Chapter 111: Breaking Through to the Fifth Level of the King Realm, Profound Heaven Sword
"Palace Master, let me kill him."
Hearing Gu Qing's voice, Jiang Yu paused, a hint of astonishment appearing in her eyes.
Although Li Qingshan's soul had been worn down to less than one-tenth of its original state, he was still not someone a King Realm cultivator could kill.
Besides, why would Gu Qing want to kill Li Qingshan?
Could it be that he wanted to refine Li Qingshan's soul?
Thinking this, Jiang Yu's eyes shifted as she cast a sealing divine ability, sealing Li Qingshan's soul and forming it into a glazed bead.
As long as it was crushed, Li Qingshan's soul and body would be annihilated, transforming into pure soul power.
Whoosh!
Gu Qing caught the glazed bead, stored it in his storage ring, and then began to collect Li Qingshan's blood and essence.
"Have you cultivated a demonic art?" Jiang Yu asked with a frown.
Collecting both a soul and blood and essence, could he be cultivating Zhi Meng's Myriad Transformations Chaos Art?
"Nothing of the sort," Gu Qing quickly shook his head. In the current climate, who would dare to commit such a transgression?
The Imperial Uncle and the Darkness were things of the past.
"Is that so..." Jiang Yu was somewhat skeptical. A star chart appeared in her mind as she secretly performed a divination, quickly obtaining an answer.
"Self-created Chaos Indestructible Sutra, a Golden Gourd... what great fortune, what a grand opportunity, truly worthy of being an anomaly..." she was somewhat startled.
Gu Qing's growth was even more astonishing than she had imagined.
And this was only from divining these two things; perhaps Gu Qing had other opportunities and fortunes as well.
Jiang Yu did not divine any further. She did not like to pry into others' privacy.
As long as Gu Qing had not cultivated a demonic art and had not walked the path of heresy, that was all that mattered.
As for Innate Supreme Treasures...
She was not interested in them.
The innate treasures that everyone desired but could not obtain were, to her, merely things that could be taken or left.
Thinking this, Jiang Yu's gaze fell upon Luo Li, and a sense of dislike arose in her heart.
Although Luo Li's talent was good and her heart for seeking the Dao was incomparably firm, her thoughts were far too malicious.
This was a demoness who would bring chaos to the world.
The righteous reputation of the Star Temple had been tarnished by Luo Li.
"Keep your lackeys in check. Let there not be a next time," Jiang Yu said in a harsh voice.
"Yes, Palace Master!" Luo Li's heart tightened, and she immediately agreed, lowering her eyebrows and eyes, not daring to show the slightest defiance.
This was a super-strong expert who could shatter a Saint Artifact. Before she had the capital to oppose her, she did not dare to court death.
Jiang Yu nodded slightly, took out the broken sword, and handed it to Ji Ning. "Keep a close watch on him. Don't let him act recklessly again."
The meaning was clear; she was just one step away from explicitly stating that Gu Qing and Ji Ning were not to collude again.
"Yes, Palace Master!" Ji Ning understood, nodded, and took the broken sword with a delighted expression.
The grand opportunity had finally fallen into her hands.
Ji Ning was so excited her hands began to tremble slightly.
This was an Immortal Sword, and it even contained the remnant soul of a great expert from the Immortal Realm, yet Jiang Yu had given it to her so easily.
Ji Ning felt that it was somewhat unreal.
After all, setting aside the techniques and knowledge within the broken sword and remnant soul, just this wisp of a remnant soul, once refined, could elevate her own cultivation to another level.
It was only at this moment that Ji Ning suddenly realized she had truly backed the wrong horse in the past.
Jiang Yu was much more pleasant than Zhi Meng.
Unfortunately, she already had a clear master now, otherwise, following Jiang Yu would have been a good choice too.
"Do you want to come with me?" Jiang Yu looked at Gu Qing and asked.
