Chapter 389: Evil God Descends, Elemental Corridor, List Changes!

Chapter 389: The Descent of the Evil God, the Corridor of Elements, and the Shifting Rankings!

The collapse of the thirty-sixth stage, the Chessboard of Life and Death, did not trigger a cataclysmic explosion.

When the will of the Emperor-level chessboard, amplified a hundredfold, was crushed by a single palm from Qin Feng, the entire world seemed to have its skeleton extracted.

The black-and-white firmament crumbled in an instant into countless gray motes—the embers of shattered laws.

Clad in the radiance of the Primordial Limit, Qin Feng stood with an indifferent expression. With a single stride, the ruins beneath his feet spontaneously coalesced into a staircase, hoisting him toward the portal deep within the void.

Caesar followed closely behind. This former nemesis, now an ally, looked at Qin Feng’s back with a gaze of near-numb reverence. He had witnessed a strength that defied reason—it was not a matter of breaking the rules, but of using the sheer "mass" of one's own existence to crush them into submission.

Passing through the gate of light, the clamor faded into nothingness.

The thirty-seventh stage.

There were no battle cries here, no scent of blood, not even a breath of wind.

Before them lay an endless expanse of mirrors.

Above, below, and all around were reflective surfaces. Beneath their feet stretched a plain of polished mercury, and the sky above mirrored the same sight. It was as if they stood in the crevice between cosmic dimensions, where all matter existed in a state of absolute stillness.

"This place..." Caesar’s brows furrowed. He reached out to touch the dust in the air, only to find that even dust was absent. His voice struggled to travel here, as if the air itself were a solidified colloid.

Qin Feng remained silent. His gaze pierced through the layers of mirrored refraction, locking onto the center of this world.

Suspended there was a solitary altar.

Upon the altar sat no guardian, only a mass of liquid metal slowly writhing within the static world. It glowed with a deep, dark gold, its surface flowing with patterns as brilliant as a galaxy. With every movement, the surrounding space warped, as if the object’s own mass were enough to collapse the void.

"That is..." Caesar’s pupils contracted, his breath hitching. "Primordial Dragon-Patterned Gold? No, that’s not it! This fluctuation... this is the 'Source-Essence Divine Iron,' the legendary foundation of the cosmos!"

Source-Essence Divine Iron.

One of the top three treasures on the Universal Divine Metal Rankings. It was not meant for forging blades, but as the core material to grant weapons "life" and "growth." It was said that a piece the size of a fingernail could grant a common iron blade the potential to evolve into a divine artifact.

And the mass before them was the size of a human head.

This was no longer a matter of mere value; it was a treasure of causal-law magnitude that could drive saints to slaughter one another.

A sharp glint flashed in Qin Feng’s eyes. While his Primordial Limit body had reached perfection, his weapon—the long spear that had accompanied him through the star-seas—was struggling to keep pace with his surging power. If he could fuse this metal into his weapon, or even into his own bones, his combat prowess would take another qualitative leap.

"What are the conditions for clearing?" Caesar scanned the surroundings warily, searching for signs of an enemy.

"There is no enemy," Qin Feng said softly, his voice as calm as the mirrored world. "This stage does not test slaughter."

He stepped forward.

The moment his foot touched the ground, the mirrored plain rippled. The ripple was minuscule, yet it acted like the first domino in a chain reaction.

Boom!

Without warning, a tidal wave of counter-force surged from beneath his feet. It was not an attack, but a "mirror image" of Qin Feng’s own power.

Every step Qin Feng took, the world reflected the pressure he exerted upon space back at him, hundredfold.

"Interesting." Qin Feng’s lips curled slightly. He did not stop; instead, he quickened his pace.

But the world seemed to grow stronger in response. By the time Qin Feng stood a hundred meters from the altar, the surrounding space had become as viscous as poured divine metal.

Before the altar stood an ancient stone stele, upon which a single line of twisted divine script slowly ignited:

[Those who cease the blade shall receive; those who act in vanity shall lose. Only with a heart like still water can one obtain the true source.]

"Those who cease the blade shall receive?"

Caesar muttered the maxim, his face darkening. "Does this mean we cannot use force? But the repulsive force is so immense—without using power to resist, it’s impossible to get anywhere near the altar."

It was a dead loop.

To obtain the divine metal, one must approach the altar.

To approach the altar, one must endure the world’s repulsion.

To resist the repulsion, one must use power.

