"I've certainly gained some unexpected rewards!"
"They truly are families that have inherited legacies for countless ages. They possess many types of cultivation and secret knowledge that even the great sects lack."
Qi Ping looked at the various items placed before him, a trace of surprise in his heart. The items scavenged this time exceeded his expectations. He had originally thought the Star-Sea Continent had nothing left that could truly surprise him, but the legacy accumulated by these families was deeper than he had imagined.
In the past, Qi Ping felt that the foundations of the various sects were the root of the Star-Sea Continent, but now it seemed the items gathered within the noble families were the deepest legacy. There were powerful manuals and spells from the Qi Refinement to the Unity Stage, secret rumors recorded from ancient times to the present, and artifacts the likes of which he had never seen. There were also many items related to alchemy, forging, formations, planting, puppetry, and more. Beyond those, he had also secured many spirit beasts with powerful bloodlines.
In short, there were an extraordinary number of items. Consequently, Qi Ping chose to house the bloodline-strong spirit beasts within the Star-Sea Academy. The purpose of raising these beasts was simple: just like planting spiritual trees, he wanted to nurture a spirit beast legion of his own.
As for the manuals and knowledge, Qi Ping kept a portion to perfect his own understanding of cultivation; the rest were placed in the Star-Sea Academy. The academy would distribute them according to specific circumstances, using new knowledge to drive the development of the Nine Domains. Qi Ping was certain that if utilized well, this knowledge was enough to raise the domains' development by another level—to put it simply, development speed +1, citizen strength growth +1, and resource production speed +1.
Though the process was complex, the resulting effect was similar to a territory development game. Scavenging this entire batch of legacy resources from the families had indeed significantly boosted the development speed of the Nine Domains. However, while these conventional resources would be a massive fortune for those below, they didn't have a particularly large impact on Qi Ping.
The things that truly caught Qi Ping's eye were only two.
First, Qi Ping had obtained two records regarding the Prayer Language. These two records were much more profound than the one he had previously obtained. One was about the Prayer Language of Mountains and Earth, and the other was about the Prayer Language of the Nine Heavens Thunder.
Unlike the manual cultivation of the immortal path, which had specific attributes, this was closer to the essence of the world. Mountains, earth, and the thunder of the nine heavens were naturally formed, the most divine powers of the world's craftsmanship. As long as one practiced the Prayer Language to the highest realm, they could master the most powerful world-forces through prayer. Qi Ping's only disappointment was that he hadn't obtained a method for training or cultivating Heart-Force.
'But this is good enough. After becoming familiar with these two Prayer Languages, I will master two special and powerful forces. Having another method is a good thing; perhaps it will come in handy one day!'
Qi Ping was very happy about this. He enjoyed the feeling of his foundation increasing. Furthermore, he truly liked this power; it was a new perspective for him to understand the world.
The second harvest was an item within a mysterious black square box. Qi Ping had discovered it inside a black box that radiated a decaying aura. The box was covered in a powerful sealing formation that would launch a rule-based attack on anyone trying to open it. The intensity of the attack was close to the Void Refinement stage, and the strength of the seal was even more absurd. Qi Ping had to utilize his Earth Immortal Druid power to bolster his Five-Colored Celestial Light and go full throttle for half a day before he could barely open the box.
Qi Ping even suspected that if placed outside the Nine Domains, a Mahayana cultivator might not even be able to open it. He might not have been able to open it at all by brute force if not for the continuous erosion of the Five-Colored Celestial Light.
When the black box was opened, the item inside was simple: only a decaying Bronze Flying Dagger and a strip of cloth covered in blood-red script. Although the bronze dagger appeared rusted and decayed, the pressure it radiated was not lacking at all. Even a sliver of leaked aura was above the Unity Stage!
'This is... something above the Unity Stage?'
The moment he saw the Bronze Flying Dagger, Qi Ping's eyes widened. His surprise stemmed from the fact that this was the only item above the Unity Stage currently known to exist on the Star-Sea Continent!
