Chapter 458: Divine Power, Infinite Resurrection

After a brief moment of surprise, Xu Qing's expression immediately darkened. Something was amiss. The reason he had just attacked with full force was the incredibly intense premonition from the Canglong Heavenly Dao, which had shaken him to his core. Given such a powerful premonition, Xu Qing didn't believe the life-or-death crisis he faced would be resolved so easily.

He suddenly raised his right hand, and with a mere thought, the surrounding poison surged towards Chu Tianqun's corpse. The moment it enveloped the head and body, Chu Tianqun's corpse visibly decayed.

Within ten breaths, it had completely dissolved into black liquid, seeping into the sand.

Yet, the sky's confinement remained.

The sense of unease had not dissipated.

Xu Qing's expression was grim. His body blurred as he shot skyward, attacking with all his might to hasten his departure. But just as he attacked, a powerful sense of crisis suddenly erupted within him.

Xu Qing abruptly turned his head to look at the ground.

In the area where Chu Tianqun had died, a golden light now erupted. This golden light twisted the void, altered the laws, and seemed to affect space-time, giving rise to an incredible phenomenon.

Time there was actually flowing backward!

Xu Qing watched with his own eyes as the black liquid, once Chu Tianqun's decomposed remains, rose from the sand, coalesced, and reformed into Chu Tianqun's body, his head then snapping back into place.

The next instant, all injuries on the body vanished. His eyes snapped open at that very moment, fixing on Xu Qing, who floated grim-faced in mid-air.

"I underestimated you," the resurrected Chu Tianqun said hoarsely, his eyes glowing with golden light.

"I didn't expect you to possess divine power."

Chu Tianqun shook his body, and as he stepped forward, his cultivation exploded within him. This time, it was no longer early Nascent Soul; it had surged significantly, directly reaching the mid-Nascent Soul stage.

Although this was an increase of only two minor stages, Xu Qing knew well that after Foundation Establishment, each minor stage was akin to a major realm. The disparity between them was immense; a difference of two stages could even mean instant death.

A powerful sense of crisis rose in Xu Qing's mind, and he became extremely wary of this resurrection ability.

This was no ordinary spell or divine ability, nor was it a life-substituting artifact. To Xu Qing, it felt as if divine power was at play!

"As a divine trial body, I am different from the other test subjects, and even more so from Yun'er," Chu Tianqun stated calmly.

"My divine power is resurrection—infinite resurrection."

Chu Tianqun gazed at Xu Qing. In truth, had it not been for the large bird, Qing Qin, inexplicably inflicting heavy injuries on him months ago, his cultivation would have been infinitely close to the Nascent Soul peak.

That large bird, Qing Qin, was an ancient, unique species, possessing profound divinity and belonging to an extremely high-tier divine creature. While its innate divine light couldn't interrupt Chu Tianqun's divine resurrection, the resulting injuries and diminished cultivation still affected him even after revival.

Recovery was extremely slow, and the effects were exacerbated when his cultivation was actively used.

Therefore, he usually only displayed early-stage Nascent Soul cultivation.

As he looked at Xu Qing, Chu Tianqun narrowed his eyes, a faint, ominous glow appearing within them.

"I've told you this much; what is your divine power?"

Xu Qing remained silent, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes. In his shadow-fused state, his ultimate physical power erupted once more, sending him rocketing toward Chu Tianqun at incredible speed.

He closed the distance in an instant.

However, Chu Tianqun's speed at this moment was far greater than before. With a single step, he covered a hundred zhang. His expression calm, he raised his right hand, pressed it toward the ground, and spoke indifferently.

"The sword technique Yun'er once displayed was incomplete due to his cultivation. Since there's enough time, I'll show you the Lingyun Sword Sect's secret art: the Twelve Swords of Heaven and Earth!"

As his words echoed, Chu Tianqun's right hand, which had been pressed against the sand, abruptly lifted with an upward flick. The desert ground within a radius of several thousand zhang immediately rumbled, as if massive earth dragons were churning beneath, turning the land into a surging sea of waves.

Furthermore, amidst this undulation, a colossal amount of sand surged skyward, densely packed and with an earth-shattering aura. It blotted out the heavens, preventing the twilight sun from piercing through and casting vast shadows across the land.

Then, massive swords rapidly coalesced around Chu Tianqun.

There were twelve in total.

Each massive sword was a thousand zhang in size, radiating terrifying power. It caused the void to tremble and the surroundings to shatter, with earth-shattering sword qi erupting from within. A murderous aura swept across the heavens and earth, making the scorching desert feel chilling in that instant.

They suddenly swung down towards Xu Qing.

Xu Qing's breathing quickened slightly. These twelve swords felt far more powerful than the sword techniques Saint Yunzi had displayed previously. It wasn't just their might; their very essence was different.

He had no time to think. His body swayed, about to dodge, but the twelve massive swords howled, arriving from different directions, blocking all escape routes, and instantly struck him.

Xu Qing's body shuddered, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. The canopy above his head glowed, fending off attacks from all sides, while the Wuji Crown also manifested. Furthermore, boosted by the Nether Blood Wings, a pair of wings unfurled from his back.

With each beat of the wings, Xu Qing's speed in this ultimate physical state was further amplified, as if he could tear through the void and teleport.

He dodged instantly, then unleashed a punch that struck one of the massive swords.

His physical strength, surpassing that of ten Heavenly Palaces and capable of destroying heaven and earth, burst forth. Even these formidable secret swords, manifested by a Nascent Soul cultivator, cracked under Xu Qing's punch.

