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

All known and unknown, existing and non-existent, past and future, all possible and impossible Great Daos are all under his control. He is always one step ahead of time. This is the true source of Daoist principles.

Clearly, at this stage, he can only gradually master the known Great Dao, then everything that already exists, then the things that don't exist, and then the things that are simply impossible. This is a very long process.

At first, he thought that with the help of the petals of the Dao-Merging Flower, he would be able to save a lot of time on the first Dao Fruit. However, under the Fusang Divine Tree, he found that he was really wrong. The gap was too big, and the help of the Dao-Merging Flower petals was negligible.

When it comes to the Dao-Severing stage, nothing external can help; everything depends on oneself. If he hadn't suddenly entered a state of deep enlightenment for a year after activating the Divine Restriction, it wouldn't be surprising if he had been stuck on this stage for decades.

On Tang Valley, Zhou Qing strolled along, lost in thought, and before he knew it, he had returned to his residence.

This is a very ordinary stone house, with nothing special about it.

It wasn't because the people of the Sun Cult mistreated him, but because he himself chose this kind of house.

After severing his Dao, for some reason, he missed the things from before he transmigrated, so he built this house himself.

With his current level of cultivation, he can cause a cataclysmic event in the blink of an eye, so building a house is naturally just a matter of a thought.

"Demon Lord, you've returned. Has the Holy Maiden of Guanghan Palace already left?" A clear voice rang out.

Zhou Qing replied, "She should be back in the Moon Palace by now."

The Sun Saintess's house was near his house, not far away, and it was also a stone house. Although Zhou Qing had told her that she didn't have to do the same things as him, the Sun Saintess still did it.

"Yu'er, has anything major happened outside recently?" Zhou Qing asked casually.

The Sun Saintess chuckled and said, "Yes, there's been something happening outside recently that has caused a sensation throughout the entire Ziwei Star. People everywhere are talking about it."

"What is it?" Zhou Qing asked with a hint of surprise. He was just asking casually, but could something really big have happened?

"A few days ago, the Demon Lord severed the Dao, which shocked everyone. The shock has not subsided and the discussion is getting more and more heated. It is unlikely to subside in the short term," the Sun Saintess said with a smile.

Zhou Qing was speechless. What he wanted to ask wasn't these things, but rather the sensational events happening outside of his own life.

"Is there anything else serious?" Zhou Qing continued to ask.

The Sun Saintess pondered for a moment and said, "The fact that Yin Tiande, the Three Missing Daoists, and the Taiyin Divine Child have become sworn brothers is probably the biggest event besides you."

"Has it come to this?" Zhou Qing asked with a slight smile.

To be honest, Lu Ya was supposed to be included among these people, but he was blown up by Lu Ya two years ago, so one person is missing this time.

“The Taiyin Divine Sect.” Zhou Qing returned to the room, sat on the edge of the bed, and his mind raced.

He was wondering how he should deal with this sect: should he coexist peacefully, or should he try to destroy it?

In fact, during his stay in Tanggu, he discovered that the descendants of the Sun Emperor lineage expressed great disgust towards that great religion. He even heard that several elders of the Sun Ancient Religion were asking the sect leader to fight and destroy that sect.

Zhou Qing also had no good feelings towards this sect. If he could destroy it, he would definitely do so. He wouldn't hesitate to do so if he had the ability.

However, after the last battle with the Golden Crow Clan, the sect leader realized that only the Supreme Emperor Weapon was sufficient for self-preservation, but insufficient for destroying the sect.

Their cultivation level is too weak, so they can't exert any power at all and can't even launch a few attacks. If the Ancient Sun Sect faces a crisis of extinction, the Imperial Weapon will automatically revive. But if they take it out to attack other sects, they will have to rely on their own magic power to activate it.

The self-resurrection of the imperial weapon deity is not a good thing. It is like a very sleepy person being suddenly awakened and briefly regaining consciousness. However, once this period is over, he will only fall into a deeper sleep. In the end, it is all a kind of consumption of the body's functions.

Therefore, there is not enough power to destroy the Taiyin Divine Sect in the short term. Moreover, Zhou Qing's Great Saint Pearl can no longer unleash a few attacks at the peak of the Great Saint level, and it may not be able to last through a battle.

At this time, if there were a Great Sage by his side, he could do whatever he wanted. However, the Zhou family patriarch was searching for a way to break through to the Quasi-Emperor level and had reached a relatively critical point. He didn't know when he would be able to emerge from seclusion.

