Early Panlong World

Because he had successfully broken through to the Saint Realm, Jie Ning had much more time to spare on his journey back.

Along the way, Jie Ning first made a detour to Dalut City.

After undergoing a round of verification and receiving congratulations once again from several Saint Realm experts affiliated with the Dalut Family, Jie Ning also received the emblem belonging to Duke Darut's Territory.

It was shaped like a shield, engraved with the Dalut Family crest.

After "proactively" inviting several newly acquainted Saint Realm experts to his wedding, Jie Ning returned to Tieling Town with Arannis.

"What?! You've already become a Saint Realm expert?" Baron Chris stared at Jie Ning in utter disbelief.

"Damn it, and you've already collected the emblem?" Chris muttered gloomily.

Arannis looked at Jie Ning in confusion. "What's wrong with Baron Chris?"

Jie Ning looked entirely accustomed to it. "I think it's because Father had originally planned to use the news of my becoming a Saint Realm expert to show off."

Arannis still did not understand. "But he can still show off now."

As she spoke, she looked sweetly at Jie Ning. "After all, Jie Ning, you're the youngest Saint Realm expert on the Bana Continent."

"No, it's not the same." Chris refuted her with a solemn expression. "The news that the Dalut Family has produced a new Saint Realm expert must have already spread throughout Duke Darut's Territory. Those fellows must be secretly envious and jealous right now that I have such a genius son."

"But I can't see their envious expressions with my own eyes. It hurts so much." Chris looked utterly despairing. "By the next time we meet, they'll surely have already digested the news. It'll be hard to make them lose their composure then."

"My plan to show off failed before I even got to put it into action..."

"Arannis, I'm sorry you had to see that..." Ms. Melinda, who had appeared at some unknown moment, smiled apologetically at Arannis.

"Mel... Melinda..." Chris looked at Melinda in terror.

Then, before Arannis's astonished gaze, Melinda grabbed Chris by the ear and dragged him away. "Come on. Let's properly 'discuss' that embarrassing plan of yours to show off."

"Ms. Melinda, this..." Arannis looked helplessly at Jie Ning.

Jie Ning could only say helplessly, "Please forgive my mother's rude behavior."

He knew very well that this was actually his mother's way of making a show of force, but it was better left unsaid.

Although Melinda was very satisfied with this marriage, being strong-willed by nature, she still subconsciously worried that Jie Ning would be "bullied" after marriage. Thus, she chose to make a display of force first by "killing the chicken to scare the monkeys."

It was his mother's awkward maternal love, even though Jie Ning was already a Saint Realm expert.

But he could not say that outright to Arannis.

Moreover, Jie Ning had already discussed it with Arannis. After their marriage, once they had finished dealing with a few matters, he would take Arannis to the Dinar Empire for a journey.

On one hand, it would serve as their honeymoon trip. On the other, Jie Ning was about to begin his journey of studying magic.

As a nation of warriors, the Korur Empire's foundation in magic was still far inferior to that of the Dinar Empire. Besides, Jie Ning had a reason he absolutely had to go to the Dinar Empire.

He needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible.

Some of the information he had obtained in Dalut City some time ago had filled Jie Ning with a sense of urgency.

One month earlier.

"What?" Jie Ning could not maintain a calm expression and cried out in shock.

"See? You never expected the origins of Battle Qi and magic to be so astonishing, did you?" Gersell said smugly as he watched Jie Ning's startled expression.

"Over a hundred thousand years ago, our entire plane was still a chaotic mess. All kinds of powerful Magic Beasts ruled over us. The entire plane could be called a paradise for Magic Beasts. At that time, humanity's strongest individuals were no more than Fifth-Rank Warriors."

"Many Magic Beasts could rely on their innate talents to grow to heights humans could never reach—Level 8, Level 9, Saint Realm, even God-level..."

"Under such circumstances, humanity could survive only because our ancestors were resilient enough."

"Back then, humans struggled desperately to cling to life in this world..."

"Until one day, several enormous faces suddenly appeared in the sky. At the time, no one knew what kind of beings they were. Thanks to humanity's consistently miserable circumstances, many humans fell to their knees on the spot."

"Some powerful Magic Beasts, however, believed that someone was deliberately provoking them and took the initiative to attack those faces."

"As a result, in the very next instant, every God-level Magic Beast in the entire plane was wiped out." Even now, Gersell's expression was filled with reverence as he spoke of it.

