Covering the Sky: The Years I Was the Empress's Strictest Master

However, if she were to devour a saint, even the very essence of a great saint, it would be like a drop in the ocean for her now, and she would have to expend a great deal of energy to refine and deduce it, which would be a losing proposition.

"Twenty-three kinds..."

Tan Lin's eyes were deep as he gazed into the endless void, lost in thought.

He could see that the other party had already devoured all the special physical traits that could be found among the human race in the early stages or even earlier. Even if there were any omissions, there would only be a few at most.

Tianling listened from the side, blinked, and said:

"So, you mean I'll have to go out and do this many more times?"

She spoke of it casually, as if she were just going to the market to buy groceries.

Li Qingjue glanced at her but didn't reply.

Tan Lin withdrew his gaze and said calmly:

"This matter is not urgent. You should first thoroughly integrate and solidify the original source you have obtained, and then I will take care of the rest."

Li Qingjue nodded:

"Yes, Master."

……

Time flies, and decades have passed since that trip where they "snatched food from the tiger's mouth".

During this period, Tan Lin took Li Qingjue out several more times.

With the dense network of causal lines now intertwined on the barrier of the Soul Pearls, with main and branch lines spreading out,

Furthermore, over the past decades, Tan Lin has spared no expense, expending half the total amount of firefly light from a deep crimson dot to examine the conditions of numerous "anchor points."

The master and apprentice were always able to accurately locate their targets when they went out, ensuring that they never worked in vain and always gained something.

Tan Lin tried to choose targets that were mostly places where the underworld had not yet targeted them, or where powerful individuals with strong physiques had recently perished, and where alien remains were found.

Of course, besides these, there are also cases where the target is directly killed and its essence is devoured.

The location is sometimes an ancient burial ground, sometimes the cave dwelling of an old quasi-emperor nearing death, and sometimes even directly at the scene of an ongoing attack.

However, the biggest gain was undoubtedly from the "Imperial Prince's Battlefield"...

No matter where they were, the master and disciple always planned carefully before acting. Each time, they appeared like ghosts, plundered the source, and then drifted away without leaving a trace.

During the operation, Tan Lin was only responsible for providing the target coordinates and using the Soul Pearl to conceal the traces. The actual actions and the absorption of the source were all carried out by Li Qingjue.

As he watched his disciples slaughter each other, and as the invisible aura of bloodlust that permeated his body deepened, he remained silent throughout.

This is their path, their own choice.

From the day he began cultivating the "Origin Devouring Scripture," it was already destined that in this lifetime on the path of cultivation, the other party would not kill indiscriminately, perhaps only because of his restraint in having him by his side.

Tan Lin knew very well what mountains of corpses and seas of blood the other person had created in the starry sky during the years they had not reunited.

After all, the majority of the fireflies that he occasionally generated in those years came from the other party, and all those mottled or even pitch-black causal branches were firmly tied to the other party's main causal line.

Or perhaps he truly didn't want to appear before his master as a ruthless, bloodthirsty, and twisted figure.

In every action, Li Qingjue was deliberately restraining himself, knowing that his master had been a human emperor in his previous life, revered and worshipped by the human race.

Therefore, whenever she encountered a human cultivator, she would spare their life if possible, taking only a large portion of their essence and leaving behind a few precious medicinal herbs to help them recover some of it.

Tan Lin had seen all of this, but he never expressed his opinion.

It is worth mentioning that,

During these trips, he has been avoiding having to "snatch food from the tiger's mouth" from the underworld again.

Firstly, after the incident in the ancient Mosuo land, he noticed that some people from the Immortal Tomb were heading to the Netherworld. Some things cannot be taken lightly; knowing it's bait, he naturally avoids taking it if possible.

Secondly, the different kinds of origin that Li Qingjue needed were no longer useful if they were duplicated.

Many of the ancient corpses collected by the underworld overlapped with the origins she had already devoured.

If the underworld is used as a stepping stone again, the benefits will be far less than before.

Even so, given that Tan Lin could always provide accurate target coordinates,

Li Qingjue's Dao was becoming more and more perfect through repeated devouring and refining, and the chaotic aura was becoming more and more intense, as if he was only one step away from a complete transformation.

However, the final few essential elements required for this "final step" have been slow to be satisfied and gathered together.

……

On this day, the master and disciple returned to the Creation Land of the Ancient Star of Heavenly Soldiers after going out.

Li Qingjue sat cross-legged under the ancient tree of life, surrounded by chaotic energy, with myriad paths faintly resonating in harmony. His aura had reached a critical point, as if it could trigger a qualitative change at any moment.

But she slowly opened her eyes, looked at Tan Lin who was standing quietly to the side, and said softly:

"Master, the alien essence we obtained this time is still somewhat lacking; it cannot serve as a 'suppressant' or a medium to accelerate the transformation."

The last two essential elements that are still missing are actually…

She paused, then continued:

"I can make do with one or two things, but the effect will be much worse, and I won't be able to guarantee the transformation at that time..."

Tan Lin listened quietly, his expression not changing much.

He had anticipated this.

The Chaotic Body is one of the strongest physiques. To achieve it, the ultimate source that can suppress and overcome is naturally one of the most difficult to find in the world.

Ordinary strong bodies simply cannot bear it; only certain extremely special beings, or even those who have already reached a high level of maturity, may possess it.

Such conditions are extremely rare, even in this great age of enlightenment.

