Chapter 164: "Celestial Palace"!

Chapter 164: "Celestial Palace"!

In the northwest of Quzhou, where it borders the Demon State.

At this moment, it was as if the end of the world had arrived. Countless terrifyingly oppressive Heavenly Punishments enveloped the entire Demon State, and the formidable Heavenly Power emanating from it pinned everyone in Quzhou, except for Chen Qiu, to the ground.

Not a single person could move.

Su Tianshan, the head of the Su Clan, was among those frozen in fear, his body pressed firmly against the ground by the Heavenly Power, unable to budge an inch. Ever since his cultivation had broken through to the Divine Transformation Stage, he had never felt so close to the brink of death!

It was a feeling of impending death at any moment.

If even one of those Heavenly Punishments struck him, he would be severely injured, if not killed outright. And in the skies above the Demon State, there were millions of them! The blinding light made it almost impossible to keep his eyes open. The world seemed to have fallen silent, and all he could hear was the deafening thunder amidst the raging storm. Through the chaos, he could vaguely make out a figure in a black robe, standing quietly and observing the scene before him.

".

Chen Qiu, leaning on the Heavenly Clue Umbrella, stood in place, letting his robes flutter wildly in the storm. His calm gaze took in the spectacle before him—the countless Divine Transformation Masters, the hundreds of thousands of demons, and the entire Demon Continent, all vanishing into ashes under the relentless thunder punishment.

This thunder punishment didn't last long.

In less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the intensity began to wane.

But for everyone in Quzhou, it felt like an eternity had passed.

The Divine Transformation Master's methods were too swift.

He didn't have time to retrieve the Virtue Defense Order from his Spirit Artifact, but since he survived, he had time to take out the Virtue Attack Token. This attack had cost him 9.7 billion Virtue Points, leaving him with only 100 million.

He hadn't tested it before, as he only had one Virtue Attack Token, and wasn't sure how powerful an attack it could create.

The price was a bit steep.

But—

It was worth every penny for the satisfaction it brought him.

With his cultivation speed, even if he endured this and secluded himself for seven or eight years, he might still be able to break through to the Divine Transformation Stage. At that time, he could seek revenge again, and even save 9.7 billion Virtue Points in the process.

This might be the most cost-effective choice.

However, during those seven or eight years, he would remember today's humiliation, and it would leave him with a lingering resentment.

Especially since he had the ability to fight back but chose not to, in order to save 9.7 billion Virtue Points. This would make his Dao heart unstable, as it was already.

Once a person doubts themselves, their spirit wavers.

And when the spirit wavers, the person becomes useless.

But rationality prevailed, and he kept 100 million Virtue Points. Now it seemed that 9.7 billion Virtue Points was an overkill; perhaps around 4 billion would have been sufficient. The power of the attack was much greater than he had imagined.

The endless thunder punishment gradually dissipated, leaving behind tens of thousands of lightning scars in the sky, stretching from the Nine Heavens down to the sea. Normally, lightning leaves no trace in the air, but this time, the lightning was composed of Heavenly Power and was the type used during tribulations, just slightly more powerful.

As far as the eye could see, the sky was filled with tens of thousands of charred lightning scars, resembling a spider web filled with coal dust.

It was as if the heavens had torn open.

The Demon State was nowhere to be seen.

"Huala!"

Chen Qiu, with a calm expression, leaned on his staff and gazed into the night sky, feeling the sea breeze on his face and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

The Demon State had become a footnote in history.

The entire Demon State had been completely obliterated by the thunder punishment and turned to dust, absorbed into the sea.

Not even the ashes of the Divine Transformation Masters remained, let alone those of the Demon State.

The Xuantian Continent was much more solid than the Great Xia Kingdom. Whether it was the hardness of the ground or the stability of the surrounding spiritual energy, the 9.7 billion Virtue Points attack had completely erased the Demon State from the Xuantian Continent.

