Outside the Three Origins Hall, Village Chief floated serenely in midair. Sage Nicholas Tranquil glanced at him and said, "Dao brother, you seem rather composed now, as if you're not the least bit concerned about whether your disciple can pass the Three Origins Hall trial. You have absolute faith in him."
Village Chief felt a pang of nostalgia for the rocking chair Quinn had made for him, and smiled, "I have great confidence in Quinn’s abilities. The Three Origins Hall trial is tough, but plenty have entered it throughout history, and many have succeeded. Quinn is no weaker than any of them."
Sage Nicholas Tranquil’s eyes flickered. "The Three Origins Hall trial is a test of a god’s Three Origins—you know the risks involved, Dao brother. After all, you were one of those who entered back then."
"Weren’t you as well?"
Village Chief reminisced about the past, sighing, "Back then, I chose the Heaven Origin breakthrough. Which one did you choose?"
"Water Origin breakthrough."
Sage Nicholas Tranquil said, "I was defeated, and you succeeded. That’s why you surpassed me."
"The reason I surpassed you isn’t just because I achieved the Heaven Origin breakthrough—it’s because I was more determined to fight for it than you."
Village Chief looked at him, his expression serious. "My fighting spirit was stronger than yours, and your ability to withstand setbacks was a bit weaker. That little difference in temperament slowly widened the gap between us. Little Jade Capital’s inheritance is truly no less than the Human Emperor Hall’s. If your fighting spirit were stronger, your achievements wouldn’t be any less than mine."
Sage Nicholas Tranquil snorted, feeling a bit uncomfortable inside. "Heaven Origin breakthrough, Earth Origin breakthrough, Water Origin breakthrough—which do you think the Human Emperor would choose?"
Village Chief answered without hesitation, "He’ll choose the strongest one."
Sage Nicholas Tranquil’s body jolted, his face full of disbelief. "A Three Origins breakthrough?"
Village Chief nodded, speaking leisurely, "His confidence and conviction are even stronger than mine was back then, and his fighting spirit is unmatched. He’ll definitely choose the Three Origins breakthrough!"
"You’re not worried at all?"
Sage Nicholas Tranquil blurted out, "You’ve faced this trial yourself—you should know how terrifying the Three Origins breakthrough is! He doesn’t stand a chance!"
"Actually..."
Village Chief chuckled, his face wrinkling like a dried orange—ugly, but delighted. "Quinn is already far stronger than I was back then; he just hasn’t realized it yet. Not only is he stronger, he’s much stronger! As for the Three Origins breakthrough, he should be able to pass."
Sage Nicholas Tranquil’s face suddenly turned cold and he sneered, "Dao brother, it’s not Quinn’s confidence that’s invincible—it’s your confidence in him! But you’re not one of us from Little Jade Capital Sect, so you don’t understand how terrifying the Three Origins breakthrough really is. It means facing a youthful god at his exact realm!"
Village Chief said solemnly, "The Overlord Body has never lost to a same-realm divine arts practitioner!"
Sage Nicholas Tranquil was driven mad—again with the Overlord Body!
More crucially, in terms of experience and insight, these youthful gods far surpass the Dao Heirs and Buddha Sons—that’s what makes them truly terrifying.
Each youthful god represents one Origin. When all three Origins combine, their power nearly matches the full Six Directions might of this youthful god—their strength soars to a whole new level!
The three ancient immortals had seen challengers attempt the Three Origins trial before. After all, those who dare are always supremely confident in themselves.
But confidence alone isn’t enough—those who actually succeed are few and far between.
Still, since Quinn chose this path for himself, it all comes down to his own fortune now.
The youthful god opposite Quinn remained expressionless, like a machine without emotion. Suddenly, his power erupted—he moved, and in the next instant was right in front of Quinn!
"His speed matches mine!"
Quinn was startled—thunder exploded in his ears, the sound arriving only after the youthful god had already moved, rolling thunder left trailing behind him!
Boom!
The youthful god threw a punch—space shuddered, thunder roared. This wasn’t the power of a divine art, but pure physical might pushed to the absolute limit.
Physical divine arts rely not on techniques, but on sheer bodily strength!
Quinn didn’t dodge—he met the punch head-on. As their fists neared, both shifted their movement arts, darting through the air in a blur of afterimages, narrowly evading each other's blows.
Quinn’s pupils contracted—Crippled Joe’s Stealing-Heavens Leg Art had finally met its match.
As the world’s number one thief, Crippled Joe’s escape speed had to be so fast that no victim or pursuer could ever catch up. That’s why he forged his legs to the absolute limit.
If any part of him had already become divine, it was his legs.
Quinn had trained under Crippled Joe since childhood, forging his own legs to the very peak of Six Directions Realm. In pure speed, even Ben Coates couldn’t compare.
Yet this youthful god was every bit as fast as he was!
Suddenly, a thunderous crash rang out—their fists collided. In that instant, Quinn unleashed the eighth form of the Thunder Chant Eight-Form: Thousand-Armed Buddha! He became like a great Buddha with a thousand arms, sending countless fists flying at his opponent, so fast the eye could barely follow.
