Just as Zhou Qing gained a little inspiration on combining Time and Space, the Time and Space around him suddenly fluctuated slightly.
The next moment, Daoist Sanqing appeared before him.
"Master." Zhou Qing immediately bowed.
"No need for formalities." Daoist Sanqing smiled.
"Disciple, our Daoist Sect can claim seventy percent of the Annihilation Dark Gold mine for itself this time. Your contribution was immense."
Because Zhou Qing had notified him immediately after discovering the Annihilation Dark Gold mine, he had become the first major power to discover it.
According to the rules among the major powers of the Three Realms, it was first come, first served.
Thus, the Annihilation Dark Gold mine belonged to his Daoist Sect.
Of course, keeping the whole thing for themselves was not realistic.
After negotiations between Daoist Sanqing, True God Youdu, and Ksitigarbha, the Daoist Sect, as the first discoverer, claimed seventy percent of the Annihilation Dark Gold mine's output for itself.
The Underworld, as master of the Netherworld, received twenty percent.
The Buddhist Sangha itself had no grounds to get involved, but after Ksitigarbha's persistent pestering, it obtained ten percent.
"Your martial uncle Xiaoyao and I discussed it. To reward your contribution, thirty percent of the Annihilation Dark Gold produced by the mine that the Daoist Sect receives this time will be yours to use as you wish."
"If you need Annihilation Dark Gold, go straight to the Daoist Sect's treasury and collect it once the mining is complete. If you need treasures, you can also go to the treasury and choose treasures of equivalent value."
"Thank you, Master." Zhou Qing looked pleasantly surprised at Daoist Sanqing's promise.
The Annihilation Dark Gold mine he had discovered would yield at least ninety million jin by conservative estimates. The Daoist Sect would receive seventy percent, or sixty-three million jin, and he would receive thirty percent of the sect's share, or eighteen million nine hundred thousand jin.
Added to what he already had in his estate-world treasure, he would possess more than twenty million jin of Annihilation Dark Gold.
That much was enough for him to cultivate the Great Extinction Divine Power twice over.
"That's enough about the Annihilation Dark Gold mine for now." Daoist Sanqing continued with a question.
"Disciple, your Space Power has reached the third level, and your Heartforce has even reached the fourth. When do you plan to have your true body undergo the Empyrean God Tribulation?"
"Taixu has long intended to do so," Zhou Qing replied.
"But as the Great Emperor of Fengdu, I cannot leave my post without permission."
"So I plan to wait until my Second Primaltwin returns to hold the fort in the Underworld before my true body goes to the Daoist Sect in the Heaven Realm to undergo the Empyrean God Tribulation."
"There's no need to go to all that trouble." Daoist Sanqing shook his head.
"Undergo your tribulation in the Underworld without worry. I'll remain here to protect you during this time."
"Thank you, Master." Hearing Daoist Sanqing's offer, Zhou Qing immediately thanked him.
Several months later.
In a remote place in the Netherworld, the true body of Zhou Qing's Wu Xian avatar sat cross-legged on the ground.
Then, with a thought, his Fiendgod Body Refining, which had long since reached Late Void Return, broke through and went straight to Void Perfection.
At the same time, he swiftly refined Essence Liquid, and the golden lotus Primal within his body followed suit, breaking through to Void Perfection.
As Zhou Qing's Fiendgod Body Refining and Ki Refining Path both broke through, the Heavenly Tribulation began to descend.
First came the wind and fire tribulations.
Neither was particularly powerful. Zhou Qing did not even bring out a treasure, instead taking them head-on with his first-level Immortal Golden Body, which was comparable to a Pure Yang treasure.
Then a dark cloud appeared, blotting out the sky and the sun.
Purple lightning filled the cloud, and as time passed, the purple flashes began to rotate, turning the dark cloud into a gigantic vortex.
Then bolt after bolt of purplish-white heavenly lightning shot from the vortex, striking fiercely at Zhou Qing.
As the bolts landed on his body, Zhou Qing's expression did not change.
Their power was respectable, nearly matching the last few bolts of heavenly lightning his Second Primaltwin had faced during the Nine-Nines Heavenly Tribulation.
Forty bolts... sixty... eighty...
At last, Zhou Qing faced the final bolt of heavenly lightning.
It was a bolt of pure gold, without the slightest impurity, and it struck fiercely at Zhou Qing with supremely yang and unyielding might.
Pure Yang Golden Light Lightning!
Sensing that this heavenly lightning was powerful enough to injure him, Zhou Qing stopped taking it head-on and immediately struck out with a claw.
Heaven-Exterminating Claw!
He had not empowered this move with third-level Space Power or fourth-level Heartforce.
Instead, he used the method of combining Time Power and Space Power that he had just comprehended.
That was right: combining, not fusing. Fusion would have meant that he had already mastered the Power of Time and Space.
Though it was only a combination, the mere first-level Time Power and third-level Space Power unleashed might approaching that of fourth-level Primordial Power.
After the strike, the golden lightning immediately broke apart, then dissolved into a shower of golden light.
After he passed the Nine-Nines Lightning Tribulation, the enormous lightning vortex in the sky did not disappear. Instead, it turned into a streak of lightning and plunged straight into Zhou Qing's divine body.