Once power is used, one violates the rules of "ceasing the blade" and "still water," causing the repulsive force to stack infinitely.

Qin Feng stopped at the fifty-meter mark.

The space around him was already fracturing into black fissures from the excessive pressure. His mere presence, the sheer mass of his "Primordial Limit" body, was enough to overwhelm this fragile world of rules.

This was the thirty-seventh stage’s fatal trap for Qin Feng.

In the previous thirty-six stages, Qin Feng had relied on "absolute power" to break the rules.

But here, the rule was "absolute void."

The rules here were like cotton, or a non-Newtonian fluid. The harder you pushed, the firmer it became; to make it yield, one had to abandon all power.

"Let me try." Qin Feng ignored the stele’s warning.

He raised his right hand, and dark-gold limit-light erupted from his palm. This was no probe; it was a destructive strike capable of piercing a galaxy. If the rules stood in his way, he would erase them along with the world.

"Break!"

Qin Feng let out a low command, thrusting his palm forward.

Hum—!

This time, there was no explosion.

The moment Qin Feng exerted his power, the "Source-Essence Divine Iron" suspended on the altar began to tremble violently. It was bound to the rules of the entire space. As Qin Feng’s destructive force advanced, the divine metal grew more transparent, as if it might dissipate into the void at any moment.

Qin Feng instantly withdrew his power.

As the force vanished, the divine metal solidified once more.

"Damn it." Caesar saw the truth and gritted his teeth. "This thing is one with the stage. If you break the stage by force, the divine metal will be annihilated along with it. This isn't just a test; it’s holding the reward hostage!"

Qin Feng withdrew his hand, his eyes deep as an abyss.

He was stumped.

It was not a lack of strength, but a logical paradox.

The designer of this stage was clearly malicious. They weren't betting on the challenger’s strength, but on their "greed." If he didn't want the divine metal, Qin Feng could simply shatter this world with a punch and move to the next stage.

But he wanted it.

And since he wanted it, he had to play by the "rules of the game."

"Heart like still water..." Qin Feng whispered to himself.

For him, this was the most difficult task of all.

His Dao was the Dao of Limits, the Dao of Plunder, the Dao of Devouring. Every cell in his body roared with a hunger for energy, and the fires of eternal war burned in the depths of his soul. To make him dampen his aura and become "harmless" was like asking a beast that devoured stars to masquerade as a gentle lamb.

Furthermore, his life level was simply too high.

Even if he didn't circulate his cultivation, the mere existence of his physical body generated a biological magnetic field strong enough to stir up a storm of rules.

Qin Feng attempted to restrain his aura, compressing all his power into the primal singularity within his body.

He took a step.

Crack.

The mirror beneath his feet shattered instantly.

The repulsive force persisted; though diminished, the divine metal remained in a semi-ethereal state, clearly judging Qin Feng to still be a "threat."

"No," Qin Feng shook his head, "my very existence is a violation of this 'rule of tranquility'."

He sat cross-legged, just fifty meters from the divine metal.

This was the first time he had paused since entering the Endless Sea. It was not because the enemy was too strong, but because he had to find a nearly non-existent balance between the arrogance of "I will not let this heaven obscure my sight" and the gentleness of "all things returning to silence."

This was a contest of the self against the self.

Just as Qin Feng fell into deep contemplation at the thirty-seventh gate, a sudden anomaly erupted above the Endless Sea.

The sky, previously murky and filled with chaotic currents, was suddenly torn asunder by a blinding golden light. This radiance did not originate from any star, but was a direct manifestation of the cosmic will.

Rumble—

Dull thunder rolled through every corner of the seventy-two divine gates; whether they were newcomers struggling at the first gate or veteran powerhouses locked in bloody battles deep within the teens, all looked up in terror.

The golden light condensed in the firmament, forming a golden scroll that obscured the sun and moon.

Surrounded by the laws of the Great Dao, each character shone like a star, radiating a suffocating pressure.

[Seventy-Two Divine Gates: Prodigy Progress Ranking]

This was an overt plot by the cosmic will.

It sought to inject a direct catalyst for competition into the brutal elimination process. When rankings were laid bare before everyone, the concept of "steady progress" would vanish, replaced by frantic pursuit and slaughter.

The list unfurled, and names began to emerge.

At the very bottom were dense clusters of names, most stalled between the first and fifth gates.

Looking upward, the names grew sparse, but each represented a top-tier monster from a different star domain.

