Chapter 143: Could It All Be the Same Person?

Chapter 143: Could It All Be One Person?

Leaving the sect’s main hall, Kang Fulu and Qi Yuan walked side by side.

“Junior brother, you’ve never been far from home in all these years, have you? This sudden departure from Great Shang to Jade Cloud Continent—who knows what lies ahead… nor when you’ll return.” Kang Fulu couldn’t help but sigh, his expression uncertain.

Now, the bloody battle of a hundred kingdoms loomed, and Great Shang was in turmoil.

The sect master had sent the two of them to participate in the Eastern Lands Prodigy Battle, perhaps not without the intention of letting them escape the vortex.

By relying on the Prodigy Battle, they could attract the attention of some major sects, join them, and break free from the cage of the Hundred Kingdoms and Jade Cloud Continent.

“Once the Bright Palace is destroyed, I’ll be back after the Prodigy Battle ends—soon enough,” Qi Yuan said casually, his demeanor relaxed.

Seeing Qi Yuan so composed, Kang Fulu couldn’t help but sigh.

Ah, it was better to be a bit foolish, carefree and without worries.

Unlike him, even after forming a golden core, he remained perpetually anxious.

“Junior brother, do your best in this Prodigy Battle,” Kang Fulu said, a flicker of pride in his eyes. “Don’t let my first-grade golden core fool you—in Great Shang, it’s unprecedented and unmatched, but compared to the prodigies of the Eastern Lands, it’s still far behind.”

Though Kang Fulu was being modest, it was actually a humblebrag.

“Among the top hundred on the Eastern Lands Prodigy List, some have condensed mystic-grade or earth-grade cores, and even heaven-grade ones—it’s simply unimaginable.”

Hearing this, Qi Yuan looked at Kang Fulu with a comforting expression: “Senior Brother Kang, don’t lose heart. A first-grade golden core is indeed a bit weak, but… in our Divine Light Sect, it still ranks in the top ten, doesn’t it?”

Kang Fulu: “…”

He didn’t want to talk. He had clearly come to show off, not to seek comfort.

He desperately wanted to tell Qi Yuan: Do you even know the value of a first-grade golden core in a small place like the Hundred Kingdoms?

Just then, Kang Fulu’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Ahead, Xu Yiyi, the chief disciple of the Ten Thousand Methods Peak, was passing by.

Kang Fulu ignored Qi Yuan and flew straight over.

“Junior sister, I recently obtained a treasure—would you like to see it?”

“What treasure?”

“My… first-grade golden core!”

“Golden core? Senior brother, you’ve formed your primordial core?”

Qi Yuan watched this scene from afar and sighed: “At least I rose from obscurity, yet my heart yearns for the sea of stars.

A first-grade golden core can’t hope to dazzle my eyes.”

Qi Yuan glanced at his own golden core.

Inwardly, he wondered when his golden core might devour some planets, large stars, neutron stars, and the like.

If that happened, the vast heavens, save for the gods’ radiance, would all become his golden core.

Wouldn’t that scene be utterly breathtaking?

He looked at the small sun in the sky and murmured to himself: “Pity, my golden core is too far away. If I could show it off like Senior Brother Kang Fulu, I’d surely earn plenty of praise.”

Of course, it might not be praise.

If the golden core were revealed, anyone who saw it would likely be dead.

…

At the Bright Palace, Qian Yuan’s expression was especially grim.

“Nearly a hundred Divine Infants, dead in the Hundred Kingdoms? Utterly useless!”

In the past few days, nearly a hundred Divine Infants dispatched to the Hundred Kingdoms had been attacked by powerful figures and fallen there within two days.

Nearly a hundred Divine Infants—for the Bright Palace, this was a crippling blow!

“The Mad Taoist, the Seven Lust Demon Lord, the Blood-Robed Sword God… people of the Divine Flower Society—how ruthless!” Heisheng’s spiritual energy radiated from his entire body, like a powder keg about to explode. The Divine Infants present watched him, fearing he might erupt in fury.

