Chapter 387: He is Surprisingly Not the Gatekeeper? Seeing Caesar Again! Second

Chapter 387: He is not the Gatekeeper? Caesar, once more! The Second Gate: The Crucible of Myriad Laws

The Boneyard, an eternal void woven from the laws of death, knows no concept of the passage of time.

For Qin Feng, whether a fleeting moment or ten thousand years passed in the outside world, there was no essential difference.

Having purged all "competitors," he had transformed into the sole, and most insatiable, scavenger within this sea of bones.

He sat cross-legged atop a mountain of colossal beast remains, his vast black-gold consciousness spilling forth like liquid mercury, seeping into every corner of this realm, meticulously deconstructing the imprints of the Great Dao contained within the remains of nearly a million powerhouses.

It was a project so grand that it would have left any saint breathless.

Each skeleton represented the culmination of a life’s work for a peak monarch, or even someone greater.

Qin Feng’s consciousness acted as the most precise of scalpels, peeling back and dissecting these crystallizations layer by layer.

He encountered the remains of a giant bird, its entire frame still smoldering with golden flames.

As his consciousness submerged within, he lived through the rise of a monarch of the Golden Crow clan.

From the first wisp of mundane fire mastered at birth to the ultimate "Great Sun Golden Flame" capable of boiling seas and incinerating stars, every evolution, sublimation, and application of the fire laws was laid bare before him.

These insights were integrated into his own [Golden Emperor Divine Fire] and [Void Black Flame], causing the origins of both divine fires to become increasingly harmonious and potent.

He then discovered a mechanical core composed of countless arcane runes.

Probing within, he entered a frigid world of zeros and ones—a grand blueprint by a pioneer of the Machine Race, who had exhausted a lifetime attempting to deduce the ultimate truth of the universe through logic and algorithms. The unique insights into causality, information theory, and dimensional science opened a brand-new door for Qin Feng.

He even unearthed the remains of a human immortal, seemingly unremarkable yet radiating a faint aura of "immortality."

Immersing his consciousness, he experienced a vastly different cultivation system.

It was an ancient path, and its exposition on the relationship between spirit and matter, the false self and the true self, allowed Qin Feng’s already black-gold quality mental energy to be further refined and sublimated.

...

Time slipped away in this monotonous yet incredibly fulfilling "study."

Qin Feng’s "Path of Extremes," like a greedy sponge, frantically absorbed the wisdom of a million different civilizations and systems.

His Dao foundation expanded and deepened at a terrifying rate.

If he had previously been a solitary, precipitous peak, he was now an endless mountain range, encompassing every landscape known to the world.

His strength, too, underwent a seismic qualitative change through this subtle accumulation.

Though his realm remained at the late stage of the Emperor-sealing level, failing to touch the barrier of sainthood, his comprehensive combat power was ten times greater than when he had first arrived fifty thousand years ago!

Especially his signature technique—[Extreme Divine Light].

Having absorbed tens of thousands of laws related to "annihilation," "finality," "void," "causality," and "concepts," this ability had completely transcended the category of "Emperor-level secret arts," ascending to an unfathomable new level.

The current [Extreme Divine Light] was no longer merely "conceptual negation."

It was more akin to a... "Law Editor."

Qin Feng could, at will, use [Extreme Divine Light] to analyze, decompose, or even... reorganize every law he perceived.

If he wished, he could strip fire of its heat, space of its distance, and time of its flow.

This was already a power of creation bordering on "speaking the law into existence."

...

Over these long fifty thousand years, the Boneyard had not remained static.

As the first of the seventy-two divine gates, it was a mandatory passage for all prodigies of the Endless Sea.

Every so often, new "dead souls" would appear on the plains outside the portal.

The vast majority were merely ordinary peak monarchs. They would enter this sea of bones with trepidation; the lucky ones would find their own remains and flee in a panic toward the second gate, while the unlucky would have their "dead souls" shattered in the chaos of battle, becoming forever lost in this land of death.

Qin Feng had long since lost interest in these "small fry."

Only when a "dead soul" of extreme rarity, containing laws he had never seen before, appeared would he spare a sliver of focus from his deep meditation to "collect" it as fodder for perfecting his Dao.

During this time, new prodigies of the Divine Path also descended.

They were, without exception, arrogant and invincible in their own eras.

Yet, the moment they stepped into this sea of bones and felt the Emperor-level consciousness—vast as the heavens and causing their souls to tremble—all their pride was crushed in an instant.

"There is... an Emperor here?"

"Are you mad? What Emperor would linger at the first gate instead of competing for the opportunities ahead?"

