"Sister Wanwan, why... why do I feel so... sad?"
Zhu Zhuqing had opened her eyes, but a veil of mist clouded her cool gaze, and her voice carried a trace of a sob that even she had not noticed.
Looking at the girl's reddened eyes, Jiang Wanwan reached out to wipe away the tear poised at the corner of her eye and explained:
"Silly girl, that's normal."
"To make it easier for Heavenly Court disciples to understand and gain insight into the Great Void Technique, His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor deliberately left a wisp of the Void Emperor's imprint in the jade slip."
"Although it's only an insignificant wisp..."
"A Great Emperor is still a Great Emperor. For people like us whose cultivation is still shallow, even touching a wisp of the imprint he left in this world will inevitably leave us affected by his emotions back then."
"Is that so..."
Zhu Zhuqing remained downcast, still curious about the life of that towering figure.
Born in the void, buried in the void...
And that tragic, heroic whisper-"Throughout his life, the Void Emperor was no weaker than anyone"-had crossed endless ages, its sorrow spanning time and space and still leaving her breathless.
"Sister Wanwan... that Void Emperor... why was he so grief-stricken...?"
Jiang Wanwan reached out and gently patted Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder. "Every Great Emperor who attained the Dao once held sway over an era and shouldered that era's heaviest burden."
"The Void Emperor... was an especially unique one among them."
Then she changed the subject, unwilling to let Zhu Zhuqing remain immersed in that sorrow. "All right, snap out of it!"
"First, let me see how much of the Great Void Technique you've comprehended."
At her words, Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath, seemingly coming back to herself at last.
She nodded at Jiang Wanwan and closed her eyes. The scriptures, Dao resonances, and formulas just imprinted in her mind flowed through it like water.
The Great Void Technique... merge with the void, vanish without a shadow...
She recited inwardly, and the power within her that had originally been called "Soul Power" on the Douluo Continent...
At this moment, under the quiet circulation of the Dark Moon Divine Maiden Art, it had begun to undergo some mysterious transformation.
Although still weak, it had already acquired a trace of "spirituality" more attuned to this world.
Humm-
Zhu Zhuqing formed a profound hand seal with both hands, her movements somewhat unpracticed.
But in the next moment, ripples like those on water spread through the space around her.
Then Zhu Zhuqing's figure actually blurred and turned transparent in an instant, merging into the surrounding time and space.
Although she was still far from the realm of "merging with the void, leaving no trace"...
For someone who had only just encountered this technique, her speed in taking the first steps was already quite remarkable.
Whoosh!
Zhu Zhuqing's figure vanished from where she stood.
The next instant, she actually appeared at the other end of the immortal palace corridor, three zhang away!
However-
"Ugh..."
She had barely steadied herself when a powerful wave of weakness washed over her. Her already meager Soul Power and true essence were almost instantly drained, leaving her face as pale as paper.
"I... I succeeded?"
Yet an incredulous light of delighted surprise burst from Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.
She had really done it!
Crossing space-even if it was only three short zhang-was a domain that, in her original world, probably only spatial Soul Masters at the Titled Douluo level could touch!
Moreover, Zhu Zhuqing could feel that this Great Void Technique was by no means simple teleportation. That mysterious insight into merging with the void had made her perception of the surrounding space much clearer.
"That doesn't count as truly 'succeeding.'"
Jiang Wanwan's voice rang out, carrying a measure of amusement as well as seriousness.
"Do you think you're some heaven-sent genius who can master something as soon as you learn it?"
"The only reason you could reach the threshold so quickly is that His Majesty personally compiled and imprinted this jade slip of the Great Void Technique. Its Dao resonances are clear, and its principles point straight to the source, making it better suited for beginners to comprehend than the Ji Family's original ancient inheritance scripture."
"That's why you were able to barely get started so quickly. Guard against arrogance and impatience!"
Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy.
Hiss-!
The entire courtyard was deathly silent.
Everyone, whether Tang San, Dai Mubai, Oscar and the others, or Yu Xiaogang, who had always appeared so "composed," now stared wide-eyed at the sky screen, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.
"A spell... not a Soul Skill..."
Tang San's voice was dry. "That absolutely wasn't a Soul Skill! How could a Soul Skill... how could it let someone truly merge into space?"
Ma Hongjun's face had gone even paler. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something like "nothing special"...
But the words reached his lips and simply would not come out.
However arrogant he was, he could still see what Zhu Zhuqing's move just now meant.
It was certainly not something his Phoenix Fire Line could compare to, nor even any Soul Skill he currently knew of!
Oscar swallowed and asked Yu Xiaogang quietly:
"Grandmaster... is this Great Void Technique... much stronger than Soul Skills?!"
Yu Xiaogang's expression shifted, but he said nothing, because he did not understand it at all either. Still, he vaguely sensed:
This goes far beyond being stronger... they're fundamentally on two different levels!
Soul Skills were essentially imitations and releases of the abilities of the Soul Beasts within Soul Rings. Limited by the Soul Rings' ages and the Soul Masters' ranks, their power had an upper limit, and their forms were largely fixed.
But this Great Void Technique... seemed more like... comprehension and application of the laws of the void.
Even though Zhu Zhuqing had only just learned it, this ability was already no weaker than that of an ordinary Soul Douluo, was it?
Yet Jiang Wanwan had said-this was only "barely getting started"!
Barely getting started, and she could already merge with the void... if she cultivated it to a profound realm...
Although Yu Xiaogang said nothing, everyone understood what he meant.
For a time, an indescribable emotion welled up in everyone's hearts.
Envy? Jealousy? Shock? Perhaps all of them.
Tang San clenched his fists even tighter. He prided himself on his extraordinary talent and possessed the Tang Sect Secret Arts, yet as he watched the opportunity Zhu Zhuqing had gained in that "Shrouding the Heavens World," intense unwillingness and longing surged within him.
"If... if only I could go to that world too..."
Beside him, Dai Mubai's feelings were complicated.
Zhu Zhuqing was growing stronger and stronger, and things between them seemed increasingly impossible.
Spirit Hall, deep within the Supreme Pontiff's Palace.
Bibi Dong slowly rose from her throne, the scepter in her hand trembling slightly.
Within her purple-gold eyes, unprecedented shock and... burning ardor surged!
"Spatial power... the true application of spatial laws..."
As a rank ninety-seven Titled Douluo and the possessor of Twin Martial Souls, she also possessed a spatial ability. It was one of her most powerful Soul Skills.
Precisely because of that, she understood what Zhu Zhuqing's display of the Great Void Technique meant far better than Tang San and the others did!
It was not a fixed-pattern "Soul Skill" bestowed by a Soul Ring, but an "art" that could continually evolve and give rise to infinite variations as cultivation rose and comprehension deepened!
It was true contact with and application of spatial laws!
"Just what sort of existence... is this Shrouding the Heavens World?"
Within the Moon-Escaping Immortal Palace, in the Shrouding the Heavens World.
Utterly drained, Zhu Zhuqing had now reached a seat with Jiang Wanwan's support.
Yet that tragic, heroic figure still lingered in her mind.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally could not help looking at Jiang Wanwan and asking softly:
"Sister Wanwan, you said earlier that the Ji Family was a Great Emperor clan. What sort of force is a Great Emperor clan?"
"And..."
"That Void Emperor-just what sort of existence was he?"