The portal manifested by the Realm Spirit known as Master Bird rippled with golden radiance as it transported Su Chen, Shi Hao, and Esdeath to their destination. They materialized upon a suspended platform situated high among the clouds, far removed from the initial testing grounds they had dominated so thoroughly.
This elevated region bore the designation of the Heavenly Passage Realm, a subdivision of the Void God Realm reserved for cultivators of genuine accomplishment. The fundamental laws governing spiritual energy exhibited greater density here, and the metaphysical weight pressing upon one's soul proved substantially more oppressive. Only those who had transcended the limitations of the Blood Moving Realm and successfully opened authentic Cave Heavens possessed sufficient foundation to maintain their standing in this space without succumbing to the pressure.
The architectural features surrounding them reflected the prestige of this location. Massive stone pillars ascended toward the heavens, each surface inscribed with the names of legendary cultivation clans that dominated the Eight Domains: the Rain Clan, the Tuoba Family, the Western Sect, and numerous others of comparable influence. Disciples representing these great powers had assembled in distinct groups, their bearing radiating the arrogance that accompanied their privileged positions. Their attire consisted of silk robes adorned with luminescent runes, and many rode atop spirit beasts that would be considered formidable adversaries in the lower realms.
Shi Hao's immediate reaction upon observing the assembled cultivators demonstrated his characteristic directness. Still clutching his treasured container of beast milk, he inquired whether these individuals possessed valuable treasures worthy of acquisition. Su Chen's response revealed his true assessment of the situation. He regarded the cultivators themselves as the valuable resources, or more precisely, the cultivation techniques and abilities they had mastered represented the genuine treasures available for collection.
Esdeath conducted her own evaluation of the assembled disciples, tapping her boot against the stone floor in a gesture that caused ice to spread outward from the point of contact. Her conclusion proved characteristically blunt: the cultivators appeared weak, their souls lacking sufficient resilience to withstand a concentrated freezing assault. Su Chen counseled restraint, noting that their actions would benefit from an audience to witness and spread word of what transpired.
## Confrontation with the Rain Clan
As the trio advanced toward the central arena that served as the focal point of this realm, their path was obstructed by a group of cultivators wearing blue robes embroidered with rain cloud motifs. These disciples of the Rain Clan regarded the newcomers with evident disdain, their attention particularly focused on Shi Hao. The sight of a young child clutching a jar of milk in this prestigious location appeared to offend their sensibilities.
A young man carrying a long sword articulated this sentiment directly, questioning who would demonstrate such disrespect to the assembled geniuses by bringing an infant still dependent on milk to the Heavenly Passage Realm. Another disciple gestured dismissively, employing a burst of Spirit Energy intended to physically remove Shi Hao from their presence.
The attack proved entirely ineffective. Shi Hao's physical body, tempered to withstand one hundred thousand jin of force, remained completely unmoved as the spiritual energy dissipated harmlessly upon contact. The child's confused inquiry regarding why the cultivator was directing air currents at him revealed his genuine lack of understanding that an attack had been attempted.
Su Chen provided clarification through action rather than explanation. A simple flick of his finger, augmented by telekinetic force, launched the offending Rain Clan disciple backward with the velocity of a cannonball. The unfortunate cultivator's trajectory carried him through three substantial stone pillars before his momentum was arrested by embedding him into a distant wall, where he coughed blood in the form of damaged spiritual essence.
The Rain Clan's collective response proved immediate and coordinated. Dozens of disciples drew their weapons while calling out about an enemy assault, swiftly arranging themselves in a formation designated as the Rain Array. Water vapor coalesced around them, generating crushing pressure that would typically overwhelm opponents of lesser capability.
Esdeath characterized this display as tedious before stepping forward to address the situation. Rather than employing any specific technique or spell, she simply released her accumulated Killing Intent, the manifestation of her numerous battles and eliminations. The ambient temperature plummeted precipitously. The water vapor the Rain Clan disciples had gathered transformed into jagged ice projectiles that reversed direction, now threatening to impale their creators through their throats.
## The Appearance of Shi Yi
A single word, delivered with calm authority, penetrated the escalating tension and brought the confrontation to an abrupt halt. The assembled crowd parted immediately, creating a clear path for the speaker to advance.
