He was invincible from the beginning of the Heaven-Covering Era.

Now, Zhou Qing felt his soul was being sublimated, his fighting spirit was rapidly awakening, and he was making rapid progress in this desperate situation. His movements were poetic and picturesque, and every turn, every leap, every flash was full of the charm of the Dao.

The Dao of all things in the universe flowed through his heart, and his heart gradually calmed down. He was selfless and ethereal, yet clear in all things, not bound by any one place, yet knowing everything.

In this close-quarters combat where he was at a huge disadvantage, his true potential was unleashed!

He broke through his own limits, his potential increased further, his combat skills improved rapidly, and gradually, he even developed a sense of the beauty of the Tao.

The Emperor's attacks were relentless, each strike coming from an unpredictable angle. But now, he was finding it increasingly difficult to touch Zhou Qing's body!

On the contrary, Zhou Qing's actions began to become unpredictable, like splashing ink to create a painting. His evasion and attacks were completely unpredictable, yet they were able to achieve great results.

With a soft "pfft," Zhou Qing's fist struck his chest, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Next, Zhou Qing's body almost became a blur, launching a series of attacks, each one deadly, fiercely targeting vital areas such as the throat, brow, and heart.

The Emperor's fighting speed also suddenly increased dramatically, almost turning into afterimages. His movements were not limited to fists and fingers, nor to leg techniques; his entire body became sharp and fierce, and the battle between the two entered a white-hot phase.

However, Zhou Qing constantly comprehended the Dao and the Dharma in such battles. The so-called combat skills gradually sublimated in him, no longer bound by specific moves. Every attack was like a gazelle hanging its horns, like a celestial horse soaring through the sky, unexpected yet incredibly natural.

In his duel with the Emperor, who possessed supreme-level combat skills, he saw a much wider world, a vast realm, and he was about to step into that realm.

When a battle reaches this point, it is no longer a pure contest of secret techniques and combat skills, but rather a battle that transcends art and philosophy, involving experience, life experience, willpower, courage, and decisiveness.

This was not an outburst without warning, but rather the activation of long-standing potential, a breakthrough of one's limits, and a sublimation of consciousness.

In fact, from the very beginning of his battle with the Azure Emperor, he had been in a state of intense fighting spirit, every cell in his body active to its limit. And ever since his battle with Wushi, he had been intentionally...

He had been cultivating his combat skills, his mind already filled with endless flashes of inspiration, which only now coalesced and perfectly integrated into his battle.

His body and consciousness were almost two extremes. His consciousness flowed freely, constantly evolving every situation in the battle, every change in moves, and every possible attack. His consciousness calculated everything, and he knew everything.

His body, however, defied common sense in reaction, separating from consciousness. All changes in his physical form became instinctive, surpassing the speed of the flow of consciousness. Various parts of his body could instinctively anticipate risks and take action in advance.

He was at peace, and various Dao principles flowed within him. He gradually comprehended a combat realm that transcended the mortal, and his battles with the Emperor were no longer so difficult, but almost equal.

Although, due to his low cultivation level, even though the Emperor Venerable had combat experience as a Supreme Being, he could not fully utilize it, it still far exceeded the Dao Severing Realm, and even the Saint Realm.

Even if a saint were to engage in close combat with the Emperor, he would be completely outmatched in combat skills, and might even be killed before he could even touch the Emperor's body. The probability of this happening is very high.

Zhou Qing is now fighting the Emperor to this extent, which is simply unimaginable. It takes an extraordinary amount of combat talent to achieve this, and it is completely beyond common sense.

"Freedom, ease, transcending limits, breaking free from constraints"—Zhou Qing felt a sense of emptiness within him, and he grasped the essence of combat, which was also the essence of cultivation.

What is the purpose of spiritual cultivation? To become an immortal?

No, most people in the world don't actually care about that ethereal realm of immortals. What they care about is the reality of their own lives, whether they can do as they please, whether they can be content and at ease, and whether they can be free and unrestrained.