"Afterward, from the mouths of those great beings, we learned that our world was merely an ordinary Material Plane. There were countless Material Planes in the world, and above all Material Planes stood the four Supreme Planes."

"The Heavenly Realm, Hell, the Life God Realm, and the Underworld."

"And they were the Overgods who stood at the very pinnacle even within the four Supreme Planes."

"They were the supreme beings of the entire world."

"Then, because of humanity's initial reverence, they bestowed upon the first humans Battle Qi and magic of the four elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—and ordered humans to spread them throughout the plane. After that, the gigantic faces dispersed."

"From then on, humanity had a way to become stronger. Humans could produce Saint Realm experts of their own, and even gods."

"Only then did humanity come to occupy the dominant position throughout the entire plane."

After learning this information, Jie Ning had left Dalut City with his mind in turmoil.

Thus, during his time at home, Jie Ning had constantly been digesting the information he had learned, while thoughts kept leaping through his mind.

The Overgods bestowed Battle Qi and magic, yet there is no conflict among the Overgods. That means the war to compete for faith has not begun yet.

No, it should be even earlier than that. Even incarnations of the Overgods are appearing in the Material Plane now, which means there are not many capable hands beneath the Overgods either.

"Only the Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire Systems have Battle Qi and magic. These Overgods should be the Overgods of those four systems. The most ideal scenario is that only these Overgods have discovered the benefits of Faith Power, and they are still secretly spreading their faith."

"The Overgods of these four systems did not mention Divine Planes, which means the Divine Planes of the various systems have yet to be established—at the very least, the Divine Planes of these four systems have not been established."

"And that means there are still many vacant Overgod positions."

"It means that if I can become a High-God as quickly as possible, perhaps I might have a chance to become an Overgod too."

Jie Ning's breathing immediately grew rapid.

He had long known that he was in the Coiling Dragon plane, but since he was not in the familiar Yulan Continent plane, he had no way of knowing the exact point in time he had arrived in.

Moreover, because he had not been born on the Yulan Continent, he had never dared to covet the Overgod Sparks in Belut's possession. Thus, his greatest ambition in the past had only been to become a Great Perfection High-God.

"But now, it seems becoming an Overgod is not impossible either." It was as if flames were burning in Jie Ning's eyes. He even felt the urge to stop worrying about Mystery Fusion for now, first become a High-God in one system, and then fight for an Overgod Spark.

After all, once he became an Overgod, with Faith Power driving his progress in the later stages, he would at least be able to achieve fusion of five Mysteries.

"No, I can't be so impulsive. Competing for an Overgod Spark mainly depends on luck, but without strength, I'd die quickly too." Jie Ning worked hard to calm his ambition and impulse.

"To obtain it would be my fortune; to lose it would be my fate. Anyone unable to control their desires will one day die at the hands of those desires."

"One can directly refine an Overgod Spark upon reaching the High-God level. Since the Overgod positions are not yet all filled, the remaining Overgod Sparks are either undiscovered, or in the hands of beings who have yet to become High-Gods."

"What I need to do now is become a god first, rather than rush to set unrealistic goals."

"The Mystery I currently comprehend is the Earth System's Earth-walking Technique. So my first priority upon reaching the Dinar Empire is to gather Earth System magic."

"Of course, the best outcome would be obtaining all the magic spells left behind by those Overgods. If I remember correctly, Gersell mentioned that many people copied those spells from one another back then."

"But as they spread, everyone discovered that Battle Qi was far easier to learn than magic. Thus, Battle Qi spread faster and farther, and on the Bana Continent today, it has completely taken over the mainstream."

"So, if there is any place most likely to possess a complete collection of spells from all four systems, it would be the place where those Overgods descended back then."

"Based on the information I've gathered during this time, I can confirm that its approximate location is in the southern part of the Dinar Empire."

Jie Ning settled on his current goal: first find the place where the Overgods had descended back then, and see whether he could obtain the complete spell collection.

"An Overgod's incarnation is formed from condensed Overgod Power. If energy of such a high level dispersed there, it would surely have turned that place into a holy land for cultivation."

"Once I get there, I'll need to pay closer attention to news regarding that."

"Unfortunately, more than a hundred thousand years have passed. Most of those humans from that era never reached the Saint Realm, so the exact location was never passed down."

"Even if there are no spells from all four systems, I hope at least the Fire System and Earth System ones still exist."

Brothers and sisters, please be kind and give me a vote.