If this attack had been used on the Great Xia Kingdom,

without a doubt,

the Great Xia Kingdom would have been able to cultivate many Malevolent Woods.

It was a pity that he still lacked a Divine Transformation body and four Second Level Yuanying bodies.

He had hoped that by using his ultimate trump card, he might also gather the remaining resources, but now it seemed like wishful thinking. That Divine Transformation body was not as durable as he had thought.

Just then—

A voice rang out across the entire Xuantian Continent, reaching the ears of all cultivators and commoners in the nineteen major continents, as well as the scattered islands and smaller continents.

The voice was ancient and ethereal, like a sound from beyond the heavens.

-

"Heavenly Edict": The Heavenly Way has sensed that in the northwest of Quzhou on the Xuantian Continent, the human cultivator Chen Qiu, the Sect Leader of the Mock Heaven Sect, a Sage of the Heavenly Way, a Protector of Humanity, and a Peerless Talent, has single-handedly annihilated the Demon Race using thunderous means!

With the lives of an entire race, he has earned the title of 'Heavenly Way Villain'!

His methods strike fear into the hearts of all!

A new ranking, the 'Sinister Ranking of the Xuantian Continent', has been added to the Heavenly Way Ranking.

He is granted 'A Strand of Talent Fortune', but his cruel and ruthless methods should not be emulated by the people.

-

Before the voice had even faded, another one followed.

-

"Heavenly Edict": The Heavenly Way has sensed that in the northwest of Quzhou on the Xuantian Continent, the human cultivator Chen Qiu, the Sect Leader of the Mock Heaven Sect, a Sage of the Heavenly Way, a Heavenly Way Villain, a Protector of Humanity, and a Peerless Talent, has single-handedly annihilated the Demon Race using thunderous means!

With a cultivation at the peak of the Golden Core stage, he has eradicated an entire race and instantly killed four Divine Transformation Masters, two major realms above him.

Such a feat is unparalleled throughout history!

The early departure of the Demon Race has accelerated the 'Heavenly Strife' version, which will now arrive one month earlier.

He is granted 'A Strand of Heavenly Fortune' and 'A Strand of Clan Fortune'.

-

The two voices echoed in the ears of all cultivators on the Xuantian Continent, leaving them momentarily dazed as they looked towards Quzhou. Although they couldn't see anything, the content of the Heavenly Edicts was enough to imagine the shocking scene that had unfolded there.

Chen Qiu.

A somewhat unfamiliar name, a new talent from Lower Nine Provinces, perhaps?

With a Golden Core Perfection cultivation, he massacred an entire clan, including four Soul Transformation Masters.

They couldn't fathom how he had accomplished such a feat.

Not to mention massacring a clan.

Even the top talents of Zhongzhou would never be able to kill a Soul Transformation Master, let alone have the chance to do so.

The gap between the Golden Core and Soul Transformation stages.

It's like a newborn baby with no strength to bind a chicken challenging a Soul Transformation Master alone.

Yes.

In the eyes of Soul Transformation Masters, there is no difference between a Golden Core cultivator and a powerless child.

".

Standing in the midst of the typhoon storm, Chen Qiu calmly looked at the newly released ranking, and many times, it was truly an unintentional act. When he spent all the virtue points he had accumulated, he had only one thought.

He just wanted to vent this frustration.

He didn't expect any rewards at all.

But now, his unintentional actions had unexpectedly brought him some rewards.

Firstly, there was the newly released Heavenly Way Ranking, "Xuantian Continent's Heavenly Way Sinister Ranking," and he, Chen Qiu, was temporarily at the top of the list.

"Xuantian Continent's Heavenly Way Sinister Ranking"

"Rank 1": Chen Qiu, Sin Value 2.9 billion.

"Rank 2": Zhang Kui, Sin Value 300 million.

".

"Rank 5": Wu Li Hai, Sin Value 91.02 million.

With a sin value of 2.9 billion, it was indeed an exaggeration, 2.6 billion more than the second rank. He didn't think he deserved so many sin points.

