Chapter 388: A Single Step to Heaven, Life and Death Chessboard! One Step, One Life and Death!

Chapter 388: A Single Step to the Heavens, a Chessboard of Life and Death! Every Step a Gamble with Fate!

The moment Qin Feng stepped into the second trial, he was like a drop of ink falling into a clear pool, his influence rapidly diffusing through a world defined by searing heat and fundamental laws.

He did not behave like the other newcomers, who either trembled as they sought safety along the fringes or banded together for mutual protection.

He did not even bother to hunt for the legendary "prime crystal mines" said to contain rare laws.

He simply hovered in the void at the entrance, allowing the violent, scorching waves of law to scour his body.

His [Limitless Body] activated automatically, every pore transforming into a greedy black hole, whale-swallowing the free-floating law particles around him.

"Too slow."

A moment later, Qin Feng frowned slightly.

Although the concentration of laws here was thousands of times greater than in the outside world, this passive absorption method was, for him, agonizingly inefficient.

His origin was like an ocean that had been parched for eons; this "light drizzle" couldn't even dampen the soil.

His gaze pierced through layers of heat and the mist of laws, fixing upon the "Law Crystal Belt" floating in the distance.

There, tens of thousands of trial-takers were busy at work.

Most were in groups of three or five, surrounding massive crystal mines, brandishing various King-level or even Quasi-Emperor-level artifacts, carefully cutting and excavating.

Each strike was accompanied by a spray of law-sparks and a backlash of energy.

Even for a peak King, chipping a single fragment from these highly condensed crystals often required days or even months of labor.

It was delicate work, a test of patience and endurance.

But Qin Feng had no taste for such methods.

With a flicker of movement, he transformed into a streak of black light, plunging into the crystal belt.

His target was a massive crystal mine over a thousand miles in diameter, glowing with a dark purple hue and radiating a heart-stopping aura of thunder.

Three different factions, totaling more than thirty peak Kings, were entrenched around this mine.

They were locked in a delicate standoff, each clearly coveting the treasure trove of high-level "Purple Heaven Divine Thunder" laws, yet none dared to strike first, fearing the strength of the others.

"It's Purple Heaven Thunder Ore! A rare find!"

"If I can refine even one percent of this, my thunder arts will reach perfection!"

"Hmph, that depends on whether you have the life to claim it!"

Just as the three parties stood on the brink of a violent clash, a black shadow descended upon the thunder mine like a falling meteorite.

No pleasantries, no preamble.

Qin Feng stood in mid-air, his right arm raised high, his five fingers clenched into a fist.

In that instant, the blood within him roared like a dragon's cry, and the power of his [Limitless Body] was pushed to its zenith. His fist was not imbued with any law-based supernatural ability, but rather with something purely, utterly... force!

The ultimate force that shatters all, pulverizes all!

"Get out of the way."

A low shout, like a thunderclap, exploded.

Before the thirty-plus Kings below could react, Qin Feng's fist had already slammed heavily into the thousand-mile-wide Purple Heaven Thunder mine.

"BOOM—!!!"

A terrifying sound, enough to shatter eardrums, instantly echoed across a million miles.

Under the horrified gazes of all the Kings, the Purple Heaven Thunder mine—harder than an Emperor-level weapon and a source of total frustration for them—actually...

Exploded!

Not cracked, but utterly disintegrated!

Qin Feng's punch had not only shattered the physical structure of the crystal mine but, with a tyrannical, unparalleled shockwave, had snapped and scattered the solidified thunder-law chains within.

Purple crystal dust filled the sky, pouring down like a torrential rain.

Following it came a terrifying storm of thunder laws.

"No! Retreat!"

"A madman! This is a madman!"

"He detonated the mine!"

The thirty-plus Kings surrounding the area were terrified out of their wits, fleeing frantically in all directions.

Even so, seven or eight unlucky souls were caught by the violent thunder storm, screaming as they were reduced to charred remains on the spot.

Yet Qin Feng, at the heart of the storm, seemed to be bathing in a spring breeze.

Facing a law storm capable of annihilating Kings, he merely opened his mouth and inhaled sharply.

"Heaven-Swallowing."

Whoosh—

A massive black vortex formed before him.

The sky-filling purple crystal dust, the violent thunder laws, and the dissipating energy were all drawn in like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, devoured entirely by that terrifying vortex!

Only ten breaths passed.

The storm subsided.

The massive Purple Heaven Thunder mine, along with the vast thunder laws contained within, had vanished completely.

Only Qin Feng remained, hovering in the empty void, letting out a satisfied belch. A faint purple arc of electricity flickered on his body for a fleeting second before being perfectly digested by his flawless physique.

"The taste is acceptable," Qin Feng remarked, before turning his gaze toward another crystal mine nearby, one radiating an icy blue light—the "Mysterious Underworld Frost" mine.

The entire scene fell into a deathly silence.

In the distance, the surviving Kings and the onlookers stood with mouths agape, eyes bulging from their sockets.

They had spent decades mining, only to obtain a fragment the size of a thumb.

This monster... punched a mountain of ore to pieces, and then... ate it in one bite?

"Who... who is he?"

