He was invincible from the beginning of the Heaven-Covering Era.

What is meant by formation, existence, decay, and emptiness?

Cheng (成) marks the initial stage of the world's creation and evolution.

"Dwelling" signifies that the world begins to stabilize, the space becomes secure, and it can endure, reaching its peak.

Bad is the stage when the world begins to collapse, endless calamities descend, and the world is about to be destroyed.

Emptiness is the complete collapse of the entire world, which is transformed back into nothingness.

At the Dao Palace stage, being able to comprehend the Five Elements from the Five Internal Organs and generate the Five Elements Divine Light is enough to be considered a peerless genius, something that can only be achieved by Saint Son level experts.

To be able to transform a ethereal spirit from the Five Elements Immortal Light and evolve the Five Elements, thus creating the extraordinary phenomenon of opening up the world, is already an unparalleled genius. Generally speaking, there are only a handful of such people in a lifetime.

It is truly rare to see someone who can fully evolve the four great tribulations of formation, existence, decay, and emptiness at this stage. Such a person is basically the most powerful competitor on the path to becoming an emperor, and only a handful of such people appear every ten thousand years.

This strange phenomenon lasted for three whole days. With a loud "boom," the small world in the void completely collapsed and returned to nothingness, as if it had never existed.

Zhou Qing slowly stood up. His body was very tall and imposing, with a majestic and profound aura. Countless sacred rays of light flowed out from his body, surrounding him and filling his body with a sacred and pure aura, as if he were the lord of all gods.

Although the extraordinary phenomenon has not yet appeared, some signs have already emerged. Centered on Zhou Qing, holy light surrounds him, as if to create a pure land filled with the aura of ultimate light and ultimate holiness.

Half an hour later, the strange phenomenon slowly dissipated, and all the light was absorbed back into Zhou Qing's body.

Zhou Qing smiled faintly, like a ray of sunshine, warm and radiant, with an ethereal quality, as if he were not an ordinary person, but a deity descended to earth.

With each breath he took, countless essences from heaven and earth surged into his body, nourishing his flesh. Wisps of spiritual energy flowed across his body, and an extremely powerful aura rippled through him.

Another hour passed, and Zhou Qing had completely mastered his current power, returning to his original, simple state.

His aura was no longer so lofty, and the radiance on his body had faded; in his breath...

The essence was completely absorbed by the spirit of the lungs, with not a trace of essence leaking out.

This seclusion indeed took quite a while. It took half a year to rebuild the Sea of ​​Wheels, and another nine months to cultivate the five divine treasures of the Dao Palace.

During this time, Zhou Qing did not leave the palace at all, immersing himself in cultivation.

Having cultivated to this point, there's no longer a pressing need to break through the Four Extremes.

Zhou Qing sensed a premonition that his breakthrough to the Four Extremes Secret Realm would require more than ten million jin of Origin; he could not break through to the Four Extremes with just this Origin.

Zhou Qing didn't know why this was. Logically speaking, breaking through from the Dao Palace to the Four Extremes should have been enough to push him forward by consuming a large amount of source energy, but his spiritual senses vaguely felt a kind of constraint, which formed an obstacle for him.

This constraint did not come from heaven and earth; in fact, Zhou Qing seemed to sense that heaven and earth were expecting him to break through.

This is a very strange thing, because how could heaven and earth have emotions, and how could he possibly feel them? Therefore, Zhou Qing thought it was probably just an illusion.

Just like when one's physical body suddenly becomes much stronger, one feels as if one could even make a hole in the heavens and earth. Perhaps it is because one has broken through too many realms at once that one has this illusion.

But he truly felt that constraint; it was not an illusion, but a realization that he genuinely needed to break free from something.

There's no other way; at this point, sitting in seclusion isn't very effective anymore. Perhaps he really should go out and travel.

Moreover, cultivators are not immortals; they are human beings with seven emotions and six desires, and need to experience all aspects of the mortal world. Since that is the case, he should re-enter the world, no longer cultivating in seclusion, but walking in the mortal world while searching for his own constraints.

During Zhou Qing's seclusion, he did not only cultivate the Five Great Divine Treasures, but also practiced the Origin Heaven Book for a long time, cultivating various Origin Heaven Divine Techniques within it.

The Book of Origin does not discuss cultivation methods; it is closer to a kind of Taoist practice, involving the structure of landforms, changes in celestial phenomena, yin and yang, the five elements, and the interaction between heaven and man.

