A very long time ago, Su Qingcheng had already personally witnessed the might of the Dark Cosmos Fist. Utilizing negative tianqi, it became possible to warp the very laws of time and space itself, creating a reversal phenomenon that allowed it to swallow up anything it touched into nothingness. This was part of the First Mantra of the Dark Cosmos Fist manual. The Dark Cosmos Fist itself was a forbidden primordial technique that could be considered at the Universe rank. As to how Hu Linglei managed to acquire the manual, it was naturally given to her by Su Ran who explained before that she had just picked it up randomly. Thinking about it now, that explanation could be considered to be a load of bullshit. However, at the time, Su Qingcheng realized that perhaps it would have been a detriment for her to learn it.

That it was a Universe ranked technique meant Dark Cosmos Fist possessed an absurd amount of power for anybody who used it. The technique was composed of Four Mantras which became increasingly more difficult to comprehend; even Su Ran had only comprehended up to the First Mantra. Su Qingcheng herself knew that each Mantra had several minor techniques which were called Mudras, three per Mantra. Su Ran had already demonstrated one of the Mudras of the First Mantra to Su Qingcheng before. This was the Extinguishing Mudra, which was akin to using your fist as a miniature black hole. The Mudra that Su Qingcheng was about to release was the Dispelling Mudra, using the negative laws of space to reverse the flow of tianqi and dispel mystical techniques in a single punch. Any living creature that was currently not affected by a spell or technique would be injured severely, as the energy dedicated to dispelling the magic would be redirected onto the target itself!

The Dispelling Mudra therefore was one of the more tactical Mudras in the Dark Cosmos Fist’s arsenal, and expended far more energy than the other two Mudras in the First Mantra. The negative energy suddenly flew into Su Qingcheng’s fist as the space around her continued to distort. “Unleashing the myriad mysteries of space! Tear the fabrics of mysticism asunder! Dispelling Mudra!!” Su Qingcheng cried out as she threw her tianqi-powered fist forward, causing ancient symbols to gush forth from her right fist, crashing into anything that attempted to stop her.

Huan Tao’s face paled. “This kid is insane! Insane! Mad! A lunatic! A mere Tianqi User already comprehending the First Mantra of the mythical Dark Cosmos Fist!” As an old monstrous undying, Huan Tao was not a stranger to this legendary forbidden art that could be said to rip through the enigmatic space itself. Since he knew how crazy and powerful this ability was to anyone not protected or affected by a spell, he rushed away. Before he could warn Mu Dao to escape, he had already been hit by several of the ancient seals rushing forth from Su Qingcheng’s fist like a fierce river.

Mu Dao felt his body burning up as he screamed in pain, his innards trembled vigorously and he was unable to stop spurting out blood. Even as Huan Tao backed off, he was also hit by some of the remnant symbols. A majority of the seals that Su Qingcheng was releasing had crashed into the Rakshasa Cage, forcefully breaking through it and therefore freeing Qin Fa. As Mu Dao was already in an utterly miserable state and his insides were acting chaotically, he apologized to Huan Tao as he quickly fled. Su Qingcheng collapsed after freeing Qin Fa as her body and cultivation was barely enough to sustain the Dispelling Mudra. If she were to use the other two Mudras instead, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but only the Dispelling Mudra had the power to dominate magical and mystic techniques, freeing Qin Fa from her prison. Since Mu Dao had already fled, Huan Tao was alone.

Despite this, Huan Tao was not mad. He knew Mu Dao was much weaker and inexperienced than himself, and his high position as the grand disciple of one of the Four Great Kings of the Demon Flame Sect meant he was indispensable. Su Qingcheng had already collapsed from using up too much energy, so this meant all Huan Tao had to do was deal with Qin Fa. However, Qin Fa was an entire stratum stronger than him. Licking her lips, Qin Fa cracked her knuckles. “I won’t let Lady Qingcheng’s sacrifice be in vain. I’ll crush you down!”

The Tianqi Emperor blinked in front of Huan Tao before the old man could react, causing him to be struck down by a ferocious punch. As Qin Fa attempted to behead him with the jian she pulled from her palm, Huan Tao flashed a ferocious grin and waved his sleeves upward when he was knocked down, deflecting her blow and allowing him to retreat. When Qin Fa slammed her jian into his sleeve, it was like she was striking the hardest material in the known continent, adamantite!

“What the?!” Qin Fa tried to maintain her ferocious assault, but after her attack was deflected, Huan Tao had already escaped and followed Mu Dao. Qin Fa frowned as she quickly ran to Su Qingcheng’s side, checking her pulse – fortunately, Su Qingcheng was just unconscious and didn’t suffer from any serious injuries. She had just passed out from severe exhaustion. Qin Fa quickly laid down the girl in a more comfortable position and let her sleep underneath the tree, leaning her against the giant trunk of the majestic tree. Qin Fa herself stood guard and watched over Su Qingcheng, pondering over the mysteries of the attack she had unleashed.

