Chapter 381: Qi Yuan, I Await You Above the Absolute Truth (End of the Arching Star Volume)

Chapter 381: Qi Yuan, I Await You Above Ultimate Principle (End of the Archstar Arc!)

The Eastern Lord's eyes revealed an expression of disbelief.

He could not understand, nor fathom, why... the person before him had severed his arm.

"How could you be so heartless, Aqiao!"

The Eastern Lord was dejected, a single tear rolling down.

He felt that his Holy Light Eye had not yet fully exerted its power.

"It is because I did not try hard enough that you treat me this way."

He was somewhat weepy, somewhat like Daiyu from Dream of the Red Chamber.

Qi Yuan was utterly speechless: "Bro, let me go. I'll come clean—I didn't believe a single word you said.

Look at the length of my nose?

Please, stop talking, my nose is too long!"

At this moment, Qi Yuan was like a child trapped in an elevator, looking at the burly man beside him who kept having diarrhea, and said helplessly, "Uncle, please stop, I'm scared."

Qi Yuan was just that powerless.

The boss's aura in this game had been completely ruined by him.

Look at the bosses in other games—each has their own unique traits, right?

The old man from Wangyue Continent who doesn't like bathing.

The enchantress from Liufeng Realm.

The Yang God father and daughter from Fanxin Realm.

And yet, the boss in this game turned out to be a man...

And his words were disgustingly nauseating.

At that moment, the Eastern Lord's eyes truly changed. He looked at Qi Yuan with a strange expression: "Could it be that my words did not move you?

My story did not touch you?"

In every task of the Shanhai Scroll, in every story, the Eastern Lord had embedded many core themes for Qi Yuan.

Things like filial piety, sacrificing loved ones to save the world, the dilemma between loyalty and righteousness.

All these tasks were part of the Ten Thousand Dao Martial God.

"What crap story? Don't you know that when I play games, I always skip the plot summary? Kill, kill, kill, loot equipment and level up!"

Qi Yuan said brusquely.

In the Shanhai Scroll, he did the same with tasks.

Touching story backgrounds, the connotation of tasks?

That's bullshit!

He would directly grab the task target and go kill demons to boost his strength.

After killing the demons and feeling exhilarated, he would only at night find the task target to binge-watch a drama, listen to short videos, and feel a bit emo.

The Eastern Lord's gaze shifted again, his eyes full of disbelief: "You are clearly at the Heavenly Rank, why don't you believe my words?"

The innate divine ability of the Holy Light Clan could not possibly be wrong.

It was precisely by relying on this ability that the Holy Light Clan roamed across the realms, though they were also universally reviled, regarded as venomous scorpions.

Now, he had encountered someone of a lower realm who would not listen to him.

His eyes surged with disbelief: "The innate divine ability of the Holy Light Clan originates from the Ancestor; it can never be wrong!"

This innate divine ability came from the mighty Ancestor.

The Ancestor was in an unknowable realm.

His divine ability was an existence more terrifying than the Great Ultimate Principle.

All the universes of the heavens, the universes known to the Ancestor, could be used.

The other party was clearly at the Heavenly Rank, a lower realm than his.

How could his innate divine ability take effect!

He looked at Qi Yuan and couldn't help saying, "Doesn't 1+1 equal 3?"

"Didn't you finish compulsory education?" Qi Yuan couldn't be bothered to respond, and with a sword he fiercely struck at the Eastern Lord's right hand.

This time, the Eastern Lord directly fled, his eyes still filled with confusion.

"Who exactly are you? Why can you be immune to my innate divine ability!"

"I am... your father!" At this moment, a smile emerged in Qi Yuan's eyes, and the Great Forgetfulness Heart Sutra activated, "But I don't have a son as disgusting as you!"

Qi Yuan never discriminated against sexual orientation.

But being disgusted like this, he couldn't hold back.

A flicker of hesitation passed through the Eastern Lord's eyes: "Father?"

If it were his father, then everything would be explained.

Being of the same Holy Light Clan, he would not be affected at all.

In an instant, he came to his senses and looked at Qi Yuan with astonishment: "Your innate divine ability is quite remarkable, with the potential to ascend to Ultimate Principle.

I will give you a chance to follow me.

I, Sheng Kongming, am a prodigy rarely seen in the Holy Light Clan in a million years.

I am about to step into the second realm of Yang God, the Ultimate Principle Realm.

Once I step in, the myriad heavens and worlds will be mine to roam, and no living being will be able to stop me.

If you follow me, you can enjoy the Great Dao!"

