Supreme One Above All ( 高于一切的神 )

Note： Chapters may be updated earlier HERE, and then RRL.

Chapter 1: A God’s Heartbeat

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Under the starry twilight sky, a grand auric palace stood proudly among a field of shadowy forests. The air is now slightly chilly after a fiery summer day, spreading along with it a pervading silence; a halcyon night it is, as usual.

It is now the Era of Qigong, a glorious period of time when martial arts and cultivators roamed en masse around the world. As more and more people began on the lonely path of cultivation, the world itself began to change accordingly. Wars erupted, power struggles arose in prominent families, and great strength became the best source of logic, as well as the quickest road to fame --and death....

At this moment, inside the room at the apex of the brilliant palace, an elderly man sat calmly in a lotus position. Wearing a majestic, black robe decorated with gold-colored dragons and smooth white linings, the man gave off an impressive atmosphere. Sitting atop an elevated red bedding carved from gold, the elder looked to be scholarly with a long white beard and a head full of snow. Even with his matured age and skin plagued with faint lines of wrinkles, the elder still retained some of his once handsome features indicating his probable popularity with the ladies when he was much, much younger…

The elder had his eyes shut at this time, seeming to be sleeping. But there was a faint rippling of Qi aura coming from his body, as the pressure became stronger and stronger around him. At the same time, beads of sweat began to pour from the elder’s forehead, his closed eyes slowly curving into a nervous frown.

“I must not fail. This is my third and last chance...if I do not breakthrough into the Godly Martial Realm this time, my soul will be destroyed into pieces! I cannot afford to fail...must not fail...must not fail…”

The white-haired elder repeatedly thought in his mind as he gathered all the Qi inside his body and directed them towards his Dantian, the source of his life energy.

After cultivating for several hundreds of years, he was finally able to touch upon the door to the legendary Godly Martial Realm. But, no matter how hard he had tried the first two-time to break through into that realm, he was pushed back again and again. It was as if something was blocking his progress. And that was when the elder knew he had a hit upon the bane of his cultivation journey: a bottleneck.

Only after cultivating a hundred more years, did the black-robed elder once again regain his confidence to attempt his third, and last, try at breaking through. Both his life and soul was now at stake here.

As the elder began to transform the Qi inside his dantian, a new feeling of power started to well up in him. Feeling the new type of power beginning to well up in his body, the old man’s tense face slightly relaxed as a smile silently creeped up on his face.

“Th-this feeling…! It’s...it’s working! I have a chance to breakthrough! Ahahaha! The heaven has eyes! The heaven has eyes! After cultivating for nearly a thousand-year, I can finally ascend!” The elder madly shouted with delight in his mind, as excitement began to bubble up in his previously tranquil heart. But he did not dare lose focus, even amidst his joy. He had not fully broken through after all.

Only after entering the Godly Martial Realm, would the elder be able to transform his mortal flesh into a god’s body. By then, he would be able to set foot onto a whole new, higher plane known as the “Heavenly Jade Land”.

It was a mythical land that all mortal cultivators dreamed of entering one day.

The aura around the elderly man became stronger and fiercer until the air around him seemed to tremble, almost as if it was bowing down to him. The ancient senior’s heart started to palpitate with anticipation and elation…

***

*Whoosh!*

A dark armored youth whisked across the night sky at an extreme speed. Blood dripped from his armor and forehead as he flew unsteadily over a sea of dark forests.

*Bzzt!*

From the west, a strong undulation of pressure suddenly rippled through the silent sky.

Startled, the black armored young man slightly paused for a moment before he transformed into a black ball of fire and shot towards the direction where the fluctuation had appeared.

Soon, a golden palace lined with crimson tiles for rooftops appeared in the distance. Locating the source of energy, the black fire blazed hovered in the air, as if it was contemplating something.

*Bzzt!*

A fluncation, that was much, much powerful than the one that the obsidian fireball had felt earlier appeared from the direction, in which it had just came from. Feeling the new energy, the raven orb seemed fearful as it visibly trembled for a second, before flickering brightly and bursting straight towards the top of the palace.

***

A tyrannical aura surge out from the elderly man’s body, as chairs and tables in his room were instantly smashed into pieces just by the pressure. By now, a rare silly grin was plastered across the man’s face. His fateful moment was finally here…

As the elder’s Qi fluctuation reached its peak, he felt the bottleneck that he had painstakingly fought against for many years slowly begin to crumble away.

However, just as he was about to complete his breakthrough, the elder suddenly felt something shock his body, as his inner soul shook unsteadily. His Qi aura began to slowly decrease. The old man was immediately alarmed by this.

Something unknown had actually entered his body while he was in his weakest state!

Before the elder could try to attempt to purge the intruder, a wave of pain suddenly attacked his heart and mind at the same time. The feeling was excruciating, as if someone was ripping him apart from inside out! It was as if...his was soul was being destroyed!

Attempting to focus his mind, the elder quickly entered his own Soul Quarter, the inner domain where a cultivator’s soul was hidden away in. By now, he was sure that this was the doing of someone else, an enemy even perhaps. He was able to feel a different Qi aura coming from inside his body.