Under the pressure of absolute strength, they could only tuck their tails, suppress their auras, and cautiously locate their remains before fleeing this place of trouble without looking back.

Gradually, a legend began to circulate among those who followed.

In the "Boneyard," the first of the seventy-two divine gates, there lurked a mysterious, nameless "Gatekeeper."

He never took the initiative to strike, but his presence was an ever-present weight.

No one knew his origins, and no one knew his purpose.

They only knew that in this land of death, he was the only law.

...

Fifty thousand years is enough for stars to be born and die, and for seas to turn into mulberry fields.

On this day, Qin Feng, who was analyzing the time laws within the remains of an ancient "Chronos Dragon," felt a slight stir in his mind.

His consciousness captured a familiar, yet somewhat weakened, fluctuation of law.

It was... a unique Dao filled with the aura of tyranny, conquest, and supreme imperial authority.

"This aura..."

Qin Feng’s consciousness instantly spanned the endless sea of bones, locking onto the far end.

There, a fierce chase was unfolding.

The one being hunted was a man of upright stature and heroic features, clad in golden battle armor.

He wielded a massive battle-axe, and with every swing, he unleashed tyrannical axe-light that tore through space.

Yet, at this moment, he appeared wretched.

His golden armor was riddled with cracks, a trace of golden blood hung from the corner of his mouth, and his aura was in complete disarray.

It was Caesar!

The peerless prodigy who had once stood toe-to-toe with Qin Feng in the Universal Genius Tournament, only to be won over and willingly submit.

Behind him, a being burning with blinding golden flames, like a walking sun, was in leisurely pursuit.

The creature appeared human but possessed three legs, its body composed of pure solar divine fire, radiating an aura that was scorching and tyrannical—it was clearly another prodigy who had embarked on the Divine Path!

Moreover, its strength had evidently reached the pinnacle of the Emperor-sealing level, firmly suppressing Caesar.

"Give up, Caesar!"

The flame creature’s voice echoed through the void like a solar storm. "Your 'Imperial Dao' is indeed extraordinary. But your 'dead soul' is damaged, and your origin is insufficient. Today, you cannot escape!"

"Hand over your remains, and I shall grant you a swift death!"

Caesar offered no reply, only gritting his teeth as he desperately spurred the meager remnants of his essence to flee in a frantic, jagged line.

Within those eyes, once brimming with pride, there remained now only a hollow, aching well of humiliation and defiance.

This pursuit had already drawn a crowd of newly arrived prodigies, who hovered in the distance, their mental whispers weaving a tapestry of cold judgment.

"It is the Golden Crow King! One of the absolute pinnacles among this generation’s new path-seekers!"

"That human being hunted, is his name Caesar? He is a path-seeker too, but his foundation seems shattered; he is no match for the Golden Crow King."

"I heard that when the Bone Tide erupted, Caesar crossed paths with the King and barely escaped with his life. Who would have thought he would be cornered again?"

"Hmph, his luck has run dry. Look at his 'Dead Soul'—it is already beginning to fray. He cannot hold on much longer."

"Once the King catches him and strips away his bones, Caesar’s cultivation and his insights into the Imperial Path will all become fodder for another. Tsk, how cruel."

"It is the way of the Bone Graveyard! The weak are meat for the strong, and the victor takes all!"

These murmurs struck Caesar’s ears like invisible blades, carving deep into his fraying resolve.

He felt his consciousness beginning to blur, a dark fog creeping into the edges of his mind.

He could feel the Solar True Fire behind him, clinging like a maggot to bone, relentlessly scorching and eroding his dwindling soul-force.

Is this where it ends?

I, Caesar, have waged war a lifetime; never have I known such a wretched, pathetic hour!

A flicker of grim determination ignited in the depths of his gaze.

Even in death, I shall never let my legacy fall into the hands of an enemy!

He halted abruptly, spinning around as his battle-axe flared with a final, brilliant, and agonizingly beautiful golden flame.

He prepared to detonate his own Dead Soul.

"Oh? Finally tired of running?"

The Golden Crow King halted a short distance away, his face twisted into the cruel, playful grin of a cat toying with a dying mouse.

"Thinking of self-destruction? You are too late!"

He opened his maw and inhaled with a sudden, violent force.

Whoosh—

A terrifying suction erupted from his throat, coalescing into a massive vortex of Solar True Fire, intent on forcibly devouring Caesar’s soul.

Caesar felt his very essence being ripped from his husk, the strength to trigger his own end stolen away.

Despair, absolute and suffocating, swallowed his heart whole.

