Chapter 192: The Nonexistent Ninth Level

As the mist before him surged, Lin Qing's mind also received two pieces of information.

【You have entered Island 021. One opportunity has been consumed. Four remain.】

【While within the island's boundaries, exiting the Second Cosmic Net will expel you from the island.】

The next moment, Lin Qing's vision cleared abruptly.

Inside this vast air island stood countless sharp, blade-like peaks, each scattered with numerous ancient, weathered weapons, all appearing heavily damaged.

This sight reminded Lin Qing of the air island where he had once attempted the Weapon Master Divine Art trial.

Last time, it had been a desolate, ruined ancient battlefield, also littered with ancient weapons.

But back then, he had only learned the second Divine Art—"Spinning Stars"—and only one form, capable only of forming a spinning star using Sixth-Level energy; deeper transmissions were absent.

But this middle-tier air island was different.

Theoretically, within this island, one could obtain the complete transmission of this lineage's Divine Art!

——Provided one could pass the trial.

"Ninety-nine peaks. Pass them all to trigger the full transmission."

Lin Qing hovered in midair, his gaze sweeping over the island's peaks, a faint smile touching his lips, "But… I don't need to."

According to the information obtained from the Vacuum Great Tomb, this Island 021 was specifically designed as a transmission trial for the fourth army lord of the LinYuan Realm, "Feng Xue."

Passing the ninety-nine peaks was a trial meant for outsiders.

But during the Original Life Stage, anyone who mastered one of the Three Divine Arts qualified to become Feng Xue's nominal disciple.

No trial through the peaks was required—they could directly learn the other two Divine Arts.

"Spinning Stars!"

Streams of light shot from Lin Qing's body, rapidly colliding and linking, swirling in an odd pattern to form a tiny, wildly spinning star.

As the Spinning Stars Divine Art manifested within the island, every ancient weapon on every peak began to tremble slightly, as if sensing a shared origin, simultaneously emitting a chilling, resonant hum.

At that moment—

"Sssssssss—"

From the summits of all ninety-nine peaks, beams of light shot upward, converging in midair to form a man with blood-red hair.

Lin Qing's eyes lit up.

The blood-red-haired man was precisely the one who had taught him the Divine Art in the transmission.

"Remarkable…"

A sigh escaped the blood-red-haired man as he floated gently before Lin Qing, studying him with a complex gaze, murmuring, "Given your origins, to have truly mastered Spinning Stars is truly impressive."

Lin Qing said nothing.

In a 1.8-level civilization like Yuan Chen, a genius capable of mastering a Divine Art emerged only once every tens of thousands of years.

Earth wasn't even a Level One civilization; mastering a powerful Divine Art was exceedingly rare.

Lin Qing spoke: "Senior, are you… Feng Xue?"

The blood-red-haired man slowly shook his head. "I am merely an intelligent lifeform left behind by my master, modeled after his memories and appearance—not him. And after all these years, my master is surely…"

He did not elaborate, only sighed.

Lin Qing's heart stirred, and he asked: "Didn't Senior Feng Xue reach the state of immortality?"

His own Tenth-Level ability had rendered him nearly immortal.

And this Fourth Army Lord of the LinYuan Realm, Senior Feng Xue—given that a Level Three civilization had built an entire island to preserve his transmission—he should surely have achieved immortality.

"Without external factors, yes, he would be immortal."

The blood-red-haired man sighed. "But at my master's level, living peacefully is impossible."

He shook his head, studying Lin Qing. "Since you've mastered one of the Three Divine Arts, according to my master's rules, you may now receive the other two, along with their subsequent transmissions."

Lin Qing nodded slightly. "Can these three Divine Arts be combined? Is there a transmission for their fusion?"

"There is—but it is the core transmission," said the blood-red-haired man. "Only a direct disciple of the master may learn it."

"Direct disciple?" Lin Qing asked. "What are the requirements?"

The blood-red-haired man said: "My master's rule is simple: defeat the three puppets he left behind, prove your strength, and you qualify as his direct disciple."

Lin Qing pondered. "Just defeating them is enough? Any method?"

"Any method," the blood-red-haired man nodded.

Within the Second Cosmic Net's island boundaries, no external tools may be used—only one's own strength counts.

Lin Qing nodded slightly. "Then I have only one move left. Let me demonstrate it for you—if even this fails, then forget it."

"One move?" The blood-red-haired man frowned.