10th: Lei Xing (Thunder Spirit Clan) — Current Progress: 24th Gate.

9th: Gu Man (Titan Clan) — Current Progress: 25th Gate.

4th: Augustus (Holy Angel) — Current Progress: 27th Gate.

3rd: You Ye (Void Walker) — Current Progress: 28th Gate.

Seeing this, countless prodigies gasped.

"It hasn't even been two hundred thousand years, yet someone has already reached the 28th gate? That is a death zone beyond the 'Wasteland of Buried Bones'!"

"You Ye is worthy of being the crown prince of the Void Clan; such speed is simply unfathomable."

However, as eyes traveled further up to the lone, absolute first place, the entire Endless Sea fell into a silence that lasted several heartbeats.

It was a single name, hanging high above, separated from the second place by a gap of despair.

2nd: Di Shitian (First Divine Son of the God Clan) — Current Progress: 29th Gate.

1st: Qin Feng (Human Clan) — Current Progress: 37th Gate.

Silence.

Then, an explosive uproar.

"The 37th gate?!?"

"How is this possible! This is impossible! Is the list broken?"

"His Highness Di Shitian is a peerless genius with the purest bloodline of the Gods, and he has only just broken through the 29th gate. That human... by what right?"

"Qin Feng? Is that the madman who slaughtered a million dead souls at the first gate?"

"Even with speed-running, it shouldn't be this fast! This defies all logic! Are the rules of the divine gates invalid for him?"

The massive gap brought not just shock, but panic.

For those top cosmic races who held themselves in high esteem, being surpassed by a human—a race long fallen and viewed as "blood-fodder"—was a supreme humiliation.

At the 29th gate, amidst a purgatory of thunder.

A handsome man in white-gold armor with twelve pairs of wings on his back crushed the skull of a thunder beast with one hand. Golden blood dripped from his fingers, each drop imbued with destructive divine power.

He was Di Shitian, the First Divine Son of the God Clan.

He did not look at his prey, but stared fixedly at the golden list in the sky.

For the first time, a crack appeared on his flawless face.

"Qin... Feng."

Di Shitian squeezed the name through his teeth, and the surrounding thunder, sensing his fury, grew ten times more violent.

"Thirty-seven gates. He is a full eight gates ahead of me."

In competition at this level, being one step ahead was a chasm; being eight gates ahead was a dimensional crushing. It meant that while he struggled at the 29th gate, Qin Feng was treating the subsequent gates like a stroll through a garden.

"Your Highness."

Behind him, an old servant whispered, "This person's origins are strange. It is rumored he displayed irrational means at the first gate. It seems he may have mastered some 'shortcut' to the divine gates."

"A shortcut?" Di Shitian sneered, his golden eyes burning with battle intent. "The cosmic will is fair; a so-called shortcut is merely another form of strength. But he should not have exposed himself at this time."

Di Shitian took a deep breath, his divine power surging, and his suppressed cultivation realm showed signs of loosening.

"Pass the order: contact the others in the top ten."

"Tell them, if they don't want to watch that human seize the 'ultimate opportunity' first, they must set aside their prejudices."

"The seventy-two divine gates are not a solo game. Since he runs fast, we will join forces to... cut his path off ahead!"

...

At the same time, at the 28th gate, in a dark void rift.

A blurred shadow was devouring the heart of an Imperial-level Void Beast.

"Hehehe... Human? Qin Feng?"

You Ye licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes flickering with greed and madness. "Interesting, truly interesting. Such a powerful soul, such arrogant speed of advancement—if I can devour him, my Void Divine Body... will surely reach perfection."

"Must catch up."

"He must not be allowed to take the clearance rewards for the first fifty gates. Those divine objects are mine!"

...

In an instant, the wind shifted across the seventy-two divine gates.

The top prodigies, who had been fighting alone and guarding against one another, developed a strange, silent consensus because of this sudden list and that name hanging high above.

Pursue Qin Feng.

Intercept Qin Feng.

Under the massive shadow cast by that name, all pride was shattered, replaced by a hysterical sense of urgency.

They would never allow a lowly human to look down upon them like ants from the supreme finish line.

At this moment, Qin Feng knew nothing of the raging storms he had stirred in the outside world.

Or rather, even if he knew, he would not care. A lion never turns back because of the barking of sheep.

The thirty-seventh gate, the mirror world.

Qin Feng had maintained that cross-legged posture for three full days.

