Chapter 357: Yaoguang Inheritance! One Move Instantly Kills Celestial Heaven King! Walking the Divine Path Together

Chapter 357: The Yaoguang Inheritance! A Single Strike Slays the Heavenly King! Walking the Path of God! Only One Shall Survive!

When the name "Vanguard" was first etched at the pinnacle of the Martial Fighting Mountain’s Heroic Stele, elevating the record to the terrifying threshold of 7,999,999 consecutive victories in a manner bordering on the mythical, the entire Tianheng Star Sector erupted in a frenzy.

This monument, standing since antiquity and witnessing the passage of countless prodigies—a stone so ancient that even those who walked the Path of God struggled to leave a mark—was, for the first time, claimed by a name unknown to all.

"Vanguard"!

This cold, metallic moniker, dripping with the sharp, lethal intent of war, struck the surrounding billions of galaxies like a nuclear detonation in a tranquil lake, stirring up endless, turbulent waves.

Countless powerhouses flocked from every corner of the universe, merely to gaze upon that name hanging at the summit and to debate whether this mysterious mechanical prodigy could take that legendary final step within the remaining hundred-thousand-year limit, creating a true, ultimate myth—eight million consecutive victories—that no one had ever achieved, and perhaps none ever would.

Yet, as the eye of the storm, Qin Feng himself had already quietly departed.

He did not linger for even a second in the glory and adulation of Martial Fighting Mountain, which would have intoxicated any other prodigy.

As his silhouette vanished behind the teleportation gate, the clamor of the outside world ceased to concern him.

The cold mechanical avatar, "Vanguard," drifted like an inconspicuous speck of cosmic dust, silently merging into the chaotic and infinitely potential dark depths of the Tianheng Star Sector.

"The comprehension of laws is the key."

Inside a private vessel stealthily traveling at superluminal speeds, Qin Feng sat upon the captain’s chair, his scarlet electronic eyes flickering with rational light.

His mind, functioning like the most precise supercomputer, calmly analyzed every battle he had fought on Martial Fighting Mountain.

Seven million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine victories—this achievement was indeed shocking, yet Qin Feng knew clearly that it was not his limit, far from the true peak he could attain.

"The physical strength of a mechanical avatar is, after all, inferior to the ultimate God-King body, which has been tempered by Nine-Colored Divine Lightning, devoured Weeping Divine Gold, and forged in the Primordial Furnace."

"Therefore, the top priority is to maximize my comprehension of laws within these hundred thousand years."

Qin Feng’s scarlet eyes gazed out the porthole at the bizarre and kaleidoscopic cosmic vista, a clear plan already etched in his mind.

Physical strength is hardware, difficult to achieve a qualitative leap in a short time.

But the comprehension of laws—the understanding of myriad secret techniques—is software, and it is universal.

No matter what profound laws he comprehends through the mechanical avatar, that insight is perfectly synchronized through the [Twin Mask] mark deep within his soul to his human true self, who sits in the [Qin Feng Universe City].

When that time comes, the strength of his human true self will rise accordingly. When the hundred-thousand-year period concludes, he will descend upon Martial Fighting Mountain in his true form to take that final step and seize the cosmic wonder [Dou], making everything a logical certainty.

And the Tianheng Star Sector, this lawless, chaotic zone, is undoubtedly the best hunting ground for the identity of "Vanguard."

There is no order here, only the most primal law of the jungle. Kings and Marquises are as common as carp crossing a river, engaged in bloody slaughter and plunder every day for the sake of resources and opportunity.

Countless secret realms, ruins, and adventures fraught with immense risk are scattered like stars across this vast expanse.

For a legend who has already "died," this is the ultimate stage.

No one will delve into your origins or your past. People recognize only one thing: strength.

And what "Vanguard" displayed on Martial Fighting Mountain was precisely the kind of terrifying strength that would make any faction wary.

...

Three hundred years later.

Tianheng Star Sector, Void Thunder Marsh.

This is a region of death, permanently shrouded in violent cosmic rays and high-energy thunderstorms.

Space here is extremely unstable, frequently tearing open without warning; even a King-level powerhouse, once caught, would face a nine-in-ten chance of perishing.

Yet, in the core of this forbidden land grows an extremely rare cosmic treasure: the [Nine-Turn Thunder-Nurturing Flower].

This flower blooms once every ten thousand years, producing a "Thunder Heart" containing the pure essence of the lightning law—a dream treasure for any powerhouse cultivating the lightning path.

At this moment, atop a massive floating continent scorched black by lightning, a bloody battle had reached a fever pitch.

"Heavenly King Electric! Do you truly intend to fight my 'Blood Axe Brothers' to the death? We discovered this [Nine-Turn Thunder-Nurturing Flower] first!"

A furious roar echoed through the starry sky.

Three powerhouses, each possessing the aura of a King, stood in a triangular formation, trapping a burly man clad in lightning-forged armor.

These three were the notorious "Blood Axe Brothers" of the Tianheng Star Sector, each a veteran of countless battles. Together, they could rival even the most formidable top-tier Kings.

