Miekongyun emerged from the explosion unscathed, a fact that greatly troubled Chentian. Miekongyun's armor possessed terrifying defensive capabilities; even Chentian's full-power arrow left no trace of injury. Chentian had, moments before, gathered over a dozen distinct energies, each one a supreme force on its own. The fusion of these energies produced an even more potent force, one that Chentian himself dared not face head-on. Yet, Miekongyun had endured it, a feat almost unbelievable.
"Do you have any other moves?" Miekongyun said calmly. "If not, it's my turn to attack."
Chentian's expression turned serious. Miekongyun was, by far, the most challenging opponent Chentian had ever faced. He dared not relax; Miekongyun's strength was too peculiar. Seeing Chentian standing still, Miekongyun acted decisively. White wings unfurled from his back. As the pearly wings flapped, Chentian was astonished. Miekongyun's wings were composed of energy, yet they lacked any discernible energy structure, defying the very laws of existence.
When any living being condenses energy to form an object, there is an energy structure at its core, akin to the nervous system within the body. Only when this structure is complete can energy be shaped into the desired form. Miekongyun was an anomaly; his wings had no such structure, as if the energy had always existed in that shape. With a burst of speed, Miekongyun appeared before Chentian in the next instant. His hands clenched, gathering power, and his fists, trailing a gale, shot forward.
The wind howled, and space itself seemed to tremble. Chentian dared not be slow. He extended both palms, channeling all his might into this clash. His palms met Miekongyun's fist. Chentian was sent staggering back three steps, while Miekongyun remained rooted to the spot. The disparity was clear; Chentian was at a disadvantage. Chentian's arms trembled for a few moments before he channeled energy to quell the shaking. As he looked at Miekongyun, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind: "Ding, the host has acquired all information about the Wen Clan. Do you accept?"
"Yes!"
Chentian decisively chose to accept. To defeat Miekongyun, he needed to understand the Wen Clan, their origins, and their weaknesses. As it stood, Chentian had no answer for Miekongyun.
"Accepting memories. Time is frozen to ensure the host's safety."
The system's voice announced, and the surrounding space instantly ceased its flow. Chentian's consciousness slowly drifted into slumber, his gaze unfocused. The sheer volume of memories was immense; his will had to be fully immersed to integrate them. Fortunately, the system intervened, freezing all time, allowing Chentian to absorb the memories without worry.
Chentian felt his consciousness plummet into an abyss, descending endlessly. He murmured, "Where am I going?"
After an immeasurable passage of time, Chentian finally saw a light. Below him was a vortex of light, into which he plunged. When Chentian opened his eyes, he found himself in a new world. He looked around and asked, "System, where is this?"
"System, System!"
Despite his calls, the system remained unresponsive. Chentian began to suspect it had crashed. He found himself in this world with a familiar aura, yet he couldn't place it. He felt as if he had encountered this scent before, but the memory eluded him.
"Crack!"
A sound echoed, the crack of a whip striking the ground, followed by a furious roar: "Hurry up, you low-life scum! No rest time if you don't finish today's work, hurry..."
The sounds of continuous lashing followed. Chentian moved towards the source of the noise and soon arrived. Before him stood a colossal palace, still expanding, now occupying half the world. Below, humans toiled as slaves. Seeing this, Chentian looked at the figures on the elevated platform and exclaimed, "Here, here, this can't be the Xingyao Continent from thousands of years ago, can it?"
Chentian recognized the familiar figures; they were identical to Miekongyun, with whom he had just fought. They were of the same race. Could it be that Chentian had returned to the Xingyao world of millennia past?
No, it was uncertain if this place was even called Xingyao Continent.
Chentian watched the humans below being mercilessly tormented and felt compelled to help. However, he discovered he was powerless to act. His body passed through anything it touched; his physical form was insubstantial, existing only as consciousness.
Subsequently, Chentian spent hundreds of years, witnessing the birth of the Wen Clan's palace. The human population dwindled under the Wen Clan's rule, while the Wen Clan grew in power. Suddenly, a pillar of light shot from within the Wen Clan palace into the sky. The heavens trembled, dark clouds gathered, and a smiling face emerged in the sky, overlooking the palace below. A majestic voice boomed, "The Wen Clan has overstepped. Do you wish to cease existing?"
"Hahaha, Heavenly Dao, for our Wen Clan to ascend, we must break free from these shackles. What is wrong with that? Are we to wait until we perish on our own?"
