Chapter 971: Clean and Simple

Omniscience was a concept unique to gods, who were, of course, mysterious and unfathomable.

Many cultivators thought of the word ‘omniscience’ to be extremely terrifying. Once one was laid bare to omniscience, everything about them, from past to future, and even their fate, could be controlled. There was no way to escape it or change it. To some extent, it was a word that described scope and limitation.

Before gaining enlightenment of the godly authority of sound, Xu Qing knew more about enlightenment than most cultivators. But compared to gods, he was like a young child who had only just started to learn things. As of this moment, though, when he truly gained enlightenment and could control that godly authority, things completely changed.

The godly authority of sound was an essential component of omniscience. Control of all sound. It was one of the keys to opening the great door of omniscience. In addition to gaining control of the godly authority, the process imparted valuable experience to him.

He had experienced a revelation unlike anything from the past. This was what godly authority was about.

Godly authority possessed life force. At the same time, īt did not possess life force. Īt was something free and extraordinary. When he was seeking enlightenment, īt possessed life force and the ability to fight back. Īt even tried to possess him. But when he didn’t seek enlightenment, yet gained it, īt didn’t possess life force. It was a paradox.

Those who understood would understand. Those who didn’t understand would never understand.

Along with the godly authority came drifting bits of information from within the freed god perception.[1]

The bits of information were deeply ancient. Thēy all had different usages. Some were chaotic and paradoxical, and yet all of thēm plainly informed him of thēir usage upon entering him. Any person qualified to use this godly authority would also qualify to use the bits of information.

The bits of information weren’t things that occurred naturally. They were like chaotic wills left behind in the godly authority by anyone who had previously qualified to use īt. They came out automatically.

Understanding the bits of information, and being able to use them, involved a long process. Anyone who did so, and could control their substructure, would become the sole individual qualified to use that godly authority. All other gods would be stripped of their qualifications. That was what happened when gods improved their godly authority, and in some respects, was the most important pillar of the god system.

Godly entities are in the process of stockpiling godsource. When the godsource reaches the right level, godfire can be ignited, and the godly entity will become an actual god. At that point, they use all of their previous stockpiles and enlightenment, along with god perception, to seek enlightenment of a godly authority. They seek the qualifications to use īt.

Controlling and understanding the substructure of a godly authority is a standard in the Godfire level. It’s also a very dangerous process. But if you succeed... you become an Altar God.

The three gods of the Firemoons used a god domain to achieve thēir breakthrough to Flawless God. Now I can see that the key to the point of that breakthrough was to allow thēm to control and understand godly authority substructure.

Thēir path to Altar God is now open, which means that, in reality, thēy have already succeeded to a certain extent. For the most part, they have already gained understanding and control of thēir personal godly authorities.

Then there’s the empress.... When at the peak of being a half-Imperial Sovereign, shē used the destiny aura of humankind to become a first-stage Altar God. That means that shē skipped the level of ‘usage’ and went right to control. Becoming a first-stage Altar God isn’t an easy thing. Only someone with spectacular talent, and an Imperial Sovereign cultivation base, would be able to solidify the first step. Now I can see that the empress must have been studying godly authority from very early on.... And maybe that’s what led to the Dawning Suns. That’s why shē was able to become a first-stage Altar God.

After Altar God is the level equivalent to the Summer Immortals. True God..... That involves gaining complete control over a godly authority. That’s why the character ‘true’ is in the name.

This enlightenment came to Xu Qing from the bits of information in his god perception. However, there was also a possibility that he was wrong about some things. He would have to wait until later on to verify the truth. But there was one thing that was now much more clear to him than before.

Godly entities are like Smoldering God cultivators. And the different levels within Godfire are like the different stages of Imperial Sovereign cultivators. An Altar God could fight a Quasi-Immortal Grand Emperor. And a True God would be a match for a Summer Immortal.

Both True God and Summer Immortal pursue what comes next in their respective systems. Unfortunately... what comes next on the path after True God is called God Lord. But nobody knows what comes after Summer Immortal. People search blindly, and based on different essences, they pursue different paths. Years ago, the Summer Immortals disappeared, and I bet it’s because they sought their own paths to ascension. That’s why the starry sky belongs to the gods.

