Yin and Yang

The five-colored skeleton king moved like the wind and lightning, leaving an afterimage in place as a streak of five-colored divine light shot toward Xiao Chen. His hands formed an arcane, complex seal, solemn and sacred as a true Buddha, blazing radiance bursting forth with intent to shatter Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen retreated a hundred zhang in a single step, as if crossing space itself. An expression of disbelief crossed his face. The fire-seed beings of the death continent's depths were truly strange—they actually understood Buddhist seals, and the power was astonishingly orthodox and overwhelming.

The five-colored skeleton king did not press forward.

Terrifying fluctuations came as a white jade skeleton charged forth. Astonishingly, its originally snow-white king-bone body turned as black as ink, as if carved from jet jade.

No wonder the king skeletons were all extraordinary. Fire-seed beings that reached this level had endured unimaginable trials; only those with supreme will could achieve today's accomplishments.

The ink-jade skeleton king transformed into nine bodies, nine streaks of black light encircling Xiao Chen at the center. A soul-refining divine art similar to the 'Duo' heavenly sound vibrated forth, bombarding Xiao Chen at the epicenter.

The vast heavenly sound was entirely emitted from the soul, solemn and sacred, as if thousands of deities were chanting divine incantations together. Beams of colorful light swept toward Xiao Chen at the center.

It was shocking. Xiao Chen's hands traced mysterious and arcane trajectories as he activated the Heavenly Stele ancient method to its extreme. Brilliant light flashed across his body as over a hundred divinized acupoints blazed like constellations.

They were like sources of power, surging with endless radiance, covering his body in armor-like light.

In his early cultivation of the Heavenly Stele method, Xiao Chen had once developed the Big Dipper Sealing Divinity light screen. Now it was vastly different; it was no longer seven stars covering the body, but countless stars shining all over.

The light armor was rooted in the divinized acupoints, covering every part of his body.

The ink-jade skeleton king continuously vibrated his soul, the heavenly sound like swords and blades, attacking the radiant enemy at the center. But though the divine sound ceaselessly weakened the light screen, the resplendent armor like countless stars brightened again at critical moments.

Xiao Chen was deeply shaken. Such attacks placed him under unimaginable pressure. If not for the sake of verifying the second of the Origin Eight Sounds, he would never have taken such a risk.

"Boom!" The nine ink-jade skeleton king figures merged into one, black light surging skyward. Then the heavenly sound increased tenfold, sweeping toward Xiao Chen.

"Bang!"

The light screen on Xiao Chen could no longer withstand the force, shattering like real armor. He moved like a phantom, transforming into a wisp of smoke, dodging quickly.

Silently, a bottomless black hole remained where he had stood. The power of that heavenly sound was unimaginable.

Swish.

The white jade skeleton at the rear charged forward, replacing the ink-jade skeleton king and attacking Xiao Chen.

This was a true white bone skeleton, not a super-evolution. To have reached this level was extremely difficult. In a sense, he was even more terrifying than the average king skeleton.

His snow-white bone claws were like divine heavenly swords, unstoppable. The unleashed wind tore the void directly, colliding with Xiao Chen's Heavenly Hand. It shook Xiao Chen's arm numb.

"Cycle of Death!" The white bone skeleton was indeed extraordinary. During close combat with Xiao Chen, he suddenly roared with divine consciousness.

With his spiritual fluctuations, a stretch of void enveloped Xiao Chen, and destructive power erupted instantly, about to crush him.

"Explode!"

Eight Aspect Worlds emerged around Xiao Chen, using the power of world origin to hold back the contracting space. The eight secret gates suddenly opened wide.

"Boom!"

Xiao Chen shot out of the death space like lightning, escaping the danger of the cycle's fall. He had to reassess these three king skeletons. Each was stronger than the last, with the final white bone skeleton giving a profound, unfathomable feeling.

When a cultivator reached the Perfected Man heavenly king realm, even fire-seed beings could fully use various divine arts and combat techniques. Apart from lacking flesh and blood, they were no different from humans.

Facing each other again, the three king skeletons looked at Xiao Chen with some surprise. The five-colored skeleton king said, "With such strength, why not serve Lord Yi Tianzhong?"

"I told you, I don't belong to any faction. I'm just traveling the world."

"Won't you reconsider?" the ink-jade skeleton asked.

"Nothing to reconsider." Xiao Chen answered curtly.

