Early morning, a hazy drizzle.
Today, Jiang Huai was about to begin the final battle of the Five Regions Grand Competition.
Jiang Zhi also came to watch the match from below today. Even Jun Anshui woke up and sat beside Jiang Zhi to watch together. The seats below were full. At this moment, the favorite to win the championship was Jiang Huai. Even though Lin Qing had easily defeated Ji Qingxuan earlier, compared to Jiang Huai’s victory over an Eighth Level of Mahayana cultivator with three swords a few days ago, there was still a huge gap.
Last night, Jiang Huai slept with Jiang Zhi. Nothing untoward happened. He simply held Jiang Zhi’s soft body and slept through the night. Jiang Zhi even lifted her leg and rested it on his waist, like a clingy kitten.
Jiang Huai was wearing a white Daoist robe today, while Lin Qing was still in his usual green long gown. Motes of fine rain drifted in the sky. The two entered the Divine Tree Secret Realm on Life Source Island one after another. Jiang Huai took out the Yening Sword and looked at Lin Qing opposite him.
But Lin Qing did not draw his sword. Instead, he asked softly, “To what level have you cultivated the Azure Water Green Vine Divine Art?”
“The fourth level,” Jiang Huai replied truthfully.
Lin Qing’s expression flickered with a hint of surprise, but it quickly vanished. Only a faint smile at the corner of his mouth turned bittersweet. He said softly, “You geniuses are truly enviable and hateful.”
Jiang Huai was momentarily unsure how to respond. But Lin Qing seemed to intend to chat with him for a while, and asked softly, “May I ask, who is your master?”
“Chu Xianning,” Jiang Huai replied softly. But Lin Qing shook his head, “I mean your true master.”
“Huh?” Jiang Huai was confused. “I only have Chu Xianning as my master.”
“Then where did the Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit on your body come from?” Lin Qing looked into his eyes and asked softly.
“Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit? What is that?” Jiang Huai was increasingly confused.
This time, it was Lin Qing who was slightly taken aback for a moment. He whispered softly, “Could it be that a certain powerful being has chosen a successor?”
“What?” Jiang Huai became even more confused by the other party’s cryptic words. But Lin Qing seemed to quickly let go of it. “Never mind. Even if you are, with the protection of the Divine Emperor, their hands could never reach this realm. It’s no wonder they hid the Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit here. This realm is the only safe place that cannot be tainted by others.”
“What are you talking about? What is the Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit?”
“You really don’t know?”
“I don’t know,” Jiang Huai shook his head.
“This realm is called the Qingmu Realm, one of the seventy-two Great Realms of the heavens. Above the seventy-two realms are three Divine Domains, and the sole Ancestral Dao Origin Realm. At the center of the Ancestral Dao Origin Realm lies a Chaos Divine Tree. Every ten million years, a Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit grows there.”
“The Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit is nurtured by the Heavenly Way Spiritual Qi of the entire Ancestral Dao Origin Realm. It is not a physical fruit, but an incorporeal entity. Once it is bound to a soul, the refiner can obtain talent that allows them to comprehend almost all Daoist magic in the world.”
“Since its birth, the Ancestral Dao Origin Realm has produced only one hundred Supreme Chaos Dao Fruits to this day. The vast majority are in the hands of the Divine Emperor alone. Only a few were once stolen, or used by the Divine Emperor to reward the major families in the three Divine Domains. Yet, a Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit has somehow appeared in the Qingmu Realm, and on your person.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing,” Jiang Huai replied softly. He looked at Lin Qing, who still had a calm expression, and suddenly asked curiously, “Why do you know this?”
“I have been to the Upper Realm,” Lin Qing replied softly.
Jiang Huai was taken aback. “With your cultivation level of the Eighth Realm, how did you get there?”
“When I ascended to the Upper Realm before, I also left myself a backup plan. If I were to die in the Upper Realm one day, a wisp of my remnant soul would return to this realm and be reborn with the help of the Life Divine Tree.”
“Then I should address you as Senior. What was your title before ascending to the Upper Realm…?”
The moment he asked this question, Jiang Huai suddenly thought of the name of the person before him. The next moment, his pupils contracted, and he suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility.
Before coming to the Five Regions Grand Competition, he had naturally learned about the origin of that Life Divine Tree. The cultivator who planted the Life Divine Tree and left an opportunity for countless cultivators in the future to enter the Ninth Realm before breaking through to ascend… his title was Qingdi.
“Qingdi,” Lin Qing still replied indifferently. “That was my title in the Qingmu Realm before I ascended.”
“Senior is that legendary Qingdi, then this Divine Tree Secret Realm…”
“You don’t need to be so polite to someone who is about to take your life,” Lin Qing said softly. Jiang Huai took a step back, gripping his sword tightly, but Lin Qing showed no sign of attacking.
“You want to kill me?”
“Yes.”
“For that Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit you mentioned?”
“Yes,” Lin Qing replied softly. “The Qingmu Realm has a restriction imposed by the Divine Emperor. Cultivators above the Tenth Realm cannot enter this realm to plunder its opportunities. If I can refine the Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit on you, I can cultivate to the Tenth Realm in this realm, comprehend the Azure Water Green Vine Divine Art that I have been unable to comprehend for my entire life, and kill my way back to the Divine Domain.”
“But I really haven’t heard of the Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit you mentioned, nor have I ever refined such a thing.”
“But you also know that your cultivation is different from others, right?” Lin Qing replied unhurriedly. “The Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit originates from that Chaos Divine Tree. In my years in the Upper Realm, I was fortunate enough to witness the Chaos Divine Tree once and perceive the aura of the Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit.”
