Chapter 472: Desperately Tearless Qingyuzhi

The Myriad River Demon Kingdom, Kalin Realm Star.

Kalin Realm Star lies within the heartland of the demon race's territory, yet it maintains a human way of life. Ninety percent of its population are pure-blooded humans.

In the center of the Realm Star stands a colossal tree. Palaces hang from its trunk, and a layer of soil covers its leaves, where rows of plants are cultivated. Many of its arrangements are indistinguishable from the Primal Realm.

On a city tower, strikingly similar to the Grand Void City, a white-robed young man stood sideways under a waning moon. He held a wine jar with one hand, gazing sadly at the sky.

Pu Yan, formerly Zuo Qiyu's disciple and a member of the Coral Ninth Order, was also a Steward Farmer of the Extreme Dao Mother Tree lineage.

Jin Yan had once performed great deeds for the empire, his prestige unparalleled. Yet, he is now untraceable in the empire's history, having transformed into a guest minister of the Myriad River Demon Kingdom.

"Teacher, you could yield to Zhao Xing, so why couldn't you yield to me back then?" Jin Yan murmured.

"It was you who made me cultivate the Primordial Clone, you who made me experience the suffering of higher-order division, and it was because of you that I could only barely survive in the demon territories, hiding in the shadows. Why now, again—"

"Because you are too weak! Just like him!" At that moment, a long sword pierced Jin Yan on the city wall. A red figure appeared behind him, his gaze like a freshly quenched broken blade sweeping across the sky, freezing even the wind into icy shards that fell to the ground. His appearance was identical to Jin Yan's, but his aura was starkly different.

With a thud, the red-armored Jin Yan killed the white-robed Jin Yan, then absorbed him, his aura seemingly growing stronger.

He stomped on the fallen remnants on the ground, crushing them callously. "Zuo Qiyu, Zhao Xing, you will all die!"

Turning his head, countless "Pu Yans" were already lying in pools of blood within the city. Only a few remained, barely clinging to life, crawling on the ground.

The red-armored Jin Yan pointed a finger, and the remaining clones were also killed. With each fallen clone, the red-armored Jin Yan's aura grew stronger.

After Zhao Xing suppressed the killing intent in his heart, he began to quickly organize what he had learned.

Upon mastering the Primordial Straw Man Technique, he gained four abilities.

The first was Dao Control. The original Grand Void Straw Man Technique repelled any straw man bodies within a certain range, rendering other people's straw man techniques ineffective. This is why, when Zhao Xing first mastered it, many people's straw men in the Primal Realm collapsed. The Primordial Straw Man Technique, however, built upon this, adding the ability to control.

Within a certain range, any straw man body could be controlled by Zhao Xing.

Furthermore, he could control them remotely without soul intrusion. This was a natural ability generated upon the completion of the Primordial Straw Man Technique, which could be called a "Great Dao Divine Ability."

The second was the Primordial Dharma Body. The template for the Primordial Straw Man Technique was the Void Ancestor. Although the Void Ancestor was a Qi Sect martial artist, the Primordial Straw Man was a magical body.

The Primordial Dharma Body would naturally generate Primordial Mana, possessing strong void-traveling capabilities, as the Void Ancestor itself was born from the void!

As a result, cultivating spatial magic with the Primordial Dharma Body was very simple, and its power would be significantly greater.

If the Primordial Straw Man were crafted from specific Void Ancestor series materials, it would also possess the defensive power of a Golden Body.

However, Zhao Xing currently had no Void Ancestor materials with him, so using ordinary materials would significantly reduce its power.

The third was Spaceless Teleportation. The Dharma Body and the main body could teleport to each other.

The main body's soul and the Primordial Soul could also be interchanged or the soul could be recalled.

With the Grand Void Straw Man Technique, Zhao Xing's main body and his sub-soul needed to be close to each other for integration, and the soul had to exit the body.

But with the Primordial Straw Man Technique, the main body could recall the sub-soul with a single thought!