The one they had cornered was the equally renowned rogue King—Heavenly King Electric.

"Hmph, discovered first? Cosmic wonders belong to those with the virtue to claim them, and strength is that 'virtue'!"

Heavenly King Electric gripped a warhammer crackling with lightning, his aura violent and fearless. "You three pieces of trash, are you worthy of speaking to me of 'first'?"

"You seek death!"

The Blood Axe Brothers flew into a rage. Three giant axes wreathed in blood-red malice simultaneously invoked their laws, transforming into three torrents of blood capable of splitting the heavens as they crashed toward Heavenly King Electric.

Heavenly King Electric did not flinch; as he swung his warhammer, thousands of lightning dragons surged forth, colliding violently with the blood-red torrents.

Boom!

A terrifying spiritual energy storm swept across the void, tearing hideous gashes into the already unstable space.

Yet, as the four fought in the heat of battle, no one noticed that in the shadow of an asteroid belt millions of miles away, a pair of cold, scarlet electronic eyes had taken in everything.

"Four targets, all newly ascended Kings. Three of them cultivate the same source of slaughter laws, their auras linked; their combined combat power reaches the peak of an ordinary King. The other specializes in lightning laws, relatively rigid and explosive."

Within the core of "Vanguard," massive streams of data flashed by.

He had been in this Void Thunder Marsh for over a month, his target also the soon-to-ripen [Nine-Turn Thunder-Nurturing Flower]. He was simply more patient than the Electric King or the Blood Axe Brothers.

"According to spiritual energy analysis, the [Nine-Turn Thunder-Nurturing Flower] will fully mature in seven standard cosmic hours, at which point the Thunder Heart’s energy will peak."

"The four targets have each consumed about 30% of their spiritual energy. The battle has reached a stalemate; it is expected that at least one side will be severely wounded before the flower blooms."

"The optimal moment for entry is the instant the flower blooms, when both sides are exhausted and fighting for the Thunder Heart."

Qin Feng’s plan was like a programmed machine: precise, efficient, and devoid of any emotional color.

He was the ultimate hunter, lurking silently, waiting for his prey to tear each other apart until they revealed their most fatal flaw.

Time ticked away, second by second.

The battle in the Void Thunder Marsh grew increasingly brutal.

Though brave, Heavenly King Electric could not withstand the six hands of his foes. Under the Blood Axe Brothers' reckless assault, his lightning armor was riddled with cracks, and his aura began to falter.

The Blood Axe Brothers were faring no better; their leader had been struck head-on by a lightning dragon, half his body charred black, while the second and third brothers were also heavily wounded.

Finally, at a certain moment!

Hum—

A strange fragrance, accompanied by a dazzling nine-colored lightning, erupted from the center of the floating continent.

The [Nine-Turn Thunder-Nurturing Flower] had bloomed!

A fist-sized "Thunder Heart," formed entirely of pure lightning law and pulsing like a living heart, hovered silently above the stamen.

"It’s mine!"

Almost simultaneously, the four combatants, their eyes bloodshot and ignoring their wounds, lunged madly toward the Thunder Heart.

Yet, at the very instant their hands were about to touch it, a cold, emotionless sound of metallic friction echoed abruptly in all their ears.

"Your struggle ends here."

Hiss!

A shadow, so pitch-black it seemed to devour all light, tore through the void for millions of miles at a speed that defied cognitive perception.

It was a beam of light.

A strand of black radiance, thin as a hair, compressed from the ultimate essence of spiritual energy and spatial laws.

The Ultimate Divine Light!

The third of the Blood Axe brothers had not yet shed the greed and ecstasy from his face when his body suddenly stiffened.

Then, a fine black line emerged from the center of his brow, rapidly spreading across his entire frame.

In the next second, his body, along with his soul and his path of cultivation, was sliced neatly into two halves. The cut was as smooth as a mirror; not a single drop of blood escaped. Every ounce of his life essence and spiritual energy was utterly annihilated the moment the black light passed through him.

A single strike, and a King-level powerhouse was slain in an instant!

"Third Brother!"

"Who is it?!"

The eldest and second brothers were wide-eyed with fury, while the Thunder King felt his soul tremble with terror. He abruptly halted, staring in horror at the source of that black light.

There, in the void not far away, a figure composed entirely of dark-gold metal stood silently.

He emitted no earth-shattering pressure, yet those scarlet electronic eyes, cold as twin stars, gazed at them with indifference, as if observing lifeless specimens.

"Van... Vanguard?!"

The Thunder King gasped the moment he recognized the figure, his voice filled with incredulous dread.

As a rogue cultivator in the Tianheng Star Sector, how could he not know of this terrifying entity who, over the last few centuries, had single-handedly stirred the winds and clouds of Wudou Mountain?

The mysterious Mechanical Race prodigy who was but a single step away from creating a legend?

Why was he here?!

"Run!"

The thought, instinctive and absolute, instantly seized the minds of the Thunder King and the two remaining Blood Axe brothers.

