In the secret realm.

Zhong Qiu was flipping through the stack of news that had just come in.

“Following the Thousand Star City's Magnificent Lotus Event, the Great Six Courts and Great Ten Battle Clans made a joint decision to station their forces in the Underworld and wait for the descent of the Nirvana of Transcendence.

“On the same day, the leader of Earth Treasury Realm, Brahma Bitter Buddha Emperor, and the leader of Holy Illumination Ancient Sect, Yu Kunzi, announced to sever all ties with Copper Sparrow House!”

Upon this, Zhong Qiu revealed a smirk of undisguised sarcasm. He had already expected this situation.

“Different people have different aspirations. Since some are willing to be lap dogs, who am I to stop them?”

Zhong Qiu continued reading the news.

A long time later, after having gone through them one by one, he fell into deep thought.

The Magnificent Lotus Event in Thousand Star City had already come to an end, and what had been discussed during it was all insider information related to the Nirvana of Transcendence that outsiders could not obtain.

However, getting this was an easy task for Zhong Qiu.

Unfortunately, the so-called insider information was far less than what he already knew.

“That's to be expected. What I’ve already grasped about the Nirvana of Transcendence was deduced by Master at great cost. How could there be anyone else in existence who could know more than me?”

As Zhong Qiu was contemplating, a piece of the latest news was delivered to him.

“My Lord, news has come from the Dark Lair,” rang a respectful voice.

Immediately, a jade slip fell into Zhong Qiu's hand.

After taking a brief glance, he was stunned. An imperceptible glint of surprise flashed in the depths of his eyes before he resumed his unperturbed expression.

The jade slip recorded some of Lin Xun's performance in the Dark Hidden Purgatory.

Zhong Qiu made a mental assessment.

His performance in the first five floors was moderate, nothing worth mentioning.

On the sixth floor, however, it’s commendable…

On the seventh floor… that Silver Bat Ghost Emperor

has actually reached the third realm?

Zhong Qiu found this surprising. A very long time ago, he had also met that bat upon entering the seventh floor, and the latter had only been a first realm Emperor at the time.

Now, Lin Xun had managed to kill it after it had metamorphosed to the third realm. Even Zhong Qiu was caught off guard by this.

In the end, he nodded slightly. “Crossing the insurmountable barrier of the Emperor Stage and subverting an eternal cognition… Not bad.”

It wasn’t that he was too strict with his assessment, but that in his opinion, it was natural for his youngest junior brother to have extraordinary power since he possessed all kinds of supreme heritages and Kunlun’s Emperor weapons as the ‘only hope’ of Fangchun Mountain!

In fact, it would be disappointing if Lin Xin, having reached the Supreme Quasi-Emperor Stage, couldn't even compare to his senior brothers and sisters!

This was Zhong Qiu's view.

It was only right for Lin Xun to be able to surpass the achievements that his fellow Fangchun Mountain disciples had made when they had been in the same stage!

Zhong Qiu suddenly asked, “Who’s guarding the eighth floor of the Dark Hidden Purgatory nowadays?”

Someone respectfully answered, “My Lord, for the last eight thousand years, the eighth floor has been occupied by Spirit Martial Battle Emperor.”

“Spirit Martial?” Zhong Qiu thought for a moment and said, “Send my order that Spirit Martial is not allowed to obstruct him nor give him any help.”

“Yes.”

After that, Zhong Qiu stood up to leave.

Recently, whenever he had free time, he would go and chat with Xi.

As far as he was concerned, he and Xi were the same kind of people: proud, strong, confident, and unyielding!

However, when he was halfway to Xi’s place, Zhong Qiu stopped in his tracks and frowned.

He suddenly realized that he had been a little too proactive recently…

This was completely not his style!

After a long silence, Zhong Qiu made up his mind. “Well, we can chat about my youngest junior brother. I believe that she’s also anxious to hear about his recent situation…”

It made one wonder how Lin Xun would feel knowing that he would be used as an excuse for his second senior brother to go find Xi for a chat…

Perhaps this could be described as the more proud a person was, the more pretentious they acted?

……

At the entrance to Dark Hidden Purgatory.

Upon seeing the drunkard and Big Yellow coming one after another, Qing Ying wasn't surprised at all.

Who would be able to sit still if after hearing that someone had killed their way to the seventh level of Dark Hidden Purgatory in just five days?

When Qing Ying herself had learned about Lin Xun’s astonishing performance, her eyes had widened and glazed over in shock.

It was indeed difficult to believe.

“Qing Ying, that kid really made it to the seventh level in just five days?” asked Big Yellow urgently as soon as it arrived.

“Correct.” Qing Ying nodded and added, “On top of that, he has killed Silver Bat Ghost Emperor on the seventh floor, meaning he can go ahead and enter the eighth floor anytime.”

Big Yellow was once again dumbstruck.

He can already go to the eighth floor?

“The eighth floor…” The drunkard also seemed to be in a daze. “That's the Dao Forbidden Tract inhabited by some vicious powers so strong that they have coalesced into soul forms. If I remember correctly, the place has come under the guard of Spirit Martial Battle Emperor for many years, and only he has been able to suppress those vicious souls…”

“That kid will definitely be forced to stop at the eighth floor!” declared Big Yellow suddenly. “Although there are no fiend spirits in that hellish place, the Dao Forbidden Tract enveloping it can crush even Emperors in both body and spirit!”

