Chapter 712: Qin Qian, Li Yuan, and the Five Dragon Immortal (Combined)

Hmm~

Starlight wove together, swirling around his body, transforming into all manner of characters.

"An inner disciple?"

He only glanced casually. Qin Qian reached out and grabbed this ball of starlight into a robe draped over his body, clearly no stranger to the rules of the Combat Platform.

"What a terrifying creation this is, this Grand Void Divine Realm…"

Qin Qian was naturally not entering the Combat Platform for the first time.

In fact, since the moment of his birth, he had already begun coming into contact with all manner of intelligence about the Present World, and the Grand Void Divine Realm was naturally the top priority.

Qin Qian still remembered to this day the sighs of those old fellows.

One Epoch ago, compared to the cultivators of the various realms of Opening Gui Xu who had grown up amid blood and fire, Present World cultivators—even true inheritors of the Weitian Dao Sect—were far inferior in combat methods.

It was not until the Grand Void Divine Realm appeared that the situation suddenly reversed.

"How utterly harsh are the environments of Tian Mo Fa Jie and Wu Shen Fa Jie? Almost every cultivator is born into slaughter; any cultivator who can reach the Sixth Realm has not personally endured tens of thousands of battles?"

"But in this Grand Void Divine Realm, what do ten thousand battles amount to?"

"I wonder if the 'Ten Thousand Gods Realm' forged by the Sovereigns of the Nine Realms of Opening Gui Xu before was ever this miraculous…"

Qin Qian took a deep breath, suppressing the pounding in his heart. He knew well the terror of Dao Lords; myriad thoughts rose and perished, and he did not dare let any linger for more than an instant.

Even though from the moment of his birth he had been a true human cultivator.

Right, I am human…

The moment this thought arose, Qin Qian was instantly alarmed and slashed it out: "No, I am not a human cultivator, I am the Heavenly Heart Projection of Bei Chen Fa Jie!"

Right, I am the Heaven of Bei Chen!

"Qian, you were born from the Heavenly Heart Projection, transcending the mundane, destined to become a Dao Lord—no, an existence that surpasses a Dao Lord!"

"What Dao Lords or Bodhisattvas, what Heavenly Sovereigns or Buddhas…"

"Intelligence has come from the seniors hidden in the Present World: the Weitian Dao Sect is going to establish a Divine Dynasty anew, and only you can contend with the chosen ones of the various realms for that throne of Divine Emperor…"

"Divine Emperor…"

With a tremendous 'Boom—', the surging miscellaneous thoughts in Qin Qian's heart were cut off, and he focused his gaze.

He saw in the distance a streak of divine light suddenly appear, falling from the heavens onto a mountaintop, transforming into a Daoist wearing a Dong Shan Xuan Fa robe.

Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be merely a small cultivator whose Third Realm was not yet complete…

"Well, after all, it is the lowest rank."

Qin Qian was not disappointed either.

He had never taken this person seriously to begin with. The reason he fought from low to high was merely to follow what the old fellows had taught: stability first.

His first objective upon entering Mount Mount Dongxuan was to defeat that Yu Yu Wangxian!

"I am, after all, of Dao Lord caliber!"

The moment this thought arose, myriad wondrous scenes suddenly appeared behind Qin Qian—immortal light interwoven, ten thousand auspicious rays, crossing and interweaving, transforming into a vast and profound starry sky diagram.

Within the starry sky, dragons and serpents swam, head-to-tail linked, ineffably mysterious.

"Still a body cultivator?"

The moment the wondrous scene appeared behind him, Qin Qian saw the Daoist atop the distant mountain stride forward, raise his hand, and across ten thousand miles, throw a punch.

"A mere Third Realm cultivator—what achievement can body cultivation amount to…"

"Bang!"

Before the thought had even flashed through Qin Qian's mind, he felt his vision suddenly go black.

In that instant, it was as if all five of his senses had vanished for a moment.

In his daze, he felt heaven and earth grow dim, with only a single punch crossing the sky, like a great sun traversing the heavens, blooming with an indescribably dazzling brilliance.

