High above, Lu Qing gazed at the scene left behind after the black void vanished.

Below lay a smooth, hemispherical crater several miles wide, as if an ancient behemoth had taken a single bite out of the earth.

It was obvious this was formed when the void expanded and devoured everything in its path.

“The power of space truly is terrifying.”

Looking at the abyssal pit, even Lu Qing felt a tremor in his heart.

With his current strength, blasting out a pit that size wouldn’t be difficult. But to erase every trace of matter in an instant—that was not something brute force could achieve.

No wonder cultivators of the Nascent Soul Realm, upon stepping into the fifth tribulation, all began to comprehend spatial power. This kind of strength was dreadful beyond measure.

He lingered in silence for a moment before transforming into a streak of light and flying off.

According to what Elder Xing had shouted before his death, if he truly had managed to transmit word of this battle back to the Holy Assembly, then it wouldn’t be long before greater powers arrived.

This place was no longer safe. The sooner he left, the better.

Lu Qing picked a direction and sped away, not into either the human or demon domains, but northward along the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range.

With his speed, he covered hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye, vanishing without a trace.

Not long after he departed, space twisted above the massive pit. Three figures suddenly emerged in midair.

They all looked human, faces grim, their bodies radiating vast power. Invisible spatial ripples coiled around them.

Yet when their eyes fell on the pit below, their expressions flickered with shock.

“What happened here?”

One of the elders frowned deeply. With a slight motion, a glazed lamp appeared in his hand.

Mana surged, and the lamp released a soul phantom—its face was none other than Elder Xing’s.

“Elder Xing, what is going on? The fiend is gone, and even your true body has disappeared.”

The phantom paused, then grew dark with grief.

“My true body… has already self-detonated its Nascent Soul.”

“What? You self-detonated your Nascent Soul?”

All three were startled.

“From the moment you warned us, we rushed here at full speed. Barely any time has passed. To think you were forced into self-detonation—was that fiend truly so fearsome?”

The elder’s voice was taut.

“That fiend was indeed terrifying—far beyond any Nascent Soul I’ve seen. I have never encountered such a monstrous existence.”

“I will show you what my true body sent before the end.”

Elder Xing formed a hand seal, projecting the final soul memories into the air.

Scenes unfolded: Elder Xing receiving the message from the purple-robed cultivator, rushing toward the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range, intervening when Lu Qing was about to slay the Myriad Beasts Sect disciples.

The three watched intently.

At first their faces were calm. But when King Zhenwu appeared, their expressions changed.

“King Zhenwu has taken that crucial step… another fifth-tribulation demon king has emerged in the Monster Domain.”

One of them spoke gravely. A fifth-tribulation Nascent Soul could sway the balance of great powers.

Yet before he finished sighing, he saw King Zhenwu blasted away by a single punch from Lu Qing. His eyes widened, disbelief etched across his face.

“What? A half-step fifth-tribulation demon king, struck flying with one punch?”

The other two were equally stunned.

But the shock only grew.

King Zhenwu revealed his true form as a demon ape, yet even then, he was completely overwhelmed. His arm shattered by a single blow. His body crushed into pulp by one palm.

When they saw Lu Qing’s punch tear open spatial cracks, and his palm unleash chaotic spatial currents, their eyes went wide.

“Shattering space with his fists…” the elder muttered. “He clearly has not comprehended spatial laws, yet by sheer physical power, he ripped through the void. How strong is his body?”

The scenes continued: Lu Qing revealing the True Witch Body, breaking free from the joint suppression of Elder Xing and the two great formations of the human and demon clans.

A casual flick of sword qi forced Elder Xing into desperate defense.

The two great formations, each forged by Nascent Soul experts, were smashed apart with both hands. The cultivators within were annihilated, their very souls refined into nothingness.

The three figures stiffened, their faces blanching.

But then the vision vanished.

“Elder Xing?” the elder turned sharply.

The phantom’s form had grown even more faint. He gave a bitter smile.

