Chapter 246: The Shifting of Space and Time
Chapter 246: The Shifting of Space and Time
This was a unique domain that Cheng Lingyu gradually comprehended after reaching the Soul Domain Realm.
The world contained many special physiques, and Cheng Lingyu’s void of endless darkness represented one such extraordinary legacy.
The Nine Dragons Competing for the Pearl trembled, fractured, and crumbled.
Though the process wasn’t violent, its annihilation became inevitable.
An infinite darkness stretched behind Cheng Lingyu as he entered an extraordinary state. All his accumulated knowledge flowed simultaneously through his mind, body, and blood, triggering a natural evolutionary process.
This marked the eruption of his lifelong accumulations. During his bodily transformation, these energies further manifested and refined themselves, moving toward perfection.
The world’s energies surged into the boundless void behind Cheng Lingyu, effortlessly absorbed by him.
Ten mountain peaks shattered, yet Cheng Lingyu remained unmoving like bedrock. Even when the great mountain fully collapsed three days later and the ancient formation broke, he continued meditating in the void, encircled by glowing halos. The power of all things materialized around him, shrouding him in profound mystery.
Cheng Lingyu had changed remarkably since mastering the ultimate skills of the Ten Immortal Souls. While some techniques remained beyond his current cultivation level, others now lay within his grasp.
Nie Jiaolong and Tian Feng had both achieved the Seven Levels of Soul Martial Arts. When the mountain collapsed, they watched Cheng Lingyu intently, alarmed by the spectacle.
They maintained vigil for five days and nights, only relaxing when Cheng Lingyu’s radiant light dimmed and he opened his eyes.
The mid-air scroll drifted down to Cheng Lingyu’s hand while the ethereal figure vanished.
Cheng Lingyu now exuded calmness rather than sharpness – a deep, unfathomable pool of tranquility.
“Cheng junior apprentice, you… you’ve changed!”
Tian Feng instantly noticed the difference, though he couldn’t define it.
Nie Jiaolong studied Cheng Lingyu with sparkling eyes, giggling: “True, you’ve become more mesmerizing and mature.”
Tian Feng nodded: “Mature? Exactly! More composed and self-assured.”
Cheng Lingyu smiled: “Human nature changes. What you see isn’t necessarily truth. My transformation was inevitable, just as yours progresses unseen.”
Though unable to fully explain his changes, Cheng Lingyu knew he’d become fundamentally different.
“We’ve stayed here over a month. Shouldn’t we leave?”
Tian Feng changed the subject, seeking their next move.
Cheng Lingyu replied: “Too late today. We’ll leave tomorrow after gathering food.”
His toothy smile restored youthful vigor, contrasting sharply with his previous mature demeanor.
The sudden shift from solemnity to vitality left his companions astonished.
That night, the trio sat around a campfire, roasting meat and chatting.
“Cheng junior apprentice, why aren’t you worried? We don’t even know where Three Saints Palace is! Others might take all the treasures!”
Cheng Lingyu chuckled: “Living means opportunities. Survival itself is victory when surrounded by Blood Martial Realm experts.”
Nie Jiaolong asked: “Are you staying tonight for particular reasons?”
“Reaching Soul Martial Sixth Realm requires digesting my knowledge. I need time to adapt.”
Cheng Lingyu spoke truthfully – his transformation dwarfed previous changes, though his companions remained unaware.
Under the night sky, Cheng Lingyu wandered through the mountain forest, blending into the darkness and merging with the void. His figure flickered between visibility and nothingness as he moved with floating steps, ethereal as if traversing the river of time itself.
He was gaining insights into the dao, sensing the essence of heaven and earth while merging all his accumulated knowledge. Through subtle transformations, he pursued a transcendence beyond ordinary comprehension.
Throughout that night, Cheng Lingyu walked ceaselessly through the woods without retracing paths or repeating motions, his journey alternating between dynamic shifts and stillness.
By dawn, he resumed his usual demeanor—a smile playing on his lips, eyes gleaming with mesmerizing allure that masked his thoughts completely.
Nie Jiaolong gazed at him, her expression dazed. The longer they stayed together, the harder she found to restrain her emotions, though she couldn’t voice them.