He considered himself not a good person, but barely a decent one.

He never imagined that in all these years on Xuantian Continent, the highest sin value was only 300 million.

This must include the bonus sin value for annihilating a clan; otherwise, in terms of the number of people killed, he hadn't actually killed that many. Those demon and evil cultivators had definitely killed more.

Being at the top of the "Heavenly Way Sinister Ranking" brought him no benefits.

The higher the sin value, the lower the success rate of passing the thunder tribulation.

With a sin value of 2.9 billion, he probably didn't need to worry about the thunder tribulation. Fortunately, he couldn't access the tribulation yet, so he didn't dwell on this issue, leaving it for later consideration.

Besides that!

He also received a strand of Talent Fortune, a strand of Heavenly Fortune, and a strand of Clan Fortune.

Under the effect of the green entry, "Heavenly Edict," all three rewards were doubled.

Chen Qiu looked down at his missing left arm, then raised his head to look at the distant sea that had turned into an ocean, shaking his head. Just as he was about to turn and leave, a ray of light shot towards him.

It quickly entered his body.

Only he could hear the Heavenly Edict ringing in his ears.

"Heavenly Edict": The Xuantian Continent senses that in the northwest of Quzhou, a human cultivator named Chen Qiu, wielding thunderous power, has single-handedly annihilated the Demon Race!

Having completed one of the Xuantian Continent's Milestone Tasks, his statue has been erected in the 'Celestial Palace.'

He is also granted a Medium-grade Heavenly Wheel.

Chen Qiu stood in place, gazing at the Heavenly Edict floating above his Dantian. He knew about the Heavenly Wheel; once he obtained it, he could crush it and choose two out of five random options.

It was a decent reward.

Due to being a "Frequent Visitor of the Edict," he also received two.

However, he wasn't clear about the "Celestial Palace," only sensing a vague connection between his divine sense and the Nine Heavens. He could go there at any moment with a mere thought.

But now wasn't the right time.

He needed to find a place to rest and recover from his injuries.

At this moment, Fat Dragon and Scholar managed to crawl out of the ground, and Fat Dragon, with red-rimmed eyes, rasped, "Brother Qiu, when did you learn this move? It's a bit scary. I really thought you came here to die."

".

Chen Qiu glanced at Fat Dragon and chuckled, "If I can't win, I'll run. Let's go and find a place to heal."

Then he stopped Scholar from heading towards the depths of Quzhou and instead headed for the seaside.

"Let's enter the small world above the Demon State."

Scholar didn't ask why. He immediately turned his flying sword towards the Demon State, where the entire state had become an ocean. After all, with such a large piece of the continent being devoured, the sea was extremely turbulent, with massive waves crashing towards the edge of Quzhou.

Soon, the group disappeared from sight.

After they vanished, Su Tianshan slowly crawled out of the ground, looking at the spot where Chen Qiu had disappeared, his eyes filled with fear and awe. He couldn't understand how Chen Qiu had unleashed such a powerful move. An enchantment scroll?

Impossible. Even the so-called strongest overpowered scroll, the "Self-Destructive Scroll," couldn't cause such devastation!

Chen Qiu was only at the Golden Core Perfection stage. Even if he possessed the Self-Destructive Scroll, he could only unleash the full power of a Peak Perfection Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Yet, each of those hundreds of heavenly punishments was stronger than the full power of a Divine Transformation stage cultivator!

He couldn't comprehend it.

He didn't think further.

He just stared blankly, pulling himself along as a streak of light towards Su Clan in Quzhou.

Before taking action, Chen Qiu had said something to him, and one sentence left a deep impression.

"It seems you consider the Divine Transformation stage as the end of your cultivation."

If any of the so-called Golden Core talents said this, he would have scoffed.

Out of ten Golden Core talents, not even three would break through to the Divine Transformation stage. Cultivators at the Divine Transformation stage were already the strongest in Quzhou.

