The bird carriage drawn by silver butterflies, the tree-man crowned with lush green foliage, the bipedal ape demon covered in golden fur, and the chief auctioneer—all of them were actually colluding. Every single one belonged to the Godkin Society.
In Qin Ming's eyes, this was a perilous syndicate accustomed to setting traps, steeped in deceit and falsehoods, and now poised to unleash a bloody massacre.
Evil walked the earth, stirring indignation in his heart. Qin Ming chose to burn himself to illuminate others!
Of course, had he not shouted, "Hand over all your storage bracelets!" the light bursting forth at this moment might have appeared far more dazzling and pure.
His ruined tigerfolk body was like a wall riddled with gaps, but what gushed out was not wind—it was light blazing to the utmost extreme, brilliant and sacred.
He seemed like a deity awakening from within the sun. Resplendent light flowed even from the corners of his eyes and brows, while every strand of hair and fine bodily hair seemed sculpted from gleaming exotic metal. Bathed in light, he walked forward—formidable, aloof, and otherworldly.
Around him, the grand auction hall, its heavy brass doors, the thick coiled-dragon pillars, the tastefully arranged side halls and pavilions, and the once-imposing flying eaves and bracket sets all disintegrated with a thunderous roar, like ice and snow cast into a raging blast furnace.
The polished silver roof tiles, the lustrous lapis lazuli steps, and other fixtures silently melted away as well, appearing to evaporate into thin air.
Having lost his physical vessel, the chief auctioneer was reduced to a pure yang consciousness. Silent as a shadow and clutching a blood-colored divine sword, he arrived by spirit wandering to launch an ambush.
The scarlet divine sword was dripping blood. Inscribed with dense, intricate talismans, it radiated a mysterious and chilling aura, terrifying patterns interweaving across its surface. This was a secret sword capable of slaying grandmasters.
At the final moment, he moved with ultimate speed, like a comet plunging to earth—swift, ferocious, leaving a dreadful beam of light across the night sky, arriving in the blink of an eye.
He sought to bore straight through his opponent.
Yet the moment he drew near to Qin Ming, the chief auctioneer let out a muffled groan. He was stopped cold by the blazing heavenly light. The blood-dripping blade could not pierce through at all; the sword instantly bent and dimmed.
It was as if it had struck a divine wall, halted by a sacred curtain of light. Once the blade reached the limit of its curvature, it snapped abruptly, shattering into dozens of fragments.
With a booming crash, the chief auctioneer himself ignited like papier-mâché. Shrouded in the blazing flames of heavenly light, he flew backward with a shrill scream.
He had failed even to close the distance. Across the dense domain of heavenly light, his divine sword had been shattered and he had brought fire upon himself.
Qin Ming radiated blazing Hunyuan force from every pore, his hair dancing wildly as he stood atop the ruins, resembling a youthful divine fiend.
He glanced back and delivered an upright, balanced punch. The heavenly light was terrifying, abruptly surging like a torrential river, yet the surface of the river was ablaze, supremely rigid and unyielding.
The chief auctioneer's blood ran cold. He found himself entirely unable to dodge. With a tremendous boom, his pure yang consciousness was forcefully blown apart in the night sky, exploding in midair.
Had pure yang not been notoriously hard to extinguish, this single strike would have ended him.
In truth, had other perilous foes not been closing in to entangle him, Qin Ming would have snuffed out the man's spark of consciousness entirely by delivering a few more blows with astral winds and lightning.
Even so, everyone present blanched.
This Hu Dingming, who seemed to leak wind from every wound while shooting terrifying heavenly light from every pore, was simply too dangerous. A casual punch a moment ago possessed such divine might!
Amidst this, seven-colored divine light coalesced from Lin Shuyue, the divine scion, weaving into a massive net. Resembling interweaving principles of order, it was an immensely horrific killing technique.
The void twisted and caved inward.
Qin Ming spread all five fingers, unleashing Hunyuan force like five heavenly sabers leaving their sheaths—gleaming snow-white and intimidating. With a metallic clang, they tore through the seven-colored net.
