Chapter 353: Ultimate Divine King! Qin Feng Falls! Shocking the World!

Chapter 353: The Ultimate God-King! Qin Feng Falls! The World Trembles!

The galaxy bleeds, and the souls of kings weep in mourning.

Hum—!!!!

Empowered by the strength of over fifty sovereigns, the World-Suppressing Golden Pagoda erupted with blinding radiance, instantly swelling to a size of billions of leagues, transforming into a supreme artifact capable of pinning down an entire universe.

Upon the tower’s surface, the carvings of suns, moons, and stars seemed to awaken, rotating slowly to manifest the terrifying spectacle of cosmic creation and destruction.

At the base of the tower, a pitch-black vortex, as if hungering to devour all existence, emerged to fixate upon Qin Feng’s final lingering soul, unleashing an irresistible force of suppression capable of grinding even a True God into nothingness.

Under that horrific suction, Qin Feng’s remnant soul began to drift uncontrollably toward the vortex at the tower’s base.

He seemed to have no strength left to resist.

Yet, even in this absolute extremity, that faint spark of soul-fire continued to burn.

Any sovereign who dared to draw near was met with a frenzied, suicidal counterattack!

Just moments ago, a Demon Ape Sovereign, confident in the might of his physical form, attempted to snatch Qin Feng’s soul before the pagoda could fully suppress it, hoping to study the mysteries of his divine path alone.

The result: the moment his arm, as durable as divine metal, reached into the suppression zone, it was struck violently by that seemingly feeble soul-fire!

Boom!

Qin Feng’s remnant soul had detonated a small portion of his very essence!

Though that power could not deal a fatal blow to the Demon Ape Sovereign, the Law of the Ultimate contained within it acted like the sharpest of blades, instantly tearing through the sovereign-level defenses on the ape’s arm and ripping away a massive chunk of flesh and blood!

Roar!!!

The Demon Ape Sovereign let out a pained howl, pulling his arm back in a panic, his eyes filled with terror and lingering fear.

Seeing this, the other sovereigns were shaken to their cores, one after another abandoning the thought of drawing near.

This madman!

Even at such a stage, he still possesses such terrifying aggression!

He is truly a peerless monster capable of forging a divine path; his will has been tempered to be as indestructible as divine metal!

The more this is true, the less we can allow him to live!

The many sovereigns were struck with immense dread, yet the killing intent in their hearts only grew more resolute.

They could only remain at a distance, joining the Golden Sovereign in channeling their imperial weapons and secret treasures to lay down arrays of absolute slaughter, sealing the space tight and working in tandem with the World-Suppressing Golden Pagoda to grind away Qin Feng’s last trace of existence, bit by bit.

It was a slow and agonizing process.

But not a single sovereign dared to let their guard down.

Meanwhile, their minds were racing with calculations.

After we kill him, how shall the essence of the Mourning Divine Metal be divided?

And the imprints of his two divine-tier secret arts—if I could obtain even a fragment, the benefit to my race would be infinite!

The Primordial Fire... legend says it is the first flame born at the dawn of the universe, a supreme treasure for perfecting one’s own Great Dao!

He possesses too much... it is too good... good enough to drive any sovereign to madness!

The flames of greed burned fiercely in the heart of every sovereign.

Though they appeared to be working in unison, their divine senses were clashing in secret, forming fragile, temporary alliances that dissolved in the next second due to the uneven distribution of spoils.

A storm of blood and carnage over the "inheritance" was already brewing.

Yet at the center of it all, Qin Feng, held fast by the World-Suppressing Golden Pagoda, seemed utterly indifferent to it all.

He was merely putting up a desperate struggle.

He was going to die.

But he would die with a roar that shook the heavens!

He would die in a way that made this universe remember his name!

He would die in a way that would make these high and mighty sovereigns wake up screaming from nightmares for billions of years to come!

Only then would death be truly meaningful!

Qin Feng!

The grand voice of the Golden Sovereign boomed down from the nine heavens, carrying a trace of cruel, cat-and-mouse mockery.