With the thought of eliminating the person from his body, the elder had to painfully stop his breakthrough for the moment. With despair and rage, the old man directed his conscious inside his body.

Upon entering his own soul quarter, the elder immediately saw a pale youth in jet black armor, which had a faint blood hue to it, standing next to a white, floating ball of fire the size of a boulder.

The youth’s armor was strangely designed, with various parts having strange sharp curves sticking out of it. Coupled with the youth’s green snake-like eyes, the black-robed senior felt a dreadful feeling looking at the other individual. He could even feel a distinct pressure emanating from the youth...and just the little aura’s strength had already vastly surpassed even himself!

This was the first time a junior had caused an elder such as himself to feel so...powerless.

And trepidation.

At this time, the youth broke the silence in a surprisingly deep voice:

“I’ll be taking your body. After I recover my injuries and ascend back to Jade Heaven Land, I will be sure remember your good service to this Great Lord.”

The elder stared dumbfounded at the thorny, black armored youth before him. He had a bit difficulty processing the other party’s blunt words. Before he could respond, the dark armored youth spoke again, this time with a touch of coldness to his tone:

“Alright, you may die now.”

At the same time, the pale youth flicked his right hand towards white ball of flame as a horrifying Qi energy burst forth. The elder’s eyes widened in fear and shock.

“NO!”

But it was too late. A large gap was now plainly visible in the glowing ball of fire, as the eerie flames began to slowly die before bursting apart.

His soul was now scattered into pieces, utterly destroyed.

A sudden sense of dizziness came over the elder as he felt his vision blurring.

“Eh? Am I dying? Like this? H-how can this be...why...WHY! I was so close! I can’t die like this! No! No! NO!” The elder screamed in his mind, as fury and anguish hugged his fading conscious. Right before his breakthrough to the Godly Martial Realm, he had his body taken over and his soul destroyed, making him unable to reincarnate anymore…

Was all his years of hard work merely for naught in the end...?

The black armored youth stared coldly at the elder as the latter’s body began to dissipate away. Then, spreading out his soul to encompass the soul quarter he was in, the pale youth began to wordlessly take control of the elder’s dying body...

“Hmph, did you think you could really hide from me?!”

A booming voice suddenly shook the soul quarter as the pale youth suddenly took a step backward in shock.

A look of panic and fear slowly emerged within his green eyes.

Right after the voice faded away, a flashing light entered the soul quarter and transformed into imperial armored youth. This person had a healthy complexion and handsome look, exuding a heroic aura that was much different from the negative atmosphere that surrounded the black armored youth.

Wearing an amethyst armor that had a strange jade hue to it, the young man stood in front of the other pale youth, choosing to float above instead of landing down.

“You...how did you know I was inside this body?!” The snake-eyed young man growled, a feeling of fear rising in his heart.

However, the purple armored youth did not immediately answer the other individual’s question. Instead, he said in a booming voice:

“God of Nineteen Hell, Zhao Wang Lei. You are criminally charged for massacring over three septillion common mortals and ten billion gods, disrespecting the heavenly laws set in the Jade Heaven Land, and attacking the Imperials Officers while they were on duty. These are all accounts of your offense over the course of seven nonillion God Years. As for how I found you, with you making a ruckus inside this human’s body, did you really think I would not notice the odd aura that was coming from his body?!”

The pale youth’s eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth. “Hmph! What is wrong about crushing a few ants that get in your way? And what laws? Those are just some bullshit the imperial clan made up just to restrict us gods! I am a guardian of Hell itself; is it not right that I should be able to kill those pitiable mortals? As for those so-called royal officers, with their low godly realm cultivation, they dared to act so presumptuous around me!

And even if what you had said were true, I do not see why it would warrant you, Shen Qin, the God of Dao, to personally come and take care of me! Having the great Commander of the Imperial Hall himself trifle with a someone like me, do you not fear others conjuring up rumors about you in the future? For a newcomer like you, don’t you think you are a bit too outrageous?!”

The violet armored god called ‘Shen Qin’ looked at latter emotionlessly, and then said in a tone filled with cold calmness:

“A great god like yourself is more than enough reason for me to take action. While you are my senior...as they say, in the end only one’s power shall dictate our roles...and unfortunately, you are unable to compete with me by now. And you are correct, as one of the great lords of the Purgatory Land, dead mortals are for you to do as you please.

However! The number of mortals I listed were still alive when you killed them. Just that in itself is a huge sin for a god. What’s more, one of the Imperial Officers you crippled...was my sworn brother! Are these not enough reasons to condemn you to death?

Ah, and seeing how you have refused to repent, I have now decided to change your punishment from the destruction of your godly body...to the complete elimination of your soul!”

Zhang Wang Lei felt his immortal heart skip a beat for the first time in years, when he heard Shen Qin’s words. It was at this moment that he felt a subtle pang of regret for acting rash in his previous God years.

His unruly conducts had finally come back to bite him. Even after avoiding the divine punishments for so long, he had still ended up like this…

Only now, did the realization that he may not live out today finally dawn on him. Gnashing his teeth, Zhang Wang Lei’s eyes turned scarlet red as he roared madly, a hint of despair in his tone: “Shen...Qin...even if I were to die, I’ll take you down with me…!”