Thinking of the Zhou family patriarch, Zhou Qing felt a glimmer of hope. Although he knew that the chances of the Zhou family patriarch stepping into the Quasi-Emperor realm were very small, if he really succeeded, then the Zhou family would be worry-free in the subsequent stage of the emergence of all races.

The gap between a Quasi-Emperor and a Great Sage is too great. In front of a true Quasi-Emperor, even a Great Sage wielding an Imperial Magic Weapon is no match.

Even a mere early-stage Quasi-Emperor is not comparable to a Great Saint wielding an Imperial Dao artifact.

In later generations, when the Emperor's Son first entered the Quasi-Emperor realm on the battlefield, even a half-step Quasi-Emperor Emperor's Son wielding a royal artifact dared not challenge him. That domain truly possessed an incredibly strong suppressive force.

In the chaotic ancient era, a quasi-emperor could be considered a supreme being; even the mere release of their aura could cause the gruesome death of those below that level.

It was precisely because the Quasi-Emperor was so powerful that Zhou Qing both had expectations and knew that it was just a beautiful fantasy. He couldn't place all his hopes on the Zhou family ancestor breaking through to Quasi-Emperor.

With a sigh, Zhou Qing stepped outside to watch the gurgling spring, the falling petals, the southward flight of wild geese, and the drifting clouds.

"In the end, we still need to focus on improving ourselves. Nothing is more important than making ourselves stronger. Right now, as long as we refine what we have learned from the Dao Child Trial, it will be no problem for us to take another step or two forward."

A few days later, Zhou Qing and the sect leader arrived at a key location of the Ancient Sun Sect. After passing through layers of restrictions, they reached the innermost palace.

This place radiates light and divine brilliance, containing all sorts of precious materials, including even sacred bones and blood, all carefully sealed away.

Almost everything here was harvested from the Golden Crow Clan. It includes not only their accumulated wealth over hundreds of thousands of years, but also their own sacred blood and bones. It can be said that the Golden Crow Clan has sacrificed too much for the development of the Ancient Sun Sect, even offering up their own sacred blood and bones.

Zhou Qing finally clasped his hands together and solemnly concluded, "Every drink and every bite is preordained."

Then he laughed and walked with the sect leader to a painting. In the painting was a man with long black hair, bright eyes, and a divine sword in his hand, as if he could cut down everything in the world.

Just by looking at this painting, one can imagine the man's fierceness, sharpness, and imposing presence. Anyone who dares to stand in his way can be swept away with a single sword strike.

"This was originally a divine weapon of kings, but unfortunately, the laws within it can no longer sustain it, and it has become nothing more than an ordinary painting," sighed the Sun Sect Master.

Chapter 204 Killing the Heavenly Mystery Elder from Afar

Zhou Qing stared at the man in the painting for a moment, then said, "Whether there are laws or not is not important. The cause and effect within cannot be severed. Following this connection is enough to deduce the past."

Zhou Qing reached out and grabbed the thread of fate that held the painting in his hand. Even an inanimate object had a destiny to him.

He closed his eyes, and lines suddenly spread across his hands, connecting with the scroll, and then images appeared in his mind.

The combined abilities of the King of the Dao and the ultimate ability to deduce the origins of destiny are enough to make even ancient people from 100,000 years ago calculate things clearly.

boom!

His body burst forth with chains of divine order that connected to the scroll, as if time were reversed, and everything around him blurred, as if he were traveling through a time tunnel.

Images flashed through his mind in the blink of an eye, eventually leading him to 100,000 years ago.

"Tianyang, stand there and don't move. Let me draw you, okay?"

A bright-eyed, white-toothed girl smiled gently at the somewhat flustered young man.

A blank scroll floated before her, radiating a shimmering divine light, while in her hand she held a paintbrush, which also shimmered with light—both were magical artifacts.

The mountains are dotted with green grass and trees, and the lakes are crystal clear—it's a vivid scene.

A young man in black stood not far away, unsure of what to do or what pose to strike, and felt somewhat flustered.

"Take out your Rising Sun Divine Sword, imagine yourself facing Ziwei and those great enemies, and just be natural."

The girl spoke softly, her voice like the gentle murmur of a spring, possessing a power that brought peace to the heart.

Upon hearing the girl's voice, the young man suddenly calmed down and took out a weapon he named the Rising Sun Divine Sword.

Grasping the divine sword, he immediately felt his whole body filled with power, and his body was filled with a heroic spirit that could break the heavens and challenge immortality, which made a glint flash in the girl's eyes.

“That’s good, just imagine your formidable enemies ahead, that’s enough,” the girl continued.