"What…"

Qin Qian came to his senses with a start. The ten-thousand-mile river of stars behind him, along with the true form of the linked-tail coiling dragon, had actually been blasted apart by a single punch!

"Rumble rumble rumble!"

After the star curtain shattered and the true form dispersed, only then did thunderous booming like a stellar explosion crash forth.

"Puh!"

The light and shadow before his eyes shattered.

"I'm dead…"

Qin Qian staggered, a momentary daze in his eyes.

The Weitian Martial Stage was more real than the Combat Platform; he had almost believed he had truly died!

"No, no, that's not right!"

Forcing himself back from his daze, Qin Qian's eyes blazed: "Despicable human cultivator, taking advantage of my footing being unsteady, actually launched a sneak attack, a sneak attack!"

In that instant, the cultivator named Li Yuan had, at the same time as his frontal punch destroyed Qin Qian's coiling dragon true form, also landed a punch on him from behind!

"The old fellows were right, Present World cultivators are far too cunning…"

Taking a deep breath, Qin Qian selected this person once more, secretly resolving that this time he would definitely strike first.

……

Half a moment later.

"I'm dead again…"

The twenty-ninth time exiting the Combat Platform, Qin Qian was somewhat dumbfounded.

"This, no, that's not right."

After quite a while, Qin Qian's eyes gradually cleared. He looked at the Record Board; at the top was Yu Yu Wangxian—no mistake.

For a moment, he even suspected that this Record Board ranked names in reverse…

"A man like this, and he's only ranked at the very bottom?!"

Recalling the thirty crushing defeats he had suffered despite giving it everything he had, Qin Qian felt his very heart tremble, and for a moment doubted whether he truly possessed the qualifications of a Dao Sovereign.

Losing to Yu Yu Wangxian would have been forgivable — that man was ferociously ruthless to the extreme, wielding a single Immortal-Slaying Sword that had even slain cultivators of the sixth realm.

Yet this was merely the lowest-ranked cultivator on Mount Mount Dongxuan!

"This man…"

Qin Qian pressed his brow, feeling even his Shen Jing tremble.

The cultivator named Li Yuan possessed an extraordinarily powerful body-refining cultivation and was extremely adept in the Way of Slaughter; after thirty consecutive crushing defeats, Qin Qian felt his Dao-heart wavering.

Had this not been within the Grand Void Divine Realm, he would have been killed thirty times over!

"It's because I severed my second-realm cultivation, and now have only just barely forged my Divine Palace — my realm is far inferior to his…"

Qin Qian stood frozen for a good while, then gritted his teeth and opened the Record Tablet Rankings.

"Try a different opponent?"

The thought had barely risen in Qin Qian's mind before he himself cut it down.

He was the Brother Tianying Manifestation of Bei Chen Fa Jie, a supreme prodigy born with the qualifications of a Dao Sovereign — would avoiding battle not be tantamount to admitting he feared the man?

"I don't even fear 'Absolute God Mechanism,' 'Immortal-Slaying King Diagram,' or 'Brahma Emperor Shakra' — how could I fear him?"

Qin Qian's gaze turned cold and fierce as he once again selected this man.

Half a moment later.

Recalling those ferociously violent and brutal Quan Yin, Qin Qian felt his mind buzzing, his voice even turning hoarse:

"…My realm is not as high as his."

After a brief pause, he exited the Martial Arts Platform, feeling he should focus on cultivation and properly investigate this man's intelligence.

"Li Yuan!"

……

……

Li Yuan was locked in a bitter battle.

Within a great hall like a sea of stars, he darted like lightning, evading the wildly surging Origin Divine Light, feeling even his Ni Wan Shen Jing tremble and groan.

"Boom!"

High above, a towering divine city blazed with divine radiance — at first glance, it resembled an utterly dazzling sun.

But the light this 'Divine City' emitted was far too terrifying; Li Yuan had been struck once, and had it not been for the augmentation of the Dark Vine Tree upon his body, he would likely have been defeated on the spot.