The term "immortal" is often used by those who cultivate themselves, but if you look beyond the surface, you'll find that what they truly desire is not immortality, but everything that comes with it.

After becoming an immortal, one is immortal, invincible, and can do whatever one wants without anyone being able to control one's actions. This is what everyone truly desires.

The initial motivation for achieving the realm of immortality was to make my life more free!

Those who practice spiritual cultivation are born free!

Born to pursue great freedom, great ease, and great liberation!

The vast majority of mortals, upon entering the immortal sect, seek liberation from their current predicament. Entering the immortal sect means escaping the mundane world and no longer being oppressed; this is the deepest pursuit of the human heart.

Not only humans, but all living beings are like this. No one willingly accepts oppression. All living beings are born with a desire for freedom, a desire imprinted in the deepest part of their hearts.

The essence of cultivation is to pursue a state of freedom and ease, and Zhou Qing has deeply experienced this state.

He had been in harmony with heaven and earth for so long that every flower, tree, wind, and cloud in the world had transformed into the principles of the Dao and flowed within his heart.

The Tao follows nature, and in Zhou Qing's eyes, nature is a state of freedom and ease, and his current combat level is sublimating towards such a state.

Freedom and transcendence of conscious limits, bodily changes become instinctive, even surpassing instinct, allowing for preemptive perception of danger and subsequent changes.

In this state of mind, Zhou Qing

His combat skills can no longer be called skills; they are a kind of Tao!

Life, will, Daoist beliefs, and all insights into the Dao were integrated into it, repeatedly inflicting heavy damage on the Emperor, causing his blood to splatter in the void.

The battle between the two was gruesome. Zhou Qing was struck in the waist by the Emperor's palm strike and was nearly cut in half, with blood gushing out.

Zhou Qing grabbed the Emperor's heart and crushed it with a soft "poof".

In the final major collision, Zhou Qing and the Emperor were both sent flying back, each using their own recovery techniques to heal their injuries.

Now, Zhou Qing's close combat skills are much stronger than before. Under the pressure of the Emperor, his consciousness is almost divine. If we don't count the Emperor, this unconventional young supreme being, his close combat skills can be said to be invincible in the world!

This was a powerful outburst of strength, inextricably linked to the dozens of battles fought with the young emperor and the ancient emperor.

Those were all once invincible geniuses of their time, and their close-combat skills were naturally not weak. Although they could not put too much pressure on Zhou Qing, they still brought him great gains.

"The ultimate freedom." Zhou Qing sighed inwardly.

Freedom and ease, transcending the limits of consciousness, selfless and ethereal, not confined to one place, clear and knowing everywhere—this is the ultimate state of freedom.

Moreover, for Zhou Qing, this was no longer just a combat skill; it had been elevated to the level of the Dao. Just as the zither and painting can both be considered Dao, his close-combat skills had also entered the level of the Dao.

As his body shifted, it wasn't just his physical combat abilities that improved; the rules of the Dao were also flowing, enhancing his speed, reaction time, physical strength, and many other aspects.

It can also be called the Great Art of Ultimate Freedom, because it has indeed risen to the level of the Tao.

In fact, the divine form is also the evolution of the Dao in the physical body. After all, what is the divine form? When the physical body evolves to its ultimate form, it takes on the shape of the Dao. This is the essence of the divine form.

"My physical body is much stronger than before," Zhou Qing silently sensed this change.

His close-combat skills have undergone an incredible transformation. Once he enters the state of ultimate freedom, his physical combat ability increases almost exponentially.

More importantly, he figured it out himself, and the compatibility with him was almost perfect. Even if he passed this method on to others, they would not be able to surpass him in this method.

In addition, he can evolve a human-shaped divine form from his physical body, and he also stands at the pinnacle of this realm. With these two factors combined, his path in the physical body is incredibly bright, with an infinite future!

Even if he doesn't use divine power or his primordial spirit to attack, but only uses his physical body to evolve the Great Dao, he could probably still compete with an ordinary young emperor.