The individual who emerged possessed an appearance that seemed to transcend his physical age. Though his body suggested he had lived only ten or eleven years, his bearing and presence evoked comparison to ancient emperors of legend. Golden armor adorned his form, and his hair flowed with a quality resembling liquid gold. However, his most distinctive and extraordinary feature manifested in his eyes.
Within each ocular cavity, two distinct pupils rotated slowly, emitting a chaotic mist that appeared to exert a decomposing effect on the fabric of reality itself. This was Shi Yi, bearer of the legendary Dual Pupils, a genetic mutation so rare that its appearance typically heralded the birth of a Saint destined for supreme achievement.
Su Chen's analytical capabilities provided comprehensive information regarding this individual. Shi Yi had reached the peak of the Cave Heaven Realm despite his youth, a testament to both his innate talent and the advantages conferred by his Dual Pupils. However, the analysis revealed a second talent designation: a Supreme Being Bone that had been stolen and subsequently grafted into his body, an artificial enhancement to his already formidable natural gifts.
The Rain Clan disciples' immediate prostration and deferential address revealed Shi Yi's relationship to their faction. He was acknowledged as their cousin, a connection that explained their presence as his attendants and supporters in this realm.
Shi Yi's attention, however, did not acknowledge his subordinates. His four pupils, operating independently yet in coordination, locked first upon Su Chen before drifting to examine Shi Hao. A visible flicker of recognition passed through those chaotic eyes, and he whispered with evident surprise about a resonance emanating from the child, specifically from the region where a bone structure should reside.
Shi Hao experienced an instinctive and profound negative reaction upon observing Shi Yi. A strange pain manifested in his chest, precisely where his own Supreme Being Bone underwent regeneration. Though he possessed no conscious knowledge of the history connecting him to this golden youth, his instincts generated immediate dislike. His characterization of Shi Yi as someone who appeared to have stolen another's lunch proved more accurate than the child could possibly understand.
Su Chen's response, delivered in a tone markedly colder than his usual manner, acknowledged that Shi Yi's thefts extended far beyond mere food.
## The Clash of Ocular Supremacy
Shi Yi advanced forward, the chaotic mist surrounding his form expanding to press down upon the plaza with palpable weight. He addressed Su Chen as a stranger who had injured members of his maternal clan while accompanying a child whose continued existence posed philosophical difficulties. When questioned regarding this assessment, Su Chen clarified the underlying assumption with devastating directness: Shi Yi had presumed the child dead following the extraction of his bone.
The assembled crowd's collective gasp revealed that Su Chen had publicly exposed information intended to remain concealed. The scandal surrounding the Shi Clan's internal affairs had been carefully guarded, making this revelation before numerous witnesses a catastrophic breach of secrecy. Shi Yi's complexion darkened immediately as he recognized the implications.
His response took the form of immediate action rather than continued discourse. His command for silence accompanied the activation of his legendary ability. The Dual Pupils flashed with power as he invoked their Authority, specifically the Decomposition aspect of their function.
Two beams of gray light erupted from his eyes, traveling toward Su Chen with lethal intent. This manifestation of his ocular power did not operate through conventional means such as heat or kinetic force. Instead, the gray light functioned by unraveling the fundamental structure of spiritual energy, reducing complex techniques and formations into constituent nothingness. This ability represented a counter to virtually any energy-based attack, as it operated on the principle of deconstructing the underlying laws that permitted such manifestations.
Su Chen chose not to employ evasive maneuvers. Instead, he widened his own eyes in direct response, simultaneously activating multiple ocular abilities he had accumulated. The Mind Stone Authority provided the foundation, while the Purple Demon Eye technique he had mastered from Tang San's cultivation system contributed its unique properties. The Lich Fire added its emerald luminescence to the combination. The resulting synthesis transformed his eyes into swirling vortices that displayed purple, blue, and green coloration in complex patterns.
The collision of these two opposing gazes occurred in the space between the combatants, generating audible crackling as the interaction destabilized local reality. Shi Yi's gray light, bearing the Decomposition Authority of the Dual Pupils, met Su Chen's mental projection beam. The attempted decomposition encountered an unexpected obstacle.
The Mind Stone represented one of six Infinity Stones, conceptual artifacts that embodied fundamental aspects of reality across the entire multiverse. The authority it granted over mental phenomena operated at a level that transcended planetary limitations. Shi Yi's Dual Pupils, regardless of their legendary status within this world, remained ultimately a genetic mutation confined to a single universe. The attempt to decompose a fundamental multiversal law using a talent of planetary scope proved futile.