Xu Qing took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and looked at the black jade. It was now so cracked that it finally just quietly crumbled into ashes.

What a pity. The godly authority of sound in my god perception is actually possessed by many gods. Too many.... Īt’s a very widespread type of godly authority. Because so many individuals can use īt, īts mightiness is actually scattered. That said, because īt’s so widespread, if someone came along who could wrest complete control of īt, that type of god power would be completely terrifying.

Xu Qing closed his eyes again and focused fully on the fifth type of godly authority in his void soil.

The godsource within him became like a mallet to strike the void soil. A sound like a bell rang in Xu Qing’s mind. In fact, the sound actually seeped out of him. There, it made something like imperceptible ripples. Xu Qing was in the middle of them as they spread out, leaving the dilapidated pagoda, entering the marine trench, and eventually spreading through the Forbidden Sea.

In the blink of an eye, they reached a distance of 50 kilometers. All sound within that 50 kilometer area was instantly within Xu Qing’s god perception. He could hear the sound of water flowing, animals roaring, fish swishing their tails, sand rubbing against sand.... He even heard a sound like breathing from the Forbidden Sea itself.

It was gruish and lingering....

All of that appeared within Xu Qing’s god perception. And he got the sense that, with a thought on his part, he could use all of that sound.

Everything in that 50-kilometer area suddenly went quiet. Xu Qing had taken away all sound with a single thought, and pushed it beyond the 50-kilometer area. By borrowing their sound, he sent the ripple farther.

250 kilometers. 500 kilometers....

It was an endless cycle.

Xu Qing was like a child who had just acquired a new toy, and wanted to play around with it to see how it worked, and what it was capable of.

In that manner, time passed. It was hard to say exactly how much went by from the moment Xu Qing started sending out the ripples. The range had long since surpassed anything Xu Qing was previously capable of sensing. He could now sense countless sea beasts, numerous godly entities hidden in the seafloor, and all sorts of ships on the surface of the water. Yet none of them could sense him. Xu Qing didn’t do anything to them.

The process continued.

Xu Qing perceived numerous scenes with his god perception.

***

A great distance away from Xu Qing’s location, in a spot near Forbidden by the Zombie, there was something like a vast plain on the seafloor.

In the middle of it, a huge spell formation had been set up. And at the center of the spell formation, two figures sat cross-legged. They wore silver robes and had dark skin reminiscent of an octopus. They had no hair, but facial features that resembled humans. Even seated, they were both more than 30 meters tall. Based on their cultivation base fluctuations, they were both at the peak of the two-world Smoldering God level.

Because of their special clothing and the nature of the spell formation, it was clear that these two were from one of the holy lands. As it turned out, they were from the same larger group that Feng Lintao and the others had come with.

On that occasion, a host of teams had come from the holy lands, which had then scattered into different parts of Revered Ancient.

These two had come to the Forbidden Sea. During that time, they gathered information and resources from throughout the Forbidden Sea before setting up the spell formation to send the homing signal to beyond the heavens.

Right now, they had unleashed their cultivation base fluctuations to strengthen the spell formation and call out to the holy land they called home. They had been lucky in their time in Revered Ancient, as everything had gone smoothly for them. They hadn’t encountered any resistance, and though they had run into some powerful godly entities, by identifying them in advance, they were able to avoid them.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Now that their mission was wrapping up, both were feeling very relieved.

But then, a cracking sound rang out from one of them. Specifically, it came from a jade slip he had placed down in front of him. It was a dark jade slip covered with complicated magical symbols that had been painted on with a special ink. Its function was to vibrate in advance if something dangerous was nearby.

At the moment, the jade slip had started vibrating so intensely, and so suddenly, that it shattered.

The two holy lands cultivators opened their eyes and looked around suspiciously. The sound of the cracking jade slip hadn’t disappeared, and in fact, was like a tempest sweeping the area.

As everything trembled, the two cultivators’ expressions flickered. They quickly backed up a good distance and checked the surroundings. Then one of them performed a right-handed incantation gesture and pointed out.

Instantly, a swirling current appeared in the surrounding sea water, which he controlled, causing a lot of sand to float up, shaking many hidden rocks. He was looking for the source of the danger. No such efforts amounted to anything.

