Chapter 909: Xu Qing's Path

The divine mountain glittered with golden light, yet no divine decree was issued.

The three authorities exchanged meaningful glances but remained silent.

As for the surrounding Flame Moon clansmen, their affiliated tribes, and the countless spectators, each was invigorated and filled with anticipation. While there was some surprise, it was clearly not significant.

It seemed that Yan Xuanzi's challenge to the Grand Mystic Heaven came as no great surprise.

This was related to the tribal customs of the Flame Moon Mystic Heaven Clan.

Over countless years, due to the relatively small population of the Flame Moon clan itself and their desire to maintain their powerful combat strength, this clan had tacitly allowed a certain degree of conflict. Even the superficial purpose of the hunt was for this reason.

Through a method akin to raising Gu, they cultivated the clan's warlike spirit, and simultaneously, through this cruel process of survival of the fittest, selected stronger individuals.

Therefore, at each hunt, after the title of Grand Mystic Heaven was decided, challenges from all parties were tacitly allowed, but only on that day.

This was within the rules.

Throughout the history of the Flame Moon Mystic Heaven Clan, challengers to the Mystic Heaven, though rare, had appeared.

Thus, no one found Yan Xuanzi's challenge strange.

Especially since Yan Xuanzi had first acknowledged Xu Qing's identity as Grand Mystic Heaven, his actions were not seen as disrupting the ceremony or questioning the fairness of the selection.

He was simply challenging according to the allowed rules.

However, challenging after the Grand Mystic Heaven had already been chosen was a first in history.

After all, the glory of the Grand Mystic Heaven far surpassed that of the Mystic Heaven.

Yet, given the Grand Mystic Heaven's extraordinary status, such a challenge could be refused outright based on that position.

However, their reputation would be somewhat tarnished, and the glory of the Grand Mystic Heaven would be slightly dimmed.

Furthermore, challenging the Grand Mystic Heaven naturally came at a cost: if the challenger lost, they had to offer soul blood intrinsically linked to their life.

This soul blood was not for controlling life and death, but for use as a substitute life during a critical moment.

However, if the Grand Mystic Heaven lost, no price needed to be paid.

While seemingly unfair, one challenging a superior should naturally have such an understanding.

Thus, as Yan Xuanzi's words echoed, all eyes immediately converged on Xu Qing, awaiting his decision.

Xu Qing remained silent, simply gazing calmly at Yan Xuanzi. He naturally saw that although a massive and astonishing great world burned within Yan Xuanzi's right shoulder, it was not at the Divine Incubation stage!

Void Return, second stage.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes.

If Yan Xuanzi had already reached Divine Incubation and displayed such an aura, Xu Qing would not have paid much attention; his opponent would be nothing more than that.

But to form a great world akin to one at the Divine Incubation stage without having reached Divine Incubation himself, that was different.

This was somewhat inconsistent with Xu Qing's previous judgment.

In his initial assessment, the opponent's purpose in gathering that unprecedented great world within the Divine Realm's tomb should have been to leap directly past the Void Return stage and enter Divine Incubation.

Yet at this moment, Xu Qing had to admit that he had underestimated Yan Xuanzi's daring.

This person had actually used this great world, capable of entering the Divine Incubation stage, as the Void Earth foundation for gathering his own laws and shaping myriad transformations from void to reality!

This way, as he progressed step by step, when he truly reached the Great Perfection of Void Return and broke through to become a Divine Incubation cultivator, his terrifying power, while not necessarily unique, would be enough to shock all contemporaries in Wanggu.

Truly worthy of being the Flame Moon's greatest contemporary prodigy!

Xu Qing murmured to himself, and a fighting spirit gradually emerged in his eyes.

Such an opponent made him feel serious, and also, rarely, sparked a desire for competition.

Whether the challenge was accepted or not no longer required verbal expression; the light in Xu Qing's eyes already showed the answer.

Seeing Xu Qing's fighting spirit rise, Yan Xuanzi's own fighting spirit intensified, his aura growing stronger, and the white flame on his right shoulder erupted as he spoke in a deep voice.

"Xu Qing, I am at Void Return second stage, and you are at Void Return first stage. Even if your Void Return is extraordinary, my Void Return also possesses the creations of heaven and earth, and as a Flame Moon Mystic Heaven clansman, my physical body surpasses that of your human race."

"Therefore, for this battle, I will bind my left hand!"

Yan Xuanzi spoke indifferently, placing his left hand behind his back, indicating he would not use his left arm at all in this battle.

Although his action seemed somewhat foolish, it was precisely the mindset of a strong individual.

It was not to concede to Xu Qing, but to uphold his own dignity.

Even if he lost because of it, he would only have lost the battle, not his conviction.

From childhood, he had fought countless battles, facing life and death multiple times. The name Yan Xuanzi was one he had earned by suppressing his contemporary kin and prodigies from all directions, step by step, making him undeniably worthy of it.

Therefore, his heart had always been steadfast. He knew that the path of cultivation was to contend with myriad beings and struggle against the heavens. Xu Qing's actions in the Divine Realm had left a profound impression on his mind, and he had to break through this mental barrier.

If he won, he could break through, and his path of being unrivaled in his generation would continue.

If he lost, this thought would transform into the motivation for him to pursue further.

But if he did not fight, his mind would not be at peace.

Having spoken, Yan Xuanzi raised his right foot and took a step towards Xu Qing.

The moment his foot landed, heaven and earth rumbled.

The white flame on his right shoulder surged, spreading across the heavens and earth, sweeping outwards with a thunderous roar in all directions.

Its speed was astonishing, covering a hundred miles in a blink, and a thousand miles in an instant.