"This kind of physical strength... could he be from the legendary Titan royal family?"

"No! He is human! I remember that face! He is the 'Gatekeeper' who occupied the first trial for over a hundred thousand years!"

"What? That god of slaughter has come to the second trial?!"

Panic spread instantly through the crystal belt.

Qin Feng cared nothing for the reactions of these ants.

Like a Tyrannosaurus Rex crashing into a porcelain shop, he began his unbridled "feast."

In the thousands of years that followed, the outer region of the second trial suffered an unprecedented catastrophe.

Wherever Qin Feng went, crystal mines of all sizes—whether containing the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, or the exotic laws of wind, thunder, light, and darkness—could not escape the fate of being "shattered by a fist and swallowed in a bite."

He had no need for contemplation.

His "Way of the Limit" possessed an inherent capacity to embrace all things; whether energy or law, he accepted all, forcibly smelting them into his own.

In a mere three thousand years,

the thousand most precious high-grade crystal mines in the outer reaches were swept clean by Qin Feng alone.

His strength, bolstered by this mountain of resources, climbed steadily once more.

And the fearsome reputation of the "Crystal Mine Crusher" echoed throughout the second trial.

Every challenger knew one thing:

If you see that man in black, regardless of how long you have been mining, run—run as far as you can!

...

Three thousand years later.

Qin Feng stood in the void, surveying his surroundings.

The once-scattered high-grade crystal mines were now reduced to sparse, scattered debris.

Those ordinary mines were like chicken ribs to him now, tasteless and unfulfilling.

"The resources of the outer reaches are no longer enough to sustain my progress."

Qin Feng cast his gaze toward the deeper regions.

There, billions of rivers of law surged and roared, eventually converging toward that majestic, towering Furnace of Ten Thousand Laws.

The laws there were more violent, more pure, and far more dangerous.

That was the territory of the prodigies of the Divine Road.

"It is time for a change of pace."

Qin Feng moved, abandoning the outer region and flying toward the "Domain of Ten Thousand Rivers" in the middle layer.

As he delved deeper, the temperature rose sharply, and the pressure of the laws increased exponentially.

Here, ordinary peak-level kings could barely stand; only those who had touched the edge of the Divine Road or possessed top-tier life-saving treasures dared to linger.

A river ten thousand miles wide, dark red in its entirety, lay across Qin Feng's path.

Flowing within it was the liquid "Law of Slaughter."

Each drop seemed to contain the wails and grievances of billions of souls, radiating a murderous intent so terrifying it could shatter a normal person's mind in an instant.

On the bank of this river sat a prodigy of the Divine Road.

He was a powerhouse of the Asura race, possessing three heads and six arms, his body wreathed in thick, bloody aura.

He was cautiously drawing a sliver of the river water, attempting to refine it into his Asura battle blade.

Sensing someone approaching, the Asura prodigy snapped his eyes open, his six blood-red eyes fixed on Qin Feng, his killing intent boiling.

"Begone! This river has been claimed by me!"

This was the rule of the Domain of Ten Thousand Rivers.

The strong occupy the rivers; the weak must take the long way around.

Qin Feng paused, glancing at the Asura prodigy, then at the surging River of Slaughter.

"You claimed it?" Qin Feng asked in return.

"Indeed! I am—"

"If you have claimed it, why do you only dare to graze the surface at the bank?" Qin Feng interrupted, his tone laced with disdain. "True occupation should look like this."

Before the words faded, Qin Feng took a step forward.

Under the stunned gaze of the Asura prodigy, he actually... jumped directly into the River of Slaughter!

"Splash!"

His figure submerged into the blood-red water and vanished instantly.

"Madman! You seek death!"

The Asura prodigy sneered, "The concentration of this River of Slaughter is such that even I dare not enter with my physical body. You, a human..."

However, his smile soon froze.

For the surging river had suddenly gone still.

Following that, a massive vortex appeared in the center of the river.

The water level began to drop at a speed visible to the naked eye!

At the heart of the vortex, Qin Feng sat cross-legged, allowing the liquid laws of slaughter—capable of corroding the soul—to wash over his body.

A faint black-gold divine light shimmered on his skin, blocking all the killing intent and erosion, while forcibly extracting the essence of the laws to integrate into himself.

He was not refining; he was... bathing!

Bathing in the Law of Slaughter!

"This... how is this possible?!"

All three of the Asura prodigy's heads wore expressions of having seen a ghost.

His own Asura battle-body, of which he was so proud, would collapse within a quarter-hour in this river.

Yet the other party was as comfortable as if he had returned home.

"This concentration is not enough."

In the river, Qin Feng shook his head.

He suddenly spread his arms, and his "Limit Domain" instantly expanded, covering the entire river.

"Condense... for me!"

Boom!

The entire river erupted, then, under Qin Feng's overbearing will, it was forcibly compressed and collapsed.

The river, once ten thousand miles wide, was finally reduced to a dark red orb of light no more than a hundred feet in diameter, the concentration of the Law of Slaughter within it increased more than ten thousand times!

Then, Qin Feng opened his mouth and swallowed the orb whole.

"Hiccup—"

With that soft sound, the Asura prodigy watched helplessly as the "territory" he had guarded for hundreds of years vanished completely.

