Although he realized that Yang Kai was hiding something, Mo Na Ye couldn’t figure it out.
When Yang Kai returned to the Human Race’s main camp, all the Eighth-Order Masters happened to be waiting for him.
Yang Kai raised his head and nodded lightly to the crowd, “It’s settled. From now on, the Eighth-Order Masters and the Territory Lords will not be allowed to participate in further battles.”
Yang Kai had discussed the treaty with the Eighth-Order Masters before heading out. Some were against it, some were puzzled, but none of them endorsed it.
The Human Race had the upper hand in Profound Nether Territory. Everyone believed that they should be taking revenge, especially when Yang Kai could kill one or two Territory Lords in every battle.
The Territory Lords had suffered heavy losses over these past 30 years, but not a single Eighth-Order Master from the Human Race had fallen. If this continued, the Human Race’s advantage would grow bigger and bigger. The Eighth-Order Masters could already imagine flattening the Black Ink Clan Army in Profound Nether Territory after a few more centuries.
As such, no one had expected that Yang Kai would actually want to make a peace treaty with the Black Ink Clan in these circumstances, especially since this treaty was only limited to the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords, which was equivalent to the Human Race giving up their greatest advantage.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai eventually convinced them.
The Human Race must train its soldiers!
The Human Race happened to have many good seedlings who had advanced directly to the Sixth and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm thanks to the Star Boundary World Tree Clone’s feedback. These seedlings had high hopes of reaching the Eighth or Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the future. So, if they could grow, it would greatly alleviate or even reverse the decline of the Human Race.
Many of the geniuses who had advanced to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm had entered the battlefield right away, but those who had broken through straight to the Seventh-Order were regarded as precious treasures by every Cave Heaven and Paradise. They were hidden away, where they were given a large amount of resources. They were painstakingly cultivating in seclusion, hoping to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm as soon as possible and lead the Human Race out of this predicament.
Even Hua Qing Si of High Heaven Palace had hidden 200 such elites.
But was it possible to cultivate to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in seclusion?
If it was really that easy to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, the Human Race wouldn’t only have had 100 or so Old Ancestors at its peak.
Even if someone somehow managed to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm like this, they would be like a flower in a greenhouse that had never experienced true winds and rains. As such, their strength would be doubtful.
Yang Kai only managed to reach his current heights because he had forged his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The same was true for every Eighth-Order Master present today.
As such, the Human Race needed to temper their troops! They needed to send the geniuses who had broken through straight to the Sixth and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm to the battlefields and let them taste real hardship while allowing them to understand the predicament of the Human Race.
However, the current Great Territory Battlefields were a little dangerous to train these geniuses.
The Territory Lords outnumbered the Eighth-Order Masters. Sometimes the Eighth-Order Masters failed to contain all the Territory Lords, giving them a chance to kill unscrupulously. Because of this, even the most talented elites had a high chance of dying.
In fact, many geniuses have fallen over the years because of this.
Losing the geniuses who had advanced straight to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm was one thing, but losing even just one who had advanced straight to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm would be quite heartbreaking. The purpose of training them was to make them stronger, not to let them die in vain.
On the Barren Territory Battlefield, the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors willingly sacrificed their lives to kill all the Royal Lords to create a safe space for their Juniors to grow. They even managed to severely injure the Black Ink Giant Spirit God to buy more time.
The Ninth-Order Old Ancestors played a huge part in the current status quo the Human Race had managed to maintain, barely holding their ground in a dozen or so Great Territory Battlefields.
Nonetheless, it was not enough.
Yang Kai’s wish to make a peace treaty with the Territory Lords was simply an extension of the wills of the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors. The Old Ancestors had wiped out most of the Black Ink Clan Royal Lords whereas Yang Kai kept the Territory Lords in check in Profound Nether Territory, thereby creating a haven for the Human Race’s younger generation to grow.
This was the reason why the Profound Nether Army had constantly been on the offensive for the last three decades and why he had been indiscriminately killing the Territory Lords on the battlefield.
He was attacking the Territory Lords so that he could force them to accept this peace treaty!
This plan was already in motion when Yang Kai had returned from the Star Boundary, but he had never told anyone about it.
Now, since the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory would not be making any further moves, the Human Race could send their geniuses to this Battlefield, where they could wander between life and death, comprehend the mysteries of the Grand Dao, and stimulate their potential.
Of course, some geniuses would lose their lives in the process; after all, the Black Ink Clan still held the advantage over the Human Race currently, but such losses could be accepted for the future of the Human Race. In any case, a dead genius was not a genius.
The Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World were constantly being nurtured by two World Tree clones, so how could the Human Race lack geniuses in the future?
Of course, by doing this, the Profound Nether Army had tied themselves up and let the Territory Lords of Profound Nether Territory gain an immediate advantage. From now on, they no longer had to worry about being ambushed by Yang Kai in battle.
Be that as it may, this war was not just Yang Kai’s war alone, it was a struggle the entire Human Race had to participate in as it concerned its very survival. No matter how strong Yang Kai was, he could not end it alone.
He had advanced straight to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm and then consumed a Mid-Rank World Fruit, which allowed him to have a foundation of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Owing to this, his current cultivation of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm was his limit.
It would be next to impossible for him to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm without the appropriate opportunity. The current him could kill a Territory Lord with the help of his Soul Rending Thorns, but if he was up against a Royal Lord, he would have no choice but to flee.
In the future, the Black Ink Clan would not be lacking Territory Lords and Royal Lords. After thousands of years, when the advantages created by the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors were completely gone, what would the Human Race do?
What the Human Race lacked was peak Eighth-Order Masters who could kill Innate Territory Lords, and Ninth-Order Masters who would fight neck and neck with Royal Lords in the future!
All of this depended on the effort and growth of the young geniuses.
As such, Yang Kai had to make arrangements while he still had some deterrence against the Territory Lords.
Yang Kai’s reasoning had convinced the Eighth-Order Masters of Profound Nether Army. Many Eighth-Order Masters even felt ashamed after the discussions came to a close. They only saw the current success of the Profound Nether Army and failed to look further into the future. Every time war broke out, the Black Ink Clan was unable to lift their heads, and the Territory Lords would be in complete panic.
Only a few people could see that the current advantage of the Profound Nether Army was nothing more than a reflection of the moon in the water. The Human Race’s advantage would slowly fade away and eventually disappear with time.
When this matter was reported to the Supreme Headquarters, they promptly agreed to the arrangements of the Profound Nether Army. They even deliberately turned Profound Nether Territory into a testing site.
However, the Profound Nether Army had also made preparations to launch an all-out attack when Yang Kai went to negotiate the treaty. The moment the Territory Lords made a move on Yang Kai, the Profound Nether Army would definitely charge out to attack.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s negotiation went extremely smoothly. The Territory Lords also did not take advantage of the fact that Yang Kai was alone to try to attack him.
Yang Kai’s calmness made the Territory Lords doubt whether they could kill him or not. Furthermore, the treaty was also quite tempting to the Territory Lords. Because of these points, Yang Kai was able to safely return.
After hearing from Yang Kai that the matter was settled, Ou Yang Lie shouted as a look of disbelief took over his face, “Don’t the Territory Lords have any balls?”
Wei Jun Yang smiled, “It’s not that they don’t have any balls, it’s more like they are too afraid of being killed.”
30 Territory Lords had lost their lives at Yang Kai’s hands over the past 30 years, so who wouldn’t be afraid?
Only because of Yang Kai was this possible; if it were anyone else, even if it was Xiang Shan, the Territory Lords would have swarmed him.
If one couldn’t exert this level of deterrence, they would only be courting death if they went into the enemies’ den alone.
“Then doesn’t it mean that we won’t have to do anything in Profound Nether Territory in the future?” Stated an Eighth-Order Master, frowning, [This is going to be boring!]
Ou Yang Lie rolled his eyes and stated, “We can go support the other Great Territory Battlefields.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Yang Kai shook his head, “Although we have made a treaty, Profound Nether Territory still needs Eighth-Order Masters to act as deterrents. Firstly, it would be hard to ensure that the Black Ink Clan don’t go back on their word without sufficient Eighth-Order Masters present. The Black Ink Clan cannot be trusted. We may have agreed to a peace treaty, but if they found an opportunity to devastate our Army, they would definitely take it despite the risks. For that matter, I want to establish 10 forward outposts in Profound Nether Territory, which will require everyone here to oversee them.”
“Forward outposts?” An Eighth-Order Master asked curiously.
Yang Kai explained, “Since we’re going to be training our soldiers, a large-scale Army strategy will no longer be suitable. In the future, the confrontation between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan’s soldiers in Profound Nether Territory will probably only happen on a small scale. Profound Nether Territory is quite large, so we’ll be building forward outposts as places where our soldiers can rest and heal.”
The Eighth-Order Masters immediately understood after hearing this. Wei Jun Yang agreed with this plan, nodding, “You’re right, these outposts can also provide a certain degree of security to our soldiers.”
“That’s right. Training is one thing, but we still need to minimize our losses.”
10 outposts could roughly cover the entire Profound Nether Territory. Even if each forward outpost only needed three Eighth-Order Masters to oversee it, that would still be 30 Eighth-Order Masters.
Because of this, the Eighth-Order Masters of the Profound Nether Army could not easily withdraw, so Ou Yang Lie’s request to go support the other Great Territory Battlefields was simply a fantasy.
“Sir is quite thoughtful,” Wei Jun Yang nodded.
“If none of you have any objections, then let’s start immediately. You can discuss the location of the 10 forward outposts among yourselves, there’s no need to consult me.”
The Eighth-Order Masters glanced at each other, none of them having any objections.
They were already used to Yang Kai acting like an arm-flinging shopkeeper. Basically, the Profound Nether Army’s affairs had been managed by Wei Jun Yang, Kong Cheng De, and the others all these years. Yang Kai was only in charge of a general plan, not the details or implementation.
Soon, the Profound Nether Army began moving.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were divided and sent out in various directions in units of two or three Divisions each.
The Black Ink Clan instantly got the news and sent out scouts to investigate. When the scouts sent back their reports, Six Arms and the others were shocked to discover that the Human Race was establishing numerous outposts in another Profound Nether Territory, each one overseen by several Eighth-Order Masters.
Although Yang Kai had come to discuss a peace treaty with them, the Territory Lords did not completely believe him. No one could guarantee that this was not a scheme of the Human Race.
The treaty did not prevent them from sending out some of their forces to investigate though, so after a few days, an army of over 1,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers appeared near a Human outpost that was recently built, secretly scouting it.
However, their whereabouts were soon discovered and they were pursued by several Human Squads. Although they had suffered heavy casualties, they were not completely wiped out.
The Black Ink Clan kept testing the waters multiple times over the next few months. Although they were hunted down by the Humans every time, the Eighth-Order Masters never came forward. The Human Race was indeed keeping their side of the treaty!
While the Human Race’s military training was in full swing in Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai had already rushed to Wind Mist Territory.
He had come here to see the last two living Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Wind Mist Territory was the first Great Territory that the Black Ink Clan Army had invaded and it was in complete shambles now. Traces of the Black Ink Clan’s invasion could be seen everywhere and all its Universe Worlds lay in utter ruin.
At the place where the Territory Barrier was breached, Old Ancestors Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing were sitting cross-legged in the void, each of them slowly forming hand seals one after another. Right in between the two of them, an arm that seemed capable of shattering the sky was reaching out through the Territory Barrier.
This arm belonged to none other than the Black Ink Giant Spirit God who had awakened in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land.
When the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was awakened, he had rushed straight to the Barren Territory from the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land. Resisting the fierce attacks of the Human Race Masters, he reached the weak point of the Territory Barrier and smashed it with a single punch, thrusting its arm through two Great Territories.
Since then, the passage between the Barren Territory and Wind Mist Territory had been forced completely open. The Black Ink Clan Army, which was locked in a fierce battle with the Human Race in the Barren Territory, passed through this broken Territory Barrier and flooded into Wind Mist Territory. Ever since, the Black Ink Clan’s invasion became unstoppable.
Soon after that incident, the vast majority of the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors sacrificed themselves to open up an opportunity for the next generation of the Human Race, exterminating all but two of the Black Ink Clan Royal Lords and severely wounding this Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
The surviving Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing led the Human Race Army out of the Barren Territory and ordered the remnants to split up and go to the various Great Territories to preside over a mass evacuation and migration of the Human Race’s cultivators.
As for the two of them, they rushed straight to Wind Mist Territory and restrained the Black Ink Giant Spirit God with a joint Secret Technique, taking advantage of the fact that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had to keep its arm in place to ensure the Territory Barrier remained open.
In the blink of an eye, nearly 100 years had passed.
Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing had managed to restrain the Black Ink Giant Spirit God all these years, but that also trapped them in Wind Mist Territory.
If the Human Race still had the help of these two Ninth-Order Masters, the situation in the Great Territory Battlefields would not have been nearly as tense as it was now.
When Yang Kai arrived at this place and laid eyes on that thick and enormous arm, his expression still changed, even if it was not his first time seeing it.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God was simply too powerful.
As for Mo, who was able to create the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, Yang Kai was simply unable to gauge its true depths.
The arm was currently tightly bound by numerous chains. If one looked closely, one would discover that these chains were actually manifested from innumerable complex runes. Obviously, these chains were the manifestation of the Secret Technique executed by the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.
Initially, Yang Kai thought that there would be many Black Ink Clansmen here monitoring the situation or worse, attacking the two Old Ancestors, but after arriving, he realized that he was mistaken. There was not a single Black Ink Clansman here.
