sighed in desolate sorrow, knowing his time had come.
"One more needed." Qin Ming prepared to act. The fifth stop would likely yield the completed divine medicine; if the old goat held out until then and consumed the medicine, Qin Ming would surely die, decayed fan or not.
Reading his intent, the old goat spoke quickly: "Do not be hasty. Let us ask the local golden will to bear witness. We shall forge a pact to coexist peacefully, and when we leave, have it send us out through different exits."
"Old Huang, is such a pact valid?" Qin Ming asked inwardly.
He had no certainty of victory if they truly fought. After all, this was a monster degraded from the seventh realm; who knew how terrifying his final dying blow might be?
The yellow imperial parasol replied, "I must see the process to know for certain."
The golden will appeared and ultimately consented, text forming in the air: "You two are rather interesting. Granted!"
Following an intricate rite, Qin Ming and the old goat stirred the local rules and forged a pact.
The yellow imperial parasol informed Qin Ming that the rite was indeed binding, impossible to break for at least two to three years.
Afterward, the old goat drew a cluster of consciousness from his body—a jackalman grandmaster.
The old goat had not come by possession; this was his true body. He had merely captured a grandmaster, intending to use him for a death-substituting technique at a critical moment, and now it came in handy.
The jackalman roared, but could change nothing.
Fubao and the jackalman became the sacrifices for the final stop.
At the fifth stop, Qin Ming and the old goat each gathered the metal-attribute medicinal liquid. As expected, the Five Elements precious medicines fused into one, granting them both the divine medicine that could extend life by half a lifetime.
The old goat was beyond impatient. His body was on the verge of collapsing as feathering dissolution consumed him; seeing that he could hold on no longer, he hastily gulped down the medicine, which blazed with five-colored radiance soaring into the heavens.
At the same time, his form blurred, on the verge of being transported away.
"Young friend, farewell until our paths cross again," came the old goat's final words in this realm.
"Senior, until our paths cross again!" Simultaneously, the red ocean churned, sweeping Qin Ming away as well.
When Qin Ming burst through the pitch-black, colossal exit, he rode the wind up into the sky. Looking down, he gasped.
The exit sat over an immense chasm, where parts of the glowing red ocean surged forth.
Qin Ming's expression turned solemn. The chasm resembled a giant maw, and the surging red seawater looked like a wisp of blood trailing from the corner of its lips.
Before long, the seawater receded and the chasm vanished, leaving behind only a boundless stretch of black soil. Then the black earth faded as well, sinking beneath the yellow loam, drifting away into the depths of the earth.
Chapter 515