Chapter 451: Infinite

High in the sky, among the two hundred and fifty spherical cages, battles still raged in two—precisely those where Jiushe and Dongbo Xueying were confined.

Jiushe, with his white robes, white hair, and flowing white eyebrows, still exuded an extraordinary aura. Countless copies of him were scattered throughout the cage, each raising their hands to strike furiously, repeatedly wounding the beasts. It now took him a full breath to barely slay one of the creatures.

“Hmm?” Jiushe frowned, glancing toward a distant spherical cage where Dongbo Xueying was engaged in combat. “This Dongbo, with such a short cultivation time, has already attained such mastery over the Void World Divine Heart and the Star Divine Heart. Doesn’t he know he should focus on a single path first to become a World God?” Jiushe muttered to himself. “Perhaps he lacks a mentor and is just blindly cultivating.”

“Originally, I thought unleashing this secret technique would be enough to secure first place in the survival battle. I never expected Dongbo to be this formidable… It seems I’ll have to reveal my true strength after all. I had planned to showcase it before His Majesty and the mighty ones, but I must claim first place in the Anhai Domain’s survival battle. If I can’t even secure the top spot, I’ll be mocked by my peers when I later join a great master’s tutelage,” Jiushe thought darkly.

Boom—!

In an instant, the countless Jiushes scattered throughout the cage simultaneously raised their hands. Innumerable palm phantoms rapidly converged, forming a colossal golden hand that nearly occupied half the spherical cage before pressing down with overwhelming force.

“Pfft.”

Wherever the golden palm descended, everything was annihilated—even the black-scaled beast was crushed into nothingness, leaving not a trace behind.

“What?!”

“How is this possible?!”

Bai Sha, the City Lord; the Divine Court Envoy; Venomous Ying, the World God; Mo Yang, the City Lord; Qin Junzhu; and Rong Hai Wang—along with the spectators from various races below, including the Xia Clan deities and Yu Jingqiu—all stared in shock at the scene before them.

At this stage of the survival battle, the beasts spawned were unimaginably powerful. Even Zui Guke could no longer slay them. Four Dongbo Xueyings working in tandem required multiple strikes to kill a single beast. Yet Jiushe had obliterated one in a single move?

“The Infinite Divine Heart?” Bai Sha, the Divine Court Envoy, Mo Yang, and the others exchanged glances.

“This Jiushe has actually mastered the Infinite Divine Heart?” Qin Junzhu exclaimed in awe. “A first-grade Divine Heart—the Infinite Divine Heart! What a formidable Jiushe, hiding such power until now.”

“Perhaps he broke through in the heat of battle?” Rong Hai Wang laughed.

“Breaking through to grasp a first-grade Divine Heart mid-battle? That’s too much of a coincidence,” Mo Yang chuckled. “I suspect Jiushe had already mastered the Infinite Divine Heart long ago but chose not to reveal it. For someone who’s cultivated for nearly six million years to achieve this, it’s quite impressive. Bai Sha, it seems Jiushe will take first place, with Dongbo second. You won’t be winning our divine crystals after all.”

The Divine Court Envoy and Qin Junzhu also smiled. Though Dongbo Xueying securing second meant they neither gained nor lost, they were still relieved—having initially feared a loss of ten million divine crystals, they were now breaking even.

Only Venomous Ying remained silent—she was the sole loser.

“Well, at least I made some profit off Venomous Ying,” Bai Sha deliberately pointed out.

“Hmph,” Venomous Ying scoffed.

“Truly unexpected. Among the experts from our Anhai Domain this time, there’s actually one who’s grasped a first-grade Divine Heart,” Mo Yang marveled. “Based on past experience, only a handful in each Divine Court’s Myriad Blossom Banquet achieve this. The Bloodblade Divine Court spans nineteen domains, yet our Anhai has produced one. Rare indeed.”

“Indeed.”

“With the Infinite Divine Heart, Jiushe is certain to rank within the top ten in the Divine Court’s Myriad Blossom Banquet,” everyone present nodded in agreement.

In every Divine Court’s Myriad Blossom Banquet, there are always divine-level experts who’ve grasped first-grade Divine Hearts. In the early days, debates arose over whether to bar such participants. Some argued, “What if they break through mid-battle? Should they be disqualified? That makes no sense!” Others countered, “How can we tell if they broke through on the spot or had already mastered it?”

Ultimately, His Majesty decreed: “As long as their cultivation spans no more than eleven million years and they wield divine power—even if they’ve grasped a first-grade Divine Heart—they may compete.”

The reason? Mastering a first-grade Divine Heart is exceedingly difficult. Most divine-level experts take over a hundred million years to become World Gods—like the Witch God, who, despite his talent, required such time. Over ninety percent of World Gods spend eons at the divine level, and even then, only a handful emerge per star domain, accumulated over vast ages.

For someone to grasp a first-grade Divine Heart within eleven million years? Across the entire Bloodblade Divine Court—nay, the entire divine realm—each generation might produce only ten or twenty such talents. Given their exceptional aptitude, most are already under the tutelage of great masters, some even aligned with the Spacetime Island or the Myriad Gods Palace, thus abstaining from the competition.