One of these wondrous techniques is called "Changing Heaven and Earth," which can not only alter the landscape but also one's own appearance. It is far superior to the disguise techniques of cultivators, representing a transformation that is almost entirely from the inside out.

Although he had not cultivated to the point where he could change the landscape, he had already made some progress in his cultivation, and could change his appearance and even his spirit and aura.

Moreover, all the myriad methods of Taoism ultimately lead to the same destination. Zhou Qing's ability to evolve the four great calamities of formation, existence, decay, and emptiness is not only due to the several imperial scriptures he possessed, but also to the contribution of the Source Book.

So Zhou Qing used the Great Art of Changing Heaven and Earth, his bones crackling and his body undergoing a dramatic transformation.

At this moment, he was a little taller, looking like a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy. His face was more delicate, his soft black hair swayed gently, and his temperament and charm had also changed slightly.

Zhou Qing then flew off the floating island, passed through a water-like light curtain, and arrived outside the island.

Hundreds of islands float in the air, and many mythical birds such as cranes and phoenixes fly among them. A cloud of mist swirls around your feet, making you feel as if you are in the heavens.

This island is located very close to the center, and the surrounding islands are all places of cultivation for various important figures. Zhou Qing flew directly to the outer edge, intending to first travel around and test the effects of the world-changing technique.

Before long, Zhou Qing arrived at a very lively island where many young people were gathered. There were many jade tables set up in the open space, and a group of young people were clinking glasses, drinking and talking.

Chapter 38 The Threads of Fate

Zhou Qing landed slowly nearby and overheard some news that interested him.

"Six months ago, the Jiang family suddenly announced the return of the God King Jiang, which truly shocked the world!" someone exclaimed.

"Yes, who would have thought that the God-King who suddenly disappeared four thousand years ago would suddenly return, and the Jiang family suddenly has an invincible God-King."

"On that day, the entire Eastern Wilderness was shaken, and some ancient forces also came to the Central Continent."

Just then, someone spotted Zhou Qing, walked over, and asked with a puzzled look, "This brother looks a bit unfamiliar?"

Zhou Qing smiled and said, "I rarely came here before. I spent most of my time cultivating and rarely interacted with outsiders."

"Brother, you're really hardworking, unlike the people around here who have long since accepted reality and only know how to drink and make merry every day, living a carefree life." The man sighed somewhat. He wasn't very old, only eighteen or nineteen, but he had a lazy, complacent attitude.

"I just heard you talking about King Jiang? Could you explain it to me in detail? I just finished my cultivation today and didn't know about this." Zhou Qing looked puzzled.

"Hey, this is probably the biggest event in recent years. The invincible god-king who disappeared for four thousand years has returned to the Jiang family. Nobody knows what happened, but the Jiang family suddenly spread the news."

"Later, most of the Holy Lords of the Eastern Wilderness, including some of the supreme sects of the Central Plains, went to the Jiang family to verify this news, and they actually met the God King himself!"

"Logically speaking, the God-King's lifespan should be nearing its end, but what the Holy Lords saw that day was a God-King who was still at his peak, full of vigor and vitality."

"It is said that the Jiang family used up a lot of rare and precious herbs, and even the Medicine King used two of them, which extended the God King's lifespan by a thousand years!"

The man paused briefly, quite astonished, before continuing.

"Not only that, but an earth-shattering battle also took place that day."

"It is said that several ancient beings from Zhongzhou have re-emerged and infiltrated a group of holy lords, seemingly attempting to ambush King Jiang, but they failed."

"Later, the group fought a great battle in the area surrounding the Jiang family, shattering the endless mountain range and leaving an area devoid of life and vegetation."

"It's truly something to aspire to, but unfortunately, I probably won't ever reach that level in my lifetime."

After listening, Zhou Qing was also somewhat amazed. Based on this person's description alone, he could feel how shocked the Eastern Wilderness was at the time, which must have caused a huge uproar.

Although this time was different from the time he parted ways with Jiang Taixu, he could guess that Jiang Taixu must have kept it a secret when he returned, and only told the world after he had fully recovered.

Jiang Taixu's return has caused some changes, but some trajectories seem to continue evolving just like in the original timeline.

This was the first time he had truly felt that some of his actions could have an impact on the world.

Although he activated the Zhuofeng inheritance ahead of time and brought the Black Emperor out of Zishan ahead of time, those things only had a very small impact, and he didn't feel much of it at all.

Only this news, which caused a sensation throughout the entire Eastern Wilderness, made him truly feel a sense of timing, fate, and destiny.