“When did our Bright Palace provoke so many… ‘terrifying’ enemies?” Qian Yuan fumed.

Within the Divine Flower Society, people from the Hundred Kingdoms had suddenly targeted them.

They appeared all at once, each a prodigy—utterly absurd.

“You say, could they all be one person, playing multiple roles, ambushing us?” the red-bearded elder voiced his speculation.

“Probably not,” Heisheng elder said in a gruff voice. “The Mad Taoist possesses a strange treasure shaped like a cleaver; with it, he kills Divine Infants like slaughtering chickens.

The Seven Lust Demon Lord has cultivated some forbidden art that can summon heavenly thunder to slay foes.

As for the Blood-Robed Sword God, needless to say, he controls a primal divine ability and is a Purple Mansion grandmaster.

These people are all extraordinary—they can’t be the same person!”

What Heisheng elder said was widely accepted by those present.

This massacre of Bright Palace Divine Infant stewards involved a full ten people.

Each had distinct traits, and each was remarkable, with their own unique Dao methods.

Such distinction—each one taken alone—qualified as a young prodigy.

How could they be the same person?

“How could a tiny place like the Hundred Kingdoms produce so many middle-aged prodigies?

Clearly, they are all from the Divine Flower Society!” Qian Yuan stated his judgment.

Middle-aged prodigies generally referred to those from the previous generation’s Prodigy List.

Those who had slain the Bright Palace’s Divine Infants all possessed the strength of middle-aged prodigies.

This was terrifying.

Clearly, they were all from the Divine Flower Society.

“The Divine Flower Society…”

At the mention of this organization, the stewards present exchanged uneasy glances.

It was a loose but powerful organization.

Its headquarters were not in the Eastern Lands.

If the Divine Flower Society intended to move against them, it would be troublesome.

Qian Yuan looked at the wariness of the stewards below and said, “Rest assured, everyone. The Divine Flower Society cannot meddle in our Eastern Lands’ affairs.

The Great Palace Lord has already gone to the Imperial Saint Continent to meet the Eastern Lands’ branch leader of the Divine Flower Society and seek an explanation.”

Hearing this, those present breathed a sigh of relief.

Qian Yuan continued, “The Mad Taoist, the Seven Lust Demon Lord, and the rest… have already been placed on our Bright Palace’s wanted list.

If they dare set foot in Jade Cloud Continent, they will surely meet their doom!

As for the Blood-Robed Sword God, the three of us have issued a challenge within the Divine Flower Society.

If he dares to come, he will die!”

Before the Blood-Robed Sword God fell, the hundred kingdoms needed not dispatch stewards!"

"As you command!" The stewards present breathed a sigh of relief.

They truly feared being sent to the hundred kingdoms now.

That would be courting death.

...

When Qi Yuan logged into the Divine Flower Four Emperors chat group, he saw many flattering messages.

"Origin Heavenly Lord, you are truly fierce—nearly a hundred Divine Infants, slain at a word!"

"Riding thousands of miles in a single night, truly formidable!"

"We should all aspire to be like this."

Qi Yuan felt a flutter of pride at these praises, but also a touch of embarrassment.

"Compared to the big shots here who speak laws into being, I am far weaker!" Recalling the Ice Mountain Dominatrix's talk of Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, words becoming reality, and gods falling, Qi Yuan felt himself to be quite ordinary.

"Too modest!" The Rogue Immortal Venerable had now become Qi Yuan's number one sycophant. "Origin Heavenly Lord has begun slaughtering on all sides, killing Divine Infants like dogs, while I still have to attend the Eastern Earth Prodigy Battle.

Comparing people, the gap is too vast."

"You're also going to the Eastern Earth Prodigy Battle?" Qi Yuan's eyes lit up.

"What, Origin Heavenly Lord, do you have a junior attending too?" asked the Rogue Immortal Venerable.

"I'm still young, not even married—"

Qi Yuan was about to say he wasn't even married.

But then he thought: isn't Little Marriage his wife?