Immediately after, he gave a violent yank. With a sharp rip, the massive net woven from divine patterns was torn to shreds. A trump card like this had been brutally dismantled by Qin Ming through sheer brute force.
At the same time, the fifteen-meter-tall bipedal ape demon, its entire golden coat burning as if cloaked in boundless blazing light, threw a cross-void punch at Qin Ming. Its aura was majestic, its lethality terrifying.
The colossal fist crowded the night sky, wrapped in endless radiance, bearing down like a mountain peak to instill absolute despair.
Before the giant fist even landed, the ruins below began to collapse. Wide black fissures spread out, hurling brass bricks, silver tiles, and debris into the air, where they clattered and chimed in collision.
Qin Ming's expression remained serene as he casually answered with a punch of his own. Also striking across the void, he met the attack head-on. His fist light soared skyward, tearing right through the night curtain.
Boom! High above, a massive clap of thunder seemed to detonate, deafening the ears. The entire earth and the vast heavens rumbled incessantly.
Vast amounts of force and heavenly light rampaged through the night sky, shooting out in all directions like expanding sheets of lightning.
Nearby, anyone beneath the level of grandmaster clutched their ears, staggering backward. Several people bled from their mouths, tumbling to the ground with faces full of terror.
At the same time, a dense wave of green light swept forward by the old tree-man had already reached Qin Ming's immediate vicinity, resembling a swamp meant to bind its target.
Around Qin Ming's body, sword fiend energy surged, spinning and slashing. The so-called green quagmire—a grandmaster-level domain covered in natural patterns—was pierced, diced, and violently leveled by the sword qi.
High in the sky, the bird carriage pulled by silver butterflies stirred gentle ripples.
The red bird grandmaster, who had been sitting cross-legged like an old monk with wings joined in prayer, also made a decisive move. It launched itself from the palm-sized carriage and dived straight toward Qin Ming.
Though barely the length of a finger, it was extraordinarily sharp and frightening. Its crimson figure seemed to warp mottled time; it was simply too fast.
Its speed was astonishing yet its movement remained ethereal. Flitting down in an instant, it extended crystalline crimson talons, aiming to pry open Qin Ming's skull.
It had always triumphed through supreme speed, like an unmatched demon sword immortal.
Qin Ming's scalp tightened in forewarning. Around his body, the protective heavenly light transformed into a massive golden bell, exceptionally dazzling, enveloping him completely.
Clang! A deep, resonant chime echoed through the night sky.
Qin Ming was surprised. This red bird grandmaster was truly remarkable; it had actually managed to leave penetrating claw marks on his golden heavenly light bell. Had such an attack struck the skull of an ordinary grandmaster, their head would have shattered to pieces.
Having failed in one strike, the red bird grandmaster instantly retreated, soaring into the firmament.
Qin Ming's counterattack was exceedingly fierce. With a flick of his fingers, the Script of the Primal Myriad Thunderbolts expanded—a cluster of blinding sigils, a true display of Flicking Thunder.
With a booming blast, red feathers were shed in the night sky, drifting down singed and blackened.
The red bird grandmaster trembled violently as electricity coursed through it. Letting out a piercing cry, it shivered and flapped its wings, vanishing deep into the clouds.
For a moment, silence fell all around!
Just now, Qin Ming had stood alone in the center, striking in all directions to meet the coordinated assault of various grandmasters. He had defused it with ease and mounted a forceful counteroffensive, leaving everyone genuinely shaken.
All present were struck dumb!
*Is he truly only in his early twenties?* Lin Shuyue, the divine scion, felt turbulent waves in his heart. While he usually appeared modest and polite, he was extraordinarily proud and confident deep down.
Compared to other grandmasters, he was still quite young. Yet today, he had encountered such a freak, one who made the divine halo around his own head fade.
"Divine Scion, what did you just say? He's only in his twenties?" The old tree-man was shocked, shaking the miniature forest atop his head with an expression of disbelief.
"The dream bug said so itself," Lin Shuyue warned everyone. "Stay vigilant. Do not underestimate him!"
Without a doubt, the several grandmasters who had arrived later, along with the other Godkin Society experts converging on the area, felt their scalps tingle upon hearing this.
