Chapter 165: Dove Wind!

Time continued to flow ceaselessly; even those mighty beings within the vast universe who could reverse time and space were utterly unable to halt its passage.

And so, a full year swiftly went by once again.

Within the core of the Universe Mercenary Alliance, at the inheritance ground of the Spirit Wind Divine General, inside one of the inheritance divine halls.

At this moment, Lu Qingshan had only been cultivating the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance for a little over two years, yet he had already stepped onto the 8,888th step of the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance.

Such a staggering achievement was something none of the many Marquis Hei Fengwang Undying beings who had previously received the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance had ever managed to accomplish.

After all, since this Spirit Wind Divine General inheritance ground had been established, only a little over five hundred people had managed to reach the 6,666th step, let alone reaching the 8,888th step within just over two years!

Continuing to cultivate at this pace, Lu Qingsshan might even truly be able to cultivate the entire Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance to completion, ultimately becoming a candidate for the Spirit Wind Divine General.

If the Spirit Wind Divine General's throne were currently vacant, he could even directly inherit the throne and become a Spirit Wind Divine General possessing the strength of a top-tier universe overlord!

But regrettably, the main reason Lu Qingshan had been able to maintain such an astonishing cultivation speed was largely due to the assistance of the Enlightenment Augmentation function.

And now, the lasting effect of the second Enlightenment Augmentation function he had activated completely vanished after he stepped onto the 8,888th step.

"What should I do?"

Lu Qingshan stood atop the 8,888th step, gazing into the distance at the slightly more than one thousand steps that remained ahead.

"After the effect of the Enlightenment Augmentation function disappeared, standing on this step I've clearly already reached my limit!"

Lu Qingshan thought to himself: "If I don't activate the Enlightenment Augmentation function again from here on, I'll definitely be stuck at this step!"

Thinking of this, Lu Qingshan quickly looked at the very few points he had left in the chat group.

"Enough!"

Lu Qingshan sighed inwardly: "The points in the hands of the others in the group probably aren't many either; even if I open my mouth to ask them for help, gathering eighty thousand points would likely be quite difficult!"

"Moreover, I've already spent one Enlightenment Augmentation function just cultivating from the 6,666th step to this 8,888th step. According to the rule that the inheritance steps become increasingly difficult the higher one goes, even if I gather the points and activate the Enlightenment Augmentation function again, I'd probably only make it to just over the nine-thousandth step at most!"

"And once this Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance is fully accepted, the inheritor will be affected by a secret technique and unable to break through to the level of Universe Lord! Although the Enlightenment Augmentation function in the chat group might be able to break this restriction, there's no need for me to take that risk!"

"In that case, an eighty-eight-fold soul amplification and a ninety-plus-fold soul amplification don't differ much in power, so naturally there's no need to waste those precious points in the chat group!"

After numerous thoughts flashed through his mind, Lu Qingshan quickly made up his mind!

"Give up!"

"With the Enlightenment Augmentation function at my disposal, I can completely continue to improve my strength in other areas—for instance, accepting another Divine General inheritance that enhances body amplification. There's absolutely no need to waste any more points on this Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance!"

Thinking of this, Lu Qingshan's entire being suddenly brightened.

He then began earnestly cultivating the secret technique recorded on the 8,888th step of the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance staircase.

Although he already felt that his soul had reached a saturated state, accepting this Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance carried no danger, so naturally he had to give it one more try.

Even if he could advance just one more step, that would still be quite good!

……

Just as Lu Qingshan began comprehending the secret technique recorded on the 8,888th step of the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance staircase…

On the 9,999th inheritance step within another inheritance divine hall not far from the one where Lu Qingshan was located.

"This feeling is truly wonderful!"

After fully accepting the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance on this step, Marquis Jiufeng of the Universe Mercenary Alliance slowly opened his eyes: "My current strength has probably increased more than tenfold compared to before!"

One should know that, as a member of the human race, Marquis Jiufeng had naturally also cultivated soul amplification secret techniques.

Yet even though he had already passed the 20th level of the Tongtian Bridge, he had only raised his soul amplification to ninefold!

