"Still... I'm a good person. How could I steal something?"
Staring at the Buddha corpse, Qi Yuan murmured to himself.
Admittedly, the Palace of All Saints was hardly fond of this Buddha corpse either, frequently hiring Realm Lords to wear down its Buddha light.
Even so, it belonged to their sect.
Yet right at that moment, the Buddha corpse, whose eyes had remained tightly shut all along, suddenly opened them.
Within those unfeeling eyes devoid of joy or sorrow, a raging, destructive killing intent surged forth.
Outside Fenglingyun, every Realm Lord sensed that tumultuous killing intent at that very instant. Their expressions froze, filled with confusion and dread.
"What's going on?"
"What happened?"
"Such terrifying killing intent!"
Quite a few Realm Lords trembled.
Realm Lord Biluo in particular had stepped into the Realm Lord tier overflowing with confidence, believing the world was vast and none could bar his path.
Yet now, from a mere wave of killing intent, he felt the icy brush of imminent death.
"Not good!" The chubby elder's face twisted dramatically, soon giving way to fury.
The Palace Master of the Palace of All Saints also realized what was happening, his heart seized by anxiety.
If anything happened to Qi Yuan within the Palace of All Saints, they would surely be held accountable.
More critically, that killing intent seemed to emanate directly from the Buddha corpse.
There had to be... a conspiracy afoot.
The killing intent surged abruptly and vanished just as fast.
For a being of the Buddha corpse's stature, obliterating a Realm Lord took only an instant.
Without the slightest hesitation, the chubby elder and the Palace Master of the Palace of All Saints shot straight toward the interior of Fenglingyun.
Yet right at that moment, a beam of pitch-black light descended from the heavens, pinning both of them beneath it.
"The Black God Shroud?"
"Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace!"
The chubby elder's eyes nearly split with rage.
The Black God Shroud was a Realm Lord curious treasure of the Black Xuan Palace, and far from an ordinary one.
Rumor had it that when this curious treasure was first forged, it had listened to a Dao Lord preaching the Dao.
Such an artifact was more than capable of trapping a Heaven-Opening titan like the chubby elder for a hundred breaths.
The scalp of the Palace Master of the Palace of All Saints prickled, a chill sinking deep into his bones.
Given this scale, he did not even need to think to know what was happening.
Fear gripped his heart, alongside a lingering sense of relief that the Black Xuan Palace was directing this scheme at Qi Yuan.
What if they had targeted him instead?
He would have ended up crippled if not dead, and the foundations of the Palace of All Saints would have been surrendered without resistance.
*Thank heavens their target is Qi Yuan.*
He rejoiced inwardly.
Even so, he shouted in righteous fury, "The Black Xuan Palace has gone too far! Society Lord Tiancan, let us strike together and shatter this Black God Shroud!"
The chubby elder cast a long, cold glance at the Palace Master. "You had better have had no part in this, or else..."
With a chilling snort, the chubby elder unleashed his power.
The Palace Master of the Palace of All Saints attacked madly as well, desperate to break through the Black God Shroud.
***
Meanwhile, within Fenglingyun.
A shadowy silhouette blotted out the sky, standing as though he were the sole entity in this stretch of reality.
All light vanished from the world.
Had a Yin God cultivator wandered in, they would have found themselves instantly blinded.
*The Buddha corpse has struck; he is bound to be grievously wounded if not dead already.*
*I don't have much time. Within thirty breaths... I must kill him, or... abduct him!* the Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace calculated.
He plunged deeper into Fenglingyun. The closer he drew, the denser the boundless killing intent grew.
Even he felt a tremendous threat.
Not to mention Qi Yuan, who had taken a direct strike from the Buddha corpse.
This time, that prodigy Qi Yuan was dead without question.
Time ticked away, and within a single breath, the Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace arrived at the deepest recess of Fenglingyun.
"Where is he? Where is he hiding?" Sweeping with his divine sense, the Palace Master found no trace of Qi Yuan.
His brow furrowed. He immediately suspected that Qi Yuan, heavily injured, had masked his aura and concealed himself.