After all, if it were really that easy, the Underworld could have collected the true blood of ten thousand streams long ago...

The key lies in the essence of winning!

"I am aware of this matter."

Tan Lin was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke, his voice calm and even:

"I will keep an eye on the last two sources. You should meditate for a while to consolidate what you have gained and adjust your state to its best. When the time is right, I will retrieve them for you."

Li Qingjue looked into his master's deep, calm eyes and nodded gently:

"The disciple understands."

Tan Lin said no more, turned around and looked at the vast starry sky outside the Creation Land, his eyes deep and unfathomable, as if he were thinking about something.

It seemed that he had temporarily put aside the search for the last two origins.

But Li Qingjue knew that his master always planned things out before acting.

Since the other party said they would "keep an eye on it," they must already have a plan.

But where will these last two origins be found?

…………

Chapter 263 Empress: Master! No! (Bonus chapter with 10,000 words, please subscribe!)

Within the ancient star's creation land of celestial soldiers

Time flows like water, quietly.

More than a decade has passed in the blink of an eye. Beneath the ancient tree of life, the dark demonic energy surrounding Li Qingjue has reached its peak.

The harmonious sounds of all paths grew clearer, as if the Daoist voice, as if it had created the world, resonated within him.

That was a sign of an impending qualitative change. Once successful, a true Chaos Body would be born, and her combat power, aptitude, and many other aspects would experience a qualitative leap.

Even without attaining enlightenment, one can still "fight" against the supreme being of the forbidden zone.

However, this final step was like an insurmountable chasm standing in front of them.

There are still two more origins missing. They may seem few, but each one must be an extremely powerful physical origin that can "suppress and overcome," harmonize all paths, and serve as the "catalyst" for the final transformation of the chaotic body.

At her current stage, this kind of source, not counting the ones she had repeatedly devoured before, would hardly meet the requirements even with just one type, let alone two, especially when only the last one remained...

Not far away, Tan Lin stood quietly beside the ancient tree.

His gaze was deep and unfathomable as he looked out at the boundless starry sky beyond the Heavenly Soldiers Star, as if he were deducing something.

Tianling and Guo Ziqian were both cultivating by his side, their auras deep and concentrated.

After his previous "compensation," Tianling seemed to have a more balanced mindset, having made some things clearer. Her alternation with Shenyue also seemed to have been beneficial, complementing each other, and her aura was both subtle and powerful.

Her cultivation was completely consolidated at the peak of the seventh level of Quasi-Emperor, and she could break through to the next level at any time. However, like Li Qingjue, she began to suppress herself.

Guo Ziqian, on the other hand, was immersed in his own Dao and Dharma. His Dao was like a dragon, and his fighting spirit soared to the sky. He was preparing to launch an attack on the barrier of the fifth level of Quasi-Emperor.

shuh...

Suddenly one day,

Tan Lin withdrew his gaze from the starry sky and turned to look at Tian Ling and Guo Ziqian not far away.

He didn't speak, but a thought flickered in his mind.

hum...

At this moment, an indescribable Daoist aura emanated from his body; it was neither a force of killing nor a form of confinement.

Instead, it was a kind of veil-like, misty force that silently enveloped the area where Tianling and Guo Ziqian were located.

Wow!

In an instant,

Tianling and Guo Ziqian, who were cultivating, felt a slight tremor in their minds. Realizing it was Tan Lin's doing, they immediately lowered their guard, maintaining their absolute trust in him.

Then they seemed to fall into the deepest state of enlightenment, temporarily losing all perception of the outside world.

They remained in their original positions, their breathing steady, but they were completely unaware of what was about to happen.

After doing all this,

Tan Lin then slowly turned around and looked at Li Qingjue, who was sitting cross-legged under the ancient tree of life, his aura already at its peak, as if he was just one step away from achieving it.

His gaze was calm, yet so profound it was breathtaking and captivating.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, Li Qingjue slowly awoke from his deep cultivation, opened his lonely, night-like eyes, and looked at his master.

"Master?"

She spoke softly, her voice tinged with doubt.

Da...da...

Tan Lin didn't say anything, but simply walked slowly to her side.

Then, he did something that made Li Qingjue's pupils shrink and his mind tremble.

shuh...

He pointed his fingers like knives, and in an instant, a sharpness that seemed to be the return to the true nature of the world, capable of cutting through all things, swirled around his fingertips. Without hesitation, he pointed at his brow!

despair!

"Master! No!"

Upon seeing this, Li Qingjue turned pale and almost cried out in shock, instinctively reaching out to stop it.

Tan Lin's movements, though seemingly slow, were actually extremely fast and possessed an unstoppable decisiveness.

The instant his fingertips touched the altar between his brows, there was no spurting of blood, nor any sound of bones breaking.

There was only a kind of fluctuation that seemed to originate from the deepest part of life, a fluctuation that stirred the soul and began to ripple outwards.

laugh……

A soft sound, as if some kind of barrier had been pierced.

next moment,

This single point, dazzling to the extreme, seemed to embody all the true essence of immortality and invincibility in the world, and flowed with the origin of a magnificent golden divine radiance.

Tan Lin used his supreme magical power to forcibly "dig" it out bit by bit from the depths of his own Sendai!

When that primordial essence manifested in the outside world, it was visibly condensed to the size of a thumb, but it felt as heavy as an ancient star field.