This left him quite puzzled. Logically speaking, since the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was so powerful, the Black Ink Clan’s top priority should be helping him escape. In order to help him escape, attacking the two Ninth-Order Masters was the fastest solution.
The reason Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing were able to restrain this Black Ink Giant Spirit God was not because they were stronger, but because they had certain advantages on their side.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God had shoved its arm through a Territory Barrier, meaning its main body was in one Great Territory, while its fist and forearm were in another. This had allowed the Black Ink Clan Army to pass through this opening, but it also helped Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing to shackle the Black Ink Giant Spirit God. While the two Old Ancestors could use their full strength, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could only exert a fraction of it as most of its strength was used to keep the passage open.
If it weren’t for this, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God would have broken free long ago. In the past, a dozen Old Ancestors had needed to join forces to resist a single, heavily injured Black Ink Giant Spirit God, and even then they were barely a match. Now that the Human Race only had two Ninth-Order Masters remaining, how could they possibly restrain it?
Sensing Yang Kai’s aura, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao opened her eyes and asked in surprise, “Why are you here?”
Yang Kai respectfully bowed, “Greetings, Old Ancestors.”
He was quite familiar with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao. As for Wu Qing, Yang Kai had met him when he went to Yin-Yang Pass, but he was not that close to him.
Wu Qing nodded slightly in response.
Yang Kai then answered, “I came to see the two Old Ancestors. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shook her head, “It’s alright, you can’t help us in this matter. How is the Human Race doing recently?”
The two perennially remained in Wind Mist Territory and had no contact with the outside world. Although Xiang Shan had come here twice, he could not remain for long. The last time he had come was some three or four decades ago, and the Great Territory Battlefields happened to be in dire straits at that time.
Yang Kai replied, “The situation is still relatively stable for the time being. Although the fighting never ceases, it will not be easy for the Black Ink Clan to defeat the Human Race. In addition, this Junior is highly valued by the Supreme Headquarters and has been appointed as Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded, “You deserve it.”
Suddenly, a smile appeared on her lips as she asked, “Since you are overseeing Profound Nether Territory, the Black Ink Clan there must be having a difficult time, right?”
Yang Kai thought for a moment before replying, “Junior has negotiated a peace treaty with them.”
Xiao Xiao was taken aback by this revelation, “A peace treaty?”
Wu Qing, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, also frowned and asked, “What treaty?”
“The Human Race must train!” Yang Kai explained his thoughts, to which Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing repeatedly nodded in agreement.
“You’ve considered it carefully. In fact, when Xiang Shan first came here, he also mentioned this matter,” Wu Qing thoughtfully stated.
This time, it was Yang Kai’s turn to be surprised, “Sir Xiang was also considering signing a peace treaty?”
Wu Qing shook his head in response and explained, “He didn’t say anything about a treaty, he was just worried about the future of the Human Race. He said that the good seedlings who had been hidden away might not be of much use in the future; however, he didn’t have any solution to this problem. You on the other hand have already taken a step ahead of him. Good work.”
Yang Kai immediately understood something that had puzzled him. It was no wonder the Supreme Headquarters quickly agreed when he reported the matter of treaty to them. Apparently, Xiang Shan had long considered this issue and had been searching for a solution all this time.
Thinking about it, it was impossible for a prudent and far-sighted man like Xiang Shan to just focus on the present.
“The Black Ink Clan actually agreed?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was a bit puzzled.
“After killing enough of them to leave them terrified and traumatized, they naturally agreed,” Yang Kai calmly stated.
Wu Qing and Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao glanced at each other, secretly wondering just how many of the Territory Lord had died at his hand for them to be this afraid.
“Boy, you are quite arrogant for your age.”
Suddenly, a voice rang out in their ears. This voice seemed to be coming from an extremely faraway place, and yet it also seemed someone was whispering in their ears. Obviously, it was the Black Ink Giant Spirit God who was speaking.
Yang Kai could not be bothered with it though and simply looked at the two Ninth-Order Masters and continued, “The situation in Profound Nether Territory has stabilized for the time being, but if we want to train the next generation up, a single Great Territory may not be enough. This Junior is planning on patronizing the other Great Territory Battlefields in the future to open up a few more training grounds.”
Wu Qing agreed with a nod, “Good, but we still need to leave a few as they are. When those brats advance to the Eighth Order, they will need to fight with the Territory Lords to stimulate their growth.”
“This Junior had the same idea.”
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God spoke again, “Brat, why must your Human Race keep struggling so strenuously? Now that Cang and the others have all fallen, the Universe is destined to belong to my Black Ink Clan. The day this Supreme One breaks free will be the day all submit to us.”
Yang Kai frowned and thought for a moment before activating the Great Sun and Moon Marks, creating an enormous ball of Purifying Light that shot straight towards that thick arm.
The ball of pure light immediately disintegrated the lingering Black Ink Strength and the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could not help but let out a groan, but he still continued, “If you submit to this Supreme One now, I can guarantee on the behalf of the entire Black Ink Clan that we won’t corrupt you with Black Ink Strength and will allow you to retain your sentience.”
Yang Kai remained silent for a moment before creating another massive ball of Purifying Light.
In any case, he now had a lot of Yellow and Blue Crystals. Even if he ran out of them, he could still go to the Chaotic Dead Territory and ask Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan for more.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God groaned again and shut its mouth.
It had finally discovered that the dog that bit him didn’t bark. Yang Kai simply had no intention of communicating with it. If it continued to blabber on, Yang Kai would definitely just use that Purifying Light again.
Although it would not hurt its foundation, the dissipation of its strength was extremely discomforting.
“This thing seems to be full of energy, can the two Old Ancestors restrain it?” Yang Kai worriedly asked.
Wu Qing replied with a smile, “If it decides to escape, the two of us won’t be able to stop it.”
Many things had become clear to them over the past century.
Yang Kai immediately became worried, “Then what should we do?”
If this Black Ink Giant Spirit God really managed to escape, the Human Race would not be able to resist him. Even if Fu Guang came out of seclusion and teamed up with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing, they still would not be its opponents.
“Don’t worry,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao reassured, “He would have to pay a huge price in order to forcefully break free right now. At the very least, he will have to leave behind this arm that has crossed the two Great Territories. Furthermore, he is currently injured, so even if he breaks free, his strength will be greatly reduced.”
In the past, when the Black Ink Giant Spirit God awakened from the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, he traversed through the Shattered Heaven and rushed to the Barren Territory, bearing the bombardment of countless Human Race Masters. No matter how powerful he was, he was still injured at that time, and to break the Territory Barrier, he had no choice but to pay a certain price.
After the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had shattered the Territory Barrier, the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors went all out to kill the invaders. By sacrificing their lives, not only did they manage to completely wipe out all but two Royal Lords, they also heavily injured the trapped Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
“He’s also waiting for an opportunity while healing himself. There won’t be any problem for the time being,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao explained.
Yang Kai nodded in response, feeling much more relieved. Only now did he understand why the Black Ink Clan had not sent troops to attack the two Human Race Old Ancestors. Even if they helped the Black Ink Giant Spirit God in escaping, he would still need time to heal himself.
On the other hand, this way the top Masters of both races could still restrain each other.
Fu Guang was still recuperating in the Dragon Pool, and it would probably take him hundreds or even over 1,000 years before he could leave. Once he came out of seclusion, he could come and help Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing, making it safer.
What troubled Yang Kai was that he didn’t know where Ah Da had gone.
It had been so many years, but he was still nowhere to be found.
Logically speaking, now that the Black Ink Clan had invaded the 3,000 Worlds and countless Universe Worlds had died, Ah Da should have appeared by now.
Yang Kai suspected that this guy was fast asleep in some remote Great Territory, which would make it all but impossible to find him without an exhaustive search.
“Old Ancestors, you don’t need to worry about the matters of the Human Race, us Juniors will handle them.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded, “Do your best, but don’t feel too pressured. We old fogeys have failed to live up to their expectations and forced the burden onto all of you.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Do you need anything? Do you have enough supplies?”
Wu Qing replied, “You can leave us just a few supplies, we don’t need that much right now.”
Yang Kai immediately took out some provisions and placed them into a Space Ring before handing them to Wu Qing.
He then bowed again and bid his goodbye, “This Junior will take his leave.”
“Go on,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded.
Yang Kai stared at the thick arm for a moment before using Space Principles and teleporting away.
Yang Kai returned to Profound Nether Territory.
In just several months, things had gotten on the right track when it came to training the Profound Nether Army. Based on Yang Kai’s initial plan, they had managed to build 10 forward outposts which served as resting places for the Human soldiers. Every forward outpost was guarded by at least three Eighth-Order Masters to ensure its safety.
During this period, the Profound Nether Army had broken up and scattered around the territory. On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan had repeatedly tested the waters and confirmed that the Eighth-Order Masters indeed wouldn’t make a move, allowing them to finally set their minds at ease.
Now, no large-scale battles were occurring in the entire Profound Nether Territory, though the number and intensity of smaller conflicts had soared.
Since the Human soldiers had scattered around, the Black Ink Clan soldiers had to follow suit. The soldiers of both Races now clashed and killed each other in every corner of this territory.
In every great battle in the past, the fights between the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords were the focal point as well as the key to determining victory or defeat; however, after the peace deal, the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords abstained from taking part in any kind of fighting. Now, the Seventh-Order Masters and Feudal Lords took centre stage. The Squads, led by Seventh-Order Squad Leaders, went all out to destroy the enemy, while some powerful Feudal Lords now rose up to lead their subordinates to slaughter the Humans.
Inside his palace, Yang Kai had started cultivating in seclusion.
It hadn’t been a long time since he ascended to the Eighth-Order in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon; as such, there was still much room for improvement in the Eighth-Order Realm for him.
Nevertheless, to increase his strength quickly, he had to actually sit and cultivate hard. He had been travelling around everywhere for the past 100 years, never having a chance to focus on his cultivation.
This was another reason he was eager to secure a peace deal with the Black Ink Clan. The need to train the next generation of Human soldiers was the primary reason, but Yang Kai also needed such an environment so he could enter retreat to cultivate. The Eighth Order was indeed his limit, but he was far from being at the peak of this Realm.
Right now, he needed to use Soul Rending Thorns to swiftly kill Innate Territory Lords, but if he managed to reach the peak of the Eighth Order, he had the confidence to pull off the same feat without the help of Soul Rending Thorns.
The accumulation process in the Eighth-Order was extremely long. Fortunately, Yang Kai had a World Tree clone.
The reason Duan Hong Chen and the others could rapidly increase their cultivation was that they had the Star Boundary’s help. They were Great Emperors acknowledged by the Star Boundary’s Will; as such, the abundance of heritage in the Star Boundary could be absorbed by them so they could cultivate far more swiftly.
The Great Emperors of the Star Boundary had gained massive benefits by sharing the benefits of a World Tree clone between them, but Yang Kai had a World Tree clone all to himself in his Small Universe.
He wasn’t short on any resources either. What he needed was a stable, safe place to cultivate.
While the Human soldiers were training, Yang Kai had to cultivate hard as well; hence, he had no choice but to secure a peace deal with the Territory Lords.
Yang Kai had one more reason to secure a stable environment for himself; for a long time, he would probably fall into a weakened state. He had no idea how frail he would become, but he was certain that his strength would be significantly weakened.
As such, he had to force the Territory Lords off the battlefield before he could carry out his plan with peace of mind.
Yang Kai ordered that unless it was a critical matter, no one was to disturb him, and then he set up multiple layers of restrictions around his cultivation chamber to ensure he was not interrupted.
A large amount of resources were stored in his Space Ring so that he could use them at any moment. It had come to a point in his cultivation where consuming Open Heaven Pills to cultivate was far too inefficient; hence, he had to refine Seventh-Order or even Eighth-Order sets of resources.
Having said that, even though he had loads of resources, Yang Kai only had a small amount of Eighth-Order ones. The resources he possessed were mostly in the Sixth-Order and Seventh-Order.
All the same, the resources were more than enough.
In the past, no one could ever squander resources to cultivate like him; after all, even though the Cave Heavens and Paradises had a large reserve of Five-Element resources, high Order Yin and Yang Element materials were still extremely rare.
On the other hand, Yang Kai had countless Yellow and Blue Crystals, so Yin and Yang materials were the least of his concerns. On the contrary, it was a lack of high Order Five-Element resources which restricted his lavish consumption.
Yang Kai hadn’t been able to cultivate with uninterrupted focus for a long time, so as a massive amount of resources were consumed by him, he could sense the heritage of his Small Universe gradually increasing. This kind of noticeable growth was quite gratifying.
While cultivating, he also diverted some of his attention to monitor the entire Void Continent, for he had to look for a suitable carrier to carry out his next plan.
Before Yang Kai parted ways with Wu Kuang outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the latter had taught him a method that would help him break through to the Ninth Order. It was a kind of Secret Art created by Shi back when he was alive.
Cang and the others each had different talents, and among them, Shi was skilful in the formulation of Secret Arts and Techniques. Evidence of this was he was the one who created the astonishing Heaven Devouring Battle Law. In modern times, some 50% of all Secret Arts and Techniques that the Human Race had inherited had traces of Shi’s influence.
As such, this method passed down from him was extremely precious.
However, even though Shi had worked out this Secret Art, he had done so after the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was established. No one had cultivated the method before, so no one could be certain if it was even feasible at all.
All the same, Yang Kai didn’t mind giving it a try as the Eighth Order was the limit in his lifetime. Giving a dead horse medicine can’t harm it after all.
This couldn’t be helped.
