My cards can be infinitely combined.

Chapter 623 Beyond the Stars (The End)

The Heaven-Cutting Sword possesses the power to cut down the heavens.

The word "裁" means to adjudicate or decide, and "裁天" means to override or decide the way of Heaven.

Therefore, the Heaven-Cutting Sword can be used as a weapon for powerful beings who have reached the Heavenly Realm. Under its blade, even the Heavenly Dao is like a mortal, and a thousand-level expert can be easily killed.

These weapons are difficult to forge and are rare in the starry sky. Once forged, they will belong to someone and will not easily change hands.

However, Zhou Nan, with his unique card-based divinity, transformed the Heavenly Sword into a card and used it for his own purposes, which is equivalent to directly changing its setting, a method never before seen in the starry universe.

In terms of combat power, the Heavenly Sword card is Zhou Nan's strongest card right now, stronger than all seven Nailhead Seven Arrows cards combined, and even stronger than the Heavenly Coffin Black Card.

After using the Divine Thought Perpetual Motion Card transformed from the severed arm of the Deep Space Prince, Zhou Nan's strength increased once again, reaching the 71st Step to Heaven Realm. He also learned a great deal of information about Deep Space and the Deep Space Empire.

The Prince of Deep Space is the future of Deep Space, and also the evil of Deep Space. He is a unique life form. Although he takes on a human form, he is not made of flesh and blood and has no human emotions or desires. Killing is his instinct and he is one of the root causes of the many evils in Deep Space. If he does not die, the evils of the Deep Space world will not end.

Zhou Nan could predict that the Deep Space Prince needed to recuperate and would definitely head to the Deep Space Temple.

The Deep Space Temple is only accessible to those who have reached the Heavenly Realm, so killing the Deep Space Prince is no easy task. If one cannot achieve the Inconceivable Realm oneself, and other powerful individuals cannot reach the Heavenly Realm, then the hope is slim.

In addition, it seems that there is another powerful figure from the Deep Space Empire in the Deep Space Temple, namely the Deep Space Emperor. His specific strength is unknown, but he is definitely a Sky-Treading expert, and his strength may even be above that of the Deep Space Prince.

Therefore, heading to the Deep Space Temple is fraught with uncertainty. If the Deep Space Emperor is still alive and joins forces with the Deep Space Prince, he and the other lords of the Dragon Slayer Empire may perish.

Zhou Nan shared the information and concerns he had gathered with the Venerables, including Taiyi and Haotianjun, but they all laughed and remained calm.

【Taiyi】smiled and said, "Emperor Card, do not worry. You should know that Li Hanqiang's true form has already traversed this Deep Space. Although his level is only 1200, which may not be stronger than the current Deep Space Prince, his presence here means that his alt account has been here. Since his alt account has been here, it will not leave behind any threat that could threaten the foundation of the empire!"

Zhou Nan frowned. He had always been quite curious about that "alt account," and now he couldn't help but ask, "Just what exactly is this 'alt account'?"

[Taiyi] said, "The alternate account is the game account created by Li Hanqiang. Its appearance is a miracle, reversing 40,000 years of time, causing the game's main brain to calculate forward by 40,000 years, thus deducing everything, teaching the game's main brain to transform, and allowing us to become true life forms. In short, the alternate account is the origin of everything, the true cornerstone of my Dragon Slaying Empire. When Li Hanqiang was still a weakling, it was already a level 1,600 existence. Now, I don't know what level it has reached, perhaps, level 2,000..."

"Level 2000!"

Zhou Nan was shocked. Level 1000 was the highest level of divinity and the strongest immortal spirit. Beyond level 1000 was the level of stepping into the heavens. It was difficult to go from level 999 to level 1000, and even more difficult to go from level 1000 to level 1001. The inconceivable realm he could see was only level 1001. He really couldn't imagine what level 2000 was like.

"No wonder you venerable ones are so fearless; it turns out you have powerful backers behind you."

Zhou Nan smiled and felt relieved. He then took over the gold and silver counter and led the group to continue forward.

Three days later, Zhou Nan piloted the Golden Silver Platform to the fifth level of deep space.

The fifth layer of deep space is the world of "Ruins," where more than 30 million Ruins live and multiply.

The creatures called Void can be both a menace and a benevolent force. They are creatures of order, and those below level 700 who approach them become slaves to the Void, losing their self-awareness. The strong, however, can refine the Void into a spacetime portal for convenience.