The trio departed for Three Saints Palace. Knowing the location, Cheng Lingyu activated the Universe Shift formation—a spatial teleportation array.
This formation, mastered only after he reached the Soul Martial Sixth Realm’s Soul Domain stage, left Nie Jiaolong and Tian Feng awestruck by its profundity.
Centered on Cheng Lingyu, the Universe Shift radiated across a thousand-mile radius. Drawing upon his knowledge, it siphoned spiritual herbs, mine sources, monster cores, and other resources through spatial jumps, funneling everything toward him.
Initially unnoticed, the effect became apparent once they flew beyond the great mountains. Spiritual herbs materialized around Cheng Lingyu, orbiting him while releasing dense spiritual energy. Mine sources flowed into his body, absorbed by the Glowing Star Seven-Colored Source. Monster cores awoke from hidden depths to gather near him. Yin-Yang energies and Five Elements forces coalesced around Cheng Lingyu, all devoured and refined.
This was the true Universe Shift—unlike any imagined. Even during rapid spatial jumps, it harvested resources relentlessly. Wherever Cheng Lingyu passed, spiritual energy withered, leaving decay in his wake as he consumed the essence of all things.
“Cheng junior apprentice… what’s happening?”
He smiled. “To forge my Soul Domain Avatar, I require the power of all things—Yin, Yang, and Five Elements energies—to construct an indestructible form.”
Tian Feng gasped. “What avatar demands such immense power?”
“Mine differs slightly. I call it the Golden Body Avatar.”
Nie Jiaolong remarked, “An intriguing name. How long until completion?”
“Uncertain,” Cheng Lingyu shook his head. “But I’ll hasten its formation.”
Three Saints Palace stood divided. Cheng Lingyu chose the nearest—Water Moon Palace. By now, every cultivator in the region had congregated there. Yet Cheng Lingyu encountered no one en route.
Chaos reigned at Three Saints Palace. Blood ran through its halls as hundreds of cultivators clashed blindly. Few understood what legacies the palace held—even fewer grasped their true nature.
At Water Moon Palace’s third-floor observatory, the fiercest struggle centered on a mystical jade. Deceptively alluring, it had claimed over a hundred Blood Martial Realm experts.
The jade pulsed with divine runes, rumored to hold Water Moon Fairy’s supreme legacy. Yet none could approach it freely. Those touching its surface glimpsed ultimate skills and heard legacy dao sounds—a privilege granted to few, driving others to lethal desperation.
Shui Yingyue became the focal point. Having entered first and lingered half a month, she knew more than any. Some coveted her possessions; others sought the woman herself, convinced of her secrets.
But Shui Yingyue proved deadly. She slaughtered dozens of Blood Martial experts mid-battle, including Blood Martial Fourth Level masters. This forced even the Three Saints and Four Peerless seven major forces to regard the Water Moon Sect disciple warily, abandoning rash actions.
Shui Yingyue vanished during the chaos, avoiding her sectmates. Unnoticed by the jade-obsessed crowd, an eerie slaughterous aura permeated Water Moon Palace after her disappearance.
Divine Martial Sect experts, frustrated by heavy losses during their resource hunt, redirected fury onto a Lou Ri City disciple they encountered, triggering violent clashes.
Jiu Yang Sacred Palace, Heavenly Palace, and Heavenly Fire Sect monitored developments closely. When Shui Yingyue disappeared, they gave chase immediately.
Outnumbered and weaker in overall strength, Lou Ri City’s Xiao Lingfeng ordered retreat toward Xuan Star Saint’s palace—the ancient ruin’s most coveted site. Previously neglected for Three Saints Palace’s legacy, crowds now flocked there.
Divine Martial Sect’s Ding Zimo and Xu Shaohong, empty-handed and enraged, vowed to destroy Lou Ri City rather than return defeated.
Thus began a deadly pursuit. Divine Martial Sect forces chased Lou Ri City disciples toward Xuan Star Palace.
Previously inaccessible due to volatile energy, Xuan Star Palace’s disturbances had weakened since Three Saints Palace’s activation. Cultivators could now approach within three hundred meters, glimpsing its majesty.
The thousand-mile stretch between Water Moon Palace and Xuan Star Palace became Lou Ri City disciples’ road of death.