A thousand-mile sea of fire, with world-shocking heat, altered the very color of the sky and earth. Concurrently, the great world within the flames grew even more vast, though it was clearly still in a miniature state.

A thousand miles was merely how this world appeared after being shrunk to a certain extent. This scene left most observers horrified and gasping in disbelief.

"This world..."

"Such a vast world, yet it's not Divine Incubation, only Void Return. How did he achieve this!"

"This truly is the Flame Moon Mystic Heaven Clan's top prodigy."

The true vastness of this world had been seen by almost no one here, but Xu Qing had personally witnessed its formation and naturally understood that it was a peerless great world, surpassing all of antiquity and modernity.

"Before my journey to the Divine Realm, I was at Void Return first stage, and this world was also in its nascent form. At that time, I could contend with a Divine Incubation realm cultivator, with a fifty-fifty chance of survival."

"Now, a Divine Incubation realm cultivator can be easily suppressed before me. Even ordinary cultivators at the second Divine Incubation realm are mostly inferior to me. Even against a peak second-realm cultivator, I possess the strength to fight."

"This world, I name it the Yan Xuan Realm."

"If you can withstand this, then we can discuss divine abilities further!"

Yan Xuanzi stood atop his world, his voice like thunder, and raised his hand, pressing it towards Xu Qing.

The great world within the thousand-mile sea of fire below him rumbled at this moment, radiating terrifying power and pressing down heavily towards Xu Qing.

Under this suppression, most cultivators below the Divine Incubation stage became unstable, their minds shaken, and their souls dimmed, losing all power to resist.

The momentum was magnificent.

Faced with the suppression of such an astonishing world, Xu Qing's eyes gleamed. He did not retreat in the slightest, understanding that this was his first battle after stepping into the Void Return stage.

Through this battle, he intended to adapt to the concept of Void Return and to see if his combat power matched his own estimations.

So, standing in mid-air, he raised his right hand and pressed it downwards.

With this press, the endless Void Earth within his body instantly erupted. Threads of soul essence broke through the ground from within, burst out of Xu Qing's body, and spread across the heavens and earth, rapidly extending in all directions.

The sheer number of soul threads was terrifying, forming a sea of soul threads that caused lightning to flash and the void to twist.

Millions, tens of millions... a full forty million soul threads instantly spread across the sky. They rapidly converged and instantly wove together, using the Exotic Immortal's method of simulating all things, to form a great world!

This world, also a thousand miles in its miniature form, emitted an aura and pressure that were equally terrifying.

And what's more, this was creation from nothing!

This was Xu Qing's path of the Exotic Immortal, conceived from pioneering his ancestors and treading a path never before walked.

What was particularly astonishing was that within this great world formed by Exotic Immortal soul threads, the sound of creation echoed. One hundred illusory colossal pillars rose from the ground in different directions.

The appearance of these pillars brought forth surging divine might. These were the illusory divine authorities formed by Xu Qing after consuming the blood of the incomplete face. Although Xu Qing had not yet had the chance to comprehend them and solidify them,

even in their illusory state, they served as an augmentation in the formation of this great world.

And their augmentation made Xu Qing's world seem like a divine realm!

Even more terrifying were the four pillars in the very center of this great world. They were not illusory but real, and mysterious runes permeated their surfaces.

As they gleamed, they seemed to possess astonishing power, containing the essence of transcending all laws and paths of heaven and earth.

These were naturally not cultivators' runes; these were Xu Qing's divine authority and divine marks!

One was for his Natal, a second for Purple Moon, a third for Divine Curse, and a fourth for Misfortune.

Their appearance made Xu Qing's world, composed of soul threads, surge with a fierce aura once more, its pressure rising endlessly, and in terms of momentum, it actually surpassed Yan Xuanzi's vast and peerless world.

This scene, witnessed by everyone present, stirred up a massive storm and provoked endless waves of shock.

"Is this Void Return?"

Before this, no one would have believed that such Void Return cultivators existed in the world!

"And there are two of them!"

Astonishment continuously erupted.

In the heavens and earth, as Xu Qing looked up, his soul-thread-formed world rumbled and directly collided with the suppressing Grand Mystic Heaven Realm.

In that instant, the power of both worlds erupted simultaneously.

The sky seemed about to shatter, and the earth appeared on the verge of collapse. At this critical moment, the authorities intervened, forming a separate heaven and earth as a private battlefield for Xu Qing and Yan Xuanzi, isolating it from Wanggu.

Above the sky, Yan Xuanzi let out a hearty laugh. As he raised his right hand, his great world hummed and surprisingly expanded once more, forming a world ten thousand miles wide. Moreover, the world's fortune surged forth, seemingly about to transform into a world will.

Xu Qing's expression remained calm. With a thought, soul threads separated from his world, transforming into a gigantic divine eye!

That was precisely the Eye of the Ancient Spirit Sovereign, simulated by Xu Qing.

As this eye gazed upon it, Yan Xuanzi's great world trembled instantly.

The world's inherent fortune surprisingly began to reverse.

Furthermore, a large number of soul threads flew out, forming the Crimson Mother, who stood proudly in all directions, stepping into Yan Xuanzi's world and unleashing a resounding roar upon everything.

It didn't end there. In the next moment, Li Zihua's figure was also simulated by the soul threads and entered Yan Xuanzi's great world.

Even the Fish Bone God appeared and followed suit.

And another unknown divine eye that Xu Qing had seen years ago, suppressed beneath the Ghost Emperor's weapon in Yinghuang Prefecture, also rapidly formed and entered Yan Xuanzi's great world.

The gods, one after another, descended into the world!

This scene was profoundly shocking, and at that moment, Xu Qing, standing in mid-air, gave everyone the impression that he commanded all the gods!

"So, this is Little Junior Brother's path."

In the crowd, Captain was excited.