Chapter 394: Unknown Continent, If I Do Not Kill the Evil God, I Swear Not to Become a God!

Chapter 394: An Unknown Continent; Unless I Slay the Evil Gods, I Shall Not Ascend to Divinity!

The Primal Land returned to its eternal, unchanging state of pristine white and deathly silence.

Those four supreme malices from the dark side of the cosmos, once forcibly expelled by Qin Feng, receded like a tide, as if they had never descended at all.

Yet the shock left upon Augustus, You Ye, Gu Man, and Caesar was like a brand, etched into the deepest recesses of their souls, never to be erased.

They had witnessed a newly ascended Venerable resist the collective corruption of four Chaos Evil Gods in a manner bordering on the miraculous. Should this news spread, it would suffice to overturn every existing perception of the universe.

Qin Feng did not look at them again, nor did he concern himself with the turbulent waves crashing within their hearts.

Having endured that illusory war spanning ten million years, his state of mind had undergone an essential metamorphosis. These former rivals, nemeses, and allies were, in his eyes, no different from pebbles by the roadside or dust in the sea of stars.

It was not an arrogant dismissal, but a natural shift in "perspective" following a leap in the hierarchy of life.

What he saw and what he contemplated were no longer part of the same landscape.

"I am leaving."

In the end, he spoke these words to Caesar.

This was not a farewell, but a statement—the declaration of an impending, irreversible fact.

Caesar’s body trembled slightly. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but ultimately offered only a bitter smile and a nod: "Understood. Your path no longer lies within our dimension."

He knew clearly that from this day forward, the chasm between him and Qin Feng would be as vast as heaven and earth.

Qin Feng said no more.

He raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing the barriers of the Primal Land to peer into the vast, boundless reality of the universe.

Then, he took a step forward.

There was no tearing of space, no triggering of energy fluctuations.

His figure simply faded from the roster of "existence," dissolving into the background of the cosmos, vanishing entirely.

It was as if he had never set foot here, as if the legend of the Seventy-Two Divine Passes were merely a grand, fleeting dream.

Watching the spot where he had disappeared, Augustus, You Ye, and Gu Man remained silent for a long time.

Finally, the Holy Archangel Augustus spoke slowly, his voice tinged with an unprecedented sense of bewilderment: "Where... where do we go from here?"

The Divine Path had reached its end.

The ultimate reward had been taken by someone in a way they could not comprehend.

These prodigies, who had once stood at the pinnacle of the cosmic pyramid, suddenly found themselves bereft of a goal.

Caesar cast a lingering look at the direction where Qin Feng had vanished, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes, though it was mostly a sense of release.

He turned to the three and said: "His path is not one we can tread. But we have our own roads to follow."

"This universe is far more dangerous than we imagined."

"The threat of Chaos is close at hand. Rather than wallowing in confusion here, it is better to return and inform our respective races of what we have seen today. A storm that will sweep across the entire universe is, I fear... not far off."

With that, Caesar turned and departed.

The three remaining prodigies of the Divine Path, after a long silence, each chose a different direction, vanishing into the white expanse that had witnessed the birth and end of a legend.

The era of the Seventy-Two Divine Passes had, at this point, completely drawn to a close.

Departing the confines of the Endless Sea, Qin Feng began his first "journey" through the true universe.

Having become a Cosmic Venerable, his perception of this world had undergone a cataclysmic transformation.

He no longer needed to rely on star charts or traverse wormholes.

His consciousness could synchronize with the pulse of the universe. If he so willed, he could reach any corner within the conventional dimensions of this cosmos in a single thought.

Like a true "observer," he wandered between one bustling galaxy and another, between one ancient civilization and the next.

He saw the "Empire of Light" composed of pure energy, the "Zerg Hive" that claimed an entire galaxy as its nest, and the "Deep Sea Civilization" drifting in the dark matter sea, isolated from the world.

The magnificence and vastness of this universe far exceeded his previous imagination.

Yet, beneath this splendor and beauty, he also saw the "festering sores" hidden in the shadows, constantly spreading.

In a martial civilization named "Kaladim," he saw warriors performing bloody sacrifices in pursuit of greater power. They piled the heads of prisoners into monuments, torturing their opponents in the most cruel ways, all to please the "War God" seated upon a throne of gore.

