Chapter 466 - 413: Thousand Transformations

The void’s chaotic clamor subsided, and the suffocating, ominous shadow slowly dissipated. It was as if the horrifying scene of a True Monarch carrying a coffin and driving away mighty beings had been nothing but a dream.

Qi Yun hovered at the relatively safe edge of the void, not leaving immediately.

His eyes narrowed as he gazed into the distance where the Ancient Coffin had vanished. He then glanced at the vast, boundless silhouette of the Profound Yellow Origin Realm, countless thoughts flashing like lightning deep within his eyes.

’The being inside that Ancient Coffin...’

Qi Yun mused, his thoughts in turmoil.

’Is this the work of one of those... beings Above the True Monarch?’

As far as he knew, there were three beings who had clearly or supposedly touched that profound and mysterious Realm of being Above the True Monarch:

The first, of course, was the World Honored One, who had caused a world-shaking disturbance and nearly succeeded in "returning."

The terror of his might was enough to make any True Monarch turn pale at the mere mention of his name.

The second was the Ancestral Dragon of the Overseas Dragon Race—a figure who had become a legend, the source of their bloodline, and their Stabilizing Needle.

This one, however, was far more stable than the first.

The third was the mysterious being in All Marvelous Heaven who had silently influenced the True Monarch Dao Fruits of several True Monarchs, nearly instigating a great war among them.

Their methods were so uncanny they could tamper with the very roots of the Great Dao. Their Realm had clearly transcended the scope of an ordinary True Monarch.

The mere tip of the iceberg revealed by each of these three beings far surpassed the limits of a True Monarch’s comprehension.

And today, the Master of the Ancient Coffin, who carried the casket and drove off True Monarchs, had displayed a terror and strangeness—an ominous presence that made one’s Dao Heart tremble—that undoubtedly pointed to the same level of existence.

’A fourth one...’ Qi Yun slowly exhaled a non-existent breath of Muddy Qi, as if to expel the weight and doubt from his heart along with it.

He shook his head, and the sharp light in his eyes gradually receded, replaced by a calm as deep as a tranquil pool.

’Forget it. With my current Cultivation Realm, trying to fathom the intentions and schemes of such beings is like an ant trying to shake a tree. It will only disturb my Heart and Spirit.’

He knew full well that the gap between a True Monarch and those "Above" was perhaps even greater than the one between a mortal and a True Monarch.

It involved the essence of the Great Dao and the very source of spacetime—things he could not yet hope to fathom.

Forcibly suppressing the swirling speculations and hidden worries in his heart, Qi Yun retracted his aura. His figure slowly faded into the void. With a mere thought, the profound and unfathomable Six Realms Heaven within him began to stir.

His objective was clear: Spirit Yong.

The journey had been fraught with twists and turns, and he had even witnessed a being suspected to be Above the True Monarch take action.

But none of it had shaken Qi Yun from his fundamental objective.

What had to be done, still had to be done.

The chaos was boundless, and time and space were immeasurable.

But for the Qi Yun of today, traversing the void was no longer difficult.

He was no longer as cautious and methodical as he had been on his first journey to Cang Que. Now, he commanded the mighty power of the Six Realms Heaven, his body transforming into an imperceptible glimmer of light that shot through the crevices of the void.

Along the way, he witnessed stars dying and falling into Returning Ruins, erupting in a final, brilliant burst of destruction. He saw chaotic storms that swept through, shredding everything tangible and intangible. He passed sparse fragments of ancient ruins, drifting by like storytellers of a forgotten past.

Qi Yun sped past it all, his Heart and Spirit as still as an ancient well.

An unknown amount of time passed—perhaps months, perhaps years.

Through the senses of his Six Realms Heaven, a worldly aura—distinctly different from that of the Profound Yellow Origin Realm—began to emerge from the depths of the chaos ahead, slowly sharpening from a blur into focus.

The aura was vast and ancient, carrying with it a unique rhythm of life and a strict web of laws.

It was his destination: the Great Realm of Spirit Yong.