There was no doubt that as an Eighth-Order Master, he could charge around Profound Nether Territory and slaughter Innate Territory Lords; however, what would happen a few thousand years from now?
By then, there would be new Royal Lords in the Black Ink Clan and new Ninth-Order Masters in the Human Race. As an Eighth-Order Master, how useful would he be then? Any random Royal Lord would be able to kill him with ease when that time came.
Yang Kai wanted to secure a place for himself in the future when battling powerful enemies. It wasn’t like he could just sit back and pin all his hopes on the next generation.
For that reason, he longed to become a Ninth-Order Master.
It would be wonderful if this method worked, but even if it didn’t, there was no harm in giving it a shot.
The Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art was the method that Shi had come up with. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a Secret Art, it was more of a Secret Technique that was supposed to make up for the deficiencies in the Open Heaven Realm method that had been passed down from the Late Ancient Era.
During that era, Cang and the others made use of the World Tree’s power to gain enlightenment into the Open Heaven Realm cultivation method, which allowed the Humans to rise to power and build a foundation that lasted for many generations.
However, there were some clear deficiencies in this Open Heaven Realm method. Strictly speaking, it was incomplete.
That was because every cultivator who used this method to make it to the Open Heaven Realm had their own innate limit.
The Fifth Order was the limit for those who directly ascended to the Third Order. Similarly, the Sixth Order and the Ninth Order were respectively the limits for those who directly made it to the Fourth Order and Seventh Order.
What about the road after the Ninth Order?
The Martial Dao was a long journey of exploration, so there wasn’t a true peak or limit to speak of.
Cang and the others might’ve realised the deficiencies in this method; however, this method was the only option available for the Humans at that time. Given enough time, the Martial Ancestors might have devised a more perfect method of cultivation, but the Great Monsters roamed the Universe in that era and Humans struggled to survive. Hence, they didn’t have time to experiment with and adjust the method.
Cang had said that he was still a Ninth-Order Master, though he was further ahead than the current Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.
He also declared that there was a higher Realm beyond the Ninth Order.
While Cang was stuck in the Ninth Order, it was the same case for Shi, Mu, and the others. That was because the Open Heaven Realm method they had cultivated was incomplete. As such, the road ahead of them had been cut off when they reached the Ninth Order. Regardless of how far they went, they were unable to move past the Ninth Order.
Having been trapped in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction for several million years, Shi kept pondering this issue and eventually came up with a solution. Before he merged with the restriction, he had sent out a thread of consciousness, which surmounted countless obstacles and was reborn. He had the intention to start over and cultivate from the beginning, but unfortunately, his wish wasn’t granted in the end.
Eventually, Wu Kuang, Shi’s partial reincarnation, passed down this method to Yang Kai.
Over the past 100 years, Yang Kai had been trying to comprehend this method. He had memorised every bit of it and fully understood every detail. What he had to do now was put it into action.
According to Shi, it seemed that the Universe itself had a Will. When Mo plunged the Universe into chaos, that Will led the 10 Martial Ancestors to enter the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. With the World Tree’s help, they comprehended the Open Heaven Realm method, which allowed them to fight Mo’s expansion. In the following aeons, those who had the chance to enter the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and obtain World Tree clones were akin to cards that Will had drawn in order to protect itself.
However, those cards were all basically destroyed. Yang Kai was just the latest example and probably the last one.
During the Primordial Era, Divine Spirits ruled over the Universe, and during the Early Ancient Era, the Monster Race was the most powerful force. It wasn’t until the Late Ancient Era that the Humans rose to dominance.
If the Heavenly Way really had a Will, there was no denying it favoured these three kinds of living creatures, for their presence represented three different magnificent eras.
These three kinds of living creatures were probably the chosen ones of the Heavenly Way’s Will during the different eras. If Yang Kai could merge these three favoured existences into his own being, he might be able to make up for the deficiencies and find a way forward in his cultivation.
Although the method sounded abstruse and even a bit fantastical, it wasn’t actually difficult to put it into action.
Yang Kai just had to come up with a way to integrate the powers of these three kinds of living creatures. Simply put, he had to cultivate Soul Clones, which were his Divine Spirit Self, Monster Self, and Human Self. As these three Selves united, he might be able to break through the shackles of the Open Heaven Realm and ascend to the Ninth Order.
It was for this reason that he headed to the Demon Realm back then and retrieved Embodiment. He had to get prepared for cultivating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art by taking back his other living Soul Clone.
Yang Kai was originally a Human, but in the past, he happened to obtain a Divine Dragon’s Source. Gradually, his bloodline was Dragonized, and after he cultivated in the Dragon Pool, his Human bloodline was permanently purged. Now, he was technically a pure Divine Spirit. Moreover, he was a part of the Dragon Clan, the head of the Divine Spirits. There was no doubt he was formidable in his own right.
As such, he already had a Divine Spirit Self. Now, he needed a Human Self and a Monster Self.
Regardless, Yang Kai decided to cultivate his Human Self first as it was probably the easier one. If there were any problems in the future, he could slowly make some adjustments.
Therefore, during his retreat, while he consumed the resources to cultivate, Yang Kai had also been paying attention to everything on the Void Continent.
Presently, the Void Continent could be considered prosperous. Following Yang Kai’s increase in strength, his Small Universe’s capacity had also greatly expanded. The most conspicuous change was that the Small Universe’s territory had become larger.
As a result, there had also been an increase in population. The flow of time in his Small Universe was different from that of the outside world, and with the World Tree clone’s presence, more and more youths with extraordinary aptitudes appeared. Most of them became part of the major Sects and learned how to cultivate there. When they reached a certain age or level of cultivation, they would be invited to the Void Dao Temple, thus becoming disciples of the Dao Temple.
There were still some conflicts in the Void World. There had been the rise and fall of different families and Sects; regardless, there was one powerful force that had stood the test of time.
It was none other than the Seven Stars Sect.
After all, the Dao Lord was the Supreme Elder of the Seven Stars Sect. As such, no one had the guts to offend Seven Stars Sect; instead, they were all eager to flatter them.
Meanwhile, even though the Seven Stars Sect was the most powerful in the entire Void World, they remained humble and righteous, never committing any kind of outrage or offence since it rose to power several tens of thousands of years ago. For that reason, many talented young people dreamed of joining the Seven Stars Sect, which helped further strengthen the Sect’s foundation and inheritance.
The present Seven Stars Sect was very different from the one Yang Kai had seen in the past. The Sect now occupied countless mountains and rivers, while on the various Spirit Peaks, houses and pavilions could faintly be seen as rare beasts roamed around freely. There was no denying it was now a powerful Sect.
After several tens of thousands of years of accumulation, this Sect, which had migrated from its original location back then, had a very ample heritage now.
Yang Kai hadn’t paid attention to his Small Universe for a long time, so as he looked around Seven Stars Sect, he felt that everything had changed drastically.
There was no doubt he still had some emotional attachment to Seven Stars Sect; after all, his Soul Avatar had stayed in this place for quite some time, and he had even taken his three Disciples from here.
Although he hadn’t found anything useful this time around, he wasn’t disappointed and simply went on to inspect other places.
A few years later, when Yang Kai scanned his Small Universe with his Divine Sense again, something in the Seven Stars Sect caught his attention. His brow twitched as he couldn’t help thinking that he indeed had some predestined fate with Seven Stars Sect.
Other than the fact that he had taken on his three Disciples in the Seven Stars Sect, he had also found his Human Self here.
In fact, he had encountered some suitable options over the past few years, but none were really up to his standards. This was a matter closely related to his future, after all; therefore, he wouldn’t dare to be negligent as he wanted everything to be perfect.
The opportunity he had come across this time was satisfactory.
After some inspection, he stopped hesitating as he began executing the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art. At that instant, his Soul was torn apart and his aura plunged.
When he used Soul Rending Thorns to kill Innate Territory Lords, Yang Kai also tore his Soul apart. By powering the Soul Rending Thorns with a portion of his Soul Essence, he not only destroyed the enemy, but also harmed himself.
However, that feeling of being torn apart was quite different from the present one. As he activated the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art now, Yang Kai felt as if he was slicing himself in half. If not for the fact that he had activated Soul Rending Thorns many times before, this kind of extreme pain would’ve made him pass out directly.
The method that Shi had come up with was ‘intriguing’ to say the least. It would be worth it if it was useful, but if it turned out to be useless, all this pain and suffering would be for nothing.
As his Soul was ripped apart, Yang Kai not only became frail, but he also realised that he had become listless and dazed. His forehead felt scorching, as though he had come down with fever.
Now, he couldn’t even use half of his full strength. If he were to fight an Innate Territory Lord in such a condition, he would undoubtedly die.
He tried to pull himself together as he used the Secret Technique to wrap his Soul Fission with layers of seals. This was a Soul Fission from a powerful Eighth-Order Master, after all, so the average carrier couldn’t possibly bear it. As such, he had to seal it.
When he was done sealing the Soul Fission, Yang Kai let out a long breath. As a thought flashed across his mind, the Soul Fission traversed the Small Universe and descended in a particular direction.
Seven Stars Sect was the strongest Sect in Void World with several tens of thousands of years worth of inheritance. Not only was the inside of the Sect magnificent, but the lands under its jurisdiction were also prosperous.
Several cities surrounded Seven Stars Sect as countless cultivators streamed along the streets.
The Fang Family Village was located some 200 kilometres outside one of these major cities. One of the Fang Family’s Ancestors was a Seven Stars Sect’s disciple; however, his aptitude was weak as he had only managed to make it to the Dao Source Realm.
He passed away 1,000 years ago.
Over the past 1,000 years, the Fang Family had some members who had aptitude for cultivation, but none of them were very talented. As such, they couldn’t restore their family’s former glory.
Now, most people on the Void Continent aspired to be cultivators, and there were a lot who had outstanding aptitudes. Nevertheless, rarely would anyone be considered a prodigy.
Fortunately, the present cultivation environment was much better than it used to be several tens of thousands of years ago. As long as one wasn’t completely crippled, they would have some cultivation talent in them. Having said that, while talent was important, one’s own hard work and will to improve were still the key to achieving success.
The Patriarch of the Fang Family, Fang Yu Bai, was not such a person. His cultivation was weak as he was only in the True Element Boundary. This kind of cultivation was unremarkable on the Void Continent.
All the same, he wasn’t an ambitious person. As time passed, he was no longer as hot-blooded as when he was younger, and more than 10 years ago, he married a woman, and had been living off the heritage he inherited from his ancestors ever since.
His Wife, Zhong Yu Xiu, was even weaker than him as she was only in the Separation and Reunion Boundary. With that said, she was a wise and demure woman.
The married couple lived a harmonious life far away from any kind of conflict. There was no doubt they were happy and carefree.
That was also how most people on the Void Continent lived. Those Heaven-defying geniuses and Masters who could fly through the sky were far removed from most people’s lives.
Nevertheless, Fang Yu Bai had been in a terrible mood recently.
There had never been a lot of offspring in the Fang Family, and for some reason, instead of getting better with time, things had only gotten worse in Fang Yu Bai’s generation.
It had been more than 10 years since he married, and during this period, Fang Yu Bai had never neglected his wife’s needs. To his dismay, however, his wife never became pregnant over the years. As his wife grew older, he couldn’t help feeling dejected, wondering if one of them had some kind of health problem.
Fortunately, they seemed to have the blessing of the Fang Family’s ancestors and six months ago, his Wife was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of discomfort. She felt dizzy in the morning and would frequently retch after eating anything. Upon closer inspection, the couple was surprised to learn that she was pregnant.
Fang Yu Bai then reported to his ancestors about this piece of wonderful news.
Since then, he had been taking extra care of his Wife as he was worried that she would become ill or injured. He had also stopped her from practising her sword, which was a long-time habit of hers. He wanted her to get more rest so that the child wouldn’t be affected.
Zhong Yu Xiu certainly wouldn’t object to this. In fact, now that she was finally pregnant, she felt quite relieved.
Unfortunately, life wasn’t always so kind.
Half a month ago, Zhong Yu Xiu suddenly realised that there were no longer any movements from her child. She was in the Separation and Reunion Boundary, after all. As such, she was aware of what was going on inside her body.
The realisation horrified the couple and they quickly hired a senior expert to examine her.
The result turned out to be terrible for them. The child in Zhong Yu Xiu’s belly didn’t seem to have enough vitality. As such, it was uncertain if she could even give birth to her child. Now, she could only get enough rest, and leave the rest up to the Heavens.
After seeing the senior expert off, a dejected Fang Yu Bai became even more attentive to his Wife; however, both of them could clearly feel that the vitality of their child was weakening by the day.
Fang Yu Bai was downcast as he wondered why their family was so unlucky. It was extremely difficult for his Wife to get pregnant, and now they were at risk of losing their child.
If the child was gone, there would no longer be any offspring in the Fang Family’s main line. At the thought of this, Fang Yu Bai felt too ashamed to face his ancestors.
On the other hand, Zhong Yu Xiu wept every day. Despite knowing that her emotions would affect her child, she still couldn’t help feeling sorrowful.
It was the sorrow of a Mother who knew she might not be able to keep her child.
One day, Fang Yu Bai was leading his subordinates to inspect the Spirit Farm in the village. Seven Stars Sect had many disciples, and as such, they needed a lot of Spirit Pills to cultivate. Outside Seven Stars Sect, those in the villages like the Fang Family Village would nurture some Spirit Farms where they planted a lot of simple Spirit Herbs to make a living.
In fact, there were many similar villages around Seven Stars Sect. It was thanks to the Spirit Herbs grown in these villages that the cultivation needs of those grassroots disciples were met.
