Where Have All the Martial Emperors Gone?

"God Realm? Emperor Realm?"

Zhou Chen narrowed his eyes, stood up from the recliner, and muttered to himself.

According to this Azure Star World General History, the cultivation realms in the human world today are as follows:

Body Refinement, Qi Refinement, Essence Refining, Astro Refining, Spirit Transformation, Spirit Refining, Return to Emptiness!

These realms, named using professional cultivation terminology, have been given more common names by the general public:

Martial Apprentice, Martial Warrior, martial master, Great Martial Master, Martial Grandmaster, martial venerable, martial saint!

In the mythical era of Azure Star, there were realms above the Return to Emptiness Martial Saint.

That is the Insight into Emptiness and the Void Refinement Realm!

The Insight into Emptiness, also known as the God Realm, would be called the God of War according to the naming conventions of modern humans.

Above the Insight into Emptiness Refining Realm is the Emperor Realm, also known as the Martial Emperor!

In general, the martial arts of this Azure Star are somewhat similar to the immortal arts of the Prehistoric World, both involving refining essence into qi, Qi Refining Transforming into Spirit, Spirit Refining into Return to Emptiness, and Refining Emptiness United with the Dao.

The Martial Venerables and Martial Saints of Azure Star are equivalent to the Great Ascension and True Immortal stages in the cultivation world.

The Martial Gods and Martial Emperors of the Azure Blue Plane mythology era were roughly equivalent to the Golden Immortals and Quasi-Saints of the cultivation world.

As for the Primordial Great World's Great Luo Golden Immortal, also known as Saints, and Dao Ancestors at the Dao Integration Realm, the Azure Blue Plane's level cannot produce such powerful beings.

However, realm does not equal combat power. Due to the difference in civilization levels, the immortal powers in the Primordial World are significantly stronger than those in the Azure Blue Plane.

Although the Void Refining Martial Emperor of Azure Star is equivalent to a Quasi-Saint in terms of realm, in terms of actual combat power, he may not be able to defeat a Golden Immortal.

However, although the Azure Blue Plane is far inferior to the Primordial World, it is much stronger than the Douluo Plane.

Based on Yun Xin Yue, Shang Buyu, and Yun Xiaoyan's previous performance and the few words they just revealed, the Soul Saint and Soul Douluo powerhouses in the Douluo Plane are only equivalent to Martial Masters on Azure Star.

The Martial Master realm may sound ordinary, but it actually involves the condensation of the Yuan Dan (original core), equivalent to the Golden Core Stage in the Immortal Path.

However, the cultivation level on Azure Star is relatively backward, resulting in most martial arts masters having neither supernatural abilities nor the long lifespan of Golden Core Stage cultivators.

Of course, some exceptionally talented martial artists, or those with ancient lineages, still possess some formidable martial arts techniques.

A Martial Master is equivalent to Golden Core Stage expert, and Great Martial Master like Yun Xin Yue is equivalent to a Title Douluo in the Douluo Plane and a Nascent Soul stage expert in the Immortal Dao World!

Of course, when it comes to miraculous skills, Great Martial Master is no match for Nascent Soul stage expert, and their lifespan is far inferior.

However, the overall strength and lifespan of Great Martial Master are much greater than those of a Title Douluo.

Because the Soul Master in the Douluo Plane are based on Martial Soul and Soul Skill, their training of the body and mental strength is far inferior to that of Great Martial Master.

If no skills are used, a Great Martial Master can easily crush a Title Douluo of similar level.

Moreover, titled Douluo generally only have nine Soul Skills, while Great Martial Master can master as many martial skills as they are willing to practice diligently.

Above the Great Martial Master is the Martial Grandmaster expert.

Martial Grandmaster can manipulate the free-floating primordial energy in the atmosphere. With each move, they can shatter mountains and break peaks. Their strength is equivalent to Third-Class Deity in the Divine Realm that governs the Douluo Plane.

A Martial Venerable is a powerful being who can break through space, contain a vast universe within a mustard seed, and control spatial rifts. Their strength is equivalent to that of Second-Level God in the Douluo God Realm.

Those who cultivate to the level of Martial Dao Saint can even open up small worlds, which are the blessed lands and grotto-heavens in the immortal path, and have the initial ability to create planes!

The Martial Saint is comparable to First-Level God in the Douluo God Realm, that is, a main god-level powerhouse!

As for the Martial Gods of the Azure Blue Plane Mythological Era, only the God-King level powerhouses of the Douluo God Realm can compare to them.

A Martial Emperor-level expert has already surpassed the martial power limits of the Douluo God Realm; even if placed in the Primordial Great World, they would still be worthy of a place in history.