"I don't even have children," he said instead.

"This time, I'm going to the Eastern Earth Prodigy Battle myself. Rogue Immortal Venerable, we'll meet face to face then!

I've never seen the big shots in the group!" Qi Yuan said excitedly.

This left the Rogue Immortal Venerable stunned.

"Origin Heavenly Lord, you kill Divine Infants like slaughtering dogs, you've mastered primal divine abilities—why would you still need to attend the Eastern Earth Prodigy Battle?"

"I'm just a mere Yuan Dan cultivator; it's perfectly reasonable for me to attend the Eastern Earth Prodigy Battle, isn't it?" Qi Yuan asked.

"Reasonable, yes... but what about the Blood-Robed Sword God? Aren't you a Zifu grandmaster?"

"I'm Yuan Dan."

"But you have primal divine abilities, you kill Divine Infants like dogs!"

"Who says a Yuan Dan cultivator can't have primal divine abilities?

Who says a Yuan Dan can't kill Divine Infants?"

"...No one says that."

"Hmph, I haven't even unleashed my Golden Core yet. If I did, I'd scare even a Yin Spirit!" Qi Yuan said smugly.

The Rogue Immortal Venerable was left speechless.

Is it my mind that's flawed, or Origin Heavenly Lord's?

But Origin Heavenly Lord is clearly a Zifu grandmaster—a Zifu grandmaster's mind can't be flawed.

Could it be... that my mind is flawed?

The Rogue Immortal Venerable felt he needed to find a physician lady to soothe his fragile heart.

"What a pity, I'm not in the Eastern Earth right now. Otherwise, if Origin Heavenly Lord and Rogue Immortal Venerable were to meet, I'd go no matter what," said the Great Sun Flame Emperor, sounding quite regretful.

"It's fine. The world is vast; we'll have a chance to meet eventually.

After all... we live in the same era.

As long as we don't die, there will be a chance to meet," Qi Yuan said.

"It's just a meeting—why does Origin Heavenly Lord make it sound so heavy?" the Ice Mountain Dominatrix interjected.

"Just a touch of melancholy."

Withdrawing his consciousness from the Divine Flower Society jade slip, Qi Yuan once again entered the game jade slip. After a moment, he showed a disappointed expression: "Still nothing... No new games?"

After leaving the Flowing Wind Realm, Qi Yuan had tried to enter the game jade slip to access a new game.

Unfortunately, the game jade slip was empty, as if no new game had been created yet.

His divine sense swept through the jade slip but found no new game.

"Is the game jade slip too vast, my divine sense too weak to discover new games?"

"Or does it require a medium to trigger?"

"Can't enter a new game, and can't return to the Golden Core for now.

At least I have the Light Palace as a toy to play with; otherwise, life would be too dull."

Qi Yuan sighed.

...

Three days later.

On a massive spirit boat, there were four people.

They were Qi Yuan, Kang Fulu, Jiang Ya, and the Divine Infant crone.

This time, Jiang Ya would also participate in the Eastern Earth Prodigy Battle.

Since they were heading the same way, Qi Yuan and Kang Fulu hitched a ride on Jiang Ya's boat.

It must be said, Jiang Ya's spirit boat flew far faster than ordinary ones.

What would normally take half a month to reach Cuiyun Continent now took only five or six days.

At that moment, on the massive spirit boat, Qi Yuan looked down at the vast desert below, curiosity on his face: "This combination of desert and sea... is truly strange."

Beneath the spirit boat, an endless stretch of desert met the eye, yet occasionally patches of sea could be seen.

The desert and sea connected, a bizarre sight.

Jiang Ya, who had been resting with her eyes closed, opened them and said slowly, "This strange scene was caused by... a battle between Yin Spirits.

When power surpasses the Zifu realm, the force of battle becomes too great, and they enter the Void Realm.

The Void Realm is empty and void, harming no mortals.

But... every so often, some products of the Void Realm fall, creating such scenes."

"If a Yin Spirit attacks a Zifu cultivator, would both also enter the Void Realm?" Qi Yuan asked.

