“Finally, I’ve witnessed someone breaking free from their shackles and achieving Hunyuan with my own eyes.” Amidst the crowd, Dongbo Xueying felt his heart surge with emotion.
In his homeworld, in the Heart Realm Continent, in the Thunderbolt World, and even after arriving in this Sacred Realm—never in all those long years had he personally seen anyone attain the status of a Hunyuan lifeform! The sheer difficulty of ‘achieving Hunyuan’ had weighed on Dongbo Xueying like an invisible pressure. But now, a cultivator he once fought alongside, even one who had sought his help—’Nine-Headed Serpent Ancestor’—had succeeded! He had become Hunyuan!
Excitement, envy, and blazing determination surged within him.
His emotions were at an unprecedented high!
“If even someone who gathered foreign bloodlines could achieve ultimate awakening, I refuse to believe I can’t do the same.” The Northriver Divine Emperor, too, burned with fighting spirit. Without hesitation, he turned and headed back to his abode.
“As long as I reach the level of strength Brother Nine-Headed once had, I should have a chance at ultimate awakening, right?” Among the top-tier experts, those who cultivated bloodline power saw a clear ‘goal’ before them. Previously, the gap between them and the Nine-Headed City Lord hadn’t been insurmountable—just a few more steps. Though still difficult, they now had hope.
“Brother Nine-Headed, using the bloodline of the Silent Ice Mountain Master to unify nine other bloodlines and achieve ultimate awakening, even creating an entirely new Hunyuan race…” Fengyun Yiyi’s eyes blazed with an astonishing light. “If he can forge a new path, then I, Fengyun Yiyi, will one day shatter the heavens with sheer force!”
“He, Nine-Headed, rose from the mortal realm step by step, without any innate Hunyuan bloodline. He actively gathered and integrated Hunyuan bloodlines into his body, awakening all ten to their ultimate potential. I am the strongest descendant of our ancestor, nurtured with countless resources—I only have one Hunyuan bloodline, yet my cultivation resources far surpass his. I refuse to believe I cannot awaken!” Wu Xiao, too, turned and left alone.
For a time,
Every single cultivator compared themselves to the ‘Nine-Headed City Lord,’ feeling as though they had finally glimpsed a ‘goal.’ Their battle intent burned fiercer than ever before.
The truth was, after such prolonged years, many had grown timid, losing confidence in their ability to achieve Hunyuan. They had seen too many peerless geniuses—even those more monstrous than themselves—fail to break through. Naturally, their confidence had waned. But now, witnessing a single success, their mindset had shifted entirely.
—
In the days that followed,
Not just in Chiyun City, but in all four other gathering places, cultivators were equally exhilarated.
“Flying Snow Divine Emperor, I’ve formed a team to hunt the Hunyuan prisoner ‘Master of the Floating Light River.’ I sincerely request your assistance—join my team! With you, our chances of success increase tenfold, if not more. Name your conditions. This is crucial for my ultimate awakening. If I can achieve Hunyuan, I will repay you without fail.”
“Unless there’s a special reason, I won’t be traveling to other gathering places for now,” Dongbo Xueying replied.
“We can come fetch you.”
“No need.”
“My ultimate awakening depends on this Hunyuan prisoner’s bloodline.”
Dongbo Xueying simply ignored further pleas.
There was no helping it.
The invitations to hunt Hunyuan prisoners had become overwhelming! The success of the Nine-Headed City Lord had convinced many bloodline cultivators that the bloodlines of high-level Hunyuan lifeforms similar to their own would greatly aid their ultimate awakening.
—
The world operates on fairness.
Pleading with cries of “That’s essential for my path to Hunyuan!” or “I’ll repay you!” held no weight with Dongbo Xueying. After all, nearly every cultivator coveted the corpses of Hunyuan prisoners—even those on the path of enlightenment could use them for cultivation insights!
However, if the offer was enticing enough, Dongbo Xueying was still willing to act.
Over the next fifty billion years,
He accepted six invitations—three of which were from other gathering places! All six were hunts for Hunyuan prisoners.
Of these six operations, only two succeeded!
The death of the Silent Ice Mountain Master seemed to stir unrest among the ‘prisoners’ across the Sacred Realm. With only a few dozen Hunyuan prisoners in existence, the loss of one sent shockwaves through their ranks. They investigated frantically, learning of the terrifying soul techniques wielded by the ‘Flying Snow Divine Emperor.’ Now wary, these prisoners grew cautious. Four of the six hunts ended in failure, with the prisoners retreating close enough to their lairs to regain overwhelming strength, forcing the cultivator teams to abandon the chase.
Still,
Including the Silent Ice Mountain Master, three Hunyuan prisoners had been slain! This success rate remained remarkably high, and invitations for Dongbo Xueying continued to pour in.
—
Within his abode in Chiyun City,
Dongbo Xueying stood in an underground hall, his body faintly translucent, covered in a shimmering layer of liquid droplets. This protective film—composed entirely of rolling water droplets—guarded every inch of his form flawlessly. Magnified billions of times, each droplet would reveal itself as a constantly shifting, flowing ‘space.’
