Chapter 1233: A Gift of Great Strength from the Heavenly Dao
A few moments earlier...
Having devoured the last vestiges of the Cong Yun Sea's world will and returned to the Great Qi small world, the Faceless Sacred Emperor finally gained a more concrete understanding of the changes transforming him.
Before, he had to dedicate his full attention to the myriad tedious affairs of the Sacred Dynasty, leaving little time for quiet contemplation.
But now, he could effortlessly manage every affair within the Sacred Dynasty, both great and small, using less than a third of his power.
Beyond the sheer quantitative growth of his divine soul, Li Ping found his senses had become far more acute.
He gazed down upon this world and discovered a nascent, rudimentary consciousness gestating within, a product of its recent ascension. Previously, the Great Qi small world had operated purely on instinct, unlike the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, which displayed clear signs of personification. But thanks to Li Ping's continuous transformations, it had now met the foundational requirements for birthing a will of its own.
The birth of a world's will is a remarkably slow process. Li Ping estimated that at its current rate, it would take at least a millennium to fully form.
However, if he continued to accelerate Great Qi's ascension, that timeframe could be significantly reduced.
The Great Qi small world owed its current splendor entirely to Li Ping's efforts. The fortune of the Sacred Dynasty of Great Qi was fused with his own, and this thriving, unstoppable destiny exerted a myriad of subtle influences upon the small world.
Seated upon the Sacred Emperor's throne, a cascade of profound and mysterious insights flooded his mind.
These were not merely his own thoughts and reflections; they were amplified by the assistance of the world itself.
Li Ping felt he was on the verge of grasping some piece of crucial information.
Just then, however, his train of thought was shattered by an abrupt warning that flared in his mind.
"Hmm?"
A quick inspection revealed the cause: within the net of Source Power Essence he had woven, one of his prey was showing signs of breaking free.
Strange ripples emanated from the man's body, pulsing as if trying to escape the constraints of the vast golden web.
"Sun Luyuan?"
Li Ping had a faint recollection of the man—a Dao Integration cultivator from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance who had only recently pledged his allegiance to the Sacred Dynasty.
*Could the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance have discovered him and intervened?* Li Ping wondered.
But he quickly sensed what was truly happening to Sun Luyuan.
"Oh?"
Li Ping's expression instantly grew solemn.
Using the Source Power Essence within Sun Luyuan's body, Li Ping appeared at his side in an instant.
He reached out, placing a hand on Sun Luyuan's shoulder as a torrent of surging golden power poured ceaselessly into his body.
A moment later, Sun Luyuan's body, which had been slowly turning translucent, began to solidify once more.
"Thank you for saving my life, Sacred Emperor," Sun Luyuan said, still shaken as he realized what had just transpired. His face was a mask of lingering terror and profound gratitude.
Li Ping slowly withdrew his hand, but his senses remained fixed on Sun Luyuan.
He was unable to directly perceive the entity named [Green Wind].
He couldn't even observe its influence on the world around it.
"You're an interesting one."
If Green Wind's voice hadn't spoken just then, Li Ping might have dismissed it as a figment of Sun Luyuan's imagination.
It was difficult to believe that there was still something within the Xuanhuang Realm that he, Li Ping, could not perceive.
"What are you?"
He meant no insult; in fact, Li Ping asked the question with a grave seriousness.
Sun Luyuan lowered his head, carefully schooling his features into a neutral mask.
Surprisingly, Green Wind showed no anger. "I'd like to know that myself," she replied.
"Unfortunately, I've forgotten," she said, a hint of regret in her voice.
"My memory isn't very good. Aside from Little Xu, A-Liu, and a few others, my memories of everyone else are rather faint..."
"What's your name?" Green Wind asked.
"Li Ping," he replied succinctly.
He sensed an aura from Green Wind that was similar to Master Yin's, yet subtly different.
"Perhaps I can help you remember," he offered. His intuition told him that the secrets this Green Wind held could prove invaluable in the eventual war against the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
"Hee hee, I have a feeling your intentions aren't so pure," she giggled.
But Green Wind saw right through him.
"Just as I thought. There are so few in this world who are kind to me." Green Wind's tone turned mournful and somber.
The instant Li Ping heard this, the golden Source Power within him surged forth of its own accord.
It was the sign of his automatic defenses being triggered.
Since Green Wind had chosen to act, Li Ping saw no reason to hold back.
Behind him, the magnificent phantom of the Sacred Dynasty blazed into existence.
An unending stream of golden light erupted from the phantom dynasty.
It formed a colossal hand that shot forward to seize the space where Green Wind resided.
Since he couldn't perceive the entity, Li Ping reasoned, he would simply seal off the entire space it occupied, take it, and study it at his leisure.
But this bizarre entity was not so easily subdued.
The colossal golden hand returned to the phantom dynasty, leaving behind nothing but a black void—proof that a small section of space had been utterly annihilated.
And yet, Green Wind's voice still echoed from within that void.
"Do you want to take me back with you?"
"Do you want to be with me forever? If so, why do you resist?"
"Nonsense," the Faceless Sacred Emperor retorted with a cold snort.
On Li Ping's once-featureless face, the vague outlines of facial features began to manifest.
They bore no resemblance to ordinary human features, looking more like a coalescence of shifting energies.
His eyes, in particular, were swirling vortexes of silver-white light, as brilliant as a celestial nebula.
"Power of heaven and earth, converge upon me!"
Li Ping's majestic voice thundered across the land.
At his words, the skies above Luoyan Province instantly churned, the weather turning violent in a heartbeat.
"If you want to drag me down with you, you'll first have to prove you have the strength!"
Sensing the intimate connection between himself and the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, Li Ping released his golden Source Power defenses, allowing Green Wind's bizarre power to engulf him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bolts of lightning flashed through the dense storm clouds, and the very earth began to tremble.
For an instant, the color of Li Ping's form seemed to fade.
But it quickly returned to normal.
In contrast, Green Wind itself was affected—a blurry, indistinct image was forcefully pulled into view!
"Found you!"
Two beams of light shot out from Li Ping's swirling eyes.
They wrapped around Green Wind like chains, binding it fast.
"Get out here!"
Li Ping roared, and the colossal golden hand materialized once more.
It seized the silver chains and pulled with tremendous force.
The small, healing void from before instantly began to collapse violently outwards.
Comments