And now, in just over two years, his soul amplification had already reached 99.99-fold, and his strength had instantly soared elevenfold.

"This Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance is simply too incredible!"

Marquis Jiufeng thought to himself: "My teacher once said that if one could fully accept a Divine General's inheritance, one's strength could surpass his!"

"It's just that although my strength has improved considerably now, there's probably still a small gap before the invincible Marquis level, let alone surpassing my teacher!"

"It seems the ultimate secret of this Divine General's inheritance must lie on the very last step of the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance!"

Thinking of this, Marquis Jiufeng quickly stepped onto the final step of the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance with great anticipation!

On this step stood a hall several thousand meters tall, its outer walls covered in all manner of mysterious law secret patterns, and before this immensely grand hall stood two golden doors.

Marquis Jiufeng had originally assumed that upon reaching this final step, the situation he encountered would be similar to what he had faced on the 3,333rd step and the 6,666th step.

But just then…

"Inheritor, congratulations on reaching the final trial of the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance!"

A calm voice suddenly rang out beside Marquis Jiufeng's ear.

Hearing the voice, Marquis Jiufeng was startled and hurriedly looked around, yet he saw no figure anywhere.

In the end, Marquis Jiufeng's gaze quickly fixed upon a peculiar sculpture in front of the great hall's doors.

It was a colossal stone tortoise, entirely blue-green in color, with a body nearly a thousand meters long, surrounded by hazy blue-green light, looking incomparably mysterious.

"Buzz!"

The instant his eyes met that blue-green stone tortoise sculpture, Marquis Jiufeng immediately felt an immensely vast pressure emanating from it.

That powerful pressure was even more terrifying than when he had faced his teacher's true form before.

That trembling from the deepest depths of his soul caused a trace of fear to involuntarily arise in Marquis Jiufeng's heart.

The next moment!

The hazy blue-green light surrounding the giant stone tortoise sculpture began to slowly gather together in the void before Marquis Jiufeng, then manifested into the figure of a middle-aged man wearing a blue-green long robe.

This middle-aged man's appearance was quite similar to ordinary powerful beings of the human race, except that on his brow he bore a blue-green tortoise-shaped mark.

"This is…" Marquis Jiufeng gazed in astonishment at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

Buzz!

He saw that the middle-aged man formed from countless blue-green lights take just one step forward and instantly appear beside Marquis Jiufeng. Faintly emanating from his body was a strange fluctuation extremely similar to that of the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance ground, causing Marquis Jiufeng to involuntarily feel an incomparable sense of familiarity.

"An astonishing inheritor!"

The middle-aged man's light figure looked at Marquis Jiufeng, then said with considerable excitement: "You have finally appeared!"

"Senior!"

Jiufeng Wang bowed slightly in greeting, then asked respectfully, "May I ask who you are?"

"I am the guardian of this Spirit Wind Divine General's Inheritance Forbidden Ground!"

The middle-aged man's light figure looked at Jiufeng Wang, then said with a smile, "Ever since this Spirit Wind Divine General's Inheritance Forbidden Ground appeared, I have already been staying here! And the meaning of my existence is to wait for the arrival of someone who can accept the complete inheritance of the Spirit Wind Divine General!"

"It's just a pity that over the long ages, no one has ever reached me here! After all, to accept the complete inheritance of the Divine General is simply too difficult, far too difficult!"

"But what I didn't expect was that this time, someone as incredible as you—a super genius—would actually appear!"

"A super genius?" After hearing the middle-aged man's light figure's words, Jiufeng Wang couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

It had been a very long time since he had heard such words!

When he had first begun cultivating, he had passed the internal examination of the Universe Mercenary Alliance and charged into its core ranks.

Although he had never participated in any edition of the Universe Peak Genius Battle or Strongest Battle, the geniuses ranked first in those genius battles were, in his eyes, merely ordinary.

Especially when he was at the Realm Master level, he successively defeated in sparring the top Realm Master-level geniuses of the Virtual Universe Company's Primordial Secret Realm, the Giant Axe Fighting Arena's Giant Axe Secret Realm, as well as the Universe Star River Bank and the Universe First Bank, ultimately breaking through to the Immortal God realm as the number-one Realm Master of the human race in that era.