They didn't even spare a glance for the Thunder Heart; they turned and transformed into three streaks of light, fleeing frantically in different directions.

Yet, Qin Feng would never grant them such an opportunity.

"Domain."

Hum—

With a low, resonant vibration, countless invisible, nanoscopic mechanical insects radiated from "Vanguard" in all directions.

In a mere heartbeat, the space for several light-years around was completely shrouded and locked by an intangible force field.

The three fleeing men felt the surrounding space turn viscous, as if they had fallen into layers of spiderwebs, their speed plummeting.

"This is... the Divine Forbidden Domain?!"

"Damn it! Break for me!"

The eldest Blood Axe roared, burning his essence, his blood-red giant axe hacking wildly, yet it only stirred ripples in the space, failing to breach the domain's blockade.

"Analysis complete."

"...Purge."

Qin Feng's voice remained as cold as the vacuum of space.

As the words fell, three identical, hair-thin black beams shot from the cannon port on his fingertip.

Within the complex mechanical divine kingdom, these three beams traced trajectories that were entirely distinct yet profoundly arcane, perfectly bypassing all defensive treasures and protective divine lights, striking their vitals with the precision of a "premonition."

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Three more soft sounds.

The Thunder King and the two Blood Axe brothers, three King-level powerhouses who could dominate the Tianheng Star Sector, could not even utter a scream before following in the footsteps of the third brother—their bodies precisely severed, their forms and spirits extinguished.

Having done this, Qin Feng slowly raised his hand and grasped at the air.

The Thunder Heart, suspended above the nine-colored stamen, turned into a streak of light and landed steadily in his palm.

"Pure lightning law essence. It can be used to analyze the 'destruction' attribute of the [Ultimate Divine Light], and also serve as a central spiritual energy source for the Mechanical Divine Kingdom domain, enhancing its lightning strike capabilities."

Storing the Thunder Heart, Qin Feng's gaze fell upon the four severed corpses.

With a thought, the bodies were drawn toward him by an invisible force.

His chest armor opened, revealing a micro-furnace as deep as a black hole.

[Primal Furnace].

Accompanied by the grating sound of metal friction and spiritual energy decomposition, the four King-level corpses, along with their lifelong accumulations, were devoured, broken down, and purified within minutes, transforming into the purest spiritual energy blocks and data streams stored within "Vanguard."

"Law comprehension increased by 0.3%."

"Spiritual energy reserves increased by 17%."

Having finished, Qin Feng did not linger.

The Mechanical Divine Kingdom domain retracted, turning into a nanoscopic torrent that returned to his body. His figure flashed and vanished from the void of the lightning marsh that had just buried four kings, leaving behind only a chaotic battlefield, silently recounting the brief and terrifying hunt.

...

One thousand five hundred years later.

Soul-Devouring Nebula.

This was another forbidden zone in the Tianheng Star Sector, far more treacherous than the Void Lightning Marsh.

This vast nebula was not composed of ordinary interstellar dust and gas, but of a bizarre type of negative spiritual energy particle capable of directly eroding the soul and will.

Any living being that intruded would constantly endure the horrific tearing and burning pain at the level of the soul.

Simultaneously, the nebula would generate endless illusions, conjuring the deepest fears, desires, and obsessions within the intruder's heart. A moment of carelessness would lead to the collapse of one's Dao heart, causing them to become lost forever, eventually turning into a soulless walking corpse—a part of the nebula itself.

However, for the current Qin Feng, this was the ultimate tempering ground.

Although the [Twin Mask] was miraculous, splitting a complete soul into two parts inevitably carried hidden dangers.

These two soul essences were identical yet independent; long-term separation could lead to estrangement or even cognitive divergence.

And this Soul-Devouring Nebula was the perfect crucible to hone and test his divided soul.

At this moment, in the deepest reaches of the nebula.

The dark-gold figure of "Vanguard" sat quietly atop a withered, lifeless planet.

Surrounding him were endless, churning black mists, thick as ink.

From these mists, countless hideous arms formed of negative spiritual energy reached out, shifting into the shapes of terrifying demon gods and vengeful spirits, constantly battering his body.

Countless whispers, like incantations, echoed directly within the depths of his soul.

"Give up... you are merely a substitute..."

"Look at your so-called master; he possesses a perfect body and supreme glory, while you are nothing but a tool he uses to avoid risk..."

"Merge with us, and you shall gain freedom. You shall become an independent entity, no longer anyone's avatar..."

Slay him! Replace him! You alone are the one!

These voices struck at the fundamental contradiction between the avatar and the original, enough to drive any wavering will into an instant of inner demons and self-destruction.

Yet, facing this onslaught, Qin Feng’s will remained as immovable as an ancient, eternal iceberg.

His consciousness had long since retreated into the deepest recesses of his soul.

There, two nearly identical soul essences, linked by the mysterious connection of the Twin Masks, were resonating and tempering each other under the terrifying pressure of the Soul-Devouring Nebula.

One belonged to the supreme God-King body, stationed in the Qin Feng Universe City, billions of light-years away.

