Chapter 4: Shattered Ambition

Inside the Miniature Realm Sphere, Qu Yi sat motionless by the lake once again.
Since he had completed scanning 30% of the Binary Dao last time, his soul realm had advanced to the early stage of Divided Attention. To comfort Bai Man and have a heart-to-heart talk with his son Qu Hanxin, Qu Yi had to rest for ten days before returning to the lake.
Those who pursue the path to immortality never stop.
Thus, another thirty years passed.
Inside the Miniature Realm Sphere, some people began to grow impatient. Living in such a small space for fifty years, with no hope of leaving it anytime soon, several irritable beings wanted to voice their frustrations.
“Brother Wuyuan, life here is unbearable! Look at my once-gorgeous blond hair—now it’s falling out in droves,” said Golden Kirin, scratching his head while holding his club.
Golden Kirin and Wuyuan, these two beasts, didn’t need to elevate their soul realms. One only needed to consume high-grade gold minerals, while the other needed to drink essence blood. As a result, they led a leisurely life. But after fifty years of idleness, they grew restless.
“Ugh, you think yours is bad? Look at my roc wings—all the feathers have fallen off! And my dragon eyes—there are already several crow’s feet…” Wuyuan, provoked by Golden Kirin, immediately started complaining nonstop.
Wuyuan went on at length. The Silver-Faced Howling Wolf, Blue Dragon, and the two Turtle-Drakes also rushed over upon hearing him, each expressing their frustrations within the Miniature Realm Sphere.
These beasts were originally meant to roam the world freely; their cultivation methods involved traveling everywhere. How could they endure sitting trapped in a tiny space?
In fact, aside from Qu Yi, who could sit quietly scanning the array, and the Artifact God, who remained in infant form forever, everyone else in the Miniature Realm Sphere was growing impatient.
Suddenly, Qu Yi, sitting by the lake, opened his eyes and shouted, “Artifact God! I’ve scanned another 30% of the Binary Dao. My soul realm has reached the middle stage of Divided Attention!”
Wuyuan, Golden Kirin, the Silver-Faced Howling Wolf, Blue Dragon, and the other beasts, who had just been complaining, immediately flew over upon hearing Qu Yi’s words.
The Artifact God was already standing beside him.
“Very good! Keep scanning then. After all, the Miniature Realm Sphere is still on the Tidal Stone, still drifting through the stars,” the Artifact God said cheerfully in front of everyone.
Hearing this, the beasts became furious.
“Ugh, Artifact God! Didn’t you say you were powerful? Why can’t you bring the Miniature Realm Sphere back to the planet?” Wuyuan shouted first.

“Vessel God, how much longer do we have to stay inside this Tiny World Sphere? These days without seeing the sun make me feel like I’m suffocating,” said the Golden Qilin without hesitation.
“Vessel God, how much longer before we can return to a planet? If you don’t give me a specific time, I’ll explode myself as a Yuan Ying!” shouted the Silver-Faced Howling Dog angrily, his mouth wide open.
Everyone’s gaze suddenly focused on the Silver-Faced Howling Dog. No one expected it to speak such harsh words.
Exploding as a Yuan Ying meant suicide!
The Silver-Faced Howling Dog immediately realized his mistake. Beasts like Wu Yuan and the Golden Qilin said such things just to complain, but he had taken it seriously and even challenged the Vessel God.
“Fine, go ahead and explode yourself then,” said the Vessel God with a mocking smile.
Everyone else also laughed at the Silver-Faced Howling Dog.
His face turned pale, and with a look of distress, he covered his face and flew away. Likely, he wouldn’t dare face anyone here again.
It was then that Qu Yi stopped smiling and asked, “Vessel God, nearly fifty years have passed—hasn’t the Tiny World Sphere gotten any closer to a planet?” he asked in confusion.
The Vessel God shrugged and said, “Indeed, it hasn’t gotten closer to any planet. It seems this Tidal Stone deliberately avoids approaching planets and only flies in empty space.”
Hearing this, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, the Golden Qilin, and the others all looked worried.
……
After leaving Tianhua Planet, Qing Wugui went to other planets with Mu Han.
Because the “Asura Demon Scripture” he practiced was very special—it allowed him to understand the way of cultivation through battle, enabling him to “steal” others’ understanding of energy and turn it into his own. Thus, Qing Wugui had to fight constantly as he traveled from planet to planet.
On Liufeng Planet, within a year, he challenged ten cultivation sects, defeating all their leaders and gaining great fame before suddenly leaving.
On Yulu Planet, over two years, he challenged thirty sects on the entire planet, defeating all their leaders. Under the awed gazes of everyone, he left Yulu Planet.
On Duodao Planet, a planet plagued by bandits, Qing Wugui fought his way through and completely wiped out the bandits’ stronghold. By then, his reputation began to spread throughout the cultivation world. As some major sects and noble families searched for him, Qing Wugui disappeared once again.
And now, he had arrived at Zefeng Planet.
In a place called Huyang Mountains, few people lived there; only beasts with strength below the Yuan Ying stage dwelled there.

