Translator: CinderTL
Since returning to the material world, Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse had heard almost nothing but Tian Wen and Gui Ling's accounts of an incredibly powerful progenitor divine being who had emerged in the outer realms.
This progenitor divine being had even mastered the great unification realm, possessing cultivation that was truly earth-shattering.
Yet, as an Ultimate Powerhouse himself, Heng Guang had remained skeptical, neither refuting their claims nor feeling particularly intimidated.
It was like a student who scored 99 out of 100 might not feel significantly inferior to the one who scored a perfect 100.
Only now, as he faced his opponent directly in battle, did Heng Guang realize the true extent of his adversary's power.
Tian Wen and Gui Ling had not exaggerated; on the contrary, they had understated the threat!
This innate divine being named Li Chunjun was single-handedly suppressing Heng Guang—an Ultimate Powerhouse—along with three Supreme Sovereigns and dozens of Dao Venerables!
If Li Chunjun had possessed such power from the start, how could Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse have escaped his pursuit so easily?
Had they relied on Supreme Powerhouse Gui Ling's reincarnated body and the thirteen foreign race dao harmonization experts?
How could that makeshift alliance possibly compare to the Starry Sky Group's current might?
Especially...
"He's learning to wield the Flowing Light Dao through our clashes!" Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse suddenly exclaimed, his voice tinged with disbelief.
Who could grow stronger while battling an opponent?
Yet the truth was undeniable.
Li Chunjun's growth was astonishingly rapid.
So rapid that even if it seemed unbelievable and incomprehensible, the ironclad facts forced them to confront this reality.
"How could such a being possibly exist in this world?!"
The Ultimate Powerhouse felt his understanding of reality shatter once again.
"I told you, he has grasped the profound mysteries of the great unification realm. Though his power hasn't yet reached true Great Unification, now that his realm is established, he merely needs to fill the gaps in his understanding of the other great daos, enhance his comprehension of them, and combine them with the unique properties of the void great dao. Ultimately..."
The Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse took a deep breath. "He will master all the mysteries of the forty-nine great daos, then devour them completely using the void great dao's properties. We will all become his prey, and by devouring the forty-nine great daos, he will become their source, elevating his cultivation to an unimaginable level. He might even replace the Cosmos's will with his own, maintaining its operation and becoming an existence supreme above all living beings and Great Unification itself."
"To replace the will of the Cosmos with one's own, maintaining the Cosmos's operation?!" Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse's heart trembled.
"Exactly!" Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse declared solemnly. "Beyond the Ultimate Powerhouse, beyond the great unification realm, beyond even that... lies the supreme cosmic realm!"
His eyes held solemnity and gravity, but beneath these layers burned a deep, fervent fanaticism.
Because...
Li Chunjun had shown them the clear path to their ultimate goal.
He had revealed the great unification realm, and beyond it, the supreme cosmic realm.
"This progenitor divine being..."
Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse watched the figure manipulating the power of forty-nine great daos, relentlessly eroding his own attacks and those of the three supreme sovereigns and dozens of Dao Venerables.
Now he finally understood why Tian Wen and Gui Ling, the two great supreme powerhouses, valued Li Chunjun, this progenitor divine being, so highly.
They were even unwilling to wait for the completion of the Heavenly Evolution Forty-Nine Boundless Tribulation Formation, choosing to launch the final battle immediately, despite the risk of catastrophic losses.
Because...
If they waited any longer, the consequences would no longer be a matter of mere catastrophic losses for some.
Rather, they would all be completely surpassed by Li Chunjun, left far behind until even the combined might of the Seven Great Supreme Powerhouses and the Forty-Two Great Supreme Sovereigns could no longer defeat him—a level beyond imagination.
"Hold him back," Tian Wen continued. "Just stall for enough time to keep him within our sight. Don't let him retreat into hiding and avoid battle. Ultimate victory will be ours."
The Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse, however, could no longer offer a definitive answer.
"I'll do my best!"
Do my best!
At this moment, even as an Ultimate Powerhouse, surrounded by three supreme sovereigns and dozens of Dao Venerables, Heng Guang could only pledge to do his best against Li Chunjun, with the strategic goal merely to stall him.
Gone was the arrogant, untamed demeanor he had displayed at the start of the battle.
People learn more from experience than from instruction!
It was no exaggeration to say that after a brief exchange, having truly grasped Li Chunjun's strength, the Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse's eyes had cleared considerably.
Though not completely subdued, he had regained his composure and recognized the vast gap between their capabilities.
The clash between the two sides continued unabated.
It was clear to everyone that Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse, Supreme Origin Sovereign, and the others were barely holding on.
Especially as Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse sensed Li Chunjun's mastery of the Flowing Light Dao growing ever deeper, gradually approaching his own level, he seemed to foresee his inevitable defeat.
At that moment, even the Ultimate Powerhouse with Heart's Perfection felt an inexplicable surge of anxiety and urgency. "Are they here yet?!"
"Almost! Almost! Just hold on a little longer!" Tian Wen urged relentlessly.
"Hold on..." Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse gazed at the figure surrounded by the power of forty-nine great daos, descending with the crushing force of an entire Great World.
