Chapter 902: This Is a Truly Major Event

At once, countless gazes and divine senses fell upon the Three Deities, specifically on the cultivator who, with the power of a half-step Dominator at peak, blocked the black hand.

This cultivator's appearance was crucial, occurring precisely at the moment the Three Deities were on the verge of success. One could even say that without this cultivator, the Three Deities, having exhausted all their reserves, would likely have failed this time, achieving nothing but a mirage. Even if they had some hidden methods left, things would probably have gone awry, and it would have been impossible for all three Deities to achieve their desires. One or two of them would definitely have had to give up this grand opportunity.

And clearly, the appearance of this mysterious cultivator was also part of the Three Deities' preparations. But for a cultivator to come and assist deities here was quite intriguing. If it were a low-level cultivator, it would be understandable, but at this level, such an intervention must have very profound reasons and karmic implications. Thus, this cultivator's identity was, at this moment, extremely mysterious to all factions, groups, and deities. Especially the robe on their body possessed formidable power, blocking all attempts at scrutiny and preventing any party from discerning clues. Therefore, in the minds of all parties, they could only explain this by attributing it to an "ancient cultivator."

And the appearance of this cultivator finally bought the Three Deities the last precious moments. The next moment, the aura of the Three Deities surged greatly, their respective Tribulation Fires rapidly ascending towards the Flawless stage.

At the same time, within the Divine Realm vortex, Xu Qing's Dao Mark, having been brewing until now, finally reached the point of being etched. This etching required contemplation of one's own Dao; it couldn't simply be drawn. This was also why Xu Qing, after the Divine Ruin-earth formed, took some more time before finally making his move. He needed to clarify his own path to understand his own marks, and only then could he truly forge his own way. But to truly form and etch them, he still needed the impetus of the Divine Realm's Ascension power. Using the power of the Divine Realm's ascension into a Divine World to shape his own Ruin-earth and etch his own marks was the natural course of action.

Xu Qing clearly understood that for normal cultivators, the first stage of the Returning to Ruins realm was called "Shattering Void Thousand Daos." After a cultivator breaks through the Spirit Repository and enters the Returning to Ruins realm, all the cultivation techniques they once practiced and the Daos they engaged with would rapidly materialize at this time, transforming into Dao Marks that remained on the Ruin-earth. Outwardly, this manifested as streaks of Dao Mark meteors in their eyes. All first-stage Returning to Ruins cultivators he had seen before were like this, with no exceptions. As for breaking through from the first stage of Returning to Ruins, it required a thousand Dao laws; only then could one reach completion. This was the origin of the four characters "Shattering Void Thousand Daos."

All of this surfaced in Xu Qing's mind; his heart was clear, and his eyes were calm. He understood that this path of cultivation was his own Dao, yet also not entirely his own. To say that the normal Returning to Ruins path was his own Dao was because his first mark, at Xu Qing's thought, was forming on the Ruin-earth (transformed from his sea of consciousness). Sounds of creation echoed at this moment, and a long mark appeared within it. This mark was formed from the Witch Dao, Emperor Dao, and all cultivation techniques Xu Qing had practiced; all traces could be found within it, primarily featuring the Heretical Immortal stream. It continuously etched and spread, eventually encircling the entire boundary of the Ruin-earth, connecting end to end to form a huge and astonishing ring. This was Xu Qing's first Dao Mark, also his Life-Bound stage mark. The moment it formed, it blurred the boundaries; it was a Heretical Immortal mark.

And to say that the normal Returning to Ruins path was not Xu Qing's Dao was because this mark of Xu Qing's had already gathered everything. Moreover, he had not considered letting his second Dao Mark follow the path of normal cultivators' laws. What he wanted to walk was the Divine Authority.

In an instant, the Ruin-earth rumbled, purple light shimmered within, dazzling and blinding. The next moment, all the purple light buried itself into the Ruin-earth, surprisingly forming a moon mark, emitting terrifying fluctuations. That was the Purple Moon, Xu Qing's Divine Authority, his Purple Moon Divine Authority Mark.

"Next..." Xu Qing murmured, and without hesitation, his sea of consciousness and Ruin-earth churned once more.

After the Purple Moon, the Poison Ban erupted within the Ruin-earth, forming poisonous mist across the sky that enveloped all directions and unleashed terrifying power. Finally, all the poisonous mist converged, buried itself into the Ruin-earth, and transformed into a hideous face. That was Xu Qing's third mark, the Divine Ancestor Divine Authority Mark. Next, the power of Misfortune spread further, leaving traces on the Ruin-earth and fusing with the decomposed divine finger here, forming Xu Qing's fourth mark, transforming into the Misfortune Divine Authority Mark.

The first mark was Life-Bound; the latter three were Divine Authority. From ancient times until now, no cultivator on the Wanggu Continent had been able to form Divine Authority within their own Ruin-earth. This was because their Ruin-earth could not withstand it, and the Daos they formed could not support it. But from now on, Xu Qing was an exception.

The moment the four divine marks appeared, Xu Qing's eyes suddenly opened, revealing four divine marks like streaks of meteors, erupting with earth-shattering power. Although there were only four, they were by no means comparable to ordinary Returning to Ruins Dao Marks. Xu Qing's mind stirred, and the next moment, the four divine marks within the Ruin-earth roared, with a vast amount of soul threads bursting forth from them. These soul threads were boundless on the Ruin-earth, astonishingly vast, and the aura they emitted was incredibly terrifying.