In the void, only the man in black remained, his aura having grown a fraction deeper, carrying a hint of chilling bloodlust that was instantly assimilated by his vast origin, returning to calm.

Qin Feng turned to look at the petrified Asura prodigy.

"Do you still wish to claim it?"

"No... I dare not... excuse me!"

The Asura prodigy shuddered, and without another word, he burned his origin, transformed into a streak of blood-colored light, and fled for his life.

He did not even dare to utter a threat, fearing that if he ran too slowly, he too would be swallowed by the man.

Having swatted away a fly, Qin Feng did not linger.

He pressed deeper into the expanse.

For the next ten thousand years, the Myriad River Domain played host to a lawless "River Terminator."

A river of flame? Devoured.

A river of frost? Devoured.

Like a gluttonous beast that could never be sated, Qin Feng rampaged through this ocean of laws.

No longer content with singular principles, he began to forcibly fuse disparate rivers of law before consuming them.

Water and fire harmonized; light and darkness turned to dust.

With every ingestion, his "Ultimate Form" underwent a cycle of destruction and rebirth.

His body was shredded and pulverized by a myriad of violent laws, only to be rapidly reconstructed and healed by the support of the Seven-Colored Bodhi Seed and his own vast vitality.

Each reconstruction refined his physical structure and doubled his resistance to the laws.

Eventually, he ceased to be selective.

Any river of law he encountered—regardless of its master or its nature—was met with an insatiable appetite.

The prodigies of the Divine Path began to unite, attempting to resist this rule-breaking "bandit."

"Everyone! This man is too overbearing! If we let him continue, what opportunities will remain for us?"

"Join forces! Kill him!"

Beside a vast River of Five Elements, seven prodigies from different races laid an ambush.

They deployed a peerless killing formation and unleashed several quasi-imperial treasures, hoping to surround and execute Qin Feng.

Yet, the result was catastrophic.

The moment Qin Feng stepped into the circle, he did not even bother with a single technique.

He simply activated his full "Ultimate Form," allowing the seven prodigies to bombard him at will.

Sword light, thunder, toxic fire, curses—every attack that landed upon him merely sparked against his skin, failing to leave even a scratch.

By now, the strength of his physical form had reached an inconceivable level.

He had become a "Fortress of Law," constructed from billions of principles.

"Are you finished?"

Qin Feng brushed the dust from his shoulder and asked indifferently.

Then, he struck.

Simple, direct, and brutal.

One punch for each.

After seven blows, the seven prodigies had their bodies shattered and their souls crushed, becoming mere snacks for his "nourishment."

This battle cemented his supreme ferocity in the second trial.

No one dared to challenge him again; no one dared to obstruct his path.

Every challenger, upon sensing that familiar aura from afar, would flee in a frenzy as if avoiding a plague.

Qin Feng had become the true and sole hegemon of this world.

...

Thirty thousand years later.

Qin Feng finally crossed the Myriad River Domain and arrived at the true core of this world—the foot of the Myriad Law Furnace.

Only by standing here could one truly feel the grandeur and terror of this furnace.

It obscured all sight, as if the entire universe were filled by its presence.

The light and heat radiating from its body were no longer mere temperature, but an ultimate power capable of "fusing" causality and "evaporating" concepts.

Here, space itself ceased to exist, twisted into a paste by the extreme heat.

Time lost all meaning, descending into utter chaos.

Save for Qin Feng, no living soul could tread here.

Even the most elite prodigies of the Divine Path dared only to watch from billions of miles away, using the stray warmth to temper their own bodies.

To step any closer was to invite total annihilation of body and soul.

Yet, Qin Feng walked, step by step, to the very edge of the furnace.

The black robes he wore had long since turned to ash, revealing a body of absolute perfection.

His skin possessed a strange texture; it was no longer flesh and blood, but rather composed of an unknown crystal that contained every color in existence before ultimately collapsing into chaos.

This was the "Primordial Ultimate Form"—the new state evolved after consuming billions of laws.

"This is where I truly belong."

Qin Feng gazed at the churning furnace fires, a trace of obsession flashing in his eyes.

Without a moment's hesitation, he leaped—directly into the Myriad Law Furnace!

"BOOM—!!!"

The furnace shuddered, as if enraged by this act.

Endless flames of law instantly engulfed Qin Feng.

This was no longer a single law, but the "Chaos Fire" formed after the unification of all things.

It sought to smelt this presumptuous intruder, turning him into fuel for its own existence.

Pain.

Unimaginable pain.

Even his evolved "Primordial Ultimate Form" began to show signs of melting under the searing heat of the Chaos Fire.

Qin Feng’s skin cracked, his flesh dissolved, and even his bones emitted a mournful groan under the unbearable pressure.

Yet he did not retreat; instead, he let out a joyous laugh.

"Come! Burn with greater intensity!"

He sat cross-legged at the heart of the furnace, abandoning all defense, actively guiding the Chaos Fire into his body, deep into his marrow, to incinerate his very soul.

He would break to build anew!

He would use the strongest fire in heaven and earth to perform one final, thorough "purification" and "forging" of the body he had built from countless laws.

