Chapter 232: Sovereign of the World (1)

Five pillars of light plummeted from the sky. The five elemental radiances of gold, cyan, red, yellow, and black swirled and intertwined, bridging heaven and earth. Mountains and rivers trembled as loose stones floated into the air and spiritual light bloomed from the vegetation. The entire Ancient Battlefield seemed to come alive in that moment, resonating with a higher existence.

An old cultivator's eyes narrowed, his low voice tinged with irrepressible excitement.

"I once read of this in a fragmented ancient tome. Deity Transformation Cultivators wield origin energy. They can manipulate the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, dictate the laws of the world, and cast their Divine Sense over a thousand li to know all. If a cultivator breaks through to this realm, they will trigger a resonance between heaven and earth, forcing all living spirits into submission. The legends of immortals passed down in the mortal world are truly no different from this."

He spoke faster and faster, his voice trembling by the end.

"It matches! It all matches! This must be some mighty figure attempting to break through to Deity Transformation! To think I have the fortune to witness this with my own eyes in this lifetime. Even if I were to drop dead this very instant, it would be worth it."

At his words, the expressions of the surrounding cultivators shifted as they all turned to gaze at that heaven-piercing pillar of light. Some looked bewildered, some were horrified, and others remained silent. Most of them had only ever heard fragmented rumors regarding the Deity Transformation realm. The closest they had come was a legend from over two hundred years ago, when the clone of a Deity Transformation Divine Lord took action, wiping out twenty or thirty Nascent Soul cultivators of the Northern Plains with a mere raise of his hand. The sheer might of that strike still made them shudder to this day.

"Will he succeed?" someone asked softly.

The old cultivator shook his head, his tone carrying an indescribable mix of regret and awe. "Hard to say. The spiritual qi of heaven and earth is no longer as abundant as it was in ancient times, and the path to Deity Transformation is growing narrower. If it weren't, Deity Transformation Cultivators wouldn't be so rare."

The crowd fell silent. Staring at the towering pillar of light, they all waited for an unknown yet highly anticipated answer.

Right at that moment, the magnificent phenomena on the horizon suddenly retracted. The condensed light shattered, and the black vortex abruptly exploded. A massive surge of yin energy poured backward, blotting out the sky as it rolled out in all directions, carrying bone-piercing frost with it.

The cultivators lingering nearby scattered in a panic. A few who were too slow were thrown through the air by the blast, crashing to the ground several li away before struggling to their feet. Fortunately, most managed to escape the blanket of yin energy, though their hearts still pounded with lingering fear.

"Did... did that person fail?" someone murmured.

No one answered him, because no one knew the answer.

Everyone's gaze remained fixed in that direction.

Just as the crowd was filled with confusion—

A sudden change occurred.

An even thicker pillar of golden light erupted from the ground, piercing through heaven and earth with no end in sight. The golden pillar seemed limitless as it shot straight into the firmament. Five-colored flowing light dotted and coiled around the pillar like planetary rings, slowly revolving with a tranquil yet unshakable pressure.

Everyone stared at this scene in shock. Many of them knew exactly what this meant.

Outside the Ancient Battlefield, dozens of streaks of spiritual light crisscrossed as they flew in from different directions. None yielded to the others, and without exception, every single one was a Nascent Soul cultivator. There were even a few auras belonging to the Nascent Soul Late Stage among them—some from the Northern Plains, others from the Dayong Demonic Path. These lights landed at high vantage points along the edges of the Ancient Battlefield. Each occupied their own territory, mutually wary, neither approaching nor retreating.

Xue Huomo rushed at the very front. His eyes were bloodshot, his withered fingers clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He couldn't believe it—it was impossible to believe. How could someone step into Deity Transformation before him? He had plotted for hundreds of years for this very goal, outliving countless fellow sect members and consuming an untold amount of life-extending spiritual pills and miraculous medicines. Every step he took had been upon the edge of a blade, yet in the end, someone else had crossed that threshold first.

The several figures beside him had their own varied reactions. One person's face was ashen, while another swept the area with a cold, sinister gaze. Yet another gripped their sleeves tightly, their eyes lingering on the distant pillar of light for a second before shifting back to Xue Huomo's back, as if hoping to glean some clue from his reaction.

The Northern Plains faction was not slow to arrive either.

Saint Teacher Mo, Saint Teacher Ma, and Saint Teacher Bao hurried over, trailed by several Grandmaster-level figures.