Even more terrifying was that those beams of divine light did not dissipate upon landing, but instead transformed into Dark Vine Tree Demons — Dark Vine Tree Demons that grew stronger as the battle continued.

For a moment, Li Yuan even felt he was being ganged up on by himself.

"That's way too cheap!"

Li Yuan was so frustrated he felt like vomiting blood.

Even now, he had not so much as touched the hem of the White-Robed Five-Dragon Immortal's robes; that Origin Divine City was even more like a Chaos Body than he was — inviolable by all laws, all laws at its whim.

No technique he employed could breach this city; instead, they would be drained of their essence by it, and used in turn to suppress and slay him.

"This is the third realm?!"

Leaping to evade the killingly fierce Origin Divine Light, Li Yuan raised his hand, and a Dark Vine Tree Hammer pierced through ten thousand miles, blasting a Dark Vine Tree Demon apart on the spot.

But almost simultaneously, the light emitted by the Origin Divine City had already transformed into a Dark Vine Tree, and then, into a Tree Demon.

"Without breaking this city, victory is impossible!"

Gazing at that great city blooming with divine radiance, Li Yuan understood this perfectly well in his heart.

But understanding was one thing — he simply could not break this city; had it not been for the formidable physique granted by the Prison-Suppressing Gu Gu Shentong, he would have long since been surrounded and slain by the Tree Demon horde.

"Thinking of fleeing?"

The thought had barely risen in Li Yuan's mind when he heard the voice of the White-Robed Five-Dragon Immortal.

He raised his eyes to look.

He saw, atop the Divine City, the Five-Dragon Immortal stood with arms folded, his white robes fluttering, immortal light weaving behind him like jade belts, flowing around him — truly like a banished immortal descending to the mortal world.

"Hiss~"

Almost simultaneously, Li Yuan felt a sharp pain between his brows; his techniques, physique, and even his Shen Jing were all cleaved in two.

"When?"

When he tumbled out of the great hall, Li Yuan was still in a state of stunned shock.

He sat fallen on the ground, sorting through and recalling that battle just now; only after a long while did he finally see the reason for his defeat.

Within that Divine City stood a massive stele…

"That stele…"

Li Yuan opened his eyes: "Senior, what is that stele?"

The void was silent.

After a long while, the reluctant voice of the Bronze Coffin Spirit rose:

"Gu Gu Shentong, the Emperor-Grinding Stone Stele!"

"Emperor-Grinding Stone Stele?"

Li Yuan pressed on: "May I ask, Senior, how exactly did this Gu Gu Shentong kill me?"

"The Emperor-Grinding Stone Stele is an untransmitted secret of my Origin Divine Dynasty; I cannot reveal it to you."

The Bronze Coffin Spirit's voice was cold, clearly unwilling to answer; after a pause, it said:

"The Emperor-Grinding Stone Stele, as its name suggests, is the whetstone of the Divine Emperor Your Majesty; any cultivator whose name is inscribed upon it shall surely die!"

"?!"

No, is that right?

Li Yuan held back again and again, but still couldn't help himself: "If there were such a Gu Gu Shentong, what would be the point of the junior fighting on? I'm afraid no one could pass this trial!"

Ten punches to knock down the Yellow Ape—he had thought when he came that he had at least a thirty percent chance of winning.

In the end, he lost again.

Losing would have been one thing, but what he found hard to accept was that the stone tablet was not the only Gu Gu Shentong in the Divine City...

"There is no indestructible Gu Gu Shentong in this world."

A voice came from the void, but it was clearly not the Bronze Coffin Spirit; the voice was warm and gentle:

"Sorry, I shouldn't have learned so many Gu Gu Shentong back then..."

"Hiss!"

Hearing this voice, Li Yuan knew the real person had arrived. His thoughts spun rapidly, and in an instant he lowered his eyes, his voice dropping as well:

"This junior only has one Gu Gu Shentong to protect himself, I'm afraid it won't be of help to you, senior..."

"Ah, you only have one Gu Gu Shentong?"

In the void, that voice also dropped low: "This Emperor-Grinding Gu Gu Shentong isn't hard to learn. If you want to learn it, I'll teach you..."