It could be sensed from any distance, and soul teleportation was instantaneous. The teleportation between the main body and the clone was slightly slower, but the crucial point was the extremely exaggerated distance it covered.

"If there are no obstructions, I could almost instantly cross an entire galaxy. Assuming I have clones acting as teleportation points in the empire's thirty-six top galaxies, traveling across the vast imperial territory in a single day would be no difficult task."

"And the soul has no distance limit! It can be recalled with a single thought!"

"No wonder Zuo Qiyu is always appearing and disappearing mysteriously, seemingly everywhere," Zhao Xing mused.

Of course, the only drawback of spaceless teleportation was that it couldn't carry other people.

Furthermore, the emergence of the fourth ability meant that Zhao Xing would encounter complications when recalling souls.

This led to the fourth ability: Soul Sundering.

It was a passive ability.

Upon first mastering the Primordial Clone Technique, a sundering would occur, splitting the soul into two independent parts that did not affect each other.

The more times the soul was sundered, the more clones one could control, and combat power would increase significantly.

Because they were independent, as the sub-souls also grew stronger, various thoughts would arise, resulting in countless voices within one's mind.

With many voices, opinions might not always be unified. Recalling a sub-soul with a single thought would meet resistance!

Therefore, to avoid this, the Primordial Clone and the main body could not be separated for too long or too far, lest they become too "estranged."

Because of their independence, severe poisons like True Spirit Heavenly Poison were not a problem for the Primordial Clone. One could simply abandon the poisoned part and escape like a lizard shedding its tail.

However, in Zhao Xing's understanding, Soul Sundering should have been a drawback, not an ability.

If it were merely to increase survival rate, the Primordial Clone technique was not significantly more advanced than the Grand Void Clone.

Because the Primordial Clone was not absolutely unkillable; exceeding a critical threshold, such as with karmic divine artifacts, could still achieve the goal of killing one to destroy all.

From this perspective, great sundering would be unnecessary.

"Hmm. Great soul sundering, increasing the number of clones, enhancing combat power, and improving life-saving ability are secondary. Is the ultimate purpose to pass the True Spirit Tribulation?" As he continued to organize his thoughts, Zhao Xing was shocked.

"After becoming a Reincarnation Realm practitioner, one would eventually encounter the True Spirit Tribulation. If there was no certainty of passing it, one could use a part of the Primordial Dharma Body's True Spirit to endure the calamity."

"At the cost of losing a Dharma Body and a portion of True Spirit, one could evade the True Spirit Tribulation."

"Assuming one could pass it, due to the independence of the Primordial Clone, the True Spirit would grow stronger after successfully enduring the tribulation."

"At this point, by using spaceless teleportation and recalling the True Spirit with a single thought, the True Spirit would become thousands, tens of thousands of times stronger than others!"

"So, this was the ultimate purpose?"

Zhao Xing imagined: If he split into a thousand Primordial Clones during his first tribulation in the Reincarnation Realm, and each Primordial Clone experienced the True Spirit Tribulation, then after the clones passed the tribulation, their True Spirit would further grow.

Assuming the reward for all Reincarnation Realm practitioners who passed the True Spirit Tribulation was the same, say 1 unit. If he recalled them, it would be equivalent to possessing a thousand times the True Spirit!

What if it were ten thousand, or a million clones?

Zhao Xing gasped in shock. "Successfully pass the tribulation, then recall to increase True Spirit."

"Fail the tribulation? It has no bearing on the main body or the other clones; only one dies."

"This is truly heaven-defying."

However, after careful consideration, Zhao Xing thought this sundering should have an upper limit.

Otherwise, Zuo Qiyu and Pu Yan wouldn't be trying to kill each other. Everyone could just cultivate clones to get stronger; why bother fighting?

"Dao Control, Spaceless Teleportation, Primordial Dharma Body, Soul Sundering—all four abilities are incredibly heaven-defying," Zhao Xing mused. "However, there are also many hidden dangers. Excessive soul sundering will inevitably lead to mental derangement. One must use extremely powerful soul secret arts to control it, otherwise, there's a high chance of going mad."