But in Chen Qiu's words, especially after witnessing what had just happened, his Dao heart wavered slightly.

Yes.

It seemed that after breaking through to the Divine Transformation stage, he hadn't thought about advancing further. He had never believed he could cultivate to higher realms, and his self-perception had always been clear. He had always thought of this as being steady, but Chen Qiu called it a lack of ambition.

Only by believing in miracles can the possibility of their occurrence exist.

Miracles do not often occur.

But when they do, they only happen to those who believe in them.

For a moment—

The other cultivators had dry throats, wanting to speak but unable to utter a word. They stared at the remnants of the Heavenly Punishment that lingered in the sky above the Demon State, where millions of streaks of punishment had turned into seawater.

A trace of fear flashed in their eyes, and they trembled as they turned and left.

At this moment, no one cared about the upcoming Heavenly Dao Mystic Realm, "Heavenly Transformation Forty-Nine." They only wanted to return to a safe place and take a break.

Many of them held a shattered Shadow Stone in their hands.

After the Heavenly Punishment descended, many wanted to record this scene with a Shadow Stone, but the Heavenly Power could not be captured by the stone, and it shattered as soon as it was activated.

If the Xuantian Continent had a reputation ranking like Daxia, Chen Qiu would be in the top ten at this moment.

It was almost instantaneous!

Almost all cultivators and commoners on the Xuantian Continent learned of Chen Qiu's name. With his Golden Core Perfection cultivation, he single-handedly slaughtered the entire Demon Race.

They did not know how Chen Qiu had accomplished this.

But this did not diminish the fact that Chen Qiu had become a miracle, a miracle from the Lower Nine Provinces!

Although Chen Qiu had not yet reached Zhongzhou, his reputation had already spread there.

At this moment, Chen Qiu did not care about this.

He sat in the Sect Leader's chair in the Main Hall of the Mock Heaven Sect, leaning back due to his severe injuries. He fell into a daze, and blood continued to drip from his left shoulder.

"Xingdou."

The scholar looked at the busy man nearby and sent his divine sense, whispering, "Is it normal for Brother Qiu to fall asleep?"

This man used to be the Sect Leader of the Xingdou Sect but later joined the Mock Heaven Sect and became the head of the Pill Refining Hall. He was responsible for making various pills, and the Mock Heaven Sect had an abundance of medicinal herbs.

These herbs were collected and stored in the warehouse, with various grades.

After joining the Mock Heaven Sect, his code name became Xingdou.

As soon as Brother Qiu returned to the Mock Heaven Sect, Xingdou hurriedly fed him the prepared healing pills and sprinkled medicinal powder made from crushed pills onto his wounds.

"It's normal."

To avoid disturbing Brother Qiu's sleep, the others moved quietly, trying not to make a sound. They communicated using their divine sense, and Xingdou looked at the scholar, sending his thoughts back.

"I added a sleep-inducing component to the pills."

"I know Brother Qiu is strong, so I added a bit more of the sleep-inducing ingredient because ordinary doses would likely be ineffective for him."

"Brother Qiu's injuries are severe. He needs to rest and let his body heal naturally. The life-saving pill given by the Su Clan is of very high quality."

"With the help of that life-saving pill, Brother Qiu will be as good as new after waking up. Trust me."

"The last time Brother Qiu's divine sense was damaged, I also refined a pill for him."

"Okay."

The scholar nodded and exchanged glances with Fatty Dragon. They quietly turned and left the Main Hall.

On the back mountain.

The scholar and Fatty Dragon did not use flying swords but walked along the mountain path with their own feet.

"How is Brother Qiu doing?" Fatty Dragon asked first. He had not reached the Golden Core stage and could not communicate via divine sense, so he could only observe their facial expressions.

"He's fine," the scholar replied, shaking his head. "Xingdou checked, and it's mostly external injuries, which are easy to recover from. However, the left arm is severed, and it's not easy to regenerate. We need some rare heavenly materials and treasures for limb regeneration."