The other belonged to this mechanized avatar, currently enduring the endless psychic bombardment.

The two souls were like fine steel being hammered repeatedly by the same great anvil; every impact, every intrusion of illusion, served not to drive them apart, but to bind them closer, rendering the essence of his soul ever more pure and resilient.

This level of soul assault is but a gentle breeze compared to the hundred-and-fifty-thousand-year psychic war waged by Khorne, the Blood God.

Within Qin Feng’s consciousness, there was not a ripple.

That ultimate trial in the Scarlet Arena had long ago tempered his Dao heart and will to an indestructible, near-immortal level.

If the bewitchment of Chaos Gods could not shake his true self, how could this mere naturally occurring Soul-Devouring Nebula hope to move him?

He even voluntarily lowered his soul defenses, allowing the negative psionic energy to invade, using it as a whetstone to polish every facet of his soul.

Just as he was immersed in this unique cultivation:

Ah! No! Get away! All of you, get away!

A shriek filled with madness and despair echoed from not far away.

Qin Feng’s electronic eyes opened slowly, two crimson beams instantly piercing through layers of black mist.

Millions of kilometers away, an alien powerhouse of the King-level was clutching his head, rolling and roaring frantically in the void.

His eyes had turned blood-red, and his body radiated a chaotic, tyrannical aura; clearly, his Dao heart had collapsed, and he was on the verge of being completely assimilated by the nebula.

Another lost soul.

In Qin Feng’s core, the data for this star sector was instantly retrieved.

Though the Soul-Devouring Nebula is dangerous, its unique environment births a special product known as Soul Crystals, which nourish the soul and serve as the primary ingredient for top-tier secret medicines.

Thus, King-level powerhouses, confident in their iron wills, often come to take the risk.

Alas, the vast majority never return.

Roar!

In his final madness, the alien powerhouse seemed to sense Qin Feng’s presence. His blood-red eyes, now devoid of reason, locked onto the Vanguard, and with a roar that sounded nothing like a human, he transformed into a streak of blood-light and charged frantically.

He had mistaken Qin Feng for the illusion that had driven him to this state, intent on tearing him to shreds.

Facing this frenzied attack, Qin Feng remained seated, motionless.

Only when the blood-light, carrying force enough to shatter stars, reached within ten thousand meters of him, did he slowly raise his right hand.

Rest in peace.

A cold voice, transmitted not through the air but directly as psychic energy, resonated within the chaotic sea of the other’s soul.

Shhh.

A needle of pure psychic energy, shimmering with purple-gold light, shot from Qin Feng’s fingertip, piercing precisely into the center of the alien’s brow.

The Supreme Divine Light, used against a common King whose Dao heart had already shattered, was nothing short of a dimensional strike.

The alien’s body froze in mid-air.

The frenzied red in his eyes faded like a receding tide, replaced by a flicker of clarity and endless relief.

Tha… thank… you…

He seemed to regain a moment of sanity, gasping out two words before his body shattered like weathered rock, dissolving into pure psionic particles and vanishing into the Soul-Devouring Nebula.

Qin Feng watched this with indifference and withdrew his hand.

He did not consume the other’s essence, for the Dao source of a King whose heart had collapsed was already tainted and useless to him.

He simply sat quietly, continuing his tempering.

Another few hundred years passed.

When Qin Feng opened his eyes again, a hint of satisfaction flickered in his crimson electronic pupils.

Next, it is time to seek a true opportunity, one that can cause a qualitative change in my comprehension of the laws.

He stood up, and the countless negative psionic particles clinging to his dark-gold frame fell away like dust.

Just then, he retrieved an object from the spatial ring left behind by the alien King he had slain.

It was a tattered star map.

The material was ancient, seemingly made of some unknown beast hide, branded with complex star paths and coordinates.

This is…

Qin Feng’s core immediately began to scan and analyze the map.

Massive data streams flooded in, comparing, repairing, and reconstructing the map against the data he had purchased from various intelligence brokers in the Tianheng Star Sector.

Minutes later, a relatively complete map appeared in his consciousness.

The map pointed to the edge of the Tianheng Star Sector, an unknown region of space known as the Eye of Return to Ruins.

On public maps, it was a region of absolute void, lacking even the smallest meteorite, a death zone that all shipping lanes actively avoided.

Yet, at the end of this tattered map, three words were inscribed in an ancient, universal cosmic tongue.

Yaoguang… Relic.

Qin Feng’s electronic eyes flashed sharply.

Yaoguang? Could it be… that Venerable Yaoguang?

His core instantly retrieved a long-buried name from the vast archives of the Human Holy Academy.

Venerable Yaoguang, a lone cosmic venerable active hundreds of millions of years ago.

A cosmic venerable is a great existence, transcending the ranks of King and Saint, truly capable of traversing the cosmic sea and looking down upon billions of races.

Each one is a living legend, a walking epic.

And this Venerable Yaoguang was a standout among his peers.

It is said that his Yaoguang Secret Art possessed infinite power, and his strength was formidable even among his own rank.