As he drew near this realm, Qi Yun did not approach rashly.

The last time, the moment he had entered Cang Que, he had alerted the Celestial Dao of that Other Realm. He’d been forced to seal his Cultivation, conceal everything, and lie dormant as a stone statue for a long time just to barely evade its grasp.

The ordeal had been perilous.

’Once bitten, twice shy.’ Qi Yun came to a halt in the void, maintaining a safe distance from Spirit Yong, and hovered there silently.

Compared to the fledgling he had been back then, with his shallow Cultivation, he had since undergone a heaven-and-earth-shaking transformation.

His Cultivation Realm aside, his understanding of the Celestial Dao’s perception and his mastery over the Six Realms Heaven were on a completely different level.

He had also become more patient and now better understood how to achieve his goals at the lowest possible cost.

He didn’t choose to force his way in and clash head-on with the Celestial Dao of an entire great realm.

Even if he was now somewhat confident he could resist it for a short time.

But doing so would be unwise. It would expose him prematurely, which went against his intention to remain low-key on this trip.

He was waiting.

Waiting for an opportunity, for a "guide" who could allow him to slip into Spirit Yong silently, without alerting its Celestial Dao.

In the void, there was neither sun nor moon.

There was only the eternal flow of chaos and the occasional glimmer of a passing star.

Qi Yun found a relatively stable confluence of void turbulence and sat down cross-legged, his aura blending perfectly with his surroundings.

Time trickled by in the desolate silence of his wait.

For a mortal, it might have seemed an eternity.

But for a being like Qi Yun, it was but a fleeting moment spent in contemplation of the Dao.

His heart was as still as water, his patience absolute.

About a year passed.

One day, as Qi Yun sat as still as a statue, a sharp glint suddenly flashed beneath his half-closed eyelids, like a pebble dropped into a silent, ancient well.

’Finally... here they come.’

A faint smile touched his lips.

At the edge of his senses, a subtle yet distinct ripple of cosmic law spread across a section of the Spirit Yong Great Realm’s thick, eggshell-like world barrier.

Immediately after, a figure cloaked in a pale cyan Escape Light shot out from within the realm like an arrow loosed from a bow. It tore through the chaos and sped off toward a specific direction in the Outer Realm.

The Escape Light moved swiftly. To Qi Yun’s senses, the energy fluctuations it emitted were roughly equivalent to a Foundation Establishment Stage Master from the Profound Yellow Origin Realm.

In fact, this Cultivator’s power was a notch higher than Qi Yun’s own had been when he first left Profound Yellow for Cang Que.

’You’ll do.’

Qi Yun remained seated, unmoving. He simply stretched out a hand toward the distant cyan Escape Light.

There was no earth-shattering display of power, no brilliant flash of a Divine Technique.

The hand simply reached forward, fingers slightly spread, as if casually grasping at something in the void.

Yet, the very instant his fingers spread—

The void for hundreds of miles around the cyan Escape Light instantly froze solid!

The flowing streams of chaos stopped dead. The dissipating motes of energy froze. Even the pale cyan Escape Light itself was instantly trapped in midair, like an insect in amber, completely immobilized!

The Cultivator within the Escape Light lost all perception and control of himself and his surroundings before he could even fully form an expression of terror.

A Foundation Establishment Master?

Slightly stronger than the Qi Yun of the past?

Unfortunately for him, he had encountered the Qi Yun of today.

He had encountered the Profound Yellow First Great Master, a man who had experienced countless fortuitous encounters, whose Dao had progressed by leaps and bounds, and whose Cultivation Realm had reached the very pinnacle of the Great Master Realm!

The difference between them was as vast as that between the clouds and the mud.

"Seize."

Qi Yun uttered a single, indifferent syllable.

The distant, outstretched hand clenched into a fist.

In the frozen void, the ball of pale cyan Escape Light and the Cultivator within were snatched by an invisible giant hand, instantly crossing the vast distance to be dragged before Qi Yun.

The Cultivator was still encased in the frozen Escape Light. His face still held a trace of wary anticipation for the Outer Realm, but his eyes were now a mask of blank, solidified terror.

