That was the hand of a Great Emperor!
Even if it was merely a hastily descended hand, it carried complete Imperial Dao laws, enough to crush mountains and rivers and suppress Myriad Ages!
Yet now—
It had been severed!
And the one who acted was not the Great Emperor of the Qin Clan.
It was a Quasi-Emperor who had yet to attain the Dao, severing its wrist with a single sword strike!
"Boom—!"
After a brief silence, the entire banquet plaza erupted into an uproar!
"The Desolate Ancient Sacred Body... can truly contend with a Great Emperor?!" someone cried out in disbelief.
"The records in the ancient tomes were true..." An elderly cultivator with snow-white hair muttered to himself. Law Fragments falling from the sky reflected in his clouded eyes. "Once the Sacred Body reaches completion, it can be called invincible in this age!"
Though Quasi-Emperors were powerful, they were no more than ants in the eyes of a Great Emperor.
When Qin Wudao stepped forward to face a Great Emperor, everyone had thought it was an ant trying to shake a tree, overestimating himself.
Yet no one had expected such a dramatic scene to unfold!
Before the crowd could finish speaking, they were interrupted by a shrill roar—
"You!!"
From the depths of the void, that voice carried towering hatred, shaking space until it twisted.
Yet Qin Wudao's reply was nothing but words calm to the extreme:
"Noisy."
He raised his eyes, his gaze like a sword as it pierced through the endless void.
"If you refuse to accept this, descend in your true body."
"I'll wait."
Three words, spoken lightly, yet they made everyone's scalps tingle!
Provoking a Great Emperor!
No, this was no longer provocation. This was naked contempt!
"Perhaps only the Three Heavenly Emperor Clans dare speak such words..." someone muttered.
With a Heavenly Emperor backing you, what does it matter if you are a Great Emperor?
If your true body descends, won't you still have to lie down!
Those hidden forces that had been restless moments ago all fell silent.
They stared at the white-robed figure, their eyes filled with deep wariness and even... fear!
The Desolate Ancient Sacred Body truly could contend with a Great Emperor!
And what was even more terrifying was—
This Sacred Body had not even reached completion!
Yet even more people stared fixedly at that snow-white figure, fervor blazing in their eyes!
Though his Lineage stood behind him, not everyone dared speak as he did.
This was a true Prodigy!
With the body of a Quasi-Emperor, he challenged a Great Emperor, severed his palm with one sword, and shook his soul with one sentence!
Count fifty thousand years back, spanning ancient and modern eras, there had only ever been this one man!
Yet although the Qin Clan members felt exhilarated at this sight, they felt even more helplessness.
"What a pity..."
What they found regrettable went without saying.
"They're all so strong..." Ji Wuchen stared at that figure, his fists unconsciously clenching until his knuckles turned white.
He suddenly understood why Qin Wangchuan was so powerful.
Because the Qin Clan...
Was full of monsters!
Qin Xuanji lounged against a jade pillar outside the hall, his robe half-open as his fingertips played with several Paper Figurines.
He watched the figure in the arena, white robes whiter than snow, a knowing smile hanging from the corner of his lips.
Is Second Brother planning to make a move too? Qin Wangchuan wondered. He had thought Second Brother was indifferent to such matters.
Seeing Qin Wangchuan's gaze sweep over, Qin Xuanji blinked his right eye and transmitted his voice:
"Eldest Brother is strong, isn't he?"
"He isn't truly unable to see. Rather, he can only see the strong—and only the strongest among them."
As he spoke, Qin Xuanji let out a nearly imperceptible sigh. "Someone like Eldest Brother is destined to climb to the pinnacle of the Great Dao, while we... are merely luxuriant branches and green leaves."
If one were not powerless, who would enjoy being a salted fish?
Qin Wangchuan did not reply. Instead, he looked toward the sky.
A Great Emperor could not be looked upon directly, but with his Complete Immortal Bones, he naturally feared no such thing.
At this moment, the Great Emperor of the Qin Clan had already acted. The void shattered, and the entire world seemed to turn into fragments.
This was no longer a scene in which juniors could interfere.
Qin Wangchuan stood amid the light rain filling the sky, his Immortal Bones gleaming with a lustrous radiance.
He gazed at the chains of laws intertwined where the void had broken, then suddenly gave a soft laugh.
"So that's how it is..."
His slender fingers brushed the jade pendant at his waist, his knuckles and beautiful jade shining against one another.
At a certain moment, Qin Wangchuan suddenly understood the world Eldest Brother saw.
He saw it, and he also sensed the "Dao" within Eldest Brother's heart.
It was a broad road that pressed forward without hesitation and never ended, no matter who stood in its way.