Although Xu Qing had some psychological preparation, he was still moved. "One divine mark can transform into tens of millions of soul threads." he thought. "My previous soul threads were only a few million, and the further I went, the harder it was to form them, seemingly reaching a limit. But now that limit has been broken."

Xu Qing's breathing quickened; he could feel himself at this moment, powerful beyond anything he had experienced before. Because soul threads could transform into all things, his divine sense, his physical body, his spells, and everything else were all rising comprehensively. "In this way, my divine state... will no longer be limited!"

A sharp light appeared in Xu Qing's eyes, and his heart grew even more fervent. Just as he was about to continue gazing at his own Ruin-earth, a sudden sense of hunger erupted within him. Xu Qing's body trembled as this feeling instantly intensified, as if his body had become empty, and a sense of madness followed. His eyes involuntarily became bloodshot, his breathing grew even more rapid, and he instinctively looked around. He wanted to devour divine essence, he wanted to devour deities, he wanted to devour everything.

If a normal Returning to Ruins cultivator were to meet his gaze at this moment, their mind would surely hum, their cultivation would become unstable, and they would be filled with extreme terror. Not to mention fighting him. Even a Grand Perfection Returning to Ruins cultivator would be immensely shocked when facing Xu Qing now. Take Yan Xuanzi, for example; with his previous formidable combat power, even if Xu Qing and the Captain joined forces, they would have found it difficult to fight him for long. But if they were to meet again now, Xu Qing would directly devour him, even if the opponent had achieved the Incipient God stage.

And the source of this hunger was the Ruin-earth within his body. That Divine Ruin-earth, which filled his sea of consciousness, was now writhing and churning, exuding an indescribable craving. Hunger. Hunger. This feeling grew stronger and stronger. Fortunately, Xu Qing had experienced hunger too many times when he was young; that feeling of wanting to devour anything he saw, even being so hungry he wanted to eat dirt, was not unfamiliar to him. It was precisely his childhood experiences that allowed Xu Qing to barely suppress the feeling of hunger within him at this moment.

After a while, he took a deep breath, forcing himself to adapt to this hunger. It was precisely the arrival of this hunger that made Xu Qing more clearly recognize his own path. "My Divine Ruin consumes deities as food, is nurtured by divine essence, and marks itself with divine authority. How much divine authority will it specifically require in the future..." Xu Qing didn't know. But the hunger within him made him understand that this must be a path... of deity slaughter.

"This is my Dao." Xu Qing's voice was hoarse, revealing a killing intent.

And the benefits brought by the Divine Realm's ascension were naturally not limited to these. At this moment, on Xu Qing's churning Ruin-earth, a divine talisman containing terrifying ascension power was forming. That was the part of the Divine Realm's ascension power that Xu Qing had not assimilated, gathered together. It was just like the divine talisman formed after the Grand Divine Authority's death; although not as dazzling as that one, for the deities of the Wanggu Continent, this was also a supreme treasure. As long as one's cultivation reached the required level, merging with this object would grant the opportunity, just like the Three Deities, to cross the Tribulation Fire and enter the Flawless stage.

Xu Qing took a deep breath, his divine sense falling upon the divine talisman. As he observed it, the Captain's voice suddenly came from his mind.

"Little Ah Qing, are you hungry?"

"There's good food, want some?"

Xu Qing suddenly looked up. The hunger he had barely suppressed now showed signs of erupting again with the Captain's words. He was indeed hungry, incredibly hungry!

"Heh heh," the Captain said, "You're looking more and more like me now. This kind of hunger... I've experienced it!"

"Little Junior Brother, don't worry, your Senior Brother will take you to a feast."

As the Captain said this, he seemed to swallow.

"Do you remember me telling you before that we were going to pull off something super big?"

"Entering the Divine Realm, gaining Divine Realm authority, and thus seizing and dividing the Divine Realm's ascension power from the jaws of danger—these are all big matters, but they can't be called 'super'."

"Do you know why I borrowed luck to refine the wordless tablet and the feather before? And even before that, why I used the ascension power to further refine the wordless tablet and the feather, while also adding a large amount of Crimson Mother's flesh and blood?"

"All of this was for the super big matter."

"The wordless tablet is for concealment, the feather is for escape."

The Captain paused. Xu Qing's breathing quickened; he vaguely guessed the answer in his heart, but this answer was too insane!

"Little Ah Qing, this time, our plan... is the greatest treasure of Wanggu."

"Which is... that son of a bitch's remnant divine face."

As he said this, even with the Captain's usual level of madness, his breathing grew heavy, showing that even he was somewhat nervous now.

"Let me tell you, I observed in my previous lives that around the wound of that half-face remnant divine face, there was separated flesh and blood, as well as fine hairs and many broken strands of hair... So this time, our target is the blood, flesh, fine hairs, and broken hair of the remnant divine face."

"That's the flesh and blood of a half-step deity! That's no longer mere flesh and blood; that's the supreme treasure among supreme treasures. It contains his origin, it must be delicious!"

"This is what I told you, the super big matter."

"Everything before was just an appetizer. Those little sparrows outside? I look down on them from the bottom of my heart. One step into the Flawless stage? That's nothing."

"What I want is the flesh of a deity."

"Little Junior Brother, are you in?"

Listening to the Captain's wild boasts, Xu Qing's heart was already turbulent with waves, but compared to this madness, his hunger at this moment grew even more intense.

"Let's do it." Xu Qing gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.