In the Spirit Farm, the Spirit Herbs were growing well. Despite that, Fang Yu Bai was disconsolate as he was worried about his Wife and their child.
Just then, a maidservant rushed over and exclaimed, “Patriarch! Madam said that her belly is in pain, so she wants you to return at once!”
Hearing that, Fang Yu Bai was no longer in the mood to inspect the Spirit Farm and used all his strength to run back to his home.
Upon his arrival, he heard his Wife’s muffled moaning. He dashed into the room and shoved the maidservants and midwives away, only to see Zhong Yu Xiu lying on the bed, her face as pale as a white sheet.
He sat down beside the bed and asked anxiously, “How are you feeling, my Wife?”
Zhong Yu Xiu’s forehead was beaded with sweat, and her clothes were all soaked. It was apparent that she was going through some unbearable pain. When she saw her husband, she was deluged with grievances and pain as she cried, “My belly hurts, my Husband. The child…”
“What happened to the child?” Fang Yu Bai’s face turned ashen.
“There hasn’t been any movement from the child for half a day…” Zhong Yu Xiu wailed.
A six-month-old fetus should have been very active in Mother’s belly, and although the child didn’t have enough vitality, it would still occasionally make some movements and kick his Mother. Now that there hadn’t been any movement for half a day though, it was apparent that things had taken a turn for the worse.
As if struck by lightning, Fang Yu Bai was rooted to the spot. He couldn’t help but lament that their family didn’t have the Heavens’ blessings. His wife was finally pregnant with a child, but she didn’t have a chance to give birth to it. Fang Yu Bai had been working hard all his life, and although he couldn’t be considered a philanthropist, he had never done anything wicked. He wondered why he was so unlucky.
All of a sudden, a maidservant yelped, “Ah! Blood!”
Fang Yu Bai looked down and saw that blood was indeed streaming out of his wife’s lower body. The bed had been dyed red.
“Madam has passed out!” The maidservant exclaimed again.
A terrified Fang Yu Bai called out, “My wife!”
The room descended into a mess. The turn of events caught Fang Yu Bai off guard as he had no idea what to do.
*Kacha…*
A sudden loud clap of thunder shocked everyone in the room. The thunder was different from the ones they had heard in the past as it continued for a long time. The instant the thunder was heard, the entire sky lit up. A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky as though trying to tear it apart.
“Thunder on a clear day!” One of the midwives muttered under her breath. One had to know that the weather was lovely today with not a cloud in sight. It was obviously not normal for a clap of thunder to sound all of a sudden.
Fang Yu Bai almost went mad. The Fang Family members had been good people for generations; however, he couldn’t even produce a single heir, which was downright miserable. He wondered if the Heavens were also mourning for him.
Presently, he was at a loss as he had no idea what he should do if the child was indeed dead; after all, he had never experienced such an incident before, so it was only natural that he didn’t know how to deal with it.
The maidservants and the midwives were also flustered and uncertain about what they should do.
While they were despondent, a thud was heard all of a sudden. Initially, Fang Yu Bai didn’t pay attention to it as he only wailed in sorrow.
However, when he heard the same kind of thud for the second time, he realised something was off. He quickly kept quiet and glanced at his Wife’s belly in shock.
If Fang Yu Bai wasn’t mistaken, the sound was coming from his Wife’s belly.
Although he wasn’t powerful, he was in the True Element Boundary at the very least. He could hear sounds that the mortals were unable to hear.
Furthermore, he was very familiar with this kind of sound.
When the child was still fine back then, he would always lean his head against his Wife’s belly to listen to the child’s movements. The thudding sounds were the child’s heartbeat.
“Shush!” He suddenly ordered.
Instantly, the maidservants and midwives stopped weeping and kept their mouths shut.
Seated beside the bed, Fang Yu Bai observed his Wife. He wasn’t sure if it was just an illusion, but he believed that some of the colour had been restored to his Wife’s originally pale face.
*Dong…*
Another gentle thud was heard from his Wife’s belly.
Fang Yu Bai trembled and leaned in close to his Wife before pressing his ear against her belly, waiting anxiously.
*Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong…*
The weak heartbeat was a sign that the child in the belly had been brought back to life. Although the heartbeat was initially in a mess, it gradually began pounding normally. Fang Yu Bai even had a feeling that the heartbeat was stronger than what he had heard in the past.
All of a sudden, his Wife’s belly swelled a little. Fang Yu Bai instantly felt that someone kicked him through the flesh. Even though the kick was gentle, he almost jumped in shock.
“Ah!” He widened his eyes in disbelief as he quickly took his Wife’s wrist and examined her pulse.
A moment later, tears started streaming down his face, “Thank the Heavens!”
The maidservants and midwives looked at each other as they had no idea what was going on.
One hour later, Zhong Yu Xiu slowly regained her senses, and the moment she opened her eyes, she saw Fang Yu Bai beside the bed.
“You’re finally awake, my wife,” Fang Yu Bai was pleasantly surprised. Although he had examined his wife and confirmed that she was fine, it wasn’t until she awakened that he breathed a sigh of relief.
A dazed Zhong Yu Xiu stared at her Husband as her mind gradually became clear. Tears slid down from her reddened eyes as she asked, “What happened to the child, my husband?”
Despite knowing that her child was probably gone for good, she still couldn’t help asking her Husband about it to get a definitive answer.
Fang Yu Bai patted the back of her hand and replied with a smile, “Don’t worry, my wife. The child is fine.”
Zhong Yu Xiu didn’t believe him as she cried, “There’s no need to console me, my husband. I’m able to… accept the truth.”
Hearing that, Fang Yu Bai couldn’t help smiling, “I’m not trying to console you. The child is really fine. You’re a cultivator too; if you don’t believe me, you can examine yourself.”
Realising that her husband wasn’t pulling her leg, Zhong Yu Xiu doubtfully activated her power and carefully examined her body. What she discovered astounded her.
Not only was the child in her belly indeed fine, but she could also feel that the child’s vitality was far stronger than before.
[What’s going on?]
She remembered that her belly was in sharp pain on this day, and there hadn’t been any movement from her child for half a day. Before she passed out, her lower body had even started bleeding.
She was ready to accept the fact that her child was gone for good, but the truth turned out to be such a pleasant surprise.
“Am I dreaming, my husband?” She still couldn’t believe that her child was alive.
Fang Yu Bai placated her, saying, “You’re not dreaming. Everything is going well.”
Unable to hold back her tears any longer, Zhong Yu Xiu started bawling her eyes out. All her worries over the past few days were gone as she could finally vent out her sorrow. Although she was crying, she felt relieved.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, it might affect the child,” not knowing what to do, Fang Yu Bai could only help wipe the tears off the corners of her eyes.
Zhong Yu Xiu nodded repeatedly, but she couldn’t stop her tears from sliding down her cheeks. It wasn’t until a long time later that she gradually calmed down. While stroking her belly, she bit her lip and said, “The child is hungry, my husband.”
Fang Yu Bai was startled for a moment before guffawing, “Give me a moment, my wife. I’ll tell the cooks to prepare something for you.”
With that, he turned around and left.
The news of his dead child being brought back to life soon spread around. It was also said that lightning struck on a clear day when it happened, which was an unusual phenomenon.
Soon, everyone heard about this incident. All the villagers thought that the Fang Family’s ancestors had done enough good deeds to make the Heavens bring the child back from death’s door.
Those who believed the story became even more respectful of the Heavens, while the non-believers dismissed it as superstition.
After all, the child was still in her belly. Other than the Fang Family members, no one knew if the child had really been resurrected. With that said, lightning had indeed struck from the clear sky on that day, and the news had sent a shockwave across the entire Void World.
Void Dao Temple and the major Sects had sent some people to look into the matter, but they discovered nothing in the end.
Zhong Yu Xiu’s belly became larger by the day, but what was strange was that since the incident that day, her child’s vitality had never become weaker. On the other hand, Zhong Yu Xiu was originally somewhat thin, but she too had gradually become chubby.
10 months into the pregnancy, she was finally ready to give birth. While Fang Yu Bai was waiting anxiously outside the room, the maidservants and midwives kept streaming in and out of the place.
One hour later, a loud cry was heard coming from the room. The next moment, a maidservant rushed over and reported, “Congratulations, Patriarch! It’s a boy!”
At this point, Fang Yu Bai’s face was covered in tears, for he finally had an heir.
There was a new Young Master in the Fang Family, and his name was Fang Tian Ci. Fang Yu Bai felt that the child was given to them by the Heavens. If not for the Heavens having mercy on them that day, the child would’ve passed away.
Since he only had a single child in his old age, Fang Yu Bai doted on him. Although the Fang Family couldn’t be considered wealthy, the Patriarch was still quite generous to his child.
If the average child had been doted on like this since a young age, he would probably grow up to be a willful person; however, Fang Tian Ci turned out to be well-mannered. Despite growing up in a rich family, he had never done anything that harmed others’ interests. Moreover, he was an intelligent and genial person; as such, the villagers in the Fang Family Village were quite fond of him.
As time passed, the child grew up to be a young man.
Fang Yu Bai wanted him to join the Seven Stars Sect, so he had been trying to build a foundation for him by teaching him some simple cultivation methods since the latter was a young boy.
However, much to his chagrin, even though his child was intelligent, he didn’t seem to be a talented cultivator.
It wasn’t until Fang Tian Ci was 13 that he reached the Initial Element Boundary. Another five years later, he finally ascended to the Qi Transformation Boundary.
There was no doubt his aptitude was slightly better than that of Fang Yu Bai, but it was still quite limited. One had to know that World Energy was abundant in the Void World. If one was a prodigy, they would reach the True Element Boundary by the age of 18.
However, Fang Tian Ci was only in the Qi Transformation Boundary, which was two Great Realms below the True Element Boundary.
Certainly, those from the Seven Stars Sect wouldn’t be interested in someone with such weak aptitude. Even the smaller Sects wouldn’t accept him.
As such, Fang Yu Bai decided to give up on this small dream. He was lucky enough to have a child, so demanding him to have a good aptitude for cultivation was downright greedy.
Fortunately, Fang Tian Ci possessed an unwavering spirit and was quite hard-working, so despite his lack of talent, he still built a very solid foundation.
Since he was an only child, his parents weren’t willing to let him leave the village and become anyone’s Disciple in a faraway place; as such, they decided to just teach him at home.
Time went by slowly.
Fang Yu Bai and his Wife were now old and frail. Their cultivation was weak, so they couldn’t enjoy a long life. With the abundance of World Energy in the Void World, even mortals who had never cultivated before could live past 100 years, but there would still come a day when they passed away. Despite being cultivators, the married couple could only live for slightly longer than that.
They increasingly felt that they didn’t have much energy left, and their days were surely numbered.
Fortunately, Fang Tian Ci was married. Although his Wife wasn’t a Young Lady from a wealthy family, their families were equally matched. She had also given birth to Fang Tian Ci’s children.
Several years later, Fang Yu Bai and Zhong Yu Xiu passed away in close succession.
As time passed, wrinkles started appearing on Fang Tian Ci’s face. When he was 150 years old, his Wife also left him for the next world.
He only had one Wife for all his life, just like his parents. His love for his Wife was steadfast and unshakable. Unfortunately, his Wife was just a commoner who had never cultivated before, so she didn’t live for long.
Although he now had some children and even grandchildren, the death of his Wife was still devastating to Fang Tian Ci. He seemed to have aged significantly overnight as his hair turned grey.
His parents were long gone, and even his only Wife was no longer with him. Since there were quite a few Fang Family members now, Fang Tian Ci felt he no longer had any worries.
He summoned his children to the Fang Family’s Grand Hall and informed them about his intention to leave home.
Certainly, his children were not willing to see him depart. Although Fang Tian Ci had been cultivating since he was a young child, he was only in the Immortal Ascension Boundary now. Given his advanced age and frailty, how was he supposed to take care of himself if he went out to explore the world now?
Although it was generally safe in the Void World, the current Fang Tian Ci couldn’t possibly fend off ill-intentioned people on his own should he come across any danger.
All the same, Fang Tian Ci had made up his mind. He only summoned his children to inform them about his decision, not discuss it with them.
Several days later, Fang Tian Ci left the Fang Family Village on his own. Behind him, his children and grandchildren fell on their knees as they watched him leave.
In fact, Fang Tian Ci had no idea why he had decided to go out on an excursion. Supposedly, he was no longer a high-spirited and ambitious youth. At his age, he was supposed to spend his retirement years having fun with his grandchildren; however, there was a voice in his heart that kept telling him that he should go out and see this wonderful world at least once.
This kind of urge had been with him since he was very young.
Unfortunately, his aptitude was unremarkable, and he was weak. When he was young, he couldn’t possibly leave his parents, and when his parents passed away, he was already married with children. His weakness couldn’t help him realise his dream.
Now that his wife was gone, he reckoned that his children and grandchildren no longer needed him. Since he had no more worries, he decided to make his dream come true despite knowing that he might be killed somewhere along the way.
One night, he arrived at a certain mountain and sat down to cultivate.
Since he started cultivating, he had never slacked off over the years. Although his cultivation was weak, he knew that little drops of water made a mighty ocean over time; therefore, he would never miss cultivating every day.
This helped build a solid foundation for him. Although he was no match for some of the talented young people, his True Qi was quite robust for one in the Immortal Ascension Boundary. Rarely would anyone in the same Boundary be a match for him.
However, the moment he started cultivating on this day, he realised that something was off.
He had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage 30 years ago, which he felt was his limit. Over the years, he had never been able to break through this bottleneck.