In the years past, Qi Ping had explored almost the entire continent and spoken with every cultivator at or above the Soul Transformation stage, but he had never found any Mahayana manuals or weapons, or even a trace of Mahayana power. It was as if no trace of a Mahayana cultivator had ever existed here, to the point that he once thought the history of the continent's former glory—when multiple Mahayana cultivators existed—was a fabrication.
Otherwise, why would there be no trace of Mahayana-level items? Not even a single trail of power remained. It was understandable if Mahayana artifacts had all been plundered, but how could not even a single manual be left behind? This was a mystery Qi Ping had been unable to solve.
But today, an item above the Unity Stage had finally appeared!
'I've finally found something above the Unity Stage. But is this Bronze Flying Dagger truly at the Mahayana level? Is it at the Mahayana stage, or is it an item from another system?'
In Qi Ping's perception, there was something strange about this dagger. However, after Qi Ping opened the cloth strip covered in blood-red script, he finally caught a glimpse of a hidden secret. The cloth strip was unusually tough, and the blood on it was definitely human blood—and the blood of a Mahayana cultivator!
'Blood of a Mahayana cultivator... but I don't recognize a single one of these characters.'
This shocked Qi Ping. Having read a vast amount of knowledge regarding the Star-Sea Continent, he was very familiar with all sorts of ancient scripts. For a long time, he hadn't encountered a character he didn't recognize. This was the first time!
This immediately piqued Qi Ping's interest. This unknown knowledge held a great attraction for him, so he immediately began to explore it. However, to be safe, he opened the black box far from the Seven-Colored Ancestral Vein and used formations to seal off the surrounding space. He also operated through his Treant Clone.
At all times, caution remained his primary principle. He studied the mysterious blood script for a long time but couldn't grasp its essence until he merged a drop of his own blood into it.
As Qi Ping's blood transformed into blood-qi and merged with the characters, a brilliant blood-red light rose from the tattered cloth. Then, Qi Ping's vision blurred, and a horrifying image appeared before his eyes.
Or rather, at this moment, Qi Ping's consciousness seemed to have arrived in a space containing mysterious temporal power. Within this space, he saw a black figure whose face and attire were indistinguishable, looking down upon an incredibly prosperous world filled with life. That black figure looked down like a god upon the world below, as if seeing a group of ants or trash fish.
Before that black figure, three Mahayana auras soared into the sky, heading straight for the entity! The Mahayana figures and their power were blindingly bright, like a brilliant sword light seeking to shatter the darkness. Each possessed the power to cleave the sky with a single strike! The strength of a Mahayana cultivator was fully displayed. Under that terrifying pressure, even the power of laws could be cleaved. Qi Ping was astonished by this strength.
'Is this the power a Mahayana cultivator can unleash? So powerful!' Qi Ping marveled inwardly. This level of power and control was something he could currently not hope to match. The reason he possessed great power now was merely that he manipulated the world's force; it wasn't something he truly controlled. The form of his power was very different from this energy, which was condensed and brilliant to the extreme.
According to records, a Mahayana cultivator was someone who had walked a single path to its limit and could perfectly control a type of law power—this law power was the key to breaking through the Immortal Gate.
Yet, facing three such terrifying Mahayana existences, the black figure looking down still didn't show the slightest flicker of panic. It merely raised its right arm, and then three black threads were released from its palm.
Though they appeared as only three black lines, after leaving the figure's hand, they began to divide at an eerily fast speed! In almost an instant, they transformed into millions, tens of millions of countless black threads, which took root in the world below like trees. Humans, spirit beasts, trees, the earth... even spiritual energy and laws! It seemed there was nothing they could not root into!
Once the black threads finished rooting, they suddenly tightened! As the black figure pulled its raised right arm back sharply, an incredibly crisp sound of snapping echoed!