"The Primordial Dharma Body is costly. Without Void Ancestor series materials, it's only slightly stronger than the Grand Void Clone, not reaching a heaven-defying level."

"Dao Control also becomes ineffective against individuals like Zuo Qiyu and Jin Yan. Everyone is brought to the same level, as it's a shared technique, unable to break each other's moves."

"Spaceless Teleportation has no apparent hidden dangers, but if there are too few clones, its effect cannot be fully utilized."

"Gu Tianyang truly created an extremely powerful yet extremely lethal technique," Zhao Xing concluded.

Once he had familiarized himself with the abilities, he looked towards the distant majestic mountains.

"Since this technique was created using the Void Ancestor as a template, the information on this Void Ancestor's Rebirth Divine Bone is crucial."

"Zuo Qiyu's determination to pass this technique on to me was probably also to find a way to resolve its drawbacks."

No one would want to cultivate such a technique, especially one that led to a master-disciple rift!

Zuo Qiyu's willingness to make concessions on the Great Dao likely stemmed from a hope to find a solution.

"Spaceless Teleportation." A flicker of black light appeared in Zhao Xing's eyes. The mountains vanished before him, and the grey mist in the sky disappeared.

He saw the Grand Void Clone, pressed beneath the mountain.

The Grand Void Clone also possessed the conditions for spaceless teleportation, though the range was not as far as the Primordial Clone.

With a whoosh, the next moment, his main body vanished from the flower-strewn chair and appeared within the pressed Grand Void Clone.

Soul and body teleported together, arriving inside the Grand Void Straw Man!

Zuo Qiyu and the Five Poisons Emperor appeared simultaneously, looking at the empty flower-strewn chair. Zuo Qiyu said nothing. "What are you looking at? It's just a chair; you can't still be red-eyed, can you?" The Five Poisons Emperor cautiously put away the chair.

Zhao Xing could suppress his killing intent because he had just completed his cultivation and had not yet undergone multiple sundering. However, Zuo Qiyu had many clones, and that kind of craving was born with the sundering. As many clones as he had, so many voices influenced his actions!

"Hmph," Zuo Qiyu retracted his gaze.

"Zuo Qiyu, honestly, did you intentionally teach Zhao Xing the Primordial Clone technique, treating him like a pig to fatten?" asked the Five Poisons Emperor. "Although his clone was transformed into his shape, you possess 'Dao Control.' You could have completely established control first, then entered through spaceless teleportation."

"Foolish!" Zuo Qiyu chuckled. "You claim to understand, but it turns out you're just putting on airs."

The Five Poisons Emperor realized his counterpart was referring to their conversation in the Heavenly Ancient Kingdom's imperial palace. This time, however, he didn't get angry; instead, he smoothly asked, "Then tell me, what don't I understand?"

"If I could enter, why would I create another enemy for myself?" Zuo Qiyu said plainly. "I tried long ago. Dao Control is useless here against Zhao Xing's Grand Void Clone."

"Something that can render your Dao Control ineffective... you mean..." The Five Poisons Emperor's eyes narrowed, seemingly realizing something.

"Either it's the isolation of the Rebirth Divine Bone, or an issue with the Realm-Transmitting Tower, or there's an expert in this spacetime," Zuo Qiyu said. "Regardless, it's divine-level power. Only he can enter."

The Five Poisons Emperor was also aware of the Karmic War. He said with some concern, "How did a mere Zhao Xing's Karmic War escalate to such a level? Ah..."

Now, the Five Poisons Emperor could only sigh. With matters escalating to this level, he could only hope for Zhao Xing's safety.

Zhao Xing's main body appeared inside the Grand Void Straw Man. At this point, he had not yet undergone a major sundering; he merely felt a faint barrier between his clone and his main body. This was because his soul had not yet undergone a qualitative change to reach the True Spirit level, and the first major sundering had not been fully completed, only its prelude had begun.

