"What?"
"You think this old man is easy to bully?"
"Have I really fallen so low that any random Supreme can push me around..."
Hearing Li Ming's words, Teng Snake flew into a rage, yet he was also somewhat helpless.
Li Ming said, "Perhaps you have more choices, such as becoming my servant..."
Teng Snake's earlier words now came from Li Ming's mouth.
"Heh heh, you want to obtain more secrets of the Immortal Dao from me, don't you?"
"Don't even think about it!"
Teng Snake said sinisterly.
"Even if I die today, I will never let you gain anything from me."
"Nor will I let Lingbao Tianzun smoothly live a new lifetime!"
"I'll take you and Lingbao Tianzun down with me!"
A shocking fluctuation of laws spread out from between Teng Snake's brows.
It was a blazing black flame. Though weak, it erupted with a terrifying Immortal Dao aura.
The mysterious power and flames emitted by the Bronze Lamp were instantly ground away, turning into drifting ash.
Teng Snake had actually drawn forth the Light of Dao Transformation and ignited the Dao-Dissolving Fire. He had even discarded the legendary chance to reincarnate, resolutely igniting the Dao-Dissolving Fire.
He was determined not to leave behind a single thing.
He would rather leave no corpse behind than allow Lingbao Tianzun to live another lifetime.
He knew he could not take Li Ming with him, but with such determination, he could still take Lingbao Tianzun away and completely sever his hope of living another lifetime.
"Sigh..."
"Presumably, this was how Lingbao Tianzun got killed in the original story."
"His entire body exploded, his body transformed into the Land of the Other Shore, and his head became the Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star..."
Li Ming had also spent a long time studying methods of living another lifetime, so he knew much about the harsh requirements for doing so.
Now, Teng Snake's Primordial Spirit was undergoing Dao Dissolution, drawing this True Immortal-level body into Dao Dissolution as well. It was unimaginably terrifying.
It was roughly comparable to those Dark Supremes who underwent Extreme Sublimation and recovered their peak strength in an instant.
In any case, they shone brilliantly, acted badass for a moment, and then had to die.
Yet what Teng Snake did was even more resolute than the Dark Supremes' Extreme Sublimation.
He had directly ignited the Dao-Dissolving Fire. He intended to use Dao-Dissolving Power to destroy everything here, to destroy all of Lingbao Tianzun's arrangements.
Even if he only briefly recovered the strength of a True Immortal, even if it lasted for only a single second, it would be enough to completely destroy Lingbao Tianzun's hope of revival.
He might even take Li Ming with him.
When the Light of Dao Transformation shone upon Li Ming, the Bronze Mirror's mysterious power circulated and actively devoured it, causing no negative effect whatsoever to Li Ming.
Meanwhile, an inexplicable Immortal Dao power appeared around Teng Snake.
In an instant, everything between heaven and earth seemed to have changed.
Teng Snake seemed to become the center of the world, and a world-shaking immortal light burst from his hand.
This strike surpassed the power of an Immortal Weapon. Even a genuine Immortal Weapon could not withstand this power from a True Immortal.
Teng Snake had actually returned to the Immortal Dao Realm in that instant.
Though it lasted only a moment, he struck Li Ming with perfect precision.
In the blink of an eye, Li Ming seemed to turn into nothingness, as though no power in this world could affect him.
Teng Snake was utterly shocked, his face filled with disbelief.
"How is that possible?!"
"How can a mere Humanity Supreme withstand the power of a True Immortal?!"
"This must be fake!"
"I'll make you die with me!"
Teng Snake roared madly, nearly hysterical.
"Then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed!" Li Ming sighed. "You simply can't kill me!"
"What?"
The Bronze Mirror emitted a mysterious light from within Li Ming's body, instantly rendering Teng Snake's Immortal Dao incomplete.
He immediately fell from the Immortal Dao Realm.
Before the old ghost's disbelieving eyes, the Bronze Mirror's mysterious power completely annihilated Teng Snake's Primordial Spirit.
It also obliterated the Light of Dao Transformation.
It devoured the Dao-Dissolving Fire.
That old ghost Teng Snake neither damaged Lingbao Tianzun's body nor killed Li Ming.
He vanished completely, dying forever.
With a deafening boom, Teng Snake's enormous body crashed into the sea, raising monstrous waves.
From recovering True Immortal-level strength to dying completely, it had taken only an instant.
That heaven-destroying, earth-shattering aura of ruling alone over the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands was gone forever.