Yet, in that heartbeat of impending annihilation, a voice—plain, calm, and seemingly imbued with the fundamental truths of the cosmos—sounded between them without warning.

"You cannot touch him."

The voice was soft, yet it carried the weight of a divine decree, instantly suppressing the Golden Crow King’s raging solar storm.

Time and space seemed to freeze in that singular moment.

The King’s infallible devouring art came to a jarring, unnatural halt.

The horrific suction that threatened to tear Caesar’s soul asunder vanished without a trace.

Both men, along with every watching prodigy, stood stunned, turning their gazes toward the source of the sound.

There, before Caesar, a black-clad figure had appeared from nowhere.

He stood with his back to Caesar, silent and still, like an immovable mountain from the dawn of time.

"Who are you?"

The Golden Crow King’s pupils contracted; from this stranger, he felt a pressure so unprecedented that it threatened to freeze his very soul.

It was the sensation of a mortal staring up into the infinite, bottomless abyss of the night sky.

"Begone."

Qin Feng did not turn his head, merely uttering the single word with indifferent grace.

"Insolence!"

When had the Golden Crow King ever suffered such degradation? He was the pinnacle of his generation, an Emperor in the making!

After a flicker of fear, a tidal wave of fury surged into his heart.

"Whoever you are, if you dare meddle in my affairs, then turn to ash!"

He roared, throwing his arms wide as a golden sun, over ten thousand miles in diameter and condensed to the point of perfection, rose behind him. With the terrifying power to incinerate all existence, it crashed toward Qin Feng!

This strike was enough to slaughter any peer-level path-seeker in an instant!

The surrounding spectators paled, scrambling backward in a frenzy, terrified of being caught in the wake of the solar fire.

Yet, facing this world-ending blow, Qin Feng did not even turn his head.

He simply raised his right hand, slow and steady, and flicked his finger against the oncoming sun.

An invisible, colorless, silent ripple expanded from his fingertip.

Limitless Divine Light.

Wherever the ripple touched, the golden sun—capable of burning stars to dust—and the tyrannical laws of the Solar True Fire were simply "erased," as if wiped away by an invisible hand at the most fundamental level of reality.

No explosion. No collision.

It simply vanished into nothingness, as if it had never existed at all.

"Wh... what?!"

The sneer on the Golden Crow King’s face froze, replaced instantly by a marrow-deep, all-consuming terror.

His strongest strike, just like that... gone?

Before he could even process the horror, the invisible ripple crossed the space between them and descended upon him.

"No—"

He had only enough time to let out a shrill, distorted scream.

In the next heartbeat, his divine body—forged from pure solar fire—along with his soul, his Path, and his life’s cultivation, were "decomposed" and "analyzed" by the passing ripple, ultimately dissolving into a stream of pure, raw law-information that flowed backward and vanished into Qin Feng’s fingertip.

A top-tier path-seeker, before the eyes of all, had been... flicked into oblivion.

Body and soul annihilated.

Not even a trace of his existence remained.

……

Dead silence.

The entire boneyard plunged once more into a stillness as profound as the grave.

Every prodigy watching from the sidelines stood frozen, as if struck by a petrifying spell, their minds rendered utterly blank.

What had they just witnessed?

A miracle?

No, even the fabled gods of old could not have acted with such effortless indifference.

Caesar, standing behind Qin Feng, was paralyzed by shock.

He stared blankly at that back—a silhouette so familiar, yet now feeling impossibly alien—as a tempest of disbelief raged within his heart.

Only when that figure turned slowly, revealing a face as calm and indifferent as it had been through the ages, did reality set in.

"Long time no see, Caesar."

Boom!

Caesar’s mind shattered completely.

It was him!

It was truly him!

The man who had once suppressed an entire era of geniuses with his own two hands, the man to whom he had willingly bowed in submission!

The Ultimate God-Emperor—Qin Feng!

"You..."

Caesar opened his mouth, but his throat felt parched, unable to force out a single word.

He had so many questions.

Why are you here?

Shouldn't you have reached the deeper divine passes long ago?

You... what was the nature of that strike just now?

But in the end, all his words dissolved into a single, bitter, heartfelt sigh.

"...Long time no see."

……

After a brief, suffocating silence, a deafening uproar finally erupted among the crowd of watching prodigies.

"He... he’s dead? The Golden Crow King... just like that?"

"My god! Who... who is that man! What kind of technique did he use?"

"That aura... there is no mistake! It is an Emperor! A Sovereign who has walked the Divine Path... an Enthroned Emperor!"