Then, as the golden light transformed him, Zhou Qing discovered that his divine body was becoming ever more perfect.
A perfect divine body...
Having undergone this process in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, Zhou Qing immediately understood that this was the Pure Yang Golden Light Tribulation transforming his divine body.
At that moment, the Heart Demon Tribulation descended as well.
Less than half a month later, Zhou Qing awoke from the Heart Demon Tribulation.
Undergoing the Heart Demon Tribulation with his Mortal Dust Realm Heartforce was no different from experiencing life.
Zhou Qing's heart demon world developed entirely according to his own plans.
He grew all the way from a Ki Refining ant to a Mahayana patriarch.
Then he ascended, became an immortal emperor, and united the immortal realm.
Finally, when it was time to ascend to the divine realm, he grew thoroughly sick of this nesting-doll pattern of advancement and forced himself awake from the heart demon world.
Immortal music rang out, auspicious clouds descended from the heavens, and golden lotuses sprang from the earth.
It was the same familiar process. Under the baptism of the power of heaven and earth, his Celestial Immortal golden core gradually took shape.
But that was not the most important thing. What mattered was that the Solar Star and the Lunar Star in the chaos also sent down power, transforming Zhou Qing's divine body into that of an Empyrean God.
A moment later, his divine body's transformation complete, Zhou Qing did not stop. Instead, he continued by changing the Fiendgod Body Refining method he cultivated from the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens to the Sudden Enlightenment Meditation Sutra.
The Sudden Enlightenment Meditation Sutra was the Maha Sect's foremost Fiendgod Body Refining method. Compared to the crude Fiendgod Body Refining methods of the Three Realms, it was more perfect and made breakthroughs easier, and it could be cultivated all the way to the Ancestor God level.
Moreover, his true body had spent several chaos cycles studying the Sudden Enlightenment Meditation Sutra in the World Prison, so he had long known the key to breaking through to True God with it.
Thus, as long as he switched to the Sudden Enlightenment Meditation Sutra, he would face almost no bottleneck in breaking through to True God.
While Zhou Qing underwent the Empyrean God Tribulation, several major powers were observing his performance from the clouds in the distance.
These major powers were none other than Zhou Qing's master, Daoist Sanqing; True God Youdu of the Underworld; and Ksitigarbha of the Buddhist Sangha.
"Impressive. Sanqing, your disciple has cultivated the Eight-Nine Arcane Art to the sixth cycle, hasn't he?"
Having seen Zhou Qing use his divine body to take the wind, fire, and lightning tribulations head-on, Ksitigarbha spoke in an envious tone.
When he had undergone his Empyrean God Tribulation, he had not been nearly so bold.
Though Ksitigarbha was now a pillar of the Buddhist Sangha, before his rise, the Sangha had not valued him.
Only after he passed the Empyrean God Tribulation did his fortunes turn. He became an important figure in the Buddhist Sangha and was even assigned to the Netherworld Bureau, a vital place in the Three Realms.
Later, when the primordial era was destroyed, Ksitigarbha not only survived but also broke through to True God in the era of the Three Realms and became one of the strongest figures in the Buddhist Sangha beneath Buddha Tathagata.
"Pure Yang Golden Light Lightning."
At that moment, after seeing the form of Zhou Qing's final bolt of lightning, True God Youdu looked surprised.
"Fellow Daoist Sanqing, your disciple truly has good fortune to encounter such an opportunity."
Pure Yang Golden Light Lightning could forge a perfect divine body, and a perfect divine body was one of the requirements for an Empyrean God to break through to True God.
There was no telling how many years this single bolt of Pure Yang Golden Light Lightning would save Zhou Qing in refining his divine body.
Then the major powers saw Zhou Qing combine Time Power and Space Power to block the Pure Yang Golden Light Lightning.
Seeing this, True God Youdu and Ksitigarbha immediately praised Zhou Qing's remarkable talent. He had cultivated for only a few hundred years, yet had comprehended Space Power to the third level.
As for Time Power, they paid no attention whatsoever to its mere first level.
Just then, without any warning, an old man with white hair and a white beard suddenly appeared beside the major powers.
"Bodhi."
"Fellow Daoist Bodhi."
"Fellow Daoist Bodhi, what brings you here? You're a rare visitor indeed."
Daoist Sanqing and the others were all greatly surprised to see the most mysterious major power in the Three Realms appear.
After returning the greetings of the major powers, Patriarch Bodhi fixed his gaze on Zhou Qing.
When he noticed the tendency toward Time-Space Fusion in Zhou Qing's move, his eyes narrowed.
A fine prospect!
He's only one step away from Time-Space Fusion and comprehending the Power of Time and Space.
Daofather Bodhi could not help but develop an appreciation for his talent.
He had many disciples, and every one of them had achieved something extraordinary, but he had never found an heir for his trump card-the Path of Time and Space.
Zhou Qing had cultivated for less than a thousand years, yet had become an Empyrean God and True Immortal and possessed such talent for the Path of Time and Space. It would be a real pity if he did not become his disciple.
Thus, Bodhi turned to Daoist Sanqing.