Do not bother with these meaningless struggles; stalling for time is useless!

Are you waiting for someone to come and save you?

The Golden Sovereign let out a hearty laugh, filled with the joy of total control.

I will tell you the truth: in the last hundred thousand years, a cataclysmic change has occurred within the Eternal Mountain!

Those old fools of your human race, in their scramble for a so-called "Ultimate Fortune," clashed in the most brutal conflict with the powerhouses of dozens of peak tribes!

In this battle, your human race lost thirty Sovereigns! Over seventy were severely wounded! The rest are all trapped within the core restrictions of the Eternal Mountain, unable to save themselves! They won't emerge until the mountain opens again!

The human race currently has only a few active Sovereigns left! Hahaha...

As for those stronger ones—the so-called Sages, Cosmic Venerables, and even those Lords of the Universe of yours, heh... they have long been held back by the secret realms of other universes!

You are an island, alone! No one can cross the endless sea of stars to protect you!

So, give up! Accept your fate!

The Golden Sovereign’s voice echoed through the dead, silent starry sky like a final judgment.

He intended to crush this stubborn enemy’s spirit completely.

However, he was disappointed.

Within that faint spark of soul-fire, he felt no despair or collapse.

Only a dead, silent calm.

Qin Feng understood.

So that is how it is...

Accidents befell the human race at the Eternal Mountain?

Very well.

In that case, my final act—this "curtain call"—shall be without a single flaw.

The Golden Sovereign’s words did not strike him down; instead, they allowed him to finally cast aside the last of his concerns.

This was a heaven-sent opportunity!

The stage was set.

The audience was in place.

And so, it was time to offer up... the final performance.

Want to kill me...

A weak, yet crystal-clear thought radiated from that spark of soul-fire.

"You... are not worthy!"

Before the words had even faded.

An unprecedented aura of destruction, one that made the hair of every Emperor present stand on end, erupted violently from within that wisp of soul fire!

"No! He is going to self-destruct!"

The Golden Emperor’s face shifted drastically, his roar a mixture of shock and fury.

"Suppress! Use all your strength to suppress him!"

Over fifty Emperors, their souls trembling with terror, instinctively poured every ounce of their power into the World-Suppressing Golden Pagoda and the surrounding containment array!

They could never have dreamed that a "dead man," reduced to a mere wisp of soul, could still trigger a self-detonation!

And the power of that detonation was so immense that even they, the Emperors, felt a mortal threat!

But it was too late.

Qin Feng’s will was ironclad.

The moment he decided to self-destruct, there was no force in the entire universe that could stop him!

"Today, I shall use my blood to play... a funeral dirge for you all!"

BOOM—!

A roar, beyond the reach of any language to describe, exploded at the very center of this cosmos!

It was not an explosion of energy, nor an explosion of laws.

It was the absolute disintegration of a "Dao"!

Qin Feng had detonated every insight he possessed regarding the Dao of [Limits] within his remaining true spirit!

He detonated the vast, ocean-like essence he had accumulated after devouring tens of thousands of Kings and deciphering countless secret arts!

And more than that, he detonated a portion of his own soul origin, hidden deep within that sliver of pure black spirit!

In an instant, a light of chaos, pure to the extreme—both pitch black and blindingly white—swept out from the heart of the blast!

The first to bear the brunt was the World-Suppressing Golden Pagoda, the vessel that had held everything in check!

"Crack—"

A crisp, mournful sound echoed.

This supreme imperial weapon, which had accompanied the Golden Emperor for eons and crushed countless foes, now bore a visible, jagged fracture!

Following this, the irresistible torrent of destruction surged outward from the pagoda, rampaging in every direction!

"Pfft—"

The thirty-six Emperors closest to the blast did not even have time to react before they were violently hurled away by the destructive tide!

Their protective imperial laws, facing this final swan song of the Dao of [Limits], were as fragile as paper, torn to shreds in an instant!

Bloody mists exploded from their imperial bodies!

Their imperial laws were forcibly ground into nothingness!

Their souls felt as if they were being pierced by a billion steel needles, wracked with agonizing pain!

