The Doppelgänger of Qi had been covertly surveilling the Demon God Society’s headquarters, paying particular attention to the humanoid figure within the bronze coffin—suspended midair in the vast, sealed chamber—which remained under unceasing observation.
…
The vast ocean, even in shallow areas, could reach depths of twenty to thirty miles, while in deeper regions, it could exceed a hundred miles.
Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng dove deep into the ocean, only stopping when he encountered the invisible barrier of rules. He then glided along this invisible obstruction, flying at high speed beneath the seabed, scanning everything within a five-hundred-mile radius…
For three years and eleven months.
“Hu.”
Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng, in the form of a streak of light, flew through the Void Realm. He merely glanced upward, where a large oceanic island lay, spanning several thousand miles. On this island stood a city of prefecture-level scale! It was well known that the oceanic expanse far exceeded the land, and scattered across the sea, on various islands, countless humans lived.
Among the six transcendent organizations of the Hạ tộc was the Hải Thần Cung, responsible for the entire oceanic domain.
Within this prefecture-level city, beside a bustling river, under a withered, twisted tree, a lonely old man sat on a chair, one hand holding a piece of wood, the other a carving knife, steadily shaping the wood. Beside him stood a young servant boy.
The cold wind blew. The old man gazed at the wood with deep emotion. Wood shavings flew as the silhouette of a woman gradually took form—heroic, sharp, and full of vigor.
“If only you could live to see this day, Sister Ping. We could have eaten breakfast together by the roadside, walked together through the noisy crowds, drunk wine together on the rooftops. This was the life you once told me you longed for most. But if you saw me now, you probably wouldn’t even recognize me,” the old man murmured softly. His words reached no one—not even the young servant beside him.
On the bustling river beside him, boats passed continuously, including luxurious yachts belonging to noble families.
On one flower-adorned pleasure boat, filled with beautiful women, two rowdy youths stood at the bow, facing the wind, loudly boasting.
“Brother Zhu, look, look at that old man,” one tall, thin youth chuckled, pointing from afar. “It’s the middle of winter, how cold it must be, sitting by the river carving wood? And making that fair-skinned young boy stand there motionless the whole time. What a show-off.”
“He sure is putting on a show, even more so than us two brothers. But hey, despite his white hair, that old man is still quite handsome. If he came aboard this boat, he might even charm quite a few of the ladies,” added the plump youth beside him.
“I can’t stand anyone handsomer than me! What kind of old man dares to be better looking than me? Watch me mess with him a bit!” The tall, thin youth glanced around, then immediately grabbed a long bamboo pole from the deck. He thrust it into the river water beside the boat and swung it toward the old man carving by the riverside.
Splash!
In the heart of winter, shards of frozen river water were hurled skyward, glistening like diamonds, arcing directly toward the elder. The lanky youth, towering and gaunt, clearly wielded the cultivation of Dou Qi—his torrential voluminous throw defied nature’s grip, each icy missile unerringly finding its mark with uncanny precision.
A wave of water surged forth.
But then, the old man and the young servant beside him seemed like illusions— the water passed right through them, splashing onto the ground, not even touching the chair or the nearby box.
“What?!” The tall, thin youth stared in shock, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. How could water pass through a human body without even touching it?
The plump youth, who had been watching with amusement, was also stunned, his eyes wide open.
The old man lifted his head, glancing at the flower boat and the two noble youths aboard.
Just one look.
“Ah!”
The pleasure boat rocked violently from the water’s surge. The tall, thin youth at the deck’s edge lost his balance and fell into the water with a splash. Meanwhile, the plump youth stumbled and fell too, his mouth splitting open.
The plump youth, shocked beyond belief, looked back at the old man. He had clearly seen the water pass through the old man and his servant as if they were illusions. He immediately realized they had encountered someone formidable: “Brother Zhou splashed him with water and fell into the river, and I just said something stupid, and now my mouth is split open? And everything seems so natural, as if it really was just a simple fall.”
The more he thought, the more terrified he became.
At that very moment—
Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng was flying deep beneath the earth, thousands of miles away in the Void Realm.
The lonely old man, who had just played a prank on the two young nobles, paused slightly in his carving, his brows slightly furrowed. He turned his gaze backward—directly toward the direction where Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng was! At that moment, Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng was still a thousand miles away, not yet within his scanning range, so naturally, he remained unaware of the old man’s gaze.
“The Hạ tộc world is getting more and more interesting. There are beings walking the Void Realm now. More and more powerful figures are emerging!” The old man stood up and commanded, “Boy, let’s go back.”
“Yes, Master!” The young servant picked up the box beside him, placed the folded chair alongside it, slung it onto his back, and followed the old man away.
As the distance shortened to five hundred miles, Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng’s Void Realm scan finally passed over the area. He quickly scanned the entire city but found nothing unusual and continued his exploration.
…
Five years had passed since he left Snowstone Castle to begin his search.
On a vast island spanning over a thousand miles, Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng sat on a beach. Nearby were fishing boats, belonging to generations of fishermen who had lived on the island. But now, the night was deep, and those sleeping aboard the fishing boats were already in slumber.
Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng sat on the sand, before him lay piles of oval-shaped source stones. His fingers gently touched a stone, and the primordial cosmic energy within was violently drawn into his body. Within seconds, a source stone turned to dust. His body absorbed them at an incredible rate, the pile rapidly diminishing, only to be replenished by new ones summoned from elsewhere.
The Dark Dragon Cultivation Method devoured the source stones’ power relentlessly. The muscles and tendons of his body absorbed increasing amounts of energy. As the saying goes, “Quantity leads to quality.” Though humans lacked the innate talent of abyssal demons or the powerful bodies of native cultivators, after an extravagant consumption of source stones, his already formidable physical form finally broke through!
“Buzz!”
Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng felt a ringing in his head, every cell vibrating, undergoing a subtle transformation.
It felt good—exhilarating!
His blood surged more powerfully, each cell brimming with terrifying vitality. Even if his heart shattered completely, the countless fragmented cells could instantly regenerate! Even if his brain, the most vital organ, was damaged, this terrifying life force could restore it immediately. This vitality was so intense that even particle-level destruction could be repaired!
Of course, if completely destroyed at the particle level, each recovery consumed immense vitality. Too much consumption would eventually drain all life force—leading to death.
“An immortal body!” Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng smiled slightly. His body had finally advanced to the Mid-Saint Rank, granting him an immortal body!
Among the abyssal demons, even fourth-tier demons could possess immortal bodies, and most fifth-tier demons had them.
With an immortal body, unless facing overwhelming superiority, it would be extremely difficult to kill him.
To be honest, humans were at a disadvantage in this aspect.
Ordinary human bodies couldn’t be cultivated and strengthened this way. Only those who had once awakened their ancient bloodline could enhance their bodies through source stones.
“Now I possess three true insights and have cultivated an immortal body. Even the most powerful figures on the Half-God List might wound me severely, but killing me…” Đông Bá Tuyết Ưng felt quite pleased. Having elevated his body to the Mid-Saint Rank, the next step was to attempt a second bloodline awakening. It was said that reaching the Peak-Saint Rank would guarantee an awakening.
But the amount of source stones required for that was astronomical—enough to exhaust all the source stones in every transcendent world of the Hạ tộc combined. It was simply unrealistic.
Reaching the Mid-Saint Rank was already an incredible feat for him.
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