Chapter 730

Meow!! A sharp cry suddenly rang out, and the black chains piercing the thunderclouds resembled claws—before Xiao Yan, the Black Flame surged violently, and from afar, it looked as if a giant black cat had swallowed the sky's thunderclouds like cotton candy.

Then, nothing more. The sky cleared again, bright and pure, the earth revived as if nothing had just happened, and Xiao Yan had vanished without a trace.

"At the Heavenly Tomb!"

At these words, everyone turned toward the direction of the Heavenly Tomb, where Xiao Yan, having just dealt with the Pill Lightning, had not yet caught his breath and had not yet refined the lightning—he was already preparing to open the passage!

Xiao Yan sat quietly cross-legged in the sky, the lightning arcs on his body gradually fading; this calm persisted for nearly half a day, until, as the sun dipped low, strange ripples suddenly emerged.

Countless people held their breath, staring in shock at this scene.

As time passed, the ripples grew stronger and stronger; eventually, a mass of energy foreign to the Dou Qi Continent erupted around Xiao Yan, swirling like gas.

Under the gaze of the entire Dou Qi Continent, the gas surged upward from Xiao Yan's crown, directly shooting into the distant heavens.

Boom—a column of energy erupted from Mao Wu's special fire seed, piercing straight into the heavens, then vanished abruptly at a certain point, as if devoured.

As more and more gas poured into that heavenly space, the sky visibly trembled violently, twisting like a black hole, forming a peculiar halo.

A faintly glowing passage opened at this moment, as if breaking the constraints of dimensional space, appearing before the countless eyes of heaven and earth.

Seeing the passage form, even Hun Tian Di's expression changed, a flash of sharp light crossing his eyes—he could feel it connected to the Great Thousand World!

Although this passage was far less stable than those of ancient times, merely linking to the coordinates of the Great Thousand World, reaching it still required the power of a Dou Emperor to carve a path through the heavens, yet there was no doubt—the end of this passage was the Great Thousand World!

The great world all Dou Emperors of the Dou Qi Continent once traveled to!

In the Ancient Realm, those who knew Xiao Yan was leaving all gleamed with sharp eyes; they had all heard that beyond the heavens lay a world larger and stronger than the Dou Qi Continent, a world akin to the final resting place of Dou Emperors.

Yet only Xiao Yan, who had opened the passage, showed no joy—his gaze grew even heavier.

For the instant the Great Thousand World passage opened, an anomaly occurred within him—he received a cultivation chapter!

It recorded the technique to shatter the heavens!

【In the endless void, ignite the fire of Dou Qi, harness boundless Dou Qi, and with the power of Dou Qi, shatter all obstacles.】

【With Dou as force, with technique as liberation, with heart as form—this is the Dou Body.】

"Dou Body?" Xiao Yan's heart trembled—the word "body" was utterly alien to him.

The technique to shatter the heavens, which even after becoming an Emperor he could not comprehend, was this very cultivation chapter for forging the Dou Body!

Moreover, the technique to shatter the heavens had been sealed—only when the passage to the Great Thousand World opened would it truly manifest, no longer a mere incantation, but a detailed cultivation chapter filled with intricate mysterious patterns.

But Xiao Yan had no time to ponder further—the opening of the Great Thousand World passage and the descent of the Pill Lightning meant the Great Thousand World could now sense the Dou Qi Continent; someone there might already sense his presence, such as Tuoshe Ancient Emperor.

At the instant the passage opened, the Heavenly Tomb space twisted, and a clay coffin appeared—thud—it sealed Xiao Yan inside, slowly sinking into the deepest depths of the Heavenly Tomb.

Not only Xiao Yan entered the Heavenly Tomb—Zhu Kun, Gu Yuan, and others did too. Seeing Xiao Yan follow the plan and open the passage to the Great Thousand World, Cai Lin and the three women surged forward, flying into the Heavenly Tomb and arriving before Xiao Xuan's tomb.

The tomb mansion of Xiao Xuan, once empty, now held a new coffin.

"Don't worry—he's merely refining the Pill Lightning inside," Xiao Xuan said, walking from the cave dwelling.

Hearing Xiao Xuan's words, the three women finally relaxed, exhaling deeply.

Xiao Yan was now effectively within the fourth layer of the Heavenly Tomb—not only hiding from detection, but also gaining time to refine the Pill Lightning and strengthen himself.

Gu Yuan and Zhu Kun exchanged glances, nodded, and entered the control chamber; one by one, massive energy crystals and Magic Cores poured forth energy, and as Gu Yuan and Zhu Kun infused Dou Qi, the enormous Void-Traveling Vessel slowly rose into the air.

