Harvest

Xu Changqing's white hair stuck to his back. Large patches of blood covered his body, and countless cracks crisscrossed over him.

Blood continuously seeped from those cracks, while blue light flickered within the wounds, preventing them from healing.

He sat cross-legged, and the healing method Emperor Daoyan had given him appeared in his mind.

Gather the essence of life from the external world and combine it with Life Stones and Life-Extending Grass to save someone on the brink of death.

"Forget it. I can't be bothered wasting time healing. I might as well jump in directly." Xu Changqing rose to his feet, looked at the pool ahead radiating a five-colored glow, and walked straight into it.

Sizzle!

The moment his right foot stepped in, the sound of roasting meat rang out. Xu Changqing was covered in blood, his body riddled with cracks.

The instant his sole touched the Five-Colored Pool, plumes of white mist rose beneath his foot.

A piercing pain sank into his bones, yet his face remained expressionless, as if the pain did not exist.

The Laws of Five Elements began invading his body. At first, there was not much pain. Only when the Five Elements Liquid touched his wounds did the sound of roasting meat emerge.

At that moment, Xu Changqing felt as though he were walking across boiling oil and red-hot charcoal, but his expression remained unchanged as he made his way to the center.

The Five Elements Liquid had risen to his waist. Then Xu Changqing sat down cross-legged, and the pool's surface reached just below his chin.

As he soaked in the treasure liquid, he closed his eyes and examined the Emperor's Scripture Emperor Daoyan had given him. More importantly, Emperor Daoyan's scripture changed Xu Changqing's understanding of him.

Why had Emperor Daoyan been able to devise the path of technology when the other emperors could not?

It could be said that Emperor Daoyan's talent was unparalleled as well.

Otherwise, he could not have proven Dao with external objects. He was the first emperor in Covering the Heavens to prove Dao with external objects.

If others engaged in close combat while he sent countless Quasi-Emperor Warships to bombard them, that scene would be...

Xu Changqing had never considered such things before. If Emperor Daoyan had just brought out tens of thousands of warships and mechas, then blasted him with all kinds of high-tech firearms, saturating the area with firepower...

Thinking of that, Xu Changqing could not help feeling somewhat ashamed. This incident made him realize that every person capable of becoming an emperor was extraordinary in their own way.

Although emperors had varying levels of strength, that distinction only applied among emperors, not to someone like him.

He had been too confident.

Xu Changqing knew Emperor Daoyan had held back. After all, he possessed the memories and methods of becoming an emperor, along with abilities and understanding of realms that Xu Changqing could not comprehend.

Otherwise, an emperor suppressing his realm could have beaten him with a single hand.

"I can't have this mentality in the future," Xu Changqing murmured. This time, he recognized his mistake: he had underestimated too many people.

From now on, whenever he acted, he had to give it his all. He could no longer harbor any contempt.

Xu Changqing stopped thinking about it and began cultivating some of the techniques Emperor Daoyan had given him. Among them were methods for absorbing the Strongest Treasure Liquid and various principles for creating treasure liquids.

"Treasure liquid, when all is said and done, belongs to the same category as the spiritual essence of heaven and earth. It comes from wondrous stones nurtured by heaven and earth, then undergoes my processing, fusion, and refinement, ultimately becoming a treasure liquid beneficial to one's own improvement."

"The world contains crystals, Divine Substance, and Ore Iron. These things all contain substances beneficial or harmful to living beings..."

"By extracting the harmful substances and preserving the beneficial ones, one can improve oneself. The process of refining those substances can also cultivate one's control over oneself."

Xu Changqing had to marvel at Emperor Daoyan's ideas. Indeed, no one capable of becoming an emperor was simple.

Just as he himself had said, no one could judge his path, not even an emperor.

Likewise, he had no right to judge another person's path, much less look down on it.

Xu Changqing studied the things Emperor Daoyan had left behind while ignoring the piercing pain. His sense of pain had almost vanished.

He had already become numb to pain.

He sat cross-legged, his white hair drifting with the water. Five-colored light seeped from the surface of his body, and every crack across his flesh was like a small stream, continuously expelling impurities and blood.

In the end, his skin split apart and began peeling away, while those wounds started to heal.

Xu Changqing could clearly sense changes occurring within his physical body. His Sea of Bitterness seemed to have been expanded, growing slightly wider.

Streams of warmth began flowing through his limbs and bones. It was like being frozen stiff in winter, only to suddenly soak in a hot spring—so comfortable that he almost wanted to moan.

But while his bones felt comfortable, the pain became even more intense.

Clang... clang... screech...

Every bone in Xu Changqing's body let out harsh noises. Each one seemed to have been shattered, then placed beneath a hydraulic press and ground into bone fragments before undergoing the compound cleansing of the treasure liquid.

This transformation lasted a long time.

Without realizing it, he broke through into the Saint Realm.

Yet this place possessed an unimaginable power that prevented the Heavenly Tribulation from sensing him.

Xu Changqing did not even know that he had broken through.

The first transformation took two days. By the time the second transformation began, the Five-Colored Pool had already turned violet-gold.

This time, it targeted his Nascent Soul.

The pain that assaulted him was even more severe than the pain in his physical body. Xu Changqing could not help frowning, yet he still did not make a sound. Gradually, he adapted to the pain, his brow relaxed, and he became calm once more.

Shattered old skin had already appeared in the pool.