Only a lifeless body remained.
Li Ming's eyes burned as he carefully examined Teng Snake's body.
Using the Bronze Mirror's mysterious power, he thoroughly refined the final fragment of Teng Snake's Primordial Spirit that contained its memories.
Looking at this True Immortal-level corpse, Li Ming could not help sighing. "What a pity!"
That old ghost of a Primordial Spirit had truly left himself no way out.
If Li Ming had not possessed the Bronze Mirror, the old ghost might indeed have succeeded.
But he did not know that Li Ming had a cheat, so his death had been in vain.
"Although only a True Immortal's corpse remains, and the Immortal Dao Laws it once possessed have been entirely exhausted with the death of its Primordial Spirit, the countless Immortal Dao Runes contained in this body are absolutely an immeasurable fortune."
"They deserve careful study!"
Li Ming had once carefully comprehended the Immortal Dao Runes on the Bronze Immortal Hall and benefited enormously.
Seeing the densely packed Immortal Dao Runes across Teng Snake's body, he was genuinely intrigued.
Some of those Immortal Dao Runes resembled those on the Bronze Immortal Hall, but many more were entirely different.
Studying them carefully would certainly bring unexpected benefits.
He stepped on the Bronze Immortal Hall and flew directly into Teng Snake's body.
The little old man within that mysterious Bronze Lamp seemed to be the Weapon Deity.
Though he did not know what method Li Ming had used to kill that old ghost of a Primordial Spirit, he still solemnly thanked Li Ming.
As for Li Ming's desire to comprehend the Immortal Dao Runes within Teng Snake's body, he lacked the power to stop him and was naturally happy to grant a favor at no cost.
The Weapon Deity of the Bronze Lamp even thoughtfully passed on Nine Secrets: Zu, Lingbao Tianzun's scriptures, and the complete Salvation Scripture to Li Ming as gifts of gratitude.
Li Ming was very satisfied.
He entered Teng Snake's body and began carefully studying the Immortal Dao Runes upon this True Immortal body.
Chaos qi flowed through his eyes, the River of Time surged onward, and he radiated an aura of creating heaven and earth.
Yin-Yang energies circulated as Li Ming silently imprinted endless Immortal Dao Runes.
It did not matter if he could not understand them now. He could record them first and study them gradually in the future.
These Immortal Dao Runes were truly mysterious, impossible to explain clearly, each containing enigmatic power and laws.
Li Ming felt as if he were separated from understanding by only a thin sheet of paper. Pierce it, and he would comprehend everything.
Yet he simply could not pierce through that hazy sensation.
So he silently imprinted them all.
He knew that as his strength grew, one day he would suddenly understand the meanings and laws of these Immortal Dao Runes.
Even if he did not understand these Immortal Dao Runes, he could first imprint them onto the Heavenly Demonic Saber.
Li Ming had originally intended to take away or refine this True Immortal corpse.
But after considering it, he abandoned that tempting thought.
Since this True Immortal corpse concerned whether Lingbao Tianzun could revive and live another lifetime.
He also wanted to see whether Lingbao Tianzun could truly use it to live another lifetime.
In the original story, Lingbao Tianzun died miserably.
His body became a place of trial in the Other Shore, while his head became the Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star, a training ground for Emperor Zun's Ancient Heavenly Court.
Even the divine liquid at his Immortal Platform was scooped up entirely by the Golden Crow Great Emperor.
The immortal spring divine liquid produced by the Wheel Sea Secret Realm in his body was completely devoured when Ye Fan became a fully realized Sacred Body.
His end had truly been rather miserable.
Thinking of how Lingbao Tianzun had left behind the Du Ren Scripture specifically to suppress the Corpse Calamity, Li Ming felt that Lingbao Tianzun should not have been a bad person.
Li Ming did not want to be a good person. He only wanted to be someone both righteous and wicked, free and unfettered, without moral shackles.
But he still liked making friends with good people.
If Lingbao Tianzun could truly live another lifetime, perhaps Li Ming could carefully exchange experiences with him regarding the Red Dust Immortal Path.
Looking at the Heavenly Demonic Saber evolving faster and faster, Li Ming was somewhat astonished.
In the original story, Emperor Zun had refined his Immortal Ascension Cauldron into an Immortal Weapon early on, forging it into an Immortal Weapon before he himself became immortal.
Li Ming suspected that after his Heavenly Demonic Saber devoured so much Immortal Gold and so many Dark Supreme corpses, it might become an Immortal Weapon before he became immortal.