"What formidable enemy? With a single sword strike, how many heads will remain before my eyes?" A surge of sword intent erupted from the black-clad youth, soaring straight into the sky, as if even the sun, moon, and stars would be cleaved down.

The girl was overjoyed and quickly picked up her brush. On the blank scroll, a lifelike young man in black appeared, holding a divine sword, its sharp edge pressing down on the heavens. Even through the scroll, one could feel a sense of pressure.

"Alright," the girl said.

A painting was thus completed, becoming a magical artifact. Although it is not powerful now, it will naturally become stronger as its master's laws change in the future.

"Your painting skills are getting closer and closer to the Dao; perhaps one day in the future, they will evolve into a true Dao."

The young man in black walked over, saw himself in the painting, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

“In the past, some people proved the Way through books, and later some people proved the Way through paintings. These are all living examples in the history of spiritual practice.”

The girl was happy, yet with a touch of reluctance, and whispered, "But no matter how realistic the painting is, it can never return from the unreal to the real. You will eventually have to leave."

boom!

The whole world came to a standstill; even the wind stopped blowing, and the birds froze in mid-air.

Outside, Zhou Qing

Suddenly a gust of wind arose, blowing from all directions without any apparent source, startling the Sun Master so much that he retreated several feet away.

An unseen force descended from nowhere, and Zhou Qing's world changed once again, drawing him closer to a certain thread of fate along a connecting line.

This is not easy, because he has to follow the tributary in his hand and put his consciousness into the long river of fate, so that he can accurately find another tributary in the endless river by connecting cause and effect with fate.

Soon, Zhou Qing reached out again and grabbed a thread of fate that was not in front of him and whose whereabouts he did not know. Images flashed through Zhou Qing's mind.

"Wait, this Sun Saintess isn't dead?" Zhou Qing was shocked.

He saw a huge source, in which there was a serene and peaceful young girl, as if she were sleeping, motionless.

Isn't that the Sun Saintess from 100,000 years ago? She looks exactly like that girl from before, but why is she sealed in the Divine Source?

Zhou Qing was puzzled and tried to continue the deduction by following the connection, but suddenly encountered an obstacle. He was very familiar with this feeling, which was something that would only occur when encountering a high-level power.

Generally speaking, when conducting deductions, the most feared thing is encountering a power that is far superior to oneself, which can easily damage one's lifespan or even lead to death.

But Zhou Qing now wanted to continue deducing the truth and see what was going on. He had a feeling that the Sun Saintess of that generation was still alive.

For three days straight, Zhou Qing stood motionless in front of the painting, with lines spreading around him and being engraved in the void, shining brightly.

"A huge nest, shaped like a bird's nest, as if stained red with immortal blood!" Zhou Qing suddenly opened his eyes, shooting out two dazzling beams of light.

At the same time, a force was about to descend upon him; it was the fluctuation of the original trajectory, intended to act upon Zhou Qing and forcibly adjust him.

This power is immense, because the nest Zhou Qing glimpsed was the legendary Phoenix Nest, and the trajectory power it emitted was terrifying.

It's difficult to calculate the power of an Emperor-level being. In the original story, Lingbao Tianzun's sea of ​​suffering was so intense that even a Heavenly Mystery Master paid with his life to barely point out a path.

A Divine Master is an existence that surpasses even a Celestial Master. In the lineage of Heavenly Secrets, their status is equivalent to that of a Saint in orthodox law. However, if they were to attempt to deduce Emperor-level power, they would undoubtedly die.

In terms of deductive ability alone, Zhou Qing should be considered at the peak of the Divine Master level, capable of deducing things at the level of the Great Sage. However, he must also take the power of the Emperor level seriously.

However, he didn't just rush in unprepared. Since he dared to continue his deductions even though he knew the level of power he was about to encounter was relatively high, he must have had a way to erase this backlash.

Boom!

He waved his hand, and a force of destiny beyond his control collided with the surging force of the original trajectory, like an ocean rising and falling, ultimately forcibly calming the force of the original trajectory, so that it no longer surged.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, the Gate of Destiny slowly rose from the chaotic sea, trembled slightly, and finally sank back into the chaotic sea, sometimes appearing and sometimes disappearing.

Having reached the stage of severing the Dao, his understanding of destiny is vastly different from before. He has also gained some insight into using the Gate of Destiny, and has explored...

Some ways of using it.

This was all forced upon him by the time the Divine Continent Dynasty deduced the Immortal Path. After that, he seriously considered how to prevent himself from being killed by divine retribution. He couldn't just rely on the Gate of Destiny to react automatically; he also had to learn to utilize some of its power.

"Have you figured anything out?" The sect leader walked over, his expression strange.