All thirty-six Emperors spat blood in unison!

Each one had suffered varying degrees of grievous injury!

This was the final "gift" Qin Feng had prepared for them!

Of course, to him, this held no substantial consequence.

He had only detonated everything carried by this particular body.

As long as his mechanical avatar, the "Vanguard," remained, and as long as there were sufficient resources, he could reshape an identical—or even more powerful—[Limit Body] at any time.

That was the true, terrifying nature of the cosmic artifact known as the [Twin Mask]!

...

A long time passed.

The storm of destruction finally began to subside.

That expanse of starry sky had been utterly reduced to a void of "nothingness."

All laws, all matter, had been completely erased.

Only fifty-some figures remained, their auras withered, their faces ghastly, suspended in the emptiness.

They had won.

But the victory was wretched, a pyrrhic triumph.

They had sacrificed the lives of tens of thousands of Kings, spent months of time, and seen thirty-six of their own Emperors suffer grave wounds.

Only then had they finally managed to eradicate the monster known as "Qin Feng."

"Dead..."

"Finally... dead."

One Emperor murmured to himself, his tone carrying a trace of relief.

After a brief silence.

A boundless, insatiable greed, suppressed for months, instantly ignited the entire crowd!

"His divine gold origin!"

"His divine art inheritance!"

"Search! After such a self-detonation, there must be fragments of his origin left behind!"

Almost simultaneously, every Emperor moved!

Ignoring their own wounds, they frantically drove their divine senses, like the hungriest of hyenas, sweeping and scouring the emptied battlefield over and over again!

However, one breath passed, then an incense stick of time, then an hour...

They found nothing.

Forget divine gold origin or divine art imprints.

They could not even find a single scrap of energy belonging to Qin Feng!

That space was so clean, it was as if the origin of the universe itself had personally "formatted" it.

"How can this be?!"

"Impossible! Even in a self-detonation, there must be traces left behind!"

"Unless... unless he completely annihilated his very existence!"

All the Emperors stood stunned, their faces etched with disbelief.

And among the crowd, the expression of the Plundering Emperor was the darkest of all.

He stared fixedly at the void, a single thought flashing through his mind.

Damn it...

Primordial objects all possess a spirit of their own.

Could it be... that they sensed their master’s absolute demise and tore through the void to flee on their own?

It is possible. Primordial objects are unfathomably mysterious; I have never encountered one myself, so perhaps these rumors are true.

...

News of his fall was spreading to every corner of the universe at a terrifying speed that defied the velocity of light and transcended the boundaries of space and time.

This was no mere rumor, no idle speculation, nor a baseless whisper.

It was definitive information released by the most authoritative intelligence organization in the cosmos: the Heavenly Secret Pavilion!

The Pavilion’s conclusion was concise, yet every word struck like a blade to the heart:

Humanity’s prodigy, the Limitless God-Marquis Qin Feng, ascended to the rank of King at the Kurgan Star Abyss.

Besieged by the allied forces of ten thousand races, he fought alone for three months, slaying nearly one hundred thousand Kings and holding his ground against fifty-four Emperors.

In the end, he detonated his own body, vanishing into the void alongside the Dao, his form and spirit utterly extinguished.

This battle was witnessed by countless Emperors, confirmed by tens of thousands of surviving Kings, and verified by the memory imprints of billions of sentient beings who watched the spectacle.

His death is a universally acknowledged fact!

This message from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion was like dropping a black hole into the calm sea of the universe.

Instantly, it stirred up monstrous, towering waves!

In countless cosmic cities, branches of the Holy Academy, and even the main campus—the heart of humanity’s presence on the battlefield of ten thousand races...

Every human warrior who received this news, whether in deep meditation or on a mission, celebrating or cultivating, froze in that very moment.

The entire human territory of the universe seemed to have been pressed into a state of suspended animation.

Dead silence.

A silence so profound one could hear a needle drop.

Then, followed a cataclysmic uproar of disbelief and shock!

Impossible! This must be a lie! The Heavenly Secret Pavilion has made a mistake!

