The child in the red bellyband said solemnly, “I must remind you—this world was left behind by that old fellow, the Voidwalker. The earliest lifeforms in this world were actually from your universe. It was the old man who transported that batch of humans here.”
Dongbo Xueying nodded.
He had heard of this legend—that at the dawn of this world, a group of humans descended, and an ancient divine hall appeared as well. Now, hearing the artifact spirit confirm it, it seemed the legend was true.
“That old Voidwalker once came to your universe, traveling incognito and suppressing his true strength. During his journey, he befriended someone, and the two became extremely close. Sadly, his friend ultimately failed to transcend beyond the Fourth Heaven Realm God and perished,” the red-bellied child sighed. “Before his friend’s death, the Voidwalker revealed his true identity. Despite his utmost efforts to help, his friend still couldn’t transcend. In his final moments, his only wish was for his homeland and kin to live in peace and happiness.”
“So the Voidwalker left behind this world, moving his friend’s entire clan here—a place with no external enemies—and also left behind numerous cultivation techniques and supreme arts,” the child continued. “But he also set a rule: you cannot take the lives of this world away, nor can you remove any unique copies of its supreme arts.”
“So that’s how it is,” Dongbo Xueying mused. “Several epochs have passed since then. His friend’s clan likely perished by the end of the first epoch. The humans in this world now are descendants from later eras.”
“Thus, if you become the next Voidwalker, you can decide their fate as you see fit,” the child chuckled. “But since you haven’t passed the trial yet, you have no authority over them.”
Dongbo Xueying understood.
“If I can’t take unique copies, then non-unique ones are fair game, right?” he asked.
“Correct,” the child confirmed.
Dongbo Xueying smiled faintly. That was good enough. After all, once a supreme art was fully mastered, one could recreate its original text. For example, after mastering *Six Slaying Sword Styles*, he could easily produce another copy. Over the epochs, several supreme arts in this world had multiple copies.
—
**Heavenfire Palace.**
*Boom!*
Dongbo Xueying transformed into a dazzling streak of light, wreathed in thunder and flames as he streaked across the sky, directly barging into the main hall of Heavenfire Palace.
Such a brazen entrance naturally alerted the two palace masters immediately.
“It’s the Flying Snow Realm God!”
“So that’s the Flying Snow Realm God?”
Tension gripped Heavenfire Palace. The mighty figures watched from afar, none daring to intervene. By convention, mighty figures surpassed Realm Gods in strength—but “Flying Snow Realm God” had shattered that notion. He was an anomaly, a Realm God so powerful that even figures like Palace Master Feihuo and Sword Emperor Venerable couldn’t withstand a single strike from him. Even Palace Master Goldenflame and others were forced into submission.
Rumors claimed he could teleport at will, slaying whomever he pleased. The five Venerables of the three sacred lands now resided together, fearing he would pick them off one by one—such was the terror he inspired.
“Flying Snow Realm God, what brings you to Heavenfire Palace?” Two illusory figures materialized—Palace Master Goldenflame and Palace Master Feihuo—though only as projections formed through karma. Their true bodies and avatars were no longer in the palace. Feihuo’s expression was particularly complicated, given the legend that he had been slain by a single spear thrust from Dongbo Xueying.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Three more projections appeared—the other three Venerables. All five of the world’s Venerables had now manifested their avatars here.
“Flying Snow Realm God, you said you’d leave within ten thousand years at most. It’s been thirteen thousand,” Venerable Xu Huang remarked pointedly.
All five Venerables stared at Dongbo Xueying.
*When will you finally leave?*
“Rest assured, my disciple has now become a Realm God. It’s time for me to depart,” Dongbo Xueying said. “But before that, there are many supreme arts in this world I haven’t yet studied. I intend to seek out their original texts.”
“Are you planning to take them away?” Palace Master Goldenflame demanded angrily. “These supreme arts are passed down through generations. If you take them, what will future cultivators learn?”
The other four Venerables also feigned indignation—though only superficially. While Goldenflame genuinely cared for future generations, Venerable Xu Huang and the Shadowfiend Mansion Lord couldn’t care less. As long as they themselves remained powerful, why bother with the cultivation of their descendants? If Dongbo Xueying insisted on taking the texts, they wouldn’t risk their lives to stop him.
