Soul Emperor

The fourth trial of the Emperor's Path—the Endless Abyss!

This was a boundless chasm, pitch-black like a black hole, resembling the maw of an abyss eager to devour all. Black mist swirled endlessly, perpetually shrouded in howling sandstorms.

Unlike the gentler trials before it, the Endless Abyss offered only ceaseless battle. One had to fight to the end, fight to madness, and ascend to the pinnacle of their power to pass through.

And the opponents? They were the defeated of all eras who had once walked the Emperor's Path...

Gu Qingfeng stepped into the Endless Abyss alone, his figure swiftly swallowed by the black sandstorm.

This was Soul-Devouring Black Sand—each grain capable of piercing through a Heavenly Venerate. Gathered into a raging storm, it meant certain death for anyone below the Quasi-Emperor realm.

Even Quasi-Emperors would suffer greatly if they lingered too long within it.

But Gu Qingfeng was an exception.

With a thunderous surge, his Chaos Physique erupted. Three thousand strands of Chaos Qi cascaded down, each carrying the aura of annihilation, illuminating the void as they enveloped him.

The black sand recoiled from the Chaos Qi as if facing a natural predator, scattering in retreat.

Gu Qingfeng began strolling through the abyss, his steps leisurely, like an ordinary man on a walk. Yet with each stride, he traversed hundreds of miles, his speed astonishing—akin to the legendary art of shrinking the earth to cross vast distances.

Before long, he encountered his first opponent. From the swirling black sand emerged the figure of a female Quasi-Emperor.

Her features were exquisite, her hair dancing in the wind. Clad in a black dress, she radiated an overwhelming divine majesty, like an immortal descended from the heavens.

Suddenly, she raised her sword—a golden blade—and pointed it at Gu Qingfeng. Her lifeless eyes blazed with battle intent, her demeanor transforming from celestial grace to that of a war goddess, as if she sought to defy the heavens themselves.

"So, these are the projections of past failures? Not bad in appearance... but a pity they're just shadows," Gu Qingfeng remarked with slight disappointment.

The Endless Abyss was filled with the projections of all who had failed the Emperor's Path throughout the ages. And in its deeper reaches, there were even projections of past Heavenly Emperors!

Every Heavenly Emperor had emerged victorious from the Emperor's Path, so their shadows remained here—albeit weakened, possessing only a fraction of their true power.

Otherwise, with multiple Heavenly Emperors blocking the way, who but Gu Qingfeng could hope to pass?

Swish!

The woman thrust her golden sword forward, its blade erupting with countless golden rays, divine light piercing through the void.

Facing this peerless strike, Gu Qingfeng stood like a demonic god, arms crossed, his gaze disdainful. "Since you can't serve this Emperor, you'll have to be destroyed."

As he spoke, the evil thoughts of all living beings erupted from him. Endless black mist surged forth, coalescing in a thousandth of a breath into seven colossal black serpents, each ten thousand zhang long.

One of the serpents opened its maw—a gaping void like a black hole—and swallowed the woman whole, golden sword and all.

Gu Qingfeng continued onward.

Soon, another Quasi-Emperor projection emerged from the black sand.

This time, it was a towering, bare-chested man over three meters tall, his muscles bulging and gleaming under the dim light.

Smack!

Before the bald giant could act, Gu Qingfeng slapped him to death on the spot, citing "ruining the city's aesthetic" as the reason.

One after another, he encountered more Quasi-Emperor projections—some alone, others in groups—but all met the same fate: a single slap.

Even Heavenly Emperor projections appeared, though they fared no better. After all, they were mere shadows, not the real deal.

Smack!

Gu Qingfeng raised his hand for another slap, but this time, he paused mid-motion.

Beneath his palm stood a man—a figure shrouded in a black robe, wearing a bone-white mask. Surging with demonic energy, he wielded a staff of wailing souls and wore chains of the underworld around his waist. Clearly, no upstanding citizen.

Gu Qingfeng hastily withdrew his hand. "Almost killed a fellow disciple by mistake."

The robed man had no will or fear. Unfazed by Gu Qingfeng's hesitation, he attacked relentlessly, his soul-staff striking with ghostly wails.

Ding!

Host attacked by Soul Heavenly Emperor (Projection).

Ghost Dao Laws +100,000 +100,000 +100,000...

"Heh heh heh... Definitely one of my own!"

Gu Qingfeng was thrilled. As the saying went, "What joy to have kin come from afar!" or "All under heaven are kin!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Soul Heavenly Emperor hammered away tirelessly, as if determined to shatter Gu Qingfeng with his staff.

Thanks to his relentless efforts, Gu Qingfeng could feel his demonic path growing sharper.

"To think my demonic path still has room to improve!"

At first, he was surprised, but then he realized: while his demonic path encompassed all the heresies of this era, it didn't include those from the vast history of the Cangming Realm.

Countless demonic prodigies had risen and fallen over the ages, their legacies lost to time—after all, heresy was universally condemned.

The Soul Heavenly Emperor was a Heavenly Emperor from the ancient era, his lineage long extinct. Thus, his path was absent from Gu Qingfeng's collection.

This revelation excited him further. The Endless Abyss was, in essence, the greatest library of the Cangming Realm's Dao.

Here lay the paths of countless Quasi-Emperors and Heavenly Emperors throughout history. Though mere projections, their strength didn't matter—Gu Qingfeng only needed their Dao to refine his own demonic path.

His new mission was clear: seek out all the heretical Quasi-Emperors and Heavenly Emperors within the abyss. No—better to call them "kin." "Heavenly Emperor" sounded too distant.

The Soul Heavenly Emperor's projection kept attacking, but soon, Gu Qingfeng fully integrated the Ghost Dao into his demonic path.

With his value exhausted, Gu Qingfeng sighed at the devoted "kin" before him.

"A Heavenly Emperor reduced to a mere tool in this abyss... Allow this Emperor to free you."

He raised his hand to obliterate the projection—

But then, a shout rang out: "Hold your strike!"

Gu Qingfeng frowned and turned. To his surprise, another black-robed figure approached—wielding a soul-staff, wrapped in underworld chains, and radiating demonic energy.

"Another kin?!"

"Fellow Daoist Abandoned Heavenly Emperor, spare him—he is my projection."

Hearing this and sensing the ominous aura, Gu Qingfeng instantly understood: this was the true Soul Heavenly Emperor—or rather, one of the forbidden Emperor Corpses.

Though he had sent these corpses into the Emperor's Path himself, he hadn't seen all their faces. Most were veiled in blinding divine light, obscuring their forms.

Of course, the main reason was that he couldn't be bothered to look—with several hundred people, mostly grown men, there wasn't much worth seeing anyway.