I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

The Lord of the Heavenly Palace was stabbed in the abdomen, blood gushing out, staining a patch of his golden armor crimson. He tore off a piece of his robe to wrap around the wound, his eyes bloodshot. "How dare you hurt me!" He gripped his sword with both hands, golden flames erupting from the blade, scorching the air and hissing.

The Lord of the Heavenly Palace unleashed the "Heavenly Palace Sword Technique," his swordplay like a raging storm, each strike carrying an explosive burst of primal energy. Qin Yuan retreated and parried, his bone blade clashing with the ancient sword, sparks flying. He suffered continuous wounds: his left shoulder was pierced, his right leg slashed open, and his back was struck by sword energy, his flesh torn open. A section of the bone blade in Qin Yuan's left arm was severed; he used the broken blade to stab the Lord of the Heavenly Palace's left shoulder. The broken blade sank into the shoulder, piercing the bone. The Lord of the Heavenly Palace cried out in pain, his swordplay slowing slightly.

Instead of retreating, Qin Yuan advanced, headbutting the Heavenly Lord's nose. The nose shattered, and blood splattered across the Heavenly Lord's face. The Heavenly Lord roared in fury, piercing Qin Yuan's left chest with his sword. The blade entered through the chest and exited through the back. Qin Yuan grabbed the blade, preventing it from being pulled out, and thrust the bone blade in his right hand toward the Heavenly Lord's throat.

Qin Yuan's bone blade pierced half an inch into the throat of the Lord of the Heavenly Palace. The Lord of the Heavenly Palace released his sword and retreated, blood gushing from his throat and spurting from between his fingers. Qin Yuan pulled the sword from his chest, blood spurting out; a hole appeared in his left chest, revealing the bone inside. Both were severely wounded, facing each other on the Heavenly Meteor Platform. The Lord of the Heavenly Palace's golden armor was stained crimson with blood, while Qin Yuan's clothes were reduced to rags, hanging precariously on his body.

The Lord of the Heavenly Palace unleashed a secret technique, burning ten thousand years of his lifespan in exchange for power. His aura surged, almost reaching the realm above the Origin Emperor. All the runes on his golden armor lit up, and the golden flames on his ancient sword turned white. "This sword will send you on your way!" The Lord of the Heavenly Palace leaped up, and his ancient sword, wreathed in white flames, slashed down.

Qin Yuan didn't dodge. He charged forward to meet the sword. The ancient sword severed Qin Yuan's left arm, breaking off at the shoulder and flying to the ground. Qin Yuan used the bone blade in his right hand to pierce the Heavenly Lord's chest, penetrating his heart. The bone blade entered through the chest and exited through the back. The Heavenly Lord's eyes widened, blood gushing from his mouth, dripping onto Qin Yuan's face. "You... madman..." The two collapsed to the ground simultaneously.

Qin Yuan scrambled to his feet. He knelt on one knee, the bone blade in his right hand still embedded in the Heavenly Lord's chest. He twisted it forcefully, the blade circling inside the heart, shattering the Heavenly Lord's heart completely. The Heavenly Lord convulsed a few times, then lay still. His source core emerged from the corpse, golden with streaks of blood, the size of a fist, larger than any of the previous source cores. Qin Yuan swallowed it whole.

As the Source Core entered his abdomen, a surge of immense power exploded within him. Qin Yuan felt excruciating pain in his meridians, his veins bulging beneath his skin, his body nearly bursting. He gritted his teeth, sat cross-legged, and forcefully refined the Source Core. The Source Power surged wildly through his meridians, causing him to vomit blood incessantly, staining the ground red with crimson. The disciples of Tianque wanted to seize the opportunity to kill Qin Yuan, but were too frightened to approach by the aura surrounding him. Cracks appeared in the ground around Qin Yuan from the force of the Source Power, spreading outwards like a spiderweb.

Three days and three nights later, Qin Yuan opened his eyes. His cultivation had broken through to the peak of the ninth level of the Origin Emperor realm. He stood up, his left arm regenerated—the new left arm grew from the severed wound, first bone, then muscle, then skin. The bone blade also regenerated from his right palm, darker and shinier than before, the dragon pattern turning golden. He clenched his fist, power surging in his palm.