"An Enthroned Emperor?! Are you joking? Why would he still be lingering in the first pass? Isn't the main force said to have already reached the third pass, the 'Furnace of Ten Thousand Laws'?"

"Absurd! This is completely absurd! An Enthroned Emperor of the Divine Path has been 'farming mobs' in the first pass for fifty thousand years! What on earth is he trying to do?"

In this moment, every newcomer looked at Qin Feng as if he were a monster, a madman.

They finally understood that the legend whispered among those who came after, the tale of the "Pass Keeper," was true.

Yet, none of them had imagined that this "Pass Keeper" would be a Sovereign of the Divine Path... one so terrifyingly, monstrously powerful!

……

In the gray void, Qin Feng and Caesar stood face to face.

The surrounding prodigies, terrified by the shocking scene, had long since retreated into the distance, peering from afar with a mixture of awe, fear, and curiosity, not daring to draw any closer.

The space between the two men seemed to have become an invisible forbidden zone.

After a long silence, it was Caesar who broke the stalemate.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent waves in his heart, and offered a complex smile—a smile containing the melancholy of reunion, the bitterness of being utterly outclassed, and a flicker of genuine admiration.

"I should have guessed,"

He shook his head, mocking himself, "In this world, besides you, who else could be so unreasonable?"

"Unreasonable" was the only word he could find to aptly describe Qin Feng’s strike.

It was no longer a matter of power or technique; it was a form of... "cheating" on the level of the laws themselves.

"Your wounds are severe."

Qin Feng’s gaze rested on Caesar’s near-translucent "dead soul," his voice calm.

"It’s no matter, I won't die."

Caesar shrugged with feigned ease. "In this godforsaken place, it’s hard to die even if you want to. My origin is just overly depleted; I need time to find a skeleton imbued with the laws of life to slowly nourish myself back to health."

Qin Feng said nothing more, merely flicked his finger.

A drop of liquid, shimmering with seven-colored light and containing vast vitality and the resonance of the Great Dao, drifted slowly toward Caesar.

It was the essence of life, condensed from the origin power of the [Seven-Colored Bodhi Fruit] combined with his own profound understanding of the laws of life.

Its potency was a thousand times greater than the drop he had once gifted to Luo Cheng.

"This is..."

Caesar’s pupils contracted as he stared at the divine object radiating endless vitality.

He could feel that even the mere leakage of its aura was enough to stabilize his soul, which had been on the verge of disintegration.

"Consume it."

Qin Feng’s tone remained as flat as ever.

Caesar looked deeply at Qin Feng; he knew that between them, any refusal would be hypocritical.

He hesitated no longer and swallowed the drop of life essence.

"Boom!"

A torrent of life, vast as an ocean, exploded deep within his soul!

His "dead soul," riddled with holes from endless battles, was washed by this pure, ultimate energy, repairing and solidifying at an incredible speed.

In just a few breaths, not only were his wounds fully healed, but he felt his soul origin was even more resilient and pure than it had been in his prime.

"Thank you."

Caesar exhaled a long, heavy breath and nodded solemnly toward Qin Feng.

Two simple words, yet they held a thousand unspoken meanings.

With his strength restored, he finally had the energy to confront the greatest doubt that had been circling in his mind.

He looked at Qin Feng, his expression growing infinitely complex, and after a moment of hesitation, he could not help but ask: "In the outside world... the rumors said that you had already... fallen?"

He asked the question with the utmost caution.

Though he had not witnessed the "Blood War of the Star Abyss" that shook the cosmos, he had heard of its harrowing brutality.

Legend held that Qin Feng fought the allied forces of the myriad races alone, finally detonating his own essence and leaving not even a sliver of his true spirit behind. This news had wrung sighs of grief from countless human prodigies and left even him, a former rival, with a sense of inexplicable loss.

An era had come to an end.

Yet now, this legend, long thought to be dust, stood before him, alive and radiating a presence more unfathomable than ever.

Qin Feng’s expression remained unchanged as he replied coolly, "That was merely... a necessary curtain call."

The simple answer carried a revelation of earth-shattering proportions.

Caesar understood in an instant.

A faked death to escape!

What a grand scheme! What profound calculation!

To have deceived the entire universe!

He was struck with awe, but immediately realized this must involve Qin Feng’s most guarded secrets.

With tact, he refrained from further inquiry, simply nodding and burying the topic deep within his heart.

"And you?"

Qin Feng countered, "Where did you go after the Universal Genius Tournament? And why have you come to this Endless Sea?"

At the mention of the past, a look of reminiscence flickered in Caesar’s eyes.