The drunkard also said, “I remember that our lord took almost a year to get out of that Dao Forbidden Tract, and during that one year, there were many times when he almost collapsed…

“According to him, it’s no longer a test of one’s cultivation level in the Dao Forbidden Tract, but a test of their will and mental power!”

Big Yellow had a look of contempt. “How can that brat compare with our mighty lord?”

Right at this moment, Qing Ying calmly said, “But when Young Master Lin reached the seventh floor just now, he had already broken the record left by the Lord of Copper Sparrow House back then.”

Big Yellow glared at her, wanting to refute, but found itself at a loss for words.

It couldn't be helped as facts spoke louder than words!

“Then I'd like to see how he’ll deal with the eighth floor,” grunted Big Yellow.

“I'm also looking forward to it.” The drunkard revealed a look of anticipation.

……

Time passed. Seven days later.

On the seventh floor of Dark Hidden Purgatory, Lin Xun woke up from his meditation. The instant he did, a boundlessly terrifying pressure spread from him, causing the land to wail and tremble in turmoil.

Such a might was already no different from the might of a true Emperor. It could even make the hearts of first realm Emperors palpitate!

In a short period of seven days, Lin Xun had absorbed all the combat insights he had gained from the sixth to the seventh floor into his dao, which had allowed his strength to transcend once again!

However, in terms of cultivation, he remained a peak supreme quasi-Emperor.

His understanding of the great dao and his knowledge of martial arts had climbed to the next level, showing signs of reaching perfection!

Although his cultivation had not broken through, the improvement in his martial skills and control over law powers similarly enhanced his fighting prowess.

“If I run into an opponent like Silver Bat Ghost Emperor again, I still may not have much of a chance of winning without Time Stopping, but escaping shouldn’t be a problem…” Lin Xun cleared his mind and carefully perceived the changes in his own power.

His dao and techniques were both fused in his Primal Chaos Dao Field. Meanwhile, the path he sought was ‘integrating thousands of daos and deriving thousands of arts.’

This meant that on the road to being certified as a supreme Emperor, he was destined to face far greater dangers and tribulations than other cultivators in the same stage.

What Lin Xun was currently doing was integrating and refining all the dao and techniques in his skill set into his own version.

Only in this way could his overall cultivation reach the utmost height in this stage, and only then would it be called true perfection.

“Time to go to the eighth floor.” Lin Xun got up and drifted away.

On the eighth floor of Dark Hidden Purgatory.

Rumble! Rumble!

The moment Lin Xun set foot into this place, the pressure around him rose sharply as a fierce, repulsive force collided with him and produced exploding noises.

If the pressure of the seventh floor had only felt like a massive mountain, then on this floor it was a hundred of them crashing down together!

“I'm afraid even the normal Emperor experts would have to struggle here…”

Lin Xun flipped his hand, and a dao sword appeared across the sky. With a casual chop, it shattered and split the oppressive force around him apart.

“Luckily, it's quite easy to fight force with force.”

Lin Xun kept chopping away at the invisible pressure as he moved forward.

This terrifying pressure was the manifestation of the Law Power in this part of heaven and earth. It came in wave after wave like seawater.

At this moment, it was as though Lin Xun was walking forward in the midst of angry waves.

Rumble!

Looking from afar, strands of sword qi were slashing chaotically wherever Lin Xun passed, putting rifts on the fabric of space as they blasted away the waves of terrifying pressure.

The longer Lin Xun walked, the stronger the pressure imposed on him became…

He could clearly feel it as his physical energy began to deplete faster, and he had to go all out in order to dispel the omnipresent oppression.

The only thing that made him feel at ease was the complete absence of fiend spirits so far. It allowed him to focus solely on dissolving the pressure around him along the way.

Otherwise, his situation was bound to be perilous when he had to not only resist the terrifying pressure but also go into battle.

Later on, while resisting the pressure using his cultivation, Lin Xun also began to intentionally draw in some of it, letting it blast against his flesh.

In other words, he tried using the pressure to hammer his physical body!

The pressure of the eighth floor was horrendous to say the least, capable of making it hard for the average Emperor to move an inch. That was why Lin Xun had to dissolve some of it first before using the remaining portion to refine his body.

Otherwise, he could burst into pieces if he let the pressure swarm over him. Even if he was able to be reborn from a drop of blood, he would be crushed again, and there would certainly be no way to survive if the cycle went on.

Rumble! Rumble!

In the following time, sword qi whistled between heaven and earth, shredding the horrifying pressure, while Lin Xun pulled the remnants of that pressure toward himself. Then, subjected to the constant blasting, his body emitted bursts of thunderous noises.

“Interesting. The bombardment of the oppressive force here is tempering not only my body, but even my spirit…”

Lin Xun gradually was able to clearly sense the other change in him under the beating of the pressure.

Although it was incredibly subtle, such a progress was already extremely hard to come by for the current him!