As their suspicions mounted, something incredibly shocking happened. All of the sound created by their actions suddenly went away. That included the echoing of the cracking of the jade slip. All of that sound turned into a gruish and dangerous power that slammed into them. Rumbling filled the area.

As the two cultivators’ hearts pounded, one of them projected a message to the other.[2]

“A god must have noticed us!”

Even though it was only a projected message, at the same moment that the cultivator’s teammate heard the message, it turned into a gruish attack that caused their heads to vibrate, their faces to drain of blood, and their hearts to race painfully. Terror filled them.

At the same moment, both of them realized that the sound in the area was being taken away by force. Neither of them dared to speak again. After exchanging a glance and realizing how terrified the other was, they unhesitatingly fled toward the surface.

However, the faster they fled, the more noise they made, and the more of a disturbance they caused. That sound then turned into an attack power that hit them again. The resulting rumbling booms only added to the deadly power.

Meanwhile, fish and sea beasts in the area, and even the sand and water itself, were all making various noises. Some were audible, others were not. But that didn’t change the fact that they all existed. It was like a terrifying orchestra in the Forbidden Sea was playing a shocking song.

The deadly attack power rolled with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force directly toward the two fleeing cultivators. The rumbling grew more intense.

The two holy lands cultivators were trembling. They looked scared and were coughing up blood. Both had already unleashed their major worlds. They used both illusory and corporeal means to fight against the gruish attack. They even used magical treasures in an attempt to get rid of the sound in the area. The danger mounted to unprecedented levels as they sustained numerous attacks, causing their clothing to be ripped and torn, and lacerating their flesh.

Finally, they burst out of the water and into the open. And yet, they couldn’t breathe sighs of relief.

There was even more noise above the surface. Sea birds cried out as they flew overhead. The waves crashed. There was sound everywhere. Sound roared in all directions.

And the two cultivators who had just burst up through the surface of the water found themselves right in the middle of it. From a distance, it was like there was a huge sphere of sound, rippling endlessly, filled with terrifying might.

A voice then rang out.

“What were you doing on the seafloor?”

Along with the voice came a figure in violet, almost like a god. The figure was outside of the sphere of sound, looking calmly at the two terrified cultivators.

His question obviously required an answer. And that was because the rumbling inside the sphere of sound was growing more intense.

The ears of the two holy lands cultivators could hardly hear what Xu Qing was saying. All they heard was a vague chanting. The chanting grew more intense, repeating itself over and over, like something from ancient times. A sensation of madness and greed filled them, inundating their minds and taking over their perceptions.

It was taking away their concept of sound. Their bodies, souls, and even their sense of self was being taken. The answer was naturally there.

Xu Qing dropped down to the seafloor. On the surface, a pop could be heard, and then blood flowed. The two holy lands cultivators had been killed in body and soul.

The sound sphere vanished, and all the sound therein returned to heaven and earth.

Clean and simple.

Xu Qing reached the spell formation on the seafloor. After studying it, he lifted his hand. One strike destroyed it.

Xu Qing shook his head.

Sadly, the signal already went out.

After some thought, he took out a jade slip and sent messages to Sea-Sealing County, Huang Yan, and others, letting them know to get ready. Shortly after, he disappeared into the Forbidden Sea to continue seeking enlightenment of the sound authority, and to look for the bronze chariot.

***

A week later, seven shooting stars appeared in the sky over Revered Ancient, dazzlingly bright. One of them started falling toward the spot in the Forbidden Sea between Emperor-Receiving Prefecture and the continent of South Phoenix!

1. Incidentally, here’s a quick reminder of what I mentioned in a footnote a few hundred chapters ago, that the “information” mentioned here has a meaning beyond the mundane definition of the word. Here’s a link to the post from that real-life practitioner of Chinese magic that goes into a brief explanation (same image I included in the footnote back then). ☜

2. It’s noteworthy that the term I generally convey as “project” or “transmit” literally means “to transmit sound.” Though the author usually uses it when cultivators mentally communicate with each other, he occasionally uses it when just meaning “to talk.” The point is that it contains the character for “sound” in it. ☜

Deathblade's Thoughts

This chapter is about 1,000 characters longer than average.