Northern Region

Chapter 45: Northern Region

"The Azure Emperor's Tomb has opened! That means I've been in the Big Dipper for a year already!" Upon hearing the news, Zhou Tong felt rather sentimental.

"But this is a perfect opportunity!" With that thought, Zhou Tong swiftly changed his appearance and headed for the nearest Holy Land outpost.

Zhou Tong was not going to cause trouble for those Holy Lands. He merely intended to use their teleportation array to travel to the Northern Region.

Previously, because of Yaoguang Holy Land's wanted order, the outside world had been searching for Zhou Tong with great intensity, leaving him almost unable to move freely.

The temptation of Eternal Blue Gold, an Immortal Material exclusive to Great Emperors, was no small thing. Not to mention that he might also possess the secret of the White Tiger Divine Medicine—an immense opportunity that Yaoguang Holy Land could not possibly let slip.

Zhou Tong was not Ye Fan from the original work, who had the Great Law of Changing Heaven and Earth from the "Source Heaven Book." His methods of altering his appearance were still crude. Basically, any mighty expert of the Immortal Platform Realm could easily see through them.

More importantly, the reason Ye Fan had not drawn the siege of those mighty experts in the original work was mainly because he had people backing him!

In the early stages, he borrowed Old Madman's strength, while the demon race also supported him. In the middle stages, he had the Thirteen Great Bandits' covert support, along with Big Black Dog's assistance. Later, Jiang Taixu came to his aid, and in the end, he even relied on Old Madman's power...

Zhou Tong had no such backing or faction.

So he had to be several times more cautious than Ye Fan. Otherwise, one wrong step would bring trouble, and he would have no choice but to use his ultimate trump card.

Now, the opening of the Demon Emperor's Tomb was the perfect opportunity.

Yaoguang Holy Land, which had been searching for Zhou Tong all this time, had also shifted its attention toward the Azure Emperor's Tomb. After all, how could a mere cultivator in the Dao Palace Realm compare to the allure of the Azure Emperor's Tomb?

As long as they shifted most of their attention to the Azure Emperor's Tomb, Zhou Tong could easily leave the Southern Region and head to the Eastern Wasteland Northern Region.

Zhou Tong knew very well what fortunes lay within the Azure Emperor's Tomb.

One was the "Dao Scripture—Sea of Wheels Scroll," one was the Demon Emperor's Heart, one was the Chaos Green Lotus, and the last was the Immortal Cauldron Fragment.

Of these items, the ones useful to Zhou Tong were beyond his reach, because the Azure Emperor had made arrangements before his death. The things he could obtain were useless to him.

Since that was the case, why get involved?

Wouldn't it be wonderful to take the chance and slip away directly?

Sure enough, with the Azure Emperor's Tomb drawing everyone's attention, Zhou Tong easily blended into the domain gate at the Carefree Sect's base and successfully arrived in the Eastern Wasteland Northern Region.

As far as the eye could see, the Eastern Wasteland Northern Region was utterly desolate. The land was barren, with crimson soil and reddish-brown rocks, filled with bleakness and lifeless silence.

The vast earth was incredibly empty. There was not even the slightest trace of life to be seen, only a few bare Stone Mountains scattered across the land.

This was a complete wasteland, without any vitality whatsoever.

Many cultivators who had arrived in the Northern Region alongside Zhou Tong could not help but curse upon seeing this sight.

Everyone said the Northern Region was wealthy, with gold everywhere.

Yet upon arriving, they found nothing but a ruined landscape like a desert wasteland.

"Hmph, what a bunch of fools. The Northern Region has always been like this!" A cultivator immediately glanced helplessly at those who were cursing and casually explained it to them.

The Eastern Wasteland Northern Region was vast beyond measure, with Source Mines scattered everywhere, famed throughout the world.

Yet it could also truly be called sparsely populated. It was practically like a Gobi desert. Though there were some oases, compared to this boundless region, they were simply far too few.

