Chapter 199: Live as a Hero, Die as a Legend.

Chapter 199: Live as a Hero, Die as a Legend.

At that moment, within his Divine Transformation Field, the Spirit Herbs and Spirit Trees had all withered, and over a thousand Spirit Beasts, drained of their vitality, lay on the ground.

His Divine Transformation Field was only of the First Rank.

It wasn't that he couldn't create a higher-ranked field; for a Divination Cultivator, the Divine Transformation Field was never activated in combat, and a higher rank held no significance.

After all, the rank of the Divine Transformation Field didn't determine its power; it only determined whether it would be suppressed.

The First Rank was more than sufficient.

Even if he raised it to the Second Rank, he felt it would be a waste of resources and serve no purpose.

The Dao Gua Sect was the strongest sect in Central Province and the entire Xuantian Continent, and as its leader, he was naturally the most powerful Divination Cultivator on the continent.

However, regarding the question of who had killed Chen Qiu, he had already cast nine divinations.

Each divination was different.

One showed Chen Qiu dying in the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm.

Another showed Chen Qiu suddenly falling into a crack, which turned out to be the Bottomless Abyss, leading to his immediate death.

There was also a divination where Chen Qiu was slapped to death by an evil demon from beyond the realm.

And yet another divination revealed Chen Qiu committing suicide due to romantic troubles.

He had intended to continue with more divinations, but when he reached the clue about Chen Qiu's suicide due to romantic troubles, he knew there was no point in continuing.

Would someone like him commit suicide over romantic troubles?

Ridiculous.

If it were due to romantic problems, slaughtering the woman's entire family three thousand times might have been more believable.

Just then—

An elderly man in hemp robes approached him, his robes washed so many times they had turned white. Standing not far from the Dao Gua Sect Patriarch, he spoke in a deep voice, "Are the divinations still inconsistent?"

"Mhm."

The Dao Gua Sect Patriarch nodded, a hint of confusion in his tone, "Just like when Chen Qiu first revealed his talent, the divinations are still inconsistent."

When Chen Qiu formed his Twelfth Rank Nascent Soul.

They had performed divinations on Chen Qiu back then, and the inconsistencies led them to believe that Chen Qiu possessed a treasure capable of interfering with the heavenly clues, and it wasn't a low-grade one at that.

While such treasures were extremely rare, they did exist.

It made sense.

But... Chen Qiu was already dead. Why couldn't they divine the cause of his death? Logically, after death, any treasure capable of interfering with the heavenly clues should have become ineffective, unless the interference wasn't from a treasure but from a trait.

That would explain it.

Although they had never seen such a trait, there were countless traits in the world, and those they hadn't encountered were too numerous to count, as many as cow's hair.

"But..."

The Dao Gua Sect Patriarch shook his head, laying out the nine divination stones in his hand, "Although we can't divine the cause of Chen Qiu's death, we can be certain of one thing: Chen Qiu is indeed dead, no longer in this world."

"Nine divinations."

"All of them point to Chen Qiu's death."

"Mhm."

The elderly man in hemp robes remained silent for a long time before speaking in a hoarse voice, "Try the tenth divination."

"..."

After a long silence, the Dao Gua Sect Patriarch spoke softly, "Is it necessary?"

Divination Cultivators had a rule.

For a single matter, they wouldn't perform more than nine divinations, as nine was the highest number.

After the ninth divination, they would enter an uncontrollable phase.

It would randomly consume a significant amount of lifespan, ranging from one year to the entirety of one's remaining lifespan, and this consumption couldn't be offset by any means, as was the case with the Divine Transformation Field 'Divine Heaven Earth Divination'.

Of course—

The price for this was that the tenth divination would often be incredibly accurate.

"Yes."

The elderly man in hemp robes replied indifferently, "The finer the divination, the greater the consumption. I'm not concerned about the cause of Chen Qiu's death; I just want to confirm if he's truly dead, to prevent him from faking his death and deceiving the world."

"Tens of thousands of years ago."