Discard the dross, refine the essence, and temper steel from the fire.

He would smelt those chaotic laws into a single, pure... limit!

Time flowed on.

This period of seclusion lasted for sixty thousand years.

For sixty thousand years, the Crucible of Myriad Laws remained in a state of violent turbulence, its fires churning and roaring without cease.

The challengers outside, gripped by terror and believing the rules of the second trial had suffered a catastrophic mutation, fled in droves.

None knew that within the depths of that horrific furnace, a monster of unimaginable nature was being forged.

...

Qin Feng’s consciousness, amidst the endless searing, gradually drifted into a state of ethereal detachment.

He forgot time, forgot space, and even forgot who he was.

In his perception, all things in the world vanished, leaving only two paths.

The first was "Myriad Laws into One."

It was the fusion of all laws into a single origin, encompassing everything and evolving everything.

This was the ultimate pursuit of the Great Dao, the zenith of "breadth."

The second was "One Law Breaking Myriad Laws."

It was the cultivation of a single path to its absolute limit, where even a blade of grass or a speck of dust could sever the stars and truncate the flow of time.

This was the zenith of "depth."

And he stood precisely at the intersection of these two paths.

His "Dao of the Limit" demanded both breadth and depth.

He sought to contain all laws, yet remain sovereign above them.

It was a paradox, a task deemed all but impossible.

Yet, under the sixty-thousand-year calcination of the Crucible of Myriad Laws, he had succeeded.

The billions of laws within him, under the crushing pressure of the chaos fire, finally shattered their barriers and merged into a singular entity.

They were no longer independent fragments, but fuel, nourishing the seed at the very center—the [Limit].

The seed sprouted.

A power entirely new, one never before seen in the universe, was born from within Qin Feng.

It was not spiritual energy, not divine power, nor the force of laws.

It was a power of... "Realm."

Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes.

He stood at the very heart of the Crucible, yet the chaos fire, capable of melting causality itself, could no longer inflict even the slightest harm upon him.

As his gaze swept across them, the flames parted automatically, bowing their heads in submission as if before a monarch.

His body had returned to its original state, appearing no different from a mortal’s; no divine light flowed, no aura leaked.

A return to simplicity and truth.

This was his current state.

Qin Feng raised his hand, staring at his palm.

If he so desired, he could instantly invoke the origin of the universe and ascend to sainthood.

His accumulation was sufficient.

His Dao was fully formed.

In terms of power, a single finger could now crush the version of himself from a hundred thousand years ago.

In terms of realm, he stood at the end of the Emperor’s path, one foot already across the threshold of the sacred domain.

The so-called "invincibility beneath the Saint" had become a joke to him.

For an ordinary Saint, he suspected, would not survive three exchanges against him.

However...

Qin Feng clenched his fist, a flash of resolve in his eyes.

"It is not enough."

He could feel that while his power had reached the absolute peak, it lacked that final spark of "spirit."

It was the key that turned the "inanimate" into the "living."

His Dao, though all-encompassing and peerless, still spun within the existing framework of the universe.

He had yet to leap off the chessboard and become the one who played the game.

What he lacked was exactly what the Master of the Limit had spoken of—the [Unique].

The [Primordial Fire] that would allow his "Dao of the Limit" to truly transcend and possess infinite possibility.

Only by obtaining the Primordial Fire and merging it into his origin could he achieve true perfection and forge the eternal, singular... Limitless Saint Dao!

"Only the final step remains."

Qin Feng whispered to himself.

He chose not to force a breakthrough.

For he knew that to ascend now would only make him a powerful Saint, forever barred from the supreme throne of gods.

He demanded perfection.

He demanded the true limit.

"Crucible of Myriad Laws, you are of no further use to me."

Qin Feng stood up.

With his movement, the gargantuan furnace shuddered violently.

Billions of rivers of law flowed in reverse!

Every crystal mine of law trembled in unison!

As if bidding a respectful farewell to this supreme sovereign.

Qin Feng took a step, his figure instantly piercing the walls of the furnace to emerge into the void outside.

He did not linger, his gaze locking onto the end of the second trial.

There, a portal of light led to the third trial.

Near the gate, many prodigies gathered, preparing to move forward.

When Qin Feng appeared, everyone instinctively held their breath.

Though he looked unremarkable, devoid of any oppressive aura, their primal instincts screamed that the man walking toward them was billions of times more dangerous than the most terrifying beast in existence.

The crowd parted, clearing a wide path.

Qin Feng looked straight ahead, walking directly toward the gate.

As he passed a Human King, he paused for a brief moment.

The enthroned king was so terrified he nearly collapsed to his knees on the spot.

"Tell... tell me, what year is it now?" Qin Feng asked.

"Re... reporting to you, my lord, it has been... seventeen thousand years since the Divine Gate opened," the king stammered in reply.

"Seventeen thousand years, is it..."

Qin Feng gave a slight nod.

One hundred thousand years for the first gate, seventy thousand for the second (ten thousand wandering, sixty thousand in seclusion).

Time, it truly flies.

"Where is the main vanguard?" he asked again.