Hun Tian Di, the instant the passage opened, had already flown toward the heavens, heading for the Great Thousand World.

At this moment, no one knew—not even Xiao Yan—how immense an impact this would have on the Great Thousand World.

—

In the Great Thousand World, where dimensions converged, countless races stood tall, heroes gathered; each Heavenly Supreme from the Lower Planes carved legendary tales in this boundless world, pursuing the path of dominion.

Yet the Great Thousand World was not the only great world; fifty thousand years ago, a powerful enemy suddenly appeared and erupted into fierce war with the Great Thousand World.

The Great Thousand World named these sudden enemies the Domain Beyond Cultivators.

For these enemies came from beyond the Great Thousand World's universe, and the cultivators of this Domain Beyond cultivated a power called: Source Qi.

On the peak of a mountain in the Domain Beyond, looking down, one saw a vast ocean, waves crashing, boundless emerald waters—yet the ocean floated like mist above the peak, a strange sight, yet perfectly harmonious.

Upon stepping forward, a salty breeze brushed the face, cool and damp, deeply refreshing; one couldn't help but smack their tongue, savoring its flavor.

On the peak stood a stone pavilion, within which rested a stone table, upon which lay a game of chess.

"Nearly fifty thousand years."

A man walked slowly forward and sat down, gazing at the chessboard before him. He was none other than the supreme ruler of this universe, the First Sequence Supreme God.

Fifty thousand years ago, he defeated another Sequence Sage Emperor and became the undisputed strongest; though his opponent was destroyed, the clan's elders fled with the Sage Emperor's embryonic egg to the Great Thousand World, preparing to return.

Fifty thousand years ago, when he attained Supreme Godhood and annihilated his foe, he glimpsed a fragment of the future: fifty thousand years later, the Sage Emperor's son would be destroyed by an unparalleled powerhouse of that world.

Moreover, he faintly saw, beyond the figure destroying the Sage Emperor's son, two indistinct yet majestic luminous forms hovering in the air, radiating light across eternity; a world capable of nurturing three such beings clearly possessed immense potential.

The strength of these three figures was so great, even he had to treat them with solemn caution.

Though he had slain the Sage Emperor and bore enmity toward his clan, the Sage Emperor's son was still from his own world—he could not predict how that world would view his own.

If the Sage Emperor's son was destroyed, and the other world discovered his own, would they choose reason—ending the cycle of vengeance—or harbor hatred toward his world? He could not fathom human hearts.

He would never invade another world—but would they cease? Would all forget the hatred born from the Sage Emperor's son fifty thousand years ago?

If war erupted, facing those three unparalleled powerhouses, how great would his chances be?

The man stared at the chessboard, his eyes flickering with scenes—each image crystal clear; he had already seen the moment a hundred years hence when the Sage Emperor's son would be utterly destroyed, and soon after, a massive tablet appeared with three full names, and three unmistakable figures emerged in the vision.

When the man closed his eyes and opened them again, the chessboard had changed—the previously weak white pieces had suddenly placed three stones, three moves like divine strokes, devouring all the invading black pieces.

Those three white stones emitted blinding light.

This was no ordinary chessboard—nothing upon it was controlled by him; it was cause and effect, deduction, foresight, even fate—he was both the player and the piece.

The man remained silent, then picked up a black stone, his gaze fixed on the warm white stone among the three glowing ones.

One against three, he could not win—but if someone could restrain one, he could hold off the other two; even if the Great Thousand World truly came for revenge, he could defend his world.

Over these fifty thousand years, he had deduced cause and effect, witnessed the fate of the universe, and from the river of time found an anomaly point—if he could split a branch from the river of time, causing the Yan Emperor's enemy to lose in that parallel world, then the Yan Emperor's enemy would emerge from another timeline, restraining the Yan Emperor.

The man stared at the black stone in his hand, his expression torn—unable to decide whether to place it.

"Ah." Finally, the man sighed and shook his head, returning the stone to its place.

Doing so might plunge the Great Thousand World into an even darker outcome. Although the Son of the Sage Emperor's actions were not carried out on his orders, he still could not bring himself to let that world be cloaked in darkness once more simply out of fear of retaliation — he could not do such a thing.

However, just at that moment, a sudden force appeared out of thin air. It instantly enveloped the entire chessboard, and the black piece the man had just placed suddenly flew out — *snap* — landing right beside the white piece that was radiating warmth.

"This force! The Sage Emperor?! How could this be!" Shock flashed through the man's eyes. The Sage Emperor should have been destroyed by him fifty thousand years ago!!

(End of chapter)