Grandpa Mark’s fists—hailed as the fists of Buddha!
The realm of Buddha is the realm of god. Grandpa Mark’s entire cultivation was in his fists—domineering, steady, yet endlessly varied. Even with just one arm left, his blows were like a thousand fists!
Even without using his magic power, his physical strength alone could make his moves more powerful than divine arts!
Quinn’s training under Grandpa Mark had been the most grueling. The Thunder Chant Eight-Form was the fist art he’d poured his heart into. Yet the youthful god blocked his attack—and not just blocked, but even countered!
Quinn roared, his aura suddenly wild and domineering. As a child of the Great Ruins, he’d inherited its ferocity and boldness. His fists now carried the edge of a blade—hands became knives, hacking through all obstacles and injustice, smashing everything in his way!
Butcher’s knife—the madman’s blade!
The Heaven Knife is the knife of a lunatic who dares to slash at the heavens. His blade arts are the arts of madness—killing intent soaring, twin knives in hand, daring to cut down all the mighty, even emperors, even the gods themselves!
In midair, the two figures flashed at lightning speed, the clang of blows ringing out like a rainstorm. Quinn slashed wildly, as if reliving Butcher’s mad defiance—raising his blade to curse the heavens!
Heaven Knife—the blade of a god—was blocked.
Quinn’s heart sank. In his eyes, formation patterns spun madly—four layers of heaven appeared: the Ninefold Heaven Eye Art!
At the Six Directions Realm, his magic power could only activate the Crimson Firmament Heaven Eye, but that was enough. Crimson Firmament, Bixiao, Azure Firmament, Divine Firmament Heaven Eye—four layers stacked together, his gaze burst with five colors, the black pupil at the center growing deeper. Every move of his opponent was caught by his heaven eyes.
Grandpa Blind’s eyes—the eyes of a god!
These eyes could pierce all illusions, see through every move, unravel every divine art. He could catch every nuance, predict the next attack, see through the mysteries of his opponent’s techniques, break them down, and strike at their fatal flaw.
Just then, he saw his opponent’s eyes—completely different from his own Ninefold Heaven Eye Art. The youthful god’s forehead split open, revealing a third eye, with five stars shining inside it.
"No way..."
Quinn saw the light in the god’s eye begin to blaze—this was the sign of a god-eye’s power activating!
His opponent also commanded a god-eye, but unlike Quinn, his had its own divine art. Grandpa Blind had never taught Quinn a matching eye-beam technique for the Ninefold Heaven Eye Art!
Quinn gathered true essence in his eyes, stacking heaven-eye patterns into Divine Firmament Rings, Azure Firmament Rings, Bixiao Rings, and Crimson Firmament Rings.
He’d fired his eyes as true essence cannons before—he’d already tested his god-eye’s power at Qingmen Pass!
"Are you an Overlord Body too?"
Quinn’s eyes blazed, "Let’s see whose god-eye is stronger!"
Both unleashed the light of their god-eyes—five dazzling beams slashed toward each other at lightning speed, too fast for anyone to dodge!
As soon as the youthful god’s eye activated, Quinn instantly discerned its properties—his opponent’s eyes unleashed five-colored light, different from Ronnie Long’s sword-eye, intertwining like five-colored divine swords stabbing forth!
He had three eyes, and the order of the five-colored beams differed for each. The power of these three five-colored lights was absolutely extraordinary!
Boom—
Two figures crashed from the sky, each struck by the other’s god-eye beam, smashing into the ground.
Mushroom clouds rose from the earth.
Quinn leapt up, gasping in pain. He’d blocked the strike using the Nine-Turn Three-Proof Profound Art from the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra. This body-forging art was extremely perilous—when Quinn first trained it, his energy was drained dry and he nearly died, reduced to skin and bones in a flash.
To cultivate this art, he needed plenty of spirit pills to replenish his energy. After that near-fatal experience, he’d spent the last two years carefully training his body and refining his qi with this method, reaching Four Turns, Two Proofs.
First Proof: bones tightly knit. Second Proof: body like iron.
Qi at Four Turns—First Turn: qi like a rainbow; Second Turn: like quicksilver; Third Turn: like a fire dragon; Fourth Turn: furnace blazing.
It was as if he housed a giant pill furnace inside his body—round and solid, true essence blazing in the furnace, protecting him. With a body like steel and iron, he’d survived the blow.
"I’ve got the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra—a family legacy!"
Quinn vaulted out of the crater, sprinting up a nearby hill in a few steps. He looked toward where the youthful god had fallen, muttering, "I don’t believe you can withstand my god-eye!"
Suddenly, his pupils contracted—he saw a figure slowly emerge from the dust-filled pit, gradually coming into focus.
"Still not dead?"
Quinn let out a long howl, trying to summon his Worryless Sword—only to find it unusable here. Instantly, his qi erupted and he charged the youthful god headlong: "If I can’t use my spirit weapon, I’ll forge a new one on the spot!"
Outside Three Origins Hall, Sage Nicholas Tranquil smiled and said softly, "This god is named Eldon Bright. As it happens, he’s also from Carefree Haven. Guess what his surname is?"