Not far off, the silver-haired grandmaster Qian Ye bled from all seven facial orifices, his face pale. Just moments ago, he had been intercepted by the White Tiger female grandmaster and his body had nearly been pierced through.
At this moment, the White Tiger female grandmaster's waist-length hair shimmered with silver light, her eyes rippling with emotion. She clearly had not anticipated that the Hu Dingming before her would be this fierce and formidable.
Bathed in heavenly light, Qin Ming spoke, "All of you are surrounded."
The moment these words left his mouth, alarm bells clanged in the hearts of the Godkin Society members. They swiftly scanned their surroundings. A single Hu Dingming was already an unexpected variable—could there be even more terrifying reinforcements?
The red bird grandmaster hovered in the clouds, looking down, and said, "Don't listen to his bluff! He has no accomplices nearby!"
Qin Ming said, "I alone am enough."
Instantly, the realization dawned on them: he meant that he alone had surrounded all of them! How outrageous could one be to utter such words?
"Arrogant!"
"Kill him!"
Fury erupted. The Godkin Society members who had been momentarily stunned could no longer contain themselves. They had never seen anyone so brazen.
Naturally, Qin Ming had done this deliberately to pluck at their heartstrings; he needed to resonate with their emotions to grasp the latest developments.
In a foreign territory, he could not afford to be reckless.
Earlier, when Lin Shuyue, Qian Ye, and the others exchanged secret voice transmissions, he had already intercepted them. The Godkin Society had ancient deities and great grandmasters holding down the fort, but all had gone to pursue the so-called "three threads" and were not here.
That was why Qin Ming dared to hunt so aggressively.
Now that another group had arrived, he feared unexpected variables, so he greeted them first with a calculated provocation.
*Mm, no mysterious reinforcements, and truly no great grandmasters present!* Having confirmed this, Qin Ming grinned. He could finally cut loose; there was no need to flee for now.
Even so, to be safe, he needed to end this quickly without dragging things out, lest some old monster return early from afar.
He bellowed, "Since this place is filled with sin and evil, I shall burn myself to purify the mortal realm with heavenly light!"
Then he added, "Prepare your storage bracelets to buy your lives!"
The White Tiger female grandmaster's wild, beautiful face filled with a peculiar expression. She tilted her head toward him and said, "Actually, you could have skipped that last sentence and just kept it in your thoughts."
Without that last remark, she had found Hu Dingming quite heroic.
To the Godkin Society, this was barefaced mockery. The opponent's overbearing swagger had pushed them past the limits of their tolerance.
The battle erupted. Every grandmaster unleashed their ultimate techniques, striking with lethal intent.
As for the dream bug's claim that this young man possessed extraordinary talent rarely seen in centuries, they could not care about that now. Subduing him came first.
The Godkin Society maintained a stronghold in this region, and a massive force flooded the battlefield.
Qin Ming was soaked in blood, not from enemy wounds, but torn open by his own heavenly light. He did not care; this physical body simply could not bear the full brunt of his power.
At this moment, he moved like a divine fiend walking the mortal realm, emanating horrifying light as exquisite techniques emerged one after another.
In an instant, countless golden threads shot from the surface of his body like a divine silkworm descending into the world, weaving a three-dimensional net that carried out an indiscriminate attack on the outside.
Every golden thread shot a vast distance, filling the void densely. Aside from the grandmasters, many third- and fourth-realm Godkin Society members were skewered on the spot.
As the golden threads trembled, the pierced bodies burst apart one after another.
Qin Ming was not using the Silkworm Sovereign force in isolation; he was augmenting it with the Script of the Primal Myriad Thunderbolts. Lightning coursed along the golden threads, their fusion creating terrifying lethality.
In a split second, a huge swath of the battlefield that had been roaring with battle cries went silent as their ranks thinned dramatically. Countless Godkin Society members exploded into bloody mist, creating an exceedingly gruesome scene.
Qin Ming formed hand seals without holding back. Inside him, the purple golden core inscribed with heaven-and-earth patterns shone with myriad rays of brilliance.