As Lin Qing spoke, a verdant ancient tree had already emerged behind him. The ancient tree exuded a terrifying life force. This tree had been growing vigorously in this secret realm all along, but it had not appeared during the previous matches. Now, it appeared beside Lin Qing. Lin Qing reached out, sensing the aura from the tree, and suddenly let out a light laugh.
This Life Divine Tree had been growing in the Life Source Island Secret Realm for nearly six thousand years. It was originally a Dao fruit planted by Qingdi when he broke through to the Tenth Realm using Daoist magic. Now, this ancient tree was filled with vast and abundant Spiritual Qi. At this moment, the leaves of the Life Divine Tree began to fall one by one. The verdant spiritual leaves landed on Lin Qing’s body and then merged into his body.
“Is that Ninth Realm Eighth Level cultivator who is trying to tear open the Secret Realm Entrance your guardian?” Lin Qing looked at Jiang Huai before him and asked softly.
Jiang Huai had naturally called for Jiang Zhi when Lin Qing said he intended to kill him. He nodded slightly, “Yes.”
“The secret realm of the Life Divine Tree is the blessed land I cultivated after reaching the Tenth Realm. It is also my tomb. Even with her Ninth Realm Eighth Level cultivation, it will take her half an hour to break through the entrance. Half an hour is enough for me to kill you many times.”
“Do you have any last words you want to convey, or any unfulfilled wishes? You can tell me now. After killing you, I will take the Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit from your body and become one of those peerless prodigies in the Upper Realm.”
Jiang Huai certainly had no habit of waiting to be slaughtered. But at this moment, leaves of the Life Divine Tree fell onto Lin Qing. His cultivation was no longer just First Level of Mahayana. His aura was now approaching the Ninth Realm. A dazzling green vortex appeared around him. Jiang Huai attempted to draw his sword, but his blade could not even cut through the vortex surrounding him.
When the vortex completely dissipated, Lin Qing’s cultivation reached First Level of the Ninth Realm, and more leaves were still falling into his body.
Jiang Huai looked into his eyes and said coldly, “After you kill me, aren’t you afraid of dying at her hands?”
Lin Qing shook his head and replied, “The Azure Water Green Vine Divine Art is the greatest opportunity I have gained in the Upper Realm, and perhaps in my life. I have studied it for thousands of years, but due to my limited talent, I can only cultivate it to the Eighth Level, with no further progress.”
“This is my bottleneck. But if I can obtain the Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit, I can comprehend the Ninth and Tenth Levels in an instant. At that time, even if she is at the Ninth Realm Eighth Level, she will not be my opponent.”
“Perhaps in your eyes, each minor realm in the last three realms is crucial, separated by thousands of miles. But if you have been to the Upper Realm, you will understand that the Upper Realm never lacks monsters who can challenge higher realms. Cultivation methods, spirit artifacts, and talent are the most important. Hard work… is the most meaningless thing.”
Lin Qing looked at Jiang Huai before him. “Have you thought of your last words?”
“I have no habit of waiting to be slaughtered.” Jiang Huai had already taken out the Dragon Heart, which was more than half remaining. His Overlord Art was only at the peak of the Seventh Level. If he directly refined this Dragon Heart, he might gain immense strength in a short period, but when the backlash came, it would be a matter of life and death.
But it was better than a situation with no chance of survival.
He ate the entire incomplete Dragon Heart. The rampant Spiritual Qi within his body made his eyes glow with pure silver light, and his body, his skin, seemed to radiate a faint silver glow. His veins bulged. He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the agonizing pain caused by the rampant Spiritual Qi in his body, and slowly raised the Spirit Sword in his hand.
Lin Qing was not angered by his desperate resistance. He raised his hand, and a verdant Spirit Sword appeared in his hand. The expression on his face remained as calm as ever.
He took a step forward. “After cultivating for over six thousand years, yet when I perished in the Upper Realm, I fell at the hands of a junior who had only cultivated swordsmanship for a hundred years. Now, I am very much looking forward to seeing what terrifying extent the Supreme Chaos Dao Fruit can elevate your talent to.”
With that, his sword fell instantly. Jiang Huai raised his sword to block, but the immense force shattered his arm’s meridians and instantly pulverized his bones. He gritted his teeth tightly. Overlord Qi and Spiritual Qi coursed wildly through his body, the blood of the Dragon Emperor boiled, and his entire body radiated silver light. But as Lin Qing’s second sword fell, the silver glow on Jiang Huai’s body had already become extremely dim.
Defeating a young man who had cultivated swordsmanship for only a dozen years did not bring Lin Qing a sense of accomplishment. Even though Jiang Huai tried to seize opportunities and repeatedly drew his sword, Lin Qing did not even need to dodge. His sword could not even shatter the Spiritual Qi protecting him. Leaves of the Life Divine Tree continuously entered his body, providing him with inexhaustible Spiritual Qi.
Meanwhile, Jiang Huai could not absorb a single wisp of Spiritual Qi from this Divine Tree Secret Realm, because this was Lin Qing’s world, and he was the master of this world.
Jiang Huai knew that his ordinary sword techniques were now meaningless. He gritted his teeth and unleashed a Water Moon. The vast sword light was like the moon in the night sky, illuminating the entire secret realm with silver light. But at the center of the sword light, Lin Qing reached out and lightly pinched the tip of his sword with his fingers.
Now, the Life Divine Tree behind him was on the verge of withering, and his cultivation had already reached Third Level of the Ninth Realm.
“Do you have any trump cards left?” Lin Qing looked at Jiang Huai, whose face was pale. “If not, it’s time for you to die.”
