"Great grandmasters are dogs, always camping at the exits," Qin Ming murmured softly. As a solitary traveler stranded in an alien realm, the sight stirred a deep wave of emotion within him.
A full month had passed by now. The upheaval—the divine grain, the black soil, the colossal maw stretching across the ground—had roiled thousands of li of land, yet great grandmasters were still staking out the vital choke points.
Word had it that several extraordinarily unlucky experts had tried to push through, only to be stripped from head to toe by decrepit great grandmasters teetering on the verge of madness as their lifespans ran out. Plundered of everything down to the last scrap, those victims had fled in utter disgrace, wrapped in nothing but tattered rags.
Countless wanderers were seething with resentment. They had deliberately waited until the turmoil subsided before venturing across the area simply to broaden their horizons. Who could have expected to be mercilessly robbed, or in some cases, killed outright?
"Forget it. Just consider it a bite from a mad dog. I heard even some imperial scions and core disciples of sacred sects couldn't escape their grasp."
A crowd of victims commiserated with one another, sighing heavily and wiping away tears before fleeing into the wilderness in scattered directions.
Great grandmasters with little time left to live were exceptionally dangerous. Reason no longer applied to them. As the final countdown of their lives ticked away, they feared nothing.
Most crucially, several deities had set their sights on Old Goat, relentlessly hunting him toward the deep reaches of the night mist world—a pursuit no one else in this realm could hope to intervene in.
Rotting gods on the verge of turning to dust were naturally even more perilous. Even great grandmasters in their twilight years would instantly regain utter clarity in their eyes upon sighting them, not daring to unleash their madness.
Snatching food from the jaws of a god was beyond their courage. Consequently, they could only circle this expanse of mountains and rivers, hoping some prize had slipped through the net or that life-extending medicines still lingered, eager to overturn the entire land.
Qin Ming reflected, *It seems that although Old Goat underwent nirvana and rebirth, regaining his youth, he didn't immediately recover his cultivation as a true god. Otherwise, he wouldn't be forced into such a desperate flight.*
Night fell like an abyss. Villages and cities were scattered across the dark, vast expanse like scattered fireflies, flickering with faint, fragmented glimmers.
Qin Ming gazed toward the catfolk village and his Mountain God Temple, but did not draw close.
Before the great upheaval erupted across this region, and with the bandits cleared away, Old Orange Cat, Old Black Cat, and the others had harvested the yellow and silver wheat from the fire fields and made a clean escape.
Now they had returned, untouched by the disaster.
"Meow, meow... Ape Brother is gone," Xiao Sanhua said mournfully, tears clinging to her eyelashes.
Xiao Heibai's eyes were also rimmed with red. "Did Ape Brother really save us that day, meow? Could he have been harmed by the people backing those bandits?"
Qin Ming chose not to see Xiao Lihua and the others, sensing the turmoil had not entirely dissipated. Besides, the three kittens were still young; it was far too early to impart the grandmaster-level techniques of this world to them.
Once this territory settled into total tranquility, he could pass along the techniques and deliver divine grain whenever he took a leisurely trip to this realm to clear his mind.
That same day, Qin Ming traveled five thousand li away and erected another tall tower in a remote, secluded area. By now, he was thoroughly skilled at the task, completing it in a single breath.
The rainy season had not yet ended. Within two days, a deluge of thunder arrived. Monstrous lightning intermingled with torrential rain, pouring ceaselessly onto the barren mountains.
Because the tower drew the lightning down, the mountainous terrain was illuminated as bright as day. The trees thrashing wildly in the gale and the dense curtain of rain were visible in crisp detail.
Qin Ming sat quietly within the tower, channeling the lightning and fire to sever karmic sins.
"The karmic impurities within this world-cleansing fire are truly not few, and their lethality is immense," he could not help but sigh.
In a sense, it was karmic fire.
Such substance was unsuitable for implanting directly into his mind lamp. Qin Ming had to burn away every trace of negative matter, extracting only the spirituality and capturing its essence.
*Still, if this karmic force could be refined and stored within weapons, then unleashed against an adversary at a crucial moment, its might would likely be formidable.*
Outside Qin Ming's body, a dense flare of light shone radiantly. Upon closer inspection, bloody threads and black mist were intertwined within it, as if harboring a boundless, lethal tribulation.
