Facing the Eternal Night Patriarch and the Polar Night Patriarch, Dongbo Xueying smiled faintly, gave a slight bow of respect, and then vanished into the void.
His voluntary departure and gesture of respect were meant to preserve the dignity of the Eternal Night Patriarch and the Polar Night Patriarch. He could tell that the Eternal Night Patriarch had already begun to retreat, and given his status, he would never openly admit defeat. Instead, by showing deference as the “Daoist Tianxin,” Dongbo Xueying gave them a graceful exit.
“The Eternal Night Patriarch and his kin are rulers of an ancient kingdom. As Daoist Tianxin, I must leave no room for suspicion, yet I cannot humiliate them too severely, lest they become enraged beyond reason,” Dongbo Xueying understood this well.
If he, Dongbo Xueying, were also an invincible existence, a few taunting words would be inconsequential—after all, they would be equals.
But now, his strength still fell far short of the invincible tier. Given that his opponents were already suppressing their displeasure, outright humiliation might push the Eternal Night Patriarch and his kin to abandon restraint and act recklessly.
“Let’s go.”
The Polar Night Patriarch chuckled lightly and disappeared as well.
The Eternal Night Patriarch gazed coldly into the distance. This time, he had been forced into a temporary retreat. With a final glance, he too vanished without a trace.
…
Very few witnessed this battle—even most Cosmic Gods were unaware of it.
Only the invincible existences and a handful of supreme experts, sensing the fluctuations of the clash, observed it from afar. Though the number of spectators was small, the impact of this battle was immense.
“Even with the combined schemes of the two Patriarchs of the Ancestral Ancient Kingdom, Daoist Tianxin’s identity remains concealed. After this battle, it will be difficult to shake him in the short term.”
“Indeed, those fiends hoping for Daoist Tianxin’s exposure will have to wait much longer.”
“Truly formidable. The combined might of the two Patriarchs is terrifying, yet they still failed to subdue Daoist Tianxin. Only the united forces of the Allworlds Ancient Kingdom or the Xiawind Ancient Kingdom might stand a chance. Most invincible existences value their dignity—few would stoop to such shameless ambushes like the Eternal Night Patriarch.”
“For now, Daoist Tianxin remains untouchable!”
Such judgments spread among the factions.
For an invincible existence to ambush a supreme expert of lesser strength—one without a supreme treasure—was already disgraceful.
To gang up in a sneak attack?
That was beyond shameful.
Only the two Patriarchs of the Ancestral Ancient Kingdom would act so brazenly. Someone like the “Xia Emperor” or the “Annihilation Divine Emperor” would consider such actions beneath them—unless it involved a chance to break through to the “Hunyuan” realm, as seen in the first and second Ancient Kingdom Wars.
Under normal circumstances, most valued their dignity too highly.
…
A handsome youth clad in resplendent golden robes, a crown upon his head, sat alone on his throne, sipping crimson fruit wine as he observed the battle from afar. His gaze effortlessly traced the entire course of the conflict.
“Since returning to the Heartvoid Continent, life has grown too peaceful,” the youth murmured, a faint smile curling his lips. “Only the Broken Tooth Mountain Range still carries a hint of the danger from those bygone eras.”
The Broken Tooth Mountain Range—the most perilous land in the Heartvoid Continent, where even the corpses of Hunyuan lifeforms were discarded, and invincible existences had met their end.
For the Undying Nether Emperor, only this place still held any allure.
“Yuan.”
“Have you truly forsaken me after my failure?” The youth raised his head, his gaze piercing through the palace walls, through the boundless void, as if glimpsing a higher plane of existence.
He was unwilling.
So very unwilling.
“How can I bear to remain a caged insect?” he whispered.
“Nether Emperor, you’ve seen it yourself—Daoist Tianxin is a troublesome foe. I must ask for an extension. Under the original deadline, I have no confidence,” the Eternal Night Patriarch transmitted.
The youth’s lips curled into a cold smirk. “Eternal Night, you made the vow—you must bear its consequences. As for time… I grant you a delay of up to double the original limit. But if you exceed the original timeframe, my promised rewards shall be halved.”
The Eternal Night Patriarch fell silent.
“Of course, if you succeed within the original timeframe, all remains as promised,” the youth added.
His terms were already lenient.
Originally, exceeding the deadline would have meant breaking the vow.
Now, even doubling the time remained within its bounds.
“Very well, I agree,” the Eternal Night Patriarch conceded.