For an Emperor with an endless lifespan, three days were but a fleeting blink of an eye. Yet he was not in meditation; he was engaged in a process of meticulous self-dissection.

The essence of this trial is synchronization.

Qin Feng had deduced this countless times within his mind.

To obtain the Primordial Divine Iron, he had to align his own frequency perfectly with this frozen space-time. It was akin to plucking a pearl from a pool of water without disturbing a single ripple on the surface.

But his power was simply too immense.

Every cell in his body acted like a miniature nuclear reactor; even without releasing energy, that internal vibration was fundamentally incompatible with the absolute stillness of this place.

Since I cannot suppress it...

Qin Feng’s eyes snapped open. The dark depths of his gaze no longer held the previous restraint and suppression; instead, they burned with a wilder, more ferocious flame.

If I cannot become as still as this world, then I shall make this world become as dynamic as I am!

It was an utterly insane notion.

The rule of this trial was to cease conflict, to remain still.

Qin Feng’s previous approach had been to conform to the rules, attempting to force himself into silence. But he had forgotten: he was Qin Feng, the man who had carved a path through the star seas, treating rules as nothingness.

Conform to the rules? That was not his path.

Not even for the sake of a reward.

Caesar.

Qin Feng spoke suddenly.

Caesar, who had been idle nearby, jolted awake. What? Figured it out? Giving up?

No.

Qin Feng rose slowly, and in that moment, he ceased all suppression of his power. His Hunyuan Limitless Body erupted in full; his terrifying life-force surged like a dragon, instantly shattering the mirrored firmament above.

I am going to refine this trial.

Qin Feng’s voice was calm, yet he uttered the most arrogant words in existence.

Are you mad?!

Caesar was struck with horror. If you force a destruction, the divine metal will vanish!

Who said I was going to destroy it?

A cold, cruel arc played upon Qin Feng’s lips. I am going to assimilate it.

If I cannot become the water, then I shall boil this pool into steam!

When the entire world trembles violently, my own vibration shall be the only stillness in this existence!

This is relativity.

This was Qin Feng’s solution—if I cannot adapt to the environment, I shall change the environment.

Ultimate Art: Myriad Creation Furnace!

Qin Feng let out a low roar and spread his arms.

This time, he did not release an attack outward; instead, he completely reversed the gravitational field within him, a force capable of consuming stars.

Since this trial rejects me, I shall devour you!

I will not destroy your structure; I will draw the rules, the space, and even the so-called tranquil intent of this realm into my body, and reorganize them within myself!

Boom, boom, boom!

The mirror world began to tremble.

This time, it was not a tremor of rejection, but one of fear.

The Primordial Divine Iron suspended above the altar had originally repelled Qin Feng, but as he manifested a will to consume that was grander than the world itself, it seemed to sense a summons from a higher dimension.

Rules?

In the face of absolute hegemony, there are no rules that cannot be rewritten.

Qin Feng took a step forward.

The mirror beneath his feet did not shatter; it transformed directly into streams of light, merging into the soles of his feet.

Fifty meters.

Thirty meters.

Ten meters.

The repulsive force vanished, replaced by a joyous hum of submission.

When Qin Feng’s palm finally grasped the cold, flowing mass of Primordial Divine Iron, the entire thirty-seventh trial collapsed completely, dissolving into countless motes of light that became part of his Hunyuan Limitless Body.

Ding.

A crisp sound echoed through the void.

It was the sound of the divine metal being claimed, and the funeral knell for the old rules.

Qin Feng looked at the tamed divine iron in his hand, then glanced up at the golden leaderboard that had appeared from nowhere. His gaze swept over the names trailing behind his own, and he revealed a smile of disdain.

Chasing me?

Then run faster.

Because from here on out, I will not stop again.

With that, he swallowed the divine metal whole, his figure turning into a streak of light as he charged toward the entrance of the thirty-eighth trial.

Behind him, the shattered thirty-seventh trial was beyond repair.

This meant that those who followed would face a void of chaos, and the difficulty would be... hellish.

This was Qin Feng.

Where he walked, no path remained for others.

...

In the rift of void between the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth trials.

Qin Feng hovered cross-legged, the Primordial Divine Iron he had plundered from the mirror world floating before his chest. This dark-gold liquid seemed to possess a high-dimensional vitality, emitting a metallic tremor akin to an infant’s cry under the searing heat of Qin Feng’s ultimate divine light.