A figure shot into the sky. Below, all the Wen Clan members transformed into light and were absorbed by this figure, who was the King of the Wen Clan, their ruler.
Over the course of several hundred years, Chentian learned of the Wen Clan's abilities and characteristics. Their strength lay in their intricate markings. The various patterns on their bodies granted them diverse powers. To acquire these markings, the Wen Clan had to absorb their own kind or refine certain法则宝物 (fa ze bao wu - treasure of natural law) and living beings to gain their abilities.
The Wen Clan's weakness was obvious: their markings. If the core marking in their heart was destroyed, all their markings would enter a berserk state, ultimately leading to self-destruction.
The core marking was the Wen Clan's center of control for their marking abilities, located in the heart. Chentian pondered. If this was correct, then there was a chance to defeat Miekongyun later. However, he needed to meticulously calculate the combat sequence.
Chentian silently observed the figure in the sky. Thousands of years ago, the Wen Clan King had chosen to defy the heavens, thus incurring the wrath of the Heavenly Dao. No wonder the entire Wen Clan had vanished, their remnants sealed. In the sky, the Wen Clan King and the Heavenly Dao began to fight without preamble.
Chentian watched with keen interest. The Wen Clan King's abilities were myriad, each forcing the Heavenly Dao into difficult choices. The Heavenly Dao, refusing to yield, fought the Wen Clan King to a standstill. Chentian wondered, "Something is wrong. Why is the Heavenly Dao of this world so weak? Has it just been formed?"
Chentian perceived the Heavenly Dao as exceptionally weak. It was indeed feeble, capable only of a stalemate against the Wen Clan King's attacks. Normally, the Heavenly Dao resided at the apex of the world. Even in the Divine Realm, Chentian would be incapable of killing the Heavenly Dao, for it represented the pinnacle of existence. The stronger Chentian became, the stronger the Heavenly Dao would be; Chentian could never surpass it. Such were the laws of the world.
Yet, the Heavenly Dao before him was so weak. This was the only way to describe it, fighting the Wen Clan King to a draw. Under normal circumstances, the Heavenly Dao could have easily annihilated the Wen Clan King. The scene unfolding was not what Chentian had expected.
"Heavenly Dao, you have grown weak. Then, shall I become the new Heavenly Dao today?"
The Wen Clan King's ambitious gaze fixed ferociously on the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao snorted, "If not for the outer regions being attacked, I wouldn't be stretched so thin."
"Hahaha, outer regions. Don't worry, once you are dead, those fellows from the outer regions will leave."
"Could it be that you... do you know the consequences of doing this?"
The Heavenly Dao suddenly understood something and erupted in fury. The Wen Clan King's actions were tantamount to betraying the entire world. How could he do this? Those from the outer regions were by no means benevolent. The Wen Clan King's dealings with them would lead to dire consequences.
"So what? I only seek greater strength and longevity. Hmph, what does the world's survival have to do with me?"
The Wen Clan King's disdainful attitude enraged the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao slowly descended from the sky, its form coalescing. Chentian stood by, watching silently. The outer regions... could there be secrets beyond the Xingyao Continent?
Chentian directed his divine eye towards the sky. The moment his divine eye opened, an enraged roar echoed in his mind: "How dare you!"
Hearing a familiar voice, Chentian immediately closed his divine eye, his chest heaving. That was close, so close.
Chentian had not anticipated that his divine eye's probe would alert the universe's consciousness. He had almost been discovered by the cosmic will. Fortunately, Chentian closed his divine eye quickly enough.
This instilled a deeper sense of apprehension towards the cosmic will in Chentian. This entity was hiding something, Chentian was certain, information that even his first reincarnation had not possessed regarding the outer regions.
"This is becoming quite difficult!"
Chentian had a nagging feeling that his reincarnation was also part of the cosmic will's scheme. It seemed he needed to have a talk with the cosmic will sometime about what exactly these outer regions were. Chentian could only sigh and continue watching the battle. The Heavenly Dao's enraged outburst naturally unleashed power that could not be resisted. Rolling thunderbolts enveloped the Wen Clan King, trapping him. The Wen Clan King was strong, but before the Heavenly Dao, he remained weak, especially a furious Heavenly Dao.
The Heavenly Dao roared, "From now on, this world will be governed by humanity. Your Wen Clan shall perish. As for those nascent origins that have not yet matured, I will personally suppress them."