A miraculous vision manifested outside his body: hazy waves rose and fell, composed entirely of lightning, out of which a thunder whale breached the sea.
Boom! Lin Shuyue had just unleashed his ultimate art, weaving seven-colored divine light into a precious fan to sweep toward his foe, only to encounter this thunderous strike.
The whale's body was forged from purple-black lightning, its dorsal fin razor-sharp, its maw spewing "thunder water" swirling with blinding heavenly lightning. Dragging a vague sea of thunder, it shattered the seven-colored fan and shocked Lin Shuyue until he smoked from head to toe, sending him flying with severe injuries.
At the same time, Qin Ming locked his sights onto the chief auctioneer in his pure yang consciousness form. This grandmaster seemed to harbor a deep hatred for him; even after losing his physical vessel, he tenaciously returned again and again to ambush him.
"Time to send you on your way!" Qin Ming's voice was cold and indifferent.
The chief auctioneer was horrified. This time, he found he could not break free. His pure yang consciousness was stuck fast to the opponent's heavenly light, far more terrifying than sinking into a quagmire of death.
Qin Ming unleashed a punch. Grand attainment Chaos force erupted, instantly blowing that ball of light to pieces.
The chief auctioneer shrieked and called for help. He did not want to die here in vain; he still wanted to leave alive and seize a young body.
The other grandmasters rushed to the rescue, attacking with everything they had.
Yet Qin Ming not only held up his light barrier, but also deployed extreme speed techniques to evade the coordinated assault. He left behind glowing golden footprints in the night sky, darting east and west, swifter than a phantom.
Naturally, several attack beams still landed on his body, but they were shaved down by layered sheets of Chaos force and forcefully repelled outward.
"Ah—!" The chief auctioneer screamed piteously as Qin Ming ground his pure yang consciousness to pieces several times in succession.
Then, the yellow imperial parasol appeared, hovering above Qin Ming's head. It cast down starlight and diffused purple qi, making him look like an emperor on a progress.
A grandmaster of the Godkin Society met a gruesome end, vanishing into the canopy of the parasol.
An alluring face emerged on the Sovereign Canopy, brimming with joy. Displaying a rare good attitude and cheerful mood, it said, "Master, give me more!"
It felt that breaking through the barrier to the fifth realm was not far off; it would cross that threshold soon.
"Kill him!" the surviving grandmasters roared. Besieged by multiple grandmasters and aided by legions of Godkin Society members, they had still lost a grandmaster. Fear and fury burned in their chests.
Now, they had no choice but to go all out.
The fifteen-meter-tall golden ape demon was fiercely brutal. The energy accumulated in its massive frame far surpassed that of an ordinary being. Every downward palm strike came crashing like a mountain wrapped in flames—terrifying, deafening, and overwhelming.
Yet when Qin Ming met it head-on, he battered the giant into howling roars. Even parts of its golden coat burst open, and its huge paws were torn bloody by Hunyuan force.
Qin Ming also paid a price. His borrowed body grew increasingly battered, but he paid it no heed; he did not even care when large chunks of flesh sheared off his arms during the violent clashes.
With a loud thud, the ape demon's arm spasmed in the night sky. Two fingers snapped, blood streaming profusely. Its majestic curtain of power had actually been torn open by the opponent.
Qin Ming took to the air, striking palm after palm as he circled the creature. The ape demon, its golden fur standing on end, roared repeatedly as its body shuddered violently, on the verge of collapsing.
Unfortunately, attacks from the other grandmasters arrived, making it difficult for Qin Ming to evade completely. He had to divert attention to defend, as some of their methods genuinely warranted caution.
For instance, the red bird grandmaster triumphed through supreme speed, moving like drifting light and flowing haze, diving and ascending at will. Its beak and sharp talons were all crimson and translucent, resembling immortal swords.
Qin Ming set up a spirit field specifically targeting it and wove the heavens with thunder sigils, nearly trapping the bird and ultimately blasting away a large patch of its beautiful crimson feathers.
The red bird grandmaster's gaze was ice-cold. Much of its body was scorched black, seeping blood.
