But now, seeing Qin Shuang's achievements, Hong Meng and Linley truly believed Roy's statement that one cannot control the fate of those whose destinies are uncertain.
Did they think he and Hong Meng were blind?
Whether it was the Centipede Fierce Beast, or the other small fiend dozens of miles away, or Qin Shuang himself, they could all sense a faint aura of the Heavenly Dao of Destiny.
The Heavenly Dao of the Starry Sky Universe was originally formed by the fusion of half of the Universe Creator's soul with the world.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the Heavenly Dao was a clone of the Universe Creator.
Since Qin Shuang carried the aura of the Heavenly Dao of Destiny, Roy's previous claim that one cannot control the fate of those whose destinies are uncertain naturally held little credibility.
"Sigh..."
Seeing the expressions on Hong Meng and Linley's faces, Roy shook his head with a bitter smile.
Heaven knew, Roy truly hadn't made any special arrangements for Qin Shuang.
Giving Qin Shuang the Space-Time Pearl was because Roy remembered that after Qin Yu became the controller of Hong Meng, his youngest son Qin Shuang mysteriously disappeared. Qin Yu eventually discovered his youngest son had traveled to Earth in another universe.
Therefore, Roy thought, since Qin Shuang could traverse universes by some unknown luck, just like Lei Wei, he might as well refine a treasure that could directly traverse universes for Qin Shuang and see what heights Qin Shuang could reach.
He never would have imagined that Qin Shuang's first traversal would be directly into the Starry Sky Universe, where even the rules of lifespan were rewritten by the Starry Sky Universe.
However, it seemed now that no matter what Roy said, Hong Meng and Linley wouldn't believe him.
After all, Qin Shuang was now somehow connected to "Old Heaven," so it was perfectly normal for him to carry the aura of the Heavenly Dao of Destiny.
"Alright, alright. The 'Jin' cultivated by Qin Shuang's body tempering techniques is definitely a great trump card for Big Brother and Third Brother."
"You two should first see how Shuang'er uses his 'Jin,' and then consider how to cultivate your own 'Jin'."
"Okay."
...
Qin Shuang could never have imagined that while he was fighting for his life in this Starry Sky Universe, his three uncles were merely watching from the sidelines, acting as spectators and studying the secrets of cultivating 'Jin'.
Right now, Qin Shuang was using the reverberations from his battle with the Centipede Fierce Beast to accelerate the tempering of his body.
What Qin Shuang wanted to do was break through the barrier from Emperor level to Ancient Emperor level before he was completely exhausted.
Without this battle, Qin Shuang might have needed over a hundred more years to break through to the Ancient Emperor level.
Now, however, every clash with the Centipede Fierce Beast was equivalent to several days of Qin Shuang's own solitary training.
In this way, Qin Shuang's battle with the Centipede Fierce Beast was like cultivating at tens or even hundreds of times the normal speed.
Gradually, Qin Shuang's physical strength grew stronger and stronger, and the power of his Jin energy became greater and greater.
Finally, after Qin Shuang and the Centipede Fierce Beast had battled for seven days and seven nights, Qin Shuang's physical strength broke through to a higher level, reaching the same Ancient Emperor level as the Centipede Fierce Beast.
"Boom!"
"Bang!"
With this breakthrough, Qin Shuang's aura surged, and the white Jin energy emanating from him became even more powerful.
He threw out a punch, and this time, Qin Shuang did not retreat even half a step.
Not only that, but this punch directly blew apart a portion of the Centipede Fierce Beast's body.
"Roar!"
This injury was different from the minor scrapes before.
If Qin Shuang's attacks before had only caused the Centipede Fierce Beast some pain, then his current attacks could truly injure it.
The Centipede Fierce Beast roared, its body coiling like a python, stirring up powerful tornadoes around it.
The nearly ten-thousand-meter-long Centipede Fierce Beast created tornadoes that swept through the sky and covered the earth, tearing apart everything in their path.
"Heh!"
Streams of tornadoes surged towards Qin Shuang, encircling him in the center, while countless wind blades rained down upon him like a torrential downpour.
"Boom boom boom boom boom boom..."
Qin Shuang's body was covered in white Jin energy. As soon as these countless wind blades touched him, they were shattered into fragments.
When Qin Shuang was still at the Emperor level, he could barely contend with this Centipede Fierce Beast.
Now that his physical strength had reached the Ancient Emperor level, the Jin energy he unleashed was even more potent.
At this moment, Qin Shuang possessed strength comparable to, or even surpassing, the Centipede Fierce Beast.
Maintaining the Jin energy radiating from his body, Qin Shuang transformed into an afterimage, smashing through the tornadoes, and piercing through the Centipede Fierce Beast's body with his fist, leaving a circular hole more than three meters in diameter.
"Aow!"
Rain of blood splattered, the fierce beast wept blood.
Following this, the battle between Qin Shuang and the Centipede Fierce Beast seemed to have reversed.
Before, it was the Centipede Fierce Beast that sent Qin Shuang flying, and if not for Qin Shuang's powerful Jin energy, which could both attack and defend, Qin Shuang would have long since died by the Centipede Fierce Beast's claws.
But now, it was the Centipede Fierce Beast that was being beaten and sent flying.
However, the Centipede Fierce Beast did not possess Qin Shuang's unique Jin energy.
Under Qin Shuang's attacks, large sections of its body shattered, with bloody holes appearing on the Centipede Fierce Beast's form.