How could Lord Qin Feng die? He is the God of Slaughter! He is the totem of our human race in this era!

Fake news! It must be a conspiracy by the ten thousand races to shake our military morale!

Countless human warriors roared and bellowed; they could not accept, nor would they choose to accept, this reality.

Yet, the information from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion was like a cold, iron law—it had never been wrong.

Moreover, the attached list of countless witnesses, those blurred yet harrowing combat recordings captured by observers at the risk of their lives...

All were ruthlessly telling the same truth.

The legend had come to an end.

A myth had reached its conclusion.

A sun that had just risen, bright enough to illuminate the next epoch of humanity, had been extinguished.

Limitless God-Marquis!

Upon breaking his seal, he was hailed as the Limitless God-King!

Limitless God-King, slaying one hundred thousand Kings alone, battling fifty-four Emperors!

Ten thousand years of bloody warfare, fighting to the death without retreat, ending in self-detonation, severely wounding thirty-six Emperors!

In the lore of the universe, those three months of bloody battle were infinitely stretched, eventually transformed by countless bards into a more tragic "ten-thousand-year death struggle," becoming an eternal legend.

The story spread to every corner of the human realm with lightning speed.

Grief, like a plague, began to spread.

...

Meanwhile, in the sub-spatial information flow countless billions of light-years away from Qin Feng’s cosmic city, a stream of heavily encrypted messages, laden with anxiety and hope, surged like fish swimming against the current, struggling toward a pre-set receiving terminal.

Qin Feng! You bastard, are you dead or not?!

The first message was simple, crude, and filled with the unique arrogance and directness of Caesar.

He offered no greetings, no superfluous nonsense, and posed the ultimate question that had shaken the entire universe.

Behind this inquiry, however, hid a trace of deep, unconscious nervousness.

From their initial status as fated enemies to their eventual peak showdown, and finally to his grudging admiration, he and Qin Feng had forged a profound bond of both foe and friend.

He had witnessed the incredible path Qin Feng had walked, and he firmly believed that this man could never die so easily.

Yet, the news from the outside world was as solid as a mountain.

The golden words of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, the joint testimony of over fifty Emperors, that self-detonation that destroyed the Star Abyss... all of this caused Caesar’s Dao-heart, as firm as divine iron, to waver.

Thus, he sent this message.

He needed an answer.

Then came the second, the third, the hundredth...

A deluge of messages poured in like a tide.

Qin Feng, this is Yan Sheng. If you are still alive, give me a reply. You... still owe me a truly fair duel.

This was the message from the Holy Spirit Fire Clan prodigy, Yan Sheng. He had once been Qin Feng’s mortal enemy, only to defect during the final battle; there was a tacit understanding between them that others could not comprehend.

Chief, this is Yan Wu... The brothers of our Six Galaxy Alliance are all waiting for you. We do not believe you are dead.

Qin Feng, this is Zhou Yu. I will surely carry forward the legacy of the Thunder Emperor; I will not fail your expectations...

Qin Feng...

One by one, names familiar or fading, comrades who had fought side-by-side, companions who had received his grace, and even opponents he had defeated in the genius trials, all sent their greetings and prayers to this silent sub-spatial beacon.

They refused to believe that the brilliant star which had illuminated their entire era could be extinguished just like that.

Among these messages, two stood out with particular weight.

Junior brother, this is Huo Lin.

Senior brother Huo Lin-Marquis’s message was short, only five characters, yet it seemed to contain the weight of a thousand tons.

Though he and Qin Feng had little interaction, they belonged to the same lineage of the Heaven-Swallowing King, and that bond of master and disciple was already etched into their blood.

He could not imagine that the peerless junior brother, whom even their master praised so highly, would meet such an end.

And the other message was even more unique.

Qin Feng, your master knows you are not dead.

The source of the message was none other than the Heaven-Swallowing King!

You brat, you really dare to play with fire. This "fake death to escape" trick almost fooled even me.

That battle at the Kurgan Star Abyss was well-fought; you did not tarnish the reputation of my Heaven-Swallowing lineage.