"No, now that the matter here is settled, I need to return home for a trip. Then I will go to the Central God Domain to bring Su Ying back to the Star Temple," Gu Qing said thus.
Although Jiang Yu was the most powerful backer in the entire universe, and her favor was the most desirable to enjoy, relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself.
He had his own path to walk.
In any case, he, Gu Qing, would absolutely not accompany her to go shopping again.
"Very well!" Jiang Yu did not insist. She was waiting for the day Gu Qing would come to beg her for help.
With a single step, she crossed endless time and space, arriving at Cangming City.
Sigh...
After Jiang Yu left, Luo Li let out a long breath. Her gaze fell upon her many subordinates. "Tear down the Li Family."
The Saint Grade Great Array was of immeasurable value, and there were also spirit medicines, a treasure vault, and various pavilions, spirit artifacts, and magic treasures—all good things.
"Yes!" Wang Fan and the others acknowledged the order and began to work.
However, every one of them lacked enthusiasm.
If it were the past, raiding the home of a Saint Grade force would have made them uncontrollably excited.
But now, their minds were filled with the invincible figure of Jiang Yu.
Their reverence for the Star Temple also grew deeper.
Previously, they only thought of the Star Temple as an ancient sect with countless divine arts and secret methods, an abundance of natural materials and treasures, and clouds of experts.
But after witnessing Jiang Yu's divine abilities, their entire worldview had been completely shattered.
They also felt increasingly insignificant.
So what if they broke through to the Saint Realm, or broke through to the God Fire Realm?
Someone as strong as Li Qingshan was still effortlessly wiped out by Jiang Yu, was he not?
There is always a higher mountain, and a stronger hand among the strong.
Clearly, Jiang Yu was an insurmountable mountain for them.
This included Wang Fan as well.
Because he also could not shatter an artifact of the same cultivation level.
His physical body was indeed incomparably formidable, with blood and qi like a dragon, and he possessed the Dragon Elephant Particle Body Divine Ability.
But at most, he could catch an artifact with his bare hands or heavily damage one.
This was already considered heaven-defying.
Thinking this, Wang Fan felt dispirited; there were too many strong experts in this world.
If...
A bold idea arose in Wang Fan's mind, and his heart began to burn with passion.
"If I could join the Star Temple and take Jiang Yu as my master, perhaps..."
He stole a glance at Luo Li and thought to himself, "Luo Li is not looked upon favorably by Jiang Yu. Can I succeed in becoming her disciple through Luo Li? Forget it, I will use Luo Li for now, join the Star Temple, and then make further plans."
Gu Qing glanced at the Li Family estate and said, "Junior Sister, I am heading back first."
"Mm! I will go with you!" Luo Li also wanted to return to secluded cultivation to comprehend the Profound Heaven Sword Art.
Although she did not refine swords, if she could comprehend the mysteries within such a heaven-defying art and integrate them into her own Daoist methods, it could elevate her foundation to another level.
Gu Qing returned to his secluded cultivation mountain peak, placed Li Qingshan inside the Golden Gourd, and the system's prompt sounded in a timely manner.
[Congratulations to the host for the super cross-realm kill of a peak Saint Realm expert. Reward: Saint Artifact, Heavenly Dipper Nine Swords!]
"Not bad!"
Gu Qing's eyes lit up, and he was immensely delighted.
Nine Saint Artifacts, and they were a complete set. Forming the Heavenly Dipper Sword Formation, their power was even slightly greater than that of a Divine Artifact.
Moreover, the Heavenly Dipper Nine Swords were refined from complete Heavenly Dipper Divine Iron. With just a bit of refinement and the imprinting of divine laws, they could be ascended to Divine Artifacts.
At that time, they would be nine Divine Artifacts.
Thinking this, Gu Qing continued, "Draw!"
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining an Innate Supreme Treasure, the Profound Heaven Sword!]
Another Innate Supreme Treasure was in his hands.