Most importantly, in the Douluo Plane, humans who cultivate to the Peerless Douluo have basically reached their peak. The difficulty of ascending to godhood is too great. It is basically the privilege of protagonists like Tang San. Ordinary people simply do not have this privilege.

For example, Tang San's great-grandfather, Tang Chen, was at the pinnacle of his era in terms of talent, willpower, and strength. However, because he was not the protagonist, he was unable to inherit the Asura God and tragically perished.

Take the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, for example. In other worlds, he would have become a god long ago, but in Douluo Star, he can only serve as a stepping stone for the protagonist.

Now, above the Great Martial Master realm on Azure Star, the paths to Martial God and Martial Emperor are already difficult to find, but there are still the realms of Martial Grandmaster, Martial Venerable, and Martial Saint.

Although it is difficult to break through, the direction and path of cultivation are quite clear, and there are many living masters, venerable ones, and saints to guide and serve as role models.

Whether or not one can break through depends solely on their talent, luck, and effort.

This cultivation environment is far better than that of the Douluo Plane.

This kind of great, competitive world, where everyone is like a dragon, is more suitable for the human race.

Of course, the Azure Blue World is not without its limitations for cultivators.

In fact, the changes in the concentration of vital energy in the atmosphere of Azure Star are a means of restricting cultivators.

The end of the mythical era in the Azure Blue Plane was related to changes in the concentration of primordial energy.

According to this Azure World General History, at the end of the mythical era, the environment of the entire planet underwent drastic changes, resulting in a decrease in the concentration of primordial energy, and the energy contained in the plane was insufficient to support powerhouses at the level of Martial Emperors.

And all the emperors who were still alive at that time disappeared.

The disappearance of the emperors also marks the end of the mythological era.

Then came the ancient times.

In ancient times, it was a period of war between gods.

Originally, during the mythological era, the powerful Martial Emperors at the top of the pyramid divided their territories and each governed the Martial Gods under their command, forming various pantheons.

The Martial Emperors are the God Kings of their respective pantheons.

With the Martial Emperors in charge, the attitudes of the various pantheons are generally quite restrained. Even if there are some conflicts, they are only minor, localized frictions.

But after all the Martial Emperors disappeared, the major pantheons were without leaders, while the Martial Gods within those pantheons remained in the world, alive and well.

Although the strength of the martial gods varies, they are all at the God Realm. Even if they are strong, how much stronger can they be?

Therefore, even among the war gods within the same pantheon, there is no mutual respect.

If no one is willing to submit, then there will be conflict, and if the conflict becomes intense, it will turn into war!

Then, some internal conflicts arose within some pantheons, and the scale of the war continued to expand, affecting the entire Azure Blue Plane. Even some rogue martial gods hidden in small worlds had to join this crazy war of gods!

As the fighting progressed, most of the God Realm perished. Those who remained, whether unable to withstand the heavy casualties or having gained sufficient benefits and resources, eventually ceased hostilities.

Many martial gods have taken charge of a region on their own and recruited some martial saints and martial venerables who were previously looked down upon as their subordinate gods, thus re-establishing many small pantheons.

Some martial gods had good relationships with each other or had deep interests involved, so they united to form some great god systems.

For example, Eastern Luo Continent, the largest continent on the entire Azure Star, is controlled by the Grand Mystery God System.

The Grand Mystery God System is governed by three martial gods whose strength has reached the peak of the God Realm.

These three powerful beings at the God Realm are respectively known as the Grand God, the Mystic God, and the Xia God.

Below these three, there are many other martial gods who have submitted to the Grand Mystery God System, and there are even more martial saints and martial venerables.

Because in ancient times, the Grand Mystery God System was one of the strongest pantheons.

However, just as the mythological era came to an end, the ancient era also faced changes in the concentration of vital energy.

The concentration of vital energy in the Azure Blue Plane has decreased once again.

The concentration of vital energy didn't decrease much this time, but it made it very difficult for new God Realm experts to emerge in the entire Azure Blue Plane.

Although the Gods of War have long lifespans, without a source of fresh water, the overall strength of the Azure Blue Plane is constantly declining.

After the ancient era ended and the early ancient era began, the entire Azure Blue Plane was at peace.

The battles between the major pantheons that used to occur frequently have almost disappeared.

Because the concentration of primordial energy in the plane has decreased, not only is it difficult for Martial Saints to break through to the Martial God realm, but even the older generation of Martial Gods have been affected.

These older generation of martial gods discovered that as long as they left the small world created by their respective pantheons, the vital energy within their bodies would continuously leak out and return to the other plane.

If they fight in the outside world, it will only accelerate the depletion of their vital energy.

Some martial gods, due to excessive leakage of vital energy, directly fell in realm and degenerated into martial saints.

In other words, the warriors weaken themselves as they roam the world and fight each other.

To maintain their strength, they must remain within the small world they have created and cannot freely appear on the main material plane of the Azure Blue World.

