Chapter 828: Victory or Defeat!

The Ten Moves.

From afar, everyone's expressions changed. The entire universe suddenly fell silent, as if only the two of them remained.

A white porcelain, three-headed thundercloud giant, spanning countless planets and shimmering with lightning elements, gathered its full power. Numerous incredibly miraculous cultivation techniques and divine abilities were layered upon its form. Opposite it was an equally colossal humanoid creature, possessing the strength of a white dwarf star. Both figures had extremely high mass density, with a pristine, delicate whiteness. Their mere presence generated infinite spatiotemporal gravity, absorbing and collapsing everything around them.

With a fierce roar, both combatants transformed almost into beings of light, their fists and palms colliding in an instant. Endless shockwaves erupted, resembling a colossal nuclear explosion. The universe itself rapidly warped under this terrifying force. Light twisted and spiraled, and even sound reverberated, forming a massive sphere of light particles that enveloped the two combatants.

Caroline's consciousness black hole, with its swirling vortexes, unleashed various virtual cosmic phenomena that swept across everything, tearing through the fabric of spacetime.

The Three Pillar Gods drew their three Pillar God Swords. The three great currents of destiny—the Human Pillar, Beast Pillar, and Plant Pillar—surged forth, amplifying Subaru's power by thirtyfold. Emperor Qi, meanwhile, displayed an endless array of wondrous and naturally perfected techniques. This ultimate being unleashed its full power.

Emperor Venerable, holding the Sword of Reincarnation, with his three forms merged into one, seemed to murmur an indiscernible, ancient hymn:“Advanced defense.”“Strong immunity to Dao techniques.”At this moment, the entirety of Samsara seemed to bless his being.

With a thunderous collision, the entire universe suddenly blazed with blinding light. People vaguely felt they saw a black mushroom cloud erupt, and countless spaces cracked like mirror shards in all directions.

A mournful wail. Howling winds of energy, as if laden with endless sorrow. The next second, there was no sound, no image, only a collapse into a twisted space-time. The fragmented and chaotic spatial eddies continued to bear witness to it all.

The smoke and dust had not yet dispersed, and the energy turbulence swirled everywhere. The players' hearts were gripped tightly as they stared blankly at the center of the universe.

“Who won?” someone asked excitedly.

“It must have been the Three Pillar Gods, Caroline, and Emperor Qi who slayed Emperor Venerable and reopened the ancient Immortal Path,” said Lord Youshan.

“Emperor Venerable definitely won!” One player, unconvinced, retorted, “Don't forget, he's the descendant of a Great Accomplishment Ultimate Tenth-Order bloodline, five-gene, the ultimate perfection of five paths, reaching the very end of perfection!”

“I didn’t expect such an outcome in the end.” A calm, tranquil voice spoke. It was Emperor Qi.

People looked in the direction of the voice. As the turbulence subsided, the ultimate and perfect Three Pillar God entity had transformed back into its three individual forms. They were battered and bruised, standing on three of the largest distant spacetime fragments, bobbing in the spatial turbulence. Emperor Venerable, however, still stood erect in the void, his body shattered, yet remarkably stable.

In their struggle, Emperor Venerable had surprisingly emerged victorious. However, he himself was severely wounded; to be precise, it was a mutually destructive outcome. But it was inevitable. Given their similar strengths, even if one could win, it would inevitably be a Pyrrhic victory for one side.

“There’s no need to continue fighting.” Emperor Venerable's voice was calm. “You have indeed surpassed expectations, pushing Me—who possesses thoroughly perfect foundations and is typically flawless in combat—to such a degree of imperfection. You have truly reached an impressive level.”

“The three of us have lost,” Emperor Qi smiled, his gaze intense. “We fought to the very end. Our laws were pushed to their limits, then we resorted to battling with our physical bodies. But your body is simply too terrifying, too perfect.”

Indeed. Caroline also felt the horror of it. Emperor Venerable, despite this, was still at the beginning of the Ninth-Order Law Path and the Cell Fusion Path. The laws he used were all temporarily borrowed. His strongest foundation, however, was his fundamental physical body.

It was terrifying: various perfect physical body systems, the Nine Revolutions Profound Art, the All-Tribe system, Martial Dao… These three major body cultivation techniques—defense, recovery, and body mass—were layered geometrically, with every cell forged to the extreme, making it the most invincible supreme golden body in the world. They had just set aside laws and began to compete with their physical bodies, only to be utterly shattered! This was the reason for their defeat.