"Break!"
The Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace unleashed a Dao art, sweeping across the heavens.
No living being in the world could remain hidden.
Yet right then, a languid voice drifted from within the forbidden zone.
"So you're the one trying to ambush me, Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace?"
"Just you alone? The Palace Master of the White Xuan Palace didn't come?"
The tone even carried a hint of disappointment.
The Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace snapped his head up and looked into the forbidden zone.
He froze.
There inside the forbidden ground, blood wept from both eyes of the colossal Buddha corpse, and the glow of its monastic robes had dimmed.
Perched upon its shoulder sat an extraordinarily handsome young man, lounging with an air of complete nonchalance.
*Qi Yuan?*
*Why is he sitting on the Buddha corpse?*
Countless thoughts raced through the Palace Master's mind, leaving him thoroughly baffled.
A terrifying entity like the Buddha corpse was powerful enough to crush him.
Even if it awoke for a single breath, it was enough to severely wound a Heaven-Opening Realm Lord.
Yet now, not only was Qi Yuan completely unharmed, he was actually sitting on the corpse's shoulder.
Just what had happened?
"How did you do that?" the Palace Master demanded in agitation, his mind reeling.
"How did I do what?" Qi Yuan replied casually. Then, as if realizing something, he added, "Oh, maybe because you're ugly, you have no idea the perks of being handsome. The moment this Buddha corpse woke up, it insisted on acknowledging me as its master."
After achieving godhood, Qi Yuan had grown sharper.
When he spoke, he knew how to mix truth with falsehood.
When the Buddha corpse had awoken, it had indeed attacked Qi Yuan with terrifying force.
Had he just entered the Universal Void Realm, with his strength back then, he truly might have been crippled or slain on the spot.
However, throughout the lands of opportunity, his strength had continuously soared, already reaching the realm of a weak fourth-tier Yang God.
He had subdued the Buddha corpse's strike with ease.
He had even utilized his latest superpower to enter the Buddha corpse's body and merge with it.
The Buddha corpse possessed no wisdom, no true spirit, and no consciousness—only pure instinct.
For his superpower, that was practically the ultimate loophole.
As long as he spent enough time merging with it, he could even command the Buddha corpse in combat.
Of course, how much combat power it could unleash was another matter entirely.
"You are bizarre."
Without a second thought, the Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace resolved to retreat.
"I admit defeat."
Naturally, he assumed this was a trap set by the Myriad Changes Society.
Perhaps the society had long known about the Buddha corpse and had already devised a way for Qi Yuan to bypass its wrath.
Luring him out like this was surely intended to leave the Palace Master of the White Xuan Palace vulnerable.
"Since you admit defeat, why not kill yourself? That way, you'd save the state a few bullets," Qi Yuan suggested.
Since the man had turned himself in, Qi Yuan naturally had to persuade him to end it cleanly.
The Palace Master sneered. "Do you honestly think you can stop me if I wish to leave?"
Contempt filled his gaze.
If he wanted to flee, not even the Society Master of the Myriad Changes Society could hold him back.
How could a mere Qi Yuan stop him?
Moreover, he refused to believe Qi Yuan had endured a direct attack from the Buddha corpse.
Most likely, the Myriad Changes Society had used some peculiar trick to evade the blow.
"You're absconding to escape punishment?" Qi Yuan's eyes widened. "Don't you know that increases your sentence by an entire degree? If you turn yourself in, death is just death. But if you flee, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as dying."
"You lunatic!" the Palace Master spat. Without hesitation, he transformed into a streak of black light and sped away.
"In broad daylight, under the bright sun and clear sky, you actually dare to flee from justice!"
Qi Yuan grew furious.
This fellow had completely disregarded his authority.
Though he lacked a law enforcement badge, he was still an enthusiastic citizen!
"Halt!"
Qi Yuan struck, his voice ringing out with immense enchantment.
The fleeing Palace Master suddenly wore a look of dazed confusion, quickly followed by utter shock. "What kind of technique is this?!"
He discovered to his horror that his physical state had reverted to what it had been half a breath ago.
