"Roar!"
The Four Extremes expert forcibly roused his blood and qi. His divine power surged to the heavens as he unleashed the strongest strike of his life, intent on clashing head-on with the Yin-Yang Divine Diagram that blotted out the sun.
Boom!
Divine power flooded heaven and earth. A massive hand covered the firmament, violently colliding with the yin-yang power of the Dao within that expanse.
It sounded like a million soldiers slaughtering one another, piercing metal and shattering stone as it swept through the high heavens; like a tsunami stretching to the horizon, with countless great stars falling together. This was peerless carnage.
Clang after clang rang out, as though divine iron were being forged.
A few ripples appeared on the imperishable divine diagram. The Yin-Yang Qi stirred slightly, then cascades of yin-yang energy descended once more, making space tremble like a painted scroll on the verge of being torn apart. The Yin-Yang Qi transformed into a Diamond Bracelet, which settled over the Four Extremes cultivator's head and sealed him.
"Perish!"
Qin Tian opened his mouth and spat out a stream of Innate Grand Void Astral Energy. Like the sun and moon, it hung high in the heavens, battering space until it trembled.
This was a Void Secret Art Qin Tian had secretly learned from Ji Haiyue. Every member of the Ji Family mastered two or three of the Great Emperor's secret techniques.
The Void Great Hand Seal and Innate Grand Void Astral Energy were the secret arts Ji Haiyue had mastered.
As for Ji Haoyue, Qin Tian had needed to fend off his attacks while remaining wary of the Ji Family's old fossils, leaving him no time to steal his techniques.
A single stream of innate qi was refined together with the void to create it. Nothing could withstand it-not even divine weapons or treasured blades.
Qin Tian opened his mouth with a sharp cry. The stream of energy that shot out embodied the innate grand void, twisting space with its force. Even the Four Extremes cultivator could not resist that spatial distortion. His entire body exploded into a mist of blood.
Qin Tian landed atop an Azure Cloud Sect palace, bearing the awe-inspiring might of one who had slain a Four Extremes expert.
When Qin Tian spoke, no one dared disobey. "Where is Big Beard?"
A burly man in his forties shakily emerged from the crowd. His beard resembled a lion's mane, and his face looked vicious.
"This lowly one is here!"
He knelt on the ground, unable to stop trembling.
"I heard you obtained a piece of ancient jade," Qin Tian said.
"Yes, yes! This lowly one will offer it to you right away!"
Chen Big Beard hurriedly retrieved a piece of ancient jade from his Bitter Sea. Qin Tian raised his hand and drew it over.
Maps of mountains, rivers, and underground veins were carved into the ancient jade. Who knew how many generations it had been passed down through? The markings had nearly worn away.
There was a character on it. Though almost illegible, it could still be discerned upon careful examination: "Emperor."
"Good."
Qin Tian nodded and lowered his gaze, sweeping it over them. His Temporal-Spatial Eyes saw through their pasts.
He slew every last person who had committed sins. Their bodies twisted one after another, bursting into flowers of blood. By the end, few people remained in the entire Azure Cloud Sect.
After gathering the treasures there, Qin Tian departed directly for his next destination.
This tiny region truly held quite a few treasures. If word got out, even factions possessing Extreme Dao weapons would drool over them.
The Lihuo Divine Furnace alone was enough to spark a war between holy lands.
Even Extreme Dao Emperor Weapons would be deployed. The Solar Divine Furnace would surely hang high in the firmament to reclaim the Lihuo Divine Furnace.
In the past, Divine King Jiang Taixu had become trapped inside Purple Mountain precisely because he had gone searching for the Lihuo Divine Furnace.
"The next destination."
Qin Tian took a step, merged into the void, and crossed a hundred li.
The Mysterious Moon Cave lay nine hundred li from the Azure Cloud Sect, likewise within an oasis. Ancient caves and secluded ravines abounded there, and a peculiar, mysterious aura lingered in the surroundings, imperishable through the ages.
Qin Tian sensed that aura as soon as he arrived. It was familiar; he had encountered it before.
Cultivators were already waiting outside the entrance and respectfully welcomed Qin Tian inside.
The Mysterious Moon Cave was not far from either the Lihuo Sect or the Azure Cloud Sect. Qin Tian's display of divine might, moving mountains and demolishing temples, had thoroughly frightened its people.
Seeing this harbinger of calamity arrive, they hurried out to welcome him, not daring to show the slightest neglect, lest a moment of displeasure lead him to raze the Mysterious Moon Cave as well.
Qin Tian spoke directly. "I heard the Mysterious Moon Cave has a mysterious ancient cave with words carved by a sage of old."
"Yes, yes. Please follow me," the greeter hastily replied, leading Qin Tian toward the ancient cave.
Ahead stood a fractured stone mountain with an ancient cave within it. Time was like water, space like sound, as though both were flowing out from there.
"The Dao is boundless, beyond knowing; the heart is free and unfettered; all things unfold, with nothing amiss."
Beside the ancient cave, only these three lines remained on the cliff face. The writing had nearly worn away, and no one knew how long it had existed. Yet a supreme resonance lingered within it. This place gave a sense of ages flowing endlessly, a sense of having no beginning.
Yet the words had nearly worn away, approaching their end.
From no beginning to no end, forever without limit-an extraordinary resonance of eternal ages lay within them.
He took out the Emperor Jade. The fragment in his hand was warm, crystalline beneath the sunlight and glowing with rosy radiance.
I'll give it a try and see what good fortune I can bring forth.
Qin Tian enacted the Wushi Technique here, seeking to push the Dao resonance of the words, worn down by time, back to its starting point-the origin of everything.
Rumble!
Dazzling light of time erupted, actually resonating with the Dao resonance lingering in the words.
Waves of time rippled like water.
A silvery-white halo rose in Qin Tian's left eye, and he seemed to see a majestic man with his back turned to all living beings.
The man appeared to be in his twenties, his bearing striking and imposing. His black hair was thick, his wise eyes capable of seeing through everything. With his every movement, the myriad Daos of heaven and earth trembled and wailed for him. His splendor was unmatched in the world.
Suddenly, everything shattered. The broken painted scroll ultimately scattered on the wind, leaving little behind.
Qin Tian opened his eyes, and light of time actually rippled within them.
His originally silvery-white eye grew even more brilliant, giving a sense of having neither beginning nor end, illuminating eternity.
A divine ability was quietly planted in his heart. It sprouted, grew, and finally bore fruit as a supreme divine art.
"Passing Years?" Qin Tian murmured in puzzlement.
It differed from the Wushi Technique Qin Tian had learned from the young Wushi in the past.
This was a true emperor-level killing art. It erased the ages and brought calamity upon the mortal beings of the world, using the Years Heavenly Blade to cut away their lifespans.
After Qin Tian comprehended Passing Years, the writing on the ancient cave grew even more indistinct.
That peculiar aura also dwindled to almost nothing.
"Next... I'll go have some proper fun with the Yaoguang Holy Land." Brilliant light blazed in Qin Tian's eyes.
"I will obtain the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art!"
His battle with that Four Extremes expert had made him realize that a mortal physique ultimately had its limits. Thus, he would no longer settle for a mortal physique.
Even now, fighting across a single major realm was already this difficult.
What, then, of the future? Crossing eight minor realms was merely ordinary; only those who could cross nine or more truly possessed the potential to become an emperor.
To step into the divine forbidden domain, he could not have even the slightest weakness. He needed strength in every aspect; his essence, qi, and spirit all had to reach their peak.
But Qin Tian did have shortcomings.
His physique and primordial spirit, for instance, were both quite ordinary.
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