Zhou Nan and the other powerful figures did not engage in any killing here. After staying for half a day, they headed to the sixth level of deep space.

The sixth layer of deep space can be called a seal, which can greatly isolate the transmission of matter, energy, spiritual thoughts, and even data.

Maintaining this sixth layer of deep space are three spiritual beings: Tianyuan, Wangbao, and Heilu.

To Zhou Nan's surprise, among the thousand-level experts in his group was an ancient spirit, a thousand-level spiritual being. He was able to communicate with Tian Yuan, Wang Bao, and Hei Lv, suggesting that he was superior to the latter three.

Three days later, Tianyuan, Wangbao, and the Black Brigade were persuaded to join the Dragon Slayer Empire. This sixth layer of deep space was thus freed from deep space control and became the territory of the Dragon Slayer Empire.

After the three spiritual beings surrendered, they voluntarily provided Zhou Nantianyuan Civilization, Wangxing Civilization, and Heiya Civilization with data and information, as well as a large amount of deep space data.

Zhou Nan's database underwent a massive expansion. By receiving that data, he was as if he had experienced the rise and fall of three civilizations and acquired immeasurable knowledge.

Subsequently, Zhou Nan used the resources collected from the sixth layer of deep space to create a black seven-star perpetual motion card of divine thought and used it.

After undergoing memory expansion, data cleanup, system maintenance, computational upgrades, and a complete overhaul, Zhou Nan was only 64 steps away from achieving the incredible before leaving the sixth layer of deep space. He could clearly feel the divine nature of his cards growing stronger, and card creation became much easier.

At this point, Zhou Nan could turn any life form below level 100, whether flesh and blood or non-flesh and blood, into a card at a glance, and then change its settings, such as color, star count, prefix name, suffix name, etc.

At this point, Zhou Nan's card divinity had reached its peak. He became increasingly detached from humanity, no longer bound by space and time, and increasingly became an existence that ordinary intelligent beings could not understand, more like a supreme divine being.

On this day, Zhou Nan rode the Golden Silver Platform to the seventh level of deep space.

The seventh layer of deep space is home to the Baoli civilization.

The powerful figures from the Dragon Slaying Empire, including Taiyi, found no benefit in cultivating in this realm, but Zhou Nan was able to quickly absorb data about the Baoli Civilization.

He transformed himself into a black card, which split into three thousand deep space probe cards, constantly receiving data and rewriting his own settings.

Three days later, Zhou Nan retrieved all the deep space probe cards. He transformed back into human form, snapped his fingers, and a black one-star Power Card appeared.

Zhou Nan swallowed the card whole, thus gaining access to all the information about the Baoli Civilization. His eyes lit up, and with a snap of his fingers, another black card appeared before him.

It was a black, three-star Sunshine Rainbow White Horse card.

This card represents the pinnacle of technological achievement of the Poli civilization.

Baoli Civilization pursues ultimate speed and strives to transform into light.

This card can summon a sun, rainbow, and white horse that is extremely fast, capable of traversing space and flying faster than light. Although it is not good at combat, its overall strength is almost comparable to that of an ordinary level 1000 being.

Even without using its space-traveling ability, it can reach speeds of 300 times the speed of light. This is a speed without any exaggeration, and its flight will not cause any time ripples. One second it flies is one second that passes in the outside world, and one year it flies is one year that passes in the outside world. It has absolute time and absolute speed.

If he were to use his spatial teleportation ability, this little horse could leap a light-year in a single bound.

Among the powerful figures of the Dragon Slayer Empire are those capable of light-speed flight, such as Dr. Elpha, the Time Lord.

If they travel at the speed of light, their bodies will become light-based, maintaining a photon form. This means that what is generally considered "time standstill" is not actually time standstill, but rather a state that makes them unaware of the passage of time.

Dr. Alpha, the Sky Lord; Dr. Beta, the Time Lord; and Dr. Scots, the Primordial Lord, were very interested in the Sunshine Rainbow Little White Horse and the Baoli Civilization. Zhou Nan took the opportunity to have an "academic exchange" with them, asking them many questions, such as "time reversal" and "time travel".

According to the Time Lords, spacetime is a whole, and only independent spaces can have independent time. So-called time travel is just entering a parallel universe, and time travel is just entering another independent spacetime from one independent spacetime.