But as time passed, he increasingly felt that his own talent was very ordinary!

Because among the many titled Immortals and many senior and junior fellow disciples around him, there were hardly any whose talent was weaker than his!

Even though he had diligently cultivated to the peak level of titled Immortal (Law Elder Gan Wu realm) and possessed the ultimate combat power of a titled Immortal, he still did not feel that he was anything remarkable.

Because within the human race, there were also many titled Immortals who had cleared the twentieth level of the Tongtian Bridge.

Moreover, needless to mention the absolutely extraordinary genius Venerable Tian Shi, who appeared once every ten million epochs, even Venerable Mengyue, who had previously broken through to the Universe Venerable realm on the extraterritorial battlefield, had talent that completely crushed his!

Originally, Jiufeng Wang had still thought that he would slowly cultivate like this, ultimately possessing strength comparable to his senior fellow disciple Feng Ying Wang, and even perhaps breaking through to the Universe Venerable realm one day in the future!

But what he didn't expect was that he had merely applied for a quota for the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance with the thought of slightly raising his soul amplitude, and yet he would actually obtain such a tremendous opportunity.

Even the guardian of the Spirit Wind Divine General's Inheritance Forbidden Ground was saying that he was an incredible super genius!

"Is your heart filled with doubts?"

Just then, the middle-aged man's light figure standing before Jiufeng Wang looked at him and continued to ask calmly, "Doubting who exactly built this Spirit Wind Divine General's Inheritance Forbidden Ground? Doubting why cultivating this Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance to the Great Completion realm would make one a super powerhouse in the universe? Doubting why you yourself could so easily break through to this final level?"

Hearing these words, Jiufeng Wang's heart couldn't help but stir.

Although the human race had once had a super powerhouse who had accepted a complete Divine General inheritance, Jiufeng Wang had only ever happened to hear people mention it in passing; he had never actually seen that legendary powerhouse, let alone learned the many secrets of this Divine General inheritance from that person's own mouth.

And now the middle-aged man's light figure before him was willing to resolve his doubts—of course he would be only too glad!

Thinking of this, Jiufeng Wang hurriedly said respectfully, "Yes, this junior has many things he doesn't understand; please, senior, enlighten me!"

"You need not worry too much in your heart!"

The middle-aged man's light figure continued with a smile, "Once I clearly introduce the information about this Spirit Wind Divine General to you, you will naturally understand everything!"

"The Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance is a precious inheritance for cultivating the soul, and every life's soul is different; naturally, there will be lives that are more compatible with this Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance!"

"Among many inheritors, the more compatible one's soul is with the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance, the faster one will cultivate this Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance, and the higher the upper limit will likewise be!"

Speaking to this point, a trace of amazement appeared in the middle-aged man's light figure's gaze as he looked at Jiufeng Wang: "You were able to cultivate the inheritance to this final level in just a little over two years—looking across the entire vast universe, I fear there is no life whose soul is more compatible with the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance than yours!"

"And the information about the builder of this Spirit Wind Divine General's Inheritance Forbidden Ground, as well as the secret of becoming a super existence in the universe, lies within this divine hall before you!"

The middle-aged man's light figure pointed at the towering divine hall behind him, then continued, "Inside the divine hall is the final portion—and also the most precious portion—of the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance! Since you have been able to break through to this final level, you will naturally be able to easily accept that precious portion of the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance within the divine hall!"

"However, what I must remind you of is this: if you choose to enter the divine hall and accept the Spirit Wind Divine General's final inheritance, it will indeed allow you to become a super powerhouse in the vast universe in an extremely short time, but from then on you will be affected by a secret technique and will never again be able to break through to a higher realm!"

"So whether you are willing to accept the inheritance, you must still consider it clearly yourself first!"

"Once the inheritance is accepted, one can never again advance to the highest realm?"

Hearing these words from the middle-aged man's light figure, Jiufeng Wang couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

But on second thought, he quickly felt relieved again.

After all, the Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance could allow a titled Immortal to step into the Seven-Star Hegemon level in a short time; naturally, it could not be without any price!