"After the tournament, I returned to my kin—the Titan God race."

He spoke slowly, "Drawing upon the insights gained from that battle, I entered seclusion for a hundred thousand years, successfully embarking on the 'Path of God,' and attained a position of great prestige within my clan."

"Later, when the Golden Age dawned and news of the Seventy-Two Divine Passes emerged, you know as well as I that for those of us on the Path of God, the thirst for 'divinity' is carved into our very bones. So, I bade farewell to my people and stepped into this Endless Sea alone."

His tone was flat, yet Qin Feng could imagine the countless hardships and bloody battles that must have paved that journey.

The two fell into a brief silence, their thoughts drifting back to that age of brilliant talents and fervent conquest.

"Do you remember? Our first meeting in the Trial Star Cluster."

Caesar suddenly laughed, "Back then, you were just a fledgling, yet you dared to reject my invitation in front of everyone."

A rare, faint smile touched the corner of Qin Feng’s mouth: "I remember. You said I was the most arrogant newcomer you had ever seen."

"History proved I was right," Caesar sighed. "I just never imagined you would be far more arrogant than I had dared to dream. In the end, even I became one of your defeated foes."

He paused, his gaze growing distant: "To be honest, that decade-long duel was the most exhilarating fight of my life. Though it ended in a draw, I knew I had lost. Your inexhaustible fighting spirit and your endless array of hidden cards left me utterly convinced."

"I, too, benefited greatly from that battle," Qin Feng replied calmly.

That was a time of purity, dedicated solely to the pursuit of the martial peak.

There was no racial hatred, no ancient machinations—only the direct, unadulterated clash between geniuses.

They chatted on, drifting from one memory to the next.

From the first flash of brilliance at the Rookie Cup to the iron-fisted conquests of the Six Galaxy Alliance;

From the despair that descended upon the Beast Graveyard to the crowning of the victor at the Final Battle...

Those once-vivid memories, like vintage wine, exhaled a rich fragrance as they spoke.

The surrounding prodigies watched in utter bewilderment.

They could not fathom how this terrifying entity, who had obliterated the Golden Crow King with a mere flick of his finger like a demon god, could be so peacefully... reminiscing with another human?

The scene was jarringly incongruous.

Long after, as the recollections faded, the smile on Caesar’s face vanished, replaced by a grave expression.

He glanced around, then transmitted a message to Qin Feng through a highly concealed mental fluctuation:

"Qin Feng, there is something I must warn you about."

Qin Feng’s gaze tightened: "Speak."

"These Seventy-Two Divine Passes are flawed," Caesar’s voice was barely a whisper, thick with vigilance. "They exert a subtle, corrosive influence on the hearts of those who enter. It is a conspiracy of the Evil Gods; you must be careful."

"Corrosion?" Qin Feng’s brows knitted slightly.

Since entering the burial grounds, he had felt nothing but the eerie laws of death and mental illusions, detecting no anomalies targeting his heart.

"What kind of corrosion, exactly?" he pressed.

Caesar shook his head, a trace of confusion and lingering fear on his face: "I cannot describe it clearly. It is not a direct attack, nor is it charm or illusion. It is more like... a suggestion. As you clear the passes, as you make your choices and kill to seize treasures, it subtly amplifies the negative emotions within you."

"Greed, jealousy, cruelty, suspicion... it makes you feel that to grow stronger, to seize destiny, you can use any means necessary, casting aside all boundaries. It even makes you enjoy this descent into depravity without you ever realizing it."

Caesar’s eyes grew unfocused, as if recalling a harrowing experience.

"I have seen too many prodigies who held to their principles and their dao when they first arrived. But the more passes they cleared, the more extreme and cruel their actions became. Some even turned their blades on their former companions just to snatch a treasure."

"At first, I thought it was the cruel environment of the Endless Sea changing them. It wasn't until I obtained an ancient divine relic in the second pass, the 'Furnace of Myriad Laws,' that I saw it. Through that relic, I saw a sliver of black 'impurity' growing deep within my own heart."

"That impurity was the source of the 'corrosion.' It constantly lures you toward the darkness. Had I not discovered it in time and severed that impurity, I fear I would have become one of those madmen who sacrifice everything for power."

Hearing this, Qin Feng’s expression turned somber.

He thought of the words of the Master of Limits.

He thought of the four Evil Gods who had been laying their plans for eons.

If Caesar spoke the truth, then these Seventy-Two Divine Passes were not merely a site for testing and selection.

They were more like... a "processing plant."

A factory that refined every unruly prodigy into a product that met their "standards"!

"Do you know the reason behind this?" Qin Feng asked in a low voice.