However, at that moment, he couldn't bother with these details; he just wanted to get in quickly and find out what was inside.

"My body from the waist up is pressed outside the circle, and from the waist down, it's inside. The clone still needs to maintain this state, so I won't recall the sub-soul yet. My main body will fly towards the feet and see if I can pass through inside."

After moving through the internal space of the Grand Void Straw Man for a while, Zhao Xing could see a distinct barrier inside, with a faintly reddish outer layer and a white interior.

As he approached, he felt an invisible resistance.

"Not letting me in?" Zhao Xing tried, finding he couldn't enter. It felt exactly like being blocked at the entrance of the Realm-Transmitting Tower last time.

However, just as Zhao Xing was contemplating a solution, the light barrier underwent two changes.

The first change was a weakening of the red light, which slowly receded like a tide. The second change was the brightening of the white light, and a wave-like ripple pushed upwards.

"The first time, the red light gently and actively retreated. The second time, it seemed like the white light attacked, pushing back the red light." Zhao Xing acutely noticed this change, and a hypothesis emerged in his mind.

Could it be Old Qing and Bovay helping me? Old Qing is repaying a favor, but what does Bovay want?

"Just let nature take its course, let nature take its course—anyway, returning home once will make the star disappear." Zhao Xing shook his head, no longer overthinking.

With a hum, his main body smoothly passed through the white light barrier and entered the interior of the divine pattern area.

His vision shifted from dimness to brightness, as if he had walked out of a cave entrance.

This was indeed the case; Zhao Xing had entered the interior through the big toe of his Grand Void Clone.

"I'm in. Where are the divine patterns of the Rebirth Divine Bone?"

He looked down and found a vast expanse of white; he couldn't see anything at all.

This was no different from being outside, except for the white light emanating from the ground. Zhao Xing felt nothing else. "Is the white light divine power?" Zhao Xing pondered, thinking it was highly probable.

Because when he was comprehending the Heart Seal Technique, a divine-level method left by Fan Qianrou, the God of Medicine, it also appeared as a burst of white light.

However, it later separated into seven colors, and he ultimately used the Great Dao of Life as an entry point to master Blue Flower Mana.

"My main body's soul, with half of the True Spirit Heavenly Poison still present, makes comprehension quite arduous." Zhao Xing looked at the ground, a thought sparking in his mind.

"Perhaps the opportunity Old Qing spoke of is right here—soul exodus!!!"

Under the shroud of True Spirit Heavenly Poison, it was incredibly difficult for his soul to exit his body.

The sensation was like his soul carrying an infinitely heavy mountain, inching forward step by step, without any tremor. This was because half of the True Spirit Heavenly Poison had been neutralized, and half of the protective measures Bovay had set up around his soul had also been removed.

One careless move, and there was a risk of the True Spirit Heavenly Poison fully erupting.

A faint wisp of black mist began to seep from Zhao Xing's seven orifices.

It took a full three years, and finally, as his mana neared exhaustion, he completed the "soul exodus" step.

With a hum.

The moment his soul, carrying the True Spirit Heavenly Poison, appeared, Zhao Xing felt his entire body relax.

His vision suddenly brightened.

It was as if he had finally unburdened himself of a long-carried heavy load, feeling incredibly refreshed.

"Oh, yes! This feels amazing!"

It was so comfortable that Zhao Xing couldn't help but dance and yell out.

Because the True Spirit Heavenly Poison was instantly dissolved by the white light! It was like a block of ice thrown onto a sun star, instantly melting!

"The Void Ancestor is incredible!" Zhao Xing couldn't help but exclaim.

His Blue Flower Mana still couldn't resolve the True Spirit Heavenly Poison, yet the divine power on the Void Ancestor's Rebirth Bone instantly annihilated it!

A piece of rebirth bone, whose age was unknown, still carried divine power that instantly destroyed a True Spirit Poison that was difficult for even demigods to cure!

"I can see some clues now."

