Departure

Xu Changqing no longer looked human, his body covered in red and black fur, emitting an extremely foul stench.

His skin was festering, as if maggots were eating away at it, and black blood continuously dripped from him.

"Is this me?" Xu Changqing raised his hand, looking at the dense red fur on his palm with black blood flowing through it, his pupils constricted in disbelief.

His once flowing white hair had long been corrupted by the black blood, emitting a foul odor and sticking to his fur-covered back.

"Weird, ominous..."

His face was covered in dense red fur, interspersed with silver and black hairs. His pupils were somewhat unfocused, his body in intense pain, and his consciousness was blurry.

Xu Changqing looked inward, using the Emperor's Scripture left by Emperor Daoyan to examine every part of himself.

He discovered that his chromosomes, his genes, his cells, his internal organs, everything, was enveloped in black blood and gray mist, festering and emitting a foul stench.

Even his bone-white bones had become moldy.

In the dark and cold universe, a monster stood frozen, looking at his hands as black blood dripped from within.

The Heavenly Tribulation above his head had yet to descend, as if gathering strength, or perhaps waiting.

"Rumble!"

A deafening thunderclap echoed, immense and vast, like a great bell tolling across the cosmos. Even the Eternal Star Domain, countless light-years away, heard the earth-shattering thunder.

Xu Changqing suddenly raised his head, his turbid and weary eyes appearing somewhat calm. Despite his monstrous form, he said nothing, only facing it in silence.

"Chii!"

A massive bolt of white lightning flashed, illuminating the heavens and earth. Even before it struck, it made Xu Changqing tremble, as if facing a supreme being.

"Boom!"

The next moment, the Heavenly Tribulation descended, and the world was engulfed in white, rendering everything invisible.

This place was utterly annihilated. Where the white light passed, all matter vanished. Star rivers, celestial bodies, and meteorites all turned to nothingness.

Xu Changqing watched the white light envelop him with utter calmness, accepting it with equanimity.

The white lightning was exceptionally peculiar, piercing directly through the crown of Xu Changqing's head.

Finally, with a resounding boom, his entire being exploded, dissolving into points of light and disappearing.

Before vanishing, he felt no pain, no sensation of touch, simply disappearing naturally.

His Primordial Spirit transformed into light points, scattering all around. His previously hazy consciousness suddenly became incredibly clear, as if he were perfectly fine.

Moreover, he sensed a special energy in his surroundings. Following his intuition, he moved towards the vague sensations.

Upon approaching, even before he could act, he understood that it was a new life born from the remnants of the Lightning Tribulation.

Lightning Tribulation represented ultimate destruction, but it also preserved a sliver of vitality.

Xu Changqing's consciousness began to comprehend this new life, eventually achieving rebirth. The flesh and blood scattered across the starry sky began to writhe, and the broken bones and ashes drifting through space started to reassemble.

When the two Saint Kings saw Xu Changqing dissolve into light, they let out joyous cries, tears streaming down their faces. "Wuwu~ He's dead, but it wasn't us who killed him; Heaven avenged us."

Just as they turned to leave this sorrowful place, they sensed his aura again.

Turning back, they saw Xu Changqing's silhouette.

Flowing white hair cascaded over his shoulders, clad in a green robe, his slender body standing with hands behind his back, gazing up at the location of the Heavenly Tribulation.

He found that the Heavenly Tribulation had already ended.

Xu Changqing stood there, pondering, unable to understand why he had triggered such a Heavenly Tribulation.

"Forget it, why think so much? When I reach a certain level, I'll understand."

He no longer concerned himself with the Heavenly Tribulation, nor did he pay attention to the rapidly approaching enemies.

"Buzz!"

A bloodstained spaceship suddenly appeared beside him, pulling Xu Changqing inside. Afterward, a massive black hole appeared in this location, and the spaceship departed with Xu Changqing.

Seeing this, the two Saints completely broke down.

That person, without even glancing at them, had departed in a bloodstained spaceship.

"No, Heaven couldn't kill him?!"

