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

Qin Yuan's injuries were too severe to continue the pursuit. Hongyue helped him to safety, and Lin Qing'er bandaged his wounds. Tianji retreated to the palace, closed the city gates, and activated the city's protective array. A golden light shield enveloped the entire Tianji City. Hongyue suggested besieging the city until Tianji's resources were exhausted. Qin Yuan said, "We can't wait. He has reinforcements."

That night, reinforcements from the Heavenly Realm arrived from the north. Five elders of the Void God Emperor level eight led 20,000 elite troops. Qin Yuan ordered Hong Yue to retreat, but Lin Qing'er refused to leave and was knocked unconscious and taken away by Hong Yue. Qin Yuan stood before the city gate, facing the 20,000-strong army and the five elders. He burned away the rest of his lifespan, and the nine golden patterns on his bone blade transformed into eighteen.

He charged into the enemy ranks, his bone blade slaying one elder with a single strike. The remaining four elders attacked, but Qin Yuan traded his life for theirs, killing two more. The other two elders, terrified, turned and fled. Qin Yuan pursued, his bone blade piercing one's heart, and finally, he grabbed the last one by the neck.

The elder knelt and begged for mercy, offering his storage ring and intelligence: the core of Tianji's protective array was located in the source crystal mine beneath the palace. Qin Yuan broke his neck and dragged his mangled body toward the palace. His legs no longer obeyed him, and he crawled forward.

Frost Moon descended from the city wall and stood before Qin Yuan. Instead of attacking, she crouched down and tore off the human skin mask from her face. Beneath the mask lay a face covered in scars: knife wounds, burns, lacerations—a crisscrossing network of unscathed skin.

"I was a slave too," Shuangyue said softly. "The gods captured me when I was a child and trained me to be an assassin. These scars on my face are from that training." Qin Yuan looked at her without saying a word.

"I don't ask for your forgiveness. I only ask that you kill me." Shuangyue handed the dagger to Qin Yuan. Qin Yuan didn't take it. "You can choose to be free."

Shuangyue gave a bitter smile. "Freedom? I have nowhere to go." She suddenly pushed Qin Yuan away, and a dark figure descended from the sky. Xuanmingzi struck Shuangyue with a palm. Shuangyue coughed up blood and collapsed into Qin Yuan's arms. She looked at Qin Yuan, her lips moved, but she didn't speak, and then closed her eyes.

Xuan Mingzi sneered. "A slave will always just be a slave."

Qin Yuan laid Shuangyue's body down and stood up. His bones creaked, but his eyes were like knives, their bone-like blades pointing at Xuan Mingzi. "You will die here too."

Xuan Mingzi struck down with his palm, which Qin Yuan blocked with his bone blade, only to be forced into the ground, the blade cracking violently. Qin Yuan burned the last three thousand years of his lifespan, filling the cracks in his bone blade with golden light, and severed Xuan Mingzi's hand with a single blow. Xuan Mingzi screamed, shattering Qin Yuan's left shoulder with his other palm. Qin Yuan didn't retreat, using a fragment of bone from his severed arm to pierce Xuan Mingzi's abdomen. Xuan Mingzi struck Qin Yuan's skull with his palm, golden patterns appearing on Qin Yuan's skull as he withstood the blow. Xuan Mingzi was shocked. "Your bones…" Qin Yuan smashed Xuan Mingzi's nose with his head, the bone blade piercing his heart.

Xuan Mingzi collapsed to the ground. Qin Yuan drew his bone blade and knelt on the ground. His lifespan was almost completely burned away, and his hair had turned completely white. He crawled towards Shuangyue's corpse and closed her eyes. He sat beside the body, gazing in the direction of Tianji City.

Tianji, seeing Xuanmingzi killed from the city wall, turned ashen-faced. He dared not leave the city and ordered a desperate defense. Qin Yuan, too weak to attack, leaned against a rock, his eyes closed. Hongyue and Lin Qing'er returned with their men. Lin Qing'er saw Qin Yuan's white hair, and tears streamed down her face. She hugged him, and he rested his head on her shoulder. "I'm alright."

Hongyue said, "Tianji is holed up and won't come out; we can't break in." Qin Yuan opened his eyes. "No need to attack. They'll come out."

