Chapter 381.1: Qi Yuan, Ill Wait for You Beyond Principle

Chapter 381.1: Qi Yuan, I'll Wait for You Beyond Principle

Dong Jun stared in disbelief. He could not understand why Qi Yuan would sever his arm.

"How could you be so heartless, A Qiao?!" Dong Jun was grief-stricken as a tear rolled down his cheek[1]. He felt that the power of his Saint Light Eyes had not yet been fully unleashed. "Is it because I wasn’t good enough?! Is that why?!"

He seemed on the verge of tears, resembling Daiyu from Dream of the Red Chamber.[2]

Qi Yuan was gobsmacked. "Brother, please spare me. Let me come clean. I didn't believe a single word you said. Look at the length of my nose. Please, stop talking. My nose is getting too long!"

He felt like a child trapped in an elevator, forced to watch a burly man beside him suffer from relentless diarrhea, pleading "Uncle, please stop. I'm scared." That was exactly how powerless Qi Yuan felt.

The boss's imposing aura had been completely ruined. Look at the bosses from other games. Which one didn't have their own unique characteristics? The old men from Moonwatch Continent never bathed. The demoness from the Flowing Wind World. The Yang Spirit father and daughter from the Mortal Heart World. However, this game's boss turned out to be nothing more than a thoroughly repulsive manipulator.

Dong Jun's expression finally changed for real. He gave Qi Yuan a strange look. "Could it be that my words didn't move you? Did my story fail to touch your heart?"

In every task of the Mountain-Sea Scroll, every story, Dong Jun had woven numerous underlying themes into Qi Yuan's experience. Filial piety, sacrificing loved ones to save the world, the conflict between loyalty and righteousness—all of these were fragments of the Martial God of Ten Thousand Paths.

Qi Yuan said bluntly, "What story? Don't you know that when I play games, I always skip the dialogues? Kill, kill, kill, get loot, level up. That's all that matters!"

That was how he handled quests in the Mountain-Sea Scroll as well. Touching backstories? The deeper meanings behind quests? Bullshit.

Every time, he would immediately kidnap the quest objective and go kill demons to strengthen himself. Only after slaughtering the monsters to his heart's content would he spend the evening with the quest target, watching dramas, scrolling through short videos, and having an emotional breakdown.

Dong Jun's expression shifted again. "You are clearly only at the Heavenly Position. Why do you not believe my words?"

The Saint Light Clan's Origin Divine Technique was absolute. It was precisely because of this that the clan had dominated countless worlds, even as it was universally despised and regarded as a nest of poisonous scorpions. And now, he had encountered someone of lower cultivation who simply ignored his words.

Disbelief surged in Dong Jun’s eyes. "Our clan’s Origin Divine Techniques hailed from our ancestor! They can never fail!"

In fact, this particular divine technique came from a mighty ancestor. Though his precise realm was unknown, his Origin Divine Technique was even more terrifying than the Major Principle realm. Across every heaven and universe known to the ancestor, it had remained infallible.

Qi Yuan was clearly only at Heavenly Position, which was even lower than Dong Jun. How could his divine technique fail?

Dong Jun couldn't help but ask, "Does one plus one equal three?"

Qi Yuan simply slashed at Dong Jun’s right arm. "Did you fail compulsory education?"

Dong Jun immediately retreated, confusion evident in his eyes. "Who exactly are you? Why are you immune to my Origin Divine Technique?"

"I am..." A smile appeared in Qi Yuan's eyes as the Great Forgetfulness Sutra activated. "...Your father! But I don't have a son as disgusting as you!"

Qi Yuan had never discriminated against sexual orientation, but if someone tried to disgust him like this, he simply couldn't tolerate it.

A trace of hesitation appeared in Dong Jun's eyes. "Father?"

If it was his father, then everything made sense. As fellow members of the Saint Light Clan, of course Qi Yuan wouldn't be affected.

However, the confusion only lasted for an instant. Dong Jun quickly recovered and stared at Qi Yuan in astonishment. "That’s quite a remarkable technique. It has the potential to ascend to the Principle realm. I shall give you an opportunity. Follow me.

"I, Sheng Kongming, am a once-in-a-million-years genius of the Saint Light Clan. I am about to step into the second realm of Yang Spirit, the Principle realm. Once I succeed, I shall roam freely through all heavens and worlds. No one will be able to stop me. If you follow me, you may share in the Great Dao!"

He had changed his strategy. Since Qi Yuan was immune to his divine technique, he likely possessed some strange and rare bloodline. It was certainly inferior to the Saint Light Clan's, but still exceptionally uncommon.

Qi Yuan's eyes lit up. "You've finally started acting like an actual villain and spouting some villainous lines! You scared me to death!"

He sighed in relief. He wasn't afraid of overpowered villains, but of villains behaving out of character.

Dong Jun wasn't surprised by Qi Yuan's reaction. He said softly, "Your world’s trajectory has already reached its end. However, your talent is exceptional, unrivaled within this world. To be born in such a world is your misfortune. This world has imprisoned you.

"For the rest of your life, there will be no path forward. If you follow me, I may even grant you a drop of my bloodline. Combined with the Saint Light Clan's blood and my personal guidance, you may one day escape this cage."

