Jin Gushen was a genius of dominating caliber within the nine divine sects. He rivaled many eternal overlords of the sacred clans, and his cultivation speed was the most frightening of all. He’d progressed from an ordinary life form to peak eternal overlord within a single chaos tribulation!

He’d also done so entirely without fortuitous encounters or patrons. His own strength, abilities, and prodigious potential had been the only things he’d relied on.

……

Boom!

Golden light oscillated from Lu Yun’s body when his stroke neared Jin Gushen. The two had clashed against each other a hundred thousand times in less than the blink of an eye!

Both of them called upon all of their battle strength, and Lu Yun’s was more than ten times stronger than before as he’d begun to meld the Dragonquake Scripture and Myriad Inception Fist into his sword dao over the course of his previous nineteen battles.

But still, that only allowed him to just rival Jin Gushen.

……

“Well?” The leader of the fire elemental divine sect looked at Chi Wuxia beside him.

“If I was who I was before, then I would be less than them,” Chi Wuxia responded upon careful consideration.

Black flames flickered in and out of view around him as he observed the battle. He’d first been defeated by Qiu Luoyu in the Tomb of Heaven and Earth, then his weapon shattered by a singular point from Lu Yun. In his current form, however, he was leagues apart from who he’d been back then.

He was still peak eternal overlord, but his grasp of this realm was at its greatest peak.

Chi Wuxia had previously most valued his weapon of the chaos dragon curse. But after its destruction, he realized that the reflection beyond the chaos embedded within the spear was the truly important treasure at stake.

“The two of them combined… and that Huo Shentong, and Qiu Luoyu, aren’t a match for me anymore.” Two balls of black flame burned within Chi Wuxia’s eyes. “There is only one who can fight me in all of the nine divine sects… no, the nine sacred lands.”

“Who?” His sect leader asked curiously. With Chi Wuxia’s current cultivation, he was the first among the nine divine sects. Even the old monsters hidden in the shadows weren’t his match anymore.

Chi Wuxia shook his head slightly without a response and refocused on the battle at hand. Lu Yun and Jin Gushen’s fight was reaching its climax. Neither was holding back and all sorts of trump cards and combat arts flashed through the arena.

Lu Yun deployed his sword dao, the Myriad Inception Fist, and even combat arts from the Dragonquake Scripture. Under tremendous pressure from his opponent’s offensive, they were slowly melding into one system.

Jin Gushen was also growing stronger the more he fought. He darted around the arena as a golden blur, too fast for anyone to make out his form.

What had been an Inception Spiritrial Arena six thousand meters across had gradually reformed into a real world throughout the course of their battle. It was a sign that their melee exceeded the arena’s limits, to the point where it had to change its own capabilities.

No one noticed that a small wisp of white light melded into the void with Lu Yun’s every move, ultimately disappearing from view. Even if they did, they would’ve thought that to be the natural emission of combat arts.

Since Jin Gushen was much closer to Lu Yun than everyone else, he picked up on it soon enough, but didn’t comment on it. His brotherhood with Lu Yun’s replica ran twenty years deep, he knew what kind of person his brother was.

What suddenly changed his expression drastically was—

“You just gifted me the method beyond the chaos?! Won’t the Inception monarch punish you for this??” he transmitted hastily into Lu Yun’s mind. “You know that I won’t join Inception Palace no matter what! When my cultivation reaches that level, I’m going to seal it away and seclude myself to death!”

A stroke more vicious than any he’d encountered so far was his only answer. The level of Lu Yun’s attacks had shockingly risen yet another level!

Unbidden, Jin Gushen started operating his newly obtained method in order to contend with Lu Yun. It was the only way to stay in the fight.

However, the method was incredibly esoteric and hard to understand. Any other eternal overlord wouldn’t have possibly understood it within a short period of time.

Jin Gushen happened to be the greatest genius among all nine divine sects. His powers of comprehension and potential were mind bogglingly incredible. If he’d been born in the sacred palace, he would’ve become a sovereign long ago.

The method beyond the chaos only needed to circulate his body thirty-six times before he fully grasped it, and his strength increased explosively roughly a hundred breaths later. Having shifted to the back foot, he was able to seize the initiative once again.

“The nine divine sects aren’t a benevolent place. You don’t have to join the sacred palaces, but you must leave the sects. You won’t meet with a good end otherwise.” Lu Yun’s voice sounded in Jin Gushen’s mind.

“Okay.” The genius nodded subconsciously, but his moves continued at a furious pace.

……

In an unknown patch of space in the chaos, Qing Yu sat cross-legged on the Dao Flower. Rays of immortal light formed in the air and coalesced into a snowy path beside her. It circled around her and integrated itself into the greater picture of the chaos.

She was currently a member of the Creation sacred clan instead of a dao sovereign of the immortal dao. She communed with all life through the order of creation and sat beneath the Dao Flower to assimilate the immortal dao into everything.

What she didn’t realize was that a faceless man in black clothing had appeared behind her at some point in time. He exuded dark fire and wielded a dagger dripping with blood. He slowly approached her back and viciously stabbed downward at her heart.

Humm.

Emerald green light blossomed from Qing Yu’s body and rebuffed the assassination attempt. Qiu Luoyu came walking out of nothingness with a grim look. He was a sovereign now, having fully refined the creation seed and the reflection beyond the chaos that Lu Yun had gifted him.

Two eyeballs suddenly grew in the man’s face, just like the two eyes that’d once appeared over Lu Yun’s tribulation.

“Lu Yun’s touched something he shouldn’t have and all practitioners of the Dragonquake Scripture are struck with misfortune. Would he not be prepared for this?” Qiu Luoyu smiled faintly at the faceless man.

He’d naturally joined the sacred palaces after departing from the tomb. The creation seed on him was a product of the third realm to begin with, so he wasn’t afraid of the faceless man in the slightest.