The gray light shattered with an audible crack. Shi Yi gasped as sharp pain erupted in his eyes, blood seeping from his tear ducts as the backlash damaged the very organs that had generated the failed attack. Su Chen's gaze continued forward without impediment, the mental projection slamming into Shi Yi's consciousness with devastating effect.
The youth who had approached with the bearing of an ancient emperor stumbled backward, clutching his head as his carefully maintained composure disintegrated. His anguished cry questioned what manner of pupils could inflict injury upon his legendary Dual Pupils, expressing shock that such a thing was possible.
Su Chen's response, delivered while advancing forward, explained that his eyes possessed the capability to perceive Shi Yi's true nature beneath all pretenses and stolen advantages. They revealed him as what he fundamentally was: a thief who had taken what did not belong to him.
## The Acquisition of Dual Pupil Data
Su Chen did not permit the confrontation to conclude with mere exchange of words. He activated his Shadow Step technique, enhanced by the Storm Dragon's lightning and mist properties, achieving velocity that bypassed Shi Yi's defensive formation entirely. Within a fraction of a second, he had closed the distance to stand directly before the Double-Pupiled youth.
Shi Yi's reaction time proved commendable despite his disoriented state. He launched a punch augmented by the power of the Supreme Being Bone he had grafted into his body, invoking a technique designated as God's Hand. The strike carried force sufficient to pulverize normal opponents.
Su Chen caught the incoming fist, establishing a direct contest between his Gold Body constitution and the stolen Supreme Bone's power. The resulting shockwave fractured the platform beneath them. However, Su Chen's position remained absolutely stable while Shi Yi's entire arm trembled, his bones creaking under the application of one hundred tons of gripping pressure.
Su Chen's whispered observation noted that the bone Shi Yi employed did not truly belong to him, and that this fundamental incompatibility manifested as rejection. He claimed the ability to perceive the bone's sorrow at its current circumstances.
He then positioned his free hand over Shi Yi's eyes and activated his most valuable capability: the systematic copying of abilities and attributes from other entities. The process of analyzing and replicating the Dual Pupils' structure and function commenced immediately.
The copied data revealed multiple aspects of the Dual Pupils' capabilities. They permitted deceleration of perceived time through enhanced visual processing, enabled observation of energy flows at fundamental levels, granted the ability to decompose techniques through understanding their structure, and provided enhanced healing to their bearer.
Su Chen experienced intense sensations as his own optical nerves underwent modification to accommodate the new data. The itching sensation accompanied a fusion process wherein the Purple Demon Eye technique he had previously mastered combined with the newly acquired Dual Pupil information. The synthesis produced an enhanced ability designated by his system as the Eye of Truth, incorporating microscopic vision, visual time dilation, comprehensive energy analysis, and the capacity to deliver mental shocks through eye contact.
When Su Chen withdrew his hand and his eyes underwent their transformation, the changes proved immediately visible. His dark pupils divided, creating the characteristic double-pupil structure. However, rather than manifesting the gray coloration associated with Shi Yi's eyes, his new pupils displayed purple-gold hues while swirling with streams of data originating from the Mind Stone's influence.
Shi Yi's reaction to witnessing this transformation revealed the depth of his psychological trauma. He stared at Su Chen's altered eyes, literally seeing his own reflection and by extension his own supposedly unique gift now possessed by another. His scream questioned the impossibility of this occurrence, declaring that he alone should possess the Dual Pupils as the Saint born from ancient bloodlines.
Su Chen's dismissive response reframed Shi Yi's self-perception entirely. Rather than a divinely chosen individual, Su Chen characterized him as merely fortunate in the genetic lottery, someone who had won through chance rather than merit. He further noted that he had simply replicated that winning result through his own methods.
The subsequent slap Su Chen delivered carried significance beyond its physical impact. Rather than employing martial techniques or spiritual energy, this was purely a gesture of disrespect, a blow intended to humiliate rather than injure. The sound of the impact echoed across the plaza as Shi Yi spun through the air before crashing to the ground, his golden armor bearing visible dents from the collision.
The Rain Clan elders, witnessing their prodigy's humiliation, erupted in furious commands to protect their young master and eliminate the offender. Su Chen delegated this complication to Esdeath with a simple instruction.