Spacetime travel can only take place between these independent universes, such as the Dragon Slayer Empire, Deep Space, Starry Sky, and Martial Star Realm.

Reversing time in a universe is virtually impossible.

Simply put, the universe is indivisible and is expanding. To turn back time would be equivalent to compressing the universe back, which is impossible without enormous energy.

Moreover, even with enough energy, time reversal within the same universe would create a time paradox.

The time paradox can easily annihilate the multiverse and parallel universes, and is also the biggest obstacle to time reversal.

When it comes to time paradoxes, that involves the specialized field of "paradoxes," and the thousand-level being resembling a little boy, "paradox," then joins the discussion.

The paradox does not include the paradox of time. This supreme divine being was once the natural enemy of truth. All conceptual beings seemed to dare not be arrogant in the face of him.

Zhou Nan gained a great deal from his interactions with these thousand-level beings, significantly increasing his understanding of the universe, the world, and spacetime.

The limit of the Baoli civilization is the black three-star sun rainbow white horse. To upgrade it, it needs more advanced civilization data as support. Relying on the natural development of the Baoli civilization in the eighth deep space is already an unrealistic expectation.

Fortunately, Zhou Nan still has the Little Black Cat Virus, which can be used to infinitely synthesize cards, thereby deducing a more advanced Baoli Civilization, and it is still possible for Little Horse White to be upgraded.

Seven days later, Zhou Nan piloted the Golden Silver Platform to the eighth level of deep space.

The eighth layer of deep space can be called the outer space of the Deep Space Temple. There are many living beings here, most of whom are war puppets raised by the will of deep space. Among them, the strong ones are affected by the will of deep space and no longer have independent consciousness. When Zhou Nan and a group of strong people arrived here, they were immediately attacked.

To pave the way for war, powerful figures like Taiyi showed no mercy to the hopeless war puppets, engaging in a massacre. In three days, they eliminated all the level 800 and above powerhouses in this realm, occupied Caitian Mountain, and opened the path to the ninth layer of deep space.

This path to the heavens is no different from the one Zhou Nan remembers; stepping onto this path is also a form of cultivation.

After leaving the Golden and Silver Platform, everyone stepped onto it, and due to their own strength, their speed of progress on this path varied.

Half a day later, [Doomsday] was the first to stop. He transformed into human form and sat cross-legged on a stone step to cultivate.

Zhou Nan easily reached the 369th step, where he met again the old cultivator who had stayed on this path for 40,000 years.

Excluding Zhou Nan, among the 32 thousand-level beings in the Dragon Slayer Empire, only sixteen have reached this level.

The old cultivator was quite surprised; he was also a mystery, having existed here for forty thousand years. Zhou Nan learned from him that the Deep Space Prince had entered the temple.

Zhou Nan then asked him about the "Mysterious Yellow Battle Body" he saw when absorbing the Deep Space Prince's severed arm.

The old man said, "The Xuanhuang Battle Body is one of the most powerful battle bodies in the starry sky. When it reaches its minor completion stage, it is already ten thousand feet tall. When it reaches its major completion stage, it rides on dragons and snakes and carries the sun and moon on its shoulders. Its battle intent materializes and can shatter a galaxy. It is a being at the level of stepping on the heavens. As far as I know, the Deep Space Temple fell here because the Deep Space Prince insisted on his own way and gathered all the power of the Deep Space Empire to hunt down a Xuanhuang Battle Body at its major completion stage. In the end, both sides were severely injured, and the Deep Space Temple fell here and could not move. The Deep Space Empire also declined as a result."

Zhou Nan continued, "What was the fate of the Xuanhuang Battle Body? Did it perish?"

The old man shook his head: "He should not have perished. His body and fighting spirit should remain in the Deep Space Temple. We'll probably only know the details once we enter the temple. Young friend, did you come here this time also for that Xuanhuang Battle Body?"

"Also?" Zhou Nan seemed to understand, and said, "Someone else has asked you about the Xuanhuang Battle Body before?"

He thought of the Wish King. He had passed through all nine layers of the deep space without finding any trace of the Wish King. The only explanation was that the Wish King had arrived at the Deep Space Temple.

