"You..."
Seeing Zhou Qing appear beside him, Celestial Immortal Chixin wanted to say something.
But Zhou Qing gave him no chance to speak, directly using Heartforce to invade his mind.
Although Celestial Immortal Chixin was among the strongest of the Shaoyan Clan's many Celestial Immortal patriarchs, his Dao-heart had an obvious flaw.
Zhou Qing used his fourth-level Heartforce to subject Celestial Immortal Chixin to the Heartforce Enslavement technique taught by Ancestor God Fantian. Chixin was utterly powerless to resist, and after a moment, a look of submission appeared in his eyes.
"Chixin greets you, Master."
After being enslaved, Celestial Immortal Chixin immediately bowed to Zhou Qing.
Seeing the drastic change in Celestial Immortal Chixin's attitude, Zhou Qing couldn't help marveling.
So this was Heartforce Enslavement...
In the time it took to take a nap, it could change the way a person thought.
Compared to it, the Seamless Gate's methods of controlling others through their souls were downright crude.
At that moment, Zhou Qing couldn't help thinking of Elder Yuan, or rather, Heart God General.
If he possessed such methods at the fourth level of Heartforce, how terrifying must the methods of Heart God General be, who had reached the fifth level of Heartforce, just like his master, Ancestor God Fantian?
It was no wonder Elder Yuan could control so many True God Dao Ancestors of the Three Realms.
Zhou Qing then began questioning Celestial Immortal Chixin. "How did your Shaoyan Clan learn where I would undergo my tribulation?"
"Master, Jingyu commissioned a major power of the Heaven Realm, True Immortal Dayan, to divine it," Celestial Immortal Chixin replied.
"Back then, Xuanji went to the Wujiang Immortal Mansion and used time reversal to see what you had experienced, Master, and learned of your terrifying aptitude."
"After the three of us discussed it, we decided to eliminate the threat you posed. So we sent Jingyu to the Heaven Realm to find a major power skilled in divination and divine the time and place of your tribulation, so we could get rid of you while you underwent it." (The original work mentioned that the time and place of someone else's tribulation could be divined.)
It wasn't the Seamless Gate...
Zhou Qing frowned deeply.
"Who is this True Immortal Dayan, to commit the taboo of divining where someone else will undergo a tribulation?"
Faced with Zhou Qing's question, Celestial Immortal Chixin immediately answered, "He is a major power of unknown origins. All we know is that he claims to have 'no taboos' and says that, so long as one is willing to part with treasures, there is nothing he won't dare divine."
"But don't let his title fool you, Master. According to rumor, before accepting a commission, he investigates the person to be divined. If that person has a powerful background, True Immortal Dayan politely declines."
"The reason he dared divine the time and place of your tribulation this time was that he learned you had no real backing, Master."
"True Immortal Dayan..." After listening to Celestial Immortal Chixin's explanation, Zhou Qing's face darkened.
He would remember this grudge.
"Kill yourself," Zhou Qing told Celestial Immortal Chixin after asking what he wanted to know.
"Yes, Master." On hearing Zhou Qing's command, Celestial Immortal Chixin immediately destroyed his golden core.
Even as he lay dying, he did not forget to remind Zhou Qing, "Master... when cutting weeds, you must pull out the roots. Besides the three of us, my Shaoyan Clan has six more Celestial Immortals."
"Especially our ancestor, Shaoyan Chou. As far as I know, he has at least ten clones. You must take care not to miss any..."
Before he could finish, the life went out of Celestial Immortal Chixin.
"Shaoyan Chou..."
Because his true body was trapped in the World Prison, and Shaoyan Chou carried it with him, Zhou Qing could vaguely sense his location.
This was... the Stillwater Major World...
When Zhou Qing had gone looking for Immortal Wusui, he had also visited this major world.
Its world lord was True Immortal Stillwater, a disciple of Celestial Worthy Carefree.
Although this world was somewhat inferior to the Great Xia World, it still ranked near the top among the three thousand major worlds.