Lin Qing said nothing more. He glanced left and right, then floated upward gracefully.

"What does that mean?"

The blood-red-haired man frowned. "A mere demonstration isn't enough. Many Divine Arts can't be judged by form alone—you must also consider…"

Suddenly—

"Boom!!"

At that instant, Lin Qing, risen over a thousand meters high, erupted with boundless dark-gold energy. Terrifying power surged outward in all directions, as if a sun had appeared within the island!

A devastating shockwave spread outward; distant peaks trembled, and every ancient divine weapon lifted into the air, instinctively resisting the explosion.

"This… this is…"

The blood-red-haired man stared in disbelief, his eyes reflecting the colossal dark-gold sun.

The dark-gold energy instantly coalesced into a titanic giant god, its head piercing the heavens, its feet crushing the earth, as if holding up this world, radiating terrifying might.

Then, the colossal World God stood among the peaks, slowly lowering its head to gaze down at the blood-red-haired man below, its voice booming like thunder: "Senior, I have only this one move—if even this fails, then forget it."

The blood-red-haired man gazed upward in disbelief at the World God, murmuring in awe: "World God? Complete form?"

After a long pause, he took a deep breath and said in a heavy voice, "I understand. You... no need for the trial."

In the next instant, that colossal World God completely disintegrated and vanished, re-forming into dark golden energy, which once again merged into Lin Qing's body.

Lin Qing also floated down lightly to the ground.

The man with blood-red long hair looked at him with strange eyes, fell silent for a short while, then said, "I never expected such a genius to be born in this kind of environment. Indeed, in the vast universe, anything is possible..."

Lin Qing spoke, "Looking across the universe, there must be many who wield the World God, right?"

"Quite a few," the man with blood-red long hair said. "But within a Level One civilization, it has almost never appeared. At least, that is my understanding."

He took a deep breath and said, "Since you can wield the World God, you naturally qualify to learn my master's complete divine technique inheritance." Lin Qing breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked, "Do I become a disciple now?"

The man with blood-red long hair shook his head and said, "No need to become a disciple. You walk the path of the Cosmic God; my master cannot help you much."

Lin Qing asked, somewhat puzzled, "Aren't you going to teach me the divine technique?"

"You will understand later."

The man with blood-red long hair said no more; immediately, he tapped his fingertip, and a phantom small weapon turned into a streak of light, flying out and directly entering the center of Lin Qing's forehead.

Boom!

Accompanied by a massive influx of information, Lin Qing immediately closed his eyes, striving to absorb and organize this inheritance information.

Three great divine techniques, originating from the supreme art "Primordial Annihilation" created by Feng Xue...

First divine technique, Condense Star... Second divine technique, Spin Star... Third divine technique, Dark Star...

Upper section... Middle section... Lower section...

A moment passed.

Lin Qing slowly opened his eyes and softly exclaimed, "This divine technique is very powerful. Only a full-body World God is slightly stronger, and it can also be used in coordination with the World God. It is perfect."

Please... collect... 6... 9... Book... now...!

"Of course," the man with blood-red long hair said. "My master originally walked the divine office path of the Cosmic God, even surpassing the Star God level. Unfortunately... the competition on the path of the Cosmic God in the later stages is simply too fierce."

"Surpassing the Star God level?"

Lin Qing asked, somewhat puzzled, "By the way, the upper, middle, and lower sections of this inheritance correspond to the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Energy Levels respectively. Why is there no continuation? What about the Ninth and Tenth Energy Levels?"

"The Ninth Energy Level?" The man with blood-red long hair shook his head and said, "Do you not know that power of the Ninth Energy Level does not exist in the universe?"

"Does not exist?"

Lin Qing was stunned and said, "How is that possible? I possess the authority of the Tenth Energy Level and can sense the existence of corresponding power; it is just that the distance is too great, not on Earth. Moreover, I once obtained an Order-type Ninth Energy Level energy crystal."

Hearing this, the man with blood-red long hair laughed.

He countered, "You should have been to the Vacuum Great Tomb, right? Did you sense power corresponding to your authority there? Even the Vacuum Great Tomb, which serves as the core of the Primordial Realm, does not exist. Do you think power of the Ninth Energy Level truly exists in the universe?"

Lin Qing frowned slightly: "Then what did I sense..."

"What you sensed was the Void Secret Realm."