"Hahaha, Heavenly Dao, I have lost. But do not celebrate too soon. By sealing me and dividing me into over a dozen individuals, you too will vanish. This world will return to its primordial state. Is that what you wish to see?"
"Sss, nothing guarantees what form you will take upon your reawakening. Do you remember this time?"
The Wen Clan King's words did not halt the Heavenly Dao's actions. The Heavenly Dao was resolute in sacrificing itself to annihilate the Wen Clan King and his entire race.
Everything shattered at this point. Chentian's consciousness was drawn into a vortex. Chentian's true body suddenly opened its eyes. Time resumed its flow. Chentian exhaled a deep breath. Now, he finally understood the Wen Clan's origin and weakness.
Miekongyun noticed a shift in Chentian's gaze the next moment; he appeared more confident. Miekongyun grew wary. Did this fellow still have any hidden cards?
Chentian looked at Miekongyun, knowing his weakness made him easier to handle. The Wen Clan's weakness lay in their core markings, and secondly, their life force. For every marking ability they used, a portion of their lifespan was consumed. Power always came at a price; without a price, you could not wield it.
Chentian and Miekongyun met gazes. Chentian's body split into three, manifesting individuals from three different worlds. Chentian was taking a significant gamble this time. If two of the three individuals were completely annihilated, Chentian's strength would be reduced by seventy percent.
His calculations for confronting Miekongyun indicated this was the only path to victory. The three Chentians attacked from the left, right, and center. Seeing Chentian split into avatars, Miekongyun responded by having two figures fly out from behind him, charging towards two of Chentian's avatars.
The main body confronted the central Chentian. Miekongyun's fists condensed power, and he threw a punch towards Chentian. As the punch flew, Chentian met it with his palm. Both retreated simultaneously. Miekongyun's figure spoke, "As expected, your strength has greatly diminished after splitting into avatars."
"Yours too."
Chentian's expression was laced with sarcasm. Miekongyun was unconcerned with his main body or avatars; as long as his markings remained, he could split into countless individuals. However, with his current strength, he could only create two avatars.
The Wen Clan consumed lifespan when using abilities. Currently, Miekongyun showed no concern for his lifespan, having slept for thousands of years, accumulating millennia of life. Depleting it would take more than a few battles. Chentian also had no intention of engaging in a war of attrition with Miekongyun.
Who knew how long it would take for Miekongyun's lifespan to diminish to the point where he dared not use his abilities. Chentian of the Divine Realm, Chentian of the Cultivation Realm, and Chentian's main body, three against three. This was all within Chentian's calculated scenario.
At the fortress, Lingfengyun's mind-reading ability was completely ineffective. Xie Yuan had absorbed the minds of Xie Ku, Xie Ru, and Xie Xie, effectively possessing the thoughts of four individuals. Mind-reading could only access one person's thoughts at a time; it had limitations when confronting multiple minds simultaneously. It was possible that even if Lingfengyun read what the other person was thinking, it might not be Xie Yuan's thought, but rather the thoughts of the other three consciousnesses.
With the thoughts of three individuals converging into one, Lingfengyun could not read the minds of four people. Furthermore, the thoughts of these three were subconscious, with most ideas being dominated by Xie Yuan.
"Is mind-reading ineffective? Let's see how you fight me now."
Xie Yuan spoke arrogantly. Lingfengyun knew he could not show weakness at this moment. His body erupted, and two streams of light collided with extreme intensity.
On top of the fortress, Chen Ling watched Lingfengyun's battle with some concern. For some reason, she could always hear Lingfengyun's inner thoughts; they resonated in her mind. Chen Ling didn't understand why. She hadn't possessed this ability before.
Could she truly be a Ling Clan princess? But why would she appear among the Ling Clan in the Divine Realm?
If Lingfengyun knew Chen Ling could hear his inner voice, he would be astonished and excited. Astonished because the Ling Clan could not use mind-reading on their own kind, and excited because such an ability was the capital for becoming the next Ling Clan leader. Only those who possessed this ability could ascend to the throne of the Ling Clan King.
The Ling Clan was a special race. The Ling Clan King's mind-reading ability was required to be usable on all Ling Clan members. Otherwise, if the Ling Clan couldn't read the minds of its own people, many traitors would emerge, leading to chaos. This ability had not appeared for over ten epochs. Its emergence in Chen Ling now, how could it not be exciting?
Unfortunately, Lingfengyun remained unaware of all this.