After all, participating in the Divine Court’s battles automatically binds one to the Bloodblade Divine Court, with a minimum rank of the tenth tier. Those unwilling to join simply don’t compete—nor do they qualify for the Myriad Blossom True Fruit.

Thus, in each Divine Court’s Myriad Blossom Banquet, only a handful of first-grade Divine Heart wielders emerge.

…

“Their discernment is lacking—only now realizing Jiushe has mastered the Infinite Divine Heart,” the Snowpeak Monarch remarked to the Anhai Domain Lord, observing Bai Sha and the other five below. “Earlier, when Jiushe employed his secret technique, splitting into countless phantoms, it was subtle but already carried traces of the Infinite Divine Heart’s profundity.”

During the arena battles, Jiushe had manifested countless bodies, slaying opponents in a single strike. The Snowpeak Monarch and the Anhai Domain Lord had noticed then—for that technique faintly echoed the Infinite Divine Heart’s essence.

Unconcerned about exposure and eager for victory, Jiushe had employed this seemingly obscure move, confident its subtlety would conceal his true prowess. But when pushed to the brink by Dongbo Xueying, he cast aside all pretense, fully unleashing his power.

“Can’t blame them,” the Anhai Domain Lord said. “The Infinite Divine Heart is among the rarest of first-grade Divine Hearts. None of Bai Sha’s group has mastered it, and the earlier technique was deliberately veiled—naturally, they missed it.”

“True,” the Snowpeak Monarch nodded.

Among first-grade Divine Hearts, the more common ones include the Spacetime Divine Heart, the Extreme Point Divine Heart, the World-Sundering Divine Heart, the Chaos Divine Heart, and the World Divine Heart. The Infinite Divine Heart, however, is exceedingly rare—akin to how few divine-level experts comprehend the Void World Divine Heart among second-grade Divine Hearts.

The Infinite Divine Heart embodies a unique essence of the cosmos, elusive even to most World Gods. Only at the fourth-tier World God level does one begin to grasp its broader implications—hence why the Snowpeak Monarch and the Anhai Domain Lord could discern it.

Jiushe himself had attained it through a fortuitous ordeal—trapped in a secluded realm for years, he’d immersed himself in the concept of “infinite,” eventually mastering the Divine Heart. Its rarity and esoteric nature set it apart.

…

“Impressive,” Dongbo Xueying observed the distant battle within Jiushe’s cage, where countless palm phantoms coalesced into a single golden hand, its might leaving him awed. “Unless I wield a first-grade Divine Heart, victory is impossible.”

“He’s cultivated for nearly six million years—his mastery is understandable. But I’ve only trained for two thousand. If I revealed a first-grade Divine Heart now, it would instantly reach the ears of every great master,” Dongbo Xueying mused. “Forget it. Bai Sha once said if I ranked second, his bet would still hold. Only third would spell disaster.”

With that, Dongbo Xueying declared aloud, “I concede.”

Though he could fight on, prolonging the battle served no purpose.

Whoosh—!

Instantly, he was expelled from the spherical cage, hovering mid-air. Gazing at Jiushe’s countless phantoms within the distant cage, Dongbo Xueying marveled inwardly, “Infinite… So this is the first-grade Infinite Divine Heart? No wonder I couldn’t discern his true body earlier—they’re all illusions. Or rather, any one of them could be real.”

A billion phantoms—all false, or the true self hidden among them, or dispersed across every copy. Against the Infinite Divine Heart, even the formidable Chaos Divine Heart or Extreme Point Divine Heart would struggle to land a hit. But Dongbo Xueying’s World Divine Heart, leaning toward dominion, granted him the authority of a world’s master—its suppression perfectly countered the Infinite Divine Heart.

“I concede.” Once Dongbo Xueying yielded, Jiushe’s countless phantoms vanished, leaving only his true form—white-robed and white-haired, casting a haughty glance at Dongbo Xueying.

In Jiushe’s eyes, his mastery of a first-grade Divine Heart made the Divine Court’s Myriad Blossom Banquet a trivial affair. First place in Anhai Domain was rightfully his. As for Dongbo Xueying? Potential aside, the gap in their strength was vast.

“A first-grade Divine Heart?”

“Jiushe has mastered a first-grade Divine Heart?”

“How incredible!”

“Dongbo losing to him is only natural. Their realms aren’t even comparable.”

The spectators erupted in astonishment.

Jiushe, now expelled from his cage, wore a faint smile as his gaze swept the arena. Dongbo Xueying, meanwhile, descended to his seat.

“Brother Dongbo, who’d have thought Jiushe had a first-grade Divine Heart? Losing to him was inevitable,” the Seventh Plum Rain chuckled beside him.

“Indeed,” Dongbo Xueying replied, unperturbed.

Then, the Divine Court Envoy’s voice resounded across the skies: “The Anhai Domain’s selection for the Divine Court’s Myriad Blossom Banquet has concluded. The top one hundred have been decided. In three years, they shall depart for the Divine Court!”