Merge.

Qin Feng gestured with one hand, and his Dragon-Coiling Spear, which had accompanied him through years of conquest, whistled forth. Though the spear was of extraordinary material—once a pinnacle among black-hole and even god-forbidden grade weapons—it felt inadequate when facing the battles of his current Emperor-level limit, bordering on the Saint realm. It was like a child attempting to wield a giant’s hammer, each collision producing a groan of unbearable strain. The Primordial Divine Iron permeated the spearhead the moment it touched, flowing like mercury.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a terrifying, silent erosion. The dark red patterns on the spear shaft began to twist and reorganize, the original metallic structure forcibly replaced by the domineering properties of the divine metal. Fine, dragon-scale-like textures grew across the surface of the shaft, each scale seemingly compressing a miniature black hole beneath it.

This process lasted for seven full days.

Seven days later, the spear was reforged. It no longer radiated a sharp, piercing bloodlust; instead, it became archaic and restrained, its entire body a matte black that swallowed light, save for the tip, which shimmered with a heart-stopping dark gold.

A fine weapon. Caesar, watching from the side, could not help but marvel. Having integrated the Primordial Divine Iron, this spear now possesses the attribute of growth. As long as you continue to kill, it will continue to evolve. In terms of hardness alone, I fear even a primary Saint-grade artifact would struggle to damage it in the slightest.

Qin Feng reached out and gripped the spear.

Boom!

A vast, oceanic surge of feedback energy poured from the spear into his body. This was the cosmic origin rule contained within the divine iron, a magnitude of power sufficient to elevate an ordinary Emperor-rank practitioner to Sainthood on the spot.

Within Qin Feng, trillions of cells boiled in an instant. The "Hunyuan Limit" vortex, spinning like a nebula, began to devour this energy with frantic hunger.

His aura surged violently.

The density of his physical form increased.

Even the divine soul deep within his consciousness donned a suit of dark golden armor.

Yet, that invisible, intangible "Saint-realm barrier" remained stubbornly unbroken.

For any ordinary prodigy, this power would have breached the dam and flooded into the sea of the Saint realm. But Qin Feng’s "dam" was too high, and his "sea" was far too vast.

His path was the path of the limit.

To compress a volume of water meant to fill an ocean into a single cup—the difficulty was magnified ten-thousand-fold.

After a long while, Qin Feng exhaled a turbid breath. The air transformed into a persistent white streak that pierced through an asteroid belt several kilometers away.

"Still not enough." Qin Feng shook his head, his eyes devoid of disappointment, replaced only by a rational coldness. "The Source Divine Iron enhanced my 'vessel' and 'force,' but it could not elevate my 'stature.' For my life level to leap into the Saint realm, I require more than just energy; I need something more essential... a plundering of the rules."

"Your combat power is already enough to walk sideways through this universe; why must you be so obsessed with that realm?" Caesar asked, uncomprehending.

"Because the essence of the 'Divine Pass' is a screening process." Qin Feng stood with his spear, gazing into the deep darkness. "No matter how strong an Emperor-rank is, they remain within the rules. Only by becoming a Saint can one leap off the chessboard and become a player. Without entering the Saint realm, one is ultimately just an ant."

He glanced at the entrance leading to the thirty-eighth level.

"Seven days wasted. Those so-called pursuers must be growing impatient."

A mocking curve touched Qin Feng’s lips as he stepped forward, crossing into the portal.

During the seven days Qin Feng spent in seclusion refining his weapon, the situation in the Endless Sea had undergone a cataclysmic shift.

Level 25, the Scarlet Wasteland.

Originally a test of endurance set by the universe's will, it required challengers to survive three days under the siege of endless blood beasts.

But now, it had become a true slaughterhouse.

The ninth-ranked prodigy, "Gu Man" of the Titan race, knelt amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

His hundred-foot-tall true Titan form was now tattered, his golden divine blood long drained, replaced by a black ichor that reeked of sulfur and rot.

Surrounding him lay thousands of bodies.

There were his followers, passing prodigies of other races, and even the rule-incarnations that originally guarded this level—the blood beasts—now torn to shreds and incorporated into the altar beneath his feet.

"Why... why..."

Gu Man’s eyes were blood-red, his pupils vanished, leaving only two frantically spinning black vortices. He stared fixedly at the golden leaderboard in the sky, at the name hanging high on the 37th level—Qin Feng.