The remaining disciples of Tianque knelt on the ground, their heads bowed, not daring to lift them. Qin Yuan didn't kill them, but confiscated all their storage rings and source cores. He emptied the contents of their storage rings, piling them into a small mountain. There were tens of thousands of source crystals, hundreds of bottles of pills, and cultivation techniques and magic treasures piled up all over the ground.

The Heavenly Palace's treasure vault was located inside the mountain, its stone gate three feet thick, forged from chaotic refined iron. Qin Yuan cleaved open the stone gate with his bone blade, revealing a treasure vault gleaming with golden light. Piles of source crystals formed mountains, including thousands of top-grade ones. Elixirs included "Source Emperor Pills," "Life-Extending Pills," and "Realm-Breaking Pills." Magical weapons included knives, swords, spears, and halberds, the lowest grade of which was still Source Emperor level. Qin Yuan took them all.

Qin Yuan set fire to the Heavenly Palace. The fire started in the main hall, spread to the side halls, the scripture pavilion, and the disciples' dormitories. The fire raged for seven days and seven nights, reducing the Heavenly Palace to ruins. Thick black smoke billowed, obscuring the dark purple sky.

No force in the Void Origin Realm dared to oppose Qin Yuan. His name spread throughout all realms—"Bone Blade Heavenly Palace." When cultivators mentioned this name, their voices would lower three degrees.

Qin Yuan sat cross-legged on the Heavenly Meteor Platform, refining the resources he had plundered. Source crystals piled around him, and he refined dozens at the same time, spiritual energy surging into his body like a tidal wave. His cultivation was stable at the peak of the ninth level of the Source Emperor realm; one more step and he would reach a realm beyond Source Emperor.

Qin Yuan discovered an ancient book within the ruins of Tianque. The book was hidden in the cellar of the Scripture Pavilion, the cellar door blocked by a bookshelf, which had collapsed after a fire, revealing the cellar entrance. The book was made of bamboo slips, blackened but the writing still legible. It recorded the realm beyond the Origin Emperor—the "Chaos Origin Ancestor." The Chaos Origin Ancestor realm is divided into nine levels, its power far surpassing that of the Origin Emperor. Only one person in the entire history of the Void Origin Realm has ever reached this level—that person was called the "Chaos Ancestor," who disappeared a hundred million years ago. The book also recorded that breaking through to the Chaos Origin Ancestor realm requires enduring the "Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation," ninety-nine bolts of heavenly lightning, each powerful enough to destroy a realm.

Qin Yuan decided to undergo his tribulation. He chose the desolate edge of the Void Origin Realm as his location. There were no star fragments, no cultivators, only endless void. The news spread, and countless cultivators rushed to watch. They stood on distant star fragments, some riding flying beasts, others hovering in the air. Some wanted to see him die, others hoped to take advantage of the situation.

In the sky, tribulation clouds gathered. The clouds were black, thick, and low, pressing down so heavily it was hard to breathe. Darkness enveloped the surrounding area for thousands of miles, making it impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face. The first bolt of heavenly lightning struck down, as thick as an arm, its white light blinding. Qin Yuan's bone blade took the blow head-on, cracking beneath it. He didn't retreat. The second, the third, the fourth bolts followed in quick succession. The cracks on his bone blade multiplied, and his hand trembled.

From the eleventh to the twentieth bolt, the heavenly lightning transformed into lightning spears, lightning swords, and lightning axes. A lightning spear pierced Qin Yuan's left shoulder, a lightning sword severed his right leg, and a lightning axe cleaved his chest, shattering his ribs. Qin Yuan's entire body was charred black, his flesh cracked, and blood seeped from the fissures, scorched and smoking from the lightning. He gritted his teeth, not uttering a sound.

From the twenty-first to the thirty-third bolt of lightning, the heavenly lightning coalesced into various monstrous forms, lunging at Qin Yuan. A lightning tiger pounced, but Qin Yuan's bone blade severed its head. A lightning python coiled around his body, but he bit off its neck with his teeth. A lightning eagle swooped down from the sky, and he pierced its chest with a bone fragment from his severed arm. He slew the lightning beasts, but his wounds continued to multiply; his left arm was bitten off, his right leg was bitten off, and a large gash was torn in his chest. As the thirty-third bolt of lightning struck, Qin Yuan's left arm snapped off again. He braced himself on his right shoulder and stood up.