"At that time, the Dao Gua Sect joined forces and lured a million disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect into a trap, nearly wiping out the entire sect. This is a grudge between our sects. As long as Chen Qiu is alive, I won't be at ease."

"Very well."

The Dao Gua Sect Patriarch's breathing grew heavy, and he closed his eyes, tossing all nine divination stones into the air before slowly closing his eyes.

He didn't activate his Divine Transformation Field.

The wrinkles on his face multiplied, and his entire body turned pale almost instantly.

After a few breaths.

A mouthful of black blood sprayed out, and after calming his rapid breathing, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, "The tenth divination: Chen Qiu is dead."

"Good! Good! Good!!!"

The elderly man's face flushed with a long-lost redness, and his eyes sparkled with excitement as he exclaimed 'Good!' three times.

Soon—

A message spread from the Dao Gua Sect throughout the entire Xuantian Continent.

The Dao Gua Sect Patriarch personally performed ten divinations and confirmed Chen Qiu's death.

This news caused a tremendous uproar across the Xuantian Continent. Those unfamiliar with the methods of Divination Cultivators didn't understand the significance of the tenth divination, but those with some knowledge knew.

They all understood.

The tenth divination often required an incredibly heavy price for Divination Cultivators.

And the accuracy of this tenth divination was the highest, making it almost impossible to be wrong. In other words, Chen Qiu's death was now an undeniable fact!

For a while, even those who didn't believe Chen Qiu was dead had to accept reality.

With the Heavenly Path Edict and the Heavenly Earth Omens, followed closely by the tenth divination, even those who didn't believe Chen Qiu could die now knew that this matter couldn't be changed.

"Sigh."

At the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, a Peak Divine Transformation Elder stood atop a mountain peak, his expression complex as he gazed towards Quzhou. He had no personal grudges with Chen Qiu, nor any particular connection. Yet, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of regret over Chen Qiu's death. A once-in-a-million-years Celestial Prodigy like him, an unparalleled Heaven's Pride, had met his end.

He truly had no idea who could reach the end of the cultivation path.

He knew that in this lifetime, he would never attain Essence Condensation. Even if he did, it wouldn't be the end of the path. The end of cultivation was like an endless, winding mountain road.

After years of arduous climbing, when you finally reach what you think is the summit, you look up only to realize that the peak is still out of reach.

To attain immortality and become a celestial being was the ultimate goal.

Even someone as extraordinary as Chen Qiu couldn't achieve immortality. Who, then, could?

"Master."

Little Yue, crouched nearby with red-rimmed eyes from crying, looked up at the elder with a glimmer of hope, "Is it impossible for Chen Qiu to have died?"

"At the initial stage of Divine Transformation, he was invincible."

"A Celestial Prodigy like him, how could he suddenly die so mysteriously? He must not be dead, right?"

". . ."

After a long silence, the Peak Divine Transformation Elder of Ten Thousand Beasts Sect spoke with a hint of helplessness, "First, there were heavenly omens at his burial. Then, the tenth divination from Dao Gua Sect, and even the Heavenly Dao Rankings no longer list Chen Qiu's name."

"The rules of the Heavenly Dao are that the dead are removed from the rankings."

"Chen Qiu's death is certain."

"This is something that cannot be changed."

"Don't be too sad. I'll find you someone even better than Chen Qiu."

His voice trailed off.

He had meant to say, 'I'll find you a Heaven's Pride even better than Chen Qiu,' as that's how one usually comforts others. But he quickly realized that finding someone superior to Chen Qiu in Xuan Tian Continent would be harder than bringing Chen Qiu back to life.

His words made Little Yue, already teary-eyed, cry even harder, her tears streaming down like falling petals. It was a heart-wrenching sight.

Not far away,

a nine-tailed fox lay lazily on a round stone, basking in the sun. She glanced at Little Yue indifferently, then stretched out and resumed her relaxed pose, continuing to soak up the sun's rays.

She could hear the thoughts of others.

She was surprised to find that Little Yue was genuinely sad. It puzzled her, "You only met Chen Qiu once, and he didn't even look at you directly. He just struck you down with a single blow. Where does this love and sadness come from?"

It was truly baffling.