Perhaps, in the most extreme case, it might evolve into an Immortal Weapon during his Third Lifetime, just like Emperor Zun.
Besides relying on his own abilities to live into his Third Lifetime or Fourth Lifetime, Emperor Zun in the original story had also attacked Kunlun Mountain on the Primordial Ancient Star.
He had even joined forces with Netherworld Emperor Duan De to forge the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains and place them upon Kunlun Mountain.
Kunlun Mountain was an exceptionally mysterious place.
It was said that the Kunlun Immortal Bell had once been nurtured there.
Of course, some claimed that the Kunlun Immortal Bell had merely stayed there to recover from its injuries.
In any case, the Kunlun Immortal Bell had remained in Kunlun Mountain for an unknown number of tens of thousands of years, so long that even the Kunlun Immortal Race could not determine when it had first arrived there.
The Kunlun Immortal Bell resonated with Kunlun Mountain, leaving behind endless Immortal Dao Runes.
It truly was an excellent place for nurturing an Immortal Weapon.
Li Ming even felt an impulse. Should he attack Kunlun Mountain first and wipe out the Kunlun Immortal Race?
Could he use Kunlun Mountain to refine the Heavenly Demonic Saber into an Immortal Weapon ahead of time?
But then he considered that he still lacked the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains, and refining an Immortal Weapon would likely be highly troublesome.
Moreover, he already possessed the Bronze Immortal Hall, an Immortal Weapon, so his need for another Immortal Weapon was not yet so urgent.
"Since the Heavenly Demonic Saber is my Dao-Proving Weapon, let it slowly grow alongside my cultivation."
"There's no need to rush for the Heavenly Demonic Saber to become an Immortal Weapon!"
The most important matter now was comprehending the Immortal Dao Runes within this True Immortal corpse.
At the instant Teng Snake stepped into the Immortal Dao Realm, that incomparably terrifying Immortal Dao aura had alarmed the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
It alerted every Dark Supreme.
But that mysterious Immortal Dao aura quickly disappeared.
One Dark Supreme after another sent out divine senses to investigate carefully, wanting to know what had happened.
In the end, they could not figure anything out.
Some believed a True Immortal might have descended.
Others believed that a crack in the Immortal Domain had appeared by chance.
Ultimately, because the Immortal Dao aura had erupted and vanished so abruptly, and because Li Ming had used the Bronze Mirror here to conceal the heavenly secrets, the Dark Supremes gained nothing from their speculation and returned to sleep.
Li Ming remained there, silently sensing the divine charm of the Immortal Dao, silently imprinting and comprehending those Immortal Dao Runes.
Day after day, year after year.
At last, one day, the Immortal Dao Runes on his body circulated with a mysterious power that wrapped around him.
It was a mysterious and terrifying power. Even the surrounding void became unstable, crack after crack appearing as Chaos flowed outward.
Strange radiance flickered within the eternal darkness.
Li Ming sat cross-legged within the True Immortal corpse, as though he had fallen asleep.
He floated there silently, completely motionless.
Countless Immortal Dao Runes intertwined densely, covering his body like silken threads.
Like a Great Dao Cocoon, they wrapped him within.
He seemed to have fallen into slumber, entirely still.
He had entered an extraordinarily wondrous state.
Mysterious Immortal Dao Runes covered his entire body as enigmatic power circulated.
Countless densely packed Divine Chains of Order formed from Grand Dao Laws appeared from nothingness, shrouding that place.
Chaotic light flickered, containing endless killing intent, as though it had completely sealed off the area.
Li Ming had not expected that while his lifespan had not yet run out and he still had ample longevity, he would sense an opportunity to completely transform into a Perfect Chaotic Body.
He seized that opportunity.
He also wanted to comprehend even more.
He wanted to use this chance to become a Chaotic Body and live another lifetime.
He wanted to undergo Nirvana and be reborn, giving birth to a truly perfect Chaotic Body from his originally imperfect body.
From that day onward, he seemed to drift between life and death.
The Great Dao Cocoon was like a placenta, maintaining him in a strange state of neither death nor destruction.
Within the Great Dao Cocoon, Li Ming's jet-black hair gradually turned ash-gray, then slowly became snow-white as the days passed.
His hair became like white weeds, while his body continued to age.
It was as if he had crossed several thousand years, even tens of thousands of years.
He had grown old.
His once tall, majestic, heroic body was now rapidly aging beyond recognition.