"It is said... it is said that the top prodigies of the Divine Path, such as the 'Saint Son of Apocalypse' of the God race and the 'Abyssal Demon Son' of the Demon race, have already breached the... nineteenth gate."

"The nineteenth gate?" The corners of Qin Feng's mouth curled upward. "They certainly run fast."

But it mattered little.

The Divine Gate was no mere footrace. To run fast did not guarantee the final laugh.

Only the one who remains standing at the end is the true victor.

"My thanks."

With those words, Qin Feng stepped into the gate of light.

The radiance flickered.

His figure vanished into nothingness.

Behind him, the group of prodigies collapsed to the ground, heavy with relief, gasping for air as they rejoiced in having survived yet another day.

...

The third gate.

As the dizziness of the teleportation faded, Qin Feng opened his eyes to see neither bones nor flames.

Instead, he beheld a realm of absolute darkness.

There was no light, no sound, no matter.

Even the laws of nature were stretched thin here, bordering on non-existent.

This was a true sea of dead, silent stars.

"So this is the third gate?"

Qin Feng furrowed his brow slightly.

Compared to the visceral dangers and opportunities of the previous two gates, this place felt profoundly uncanny.

Just then, a cold, mechanical voice resonated directly within his mind.

[Welcome to the third gate: The Cage of Inner Demons.]

[Rules: This gate has no exit.]

[The only exit lies within your own heart.]

[Conquer the existence you fear most, and you may depart.]

"Inner demons?"

Qin Feng paused, then let out a soft, dry laugh.

Had it been any other trial, he might have been compelled to take it seriously.

But inner demons?

For a man who possessed the Seven-Colored Bodhi Seed, whose heart of Dao had been tempered into stone through countless brushes with death, and who had already grasped the essence of "corruption" in the first gate...

This was nothing more than a gift.

"The existence I fear most, you say?"

Qin Feng closed his eyes, waiting.

Sure enough, the next moment, the darkness churned.

A figure slowly coalesced before him.

It wore the same black robes, bore the same face, and radiated the same aura as he did.

It was another "Qin Feng."

"I am your inner demon; I am your deepest fear of losing control over your power; I am..."

The "Qin Feng" spoke slowly, his voice dripping with enchantment.

Yet, before he could finish, the true Qin Feng opened his eyes.

Within them lay only indifference.

"You are a counterfeit."

The words fell.

Qin Feng raised his hand and struck.

"Slap!"

The crisp sound of the blow rang out sharply in the silent darkness.

The so-called "inner demon," the manifestation of his deepest fear, was instantly...

Shattered by that single strike.

It dissolved into a sky of black mist, vanishing without a trace.

"Fear?"

Qin Feng withdrew his hand, standing with his arms behind his back, gazing into the endless dark as he spoke calmly:

"In this life, I fear only that the Great Dao will not advance, that I might come to a standstill."

"As for losing control of power? That is an excuse for the weak."

"Since I command the limit, I command all."

"Break... for me!"

Boom!

A vast, imperial will erupted from his body, instantly shattering the so-called Cage of Inner Demons.

Crack—

The darkness splintered, collapsing like a shattered mirror.

The light returned.

An exit leading to the fourth level appeared beneath his feet.

"How tedious."

Qin Feng shook his head and stepped through.

...

In the days that followed, Qin Feng entered a state of true "speed-running."

The first two levels were for accumulation, for laying a solid foundation, so he had spent vast amounts of time scavenging and refining.

But now, his foundation was set, his strength had reached a bottleneck, and ordinary levels held no meaning for him.

The fourth level, "Abyssal Gravity"?

Qin Feng activated his [Ultimate Physique], ignoring the trillion-fold gravity capable of crushing a neutron star; he walked as if on flat ground, clearing it in half a day.

The fifth level, "Marsh of Ten Thousand Poisons"?

Qin Feng inhaled all the toxic vapors in the swamp in one breath, refining them into a wisp of "Calamity Poison Light," clearing it in a day.

The sixth level, "Puppet Labyrinth"?

Qin Feng couldn't be bothered to solve the puzzles; he punched through the walls, moving in a straight line, and every god-tier puppet in his path was...

He was like a ruthless clearance machine.

The arduous trials that had blocked countless prodigies for centuries or millennia were, beneath his feet, no more than ordinary steps—one stride per level, crossed with ease.

His speed grew ever faster.

The tenth level... the fifteenth... the twentieth...

His ranking, too, was soaring wildly on some invisible leaderboard at a staggering pace.

In less than a hundred years,

He had surged from the second level all the way to... the thirty-sixth!

He had caught up to the tail end of the main force!

At this moment, those prodigies of the Divine Path at the forefront were standing before the thirty-sixth level, the "Chessboard of Life and Death," agonizing over a way to break the deadlock.

They did not yet know.

That terrifying shadow that had once lingered in the first level for over a hundred thousand years.

That legend they had relegated to the "past tense."

Had arrived, carrying an invincible power capable of crushing the entire era.

He had caught up.

...

As Qin Feng stepped out from the teleportation portal of the thirty-fifth level, a heavy atmosphere, distinct from the dozens of levels prior, washed over him.