Sheng Kongming changed his strategy.

Since the other party was immune to his innate divine ability, it meant that the other party might also have some strange and rare bloodline.

Certainly inferior to his Holy Light Clan, but still rare and uncommon.

Hearing this, Qi Yuan's eyes lit up: "You finally look like a villain, saying something a villain should say. You scared me to death."

Qi Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

It's not that he fears a villain being too strong, but rather a villain being...

The Eastern Lord was not surprised by Qi Yuan's reaction.

He said softly, "The world you live in has reached the end of its path.

Your talent is excellent, second to none in this world. Being born in such a world is your misfortune.

The world imprisons you; in this life, you have no future path.

If you follow me, I will even bestow upon you a drop of my bloodline."

The bloodline of the Holy Light Clan, combined with my own gift, grants you even the chance to break free from this cage in this lifetime!"

Dongjun said.

He felt a stirring of fondness for talent.

If he could bring Qi Yuan under his command, the benefits would be many.

Not only would he gain a subordinate, but by analyzing the bloodline within him and why he was immune to the "Words of Holy Light," he could sweep through his own kind.

He might even unify the Holy Light Clan and become the foremost beneath the Ancestor.

"Since your blood is so formidable, why shouldn't I take it myself?" Qi Yuan said calmly.

"It seems you do not know the terror of the Holy Light Clan, nor do you understand... where the gap between you and me truly lies?"

On Dongjun's tattered white robe, divine light surged.

He was merely a step away from the Realm of Ultimate Principle.

As for Qi Yuan, he was only at the Heavenly Position Realm.

How could he contend with him?

"Hmm... have you finished with the key information?" Qi Yuan looked at Dongjun, his expression calm. "If so, it's time to discuss a serious matter.

Your Holy Light Clan plagiarized the name of our Divine Light Sect!

Thus, on behalf of the Divine Light Sect, I now slay the plagiarizing dogs!"

The reason he hadn't acted directly was simple.

In ordinary minor stages, missing the plot summary was no great loss.

But with a major boss, there was much critical information.

For instance, Dongjun's claim that the path ahead in this world was severed, and something about the world's confinement.

Yes, a very familiar setting, and quite normal.

Like a tailor's shop being unable to build an aircraft carrier.

Now that the exposition was over, it was time to unleash carnage.

"It seems you simply don't understand—"

"Less talk, plagiarizing dog, die!"

A mighty aura of blood and martial power swept across.

This entire region trembled.

The realm of the Myriad Dao Martial God gathered the myriad daos of this world.

At that moment, when Qi Yuan threw a punch at Dongjun, it was actually the fusion of the myriad daos from the Origin Land, the End Land, and all the worlds of the Mountain and Sea Scroll, transforming into Qi Yuan's own dao, delivering a supreme strike against Dongjun.

Such a strike contained the laws of the Great Dao.

It was enough to shatter the world.

"In the Yang God Realm, the gap between each minor stage is like heaven and earth.

I have already glimpsed the Realm of Ultimate Principle—you cannot harm me at all!"

Dongjun extended his palm, and his form seemed to merge with heaven and earth.

Qi Yuan's terrifying strike was easily evaded.

Qi Yuan said nothing.

He looked at Dongjun and struck again.

This time, he did not use the power of the Myriad Dao Martial God, but the power of the Immortal Dao.

On the path of the Immortal Dao, he was far stronger than the Myriad Dao Martial God!

"I have seen you devour a star whole, standing at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Position Realm.

But without glimpsing the Ultimate Principle, you are nothing!"

Of course, Dongjun's words concealed something.

If Qi Yuan's four thousand divine infants all emerged together to besiege Dongjun,

Dongjun was strong, but he could not withstand a siege.

Yet what Dongjun feared least was a siege.

At that moment, with a mere word, all the divine infants would become his allies.

"Alone, you cannot defeat me—unless you have them gang up on me!" Dongjun said leisurely, brimming with confidence.

He had already placed himself in an invincible position.

If Qi Yuan called out those helpers, he had the Words of Holy Light.

If he didn't, he would win outright.

A fierce clash of attacks.

Dongjun's form merely staggered.

As a member of the Holy Light Clan, having glimpsed the Realm of Ultimate Principle, he could almost sweep this world.

Even facing the Great Ultimate Principle Realm, he was confident he could toy with them slowly.

Thus, facing Qi Yuan, whose realm was Minor Heavenly Position but whose divine spiritual power surpassed the "Great Heavenly Position" of a Yang God, he stood undefeated.

"It seems I really have to unleash my ultimate move!"

