Heavenly Thunder Washed the Dao and Refined the Divine Embryo

Shouchen Dao Lord had indeed swallowed what Liu Dongqing had done.

His own wariness had forced him to suppress every last murderous thought.

Only then could Liu Dongqing be certain.

The balance between him and Shouchen Dao Lord had been restored to what it once was.

No.

It was a balance far firmer than before.

Until Shouchen Dao Lord was absolutely certain he could withstand Liu Dongqing's sword strike that wielded the passage of time, an all-out battle to the death would remain his last resort.

And that was the best outcome Liu Dongqing could achieve.

He could do no more, nor could he do any better.

The real gulf between their cultivation levels meant Liu Dongqing could never arrange everything perfectly or guarantee his own safety beyond all doubt.

Seven parts wariness, three parts dread.

That was the limit.

And so,

When Shouchen Dao Lord finished speaking,

Liu Dongqing knew when to stop. He chose not to provoke the old Daoist further. Moving even faster than the eight Nascent Soul Peak cultivators, he retreated until the tribulation aura of the breakthrough to Spirit Transformation could no longer envelop or touch him. Only then did he halt in midair.

The moment he stopped,

He met the searching gazes of the eight peak Nascent Soul cultivators as they flew away and grinned. Then he turned his hand, and the five colors and ten lights in his palm went dark.

Also fading from substance into nothingness beside Liu Dongqing were the eight Transmigration Tribulation prodigies who had once cut a glorious path through an ancient Cave-Heaven battlefield, only to succumb to malice and try to bring uncertainty into his plans.

He had received Shouchen Dao Lord's decree.

But Liu Dongqing had not killed them in public.

He had made enough of a