Before, he had been unstoppable, those so-called perilous trials proving as flat as a plain. But here, a continuous, pervasive sense of oppression that pierced the very void forced him to halt.

Before him lay no abyss, no marsh, no labyrinth.

Instead, it was... a starry sky.

Yet this sky had been forcibly refined, severed, and rearranged by supreme power into a colossal chessboard spanning the center of the universe.

This was the thirty-sixth level—the [Chessboard of Life and Death].

It was the first great chasm among the seventy-two divine levels, acting as a "watershed."

Qin Feng stood at the edge of the board, the "starting position." Looking out, the chessboard was impossibly vast; each "square" was a shattered continental plate refined into existence, floating in the void, spanning ten thousand miles in diameter.

Black and white squares intertwined, stretching to the horizon until they vanished into the chaotic mist.

A rough glance revealed at least thirty-six hundred squares in each direction.

And on the relatively safe "staging area" continent at the start of the board, a massive crowd had gathered.

The "main force" Qin Feng had been chasing was right here.

Hundreds of thousands of prodigies from various races were gathered. Yet strangely, there was no vibrant atmosphere of progression; instead, the air was thick with despair, suspicion, brutality, and... a pungent scent of blood.

The crowd was sharply divided into two tiers.

A tiny handful occupied the high platforms with the best views and the densest spiritual energy. Each radiated terrifying auras and divine light; they were clearly the prodigies of the Divine Path standing at the apex of the pyramid, or exceptionally powerful peak-level kings.

The vast majority of the challengers were crowded onto the barren plains below. They wore expressions of terror, huddling together, their eyes filled with wariness and... hatred toward the powerful above.

Qin Feng suppressed his aura and blended into the edge of the crowd, drawing little attention. His gaze pierced through the throng and fixed upon the massive chessboard, beginning to analyze the rules.

Soon, through the murmurs of those around him and a "clearance attempt" he witnessed firsthand, he grasped the cruel truth of the [Chessboard of Life and Death].

The rules were simple, defined by eight words:

[One step for life, one step for death.]

There were thirty-six hundred steps on the board.

Stepping onto any square, whether black or white, immediately triggered the "Shadow Guardian" within that square.

This "Shadow" was not a fixed monster, but a "mirror replica" generated in real-time based on the challenger's own strength.

If that were all, defeating oneself would not be difficult for these peerless prodigies.

But this damned board possessed a desperate "amplification mechanism."

At the first step, the Shadow's strength was 10% of the challenger's.

At the tenth step, the Shadow's strength was 100% of the challenger's.

At the hundredth step, the Shadow's strength... would reach 200% of the challenger's!

And so it went; the further one progressed, the more terrifying the Shadow became.

It was effectively a dead end.

A prodigy invincible at their own level might find it difficult enough to defeat an equal; to defeat a "self" twice, three times, or even ten times stronger?

It was simply impossible.

It completely defied the logic of cultivation.

If it were a dead end, why had anyone ever passed?

Qin Feng’s gaze turned cold as he looked toward a certain part of the board.

There, a winged powerhouse of the God Race stood at the thirty-fifth square.

Before him, a Shadow radiating monstrous divine might had coalesced.

The Shadow's strength had already reached 1.3 times that of the God Race warrior!

Under normal circumstances, this god would surely be defeated.

However, the moment the Shadow launched its attack, a cruel, twisted grin appeared on the warrior's face.

He swung his hand violently, pulling from his personal storage space... a living person!

It was a demon of common king-tier strength, his cultivation sealed, screaming in the throes of absolute despair.

"Go!"

The god-race powerhouse did not hesitate, using the demon as a shield and hurling him into the shadow-wraith’s strike.

"Puff—!"

The demon’s body shattered instantly under the wraith’s terrifying assault, dissolving into a mist of blood.

And in the very moment that blood mist permeated the air, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The patterned lines on the chessboard flared, hungrily absorbing the demon’s flesh and soul.

Immediately following, the shadow-wraith, once formidable in power, seemed to have been "bribed" or "satiated" by some hidden rule, its aura plummeting in an instant.

From 1.3 times its original strength, it plunged directly to... 30 percent!

"Hahaha! My thanks for your life, it has paved my way!"

The god-race powerhouse roared with laughter, shattering the weakened wraith with a single punch and successfully stepping onto the thirty-sixth square.

Seeing this, Qin Feng’s pupils contracted slightly.

So that was it.

This was what Caesar meant by "corruption."

This was the "backdoor" left behind by the Evil God.

This so-called Life-and-Death Chessboard, while appearing to test a challenger’s ability to transcend their limits, was in truth forcing them to... consume others.

You do not wish to die? You cannot defeat a mirror image stronger than yourself?

It does not matter.

As long as you sacrifice a life, spilling enough blood upon the square, the rules will grant you a "green light," weakening your opponent’s strength.

The stronger the sacrifice, the greater the weakening.

This was no chessboard; it was, in every sense, a colossal... altar!

It was nakedly inciting these prodigies: capture the weak, enslave your companions, treat them as disposable consumables, as "pawns" to clear the path.

As long as your heart is cruel and your hands are stained, you can survive and proceed to the next stage.

Qin Feng turned his gaze toward the "staging area."