Alas, this venerable was reclusive, belonging to no race or faction, and always traveled alone.

After an expedition deep into the cosmic sea hundreds of millions of years ago, he vanished without a trace; most powerhouses assumed he had fallen in some unknown danger of the cosmic sea.

To think his legacy relic would be here in the Tianheng Star Sector?

A ripple of excitement surged within Qin Feng’s heart.

The legacy of a Cosmic Venerable—its value is truly beyond measure!

Not to mention ordinary King-level warriors, even Emperors, or those who have attained the rank of Saint, would go mad with desire if they knew of it.

Within it might lie Venerable-grade secret techniques, weapons of a Venerable, or perhaps even that Venerable’s lifelong insights into the laws of the universe!

For Qin Feng, currently trapped in a bottleneck and desperate to elevate his comprehension of the laws, this was like being handed a pillow just as he began to doze off.

"Risk and opportunity coexist."

Qin Feng quickly regained his composure.

A Venerable-grade legacy would inevitably be guarded by Venerable-grade trials and restrictions. With his current strength as a King-level warrior, rushing in blindly would be perilous.

But...

"It is worth the gamble!"

He soon made up his mind.

His greatest trump card was the Twin Mask.

Even if this mechanical avatar were to perish completely within the ruins, as long as his true human self remained, he would have a chance to rise again.

To trade a replaceable avatar for a Venerable’s legacy—one that could save him hundreds of millions of years of bitter cultivation—was a deal that, no matter how one calculated it, was a massive profit!

"The Eye of Return to Ruins..."

Qin Feng deeply etched the coordinates from the star map into his core memory bank.

His figure stirred, transforming into a streak of dark golden light, instantly bursting out of the Soul-Devouring Nebula and speeding toward that unknown, lethal sector of space. ...

Several years later.

The Eye of Return to Ruins.

When Qin Feng’s ship arrived in this sector, guided by the star map, even his state of mind—long tempered by countless grand spectacles into a pool of still water—could not help but feel a tremor of shock.

This was true "void."

Looking out, there were no stars, no meteorites, no nebulae; even the fluctuations of cosmic background radiation were infinitely weaker here than anywhere else.

The entire space was like a piece of black cloth wiped clean—dead, hollow, and oppressive, enough to make any creature lingering here for too long feel, from the depths of their soul, the panic of being utterly abandoned by the universe.

"The entrance is here."

Qin Feng’s electronic eyes scanned the surrounding spatial parameters.

According to the star map, the ruins of Venerable Yaoguang did not exist in the main material universe; rather, he had used great divine power to carve out an independent secret realm attached to the main universe.

Its entrance was hidden within a spatial fold somewhere in this void.

Without the guidance of the star map, even if an Emperor-level powerhouse passed through here a billion times, they would never discover a single clue.

"Found it."

After filtering and comparing hundreds of millions of spatial coordinates, Qin Feng’s calculation core finally locked onto an extremely faint spatial anomaly.

He retracted his ship, and his dark golden figure stepped out.

In the next second, he appeared before the anomaly.

He extended a metallic finger, the power of spatial laws swirling at his fingertip, and tapped gently against the void ahead.

Hum—

The space before him rippled like a calm pond disturbed by a falling stone.

At the center of the ripples, a portal made of pure light, exuding an ancient and vast aura, slowly emerged.

Above the portal, a stone tablet, also formed of light, hung silently.

Carved upon the tablet in bold, sweeping strokes were the words:

[Yaoguang Secret Realm]

—Those without destiny, turn back.

The calligraphy contained a sharp, domineering intent that seemed capable of piercing the soul.

Merely gazing at these characters made Qin Feng feel a needle-like stinging sensation in his soul.

"What a powerful imprint of will!"

Qin Feng’s heart tightened.

To have such divine power after hundreds of millions of years, merely from a few casually left characters—the strength of this Venerable Yaoguang was likely even more terrifying than the records suggested.

Without the slightest hesitation, he adjusted his state, raising the psionic core and defensive systems of his mechanical avatar to the highest alert level.

Then, he took a step, resolutely and decisively, into the portal of light.

The stars shifted, and a phantasmagoria of bizarre scenes flashed before his eyes.

The moment he stepped into the secret realm, it was not the celestial palaces or energy-rich paradise he had envisioned.

What met his eyes was a vast, boundless graveyard of stars.

A pale river, paved with countless skeletons, wound its way toward the horizon.

These remains were of various shapes and sizes, belonging to the myriad races of the universe.

There were the remains of giant beasts, ten thousand fathoms high like mountain ranges, their bones still retaining faint traces of divine law, speaking to the power they held in life;

There were humanoid beings with slender frames and crystal wings on their backs, whose wings still refracted dreamlike colors even though their flesh had long since turned to dust;

And there were warriors of the Mechanical Race, made entirely of metal, now rusted and pitted, their core furnaces long extinguished, their massive bodies collapsed upon the ground like cold steel tombs.

This was a world of corpses, a kingdom of death.

