Chapter 1642: The Primal Seed Reveals Itself

This guess stirred up intense, churning emotions within Li Luo, making the back of his head ache with a dull throb, and the hand he had withdrawn into his sleeve trembled uncontrollably.

Because he felt that he was probably beginning to touch upon Jiang Jiang Qinge's true secret.

And this was a secret even she herself did not know.

If that Sect Master's Light Phase was truly hidden within Jiang Jiang Qinge's body, then her strange, single-minded-to-the-extreme Light Phase problem could also be explained...

Li Luo let out a soft breath, easing the shock in his heart. He did not reveal this suspicion, after all the implications were too great; he feared that if he had truly guessed correctly, it would instead bring Jiang Jiang Qinge tremendous trouble.

Didn't he see that for the sake of plotting the "Wind Fire Phase," this Return-to-One Society had even dragged a divine-fruit Heavenly King like Yin Li Tianwang down personally? Li Luo dared not imagine, if Jiang Jiang Qinge truly carried that Sect Master's Light Phase, just how frenzied this Return-to-One Society and the Great Demon Kings of the Dark World would become.

And while Li Luo was in the grip of such shock, vast holy light had already descended from the horizon, sacred Light energy gathering from between heaven and earth, condensing into great suns of light hanging in the sky.

Unparalleled achieved, anomaly appears.

This was the Unparalleled Marquis's Heaven and Earth Anomaly.

The Light energy between heaven and earth became extraordinarily intense.

Jiang Jiang Qinge stood within the vast holy light, like a deity of Light. At her luminous brow, on either side of that "Sacred Phase Crystal Core," endless holy light gathered once more, gradually evolving into two more supremely sacred "Sacred Phase Crystal Cores"!

Three Sacred Phase Crystal Cores appeared at Jiang Jiang Qinge's brow.

"Hiss, three Sacred Phase Crystal Cores!"

Pang Pang Qianyuan, Lan Lan Lingzi and the others' pupils trembled, for this showed that in breaking through to the Unparalleled Marquis this time, Jiang Jiang Qinge's original three Light Phases had once again undergone a violent elevation in nature.

Originally she had one Upper Ninth-Rank and two Middle Ninth-Rank Light Phases, but now they had directly become three Upper Ninth-Rank!

"Not just that..."

Li Luo murmured to himself, gazing at the three Sacred Phase Crystal Cores at Jiang Jiang Qinge's brow. Between those crystal cores, a sacred light pattern was also emerging, spreading like vines, encircling the three Sacred Phase Crystal Cores.

That was a "Tracing Antiquity Phase Pattern."

"Is this... the opening of a fourth Light Phase?" After advancing into the Unparalleled Marquis, one would open up a new Phase Palace; just as he had opened a fifth Empty Phase Palace, Jiang Jiang Qinge had also opened her own fourth Phase Palace.

And within this fourth Phase Palace, a Middle Ninth-Rank Light Phase was born.

In other words, Jiang Jiang Qinge now possessed four Light Phases.

Three Upper Ninth-Rank, one Middle Ninth-Rank!

Such a configuration was simply terrifying.

"Eh?"

And while Li Luo was marveling, he noticed that the changes at Jiang Jiang Qinge's brow had still not ceased. Below those three "Sacred Phase Crystal Cores," a mysterious glimmer of light blossomed, flowing with an ancient, primal aura, as if born when heaven and earth first opened.

"That is... a Primal Seed!"

Dan Sheng spoke softly, for she herself was also a Primal Seed; although an acquired Primal Seed, she was still very familiar with that aura.

Li Luo was also slightly shaken; this was the first time he had seen a Primal Seed manifest externally. Li Li Jingzhe had once told him that before reaching the King Stage, a Primal Seed would conceal its own divine light—this was a protective method of a divine object obscuring itself. Now that Jiang Jiang Qinge had stepped into the Unparalleled Marquis, this shackle had vanished, and thus the Primal Seed directly revealed itself to the world.

Vast energy between heaven and earth surged forth, devoured by that glimmer of light. The next moment, the glimmer began to grow, ancient light patterns spreading from within, like a sprouting seed.

Ancient, obscure light patterns crept and climbed across Jiang Jiang Qinge's luminous brow, finally extending upward, linking together the three Sacred Phase Crystal Cores and that Tracing Antiquity Phase Pattern.

At this moment, looking again, Jiang Jiang Qinge's brow seemed to have formed a sacred tree pattern.

This...

The more Li Luo looked, the more familiar it seemed. He couldn't help but sharply draw in a breath of cold air—why did this tree pattern look more and more like the symbol of a "Super Ninth-Rank" Phase nature...

The Rank Divine Phase Tree!

Moreover, those three Sacred Phase Crystal Cores were like wondrous fruits hanging among the treetop, circulating holy light, utterly miraculous.

