Chapter Fifty: Ascension to Divinity

The Realm of Chaos lies in the eastern part of the Magical Beast Mountains, nestled between the O’Brien Empire, the Luo’ao Empire, and the Far Eastern Great Grasslands. There are some forty to fifty duchies here, their numbers constantly shifting due to frequent wars; every few years, the count changes, making this a land encircled by powers both near and far. Even the Light and Dark Churches have long coveted the Realm of Chaos, their mutual antagonism perpetuating the endless strife here.

To the north of the Realm of Chaos sprawls the vast Forest of Darkness, whose magical beasts rival those found in the mountains. Every few decades, or sometimes as little as ten years, a wave of magical beasts surges from the forest, sweeping into the Realm of Chaos and causing immense casualties.

Mudseal City, a small and unremarkable settlement within the Realm of Chaos, stood quietly on its outskirts. Arriving here, Qiankun discreetly probed his surroundings, quickly discovering the enormous vein of magical crystal stones. He tore open the earth, delving directly into the heart of the vein.

At the core of this magical crystal vein, amidst stones whose energy rivaled seventh, eighth, or even ninth-level magic cores, there stood a door—a door that should not exist in this world. It was visible to the naked eye, yet even a Sanctuary-level expert’s spiritual power would fail to detect it.

Qiankun, his eyes half-closed, gazed at the luminous gateway. Without hesitation, he stepped through it. The moment he entered, a blade-like force assaulted him, yet his formidable body easily withstood the onslaught.

Within the portal, a sphere of space unfolded before Qiankun—a transparent bubble, ten meters in diameter. Inside, it was arranged like a cultivation chamber, furnished simply with a bed, table, and chair. The sphere was shielded by a membrane, impervious to the disturbances and destruction of the outside world.

Looking up and around, Qiankun observed the chaotic spatial currents beyond the transparent membrane. Multicolored streams swirled, spatial rifts appeared and vanished, their terrifying power causing a chill in his heart simply by their presence.

Standing in this spherical chamber, his eyes slightly closed, Qiankun clearly sensed the density of elemental energy was astonishing. The aura of the seven elemental laws and the four rule energies was dozens of times sharper than anywhere else. Here, his comprehension of the arcane would advance much more swiftly.

“Indeed, this is an excellent place for solitary cultivation,” Qiankun mused, his figure flickering as he settled cross-legged on the stone bed, gradually immersing himself in his contemplation of the elements’ mysteries.

Eager to become a deity swiftly, Qiankun chose to focus on the profound mysteries of speed within the Wind elemental law—combining the fast and slow to refine the essence of speed. As long as his understanding of speed was deep enough, he would encounter no bottlenecks before becoming a god. With other mysteries, one had to fully comprehend a single profundity before ascending to divinity.

Qiankun was so absorbed in his study of speed that more than a year passed unnoticed.

Within the chamber of the micro-plane, Qiankun sat cross-legged on the stone bed. Before him floated a deep blue divine sword, its tip tracing a subtle, enigmatic line in the air. In that instant, a flash of inspiration struck—Qiankun felt as if he had crossed an invisible boundary, the threshold between the Sanctuary and Divinity.

A deep, soul-shaking power suddenly descended, causing Qiankun to jolt and open his eyes wide, gazing upward.

That power enveloped him entirely, distorting the surrounding space and isolating him from the rest of the chamber. Qiankun was lifted off the ground, unable to control his own body.

“What a terrifying aura—is this the presence of this world’s laws?” Qiankun felt a tremor within his heart.

As the fearsome laws of heaven and earth descended, Qiankun needed to do nothing; a special force entered his mind, embracing his soul. In that moment, Qiankun felt his soul laid bare—every secret exposed, including the profundity of speed he had mastered.

Above his head, a stream of law-infused power began to coalesce, drawing wind elemental energy in a frenzy. The elements surged through the spatial currents, pouring into the micro-plane and gathering at a single point.

In just a moment, the elemental surge dispersed, leaving a black crystal radiating pale blue light suspended above Qiankun’s head—the lower divine wind divinity. The instant it formed, it naturally established a connection to Qiankun’s soul.

“A divinity—is this what it feels like to become a god? That moment just now, it was as if my soul was transparent—truly...” Qiankun frowned as he regarded the divinity, his soul soon receiving a message: Heaven and earth’s laws asked whether he wished to keep the divinity outside or within his body.

Qiankun, without hesitation, controlled the divinity to float beside him. Immediately, a soul-rending pain surged from within, and he distinctly felt part of his soul split away, leaving his mind and merging with the wind divinity.

The surrounding space trembled; within the divinity, Qiankun’s soul sensed a wondrous place—the very core of boundless space, an immense realm accessible only to gods: the Elemental Ocean.

This was a mist-shrouded domain, its sky devoid of any light, illuminated only by the blue glow emitted by the ocean itself. Endless tides of elemental energy surged and crashed—the ocean of wind elements.

At the surface of the Elemental Ocean, the elemental energy was condensed into a liquid-like substance. Through the divinity, Qiankun’s soul could sense a depth of about fifty meters beneath the surface. The purity of divine power differed severalfold between the surface and fifty meters below.

Qiankun’s soul was powerful; most gods could only sense ten meters below, and those who became gods by refining a divinity could only sense one meter beneath the surface.

Suddenly, at a depth of fifty meters below the surface, divine power vanished without warning, traversing a special channel formed by the laws of heaven and earth, descending directly into Qiankun’s micro-plane. There, centered on the wind divinity fused with part of his soul, another form began to coalesce.

Clearly visible, starting from the head down, a body almost identical to Qiankun’s own took shape. With a thought, he gathered divine power at the surface, forming a pale blue robe around the new body.

At the same time, the special force representing the laws vanished, and the chamber regained its tranquility.

“It’s done!” Qiankun breathed a sigh of relief, gazing at his wind-element divine clone. With a thought, he merged the clone into his own body.

Within his mind, a miniature soul figure sat cross-legged below, clad in a pale blue robe—the wind-element divine clone.

Qiankun once again reached out to the Elemental Ocean, attempting to draw divine power from fifty meters below the surface. Ordinary lesser gods absorbed divine power slowly, but Qiankun, with his far superior soul, did so at a much faster rate.

“This divine power is indeed extraordinary—using it to strengthen my body is effective,” he thought, as divine energy entered his body through the special channel, refined and absorbed, gradually enhancing his physique.

At the same time, Qiankun clearly sensed that his divine clone’s attunement to the wind element was sharp, while its perception of other laws and rule fluctuations was faint—so much so that it was millions of times less clear than his original self.

And so, the process was complete.