Laozi Suspects, Hongjun Displeased

The Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals of Purple Cloud Palace were not overly shocked, as their distance from Styx's realm was too vast—many of them had no idea how terrifying Styx's aura truly was.

But the Quasi-Sages were different.

Even Laozi, at this moment, felt his shock outweigh his joy.

How could this be?

Styx had not yet severed any corpse, so why did his strength seem to surpass his own?

Laozi could be certain that before the sermon, Styx's power had definitely not been as strong as his own.

What had happened to Styx during these three thousand years of preaching?

Everyone had listened to the same Dao, yet Styx had suddenly erupted, leaving them all in the dust.

Why?

Could it be that the Sage had given Styx special treatment?

Laozi couldn't help but suspect this, and a hint of curiosity toward Hongjun stirred in his heart.

But at this moment, Hongjun was equally shocked.

When Styx first arrived at Purple Cloud Palace, he was only close to the mid Quasi-Sage stage. Now, he had already broken through to the late Quasi-Sage stage?

In just three thousand years?

He remembered that when he had severed his third corpse and advanced from mid Quasi-Sage to late Quasi-Sage, he had spent nearly ten epochs in seclusion!

Hongjun's eyes darkened.

Why was the Heavenly Dao treating Styx better than it treated him?

Was he not the chosen spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao?

Styx, of course, was unaware of the thoughts in everyone's minds. Feeling the surging Creation Power in his left palm, he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Creation Law comprehended to thirty percent!

Late Quasi-Sage!

Although he had missed the sermon at Purple Cloud Palace and the Three Corpses Severing Method, Styx did not regret it.

Clearly, his gains were far greater.

It was a pity that the Destruction Law had not been comprehended this time, still stuck at ten percent.

Otherwise, his combat power might have rivaled a peak Quasi-Sage.

So, where exactly had Styx's spirit wandered off to?

And what had he experienced?

In truth, even Styx himself didn't know where he had gone.

All he knew was that it was an utterly dark place.

So dark that he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.

Still, Styx wasn't panicked.

After his experience with the Law Tree last time, he understood that this was likely another gift from the Heavenly Dao.

Though he didn't know why the Heavenly Dao favored him so much.

Even if this was a scheme of the Heavenly Dao, he would gladly accept it!

If there was truly some unacceptable plot, then he could simply change his body and reincarnate to cultivate anew.

After all, his realm and insights remained; re-cultivating would just take some time.

That said, facing this pitch-black void, Styx had no idea why the Heavenly Dao had sent him here this time.

He summoned the Karma Fire Red Lotus beneath his feet, shooting out countless beams of red light.

He thought this would reveal the true nature of this space, but instead, the light only illuminated more darkness.

This left Styx a bit bewildered.

What a strange place.

Styx tried to take a step forward, but it felt like stepping onto nothingness.

The space ahead didn't seem like a space, and even where he stood didn't feel like one either.

"Forget it, I'll just try attacking!"

Styx stomped on the Karma Fire Red Lotus, which immediately spewed a jet of Red Lotus Karma Fire, striking the darkness before him.

The firelight illuminated the surroundings, but what was lit was still darkness!

Interestingly, though, the Red Lotus Karma Fire unexpectedly ignited the darkness!

It was as if this area was a black curtain covering the space in front of Styx.

This discovery caught Styx off guard.

Then, as if he had found a new continent, Styx manifested his twin swords and thrust them into the darkness ahead.

Just like a flash of light appearing in the night, white light also appeared ahead of Styx!

But that was not what surprised Styx the most.

What surprised Styx the most was that his comprehension of the Creation Law had actually loosened?

Styx tried again, and his insight into the Creation Law deepened by another fraction!

He was overjoyed.

With that, the hand wielding the Yuan Tu Sword moved even faster!

He even swung the Abi Sword wildly with his right hand.

However, the Destruction Law did not grow in the slightest.

As Styx's movements grew faster and faster, his comprehension of the Creation Law deepened more and more, and the hole of light he had poked in the darkness before him grew larger and larger.

But through the hole of light, Styx could only see blinding white light; he could see nothing else.

Yet he was not discouraged.

Here, Styx had no concept of time at all.

He only knew to attack the black curtain before him again and again.

He did not know how long had passed, but Styx's understanding of the Creation Law finally reached twenty percent!

With the increase in his cultivation, each swing of his sword produced a more pronounced effect.

Originally, swinging both swords at once could only prick a tiny hole in the black curtain before him.

But now, a single sword could pierce a hole dozens of times larger than before.

Styx's cultivation had broken through, and he had intended to settle the denser mana within his body.

But unexpectedly, the hole of light he had painstakingly pierced showed signs of being devoured by the darkness!

How could Styx tolerate this? He hurried forward to prop up the hole of light with the Yuan Tu Sword and the Abi Sword.

But the darkness surged fiercely; Yuan Tu and Abi only held for a moment before retreating in defeat.

Seeing the hole of light beginning to heal, Styx had no choice but to step in himself!

He used both hands and feet to brace against the top and bottom of the hole of light, channeling all his mana into his limbs!

"I refuse to believe there's no way to deal with you!"

Styx gritted his teeth fiercely, then pushed hard with both hands!

The darkness that had been devouring the light temporarily halted.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then let go.

But at the same time, the darkness began to devour the light again. With no other choice, Styx had to keep bracing it.

Styx frowned...

Why did this current action of his feel strangely familiar?

It was as if... someone else had done this before?

While bracing the hole of light to keep it from being devoured by the darkness, Styx fell into deep thought.

Who was it? Who exactly had done this before?

He did not know how long he had held this posture, until he felt his mana nearly depleted and his limbs aching.

Only then did Styx snap back to reality.

He remembered!

It was Pangu!

Legend said that Pangu split heaven and earth, but after the separation, the clear qi rose to become the sky, and the turbid qi sank to become the earth.

Pangu thought the creation of heaven and earth was complete, but unexpectedly, a great roar sounded between heaven and earth, and the sky began to collapse toward the earth.

With no other choice, Pangu had to act himself, propping up heaven and earth to keep them from drawing close.

He maintained this posture, and every time he grew an inch taller, the distance between heaven and earth increased by an inch.

No one knew how many years passed before the sky finally stopped collapsing, and there was no longer a tendency for heaven and earth to heal together.

But at the same time, Pangu's strength was exhausted.

In the end, his body transformed into all things.

His flesh merged into the newborn world.

His hair turned into the three thousand stars...

His eyes became the sun and moon, the two great celestial bodies...

His blood turned into the surging great rivers...

His...

Wasn't Pangu's situation when he split heaven and earth exactly the same as Styx's current one?

And now, Styx was also nearing exhaustion.

Was he going to die from exhaustion like the great god Pangu?

Styx refused to accept it.