The man with blood-red long hair shook his head and said, "Level One civilizations always hold this kind of mistaken cognition, believing that power of the Ninth Energy Level exists somewhere in the universe, but they do not know... that in fact, power of the Ninth Energy Level simply does not exist in the universe."

"Then what is the Ninth Energy Level..." Lin Qing became even more puzzled.

"That is power created artificially; everyone's Ninth Energy Level power is different."

The man with blood-red long hair sighed, "The power of levels six, seven, and eight permeates the entire universe and is traceable; everyone learns the same thing, which is why Holy Words and divine techniques are universal and can be inherited."

"But starting from the Ninth Energy Level, it is different. This is a level created uniquely by each individual, impossible to be universal."

The man with blood-red long hair looked at Lin Qing and said, "Therefore, the limit of any divine technique or Holy Word is the Eighth Energy Level. Beyond that, one can only rely on oneself."

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and said, "I thought the Ninth Energy Level involved space power. The Ninth Energy Level abilities I know are like that."

The man with blood-red long hair said, "That is also unique; in the universe, you absolutely cannot find a second identical one."

"Space is like the cornerstone of the universe; there is simply no division of energy levels."

"I know. Most Level One civilizations guess that the Ninth Energy Level might be space power, but this is a mistaken cognition."

He sighed, "Just like the high-level power you sensed; actually, it is because the structural foundation of the Void Secret Realm consists of space fragments separated from the universe. And the talent surpassing the Eighth Energy Level is actually talent regarding space, which is why you can sense the Void Secret Realm. Including the Ninth Energy Level energy crystals; they are actually energy crystals of stellar origins that have merely altered the spatial structure."

"So that is how it is..." Lin Qing murmured.

"If you think carefully, you will understand too."

The man with blood-red long hair said, "If power of the Ninth Energy Level truly existed in the universe, how could the Vacuum Great Tomb not exist?"

Lin Qing slowly nodded.

So... the talent surpassing the Eighth Energy Level is actually talent regarding space?

"The power of the six major factions in the universe only has these three energy levels: six, seven, and eight."

The man with blood-red long hair said, "Abilities surpassing the Eighth Energy Level are actually certain powers of the six major factions combined with the application of space."

Lin Qing pondered thoughtfully.

Indeed.

His authority is actually abilities regarding life, combined with the application of space.

"After the Eighth Energy Level, I can only teach you how to comprehend space, but I cannot help you create a suitable Ninth Energy Level power."

The man with blood-red long hair looked at him and said, "Even... the Star God divine office has already reached its end. Beyond that, even divine office trials do not exist."

Lin Qing was stunned.

Divine office trials do not exist?

No wonder there are only three divine office forbidden zones on Earth. At that time, he thought only the Void Secret Realms of Level Two civilizations possessed a fourth forbidden zone. Who would have thought there is none at all?

"You must understand, even a Star God divine office holder is ultimately a child nurtured by the universe."

The man with blood-red long hair sighed, "Before reaching this step, the path of evolution is at least traceable, but higher... one can only grope in the darkness. Not only is space talent needed, but also help from a divine office, to have even a sliver of hope."

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and asked, "Then what about Ninth Energy Level lifeforms? What level is that?"

"They are called 'Void Beings'," the man with blood-red long hair said.

Void Beings...

Lin Qing's heart stirred, and he could not help but say, "A Level 1.9 civilization is one that possesses Void Beings, correct?"

"That is correct."

The man with blood-red long hair nodded. "A Level 1.9 possesses Void Beings, which is why it can create wormholes in the universe, also known as spatial channels. If it advances further, it can create Void Secret Realms."

Lin Qing understood.

The man with blood-red long hair fell silent for a moment, sighed, and then said, "The subsequent inheritance of this Divine Technique is up to you to create."

"Very well, I will do my best." Lin Qing nodded.

The man with blood-red long hair glanced at him, sighed again, and then vanished without a trace.

Lin Qing was just preparing to leave this Empty Island when he suddenly saw a flash before his eyes, and a black-haired man abruptly appeared.

It was none other than that Empty Island Guardian.

"Senior." Lin Qing immediately spoke.

The Empty Island Guardian did not speak, but instead regarded him with some strangeness.

"What is wrong?" Lin Qing asked.

The Empty Island Guardian fell silent for a moment before he could not help but ask, "Did you truly cultivate the complete form of the World God?"

(End of this chapter)