With a booming crash, searing lightning descended, piercing through the luminous flames. Pure Yang, unyielding power began purifying the karmic sins. Thunder rolled and tumbled, blazing like an inferno.
Most importantly, Qin Ming circulated the *Taichu Ten Thousand Thunders Talisman Scripture*, continuously forming seals. Page after page of tangible lightning scriptures manifested, drifting down into the flames and imparting an extraordinary aura to the space.
Beneath the cover of night, the high tower stood out brilliantly, blazing with lightning and fire that reached the heavens.
Throughout the process, Qin Ming periodically drank sips of thunder medicine while bathing in the electrical radiance, steadily elevating the life vigor of his flesh and spirit.
He keenly sensed that he had developed a strong resistance to the medicine; the effects of the thunder medicine were no longer nearly as potent as they had been at first.
Shortly after, Qin Ming circulated the *Eight Views Divine Radiance Classic*, driving it with Chaos force. Wondrous techniques rippled outward, constructing an Eight Trigrams Furnace that manifested outside his body.
Next, he used his Hunyuan heavenly light to link with the true thunder and fire of the night sky, externally refining the Dragon-Tiger Great Medicine to sever karmic sins.
After a long while, Qin Ming took out the wood-attribute divine substance obtained from the subterranean world and began refining it. Though laced with karmic force, it also brimmed with rich longevity qi.
He rose to his feet. While tempering it with lightning and fire, he practiced his swordsmanship—the Longevity sword intent from the *World-Abiding Scripture* that had never been committed to paper.
Wisps of emerald light drifted upward. Amidst the lightning and fire, Qin Ming appeared light and ethereal, as if ascending toward immortality, lifted off the ground by an emerald leaf.
His Longevity sword intent showed distinct, undeniable progress.
By now, he no longer doubted that in the future, he truly might transform into the legendary Longevity Dao Body.
Rain poured in torrents. The pitch-black heavens were ripped apart by blazing lightning that cascaded endless waves of electrical brilliance downward, making the high tower appear ready to burst at any second.
Qin Ming shifted techniques once more, practicing the *Sea-Overturning Classic* to temper the water-attribute divine substance obtained from the red ocean. Instantly, shimmering waves filled the stone tower, as if lightning and water had merged into one.
Tides surged within the tower, lightning and water churning together to produce the wondrous spectacle of a Kunpeng spreading its wings and soaring into the firmament.
...
Throughout this stormy day, Qin Ming continually drew down lightning and fire, refining all five elemental attributes of divine substance in turn.
He sighed with no small amount of heartache. To sever the karmic sins and preserve the purest spiritual substance, he had used the lightning to obliterate seventy to eighty percent of the raw material.
It was undeniably wasteful, yet he deemed it worthwhile. After all, wasn't absolute purity the very goal of refining medicine through lightning and fire?
The world-cleansing fire and longevity qi were now vastly more sacred than before, completely cleansed of the bloody threads and black mist that had once haunted them.
A single night of refining medicine and dissolving karmic sins was not enough to put Qin Ming at ease. Over the days that followed, he remained there in secluded cultivation. Whenever a thunderstorm struck, the entire high tower blazed brightly with lightning and fire.
Half a month later, judging the refinement complete, he let page after page of scriptures from the *Taichu Ten Thousand Thunders Talisman Scripture* drift down into the world-cleansing fire, connecting with the night sky as lightning intertwined in dense clusters.
A moment later, Qin Ming drank a massive gulp of electrical brilliance as if it were clear water, swallowing the medicinal formulation of the world-cleansing fire and channeling it into his mind lamp.
He began circulating *Beginning of the Primal Unity*, the top-tier scripture seized from Cui Chonghe, which was exceptionally suited for the mind lamp domain of the Newborn path.
A single lamp could give birth to all things and illuminate all dharmas; likewise, it could gather all things, feeding upon fortune to replenish itself.
As the world-cleansing fire poured into Qin Ming's mind lamp, the flame immediately flared brighter. Mysterious patterns intertwined as Nanming Li Fire, solar true fire, and Six Ding Divine Fire merged with it automatically.
In that instant, he clearly felt the lamp flame course through his entire body, purifying his flesh, blood, and spirit, gradually elevating his constitution.