It was as though his personal timeline had been intercepted and rewound.
Such a method was unimaginably bizarre, something seen only in the rarest of Dao Lord true scriptures.
"Grand Supreme True Scripture!"
The Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace instantly circulated the Dao Lord true scripture within him.
The Grand Supreme True Scripture emphasized supreme detachment and subtlety.
All dharmas, all Daos, and all laws could be broken by it.
Had the Purple Cloud Palace been haunted by specters, unleashing the Grand Supreme True Scripture would have reduced the lesser ghosts to ash in an instant.
"Your scripture is rather intriguing. It'll be mine soon enough."
Although Qi Yuan possessed many Dao Lord true scriptures, he had not bothered learning most of them, merely grasping their principles to assimilate into the Qi Yuan Scripture.
Facing the Palace Master, he relied solely on brute force.
Back then, when Heitian had fought him, Heitian possessed no consciousness and employed no Dao arts or divine powers, relying purely on raw collisions.
Yet that alone had been enough to slay Qi Yuan repeatedly.
Though Qi Yuan had held Heitian at bay within the river of history across endless ages, in the eyes of top-tier experts, that vast struggle might have unfolded in a single flash.
Qi Yuan reached out his hand.
Though his palm carried no Dao arts and held no Dao Lord true scripture, it effortlessly plucked away the Realm Lord curious treasure from the Palace Master's body.
Glancing at the artifact, Qi Yuan remarked softly, "I'm a kind-hearted man. I can't bear seeing your inheritance exposed to the wind and rain out here. From now on, I'll take care of them and see them through to a peaceful end."
Terror seized the Palace Master's face. "You... what on earth are you?!"
The sheer terror of this opponent vastly exceeded his comprehension.
Such miraculous methods were something he had never witnessed in any cultivator of the same realm.
As for Dao Lords, he had never seen them strike, and fourth-tier Yang Gods were equally beyond his reach.
Unless... Qi Yuan was not a living being at all, but an entity akin to the Buddha corpse.
That was the only possible explanation.
"I am Qi Yuan. I'm a human—a good person."
"No, you're not! A Heaven-Opening Realm Lord couldn't possibly be this powerful!"
"Why couldn't they? It's just because you haven't worked hard enough! Across so many cosmic epochs, ask yourself honestly: have you ever put in the effort? You've been standing still the whole time. Whereas me? I've been taking the Seven Steps of Sky Treading nonstop!"
The Yin God realm still had its Seven Steps of Sky Treading.
As for divine apertures and divine domains, he had established those long ago.
He simply treated the Seven Steps of Sky Treading as seven metamorphoses of his true spirit.
Now, through the lands of opportunity, he had undergone five transformations.
With two more, he would reach the very pinnacle of the Yin God path.
Beyond that lay the Yang God realm!
"Just what kind of monster are you?!" The Palace Master grew increasingly convinced that Qi Yuan was an existence like the Buddha corpse.
His words were rambling and riddled with holes, yet governed by their own twisted logic.
"You're breaking the law again, slandering me as a monster. Sounds like you're in a hurry to die."
Once more occupying the moral high ground, Qi Yuan brought a terrifying giant hand crashing down toward the Palace Master.
Despair engulfed the Palace Master's eyes.
"All my scriptures, burn!"
In that desperate moment, he unleashed his absolute strongest strike.
Dozens of Dao Lord true scriptures ignited simultaneously.
The aura radiating from his body grew sacred and vast.
His terrifying power surged dozens of times higher in an instant.
A blow of such apocalyptic scale was enough to pulverize an entire galaxy.
And he could unleash such strikes tens of thousands of times within a single breath.
"Leniency for confession, severity for resistance—Righteous Execution!"
Qi Yuan shoved forward with a single palm.
The terrifying defense forged from countless Dao Lord true scriptures crumbled like dry weeds before that palm, reduced straight to ash.
The body of the Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace shattered right along with it.
His expression froze in absolute disbelief.
Even in his final moments, he never imagined he would perish here.
After all, within the Universal Void Realm, Dao Lord lineages could not intervene.
He had already stood atop the peak.