A feeling arose in his heart.

At that moment, a syllable that seemed to contain billions of chants appeared in his heart and echoed repeatedly in his mind. Zhou Qing actually had a slight understanding of it.

These syllables flowed repeatedly in his mind, giving rise to a rhythm, and were no longer as obscure and difficult to understand as before.

Ever since he could remember, he had often taken time to immerse himself in this syllable, but he could never understand it or comprehend it at all.

He used to think that what he lacked was spiritual cultivation, that he couldn't understand things because his level of understanding was too low. But now he has a new realization: what he lacks may not only be spiritual cultivation, but also experience.

Enlightenment is not something that can be achieved through mere daydreaming or sitting in meditation; it requires genuine experience to gain profound understanding.

Only by personally plucking the strings of fate and observing their fluctuations can one truly comprehend its changes.

Moreover, at this moment, Zhou Qing also sensed another change: the obstacle that was binding him seemed to have weakened slightly. As his understanding of this syllable deepened, the constraint on him was also weakened.

"Hmm? What's wrong with you, brother? Are you daydreaming? Although you've been cultivating diligently, that level isn't something you can reach just by working hard. For ordinary people like us, it's better to accept our fate as soon as possible. Even if our level isn't high, it won't stop us from living a carefree life."

Seeing that Zhou Qing hadn't spoken, the man assumed that Zhou Qing was daydreaming about becoming a big shot, so he shook Zhou Qing repeatedly, trying to wake him up.

"I'm fine, thank you for sharing, sir." Zhou Qing thanked the man.

"Hey, what's the big deal? Everyone in the Eastern Wilderness knows about this now. You can ask anyone else and they'll find out." The man waved his hand repeatedly.

Previously, Zhou Qing could only vaguely see a person's fate line, which was very blurry and made it impossible to discern anything. But now, things have changed, and the fate line has become clear.

Zhou Qing saw that there was an extremely special line on this person's body, containing his destiny in a complex and intricate way, with countless scenes flashing through the line.

While it's impossible to see through a person's entire life at once, it's possible to glimpse some aspects of their near future.

These scenarios are not fixed, but rather represent many different futures, some of which occur more frequently than others.

In Zhou Qing's view, this person would likely remain in the clan for the next month or two, continuing to attend banquets on the outer islands. This was the most likely scenario.

They might also be invited by someone to go out and hunt exotic beasts and gather medicinal herbs for that person. This scene makes up a large part of the story.

While venturing out to gain experience, you may have normal gains, and then you will return to your family as usual.

Unexpected events may occur, attracting an unstoppable beast king, resulting in death. This is the least frequent scenario, accounting for only one in a thousand of all scenarios.

At that moment, as Zhou Qing's thoughts stirred, an inexplicable force stirred slightly, attempting to erase the scene of death.

"Kiss" "Kiss"

Those scenes trembled continuously, greatly affected, and one by one they vanished like bubbles.

Unfortunately, in the end, only half of it was erased, and then it could not be erased any further.

"Hey bro, are you alright? Why are you staring at me like that? Am I too handsome?" The man saw Zhou Qing staring blankly again, and then shook Zhou Qing again.

"It's nothing, I just suddenly had some insights and got caught up in them for a while." Zhou Qing smiled kindly at the person.

This time, it was the other person who was stunned: "You've had an epiphany? What happened? I didn't feel anything?"

Zhou Qing did not respond. Instead, he transformed into a streak of rainbow light and flew away from the island, leaving the man there looking completely bewildered.

Chapter 39 Unraveling the Sign

Several days later, in Lingzhou, Linghu City.

As its name suggests, this city is built around a lake. Beside the city is a huge lake, clear and still, shrouded in mist, stretching as far as the eye can see.

This lake is a pure land for cultivation, imbued with spiritual beauty. The lake is pale blue, clear and bright, with blue lotuses shimmering in it, as green as the sunset, and strange beasts appearing, their scales shimmering.

Zhou Qing arrived here at this time, only a little over a thousand miles away from the clan, which was almost right under the noses of the clan's powerful figures.

Linghu City is a city where cultivators and mortals live together. Because it is close to Linghu Lake, the soil is fertile and suitable for spiritual plants. Therefore, there are large areas of medicinal fields outside the city. Even if mortal grains are planted there, the crops will still have a trace of spiritual energy.

The city is not very large. It is not the only city around the lake, but just one of dozens. The city walls are built entirely of a kind of reddish-brown megalith, full of the vicissitudes of time, and the walls are extremely mottled.