"I do not know the specifics," Caesar shook his head, a bitter helplessness on his face. "I only know that becoming a god is not as simple as the legends claim."

He looked up at the grey, seemingly endless void, his voice deepening.

"The Old Gods do not wish for the emergence of new gods."

"Or rather, they do not wish for the emergence of 'disobedient' new gods."

"If this universe is to have new deities, they must be... obedient, new gods who can be controlled by them."

These words were like a bolt of lightning, shattering the fog in Qin Feng’s mind.

He understood instantly.

The Seventy-Two Divine Passes were named for selection, but they were actually for "domestication"!

The Evil Gods did not want a challenger who stood as their equal.

They wanted... loyal "lackeys" who could be used for their own ends!

Anyone who passed the Seventy-Two Divine Passes and obtained the chance to become a god would likely find their hearts already corrupted and twisted, turning them into the most devout believers of the Evil Gods.

What a grand... ancient deception!

A bone-chilling coldness crept into Qin Feng’s heart.

"My thanks," he said, looking at Caesar with profound gravity.

This intelligence was of paramount importance. Had Caesar not offered this warning, he might have fallen into a trap in the later stages, oblivious to his own undoing. Though he possessed the Seven-Colored Bodhi Seed to guard his mind, the machinations of the Evil Gods were impossible to fully anticipate.

"Between us, such words are unnecessary," Caesar waved a hand. "I can tell you only this much. The path ahead must be walked by you alone. Your strength is unfathomable, yet the methods of the Evil Gods are treacherous and unpredictable. Remember: be cautious in all things."

"I understand," Qin Feng nodded.

"Well, it is time for me to depart." Caesar glanced toward the void leading to the unknown. "I must reach the second stage as quickly as possible to reclaim my physical form. Remaining in this 'Dead Soul' state for too long is, at the end of the day, no good thing."

He struck his chest firmly before Qin Feng, a hearty, open smile gracing his features.

"I hope that when we meet again, we shall both be standing upon the thrones of gods."

"That day will come."

They shared a smile, everything understood without the need for further words.

Caesar lingered no longer. With a nod to Qin Feng, he moved, transforming into a golden streak of light that sped toward the depths of the Bone Sea, toward the gateway to the second stage.

Qin Feng watched his figure vanish into the gray mist before slowly withdrawing his gaze.

He glanced at the surrounding prodigies who were still lurking in the distance; meeting his eyes, they scattered like frightened rabbits, vanishing without a trace.

The world was once again left to him alone.

He did not leave immediately.

The intelligence Caesar provided filled him with vigilance for the trials to come.

"Corruption, is it..."

He murmured to himself, his black-gold divine sense sinking once more into the depths of his consciousness, meticulously examining his soul’s origin, inch by agonizing inch.

Under the radiance of the Seven-Colored Bodhi Seed, his soul remained pure and flawless, like the most perfect lapis lazuli; he found no trace of the "black impurities" Caesar had described.

"It seems the power of 'corruption' in this burial ground is still relatively weak. Or perhaps, my spiritual level is already sufficient to remain immune to this degree of erosion."

Yet, this did not allow Qin Feng to lower his guard.

If the first stage was already this insidious, the subsequent trials would undoubtedly be far more perilous.

"Old Gods... New Gods..."

A cold, icy glint flashed in his eyes.

Qin Feng had lived his life by his own heart, walking only his "Path of Extremes," and he would never become a puppet to any existence.

Not even a god.

"If that is the case, then let me see exactly how many tricks you have up your sleeves."

He abandoned the thought of heading to the second stage immediately.

He decided to remain here.

On one hand, he would drain every law useful to him from this Bone Sea, polishing his foundation to a true limit that no one before him had reached, and none would reach after.

On the other, he would use this time to carefully observe the nature of this so-called "corruption" and how it manifested.

To know oneself and the enemy is the only way to remain invincible in a hundred battles.

...

Time, once again, lost its meaning.

Qin Feng sat atop the peak of the bone mountain like an eternal statue.

And the legends surrounding him grew ever wider and more divine with the arrival and departure of each new wave of challengers.

"Have you heard? The 'Gatekeeper' of the first stage has struck again!"

"What happened? I thought he never initiated an attack?"

"It’s because that fool 'Blood Demon' tried to snatch an ancient demonic skeleton the Gatekeeper had his eye on. One look from him, and the Blood Demon's 'Dead Soul' simply evaporated!"

"Hiss—he killed him with a single glance? That is terrifying!"