The old man said, "That being cannot be named. Just as an emperor's throne cannot be looked at directly, she is a true immortal and a god-king. She cultivates martial arts and came to find the Xuanhuang Battle Body. She has entered the temple and may still be there now."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Nan realized that his judgment was correct. He bowed to the old man and continued forward, eventually stopping at the 64th step.

Stopping here means that Zhou Nan's current foundation is 64 Steps to Heaven, which is also 64 Steps to Inconceivable Truth.

He had reached his limit and could no longer go forward. He could only sit cross-legged and cultivate under the pressure of the towering stone steps. His cultivation speed was much faster than elsewhere.

At this moment, there were four other beings in front of Zhou Nan: Taiyi, Haotianjun, Evil Prince, and Zhenli.

However, they soon reached their limits. In the end, [Truth] stopped at the 61st step, [Evil Prince] stopped at the 52nd step, [Haotianjun] stopped at the 43rd step, and [Taiyi] stopped at the 16th step.

At this point, all 33 experts at the thousand-level had begun their cultivation on the Heavenly Steps.

As time passed, the army of the Dragon Slayer Empire, led by Emperor Li Hanqiang, conquered the deep space, broke through the deep space, and redefined the order of the deep space. On the road to the heavens, the thousand-level powerhouses were like stone statues, and it was not possible for anyone to move for several years.

Zhou Nan silently crafted the Divine Sense Perpetual Motion Card. His cultivation speed was the fastest; he could advance one level after crafting a black one-star Divine Sense Perpetual Motion Card.

Gradually, Zhou Nan also forgot about time. He focused on cultivation, experiencing one renewal after another. The divinity of the card continued to increase. Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

"I've reached my limit. The Perpetual Motion Card is useless now!"

Zhou Nan was shaken and felt the changes within himself. His internal energy was now limitless, and the amount of Qi he could refine each day had reached the first realm.

A single element of energy can create a one-star orange card or a one-star black card!

Zhou Nan also felt his own limit. His Qi cultivation speed could not be improved any further, and the renewal of all things had reached perfection. He could no longer use the perpetual motion card of divine thought.

He could also sense that the divinity of his cards had become so powerful that it could capture the celestial souls of all beings below level 600 in the current time and space, and even turn them into cards in an instant.

His divine sense can also traverse time and space, sensing the Crimson Sun Mountain in the divine realm of the Dragon Slayer Empire, sensing the existence of all the card angels and card warriors, reading their setting information, and sensing their prayers. He can bestow gifts or destroy them with a single thought.

Zhou Nan looked around again and realized that he had already completed the Path to Heaven and arrived in front of the Deep Space Temple.

Click, click, click...

A cracking sound came from Zhou Nan's body. He understood that the shackles had been broken. With a thought, his body immediately transformed into a card. On the front of the card, above Zhou Nan's portrait, numbers jumped, changing from "1000" to "1001".

The text descriptions on the back of the cards have also changed.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Card Name: Black Card Emperor Zhou Nan

Colour: Black

Star count: 10 stars

Description: A unique card, existing above supreme divinity, an inconceivable existence. Divinity is beyond thought, beyond discussion; it is order itself, the concept of life, and all things in a single thought become cards. All cards are sealed objects of divine power.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"I have become a conceptual being..."

Word bubbles appeared above the giant card.

With a thought, Zhou An transformed back into human form from his card form and bowed to the powerful warriors of the Dragon Slayer Empire who were still cultivating below the steps.

"I'll go ahead!"

After saying that, he turned around and stepped into the Deep Space Temple.

Instantly, the scenery before Zhou Nan's eyes changed. It was as if he had arrived in a shattered space-time. He could see countless broken planets and countless fragments of space floating everywhere like shards of a mirror.

Every fragment of space and every broken planet contains a wealth of information. Zhou Nan sensed this and looked at one of the countless broken planets. He felt the transmission of information and reached out to grab it. The broken planet then transformed into a black nine-star card.

The data from the transmission of faith was immediately printed into Zhou Nan's database.

"go!"

Zhou Nan snapped his fingers, and the Nine Star Faith Power Inheritance Black Card disappeared, flying through time and space to chase after Lan Cuihua.

At that moment, a deafening roar resounded, and ten enormous high-backed thrones slowly appeared in this shattered spacetime.

On eight of the ten thrones, eight illusory figures slowly emerged.