“The memory from my true body ended there. The situation was too dire—he didn’t have time to send more before detonating.”

The three fell silent.

They knew the truth well: a Nascent Soul could split its soul, but unless special methods were used, memories could not be constantly shared.

Clearly, Elder Xing’s true body had transferred what he could before ending his life.

The great crater below was the result.

But whether the fiend had perished with him or escaped—they could not tell.

The elder sighed. “Enough. Leave the rest to us. Return to your Soul Lamp. Once we return, we will discuss your resurrection.”

“Many thanks, Vice Hall Masters!”

Joy lit Elder Xing’s face. He bowed, then transformed into a streak of light and returned into the glazed lamp.

The elder put it away.

“Hall Master Wu, you truly mean to revive Xing Jian?”

“Of course. He has toiled for the Holy Assembly all these years, amassing enough merit to earn resurrection.”

“And the others?”

“According to the rules. Resources for revival are few, even for us. With so many eyes watching, we cannot overstep. Only those with sufficient merit shall be revived.”

“That is fair. None will object if we follow the rules.”

After settling the matter, silence fell again.

After a while, the elder asked, “What do you think of this fiend?”

“He is not of our Tianyuan Great World,” one said slowly.

“Indeed. Such a monstrous body is beyond any known cultivation path here. Neither demon nor human possess such flesh-cultivation.”

“And his swordsmanship,” added the third, “that sword qi bore deep ties to the Heaven-Shattering Sword Sect.”

“An indestructible body… fists that tear space… sword qi that can slay fourth-tribulation Nascent Souls… he cannot be of our world.”

“You are both correct,” Hall Master Wu nodded. “And I believe I know the secret of his body.”

The other two turned sharply.

“You know?”

“Yes. His body-cultivation method… I suspect it belongs to the legendary Wu Clan of ancient times.”

“The Wu Clan?”

The two were stunned. The name was alien to them.

Hall Master Wu continued, “It is natural you’ve not heard. The Wu Clan existed in the far-distant past. Legends say this starry sky once belonged to them.

But they vanished. No one knows why.

I once entered an ancient void dwelling and learned fragments of their legacy. The Wu Clan specialized in the body. Their flesh was stronger than demons or beasts—on an entirely different level.

It was said their great experts could manifest flesh divine abilities, bodies swelling to thousands of feet, shattering mountains, overturning seas. The strongest could seize stars and step across worlds.”

The two drew sharp breaths.

“To seize stars… to step across worlds…”

Such power was beyond imagination. Even beings above the Nascent Soul Realm might not command such might.

“I know it is hard to believe,” Hall Master Wu said softly. “I too doubted. But the dwelling was ancient beyond measure. Such records were unlikely fabrications.”

The two fell silent, hearts pounding.

“Then the giant form the fiend revealed—that must be the Wu Clan’s technique?”

“What else could it be? No known body-cultivation could explain it. Only the Wu Clan’s secrets could.”

They recalled the matter of Sacred Tianxu Mountain, where Lu Qing had entered a strange secret realm of savage beasts with terrifying bodies.

“That secret realm may have been the Wu Clan’s remnant,” Hall Master Wu said. “And his cultivation method likely came from there.”

The two nodded slowly. The reasoning fit.

“How I wish we could glimpse that Wu Clan method ourselves,” one murmured.

“Unfortunately, all traces here were wiped away by Xing Jian’s self-detonation. We cannot even tell if the fiend perished or escaped.”

“With the power he showed, I doubt Xing Jian’s detonation could end him. He has likely fled.”

“If he escaped… did he flee to the human domain? The demon domain? With his artifacts—one that blocks karmic divination, another that manipulates space—how could we track him?”

The more they spoke, the heavier their expressions grew.

An enemy like that, lurking unseen, was a nightmare even for them.

Rumble!

As they wrestled with the problem, space rippled once more.

Several figures, each radiating the aura of ancient ferocious beasts, appeared.

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