Lord of the Rending Stars

Inside the main hall of the Ancient God's Temple in the Holy City.

After Qingyang finished recounting his adventures in the Kunwu Secret Realm over the past thousand years, he presented the crystal containing the secret technique of "Nine Chapters of Demon Suppression" to the Ancient God Venerable for viewing, and then sat quietly next to the Ancient God Venerable.

The Ancient God Venerable held the warm, smooth crystal, his eyes slightly closed. After a moment, he slowly opened them. His gaze fell on Qingyang, his expression calm yet filled with expectation and admiration.

The ancient god's voice was deep and resonant as he spoke to Qingyang, "This trip to the Chaos Sea Eye Demon-Suppressing City, and your successful takeaway of the city, may seem like a coincidence or a fluke, but it is actually a reflection of your true nature and the will of the former master of the Demon-Suppressing City. I think the ancient master of the Demon-Suppressing City must have been a powerful figure who protected a race."

"That's what I think too. The Demon-Suppressing City from a distant era must have been a treasure used to suppress a race."

Upon receiving affirmation from his master, the Ancient God Venerable, Qingyang felt a surge of warmth in his heart and responded in kind to his master.

The Ancient God Venerable changed the subject, "I just glanced at the 'Nine Chapters of Demon Suppression,' which is a secret technique at the level of a cosmic overlord. My disciple, you can use it as a reference to improve your own secret techniques, but remember not to become obsessed with it and delay your own path."

Qingyang felt a chill run down his spine and replied, "I understand what Master has said."

"Speaking of this Demon-Suppressing City, this city is very ancient. I have traversed the universe for hundreds of millions of epochs and consulted the ancient secrets of various races, but I have never heard of any information about the former lord of this Demon-Suppressing City in the original universe," the Ancient God Venerable said with emotion.

Within the mark on Qingyang's head, a miniature version of the Demon-Suppressing City flickered faintly with light.

Qingyang had some guesses at this point. Generally speaking, the evolution of the primordial universe to its destruction is defined as a cycle of reincarnation. Qingyang felt that the Demon Suppression City was probably a palace-like treasure of a universe lord from the previous cycle of reincarnation, used to guide the development of his race.

As for why only universe overlord-level secret techniques are available, Qingyang speculates that it's because the clan only has one universe lord, and using universe overlord-level secret techniques is enough to nurture future generations. A clan without the protection of the strongest being's microcosm is doomed to face the great cosmic catastrophe of the late primordial universe.

The strongest beings in the universe possess their own microcosms, capable of reversing time and space to revive cosmic overlords. They are the true pillars of stability within a race. Without the strongest beings in the universe, a race cannot be considered a pinnacle race in the universe.

The Ancient God Venerable continued, "In the Kunwu Secret Realm, others may not care about other gains, but the Demon Suppression City is a top-tier palace-type treasure that is incomplete. Within the clan, only a few universe lords such as the Primordial Ancestor and Giant Axe can possess a top-tier palace-type treasure."

"Disciple, do you know the exchange value of a top-tier treasure palace in the human race's treasury?" the Ancient God Venerable asked.

"At least 3000 Treasure Points," Qingyang knew in his heart, but only gave a rather vague answer.

"That's right, thousands of Treasure Points, a vast fortune that most Universe Lords would find difficult to possess. Your Demon Suppression City is a fragmented top-tier palace treasure, and its value should be comparable to that of a high-level palace treasure. In my opinion, it's worth 800 to 1000 Treasure Points," said the Ancient God Venerable.

"Therefore, you must not reveal to anyone else that you possess the palace treasure, the Demon-Suppressing City, except for those who already know, such as Jiuyu Bingfeng Chaos. Possessing a treasure is a crime, as has been the case since ancient times. If a human realm lord possesses a palace treasure, all the universe lords will disregard their reputation and attack you."

Qingyang solemnly replied, "Disciple knows the importance of things. I will create the illusion that the Demon Suppression City is an ordinary treasure palace, which is just what we need to do later in the Holy City."

"Good. Keep your mouth shut and create a plausible illusion. It won't be difficult to maintain this for a while. Once your strength increases, you will naturally have no fear of anyone's covetousness."

The Ancient God Venerable nodded and said, "Also, has your third avatar found a suitable special life form?"