Now that he knew there was no way out for him, Zhang Wang Lei did not continue to converse nor attempt to escape. He knew that after being weakened by the divine laws and by the pursuing Shen Qin earlier, he had no chance to escape now. Thus, Zhang Wang Lei had chosen to end himself together with his enemy rather than submit!

Without hesitation, Zhang Wang Lei gathered up all his energy inside his spiritual form as his body began to glow with a haunting crimson.

“You…!’ Seeing this, Shen Qin narrowed his eyes as he hurriedly condensed his Qi energy and lashed out towards the latter. Even though She Qin was considered an extremely powerful god in the Jade Heaven Land, it was still not wise for him to take on a suicide attack initiated by an ancient mighty god like Zhang Wang Lei! That fellow was, after all, a senior god who ruled over the 19th level of Hell itself, commanding strength and authority that was nearly equivalent to the True God of Purgatory himself.

Shen Qin was barely able to heavily injure the latter earlier before their game of pursuit occurred, so naturally he did not dare estimate an all out attack from the black armored youth.

*BOOM!*

The two souls crashed into each other, generating a blinding light, as the Soul Quarter shook from the impact, lines appearing on the white surroundings. Because both sides’ attack was nearly on equal power, the resulting shockwave fortunately did not destroy the soul quarter itself. Otherwise, the lifeless elder’s body would’ve exploded apart as a consequence.

Once the light died down, it revealed a battered Shen Qin hovering weakly in the air. His black hair was disheveled as blood trickled down his head and arms. Even his originally pristine armor was now severely cracked, with his entire right arm and upper torso pieces missing. Slowly floating down, the Shen Qin coughed up a mouth of flood as he clutched his chest.

“Not good...I’ve used up too much power to block that last attack. And that Zhang Wang Lei, to think his full powered strength was this great...I’ve truly underestimated a cornered deity, huh…*cough* *cough*”

Because the two gods had fought in their soul phase, the damages they took would directly affect them in a more permanent way; as such, Zhang Wang Lei had paid with his life in this exchange while Shen Qin had received heavy injuries to his soul.

In order for Zhang Wang Lei to overtake the elder’s body, he had to transform his body into his spiritual form to do that. Thus, after dying in the Soul Quarter, Zhang Wang Lei could be said to have truly died.

Shen Qin took a few deep breaths as he pacified his excited blood that was still boiling after his power exchange. He did not even have the power now to contact his comrades, who were millions of distances away, for assistance with his current level of power. After calming down, Shen Qin was prepared to leave this soul quarter and recover a bit of his soul when he noticed a small flickering from the corner of his eyes. Turning his head slightly, Shen Qin was surprised to find that there was small flame wavering in a corner.

Floating closer to the fiery fragment, Shen Qin saw that it was actually a person’s soul, albeit a tiny fraction of it.

“This must be the soul of the mortal who was killed by Zhang Wang Lei. To think he was this lucky and resilient...with this small piece of his soul, while he would not be able to use his flesh body anymore, he would now at least be able to go through to the reincarnation cycle.” Shen Qin thought as he stared at the soul.

However, for this small fragment of a soul to be able to go to through the reincarnation cycle, it would have to be sent there by someone. After all, it was forcefully destroyed by Zhang Wang Lei and thus, was simply too weak right now move on its own.

And to some extent, Shen Qin felt responsible for this man’s death since it was him who had forced Zhang Wang Lei to seize this innocent person’s soul, in the latter’s desperate attempt to escape. It was the first time an uninvolved mortal was dragged into his own affairs...

Shen Qin stood silently before the tiny flickering flame, as he contemplated silently what to do inside his mind. After a while, he let out a soft sigh as he reached out and drew a golden, Chinese character “皇” (Imperial), gently imprinting it onto the small soul fragment.

“With this imperial decree symbol, you should definitely be able to get reincarnated into a much better life. And don’t worry, I will make sure to send you safely into the Reincarnation Cycle. I, Shen Qin, at least owe you this much for involving you in my problem.” Shen Qin solemnly said, as he gathered up his remaining strength.

Focusing all his power at the tip of his index finger, Shen Qin gave the fragmented a light push, sending it out of the Soul Quarter towards the underworld Reincarnation Cycle. At this push, however, Shen Qin could feel his body instantly become weaker, . This was the last remaining amount of strength he had left, that he was planning to use to leave the soul quarter. But it looks like it was not possible now.

Shen Qin’s conscious became cloudy, as he felt the world around him blacken. His body transformed into a dwarf-sized soul, hovering gently in the soul quarter and breaking bits by bits apart.

At the same time, unbeknownst to Shen Qin, while his soul was dissipating it was slowly fusing with the surrounding domain.

On the originally pale, lifeless elder’s body, a faint pink color had returned to his skin. And in the elder’s room, which had previously been filled with deathly silence, an extremely faint rhythm could not be heard:

*Ba-dum*

*Ba-dum*

*Ba-dum!!*