She wasn't sure if Chen Qiu was dead, but she knew one thing. Based on her limited understanding of Chen Qiu, if he were truly in a dire situation, he would activate the 'Virtue Attack Token' with billions of virtue points, taking his enemies down with him.

It was impossible for there to be no commotion if he were still alive.

It was like squashing a cockroach; if it doesn't splatter, it's not dead.

A crude but logical analogy, in her opinion.

"Am I first again?"

In Quzhou, Zhang Kui, hiding in a cave, stared at the "Xuan Tian Continent Heavenly Dao Sin Value Rankings" in bewilderment.

He had been comfortably in the lead with 300 million sin points, but Chen Qiu's sudden appearance pushed him down to second place. The previous night, he had spent over 100 million sin points.

To avoid Chen Qiu, he had hidden in Quzhou, Chen Qiu's hometown, planning to strike when Chen Qiu least expected it.

But unexpectedly, Chen Qiu died.

His name was absent from the Heavenly Dao Rankings, and Zhang Kui was back at the top.

"Then..."

Zhang Kui looked around at the concealment grand array he had just finished setting up. Did he still need to hide in Quzhou? Could he go home now?

A moment later,

as he dismantled the array, he muttered, "What's the point of all this fuss? It's just a hassle."

Inside the Buddhist Sect,

an Essence Refinement Elder in a monk's robe looked at the Azure Mountain Palace Ancestor sitting across from him in a game of chess. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, barely suppressed.

"It seems I won't need those backup plans after all."

"I didn't even need to exert myself fully, and Chen Qiu brought about his own demise."

"It's suddenly quite boring. Just when I thought I'd found an opponent worthy of my full strength, it ends so quickly."

"But..." The Azure Mountain Palace Ancestor frowned, "Don't you think Chen Qiu's death was a bit too quiet?"

"No."

The Buddhist Sect Ancestor shook his head and picked up a white chess piece, placing it on the board, "This is called dying as one should. The Mock Heaven Sect, with its defiant name, being crushed by the Heavenly Dao is only to be expected."

"I don't care how he died."

"As long as he's dead, it's over."

The Netherworld, a desolate wilderness.

News of Chen Qiu's death spread across the Xuantian Continent, eliciting various reactions, but Chen Qiu himself remained oblivious to it all.

The Netherworld and the living realm were completely isolated. He couldn't use any spiritual treasures from the living realm or communicate with the outside world by any means.

At that moment, he stood at the edge of the milky white barrier.

Tentatively, he extended his arm outside.

His semi-transparent arm, once like a spirit, suddenly solidified and became as tangible as normal flesh.

He retracted his arm.

And it returned to its spirit-like state.

Chen Qiu shook his head, not overthinking it. Without hesitation, he stepped out of the milky white barrier. At that very moment, a voice reverberated through the Netherworld.

"Heavenly Path Edict: By the will of the Heavenly Dao, the human cultivator Chen Qiu, leader of the Heaven-defying Sect, the Heavenly Saint, the Heavenly Villain, the protector of humanity, and the unparalleled Celestial Prodigy Chen Qiu, is hereby acknowledged for his greatness in life and heroism in death."

With a thousand billion virtue points, he forged a 'Heavenly Dao Top-tier Virtue Body.'

Bestowing upon him a strand of 'Yin Soul Fortune,' may he guide the masses with this virtue.

Stepping out of the milky white barrier, Chen Qiu witnessed his flesh rapidly solidifying into a physical form, transforming from a Yin Soul state into one with a tangible body.

He could observe his Dantian and see two strands of dim green light swirling around his Nascent Soul.

However, within his Dantian, there was not a trace of Spirit Energy.

Only strands of Yin Energy, which the Nascent Soul of the Heavenly Dao automatically absorbed.

He couldn't activate his Soul Transformation Realm, and his cultivation remained at the "First Rank Soul Transformation," yet he couldn't activate the Soul Transformation Realm, as if the Netherworld had a different cultivation system that didn't include the Soul Transformation Realm.

Chen Qiu lowered his head to look at his fist, feeling an exaggerated strength in his physical body. He wasn't sure if it was an illusion or reality.

