Chapter 103: The Brow-Raising Staff

“It worked! By combining the profound mysteries of the origins of earth, wind, water, and fire, and drawing upon the power of the four Elemental Overgods, I have finally perfected this body-tempering technique. The Chaos Golden Body is finally complete.”

Qiankun raised his hand and casually clenched it into a fist. The surrounding space immediately twisted, as though every movement of his body contained unfathomable might.

A moment later, Qiankun waved his hand. The space around him split open, forming a massive rift. Without the slightest hesitation, he rose and stepped directly into it, entering the turbulent flow of space.

Multicolored radiance streamed in every direction, converging into a vast and surging torrent of spatial turbulence. The turbulent flow of space was widely regarded as the most dangerous place in existence. Even an artifact would be ground into dust upon entering it. Only experts possessing Overgod defensive artifacts, or Highgods who had reached the level of Great Perfection, could barely withstand the impact and preserve their lives.

Even then, a Highgod of Great Perfection would be utterly helpless within the spatial turbulence. Moving was as difficult as struggling through a swamp. They could only allow the turbulent current to batter them and drift wherever it carried them.

Yet Qiankun, his entire body radiating dazzling golden light like a golden deity, stood quietly within the spatial turbulence. The multicolored torrents surged against him, but could not shake him in the slightest. With but a thought, Qiankun began flying through the spatial turbulence. His speed grew faster and faster, as though the turbulent flow presented no obstruction whatsoever.

“Hahaha…”

After flying for a while, Qiankun suddenly came to a stop and burst into hearty laughter.

“Even the Overgods probably do not possess a body as powerful as mine. Even an Overgod artifact may not be harder than this Chaos Golden Body. Compared with the Overgods, the only thing I lack now is sufficient willpower from my divine soul. But with such a formidable physical body constantly nourishing my divine soul, it will not be long before the might of my soul and willpower can rival that of an Overgod. By then, I will possess combat power on the Overgod level. An ordinary Lower Overgod will probably not be my opponent at all.”

In truth, when Linley’s soul mutated and absorbed the energy of the four elements, Qiankun had begun studying how to temper his body with the energies of earth, wind, water, and fire while sensing the profound mysteries of their fusion. As the four energies tempered his body, they gradually merged with it perfectly, causing his fleshly body to undergo a transformation and slowly evolve toward that of a Chaos Demon God.

After several thousand years of study, he had finally perfected this body-tempering method.

During the process, the profound mysteries of the four elements collided with one another, deepening Qiankun’s comprehension of earth, wind, water, and fire. He had even effortlessly fused some of the profound mysteries of the four elemental laws with one another.

In fact, before successfully cultivating the Chaos Golden Body, Qiankun had already completely fused the nine profound mysteries of the Law of Wind, reaching the realm of Great Perfection. The Laws of Earth, Water, and Fire had each reached the final bottleneck before the fusion of all six profound mysteries. Once he crossed that final step, he would attain Great Perfection in those laws as well.

As for earth, water, and fire, bitter cultivation and comprehension alone were no longer useful. What remained was merely an opportunity for sudden enlightenment.

Regarding the other laws and principles, all of his divine clones had cultivated independently over the years and had naturally advanced at astonishing speed. Even his least talented divine clone, the Thunder and Lightning clone, had reached the Highgod level and fused five profound mysteries.

Qiankun glanced back in the direction of the O’Kalun Plane. His expression was complicated. After gritting his teeth slightly, he transformed into a streak of golden light and flew toward the depths of the endless spatial turbulence.

From that day onward, neither Gaia nor Linley and the others ever saw Qiankun again.

They knew only that he had vanished into thin air and had no idea where he had gone. None of them could have imagined that Qiankun had become even more inconspicuous than before. He concealed his aura, changed his appearance, and adopted new identities, embarking on a journey through the many divine planes, the Higher Planes, and countless material planes.

It was also a journey of tempering his heart and pursuing the perfect Great Dao.

…

The Primordial World.

Beyond the seas, on Abbot Island, halfway up the Azure Dragon Mountains, stood the Qiankun Hall. Within the empty hall rested an ancient, massive cauldron—the Qiankun Cauldron.

Chaotic-colored flames surged within it, scorching the surrounding space until it warped and twisted. Wrapped within those rising flames was a mass of emerald light, radiating an intense aura of life and chaotic spatial fluctuations. Even the surrounding chaotic divine fire was stirred into violent motion.