If it weren't for the Centipede Fierce Beast's decent regenerative abilities, the wounds on its body would be healing at an extremely rapid pace.
But this only added to the Centipede Fierce Beast's misery.
Sometimes, powerful vitality and regenerative abilities that are mismatched with one's strength can be a form of hell for the possessor.
Just like the current Centipede Fierce Beast, if it didn't have such strong vitality and regenerative abilities, and was easily killed by Qin Shuang, it would have been a release.
Unfortunately, its powerful vitality and monstrous regenerative abilities forced the Centipede Fierce Beast to endure pain again and again, until death.
Although Qin Shuang later broke through against the odds in this battle, he fought for another five days before finally killing this Centipede Fierce Beast.
When Qin Shuang arrived before Dugu Zangtian, the young man who hadn't shed a tear since he started following Qin Shuang, hugged Qin Shuang and wept uncontrollably.
"Good boy, Zangtian, look, aren't I back?"
"The arrangements of that 'Old Heaven' seem to be nothing more than this."
"As long as you possess sufficient strength, these so-called 'Old Heaven' arrangements can be broken with a flick of your hand, and we can choose the path we desire."
"Mhm."
Qin Shuang gently stroked the back of Dugu Zangtian's head, feeling relieved in his heart.
It was indeed as he suspected.
"Old Heaven's" arrangement was for him to be severely injured or killed, leaving Dugu Zangtian to venture into the world alone.
But unfortunately, he had a breakthrough on the battlefield and killed the Centipede Fierce Beast, a lackey of Old Heaven.
In doing so, he had disrupted "Old Heaven's" arrangement.
At this moment, he felt that the aura "Old Heaven" had left on Dugu Zangtian had weakened considerably, and the karma between him and Dugu Zangtian was also flickering in and out of existence.
This made him wonder, if Dugu Zangtian continued to break free from Old Heaven's arrangements, would he completely escape "Old Heaven's" control and regain freedom over his own destiny?
After sharing his speculation with Dugu Zangtian, a genuine smile appeared on Dugu Zangtian's face.
Who would want to be a puppet controlled by others, living their entire lives according to someone else's plan?
Freedom, what a beautiful and desirable thing it was...
...
"Not bad, Qin Shuang indeed lives up to his unpredictable destiny."
"Even though he was anchored by 'Old Heaven', he ultimately seized that sliver of life and successfully helped himself and Dugu Zangtian cast off some of their restraints..."
"'Old Heaven's' arrangement failed, and it also suffered a backlash from destiny, its aura dropping by a segment."
"Tsk..."
Roy shook his head as he received the information from the Heavenly Dao Seed.
This Old Heaven was too reckless.
However, what made Roy unable to help but smile wryly was that from this seed, he could read a hint of "Old Heaven's" unwillingness.
"Old" felt that the root cause of its failure this time was that the puppet it found, the Centipede Fierce Beast, was too weak.
Next time, it would control more powerful Starry Sky Beasts, or even Starry Sky Beast Kings, to ensure its "arrangements" were not flawed.
Roy shook his head at this.
It seemed that "Old," which had been separated from Heavenly Dao, belonged to the earliest parts of Heavenly Dao.
Therefore, in "Old's" consciousness, Starry Sky Beast Kings were the most powerful beings in the Universe.
Unfortunately, times had changed.
The strongest Beast Kings currently were only comparable to Heavenly Emperors, creators, and were still a distance away from the Immortal Dao.
It was no longer the era of fierce beasts, but the era of humans.
Let alone the Immortal Dao, there were already several Immortal Kings.
Starry Sky Beast Kings were truly not enough to impress.
Of course, Roy did not communicate any of this to "Old."
This was Heavenly Dao's self-chosen evolution and transformation.
"Old" was the first Heaven, but not the strongest "Heaven."
It represented the earliest, most barbaric era of the Starry Sky Universe.
The Nine Heavens were, from the beginning, a product of the intertwining and advancement of the Dao of Destiny and Heavenly Dao.
Those protagonists chosen by "Heaven" were two sides of the same coin with "Heaven," improving each other and ultimately completing the feat of "defying Heaven."
In this way, the protagonists indeed "defied Heaven" and resisted their destinies, but on a higher level, it was "Destiny" that had evolved.
"Destiny" was the director behind the scenes, while the Nine Heavens and the protagonists were the lead actors in this grand drama of defying Heaven.
It was just unknown how many of the nine protagonists, in the evolution of the Nine Heavens, would reach the limit of the Starry Sky Universe and break through to become Hong Meng Beings.
To be honest, Dugu Zangtian, who was chosen by "Old," originally had the smallest chance of breaking through.
Because the era represented by "Old" was the era of the Starry Sky Beast Kings.
This means "Old's" ultimate limit was only the Heavenly Emperor limit.
Dugu Zangtian's successful counter-attack against "Old" might also be the Heavenly Emperor limit, with a small chance of breaking through to the Immortal path.
But mixed among them was Qin Shuang.
As a person whose fate was uncertain, Qin Shuang possessed the possibility of breaking free from the Heavenly Dao's control.
And this possibility also granted Dugu Zangtian more potential.
"Body Forging Style" was an example of this.
The "Jin" cultivated through Body Forging Style could continuously strengthen the body, and a stronger body would then unleash more powerful Jin, in a cycle that was endless.
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