At that moment, Qi Yuan looked at Dongjun, his expression calm.

"A boss is a boss—hard to kill without an ultimate move!"

"What other tricks do you have? Those helpers? Do they dare to come out?" Dongjun was eager for Qi Yuan to summon those helpers.

"Why should they come out? They are already one with me." Qi Yuan's expression turned solemn. Clad in a blood-red robe, he stood above the void.

For some reason, a foreboding premonition flashed through Dongjun's heart.

But then he thought, having glimpsed the Realm of Ultimate Principle, he could not possibly lose.

Yet in the next instant, his eyes widened. Behind Qi Yuan, suddenly, a mysterious aura swirled.

It resembled chaos, then primordial qi, then the purple qi of the Immortal Dao.

That one qi—nameless, formless, inaudible, invisible.

The mysterious qi instantly transformed into three indescribable, unseeable, unthinkable entities.

"This... an aura more terrifying than the Ancestor!"

Dongjun gritted his teeth. He was truly panicked, truly terrified.

For him, a member of the Holy Light Clan, the Ancestor was the most powerful existence across all heavens and realms.

But now, each of the indescribable entities born from that one qi behind Qi Yuan was more mysterious, more unknown than his Ancestor.

"One qi transforms into three purities, and the three purities transform into me!"

Qi Yuan spoke.

Behind him, the Three Pure Ones spoke as well.

The gap in realms was like heaven and earth.

All strength—was it but illusion?

No, it was only that the strength was too small!

As the saying goes, one force overcomes ten skills.

If a single fist could shatter star rivers, annihilate the universe, pierce the known, erase the unknown, sever the unknowable, suppress all heavens and myriad things, and crush even the void into nonexistence—

Then what use were higher realms?

His own yang spirit’s power was insufficient—so what of one thousand, three thousand, four thousand?

He had no need to summon all his infant spirits in human form.

For they were already him.

Now, he was merely using his own strength!

“Blazing and bright, infants guard the divine treasury; hear my command, slay the Lord of the East!”

In that moment, four thousand infant spirits resonated, like the true sound of the Great Dao.

“The Eastern Pole Blue Emperor receives the command!”

“The Southern Pole Long-Life Emperor receives the command!”

“The Pure Source Wondrous Truth Lord receives the command!”

“The Gatling Bodhisattva receives the command!”

“The Sun Radiance Star Lord receives the command!”

A vast voice resounded within Qi Yuan’s divine treasury.

In that moment, they held nothing back; all their power poured into Qi Yuan’s body.

In that moment, Qi Yuan felt himself at the peak of strength.

What ethics, what rules, what morality—all seemed as if they could be shattered by his fist.

This was true power!

“Thus, my myriad paths were never myriad paths—they were slaughter!”

The four thousand infant spirits cried out in unison; behind Qi Yuan, terrifying phantoms appeared one after another.

These phantoms all threw punches!

All those fists, in that instant, merged into Qi Yuan’s single punch.

Flame, fate, fortune, starry skies—infinite rules, in that moment, all became that one punch of Qi Yuan.

“Can such a fist suppress and kill you?”

“Kill!”

Unrivaled, unstoppable—a fist that was the myriad paths yet not the Dao came hurtling.

The Lord of the East’s face twisted, endless regret surging in his heart: “How could there be such a monster? Three million years… Aaah!”

Three million years of scheming, now all come to naught.

He could not understand.

Nor could he accept.

But before that overbearing, brutal fist, he had no power to resist.

That fist was one that shattered all worldly things in the Scroll of Mountains and Seas.

This fist was one that annihilated schemes and plots, the calculations of men’s hearts.

This fist was also one that broke the myriad paths and overturned all rules.

Not the ultimate truth, yet surpassing it.

“Like this… you cannot step into the realm of ultimate truth!” The Lord of the East let out his final roar.

He had barely glimpsed the power of ultimate truth, yet before such a fist, he could not withstand it.

Having schemed for a million years, plotting with the Statecraft Brush, hiding in dark corners, the Lord of the East finally fell in that moment.

Qi Yuan gazed at the emptiness before him, his expression calm.

“Indeed, a real man just throws punches!”

With his words, the infinite phantoms on his body vanished.

He became once more a man clad in a blood-red robe.

In his heart, a strange sense of loss arose unbidden.

Killing the Lord of the East meant little to him.

It only made his own path more certain.

Then, he looked ahead, his gaze stirring: “Root demons?”

The colors before him were the root demons, the same that had entangled the Lord of the East for a million years.

Even the Lord of the East had been cautious before these root demons.