His aptitude and body simply didn’t allow him to walk any further on the Martial Dao.
Nevertheless, on this day, the bottleneck that had blocked him for 30 years showed signs of cracking.
Fang Tian Ci couldn’t help falling into a dazed state. When he examined himself again, he realised it wasn’t an illusion. The bottleneck that had restricted him for such a long time was finally breaking apart.
Nevertheless, he wasn’t ecstatic. After years of cultivation, his personality had become the epitome of calm and collected. He only thought that he was finally able to achieve a breakthrough in his old age, which was unheard of as far as he knew.
Perhaps it had something to do with his decision to go out and explore the world. Now that he had no more worries, nothing could restrict him again. Since his birth, he had never felt more carefree and unrestrained.
He then circulated his True Qi in an attempt to achieve a breakthrough.
Everything went so smoothly to the point where it was hard for him to believe it. Soon, dark clouds gathered in the sky as lightning crackled and thunder rolled.
He knew that the trial of the World’s Grand Dao had come.
His expression remained as tranquil as an ancient well. Following a bolt of lightning, powerful World Energy penetrated his body and cleansed his aged mind.
He gritted his teeth and persevered, enduring the unbearable pain in silence as he realised that he was gradually growing stronger.
It wasn’t until the next morning that the Heavenly Manifestation dissipated. A long and satisfied roar reverberated across the mountains. Fang Tian Ci, who was originally in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, felt his aura surging as he broke through his shackles and ascended to the Transcendent Realm.
The ascension didn’t only bring about an increase in strength, but some of the wrinkles on his face also disappeared. There was a bit of glow on his originally withered skin now.
He seemed to have become much younger overnight as some of his hair had turned from grey to black.
As he washed his face beside a creek and looked at his reflection, he chuckled lightly.
After consolidating his cultivation for a bit, he built a hut on the mountain and started living there.
He was suddenly able to achieve a breakthrough, but the trial of the World’s Grand Dao didn’t only help increase his power, it also allowed him to comprehend something else.
As such, he needed time to go through this new enlightenment.
Years passed as flowers withered and bloomed in a cycle. When Fang Tian Ci left his seclusion 10 years later, his aura had become much more robust. It was apparent that he had moved further into the Transcendent Realm. Besides that, 10 years of cultivation had allowed him to grasp a different kind of power. It was an abstruse power that was unfamiliar to him.
It was none other than the Dao of Space!
There were some cultivators in the Void World who had cultivated the Dao of Space thanks to the Dao Lord’s blessing.
It was rumoured that the inscrutable Dao Lord had cultivated over 10,000 Grand Daos and the entire Void World was filled with the Dao Essences of these Grand Daos. These Dao Essences were intangible, but omnipresent. Only the most talented cultivators had a chance to comprehend them and obtain some of the Dao Lord’s inheritance.
The extraordinary people were already able to connect to the Dao Lord’s Grand Daos before they were even born. After they were born, once they cultivated the Grand Daos that matched their talents, their cultivation would rapidly increase. They would easily be led to enter the Void Dao Temple and become Dao Temple disciples.
It was extremely rare to find people who were born compatible with the Dao Lord’s Grand Daos. Perhaps only one such person would be born in many years. It was said that the first disciple that the Dao Lord had taken on in Seven Stars Sect had caught the Dao Lord’s attention before he was even born.
Everyone was envious of such luck.
It was something that could not be forced; nevertheless, the World’s Grand Dao never stopped anyone from obtaining the Dao Lord’s inheritance.
When Fang Tian Ci went through the trial of the World’s Grand Dao and achieved a breakthrough 10 years ago, he sensed a bit of the Grand Dao’s Dao Essence in the Void World. If anyone came across such an opportunity, they might be able to comprehend something.
Many such people benefited from this experience. Whenever they achieved a breakthrough, they could faintly detect a particular kind of Grand Dao.
This was the Dao Lord’s gift to the Void World.
Although he had cultivated over 10,000 Grand Daos, the Dao Lord was said to be particularly skilful in three of them.
They were the Dao of Space, the Dao of Time, and the Spear Dao.
It was rumoured that the Dao Lord had primarily cultivated these three Grand Daos. Many millennia ago, these three Grand Daos were by far the most conspicuous in the Void World. It wasn’t until a long time later that many other Grand Daos rose to prominence.
Since these three Grand Daos were what the Dao Lord had primarily cultivated, anyone who managed to inherit one of these Grand Daos would be treasured.
When Fang Tian Ci was young, he was unable to achieve any such success, and it never crossed his mind that he would make it to the Transcendent Realm in the twilight of his life. Besides that, he had also comprehended the Dao of Space during the trial of the World’s Grand Dao.
His experience left him torn between tears and laughter.
If he had such an opportunity when he was young, he would’ve tried to make a name for himself and gain a footing in this World; however, after experiencing the vicissitudes of life, he was no longer as ambitious as when he was young. Now, he just wanted to travel around the Void World and take in the wonderful sights he didn’t have a chance to see in the past.
He then left the place where he had stayed for 10 years. As he roamed around the world, he simply followed his whims without having any kind of plan in mind.
Perhaps it was because he had severed ties with his past, he felt different now. After leaving the Fang Family Village, Fang Tian Ci could finally chase his dreams and live the kind of life he had always wanted.
Wherever he went, he stood up for the weak and vanquished evil. When he arrived at any Sect, he would spend some time discussing the Martial Dao with their cultivators.
There were some occasions where he fell into danger. He was once hunted down by powerful Monster Beasts through the mountains. Other times, he had been dragged into plots and besieged by disciples of Sects. Fortunately, as his mastery of the Dao of Space improved, he could always find a way to preserve his life.
These dangerous encounters didn’t hold him back or dampen his spirits; instead, they only made him stronger.
He soon became a famous figure. Despite having cultivated for 150 years, he was still only in the Immortal Ascension Boundary back then. The story of such an ordinary cultivator achieving a breakthrough and becoming powerful sent a shockwave across the world.
There had never been a lack of ambitious but ordinary people in the Void Continent, so when they heard about Fang Tian Ci’s story, many had the misconception that they too could pull off a similar feat.
To some extent, Fang Tian Ci’s story had propelled many ordinary cultivators to work harder; nevertheless, only a small number of them could really break through their shackles like he had.
30 years later, Fang Tian Ci ascended to the Saint Realm from the Transcendent Realm.
He went through a World Trial again, but this time, he gained enlightenment into the Dao of Time.
50 years later, he made it to the Saint King Realm and comprehended the Spear Dao.
Every time he broke through to the next Great Realm, Fang Tian Ci would gain massive benefits. Even his appearance had become increasingly younger.
When he left the Fang Family Village, he was old and frail, but after travelling around the world for a hundred years, he now looked like a middle-aged man. While others grew older with time, he seemed to become younger.
His experiences gave him a unique type of charm, and by now his story had become quite famous. Although he still wasn’t a truly powerful Master, his inspirational journey had become a legend in the Void World. Many families wanted him to join them and offers of marriage were never lacking.
Nonetheless, Fang Tian Ci wasn’t interested in such matters and turned them all down as he continued his journey.
Over the years, he made many good friends, but none of them could keep him company for long. Sometimes, he would feel lonely, but he reasoned that this was the price he had to pay for chasing the Martial Dao.
He never intended to return to the Fang Family Village. After his departure, he decided that he would never go back to his hometown. Since he had left behind some offspring, he had no more worries. As such, he could bid farewell to his past without regrets.
Compared to the talented geniuses, his cultivation speed couldn’t be considered rapid; however, his progress was stable, and he was able to build a solid foundation in every Realm.
As he travelled around the world, he had some friendly matches against cultivators in the same Realm, but was never once defeated. It could be said that he was unrivalled in the same Realm.
Moreover, he had inherited the Dao Lord’s three primary Grand Daos, which made him even more popular.
One had to know that even though some cultivators had the chance to inherit the Dao Lord’s Grand Daos, none of them was like Fang Tian Ci who managed to inherit the Dao of Space, Dao of Time, and Spear Dao altogether.
Everyone was curious about why he had such an opportunity.
Supposedly, a prodigy would show signs of having extraordinary aptitude when they were young, however, Fang Tian Ci was different. He only became powerful when he was well over 100 years old. Although the increase in his strength wasn’t rapid, he managed to achieve something that no cultivators in the Void World had ever pulled off before.
He went from the Origin Returning Realm to the Origin King Realm, to the Dao Source Realm, to the Emperor Realm eventually.
Slowly but steadily, he grew from an insignificant cultivator to an important Master. Now, it had been 1,000 years since he left the Fang Family Village.
Many things had changed during this period. It took him over 1,000 years to go from the Immortal Ascension Boundary to the Emperor Realm. There was no doubt his cultivation speed was slow and his aptitude was terrible.
Supposedly, this shouldn’t have happened. If a cultivator was unable to make it to the Emperor Realm within 1,000 years in a wonderful environment such as the Void World, he wouldn’t be able to achieve it in his lifetime.
However, Fang Tian Ci had pulled it off.
Some people had asked him what his secrets were.
All he could tell them though was that he had no idea. After he left the Fang Family Village, even though his cultivation speed was slow, he never faced any bottlenecks again. In other words, although the increase in his power was snail-paced, he would always make it to the next Realm given enough time. It was unlike any other cultivators who might get stuck in the same Realm forever despite rapidly being able to accumulate enough heritage to break through.
This made the Masters in the Void World have some wild thoughts. Perhaps rapidly increasing one’s strength wasn’t the best way to pursue the Martial Dao, perhaps it was better to build a solid foundation in every Realm before trying to advance further.
With such a speculation in mind, many Sects started suppressing the cultivation speed of their prodigies, but regardless of who attempted this, no one could tell if the results were good or bad.
At this point, Fang Tian Ci, who was an Emperor Realm Master, was invited to the Void Dao Temple.
The Dao Temple was a splendid palace hovering in the sky of the Void World. It was every cultivator’s dream to one day join the Dao Temple.
The existence of the Dao Temple was a wonder in itself. Although it was a palace, there seemed to be an entirely different world inside, one that was both vast and expansive. The first time Fang Tian Ci arrived at this place, he sensed the abstrusity of the Dao Temple. This place also seemed to be filled with the secrets of the Grand Dao of Space.
Moreover, regardless of where a person was in the Void World, they could see the Dao Temple clearly as long as they looked up. It was indeed abstruse.
It was rumoured that the Dao Temple was personally built by the Dao Lord. When the Dao Temple appeared back then, everyone was shocked. Furthermore, the Dao Temple was responsible for selecting the most talented people in the Void World all on its own.
The commoners had no idea why the Void Dao Temple had to select talented people. Over the past several tens of thousands of years, countless brilliant cultivators had been invited to the Dao Temple, and there had never been any news about them since then. No one knew where they were, but it was rumoured that those Masters had shattered the Void and left the Void World to pursue a higher Martial Dao.
Certainly, Fang Tian Ci had heard about these rumours before, but he simply dismissed them; after all, rumours were usually unfounded and inaccurate.
However, it wasn’t until he was invited to the Void Dao Temple that he realised those rumours were indeed true.
Things that were secrets to the general cultivators of the Void World were common knowledge to those in the Dao Temple.
It wasn’t until this moment that he realised the Emperor Realm wasn’t the peak of the Martial Dao. Beyond the Emperor Realm was the Open Heaven Realm, which was divided into nine Orders, with each one vastly different from the previous.
One had to condense their Dao Seal, split Heaven and Earth apart in their body, and form a Small Universe. Only then would they ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
What’s more, the entire Void World was just the Dao Lord’s Small Universe.
In other words, all beings in the Void World were living inside the Dao Lord’s body.
When Fang Tian Ci learned this truth, he was utterly dumbfounded. He couldn’t be considered an inexperienced man; after all, he had travelled the entire Void Continent for over 1,000 years.
Nevertheless, when he was told the truth about the Void World, he was astonished.
It was at that moment he realised just how immense the Dao Lord’s power was.
Such an expansive world was just the Dao Lord’s Small Universe, making Fang Tian Ci wonder what the extent of the Dao Lord’s strength in the Open Heaven Realm was.
The person responsible for showing him around was a Senior Brother surnamed Liu. He introduced himself to Fang Tian Ci as Liu Jing Shan, and although Fang Tian Ci was actually older than the latter, Liu Jing Shan was stronger as he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master.
Every newcomer to the Void Dao Temple would be greeted by someone, who was responsible for explaining the reasons the Void Dao Temple was built and answering any questions that the newcomer might have.
As such, Fang Tian Ci asked what was on his mind freely.
Liu Jing Shan replied with a smile, “We have no idea how powerful the Dao Lord is in the Open Heaven Realm, but there’s no way he’s weak. We suppose he’s either in the Eighth Order or the Ninth Order.”
Every cultivator in the Void World regarded the Dao Lord as a deity, so it was no surprise they would think highly of him when it came to his cultivation.
After a nod, Fang Tian Ci went on to ask, “Senior Brother Liu, since the Void World is just the Dao Lord’s Small Universe, how were those Seniors supposed to shatter the Void and leave this place back then?”
If they were capable of doing that, it would be no different from forming a hole in the Dao Lord’s belly. Fang Tian Ci shuddered at the thought of this.
Liu Jing Shan chuckled and explained, “Well, they didn’t really shatter the Void. They were only led out of the Void World by the Dao Lord. It has something to do with the reason why the Dao Temple has to select talented people.”
“Please enlighten me, Senior Brother,” Fang Tian Ci said solemnly. Having travelled around the world for over 1,000 years, he had learned to be tactful. As such, even though he was famous, he still acted humbly in front of Liu Jing Shan.