The youth scoffed, his eyes flickering with dark flames as he murmured, “Daoist Tianxin… intriguing. A lone figure seeking to intimidate all the fiends of the Heartvoid Continent. Should I expend some effort to uncover his identity?”
To the invincible existences of the Heartvoid Continent, Daoist Tianxin’s disguise was flawless. But for the Undying Nether Emperor, who had weathered countless perils beyond this realm, there were ways to pry beneath the surface.
“Foolish.”
The youth frowned. “Why squander hard-earned power on mere curiosity? It seems my return to the Heartvoid Continent has dulled my edge. Without peril, and with my path severed, even my mindset has weakened. How can I hope to emulate Lord Luo City’s indomitable will in ‘breaking through by force’?”
He swiftly dismissed the thought of probing Daoist Tianxin’s identity.
To the Undying Nether Emperor, “Daoist Tianxin” was but a passing amusement—no threat at all.
…
Time flowed onward.
As many top-tier experts had predicted, though few witnessed Dongbo Xueying’s clash with the two invincible existences of the Ancestral Ancient Kingdom, its influence spread far and wide.
Order improved across the Heartvoid Continent.
Even the gathering places of fiends grew more subdued. Though some acts of cruelty still occurred, none reached the scale of mass slaughter. Dongbo Xueying refrained from interfering in the brutal struggles of the strong—the ruthless culling of the fiendish path.
As the years passed, he occasionally emerged as Daoist Tianxin to execute those who dared commit large-scale atrocities.
There were always the ignorant.
The overconfident.
Those whose madness could not be restrained.
All were purged.
A hundred billion years passed in the blink of an eye.
For a Cosmic God, this was but the span of a brief retreat. For Dongbo Xueying, it was a relatively short period of cultivation. Even with the aid of the “World Flower,” his progress in the Void Path was incremental, and his attempts to devise a fifth killing move remained unfinished.
But the most significant development of these hundred billion years was—
His Hunyuan weapon was finally nearing completion!
“Hiss—”
In the quiet chamber, fragrant incense swirled as the white-robed Dongbo Xueying sat cross-legged. Before him hovered a dark, unassuming spear. Though it appeared ordinary, a closer inspection sent an inexplicable chill through the soul—a resonance with a higher realm.
The core material of this Hunyuan weapon was “Hunyuan Sand.”
A hundred thousand jin of it—nearly depleting the Heartvoid Continent’s supply.
Fortunately, “Hunyuan Sand” was so advanced—a substance of a higher plane—that invincible existences had no use for it. Aware of its rarity but unable to harness it, they had priced it exorbitantly. Yet Dongbo Xueying, leveraging the “Illusory World” scriptures, had acquired it.
A hundred billion years of meticulous forging had led to this final moment.
“Whoosh.”
A strand of violet-gold liquid shifted in the air, slowly morphing into an array. The process was painstakingly slow—the array was too profound.
Dongbo Xueying could only rely on the diagrams from the “Seven Strikes of Hunyuan” crafting method, guiding the formation step by step. To construct it in one go was beyond him.
After over an hour, the violet-gold liquid solidified into a flawless array—semi-transparent, flickering between existence and void, as if bridging the source world and the higher dimensions beyond.
“Thud.”
At his command, the array merged with the spear.
The moment it touched the weapon, countless runes blazed to life across the spear’s surface. A terrifying force erupted outward, crashing through the layered spatial barriers around Dongbo Xueying and slamming into his body. The impact sent him flying, smashing against the chamber walls.
Thankfully, the chamber’s reinforced arrays—the core defenses of Snowfall City—contained the outburst.
Then, the dark spear’s aura receded, and Dongbo Xueying’s will swiftly permeated it. Following the method, he began pacifying this fearsome Hunyuan weapon.
Hunyuan weapons were originally wielded by higher-plane Hunyuan lifeforms. But “Yuan” had tailored this one specifically for Dongbo Xueying—using the most common Hunyuan Sand as a base to craft the simplest possible version.
Even the forging process had been stripped to its essentials.
Only thus could a Cosmic God wield it.
Even “Supreme Treasures” were gifts from Yuan—without his bestowal, how could supreme experts possess such arms? In truth, Supreme Treasures only contained fragments of Hunyuan-level mysteries.
“At last, it’s done,” Dongbo Xueying thought, his heart swelling with joy as he sensed the spear’s overwhelming power.
“This spear shall guide me on the path to Hunyuan. Let it be named… Qinghe.”
Qinghe.
A name that echoed his homeland, Qinghe County—and the family who meant more to him than life itself.
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