In that profound and mysterious state, he successfully broke out of his cocoon, unconstrained, guarding his true heart, and firmly establishing his own Dao.
During the transformation, his strength in all aspects experienced an incredible enhancement.
The gates of potential opened one by one, thousands upon thousands of them, surging with multicolored brilliance.
The Third Heavenly Layer was not his limit. He had a premonition that even if his current self competed on the same stage with the monstrous talents of this era, he would still be able to stand out in the end. This was the infinite confidence brought by his foundational potential.
He no longer needed to be trapped by aptitude and scheme in various ways. Purely with his potential, he could crush the vast majority of physiques. Leaping over the dragon gate could not even describe this transformation; he should have transformed into a flying dragon soaring straight up to the nine heavens, oppressing all worlds in invincibility.
His current self was terrifyingly strong.
The imperial throne of this era is still vacant; I may not be unable to ascend to it and gaze upon the peak scenery of the cultivation path.
Zhang Huan's gaze was sharp and spirited, piercing through boundless void, catching a glimpse of time, and recalling his entire life.
At the very beginning, his aptitude was not good enough, but he still stumbled forward, never giving up on the path of cultivation.
At that time, knowing his own limitations, he chose a shortcut, thinking of solving the urgent problem for his true body. Even if he had the heart to contend for the imperial throne of this era, he was powerless to do so.
If they had the ability to become emperors, who would be willing to submit to others?
When he advanced to the Great Sage, he was already over a thousand years old.
His aptitude was truly somewhat dull. At this age, it was enough for some monstrous talents to achieve success in their cultivation, while he was still lingering at the Great Sage realm, unable to glimpse the path ahead.
If not for the incident where the nameless Quasi-Emperor broke into the sole true path and slaughtered the monstrous talents of all sides.
I'm afraid someone in this era would have already undergone that Great Emperor Tribulation.
He had obtained the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Jar, and later sought out the Ruthless Bloodline, gaining a fortuitous encounter.
In his heart, the long-absent thought of contending for the Heaven's Heart was reignited, and he plotted for this purpose.
The imperial throne of an era represented the supreme realm between heaven and earth.
If there was even a shred of opportunity to become an emperor, countless cultivators would pursue it even if it meant moths flying into a flame.
Zhang Huan did not want to be that moth flying into the flame; he wanted to be a truly genuine Great Emperor of an era.
Starting from the Quasi-Emperor realm, upon encountering wind and clouds, he would transform into a dragon. Regardless of who the master of the demonic art was, or the conspiracies of the underworld, he would shatter anything blocking his way.
Giving one last look at his old body, burning it to ashes with Dao fire, Zhang Huan completely shattered the shackles and bloomed with the light of mind and spirit.
My foundation is complete; it is time to rise.
Zhang Huan rushed out from this desolate place of extinction, stepping forward across hundreds of millions of stars, boundless space sinking and floating beneath his feet.
Strolling through the void and leaving the barren land, Zhang Huan instantly perceived two familiar fluctuations, tearing through space and heading toward a stellar region.
Concealing his own aura, Zhang Huan's eyes happened to see a Quasi-Emperor hunting down a Great Sage. The Great Sage tried his utmost to flee for his life, yet still could not match the Quasi-Emperor, being restrained in two or three moves and trembling under the Quasi-Emperor might.
From afar, Zhang Huan sensed the aura of the demonic art. Laws emerged in his eyes, meticulously examining the details of the two individuals.
One of them had a purer demonic Qi, seemingly with a cultivation level forcibly enhanced through the method of empowerment; otherwise, dealing with a Great Sage would not have required such a fuss.
A Quasi-Emperor was, after all, a powerhouse whose life had leaped to an unspeakable realm. The gap between them and a Great Sage was like heaven and earth, and merely releasing their pressure was enough to make a Great Sage struggle to resist.
Although this person possessed Quasi-Emperor might, he fell far short of a genuine Quasi-Emperor, barely having a tenth of it, and could not even compare to Zhang Huan, who had once only possessed a Quasi-Emperor body.
The aura of the other Great Sage fluctuated and drifted, exactly the same as the scene Zhang Huan knew of someone whose cultivation was sealed.
Are the hunting dogs capturing provisions? It is quite coincidental indeed!