Qin Ming wasted no time. Using lightning and fire, he gave the wood-attribute longevity qi a final tempering, releasing a faint emerald glow that permeated the entire stone tower.
Viewed from afar in the rainy night, the lightning, fire, and longevity qi resonated together, causing the entire tower to glow with a verdant sheen.
Treating lightning as clear water and longevity qi as medicine, Qin Ming swallowed it down. The next moment, building upon his original six strikes, he slashed out a seventh Longevity sword intent.
This was the most direct manifestation of his surging strength.
He seemed to ascend on rising emerald clouds. His hair grew explosively like a green waterfall, tumbling nearly to his ankles, and his entire body brimmed with vigorous vitality. He had drawn even closer to the Longevity Dao Body.
Only after the ingested longevity qi was fully incorporated into his mind lamp, and he swung his sword to sever a section of his overgrown hair, did his tresses revert to their original pitch-black color.
That night, Qin Ming consumed five substances in succession alongside lightning to replenish his mind lamp. His physical vitality and mental state reached an unprecedented peak.
Soon, his entire body turned scorching hot. Daoist charms intertwined, and both his form and spirit grew exquisite. He entered nirvana, undergoing the transformation so many dreamed of—a comprehensive rebirth.
Amidst the curtain of rain, even when the thunder and fire above briefly subsided, the stone tower continued to glow. Qin Ming was undergoing a metamorphosis: his flesh became translucent, his spirit blazed like a scorching sun, and heavenly light surged so intensely that the stone tower turned almost transparent.
The figure sitting quietly within steadily radiated mysterious power, slowly melting the tower itself.
This rebirth was ferocious and swift. Unlike in the past, when the process dragged on for a day or two, the rich vitality inside Qin Ming surged like a mountain torrent, erupting like a volcano.
In the Newborn path, achieving nirvana at every major realm was exceedingly difficult—a profound dilemma that had vexed countless predecessors.
If someone could attain rebirth at every major realm, their lifespan was destined to far exceed that of their peers, stoking the envy and longing of experts from outer realms and esoteric sects alike.
Qin Ming had undeniably succeeded. From the first realm to the present fourth, he had advanced step by step on a rock-solid foundation, continuously undergoing grand nirvana.
At the same time, he moved swiftly along this path, living up to the title of the "Realm Faction" he had later championed.
Qin Ming broke through from the sixth heaven of the Mind Lamp realm to the seventh. Though it was a difference of merely a single heaven, it marked a major departure from before.
He had crossed from the middle stage of the Mind Lamp realm into the late stage.
Previously, he had remained somewhat wary of grandmasters from top-tier orthodox lineages. After all, they hailed from great sects and ancestral grounds, possessing far deeper foundations than ordinary fifth-realm experts.
Now that Qin Ming had reached the late Mind Lamp stage and undergone a comprehensive rebirth, he was entirely fearless.
Take Cui Chongxiao's senior brother, Mu Zhuo—a direct disciple of Xi Tian, the second-ranked figure of the esoteric sect. When they had crossed paths before, Qin Ming had lacked full confidence.
Back then, he had joined forces with Li Qingyun and Meng Zhiyan. If they met again, he could step forward on his own. What was there to fear?
A smile appeared on Qin Ming's face. "No wonder this breakthrough required the coordination of thunder medicine and longevity qi, costing so much. Both form and spirit have been thoroughly cleansed by the power of rebirth."
He rose to his feet. Every gesture and step carried dense Daoist charm, capable of unleashing devastatingly lethal moves in an instant.
As time passed, the rain continued, though the thunder gradually subsided. Qin Ming walked out of the stone tower. With his form and spirit resonating and Chaos force churning, he soared into the air.
In the distance, an occasional streak of lightning flashed, but as he circulated the *Taichu Ten Thousand Thunders Talisman Scripture*, the bolts actively veered away from him.
Having mastered a supreme lightning scripture, it would be an absolute joke if he were struck down by heavenly thunder.
In fact, with this technique mastered, his strikes during thunderstorms were even more potent, allowing him to harness the majestic, resplendent divine might of heaven and earth for his own use.
