Chapter 240: Chapter 229 First Place
"You... how can you... impossible, your life energy was clearly gone!"
The Red Owl Elephant was quite proud of its own perception, yet at this moment, it was staring at Wang Xu, eyes full of incredulity.
Moluo Yue’s expression was horrified: "That’s right, your life energy was completely extinguished, death was certain, how did you come back to life?"
Togu City’s body was shattered into pieces by two demons, now barely reformed, with a weary expression, lifeless, wanting to ask but too weak to speak.
Wang Xu remained silent, he waved his hand to take away the Space Ring of Demon Swamp Ming Xing, gave the three a deep look, then turned and left.
Strictly speaking, Moluo Yue and the other two were still considered his enemies.
Not even friends, Wang Xu naturally didn’t plan to say much to them, turned into a cyan light and departed.
Moluo Yue and the other two stared at Wang Xu’s departure, unable to figure out how he avoided the attacks of the two demons, bypassed everyone’s perception, and suddenly appeared behind Demon Swamp Ming Xing, killing him.
......
"Puh!" After flying for some time, no eyes watching, no sign of life around, Wang Xu finally couldn’t suppress a mouthful of blood, appearing weary.
This was the injury left by the attacks of the two demons, still difficult to heal.
As for how he fooled everyone and successfully killed Demon Swamp Ming Xing?
Just two words.
Formless Image.
"I’m sorry." Wang Xu, with blood in his mouth, showed a faint smile.
In the five hundred years inside the Sand Tower, Wang Xu had not given up on studying "Formless Sacred Image," especially after making progress in other areas, his understanding of the Formless Image became increasingly clear.
But truly condensing the Formless Image was always lacking, unable to succeed.
However, facing this desperate situation, Wang Xu attempted to condense the Formless Image, almost ending in failure like before, yet unexpectedly, the Mysterious Flame within him moved.
The arrival of the Mysterious Flame resolved all of Wang Xu’s problems at once, successfully condensing a Formless Image identical to himself!
Perhaps because of Wang Xu’s low realm, the Formless Image’s realm was the same as Wang Xu’s, it became a small successful creation.
Thus, Wang Xu’s plan began.
The Formless Image, unlike a clone, possessed its own soul, intelligence, ways of acting, but one thing remained unchanged—loyalty.
Just like the failure Formless Image of the Immortal Saint Venerable, guarding the Land of Inheritance for countless ages, enduring loneliness and coldness, yet still unwavering in its duty.
Wang Xu’s Formless Image was the same.
When falling into the bottom of the abyss, Wang Xu gave it a command: replace him.
This command the Formless Image unwaveringly followed, while Wang Xu seized the moment to fully conceal his breath and infiltrate underground unnoticed.
As long as Wang Xu remained still, not emitting the slightest of breath, even a Demigod Chaos Realm couldn’t discover his whereabouts. Sand Tower for five hundred years, Wang Xu made full use of this time.
The Formless Image had no Four Great Endless, nothing, under the insane attacks of the two demons, its life energy extinguished, completely dead. Wang Xu’s heart trembled, but he endured, waiting for the most opportune moment.
The Formless Image was not a clone, it was a true lifeform created by Wang Xu, acknowledged by the Cosmic Law.
To witness its death was like a knife twisting in Wang Xu’s heart, silently mouthing apologies, yet there was nothing he could do. In the current situation, only the sacrifice of the Formless Image could turn the tide of battle.
Demon Swamp Ming Xing was too powerful, two demons at the Immortal Chaos Realm enough to sweep everything.
Wang Xu had to wait.
Once the Formless Image was killed, Demon Swamp Ming Xing turned his attention to Moluo Yue and the others. Wang Xu bore it, hatred in his eyes, and when the time was truly right, he charged out, unleashing all his fury onto Demon Swamp Ming Xing.
Demon Swamp Ming Xing didn’t even have time to react, didn’t even know who killed him, just vanished permanently from the cosmos.
"Silent!" The disturbance within had twisted Wang Xu’s mindset, he immediately closed his eyes, gradually restoring calmness to his heart.
......
The battle was brutal, almost all remaining Cosmic Martial Artists in the Thousandfold Divine Country perished in Wang Xu’s clone’s self-destruction.
That very day, Moluo Yue and the other two tore apart the complete map and left the Thousandfold Divine Country, leaving the boundless land silent and desolate.
The remaining Cosmic Martial Artists considered themselves lucky.
Cosmic Martial Artists’ deaths wouldn’t take away the map fragments, these map fragments appeared randomly across the Thousandfold Divine Country.
Sometimes, a place might have hundreds, thousands of scattered map fragments, easily obtainable by passing Cosmic Martial Artists.
Moreover, a complete map might even land on their heads, gleaming golden, pieced together perfectly by someone else but not used in time, their fortune instead.
......
Wang Xu flew through the sky thousands of meters up, feeling the desolate aura, searching for a suitable place for cultivation.
Since the first complete map appeared, only over seventy years had passed, with more than twenty years left until the end of the eligibility battle.
"Twenty years, in the Sand Tower it’s over a thousand years, can’t be wasted," Wang Xu thought to himself.
The Thousandfold Divine Country is merely the first stop in the qualification battle, and its cruel level has already exceeded expectations. What awaits Wang Xu afterward are likely even more brutal trials.
Therefore, in order to go further, Wang Xu must seize the time to enhance his strength.
After the Thousandfold Divine Country became quieter, it was much easier for Wang Xu to find a quiet place. He retracted his aura completely, and a small earthen-colored Copper Tower appeared in his hand.
The surrounding scene suddenly changed, and Wang Xu had already entered the world of the Sand Tower.