The moment the snapping sound rang out, Qi Ping's figure began to shake like chaff. Blood frantically seeped from every pore, and his soul trembled uncontrollably! That crisp snapping sound was terrifying; it was as if every inch of skin and flesh, every sliver of soul, consciousness, memory, and even the world's laws were snapping!
This pain surpassed all the agony and fear Qi Ping had ever felt! And as the snapping sound rang out, an even more terrifying scene appeared.
The Mahayana figures, which had been brilliant just a moment ago, silently collapsed like bubbles. In the blink of an eye, they turned to nothingness, as if they had never existed.
'Three Mahayana cultivators... just gone?'
Qi Ping's eyes widened! Those were mother-fucking Mahayana cultivators! According to all records, Mahayana cultivators were existences standing at the peak! When the path to immortality was uncertain and immortals did not appear, a Mahayana cultivator was the absolute peak. In fact, this was true for the entire cultivation world!
Yet under those black threads, three Mahayana cultivators had vanished so eerrily in an instant, as if they had never appeared in this world at all.
'This is too damn absurd!'
But it wasn't over. Following the three Mahayana cultivators, all power related to the Mahayana stage in the world below the black figure was eerily pulled out by the black threads and subsequently vanished, one by one! This should have been invisible, yet for some reason, Qi Ping saw it!
Undeniably, the continent the black figure was looking down upon was the Star-Sea Continent!
'Is this why there is no Mahayana power left in the Star-Sea Continent?'
'Directly snapping any power related to Mahayana cultivators and erasing all traces of Mahayana strength... what kind of power is this?'
At this moment, an inexplicable fear rose in Qi Ping's heart. He considered himself to have understood many methods of power in this world and believed that no matter what, he would have some way to respond—this was a form of self-confidence. But just now, facing those eerie black threads, all the power he had cultivated in the past seemed useless. Any attack or defense appeared incredibly laughable before those threads.
The only thing Qi Ping felt might have a chance to respond was utilizing the power of the Earth Immortal Druid, using the force of an entire world to suppress such an entity. He could see that in the final moments when those thousands of black threads entered the continent, they were clearly suppressed once. The place where the ley lines were strongest seemed to effectively delay the threads' advance.
Furthermore, Qi Ping felt that another possibility was the Five-Colored Celestial Light, which could annihilate all things. However, he wasn't sure if those black threads were within the "myriad things" evolved from the five elements.
Beyond these, what truly terrified Qi Ping was that just by hearing that crisp sound, his main body—which was far from the clone—spat out a large mouthful of blood. The spiritual power in his body became chaotic and violent. Even the life-bound spiritual tree he had contracted with through the Life-Bound Contract was significantly affected.
The only thing that gave Qi Ping a bit of peace was that his hidden, sealed true spirit consciousness didn't seem to be detected by this power. This allowed him to breathe a massive sigh of relief. The strike had shattered his clone body and his life-bound tree; he didn't know if his ability to resurrect using the power of sentient beings would be affected. But at least the sealed true spirit hadn't been impacted. With the knowledge and power he currently possessed and the Prayer Language that didn't require cultivation, it was enough to support a rapid comeback.
This proved that the many contingencies he had prepared were useful.
In Qi Ping's vision, after the black figure used the black threads, its own aura suddenly dropped. The black mist on its body dissipated by more than half. Simultaneously, an incredibly terrifying white Divine Punishment suddenly surged out of the void after the figure used the threads! This was the Divine Punishment from heaven and earth against an act that defied the heavens, capable of slaying even a Mahayana cultivator!
Yet facing this terrifying white Divine Punishment, the black figure remained calm. Black holes composed of countless black threads appeared around it, actually swallowing the omnipresent white Divine Punishment! However, the black figure was not unharmed; the black threads were being continuously consumed by the white punishment, though the speed was somewhat slow.
Thus, the black figure didn't panic, seemingly possessing enough confidence to withstand the punishment. However, as a Bronze Flying Dagger shot out from the void, Qi Ping clearly felt the black figure suddenly fall into a panic...