Though Qin Fa had seen many things in her life, she had only heard about the legends surrounding the Dark Cosmos Fist and this was her first time to see someone use it in an actual battle… Let alone a young junior managing to unleash its strike. Even Yao Meiyue was surprised at the speed with which Su Qingcheng had comprehended the First Mantra. Yao Meiyue had the feeling that Su Qingcheng was very much in-tune with the mysteries of space, as she had also easily comprehended the Star Vortex Fist, which she was now able to use with great mastery. The Star Vortex Fist also had its origins from the starscape, a part of space’s many mysteries.

While Su Qingcheng was sleeping and regaining her energy, unbeknownst to her and Qin Fa, spiritual energy from the tree which nurtured the Fruit of Desire began to pour into her using the giant trunk she was leaning against as a medium. Escaping the pair’s notice, a tattoo fashioned in the word for ‘heart’ (心) had been quietly emblazoned on the side of Su Qingcheng’s neck. It was crimson in color.

***

Mu Dao mentioned to Huan Tao he would return to the lower realms to report the findings to the Infernal branch of the sect, while Huan Tao himself acknowledged and returned to Xiao Tie’s side. Now that he had a much better idea of Su Qingcheng’s power and ability, at least he could guide Xiao Tie on the right path.

Mu Dao had a treasure that allowed him to warp between Demon Flame Sect’s transfer pillars, which allowed disciples and elders to travel freely between the branches on the continent and in the Lower realm. As the Demon Flame Sect was practicing in secret, there was only one branch which was in a distant empire on the Liandou Continent. He quickly retreated to the Lower realm and in his miserable state had been quickly taken in by a small group of disciples. Mu Dao groaned weakly. “Uh… Take me to Master Fu…” he weakly called out as his body had calmed down for the most part, but the damage had already been done and his insides were in literal disarray, the power of the Dispelling Mudra on the human fleshly body was just too domineering. It was never meant to harm people or living creatures! It was actually very formidable of Mu Dao to remain conscious after being blasted by so many ancient seals.

The disciples quickly took Mu Dao to a certain chamber where his Master Fu, known as the Devil Flame Emperor to the commoners of the Infernal Lands, stared at Mu Dao in disbelief. “Dao’er, what the hells happened to you?!” he quickly rushed over to him as if he was shocked that his own son had been beaten to a terrible state.

“Master Fu, during the expedition with Huan Tao, we found the five-child that Ancestor prophesized would kill our sect. She was with an incredibly strong expert…”

“Strong expert?” Master Fu’s interest was piqued, and let Mu Dao finish what he was saying. Contrary to his title and incredibly despotic demeanor, his temperament was actually amongst the most reasonable and least dangerous of the entire sect. This made everybody in the lower realm respect him, and even the Ancestor treated Master Fu’s words like they were gold.

“She was subdued using the Rakshasa Cage,” Mu Dao coughed a spit out a blob of blood. “But what was more shocking is that the five-child unleashed a spatial attack that released numerous mysterious ancient seals. It broke through the Cage like tofu and most of the seals also directly hit me, which ruptured some of my non-essential vessels and forcibly messed up my inner organs…”

Master Fu’s expression paled. As one of the Four Great Kings himself, his knowledge rivaled that of Huan Tao. He too, knew that only one technique had the power to easily dispel the Rakshasa Cage through brute force – First Mantra’s Dispelling Mudra of the Dark Cosmos Fist! “Impossible. The Dark Cosmos Fist is a Universe ranked technique which is incredibly hard to learn. Even that harlot Nie Ran could only comprehend the First Mantra. How could her five-child casually throw out the Dispelling Mudra?!” Master Fu was enraged, but kept his cool as he attempted to treat Mu Dao’s injuries which were incredibly severe.

“She must die…” Mu Dao coughed again. He knew just as well as any other member of the Demon Flame Sect that to them, Su Qingcheng was an imminent threat that would in the future turn their sect upside down.

“Where is Sage Huan Tao?” Master Fu asked politely. He didn’t want to force Mu Dao to take any more action because the Dispelling Mudra had already messed him up this much.

“He has returned to the informal disciple Xiao Tie, most likely to advise him on how to kill Su Qingcheng during their duel in a month’s time.”

“I see. Let’s pray that he succeeds. Even if he doesn’t, Huan Tao has informed us that he will directly invite Xiao Tie anyways. He will be right at home with us.”

Mu Dao nodded in agreement.

“You must rest. Let the Sage Huan Tao do his job first. It is already a huge merit that you have obtained this information. The Ancestor will devise a way to counter her Dark Cosmos Fist. If she can comprehend further than the First Mantra, she would have already broken history in the mortal records.” Master Fu calmly instructed his grand disciple; he took great care of Mu Dao and hoped that one day he would replace his position in the future.

Mu Dao nodded as he weakly left the chamber and, with the assistance of some fellow disciples, was taken to the medical department where he would rest and recover.

“Su Qingcheng…” Mu Dao gnashed his teeth. “We’ll slaughter you and leave you without a corpse!!”