If he were to engage in a physical duel with his former self, he felt he could defeat ten of his former selves, just like how the Emperor had overwhelmed him at the beginning. In the past, it would have taken him dozens of blows to make the Emperor splatter blood with his desperate efforts.

“In this way, even if I only fight with the first Dao Fruit, my chances of winning are much higher, no longer as slim as before.” Zhou Qing’s gaze shifted, finally landing on the Emperor, who had just recovered.

Complete physical body.

The two radiated divine light, like two suns, and even the aura they naturally exuded was terrifying to the extreme.

"Om Mani Padme Hum!" Zhou Qing roared out the six-syllable mantra he had just learned. The six syllables merged into one, and the power reached its peak, almost destroying everything in front of him. A kind of aura of creation and destruction was spreading.

The battle was about to begin. The Emperor let out a true dragon's roar, which shook the heavens and earth. This was a profound sound technique, and at the very least, it was an Emperor-level technique.

However, facing the fusion of these six words, each of which could be called an imperial technique, True Dragon Roar was clearly unable to withstand it. In the end, Zhou Qing's Buddhist chant penetrated into the crown of the head, and a bloody mark appeared between the emperor's eyebrows.

The fusion of the six-syllable mantra is truly terrifying. The main reason Zhou Qing was able to block Amitabha Buddha Emperor's Buddhist chant was that he used the "All" secret technique, which increased its power tenfold. In addition, his divine form was slightly stronger than Amitabha Buddha Emperor's, which allowed him to break the fusion of the six-syllable mantra.

However, although the Emperor now possesses the All-Encompassing Secret, he also possesses the All-Encompassing Secret, so the two cancel each other out. Moreover, he discovered that the Emperor's All-Encompassing Secret doesn't seem to be much stronger than his.

The real advantage is that his "All" secret technique occasionally breaks down and needs to be retried, while the Emperor's "All" secret technique can be maintained indefinitely and has never exited this state, which is equivalent to his own combat power being increased tenfold indefinitely.

Moreover, Zhou Qing felt that the connection between the Emperor and the All-Encompassing Secret was not as close as he had imagined. It was as if, after living a second life, the forbidden domain he created in his first life had also placed a restriction on him.

He has a vague idea about this, but he can't be sure yet. He needs to defeat the Emperor and face his Nine Heavenly Venerables again to confirm it.

Zhou Qing experienced a series of fierce battles on this ancient road known as the "Trial of the Dao Child," while the Ziwei Ancient Star outside was also bustling with activity.

Not to mention the minor cultivators on the ancient Ziwei Star, even the Great Sage Kunpeng in the North Sea looked on with utmost awe.

Who can understand? He has been sleeping in the North Sea for thousands of years without anything happening. He has lived peacefully ever since. The only exception was a four-thousand-year-old Great Perfection God-King who broke into his lair and was swallowed up by him. After that, no one dared to disturb him again.

For some reason, in the past few years, it has been constantly unleashing a power that even he finds terrifying.

When the Sun Saint Emperor's divine consciousness awakened last time, he was so frightened that he abandoned his home and flew to the outer reaches of the Purple Star Domain, where he stayed on a small asteroid for a year before daring to return.

As a result, less than a year after his return, an even stronger force erupted.

Thinking of this, his eyes deepened; the power he possessed was beyond description.

Even though he was a great sage, his heart pounded violently the moment that power appeared, his blood boiled, and a sublime faith arose involuntarily in his heart.

Even more strangely, his five secret realms resonated involuntarily, incomprehensible and indescribable, and no one knew what caused it; they appeared for only a moment and then disappeared.

Moreover, before this, a tribulation of lightning appeared in the outer star sky of the Ziwei Domain, which made him take notice. He could see that it was a young fellow with extraordinary potential, but the gap between his strength and that of his was still very large. After taking a few glances, he stopped paying attention to him.

"Could that power have been brought about by that little guy's tribulation?" Ancestor Kunpeng was very suspicious.

