The Mystery Behind the End of Dou Emperors

"Yes, Hall Master!"

The Eight Desolations Divine Hall, aside from him, the Hall Master, and the eight Deputy Hall Masters,

divided its members into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow.

Dou Zuns were assigned the Heaven Grade, Dou Zongs the Earth Grade, Dou Huangs the Mysterious Grade, and Dou Wangs the Yellow Grade. Each was further divided into ranks one through nine, with rank one being the highest. For example, a nine-star Dou Zong was Earth Grade rank one, while a three-star Dou Zun was Heaven Grade rank seven.

Half-Saints and above were already rare across the Central Plains Continent. Therefore, the Eight Desolations Divine Hall had also established Elder seats to demonstrate their status within the hall, granting them the authority to mobilize those below Heaven Grade rank five...

Beyond this, the hall had opened inns, auction houses, and various other businesses throughout many parts of the Central Plains Continent. It could be said that money flowed in without end.

Within the Xiao Realm, Xiao Xuan prepared to return once more to the secret realm where he had been in seclusion.

This secret realm had existed since ancient times and was likely created by a Dou Emperor of the Xiao Clan.

Outside the secret realm, he focused his gaze and found only a dazzling expanse of white before him.

Beyond that white, a small palace seemingly constructed from crystal revealed itself—the world barrier on the outside of the small world.

A barrier condensed from laws and formations.

He then found the spot and slipped inside. Within the space was only abyss-like darkness, without the slightest trace of light. As dazzling as it appeared from the outside, so deathly silent was the space within.

Recently, whenever he cultivated in seclusion here, his mind would grow hazy. In those moments of haze, he seemed to see different scenery, as though he had glimpsed the past of the Dou Qi Continent.

At the beginning of the world's birth, there had been only an ordinary egg.

Massive streams of gray energy surged from the yet-unopened void toward the egg, causing it to expand and grow outward without cease.

It gradually formed into a gray world. Then light emerged, the world opened up new space, and all manner of living beings appeared within that new space.

At first, none of those living beings knew how to cultivate. It was only through a long process of exploration that they gradually became familiar with this power.

The most important part of that process was that the world came into contact with other worlds.

The one above should have been the Great Thousand World.

As the Great Thousand World and the Dou Qi Continent connected with each other, certain wondrous phenomena arose, allowing species from the higher plane to enter this still undeveloped world. However, such small worlds were actually not uncommon.

Thus, people from above entered the lower plane, bringing new species with them, such as the Ancient Void Dragon clan, the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, the Ancient Heavenly Serpent, and so on.

These beings from the Great Thousand World did not plunder the Dou Qi Continent and then leave. Instead, they settled here.

Naturally, there were human powerhouses among them as well. They multiplied and lived upon the Dou Qi Continent, imparted teachings and knowledge, and gradually produced the first generation of cultivators native to the Dou Qi Continent.

But at some unknown point, that egg began to change.

Those from above could no longer enter, while those inside could naturally leave as well. However, only those whose strength had reached the Dou Emperor realm could return to the Great Thousand World. Those of lower realms could no longer travel freely between the two worlds.

Xiao Xuan was not surprised. This shift from openness to closure had occurred only after the Dou Qi Continent had absorbed a complete reserve of knowledge, because by then, it could begin evolving its own world.

Thus, the world changed. The energy of heaven and earth, which had originally been directly converted into so-called spiritual energy—the power of the Great Thousand World—

gradually ceased to be used due to the restrictions of the world's laws, and Dou Qi took its place.

Whether humans or magical beasts, the energy they generally wielded was Dou Qi.

The people of the Great Thousand World were no fools. After discovering that they were trapped in this world, they began seeking a way to leave.

For them, breaking through to the Dou Emperor realm was not so easy, because what they cultivated was not Dou Qi, while spiritual energy was restricted.

So they turned their attention to the Plane Embryo—the egg. Among those who had descended from the Great Thousand World, some powerhouses even attempted to alter the consciousness of the Plane Embryo through methods from the Great Thousand World. Unfortunately, they failed.

As Xiao Xuan watched the figures of powerhouses flash past in the scene before him, he saw that although the unknown powerhouse had failed, his actions had still affected the Plane Embryo.

He had successfully made the Plane Embryo believe that the native powerhouses of the Dou Qi Continent could not contend with those outsiders.

In order to expel and eliminate them, the Plane Embryo altered the path by which powerhouses advanced.

Aside from cultivating step by step through the normal method, people on the Dou Qi Continent could gain the favor of heaven and earth through their bloodlines.

But not everyone had such an opportunity. In the end, the Plane Embryo chose the Dou Emperors.

Dou Emperors were the peak power of the Dou Qi Continent, and they were clearly the main force opposing the foreign powerhouses.

Thus, around the Dou Emperors, with bloodline as the bond, batches of powerhouses were instantly created. The concept of the Dou God Clans was born.

But the Plane Embryo also imposed restrictions on this matter. Just like the situation the Xiao Clan now faced, if no new Dou Emperor emerged to provide fresh blood for the clan, then that clan would slowly be eliminated.

The powerhouses from the Great Thousand World had caused it nearly irreversible harm.

Among the native powerhouses of the Dou Qi Continent, there were also those who set their sights on the Plane Embryo.

Would obtaining the Plane Embryo not be equivalent to obtaining the power of the entire world?

Having reached the Dou Emperor realm, all they thought about day and night was how to take another step forward.

Other than leaving the Dou Qi Continent for a higher-level world, the Plane Embryo seemed to be the only remaining path.

Thus, many Dou Emperors began making secret moves. To fight over the Plane Embryo, they expended tremendous effort.

After driving away and killing the powerhouses from the Great Thousand World, they began a long-lasting war among themselves.

Dou Emperor against Dou Emperor, clan against clan, bloodline clashing fiercely against bloodline.

In the end, the victor was a single figure.

That figure obtained the Plane Embryo and, as he wished, transformed it for his own use.

If Xiao Xuan had not guessed wrong, this was the Dou Emperor of the Xiao Clan.

This also explained why the Xiao Clan's bloodline had dried up so quickly. After all, that Dou Emperor had appeared too early, and no fresh blood had been added afterward.

After calming the chaos of the many emperors on the Dou Qi Continent, that Dou Emperor ancestor left the Dou Qi Continent.

That ancestor not only left the Dou Qi Continent, but also took the Plane Embryo with him, causing the Source Qi of the Dou Qi Continent to become a consumable resource. After Tou She Ancient God became a Dou Emperor, the Source Qi was completely exhausted, and no more Dou Emperors could ever appear.