Chapter 1182: Primordial One Qi (Fourth Update)
Gao Huaitong's heart grew solemn, and he held no trace of contempt for the First Ancestor Human Sovereign.
Xiao Tianzun held the Dao Realm system of the Kaihuang Emperor in high regard, believing it filled the most critical gap in the Heavenly Palace system!
The Heavenly Palace system was pioneered by Yu Tianzun, deduced and extrapolated by Mu Tianzun and Hao Tianzun, and perfected by countless generations thereafter. However, it had a major flaw: its excessive emphasis on raw power.
With each advancement in the Heavenly Palace system, one's power increased dramatically. This growth was built upon the foundation of the Longhan Heavenly Court, which became the symbol of the Dao in the hearts of deities who entered the divine realm.
Yet this cultivation method neglected the comprehension of the Dao.
The Kaihuang Emperor Qin Ye's Dao Realm system precisely compensated for this. It revered the enlightenment of the Dao, allowing one to enter the Dao layer by layer, drawing closer to its essence. When combined with the formidable power of the Heavenly Palace system, both strength and cultivation would soar to new heights!
Gao Huaitong also agreed with Xiao Tianzun's words, and this agreement was rooted in the day the Kaihuang Emperor split the Heavenly Court with a single sword strike.
On that day, when the Kaihuang Emperor attacked the Heavenly Court and cleaved it apart with his sword, every deity felt the tremor and terror of the Heavenly Court cracking open.
Of course, the Heavenly Court was not completely split, so the deities' shock and fear lasted only a brief moment. After that time passed, the tremor and terror faded, and most deities paid it no further mind.
Gao Huaitong was one of the few exceptions.
He deeply felt that his own Dao heart had nearly shattered, and the turmoil in his soul was unparalleled.
If the Heavenly Court had truly been split, what would have become of the deities under heaven?
Would their Dao hearts collapse?
Would their Heavenly Palaces lose their divine power?
That was the most terrifying prospect!
He also realized that the Kaihuang Emperor's Dao Realm system could precisely remedy this. By cultivating both systems simultaneously, even if the Heavenly Court were destroyed, he would not suffer a Dao heart collapse from its ruin.
However, he was still in the exploratory stage, merely having entered the threshold of the Dao Realm.
Upon seeing the First Ancestor Human Sovereign's bearing, he recognized this man as a master of the Dao Realm system. Without any negligence, he bowed and said, "Please enlighten me, fellow Daoist."
The two exchanged formal greetings, and then struck without hesitation!
Gao Huaitong only exerted the power of the Lingxiao realm, but his opening move was a great divine ability of the Imperial Throne level. Behind him, Heavenly Palaces clanged into existence, tier upon tier, thousands of halls and palaces stacked like majestic mountains!
He knew well the power of the Dao Realm system—one layer of Dao Realm, one layer of heaven; one layer of heaven, one layer of divine ability. If he cautiously probed and allowed the other to unleash a profound Dao Realm, he feared he would end in bitter defeat!
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign remained as composed as ever. He circled and hooked his hands, and instantly a scene of heaven-shattering and earth-rending chaos unfolded, while he stood at the center of the collapsing world like a pillar of strength.
The Heart-Saint Art of Heaven and Earth!
His divine ability bore the mark of an era—an era of collapsed rites and broken music, a time of rampant demons, and an age of cataclysmic upheaval.
He sought to establish a heart for heaven and earth, and to ordain a destiny for the people!
As their divine abilities clashed, Gao Huaitong immediately felt as though he were caught in a magnificent and devastating calamity. His own attacking techniques became part of the other's collapsing world, fueling the power of the First Ancestor's divine ability!
The First Ancestor's Heart-Saint Art of Heaven and Earth was precisely such a technique and divine ability. In his youth, weak and powerless amidst the chaos, he could only harness the cataclysmic force of heaven and earth to oppose his enemies. Any enemy attack would become part of his own strength!
In battle, this technique and divine ability would grow stronger and more ferocious the longer it continued!
Gao Huaitong, after all, was an existence at the Imperial Throne level. Realizing this, he immediately altered his divine ability and let out a long cry.
"Primordial One Qi!"