"Who’s to say otherwise? Everyone has learned their lesson now. The first thing you do upon entering the burial ground is to bow to that bone mountain from afar, then walk around it. No one dares to come within ten thousand miles of him."

Gradually, the region where Qin Feng resided became a true "forbidden zone" of the burial ground.

His title as the "Gatekeeper" grew ever more renowned.

Almost every prodigy who emerged alive from the first stage would recount, with lingering fear, the horror of the mysterious existence perched upon the bone mountain.

Until... one hundred thousand years drifted slowly by.

On this day, Qin Feng, who had sat for a hundred thousand years as if he had become one with the Bone Sea, finally, slowly, opened his eyes.

"Hum—"

As his eyelids parted, two beams of infinitely condensed chaotic divine light shot forth, effortlessly tearing two bottomless black fissures into the void before him.

His aura, compared to a hundred thousand years ago, had not become more violent; instead, it had grown more restrained, more tranquil.

Yet, the impression he gave was a hundred times more terrifying than before.

He was now like a universe that had returned to its source. Calm on the surface, yet harboring a supreme power capable of rending heaven and earth asunder.

"One hundred thousand years..."

He whispered, slowly rising to his feet.

"The laws of this place have all returned to me."

"My foundation has reached its current perfection."

"It is time to see the second stage, the so-called 'Furnace of Ten Thousand Laws'."

He took a step, and his figure arrived before the passage leading to the unknown.

And just as he prepared to step through, a few new arrivals—prodigies who had just entered the burial ground and were cautiously searching for their own skeletons—happened to witness the scene.

"Look! It’s the 'Gatekeeper'! Is he... is he leaving?"

"My god! The myth that has perched here for over a hundred thousand years is finally moving?"

They were excited, shocked, and filled with curiosity.

However, the next moment, when they saw Qin Feng’s true face and felt the vitality of a "prodigy"—not an "ancient monster"—that remained clear and distinct despite his restrained aura, they all turned to stone.

"He... he is also... a challenger?"

A thought, absurd to the extreme, surfaced in their minds.

This figure, treated by countless others as an NPC, as the ultimate boss of the first stage, who had sat for over a hundred thousand years and forced generations of prodigies to detour—

Was actually, just like them, a "prodigy" here to conquer the divine path?!

This realization was even more shocking and maddening than the memory of Qin Feng instantly killing the Golden Crow King.

"Absurd..."

"This is... this is just too damn absurd!"

Under the gaze of countless eyes filled with ghostly terror, Qin Feng’s figure did not falter for a single instant; he stepped into the passage and vanished from sight.

He left behind only his legend, destined to echo forever within this graveyard of bones.

...

Stepping out from the grey vortex of the burial ground, Qin Feng felt as if he had been plucked from the icy, silent depths of a dead sea and plunged instantly into the heart of a roiling, incandescent furnace.

The scene before him, and the very laws governing the environment around him, had undergone a cataclysmic, subversive transformation.

The aura of death and finality that had clung to his marrow for a hundred thousand years was, the moment he crossed the threshold, thoroughly cleansed, purified, and evaporated by a torrent of heat—a primordial flood imbued with the dual nature of creation and destruction.

He had arrived in a realm constructed by the "Laws" themselves.

Here, there were no suns, moons, or stars; no heaven, earth, or sky.

At the core of this entire world, suspended in the center of an endless void, stood a furnace of such staggering magnitude that no language could describe its grandeur.

It was so vast that its silhouette occupied Qin Feng’s entire field of vision, comparable to a small nebula. It was not a solid object, but a construct of light and heat, condensed to an extreme degree and locked in a perpetual cycle of fusion and fission.

Etched upon the furnace walls were billions of ancient, intricate divine runes, each one seemingly articulating the birth and demise of a cosmic truth.

It pulsed slowly, and with every beat—like the heartbeat of the universe itself—it released a terrifying tide of energy capable of making even an Emperor tremble, sweeping outward in every direction.

This was the core of the second trial: the Myriad Law Furnace.

From this sacred and tyrannical source, billions of "Rivers of Law" surged forth from the fissures in the furnace, extending into every corner of the space.

These rivers did not flow with water, but with liquid, primordial, pure, and volatile essences of Law.

Some rivers glowed with a magma-like crimson gold, carrying the tyrannical Law of Fire; others shimmered in a deep, abyssal blue, where the pure Law of Space surged in torrents.

Still others were a jade-like green, brimming with the majestic Law of Life... scarlet, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet, black, white, gold—billions of colors and billions of rivers combined to form a cosmic spectacle so magnificent it stole the breath away. They were the veins of the furnace, pumping the most fundamental power into the entire world.