Qin Ming ascended into the clouds and mist, unleashing strikes in rhythm with his ongoing rebirth. His Chaos force erupted, and heavenly light blended with Pure Yang power to tear through the night sky.
In the nearby villages and towns, everyone assumed natural lightning was discharging, utterly oblivious that a young man was working magic above.
The dense black clouds suddenly burst apart as a dragon claw reached out, creating a terrifying spectacle.
Fortunately, there were no formidable experts in this region, so no unforeseen incidents were triggered.
The few ordinary folk who caught sight of it wondered if their eyes were playing tricks on them. Was that a cloud dragon reaching out its claws? The entire night sky had been torn open, bridged for an instant by a horrifyingly wondrous vision.
Shortly after, Qin Ming completed his comprehensive nirvana. Changing into clean clothes, he left a trail of golden footprints in the void behind him, drifting gracefully down to return to the wilderness.
The rain continued to fall, yet it could not reach him, scattered from afar by the natural flow of his Chaos force as though he were bathed in divine glow.
"Thunder medicine is of little use to me now." Qin Ming stood inside the stone tower, gazing at the curtain of rain. His cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds lately; unfortunately, this path of borrowing lightning to cultivate had reached its end.
At this moment, his Newborn Eye could see much farther through the mist-shrouded world. His perception, strength, and extraordinary foundation had all climbed thanks to this rebirth.
Qin Ming did not leave. Remaining where he was, he had other matters to attend to, waiting for the next thunderstorm.
Two days later, a deluge of lightning pierced the night sky, illuminating the falling rain like crystals.
Qin Ming retrieved over a hundred small black swords, none longer than three inches. All radiated Pure Yang energy, their interiors woven with intricate runes.
These were the Five-Tribulation Thunderstrike Swords. During their clash at the Dayu imperial capital, Cui Chonghe had relied heavily on them. They were indeed extraordinary items; their material had weathered at least five lightning tribulations.
Moreover, the small black swords were blended with numerous rare and precious materials.
They were grandmaster-grade weapons endowed with growth potential.
For Cui Chonghe to possess such a set of Pure Yang swords in the fourth realm showed just how wealthy he had been.
Qin Ming prepared to re-refine them using lightning and fire. After all, he was a sword cultivator renowned as "Slaying Through the Thirty-Six Heavens with a Single Sword." Beyond unleashing nine-colored sword baleful aura, he needed to round out his abilities in other aspects as well.
*The Taichu Ten Thousand Thunders Talisman Scripture contains methods for nurturing and refining weapons with lightning and fire. These small swords have already endured lightning tribulations, making them a perfect match.*
Another key factor was that Qin Ming wore several bracelets around his wrists, laden with grandmaster-tier spoils. Among them were plenty of rare materials that could be forged into the thunder-fire swords.
During the thunderstorms that followed, Qin Ming summoned lightning to refine the swords, fusing precious materials into the hundred-plus small black blades to render them increasingly extraordinary.
Clearly, he was preparing for a major battle.
Judging by the unusual movements of those figures in the heavens, something momentous was bound to occur. Wary of being dragged into the fallout, he sought to elevate himself in every possible way.
After several torrential thunderstorms, one hundred and eight small black flying swords hovered around Qin Ming's body. Carrying a Pure Yang aura and tempered countless times by lightning and fire, they were crystal-clear and inscribed internally with lightning talismans that had never existed before.
Their power was noticeably far greater than before!
Amidst the rain, with a single thought from Qin Ming, the hundred-plus small black swords turned translucent, each etched with the thunderous patterns of heaven and earth. Streaking through the rain and piercing the sky in dense formation, they trailed long tails of light, roaring with immense momentum and terrifying might.
Qin Ming nodded in satisfaction. "When unleashed alongside the *Taichu Ten Thousand Thunders Talisman Scripture*, the effect is quite respectable."
Only now had he truly concluded his secluded cultivation.
All in all, he had gained immense benefits in this world: breaking through two heavens in succession and obtaining divine medicine capable of extending his life by half a lifetime. He was thoroughly satisfied.
These achievements and harvests far exceeded his initial goals.
Qin Ming's eyes turned deep, his gaze seeming to pierce through the void. "Those former adversaries with cultivations higher than mine, those beings I once had to avoid... perhaps now, it is their turn to avoid my edge."
Chapter 518