"Why would a Yin Spirit need to use power beyond a Yin Spirit's to kill a Zifu?" Jiang Ya's eyes held ambition as she spoke.

That realm was the one her master had pursued all her life.

Once one steps into the Yin Spirit realm, they are no longer bound by the world's limits.

“But what if that Yin Spirit wishes to unleash power beyond the Purple Mansion?” Qi Yuan asked.

“Then that entire region would be passively dragged into the Void Realm,” Jiang Ya explained patiently.

Though, for a Core Formation cultivator to speak of such things was far too premature.

“Passively?” Qi Yuan’s gaze sharpened. “Is it dragged in by the Heavenly Dao?”

So that meant Yin Spirits weren’t all that strong after all.

Jiang Ya glanced at Qi Yuan, a hint of surprise in her eyes. “Yin Spirits vary in strength, just as the Heavenly Dao varies.

A powerful Yin Spirit might be able to break free from this restriction.”

Hearing this, Qi Yuan began to understand.

“Ah, what a pity. If I’d known, I would have used the Heavenly Dao of the Canglan Realm for my Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, not the Wangyue Continent’s. I regret it now!”

The Heavenly Dao of the Wangyue Continent was clearly weaker than that of the Canglan Realm.

Jiang Ya looked at Qi Yuan but said nothing.

She had long learned from Jiang Lingsu that Qi Yuan was a cultivator of the Path of Obsession, and his mind seemed somewhat troubled.

The spirit boat sped on; Jiang Ya did not speak further with Qi Yuan, devoting herself entirely to a jade slip.

She furrowed her brow, lost in thought.

The master of the Ascending Heaven Pavilion, the Elder Wutian, was also her teacher.

He had left a difficult problem for each of his personal disciples.

Jiang Ya’s problem was the Heaven-grade technique, the Heartless Sutra.

Of this technique, the master had said it contained several flaws.

If she could find those flaws and revise it into a passable form, she would earn the right to enter the Ascending Heaven Tower and complete a great task alongside her master.

Now, Elder Wutian had five personal disciples, but only one had passed the trial and entered the tower.

Jiang Ya had obtained the Heartless Sutra and studied it daily, yet her progress was meager.

So far, she had only discovered three flaws.

As for revision, that was nowhere in sight.

After all, this was a Heaven-grade technique, specially given by Elder Wutian—no ordinary Heaven-grade technique.

Qi Yuan watched Jiang Ya beside him, saw her troubled expression, and couldn’t help asking, “Senior Sister Jiang, have you encountered some difficulty? Why not tell me about it?”

According to his junior sister, Jiang Ya was a personal disciple of the Ascending Heaven Pavilion’s master.

The Ascending Heaven Pavilion collected all techniques.

And what Qi Yuan lacked most were techniques.

Jiang Ya carried immense wealth; it was hard for him not to covet it.

So Qi Yuan decided to play the role of an eager sycophant.

Though a sycophant has no home, as long as he didn’t fawn over just one woman but over all the wealthy ladies in the world, he would become a sea-dog.

Toward Jiang Ya, Qi Yuan naturally showed much enthusiasm.

Jiang Ya opened her eyes again; her expression seemed gentle, but Qi Yuan still caught the refusal in her gaze.

“It’s just a trifle, no need to trouble you, Junior Brother.”

The trial set by her master—even if given to a Purple Mansion grandmaster, might not be passed.

Qi Yuan came from the Hundred Kingdoms; he had probably seen few even of the Profound-grade techniques.

His foundation was shallow; he might not even understand the Heartless Sutra.

As for what her sister Jiang Lingsu said about Qi Yuan being skilled at revising techniques—the content of those revisions was beyond words.

She naturally would not seek his help.

Qi Yuan heard this and felt somewhat disappointed.

If only all wealthy ladies were as easy to fawn over as his junior sister Jiang Lingsu.

For several days in a row, Qi Yuan was bored out of his mind.