"Fifty times acceleration is not enough. I need more time." Wang Xu attempted to increase the flow of time. Due to the elevation of his realm, the Cosmic Energy within Wang Xu was ample. It took about two days before he finally fixed the flow of time.
"Sixty times, this speed is the maximum I can endure. If it were any faster, the energy absorption wouldn’t keep up, and my cultivation would be interrupted."
Sixty times, twenty years, in other words, that’s twelve hundred years within the Sand Tower.
The scene before Wang Xu’s eyes shifted, and the sound of bleak wailing immediately rang out. Wang Xu’s heart sank at once, entering the illusion world of his mind.
"Begin cultivation!"
...
Outside the Thousandfold Divine Country, in front of the iron giant gate.
There were only a few Sovereigns left gathered here, yet the figure of the Tai Long Sovereign had never changed, staying in the same place, as did Princess Bing Qing and the others.
"Father, how is Wang Xu’s ranking now?" Princess Bing Qing asked twenty-four times a day, almost once every hour, focusing on Wang Xu’s ranking changes had become her greatest delight over the years.
The Tai Long Sovereign shook his head, indicating that Wang Xu’s ranking had not changed.
Not only the Tai Long Sovereign and others, but the Sovereigns of other Cosmic Countries were also observing the changes in Wang Xu’s ranking.
"Huh?" Suddenly, a Cosmic Monarch exclaimed.
Princess Bing Qing’s heart tightened, quickly asking, "Father, what’s wrong, has there been a change?"
The Tai Long Sovereign cast his gaze and slowly exhaled, "It’s fine, just now there was a sudden drop of more than six thousand names on the ranking, but fortunately, Wang Xu’s name hasn’t changed."
Princess Bing Qing was surprised to hear this. Having stayed here for decades, she understood what the names on the iron giant gate represented.
The simultaneous disappearance of over six thousand names obviously indicated a grand war happened within the Thousandfold Divine Country, and more than six thousand Cosmic Martial Artists had perished in this war.
"As long as Wang Xu is fine." Princess Bing Qing’s heart tightened slightly with worry for Wang Xu, praying that he wouldn’t get caught up in these terrifying wars.
"Princess Bing Qing, rest assured, with Brother Wang’s strength to achieve such a high ranking, he definitely wouldn’t fall easily," Su Long comforted.
They could hardly imagine that these missing over six thousand names were all wiped out by Wang Xu himself!
A moment later.
"They... they’ve all left?" As the characters on the iron giant gate shifted, the Tai Long Sovereign immediately noticed, "The Demon Swamp Ming Xing... even perished!"
The name of Moluo Yue, who was ranked first, dimmed but did not disappear, and all the map fragments were still there.
This indicates that he had already torn apart the complete map and left the Thousandfold Divine Country.
Meanwhile, the second-ranked Demon Swamp Ming Xing had his name directly erased, vanished completely, clearly indicating that the Demon Swamp Ming Xing had died within the Thousandfold Divine Country.
"Ah!!!!!!!!!!" A roar mixed with terrifying momentum spread out. The earth seemed about to collapse, and the entire void trembled.
"Demon Swamp Sovereign!" A loud voice came through, as a silver-white figure pressed down with a palm, forcibly suppressing the momentum that the almost berserk Demon Swamp Sovereign emanated.
"My child... my child!" The Demon Swamp Sovereign let out a heart-wrenching cry, and ultimately turned to leave begrudgingly.
Once a name is erased, it signifies the death of a character within the Thousandfold Divine Country, and even if the Cosmic Country to which they belong could do nothing, besides to prevent the escalation into war between Cosmic Countries, this rule was intentionally set by the three great forces, holding individuals accountable for life and death independently, with no recourse—upon entering the Thousandfold Divine Country, one must unconditionally accept life or death.
In other words, with the death of Demon Swamp Ming Xing, the Demon Swamp Cosmic Country couldn’t seek revenge, as they didn’t even know who the enemy was, destined to silently accept the fact of Demon Swamp Ming Xing’s death.
Such occurrences were common; Princess Bing Qing, having stayed here for decades, had heard countless cries of pain and wailing. Even the mighty Cosmic Monarchs found it difficult to restrain their emotions, crying out in anguish upon learning of their child’s death.
Yet no one caused trouble, no one had regrets, as they had all mentally prepared themselves before coming. The qualification battle was this cruel.
"Wang Xu’s ranking has risen, the second... he’s actually the second!" The Tai Long Sovereign swept his gaze again, visibly moved, his tone trembled.
Out of the thirty million talents from various countries, being ranked second, what an honor!
Among millions of Great Cosmic Countries, Tai Long was unremarkable, one of the unknowns, yet unexpectedly this time, such an extraordinary talent emerged!
"Congratulations, Tai Long Sovereign!"
"Congratulations, congratulations, long have I heard of Tai Long’s fame, to witness it today, truly impressive."
"With such a talent emerging, Tai Long’s prosperous days are not far ahead. Cheers!"
"..."
When seeing Wang Xu’s ranking rise to second, numerous Cosmic Monarchs came to celebrate, including even the Sovereigns of the Ten Extremes Great Country, who were stronger than the Tai Long Sovereign by a tier, yet also came to extend their congratulations.
Moreover, everyone knew that Wang Xu seemed to be second, but Moluo Yue, ranked first, had already left, meaning that Wang Xu was now truly first in rank!
Ranked first among thirty million talents across nations, what kind of potential, what kind of strength, the future achievements are unlikely to be less than the three silhouettes in the sky!
The Tai Long Sovereign’s face couldn’t hide his joyous smile, an unprecedented sense of joy and delight in his heart. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to come to Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on .)