But experience breeds wisdom.

The next moment—

He crouched down and gently punched the ground.

"Boom!!!"

A massive cloud of dust rose, and the ground shook violently. Chen Qiu fell into a deep pit, and around him, the ground was covered in countless spider web-like cracks.

After a long while, as the dust settled, Chen Qiu climbed out of the pit, his expression complex as he stood at the edge, gazing at the spider web-like cracks on the ground. After a long silence, he burst into laughter.

"Awesome!"

He had once slain countless enemies with his myriad thunder dragons!

And he had annihilated the Evil Race with the might of virtue!

But this was the first time he felt such immense physical strength. The 'Heavenly Dao Top-tier Virtue Body,' forged with a thousand billion virtue points, was truly powerful!

It had only one effect:

To significantly enhance his physical strength, making him a top-tier Body Cultivator. Although he had been a Body Cultivator in his previous life, he never possessed such physical prowess.

If he had this strength back then, he could have smashed that Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator puppet!

Satisfied, he turned to look behind him. The white barrier had vanished without a trace, leaving only a desolate wilderness that blended seamlessly with the surroundings.

Chen Qiu took a few tentative steps forward but felt no resistance.

The smile on his face froze.

The Dwarf Divine Transformer had told him he could return to the living realm, but he hadn't explained how.

It seemed he had killed too hastily.

But Chen Qiu quickly shook his head, no longer concerned about it. Although he didn't know how the Dwarf Divine Transformers traveled between the Netherworld and the living realm, if they could return, there must be a way.

He just needed to find a member of the Dwarf Race and force them to reveal the method.

It wasn't a difficult problem.

He still looked like a dwarf, and the 'Transformation Token' would only last for 12 hours, but during that time, he would remain in this form.

And at that moment—

A Heavenly Path Edict, audible only to him, resounded once more.

"Heavenly Path Edict: By the will of the Heavenly Dao, the human cultivator Chen Qiu, in the Netherworld of the Xuantian Continent, has broken through the power of Yin and Yang, earning a nomination in the Heavenly Path Edict for both the living realm and the Netherworld."

"For completing one of the Xuantian Continent's milestone tasks, a statue has been erected in the Heavenly Palace."

"And he is granted a Middle-grade Celestial Wheel."

Almost instantly, as the edict sounded, Chen Qiu acted without hesitation. He stomped his feet forcefully on the ground, and his entire body sank into the earth. After several breaths, he emerged from the ground."

He looked up at the sky, his face grim.

Completing a milestone task meant being captured by the Heavenly Wheel and turned into a statue!

But he was currently in the form of a dwarf, and that didn't align with his aesthetic preferences. He didn't want to add a dwarf statue to the six statues in the Heavenly Palace.

It would be too irritating.

It wasn't that he valued his appearance highly, but one's image shouldn't be too terrible, right?! He just hoped that the Heavenly Wheel hadn't captured his image. Even if it had, he wished it would just replicate another statue, or he would smash it to pieces when he became powerful enough, erasing this stain from his life.

At this moment, he tried to establish a connection with the Heavenly Palace above the Nine Heavens, and surprisingly, he succeeded. This meant he could travel to the Heavenly Palace at any time.

Even in the Netherworld, he couldn't establish a connection with the mini universe, yet he could connect with the Heavenly Palace.

However, he didn't immediately go to the Heavenly Palace. This chaotic opportunity in the world would only last for three days, and during this time, he needed to kill numerous otherworldly Divine Transformation beings.

He would kill some in the Netherworld and then go to the mortal realm to kill more.

He couldn't let the statue in the Heavenly Palace affect his mood.

Unfortunately—

After dying in the mortal realm and not becoming a vengeful spirit, he would only return to the Netherworld after seven days.

If not for this time restriction, his cultivation speed would be much faster.

This was his seventh milestone task in the Xuantian Continent. The newly erected statue in the Heavenly Palace, whose image he didn't know, was also the seventh statue.

There were a total of twelve milestone tasks in the Xuantian Continent.

He had already completed seven of them.