Qin Yuan cremated Shuangyue's body and placed her ashes in a wooden box. "Bury her in the City That Never Sleeps." He stood up, his white hair fluttering in the wind. Looking at Tianji City, his eyes were unfocused. "Once I recover, I will turn this city into ruins."

Outside Tianji City, Qin Yuan rested for three days. Lin Qing'er stayed by his side day and night, her hand on his back, continuously channeling her Origin Power into his body. Qin Yuan's white hair did not turn black, but his cultivation level remained stable at the peak of the ninth level of the Void Origin Emperor. The cracks on the bone blade were filled with golden light, and the ninth line was dazzlingly bright.

In Tianji City, food and water supplies were cut off. The golden light shield of the city's protective array grew dimmer, indicating that the source crystal mine was nearing depletion. Tianji stood on the city wall, his severed arm wrapped in gold cloth, his face ashen. He ordered his assassins to launch a night raid on Qin Yuan's camp.

Under the cover of night, the assassins sneaked out of the city and crawled along the city wall. There were thirty of them, all killers at least at the third level of the Void God Emperor realm. They infiltrated Qin Yuan's camp, reached the tents, and were about to attack when torches suddenly lit up the surrounding area. Hong Yue and her men emerged from underground, their spears sweeping across the battlefield, and the assassins fell one after another. At dawn, the thirty heads were hung on the camp fence. Those on the walls of Tianji City saw this and their faces turned ashen.

Qin Yuan stood up. His left arm hadn't fully grown back, and the severed area was wrapped in bandages. Nine golden lines lit up on the bone blade of his right arm. He said to Lin Qing'er, "Today, we will break through the city."

He walked alone to the city gate. His bone blade slashed at the city's protective array. With the first strike, the protective barrier trembled violently. With the tenth strike, cracks spread like a spiderweb. With the fiftieth strike, cracks became dense. With the hundredth strike, the protective barrier shattered, and golden fragments vanished as specks of light. The Heavenly City's great array was broken.

Inside the city gates, thousands of divine soldiers stood ready. Spears formed a forest, shields a wall. Qin Yuan swung his bone blade and charged into the fray. The first strike sent ten heads flying. The second shattered shields, and twenty fell. The third snapped spears in two, and thirty were cut in half at the waist. He neither defended nor dodged, only slaughtered. Blood splattered on his face, he didn't wipe it away. Blades struck his body, he didn't look. Corpses stretched from the city gates to the streets, from the streets to the plaza.

Lin Qing'er and Hong Yue led their troops in a flanking attack. Lin Qing'er thrust with her short sword, each strike precisely piercing the throat. Hong Yue used her spear to deliver deadly blows. Advancing from three directions, the divine soldiers retreated to the palace.

The palace gate was forged from chaotic refined iron, three feet thick, and engraved with defensive runes. Qin Yuan unleashed twenty consecutive slashes with his bone blade, each strike cutting along the same straight line. The runes shattered, and a crack appeared in the palace gate. He kicked it open, and the gate collapsed with a crash.

The last elite force burst forth from the palace—the hundred-strong personal guard of Tianji. All were veterans at least at the seventh level of the Void God Emperor realm, their faces scarred, their eyes fierce. Qin Yuan's bone blade transformed into a long whip, sweeping away more than ten men with a single strike. The guards surrounded him, and Qin Yuan suffered several knife wounds; his left rib was pierced, and his right leg was slashed open. Blood stained his battle robe, but he did not retreat. With another sweep of his bone blade, ten more fell. The guards were now more than half dead or wounded; their morale collapsed, and they scattered and fled.

Qin Yuan stepped over the corpses and walked towards the main hall of the palace. The hall doors were open, and Tianji sat on the dragon throne, holding a sword in his right hand, his severed arm wrapped in gold cloth. His eyes were bloodshot.

Tianji stood up, his aura as a peak ninth-level Void God Emperor causing the pillars of the hall to crack. He burned his remaining lifespan, temporarily elevating his cultivation to the level of a half-step Void Sovereign. With a single sword strike, the sword energy transformed into a golden dragon, baring its fangs and claws.

Qin Yuan's bone blade shattered the dragon's head, forcing him back several steps. Tianji unleashed a series of sword strikes, each faster than the last. Qin Yuan retreated while blocking, his left shoulder pierced and his right leg slashed. He didn't retreat, his eyes fixed on Tianji's neck.