Qin Feng’s electronic eyes flashed with a calm red light, and massive streams of data raced through his core processor. He felt no emotional fluctuation at this shocking sight, analyzing it instead with near-absolute rationality.

These corpses, without exception, were all King-level existences.

Judging by the degree of energy decay remaining on their bones and the thickness of the space dust clinging to them, the "youngest" among them had been dead for at least thirty million years.

As for those that had completely petrified, merging into the surrounding environment, their time of death could be traced back to ancient eras measured in "aeons."

They had all been the elite of their respective times and races, King-level powerhouses standing at the pinnacle of the cosmic pyramid.

They had entered this Yaoguang Secret Realm, fueled by the desire for higher realms and the ambition for a Venerable’s legacy, only to become insignificant parts of this "River of White Bones," serving as the path for those who followed.

"Venerable Yaoguang..."

Qin Feng whispered in his consciousness.

The legacy of a Cosmic Venerable was a temptation enough to make countless King-level warriors throw themselves into the fire like moths.

A Venerable—a great existence who had truly transcended the laws and begun to touch the origin of the universe, capable of creating star seas with a thought and destroying galaxies in a fit of rage.

Any fragment of their legacy could contain the key to reaching the rank of Emperor, or even higher.

But clearly, this key was not easily won.

Qin Feng walked along the path paved with bones.

His footsteps were steady and silent; his metallic soles pressed against the skeletons without making a single sound.

With every step, invisible mental energy rippled outward, scanning everything in his vicinity.

He could perceive that this space was permeated by a faint yet omnipresent "death aura," or perhaps, a concept of "finality" at the level of universal law.

It acted like the most virulent toxin, ceaselessly eroding the life essence and souls of all living beings who dared to tread upon this ground.

Perhaps many of the weaker Kings had been drained of their very existence along this long, bone-strewn path before they even caught a glimpse of the true trial.

At the end of this road stood a bronze gate, so colossal that words failed to describe its scale.

It seemed carved from an entire continent, stretching millions of miles high, looming at the edge of the starry firmament.

The gate was etched with intricate, profound runes that appeared alive, flowing slowly; with every shift, they radiated a terrifying pressure that made one’s heart tremble.

This, surely, was the first barrier.

Before the bronze gate, upon a vast floating platform, hundreds of beings had already gathered.

Unlike the deathly silence of the river of bones outside, this place was filled with the breath of "life," each presence powerful to the extreme, like burning suns radiating scorching waves of energy.

They were all Kings of the current age.

These powerhouses gathered in small groups, clearly demarcated from one another, their eyes filled with vigilance and caution.

They hailed from diverse races: the red-skinned, horned Giants; the elegant, starlight-draped Holy Spirits; and the grotesque, brutal-auraed Zerg Kings.

They were clearly stalled before this first gate, either biding their time, studying a way to break through, or perhaps... waiting for a specific person or event.

Qin Feng’s arrival did not attract much attention.

His mechanical avatar, "Vanguard," kept its aura restrained to the absolute limit, appearing as nothing more than an unremarkable mechanical King.

In a gathering of such formidable figures, a reticent mechanical being was the easiest to overlook.

He sought a corner to quietly observe the situation, while simultaneously analyzing the runes on the bronze gate, attempting to grasp the essence of this first trial.

Just then, the atmosphere in the arena turned volatile.

"King Mojiao, thirty million years ago, you ambushed my dearest friend at the 'Black Abyss Battlefield' and stole the 'Heart of the Vast Sea.' Is it not time we settled this debt today?"

A voice rang out, resonant as a bell, brimming with undisguised killing intent.

The crowd turned to look, seeing a burly, bald giant with knotted muscles and bronze-colored skin walking step by step toward a figure covered in black scales with a sinister expression.

With every step the bald giant took, the entire floating platform seemed to tremble slightly.

The space around him distorted visibly, warped by the sheer power of his physical form.

He invoked no laws; he relied solely on raw, physical strength to manifest such a terrifying phenomenon.

"King Cangtian!"

Someone in the crowd let out a low gasp, their tone laced with dread.

The one addressed as "King Mojiao" saw his complexion turn ghastly pale in an instant.

His strength was not insignificant among the Kings, but facing King Cangtian, a flicker of involuntary fear emerged from the depths of his eyes.

"King Cangtian, this is the Yaoguang Secret Realm; we have all come to seek fortune. Why not set aside past grievances for now? Once we leave the realm, we can settle our accounts!"

King Mojiao spoke, his voice betraying a hollow bravado.

"Set aside?"

King Cangtian grinned, revealing a set of stark white teeth, his smile filled with a savage, feral quality.

"My dictionary does not contain the word 'set aside.' My path is one of swift retribution and a clear conscience! Since you have clouded my conscience, I can only... beat you to death!"

Before the words had faded, King Cangtian moved.

There were no earth-shattering law fluctuations, no dazzling divine techniques.

There was only a punch.

A simple, plain, unadorned punch.

Yet, as he threw it, every King present turned deathly pale.