Dong Jun had developed an appreciation for talent. If he could recruit Qi Yuan, the benefits would be immense. Not only would he gain a powerful subordinate, but by analyzing Qi Yuan's bloodline and uncovering why he was resistant to the Saint Light Words, he could also seize control of his own clan. That way, he could even unify the Saint Light Clan and become second only to the ancestor.

Qi Yuan asked calmly, "If your blood is truly that powerful, why shouldn't I just take it for myself?"

Divine radiance surged across Dong Jun's tattered white robes. "It seems you do not understand the terror of the Saint Light Clan, nor the gap between us."

He was only a single step away from the Principle realm, whereas Qi Yuan was merely in the Heavenly Position realm. The fight was bound to end in his victory.

Qi Yuan asked calmly, "Hmm... Are you done revealing the important information? If so, it's time to discuss a serious matter. Your clan has plagiarized my Divine Radiance Sect! Therefore, on behalf of my sect, I hereby execute you for plagiarism!"

The reason he hadn't attacked immediately was simple. Though he couldn't care less about the plot during the early stages, the major bosses held crucial information. For example, Dong Jun claimed that the world's path had been severed and that the world itself was a cage.

Mhm, yes. Where have I seen this setting before? Well, it’s understandable.

It was just like how a tailor couldn't build an aircraft carrier. Now that the setting explanations were complete, it was time for slaughter.

"It appears that you truly don't underst—"

"Enough nonsense, you plagiarizing bastard! Die!"

Powerful martial blood energy swept across the battlefield. The entire region trembled. The Martial God of Ten Thousand Paths Domain unified all dao within this world. Qi Yuan’s punch represented the fusion of all dao from the Origin Land, Land of Death, and every world within the Mountain-Sea Scroll. Such was his dao. His supreme strike, which embodied the Great Dao’s laws, was enough to shatter worlds.

Dong Jun extended a hand, his form merging with heaven and earth. "In the Yang Spirit realm, every minor realm is separated by heaven and earth. I have already glimpsed the Principle realm. You cannot harm me!"

Qi Yuan's devastating strike missed, but he simply attacked again. This time, he abandoned the power of the Martial God of Ten Thousand Paths and used immortal cultivation instead, which was even stronger.

"I once witnessed you devour the sun and stand at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Position realm. Yet without reaching the Principle realm, you’re nothing!"

Of course, Dong Jun omitted certain details. If Qi Yuan summoned all four thousand Nascent Souls to surround him, he would eventually be overwhelmed. But Dong Jun was not worried about getting outnumbered at all. With merely a few words, all of Qi Yuan's Nascent Souls would become his allies.

He said confidently, "You cannot defeat me on your own! Go on, summon them all and gang up on me!"

He stood undefeated. Whether or not Qi Yuan summoned reinforcements, it would still end in his victory. The two attacks collided violently.

Dong Jun merely stumbled. Even against Major Principle Realm experts, he was confident he could wear them down and destroy them, let alone a weakling like Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan stared at him calmly. "It seems I truly have to use my ultimate move. As expected of a boss. Hard to kill without using an ultimate technique."

Dong Jun asked eagerly, "What other methods do you possess? Those helpers? Would they dare appear?"

Qi Yuan's expression grew solemn. "They need not emerge. They have always been part of me."

For some reason, a sense of foreboding surfaced in Dong Jun's heart. He tried reassuring himself that defeat was impossible. Yet in the next moment, his eyes widened.

Mysterious energies flowed behind Qi Yuan, reminiscent of chaos, Primordial Qi, and the immortal Violet Qi. That singular qi was nameless, formless, and soundless. It could neither be perceived nor comprehended. The mysterious qi transformed into three indescribable, unobservable, inconceivable existences.

Dong Jun gritted his teeth. "T-this aura is far more terrifying than the ancestor’s!"

For the first time, he felt panic and fear. He regarded the ancestor as the mightiest existence in all creation. Yet, each of the beings behind Qi Yuan was more mysterious and unfathomable than even the ancestor.

Qi Yuan declared, "One qi transforms into Three Pure Ones. The Three Pure Ones become me!"

The Three Pure Ones behind him also spoke in unison. "One qi transforms into Three Pure Ones. The Three Pure Ones become you!"

Was the gap in realms truly insurmountable? Were all forms of power meaningless? Wrong. Power only appeared meaningless because it was insufficient. One force could overcome ten techniques.

If a single punch could shatter galaxies, destroy universes, pierce the known, erase the unknown, slay the unknowable, dominate all existence, crush even the void itself, then what did higher realms matter?

So what if the power of one Yang Spirit was not enough? What about a thousand? Three thousand? Or four thousand? He never had to manifest all of his Nascent Souls physically because they had always been him. All he did was use his own power.

1. ***E/N: Only a SINGLE tear?! xD ☜

2. Lin Daiyu is one of the principal characters of Cao Xueqin's classic 18th-century Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. She is portrayed as a well-educated, intelligent, witty and beautiful young woman of physical frailness who is somewhat prone to occasional melancholy. ☜