That despair was enough to shatter the Dao heart of any proud soul.

He was the hope of the Titan race, a born god of strength. Since childhood, he had been told he was the protagonist of the universe. But before Qin Feng, he felt like a stumbling infant.

"Do you also desire power?"

A voice resonated abruptly deep within his mind.

The sound did not resemble speech; it was more like the overlapping screams of countless dying beings, carrying a skin-crawling, viscous quality.

"Who?!" Gu Man roared, swinging his warhammer at the void.

"Do not search. I am within you. Within your rage, within your envy." The voice was filled with temptation. "Look at that human, Qin Feng. Why is he faster than you? Why is he stronger? Is it because he works harder? No... it is because he is more 'ruthless'."

"In this universe, only one rule is eternal."

"And that is slaughter."

"Only by blood-sacrificing the masses can one prove the Great Dao. The so-called rule-abiding challenge is merely a game for the weak. True powerhouses climb by stepping directly over corpses."

Gu Man’s body began to tremble violently. His reason resisted, but his instincts roared.

For he felt that as the voice spoke, a violent, unprecedented power was pouring into him from the void.

It was the power of **[Khorne]**.

The evil god’s law from the dark side of the universe, governing slaughter, blood, and war.

"As long as you are willing to offer a sacrifice... I can make you surpass him. Now. Immediately."

Gu Man raised his head, looking at a group of survivors shivering in the distance. They were his kin, the Titan brethren he had sworn to protect.

But in this moment, caught between the obsession to "surpass Qin Feng" and the whispers of the evil god, his once-clear gaze collapsed instantly.

"Power..."

Gu Man stood up.

His skin began to peel away, sprouting hideous bone spurs. The sacred Titan runes instantly transformed into scarlet cursed demonic sigils.

"For... power!"

Boom!

The warhammer fell.

That night, there were no survivors on Level 25.

If Qin Feng’s strength was built upon absolute reason and a profound foundation, then Gu Man’s growth was a morbid, cancerous, infinite proliferation.

From the moment he accepted the blessing of [Khorne], Gu Man was no longer Gu Man. He had become a puppet of the slaughter rule, a pawn of the evil god in the Endless Sea.

Rules?

When one completely descends into a demon, the rules used by the Divine Pass to test "challengers" become a joke.

Because he no longer solved the problems; he tore up the exam paper and devoured the examiner.

Level 30.

Gu Man shattered the elemental giant guarding the level with a single punch, then opened his mouth, split to the ears, and in full view of all, swallowed the elemental giant—which possessed the strength of a Saint-realm threshold—alive.

Level 33.

Facing the labyrinth illusion, he did not seek an exit; instead, he burned his own essence blood, unleashing the forbidden divine art "Blood Sea Torrent," drowning the entire maze in corrosive black blood and melting through the spatial barriers themselves.

This method required no insight, no technique, only extreme violence and self-destruction.

His cultivation, amidst this frenzied consumption, began to soar at a speed that defied all logic.

Peak Emperor-rank...

Half-step God-forbidden...

Pseudo-Saint...

Finally, on Level 35.

As he slaughtered the three thousand alien prodigies who had gathered to scavenge, building their heads into a trophy mound, the sky split open.

Not with auspicious clouds, not with purple mist from the east.

But with a bolt of scarlet lightning.

The cosmic will raged, seeking to erase this anomaly that defied the natural order. Yet, the will of an Evil God descended at that very moment, manifesting as a blood-drenched hand that blotted out the sky. It forcibly intercepted the heavenly tribulation, crushed the thunder into dust, and rammed the raw power into Gu Man’s body.

"ROAR—!!!"

A howl, neither human nor Titan, tore through the firmament.

Gu Man had achieved sainthood.

Though it was the lowest form of "Blood-Fiend Saint"—a false saint forged by bartering away one's lifespan and sanity—he had undeniably crossed that threshold, surpassing Qin Feng, who was still meticulously honing his foundation.

The [Seventy-Two Divine Gates: Prodigy Progress Ranking] updated.

This update plunged the entire Endless Sea into a panic far greater than before.

Rank 1: Gu Man (Fallen Titan) — Current Progress: Gate 38 (Cleared).

Rank 2: Qin Feng (Human) — Current Progress: Gate 38 (Not yet entered).

Qin Feng, who had long dominated the top spot, had been overtaken.

And he was overtaken by a Titan never considered a top-tier threat, in a manner as bloody as it was grotesque.