And being affected by the secret technique, forever unable to break through to a higher realm, was the price he would have to pay!

To be honest, if this had been when Jiufeng Wang had just broken through to become an Immortal, he would still have hesitated somewhat when facing this choice.

After all, back then, having cultivated for only three million years, he was absolutely brimming with confidence, feeling that he would surely be able to clear the twentieth level of the Tongtian Bridge within ten million years, then step into the Universe Venerable realm within twenty million years, and even become the most peak existence of the human race in the future!

But it was only after stepping into the titled Immortal level that he understood how laughable his thoughts back then had been.

Until now, more than thirty million years had passed since he broke through to become a titled Immortal, yet he had only comprehended 'Time Stop,' one of the three major branches of the Time Origin Law.

The distance to comprehending the other two major branches, 'Time Acceleration' and 'Time Deceleration,' was still immeasurably far off, let alone comprehending the complete Time Origin Law and stepping into the Universe Venerable realm!

And now, as long as he chose to step into the divine hall and accept the inheritance, he could very quickly become a Seven-Star Hegemon whose strength could surpass his teacher's.

As for the so-called never being able to break through to a higher realm in the future, that was even more not worth mentioning!

After all, the long years of cultivation had long since made Jiufeng Wang thoroughly understand that even if he exhausted his entire life's effort, he might still not be able to step into the ranks of Seven-Star Hegemons, let alone break through to a higher realm!

Since that was so, what was there still to hesitate about?

Thinking of this, Jiufeng Wang immediately said, "Replying to senior, this junior is willing to enter the divine hall and accept the inheritance!"

"Hahaha…"

Hearing Jiufeng Wang's answer, a smile quickly appeared on the middle-aged man's light figure's face as well.

You see, the meaning of its existence was to wait for the appearance of an inheritor who could accept the complete Spirit Wind Divine General's inheritance.

So although it had to follow the rules and inform the inheritor that once the complete inheritance was accepted, one could no longer continue to break through to a higher realm, it still hoped that the inheritor who had made it this far would choose to continue accepting the inheritance!

And Jiufeng Wang's choice at this moment was, for it, naturally the best possible outcome.

Very soon, the middle-aged man pointed at the grand palace behind him and said to Jiufeng Wang, "Since you have already decided to accept the inheritance, you may go in!"

"Thank you, senior!" Jiufeng Wang bowed slightly in gratitude, then stepped forward and walked into the divine hall ahead.

"This is?"

The moment Jiufeng Wang had just stepped into the divine hall, he immediately saw a mysterious point of light floating at the center of the hall.

This point of light appeared to contain an incomparably astonishing might, even exceeding that of the guardian of the Spirit Wind Divine General's Inheritance divine hall outside.

Suddenly…

Whoosh!

Just after the Dove Wind King appeared in the great hall of the divine temple, that mysterious speck of light actually transformed directly into a streak of flowing light, then shot at extreme speed into the depths of the Dove Wind King's consciousness.

Its speed far exceeded the speed of light; the Dove Wind King had no time to react at all!

Hiss!

Before the thought of dodging had even formed in the Dove Wind King's mind, that mysterious speck of light had already merged directly into his soul.

Then…

"Rumble rumble rumble!"

Scene after scene flashed ceaselessly through the Dove Wind King's consciousness, making him seem to witness the birth of the universe, the birth of countless lives, and finally their utter destruction!

Immediately after, a vast amount of information merged directly into the Dove Wind King's consciousness.

And while merging this information, the Dove Wind King's comprehension of the Law of Time's Origin was also advancing at an inconceivable speed.

In the brief span of a moment, the Dove Wind King, who had originally only grasped Time Stop, had already fully mastered Time Acceleration and Time Deceleration.

Right after that, the three great branches of the Law of Time's Origin began to fuse rapidly within the Dove Wind King's mind, and very soon formed the complete Law of Time's Origin.

And just as the Dove Wind King mastered the complete Law of Time's Origin…

"Rumble rumble rumble!!"

The boundless might of the universe's Origin Law descended directly upon this stretch of spacetime, and at the same time a colossal five-colored vortex spanning several million kilometers appeared above the Inheritance Forbidden Ground.

(End of this chapter)