—These were the followers of Khorne.

In a "Techno-Alliance" that prided itself on logic and knowledge, he saw mechanical beings pursuing ultimate wisdom begin forbidden experiments. They tampered with reality and toyed with fate, attempting to glimpse the final mysteries of the universe through infinite change and deception, only to fall into a logical death loop, becoming madmen who repeated nothing but "everything is a lie."

—These were the pawns of Tzeentch.

In a "Star Sea Opera House" where art and emotion were the highest pursuits, he saw artists descending into depravity in their quest for the ultimate "beauty" and "experience." They indulged in endless sensory stimulation, blurring the lines between pain and pleasure, eventually sublimating in a grand "final movement" of self-mutilation and debauchery, becoming mindless, sensation-seeking husks.

—These were the slaves of Slaanesh.

In an ancient "Nihilist Sect" that believed "all things have an end," he saw monks who had peered through life and death become corrupted by "despair" itself. No longer seeking nirvana, they began to actively spread plague and decay, believing that accelerating the "heat death" of the universe and helping all life "escape" the cycle of suffering was the ultimate "mercy."

—These were the hotbeds of Nurgle.

Qin Feng walked through one world after another corrupted by Chaos.

What he saw was no longer a simple "enemy," but a "plague" that had seeped into the bone marrow, dismantling the order of the entire universe from within.

He witnessed a once-prosperous galactic civilization turn into a ruin of slaughter, lies, debauchery, and despair within a few short centuries due to the erosion of Chaos.

Those corrupted souls believed, even unto death, that they were walking a "correct" path.

He recalled his experiences in that ten-million-year illusion.

He knew that if his "Limitless Sacred Path" had not been sufficiently unique and complete, he, too, would likely have become a part of these "festering sores."

He had once thought the Chaos Evil Gods were merely a powerful "faction" in the universe.

But now, he understood.

Chaos was the "cancer" of the universe.

It did not seek to conquer you; it sought to turn you into a part of itself.

Its ultimate goal was to drag the entire orderly, vibrant reality of the universe into that disordered, chaotic dimension of only pain and madness.

In the nine-hundredth year of his journey.

Qin Feng arrived in the territory of the Human Race.

Things here were even more dire than when he had left.

Squeezed by the myriad races of the universe, the living space of humanity had been compressed to an extreme. More terrifyingly, the whispers of Chaos had also begun to spread within the human ranks.

Some humans, unable to endure the oppression and hungering for power, began to secretly worship Chaos, trading the flesh and blood of their kin for the "gifts" of the Evil Gods.

Beset by internal strife and external threats, the race teetered on the brink of collapse.

Qin Feng stood upon a desolate planet, watching as a human refugee ship in the distant starry sky was cruelly torn apart by a group of "Flesh Raiders"—humans who had fallen to the worship of Khorne.

He saw the cries of children, the despair of mothers, and the unyielding resistance of warriors until their final breath.

But he did not intervene.

He simply watched in silence.

Watching that patch of starry sky, stained red with blood.

He watched the fallen ones, amidst their frenzied laughter, feasting upon the flesh and blood of their own kind.

His face remained entirely devoid of expression.

Yet, within his heart, the once tranquil pool of a Venerable’s state of mind stirred, giving rise to a cold, razor-sharp intent to kill.

It was not born of rage, nor was it born of pity.

It was the most calm and rational diagnosis a physician could render after identifying the malignancy within the cosmos.

—If this cancer is not excised, the universe shall surely perish.

He recalled the long journey he had traversed.

Rising from the humblest of origins, he fought for mere survival.

Winning renown across the star-seas, he fought for glory.

Clashing within the divine gates, he fought for power.

He had reached the pinnacle of strength, possessing a life that was nearly eternal.

He could have been like other Cosmic Venerables, carving out a kingdom of his own, standing high above to overlook the turning of eras, indifferent to the strife of the world.

But...

Was that truly the limit he sought?

He slowly closed his eyes.

The war of illusions that had lasted for ten million years surfaced once more in his mind.

Khorne’s slaughter, Tzeentch’s schemes, Slaanesh’s perfection, Nurgle’s decay...

Those four supreme malices were so powerful, so deeply rooted.

He knew that as long as these four Chaos Gods existed, this universe would never know peace.

What was destroyed today was the Caladim civilization, a single ship of the human race.