Such peak physical prowess was indeed rare in the current era.

Chu Tianqun's eyes gleamed with surprise as he raised his right hand and pointed.

"Wind!"

The next instant, before Xu Qing could shatter the twelve massive swords one by one, the swords immediately disintegrated, transforming into countless grains of sand that swirled around Xu Qing, forming a towering storm.

From a distance, the storm itself resembled a colossal sword.

Its astonishing rotational speed created a crushing force, continuously contracting around Xu Qing. Tiny wounds rapidly appeared across Xu Qing's body, as if he were being flayed by countless sharp blades.

Faced with the crisis, Xu Qing's body abruptly leaped skyward. His wings rapidly beating behind him, he used this astonishing speed to burst through to the edge of the storm.

Below him, countless grains of sand pursued, covering the sky, but they gradually lost speed.

Chu Tianqun frowned slightly, abruptly waved his right hand, and chanted.

"Refine!"

The moment he spoke, the sand particles changed shape again, each vibrating and shooting outwards, covering an area spanning thousands of zhang. Once again enveloping Xu Qing, they suddenly contracted, astonishingly forming a massive gourd-shaped sword!

Xu Qing's body was trapped inside the gourd.

The power of refinement exploded within, with wind and fire swirling, obscuring Xu Qing's figure. As it did, the shriek of a Golden Crow echoed from within the gourd, reverberating through the nine heavens.

Immediately afterward, the Golden Crow manifested and continuously expanded: a hundred zhang, five hundred zhang, a thousand zhang, three thousand zhang, finally reaching five thousand zhang.

As it blotted out the sky, the gourd itself was forced open with a roar. As the Golden Crow soared skyward, Xu Qing, who had dissolved his shadow fusion, appeared on its back.

He was covered in blood, yet his eyes blazed with intense murderous intent and ferocious power, making him resemble an unparalleled beast. With a flash, the Golden Crow roared, conjuring a sea of flames thousands of zhang wide. It surged from the sky to the ground, from above to below, heading directly for Chu Tianqun.

Simultaneously, the power of poison prohibition erupted, roaring in from all directions. As the dense anomalous substance permeated the area, his shadow re-emerged, accompanied by the black iron skewer of the Vajra Sect Patriarch.

Moreover, the Emperor Sword was spat from the Golden Crow's mouth, flying directly towards Chu Tianqun.

A thunderous roar, like heavenly lightning, erupted throughout the entire area.

The ground trembled, and the sky changed color. Amidst this, a golden light appeared around Chu Tianqun. It violently spread outwards, forming a protective shield around Chu Tianqun.

Xu Qing's body shuddered, and he spat out blood, stumbling backward.

The Golden Crow let out a wail, and the Vajra Sect Patriarch's form nearly disintegrated. The shadow also significantly dimmed, and the Emperor Sword likewise lost its luster. However, the shield formed by the golden light also fluctuated violently, and dense cracks appeared with a cracking sound.

The power of poison prohibition enveloped everything, swiftly seeping through the cracks under Xu Qing's control. In the blink of an eye, the golden shield's interior became turbid. Chu Tianqun frowned, and his body began to decay once more.

Even with his divine nature and divine power, he evidently couldn't escape the effects of the poison. It was inevitable!

"This divine curse—you planted it on Yun'er, didn't you? I just experienced it firsthand; it contains immense terror!"

"But unfortunately, you don't seem to have perfectly mastered it; you've only utilized its superficial power. Thus, the methods I prepared beforehand can resist it!" Chu Tianqun cast a deep glance at Xu Qing. The moment the golden light shattered, he formed a hand seal with one hand, two fingers pointing upward, and two words escaped his lips.

"Calamity!"

Immediately, the air above him blurred, and nine vortices appeared. As they rumbled and rotated, black coffins became visible within.

There were nine in total, and with a thunderous crash, they plummeted from mid-air, striking the ground.

They shattered, and nine corpses emerged from within. These nine corpses were horribly mangled and bloody all over.

Each corpse had died differently: some drowned, some burned, some had their vital organs ruptured by disembowelment, some bled dry, and some had their blood vessels burst across their entire bodies.

Each was wretched, appearing to have endured endless torture before death. And upon closer inspection of their faces, it was clear that they all bore Chu Tianqun's likeness.

Simultaneously, countless souls teemed on these nine mangled corpses.

Their sheer number was horrifying to behold.

These souls either wept or wailed, their agonizing cries echoing in all directions.

They comprised men, women, elderly, and young alike.

These were the nine Calamity Corpses, formed by Chu Tianqun after he annihilated nine small human nations and refined all their inhabitants.

The moment these nine corpses appeared, they collectively turned their heads and inhaled towards Chu Tianqun. The poison prohibition integrated into Chu Tianqun's body unexpectedly reversed, being absorbed and shared by them.

"Using the boundless blood and flesh of your kin to forge these bodies, and gathering countless souls of your kin into their heads, then, combined with my nine corpses, consecrated by divine prayer, they form a calamity capable of dispersing external divine curses."

"Xu Qing, you will never truly know the extent of the preparations I made to kill you."

Chu Tianqun, standing amidst the nine corpses, gazed at Xu Qing. After speaking calmly, he formed a hand seal with his right hand, two fingers pointing up, and another with his left hand, two fingers pointing down, then pushed towards Xu Qing.

"Go!"

The nine Calamity Corpses around him suddenly turned their heads, fixed their gazes firmly on Xu Qing, and lunged forward, transforming into nine afterimages that sped directly towards him!