“Don’t worry. If it’s a unique copy, I won’t take it. If duplicates exist, I’ll only take one,” Dongbo Xueying assured.
Palace Master Goldenflame relaxed slightly, and the other four pretended to do the same.
—
In the days that followed, Dongbo Xueying traversed the three sacred lands and nine great clans, studying every supreme art he could find—if only to broaden his horizons. Aside from *The Great Annihilation Scripture*, another supreme art of the Slaughter Dao, he doubted he could fully master any others. At best, he might reach minor mastery, as he had with *Taihao* and *Annihilation Profound Body*.
At his current level, unless he achieved major mastery, these arts wouldn’t enhance his strength—though they did expand his knowledge immensely.
*Whoosh.*
A figure appeared in a desolate desert—Dongbo Xueying, clad in black robes.
He smiled. “I’ve mastered *Six Slaying Sword Styles* and *The Great Annihilation Scripture*, and taken five original texts of other supreme arts. That makes seven complete supreme arts in total. Adding the incomplete *Blood Devil Scroll*, it’s seven and a half.”
This was staggering. Even in the Divine Realm and Abyss, only overlords might possess so many original supreme arts.
However, these arts had one limitation—their pinnacle only reached the Venerable level. In the Divine Realm and Abyss, some supreme arts could be cultivated even by overlords, and *True Form of Ten Thousand Demons* in its complete form surpassed even that. Clearly, while the Voidwalker left behind many arts, he deemed the chance of this world birthing an overlord too slim to bother with higher-tier techniques.
“Still, seven and a half supreme arts are nothing to scoff at,” Dongbo Xueying thought cheerfully. Before, he couldn’t even find a suitable art for his wife. Now, he had plenty.
“Time to begin.”
He raised his hand, summoning a black gourd. From it emerged the red-bellied child. “Leaving this world?”
“Yes,” Dongbo Xueying nodded.
“Be careful. Each use inflicts injuries that take ten thousand years to heal,” the child warned.
“Let’s give it a try.”
Dongbo Xueying was eager. He pulled the gourd’s stopper free.
*Pop!*
The moment the stopper came loose, a terrifying heat erupted, warping the desert ahead. Countless grains of sand melted into streams of particles. The space before the gourd’s mouth twisted violently—its mere presence enough to annihilate weaker Venerables. Only the strongest could endure.
“And this is just from opening it, not even activating it?” Dongbo Xueying marveled. He began channeling the technique.
His Taihao power condensed into a white rune, its light shifting until it turned gold. The golden rune sank into the gourd, triggering the vast array within. Dongbo Xueying knew this array intimately—over thirteen thousand years, he had studied it endlessly in hopes of refining the gourd. Yet its complexity remained beyond his grasp.
*Boom!*
For now, he could only brute-force the array, channeling the terrifying energy of the fireball inside. The strain on his soul was immense.
“Release!”
Gritting his teeth, he pushed further.
*Boom!*
From the gourd’s mouth surged a hazy ripple, somewhat akin to the solar waves from the heart of a sunstar. But while solar waves from the sunstar’s depths required overlord-level strength to withstand—or experts like Fire Devil Venerable or Qing Jun—the waves from its core, the sunstar nucleus, could obliterate even overlords.
Now, the ripple from the gourd was the fireball’s own emission—yet concentrated and directed by the gourd’s far more formidable array. Unlike the scattered solar waves, this was a focused, directional blast.
*Boom!*
The black ripple fanned outward in a terrifying arc, its might enough to make overlords pale.
*Riiip!*
The world, normally unshakable, finally tore open—a massive rift forming.
“Enough!” Dongbo Xueying’s head throbbed with agony. He couldn’t sustain it any longer. Halting the array, he watched as the black ripple vanished. He recorked the gourd as the rift slowly mended. Beyond it, swirling currents of liquid could be glimpsed.
“Now!”
Clutching the gourd, Dongbo Xueying shot through the rift. As it sealed shut behind him, he vanished from this world entirely.
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