“Whoosh.”
Dongbo Xueying moved. His body streaked across the chamber in an instant.
**Sssshhk—**
The water droplets coating his form swirled with razor-sharp precision, capable of slipping through the infinitesimal gaps between existence itself, as if they could sever anything in their path. His speed was terrifying—far surpassing his previous Voidbug Movement Technique by more than double.
**Huuu.** He came to a stop at the opposite end of the hall.
**Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!**
He darted back and forth, the droplet layer slicing through all obstacles effortlessly.
“My speed has indeed improved drastically,” Dongbo Xueying murmured, pleased. “In terms of velocity, I should rank within the top ten in all of Chiyun City now.”
Chiyun City had cultivators whose bloodlines specialized in speed—some even surpassing Fengyun Yiyi, Wu Xiao, and the former Nine-Headed Serpent Ancestor. For Dongbo Xueying to now rank among the top ten in speed was a staggering feat.
“This was one of the Silent Ice Mountain Master’s desperate techniques,” Dongbo Xueying mused. “After studying his corpse for so long, I’ve finally deduced this secret art.”
Much like how he had once derived the first and second killing techniques of the Illusory Dao of the Void from the mysterious eyes of the Thousand-Eyed Being.
Innate Hunyuan lifeforms, as they unlocked their bloodline’s power, grew stronger—their bodies enlarging, transforming, even manifesting deeper principles of the cosmos. The ‘secret arts’ they developed could be observed in their physical structures, for unlike enlightened cultivators, they didn’t fully comprehend the principles—they merely tapped into their bloodline’s power.
They could wield these arts, but they didn’t understand their essence. The techniques they unleashed were already embedded in their bloodlines, naturally manifesting in their forms.
By dissecting the corpses of these beings, cultivators like Dongbo Xueying could use their own understanding of cosmic principles to recreate simplified versions of these arts.
Secret arts—
Each one mastered was a step forward in strength, an accumulation of foundation.
When Dongbo Xueying created the third killing technique of the Illusory Dao of the Void, even his soul underwent metamorphosis.
“Now that the ‘Droplet Art’ is complete, it’s time to study the ‘Void-Freezing Art,'” Dongbo Xueying decided, diving back into his research. Among the many mysteries and techniques embedded in the Silent Ice Mountain Master’s structure, these two stood out as the most formidable in his eyes.
The Droplet Art enhanced both defense and speed exponentially. Naturally, he had prioritized mastering it first.
The other, the Void-Freezing Art, was far more enigmatic. It had once made even the Nine-Headed Serpent Ancestor feel as though sound had vanished, the world turned frigid, and his very thoughts slowed. This technique was far more unpredictable. The Silent Ice Mountain Master had only managed to unleash it once in his final struggle, unable to repeat it afterward.
For a being already bound and suppressed, executing this art had been a tremendous strain.
Mastering it would be even harder.
“Void… freezing?” Dongbo Xueying immersed himself in contemplation.
—
While cultivators across all five gathering places in the Sacred Realm trained fervently, each striving to become the next Nine-Headed Serpent Ancestor and achieve Hunyuan—
Deep in the Abyssal Sea, at its very bottom,
An immense, towering figure sat cross-legged. His size was so colossal that his outstretched hands could envelop the entire Abyssal Sea—the sea itself was barely large enough to serve as his bathtub.
**Bzzzzzzz—**
The chains binding him suddenly flared with golden light. Countless golden runes ignited along their lengths, and some of the links anchoring him to the seabed loosened, floating freely as the radiance pulsed intensely.
**”Hmph.”**
A pained grunt escaped him.
The Abyssal Sea Lord abruptly opened his eyes—dark, icy, and fathomless.
“Finally… the time for my patrol has come?” Deep within his gaze flickered a suppressed excitement.
As the most terrifying prisoner in the entire Sacred Realm,
The restraints placed upon him were incomparably harsher. While other Hunyuan prisoners could ‘patrol’ at will, the Abyssal Sea Lord was normally bound—unable to even stand, forced to remain seated. Only when his chains detached from the seabed could he leave the Abyssal Sea.
“This pain… is unbearable.” His massive frame trembled as the agony intensified, driving him to depart the sea.
Only by patrolling,
Only by distancing himself from his lair would the torment lessen.
“Damnable Sovereigns… forcing me, tormenting me! You will regret this—you will regret it!” The Abyssal Sea Lord suddenly rose to his feet.
His ascent sent the waters of the Abyssal Sea churning violently, colossal waves erupting in his wake.
**BOOOOOOM—**
As the gargantuan figure stood fully, the vast ocean’s surface plummeted dramatically.
His feet planted on the seabed,
The water now only reached his waist.
Tilting his head back, he unleashed a furious roar—**”RAAAAAAAAAGH!”**
The terrifying soundwaves made the very skies above the Abyssal Sea tremble violently, the dimensional membrane fracturing to reveal intricate, chain-like patterns of primordial runes.
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