No wonder the atmosphere here was so eerie.

The high-and-mighty prodigies of the God Road were not lingering because they could not pass, but because they were... "stockpiling."

They were waiting for more unsuspecting latecomers to enter the thirty-sixth stage, turning them into their own "pawn reserves."

And the ordinary prodigies huddled together below were merely lambs waiting for the slaughter. They wished to resist, only to find in despair that their retreat was severed and the path ahead was blocked.

This was a purgatory of human nature.

"Truly... a sickening set of rules."

A flicker of disgust crossed Qin Feng’s eyes.

The Evil God’s methods were indeed ingenious. Such rules would strip away every ounce of pride and every moral boundary within a powerhouse, layer by layer.

When you become accustomed to using the lives of others to pave your own path, when you become accustomed to viewing your own kind as "consumables."

Then, at the moment you finally ascend to godhood.

You are no longer a "god" with an independent soul, but a cold, selfish, mercenary creature—a "demon" that perfectly aligns with the Evil God’s aesthetic.

"Boom—!"

Just then, a commotion erupted from the high platform.

Several terrifying auras flared; those were the prodigies who had long been entrenched there, seemingly having finally "gathered" enough pawns and preparing to move.

"Everyone hiding over there, get out here at once!"

A domineering voice rang out.

The speaker was a burly man wreathed in lightning, wielding a purple thunder hammer. He was known as "Thunderstorm King," a formidable prodigy on the God Road.

Behind him followed hundreds of king-tier warriors of various races, their eyes vacant, their minds clearly enslaved.

Those were his "pawns."

But clearly, he felt it was not enough.

His gaze swept toward the peripheral area where Qin Feng stood.

"There are still a few stragglers left! Go, drag them over here!"

Thunderstorm King pointed casually in Qin Feng’s direction, ordering his followers.

In his eyes, someone like Qin Feng—who had suppressed his aura and stood in the corner—was the perfect "pathfinder" and "damage-reduction charm."

Several followers with peak king-tier strength sneered and began to surround Qin Feng.

"Kid, count yourself lucky. To be chosen by Lord Thunderstorm King as a stepping stone on his path to godhood is an honor you’ve spent lifetimes earning!"

One of them reached out to grab Qin Feng by the shoulder.

Qin Feng stood still, not moving an inch.

He simply watched the hand reaching toward him, then looked up at the vast, blood-stained chessboard in the distance.

"Rules are meant to be broken."

He whispered to himself.

"Since this board requires eating men to pass..."

"Then I shall let it see exactly who is eating whom."

The next moment.

The hand reaching for Qin Feng froze in mid-air.

It was not because the man had found his conscience.

It was because... that hand, along with the man’s entire body, vanished in an instant, without a single warning.

It was as if a drawing had been gently erased by a rubber.

Along with his soul, along with his life-mark, he was utterly consigned to nothingness.

The surrounding crowd, who had been preparing to watch the spectacle, fell into a sudden, jarring silence.

Qin Feng slowly raised his head, his dark eyes fixed on the Thunderstorm King atop the platform and the other prodigies selecting their "pawns."

A cold arc curled at the corner of his mouth.

"You are blocking the way."

Dead silence.

The staging area, previously noisy and filled with despair and cries, plunged into a deathly stillness due to this sudden turn of events.

Those followers who had been so aggressive, ready to drag Qin Feng off as a "pawn," now stood frozen in place, maintaining their lunging posture, yet not daring to move a single inch.

Just a moment ago, right before their very eyes.

Their companion, a genuine peak-level King, had simply... vanished?

No fluctuations of energy, no flash of divine technique.

Evaporated into thin air.

This unknown, abyssal terror made their very souls tremble.

High upon the dais, the Thunder King’s once arrogant expression froze instantly. His grip tightened on his thunder-hammer, his eyes locked onto the seemingly unremarkable young man in black below.

"Who are you?"

The Thunder King’s voice carried a weight of unprecedented gravity.

As a prodigy of the Divine Path, his perception far exceeded that of ordinary men. In that fleeting moment, he had sensed a terrifying aura—one that made the quasi-imperial weapon in his hand whimper in fear.

Qin Feng ignored him.

He did not even spare the Thunder King a second glance.

To him now, these so-called "Divine Path prodigies" were nothing more than slightly larger ants. He had lost count of how many he had slaughtered in the first and second trials.

He strode forward, passing through the crowd of petrified followers, heading toward the Life-and-Death Chessboard that spanned the void.

The crowd parted automatically, as if fleeing a plague, or perhaps welcoming a king.

"What... what is he doing?"

"Is he attempting the trial alone?"

"Is he mad? Without 'chess pieces,' even a Divine Path prodigy couldn't withstand the terrifying amplification of the Shadow Wraiths in the later stages!"

Under the gaze of countless shocked and bewildered eyes, Qin Feng reached the edge of the board.

He looked at the three thousand six hundred squares stretching into the void and remarked indifferently:

"A boring game."

Then, he took a step.

"Hum—"

The moment his sole touched the first black square,

The entire board shuddered violently!

A surge of black mist coalesced instantly before Qin Feng, forming a "Shadow Wraith" identical to him.