Qing Wu Gui and Mu Han arrived at a high mountain in the Huyang Mountain Range, overlooking the beautiful surroundings in peace. Suddenly, a figure appeared in the distance. In an instant, a man dressed in light golden martial armor came over and landed steadily across from Qing Wu Gui.
“Are you Wu Qing? Right?” the man asked directly.
During his adventures, Qing Wu Gui had always used the name Wu Qing for himself, and once this became known in the cultivation world, Wu Qing became the name by which he was referred.
“Yes,” Qing Wu Gui replied calmly after sensing the man.
This man was at the early stage of distraction cultivation and practiced a metal-based cultivation technique. Although his realm was higher than Qing Wu Gui’s, who was in the later stage of leaving the body, Qing Wu Gui felt no fear.
“Good. I’m from the enforcement team of the Taiyuan Sect. Our group has been searching for you. I didn’t expect me, Li Zhen, to find you first. Wu Qing, your actions across several planets have harmed the interests of our Taiyuan Sect, so I must capture you,” the man in golden armor said indifferently.
Among the ten major sects in the cultivation world, each had an enforcement team dedicated to eliminating those who disrupted the cultivation world.
“Oh, then go ahead and capture me,” Qing Wu Gui said, already drawing his black sword, while Mu Han immediately flew back far away.
Li Zhen took out a golden long sword, suddenly leaped forward, and with the sword vibrating, sent three streams of golden true energy sword qi toward Qing Wu Gui.
Qing Wu Gui easily stepped back, and with a casual swing of his black sword, scattered the three streams of sword qi. Then, he rushed forward and counterattacked Li Zhen.
By this time, Qing Wu Gui had honed his “No Return Killing Intent” across several planets, achieving the ability to control his sword with his will—his intent guiding the sword, and his killing intent attaching to the sword qi, making it terrifying.
Li Zhen sensed Qing Wu Gui’s sword qi, which was not only eerily black but also carried a heart-stopping killing intent. Shocked, he immediately flew back.
“Wu Qing, it seems you really have some skills for gaining fame across several planets. It appears I’ll have to use my ultimate move to subdue you,” Li Zhen said seriously.
After speaking, Li Zhen suddenly swung his golden sword in the air and shouted, “A sword within a sword!”
Ten streams of sword qi flew toward Qing Wu Gui at once, and Li Zhen’s body also rushed forward like a stream of sword qi.
Qing Wu Gui’s black sword swept in a circle again, scattering the ten streams of sword qi, but he was struck in the shoulder by the golden sword in Li Zhen’s hand.
It turned out that the “sword within a sword” technique’s most crucial move was the sword in Li Zhen’s own hand—those ten streams of sword qi were merely feints. If Qing Wu Gui hadn’t reacted quickly, he would have died on the spot.

“Sword Ring Combo!” Li Zhen didn’t give Qing Wu Gui a chance to rest and shouted again. The golden sword vibrated rapidly; it seemed as though it was just swung once, but in reality, it was vibrating swiftly throughout that motion. Streams of ring-shaped sword energy struck Qing Wu Gui at the same time, while Li Zhen himself flew away once more. Qing Wu Gui smirked coldly. His black sword tapped rapidly in the air, as if it had made ten thousand taps in a small space. Soon, countless black sword energies shot out, scattering the ring-shaped attacks. Yet Li Zhen held his golden sword and thrust another strike at Qing Wu Gui. Qing Wu Gui couldn’t dodge in time and realized he had once again been deceived by Li Zhen’s feint and struck. The outline of a Sarva Heart that had begun to form in his heart slowly solidified, seemingly on the verge of becoming a true Sarva Heart. “Your strength isn’t as rumored outside. Good, take another attack—Intense Sword Rain!” Li Zhen said with a smile. At the same time, his golden sword floated in front of him, while his palms struck the air repeatedly, sending out rows of sword energies that resembled golden swords—no fewer than a thousand—in unison toward Qing Wu Gui. Over the years, Qing Wu Gui had been intensively training his Unreturning Killing Intent. Seeing these a thousand golden swords coming at once, each with the power of the early stage of Diversion, he was shocked and immediately decided to use his most powerful technique as well. “A Thousand Swords, No Return!” With his black sword in hand, Qing Wu Gui tapped it rapidly in the air. With each tap, a streak of black true energy emerged, forming a sky-covering black net that enveloped the incoming thousand golden swords. Suddenly, the thousand golden swords converged and attacked one spot in the black net, shattering it. Finally, one golden sword flew out and struck Qing Wu Gui’s lower abdomen. This last golden sword was actually Li Zhen’s own magical weapon. After hitting Qing Wu Gui, it immediately flew back to Li Zhen’s hand. Having been struck three times, Qing Wu Gui lost a great deal of true energy in his body. After the bleeding stopped, he appeared much weaker. But suddenly, a terrifying glint appeared in his eyes. “Destruction—only through destruction can there be existence. Li Zhen, years of battle have allowed me to vaguely comprehend a kind of killing intent. Your three attacks just now finally enabled me to fully understand it—the Intent of Destruction.” Qing Wu Gui suddenly burst into wild laughter. Li Zhen felt a shock inside, sensing something ominous.

Suddenly, Qing Wu Gui leaped as if in mid-air. By the time the words left his mouth, he had already reached Li Zhen, thrusting his black sword into Li Zhen’s body. All of his dark energy poured into Li Zhen’s body, crippling his ability to fight back. As soon as Li Zhen was pierced, he sensed a destructive and annihilating killing intent in his soul, leaving him unable to muster any resistance. Moments later, with a look of reluctance, Li Zhen collapsed to the ground. Mu Han immediately flew to the mountain peak, caught the weakened Qing Wu Gui, then threw a teleportation talisman, taking the newly strengthened Qing Wu Gui away. In the distance, another man dressed in light gold martial robes flew over, discovered Li Zhen’s body, searched the area quickly, found no suspicious individuals, and then left swiftly with Li Zhen’s body.