Li Luo had previously borrowed the power of the Ten Thousand Phase Seed to briefly fuse his own Phase natures into "Super Ninth-Rank," so he was quite familiar with it.

Although strictly speaking, Jiang Jiang Qinge's divine tree pattern might not be entirely a true "Rank Divine Phase Tree," it should still possess some similar might and divine abilities.

"The Primal Seed truly lives up to its name."

Li Luo sighed in wonder. Clearly, at such a moment, the Primal Seed had finally begun to reveal the majesty of being the world's First Seed.

The transformation Jiang Jiang Qinge had achieved in this advancement to the Unparalleled Marquis was too astonishing.

"Seems like I've been caught up to again." Li Luo smiled helplessly; he had only been ahead of Jiang Jiang Qinge for less than half a day, and now she had caught up again.

After all, he currently only had two Upper Ninth-Rank Dual Phases and two Middle Ninth-Rank Dual Phases.

Unless he could resolve the problem with his fifth Empty Phase, he might be able to overtake her again.

"She truly is a born Light Heavenly King." Dan Sheng beside him could not help but voice her admiration; such a Heavenly King was the existence the Great Demon Kings of the Dark World feared most.

Li Luo glanced at her quietly. This Dan Sheng clearly had not considered the perspective of that Sect Master's Light Phase, which was natural after all. Although being covered in Light Phases was extremely rare, looking across the long river of time, it was not as if it had never appeared. Wasn't that Light King Qi Huang in the Academy Alliance also bearing three Light Phases?

So if one did not know the hidden premise that Jiang Jiang Qinge had been brought out from the Phase-less Sacred Sect's ruins, no one should have connected Jiang Jiang Qinge with that Sect Master's Light Phase.

"Li Luo!"

And at this moment, Jiang Jiang Qinge's Sacred Eyes, flowing with dazzling holy light, turned toward Li Luo, while her slender jade hand reached out to him, signaling that he could initiate the plan.

Li Luo naturally did not dare delay. With a single step, his figure flashed, and he took Jiang Jiang Qinge's jade hand into his own.

"Can I still call you Little Jiang Qinge?" Li Luo gazed at Jiang Jiang Qinge's sacred, dignified pretty face, and could not help but tease playfully.

Jiang Jiang Qinge pinched this guy's palm, the holiness on her pretty face forced back by him, and she said irritably: "Call me whatever you like."

"Hehe."

Li Luo grinned, then with a thought, the void behind him trembled, a streak of spiritual light shot up into the sky, directly transforming into a massive, towering ancient golden wheel.

At the edge of the golden wheel, ten divine inscriptions seemed to emit endless mysterious Qi, divine light flowing between them, seemingly evolving countless Phase natures.

Dan Sheng gazed at that Ten-Inscription Ten Thousand Phase Wheel, and a reminiscent look inevitably surfaced in her eyes. The Ten-Inscription Ten Thousand Phase Wheel was extremely rare even among the successive Sect Masters of the Phase-less Sacred Sect.

These two young people were truly a pair of peerless prodigies.

And when Li Luo summoned the Ten Thousand Phase Wheel, Jiang Jiang Qinge immediately entered the Divine Perception state, and instantly the two hearts connected as one, sharing one mind and one body.

The Ten Thousand Phase Wheel rumbled into motion, emitting a miraculous sound.

The next moment, majestic, surging "Ten Thousand Phase Qi" poured forth from within.

Li Luo swept his sleeve, and accompanied by an earth-shaking thunderclap, a Sky Thunder Bamboo planted in a five-colored clay pot flashed into view.

This "Heavenly Thunder Bamboo," compared to before, has become extraordinarily massive; its stalk stands nine thousand nine hundred zhang tall, inscribed with countless thunder patterns radiating a violent aura, while thunderlight seeps from within, forming a thunder waterfall that constantly washes over the stalk.

And what was most shocking was that within this "Heavenly Thunder Bamboo," a terrifyingly dreadful fluctuation was faintly emanating.

The moment this fluctuation appeared, it immediately drew the attention of all the Heavenly Kings in this realm.

"Is this... the posture of a Heavenly King?" Even Heavenly King Jiang cast a stunned gaze.

"No, it is a transformative posture contained within the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo; the existence inside is, after enduring a great calamity, attempting to 'ascend the Divine Steps' and climb to the Heavenly King position!"

"Which Triple-Crowned King is this?"

Heavenly King Jiang was somewhat surprised; he had not expected Li Luo to be hiding such a move, which exceeded everyone's expectations and calculations.

Now, across the entire Ten Great Shenzhous, every Heavenly King bears heavy responsibilities and is simultaneously within the calculations of the Unification Society; yet the fact that Li Luo is hiding a powerhouse qualified to ascend to the "Heavenly King position" is something no one could have calculated.

If this one truly breaks through successfully and achieves Heavenly King status, then today's situation would indeed have a variable.