This resulted in the major pantheons maintaining peace for most of the ancient period. Even when conflicts arose, they were resolved by powerful figures such as Martial Saints and Martial Venerables.

The martial gods of the various pantheons mostly stay in the small worlds they have created, rarely taking action and even seldom venturing into the prime material plane.

However, as the ancient era was about to end, the Azure Blue Plane suddenly developed numerous spatial rifts and passages, which connected to an alternate plane.

In this alternate dimension, there is a race that the humans of Azure Star call:

Demon Race.

Of course, the Demon Race calls itself the Saint Race.

Yes, they are all very old-fashioned names.

Initially, the Demon Race were also very cautious. They dispatched many powerful individuals to secretly enter Azure Star to investigate whether this plane was suitable for invasion.

Soon, the advance team of the Demon Race reached a conclusion:

The Azure Star is not very strong; the Saint Race could easily flatten this plane.

Then, the Demon Race invasion began!

In the initial war, the Demon Race advanced with unstoppable momentum, conquering many human kingdoms in the Azure Blue Plane, and seemed to have a good chance of victory.

However, the Demon Race soon discovered that many super-strong individuals had appeared out of nowhere in the human kingdoms they were attacking!

These super-strong individuals possessed immense power, capable of shattering space itself. As the Demon Race's powerful warriors fell one after another, the entire war suffered repeated defeats.

Demon Race didn't know was that these super strong individuals were actually just Martial Venerables and Martial Saints from the Azure Blue Plane, and weren't considered particularly powerful.

The truly powerful war gods have not yet descended!

This is because the Demon Race's advance team's reconnaissance capabilities were not very good.

They explored Azure Star and discovered that the strongest beings in the human kingdoms were only equivalent to Demon Race dukes, or Martial Grandmaster.

Above the Duke-level powerhouses of the Demon Race, there are also many Demon Kings and some Devil Emperor.

Demon Race didn't know was that because of the great war of the gods in ancient times, most of the martial gods perished, so they summoned almost all the martial lords and martial saints in the human world into the various pantheons.

Moreover, whenever human Martial Dao Grandmaster break through to the Martial Venerable realm, a guide from the pantheon will descend to invite them to join the pantheon and travel to the small world created by the Martial Gods.

In other words, the main material plane of the Azure Blue Plane, which is the human world, has virtually no Martial Venerables or Martial Saints left, except for a small number who have retreated to the mountains or guarded their families.

The vast majority of Martial Venerables and Martial Saints were guided to the small worlds of various pantheons.

This is also why the Demon Race's advance team did not find any demon king-level powerhouses on the human world of Azure Star.

This directly led the Demon Race to make the wrong choice, invading the more powerful Azure Star.

When the main gods of the various pantheons discovered that these little Demon Race insects dared to invade Azure Star, they were mostly both angry and amused.

What kind of ants are these? Quickly dispatch the Martial Venerables and Martial Saints to swat these stupid insects to death!

All the major pantheons dispatched a large number of Martial Venerables and Martial Saints to the prime material plane, which changed the course of the battle in a short period of time.

The Demon Race's duke-level powerhouses, and even demon kings, perished in large numbers in a short period of time. Some Devil Emperor emperors attempted to intervene but were surrounded and beaten to death by a large number of martial saints!

Before long, the Demon Race were driven back to their homeland.

To be precise, it was the powerful beings of Azure Star who directly invaded the Demon Realm!

Due to the vast difference in strength, the Demon Race of the Demon Realm were almost completely wiped out.

Only a small number of Demon Race left the Demon Realm.

At this moment, the concentration of vital energy in the Azure Blue Plane changed once again.

This time, the concentration of vital energy dropped to a level that even a Martial Saint couldn't break through!

The martial saints discovered that whenever they appeared in the outside world, their vital energy would leak out and return to the other dimension.

The older generation of martial gods in the small world felt immense pressure.

However, they conquered the Demon Realm.

The Demon Realm is of a higher level than the Douluo Plane.

The war gods of the various pantheons gritted their teeth and stomped their feet, joining forces to refine the entire Demon Realm.

Yes, these martial gods directly refined the Demon Realm into a massive amount of primordial energy, which they then poured into the Azure Blue Plane.

Having obtained a massive amount of primordial energy, the concentration of primordial energy in the Azure Blue Plane began to rise, allowing even Martial Venerable experts to break through and become Martial Saints.

Thus, the ancient period of the Azure Blue Plane ended, and the feudal era began.

However, those martial gods who refined the Demon Realm disappeared, just like the martial emperors of mythological times.

With the suppression of the War Gods gone, almost all the major pantheons disintegrated.

The Martial Venerables and Martial Saints within the pantheon have also returned to the main material plane of Azure Star.

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