Chapter 963: Inside Thunder, Hidden Name of the Thunder God

The title "Prince Zi Qing," these four characters, signified a status of extreme brilliance and unparalleled supremacy in the Wanggu era.

He was once hailed as humanity's foremost prodigy after the age of the Divine Remnants.

He was born imbued with the destiny of Wanggu. The moment he came into existence, all forbidden lands on the Wanggu Continent wailed, and strange blood flowed, spreading beyond their boundaries.

He was a self-salvation for the vast realm of the Wanggu Continent, with the power of the entire realm converging solely for his advent into the world!

He was entrusted with the mission of unifying Wanggu, and he was the last hope of the Wanggu Continent!

Such a figure embodied all the glory that this world could bestow!

Yet, in the end, he and his nation still fell!

On the day of his death, the mountains of Wanggu trembled as if screaming, and countless rivers flowed backward as if weeping!

The Heavenly Dao wailed in sorrow!

And before his death, his last breath contained the destiny of Wanggu and his glory…

It also contained the very fate of his current life!

This fate, along with his last breath, dissipated between heaven and earth!

After that, Prince Zi Qing perished, body and soul!

When he reappeared, he was no longer the hope of Wanggu, but a revenant bearing endless hatred.

But today, someone, using themselves as a temporal marker, in the Southern Phoenix Continent, at the former site of Peerless City—the very place where Prince Zi Qing died in battle that year—issued a command with "Xia" as the decree and "Immortal" as the guide, commanding heaven and earth, commanding Wanggu!

That very breath Prince Zi Qing exhaled back then—containing the destiny of Wanggu and his glorious fate—was extracted from between heaven and earth, from the currents of time, and from all creation.

All at once, within the Southern Phoenix Continent, hundreds of thousands of Seven-Blooded Pupils cultivators chanted in unison:

"By today's decree of Xia, with the Immortal as guide, summon this breath."

In the sky, a Flaming Phoenix danced, its gaze severing time, its breath piercing through eternity!

Its twin wings covered the heavens, causing mighty winds to blow from all directions, shaking the mountains and stirring up massive waves in the Forbidden Sea!

All this served to empower the ancient Dao formation.

Ultimately, everything converged upon the silver figure and into the hands of Seventh Master, who stood between heaven and earth!

It formed a cluster of brilliant mist!

The mist churned, containing both the destiny of Wanggu and a glorious fate.

Gazing at this mist, Seventh Master's eyes held the vastness of ages and his aura was ancient. Finally, he raised his right hand and directly pressed this brilliant mist of fate onto the forehead of the silver figure below!

It merged with Xu Qing's blood!

Then, it transformed within the silver figure!

The moment it settled, heaven and earth roared, winds surged and clouds churned, and the sky changed color as indistinct shadows of the Heavenly Dao emerged. The entire Wanggu mountain range roared, rivers surged, and even forbidden zones and forbidden lands, at this very instant, emitted inexplicable wails!

Similarly, strange blood flowed, spreading beyond the boundaries of each forbidden land!

This scene was exactly the same as the anomalous phenomenon that occurred when Prince Zi Qing was born into this world back then.

At the same time, Seventh Master's long hair fluttered, suddenly fanning out behind him as his entire aura once again became world-shaking. With his right hand touching the silver figure's forehead and his left hand forming a spell incantation before his chest, the light of the sun and moon shone from his eyes, illuminating heaven and earth!

"Profound source of Heaven and Earth, root of myriad Qi, cultivating through countless kalpas to attest my divine power. Within and without the Three Realms, only the Dao is supreme!"

"I command You Ling, whose body possesses golden light, to envelop its form, receiving special empowerment ten thousand times, annihilating laws and extinguishing venerables. The Five Movements shall govern and welcome, myriad gods shall pay homage, commanding thunder, causing ghosts and demons to lose their courage, and spirits to lose their forms!"

Each word was like a celestial sound, each phrase resonating through time!

The moment it echoed across the Southern Phoenix Continent, in the Human Imperial Capital, far beyond the endless reaches of this place, the aura of Xu Qing's self-detonation also surged heavenward!

Dense black mist filled his entire body from within, shattering his cultivation, bones, physical body, and everything!

The next instant, his physical body tore into pieces.

The resulting self-detonation force exploded outwards with a thunderous roar in all directions. From a distance, a black circular wave of mist carried overwhelming destructive power, sweeping across all directions!

If it were merely this, it would be nothing. Before Prince Zi Qing, he could suppress a self-detonation of a Gui Xu level with a mere raise of his hand; even a powerful figure like Xu Qing would make little difference!

He could even manipulate time, making everything reverse in the blink of an eye. However… Xu Qing's self-detonation was not merely his physical body!

To be precise, the self-detonation of his physical body was merely a peripheral residual force; the true core of his self-detonation was… his soul.

His soul ignited in an instant, like a piece of paper violently torn apart, directly… fragmented!

An aura that shook heaven and earth, causing the sky to change color, surged overwhelmingly amidst this soul's self-detonation—unstoppable and irreversible!

A rumbling sound replaced the Heavenly Thunder of Wanggu at this moment!

It exploded!

All at once, the sky above the entire Human Imperial Capital turned into a self-generated daylight!

This daylight spread with incredible speed until it covered the entire Human Great Region, illuminating it completely!

It was as if the concept of night had been stripped away—contrary to the Empress's divine authority—making the world bright, except for the source itself, which was utterly black!

That endless black mist seemed to contain Wanggu's greatest abyss!

Bursts of terrifying roars actually emanated from within the black mist formed by Xu Qing's soul detonation, spreading in all directions!