"Or, if you just want an extra arm, it can be done without such rare resources."

"But if you want this arm to be the same as before, with free-flowing spiritual energy in the meridians and no impact on combat power, then some rare heavenly materials and treasures are needed. The Mock Heaven Sect does not currently possess these items."

"As for the Golden Core and divine sense..."

"Xingdou said he couldn't enter. Although Brother Qiu is unconscious, his body's self-protection mechanism is still active. His divine sense couldn't penetrate Brother Qiu's sea of consciousness, where there's a large array."

"Hmm," Fatty Dragon sighed in relief. "I hope there's no major problem."

"By the way—"

The scholar suddenly remembered something and looked at Fatty Dragon with a slightly complicated expression, whispering, "Today, Brother Qiu was in a bad mood and said some harsh words to you. That wasn't his true feelings. You know, people tend to speak without thinking when they're angry."

"Hey," Fatty Dragon shook his head and smiled nonchalantly. "I understand. Brother Qiu even found a female demon with Fifth Rank Golden Core cultivation to help me in my cultivation. He's been very kind to me."

"But..."

After a moment, Fatty Dragon's expression turned slightly bitter as he shook his head. "But what Brother Qiu said also makes sense."

"I wish I could improve my strength as quickly as you."

Deep in the back mountain.

The young brown bear was still in shock, leaning against a fruit tree. They had transplanted many Spirit Trees from the Yuanzong Sect to the back mountain, and from time to time, they would pick Spirit Fruits to send to the disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect. Over time, they became familiar with each other.

After a while.

The young brown bear finally breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they were not a single race.

Time passed by in tranquility, and days went by.

One day—

Fatty Dragon could no longer contain himself and grabbed Xingdou's collar, dragging him to the Main Hall. He looked at Brother Qiu, who was sitting in the Sect Leader's chair, and said in a hoarse voice with a grim expression, "You said you added a little more sleep-inducing ingredient to the pills."

"Can you tell me how much you added?"

"Chen Qiu has been asleep for ten whole days, are you joking?"

Normally, a little extra sleep wouldn't be a big deal, many Golden Core Cultivators would close their doors for three to five months at a time, so ten days is completely normal.

But!

This isn't a normal time!

The "World in Turmoil" major version update is coming twenty days early, and although no one knows what will happen in this version, the name alone suggests it will be extremely dangerous. If one were to miss out on the first day of the update, they would undoubtedly fall behind everyone else.

Falling into a deep slumber at such a time is truly bad timing.

"Great Elder."

Xing Dou shrank his neck and whispered, "I only added ten times the amount, not too much. Look, the Sect Master's injuries have almost fully recovered, and there's not even a scar left."

"He should wake up soon."

"Ten times?"

Fat Dragon paused, pressing his chubby head against Xing Dou's forehead. Just as he was about to whisper a curse, he saw a figure suddenly walk by, and instinctively turned to look. To his surprise, Chen Qiu was already up and walking towards the outside of the Sect Master's Hall, leaning on his Heavenly Clue Umbrella.

"Chen Qiu, you're awake?"

"Yeah, it's hard to get some sleep, and all this noise is disturbing me. I'm going to be alone for a while, don't come looking for me."

Mock Heaven Sect, on the peak of the mountain at the back of the mountain.

Chen Qiu sat alone on the oval stone where he had always cultivated. This stone had been with him for a long time, since the Foundation Establishment stage, and now he was almost at the Nascent Soul stage.

The stone was still with him.

There was nothing special about this stone; it was simply that he was used to sitting on it, and he was the kind of person who valued old things.

He looked down at the damaged Heavenly Clue Umbrella in his arms, and instinctively tried to pick it up with his left arm, but then he realized that his left arm was gone.

Although his left arm was gone, he still found himself wanting to use it from time to time. He hadn't yet adjusted to this, and he didn't know if the Heavenly Auspicious Sign after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage could repair his external injuries and restore his arm.