In their perception, the moment King Cangtian’s fist was thrown, it transformed into a super-massive star rapidly collapsing; its mass, its density, and the pure "force" contained within it surged to an unfathomable level in an instant.

The space around his fist could no longer withstand such extreme power, shattering like a fragile mirror into pitch-black nothingness.

King Mojiao was struck with sheer terror. He roared, his inner King-world burning frantically as a torrential surge of water-elemental law power erupted.

"Xuanming Black Water Shield!"

In a heartbeat, a black canopy composed of the purest law-water manifested before him.

This defensive technique had once withstood the combined strike of three peers without a scratch; it was the absolute defense for which he was famous.

Yet, this Xuanming canopy, capable of freezing souls and grinding all things to dust, proved as fragile as thin paper before King Cangtian’s fist—a fist that seemed slow, but was actually faster than thought itself.

There was no violent collision, no energy counter-surge.

The moment the fist touched the canopy, the canopy simply "vanished."

It was not broken; it was utterly "crushed" by that extreme force, from the physical level to the law level, reduced to basic particles without even a ripple.

Following that, the fist landed squarely on King Mojiao’s chest.

"Boom!"

After a dull, heavy thud that seemed capable of shattering the very soul, it was over.

King Mojiao, a King of some renown in the universe, saw his indestructible divine body, his inner King-world, and his soul essence all pulverized into a mist of blood by that single strike.

No, not even a mist of blood remained.

That tyrannical, peerless force, after destroying everything, continued unabated, carving a void of pure "nothingness" into the space where he had stood—a hole that refused to heal.

One punch.

A mere single punch.

A long-famed King, body and soul extinguished!

The entire platform fell into a deathly silence.

Every gaze was fixed upon the figure slowly retracting his fist, eyes filled with shock and horror.

"Is... is this the strength of a 'God-Path' prodigy?"

"Proving the Way through force... rumor has it that once this path is mastered, the body becomes a universe, and a single punch can collapse a galaxy. Seeing it today, the legends are true!"

"Too terrifying... I know King Mojiao’s strength; even if I faced him, it would take months of grueling battle to decide the victor. Yet before King Cangtian, he couldn't even last a single breath!"

"Beneath the God-Path, all are ants. This saying is clearly no empty rumor."

Whispers rose like a tide, only to be swallowed by an even greater silence.

In every heart, the term "God-Path" took on a more concrete, more terrifying meaning.

King Cangtian acted as if he had performed a trivial task. He did not even glance at the void he had created, merely feeling the power within him surging ever more fiercely from his satisfied conscience, a look of contentment on his face.

However, in the next moment, his smile stiffened slightly.

He whipped his head around, his eyes—filled with tyranny and majesty like two burning suns—locking firmly onto the mechanical figure in the corner of the platform, who had not moved from the very beginning.

The other Kings present might only have sensed King Cangtian’s world-destroying physical power.

But King Cangtian himself, in that very instant, had clearly sensed a trace of something unusual.

It was a resonance born of the "Dao," or perhaps... a repulsion!

It was as if another incarnation of the same "Rule" had suddenly manifested within this universe.

His "Dao," his "Path of Divinity," felt at that moment a threat of the most fundamental, primordial nature.

He had only ever seen such a sensation described in ancient, dusty tomes.

—Those who walk the same divine path possess the keenest of senses toward one another.

They are natural-born arch-enemies, the greatest and only stumbling blocks upon each other's roads.

For a single divine path can only accommodate one soul to reach its end.

Another... a creature who has stepped onto the path of "Proving the Dao through Strength"?!

The eyes of the Heavenly King turned razor-sharp in an instant, filled with scrutiny and undisguised murderous intent.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the sturdy mechanical shell of the "Vanguard," staring directly into the core of its soul.

Almost at the exact moment the Heavenly King locked onto Qin Feng.

The core of Qin Feng’s consciousness, hitherto as still as an ancient well, rippled.

He, too, felt it.

That tremor originating from his own "Dao of Extremity."

His "Path of Extremity" was, in essence, also a path of "Proving the Dao through Strength," or rather, its most extreme and pure manifestation.

He could clearly perceive that the tyrannical, ostentatious, and self-centered Law of Power radiating from the Heavenly King shared the same origin as his own "Law of Extremity," yet diverged sharply in their ultimate philosophy.

The Heavenly King pursued infinite expansion and conquest.

While Qin Feng pursued the inward, the absolute, the singular "Extremity."

But regardless of their philosophies, their foundations were identical.

To meet was to begin the end.

A thought, simultaneously and without prior consultation, emerged within both their minds, cold and resolute.

"Must kill him!"

This was not hatred, nor was it a personal vendetta; it was a fundamental, irreconcilable contradiction born of the "Struggle of the Dao."

To kill the other was to make one's own path smoother, perhaps even to plunder the opponent's Dao-rhyme and transform it into fuel for oneself.

If one did not kill, the other’s existence would remain an eternal shadow and obstacle upon the road ahead.

BOOM!!!