Gu Qing's expression was excited as he silently claimed it, storing it within his body's Sword Aperture to absorb the Primal Dao Rhyme of the Profound Heaven Sword and nourish the aperture.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The three thousand Sword Apertures emitted sword cries. Having absorbed the Primal Sword Qi, the three thousand Sword Apertures were instantly sublimated, nurturing even more terrifying sword qi.
Gu Qing secretly estimated the power of his sword qi. Killing a Venerate Realm expert should be no problem at all.
He had gained another trump card.
As expected, his adoptive father had never disappointed him.
Gu Qing then took out Li Ping'an's Innate Sword Bone to refine it, integrating it into his Sword Apertures.
The three thousand Sword Apertures absorbed the essence of the sword bone and the Primal Sword Qi from the Profound Heaven Sword, instantly transforming at a visible speed.
Gu Qing took out the Golden Gourd and drank a few sips from it, only then remembering that Ji Ning had given him a storage ring.
Inside were spirit medicines and flesh and blood of demonic beasts collected by Chu Yao, which he had not yet refined.
Without further thought, he immediately placed them inside the Golden Gourd for refinement. A moment later, Gu Qing poured out just one percent, and it was enough to flood the mountain peak.
Pure life essence filled the entire secluded cultivation cave, permeated with traces of law aura.
If not for the isolation of the formation, it would surely have attracted Saint Realm experts.
Gu Qing calmed his state of mind and operated the Chaos Indestructible Sutra to absorb it.
Three months later, Gu Qing broke through to the fifth level of the King Realm.
He looked inward at his three thousand Sword Apertures. He saw that within them, chaos sword qi pervaded the space, and every wisp of sword qi contained the might of opening the heavens and splitting the earth.
Once unleashed, it would surely be heaven-destroying and earth-annihilating, returning all things to ruins.
Thinking this, Gu Qing withdrew his gaze and placed the Heavenly Dipper Nine Swords into nine of his Sword Apertures to nourish them.
He looked down on the King Grade Heavenly Dipper Nine Swords, but he was very fond of the Saint Grade ones.
Besides, this was a set of nine swords that could be ascended to Divine Artifacts.
If combined with the Heavenly Dipper Sword Art divine ability, its power would be absolutely terrifying.
One day later, Gu Qing had fully comprehended the Heavenly Dipper Sword Art and cultivated it to great mastery.
Next, Gu Qing began to cultivate the Heaven Opening Divine Halberd.
For this divine ability, he had only cultivated one move, Annihilation of the Eight Desolations; he had not cultivated the remaining moves.
This was mainly because the rank of the Heaven Opening Divine Halberd was too high; without sufficient cultivation, it was simply impossible to cultivate.
Now that he had broken through to the King Realm, he could cultivate the final three moves.
After ten days of cultivating them to minor mastery, Gu Qing could not wait to find Luo Li to test their power.
This suited Luo Li's intentions as well.
After all, divine abilities and secret methods needed to be tempered through combat to fully understand their power, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
She had been troubled by the lack of a suitable opponent to temper her abilities. When Gu Qing came to her, Luo Li agreed almost without a second thought.
Boom!
In the starry sky, the Five Elements halberd blades generated and overcame each other, giving rise to the power of creation and destruction. A terrifying might swept through the river of stars, capable of destroying heaven and earth.
Luo Li was beaten back in a sorry state. She only managed to escape the lockdown of the divine ability by unleashing her Phoenix Dharma.
Before she could catch her breath, Yin and Yang qi appeared in the starry sky, assimilating all things. The divine halberd seemed poised to open the heavens and split the earth.
Luo Li's scalp tingled. She took a deep breath and poured her true essence into the Phoenix Nirvana Spear.
A divine phoenix spread its wings and soared, enveloped in a boundless sea of fire, exuding a heaven-shaking spear intent, pressing forward with indomitable will.
