Chapter 404: The Power of One

Yuan Gong felt it was utterly unbelievable.

He had originally thought that this uncle, who cultivated both future and present rules, lacked dual-rule Divine Lord-level secrets; even with a Boundary God inheritance, his strength might only match that of a typical Duke.

But Yu Gong was a true top-tier warrior capable of rivaling ultimate beings—even if his power were halved, he still rivaled an ultimate being!

So he had rushed over specifically to save this uncle.

But…

Yu Gong, famed throughout all of humanity and even among all races, had just been suppressed in the blink of an eye by this uncle?

The scene was so shocking that Yuan Gong was momentarily stunned.

“This…”

Yuan Gong suddenly snapped back to his senses, looking at Lin Qing with excitement, “Uncle, even Yu Gong isn’t your match?”

“I can only suppress him,” Lin Qing shook his head slightly. “I can’t even destroy this primary combat avatar of his.”

“That’s still terrifying,” Yuan Gong said eagerly. “Across all of humanity, I doubt anyone is stronger than you, Uncle! And you’ve only cultivated for a few million years!”

“It’s not that exaggerated,” Lin Qing smiled calmly.

Defeating Yu Gong was well within his expectations.

Due to his second-generation Void God bloodline, his inner world’s foundation was already several times stronger than others at the same level, and he had absorbed countless essences from the Cosmic Tree’s branches; his World Treasures were all top-tier—this alone granted him a massive advantage.

Moreover, he possessed dual-rule Divine Lord-level secrets and a Boundary God inheritance, neither inferior to Yu Gong’s.

Before arriving, he had taken two excellent Chaos Treasures from the Treasure Vault; one of them excelled at summoning calamities and heavenly punishments, further enhancing his secrets.

Crucially, his mental will was exceptionally strong, perfectly aligned with the “Illusory World Annihilation” and “Heart’s True God” inheritances!

His mental will received massive amplification from his Mind Walker avatar, allowing these two inheritances to manifest even more powerfully!

Taken together…

With such overwhelming advantages, how could Yu Gong possibly be his match?

Even among all known human ultimate beings, none surpassed him—only those nearly equal in strength existed!

“…Lin Qing, you’re formidable.”

Within that infinitely small yet infinitely vast point, Yu Gong suddenly spoke, his eyes locked fiercely on Lin Qing. “You have second-generation divine blood?”

“Do you allow the present Boundary God to grant you countless advantages, but not the future Boundary God?” Lin Qing glanced at him.

He worried Yu Gong might be special in the eyes of the present Boundary God; if Yu Gong went mad, it could become troublesome, so he invoked the future Boundary God’s name as a shield.

“Future Boundary God… actually granted you second-generation divine blood?”

Yu Gong clenched his teeth hard. Though he dared not voice any complaint, his mind screamed inwardly:

“Why? Even the present Boundary God never granted me second-generation divine blood! Why does this man earn such favor from the future Boundary God? If… if I had second-generation divine blood, I might already have mastered the method of opening an inner universe and become an ultimate being!”

Hundreds of millions of years ago, he had already reached the Duke level, back when he was from the Tianyuan Realm civilization.

Over countless eons, he had waited for more than one opportunity to become an ultimate being, yet he never mastered the method of opening a dual-rule inner universe, so he refused to break through and become an ordinary ultimate being.

Once he broke through, his inner universe would solidify; transforming from a single-rule inner universe into a dual-rule one would be far harder than evolving a world into a universe!

So he dared not break through—he could only wait.

But this step was unimaginably difficult; he had been trapped here far too long, yet still could not master it.

He had even lost confidence—unless he obtained Chaos Lord blood or second-generation Void God blood, he had no clue at all. But… he understood how precious these two bloodlines were!

So he had never dared to ask the present Boundary God for such conditions.

And yet this genius who emerged from the Void Sea had received the very second-generation divine blood he had longed for?

“Good, good, good…”

Yu Gong took a deep breath. “I’ve lost. But I’ll see how long you can live.”

With that, his entire body erupted in blindingly intense flames, then burned himself into nothingness—only a faint glow remained for several seconds before slowly fading.

Instantly, nothing remained except Yu Gong’s storage treasure, his Chaos Treasure, and a single seven-colored feather.

“He committed suicide?”

Lin Qing raised an eyebrow slightly, but wasn’t surprised.

After all, he had merely forcibly suppressed and trapped Yu Gong—he couldn’t even fully seal him, let alone stop him from killing himself.

He casually collected Yu Gong’s relics, then turned to Yuan Gong. “Nephew, the Ice Empire’s temporal fortress has been shattered. Guard it for a while. Let the Ice Empire’s legions gather. After I destroy the other armies of the enemy nations, we’ll concentrate our strength to attack the Yuanchu Divine Nation and the Wanhai Divine Nation.”

Yuan Gong immediately bowed. “Yes, Uncle, rest assured.”

His tone had unconsciously become far more respectful than when they first met.

At first, he had only shown a sliver of respect out of deference to seniority; now, he was truly humbled.

He now understood—the uncle’s earlier words, “I’ll need help later,” referred to this?

“I’m leaving.”

Lin Qing said no more, stepping forward immediately toward the nearest Changyuan Empire of the Ice Empire.

With the power of “Void Phase Walking,” escaping the Rank of Kings required only one step; reaching any other nation’s temporal fortress required only one step.

Had the temporal realms of these nations not been severed and accessible only through temporal nodes, he could reach any point in the Rank of Kings with a single step.

But now, it made little difference—destroying the temporal fortress was enough to enter.

…

The boundless chaos beyond the Rank of Kings universe.

“Yu Gong was defeated!”

“How is that possible? He defeated Yu Gong with one move? Forced him to commit suicide?”

“This… this can’t be!”

“Hah! Even accounting for time acceleration, the Ninth Prince has only cultivated for a billion years, right?”

Though their emotions differed, the ultimate beings of the three factions all stared at this scene in shock.

Who was Yu Gong?

A Duke who could truly stand equal to certain ultimate beings!

If Lin Qing could crush Yu Gong and suppress him so easily, he could likely do the same to them.

“That insignificant little brat from before… now…”

The Yuanchu Divine Emperor’s eyes flashed with icy, lethal light; his aura was suffocating as he stared fixedly at the Rank of Kings, as if he longed to rush in and kill Lin Qing on the spot.

But the universe’s resistance caused by divine nation collisions would last at least 380,000 years!

That meant the divine nation war would not end for another 380,000 years.

By then, perhaps…

“It’s over… completely,” the Wanhai Sovereign’s face had turned pale, as if he had already foreseen the outcome.