Constant Sand Secret Region: Cultivation Successful!

The secret region Qie Qiong chose was the Constant Sand Secret Region.

He had chosen it after careful consideration.

First, the secret region lay in the buffer zone between human territory and Demon Race Territory, a true lawless land beyond anyone's control.

It was sufficiently complex and chaotic.

Human and Demon Race experts were naturally the most numerous, but the Zerg, the Machine Race... and even some solitary Special Lifeforms might appear in the secret region.

Second, there was the matter of treasure: the Time Constant Sand produced here.

The Constant Sand Secret Region took its name from it.

As the name suggested, it was a time-related cosmic rarity.

Wearing a single grain of "Space-Time Constant Sand" could slightly increase the wearer's speed of comprehending the Time Law.

The degree varied from person to person. For Qie Qiong as he was now, for example, wearing it made no difference at all.

But it was also a precious Supreme Treasure material. When refining a Time Origin Supreme Treasure, it was one of the more valuable supplementary materials.

Then there was its price. The Human Race Treasury bought it for six treasure points per grain.

Its purchase price went without saying.

That price was enough to make the vast majority of King Rank experts balk. Even for a newly advanced Universe Venerable, it was worth making the trip.

This also determined the strength of the experts who came to the Constant Sand Secret Region.

The strongest experts here were no more than mid- or low-level Universe Venerables. High Venerables occasionally came, but experts above that level rarely set foot here.

But Qie Qiong had another, most crucial reason for choosing the Constant Sand Secret Region.

A long time ago, the Constant Sand Secret Region had been the territory of a powerful Universe Master—the "Master of Time Nightmare."

The Master of Time Nightmare was a Universe Master who was also a Special Lifeform. He had been born in the Constant Sand Secret Region, so he regarded it as his private domain.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with that, but the trouble was that the Constant Sand Secret Region lay on the border between the humans and the Demon Race, and he refused to join either side.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, the human and Demon Race leadership expanded into the area. The Master of Time Nightmare refused to join either side and told both races not to disturb him. He had even used his superior strength to kill many Universe Venerables of both races.

Naturally, the humans and the Demon Race could no longer tolerate him, and they joined forces to kill him outright.

After the Master of Time Nightmare fell, the humans and the Demon Race fought fiercely over the Constant Sand Secret Region, but neither race ultimately gained control of it. On top of that, the treasures the Master of Time Nightmare had left behind had long since been divided among the human and Demon Race experts who had fought in the battle, so the two races stopped fighting over who truly owned the secret region.

That was how the present-day Constant Sand Secret Region had become a lawless land beyond anyone's control.

Although the rarity known as Time Constant Sand had some value, truly top-tier experts would not waste their time coming here for a little of it. Thus, it had become a gold-rush destination for mid- and low-level experts.

But that was precisely Qie Qiong's opportunity.

The lair of a fallen Universe Master-even if it has already been ransacked, who would dare say nothing was overlooked in such an enormous secret region? Qie Qiong thought silently.

He needed a reasonable explanation for the Clone Technique. After all, he could hardly stay in Chaos City the whole time and then produce such a powerful life-saving secret technique out of nowhere.

And a Universe Master who was dead and could no longer speak for himself was just right.

Although he had obtained the secret technique, he had been unable to use it because there was no Universe Supreme Master's universe for him to enter.

Then Qie Qiong had "unearthed" the secret technique.

With that settled, Qie Qiong hesitated no longer. His consciousness withdrew from the Virtual Universe, and his silver-and-gold figure vanished from his residence in Chaos City in an instant.

As a Universe Venerable, he naturally no longer needed to take a spaceship dedicated to traveling to the Initial Universe, as he had when he came before.

He left the Initial Universe directly and headed for the Constant Sand Secret Region.

After leaving the Initial Universe, Qie Qiong did not pause for a moment before entering the Virtual Universe again.

He had cultivated in seclusion throughout his time as an Immortal, and he had not been a Venerable for long. None of his subordinates had placed a "Divine Kingdom token" in or around the Constant Sand Secret Region.

He could only find someone through the Virtual Universe.

Fortunately, among the humans, there was no shortage of Immortals who earned resources through Divine Kingdom Teleportation.

And with the wondrous tool that was the Virtual Universe, a Universe Venerable only needed to use his authority to search.

A list soon appeared before him, and Qie Qiong quickly fixed his gaze on someone relatively close to the Constant Sand Secret Region.

Marquis Yan Chen, Qie Qiong thought. He was an Early Marquis Immortal Expert of the Virtual Universe Company.

Immortal Experts of this level did not dare enter secret regions to struggle for opportunities, so they could only operate on the fringes, earning resources by selling intelligence and providing Divine Kingdom Teleportation services.