What surprised Qin Ming most were the old tree-man's methods. With a violent shake of his head, the miniature forest expanded rapidly, blanketing the area and plunging Qin Ming into an unfamiliar environment.
From the outside, it was as if a group of giants were looking down upon him, directing attacks into this forest domain.
Qin Ming's body was torn and battered, his blood dripping into the grandmaster-level domain as he soared upward through the trees. He faced sequential ambushes from several grandmasters: the ape demon's golden hands swept down like the falling sky, aiming to swat him flat;
the space-warping red talons enlarged immensely, seeking to impale his torso;
and Lin Shuyue condensed seven-colored divine haze into a rainbow cord, lashing out to bind Qin Ming and trap him within this forest domain under relentless external bombardment.
The yellow imperial parasol surged upward, deflecting many beams of light for Qin Ming.
Qin Ming let out a roar, covered in flowing blood. Pushing his Chaos force to the limit, he shattered the old tree-man's domain with a thunderous boom, eliciting a chorus of agonized wails from the tree-man.
One could clearly see that the old tree-man's body had been pierced through. Stumbling backward repeatedly, his form was gradually engulfed by the forest, green light soaring into the clouds.
The battle raged with savage intensity as Qin Ming fought several grandmasters at once.
At a critical juncture, an unexpected development occurred: the surprise attack from the young man and woman in the night sky proved exceedingly sharp.
Wang Pan's crimson hair danced like leaping flames, blazing fiercely as pure yang power surged within him. The lotus imprint on his brow awakened, erupting with solar brilliance.
Xu Jingyue was bathed in moonlight, thick lunar power cloaking her form.
They had lain in wait for a long time, watching for an opportunity.
Seeing several grandmasters execute their ultimate arts in sequence, fighting Hu Dingming to a fever pitch, they poured down their solar and lunar power.
In an instant, the Sun and Moon twin wheels appeared, merging into genuine grandmaster-grade power.
With a thud, the twin wheels struck Qin Ming abruptly in the back, causing him to stumble and nearly fly forward.
However, the Hunyuan heavenly light outside his body was dense and formidable, difficult to pierce through. His core remained unharmed; only the borrowed tiger body, which was not truly his own, grew further damaged, with considerable flesh and blood jarred loose from his back.
Qin Ming turned his head, a chilling glint in his eyes. While dealing with the onslaught of the multiple grandmasters, he formally set his sights on those two.
In the night sky, the Golden Crow raised its saber. The blade light was dazzling, nearly decapitating the red bird grandmaster. One of its wings was struck, blood spraying as a portion was severed, making it cry out in agony.
At the same time, a thunder-sigil seal rose into the air, striking the golden ape demon until it coughed mouthfuls of blood. Struck repeatedly by interwoven lightning, its fur bristled and its flesh split open.
Immediately after, Qin Ming channeled the *Black-White Classic*. A yin-yang diagram emerged, black and white intermingling, carrying supreme yang and supreme yin power as it ascended into the night sky, hurtling toward Wang Pan and Xu Jingyue—two figures destined to become future master deities.
This was diamond cut diamond: lunar and solar confronting yin and yang of identical nature.
In the night sky, the Sun and Moon twin wheels manifested, attempting to disrupt the yin-yang diagram, but this time they failed. Pierced through by Qin Ming's sublime technique, the sun and moon shattered.
The pair were instantly severely wounded, coated in blood as they plummeted.
The black-and-white diagram split, transforming into two millstones—one black, one white—that hurtled separately toward the two.
Various secret treasures flew from Wang Pan and Xu Jingyue, yet all weapons disintegrated, smashed to bits by the black-and-white millstones.
With the true meaning of the *Black-White Classic* manifested, how could two newcomers who could only match a grandmaster by joining forces possibly stand against it? Every exotic treasure they summoned exploded.
Cracks spiderwebbed across their bodies, bringing them to the verge of bursting apart.
At this critical moment, the grandmasters intervened, and Qian Ye phantom-shifted into position, throwing himself in front of the two youths.
Qin Ming realized at once that Wang Pan and Xu Jingyue held significant status as future branch masters, deemed worthy of a desperate rescue by multiple grandmasters.