Having determined Shaoyan Chou's location, Zhou Qing immediately used Grand Teleportation.
Without a sound, he arrived in a prosperous part of the Stillwater Major World.
Pavilions stood in rows here, with carved beams and painted pillars, magnificent towers and jade halls. It certainly had the air of an important immortal abode.
Sweeping the area with his Heartforce, Zhou Qing found a blood-robed elder in one of the pavilions.
The next moment, a ripple passed through space, and Zhou Qing appeared before him.
"Who are you?!"
Startled by Zhou Qing's sudden appearance, Shaoyan Chou, who had been tending to his insect beasts, immediately looked alarmed.
Ignoring Shaoyan Chou's question, Zhou Qing used his Heartforce to force his way into his body.
As Zhou Qing's Heartforce invaded him, Shaoyan Chou's face first twisted with struggle, then went blank, and finally became obedient.
"Master."
Shaoyan Chou looked respectfully at Zhou Qing.
Although Shaoyan Chou's soul was weak from cultivating the Eighteen Fiendgods of Taowu, he had lived for countless ages, and his Dao-heart was not something the likes of Celestial Immortal Chixin could compare to.
Thus, enslaving him took Zhou Qing a little more effort than enslaving Celestial Immortal Chixin had.
"Take out all the treasures you have on you."
Without wasting words, Zhou Qing gave the order.
"Yes, Master."
Without hesitation, Shaoyan Chou took a great pile of things out of his golden core space.
It had to be said that Shaoyan Chou was quite wealthy, for even one of his clones possessed so many treasures:
One peak-grade Pure Yang magic treasure, several immortal-rank magic treasures, over a hundred immortal pills, some rare natural treasures, and even one or two chaos curiosities.
But what drew Zhou Qing's attention most was a black stone stele that gave off a faint oppressive presence.
The Black Stone Stele was ninety-nine zhang tall. One side bore only two large, strange characters, while the other was covered in small, tadpole-like writing.
"Seventeen..."
Zhou Qing's expression was complicated as he read the two large characters on the front of the stele.
It was this very stele that had trapped his true body for several chaos cycles, tens of trillions of years.
Inside the World Prison, Zhou Qing's true body, which had been resting with its eyes closed, slowly opened them.
"Finally, it's in my hands."
Although his true body still could not leave after he obtained the World Prison, something on which his life and livelihood depended was best kept in his own hands.
Besides, the World Prison itself was an enormous treasure trove.
Leaving aside the hundreds of prisoners, the seven great techniques recorded on the stele alone were enough to drive the major powers of the Three Realms mad.
But whether he wanted to obtain the seven great techniques on the stele or enter the World Prison, he first had to break through to the Pure Yang True Immortal level.
And there were two requirements for breaking through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal.
First, he had to master a Great Dao. This was no problem for him, as he had already mastered the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.
Second, he had to master an ordinary Dao for each of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. On this point, he was still a little short.
In the simulation, because he had devoted all his efforts to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, he had mastered only three ordinary Daos: raging fire, swift wind, and rainwater.
Since wind belonged to wood, he had already fulfilled the requirements for wood, water, and fire.
And because, back in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, he had once dreamed of becoming a sword immortal, he had comprehended a Dao of metal along the way while studying the Sword Dao.
Thus, of the five elements, Zhou Qing lacked only earth.
And for Zhou Qing as he was now, mastering an ordinary Dao was as easy as turning over his hand.
As for the reason, it naturally had to do with the clone he had just obtained.
After succeeding in the simulation and obtaining the clone, Zhou Qing had discovered that his comprehension had undergone a transformation. Compared to before, it was like comparing night and day.
His former comprehension had been outstanding even in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, so even the slightest improvement would have been extremely precious.
But now, Zhou Qing felt that his comprehension had undergone an earth-shaking change.
Could it be because this clone came from the Three Realms, and the world heart of the Three Realms was Autarch Awakener's Divine Crystal?
Zhou Qing silently speculated.