Chapter 473 - 417: Divine Dao Clash

Two potent streams of the Power of Rules clashed violently within his body, causing his Dharma Aspect to flicker erratically as he roared in agony.

Had the Lord of Cold Province been at full strength, Qi Yun would have found it impossible to instantly capture a fellow State Monarch using only "Hurry Up, as the Law Commands."

But the Lord of Cold Province was suffering from the backlash of their Wish Power clash. His Heart and Spirit were shaken, his Divine Power was in disarray—this was his moment of greatest weakness!

"Daluo Daoist Sound, cleanse this Divine Soul, and bring it to my Righteous Dao!"

Seizing the opportunity, Qi Yun once again chanted the core True Words of the Daluo Daoist Sound.

This time, the Daluo Daoist Sound did not diffuse. Instead, it transformed into a beam of soul-cleansing divine light—as clear as a spring stream, aimed directly at the core of his being.

Guided by the pull of the "Hurry Up, as the Law Commands" Divine Rope, it poured directly into the depths of the Lord of Cold Province’s violently struggling Divine Soul!

This soul-cleansing divine light contained the supreme, wondrous power of the Daluo Daoist Sound to induce conversion and pacify the Heart and Spirit. Moreover, it bore the brand of Qi Yun’s own "Dominion" Dao Rhyme.

"NO—!"

The Lord of Cold Province let out a furious, unwilling roar, but his will to resist finally shattered under a threefold assault: the suppression of pure Wish Power, the binding of the Divine Rope, and the scouring of the soul-cleansing divine light.

His ferocious, three-headed, six-armed Dharma Aspect rapidly shrank and dimmed, finally transforming into a palm-sized, ice-blue divine figure wrapped in layers of crimson-gold chains, which then fell into Qi Yun’s hand.

Inside the statue, the Divine Soul of the Lord of Cold Province had been branded by "Hurry Up, as the Law Commands" and forced into a deep slumber. His Divine Position Talisman was also temporarily under a Seal.

The Lord of Cold Province, suppressed!

With the Lord of Cold Province suppressed, his connection to the Heaven and Earth of Cold Province was forcibly severed.

The tide of frigid, blood-red clouds that had enveloped the skies of Cold Province rapidly dissipated.

Across the entirety of Cold Province, the countless mountain and river spirits, city gods, and various divine officials belonging to the Lord of Cold Province’s Divine Dao System suddenly lost the command and Divine Power support of their supreme ruler. Their Divine Positions grew unstable, and they descended into panic and chaos.

Meanwhile, Qi Yun, the vanquisher, sent his Divine Thought and the Incense and Wish Power of Yongzhou surging like a tide across the border, spreading and seeping into the now-masterless territory of Cold Province.

Without its State Monarch to direct it or offer resistance, Cold Province’s own vast reserves of Incense and Wish Power—now scattered and disordered—began to passively and irreversibly converge upon Qi Yun.

The incense of the two provinces began its slow, steady confluence!

As the vast Wish Power from the countless beings of two provinces attempted to converge and fuse within Qi Yun’s Divine Soul and Divine Position Talisman—

HUMMM!

A "gaze"—heavier, more focused, and more laden with scrutiny and warning than ever before—suddenly descended from the unseen heavens, locking firmly onto Qi Yun!

This gaze belonged to the Heavenly Will of the Spirit Yong Great Realm!

The pressure from this gaze far surpassed anything he had felt before. It was as if the weight of the entire world had tilted to press down upon his shoulders, causing his Divine Body to sink slightly and the surrounding void to groan under the strain.

A chill ran through Qi Yun, and he instantly went on guard.

However, while the gaze of the Heavenly Will was incredibly heavy, filled with scrutiny and an indifferent majesty, it was merely "watching."

It "watched" the Divine Soul Statue containing the suppressed Lord of Cold Province. It "watched" the incense from the two provinces slowly merging under Qi Yun’s guidance...

No thunderbolts fell. No backlash from the Power of Rules. No shackles of Divine Power.

The Heavenly Will seemed to be assessing, weighing its options.

Within the gaze, beyond the warning, there seemed to be a hidden trace of... deliberation.

After a moment, the gaze, as heavy as the heavens themselves, slowly receded just as it had appeared, vanishing without a trace.

The pressure vanished. It was as if the suffocating moment had been nothing but an illusion.

But Qi Yun knew it was no illusion.

The Heavenly Will had taken notice, but it had not acted.

’As I thought...’

Qi Yun stood in the void, holding the Divine Soul Statue that sealed the Lord of Cold Province. He could feel the Power of Incense from both provinces continuing to slowly grow and merge within him. A flash of sharp understanding lit up his eyes.

’This realm’s Heavenly Will is not some inflexible, dead thing.

’A rigid Divine Dao, one that wastes its strength on infighting, is likely not what it desires.

’If a stronger, more efficient being integrates the Divine Dao and gathers the incense—so long as they don’t subvert its fundamental rules or act to defy the heavens and the Dao...

’...then it would... welcome it?

’Or perhaps, it’s waiting—waiting for a being to emerge who can truly ’unify’ this realm’s incense and meet a certain ’standard’ it requires?’

As he came to this realization, the faint, detached smile on Qi Yun’s lips gradually turned predatory.

’Since the Heavenly Will poses no obstacle and the path forward is clear, why hesitate?’

He slowly raised his other hand, his gaze seeming to pierce the boundless void and settle upon the seven remaining provinces of the Spirit Yong Great Realm.

’The incense of two provinces is merely a start.’

Qi Yun’s fingers curled slightly, as if grasping the intangible map of the Nine Provinces in his hand.

’Unite the Nine Provinces, and the world... will be mine!’

...