He sent an email with a brief request and soon received a reply.

The message came back almost instantly: Venerable, where are you now? I will come meet you immediately.

There was even a trace of excitement in his tone.

Qie Qiong was a Universe Venerable, after all. For Marquis Yan Chen, the resources he would earn were secondary; the main thing was the chance to become acquainted with an expert of this caliber.

"Very well. I'll transfer your payment first. I'm at the Virtual Universe Company Headquarters." Qie Qiong transferred the payment to Marquis Yan Chen first. Though he was somewhat poor, he had no shortage of Hunyuan Units.

Before long, Qie Qiong saw a figure in crimson battle armor approaching from afar. It was Marquis Yan Chen.

"Greetings, Venerable." He came before Qie Qiong and bowed. "Sorry for the wait, Venerable."

"Shall we begin at once?"

"Let's begin." Qie Qiong nodded slightly.

"As you command." Marquis Yan Chen's expression. "Please do not move, Venerable."

A powerful aura of law rose around him. He looked into the void as an incomparably brilliant light shone from his body, spreading throughout the surrounding space.

The light enveloped Qie Qiong and Marquis Yan Chen, and they vanished in an instant.

Inside Marquis Yan Chen's Divine Kingdom.

An aura of law once again spread from Marquis Yan Chen's entire body, while the temple in his Divine Kingdom formed a pillar of light that shot straight into the sky.

Qie Qiong and Marquis Yan Chen vanished from the Divine Kingdom once more.

Qie Qiong was now in the Constant Sand Secret Region.

As for Marquis Yan Chen, he had already returned on his own after bringing him over.

Before Qie Qiong now lay the legendary "Void Sand Sea."

"The universe truly holds every wonder imaginable!" Qie Qiong exclaimed.

Before him was a slowly flowing silver ocean, but a closer look revealed that the "ocean" was not liquid. It was made up of countless grains of silver sand.

Among them lay the most precious wealth in this secret region: "Time Constant Sand."

According to the Virtual Universe Company's intelligence, Time Constant Sand was born in this endless sea of sand in the void.

It then fell toward the Constant Sand Continent below, drawn by some form of gravity.

After that, some lucky person or expert would obtain it.

Of course, one could also search for it in the sand sea, but for some unknown reason, perception was severely disrupted within the Void Sand Sea. Finding "Time Constant Sand" in the endless sand sea was no different from an ordinary person searching for a needle in the ocean. After all, it was quite easy for an Immortal to find a needle in the ocean.

Thus, the vast majority of experts who came here could only travel across the Constant Sand Continent, searching for "Time Constant Sand" that had fallen and gone undiscovered, or waiting for it to fall naturally.

"There's no hurry to look for 'Time Constant Sand.' I'd better find somewhere sufficiently remote and cultivate the ultimate technique first," Qie Qiong murmured.

Though he was among the stronger fighters in the Constant Sand Secret Region, he was not the strongest. What if he ran into a High Venerable?

It was better to be cautious.

His powerful spiritual force swept over the nearby area in an instant. He found no powerful lifeforms in this area; the strongest were only a few Immortal energy signatures, most likely King Rank experts and Immortals waiting here to try their luck.

But in Qie Qiong's view, it was far too dangerous for them to come to this secret region. Even if "Time Constant Sand" fell, could they get their hands on it?

For example, if a grain of "Time Constant Sand" fell before them now, how could they keep it from Qie Qiong?

Whether they could even keep their lives would be another question.

So, in Qie Qiong's view, they were risking their lives to hunt for treasure.

"Very good. It's remote enough, just the environment I need." Having finished his observations, Qie Qiong nodded in satisfaction.

His goal had been exceptionally clear from the start: find a safe place where he would not be easily disturbed and begin cultivating the Space-Time Destruction: Space Chapter.

His gaze settled on a volcanic mountain range made up of dark red peaks. The natural turbulence of the energy there provided some inherent obstruction to probing.

Qie Qiong vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already deep inside one of the volcanoes.

"This place is remote enough, and because 'Time Constant Sand' won't come here, few experts will probe it. It's an excellent place for secluded cultivation." Qie Qiong nodded in satisfaction.

He waved a hand, and invisible spatial power spread out, instantly carving an independent meditation chamber several hundred meters across deep within the volcano.

He then set up a spatial barrier around it to block ordinary probing.

That way, even a Universe Venerable would have difficulty discovering the place unless he deliberately probed this area.

"Then, let's begin." Qie Qiong sat cross-legged and stirred his thoughts.

The Void Origin Crystal and Annihilation World Stone in his system space floated before him.

