Chapter 50: The Inch-World Sphere?

Five hundred years later…
All the cultivators climbed up the white jade stairs, step by step. During this time, disputes arose among them, leading to more battles and thousands more deaths. Yet most cultivators chose to stay out of conflicts, preferring to silently ascend the white jade stairs toward the square continents above.

Guo Huo, Liu Shi, Mu Rong, and Pang Shu showed their fierce side right after attacking Qu Yi. Whenever they encountered cultivators on any of the square continents, they would kill them on the spot. By reducing the number of cultivators competing for the divine weapons, their chances increased. With their strength ranking among the top four, they killed mercilessly, spreading bloodshed everywhere.

After overcoming numerous dangers along the white jade stairs, Guo Huo, Liu Shi, Mu Rong, and Pang Shu finally reached the highest square continent in the entire space.

*Buzz…*
As soon as they stepped onto the highest square continent, a buzzing sound spread throughout the space, reaching every corner. Soon after, a faint white light appeared above the continent, like sunlight breaking through clouds. Gradually, the light grew brighter, illuminating the entire continent.

At its brightest, the white jade stairs and square continents below began to collapse one by one, turning into nothingness. Undoubtedly, any cultivator still on the lower continents was in danger. Even those on the highest continent couldn’t guarantee their safety.

*Crash…*
Though the space was vast, the sound of the collapsing continents below could still be heard clearly on the higher ones. The cultivators still climbing the stairs became panicked and rushed upward as fast as they could, trying to save their lives.

On one of the white jade stairs, a cultivator was on the verge of tears. He could clearly see the continent beneath him collapsing and vanishing entirely.

“Ah…” Before he could take a few more steps upward, the stairs beneath him also disappeared, and the cultivator let out his final cry.

It was utterly tragic.

A monk, who had just stepped onto the last white jade step and arrived on the square continent, immediately found that the continent beneath his feet suddenly shattered and vanished. At the same time, he sensed a terrifying energy enveloping his body, destroying him outright.
“I refuse to give up.”
Before dying, the monk gathered all his spiritual energy and sent this voice echoing throughout the space.
All the monks still climbing the white jade steps trembled upon hearing one after another cry of despair and regret, forcing them to exert every last ounce of their strength to climb faster.
Qu Yi had naturally reached the top square continent earlier, only a few breaths slower than Guo Huo, Liu Shi, Mu Rong, and Pang Shu. Similarly, Qiu Tong, Tian Wen, Bai Fang, Sang Guang, Jin Muqing, Yan Tan, Wu Qin, and the others also arrived at the top continent not long after.
Qu Yi flew to a remote area of the continent and immediately released Wu Yuan, Qing Wu Gui, Xu Ming, Fang Xin Fei, along with all the members of Tianfeng Fort and the more than 20,000 alchemists he had captured.
They emerged from the inch-world sphere calmly, but their faces showed shock when they heard the tragic cries of death echoing in the space.
“Everyone, we’ve now reached the top square continent of this space. I have a feeling that from here, we’re about to return to the Divine Realm. That’s why I’ve released you all. Once we return to the Divine Realm, we’ll gather again in Huobao Town,” Qu Yi said calmly as he floated in the air.
The others nodded but did not respond, as they did not want their voices to be heard by other monks who had arrived on this continent.
“Also, there’s a very powerful divine artifact about to appear, and I must obtain it. Members of Tianfeng Fort, form one group. The alchemists, form another group. Wait until the artifact appears and fight fiercely to seize it,” Qu Yi said with confidence.
At present, Qu Yi’s group had the largest number of monks on this continent—nearly four times as many—as compared to the total number of monks who entered this space. Moreover, many monks had died when the space collapsed, giving Qu Yi’s group a decisive numerical advantage.
Just as Qu Yi finished speaking, a dazzling white light burst from the sky above the square continent, and an earth-shattering aura flowed out from it.
“The divine artifact has appeared.”