However, since you are now 'dead,' you must remain well-hidden and leave no trace of your existence.

The current state of the universe is treacherous. A great calamity has struck the Eternal Mountain, trapping over eighty percent of the human race's Emperor-level powerhouses, their fates unknown. Many Universal Sovereigns, Lords of the Universe, and even our human race's semi-divine ancestors are locked in endless battles on their respective fronts, unable to spare a thought for anything else.

In this deep expanse of the cosmos, the Emperor-level is now the highest visible combat strength.

Those fellows like the Golden Emperor may have suffered a setback in this battle, but their foundations remain intact.

If you were to expose yourself now, they would spare no cost to hunt you down once more.

At that time, no one would be able to protect you.

Therefore, stay hidden.

Only when you possess the strength to contend with an Emperor, or even suppress and kill one, should you emerge.

Or... wait until the human Lords of the Universe have cleared their schedules and reach out to you personally; only then will your 'death trial' truly be over.

Furthermore, your origin life-tablet remains perfectly intact, a secret known only to the two of us.

To the outside world, I have already held a memorial ceremony of the highest order and prepared to personally hunt down the Golden Emperor to 'avenge' you, effectively completing this performance for you.

Take care of yourself.

At the end of the message, the Heaven-Swallowing King added one more line, carrying a hint of imperceptible warmth and pride.

You have done well.

...

Within the Rebirth Pool of the Divine Temple.

Qin Feng's soul essence, replenished by the vast quantities of 'Divine Source Liquid,' finally returned to perfection.

The minute flaws caused by his self-detonation were completely smoothed away, and his entire pitch-black soul radiated a light more profound and refined than ever before.

He slowly 'opened' his soul's eye.

The messages flooding into the subspace terminal unfolded before his consciousness like a cascading waterfall.

Caesar's anxiety, Yan Sheng's persistence, the expectations of his comrades, his senior brother's grief...

Each scene, each voice, flowed through his heart like a warm current.

He was not alone.

Behind him stood family, friends, comrades, and his master's sect.

These people were the most precious treasures on his lonely path to greatness.

Qin Feng's consciousness lingered on these messages for a long time; he longed to reply, to tell them he was still alive and doing well.

But in the end, he chose silence.

He extended a mechanical finger and, with a gentle tap, sealed all the messages away.

It was not a lack of trust, but rather... necessity.

Just as his master said, he was now a 'dead man' in the eyes of the entire universe.

This identity was one he had purchased at a tremendous cost, through careful planning.

It was his finest camouflage.

At this critical juncture, as the 'Golden Age' was about to unfold, all the ancient prodigies, hidden monsters, and reincarnated old demons lurking across the universe had fixed their gaze upon the visible walkers of the 'Divine Path.'

The Plundering Emperor, the Stone Buddha, the Golden Emperor...

These were the protagonists at the center of the stage.

And he, 'Qin Feng,' a fallen legend, a genius who shone brilliantly only to wither too soon, would soon be forgotten by the world.

No one would pay attention to a corpse.

This bought him the most precious and critical asset: time.

Under the guise of the 'Vanguard,' he could walk the universe without restraint, exploring secret realms, hunting enemies, and accumulating resources without fear of being constantly targeted by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Races.

He could even repeat his ruse, orchestrating a magnificent 'fake death' for the 'Vanguard' at a crucial moment, completely stripping himself of all karmic entanglements.

This was the true purpose of his earth-shattering gamble.

'Emperor-level combat power...'

Qin Feng whispered to himself, the black flames in his eyes flickering with a calm, sharp light.

The cosmic situation revealed by his master, the Heaven-Swallowing King, was even more dire than he had imagined.

With eighty percent of the human Emperors trapped, it was as if more than half of the human race's high-end combat power had been severed.

Under these circumstances, his arch-enemies like the Golden Emperor and the Plundering Emperor would face no further constraints.

Though his current strength had reached the peak of the King-level and he possessed the [Limit Body] and his self-created ultimate technique [Limit Divine Light], he might be able to fight an ordinary Emperor, perhaps even inflicting heavy damage with a surprise strike.

