Chapter Sixty-Three: The Sky-Devouring King Beast

Upon discovering a peculiar aspect of the chaotic spiritual vein before him, he was struck by its oddity. Normally, spiritual veins—whether innate or acquired—diffuse their spiritual energy outward without restraint unless naturally blocked or artificially arranged. In theory, they should radiate endlessly. Yet this chaotic vein lacked any natural formation or artificial setup, and still, its chaotic energy could not dissipate beyond a hundred miles. This was truly cause for contemplation.

Ever since his confrontation with the three ferocious beasts, Qingxu had felt trapped in an indescribable "trap," as if each step he took had been calculated by another. But could that really be possible?

"If someone truly wanted to plot against me, they wouldn't need to use a chaotic spiritual vein! Even the Primordial Saints covet such a treasure. With it, the cultivation of disciples would soar to unimaginable heights." With this thought, the suspicion in his heart faded significantly. Qingxu could not believe anyone would use a chaotic spiritual vein as bait just to ensnare him—it was simply too incredible.

Qingxu had always cared deeply about his own cultivation progress, but despite his relentless efforts, he was only marginally stronger than Xuandu and Duobao, still far from the goal he had set in his heart. Now, things were different. With the chaotic spiritual vein at his disposal, and for his use alone, his advancement was certain to leap forward.

The amplification effect was at least tenfold. Under normal circumstances, it would take ten years to break through to the late stage of Earth Immortal. Now, aided by the chaotic vein, a single year would suffice, perhaps even less.

Excitement!

Elation!

"At last, I've glimpsed a ray of hope. There's a chance to catch up to the elders, so I must seize every moment. Otherwise, later on, Red Cloud Daoist's foundation of the Great Dao will be beyond my reach." That foundation was precisely what Qingxu coveted most. There were methods to achieve sainthood, true, but without the foundation of the Great Dao, it was nothing but an illusion. Otherwise, why would Dijun, Taiyi, Kunpeng, and Minghe risk everything to seize it? Clearly, this was the crux.

Qingxu's cultivation was low, and he had yet to access the deepest secrets of the primordial world, but he possessed memories from his previous life. Through careful deduction from countless myths and legends, he gained much useful knowledge. All those like Dijun were exemplary quasi-saints, yet they were passionate about Red Cloud's foundation, which likely held the key to sainthood.

"After Red Cloud's demise, none of the saints of the heavens made a move to seize it. There must be some restriction barring them. So I cannot count on the Original Celestial Venerable; in the end, it all depends on myself. The urgent matter is to collect the chaotic spiritual vein—lest dreams fade in the night!" As Qingxu pondered, his body radiated a dim azure light. After a while, when the glow faded, he had transformed into a twelve-tiered pagoda. The pagoda's body was entirely azure, its brilliance subdued and flowing, myriad talismans visible. Each tier had four sides, each side a gate, each gate flanked by two auxiliary gates, totaling four main gates and eight auxiliary ones, perfectly aligned with the principles of the Four Images and Eight Trigrams.

The innate spiritual treasure, Qingxu Pagoda, was Qingxu's life-bound treasure, cultivated with his own fate, sharing life and death. To this day, it remained a low-grade innate treasure, yet its mysteries were unfathomable and its power immense. Not to mention anything else, but each tier alone could open up a small world. If twelve such small worlds could be fused into one, it would instantly evolve into a middle world. At that point, Qingxu would possess the power of a middle world—his every gesture capable of shaking the universe.

Ever since he achieved the Earth Immortal realm and gained the ability to open a mustard seed Sumeru space, he had used the first tier of the Qingxu Pagoda as the foundation to create a small world. It was not insignificant—about thirty thousand miles in diameter. Aside from what he previously stored, a vast area remained vacant, enough to accommodate a dozen chaotic veins.

One of the four main gates on the first tier suddenly swung open, and a force of devouring swept forth, acting directly upon the chaotic spiritual vein, gradually transferring it into the small world within the pagoda. The process was remarkably smooth, exceeding Qingxu’s expectations; his prepared contingencies were unnecessary.

The main reason was the cooperative nature of the chaotic vein, which was tied to Qingxu's current cultivation. Had he reached the Da Luo Golden Immortal stage, the difficulty would have increased a hundredfold.

Da Luo Golden Immortals' fate marks transcend the river of fate governed by the Heavenly Dao. Even the vast primordial world cannot constrain them; they are truly beyond calamity, immortal and everlasting, so long as they do not provoke those stronger than themselves or incur overwhelming karmic retribution. They can await the annihilation brought by the boundless calamity. Da Luo Golden Immortals control their fate marks, and thus are no longer part of the primordial world. So, moving a spiritual vein into their own small world would be a serious matter—it would amount to stealing the lifeblood of the primordial world, supplementing themselves, creating immense karma. The Heavenly Dao would never stand by idly.

Fortunately, Qingxu's cultivation was still shallow, and he remained part of the primordial world. Thus, transferring the chaotic vein into the small world within his pagoda was simply moving it from one place in the world to another, with no real change. The Heavenly Dao did not interfere. Of course, if Qingxu achieved the Da Luo Golden Immortal fruit and did not return the chaotic vein to the primordial world beforehand, the Heavenly Dao would surely trouble him.

The hundred-mile-long chaotic vein seemed small, but even as the Qingxu Pagoda devoured it relentlessly, progress was slow.

One day!

Two days!

Three days!

...

He lost track of time, but at last, the entire chaotic vein had been absorbed into the small world within the pagoda. With a chaotic vein, his small world now possessed a spark of vitality, though it was still unable to support living creatures—there was not a single law, let alone regulations. The gap between this and the real world was immense.

"The revolution has not yet succeeded; comrades must still strive!"

In his joy, Qingxu suddenly froze. He had discovered his Mystic Demon Sword. The sword lay beneath where the chaotic vein had been, and without the vein to obscure it, it was now plainly visible. What stunned him was not merely the sword, but what it had pierced.

A finger!

A half-severed, ash-colored beast claw, its sharp nail over a foot long, gleaming with a chilling metallic luster. Just a glance inspired fear deep within.

Nothing in heaven or earth could withstand the claw’s rending!

This was the only thought in Qingxu’s mind.

"Ash-colored? This is a remnant of chaos—a primordial devil. Even half a finger is terrifying. I never imagined I would ever witness the legendary finger of a chaotic primordial devil. But why is the Mystic Demon Sword connected to it? Or more precisely, why are the four ferocious beasts connected to it? It’s utterly baffling!"

Through his link with the Mystic Demon Sword, Qingxu realized the blade was currently absorbing chaotic energy from the primordial devil’s finger, channeling it into the three ferocious beasts within the sword. As the chaotic energy merged, the three beasts transformed dramatically, unifying into a bizarre ancient form—spikes bristling across their bodies, three fierce eyes, lacking ears and nose, a huge maw occupying most of their face, three rows of blade-like teeth above and below, a crimson tongue longer than a frog’s, tiger-wolf bodies, four eagle-clawed feet, and a steel whip tail lashing incessantly.

[Devouring King Beast: a mighty presence from the dawn of the primordial world, born of the devil soul of the primordial chaos devourer.]

"What? Devouring King Beast? Primordial Chaos Devourer?" Qingxu was utterly stunned.