Chapter 484: Purple Crystal Gleam, Heavenly Palace Trembles

The Danqing Clan elder, busy painting, felt his heart sink when he noticed Xu Qing hadn't seized the opportunity to escape. "This boy is too cautious," he thought, letting out a cold snort in his mind. "I'll have to use another plan!" He then continued painting.

Meanwhile, inside Xu Qing, the Golden Crow's feedback energy surged rapidly towards his Tenth Heavenly Palace. Amidst the roaring echoes in his sea of consciousness, the Tenth Heavenly Palace quickly began to materialize.

"After activating five life fires during Foundation Establishment, the limit for Heavenly Palaces is eight, not counting the blessings of life lamps," Xu Qing mused. "However, I have ten Heavenly Palaces, three of which are formed by life lamps. The current one I'm working on is the seventh palace within the eight-palace life fire limit." He thought, "Once this palace takes shape, I'll be only one palace away from Golden Core Grand Completion!" As Xu Qing's thoughts raced and the Golden Crow's feedback continued to surge, time passed. By the time the Danqing elder had painted seventy percent of the divine spirit's body, and the sun relic had severely withered, Xu Qing's Tenth Heavenly Palace had also largely materialized.

"Almost there," Xu Qing thought, a sense of anticipation rising within him. He was eager to see what changes would occur when he placed the purple crystal into this Tenth Heavenly Palace. He kept an eye on the Danqing Clan elder, looking for an opportunity to escape, while simultaneously accelerating the materialization of his Heavenly Palace.

Soon, his Tenth Heavenly Palace reached ninety percent materialization. Dozens of breaths later, as the Danqing Clan elder's divine spirit body was only a head short of completion, Xu Qing's Tenth Heavenly Palace within him finally reached ninety-nine percent materialization, accompanied by earth-shattering roars in his sea of consciousness.

"The purple crystal!" Without a moment's hesitation, Xu Qing raised his right hand, which rapidly turned translucent and spectral. He plunged it deep into his chest, enduring intense discomfort and sharp pain, and firmly grasped the purple crystal within. Instead of pulling it out, he pushed it inward, guiding it towards his sea of consciousness. "Integrate!" Xu Qing's anticipation at that moment was incredibly intense.

However, just as the purple crystal neared his sea of consciousness, before it could fully enter, a powerful repulsion suddenly erupted directly from within Xu Qing's sea of consciousness. This repulsion didn't come from just one palace, but from all of Xu Qing's Heavenly Palaces simultaneously. In that instant, they instinctively emitted violent fluctuations. Xu Qing froze.

Concurrently, as the Heavenly Palaces in his sea of consciousness repelled it, the purple crystal seemed provoked, as if its majesty had been challenged. A single wisp of unparalleled, supreme power, far surpassing divine might, instinctively emanated from within the purple crystal. This wisp contained ultimate dominance; it was immeasurably vast and supreme, as if it could suppress the world and everything within it. It swept through, roaring across Xu Qing's entire sea of consciousness, causing an endless tremor throughout his body.

In that instant, the purple crystal seemed to transform into an earth-shattering primeval divine mountain, radiating an endless, ancient aura. Compared to it, Xu Qing's sea of consciousness was like a tiny pouch. It was simply impossible for a pouch to contain such a colossal object.

Xu Qing's sea of consciousness violently swayed and shook. Cracks appeared with cracking sounds, and his ten Heavenly Palaces trembled fiercely at that moment. The Heavenly Palaces formed by the three life lamps – be it the Black Umbrella Lamp, the Seven-Colored Wind Chant Lamp, or the Nether Spirit Bloodwing Lamp – all showed signs of their seemingly eternal, unextinguishable supreme fires flickering and threatening to go out. It was as if even these lamps, born from the bloodline of ancient emperors and rulers, were unable to withstand even this mere wisp of suppressive power emanating from the purple crystal. They even showed signs of fracturing and collapsing.