“Well, let’s put it this way. The Humans in the outside world are fighting an extremely evil Race. That Race is so powerful that even the Dao Lord isn’t a match for them. If the Humans are defeated, the outside world will be destroyed; therefore, the Dao Lord needs help in the war. The disciples who have been invited to the Dao Temple will be his helpers in the future.”
Hearing that, Fang Tian Ci was shocked, “What kind of Race is it that even the Dao Lord finds it hard to deal with?”
After giving it some thought, Liu Jing Shan replied, “I remember that they’re called the Black Ink Clan. Supposedly, they possess a highly corruptive power. Once a person is infected, they won’t be able to get rid of it. Moreover, the ‘Black Ink Strength’ as it’s called can twist a Human’s mind and nature, turning them into a slave of the Black Ink Clan.”
Fang Tian Ci gasped, “I can’t believe such an evil force exists in this world.”
Liu Jing Shan sighed, “Indeed. It’s said that many aeons ago, some Black Ink Clansmen were brought into the Void World. The Dao Lord brought them in to train the disciples of the Dao Temple, but for some reason, they vanished at a later time. Now, no one knows what the Black Ink Clan looks like or what will happen when a person is corrupted by Black Ink Strength.”
Fang Tian Ci nodded, “In that case, the Humans in the outside world are most likely in a perilous situation.”
Liu Jing Shan replied, “We have no idea. In fact, it has been a long time since the Dao Lord brought anyone out of the Dao Temple. The last time he did so was about 2,000 years ago. He took several thousand people away at once that time, which is why there are only a small number of people in the Dao Temple now.”
After a pause, he continued, “Since the Void World is only the Dao Lord’s Small Universe, the best that the cultivators living here can achieve is the Emperor Realm. If a person wants to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, they must first leave this place. However, if one chooses to leave, they will have to join the battle against the Black Ink Clan and will be at risk of losing their life. Therefore, the Dao Lord fully respects our decision when selecting talented people. If a person wants to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, they can leave the Void World. If one isn’t willing to bear the risk, they can stay in this place. We have full control over this matter, and the Dao Lord never forces us.”
“The Dao Lord is indeed magnanimous!” Fang Tian Ci remarked. There was no doubt they could all potentially aid the Dao Lord if they were brought out of his Small Universe. All the cultivators in the Void World were only able to cultivate thanks to the Dao Lord; therefore, the Dao Lord had the right to take the suitable ones away from this place at will. Nevertheless, he still let the disciples in the Dao Temple make their own choices.
For that reason, Fang Tian Ci greatly respected the Dao Lord.
As they spoke, they arrived at a Grand Hall that was both magnificent and vast. In the middle of it was a gigantic statue, followed by many smaller ones.
“This is the place where our great predecessor’s names are recorded.” As Liu Jing Shan spoke, he then pointed at the statue in the middle, “And that is the Dao Lord’s likeness.”
Then, he saluted the statue with a solemn expression.
Fang Tian Ci looked in the same direction and realised that the statue appeared to be a handsome young man. With his hands behind his back, he looked truly majestic.
This statue was apparently carved by a senior expert as every bit of it seemed to be extremely life-like. Just by standing there, Fang Tian Ci had a feeling that the statue would come to life at any moment.
For some reason though, he found the statue familiar. It was as though he had seen this person somewhere before.
However, as he went through his experiences over the past 1,000 years, he was certain that he had never come across anyone who looked like the Dao Lord.
[How strange…]
While he was doubtful, he still saluted the statue and asked hesitantly, “Since there’s a statue here, does that mean someone has seen the Dao Lord’s true appearance before?”
Liu Jing Shan laughed, “Certainly, no one here has seen his true body before. However, it’s said that the Dao Lord used his Soul Avatar to travel his Small Universe in the past. I suppose you’re aware of the Seven Stars Sect. Back then, the Dao Lord’s Soul Avatar stayed in the Seven Stars Sect for some time.”
There was no doubt Fang Tian Ci was aware of the Seven Stars Sect. In fact, when he was young, his biggest dream was to join the Seven Stars Sect; however, due to his terrible aptitude, he didn’t have the right to be their disciple.
The Fang Family Village was located in the Seven Stars Sect’s territory; as such, he had heard a lot about the Sect.
“It’s rumoured that the Dao Lord is the Supreme Elder of the Seven Stars Sect. Could this be true?” Fang Tian Ci asked in shock.
“It is true. That is the reason Seven Stars Sect has endured all this time. As ages pass, it’s only natural that different Sects rise and fall. The major Sects that were on equal footing with Seven Stars Sect back then are all long gone, but Seven Stars Sect is still as powerful as ever. This is all thanks to the Dao Lord’s legacy.”
Fang Tian Ci was astonished. At the same time, he was curious about why the Dao Lord had used a Soul Avatar to travel around his own Small Universe. [How bored must he be to do such a thing?]
He shook his head to cast such thoughts away, for he wouldn’t dare to be disrespectful to the Dao Lord.
Then, he looked past the Dao Lord’s statue and saw many smaller ones behind it, “Those are…”
Liu Jing Shan explained, “Those are the statues of the Seniors who have been led out of the Void World by the Dao Lord. Do you see that one over there? He’s the Eldest Senior Brother of the Void Dao Temple, Miao Fei Ping. If you have a chance to leave the Void World, you might see him.”
With a solemn expression, Fang Tian Ci sized up Miao Fei Ping’s statue and memorised his appearance. Then, he said, “Could Eldest Senior Brother Miao be the Dao Lord’s first Disciple? I heard that when the Dao Lord stayed in Seven Stars Sect back then, he took on several direct Disciples.”
Liu Jing Shan shook his head, “Senior Brother Miao is the Dao Temple’s Eldest Senior Brother, but he’s not one of the Dao Lord’s Disciples. His Disciples are some other people, but no one knows who they are.”
Hearing that, Fang Tian Ci was puzzled.
Following a sigh, Liu Jing Shan said, “In the past, only a small number of disciples managed to leave the Dao Temple. As such, the Juniors who stayed back made some statues for them. However, as more and more Seniors left, there was not enough space in this Grand Hall for so many statues. Therefore, we no longer make any statues for those who leave. Only their Identity Tokens are enshrined here now.”
Fang Tian Ci looked around and realised there were indeed many tiles adorning the walls. Most places were blank, but some of them had Identity Tokens which contained the names and information of those Seniors.
There was no doubt these Identity Tokens were not as impressive as the statues, but they were still the traces of those Seniors who had stayed here before.
Liu Jing Shan patted the other man’s shoulder and said with a smile, “When we have a chance to leave this place in the future, we’ll leave our own Identity Tokens here as well.”
Fang Tian Ci nodded as he already looked forward to it.
The reason he decided to leave the Fang Family Village and sever ties with the Fang Family was to experience the wonders of the world he had never seen before. After repeatedly achieving breakthroughs and eventually arriving at this place though, Fang Tian Ci realised that there was still so much more he had yet to see and experience.
He had no idea what the other Seniors in the Dao Temple thought, but he was certain he would leave the Void World as long as he had the chance.
He had travelled around this world and seen everything there was to see here; therefore, he was excited to learn that there was a bigger World just waiting outside.
After they left the Grand Hall, Fang Tian Ci asked, “Senior Brother Liu, since the Open Heaven Realm is above the Emperor Realm, what are we supposed to do to split Heaven and Earth apart in our bodies and create our own Small Universes?”
Liu Jing Shan explained, “First of all, you have to condense your own Dao Seal, which is the essence of your cultivation as well as the manifestation of your Grand Dao. If there’s a Grand Dao you primarily cultivate, you have to condense your Dao Seal based on that Grand Dao. After that, you’ll need to refine some precious resources to further your Martial Dao. In any case, since you’re a newly promoted Emperor Realm Master, you’re still some distance away from condensing your Dao Seal. For now, you just have to increase your strength as quickly as possible and reach the peak of the Emperor Realm. Let’s go, I’ll take you to the library, it’s a good place where I’m sure you’ll find something useful, Junior Brother.”
When they arrived at the library, Fang Tian Ci immediately understood why Liu Jing Shan said it was a good place.
There were a massive amount of books containing Secret Arts and Secret Techniques in this library. The best things of all the Sects in the Void World were stored here. There were also things that didn’t seem to belong in this World.
Certainly, these things were no longer useful to Fang Tian Ci; after all, he was an Emperor Realm Master already. As such, there wasn’t a need for him to study any Secret Arts or Secret Techniques. The most pressing issue for him was to quickly increase his strength so that he could ascend to the Third-Order Emperor Realm and condense his Dao Seal sooner.
Fortunately, there was also a massive section of jade slips, scrolls, and books containing precious insights on cultivation in the Emperor Realm in the library. These insights had been written by the disciples of the Dao Temple over the past several tens of thousands of years.
Throughout Fang Tian Ci’s cultivation journey, he had basically explored everything on his own; after all, he didn’t have any Elders to rely on, nor was there a teacher who could give him guidance.
While travelling around the world, he discussed the Martial Dao with the disciples of various Sects and reflected on what he had learned, but that was the only sort of external help he had.
It was fine when he was still a weak cultivator, but now that he was an Emperor Realm Master, Fang Tian Ci was at a loss as to how he should move forward in his Martial Dao.
These insights in the library were what he needed most at this moment.
Fang Tian Ci went on to spend 30 years in the library reading all the insights left behind by the various Seniors. His determination and ability to endure loneliness quickly earned the respect of the other disciples in the Dao Temple.
Everyone knew there were many good things in the library, but few had the level of patience necessary to go through and absorb them despite being in the Emperor Realm as well.
After spending 30 years in the library, Fang Tian Ci finally left. At this point, he had a plan in mind when it came to how to advance his cultivation.
He found an empty courtyard and started cultivating.
As usual, his cultivation speed was quite slow, but he wasn’t in a hurry. He had spent the past 1,000-plus years cultivating slowly to reach his current height, so he was already used to it.
Nevertheless, he didn’t just cultivate in seclusion all the time. When he was free, he would go out and talk to the Seniors of the Dao Temple.
This was his way of doing things and had been throughout his entire cultivation journey.
All the disciples in the Dao Temple were the brightest geniuses who became strong early on in life; as such, everyone in the Void Dao Temple was young, good-looking, and energetic.
On the other hand, Fang Tian Ci, the newcomer, appeared more mature. He was already old and frail when he left the Fang Family Village back then, and although years seemed to have lifted off his face as his cultivation improved, his mentality didn’t really become younger, only his looks did.
Now, he had the appearance of a late thirties or early forties mortal. Based on his looks alone, he indeed seemed older than the Seniors in the Dao Temple. As such, many of them called him Old Fang.
As time passed, Fang Tian Ci’s cultivation became increasingly ample. More and more disciples had been invited to the Dao Temple, but there were still not a lot of them. Someone had estimated that only about 10 people would be led to the Dao Temple every 100 years on average.
There were times when only four to five people were inducted over 100 years.
The Void World was expansive, and countless cultivators were living in it. Despite that, only a small number of people had the right to enter the Dao Temple.
It was said that only those who had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order would be invited to the Dao Temple. That was because if a cultivator was too weak, they wouldn’t be of any help to the Humans in the outside world after leaving this place.
Before Fang Tian Ci’s arrival, the Dao Temple had never invited any Emperor Realm Master who was as old as he was. Regardless, his mere presence meant that he had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order or above.
Fang Tian Ci had a feeling that he wouldn’t only end up becoming a Fifth-Order Master. Although he hadn’t condensed his Dao Seal yet, he had the confidence to reach higher than that.
500 years passed since Fang Tian Ci arrived at the Dao Temple, and he finally made it to the peak of the Emperor Realm. There was no denying his pace was slow.
One had to know that the cultivation environment in the Void World was wonderful to begin with, and the Void Dao Temple was the centre of the world’s essence. Any newly promoted Emperor Realm Master who arrived at the Dao Temple would only take 100 to 200 years to make it to the peak of the Realm. Even for the slower ones, 300 years was generally the limit.
As such, it was unusually slow that it took Fang Tian Ci 500 years to achieve the same.
Another 100 years later, he finally condensed his Dao Seal and started refining the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements Powers.
Just like the other fellow disciples, Fang Tian Ci decided to start with his Wood Element. There was another common route where the disciples would choose to refine their Water Element first, but it was still less popular.
Among the Five Elements, the Metal Element was sharp, the Earth Element was heavy, and the Fire Element was destructive. Only the Water Element and Wood Element were gentle. As such, they were the safest for the disciples to start with.
The kinds of resources these disciples refined would determine their future success. The Order of the materials they initially chose was directly related to how far they could rise in the Open Heaven Realm; however, those who ignored their own limits and took huge risks wouldn’t be able to make it to the Open Heaven Realm as their Dao Seals would simply shatter under the impact.
Therefore, every disciple in the Dao Temple would tread carefully at this point.
With that said, when they refined materials for the first time, they would always aim as high as possible. Most of them would choose Wood Element or Water Element resources in the Sixth-Order or even Seventh-Order.
It wasn’t that they would certainly make it to the Sixth Order or Seventh Order, it was just that Water Element and Wood Element materials were much gentler. As long as one’s Dao Seal was firm enough, it could usually endure the impact of such resources. It was a chance for them to test the limits of their Dao Seals when refining resources for the first time. When they select their second resource, they will know the right path for their future.
Fang Tian Ci had compared his Dao Seal with those of the other disciples, and he felt that it was quite firm and sturdy. He reckoned that it could endure the impact of Seventh-Order materials. As such, he chose a Seventh-Order Wood Element resource first.
