Chapter 174

The night was silent when suddenly, a vortex-shaped cloud emitting golden-black light appeared in the calm sky above the Ye Fu, with thunder faintly roaring within it.

Ye Yuanling looked upward; the heavy pressure alone gave him a strong sense of threat. If it were to fully erupt, he couldn't even imagine how powerful it would be! "Grandfather! W-what is this!"

Ye Yuxuan spoke in panic. This was the true power of heaven and earth, enough to destroy everything! "I don't know. Young friend Qin's strength has reached an unimaginable level. It is hard to imagine that a True God could be powerful to this extent."

Ye Yuanling spoke, feeling both the regret of not being able to reach it himself and the relief of having a successor.

In this way, even if he were to die, the Great Xia would have a new guardian deity.

It was just a pity that the Immortal Ancestor's time was running out; he wondered if Qin Jiang could achieve the True Immortal position before then.

If not, it would be time to activate that plan.

While he was thinking, the sky suddenly lit up, and the quiet room where Qin Jiang was located erupted with a dazzling golden light that shot straight into the sky.

"Such dense divine fluctuations!" Ye Yuxuan exclaimed. Even the current Xia Huang didn't have such dense divinity! One must know that the Xia Huang had an entire kingdom backing him; although his combat power was not as high as her grandfather's, his cultivation depth was actually above her grandfather's, infinitely close to the True God peak! Ye Yuanling looked at the pillar of light, his brows tightening. Ordinary Secret Martial Artists or even Divine Martial Artists might not notice it, but he could clearly feel the demonic aura hidden within that golden pillar of light.

It was like a behemoth from the abyss lurking beneath the surface of reason, ready to swallow the reason above the water at any time.

What kind of Divine Martial Art was Qin Jiang cultivating?! Could it be that besides the Vajra Indestructible Body and the Qi King Hun Tian Halberd, there were other Divine Martial Arts? Having three Divine Martial Arts and cultivating them all to a profound realm—this was absurd!

No, the Longevity Sect Master had also said that Qin Jiang had mastered the Eastern Wood Longevity Body, which meant he had four Divine Martial Arts! It was simply unheard of!

An ordinary martial artist who could cultivate one Divine Martial Art to the fifth layer or above was already a rare genius, with hope of becoming the successor to a major prefecture power. If they could cultivate to the seventh layer or above, they had hope of becoming the ruler of a prefecture! And cultivating two Divine Martial Arts simultaneously didn't just cost one plus one the energy; it cost at least three times as much! As for three or even four, the energy consumed grew geometrically! Not to mention that Qin Jiang had already reached an unimaginable level in the True God realm!

Was this a true genius? "Young True Immortal" was no longer enough to describe him; perhaps even the First Human Emperor of the Great Xia didn't have such talent! Deep within the Imperial Palace, in a certain old courtyard, only a bare, small black tree stood, appearing somewhat dilapidated.

It was hard to imagine that there was such a courtyard in the central area of the Imperial Palace, its style clashing with the golden splendor of the palace.

Under the small tree, in front of a stone table, an old man with white hair dressed in black looked toward the pillar of light illuminating the night sky.

Behind him was a middle-aged man dressed in a nine-dragon yellow robe, the colors of the nine dragon embroideries all different, symbolizing the nine provinces of the Great Xia.

In the entire Great Xia, only one person was qualified to wear this nine-dragon yellow robe, and that was the current Xia Huang.

"Your Majesty, what do you think?" the white-haired old man asked softly, carrying an aura of decay, like dead wood buried underground for tens of thousands of years.

"Demonic nature and divinity coexist; I do not know if it is a blessing or a curse," the Xia Huang said, his voice gentle and carrying a calm that was undisturbed by waves.

"He has already killed Fushan and repelled Huai Wang, so it is naturally a blessing. Power itself has no good or evil; it only depends on how you use it," the white-haired old man chuckled.