Although he had slept for ten days, he hadn't been completely unconscious. He could wake up at any moment if he wanted to.

But he didn't really want to wake up. This sleep was quite comfortable, and if it weren't for the impending World in Turmoil update, he would have wanted to sleep for three to five months, even if the sky were falling.

His injuries had fully recovered, and his Golden Core and Divine Sense were intact, except for his missing left arm.

He shook his head.

Then he began to tally his gains.

First, he had gained 2.9 billion Sin Value, but he hadn't found any use for it yet. This ranking system seemed to have only negative effects, with no positive ones. The most basic effect was the impact on one's reputation and public opinion.

A deeper effect was that with a high Sin Value, it would be difficult to pass through the Thunder Tribulation. The more Sin Value one had, the more powerful their tribulation lightning would be.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

Without the daily Heavenly Dao blessings, it was just a simple leaderboard. However, he hadn't tested it yet, and since the Sin Value had been quantified, he wondered if killing someone with Sin Value would increase his own Virtue Points.

It was hard to say.

Chen Qiu looked towards his Dantian again, and saw his radiant Golden Core, with four black characters carved into it.

"Heavenly Way Villain."

On the other side, four vermillion characters were engraved.

"Sage of the Heavenly Way."

-

"Heavenly Bestowment Name": Sage of the Heavenly Way.

"Name Effect": Immune to all illusion techniques, memory alteration, dreams, and other deceptive methods used by those with lower Virtue Points, and protected by Virtue, slaying all evil spirits.

-

"That's good, I might be the first person to be called both a Sage and a Villain by the Heavenly Way."

Chen Qiu calmly accepted this.

As for why slaughtering the Demon Race increased Sin Value, it was actually quite understandable. The Heavenly Way wasn't just the Heavenly Way of the Human Race, but of the entire Xuantian Continent. The reason for the rewards in the Great Xia Kingdom for slaughtering the Demon Race was because they were invaders at that time.

This time, the Demon Race isn't the invader; it's Chen Qiu who took the initiative to attack.

Or, in the eyes of the Demon Race, Chen Qiu is the invader.

When his Divine Sense probed the word "Heavenly Way Villain" carved into his Golden Core, a cloud-shrouded panel appeared above his Dantian once more.

"Heavenly Bestowment Name": Heavenly Way Villain.

"Name Effect": Immune to all conversion methods of the Buddhist and Taoist sects.

-

"Hmm."

Chen Qiu narrowed his eyes and looked at the description, which was a bit vague. He had a general understanding of what it meant, but not the specifics. After he had an idea of what it was, he looked at the several strands of Fortune surrounding his Golden Core.

He originally had one strand of Ultimate Heaven's Pride Fortune and one strand of Talent Fortune.

But now!

With the two strands of Talent Fortune as a reward, the three strands of Fortune automatically combined into one strand of Ultimate Heaven's Pride Fortune again!

The requirement for forming a Twelfth Rank Nascent Soul is just one strand of Ultimate Heaven's Pride Fortune!

He now has two strands!

And one more on top of that.

"I've got to be more careful from now on."

Chen Qiu muttered to himself. Who knows if three strands of Ultimate Heaven's Pride Fortune would combine, and what if he obtained another strand of Ultimate Heaven's Pride Fortune and it combined again? He'd be crying without a place to cry.

Without Ultimate Heaven's Pride Fortune, it's impossible to form a Twelfth Rank Nascent Soul.

A higher level is useless.

Just like that Fourth Rank Nascent Soul, he only needs a Second Rank, so a higher level is completely useless.

Then he looked at the damaged Heavenly Clue Umbrella in his hand, which had also rewarded him with two strands of Heavenly Fortune.

This thing is a good item.

It can enhance spells and can be used when forging Divine Artifacts, making them stronger.

Additionally, it has another use: repairing Heavenly Artifacts.

PS: Woke up late, will have two more chapters later. Typos will be corrected later.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end