Activating the token in his hand, his consciousness was once again swept away, descending into the 351st layer world of the Lockbound Tower.
A vast world.
Countless statues stood motionless, but as Dongbo Xueying arrived, they gradually began to awaken.
“Whoosh!”
Dongbo Xueying soared into the sky, scanning his surroundings. With deliberate focus, he quickly spotted other massive stones engraved with intricate patterns and committed them to memory. Meanwhile, the statue warriors swiftly closed in, surrounding him. Dongbo Xueying, along with his three Void World avatars, joined forces to focus their attacks on a single statue warrior first.
His previous defeat had been too swift, teaching him that once all the statue warriors encircled him, he would stand no chance of resistance. Thus, he had to strike with full force from the very beginning, targeting one warrior at a time!
“Swish—!” The statue warrior’s blade slashed down with terrifying force, leaving no trace of an afterimage—just a single, deadly flash. In mere moments, two of Dongbo Xueying’s Void World avatars were shattered under the onslaught. Seizing the opportunity, his true body and the remaining avatar retaliated with their spears—one unleashing the crushing might of a *Hunyuan* vortex, the other the devastating *Starfall Annihilation Strike*!
“Crash!” The spear shaft twisted and spun, trailing the illusory remnants of a dying star. The strike grazed the warrior’s blade before piercing its chest. The thick armor trembled, faint cracks spiderwebbing across its surface.
“Boom!” Another spear slammed into the warrior’s back, sending it flying—yet it remained completely unharmed.
“What? Not only is its offense overwhelming, but its defense is also this formidable?” Dongbo Xueying was stunned.
“Kill!”
The brief skirmish had given the other statue warriors enough time to swarm in. Dongbo Xueying was nearly instantly overwhelmed, barely clinging to survival by switching between his Void World avatars. He desperately observed their combat techniques, but within five or six breaths, he was annihilated once more, his consciousness forcibly ejected.
“Hmm.” Back in the meditation chamber, Dongbo Xueying nodded to himself. “These statue warriors wield different weapons, yet they all employ the same secret art—one of immense power. Their seemingly ordinary strikes far surpass any of my techniques!”
“This secret art faintly resonates with the essence of the *Hunyuan Divine Heart*.”
“It seems training in this world is meant to aid in mastering the *Hunyuan Divine Heart*.” Dongbo Xueying now understood the intention of his master, the Bloodblade Divine Emperor.
—
Dongbo Xueying’s mind held the teachings imparted by his master, the Bloodblade Divine Emperor—guidance on two divine hearts: the *Hunyuan Divine Heart* and the *World Divine Heart*. The latter was already within his grasp, so he devoted most of his focus to meticulously absorbing his master’s insights on the *Hunyuan Divine Heart*.
While meditating on these teachings, he continued battling in the 351st layer of the Lockbound Tower.
As time passed, he finally pieced together the complete secret art from the patterns on the massive stones. To his astonishment, the statue warriors had only been utilizing fragments of the art, never unleashing its full potential. Had they done so, he wouldn’t have stood a chance to resist at all! Their partial usage and close-quarters combat, however, allowed him to intimately experience the art’s nuances.
Combat was his classroom.
—
If progress in the 351st layer was slow and arduous, the 95th layer was an entirely different story.
A lush, sprawling forest stretched before him.
Dongbo Xueying surveyed his surroundings—towering ancient trees, among which stood countless statue warriors, stirring to life. Scattered amidst the trees were massive stones, their surfaces etched with profound, enigmatic patterns.
“Kill!” The statue warriors awoke fully. The first lunged forward, kicking off a tree trunk like a streak of light, its whip unfurling mid-air.
“Swish—!”
The whip lashed out, splitting into countless phantom strands that blanketed the sky, leaving Dongbo Xueying no room to evade.
“Kill!” Another warrior struck, its sword unsheathing in a flash.
A bewitching arc of sword light twisted through the air like liquid silk, coiling toward Dongbo Xueying with lethal grace.
“Kill!” A third warrior swung a massive hammer downward.
“Boom—!”
The hammer’s impact birthed countless black energy streams, surging forth to ensnare Dongbo Xueying.
Every statue warrior here possessed long-range attack capabilities—sword beams crisscrossed, blade lights ravaged the battlefield…
Fortunately, only ten warriors attacked simultaneously, allowing Dongbo Xueying to barely hold his ground. The 95th layer’s warriors had weaker defenses; after barely slaying one, he lasted only two breaths before the inescapable bindings crushed him.
—
Within the Red Rock Mountain of the Xia Clan’s world…
“This secret art?”
Dongbo Xueying had only entered the 95th layer twelve times before fully memorizing the art. He had even begun deciphering and practicing it, though within the Lockbound Tower, he feigned ignorance—progressing too quickly would arouse suspicion.
“Now isn’t the time to reveal my mastery of the *World Divine Heart*,” Dongbo Xueying mused. “For caution’s sake, I won’t inform my master yet.”
“The safest secret…”
“…is one known only to oneself.”
Though he trusted the Bloodblade Divine Emperor, their enemies hailed from the Spacetime Island.
The Spacetime Island, Bloodblade Divine Court, and Ten Thousand Gods Palace—three factions locked in perpetual strife. Assassinations, even battles between mighty figures, were commonplace. For a Spacetime Island powerhouse, killing an inner disciple of the Bloodblade Divine Emperor was trivial. But slaying a personal disciple? That would be a triumph worth boasting about.
Hence…
Caution was paramount.
“Once I master the *Hunyuan Divine Heart*, I’ll ascend to a second-tier Heaven’s God,” Dongbo Xueying thought. “At that point, even mighty figures couldn’t obliterate me with a mere thought. Only my master, the Spacetime Island Lord, or the Ten Thousand Gods Palace Master could.”
At their level, however, such beings would disdain lowering themselves to crush an ant.
The real threats were the other mighty figures.
A mighty figure’s perception spanned the cosmos—even hiding in the material world wouldn’t spare him. No refuge, not even under his master’s wing, could shield him.
“Patience.” Dongbo Xueying was in no rush. His future was boundless, and he would advance steadily, unshaken by external forces.
“First, master this art.”
Standing alone beneath a tree, crimson leaves drifting around him, Dongbo Xueying gripped his spear and began practicing. Slowly, threads of energy coiled around the weapon, resilient enough to grind mountains to dust. The energy expanded, spreading beyond the Scarlet Dust Island, stretching across hundreds of millions of miles.
Had this energy manifested in the Lockbound Tower, the statue warriors would have been shredded instantly.
“Though I’ve only grasped the basics, this domain technique is exquisite—a stark contrast to my self-created *World Prison*.” Over the years, his mastery of the *World Divine Heart* had allowed him to develop a full set of secret techniques, including the *World Prison*, a domain skill focused on suppression and confinement.
But the fragmented art from the Lockbound Tower revealed an entirely new path.
“Whoosh—!”
Seated beneath the tree, spear resting on his knees, Dongbo Xueying immersed himself in contemplation. The energy threads spanning the skies grew denser, intertwining like countless serpentine dragons in an endless, mesmerizing dance.
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