The bronze mask formed by Heavenly King Yin then emitted a gloomy voice: "Lu Xue, Asura Arm, the Great Demon Kings of the Dark World—have they now become so useless that even a two-on-one fight has them pinned down?"

Facing Heavenly King Yin's words, those two Great Demon Kings, Lu Xue and Asura Arm, also let out a cold snort; the next moment, a surging sea of blood churned, and as the rolling blood waves receded, with the ebb of the blood water, something slowly floated up from the depths of the blood sea.

It was a massive blood drum; the drumhead was deep red, resembling blood-stained human skin, while countless terrifying and eerie talismans were inscribed upon it, and the eerie power it radiated was such that even a normal Sealed Marquis powerhouse would lose their sanity upon merely glancing at it.

Blood Demon Drum!

The blood water gathered and transformed into two bat-winged giant claws, which then slammed down fiercely, hammering heavily upon the crimson war drum.

Boom! Boom!

Crimson sound waves raged across the sky and earth, and wherever they passed, the energy of heaven and earth quietly annihilated.

The sound array driven by Heavenly King Zhang also began to collapse at an astonishing speed at this moment, while the Asura Arm took the opportunity to constantly drill out.

Seeing this, Heavenly King Zhang laughed boldly: "Although I cannot kill you, if I am to trap you for a short while, no matter what methods you have, you cannot escape my trapping array."

Within his laughter, a certain carefree confidence was revealed.

The moon wheel behind his head floated out at this moment, rapidly shrinking until it became a bright crescent moon no larger than a palm; from afar, it truly looked as if he had plucked the bright moon from the sky.

Heavenly King Zhang casually tossed it; this wheel of bright moonlight fell, simultaneously transforming into billions of moonlight crystal dust particles; as the crystal dust fell, it covered the two Great Demon Kings, Lu Xue and Asura Arm.

And beneath this moonlight crystal dust, the bodies of the two Great Demon Kings, Lu Xue and Asura Arm, seemed to be sealed, becoming extremely stagnant and slow.

Even the crimson sound waves driven by the blood drum spread as slowly as a snail.

Boom!

And while Heavenly King Zhang exhausted all his methods to hold back the two Great Demon Kings, the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo summoned by Li Luo at this moment erupted with increasingly terrifying thunderous roars.

The aura sleeping within it also, at this very moment, began to expand infinitely.

At this time, terrifying anomalies began to emerge in heaven and earth; boundless thunder clouds surged out from the depths of the void in a mighty torrent, their vastness directly covering the entire Great Xia beneath them.

Compared to such anomalies, even Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge's previous breakthroughs to Peerless Marquis seemed like a dwarf comparing himself to a giant.

A pressure that made all living beings fear emanated from the thunder clouds in the sky.

And seeing this scene, Li Luo could not help but feel his heart surge with excitement; he could feel that deep within the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, the aura belonging to Li Li Jingzhe was rapidly awakening.

This made his eyes involuntarily moisten.

On that day, after the great changes in the Border River Treasure Domain, Li Li Jingzhe, to save us juniors, paid the price of his own demise to secure our safety.

Fortunately, heaven never closes all doors; under the wonders of the Ten Thousand Phases Wheel and the characteristics of the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, Li Li Jingzhe retained a shred of consciousness, and Li Luo, through years of arduous cultivation, finally, on this day, clearly felt the aura of Li Li Jingzhe appear once more.

Li Li Jingzhe's cold and aged face floated in Li Luo's mind; beneath that seemingly stern countenance lay an extremely deep kindness and tenderness.

Back then, the youth who had not yet been sealed as a Marquis, separated from his beloved, crossed distant mountains and seas to arrive at the Dragon Tooth Pulse.

Although there were relatives connected to him by blood here, for the youth at that time, the things and people here were all strange.

Leaving one's hometown and traveling alone to a distant land; even the most resilient youth inevitably harbored a trace of hesitation and confusion deep within their heart.

But upon their first meeting, the old man sitting on the high hall, whose cold and stern expression made others always remain in awe, seemed to have seen through the wandering heart beneath the youth's effort to maintain his hard shell with a single glance.

At that time, deep in the old man's eyes, a trace of heartache that others found difficult to notice clearly flashed by.

Thus, in the surprised gazes of others, the old man slowly shed his usual cold severity; although he spoke little, he used a silent warmth thicker than blood to make the youth's eyes regain their brightness day by day.

For the youth, he truly was a very qualified grandfather.

This emotion was sincere and profound, even so strong that it made Tantai Lan, who had always held prejudices against the Dragon Tooth Pulse, let go of past emotions and willingly shoulder heavy responsibilities to carry the Dragon Tooth Pulse.

Li Luo extended his palm, rubbed the corners of his eyes, and said softly.

"Grandfather, welcome home."