According to the rules, the Shadow Wraith on the first square should possess ten percent of the challenger's strength.

Yet, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The Shadow Wraith, having just taken form and before it could even strike a pose, caught sight of Qin Feng and...

Began to tremble!

Yes, this was a mirror image composed of pure board rules and energy, meant to be devoid of emotion, knowing only slaughter.

But now, as if possessed of a soul, it displayed extreme terror toward Qin Feng, and then...

"Poof!"

It exploded on its own!

A voluntary collapse!

As if... it could not bear the karma of replicating an existence like Qin Feng!

"This..."

The jaws of everyone watching from behind hit the ground.

"Cheating! Is this cheating?"

"The Shadow Wraith... committed suicide?"

Before they could recover,

Qin Feng had already taken his second step, his third... his tenth.

Each square birthed a Shadow Wraith.

But each one, the moment it formed, either collapsed directly or knelt in submission before dissipating.

Qin Feng strolled as if through his own back garden, leisurely and unhurried, hands behind his back, not even lifting a finger.

The squares that were gates of life and death for others were not even stumbling blocks to him.

"He's reached the hundredth square!"

"Even a Divine Path prodigy must sacrifice pieces to pass the hundredth square, facing enemies twice their strength! He... he just walked through it?"

Incredible gasps erupted from the crowd.

The Thunder King’s face had turned as pale as parchment.

He understood.

It was not that the rules had failed.

It was that... this man’s level of existence was too high! So high that even this divine trial artifact, forged by an evil god, could not perfectly "replicate" him!

Just as one cannot wrap a flame in paper without the paper turning to ash.

The Shadow Wraiths collapsed because they could not carry the weight of Qin Feng’s terrifying "Path of the Limit"!

"What... what kind of monster is he?"

"Boom!"

As Qin Feng stepped onto the thousandth square,

The entire Life-and-Death Chessboard finally buckled under the strain, emitting a mournful cry that shook the heavens.

Perhaps provoked by Qin Feng’s "glitch-like" behavior, or perhaps triggering a self-protection mechanism,

All the remaining squares ahead suddenly lit up!

The Shadow Wraiths that should have appeared one by one now violated the rules, merging into a single entity!

The power of the remaining two thousand six hundred squares converged into a towering, pitch-black giant, ten thousand feet tall!

The giant’s face was blurred, yet it radiated the aura of a true Emperor!

And not just an ordinary Emperor, but a "World-Ending Imperial Shadow" with the prototype of a "Limit," its combat power amplified over a hundredfold!

This was the ultimate backlash of the board’s rules!

"ROAR—!!!"

The giant bellowed, the sound waves shattering several nearby abandoned continental plates.

The mere pressure caused the hundreds of thousands of prodigies in the staging area to vomit blood in unison and collapse to the ground.

"It’s over... this is a guaranteed death trap!"

"This is the manifestation of the board’s will! Even a true Emperor would meet his end here!"

Despair had claimed every soul present.

Yet, facing this monstrous titan capable of shattering galaxies,

Qin Feng finally came to a halt.

He slowly raised his head to meet the giant’s gaze, his face devoid of fear, wearing instead a trace of...

Exhilaration.

"Finally, this is getting interesting."

He smiled.

It was the first time he had smiled since entering the thirty-sixth level.

"Since you wish to play for high stakes, I shall indulge you."

Qin Feng slowly extended his right hand toward the titan, his fingers splaying wide.

"I have devoured the Myriad Law Furnace itself."

"Do you, a mere spirit of the chessboard, dare to bar my path?"

[Ultimate Physique] · [Total Liberation]

"BOOM—!!!"

An aura, ten million times more terrifying than that of the titan, erupted suddenly from Qin Feng’s diminutive frame!

It was the supreme foundation he had forged over sixty thousand years of seclusion within the Myriad Law Furnace, smelting billions of laws into one!

It was... [The Primordial Limit]!

Before this presence, the once-imposing obsidian giant froze, trembling like a loach encountering a true dragon.

"Shatter... for me!"

Qin Feng’s hand clenched into a fist.

Crack—

A crisp sound of destruction echoed across the cosmos.

The ten-thousand-foot-tall titan, a manifestation of the rules of twenty-six hundred squares, could not even muster a defense; under the weight of that single grasp, it simply...

Collapsed!

Like a sandcastle struck by a tidal wave, it disintegrated in an instant.

Fragments of black rules filled the sky, drifting down like dark, wintry flakes.

Bathed in this obsidian snow, Qin Feng took a single step forward.

That step traversed the remaining twenty-six hundred squares.

That step ascended to the heavens!

He stood at the finish line of the board.

He turned back, casting a glance at the hundreds of thousands of beings struck dumb with shock, and at the prodigies of the Divine Path, their faces ashen with defeat.

"The path, I have walked to its end."

"As for you lot..."

Qin Feng’s voice resonated through the void, laced with a hint of mockery.

"Continue playing your little games."

With that, he turned and stepped into the portal leading to the thirty-seventh level.

Leaving behind only a silhouette... one that would leave every prodigy of this generation in despair, and in awe.

The thirty-sixth level, the Chessboard of Life and Death.

Broken!