Liu Jing Shan took the initiative to ask him about this matter, and when he learned about his plan, he nodded gently, “Junior Brother Fang, even though your cultivation speed is slow, it is for this reason that your foundation is so solid; hence, I think it will be alright for you to refine a Seventh-Order Wood Element resource. Fire is born of Wood though, so you’ll have to be careful when selecting a Fire Element material next time.”
Fang Tian Ci nodded in agreement.
It wouldn’t take one a long time to refine a single resource; however, every time these future Open Heaven Realm Masters did so, they had to rest for many years in between. First of all, they had to get used to their powers. Secondly, their Dao Seals were unable to bear another impact in such short order. If they were hasty, all their effort would go to waste.
In just half a month, Fang Tian Ci easily refined the Seventh-Order Wood Element material, and he didn’t feel any discomfort at all. He had a feeling that he could refine a Seventh-Order Fire Element resource next, a realisation that made him feel elated.
As he recalled all the experiences in his life, everything felt somewhat strange.
He had a terrible aptitude, and it wasn’t until he was 150 years old that he left the Fang Family Village to wander the world. His plan was only to travel around a bit before his death, so it never crossed his mind that he would achieve great things one day.
Unlike the other disciples in the Dao Temple, Fang Tian Ci didn’t come from a wealthy background, nor did he have a powerful Master who had guided him when he was young. Also, he never had ample resources and his cultivation speed was incredibly slow. Therefore, it surprised him that with such a method and speed that were unbearable for most people, he was now one step ahead of almost all other disciples.
Only a small number of people in the Void Dao Temple could refine Seventh-Order resources, only 1 in 10 at most.
Liu Jing Shan, who was on good terms with Fang Tian Ci, chose a Seventh-Order Wood Element resource for his first refinement; however, he decided to refine a Sixth-Order Fire Element resource after that because he felt that his Dao Seal wasn’t able to bear the impact of the power of a Seventh-Order Fire Element material. As such, he didn’t dare to push his luck.
It was said that the process of ascending to the Open Heaven Realm was like crafting a barrel. How much water a barrel could hold depended on the shortest stave. Similarly, the Order in the Open Heaven Realm one would achieve hinged on the lowest Order resource that one refined.
There were seven Powers in total, which were Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements. Even if one had refined six types of Seventh-Order materials, they would only make it to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm if they decided to refine a single Fifth-Order resource.
The Open Heaven Realm was divided into nine Orders, and every Order was vastly different from the previous one. The difference of one Order might take a lifetime for a person to make up.
Therefore, the disciples in the Dao Temple did their best to refine resources of the highest order possible. At the same time, they would ensure that they wouldn’t exceed their limits.
Fang Tian Ci had a feeling that the ample heritage he possessed now had something to do with his insistence on building a solid foundation. He always stayed in the same Realm for a much longer time than most people did, and as he had sufficient time to consolidate his strength, he ensured that he made everything perfect in every Realm.
Now, he was able to refine Seventh-Order resources because of his perseverance and hard work over the years.
A few dozen or so years after he refined the Wood Element material, he decided to move on to the Fire Element one.
As expected, Fang Tian Ci successfully refined the resource. Then, it was followed by Earth Element, Metal Element, and Water Element materials. After fully refining the Five Elements, he moved on to the Yin and Yang Element resources.
When he was done refining all the powers of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, 500 years had passed since he refined the Wood Element resource for the first time. In other words, it had been 1,000 years since he arrived at the Dao Temple.
Supposedly, when one was done refining the powers of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, they could split Heaven and Earth apart in their body and form their own Small Universe; however, the Void Continent was only the Dao Lord’s Small Universe. Before leaving this place, none could make it to the Open Heaven Realm.
Over the past 1,000 years, about 100 Juniors had arrived at the Dao Temple. Perhaps it was because Fang Tian Ci appeared to be more mature and reliable, these Juniors would often go to him whenever they had any questions regarding cultivation. As such, he had many followers now.
“How many years have you been in the Dao Temple, Senior Brother?”
Under the moonlight at night, Fang Tian Ci and Liu Jing Shan were seated across from each other as they sipped some wine.
Now that Fang Tian Ci was at the peak of the Emperor Realm, his cultivation wouldn’t improve further regardless of how hard he cultivated; therefore, he had some free time. Liu Jing Shan, who was in a similar situation, would frequently visit him with jars and bottles of wine.
Hearing his question, Liu Jing Shan replied with a smile, “I’ve been here for almost 3,000 years.”
“That’s a really long time,” Fang Tian Ci nodded gently. As he made some calculations, he realised that it had been 2,000 years since he started cultivating. On the other hand, Liu Jing Shan had been staying in this place for some 3,000 years. In other words, Liu Jing Shan had already arrived at the Dao Temple before Fang Tian Ci was even born!
A dejected Liu Jing Shan lamented, “Junior Brother, did you know that I’m one of the oldest disciples in the Dao Temple?”
“Senior Brother, you mean…” Fang Tian Ci formed a speculation.
Suddenly, Liu Jing Shan cried, “Junior Brother, my life is quite miserable!”
Following that, he wrapped his arms around a big wine bobble and started bawling.
Fang Tian Ci was startled as he had no idea why his Senior Brother felt downcast all of a sudden. Liu Jing Shan was a future Open Heaven Realm Master who had already refined the powers of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, and he had gone through the vicissitudes of life. Fang Tian Ci wondered why the other man was so sorrowful now.
Fang Tian Ci had no idea how to console him, so he could only pat his back.
A long time later, Liu Jing Shan stopped sobbing and let out a breath. Embarrassed, he said, “I apologize for letting you see such a disgraceful sight.”
Fang Tian Ci didn’t know what to say, so he remained silent.
Perhaps it was because Liu Jing Shan was drunk, and he had no one to talk to about his grievances over the years, but he started speaking about the past, “I was invited to the Dao Temple when I was still young and naïve. At that time, the Dao Temple was bustling with noise with several thousand Seniors in total. Every day, there would be powerful Seniors who hosted forums and preached the Dao. Such experiences were invaluable.”
[Several thousand people?] When Fang Tian Ci learned that there was such a lively period in the Dao Temple back then, he couldn’t help feeling awestruck.
One had to know that the Dao Temple had strict criteria when selecting disciples. Those who could join the Dao Temple all had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order at the very least. On average there would be just 10 new disciples every 100 years, though there were times when as few as four or five would be taken in.
Several thousand people must have been the result of accumulating several tens of thousands of years in the Void World. Furthermore, they were all powerful Emperor Realm Masters. Most of them had condensed their Dao Seals and refined the powers of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements as they were ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
However, presently, there were only about 300 people in the Dao Temple, which was a significantly smaller number than in the past.
“I only started condensing my Dao Seal 200 years after my arrival in the Dao Temple when, all of a sudden, the Dao Lord ordered that those who were ready to make it to the Open Heaven Realm should gather together. Then, he brought them all away,” At the mention of this, Liu Jing Shan felt downcast as he wiped the tears with his sleeves, “It was a tough time for me. Several thousand Seniors were gone just like that, leaving just 20 or so people behind.”
Although Fang Tian Ci didn’t personally experience it, he could feel how helpless and aggrieved Liu Jing Shan must have been at that time.
The originally lively Dao Temple became silent all of a sudden, and all the Seniors Liu Jing Shan was familiar with were brought out from the Void World. It was only natural that he was dejected.
If he had also been ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, he could’ve left with them; unfortunately, he had only started to condense his Dao Seal at the time.
“Junior Brother, do you know why there were so many disciples in the Dao Temple back then?”
“Certainly, it was because the Dao Lord didn’t bring them away.”
“Do you know the reason, then?”
Fang Tian Ci shook his head, “No.”
After taking a breath, Liu Jing Shan explained, “I have no idea either… I reckon that it was because the Dao Lord was held up by something urgent, which was why he hadn’t taken a look at the Dao Temple for several tens of thousands of years. That was why there were so many disciples here.”
After a moment of silence, Fang Tian Ci asked, “Is it possible that the Dao Lord had forgotten about it?”
The Dao Lord was extremely powerful, so it wasn’t likely that there was any emergency that could hold him up for several tens of thousands of years. He might have forgotten about the Dao Temple.
A tearful Liu Jing Shan looked at him as he found his words distressing. As though someone had jabbed a knife into his heart, he was deluged with a sense of melancholy as he cried, “That’s not possible. The Dao Lord will never forget about the Dao Temple. We’re in his Small Universe, so how is it possible that he’s forgotten about us?”
Fang Tian Ci nodded in agreement, “He must be cultivating in seclusion, then.”
Although it sounded strange that the Dao Lord might have cultivated in seclusion for several tens of thousands of years, he was a powerful Eighth-Order or Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, after all, so it was only natural that his cultivation sessions would be extremely long.
Liu Jing Shan pressed his hand against his chest as he felt heartbroken, “Keep quiet if you have nothing better to say, Junior Brother Fang. I’ve been waiting for 3,000 years…”
Fang Tian Ci let out a sigh as he shut his mouth.
After a moment of silence, Liu Jing Shan went on to say, “By the way, do you think the Dao Lord is cultivating in seclusion now?”
He was one of the earliest disciples in the current Dao Temple, and those who had arrived earlier than he did had all left for the outside world. On the other hand, he had been waiting in this place for 3,000 years, and he had no idea how much longer he had to wait to have a chance to leave the Void World.
Fang Tian Ci shook his head. Certainly, he couldn’t possibly know what the Dao Lord was doing. Since his Senior Brother was in a terrible mood, he was worried he would say something wrong that might agitate him again. As such, he decided to remain silent.
In any case, he now knew why his Senior Brother was sorrowful.
It had come to a point where they could no longer improve their cultivation. If they wanted to make it to the Open Heaven Realm, they had to leave the Void World.
Nevertheless, they were in the Dao Lord’s Small Universe, so without the Dao Lord leading the way, they couldn’t possibly leave.
[Senior Brother Liu has been waiting for 3,000 years. It’s only natural that he’s feeling dejected. If we have to wait for several tens of thousands of years, just like what happened back then…]
Fang Tian Ci shuddered as he couldn’t imagine how tough their lives would be if that was the case.
Liu Jing Shan, who was quietly seated, got to his feet all of a sudden and roared, “Dao Lord! Please open your eyes and look at us! All of us at the Dao Temple are ready to fight the Black Ink Clan, but we’re trapped here, unable to put our skills to good use! Is this what you hope to see? Do you want us to wait here until our death? That’s not the kind of life I want!”
Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder rolled. The instant Liu Jing Shan was done roaring, a fissure appeared in the sky and even from a distance, they could see the fissure expand slowly.
Liu Jing Shan and Fang Tian Ci were dumbfounded.
In actuality, it wasn’t a fissure, it was an eye that looked authoritative with a hint of mockery in it. Liu Jing Shan could clearly feel that the eye was staring at him, which made him tremble and caused him to fall on his butt.
The next moment, he heard a sacred-sounding voice that ordered, “To the disciples who are ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm and are willing to battle the enemies of Humanity, come to the Open Heaven Palace at once!”
A shockwave rippled through the entire Void Dao Temple as all the disciples, who were ready to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, stopped whatever they were doing and streamed towards the Open Heaven Palace with excitement.
Although the fissure in the sky had disappeared, the intense pressure lingered.
Liu Jing Shan and Fang Tian Ci exchanged glances as both of them were astounded.
Following that, they were deluged with a sense of ecstasy as Liu Jing Shan cheered, “The Dao Lord has heard me! Hahaha! Come, Junior Brother Fang! Follow me to the Open Heaven Palace!”
Then, he raced towards the Open Heaven Palace, followed by Fang Tian Ci.
Liu Jing Shan was evidently excited. As he ran forward, he rattled on, saying, “You’re so lucky, Junior Brother. You’ve just finished refining your Yin, Yang and Five Elements Powers, and the Dao Lord is ready to bring us out of here. Had it taken you a couple dozen more years, you would have to wait for the next opportunity.”
Then, he appeared somewhat frustrated as he muttered, “Why didn’t I have your luck? In any case, we’re finally able to leave.”
When they arrived at the Open Heaven Palace, over 100 people had gathered together in the Grand Hall. There were more people who were still rushing over, all of them appearing joyful. Some of them were just like Liu Jing Shan, who were left behind in the Dao Temple because they were not ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm at that time. After waiting for 3,000 years, they finally had a chance to explore the outside world.
All these cheerful people congratulated each other, as though they were celebrating some sort of festivity.
…..
Outside the Star Boundary, Yang Kai was hovering somewhere in the void in High Heaven Territory with Hua Qing Si patiently waiting behind him.
Yang Kai had suddenly returned from Profound Nether Territory and summoned her. Hua Qing Si had no idea what the Palace Master wanted her to do, and when she arrived, the Palace Master said nothing, so she didn’t ask any questions.
Just then, a beam of light shot out from the Star Boundary and reached them in the blink of an eye.
Hua Qing Si saluted him, “Greetings, Senior Iron Blood.”
Zhan Wu Hen nodded gently, then turned to Yang Kai and asked worriedly, “I heard that you were badly injured. Is that true?”
It had been 300 years since the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters reached a ceasefire agreement in Profound Nether Territory.
During this period, Yang Kai had never shown up. It was rumoured that he was terribly wounded; however, the place where he cultivated was sealed with many layers of restrictions, and no one dared to disturb him. As such, no one knew if he was wounded or not.
Those from Profound Nether Territory dismissed such rumours; after all, Yang Kai had headed to the Black Ink Clan’s base and forced the peace deal with the Territory Lords on his own back then. There was no doubt it was a bold and impressive feat; one he would not have attempted if he was really seriously injured.