This development utterly blindsided Xu Qing; his expression changed drastically as never before. Then, to his horror, he discovered that even the Heavenly Palace containing the Poison Ban Pill was displaying an unbelievable phenomenon. The Poison Ban Pill, infused with the divine curse power from the God Realm, violently contracted before it could even dissipate, visibly blurring as if it were about to be erased. It became extremely unstable in its unwilling struggle, appearing as though it could be stimulated to shatter and explode at any moment. Furthermore, the Purple Moon Heavenly Palace, embodying the Crimson Mother's origin, now trembled constantly within its palace, like a small girl shivering in a cold wind before a villain. It was as if facing a formidable enemy, and even showed signs of fragmentation. Such a situation had never occurred before!

"This..." Xu Qing's breath quickened, his mind in immense turmoil. He had never imagined such an outcome. What's more, he noticed that the Canglong Heavenly Dao Palace and the Ghost Emperor Mountain's Suppressive Hall were also violently trembling. The emotions emanating from Canglong even conveyed unparalleled terror, as if it had witnessed a terrifying entity that could make its spirit collapse. And the shadow of Ghost Emperor Mountain actually bowed its head slowly towards the purple crystal, showing submission. Even the Golden Crow, now a third-tier Dao Infant, was extremely nervous, emitting whimpering sounds.

All of this made Xu Qing's heart churn like a tumultuous sea under a raging storm, with towering waves and flashing lightning. He knew his purple crystal was extraordinary; after all, it had even bound the Shadow. But he had never anticipated it would be terrifying to such an incredible, astonishing degree. He had only slightly brought the purple crystal closer to his sea of consciousness, not yet truly placing it inside. Yet, the Heavenly Palaces within his sea of consciousness reacted with such a harrowing, drastic change, as if a little girl had encountered a bully, clearly indicating they absolutely did not want the purple crystal to approach. They had merely instinctively emitted a slight repulsion due to the stimulation, which had astonishingly provoked the purple crystal's domineering suppression.

It was clear that if Xu Qing had insisted on moving the purple crystal closer to his sea of consciousness, his sea of consciousness would have instantly shattered upon its entry, and all the Heavenly Palaces within would have collapsed in an instant. Xu Qing's hands trembled. He felt as though he wasn't holding a purple crystal, but a world-ending thunderbolt. Without hesitation, he gently moved it away from his sea of consciousness and carefully placed it back into the flesh of his chest. As the purple crystal moved away, his sea of consciousness finally ceased trembling and returned to normal.

"What exactly is this?!" Xu Qing's forehead and entire body were covered in sweat. He realized his understanding of the purple crystal was far too limited. However, he knew this wasn't the time for such thoughts, so he forcibly suppressed the lingering fear in his heart.

"If the purple crystal can't be accommodated..." Xu Qing's eyes sharpened with resolve. He retrieved the bamboo slips he had taken from the Penal Department, which contained the power of the Cell 132 guardian and the divine spirit's finger. These numerous fractured bamboo slips recorded Xu Qing's perceptions after each awakening; they were artifacts he had created himself with the aid of Cell 132. Infused with the distinct powers of memory and oblivion, Xu Qing took them out and sent them into his sea of consciousness, directly into the Tenth Heavenly Palace.

The moment they entered, all the bamboo slip fragments pulverized into dust with a roar, then reassembled within the Tenth Heavenly Palace, ultimately forming a single bamboo slip that glowed with a bloody radiance. The bamboo slip was densely inscribed with Xu Qing's handwriting. These characters would sometimes blur, then sharpen, sometimes vanish completely, only to reappear in full, creating an utterly bizarre effect. Simultaneously, a dense blood-red light emanated from the slip, bathing the Tenth Heavenly Palace in a crimson glow.

The Tenth Heavenly Palace itself transformed, astonishingly taking on the appearance of Cell 132! The blood-red light radiating from it was identical to the light emanating from the divine spirit's finger. Upon closer inspection, however, subtle white threads were discernible within the blood-red light, interweaving and merging. The bamboo slip, floating within the Heavenly Palace now shaped like Cell 132, exuded an aura of boundless malevolence under this red and white illumination.