Zhao Xing's soul returned to his body. Without the True Spirit Heavenly Poison, his vision became much clearer.

"Just now, the white light dissolved the True Spirit Heavenly Poison. This wisp of white light rose from beneath my feet and returned to a spot a hundred meters above my head."

"Soul Heavenly Vision!"

Pairs of eyes appeared above Zhao Xing's head, simultaneously providing multiple perspectives as they scanned back and forth across the white land.

He sat cross-legged, while his main body simultaneously cultivated the Heart Seal Technique.

Since Fan Qianrou was also a divine realm practitioner, even if not as powerful as the Void Ancestor, it was still divine power.

All Great Daos lead to the same destination. Perhaps he could use his experience cultivating Blue Flower Mana to comprehend the Rebirth Divine Bone.

"He went in."

Zuo Qiyu and the Five Poisons Emperor watched from afar on the mountaintop, clearly able to see a tiny black dot on the white land.

"Stop looking. I'll guard here," the Five Poisons Emperor nudged Zuo Qiyu. "Your eyes are red again—" He paused. "Huh? I didn't sense your killing intent this time. Are you truly envious?"

Zuo Qiyu remained silent.

Seeing Zuo Qiyu about to lose his temper, the Five Poisons Emperor quickly changed the subject. "Emperor Tianwu has been calling for help for a while. You should go mediate. You can't really do nothing; it won't be easy to explain."

Zuo Qiyu nodded. Emperor Tianwu was resilient, but against five demon race emperors, he could only take a beating and had no strength to fight back.

However, if Emperor Tianwu didn't end the fight, the five demon race emperors couldn't successfully comprehend the Rebirth Divine Bone.

With a Qi Sect martial artist yelling nearby, who could calmly comprehend anything?

With a whoosh, Zuo Qiyu quickly flew towards the combat zone.

After only three months in the divine pattern area, Zhao Xing gained insights, and his main body also mastered Blue Flower Mana.

A wisp of Blue Flower Mana veiled his eyes. With its enhancement, Zhao Xing's view of the white land was completely different.

The movement trajectories of the white light lines slowed down. Zhao Xing memorized all these circulating patterns, which quickly formed a peculiar diagram.

Upon enlarging it, Zhao Xing was somewhat surprised, as it strongly resembled a stomach.

The stomach was three-dimensional, with many white light lines circulating like meridians.

"Assuming the rebirth bone I'm seeing is only a part, does this represent the Gluttony Technique within a martial artist's Golden Body cultivation?"

In a martial artist's Golden Body cultivation, every part—skin and flesh, golden bones, and five organs—has independent cultivation methods, yet they are all interconnected as a whole.

Zhao Xing had entered the stomachs of many Qi Sect martial artists, such as You Yitian and Chen Xuan.

The scenes within their stomachs were completely different. Some people's stomachs were filled with flames, like a world of fire, while others' were like an icy purgatory.

Not to mention martial artists, he himself had practiced the Nourishing Diet Technique, and precisely because of this, he was very familiar with this part of the body.

"The Heavenly Chef position occupies a very important part of a martial artist's cultivation. The Qi Sect's philosophy is to embody all things, and the primary goal is to be able to absorb and digest spiritual energy substances."

"Completing digestion from here, and using this as a base point to transport Yin-Yang and Five Elements Qi throughout the body, forging golden bones, and strengthening flesh and blood, is the most crucial part of internal refinement."

The three-dimensional diagram before him resembled a star map. Zhao Xing pondered, then summoned a straw man from his Origin Space and began to simulate.

He dared not use his main body for the experiment. However, there was a Mimic Clone within the Straw Man Technique, whose internal structure perfectly replicated human or demon physiques, specifically for testing new methods.

If his main body practiced, he might suffer qi deviation. If a Mimic Clone practiced, it wouldn't matter if it exploded.

The Mimic Straw Man exploded on the very first step of its attempted cultivation.

With a boom! It exploded cleanly, turning directly into nothingness.

Zhao Xing frowned.