It was as though, in the blink of an eye, he had lost endless years and entered his twilight years.
Yet Li Ming's aura only grew more terrifying.
Thankfully, the True Immortal corpse blocked it. Otherwise, even a stray ripple of the Great Dao might have unleashed endless slaughter upon this boundless black ocean.
Rumble...
The void tore apart as boundless Chaos surged and roiled.
Endless Chaos gathered around the Great Dao Cocoon where Li Ming was.
Chaotic radiance flashed, dazzlingly bright.
Meanwhile, Li Ming's body was undergoing a strange transformation.
His withered, gaunt, aged body rapidly changed within the Chaos, as though time were flowing backward.
He changed from an old man into a middle-aged man, then into a youth.
Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...
In the end, a teenage boy emerged from his original body.
He was valiant and full of youthful vigor, his entire body radiating a shocking aura.
Chaotic energy coiled around him before instantly sinking into his body.
The Great Dao Cocoon then exploded, turning into dazzling rain-like streaks of light that flowed into the original aged body.
Li Ming had succeeded.
He had truly transformed into a flawless Chaotic Body.
He had lived out a Second Lifetime.
At the age of twenty-six thousand, Li Ming had successfully lived out a Second Lifetime and transformed into a flawless Chaotic Body.
Li Ming had not expected that this session of comprehending the Dao and cultivating would take so long.
He had directly transformed into a new Lifetime.
Li Ming living out a new Lifetime naturally gave rise to countless phenomena.
The Demon Venerable had not appeared in the outside world for so many years. Many people believed that he might have lived out a Second Lifetime after taking medicine, only to quietly pass away in meditation afterward, or perhaps slashed himself and hidden away.
Yet after the Demon Venerable had vanished for more than ten thousand years, his aura suddenly appeared once more.
Within the Chaos Sea at the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland, blood energy suddenly surged into the heavens, piercing the skies and alarming all living beings.
At this time, many people claimed that the Demon Venerable had long since died.
Yet today, the Demon Venerable's aura shook everyone.
The Myriad Dao of Heaven and Earth wailed, all submitting beneath Li Ming's feet.
He had actually succeeded in casting aside the Heavenly Heart Imprint and rising above it.
He still resonated and vibrated in harmony with the Myriad Dao of Heaven and Earth.
But Li Ming had already reached another realm.
Upon sensing the Demon Venerable's aura, the powerful beings of the universe could not stop themselves from trembling and bowing in worship.
Everyone looked toward the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland.
No matter how great the distance, even across countless star fields and the distant Chaos Sea, people could still see the wondrous spectacle of time erupting from the Chaos Sea, a spectacle formed from fragments of time.
Boundless blood energy surged into the heavens as a young boy emerged from his original body.
His incomparably vigorous blood energy, his immensely powerful life force, and his even more astonishing Chaos Origin had all undergone Nirvana and been reborn.
He had been reborn amidst withering and death.
It was a young Demon Venerable, appearing to be only eighteen years old.
His black hair flowed like a waterfall, cascading over his crystalline, gleaming body.
He stood within the vast Chaos Sea, looking down upon all living beings under heaven.
He had lived out a new Lifetime, so powerful that it made people shudder.
People were stunned by Li Ming's immense lifespan.
After calculating carefully, many discovered that Li Ming's First Lifetime had lasted an astonishing twenty-six thousand years.
At this moment, his blood energy rose like a vast ocean amid the towering crimson haze.
This shook the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
The Dark Supremes, in particular, erupted in an uproar.
Li Ming's method of living out a new Lifetime was simply too revolutionary.
So many had planned to kill Li Ming in his twilight years and divide his flesh, blood, and origin among themselves.
No one had expected Li Ming to silently live out a new Lifetime.
His First Lifetime had lasted frighteningly long; it was practically a miracle.
All the Dark Supremes believed that he would either slash himself or die quietly.
Otherwise, there was simply no escaping the great tribulation of life and death.
Yet Li Ming had defied the heavens and lived out a new Lifetime.
The Demon Venerable was unbelievably young, brimming with vitality and carrying an indescribable majesty.
He emerged from the Chaos Sea at the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland, shocking everyone.
The great powerful clans of the universe were all stunned. The Demon Venerable had truly created a myth.
His First Lifetime had actually lasted as long as twenty-six thousand years, setting an unprecedented record.
Many even believed that Li Ming had lived out a Third Lifetime.
Without slashing himself, he had remained in the peak state of a Heavenly Venerable all along!
Before you continue