"Reporting to Master, during this trip to the Kunwu Secret Realm, my group only encountered two special life forms: the Three-Headed Thunder Bird and the Thousand-Transformation Golden Python. Both of these special life forms have average talents and relatively small divine bodies, so I did not consider them," Qingyang said helplessly.

The Ancient God Venerable looked at Qingyang and asked, "Disciple, how large is your inner world now?"

Qingyang sensed the vast size of the world within his body, "It's almost 10 billion kilometers."

The Ancient God Venerable was also surprised, saying, "Your inner world is nearly 10 billion kilometers long, and its depth is rare in the universe. Ordinary special life forms are indeed difficult to match your enormous potential. Special life forms with enormous divine bodies and high genetic levels are more suitable for you."

"I have some information about the special life form, the Frost Whale," the Ancient God Venerable said, flicking out a solid spiritual light from his finger, and the information flooded into Qingyang's mind.

Qingyang calmed himself down, his expression becoming serious. The special life form, the Frost Whale, was millions of kilometers long, possessing not only an enormous divine body and a high level of genetics, but also an astonishingly fast escape speed.

The Frost Whale possesses three great talents. Its first talent, "Fission," allows it to split into a clone, whose base strength cannot exceed that of the original body.

The second talent, "Void Escape," allows the Frost Whale to maintain a speed far exceeding that of other strong opponents of the same level, even when teleportation is not possible.

The third talent, "Frosty Pool Prison," can create a domain that affects an area spanning billions of kilometers, comparable to the enemy-slowing effect of domain-type treasures. Most importantly, it can be stacked with the functions of domain-type treasures.

The last time the Frost Whale appeared and was recorded by human powerhouses was hundreds of epochs ago in the Frost Mountain Secret Realm, when the Frost Whale had already reached the Immortal Realm.

After processing this information, Qingyang was somewhat shocked, and his desire to nurture the Frost Whale as his final avatar grew even stronger.

The Ancient God Venerable continued slowly, "For the last clone, we can choose the Frost Whale. The only trouble is that the Frost Whale's strength is comparable to that of an ordinary Universe Venerable, and its talent is amazing. Its Void Escape ability can even break through the spatial blockade of a Universe Venerable. Even I can't do anything about it unless the Lord of the Universe descends. The Lord of the Universe controls a spacetime, and it's easy for him to handle a special life form at the Immortal level."

Changing his tone, the Ancient God Venerable sighed, "But the Lord of the Universe is so noble. The Lords of the Universe in our clan all have important matters to attend to, whether it is guarding a region or exploring the cosmic sea. They will not be mobilized for such a trivial matter. This matter still needs to be handled by you, my disciple."

"Disciple understands, disciple will do his best," Qingyang nodded and said solemnly.

"Your ultimate technique, 'Cracking Beacon,' has been perfected to the point of immortality. Combined with the secret techniques passed down in the Demon Suppression City, this is your 'root' and 'trunk.'"

The Ancient God Venerable patiently instructed, "The Nine Chapters of Demon Suppression contain many profound mysteries, especially the ideas about integrating the basic laws of other systems. These can be used to broaden your 'branches' and 'leaves,' allowing you to draw inferences and inspire creativity. However, you must never put the cart before the horse or try to do too much at once, as this will only make your understanding of the laws mixed and impure. Trying to do too much at once and being broad in scope without mastering anything is a major taboo in cultivation."

"Yes, disciple will remember. I will proceed steadily and surely. I understand the principle that one cannot bite off more than one can chew," Qingyang nodded in response.

"Yes, you have gained a lot from your trip to the Kunwu Secret Realm. I know you will soon be going out to the Cold Mountain Secret Realm to find the Cold Whale. Remember to be careful in everything you do."

After the Ancient God Venerable finished speaking, he flicked his finger, and a beam of light entered Qingyang's body. It was a token given by the Ancient God Venerable, which could be used to contact the Ancient God Venerable to descend at crucial moments. It has to be said that the Ancient God Venerable did everything a teacher could do for his precious disciple, Qingyang.

Qingyang was moved and said, "Thank you, Master. I will be careful."

"Well, Qingyang, you should take the Seven-Colored Exquisite Fruit now. There may be risks in breaking through to the gene level. I will protect you," the Ancient God Venerable said, then looked at Qingyang's Time Shadow Beast.

"Disciple understands," Qingyang Shiying Beast's true form nodded.