Tomorrow, it could be the entirety of humanity, or even the whole of the cosmos.

"I understand now..."

Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes, and for the first time, his chaotic pupils held a light that transcended the self—a light more vast and resolute.

"My path is the 'Limit'."

"And in this universe, the greatest 'non-limit' is your existence."

He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the dimensional barrier between reality and chaos, meeting the eyes of the four evil gods who peered into this universe at every moment.

But this time, his gaze held no caution, no resistance.

There was only a pure, unadorned declaration of war, with "extermination" as its sole purpose.

To the void, he swore an oath that no one heard, yet one that shook the causality of the entire universe:

"I, Qin Feng, from this day forth, swear in the name of the 'Limit'."

"To exhaust my life, to tread across the chaos."

"I shall strike you down—Khorne, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, Nurgle..."

"One by one, until not a single one remains."

Boom—!!!

The moment the oath fell, the ocean of universal laws surged with mountainous waves. It was as if the immune system of the cosmos had finally found its sharpest, most decisive scalpel.

Having set the ultimate goal of eradicating the evil gods, Qin Feng did not recklessly charge into the chaotic dimension.

He knew well that although he had ascended to the rank of Venerable and resisted the corruption of the four, he still lagged far behind those entities who had existed for countless eras and were themselves the embodiment of cosmic laws.

It was not a gap in power, but a gap in existence and foundation.

He needed to become stronger.

He began to purposefully search the universe for "opportunities" that could elevate him further.

And the highest-tier opportunities were often linked to those long-departed, more ancient, and more powerful beings.

—Gods.

The "Gods" here did not refer to the self-proclaimed "God-race" like Di Shitian, but to the true primordial deities born alongside the laws at the dawn of the universe.

They were the original masters of cosmic rules, beings far more ancient and fundamental than saints or Venerables.

Yet, from some unknown time, these primordial deities had vanished from the river of history, much like the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Qin Feng spent thousands of years traveling through countless ancient ruins and perusing countless star-sea codices that had long turned to dust.

Finally, within the memory crystal of an extinct, ancient race known as the "Gravekeepers," he found a crucial clue.

—The Land of Fallen Gods.

According to the records, in an extremely ancient era, a war of "Ragnarok" swept across the entire universe.

For reasons unknown, the primordial deities engaged in a brutal civil war.

In the end, nearly all the gods fell in the same place.

That place was known to later generations as the Land of Fallen Gods.

It was the graveyard of gods, and the final resting place of their legacies.

But it was also the most terrifying forbidden zone in the universe.

Because so many gods had perished there, the divine power and resentment that leaked from their remains formed a "domain of twisted laws" that even a Cosmic Venerable could not easily tread.

For countless millennia, more than one Venerable had attempted to enter in search of divine inheritance, but none had ever returned.

"This is the place."

Qin Feng looked at the fragmented star map and the ominous red zone marked upon it, his eyes burning with intensity.

Risk and opportunity are always directly proportional.

To gain the power to confront the evil gods, one must explore such supreme forbidden zones.

Without a moment's hesitation, he moved, following the map's guidance as he shifted toward the legendary Land of Fallen Gods.

After several ultra-long-distance spatial jumps, Qin Feng arrived at the marked region.

However, what met his eyes was not a secret realm, but a vastness of absolute "void" that defied visual measurement.

This void was different from the deathly silence of the "Era Graveyard."

The Era Graveyard was a place of desolation, where energy and laws had withered away.

But this place was one of "rejection."

The space itself seemed to possess a will, rejecting the entry of any matter, energy, or information.

This was the outer barrier of the Land of Fallen Gods—the sea of death known as the "Sigh of the Gods."

Any object attempting to force its way in would have the rationality of its "existence" erased by this will of rejection, causing it to disintegrate from within.

Qin Feng hovered at the edge of this "sea of death," clearly sensing that his Venerable body was being repelled by an invisible force. It was as if the universe itself were trying to "expel" him.

"How intriguing."

Qin Feng did not attempt to force his way through.

He knew that using brute strength to defy rules of such a conceptual nature was the height of folly.

He sat cross-legged, beginning to deconstruct the composition of this "Sea of Death" using his own [Ultimate Sacred Path].

Within his vision, this void was woven from the purest fragments of "will" left behind by countless fallen deities at the moment of their demise.