At the same time, the Secret Pattern Diagram for the Space-Time Destruction: Space Chapter appeared clearly in his sea of consciousness.

He took a deep breath and circulated his vast spatial divine power according to the ultimate technique's instructions.

"Hum-"

The entire space within the meditation chamber trembled. A hazy silver light began to shimmer over Qie Qiong's body, and as though drawn by something, matter from the Void Origin Crystal in the void was absorbed into him.

"Boom!"

A tremendous force erupted inside him.

Qie Qiong felt his previously relatively peaceful divine power begin to undergo an earth-shaking transformation under the influence of the matter from the Void Origin Crystal and his cultivation of the Space-Time Destruction: Space Chapter.

"Crack-"

Spatial fissures visible to the naked eye appeared uncontrollably around him.

He seemed to have turned into a miniature black hole. Spatial power poured into him continuously, then changed under the influence of the matter and the ultimate technique.

His divine power was transforming!

Yet the process was excruciating, as if both his divine body and soul were being torn apart and reforged.

The change was indeed enormous. He had never felt such pain in the Snow Eagle World.

Qie Qiong could only rely on his will to persevere, guiding the power along the secret patterns of the Space Chapter's first layer.

The divine power he originally possessed as a Space Venerable was vast and powerful, but it was relatively peaceful when not being actively used.

Now, altered by the ultimate technique and the cosmic rarity, it was changing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The first strand of newly transformed divine power was born.

Alongside its original properties, this divine power now carried a hint of annihilation.

A mere trace of its aura annihilated the surrounding space, creating a fissure that did not heal for a long time.

The first layer was complete!

Without pausing in the slightest, Qie Qiong continued absorbing the mysterious matter from the second Void Origin Crystal into his body.

The ultimate technique entered the cultivation of the second layer's secret patterns.

The transformation grew more violent. The spatial fissures spreading around him abruptly expanded, tearing at everything nearby.

Even the solid spatial barrier inside the meditation chamber began to tremble.

The new divine power grew more restrained, while its annihilating property increased further.

The second layer was complete!

After that, the third and fourth Void Origin Crystals were absorbed one after another.

The Secret Pattern Diagrams of the third and fourth layers shone brilliantly in his sea of consciousness.

At this moment, Qie Qiong seemed to have become a silver star of destruction.

The spatial annihilation aura around him nearly broke through the spatial barrier he had set up.

Countless dark silver spatial fissures were annihilated and reborn around him, forming a Space Domain several hundred meters in diameter that constantly shattered and regenerated.

Had the spatial barrier he had set up beforehand not been strong enough, the entire mountain peak, and perhaps an even larger area of space, would have been destroyed by this terrifying power of annihilation.

But within the new divine power, a trace of his previous divine power's characteristics remained. This was precisely the hallmark of breaking through the third chapter.

The Void Origin Crystals before him had been completely absorbed. Breaking through the fourth chapter required the aid of the Annihilation World Stone.

As Qie Qiong absorbed it, it flowed quietly into his body, imbuing his divine power with a destructive Dao aura that would alarm even a being such as a Universe Master.

At the instant of the breakthrough, the aura of his divine power shattered the spatial barrier Qie Qiong had set up.

The aura spread outward.

The fourth chapter of the Space-Time Destruction: Space Chapter-breakthrough!

The transformation of his divine power was complete, and the annihilation aura around Qie Qiong instantly withdrew.

The spatial fissures in the meditation chamber slowly subsided. Qie Qiong slowly opened his eyes. Deep within his pupils, space seemed to be endlessly born and destroyed.

He raised his hand, and a strand of annihilating divine power appeared at his fingertip.

He flicked his finger at the void ahead, sending the divine power forward.

"Hiss-"

The divine power bored straight out from deep within the mountain. This was no ordinary planet in the universe.

"So this is the power of the Space-Time Destruction: Space Chapter's Fourth Layer..." Qie Qiong felt the divine power within him, a confident light flashing in his eyes. "It's worthy of being an ultimate technique. The annihilating property of the divine power alone is enough to pose a genuine threat, even to a Universe Master."

One had to understand that strength in the Devouring World was made up of genes, Supreme Treasures, and the level of one's secret techniques.

Now, with just one ultimate technique, Qie Qiong could bridge a large part of that gap.

One could only say it was worthy of a secret technique created by a Void God.

At last, he had the confidence to truly establish himself in the Primal Universe.

"Time Constant Sand." Qie Qiong's gaze seemed to pierce the thick mountain, reaching toward the depths of the continent and the sand sea in the void. "It's time to explore properly and find a good excuse for the 'origin' of the Clone Technique."

"But before that, I'd better clear away these small fry."