The Northern Region seemed to have both prospered and declined because of Source. It was as if all the essence of heaven and earth had been absorbed by the Source Mines, resulting in this state of affairs.

Of course, precisely because Source Mines were abundant here, the people of the Northern Region were fairly wealthy and free from worries about food and clothing. But likewise, because of Source, deadly battles often broke out, making the entire Northern Region fiercely martial, with bandits running rampant everywhere.

Fighting fiercely over Source Mines until blood flowed like rivers was the most common occurrence.

All in all, the Northern Region was a land of chaos.

This barren land was famous throughout the world because of Source, and that had destined it for disorder and bloodshed.

Hearing those explanations, many people were instantly speechless.

But before long, the group quickly dispersed. Some joined mining teams in the Northern Region, while others departed alone.

Naturally, Zhou Tong acted alone.

He walked quietly across the Northern Region's earth, sensing the completely different environment of heaven and earth here.

"The Battle Saint Emperor was incomparably powerful!" After walking for a long while, Zhou Tong could not help but sigh.

In ancient times, the Battle Saint Emperor failed to become a Battle Immortal and passed away prematurely, causing the entire world to undergo great changes ahead of time. The Northern Region lost its vitality, becoming an endless red wasteland where not a blade of grass grew.

"The next place I need to go is Purple Mountain!" Zhou Tong murmured inwardly. "Purple Mountain's existence is definitely no secret. Perhaps many people know that such a 'Demon Mountain' may exist."

"But before that, I should first cultivate the Dao Palace Realm to completion!" Zhou Tong soon found a Stone Mountain nearby and hollowed out its Mountain Belly, creating a temporary cave abode.

After setting up a few formations and restrictions, Zhou Tong immediately began his final cultivation in the Dao Palace Realm.

Zhou Tong had already completed the Spleen Divine Treasury, Lung Divine Treasury, Kidney Divine Treasury, and Liver Divine Treasury. Now, only the final Heart Divine Treasury remained.

"A million jin of Source has long been prepared. Next comes the final breakthrough!" Taking a deep breath, Zhou Tong immediately immersed himself in cultivation.

"Since man accords with heaven and earth, heaven has the sun, and man also has the sun. The yang of ruler and father is the sun..." Emperor Venerable's scripture continuously resounded in Zhou Tong's heart. At the same time, he entered the final Dao Palace and saw the last Divine Treasury.

After a mere half month of cultivation, it finally seemed as though a heavenly sun had risen within Zhou Tong's body, blazing with incomparable heat.

Flames surged around his body, and the inferno dyed half the sky red. A crimson sun hung in the air, immense and vigorous, while Zhou Tong sat within that heavenly sun, his appearance solemn and sacred. The Heart Divine Treasury was fiery red like the sun, dazzling as it shot into the sky, illuminating the Dao Palace with boundless light.

His entire body turned crimson, then gradually became translucent. Fiery clouds shrouded him as the essence of his heart washed away all impurities. The Dao Palace, inside and out, became bright and pure, while his fleshly body gradually turned crystalline.

This was an entirely new transformation.

Before cultivating the Heart Divine Treasury, Zhou Tong's Dao Palace had possessed a trace of light, but it had been exceedingly dim, like the lingering glow of the setting sun at dusk.

But now, with the Heart Divine Treasury completed, Zhou Tong's Dao Palace was instantly filled with light, like the blazing sun at noon.

"Finally, the Dao Palace Realm is complete!" Zhou Tong felt the changes within himself, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Although cultivating the Chaotic Ancient Method meant that the completion of the Dao Palace Realm did not increase Zhou Tong's combat strength by much,

in a sense, the completion of the Dao Palace Realm had pushed his Chaotic Ancient Method a step further in the Spirit Transformation Realm, allowing the stage of Fleshly Body Becoming Spirit to surpass its ultimate limit.

"Perhaps the breakthrough beyond the ultimate limit of Fleshly Body Becoming Spirit is—Fleshly Body Becoming God! My Five Great Deities of the Dao Palace already show signs of 'becoming gods'..."