But against an old-guard powerhouse like the Golden Emperor, who had steeped himself in the Emperor realm for countless eons—especially one wielding a life-bound imperial weapon like the [World-Suppressing Golden Tower]—he still had no chance of victory.

Moreover, he would never face just one enemy.

Once his tracks were exposed, he would face the combined siege of dozens of Emperors.

He did not wish to experience such a desperate situation a second time.

'Therefore, until I possess absolute strength, "Qin Feng" must remain "dead."'

He made his final decision.

As for his master, the Heaven-Swallowing King... Qin Feng's heart was filled with gratitude.

This master, seemingly rough, was in fact as meticulous as a needle.

He had not only seen through his plan but had actively cooperated, even going so far as to hunt the Golden Emperor to provide irrefutable evidence of his 'death.'

Qin Feng held this debt of gratitude firmly in his heart.

Since his master had paved the way, all he had to do now was walk this path, unknown to all, and reach the end as quickly as possible.

Ascend to Emperor!

Or even surpass the Emperor!

When that time came, he would return to the world with the true posture of an invincible being.

When that time came, he would personally go to the Eternal Mountain and rescue those trapped human predecessors.

When that time came, he would settle his accounts with every enemy, be it the Golden Emperor, the Plundering Emperor, or the high and mighty Chaotic Evil Gods!

With this thought, Qin Feng's Dao heart became firmer than ever before.

He hesitated no longer, his consciousness sinking completely into the Rebirth Pool.

'Reshape!'

Boom—

The entire golden pool boiled instantly!

Endless life essence, like a volcano finding a vent, surged madly into the soul core at the center of the pool!

Using the pitch-black soul as the 'skeleton,' the [Limit Laws] as the 'meridians,' and the massive quantities of 'Divine Source Liquid' as the 'flesh and blood'...

A brand new, flawless physique, far more potent than the one before, began to reshape and regenerate at a speed beyond all imagination!

The first bone was born amidst the interweaving of laws, naturally inscribed with the Dao rhythm of the Wailing God-Gold, indestructible and eternal.

The first meridian took form under the scouring of divine energy, flowing with a primal force that fused the Nine Tribulations War Canon with the secret arts of Slaughter, tyrannical and peerless.

The first drop of blood emerged from the condensation of life essence, shimmering with a brilliant silver-white hue, imbued with the terrifying property of being impervious to all laws.

Muscles, viscera, skin...

Everything was being recreated in the most perfect manner, aligned precisely with the Path of the Limit.

This was a process of breaking through to build anew.

The previous body, though tempered through countless trials, had been repaired and reinforced step by step along the path of cultivation, inevitably leaving behind subtle flaws that even Qin Feng himself could not perceive.

But this time, following total annihilation, he was performing a perfect creation from zero to one, utilizing his current King-level realm and his newfound understanding of the Path of the Limit.

The quality of this newborn Limit Body would far surpass anything that came before!

Just as Qin Feng was immersed in the profound process of physical reconstruction,

the storm he had ignited continued to rage ever more fiercely throughout the deep reaches of the cosmos.

...

The Human Saint Academy, Main Campus.

Within an ancient hall suspended in a rift of space-time, the atmosphere was so oppressive it seemed ready to solidify.

Dozens of towering figures stood in silence; they were the guardians of the Saint Academy, each a pinnacle existence among Kings, and several were quasi-Emperors who had already set half a foot across the threshold of the Imperial rank.

In the center of the hall, a massive light screen played a loop of footage.

The images were those transmitted from the Kurgan Star Abyss, capturing Qin Feng’s final battle.

From his solitary stand against a hundred thousand Kings, his spear striking like a dragon, blood staining the galaxy.

To his defiance against the ambush of over fifty Emperors, suffering grievous wounds yet refusing to retreat even in death.

And finally, before his strength failed, his self-detonation, turning into the most resplendent firework, dragging thirty-six Emperors into a storm of destruction...

Every frame was filled with endless tragedy and carnage.

Each replay caused the eyes of these human titans, who had lived through countless ages, to redden and their fists to clench.