The moment it fully formed, Xu Qing's cultivation soared dramatically. One could even say that at this point, Xu Qing had essentially reached the pinnacle of the Heavenly Palace Golden Core realm. Individuals like him, throughout the history of the Wanggu Continent, were not entirely nonexistent, but they were undoubtedly as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns. His Heavenly Palaces now contained the Poison Ban Divine Curse, the Purple Moon Divine Origin, and the Divine Power of Misfortune. These three alone were enough to awe all directions, not to mention the Canglong Heavenly Dao, the shadow of Ghost Emperor Mountain, and the morning light formed by the fallen sun.

Therefore, such a Golden Core could not be simply regarded as a typical Golden Core. If Xu Qing were to encounter Chu Tianqun again at this moment, he could suppress him in an extremely short time. In fact, if he wished, he could attempt to break through to a higher realm right now, advancing from Heavenly Palace Golden Core to the Heavenly Mandate Dao Infant realm, which is equivalent to Nascent Soul. However, Xu Qing had not yet reached his personal limit. The eight-palace limit formed by his five fires still had one last palace to be completed.

At this thought, Xu Qing took a deep breath, his eyes suddenly gleaming with a sharp light as he looked at the Danqing Clan elder.

At this moment, the body the Danqing Clan elder was painting for the divine spirit had largely taken shape, though its right hand was missing a pinky finger. Furthermore, the head's outline was mostly complete, lacking only a face. As Xu Qing watched the Danqing Clan elder, the elder met his gaze. After giving Xu Qing a strange smile, he raised his brush-wielding right hand and swiftly sketched the face of the body. It was Xu Qing's face!

As the chill in Xu Qing's eyes deepened, the Danqing Clan elder swiftly dotted the eyes of the painted body. Instantly, the massive figure he had drawn began to emit intense waves of revival.

"Great Divine Spirit, this is the body I have painted for you, completely finished!" With his final stroke, the Danqing Clan elder instantly retreated, his speed explosively increasing as he desperately fled. The divine spirit's finger pulsed with fervent ecstasy, rushing towards the body and rapidly merging with it. The surrounding restrictions also violently shook, loosening their grip.

Xu Qing moved at that very instant. With a mighty roar, his body shot out of the withered sun relic. He sprinted at full speed in another direction, fully exploiting the loosened restrictions to burst through and escape. The Danqing Clan elder did the same. As the two rapidly fled, the Head and the Stone Lion also sped out. The divine spirit's finger, however, had no time to spare for them. It was wholly focused on merging into the body, gradually shrinking as it did so. Countless fleshy tendrils sprouted from its finger, forming innumerable filaments that rapidly burrowed into the body.

Under its efforts, the body's eyelids began to twitch, as if about to open. The surrounding distortion and blur intensified. As a roaring storm raged, the very last fleshy filament burrowed into the body painted by the Danqing Clan. Finally, its eyelids slowly opened.

However, the instant the body's eyes opened, cracks suddenly appeared on its surface, rapidly spreading until they covered its entire form. With an earth-shattering roar that echoed through the sky, the body actually splintered into pieces and exploded! A massive wave of energy swept outwards. A shrill roar, filled with madness and fury, emanated from the rising dust, spreading without limit. Wherever it passed, the Head and the Stone Lion exploded with a bang.

The Danqing Clan elder in the distance was also blurred by the impact, his form showing signs of dissipating. Yet, instead of fear, his expression showed regret as he muttered to himself. "Still unable to control the divine spirit, what a pity for such a good opportunity," he sighed inwardly. "Ah well, escaping is more important now." Yet, a fervent shout erupted from his mouth:

"Great Divine Spirit, don't panic! I haven't prepared just one body for you, but two! One is drawn, and one is real, so they are identical. You can try the other one!"