"Truly regrettable. Then we can only extinguish your fire seed." The white bone skeleton's spiritual fluctuation was fierce and resolute, like a death sentence.

Three phantoms, faster than lightning, charged in an instant. Without another word, they madly attacked Xiao Chen. Their blows were merciless; wherever they passed, strong winds surged, and the earth turned to desert.

The five-colored skeleton was solemn and sacred, like a Buddha. His hands formed the Immovable Wisdom King Seal! A giant Immovable Wisdom King figure manifested behind him, like a mountain, eyes wide in fury. Its demon-subduing hand struck down, splitting heaven and earth.

A twenty-li-long great rift appeared on the Death Plain, all caused by that blow. The Wisdom King seemed half-revived, gradually merging with the five-colored skeleton. Its power grew stronger, reaching into the Eight Aspect Worlds to attack Xiao Chen.

Meanwhile, the ink-jade skeleton's body seemed to vanish into heaven and earth, emerging from the shadows each time with nine bodies, striking Xiao Chen's vital points in unpredictable attacks.

The white bone skeleton was the most terrifying. Endless secret methods and divine arts flowed from him. Ultimately, he transformed into a Death God—dimly, one could vaguely see as if he had regrown flesh and blood, making it hard to discern illusion from reality. But the Death Scythe in his hand was no illusion. The gleaming blade tore the void, shattered the earth, and a thousand evil ghosts wailed across the plain, pressing down on Xiao Chen.

Facing such powerful king skeletons, Xiao Chen couldn't directly clash. He used the extreme speed of the Eight Aspect Worlds to maneuver, wanting to verify the second Origin Sound—hence the risky confrontation.

On the Death Plain, four phantoms wove together like lightning, the dark red earth constantly splitting, vast deserts emerging.

Finally, Xiao Chen began to flee—not that he was truly at death's door; he could escape at any time with the Eight Aspect Worlds' extreme speed.

To master the 'Duo' heavenly sound, he was playing with fire now, with great danger constantly looming.

After half a day of fierce battle and over an hour of flight, he finally shook them off.

In a quiet, dark valley, he sat cross-legged, pondering the mysteries of the 'Duo' heavenly sound. Without question, the soul-refining divine arts of the Death World were very close to that heavenly sound, giving him great insight.

He sat like that for half a year, motionless as a statue.

Little beast Keke grew bored, eventually retreating into Paradise Lost to sleep soundly.

"Duo!"

Half a year later, Xiao Chen suddenly opened his eyes. With a light cry, the stone mountain on the south side of the valley shattered and collapsed with a great rumble.

"Finally found the path." Though he hadn't grasped the true essence, he knew how to cultivate the second sound.

Paradise Lost opened wide. The little beast, already awakened, happily ran out carrying a huge fruit, offering it to Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen smiled and took it. One bite filled his mouth with fragrance, and a surge of refined energy rushed to his limbs.

A few days later, Xiao Chen appeared again on the Death Plain five thousand li away, his gaze sharp. His target was the giant city ahead.

Approaching the city, without a word, he emitted a powerful divine sense. The five-colored skeleton king sensed it immediately and shot up from within, flying out of the city.

"You again!"

Xiao Chen didn't answer, attacking directly. Heavenly Hand plus Reverse Dragon Seven Steps, meeting the five-colored king head-on.

The battle lasted two hours. The ink-jade and white bone king skeletons, having received the message, appeared simultaneously, repeating the scene of three kings chasing Xiao Chen.

The chase continued for most of the day before Xiao Chen fully shook them off. He went into seclusion again in a hidden great rift valley to comprehend the second Origin Sound.

Another full half year passed before he awakened. When he uttered the 'Duo' heavenly sound, the entire great canyon was completely obliterated.

He soared into the sky with Keke.

Then he began again to provoke the five-colored king and others.

Thus, for three full years, this continued. During that time, the five-colored skeleton king even invited several other king skeletons to hunt him down, but he always evaded them, thoroughly grasping their soul-refining divine techniques.

After three years, Xiao Chen had fully found the path, comprehending nearly half the essence of the 'Duo' heavenly sound. That sound represented—Yin and Yang!

It could be said to be the power of light and darkness, the power of form and void. Yin and Yang alternating could nurture everything or weaken everything. Yin and Yang united was the ultimate kill—this was what he could currently master.

Of course, the concept of yin and yang contained infinitely more; he was far from fully understanding it.

