Primordial Wilderness: Starting by Downloading Pangu's Cultivation - Section 48

Then came another stroke of joy.

Because he knew—this was Hongjun's voice!

Before him, a thread-thin crack appeared, radiating an aura of world-shattering destruction, its terrifying power enough to make anyone shrink back in fear.

Staring at this slender fissure, Shen Ni hesitated.

He had a feeling.

If he stepped into it, his life and death would no longer be his own.

"Hongjun?"

Just then, a soft laugh rang out in Shen Ni's ear, sending a jolt of alarm through his heart.

A colossal hand descended from the heavens, slamming Shen Ni down onto the ground.

Qing Tian strode through the void, lightly tapping with one finger. The crack in the void expanded without limit, instantly transforming into a terrifying Heavenly Abyss stretching thirty million li in length and millions of li in width.

Endless Void Astral Winds howled out from within, rampaging wildly through everything before them, as if bent on annihilating this entire world.

"No good—Qing Tian!"

Hongjun's gaze snapped taut, his face draining of color.

Ever since learning that Qing Tian had pursued him to the Northern Continent, he had dared not walk the Primordial Wilderness, terrified of leaving even the faintest trace. That was why he had hidden himself on Kunlun Mountain.

But he never expected that Shen Ni's actions would expose his whereabouts after all.

It turned out that Qing Tian's cat-and-mouse attitude all along had been a ploy to lure the fish to the bait.

He had gambled that Hongjun wouldn't be able to sit still and would inevitably make a move.

"Hongjun wields the Jade Plate of Creation, which can obscure the Heavenly secrets. To track him down, I had no choice but to resort to this."

Qing Tian mused inwardly.

His movements never ceased; as he struck, heavenly thunder roared, winds surged and clouds churned, and the void itself was pierced through by a straight, terrifying rift that led straight to the eternal unknown!

The distance between Buzhou Mountain and Kunlun Mountain was far more than a mere hundred million li.

Even measured in light-years, that span was impossibly vast—an astronomical number.

Under normal circumstances, even a cultivator at the Sub-Saint Realm would need to constantly tear through space, flying for hundreds or even thousands of days and nights to travel from Buzhou to Kunlun.

But Qing Tian was different.

His current strength was unfathomable.

With a Download Speed of 1.5G, his power grew with every breath.

Now, nearly a thousand years had passed, and his cultivation had already reached the true Peak Quasi-Saint, only a single step away from the Hunyuan Grand Unity Golden Immortal Realm.

At such a level, his methods were beyond the imagination of ordinary cultivators.

Relying on nothing more than a wisp of aura from Hongjun's intervention, he had locked onto his position, struck across billions of light-years, and unleashed an attack that annihilated everything.

On Kunlun Mountain, Hongjun's hair and beard bristled as he shot to his feet. The Jade Plate of Creation appeared above his head, shimmering with countless rays of light, enveloping him tightly.

Hongjun grabbed at the void with both hands, and a black banner materialized in his grasp.

As he shook it, heaven and earth shattered, reducing the universe and the Primordial Wilderness back into the primal elements of earth, water, fire, and wind.

All things in heaven and earth began to revert to chaos; the entire Kunlun Mountain trembled.

It seemed unable to bear this destructive force, as if it were regressing from the acquired to the innate, returning to boundless chaos.

An Innate Supreme Treasure—the Pangu Banner!

At that moment, the endless void crumbled as a surging blast of energy slammed into the Dark Light of the Pangu Banner, triggering an attack that annihilated all life.

Boom!

Hongjun's face turned pale. He staggered back several steps, his hand gripping the Pangu Banner trembling, his eyes filled with horror.

How was this possible?

I used the Jade Plate of Creation to deduce all things, the Pangu Banner to tear open the void, and even borrowed the Heavenly Dao Power, barely managing to carve out a passage to rescue Shen Ni.

What means does Qing Tian possess, that he can ignore a distance of billions of light-years and strike directly at me, all on his own?

Such methods were utterly unheard of, sending a cold sweat down Hongjun's back.

But this was no time for shock.

Faced with Qing Tian's assault, Hongjun had no intention of fighting head-on. Instead, he decisively employed his arts, tossing out a golden lotus platform that spun endlessly in the void, blocking Qing Tian's earth-shattering attack.

He knew full well that Qing Tian, having obtained the World-Ending Black Lotus and the Creation Green Lotus, was surely aiming to recreate the Chaos Green Lotus.