He didn't frown because the clone exploded, but because he realized he had forgotten the cultivation process he had just attempted.

"I can't remember it; even if I mastered it here, it would be useless." Zhao Xing watched the three-dimensional diagram gradually disintegrate. At first, the clone remembered half, but now it had forgotten everything.

"The Void Ancestor's technique is too high-level. Even a mere fragment makes it difficult for me to memorize and retain its Dao rhyme."

Forgetting it immediately after practicing clearly indicated that the Dao rhyme attached to the divine bone could not be memorized.

This made it difficult for Zhao Xing, whether to cultivate it himself or to transcribe it for submission.

Bang! Hum! Bang bang bang bang!

After tens of thousands of attempts, Zhao Xing found that this was not accidental; each time, it exploded right at the beginning of cultivation.

"Many precious secret arts have high requirements for the material that carries them. For example, Fan Qianrou's Seven-Star Battle Cabinet, the innate divine abilities preserved by the three thousand Dao seeds, the Primal Dao Collection, and the Myriad Dao Tree—a powerful technique must have a vessel to be retained."

"Can I try using plant life as a vessel?" Zhao Xing inwardly observed his Origin Space.

"The Seven Realm True Spirit Bamboo—this was a gift from Master Five Poisons. It's now in its growth phase, comparable to Reincarnation Realm combat power. I'm afraid it won't work; it's not a Myriad Dao Tree, not a good vessel."

"The Black Sky Moon Tree, its grade unknown, I shouldn't try. It definitely won't work."

"Soul Devouring Grass, legendary grade, its grade is sufficient, but it's only in the seedling stage, so it's probably difficult too."

"Thousand Illusions Tree? Even less so; it's only at the Life-Death Dao Domain Realm now."

"The soul, of course, is a good vessel. If my main body attempts to cultivate, I might be able to memorize it, just like Fan Qianrou's technique. The soul power possessed by the experimental straw man is simply too little."

"Perhaps if my main body cultivates, it won't explode."

"But this is very dangerous, and even if I learn it, I won't be able to teach it to others, unless I find a suitable vessel, like the Heart Seal Technique and the Seven-Star Battle Cabinet."

Having come all this way, Zhao Xing was unwilling not to try, but the danger was too uncontrollable.

Zhao Xing immediately fell into a dilemma.

Suddenly, something in his Origin Space caught his attention, making Zhao Xing's eyes light up.

"That's right, why didn't I think of it!"

With a flip of his hand, a wooden effigy appeared before him from his Origin Space.

Far away, in the imperial palace of the Heavenly Ancient Kingdom, Qingyuzi, within the elm tree, felt a sensation and looked towards the divine bone.

When he saw Zhao Xing take out a wooden effigy, Qingyuzi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"What?! This scoundrel—don't use my divine effigy as a vessel!!"

What level was the Void Ancestor, and what level was he?

Allowing Zhao Xing in had already consumed enough of his divine power. He had only let Zhao Xing try because he saw something special about him.

But to his surprise, Zhao Xing was afraid of dying and dared not practice himself, planning instead to use his divine effigy as a vessel, as a layer of insurance for himself.

"No—"

Qingyuzi desperately wanted to scold Zhao Xing, but it was already too late!

In his ear, he heard a faint, almost imperceptible mumbling: "Venerable God Qingyu above, your disciple Zhao Xing intends to borrow your divine effigy. If I can bring back the Void Ancestor's divine technique, it will benefit cultivators, and your merits will be immeasurable—"

Immediately after, Qingyuzi's eyes turned red.

The red light, symbolizing the operating laws of the Realm-Transmitting Tower, which he had initially pushed above his head, now suddenly pressed down.

Thump!

His head was instantly split in two down the middle, stopping only at his neck.

Qingyuzi's body directly split open!

His mood also shattered.

"My past life's Dharma Body is ruined just like that. I can no longer enter this spacetime." Qingyuzi wanted to cry but had no tears. "Oh, what sin have I committed—"