The Three Pillar Gods stated coldly with awe, “You are indeed perfect, but we are not unbeatable. The gap isn't as vast as imagined; rather, our foundations weren't solid enough. Our breakthrough to the Ninth Order was too rash.”

“Yes, our breakthrough was too rash.” Caroline’s expression was cold as she continuously analyzed the disparity between them and the reason for their defeat: “In recent years, we’ve continuously focused on cell fusion and completing the Ninth-Order path, but we neglected to cultivate our original major systemic techniques to perfection!”

The Ninth Order is about establishing a world-nation. It involves evolving a single creature into a world, its cells into living beings, with each soul integrating into every cell. This way, that world would possess a hundred trillion citizens.

So, what are cultivation techniques then? Transcendental cultivation techniques are about forging the quality of these hundred trillion citizens. Martial Dao and various body cultivation methods are for tempering the physiques of these hundred trillion 'cell-citizens'. Soul Dao and various soul cultivation methods are for training the spirits of these hundred trillion 'cell-citizens'.

They had only just acquired a hundred trillion citizens and entered the threshold of nation-building, yet they rashly wanted to establish a world-nation without refining the average quality of these citizens. They were all like ten billion weak, sick, and disabled individuals, or scattered irregulars. Their opponent, however, was a world-nation of strong and robust soldiers. When two nations clash, when two 'transcendent worlds' collide, with a hundred trillion soldiers charging—who would be stronger? The answer was obvious.

While the sheer number of a hundred trillion cells was important, their quality was also critically vital.

“Our foundations weren’t even stable, yet we relied on our astonishing talent to rush forward recklessly on this path,” Emperor Qi thought, his heart chilled. Emperor Venerable’s words seemed like mockery, but they were the truth; they truly were incredibly weak. They had been racing! Competing to see who was faster, because being faster meant being able to completely suppress the opponent! However, breaking through too quickly would instead leave many weaknesses in one's foundation, flaws, and critical points.

If the cultivation foundation of the basic hundred trillion cells wasn't solid, then after breaking through to the Ninth Order, refining it later would be infinitely more difficult, essentially leaving permanent flaws. Only a Tenth-Order five-gene lifeform, capable of freely editing genes, changing life forms, and possessing no fixed nature, could go back and compensate for the vulnerabilities left in each previous cultivation realm. But if the prior cultivation foundation isn’t firm, how can one even speak of breaking through to the Tenth Order and mending the flaws from previous realms? Hope would inevitably become even more minuscule. This was a vicious cycle.

“I no longer have the strength to kill you. You have not lost,” Emperor Venerable declared, standing perfectly straight. With a tremor, his flowing blood instantly ceased. He then turned and strode with long steps towards the Six Paths of Reincarnation, moving further and further away. “At this moment, you are free to break through. I am powerless to stop the combined force of the three of you, and thus, must leave.”

He had indeed exhausted all his strength, every last ounce of it. Emperor Venerable gently extended a hand and pushed. The Six Paths of Reincarnation once again transformed into a circular wheel, dark, mysterious, and vast, slowly circling as it entered the spatial passage leading to the Six Paths of Reincarnation world.

“However, while I cannot kill you, if you remain this weak, a direct breakthrough to the Ninth Order will inevitably lead to a dead end. You three may be stronger than each other, and one may have defeated another… But what does that matter? The enemies of the Ultra-Ancient Gods, opponents from beyond this world—you will face them sooner or later. To be shortsighted, caring only for immediate victory, while My gaze has long been set on the millennia to come.”

As Emperor Venerable walked further and further away, his voice gradually faded.

Emperor Qi took a deep breath, watching Emperor Venerable’s retreating figure. He said coldly, “Next time, next time, I will certainly forge my perfect foundation. I will defeat you directly among peers of the same order!”

Five-gene entities possess the perfect foundation for five-gene, and four-gene entities possess the perfect foundation for four-gene. All can reach their limits, differing only in intensity. By utilizing Martial Dao, Soul Dao, and various other cultivation systems—thoroughly cultivating multiple systems to perfection, refining the physique and spirit of each individual cell—one can then achieve further breakthroughs.

Emperor Venerable’s voice drifted back from behind him: “Be careful. The Ultra-Ancient Gods have not left us much time. That terrifying opponent—My elemental divine body originates from Their transcendent bloodline.”

“Elemental creature…” Emperor Qi stiffened, looking in the direction Emperor Venerable had walked, where he had already vanished.