And the Merit Golden Lotus was an indispensable part of the Chaos Green Lotus.

If it shattered here, the Chaos Green Lotus could never be reborn.

As expected, the moment it sensed the aura of the Merit Golden Lotus, the surging, violent force instantly subsided, condensing into a wall of air. Upon that wall, Qing Tian's face took shape, and a voice rang out.

"As expected of Hongjun—you knew what I needed. Just as well, it's not yet time for you to fall. Get lost! This Seat will take the Merit Golden Lotus as your ransom for your life."

With those words, the air wall collapsed rapidly, transforming into a streak of cyan light that coiled around the Merit Golden Lotus and swept it away.

"Not good!"

Hongjun was greatly alarmed and immediately moved to intervene.

He had offered up the Golden Lotus of Merit only to make Qing Tian hesitate, not to actually give away this Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure!

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The cyan thread of light moved with extreme speed, vanishing into the void in an instant.

The rift in the void healed swiftly. Hongjun's steps faltered, and after a moment of silence, he let out a soft sigh, choosing not to pursue.

He knew in his heart that chasing after it would be walking straight into death.

Across a distance of billions of light-years, Qing Tian still possessed such means. If he truly delivered himself to Qing Tian's presence, how could he possibly withstand it?

"Forget it. The Golden Lotus of Merit was never meant for me. Even if I had obtained it, I would have had to hand it over to someone else eventually. Better to let Qing Tian take it."

Hongjun consoled himself.

Yet, for no reason, his heart ached inexplicably.

It was unbearable!

Near Buzhou Mountain, the Void Astral Wind still howled. On the ground, Shen Ni struggled wildly, but he could never escape Qing Tian's grasp.

Soon, a cyan thread of light flew out, flecked with specks of gold.

Qing Tian's gaze flickered as he withdrew the thread of light. The rift in the void vanished without a trace, and the sky returned to calm and clear. Everything nearby remained utterly unchanged—not even a single blade of grass or a tree had been disturbed.

"The Twelve-grade Golden Lotus of Merit! So it was indeed in Old Daoist Hongjun's hands."

Qing Tian examined the Golden Lotus of Merit and couldn't help but smile.

He had long known that this lotus would ultimately be passed from Hongjun to Jieyin, but he hadn't expected Hongjun to have already obtained it by now.

Truly, the title of Treasure-Hoarding Hongjun was no empty rumor.

Only with such fortune could one host an event like the distribution of treasures at Treasure Rock.

Thinking this, Qing Tian's gaze flickered, and he murmured to himself, "If I want the system to upgrade, I'm afraid a large portion of the spiritual treasures will have to fall into Hongjun's hands."

He sent the Golden Lotus of Merit into the space of the World-Destroying Millstone, letting it merge with the Creation Green Lotus and the World-Ending Black Lotus.

Qing Tian then calmly fixed his gaze on Shen Ni, his tone indifferent. "Shen Ni, I once gave you a chance, but you failed to cherish it. Now, even if you regret it, it's too late."

Hearing this, Shen Ni's face twisted wildly as he hurriedly pleaded, "Dao Venerable, spare my life! Spare my life! This little beast is willing to submit, to serve as a mount beneath the Dao Venerable's seat—I only beg you not to kill me!"

If before, he had clung to a sliver of hope, thinking that even if he couldn't win, he could still escape, or even entertain the idea of seeking aid from Di Tian, now he had completely abandoned it.

There was no choice. The scene from earlier had been far too shocking.

Standing at Buzhou Mountain, yet his attack could land on Kunlun Mountain.

What kind of terrifying means was that?

It almost possessed a fraction of the might of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin!

Faced with such an absolute ruthless figure, Shen Ni knew clearly that if he persisted, the only path awaiting him was death!

"A mount?" Qing Tian smiled faintly and said calmly, "I already have a mount."

Shen Ni's strength was indeed formidable. Having him as a mount would be many times faster than Meng Wu.

Unfortunately, the karma this Emperor of Fierce Beasts bore was far too terrifying—even Qing Tian was unwilling to take it on.

Not because he dared not, but because it wasn't worth it!

What Shen Ni bore was the karmic sin of slaughtering the beings of the Primordial Wilderness, the retribution for indiscriminate killing.

Taking him in would mean forging karmic ties with the entire Primordial Wilderness, heaven and earth, and all living creatures—a self-inflicted trouble.