Because the moment that power appeared, it vanished, and the little guy undergoing tribulation immediately disappeared, it seems there is a deep connection between them.

Since he can't fall into a deep sleep now, he'll just wait here in Beihai to see if that person will reappear and verify his idea.

Chapter 196 The Affairs of Tanggu

On the ancient star Ziwei, people are discussing the various anomalies that have occurred.

Not everyone can sense the arrival of the Heavenly Tribulation. Only cultivators can sense the world-destroying aura, and only powerful beings can capture the spectacular sight of the surging sea of ​​thunder in the universe.

That feeling, as if the end of the world had come, could only be felt by those who cultivated the Tao, while mortals were completely unaware and could not sense the aura of the heavenly tribulation.

However, when another power descended, even mortals sensed it, because some parts of their bodies were glowing, some were their abdomens, some were their internal organs, and some were their heads, like a fire burning or a seed sprouting.

"Where is he? Where is the Heavenly Tribulation? How did he suddenly disappear? How did he suddenly vanish?" Xiaoyu was very puzzled, feeling as if some kind of time gap had occurred, and the aura of the Heavenly Tribulation suddenly disappeared, and the person was gone too.

The valley was bustling with activity, the liveliest it had been in the past year, as everyone was very interested in Zhou Qing's tribulation.

"Master, this young man is truly amazing. According to the two distinguished guests from the Divine Continent Dynasty, he is not even twenty years old yet, but he is already destined to become a king," an old man in a white robe exclaimed.

Beside him stood a very tall and robust man, who looked to be only around forty years old. His vital energy was exceptionally vigorous, burning like a blazing sun, which was quite imposing.

"Elder, do you think it's possible for us to foster a relationship between the Holy Maiden and this young man?" the leader of the Sun God Cult suddenly asked.

The old man looked surprised, seemingly not expecting their leader to say such a thing. After a moment of silence, he said, "I feel the chances are slim. Putting aside what will happen to that young man, how are you going to persuade the Holy Maiden?"

The leader of the Sun God Cult sighed and said, "I was just mentioning it casually. This generation's Holy Maiden is the strongest bloodline in our Sun God Cult in the last ten thousand years. Although her cultivation talent is not unparalleled, it is only below Lu Ya, Taiyin Divine Child, and others. Unfortunately, these are nothing in front of that young man. Moreover, those two distinguished guests from the Divine Continent Dynasty are both exceptionally talented, so there was never much hope for her."

He shook his head and then changed his tune: "Then tell me, is it possible for us to have one of our direct disciples become his disciples? As far as I know, he has never taken on any disciples before."

"Master, there's really nothing particularly amazing in this generation of our Sun God Sect. Who would be qualified to become his disciple? Such a prodigy has ridiculously high requirements for accepting disciples; it's not that easy," the old man chuckled.

The leader of the Sun God Cult sighed deeply and said, "If only he were a member of my Sun God Cult! How many people throughout history have such talent? All the geniuses of this generation of Ziwei Ancient Star pale in comparison to him. His path to enlightenment is truly bright!"

"Not only on the Ziwei Ancient Star, but according to one of our distinguished guests, the situation is the same on the Beidou Ancient Star. I'm afraid that even in the entire universe, this person could be considered among the strongest," the old man said with deep feeling.

Immediately after

The old man continued, “However, he seems to have an extraordinary relationship with our ancestors. In addition, our ancestors gave him the Fusang Divine Tree. Even if he is not a member of our Sun God Cult, there is an inseparable cause and effect between us. If he truly attains enlightenment in the future, our clan will also receive considerable benefits.”

The leader of the Sun God Cult nodded and said, "I really hope that our clan can produce a physique that is exactly the same as our ancestor. Now our clan is only lacking a genius. Once a supreme genius is produced, even if we can't compete with him on the road to becoming an emperor in the future, it will still be able to raise our clan's status to the peak of the Ziwei Ancient Star. It would not be an exaggeration to say that our clan is the only one that is supreme."