When Qin Feng stepped through the portal into the thirty-eighth gate, he was not met with the expected trial.

This stage was known as the "Gravity Star Sea."

It should have been filled with countless massive gravity spheres, testing the challenger’s footwork and physical resilience.

But now, there was only ruin.

Every gravity sphere had been pulverized into fine powder. The void was thick with an inescapable stench of blood—a nauseating, pungent mixture of divine and demonic ichor.

Qin Feng’s brow furrowed. With a flicker of his figure, he arrived at the heart of the gate.

There, an altar should have stood, holding the completion reward.

According to the intelligence provided by Luo Cheng, the reward for the thirty-eighth gate was a vial of "Star Soul Marrow," a substance capable of profoundly nourishing the soul.

But now, the altar lay split in two.

It was empty.

Moreover, lingering on the jagged edges of the altar was a trace of an extremely malevolent law. Qin Feng recognized that power; he had encountered similar traces in previous battles. It was the aura of an Evil God.

"Intercepted."

Qin Feng’s voice was calm, but beneath that stillness lay a volcano on the verge of eruption.

He did not care about the ranking.

That was merely a hollow name.

But he cared about the resources.

He had long since deemed the resources of these seventy-two gates his private property. Now, someone had not only pushed ahead of him but had stolen what was rightfully his?

"It’s that Gu Man." Caesar stepped out from behind Qin Feng, examining the marks on the ground with a grave expression. "This aura... it belongs to the [Khorne] lineage of Evil Gods. He’s gone mad. He has completely abandoned his self to become a vessel for slaughter. Only in this way could he ignore the rules and force his way through via 'sacrifice'."

"And..." Caesar swallowed hard. "Looking at the residual law fluctuations, he... he has achieved sainthood."

Achieved sainthood.

The words weighed heavily upon them.

Even as a fallen, false saint, he still bore the title of "Saint." The chasm between a saint and a mortal is as vast as the heavens. A saint who has mastered a complete—albeit twisted—chain of laws possesses absolute suppression over those at the Imperial Realm.

Qin Feng said nothing. He turned and walked toward the passage leading to the thirty-ninth gate.

The tunnel had been violently torn open, leaving spatial turbulence swirling in its wake.

He passed through.

The thirty-ninth gate: [Elemental Corridor].

This place should have been filled with brilliant elemental energies, a sacred ground for comprehending the laws.

Now, it was scorched earth.

Every elemental spirit had been slaughtered, their cores gouged out.

The completion reward—a "Heart of the Storm"—had likewise vanished.

On the ground, a line of large characters was written in fresh blood, twisted and hideous, as if mocking those who followed:

"Qin Feng, I am waiting for you ahead. Come and let me take your head to use as a chalice for my godhood!"

It was a provocation.

A naked, brazen provocation.

Qin Feng looked at the bloody script and suddenly smiled.

The smile was cold—so cold that the lingering flames nearby were instantly extinguished.

"Interesting."

Qin Feng reached out and gently wiped away the blood-written words.

"To get ahead of me, you were willing to sell yourself to an Evil God and become a mad dog."

"Since you are so eager to offer me your head..."

"Then I shall oblige you."

Qin Feng did not lose his reason to anger or rush forward blindly.

Instead, he lingered in the ruins of the thirty-ninth gate for a moment.

"Ultimate Divine Light, Retrospection."

Within his eyes, the laws of time flowed. Though he could not reverse the flow of history, he could reconstruct the battle that had transpired here.

In the vision, a monster covered in bone spurs and dripping with black blood was tearing through the elemental guards with brutal efficiency. The monster’s power was unrefined, even crude, but its destructive force was undeniably at the Saint level. Each strike carried the toxins of corruption; to touch it was to die.

"Pure accumulation of power, devoid of any technique," Qin Feng assessed.

"But he is fast," Caesar reminded him. "He doesn't need to solve the puzzles; he simply dismantles the maze. At this speed, he may already be at the fortieth or even the forty-first gate. If we don't stop him, he will destroy all the remaining rewards."

"He won't get far."

Qin Feng retracted his divine light, his gaze sharpening like a blade.

"Though he has achieved sainthood, it was forced growth. His body and soul are constantly suffering the backlash of the Evil God’s power. He must kill incessantly to maintain this state. This dictates that he cannot last."

"Besides..."

Qin Feng tightened his grip on his newly forged spear.