Even if four or five experts on par with the Society Master of the Myriad Changes Society had besieged him, he could have slipped away with ease.
And against an uncanny existence like the Buddha corpse, so long as one kept a safe distance, survival was assured.
Yet he was truly dead.
Most terrifying of all, this was the Universal Void Realm.
Once a true spirit fell here, it could not revive in the cosmic river of time.
Death... was absolute.
"Good thing I knew when to hold back. All his Realm Lord curious treasures are intact."
"Though not worth much, they still count as resources. I'll put them in my Netherworld."
"The Netherworld has been far too empty lately," Qi Yuan muttered.
Searching the remains, he recovered three Realm Lord curious treasures.
As for Dao Lord true scriptures, there were forty-seven in total—a massive haul.
"Filthy rich in one go."
His gaze then drifted toward the Black God Shroud not far off.
"Is the chubby old man having a rendezvous with the Palace Master of All Saints?"
Without hesitation, he flicked his fingers, and the Black God Shroud flew obediently into his grasp.
Two distinct auras surged into the sky. Both the chubby elder and the Palace Master of the Palace of All Saints emerged with bewildered expressions.
Yet when their eyes fell upon the Buddha corpse, and then upon Qi Yuan sitting calmly on its shoulder, absolute horror seized them.
"Qi Yuan, watch out for the Buddha corpse! Watch out for the Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace!" the chubby elder shouted in frantic warning.
Had he not feared the Buddha corpse, he would have dragged Qi Yuan away to flee long ago.
"No need to panic. This Buddha corpse is dead; it won't hurt anyone," Qi Yuan assured them earnestly.
The statement carried all the reassurance of claiming one's dog was well-behaved and wouldn't bite.
The Palace Master of the Palace of All Saints twitched uncomfortably.
He already knew the Buddha corpse was dead!
"As for the Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace, he's already dead," Qi Yuan added calmly.
The chubby elder hastily looked to the side. Upon spotting that familiar, broken form, his eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
The Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace... was dead?!
The Palace Master of the Palace of All Saints was equally astounded.
*He actually died!*
*Could it be...*
Countless theories raced through his head.
Could the Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace have grown overconfident, attempting to control the Buddha corpse to slay Qi Yuan, only to be slaughtered by the Buddha corpse instead?
That was the only plausible explanation.
A powerhouse like the Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace could not possibly die in the Universal Void Realm under ordinary circumstances.
Had they been in the greater universe, running into a Dao Lord might result in death, but here in the Universal Void Realm, cultivators of the fifth tier of the Yang God realm could not even enter.
"He came to assassinate me, so I killed him in self-defense."
Qi Yuan looked toward the elder with a grin. "Old man, since he dared to try and murder me, if I head over to the Black and White Xuan Palaces right now and claim their lands of opportunity as compensation for my mental distress, they wouldn't dare stop me, would they?"
The chubby elder took a deep breath.
He had originally been racking his brains on how to rescue Qi Yuan and clean up this mess.
Yet now, things had grown far more complicated.
The Palace Master of the Black Xuan Palace was dead.
This was an earth-shattering event.
Whichever members of the Myriad Changes Society had orchestrated this scheme... were likely in for a dreadful reckoning.
***
Meanwhile, outside the White Xuan Palace.
Realm Lord Tiantang wore a refined, scholarly expression. "Though we failed to slay the Palace Master of the White Xuan Palace, inflicting light injuries upon him and seizing seven Dao Lord true scriptures counts as a resounding victory."
Confidence radiated from his face.
He was one of the three Vice Society Masters of the Myriad Changes Society, and the strongest contender for the position of Society Master.
"With these seven Dao Lord true scriptures in hand, coupled with this grand achievement, Brother Tiantang will surely ascend as Society Master," a slender female Realm Lord flattered.
"Though, Society Lord Tiancan might voice some complaints."
Realm Lord Tiantang's expression remained impassive. "That Qi Yuan possesses some skill; he won't perish so easily. If he's still alive, we'll grant him a glimpse of these seven Dao Lord true scriptures as compensation."
Chapter 580