Just then, Li Chunjun, whose understanding and validation of the Flowing Light Dao had reached new heights, turned his gaze toward the Supreme Powerhouse. "Is this your limit?"
Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse's pupils constricted sharply.
In that instant, he clearly felt the power of the void great dao, its needle-sharp force, surging along the trajectory of his Flowing Light Dao.
Though he desperately channeled the profound mysteries of the Flowing Light Dao to intercept the Void Power, it was...
Li Chunjun had completely deciphered all the applications and variations of the Flowing Light Dao.
No matter what divine manifestations the Flowing Light Dao attempted to display, Li Chunjun could preemptively neutralize its power with a corresponding countermeasure. Then, amplified by the void great dao, he would strike forward, seizing the moment when the Flowing Light Dao was suppressed to rapidly erode its share of the great dao river.
It couldn't be said that Li Chunjun's understanding and mastery of the Flowing Light Dao had surpassed the Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse.
However, in the exchange of blows, the damage inflicted by the Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse's Flowing Light Dao had already fallen below that of Li Chunjun's combined Flowing Light Dao and void great dao. This outcome had been inevitable.
"It's over," the Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse sighed.
A mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips. "How laughable. I couldn't even last a day."
As the Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse shifted from offense to defense, the three supreme sovereigns—Yuan Yin and the Dao Venerables—could no longer rely on others to shield them, leaving them vulnerable.
Void Power, infused with their corresponding great daos, swiftly eroded each Dao Venerable.
Compared to the Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse, who stood at the source of the great dao with an almost unshakeable grasp on the Flowing Light Dao, the remaining Dao Venerables possessed only mid-to-lower-tier comprehension of the great dao.
Some even understood the great dao less profoundly than Li Chunjun.
In this situation, when Li Chunjun's Void Power-infused Grand Dao Power clashed with their own, all their dao techniques and resistance proved futile.
The moment they made contact, their Grand Dao Power rapidly dissolved, further eroded and consumed by the Void Power, dragging them into the Void itself.
The first Dao Venerable to succumb sighed deeply.
He glanced at the Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse and the three supreme sovereigns, who were also struggling to maintain their defenses, then at the progenitor divine being, whose power seemed to embody the world itself. His eyes filled with profound helplessness.
"Calamity! Calamity!"
In the next instant, the Dao Venerable was completely engulfed by the void great dao's power.
A portion of his Grand Dao Power was purged from the foundation of the great dao river, erased entirely.
"Canghai!"
Yuan Yin glanced in the direction of the Dao Venerable, a flicker of pain crossing his eyes.
He had known Canghai Dao Venerable for nearly three hundred million years, never imagining he would witness his old friend's demise with his own eyes.
With the first death, the second would inevitably follow.
"In the past, we followed the chairman to hunt innate divine beings, even progenitor divine beings. Who could have foreseen that today we would face the same fate—being hunted by progenitor divine beings! Such is the cyclical nature of destiny!"
Another Dao Venerable, sighing in resignation, was completely consumed by the void great dao, vanishing from everyone's sight and even their memories.
While some Dao Venerables resigned themselves to death, others refused to accept their fate.
"Save me, Chairman! Save me!"
"This is a pointless battle! Why can't the Starry Sky Group and the Nine Great Institutions coexist peacefully with these progenitor divine beings?"
"If the situation is hopeless, why stubbornly persist? We should retreat temporarily, regroup, and fight another day. Why insist on fighting to the bitter end?"
The Dao Venerables on the brink of annihilation began to stir in revolt.
The Dao Venerables, already possessing independent minds, were eager to abandon the battlefield and flee into the distant void.
Li Chunjun's gaze lingered briefly on these fleeing Dao Venerables. Upon realizing that the great daos they wielded were utterly insignificant, he made no further attempt to pursue them.
Instead, he focused his attention on the Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse, the three Supreme Sovereigns, and the four Dao Venerables.
Each of these individuals possessed one or more great daos originating from the upper reaches of the great dao river, nearly tracing back to the progenitor source.
They were the true opponents Li Chunjun sought to master and confront.
Through his clashes with them, his understanding of the Grand Dao Power within these Dao Venerables, Supreme Sovereigns, and the Heng Guang Supreme Powerhouse surged rapidly.
This growth was so astonishingly swift that it left not only Heng Guang and Yuan Yin, who were directly facing him, but even Tian Wen, whose Heart-Mind had descended upon the battlefield, trembling with awe.
In that moment, Tian Wen finally understood why Li Chunjun had soared to such heights from the Spirit Refinement Great Realm and Void Refining Realm, despite facing countless covetous eyes and insatiable greed.
Such a rate of growth...
Who could possibly react in time?!
Just then, Tian Wen seemed to sense something. A surge of joy welled up from the depths of his heart, which had been sinking into despair. "They're here! The first wave has arrived!"
As soon as he spoke, the starry sky ahead was violently torn apart and collapsed by an immense, primordial force, forming a twisting, black hole-like passage visible to the naked eye.
From within the passage, a dozen elite members of the Explorers Guild, led by the boundless supreme expert, leaped forth.
(End of the Chapter)
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