The sixth milestone task was to surpass the Heaven Earth Limit, which he obtained when his Twelfth Stage Soul Transformation Realm advanced to the Thirteenth Rank Soul Transformation Realm.

He didn't know what the statue looked like, and he hadn't gone to the Heavenly Palace to check.

He would wait until he left the Netherworld and then go to see what these two statues looked like.

He glanced around.

Finally, his gaze settled on a low hill several miles away. Taking a deep breath, he exerted force beneath his feet, and his entire body transformed into a streak of flowing light, charging straight towards the hill!

The next moment—

"Boom! Boom!!"

The formidable power of his virtue body made Chen Qiu seem like the sharpest spear in the world, almost indestructible. As Chen Qiu emerged from the dust...

He turned to look back.

He could only see that in the center of the hill behind him, there was an additional tunnel that had been pierced through, and at this moment, countless rubble was still falling from above the tunnel.

The top-grade virtue body granted by the Heavenly Dao allowed him to achieve an exaggerated speed without activating any movement techniques, relying solely on the power of his physical body.

"Not bad."

Chen Qiu withdrew his gaze from the hill behind him and turned to look into the distance. The surroundings were desolate and uninhabited, with not a single living being in sight. The hazy weather made the atmosphere seem heavy.

Throughout the entire world, there was not a trace of spiritual energy, only Yin energy.

He planned to find a city to gather some information, although he wasn't clear about the structure of the Netherworld. However, he could be certain that since these Yin souls lived in the Netherworld and retained their memories from their previous lives, they would definitely gather and form cities.

He casually chose a direction.

Then, with a powerful force beneath his feet, he transformed into a streak of flowing light and shot forward in a straight line!

Along the way, whether it was hills or low mountains, he pierced through them all in a straight line, without any need to go around. The strength of his virtue body made him feel it was a bit absurd.

He even felt that with just the strength of this virtue body, he could challenge Essence Condensation.

After several thousand breaths.

As Chen Qiu was running wildly in the wilderness, he suddenly saw a city standing at the edge of the wilderness.

The city walls were over ten zhang high.

They were a deep red, and at a glance, they contrasted well with the yellow-brown wasteland.

Finally, he saw a gathering place.

He gradually slowed down, and as he approached the city, he gradually returned to a normal walking speed. His virtue body, from the outside, was no different from the bodies of others.

They all looked the same.

At this moment, there were quite a few people lining up to enter the city at the city gates.

Most of them had physical bodies, and only a small number remained in their Yin soul state. It seemed that in the Netherworld, the Yin soul state was not well-received.

From time to time, people with physical bodies would pass by those in their Yin soul state, casting a disdainful glance.

Unfortunately.

This city seemed to be a human city, and those people looked like humans, neither dwarves nor demons. Since he currently had the appearance of a dwarf, he wasn't sure if he could enter the city smoothly.

He wanted to gather some intelligence about the Netherworld without causing too much of a stir.

However, upon thinking about it, he realized that there probably weren't any dwarf cities.

After all, the dwarves had secretly obtained the means to travel back and forth between the Netherworld and the mortal realm. Even if there were dwarf cities in the Netherworld, they might have all been brought back to the mortal realm by the dwarves.

Chen Qiu quietly walked to the back of the line and followed the slowly moving crowd, quietly preparing to line up to enter the city.

He knew absolutely nothing about the Netherworld.

It was pitch black, and he needed urgent information about the Netherworld.

As he walked to the front of the line and appeared in the mortal realm, indeed, quite a few people looked at him with strange gazes. After all, you're only a little over four chi tall."

He did indeed stand out a bit.

But that strangeness wasn't provocation or disdain; it was more like astonishment.

There was a kind of...

Astonishment at why a dwarf would appear here.

Finally—

After a full incense stick's worth of time, it was finally Chen Qiu's turn to enter the city. There were only four or five people in front of him, and at this moment, a lazy voice came from the front of the line.

"Everyone at the back, take out your Infernal Stones in advance."

"Each person entering the city needs five low-grade Infernal Stones."

"Don't waste time."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end