With a boom, the aftershock of the divine ability spread, sweeping through the river of stars and destroying countless stars.
The clash between the two was not inferior to that of Venerate Realm experts.
"I'm done fighting."
An hour later, when everything had calmed down, Luo Li was panting, her hair disheveled and her body glistening with fragrant sweat.
Her perfectly curvaceous figure, pressed tightly against her phoenix dress, possessed an indescribable beauty.
Luo Li consumed a few supreme-grade pills to recover. Her beautiful eyes looked at Gu Qing with a complex expression.
She was no longer the same person she once was and had seen countless chosen prodigies.
However, the so-called prodigies and monsters she had seen only cultivated ordinary divine abilities or Minor Divine Abilities that were comprehended by predecessors based on their techniques.
There were also those who cultivated the divine abilities of divine beasts.
Even so, that was already enough to dominate a region.
And what about Gu Qing?
He was actually cultivating a Law Divine Ability. This was a divine ability of immeasurable power, perfect and without flaw, one that could accompany him for life.
Thinking of how those chosen prodigies would fight to the bitter end over a Minor Divine Ability, Luo Li suddenly found it laughable.
She shook her head. How could she even compare those ants to Gu Qing?
Those so-called chosen prodigies were nothing more than slightly more outstanding ants among the teeming masses.
Her senior brother, Gu Qing, was a true dragon of the nine heavens, incomparable and beyond compare.
"Alright!"
"We'll fight again next time."
Gu Qing regretfully put away his Samsara Divine Halberd. He hadn't even used his Heavenly Dipper Sword Art divine ability yet.
He would test it on Ji Ning when she emerged from seclusion.
The two returned to the cave dwelling, bathed and changed their clothes, and then met in a small pavilion in the middle of a lake.
"Junior Sister, these pastries of yours are quite good. Remember to send me a portion if you have any delicious treats in the future," Gu Qing said warmly.
"Of course. As long as you don't mind, senior brother."
Luo Li's smile was radiant, like a celestial flower in bloom, as beautiful as a fairy goddess.
"Senior brother, when will the Palace Master be returning?"
"I'm not sure. She just took on a pair of twin disciples and is currently training them. Why do you ask? Are you still thinking of plundering the wealth of the world?"
"No!"
Luo Li quickly shook her head. That had been her original plan, to even establish a nation and make herself an empress.
But after being warned by Jiang Yu, she gave up on the idea.
Although power and influence were good, how could they compare to the importance of one's own life?
If she were to anger Jiang Yu, the losses would outweigh the gains.
"Then what do you want to do?" Gu Qing asked.
Luo Li pondered for a moment before asking curiously, "Senior brother, who do you think is more formidable, the Palace Master or my master?"
Of course, it was Jiang Yu. She was a Dao Venerate who had lived for seventeen epochs.
That was what Gu Qing thought, but he said, "Who knows? They have been fighting openly and covertly for thousands of years, yet neither has been able to defeat the other."
Wang Fan, who was at the side, heard this and felt a storm surge in his heart.
There was actually someone who could compare to Jiang Yu?
In that case, how many more experts of this level were there in the Star Temple?
Wang Fan perked up his ears to listen, his heart yearning to fly to the Star Temple immediately to become a disciple.
Gu Qing glanced at him, then withdrew his gaze to check his system messages.
As expected, Wang Fan had been continuously providing him with luck.
The Super Thorns Mail System was truly a good system.
Without having to do a thing, luck just came pouring in.
If he spent a little more time with Wang Fan, he probably wouldn't even need to make a move; Wang Fan would bring about his own demise.
"Indeed!"
Luo Li sighed, suddenly feeling that the road ahead was difficult.
There were too many strong experts in this world. Her path to invincibility was long and distant, so much so that she could not even see a glimmer of hope.
After all, the Gu Qing before her was already someone she could only look up to.
Heaven only knew how many other chosen prodigies existed in the world.
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