Qi Yun wasted no words. He didn’t even spare a glance at the Cultivator’s terrified face.

Two points of profound, vortex-like divine light suddenly flared in his eyes, piercing straight into the other’s Ancestral Acupoint!

Soul Search!

Soul Cutting!

"URG... AARGH—!!!"

The Cultivator’s frozen body couldn’t move, but from the depths of his Divine Soul erupted a silent, horrifying shriek of utter agony and struggle.

But under the crushing weight of Qi Yun’s absolute power, all resistance was like a candle in the wind, snuffed out in an instant.

A torrent of information, like a bursting dam, flooded into Qi Yun’s Sea of Consciousness.

Everything from the Cultivator’s origins, his Cultivation Skill, his relationships, and the objective of his mission, to the power structures of the Spirit Yong Great Realm, its Realm divisions, its customs and taboos, and the unique aspects of its laws of Heaven and Earth...

Even the unique Realm Seal fluctuation deep within his soul—a mark unique to the living beings of Spirit Yong that faintly resonated with its Celestial Dao—was stripped, analyzed, and imprinted upon Qi Yun’s mind without a single detail missed.

A moment later, the divine light in Qi Yun’s eyes faded.

The body of the Cultivator before him remained intact, but his eyes were completely vacant. His Divine Soul Origin had been utterly seized and dissected, leaving behind nothing but an empty husk.

His soul was scattered to the winds; he couldn’t possibly be more dead.

Qi Yun’s expression was placid, as if he had just done something utterly insignificant.

With a thought, the empty husk disintegrated into dust and vanished into the chaotic currents, leaving not a single trace behind.

’Spirit Yong... so that’s how it is.’

Qi Yun murmured to himself, digesting the information he had just obtained.

’In that case, this will be much easier.’

Qi Yun closed his eyes, and the aura within his body began to undergo a profound and mysterious transformation.

His bones hummed softly and the texture of his skin seemed to flow. As the pores all over his body opened and closed, his aura rapidly diminished and changed, drawing closer to the essence of the Cultivator from before.

A few breaths later, he snapped his eyes open.

The divine light in his eyes was completely concealed, replaced by the same Spiritual Agility characteristic of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from Spirit Yong.

With another thought, the simple Deep Blue Daoist Robe he wore began to change—its style, its patterns, even the subtle Spiritual Qi signature of its material.

It finally transformed into a pale cyan, standard-issue Magic Robe, identical to the one worn by the Cultivator in his memory.

A Cloud Pattern Ancient Seal, the insignia of the man’s Sect, faintly materialized on his chest.

Primordial True Body!

Thousand Transformations!

It wasn’t just his appearance, clothes, and aura. Even the unique "Realm Seal" fluctuation deep within his soul, that faint connection to Spirit Yong’s Celestial Dao, was perfectly simulated and replicated by the Supreme Divine Technique, Primordial True Body!

In that instant, Qi Yun had transformed. No matter how one probed him, he was now identical to "Zhou Zimo," the Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had just flown out of Spirit Yong!

In fact, thanks to the depth of his foundation and his exquisite control over power, the simulated aura was even a few degrees more pure and condensed than the original Zhou Zimo’s.

Qi Yun—or rather, the current "Zhou Zimo"—flexed his wrist, adapting to his "new" body and identity. A faint, satisfied smile touched his lips.

He looked up at the vast Spirit Yong Great Realm in the distance. The ripples of law on its world barrier still seemed to be faintly oscillating.

’My dear colleagues of Spirit Yong, I have arrived.’

With the familiar smile of the Holy Sect on his lips, Qi Yun’s body transformed into a pale cyan Escape Light, identical to the previous Cultivator’s. After adjusting his direction, he flew unhurriedly toward the Great Realm of Spirit Yong, back to the very same node in the void from which he had "departed" not long ago.

His Escape Light was steady, his aura pure. He looked for all the world like a native Cultivator of Spirit Yong, returning to his Sect after completing a mission.

...