In the regions further from the furnace, the rushing rivers slowed as the temperature dropped.

The liquid essence of the Laws began to cool, solidify, and eventually precipitate into crystals, forming "Law Mineral Deposits" of various shapes and sizes.

These crystals floated in the void like suspended islands or brilliant, scattered stars.

Each deposit contained one or several types of Law that had undergone initial sedimentation and become relatively stable.

Some were sharp-edged and jagged, radiating an indestructible sword intent—minerals condensed from the "Geng Metal Sword Dao."

Others were translucent like jellyfish, shifting in light and shadow, exuding a bewildering aura—these were composed of the "Law of Illusion."

Qin Feng even spotted a pitch-black, singularity-like crystal that devoured light and warped the surrounding space; it contained a rare fusion of the "Law of Gravity" and the "Law of Devouring."

This space had no boundaries.

Its "sky" and "ground" were made of an unknown, obsidian-like material, smooth and dense, enclosing the world into a perfect, self-contained, sealed domain.

The light from the furnace and the billions of rivers reflected off this black canopy, creating a phantasmagorical sea of stars that blurred the line between reality and illusion.

Dotting this magnificent tapestry were tiny, insignificant figures.

They were the challengers who had arrived before Qin Feng.

They were like "gold prospectors" in this ocean of Laws.

Some prodigies hovered cautiously along the banks of a river, offering up their life-bound artifacts in an attempt to "scoop" even half a wisp of liquid essence, only for the violent torrent to wash over their treasures, dimming their luster and stripping them of their spirit.

Others, working in groups, launched a storm of attacks against a mountain-sized Law crystal, attempting to shatter its shell to reach the pure Law core within.

Yet, the crystal’s hardness far exceeded their imagination; despite unleashing all their divine abilities, they could only leave shallow white scratches upon its surface.

Danger was everywhere.

Qin Feng witnessed a King who attempted to force his way across a river of the "Law of Thunder." The moment he flew into it, billions of violent, chaotic divine lightning bolts struck him, obliterating his body and soul in an instant, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

He also saw a prodigy of the Divine Path, who, after successfully shattering a crystal containing the "Law of Curse," had no time to celebrate before a wisp of escaping black gas touched him.

In a heartbeat, his powerful divine body began to rot and wither at a visible rate, until, amidst shrill, agonizing screams, he collapsed into a desiccated corpse.

This was a place of opportunity, but also a graveyard.

Caesar had not lied; the danger of this second trial, the "Myriad Law Furnace," far surpassed that of the first.

Yet, while all other challengers were filled with awe and terror toward this realm, Qin Feng’s feelings were entirely different.

As he stepped into this space and breathed in the "air" saturated with scorching, violent Law particles, he felt no oppression or danger—only a sense of profound, unprecedented intimacy and longing, rising from the very depths of his soul.

It was as if a glutton who had starved for billions of years had finally stumbled upon an endless feast tailored specifically for him.

"Hum..."

The "Limitless Dao" within him began to churn spontaneously and joyfully, without him even needing to command it.

His "Limitless Body," tempered over a hundred thousand years to a state of flawless perfection, felt no discomfort under the heat of these Laws. Instead, it was like soaking in the most comfortable hot spring, with every single cell cheering in delight.

In that moment, he realized the true rules of this second trial.

This was a place for "Forging the Dao"!

The Myriad Law Furnace was the fire.

The billions of Laws were the iron.

Every challenger had to use their own "Dao" as a hammer and their "Will" as an anvil to strike, temper, and fuse these primordial, violent Laws, turning them into their own to forge a unique "Divine Weapon."

If your "Dao" was not solid enough, or your will not firm enough, the result would not be you "forging" the Laws, but being "melted" by them, eventually becoming just another wisp of unconscious energy in this world.

This was the most cruel, yet most fair, trial of the Great Dao!

"So that is how it is..."

Qin Feng slowly raised his head to look at the Myriad Law Furnace, pulsing like the heart of the universe in the center of the world. In his eyes, there was no fear—only an unprecedented, blazing will to fight.

"A magnificent... Myriad Law Furnace."

He opened his arms and took a deep breath.

The violent Law particles, which would have caused an ordinary King to explode instantly, were swallowed into his body like a whale drinking the sea. They were instantly broken down, absorbed, and converted by his "Limitless Body" as if they were the gentlest of streams.

He could feel his strength growing, slowly but with absolute clarity.

He knew that this world was the ultimate training ground, tailor-made for his "Limitless Dao."

Here, he would complete a final, unprecedented transformation.