Even if his comprehension were Tongtian, even if his Origin Power were not twenty times greater but a thousand or ten thousand times greater...
Qin Wangchuan knew that he could not compare to Eldest Brother.
"Prodigies in this world are as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river..." Qin Wangchuan murmured. Yet his voice clearly entered the ears of those who cared to listen. "To surpass and be surpassed are only temporary. Only the Great Dao can endure forever."
"My Dao..."
Ji Wuchen abruptly raised his head, only to see hazy immortal light bloom around Qin Wangchuan.
That light was unlike Qin Wudao's sharpness, yet it appeared deeper and more profound.
The moment those words fell.
Within the Qin Clan Longevity Heaven, above the thirty-eighth heaven, the Heavenly Palace Library in the forbidden ground trembled in resonance.
On the highest floor of the library, a scripture that had been sealed away for countless years suddenly began turning its pages without wind, the pages rustling loudly.
Qin Wudao seemed to sense something and turned to look over.
He stepped closer. His footsteps were neither heavy nor light, yet for some reason made everyone's hearts tighten.
After stopping before the two of them, his gaze swept over their faces as he said blandly, "That sword strike just now was not bad, but it is not worthy of being called the Heavenly Sword."
"Heavenly Sword: Myriad Calamities can only reach completion after undergoing Myriad Tribulations."
"Though you forcibly used this move with extraordinary comprehension, you have not even grasped thirty percent of its true essence."
"A hundred tribulations have yet to come; a thousand tribulations are still far away..."
He raised his eyes, his gaze frosty, every bit the strict elder brother.
"It cannot be called the Heavenly Sword."
Ji Wuchen raised both hands blankly, palms facing forward in a gesture of surrender, his eyes filled with innocence.
He had absolutely no idea what was happening before him.
He cautiously glanced at Qin Wangchuan beside him, then looked at the imposing Eldest Young Master of the Qin Clan lecturing him. A thin layer of cold sweat seeped across his forehead.
"Eldest Brother..." Qin Wangchuan helplessly rubbed his forehead, about to correct him.
"Of course I'm talking about you."
Before his words had faded, Qin Wudao suddenly turned to look at Qin Wangchuan.
His gaze remained as calm as ever. "I saw it."
That gaze was clear like a sword leaving its sheath, stabbing painfully against one's skin.
It also left Qin Wangchuan rooted to the spot.
His voice remained calm, yet carried unquestionable certainty. "Although..."
His gaze shifted slightly, returning to that vacant state.
"...it was only for an instant."
He saw him for an instant?
Others thought the world in Qin Wudao's eyes was made up of stick figures.
But in Qin Wudao's eyes, it was even blurrier.
The people before him were entirely made of clouds and mist, with no differences discernible between any of them.
Yet for one instant.
He had indeed seen Ninth Brother's appearance clearly.
What did that mean?
Qin Wangchuan was thoroughly puzzled.
Over there, however, Qin Xuanji let out a snort of laughter, the Paper Figurines in his hand nearly falling to the ground.
"Eldest Brother, did you change your words only after realizing something was off?"
"Mhm-hm~" Qin Zhaoer sat on the stone steps nearby, biting into a Spirit Fruit as she nodded. "That's what I think too."
"Perhaps he truly did see him. Ninth Brother seemed somewhat strange for an instant just now..." Qin Qingzheng spoke hesitantly.
"No, no, no!" Qin Qingni repeatedly waved her hands, her slender fingers leaving several afterimages in the air. "The last time, Eldest Brother said the same thing to an iron man I created."
Amid everyone's teasing, the banquet gradually drew to a close.
In the sky, Emperor Blood and fragments of the world turned into light rain and scattered down. Outside, the Qin Clan's Young Masters sat together, teasing Eldest Brother.
Yet the atmosphere inside the hall was entirely different from that outside.
The elders of every sect and clan sat upright and solemn. The Jade Nectar in their jade cups had long gone cold, yet no one dared touch it.
Their gazes flickered as they occasionally stole glances at the figures outside the hall, then lowered their heads and pretended to savor their drinks.
"This generation of the Qin Clan..." a Li Clan elder murmured, his voice trembling. "They are truly terrifying."
But when his gaze swept over Li Qingluan seated in the place of honor, his tightly drawn lips curved into a smile. "Fortunately... fortunately!"
Where some rejoiced, others grieved.
No matter what.
This tenth birthday banquet would be recorded by the Qin Clan, becoming the most extraordinary banquet in history.
Yet in a shadowed corner unnoticed by anyone, Qin Wangchuan's lips tightened into a sharp arc.
"There's still one person left to deal with..."
His fingers unconsciously rubbed the Concentric Knot Li Qingluan had given him, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
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