"The Immortal Ancestor's teaching is correct," the Xia Huang said.

The Immortal Ancestor shook his head slightly, "Bring him to see me after he comes out of seclusion. Perhaps our Great Xia will welcome a new Immortal Ancestor."

The Xia Huang's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, "Immortal Ancestor, do you mean to help him achieve the True Immortal position?"

The Immortal Ancestor was silent for a moment, "I can only gift him the Immortal Dao of the Xia Ancestor; whether he can step onto it depends on himself."

Speaking of this, he sighed slightly, carrying a bit of regret, "It is a pity; actually, what I hoped to see more was you becoming a generation of True Immortals."

He knew that eventually, someone would replace his position, but he hoped more that the person replacing him would be the descendant of that man. The Xia Huang was silent upon hearing this, only speaking after a moment, "It is Mingsheng's insufficient aptitude that has disappointed the Immortal Ancestor."

"I am not disappointed, just a bit regretful, and you need not grieve over this. You are already the Xia Huang, the monarch of a kingdom; you cannot be the Ninth Prince of the past," the Immortal Ancestor said.

"Mingsheng will keep this in mind," the Xia Huang bowed slightly.

At the Ye Fu, the golden-black vortex in the sky gradually became clearly visible under the infusion of the golden pillar of light, and everyone in the Imperial City woke up, one after another walking out of their houses to look at this spectacle.

It was fine for those below the Divine Martial Artist level; except for a few who, like Ye Yuxuan, possessed True God bloodlines, no one could feel the magnificent divine might.

But martial artists who had reached the Divine Martial Artist realm did not have it so easy; that heavy divine might, as brilliant and fierce as the scorching sun, made them feel as if they couldn't breathe.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the golden pillar of light disappeared, and the appearance of the golden vortex gradually changed, eventually turning into a golden-black Taiji.

The rotation speed of the golden-black Taiji gradually slowed down, and a Daoist whose face could not be seen stood on the Taiji holding a whisk, casually raising the whisk and sweeping it downward, like an immortal hanging high in the nine heavens manipulating the secrets of heaven.

Roar—!!! A terrifying dragon roar appeared, and a dragon shape formed from black light rose from the quiet room where Qin Jiang was, opening its mouth to bite at the Daoist, carrying an unmatched primeval aura.

In an instant, the power of the Demon Dragon and the Immortal collided, and the golden-black light scattered like sparks.

Seeing this, Ye Yuanling raised his hand and waved, a golden barrier enveloping the Imperial City, isolating the terrifying golden-black flames.

His expression was tense; although he didn't know what Divine Martial Art Qin Jiang was cultivating, based on his thousand years of experience, Qin Jiang should have reached a crossroads at this moment.

Divinity obliterating demonic nature, or demonic nature devouring divinity.

The two were almost absolutely opposed and one had to be completely crushed!

"Gr-grandfather, is this the power of the True God peak? Are you really only half a step away from this realm?"

Ye Yuxuan spoke stutteringly. It wasn't that she hadn't seen her grandfather display power, but compared to the world-destroying divine might at this moment, it was truly too far apart.

Ye Yuanling staggered upon hearing this, and the golden light shield rippled.

Stroking his beard with one hand, he straightened his posture slightly, "In terms of realm, your grandfather is naturally only half a step away from the True God peak; His Majesty can fully testify to this."

"Then what about regardless of realm?" Ye Yuxuan asked.

"Cough, cough, this... you wouldn't understand even if I told you. If you can cultivate a Divine Martial Art to the eighth layer, you will naturally know the gap between them. If you want to truly understand, you cannot clearly feel it without becoming a True God."

Ye Yuanling spoke with a hint of melancholy; this world was just this ruthless.

The eighth layer of Divine Martial Arts only lets one know that the gap is huge, but how huge it is, there is no way to know.

Only by becoming a True God, or even reaching the True God peak, can one realize how insignificant one is.

(End of chapter)