"It has been a long time since I slaughtered a 'Saint.' Even if he is a defective product, he will serve perfectly to sharpen my new spear."

"Let's go."

Qin Feng held nothing back.

BOOM!

His figure surged forward. This time, he unleashed the full speed of his [Hunyuan Ultimate Body]. He transformed into a bolt of black lightning, shattering the spatial barriers directly as he charged toward the fortieth gate.

He was not clearing the stage.

He was hunting.

This battle of the divine passes changed its very nature at this precise moment.

It was no longer a simple race against time, but a lethal hunt between a stalker and a crazed beast.

The fortieth pass, the Thousand-Mechanism Puppet Array.

This was originally a heritage ground left by an expert of the Mechanical Race, possessing countless precise combat puppets.

When Qin Feng arrived, a slaughter was taking place here.

But he was a step too late.

Or rather, Gu Man's speed was simply too fast.

The entire puppet array had already been thoroughly destroyed, the ground covered everywhere in shattered metal components. And in the center of the battlefield, that fallen figure had already vanished, leaving behind only a scene of utter devastation and a smashed reward chest.

The contents of the chest had been taken away.

Not only that, but Gu Man seemed to know Qin Feng would pursue him, leaving a "Blood Thunder" inside the chest.

The instant Qin Feng drew near.

Boom!

A violent burst of blood-shattering thunder capable of severely wounding a peak Sovereign Emperor erupted, plowing through the ruins for a hundred miles around once more.

The smoke and dust dissipated.

Qin Feng stood in his original place entirely unscathed, the Primordial Divine Light on the surface of his body failing to stir even a single ripple. A trap of this caliber did not even count as an itch to him.

Yet it caused the killing intent in his eyes to grow even more intense.

"He is playing with you," Caesar said through gritted teeth. "He is deliberately infuriating you, wanting you to reveal a flaw in your rage."

"No." Qin Feng looked toward the entrance leading to the forty-first pass ahead, where spatial fluctuations from Gu Man's departure still lingered. "He is afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Though he is mad, his instincts remain. He knows that a head-on confrontation might not guarantee a stable victory against me, so he wants to use the rewards of these few passes to continue stacking his power. He is stalling for time, wanting to accumulate an advantage sufficient to crush me before he completely collapses."

Qin Feng took a deep breath, the long spear in his hand emitting an eager hum.

"Unfortunately, he does not know one thing."

"What?"

"In the face of absolute strength, running a few steps ahead carries no meaning whatsoever."

Qin Feng took a step forward, his figure instantly vanishing from the spot.

The forty-first pass.

The forty-second pass.

The forty-third pass.

Qin Feng began a frantic acceleration.

He no longer meticulously comprehended the laws of each pass, because the laws had already been destroyed. There was only one thing he needed to do now—follow that nauseating stench of blood, catch up, and then kill him.

Two figures, one in front and one behind, played out a thrilling chase in the depths of the Seventy-Two Divine Passes.

One frantically destroyed, plundering everything.

One closely pursued, carrying a sky-blotting intent to kill.

Finally.

At the forty-fifth pass, the Heavenly River of Weak Water.

Qin Feng halted his steps.

Because at the end of his vision, above that heavenly river of weak water spanning across heaven and earth and claimed to be impassable even to birds, a massive blood-colored figure stood right there, his back turned to him.

That figure held a head in his hand.

It was the guardian of this pass, the head of a divine dragon condensed from weak water.

Gu Man slowly turned around.

Upon that completely distorted face where his original features could no longer be discerned, a row of jagged fangs was revealed. He looked at Qin Feng, letting out a raspy and piercing laugh:

"You have finally come... you slow-moving turtle."

He raised the still-dripping "Weak Water Essence" in his hand, which was the supreme treasure of this pass.

"Want it?"

Crack.

Right before Qin Feng's face, he directly crushed that essence—capable of driving countless water-attribute cultivators mad—into powder, scattering it into the weak water beneath his feet.

"Ah, my hand slipped."

Gu Man tilted his head, the red light in his eyes exploding. "Now, the reward is gone. Our game... officially begins."

Boom!

A terrifying pressure belonging to the Saint Realm, mixed with the fallen aura of an evil god, pressed down toward Qin Feng from all directions.

Qin Feng was expressionless.

He merely raised the long spear in his hand slowly, the tip of the spear pointing directly between Gu Man's brows.

"A game?"

"No."

"This is an execution."

(End of Chapter)