He focused on cultivating and evolving himself, completely unaware of the changes in the pool.

Xu Changqing had already immersed himself in the scripture Emperor Daoyan had given him. Daoyan's ideas were more advanced than his own.

After all, he had once lived in a civilization that had not even reached Level One.

Emperor Daoyan, on the other hand, had created a technological civilization. He was a man who used technology to conquer the Starry Sky, so Xu Changqing naturally could not compare to him.

Back then, Xu Changqing had seen someone on a forum ask whether Emperor Daoyan wore a suit, smoked a cigarette, and drove a spaceship into people when he fought. He had laughed at the time.

The transformation continued, but chaos had already erupted outside.

The white-haired man had vanished for an entire month, and no one had seen him since. Those who had made such a huge fuss over him were left speechless.

Gan Long, with black hair and blue clothes, stood quietly beside Lin Qianyu. He silently watched the enormous pillar towering over the Star Sea and fell into silence.

Those two words were an overwhelming rumor, so overwhelming that he could not even summon the slightest thought of resistance. It was his first time seeing someone stand atop the title of an emperor.

"If that Female Demon came too, how spectacular would that be..." Gan Long thought of that woman. Back then, he had nearly fought her, and it was fortunate that they had not.

Otherwise, he might have died.

The Female Demon's vicious reputation had spread far and wide. She had no name, rarely spoke, and was cold to the extreme. She also possessed immense opportunities.

Even the divine fortune-tellers of the Feathered Dynasty could not deduce the Female Demon's origins or background.

"Who is the Female Demon?" Lin Qianyu asked with a frown. Why did she sound like another terrifying figure?

"Didn't I tell you before?" Gan Long looked at Lin Qianyu somewhat speechlessly.

"Oh, the other Mortal Body you mentioned—the other demon among the Twin Demons of the Era in your region?"

Lin Qianyu suddenly understood. During this period, she had been constantly pondering Xu Changqing's slash and had not spent much time paying attention to anything else.

Gan Long nodded and said, "She has always targeted the Feathered Dynasty. Many Heavenly Prides of the Feathered Dynasty have died by her hand."

"Her strength should be on par with Wuqing's, and her talent is unparalleled."

"Can you imagine the shock of two Mortal Bodies rising so forcefully in this era?"

Lin Qianyu naturally shook her head. In the Starry Sky, Mortal Bodies could not even make it onto the stage. Cultivating to Transforming Dragon or the Immortal Platform was already exceedingly difficult, let alone entering the Forbidden Domain as a Mortal Body.

"Perhaps when we head for the Starry Sky Ancient Road, we'll hear of the Female Demon's great reputation..." Gan Long said flatly, clasping his hands behind his back.

He simply enjoyed seeing the Heavenly Prides of the Eternal Star Domain be shocked. The people of the Eternal Star Domain either called him a savage or an outdated monkey.

That made him very unhappy.

"Even after Wuqing comes out, he still won't be able to escape..." Lin Qianyu looked at the densely packed warships and crowds around them, then sighed.

She suddenly felt a little sorry for that man.

Gan Long rolled his eyes at Lin Qianyu and said, "Impossible. How do you know he doesn't have any trump cards?"

"Maybe the moment he comes out, he'll shake your entire star domain."

He understood Xu Changqing very well. Without at least a fifty-percent chance of success, Xu Changqing would never show himself.

And so, another two months passed.

The enormous pillar erupted with dazzling light, as though announcing to the world that the trial had been passed.

"He's out! He's out!!"

The crowd immediately erupted.

Under the night sky, countless spaceships and enormous warships began emitting brilliant light. The radiance exploded outward, illuminating the darkness.

In the sky, on the ground, and within the Star Sea, high technology was everywhere. The cold white light was enough to make anyone shudder at a glance.

Countless mechas also stood in the void, densely packed as far as the eye could see, all gleaming with metallic luster.

"If he refuses to join our family and produce descendants for us, capture him, imprison him, and study him," some powerful figures ordered coldly.

Xu Changqing began gathering items in that place: bloodstained Saint's Spaceships, bloodstained Saint's Mechas, all kinds of high-tech firearms, and the cultivation techniques and scriptures Emperor Daoyan had left behind.

Those techniques, Divine Abilities, and scriptures were spoils Emperor Daoyan had obtained through his past battles, so now they benefited Xu Changqing.

He underwent three transformations in total. The first allowed him to break through into the Saint Realm, and he transformed twice more within the Saint Realm.

His physical body had become absurdly powerful. Combined with his constitution, it was simply heaven-defying.

"It's time to leave." Xu Changqing muttered. Although many things remained here, he did not take everything. Instead, he followed Emperor Daoyan's instructions and took only some of it.

After he collected the bloodstained warships, a silver altar appeared. Countless patterns covered it, and purple light spread along those patterns like little streams.

After he activated the altar, a silver passage appeared. Various metal structures also formed passageways along its edges.

Suddenly, Xu Changqing frowned slightly. He saw mist of intertwined colors spreading outside the passage, indicating that many people outside were emitting extremely intense emotions.

"It seems I'll have to leave behind a legend in the Eternal Star Domain."

The people of the Eternal Star Domain were all greedy. There was no reason for them to let him leave, so he could only wash them in blood.

P.S.: Thanks to all the big shots for the tips.

It rained today, and I arrived at the internet café late, so the update came a little late.