Now, Qi Yuan stepped into this sea of root demons.

He had a premonition that something else awaited him.

He entered the sea of root demons.

Those terrifying root demons, as Qi Yuan had anticipated, did not attack him.

Qi Yuan knew this was related to his innate divine ability, the Heart Demon Guide of the Void Realm Master.

He pressed deeper into the sea of root demons.

All the root demons regarded Qi Yuan as one of their own and did not harm him.

Qi Yuan drifted through the sea, safe.

Countless root demons also stirred his emotions.

Joy, slaughter, pain…

After an unknown span of time, suddenly, a strange voice rang abruptly in his ear.

“Hey, Qi Yuan.”

Qi Yuan spun around sharply and saw a mass of black.

Or rather, black silk.

More precisely, a woman with black silk covering her head.

“Wang… Yuanyu.” Qi Yuan was both surprised and not surprised.

"Did I startle you?" The woman's eyes gleamed with smugness, the black silk that had shrouded her head vanishing to reveal a face... impossible to describe.

Qi Yuan seemed to see Doctor Zhong Niao, and also Wang Yuanyu, and Lü Zhu, and countless other women.

"As I thought." Qi Yuan stretched lazily. "You're that featherless bird from the start of the game, aren't you?"

The game icon of this world was a blood-drenched bird.

That bird had no feathers at all, drenched in blood.

The fall of the primordial seed was tied to this bird.

"They are my feathers," the woman said, her voice strange.

As she spoke, a medical record appeared in her hand from nowhere.

She looked at Qi Yuan and said softly, "Your mental illness isn't an act."

Qi Yuan was speechless. "Your kidney deficiency is real, though."

"I don't have kidney deficiency; this is merely the tribulation of breaking through to the realm beyond principle." A complex expression flickered in the woman's eyes. "And Dongjun is just one link in that tribulation.

In your terms, he's the game setting, I'm the planner, and also the player.

The world itself is a game."

"Oh," Qi Yuan said, looking at the woman.

"I never expected that the greatest gain this time would be you.

Originally, I wanted to use Dongjun's holy light words to comprehend the true myriad paths, to experience what I had never gone through before.

Once I finish my tribulation here, I could lift this realm and return to my homeland."

When she mentioned her homeland, a deep longing surged in her eyes.

For such a powerful being to show such emotion was exceedingly rare.

"But you gave me a small inspiration," the woman said, looking at Qi Yuan. "The myriad paths... are all illusions."

"That wasn't my saying; don't cultivate yourself into nothing," Qi Yuan said, feeling she was the real madwoman.

"Don't worry, I won't seize your... thread." The woman smiled faintly, a trace of yearning returning to her expression. "This realm once fell from my homeland; I once thought to lift it back.

Now it seems... this realm is no longer that soil. I should find my way home alone."

Qi Yuan looked at her and said politely, "Safe travels."

At that moment, the woman suddenly smiled mysteriously. "Isn't it interesting how the game's setting shifted from a romance to a scheme of intrigue?"

The romance was Dongjun's love with his Dao companion.

The scheme of intrigue was Dongjun plotting during the moment of breakthrough, when root demons bred, to tribulate the woman.

"But in truth, who can say whether it was ever a romance?

What Dongjun said might not be false.

Perhaps it happened in the past, perhaps in the present, or perhaps in the future."

"Stop being cryptic," Qi Yuan said, exasperated.

Why did all these powerhouses have to be so enigmatic, always speaking in riddles?

He preferred directness—if he wanted a steamed bun, he'd just eat it.

"Qi Yuan, I'll wait for you beyond principle." With those words, the woman's form vanished.

The sea of root demons, the endless root demons, also disappeared.

Then, a game prompt sounded.

[Mission Complete: Obtained one Mountain and River Altar Brush.]

...

Time flowed, years passed.

In a towering skyscraper, a slender robot entered the ruins via elevator.

Within the ruins, broken spaceships, fallen metal objects, scattered rules and data.

It clutched the marriage certificate tightly in its hand, its face utterly expressionless.

But then, as if recalling something, a glimmer of human emotion finally surfaced in its eyes.

"Master, the myriad paths are zero and one..."

Its voice carried endless thoughts.

Recommend a book, the author is a tall, elegant lady, very impressive, the kind Han Xianyun likes, Meng Jin Chunqiu!

Title: "Past Lives Become Reality, I Have Countless Mysterious Identities!"

Demon hunter, demon lord, immortal...

Through countless reincarnations, forging countless glorious identities, and all of them are real!

(The End)