Chapter 267: Transcendence in This Lifetime (Twenty-Three)

Su Chen was puzzled.
He saw neither Tian Mingzi nor sensed his aura; it was as if Tian Mingzi had vanished into thin air.
"Is that the 'Heart' of the Universe?"
Su Chen also arrived at the mysterious place.
He too saw the indescribable object.
Su Chen still intended to find Tian Mingzi to avoid being ambushed.
Unfortunately, there was no movement around him.
Su Chen broke through the barrier, revealing a destructive aura forming turbulent currents.
Su Chen didn't find Tian Mingzi, but he did find the Refining Heaven Gourd.
Su Chen opened the Refining Heaven Gourd and released Qin Wujie from within.
Qin Wujie's human form was indistinct; the Chaos Dao had dissolved. Perhaps if Su Chen had arrived a hundred years later, Qin Wujie would have been completely refined by the Refining Heaven Gourd, becoming a Chaos Pill, a super-nutritious tonic.
Qin Wujie still possessed an aura.
Tian Mingzi, however, had vanished.
"It seems Tianmingzi is dead."
Su Chen looked at the 'Heart' of the Universe, not in a hurry to refine it.
Su Chen put away the Refining Heaven Gourd. With his strength, suppressing it was effortless. As one of the nine innate treasures, it was extraordinary, capable of refining all things in the heavens and transforming them into cultivation.
Su Chen brought Qin Wujie back to the Imperial Court, giving him the Elixir of Immortality; perhaps he would recover.
Su Chen then summoned Di Chan and Chi Yao.
"Master...even you aren't confident?"
Di Chan, hearing Su Chen seemingly giving his last words, tugged at his sleeve, reluctant to let him leave.
Chi Yao remained silent, watching his imposing figure.
Su Chen finally departed, explaining everything and sealing Di Chan and Chi Yao.
Perhaps he would return.
Perhaps he would die.
But Su Chen believed he would definitely return!
The path to transcendence was within reach.
Su Chen would not give up.
Even though the road ahead was uncertain.
......
Su Chen discovered.
The fusion with the 'Heart' of the Universe was far smoother than he had imagined.
The 'Heart' of the Universe initially resisted, but Su Chen easily suppressed it.
Countless millennia passed.
Su Chen opened his eyes with a strange expression.
He... seemed to have grasped control of the entire universe in an instant.
He refined the 'Heart' of the Universe without hindrance.
Numerous memories surfaced in his mind.
These were memories of inheritance from beyond the world.
At this moment, he officially belonged to the Void Sea of ​​Time, possessing the qualifications to cultivate there and to advance to a higher realm.
Thirty-six Tribulations as the Sovereign, exchanging them for a sliver of hope for immortality.
Su Chen began to sort through the memories that had suddenly surfaced in his mind.
He seemed to come from a place called the Land of the End, a place imbued with the aura of a True Immortal, the most talented immortal spirit among them, cast into the Void Sea by two powerful beings from the Land of the End... a place where True Immortals perished.
The Void Sea was vast; Su Chen didn't know its exact size, as he had no inherited memories of it. He only knew that the universe here was as numerous as grains of sand, and his world was but an insignificant grain among them.
Here, an unparalleled powerhouse existed, whose Dao established the rules of cultivation for all beings here. To become a True Immortal, immortal for countless eons, eternally transcendent, one must cultivate step by step according to the rules set by that unparalleled powerhouse.
In the place where Su Chen was, the True Immortal of the Void Sea had perished, leaving a vacancy for a True Immortal position. This led countless powerful forces to intervene, pouring in countless geniuses...
The 'Heart' of the Universe is the proof of the Void Sea. Only by acquiring the 'Heart' of the Universe can one be considered to belong to the Void Sea and compete for the Immortal Path.
Refining the 'Heart' of the Universe is no easy task. According to the rules of the Void Sea, beings from its native universe face a 100% rejection rate when refining the 'Heart'. Each time a cosmic treasure is obtained, the rejection rate decreases. In Su Chen's universe, each of the nine innate treasures reduces the rejection rate by 10%.
However, the immortal realms outside have methods that allow them to refine the 'Heart' of the Universe without needing any treasures, directly halving the rejection rate.
This is why Zhao Wuhen, despite his talent after passing the seventh Emperor Tribulation, boasted of transcendence.
Su Chen's face darkened.
In his previous life, he attempted to unleash a 200% repulsion from the heavens and earth,
and was instantly killed by the backlash.
If he had possessed even one innate treasure, he would have transcended worldly limitations in his previous life. However, he only possessed three-quarters of the innate treasure, lacking even the qualification to sense the 'heart' of the universe.
In this life, possessing the identity of an immortal spirit from the outside world, along with the Time Wheel, the Heaven-Refining Gourd, and the Book of Death—three innate treasures—he easily refined the 'heart' of the universe. The unfortunate Tianmingzi, unaware of this, was not from the outside world but rather a creation of the Underworld over tens of millions of years. He believed that possessing one innate treasure was enough to refine the 'heart' of the universe.
As a result, he died a gruesome death, leaving no trace even for Su Chen.
Su Chen's aura reached its peak.
Even surpassing the Undying Underworld Emperor of the past.
Peak of the Three Tribulations Ruler!
All the beings in the entire Primordial Universe sensed a profound terror.
As if the heavens were enraged, about to unleash divine punishment.
Every move Su Chen made was a manifestation of destiny.
He was the consciousness of the universe, and the consciousness of the universe was him. This was the path of cultivation in the Void Sea of ​​Time. To become stronger, one needed to constantly devour other universes, transforming them into resources, and step by step overcome the thirty-six tribulations to reach the peak of the Sovereign realm, only then would one have a sliver of a chance to compete for the Immortal throne.
Just in this place where a True Immortal had fallen, how many universes were there? How many monstrous geniuses were there? How many immortal powerhouses had accumulated over billions of years?
However, Su Chen did not retreat.
His mind was now filled only with an unwavering will to seek the Dao. Knowing that the road ahead was infinite, he felt not disappointment, not discouragement, but excitement.
This time, Su Chen easily left the original universe, transcending heaven and earth.
Beyond the universe lies boundless chaos. Here, there is no heaven or earth; the concepts of time and space seem to vanish, utterly annihilated. It's as if all existence has been forcibly stripped of its foundation. Su Chen, a peak-stage Three Tribulations ruler who could easily destroy the original universe with a single thought, is now like a mud ox sinking into the sea, unable to stir even a ripple—an eternally suffocating experience.
Beside the original universe lies a world slightly smaller than it—the world of the Ten Absolute Martial Emperors.
Su Chen didn't continue exploring. He refined the world of the Ten Absolute Martial Emperors, merging it with the original universe… Countless millennia passed.
One day, beings in the original universe suddenly sensed something.
"Strange, why is my cultivation speed halved? Could I be a hidden genius who has finally awakened?"
"I broke through! Hahahaha! I've been stuck at the peak of Nirvana for a thousand years, and I've finally broken through! That damned old nemesis, I'll sweep away all obstacles!"
"What? Why did you also break through to the Saint Realm?"
"Quasi-Emperor! An old monster has broken through to Quasi-Emperor!"
"Quasi-Emperor is nothing, someone has become an Emperor!"
"Oh no, there's more than one who's become an Emperor... one, two, three, four, five..."
PS: Two updates today and tomorrow, and I'll continue cleaning up donations on the 25th.