The White Tiger grandmaster's large eyes flickered with an apologetic look toward Qin Ming; she had failed to intercept the heavily injured Qian Ye in time.
Qin Ming did not mind. Right now, whoever stood in front would die.
The black-and-white millstones slammed into Qian Ye, blasting him apart. Then, fusing together, they ground his pure yang consciousness to pieces again and again.
Only then did the black-and-white diagram fade, returning with a storage bracelet.
The yellow imperial parasol soared into the air, reaping Qian Ye's shattered pure yang consciousness.
Chaos erupted across the field. Another grandmaster had fallen.
At the same time, Qin Ming unleashed the Silkworm Sovereign force from his hands. Dense golden threads pierced the void, skewering Wang Pan and Xu Jingyue and pinning them in the night sky.
"You—!"
The other grandmasters shouted in fury, striking out with everything they had in a desperate bid to save them.
*Pfft!*
Qin Ming yanked hard. The golden threads vibrated, sending out showers of light that tore the two youths open.
The red bird grandmaster and the old tree-man rushed forward, releasing grandmaster-level dao rhymes to stabilize the pair's forms and spirits, preventing their bodies from detonating.
Even so, the two had been taught a harsh lesson. Qian Ye had died right before their eyes, and they themselves had been ripped open, bleeding copiously and nearly dismembered.
Using the Silkworm Sovereign force, Qin Ming swept away all the artifacts on their bodies, including their storage bracelets and hair ornaments.
Wang Pan and Xu Jingyue turned pale as death, their bodies fragmented, pieced back together only through the dao rhymes of the two grandmasters. They had narrowly avoided losing their physical vessels.
Was this the gap between them and that monster? He was younger than they were, yet he had effortlessly crushed the grandmaster-level power they produced together.
"My exotic metal!" Despair washed over Xu Jingyue's beautiful face, her body trembling violently.
She looked utterly pathetic, pale as a sheet, on the verge of weeping. She had nothing left on her—only a few torn strips of bloody clothing. Even her sachet had been swept away by the opponent.
Qin Ming was surprised. Probing his spoils, he had not expected that the abyss-like chunk of exotic metal won at the auction by the Godkin Society was on this woman. Now, it had fallen into his hands.
Without question, this brought a deep sense of harvest.
Xu Jingyue shivered. That exotic metal was the result of full backing from her master and clan; she had also borrowed massive sums of day gold from those around her and the Godkin Society to win the bid. Before she could even warm it in her hands, it had changed owners.
"Who is carrying that 'Reappearance in the Mortal Realm'?" Qin Ming demanded, his spiritual will focusing sharply as he began resonating, seeking to gauge their thoughts and choose his next target.
The next instant, his eyes locked onto Lin Shuyue. "Hand it over!"
Lin Shuyue's heart jolted. How could the man know? There was no way anyone on the scene could have betrayed them.
That strange black flower was something the old monster behind him—his own father, a genuine deity—had coveted for a long time. It could not be lost under any circumstances.
"Stop him together! Time is on our side!" Lin Shuyue sent a voice transmission.
Having lost two grandmasters in succession, fear lingered in their hearts, but none dared separate now, fearing the reckless madman would pick them off one by one.
"The ancient deities and great grandmasters will rush back!" several grandmasters whispered in secret transmissions.
Qin Ming knew he could delay no longer. There were too many uncertain variables here; even the White Tiger female grandmaster with her wild beauty carried an air of mystery.
*Crack!* He crushed the slave seal's restriction, activating it.
Qin Ming glanced not far off and said, "Rest assured, I will not enslave you. This is merely to prevent misunderstandings between us."
The White Tiger female grandmaster's eyes shone brightly as she stared at him intently.
Holding nothing back, Qin Ming charged toward Lin Shuyue.
Using Chaos force to suppress his foe, he forced the divine scion toward the area where the dream bug was located.
Striking with full force, Qin Ming delivered a final threat and warning: "I will say this one last time: hand over your storage bracelets, or not a single one of you leaves alive! Burn my heavenly light, illuminate you all, and purify the mortal realm!"
Chapter 522