Saint Teacher Mo's brow was tightly furrowed. He didn't know what the heavenly phenomena for Deity Transformation looked like, only that something massive had occurred deep within the Ancient Battlefield. As a Saint Teacher of Beiyuan, it was his duty to come and see exactly what was happening.

Saint Teacher Ma tightly clenched his fists, his eyes locked on the golden pillar of light.

Saint Teacher Bao did not say a word, but his gaze paused for a moment on the several streaks of Demonic Path spiritual light as he silently committed their positions to memory.

Aside from these two factions, there were also some Nascent Soul rogue cultivators who had rushed over on their own. They stopped in the distance to watch, neither getting too close nor willing to just leave. Standing at the periphery, their eyes fell on the distant pillar of light. No one spoke, and no one made the first move to depart.

Across this Ancient Battlefield, gazes filled with murderous intent, wariness, curiosity, and apprehension interwove, yet ultimately, all of them landed on that soaring golden radiance.

Xue Huomo stared fixedly at the golden pillar. The longer he looked, the more he felt that the aura flowing within it was inexplicably familiar. Thoughts churned in his mind for a few breaths before his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He remembered.

It was that sword cultivator who had briefly clashed with him over two hundred years ago, forcing him back in just a few moves. Back then, he had assumed the man had fled the Northern Plains, or even that he had been severely wounded by the Holy Venerable and perished in some forgotten corner. He had long since tossed the man to the back of his mind. Yet now, not only was this person still alive, but he was breaking through to Deity Transformation right in front of him.

Xue Huomo had wasted nearly six hundred years at the Peak Nascent Soul Stage. Driven by his obsession with reaching Deity Transformation, he had exhausted every means possible, stubbornly clinging to life until the age of over one thousand three hundred. And yet, this man had taken that step before him.

What right did this person have? What right did a junior have to walk ahead of him?

Jealousy surged into his heart like a tidal wave, but he did not linger. Taking advantage of the fact that everyone's attention was captivated by the golden pillar of light, Xue Huomo quietly retracted his aura and silently backed away, turning to flee the area.

But before he had even flown a hundred li, a burst of incomparably dazzling golden light suddenly bloomed behind him, followed closely by a rising chorus of gasps from the crowd. His footsteps halted. He cast a glance back, and his pupils shrank.

The pillar of light had vanished. In its place hung a massive, boundless golden city suspended high in the sky, stretching across the firmament like the imperial capital of an immortal dynasty. Bathed in the golden radiance, the haze covering ten thousand li was swept clean, and even the permanently scorched earth beneath their feet was dyed with a warm, golden luster.

Everyone tilted their heads up, their mouths hanging open. It was as if that golden sky had clamped around their throats, rendering them utterly speechless. Some gripped the hems of their robes tightly, while others subconsciously took a step back, too afraid to stand beneath the golden light.

In an instant, the borders of the entire Ancient Battlefield became exceptionally quiet. Only the sound of the wind still drifted slowly by.

Right after, the giant golden city began to shrink rapidly, folding inward layer upon layer. Every contraction kicked up a visible ripple of golden light that spread outward in all directions, until it finally sank into a tall and slender figure.

The moment the golden light sank into the figure, a blinding ball of radiance exploded. It coalesced around the person like a newborn sun, its glare so piercing that everyone couldn't help but narrow their eyes.

Then, five massive rings of different colors emerged from behind the figure. They spun slowly, dazzling with five colors. As the rings rotated, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth was drawn in, forming a flowing, multicolored halo behind the silhouette.

Everyone looked in the same direction, staring at the figure suspended in the sky.

Someone was so thrilled their voice trembled. "He did it... he did it! To think I could witness the birth of a Deity Transformation Cultivator with my own eyes in this lifetime!"

"Is this a Deity Transformation Cultivator?" someone stuttered incoherently. "We're separated by tens of thousands of li, yet that aura is already suffocating. If we were any closer, I'm afraid we wouldn't even be able to stand."

"Just who is this Divine Lord?" someone asked, their gaze filled with both reverence and curiosity.

But they received no reply. No one could answer him.

Excitement, envy, jealousy, adoration, and awe—all sorts of emotions intertwined and permeated the borders of the Ancient Battlefield. They scattered into everyone's hearts, settling differently within each person.

This scene today was destined to go down in history.

And these people here were the witnesses to this history.

Whether they wanted to be or not, and regardless of whose side they stood on, before that figure, everyone was merely a shadow cast by a newly risen mountain. From afar, they barely amounted to anything.