Either he secretly studied the techniques Jiang Lingsu had brought him, or he tirelessly slandered the Bright Palace on the Divine Flower Society’s forum.

And now, his alt account, the Blood-Robed Sword God, had become a star figure on the forum.

Every time he posted, dozens would flatter him.

This made Qi Yuan so giddy that he wanted to abandon his main account and just be the Blood-Robed Sword God.

Of course, that was just a thought.

“Rogue Immortal Venerable, in a few days I’ll arrive at Cloud City. What about you? When will you get there? Let’s meet up!” Qi Yuan asked Rogue Immortal Venerable in the group chat.

“I’ll probably be late; I’m coming with my senior brother,” Rogue Immortal Venerable replied in the group.

The place he was in wasn’t in Cuiyun Prefecture, so it would take him longer to get there.

“Your senior brother—which great power is he? What Immortal Venerable?” Qi Yuan couldn’t help asking.

“No, not that,” Rogue Immortal Venerable quickly shook his head.

“Well, it seems he still can’t compare to you, Rogue Immortal Venerable.” Since Rogue Immortal Venerable had flattered him so many times, shouldn’t he flatter back?

That was just courtesy.

Otherwise, when he showed off in the group later, no one would cheer him on, and it would easily become awkward.

At that moment, in the Thunder Travel Prefecture of the Eastern Lands, Rogue Immortal Venerable sat on an immortal boat.

Watching Origin Heavenly Venerable’s flattery, he felt helpless.

“I’m just a small fry. My senior brother is among the top three hundred on the Eastern Lands Prodigy List—nothing to compare.”

“Top three hundred? That’s too weak, not even a hair on Rogue Immortal Venerable’s head.” With Jiang Ya, ranked seventeenth on the Eastern Lands Prodigy List, beside him, Qi Yuan felt as if he himself were seventeenth, speaking with grand arrogance, looking down on anyone below that rank.

“Ahem…” Rogue Immortal Venerable replied awkwardly.

Just then, a tall, burly man walked over.

The man wore a green robe, had drooping eyes, and his looks were unremarkable: “Junior Brother, in ten days we’ll reach Cuiyun Prefecture. Remember to set aside personal grudges. We’ll go together to pay respects to the Bright Palace’s prodigy, Huang Tu!”

Hearing his senior brother’s words, Rogue Immortal Venerable hesitated: “Senior Brother, I’m a member of the Divine Flower Society, and the Divine Flower Society is in conflict with the Bright Palace. I’d better not go.”

Now, Origin Heavenly Venerable was at war with the Bright Palace.

As one of the Four Emperors of the Divine Flower Society, he couldn’t support in combat, but at least he should maintain a united front, shouldn’t he?

“Hmph!” The droopy-eyed man snorted coldly. “Junior Brother, Cuiyun Prefecture is the Bright Palace’s lair. How can we go there without getting to know the prodigies there?

Such a fine opportunity to befriend prodigies and expand our network—how can we miss it?

Besides, where has there been a major conflict between the Divine Flower Society and the Bright Palace?

That Blood-Robed Sword God, a mere Purple Mansion cultivator provoking the Bright Palace—he’s simply asking for death!”

Upon hearing this, the Rogue Immortal Venerable said with some resignation, "Senior Brother, I've already arranged to meet a close friend."

The man with the slanted eyes raised an eyebrow. "That friend of yours, if I recall correctly, is just like you—not even listed on the main roster of the Eastern Lands' Prodigy Rankings."

"His strength is enough!" the Rogue Immortal Venerable defended the Origin Heavenly Venerable.

"How about this: let him come along when we go to pay respects to Huang Tu?" the slanted-eyed man said magnanimously.

Hearing this, the Rogue Immortal Venerable quickly replied, "No!"

The Origin Heavenly Venerable and the Radiant Palace were at daggers drawn!

If he went to see Huang Tu, who knew what might happen?

P.S.: There's still one more chapter, but it probably won't be out until five or six in the morning. Everyone, get some sleep now and read it in the morning!

(End of this chapter)