Electric light burst from Zhang Huan's eyes as he lifted his fair palm. A hand of infinite laws, larger than a stellar region, formed with divine patterns composing its meridians, adorned with the brilliance of countless stars, and descended from above the heads of the two men.
An unspeakable peerless Quasi-Emperor Qi rolled and extended, sweeping across the vast universe as it fell. The two men did not even have the chance to dodge; they were imprisoned in the palm of the law-formed hand, and try as they might with all their strength, they could not break free by even a fraction.
"Who, who are you?!"
The crippled Quasi-Emperor widened his eyes and exclaimed, pressed flat against the palm and unable to move, tilting his head halfway to look up.
Zhang Huan struck out with a divine pattern, branding it between the crippled Quasi-Emperor's eyebrows, driving it into his soul with great magical power, while the Spirit Crossing Technique quietly controlled his mind and heart.
The Spirit Crossing Technique influenced cultivators from their inner source, naturally converting them while bypassing various spiritual sense restrictions, nearing the demonic and evil.
The crippled Quasi-Emperor's gaze became dull, and he lost his wits for a moment. Once he sobered up, he naturally regarded Zhang Huan as his master.
"How many more hunting dogs like you are there?"
Zhang Huan asked.
"There are three others, all dispatched by the Young Master to capture Great Sages practicing the demonic art."
"You only capture Great Sages because only upon reaching this realm can they be called provisions? Those below this realm are merely seeds."
The crippled Quasi-Emperor tacitly agreed.
Zhang Huan asked again, "Who is the true identity and background of that Young Master behind you? Do you both come from the same faction?"
A somewhat painful expression appeared on the crippled Quasi-Emperor's face as if he were struggling, and restrictions surfaced upon his soul.
The mystery was about to be revealed. Not waiting for the restriction to shatter the crippled Quasi-Emperor's soul, Zhang Huan used the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Jar to suppress the restriction.
Immediately, the Quasi-Emperor's face relaxed, and he slowly spoke.
"The Young Master is... the son of a forbidden zone supreme being from the Divine Ruins, and will emerge to attain the Dao in this era."
"We all come from the Divine Ruins and were originally Great Sages. The Young Master bestowed the demonic art, helping us rise to a higher level."
Although not a true Quasi-Emperor, this Great Sage from the Divine Ruins was also very satisfied, feeling honored by association, and loyally carried out tasks for him.
Four Quasi-Emperors. This person is quite generous with his methods.
Zhang Huan could not help feeling a sense of emotion. It was often the case in the ordinary world that not a single Quasi-Emperor appeared in ten thousand years.
Yet these people from the forbidden zone created four Quasi-Emperors at once. Although they were not true Quasi-Emperors, it was enough to show that their foundation was shockingly profound.
Coupled with the nameless Quasi-Emperor Zhang Huan had killed, that made a full five of them, all originating from the same faction.
Placed among the major sacred lands of the Big Dipper, it was simply enough to scare people to death.
Such an enhancement cannot possibly be without a price. These Quasi-Einperors will find it difficult to make any further progress in the future, and their cultivation for this lifetime has reached its end.
Yet even so, they were more than willing; being able to work for the supreme beings of the forbidden zone was an indelible faith engraved in their bones.
"Do you know which supreme being's direct descendant the Young Master you speak of is?"
The Quasi-Emperor shook his head.
Although he had always served the so-called Young Master, in reality, he knew very little about the other party. He only knew that this Young Master held a revered status, was the direct descendant of a supreme being, and practiced a special demonic art, with nothing else known.
Zhang Huan asked further about topics related to the Divine Ruins.
The Divine Ruins, one of the seven forbidden zones, was forever covered by a layer of mystery.
Zhang Huan had now torn open a corner of it.
What this Quasi-Emperor from the Divine Ruins had seen and heard could not be known from the outside world.
In his words, the most prominent feature was that several supreme beings were dormant within.
Secondly, there was the magnificent and grandiose Southern Heavenly Gate, covering boundless Dao marks and standing sacred.
The Immortal Medicine Peach Tree had always been rumored to possess incredible miraculous effects. He had once caught a faint whiff of its fragrance from afar, which had laid a solid foundation for his path of cultivation.
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