The first phantom figure had dragons and snakes beneath its feet, a moon on its left shoulder, and a sun on its right. Zhou Nan recognized it at a glance as the Xuanhuang Battle Body, and also knew its name, Xuanzhan, though its level was unknown.

The phantom on the second throne had long, flowing hair. Zhou Nan recognized him immediately at a glance as the Deep Space Emperor, a powerful being who had stepped into the heavens, whose level was unknown.

The phantom on the third throne looks exactly like the female form of the former Cosmic Emperor. She is completely naked and is clearly a powerful being who has surpassed the Tathagata in creating the universe. Her name is Tomorrow, and her level is unknown.

The phantom on the fourth throne, with a human body and a snake's body, neither human nor beast, is named Xi, and must also be an existence beyond the thousand levels.

The phantom on the fifth throne had white hair and a cold expression. Sitting on that throne, he was like a solitary peak. He was Li Hanqiang's alternate account, and his level was unknown.

The phantom on the sixth throne wears a lotus crown and a lotus-patterned Taoist robe, holding a pagoda in its right hand. It looks exactly like the Dragon Slayer Emperor Li Hanqiang. He is the real Li Hanqiang, also known as Li Lianhua, and his level is unknown.

On the seventh throne, the Wish Goddess, dressed in red, sat cross-legged. She had closed her red umbrella, revealing her stunningly beautiful face. Zhou Nan looked at her but could not know her name, nor could he know her rank.

On the eighth throne, the one-armed Deep Space Prince sat cross-legged, also in a phantom form, his level unknown.

Zhou Nan looked at the ninth throne.

Suddenly, a scroll flew out from the throne. The scroll looked exactly like the Investiture of the Gods given to Zhou Nan by the Venerable of the Illusionary God Realm. It flew to Zhou Nan and unfurled automatically, revealing the words: "With this Deep Space Divine Palace, I have created a passage beyond the starry sky to guide ten powerful beings to transcend the starry sky and sit on the throne. You are the ninth one to obtain this opportunity."

"This is……"

Zhou Nan was deeply shaken.

He sensed a trace of the aura of the Yang God Dragon from that scroll resembling the Investiture of the Gods, and also realized that the true forms of those phantoms on the throne had been guided to a place beyond the stars.

"Who left this token? Could it be... the creator of the Yang God Dragon?"

Zhou Nan sensed that there were still many secrets hidden in deep space.

He did not accept the scroll.

"Now is not the time for me to sit on the throne and be led away."

This deep space temple has too much information to absorb. Zhou Nan now has unlimited memory and can hold unlimited data. He can continue to strengthen himself here and create a powerful nine-star black card.

Besides, he still has lingering feelings!

So Zhou Nan transformed into the Black Card Emperor Card and released three thousand Deep Space Probe Cards, embarking on a long cultivation journey in this shattered Deep Space Temple.

A century later, Zhou Nan left the Deep Space Temple.

His level reached 1150. He absorbed a large amount of data from the Deep Space Temple and had a standard for classifying the level of experts above level 1000. He could now detect the level of experts within level 3000.

Zhou Nan had not fully absorbed all the data and information from the Deep Space Temple; more than half of it remained.

He left the Temple of the Deep Space because the war between the Dragon Slayer Empire and the Deep Space World had ended.

Zhou Nan used the Investiture of the Gods list left to him by the Venerable One of the Illusionary God Realm to summon a wisp of Yang God Dragon power to revive the fallen.

Subsequently, Zhou Nan returned to Chiyang Mountain and lived as a mortal with Yue Baiting, Zhou Shabao, Zhou Xiaonan, and others.

Three thousand years later, Mount Chiyang had become a world unto itself. Yue Baiting, who had flaws in her cultivation, took the initiative to reincarnate. Only then did Zhou Nan have no more attachments. He re-entered the Deep Space Temple, absorbed all the information of the deep space, and with a level of 1600, he received the guiding scroll and sat on the ninth throne that transcended the starry sky.

"Outside the Temple of the Deep Space, Taiyi and the others have not yet ascended to the heavens. Who will be able to sit on the tenth throne? Let us leave some cards for those who are destined to receive them."

Before transcending the starry sky, Zhou Nan snapped his fingers, and countless cards flew out of his body, heading towards deep space, towards Crimson Sun Mountain, towards the Cloud Sea World, towards the Martial Star Realm...

[The End]

(End of this chapter)