Almost the instant this thought took hold, the Heavenly King moved.

He was more decisive, more violent than he had been when slaying the Ink-Dragon King.

His massive form transformed into a streak of golden light, tearing through space in an instant to appear directly before Qin Feng. This time, he did not merely use the strength of his physical body; he invoked the laws of that nascent "Divine Path."

"Divine Art: Tyrant Fist!"

He roared, a sound that shook the cosmos.

As he threw the punch, the entire secret realm trembled violently.

Contained within this blow was no longer pure physical force, but a "concept."

A tyrannical concept that all things are but illusions before me!

Under this fist, laws retreated, energy annihilated, and the very concepts of time and space blurred into nothingness.

The surrounding King-level powerhouses felt their very thoughts on the verge of being crushed by the supreme will contained in that strike; they were terrified to the marrow, retreating frantically for fear of being grazed by even a sliver of that terrifying gale.

They looked at the mechanical figure with eyes full of pity.

No one believed he could survive.

Under the Heavenly King’s full-force strike, imbued with the will of his "Divine Path," even a Sovereign-level powerhouse would likely have to avoid the brunt of it. For an unknown member of the Machine Race, there was only one outcome—complete, eternal annihilation.

Facing this world-shattering punch, the "Vanguard" form of Qin Feng stood perfectly still, as if he had failed to react in time.

Yet, beneath his cold mechanical mask, deep within the origin of his soul, a long-dormant power was slowly awakening.

"A mechanical body, after all, is a step behind in strength."

"But, to kill you, it is quite enough."

Qin Feng’s consciousness was as calm as water.

Just as the Heavenly King’s fist was about to touch his body.

The "Vanguard" slowly raised a single finger.

There was no astonishing momentum, no violent energy.

At his fingertip, a sliver of light, darker and purer than the deepest void of the universe, quietly condensed.

It was not black.

It was the manifestation of "Nothingness."

It was light, matter, energy, law, concept... it was the ultimate form presented after all things had been thoroughly devoured and erased.

[Extreme Divine Light]!

This ultimate technique was one Qin Feng had created by fusing his life’s learning, using the [Law of Extremity] as the core, the devouring Dao of the [Primal Furnace] as the skeleton, and the destructive essence of the divine art "Nine Tribulations Battle Canon" and the primal secret technique "Kill" as the soul—a supreme, King-level killer move unique to him.

During the bloody battles of the Star Abyss, he had used this move to heavily wound a Sovereign.

But back then, the Extreme Divine Light was silver-white, violent, and outward-projecting.

After thirty thousand years of sedimentation, especially after reshaping his [Extreme God-King Body] and elevating his understanding of his own Dao, he had finally pushed this technique to the realm of returning to simplicity.

From the ultimate "Being," it had transformed into the ultimate "Non-being."

From the tyrannical "Destruction," it had sublimated into silent "Erasure."

This pure black Extreme Divine Light was its most perfect, most terrifying form.

"Hum—"

There was no sound, yet it was as if a light chime originating from the source of the universe rang out in the depths of everyone’s soul.

That hair-thin sliver of pure black light shot from Qin Feng’s fingertip.

It had no concept of speed, for the moment it appeared, it had already arrived where it was meant to be.

It collided with the Heavenly King’s earth-shattering "Divine Art: Tyrant Fist."

And then...

A scene that froze the souls of all who watched occurred.

No explosion.

No collision.

No venting of energy.

The Heavenly King’s fist, capable of shattering stars and crushing laws, the moment it touched that sliver of black light, began to disappear—silently—starting from the knuckles, as if it were pencil marks being wiped away by an eraser.

Yes, vanished.

Not shattered, not vaporized, but utterly and fundamentally erased from the very fabric of existence.

The arrogance and tyranny that once etched the face of the Azure Heaven King froze in an instant, replaced by a terror so profound and a disbelief so absolute that it defied description.

He could feel his power, his laws, and that indomitable, god-forged body he held in such pride, severing all connection to him the moment they touched that black light. It was as if those parts of him had never existed in this universe at all.

He longed to retreat, to roar, to ignite his very essence in a desperate bid for survival.

But he could not.

That beam of pure, abyssal radiance, having erased his fist, pressed onward with undiminished momentum, creeping upward along his arm.

Arm, shoulder, chest, head...

Under the dull, horrified gazes of hundreds of peerless kings, who stared as if witnessing a spectral nightmare, it happened.

The Azure Heaven King, that supreme prodigy who had walked the path of "proving the Way through sheer force," the invincible titan who had just pulverized the Ink Dragon King and dominated the entire field, was being "wiped away"—inch by agonizing inch, in total silence—by that uncanny black light.

His physical form, his formidable soul, the nascent fruit of his divine path...

Every trace of his existence in this universe.

In the span of a single breath, all was eradicated, returned to the void.

As the black light crested over his crown and finally dissipated into the air, all that remained in his place was a void deeper and more chilling than the hollow he himself had carved into reality—an absolute, hollow nothingness.

The Azure Heaven King had fallen.

(End of chapter)