Heaven unleashed killing intent; the stars shifted and the constellations changed.
Earth unleashed killing intent; dragons and serpents rose from the land.
Man unleashed killing intent; heaven and earth overturned.
The baleful aura along the banks of the Wei River grew ever denser.
Every day, countless living beings died in slaughter.
Corpses of living beings lay strewn about, enormous Dao bodies stretching for hundreds of zhang.
Blood flowed in torrents, as if it would dye the mountains and rivers red.
On this day.
A vast divine radiance suddenly rose from the Wei River, dispersing the thick mist along its banks.
Within the pale-blue rosy light, countless scenes swirled.
There were hundred-zhang divine beings bowing their heads, aquatic creatures offering sacrifices, and Innate Deities raising divine thrones high.
An air of savage antiquity rushed forth.
"After sacrificing countless living beings, the altar has finally resonated."
"The Grotto-heaven is about to emerge."
The Eighteenth Prince, who had originally been inside the golden hall, stood in the void. As he gazed at the grand spectacle unfolding in the sky, his eyes brimmed with delight.
The method Father Emperor had deduced truly worked.
Ordinarily, only living beings with immense karmic ties to the Wei River could inherit this heavenly office.
Only upon encountering one fated by heaven would the office of Wei River Water Lord appear once more.
Even as the son of the Divine Emperor Dao Lord, born an Innate Water Spirit, he had little connection to this divine office and found it difficult to earn its favor.
"But divine matters lie in the hands of gods."
The Eighteenth Prince stood with his hands behind his back, his dark-blue eyes shining with vigor.
"My father is the Dao Lord Tianshui."
The Dao Lord Tianshui had expended Great Magic Power and Greater Divine Ability to devise a method: sacrifice!
During the Ancient Era, the world had been savage and disorderly.
The ancient deities had been born bearing the destiny of heaven and earth, possessing Great Magic Power and Greater Divine Ability from birth.
The first Wei River God Lord had emerged from the very origin of the Wei River.
He had been a rare Innate Ancient God.
Though not among the foremost Great Divine Ability Users, he had still held a place within the Primordial Divine Court.
Such an existence had countless dependents under his command.
Sacrifices thus became commonplace, and over time, an altar had been preserved from the Archaic Era to the present day.
Even when the Three Emperors failed to attain the Dao in ancient times, the three races fought for the throne, and the Divine Court collapsed, this altar had continued to endure.
Successive Wei River Water Lords had inherited the Wei River divine office and used this altar as their sacrificial treasure.
"Use the blood sacrifice of ten thousand spirits to awaken this altar."
"Wherever the altar stands is where the Water Lord's secret realm lies."
A fierce ambition flashed through the Eighteenth Prince's eyes.
As long as he controlled the Water Lord's secret realm.
And became the true Wei River Water Lord.
He could harness the force of the Wei River and ascend to the throne as a Grand Unity Great Sage in one stroke.
"Then the gap between me and my elder brothers will be completely erased."
Moreover, after ascending to the throne as Wei River Water Lord.
With the aid of the veteran Innate Dao Lord, the Dao Lord Tianshui.
He might gradually seize the other tributaries of the Huai River.
Until he ultimately unified the Huai River, one of the Four Rivers.
"The Great Water Lord of the Four Rivers is a water-element supreme office comparable to the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas."
"During the Archaic Era, it was a true Innate Dao Lord office."
If he could become the nominal water god of the Huai River, he could use the Huai River's destiny to attempt to pluck the Dao Fruit.
Light flickered through the Eighteenth Prince's eyes.
How difficult was it to attain the Dao as an Innate Dao Lord?
The destiny of heaven and earth, one's foundation and talent, and a deep accumulation of resources—none could be lacking.
Since the Archaic Era, countless living beings had fallen at the threshold of plucking the Dao Fruit.
"Time is a blade that cuts down heaven's favored; on the Dao Lord's road, even beauties draw sighs."
Such an opportunity.
Concerned his Dao path.
The Eighteenth Prince's eyes flashed with determination.
"All divisions, muster your Dao soldiers and enter the secret realm at once."