As he gradually comprehended the 'Duo' sound, the already-cultivated 'Weng' sound also advanced a layer, becoming much more powerful.

The 'Weng' sound represented life and death; the 'Duo' sound represented yin and yang. Both, developed to their extremes, were unimaginable divine law powers. What did the other six sounds represent? He had no way to guess at this point.

In the following half year, aside from consolidating the 'Duo' sound, Xiao Chen began to hunt. He took the five-colored skeleton king, the ink-jade skeleton king, and the white bone skeleton king one by one, killing each in turn.

Then he advanced through the region ruled by the young female sovereign.

In the next half year, he killed four more king skeletons, collecting a total of seven king fire seeds. But when he absorbed them, he found they were not as effective as imagined; his cultivation did not seem to increase at all.

Only then did he understand why the number of sovereigns was limited, why the king realm was so hard to break. At this level, devouring fire seeds was useless; accumulation and breakthrough were the only path.

In the fifth year, he finally entered the region ruled by the young female sovereign, advancing toward the majestic central city.

He traveled fully a hundred thousand li, showing how vast a sovereign's domain was.

From afar, the high city walls were like rolling mountain ranges—imposing, built of dark red boulders. It was less a city and more like towering mountains, radiating a strange power that affected even king-level experts.

Xiao Chen guessed that the city must be sealed with unimaginable power; king-level experts could probably do nothing against it.

The grand and magnificent city, like a sleeping giant god, inspired awe.

Seeing the little beast so excited, Xiao Chen grabbed its furry ears, fearing it would recklessly charge in. The little creature ignored him for half the day.

The city's inspection was very strict, even more so when they saw Xiao Chen—a being of flesh and blood approaching.

When they detected he had reached the Perfected Man realm, the guarding fire-seed beings immediately reported to the higher powers within.

It took a long time before Xiao Chen could explain his intent, convincing the guards that he wished to seek an audience with the young female sovereign.

Finally, he was led into a magnificent mansion within the city.

A seven-colored old skeleton received him. Though it had no flesh and blood, it clearly had the feeling of advanced age—a stooped form, trembling as if it might fall at any moment.

Xiao Chen was astonished. This was an Earth-Penetrating realm Seven-Colored Skeleton Emperor!

The five realms of Mortal-Shedding, Spirit-Treasury, Sky-Mastery, Nirvana, and Deathless Longevity were known to ordinary cultivators. As his cultivation rose, Xiao Chen gradually learned of the rare higher realms: beyond Deathless Longevity were Fish-Leap, Perfected Man, Earth-Penetrating, Heaven-Reaching, and Ancestral God.

Among them, Heaven-Reaching was the Half-Ancestor realm, also called the Sovereign realm.

The Perfected Man realm was a nearly impassable barrier—like a heavenly moat—that had blocked countless great talents throughout the ages, making Earth-Penetrating experts and Half-Ancestors as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

In a sense, Earth-Penetrating experts were even rarer than Half-Ancestors in the common view, because once one reached that level, they invariably went into death-seclusion, all hoping to break through to the Heaven-Reaching Sovereign realm.

Aside from the False God Calamity, Xiao Chen had encountered only a few Earth-Penetrating experts. To see one now, a Seven-Colored Skeleton Emperor at that level, was naturally astonishing.

"You wish to see our sovereign?" The Seven-Colored Skeleton Emperor's eye sockets were deep and profound, as if they could see through all things.

"Yes."

"Do you have any business?" An old skeleton surrounded by seven-colored light, its bones crystalline as jade carving, with not the slightest ominous aura—on the contrary, like a god.

This was definitely a powerful expert on the same level as the Divine Tribe elder Li Mu.

"Well..." For a moment, Xiao Chen couldn't think of a reason. He asked, "Could you tell me the name of Her Majesty the Sovereign?"

"My lord awakened only a few decades ago and has not given herself any title," the seven-colored old skeleton replied calmly from his bone chair.

"No title..." Xiao Chen was surprised. He asked, "Does the sovereign have three powerful subjects named Qin Guang, Yan Luo, and Lun Hui?"

"No." The Seven-Colored Skeleton Emperor answered very directly.

"No..." Xiao Chen felt very disappointed. Had he really guessed wrong?

But at that moment, the old skeleton emperor's next words shocked him.

"There are no Three Kings, but there are Three War Emperors—Qin Guang Emperor, Yan Luo Emperor, and Lun Hui Emperor."