“Five years and four months. It’s finally almost complete!”

Old Ancestor Qiankun sat cross-legged upon a cloud bed, his eyes blazing as he watched the trembling, roiling mass of emerald light within the Qiankun Cauldron. He murmured to himself before once again pouring his surging magical power into the cauldron.

The might of the entire Qiankun Cauldron suddenly soared. The flames inside erupted with dazzling brilliance, then weakened after the burst of intense burning.

Buzz…

An invisible fluctuation spread from within the Qiankun Cauldron, causing the entire Qiankun Hall to tremble faintly. As a mass of emerald light flew out from the cauldron, the space within the hall immediately became twisted and chaotic.

Soon, as the emerald radiance slowly faded, it finally revealed a dark-green staff resembling a piece of jadeite. The staff appeared to be only a little over three feet long, with a simple and ancient design. Its aura was restrained, yet it radiated a fluctuation that twisted the surrounding space. At the same time, it invisibly drew the spiritual energy of heaven and earth from across Abbot Island toward itself.

“Forged from an Empty-Hearted Willow Tree and numerous rare spiritual materials, it took several years of effort with my artifact-refining techniques to complete. As expected, it has reached the level of a Supreme-Grade Connate Spiritual Treasure. Among Supreme-Grade Connate Spiritual Treasures, it is unquestionably among the finest—second only to a Connate Supreme Treasure.”

Old Ancestor Qiankun beckoned, and the dark-green staff flew into his hand. He easily bound it with a drop of blood, then channeled his magical power into it and activated it slightly.

Before him, space twisted as though it were about to transform into a vortex-like black hole, while the spiritual energy of heaven and earth frantically converged and poured into the staff.

A delighted smile spread across Old Ancestor Qiankun’s face.

“I shall call you the Raising-Eyebrow Staff!”

At that moment, the Primordial World’s Dao-Proving System once again spoke in its cold, rigid voice within Old Ancestor Qiankun’s mind:

“Congratulations, Master. You have refined the Supreme-Grade Connate Spiritual Treasure, the Raising-Eyebrow Staff, and may claim five thousand system points as a reward. In addition, your clone has perfectly completed its journey through the Coiling Dragon World, assisting Sadius in reaching the Saint realm, helping Hogg become a Dragonblood Warrior and changing his fate, aiding the Child of the World, Linley, on multiple occasions, comprehending the profound mysteries of the origins of earth, wind, water, and fire, and creating the Chaos Golden Body. Excluding the remainder, you may claim a total reward of sixty thousand system points.”

“Excluding the remainder? Why exclude the remainder? What gives you the right to exclude it? Even the remainder is still system points!”

Old Ancestor Qiankun was indignant.

The system did not respond. After remaining silent for a while, it continued:

“Master, would you like to bring back the clone that cultivated the Chaos Golden Body? Returning from the other world will require fifty thousand system points.”

“Do I look like an idiot to you? Spending fifty thousand system points is equivalent to using half a portion of the merit of Creation to bring him back. Have I gone mad?”

Old Ancestor Qiankun cursed inwardly.

Five years had passed in the Primordial World. In the Coiling Dragon World, no one knew how many endless years had already gone by. So much time had passed that even Old Ancestor Qiankun had nearly lost all sense of its duration.

Across those immeasurably long years, his clone had traveled through an unknown number of material planes and experienced countless events. Although the seven elemental laws and four supreme principles might not all have reached Great Perfection, the polishing and tempering brought by the passage of time had caused Qiankun’s Dao-heart to undergo a transformation.

“To understand my true heart and sever my Three Corpses—there is hope at last. Perhaps this is the greatest gain from my clone’s journey through the Coiling Dragon World.”

At the thought, Old Ancestor Qiankun’s mood brightened considerably, and his gaze toward the Raising-Eyebrow Staff in his hand grew increasingly fervent.

With the Raising-Eyebrow Staff in hand, the time had truly come for Old Ancestor Qiankun to sever his Three Corpses.

Thus, after waving his hand to put away the Qiankun Cauldron, Old Ancestor Qiankun summoned a canopy of auspicious clouds above his head with a thought. Golden flowers emerged within the clouds. As the staff in his hand rose and tapped into their midst, the final golden flower also expanded and bloomed in dazzling radiance.

A hazy figure emerged from within it, gradually solidifying into a Daoist dressed in azure robes.