His divine ability underwent a complete transformation, giving the impression of a convergence of all Daos. It drove straight in, leaving the First Ancestor Human Sovereign with no power to borrow.
Qin Mu's expression shifted slightly, and he turned his gaze toward Yan Qiling.
Yan Qiling had once used a similar divine ability, which should have been a technique derived from the Heavenly Emperor's own Dao. This Primordial One Qi gave Qin Mu the feeling that it was the Heavenly Emperor's true skill.
But why would the Heavenly Emperor impart his true skill to Gao Huaitong and Yan Qiling?
"Xiao Tianzun must have taught them incomplete fragments! But even so, it's extraordinary!"
Qin Mu thought to himself, "If Xiao Tianzun himself were to unleash the Primordial One Qi, what kind of power would that be..."
His heart grew solemn.
Xiao Tianzun was likely one of the most formidable among the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns!
Gao Huaitong's divine ability was overwhelmingly powerful, instantly breaking through the First Ancestor's technique. At the same time, the First Ancestor's divine ability shifted abruptly. Instead of borrowing the force of heaven and earth's collapse, it transformed into a Dao heart like blazing oil igniting a wildfire!
His Dao heart changed, and so did his divine ability!
He excelled in seal techniques, having already entered the Dao during the Kaihuang Calamity twenty thousand years ago. Now, his depth of Dao entry was even greater.
However, unlike the Dao-entry techniques he had comprehended during that great calamity, his current Dao-entry divine ability radiated a spirit of aggressive progress and world-changing resolve—unyielding and indestructible—as he clashed head-on with Gao Huaitong!
Gao Huaitong's divine ability was like a long wind parting waves, a thousand blossoms of foam, ten thousand surging crests. The range of his technique was vast, and its power was immense.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign's seal techniques were more restrained. The reach of his divine ability's power was limited to mere inches, yet when it erupted, its force was terrifying.
This was the style of divine abilities from the Kaihuang era.
Divine abilities of that time were often introverted, seeking not grandeur but compactness, maximizing the explosive power of one's technique within the smallest possible space.
Qin Mu watched with great excitement, curious about the First Ancestor Human Sovereign's current strength.
He had not seen the First Ancestor in many years. Back then, the First Ancestor was already at the Yu Jing realm. Though his cultivation level seemed unremarkable in a place like the Heavenly Court, his combat prowess was formidable.
His fastest period of growth in cultivation and power was during the final years of the Kaihuang era, when he led countless races and humans in their exodus to Yǎnkāng.
At that time, he had risen from an obscure prince to an expert at the Execution Platform realm, establishing his Dao through divine abilities. His combat strength was astonishing, and he was honored as the Human Sovereign, with boundless potential.
For the next twenty thousand years, his cultivation stagnated. With no one left to protect, he sank into grief and self-blame.
It was not until he met Qin Mu, who unraveled his heart's knot, that he emerged once more as the Human Sovereign who had once led his people forward in search of hope.
In a very short time, he broke through to the Yu Jing realm.
Exposure to the Yǎnkāng reforms only accelerated his cultivation speed!
Gao Huaitong and the First Ancestor Human Sovereign fought at a blistering pace, and in mere moments, they had reached the point of determining victory or life and death!
Just then, Gao Huaitong's aura suddenly surged, directly elevating to the Imperial Throne realm. The First Ancestor Human Sovereign's expression shifted, and he retreated. Gao Huaitong did not pursue.
He had raised his cultivation level to the Imperial Throne to make the other party back down.
The life-and-death struggle moments ago had been extremely perilous. He sensed signs of his own defeat, and even a mutual destruction with the First Ancestor Human Sovereign would have tarnished his dignity. Thus, he directly elevated to the Imperial Throne realm to make the First Ancestor withdraw, saving face for himself.
Even so, his pride was somewhat wounded. He was about to say something to save face when the First Ancestor ignored him entirely, instead fixing his gaze on Qin Mu's face.
Qin Mu laughed heartily, rose to his feet, and waved his hand, saying, "Gao, my worthy nephew, step aside. To deal with him, I'll have to do it myself!"
Gao Huaitong felt a stifling depression in his chest that he could not vent. He thought to himself, "Your tone makes it sound like you've come to fight for us! But it was you who brought them here to block our door!"