One could even vaguely perceive that within the violently churning mist, an ancient passage seemed to appear!

Within this passage, countless stone gates were visible. They varied in size and had irregular shapes, but each exuded an aura of endless antiquity, profoundly ancient!

And the roars emanated precisely from within these stone gates!

As the sounds grew even more earth-shattering, these stone gates began to intensely tremble, one after another. A pounding sound shook past and present, as if knocking on the hearts of all beings!

The entities within the gates were violently smashing against them!

They were trying to break through and burst out.

All at once, a terrifying aura surged, overwhelming heaven and earth!

Even more astonishingly, at the deepest part of this passage filled with stone gates, vaguely, it seemed… there was a chair.

This scene was exactly what Chu Tianqun, Sheng Yunzi's father, had seen within Xu Qing's soul back then.

It was precisely this scene that terrified him utterly!

He didn't know what those stone gates were, but back then, he could feel their terror. What horrified him even more was that he couldn't imagine how there could be a chair in this passage filled with immense terror!

Whose chair was this!

Who had the qualifications, in this passage filled with terrifying stone gates, to sit on a chair and suppress everything!

Chu Tianqun had no answer back then!

But today, Zi Qing clearly knew something!

Therefore, Prince Zi Qing sighed!

"Though it's not mine," he sighed, "it wasn't yours originally either, little brother!"

Gazing at the black mist formed by Xu Qing's self-detonation, at the stone gates within the mist, and at the chair at the end of the passage!

Zi Qing spoke softly!

His target was precisely this chair.

Regarding this object, after he discovered it back then, he made many clear assessments and understood it had no relation to the Zi Qing Imperial Nation, but it was related to another of his goals!

Becoming a true god.

Even touching upon the possibility of becoming a God Lord, above True Gods!

He wanted to integrate this mysterious seat with the destiny of the returned Zi Qing Imperial Nation, then merge it into the throne of the Zi Qing Emperor, thereby propelling himself into a higher divine realm!

Empowering the entire Zi Qing Imperial Nation to reach its absolute peak!

This was his final goal in this entire ritual of becoming a Human Emperor and a god, and the return of the Zi Qing Imperial Nation!

Only when all the preceding goals were completed would this final goal have the foundation for completion!

Therefore, back then, he stitched Xu Qing together, cut through time, and corrected fate!

Because this object had already merged within Xu Qing's soul, creating an indissoluble karmic bond, forcibly taking it would be difficult to achieve perfectly!

Hence, today came to be…

He hoped Xu Qing would accept the title of Prince Zi Qing, truly merge with him, and share the future!

But Xu Qing's actions were something he had not foreseen in the temporal flow!

By doing so, he broke the situation!

Zi Qing shook his head!

Since that was the case, he could only take it by force, even if it would lead to considerable imperfections!

So he raised his right hand, and amidst Xu Qing's physical and soul self-detonation, reached into the churning black mist!

His hand, like time itself, stretched infinitely!

Within that passage, it swept past one intensely pounding stone gate after another, ignoring everything, until it reached the end and was about to grasp the chair!

But just then.

An ethereal Daoist chant suddenly echoed within this passage!

"I command You Ling, whose body possesses golden light, to envelop its form, receiving special empowerment ten thousand times, annihilating laws and extinguishing venerables. The Five Movements shall govern and welcome, myriad gods shall pay homage, commanding thunder, causing ghosts and demons to lose their courage, and spirits to lose their forms."

The instant this sound emanated, an aura, using Xu Qing's soul as a guide, connected to the void!

A certain item that had merged into the void after Xu Qing's self-detonation was instantly locked onto and drawn forth in an instant.

That was a golden light.

Amidst this chant, it emerged from nothingness.

Dazzling golden light enveloped its form. The Daoist seal, empowered ten thousand times, shone upon its body, unlocking the seal that had isolated omniscience.

An endless destructive force, capable of suppressing all terrifying powers, erupted from its body.

That was an iron skewer, and on it resided a spirit!

It was none other than Ancestor Vajra!

Its true name was You Lingzi.

Hence, the first four characters of the Daoist chant were "I command You Ling!"

The Ancestor of the Vajra Sect and the iron skewer it resided in had been taken by Seventh Master when Xu Qing came to the Human Imperial Capital that year. After being refined by him and returned to Xu Qing's hands, its power had significantly increased!

Yet, ultimately, it was still somewhat weak.

Until this moment, with the unsealing by the Daoist chant, its true power finally manifested in the world!

It was like a thorn, encircled by lightning!

Within the passage, from the direction of the chair, it shot forth towards Prince Zi Qing's grasping hand!

All along the way, it tore through space-time, shattered anomalous substances, and shook divine authority!

Its speed defied all rules and laws!

Its might terrified a host of so-called deities!

While cultivators were oblivious to its presence, only deities were instantly startled.

In the blink of an eye, it landed on Prince Zi Qing's large hand. The instant it touched, it did not pause for a moment, surging forth with overwhelming momentum, earth-shattering power, and might specifically targeting deities!

It directly… pierced through Prince Zi Qing's hand!

With a roar, Zi Qing's hand suddenly exploded, his palm turning to pulp, and bones and flesh from his fingers splattered!

Divine blood rained down!

Outside the passage and the mist, Prince Zi Qing in mid-air had his right hand shattered, turning into ash and, along with divine blood, dissipating between heaven and earth!

His expression gradually became serious!

He turned his head and looked into the distance… towards the Southern Phoenix Continent!

"In this world," he murmured, "there is actually still a God-Slaying Thorn!"