"Alas..."

A long, weary sigh shattered the deathly silence.

It was Marquis Liewu who spoke.

The indifference that once defined his face was gone, replaced by profound grief and regret.

"Such a fine child... Had he been given time, he would surely have become another pillar of heaven for our race, following the Lord of the Limit. What a pity, what a tragic pity!"

His voice echoed the sentiments of everyone present.

"Heaven envies the talented! The myriad races have bullied our humanity too far!"

Another hot-tempered King smashed his fist into the void before him, tearing a web of pitch-black fissures.

"The Golden Emperor! The Plundering Heaven Emperor! This blood debt, our race will surely collect a hundredfold, a thousandfold!"

"Calm yourself."

From the head of the hall, a white-haired quasi-Emperor with an unfathomable aura spoke slowly.

"Regarding this matter, Sacred Terra has already issued a ruling.

Qin Feng’s fall was for the sake of the greater good of humanity; though he died, his honor remains.

The Academy will bestow upon him the title of 'Human Hero' with the highest honors, and his name shall be inscribed first in the Hall of Spirits."

"His kin, teachers, and friends will be granted the highest level of protection by the human race.

His private territory, Qin Feng Universe City, will be held in trust by the Academy until a capable descendant of his bloodline emerges to reclaim it."

"As for vengeance..."

A cold, murderous intent flashed in the white-haired quasi-Emperor’s eyes. "Mark this debt down. When the upheavals at Eternal Mountain and other secret realms subside, and the day our human titans return, that shall be the time for a total reckoning with the myriad races!"

His words were firm and resonant, calming the agitated emotions within the hall.

Yet, the dark clouds of sorrow and hatred only grew thicker, shrouding the hearts of every human leader.

The same scene was playing out in every corner of the universe.

On Morning Star, a planet that had long since become a tourist destination and a holy land for martial arts,

the Wang family estate was draped in mourning white.

Wang Ming, Qin Feng’s own uncle, seemed to have aged thousands of years overnight.

He sat in a daze, staring at the blank spirit tablet in the center of the mourning hall, his clouded eyes unable to shed a single tear.

When grief reaches its zenith, it turns to numbness.

Wang Hao and Wang Jie, Qin Feng’s two younger brothers, had long since wept until they were hollow.

They knelt before the tablet, their bodies trembling uncontrollably, whispering the words "Big Brother" over and over.

They could not accept that the brother who had been like a god to them was simply... gone.

Several old friends and mentors who had once set out from Morning Star with Qin Feng, such as Lin Yue and Wu Shangfeng, stood to the side, keeping a silent vigil.

Their eyes were bloodshot, yet they held back their own grief to comfort the Wang family.

But were their own hearts not bleeding as well?

In another bustling universe city, inside a rustic teahouse,

Sun Chantang and Zhou Xiong, the two men who had been the first to guide Qin Feng on his martial path, sat opposite each other.

The tea on the table had long since gone cold.

Neither spoke, sitting in absolute stillness.

After a long while, Sun Chantang tremblingly lifted his teacup, intending to take a sip, only to find his hand shaking so violently that half the tea spilled.

"Old Zhou... tell me, is this real?"

His voice was hoarse and dry.

Zhou Xiong did not answer.

He merely closed his eyes slowly, his face as pale as parchment.

He remembered clearly the boy who, in order to hone himself, had been used by him as a "whetstone" for training.

He remembered clearly that when the boy learned the truth, there was no resentment in his eyes, only a light that grew ever more resolute.

He also remembered telling that boy: "Your stage is the sea of stars."

But now, that sea of stars had swallowed him whole.

This ending was something Zhou Xiong dared not believe, and could not accept.

The entire human territory of the universe had fallen into a vast and bottomless sorrow.

Countless young warriors who had heard the legend of the "Limitless God-King" revered Qin Feng as their idol and faith.

Now, with their idol shattered and their faith extinguished, the impact upon them was beyond imagination.

Yet, amidst this boundless sorrow and darkness, sparks of vengeance were being quietly ignited.