"Did those people die in vain..."

"That bloodstained spaceship must be a divine weapon; otherwise, how could I have felt such a vast and boundless aura that allowed it to escape in an instant?"

"Why would a god help this devil!"

The two Saint Kings roared in frustration, their voices filled with unwillingness. They realized they had been played.

It was as if they were monkeys, jumping and screeching in front of Xu Changqing, who hadn't even bothered to acknowledge them.

Xu Changqing steered the spaceship, sitting in the cockpit and gazing at the coordinates left by Emperor Daoyan, falling into deep thought.

After some consideration, he decided to head to the Human Race Ancient Trial Path first.

This spaceship had also reached the Saint King level. The reason he hadn't killed the two Saint Kings was simply because he found it too troublesome.

Killing them would bring no benefit and only waste time.

"The spoils from this trip are incredibly abundant. Just the evolution liquid alone, I've lost count of how many types there are. There are three bottles of the strongest evolution liquid, which can be somewhat useful to me, but not much."

"I've acquired four types of Immortal Gold alone: Eternal Blue Gold, Divine Mark Purple Gold, Dao Tribulation Gold, and a fingernail-sized piece of Immortal Tear Green Gold."

Just the cultivation methods are countless, too many to count, ranging from those for opening the Sea of Suffering to the scriptures of Great Emperors. He now possesses them all.

The only Great Emperor cultivation method he has is from Emperor Daoyan.

"Next, I need to recuperate well, go into seclusion, and prepare for even stronger enemies."

Xu Changqing knew he couldn't underestimate the powerhouses of the myriad heavens. The Emperor's Path alone has many special physiques, such as the Hegemonic Body and the Innate Dao Embryo.

In this era, aside from the Saint Body, almost every other physique exists. This is the Golden Age.

The Chaos Body... that's the woman. Although she hasn't transformed into a true Chaos Body yet, the signs are already appearing.

If, on the Emperor's Path, she were to absorb the origin of every physique, she might transform into a Chaos Body by the time she reaches the Quasi-Emperor stage.

At that point, his chances of winning in a battle against her would be uncertain.

Xu Changqing sat on a silver chair, letting the spaceship travel through the various star regions.

He was contemplating his shortcomings.

His escape cultivation methods were far too few, only the Blood Escape taught to him by two Demonic Great Sages.

As for healing cultivation methods, they mostly involved sacrificing lifespan, or at best, took some time.

In a major battle, if he couldn't recover from injuries quickly, he would gradually fall into a disadvantage.

Therefore, he needed to create the Divine Movement Technique and a Healing Technique.

"If the cultivation methods I've collected contain any spiritual powers related to time and space, I could combine them with various movement techniques and the Divine Movement Technique to create my own unique escape secret arts."

"As for healing, I just need to remove the negative status of 'sacrificing lifespan'. But after removing it, how can I guarantee instant recovery?"

"If only I had the Secret of the 'Zhe' Character, I wouldn't have to fear getting injured at all."

Xu Changqing didn't immediately sort through his spoils. Instead, he was conceptualizing various feasible methods in his mind.

Finally, he took action, using the time it took to travel to the Emperor Pass to create more suitable secret arts and spiritual powers for himself.

As for how to deal with those Immortal Golds, he would naturally refine their essence and fuse it into his Bone Saber.

This way, the Bone Saber wouldn't change color and would become even stronger, possessing the characteristics of the four types of Immortal Gold.

No sooner said than done, Xu Changqing began spending time refining the characteristics and essence of the Immortal Golds.

The refining method was based on the scriptures given by Emperor Daoyan, as Emperor Daoyan was a professional in this regard.

Following his method, there was no way it would be wrong.

After Xu Changqing left the Eternal Star Domain, the domain fell into a deathly silence.

He had barely left when someone from the Outer Domain entered the Eternal Star Domain.

It was an exceptionally elegant woman, dressed in white, with long, beautiful black hair. Her face was obscured, and she stood quietly in the starry sky.

"A familiar aura... it's him..."