Immediately, the cultivators who had arrived on the top square continent realized something and all shouted out in unison. Suddenly, many cultivators soared into the air, heading straight toward the glowing mass in the sky. Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui also took to the air, while Xu Ming, Fang Xinfei, the people from Tianfeng Fort, and the 20,000 artifact forgers remained on the continent, not flying up to compete for the divine artifact. In the air, Qu Yi quickly noticed Guo Huo, Liu Shi, Mu Rong, and Pang Shu, as well as the seven members of the royal family—Qiu Tong, Tian Wen, Bai Fang, Sang Guang, Jin Muqing, Yan Tan, and Wu Qin—all had also flown up, clearly intending to compete for the divine artifact as well. As for the other cultivators, seeing these fourteen powerful cultivators in the air—most of them ranking high on the strength list—and even the two unfamiliar cultivators, Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui, possessing immense energy, they naturally dared not fly up. With insufficient strength, no one would risk their lives to compete for the divine artifact; they could only stay on the ground, hoping the artifact would choose them. Guo Huo saw Qu Yi and looked nervous, as he already knew Qu Yi’s strength—his four million spiritual entities were now on par with his own. Thus, he couldn’t guarantee he could suppress Qu Yi, especially with so many experts competing for the artifact, and Qu Yi might strike him from behind. “Liu Shi, Mu Rong, Pang Shu, go stop Qu Yi,” Guo Huo shouted immediately. Clearly, his plan was to use the strength of the three of them to block Qu Yi while he tried to seize the glowing divine artifact alone. Guo Huo’s shout surprised the seven people—Qiu Tong, Tian Wen, Bai Fang, Sang Guang, Jin Muqing, Yan Tan, and Wu Qin—they couldn’t believe that Guo Huo, who ranked first on the strength list, was actually a bit afraid of Qu Yi. Could it be that Qu Yi’s strength was now no weaker than Guo Huo’s? That’s what everyone thought. Liu Shi, Mu Rong, and Pang Shu immediately turned around and floated toward Qu Yi, their expressions serious. They had already drawn out their divine artifacts, ready to stop Qu Yi’s advance with all their might. Qu Yi saw this and smirked coldly. “Wu Yuan, Qing Wu Gui, those three are coming over. Let’s give them a good lesson,” Qu Yi said with a laugh. “Ugh, that’s a great idea,” Wu Yuan said excitedly. “Okay,” Qing Wu Gui replied succinctly.

Suddenly, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui rushed at Liu Shi, Mu Rong, and Pang Shu. Qu Yi faced Liu Shi, Wu Yuan chose Mu Rong, while Qing Wu Gui headed for Pang Shu.
“Qu Yi, you’ll never get that divine artifact,” Liu Shi shouted anxiously as he saw Qu Yi approaching.
At the same time, he swung his crystal-yellow staff in the air with a force that seemed to tear through space, aiming at Qu Yi.
Qu Yi’s eyes flashed, and he vanished instantly, using a space-jumping maneuver to dodge Liu Shi’s attack. The next moment, he appeared beside Liu Shi, swinging his divine artifact, the Black Staff, at him.
The four million golden earth spirit entities he summoned condensed into a large dark golden sword, appearing above Liu Shi’s head.
Liu Shi was filled with terror.
“I’ll fight to the end!” he screamed, his body trembling violently.
Suddenly, he threw away his crystal-yellow staff, which then exploded. Yes, Liu Shi knew his number of spirit entities was less than Qu Yi’s. Creating a spirit entity shield for defense would be useless, so he decided to use his divine artifact to counter Qu Yi’s attack.
Qu Yi quickly dodged, avoiding the blast radius of the artifact.
With a loud explosion, Liu Shi had already fled far away. He didn’t want to sacrifice his life for Guo Huo, so he chose to run.
At that moment, Qu Yi suddenly appeared in front of Liu Shi.
“Your speed is too slow,” Qu Yi said with a faint smile as he swung his Black Staff again.
“No!” Liu Shi cried in terror.
But Qu Yi was determined to kill Liu Shi—he had no intention of sparing him. As the Black Staff struck, another four million golden earth spirit entities surged forth, and the resulting sword shattered Liu Shi’s body.
Just then, the light emitted by the divine artifact above the entire continent disappeared suddenly, and a green, round sphere the size of a fist floated into the air.
“Huh, this sphere looks so much like the Dimensional Sphere,” Qu Yi exclaimed in excitement as he gazed up.
Throughout his cultivation, Qu Yi had relied on the immense power of the Dimensional Sphere to rapidly improve his strength. Thus, he knew well the benefits of obtaining such a treasure.

All the dozen or so people in the air saw that green sphere, and greed flashed in their eyes as they rushed over quickly, wanting to seize it at once.
“Wuyuan, Wuqing, hurry up and end the fight! I’m going to claim the divine artifact first!” Qu Yi shouted, then dashed off like lightning.