Certainly, such rumours were spread by the Black Ink Clansmen or ill-intentioned Black Ink Disciples to bring down the Humans’ morale.
Yang Kai simply replied with a smile, “Sort of.”
Zhan Wu Hen was stunned while disbelief was written all over Hua Qing Si’s face. They all thought that Yang Kai had only been cultivating in seclusion for the past 300 years. As such, they were surprised to learn he was indeed injured.
“I’ve fully recovered,” Yang Kai added.
His injury wasn’t caused by battling the Territory Lords, it was simply a result of cultivating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art.
To practise this Secret Art, Yang Kai had to cultivate a Human Self and a Monster Self which were far different from ordinary Soul Clones.
Ordinary Soul Clones wouldn’t be useful; however, the ones formed from the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art had endless possibilities.
To cultivate the Human Self, Yang Kai had practically split his Soul in two and become frail for the following 300 years. Fortunately, he could gradually recover with the Soul Warming Lotus’s help.
While recuperating, he had also been refining resources to increase his power; therefore, he wasn’t wasting any time.
“Why are you here, Senior Iron Blood?” Yang Kai asked.
When he returned to the Star Boundary previously, only Duan Hong Chen was in charge of this place as the other Great Emperors had left to kill the enemies. This time, however, Yang Kai could detect the auras of several Great Emperors.
Among the Great Emperors of the Star Boundary, Zhan Wu Hen was the most skilful in combat and would never hesitate to volunteer to fight the Black Ink Clansmen. As such, it was a mystery that he was in the Star Boundary now.
Zhan Wu Hen replied calmly, “I have to give the young ones some chances, don’t I?” After a pause, he continued, “Moreover, we have to take advantage of the opportunities only we possess. As Great Emperors of the Star Boundary, we can cultivate far more efficiently by staying here. Only when we ascend to the Eighth Order can we maximize our contributions to the war effort.”
Realising the other man’s intention, Yang Kai replied with a smile, “You’re indeed a far-sighted person, Senior Iron Blood.”
Zhan Wu Hen stared fixedly at him, “I suppose you share the same sentiment.”
“Indeed,” Yang Kai replied, “I sacrificed our immediate advantage and arrived at a peace deal with the Black Ink Clan so that we could build a training ground for the next generation of soldiers. The Juniors will eventually grow to be powerful. When the Seventh-Order Masters ascend to the Eighth-Order, they’ll have to go to a new battlefield. It’s not like we can ask them to cultivate in seclusion forever.”
Zhan Wu Hen nodded, “I agree with you. It’s not fun killing those Feudal Lords anymore. It would be better to ascend to the Eighth Order sooner so that I can take a few Territory Lords’ heads.”
Then, he looked around and asked in puzzlement, “Who are you waiting for?”
Yang Kai explained, “Some of the people in my Small Universe are ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm. I have to bring them out.”
Hearing his explanation, Zhan Wu Hen nodded.
Inside the Void Dao Temple, many future Open Heaven Realm Masters had gathered together. There were around 300 people in the Dao Temple currently, and other than roughly 20 who hadn’t fully refined the powers of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, the rest were ready to leave and achieve a breakthrough.
In front of everyone’s eyes, the space in the centre of the Grand Hall contorted. Like a stone dropping into a still lake, ripples spread across the place.
Following that, an oval portal appeared in the originally empty space.
The eyes of these future Open Heaven Realm Masters brightened in an instant.
Liu Jing Shan, who had been waiting for 3,000 years, immediately took action. While the others were still pleasantly surprised, he cupped his fist and said, “Fellow Brothers and Sister, I’ll be going on ahead.”
The next moment, he charged towards the portal and disappeared.
After Liu Jing Shan made the first move, the others stopped hesitating as they streamed into the portal in an orderly manner.
Fang Tian Ci was among the crowd. After the world spun around for a bit, he found himself in an expansive void. As he looked around, he realised there were innumerable Stars in the distance. While hovering in this place, he felt how small and insignificant he truly was.
Liu Jing Shan, who was the first to leave the Dao Temple, came over and tugged Fang Tian Ci’s sleeve before jutting out his chin in a particular direction.
Fang Tian Ci looked in the same direction and saw a young man in some casual robes.
“The Dao Lord!?” He exclaimed.
He had seen the Dao Lord’s statue in the Grand Hall where their Seniors’ names were recorded. The young man in front of him had 90% likeness to the main statue; as such, he could recognise him at first glance.
Besides him, the other future Open Heaven Realm Masters, who had just left the Dao Temple, saw Yang Kai as well, their gazes filled with admiration and fervour.
More and more disciples emerged from the portal, and when the last one appeared, the portal disappeared abruptly.
Yang Kai swept a glance over them and announced, “Since you’ve chosen to leave the Void Dao Temple, you should all be prepared to battle the Black Ink Clan; however, all of you are not powerful enough to do that yet. Focus on your ascension first. All of you are the geniuses in the Void World, and you’ve been nurtured for years in the Dao Temple. I suppose it won’t be hard for you to make it to the Open Heaven Realm. Don’t disappoint me.”
As he spoke, he sent a signal to Hua Qing Si with his eyes.
Seeing that, Hua Qing Si raised her hand and shot out hundreds of light beams before saying, “These are Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills. Consume one before attempting your breakthrough. It will be very useful.”
These future Open Heaven Realm Masters took the Spirit Pills and stared at them, evidently excited.
In fact, they had been getting ready to break through to the Open Heaven Realm for many years, so it wouldn’t be a problem for them to achieve an ascension even without any external aids. Now that they had these Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills, they felt even more assured.
They then saluted and thanked the two.
Yang Kai waved his hand, “You may begin now.”
They then dispersed and looked for suitable places to attempt a breakthrough.
Zhan Wu Hen had remained silent all this while, but at this moment, he couldn’t help saying, “If my memory serves me right, you brought a batch of disciples out of your Small Universe just 400 years ago.”
At that time, several thousand people emerged from Yang Kai’s Small Universe. The magnificent sight of so many people achieving an ascension together shocked Bi Xi, Mo Mei, and the others in the Void Land. Although Zhan Wu Hen was not there to witness it, he heard about it at a later time.
To his surprise, there were another 300 good seedlings just 400 years later.
Yang Kai explained, “The flow of time in my Small Universe is different from that in the outside world.”
It was the first time Zhan Wu Hen heard about this, but after giving it some thought, he realised what was going on, “Is it because of Time Principles?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Although only 400 years have passed in the outside world, around 3,000 years have gone by in my Small Universe.”
Zhan Wu Hen did some calculations and realised the flow of time in Yang Kai’s Small Universe was about seven to eight times faster. In other words, a cultivator could grow rapidly before making it to the Open Heaven Realm by cultivating in Yang Kai’s Small Universe.
“There are significantly fewer people in my Small Universe than the Star Boundary; as such, fewer geniuses are produced in the same period; however, due to the difference in the flow of time, the absolute rate at which geniuses are produced isn’t very different from the Star Boundary.”
Currently, several people who had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order and above would appear in the Star Boundary every year.
“What about the percentage of those who have the potential to directly ascend to the Seventh Order?” Zhan Wu Hen asked.
“Around 10% of them,” Yang Kai replied.
Hearing that, Zhan Wu Hen was astounded. The percentage was indeed terrific. It was higher than that in the Star Boundary. Over the years, they had estimated that among those who had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order and above, only 5% of them could directly make it to the Seventh Order. Of course, it must have something to do with the fact that there were far more people in the Star Boundary to begin with.
There was only so much a World Tree clone could do, and with such a massive population, fewer top geniuses were produced as the nourishment was shared between more people overall.
With that said, besides the Star Boundary, the Humans also had the Myriad Monsters World now.
It had been some 300 years since Yang Kai planted a World Tree clone in the Myriad Monsters World, and the nourishment of the World Tree clone had started showing its effects. Now, many soldiers would spend Military Merits to get access to the Myriad Monsters World so that their friends and relatives or disciples in the same Sect could live and cultivate there.
As it had only been a short time since the World Tree clone was planted though, things hadn’t yet stabilised in the Myriad Monsters World.
When the World Tree clone fully grew up a few hundred years later, the Myriad Monsters World was bound to become a second Star Boundary.
More importantly, there were not any Great Emperors in the Myriad Monsters World yet.
That was what the Humans valued the most. The Great Emperors of the Star Boundary could cultivate far faster than others; however, the quotas in the Star Boundary had been fully taken up. As such, there wouldn’t be any new Great Emperors in the foreseeable future.
Nevertheless, the Myriad Monsters World was different as it was basically empty now. If anyone could receive the acknowledgement of the World’s Will and become a Great Emperor, their future would surely be bright.
Moreover, there were a lot of Great Monsters in the Myriad Monsters World. Over the past 300 years, some Great Monsters managed to break through their limits and leave their World. Human Masters would then bring those Great Monsters and use them on the battlefields.
The entire Myriad Monsters World was a treasure trove that was yet to be dug up.
As they spoke, the future Open Heaven Realm Masters had found their own places and consumed the Spirit Pills. Soon, streams of powerful aura were felt coming from all directions in the void.
The sight of nearly 300 people achieving an ascension together was magnificent; however, compared to the several thousand people who had done so at the same time back then in Void Land, what was going on now was less remarkable.
It might take the average cultivator some effort to achieve an ascension, but it had been smooth sailing for these cultivators who came from the Void Dao Temple. That was because most had refined the powers of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements a long time ago, and they were fully ready to achieve a breakthrough. Due to the Void World’s suppression, they were unable to explore the secrets of the Open Heaven Realm, so all they could do was further consolidate their cultivation.
Now that they had left the Void World, there were no more restraints, and with the help of Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills, they certainly wouldn’t dawdle.
People like Liu Jing Shan had been waiting for this day for 3,000 years, and they had imagined themselves achieving an ascension on countless occasions.
As these streams of aura expanded, these disciples from the Dao Temple subsequently achieved their breakthroughs.
A lot of them made it to the Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order, but it was the Seventh-Order Masters who caught the most attention.
Zhan Wu Hen soon confirmed that 10% of the disciples who came from Yang Kai’s Small Universe indeed made it to the Seventh Order. In other words, there was 1 Seventh-Order Master in every 10 people.
That was a staggering ratio. For the rest, about 30% of them were Sixth-Order Masters while 60% of them were Fifth-Order Masters.
Given enough time, these people would reach their own limits and become High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters one day.
More and more people broke through to the Open Heaven Realm. Only over 10 people among 300 of them still hadn’t achieved a breakthrough while presently, there were 26 Seventh-Order Masters.
Supposedly, one of these people who was still attempting an ascension would become a Seventh-Order Master.
Those who had made it to the Open Heaven Realm were thrilled as they examined their increased strength.
From the Emperor Realm to the Open Heaven Realm, the increase in power was extreme. As such, new Open Heaven Realm Masters could barely control their strength, and it was especially true for those who had achieved a higher Order.
Hua Qing Si looked in a particular direction and smiled, “There’s another Seventh-Order Master.”
Over there, a disciple from the Dao Temple felt his aura surging as a buzzing sound was heard coming from his body. His Small Universe took shape, and his aura rose from the Emperor Realm to the Open Heaven Realm in an instant.
The aura exuding from him suggested that he was in the Seventh Order.
Meanwhile, Liu Jing Shan was looking in the same direction. When he saw that Fang Tian Ci had achieved an ascension, he was elated, “He succeeded!”
However, the moment he finished speaking, something surprising happened. For some reason, Fang Tian Ci’s ample aura plunged all of a sudden as it dropped from the Seventh Order to the Sixth Order in the blink of an eye.
Certainly, Fang Tian Ci was shocked to find his aura plummeting as well. He couldn’t help grunting as his power became a mess.
“Junior Brother Fang!” Liu Jing Shan exclaimed as he charged towards Fang Tian Ci.
However, the instant he started moving, he felt an immense force pinning him to the spot. Realising the source of the force, he hunched his back and wouldn’t dare to move a muscle.
It was apparent to him that the Dao Lord had made a move.
At that instant, he was relieved. Since the Dao Lord had decided to help, there shouldn’t be a problem with Fang Tian Ci’s ascension, though he appeared to be in a perilous situation.
At this moment, Yang Kai was paying close attention to Fang Tian Ci. Initially, he was surprised to see Fang Tian Ci ascending to the Seventh Order, but when he felt that aura plunging to the Sixth Order, he knew that he had been too naïve.
He couldn’t help sighing as he took a step forward and appeared in front of Fang Tian Ci. Then, he placed his hand on the other man’s stomach and sent a Divine Sense transmission, saying, “Focus and adjust your aura.”
Hearing that, Fang Tian Ci promptly did as he was told.
He had gone through the vicissitudes of life, and it had taken him 2,000 years to become who he was today; as such, he was more sedate than most new Open Heaven Realm Masters. With Yang Kai’s help now, he managed to restore order to his chaotic aura.
One hour later, Fang Tian Ci opened his eyes and examined himself. What he found shocked him.
He had successfully achieved an ascension, but he was only in the Sixth Order, not the Seventh Order.
It was so strange. One had to know that the resources he had refined in the Dao Temple were all Seventh-Order. Supposedly, he would make it to the Seventh Order when attempting an ascension. In fact, he had indeed made it to the Seventh Order, but for some reason, the moment he succeeded, there was a mysterious force that descended on him, which caused his cultivation to drop from the Seventh Order to the Sixth Order.
As he examined himself, he found something even more astonishing.
His Small Universe had materialised!