Qin Feng’s death was like a resounding slap across the face of every human with a shred of spirit.

It acted as a catalyst, injected into a "Golden Age" that was already on the verge of boiling over.

Everyone understood that a bloody storm, unprecedented and sweeping across the entire universe, was brewing.

And at the heart of the storm, the man whom everyone believed to be "dead" was embracing his most thorough metamorphosis in absolute silence.

...

[Qin Feng Universe City], Core Temple.

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed.

Perhaps a year, perhaps a decade.

The "Source Liquid of God" within the Rebirth Pool, enough to make even a King-Sealed expert green with envy, had been ninety-nine percent consumed.

The color of the pool water had shifted from a brilliant gold to a clear, crystalline transparency.

In the center of the pool, a perfect body, radiating a faint, silver-white divine light, floated in silence.

His black hair draped over his shoulders, his eyes tightly shut; his features were identical to the Qin Feng of old, yet possessed a "Dao charm" that defied description.

Every inch of his skin seemed the most perfect creation in the universe, upon which countless subtle law-veins flowed slowly, composing a supreme scripture titled "Limit."

His breathing was long and steady; each inhalation seemed to stir the tides of a galaxy.

This was Qin Feng’s reborn [Limitless Body].

A God-King vessel, truly and purely born for the "Way of the Limit"!

Finally, his long eyelashes trembled ever so slightly.

The next moment, those eyes, closed for so long, slowly opened.

BOOM!!!

The instant he opened his eyes, two beams of infinitely condensed black divine light erupted from his gaze!

These beams were neither energy nor law, but the manifestation of a pure "quality."

They ignored space, ignored time, and even ignored the indestructible walls of the temple, forged from mysterious divine gold!

Wherever the light passed, all matter, energy, and laws were utterly erased from the level of "concept"!

Two razor-thin, pitch-black fissures, from which even light could not escape, appeared on the temple walls, extending outward to pierce through the entire [Qin Feng Universe City] and shoot into the cold vacuum of the outer universe, traveling for unknown light-years before slowly dissipating.

This was... [Limitless Divine Light]!

It was the ultimate kill-move of the King-Sealed level, created by Qin Feng in the final ten thousand years of his thirty-thousand-year seclusion, fusing everything he had ever learned!

Now, with his realm stabilized and his physical form perfectly reshaped, the power of this move had come to fruition naturally.

The two beams just now were merely the result of a sliver of aura leaking out unconsciously as he awoke.

Yet, their power was already enough to pose a fatal threat to the top-tier King-Sealed experts!

Qin Feng rose slowly from the pool, looking down at his flawless body, feeling the terrifying power contained within—many times greater than before—a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

He could sense that his current physical strength had reached an inconceivable realm.

If he were to face the [World-Suppressing Golden Pagoda] of the Golden Emperor and his ilk again, even if he stood still and let them suppress him, it would be difficult for them to harm his foundation.

"Invulnerable to all laws, indestructible by all Daos..."

Qin Feng whispered to himself, "My [Limitless Body] has finally begun to truly evolve in this direction."

With a thought, a black robe draped itself over his shoulders.

The mechanical avatar "Vanguard," which had been on standby for so long, saw the black flames in its eyes flicker slightly; then, it walked toward Qin Feng with steady, measured steps.

Qin Feng nodded; his soul was one with the avatar, and no words were needed.

He turned his gaze toward the two pitch-black fissures being pierced by the [Limitless Divine Light], which were slowly repairing themselves, and fell into deep thought.

The feigned death had succeeded.

The body had been reshaped.

His strength surpassed the past.

And so, what came next...

The identity of "Vanguard" was ready to make its formal debut, to meet this incoming "Golden Age."

In his eyes, the black flames burned ever more fiercely.

An era belonging to "Qin Feng" had come to a tragic end.

And a brand new era, belonging to "Vanguard"—more mysterious and more unpredictable—had just begun.

Once I ascend to King-Sealed, I shall slaughter my way through the myriad races and shoulder the burden of the world!

Qin Feng murmured to himself.

(End of chapter)