"Kill any living being that does not belong to our divine dynasty."
"Merits earned in this battle will be calculated according to military achievements."
"After the battle, all of you may enter the palace to exchange them for cultivation resources and divine spring spirit treasures."
Seeing that his subordinates' spirits had been stirred.
The Eighteenth Prince raised the divine staff in his hand and pointed it toward the altar in the distance, which emitted soaring rosy light.
"Kill!"
At his command.
Several hundred streams of light immediately shot forth, all of them cultivators who had opened Grotto-heavens and reached the realm of gods and demons.
Those Opening Acupoints beings in the mortal realm did not even qualify to join the slaughter.
And in that instant.
The other cultivators hidden within the surrounding mist could no longer remain calm.
They transformed into streaks of escaping light and surged forward.
"Charge!"
"The Great Dao opportunity is right before us!"
"With the secret realm emerging, spirit treasures are bound to be born!"
"The Wei River Water Lord was a mighty figure who attained the rank of Grand Unity Great Sage. Even a trace of his legacy would be a heaven-sent opportunity!"
The cultivators gathered from all directions went completely mad.
Although cultivation resources were abundant in the Primordial Great World, that was only relative. The legacy of a Grand Unity Great Sage was enough to move even cultivators of the same rank, let alone cultivators like them in the True One Realm, Heavenly Human Realm, and Grotto-heaven Realm.
The rosy light above the Wei River became increasingly brilliant, and the pale-blue radiance brimmed with water-element essence.
Rumble!
The Wei River boiled.
Towering waves surged, and a pitch-black manor covered in Xuanming aura appeared within the Wei River.
It emitted a faint, eerie glow.
Great Dao Laws rumbled around the manor.
"The Wei River Water Mansion has emerged!"
A living being cried out in alarm.
That shout seemed to shatter some kind of balance.
In an instant, through sky, land, and water.
Countless streams of light crisscrossed.
Magic artifacts, spells, and divine abilities filled the surrounding world.
The sight left all living beings dazzled.
Flesh and blood flew everywhere. Drops of divine blood fell into the Wei River and were devoured by the fish and shrimp within.
At every moment, living beings were wounded and perished.
These living beings had already slaughtered until their eyes turned red.
The path to the Water Mansion was a path of no return, a road paved in blood.
Zhou Yuan concealed his tracks and mingled among the many living beings, making his way toward the Water Mansion at an unhurried pace.
Whenever a living being approached him, it would always be besieged and killed by the puppets nearby.
It did not seem conspicuous at all.
At the moment the last living being entered the Water Mansion, the entire Wei River once again raised monstrous waves, washing away every trace of karma from both banks.
The Water Mansion then turned into a mote of dust, completely concealing itself within the Primordial World.
Only the water mist shrouding millions upon millions of li remained without dispersing.
Within the Water Mansion secret realm.
The once ornate halls and carved beams had now become broken walls and ruined remnants.
Buildings collapsed beneath the water, while skeletons radiating formidable auras spoke of past glory and its eventual end.
"It seems this Grand Unity Great Sage did not perish because he failed to attain the Dao."
"An external enemy must have invaded the Water Mansion, leading to his death."
The instant Zhou Yuan entered the secret realm, he had already hidden himself in the void.
As he looked upon the scene before him, a conjecture formed in his heart.
But the enemy that had invaded the Water Mansion probably had not fared well either.
Otherwise, the Wei River Water Lord would have long since been replaced.
Rather than leaving the divine office vacant as it was now.
The other living beings who entered the secret realm did not think as deeply as Zhou Yuan.
As they looked at the collapsed palaces around them, greed filled their eyes.
Each chose a target.
And rushed forward in a frenzy.
Before long, small-scale chaotic battles erupted throughout the secret realm.
The Eighteenth Prince, who had entered the secret realm, did not even spare these living beings a glance.
With a sweep of his divine sense, he transformed into a streak of escaping light and swiftly flew toward the enormous palace at the center of the Water Mansion.
The True One Realm gods and demons and Heavenly Human Realm cultivators who had been watching the Eighteenth Prince's movements closely immediately followed without hesitation.
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