Esdeath's response consisted of a single word: "Mahapadma." This invocation of her ultimate technique froze the local space-time continuum for approximately one second. When temporal flow resumed, the Rain Clan elders who had been rushing to attack had been transformed into frozen statues, their movements arrested at the precise moment of the technique's activation.
## Strategic Restraint and Resource Extraction
Su Chen approached the fallen Shi Yi but deliberately refrained from delivering a killing blow. This restraint stemmed not from mercy but from strategic consideration regarding Shi Hao's future development. The karmic connection between Shi Hao and Shi Yi required resolution through direct confrontation. If Su Chen eliminated Shi Yi at this juncture, the denial of this pivotal conflict might impede Shi Hao's psychological and spiritual growth.
However, strategic restraint regarding Shi Yi's life did not preclude taking advantage of other opportunities. Su Chen efficiently removed the storage bag attached to Shi Yi's waist, claiming whatever resources and treasures the youth had accumulated. More significantly, he placed his hand upon Shi Yi's chest, targeting the grafted Supreme Being Bone.
The analytical scan revealed that the bone's integration remained incomplete, a fact that would limit Shi Yi's ability to fully utilize its capabilities. Su Chen proceeded to copy the specific techniques associated with the bone: the Hand of God and Reincarnation Light. He announced his intention to appropriate these techniques while permitting Shi Yi to retain the physical bone itself, characterizing this as allowing the youth to keep it warm for Shi Hao's eventual reclamation.
A dismissive kick propelled Shi Yi toward the surviving Rain Clan members. Su Chen instructed them to remove what he characterized as trash from the premises, while delivering a message for the Martial King who presumably held authority over Shi Yi. If disciplinary action was deemed necessary, the Martial King was welcome to visit Stone Village, where Su Chen would be awaiting his arrival.
## Establishment of Dominance and Future Planning
The plaza remained in absolute silence following this exchange. The genius of the Rain Clan, a youth who had previously been considered invincible among his generation, had been defeated, humiliated, and looted within the span of approximately one minute. The psychological impact of witnessing such an absolute reversal of expected outcomes left the assembled cultivators unable to formulate immediate responses.
Shi Hao approached with characteristic enthusiasm, his attention focused on Su Chen's transformed eyes. His innocent excitement regarding the double-circle appearance prompted him to request similar modifications for himself. Su Chen provided a deliberately misleading response, suggesting that sufficient consumption of meat might eventually produce such results, a fabrication he delivered with practiced ease.
Having concluded the immediate confrontation, Su Chen directed his attention to the Record Tablet specific to the Heavenly Passage Realm. In keeping with his established pattern of breaking records, he struck the tablet with sufficient force to shatter it completely. The system announcement that followed designated this achievement as demonstrating Absolute Dominance, rewarding him with a fragment of the Bronze Book's middle volume. He immediately transferred this reward to Shi Hao, instructing the child to add it to his growing collection.
Esdeath, having completed the elimination of immediate threats, offered tactical assessment of their situation. She noted that while this world operated under principles where strength commanded respect, the powerful factions also exhibited considerable arrogance. Their actions had resulted in offending a major political entity, which would inevitably generate consequences.
Su Chen's response revealed that he considered this outcome advantageous rather than problematic. He characterized the inevitable retaliation attempts as opportunities for the offended parties to deliver additional resources and abilities directly to him for collection.
He then addressed his internal system regarding future development priorities. Having acquired the Dual Pupils, the Primitive True Solution, and the Suan Ni Technique among other abilities, he identified the creation of a Noble Phantasm as his next objective. His concept involved infusing the Dual Pupils' Decomposition Light into the three hundred sixty-five blades comprising his Soaring Shuttle, which would grant them the ability to ignore conventional defenses entirely.
He instructed Babata to prepare the ship's forge for the weapon upgrade process, then gathered Shi Hao and Esdeath to depart. His next stated objective involved locating the Baize Lion, a white divine beast of pureblood Archaic lineage reportedly guarding a treasure mountain in the vicinity. Su Chen expressed interest in acquiring the creature's hide for use as a decorative rug, while also identifying its wisdom tooth as valuable loot.
The system confirmed target lock on the Baize Lion and catalogued the anticipated rewards. The assembled cultivators who had witnessed the confrontation with Shi Yi could only watch as the trio departed, their presence having initiated what would be remembered as a reign of terror within the Void God Realm, though this was merely the beginning of their activities in this space.