There was the will that "refused to be forgotten," the will that "refused to be surpassed," the will that "refused the world's existence"...

These contradictory yet equally potent wills had formed a bizarre equilibrium, coalescing into this "Sigh of the Gods" that rejected all things.

To enter, there was only one way.

That was to make his own "will" transcend the "reverberations" of these billions of deities.

Or, to find a frequency that could be "compatible" with every one of those wills.

Qin Feng chose the latter.

For his path was one of "extremes," and thus, one of "inclusion."

He slowly released the aura of his sacred path.

The cycle of his "Ultimate Universe," fused with the [Primordial Secret Art], began to rotate slowly at an arcane frequency.

With one exhale, ten thousand laws were born.

With one inhale, ten thousand phenomena perished.

He did not attempt to oppose the will of "rejection," but rather tuned his own path to a frequency perfectly synchronized with the most fundamental cosmic cycle of "birth" and "destruction."

Whether it was the "refusal to be forgotten" (a longing for life) or the "refusal of the world's existence" (a longing for destruction), in essence, they could not escape this grandest of cycles.

Gradually, the "Sea of Death," which had been filled with hostility toward Qin Feng, saw its repulsive force begin to wane.

It seemed to regard Qin Feng as a part of the "cycle" itself.

It saw him as an "existence" of the same rank as those fallen deities.

A full hundred years.

Qin Feng sat in silence at the edge of this Sea of Death for a hundred years.

Until his aura had become completely one with the frequency of this space.

Only then did he slowly open his eyes, rise to his feet, and step forward.

This time, he encountered no resistance.

His figure, like a drop of water merging into the sea, slipped silently into that void which rejected all things.

He had successfully crossed the first great chasm.

After passing through that long, soul-freezing "Sea of Death," the scene before Qin Feng suddenly opened up.

He had arrived at a continent floating in an unknown dimension.

This land was shattered and desolate, riddled with massive rifts and dried-up riverbeds. The sky was an eternal twilight; there were no sun or moon, only colossal "fragments" resembling stars that emitted a faint glow, suspended high above.

Most striking of all were the towering, heaven-piercing gravestones that stood upon this broken land.

These monuments took many forms.

Some were giant swords, rusted and weathered, yet still radiating an infinite, piercing sharpness.

Some were codices forged from unknown metals, inscribed with ancient, cryptic runes.

Some were world-trees, long withered, yet still stretching their branches as if to embrace the entire sky.

...

Every gravestone represented a fallen primordial deity.

Every gravestone exuded a terrifying divine might that, even after countless eons, remained enough to make one’s heart tremble.

This was the core of the [Land of Fallen Gods].

A sorrowful world composed of the graves of countless gods.

Qin Feng walked through this necropolis of the divine.

He could clearly feel that within each gravestone lay the most fundamental "path" and "inheritance" of that deity.

If he wished, he could attempt to commune with and claim these legacies at any moment.

The giant sword monument contained the purest divine path of "slaughter."

The codex monument recorded the divine path of the universe's original "laws."

The world-tree contained the most profound divine paths of "life" and "withering."

Any one of these inheritances, if brought to the outside world, would be enough to make cosmic sovereigns fight to the death, enough to forge a new peak race.

Yet, Qin Feng’s footsteps did not linger before a single gravestone.

He walked on in silence, observing in silence, feeling in silence.

These divine paths, while powerful and primordial, were all too "singular."

Whether it was slaughter, law, or life... they were merely parts of the "ultimate," not the "ultimate" itself.

What he sought was not the inheritance of any one deity.

What he sought was something that could cause his own path of "extremes" to undergo a qualitative change once more.

It was a "key"—more fundamental and more ultimate—that stood above all these singular divine paths.

He believed that in the deepest reaches of this Land of Fallen Gods, the answer he sought must exist.

For the thing that had driven so many primordial deities to risk everything and engage in a final, cataclysmic battle here...

Could never be these individual inheritances.

There had to be some far more significant "reason."

Qin Feng’s gaze swept past the thousands of divine monuments and fixed upon the very center of the continent.

There lay a region shrouded in a chaotic mist so dense it seemed to swallow time itself.

All the gravestones stood in a posture of pilgrimage, pointing from afar toward that direction.

That was his destination.