Only then did Zhang Dong leave the manor and head for its main gate.
At the manor entrance, tens of thousands of servants and more than a thousand warriors stood in formation, ready to welcome Zhang Dong.
They had been waiting there since two days ago.
"Everyone."
But Zhang Dong's voice came from far inside the manor. The leader of the guards, an Immortal God clad in golden robes, immediately changed expression.
The golden-robed Immortal God spun around and saw Zhang Dong. His eyes widened in surprise. "Your Highness, we were negligent. We didn't even notice that you had already arrived at the Primordial Realm."
He was deeply shaken. As an Immortal God and a lord whose strength was nearly that of a Marquis, he had still failed to detect Zhang Dong's silent arrival in the depths of the manor. Zhang Dong might be a peerless genius, but he was only at the Cosmic Level.
It was simply unbelievable.
Zhang Dong replied with a smile, "It's not your fault. Someone brought me straight to the manor by teleportation."
The golden-robed Immortal God immediately understood.
But he was responsible for the security of the entire manor, and he hadn't even noticed someone teleporting in. Could a Cosmic Venerable have personally brought Zhang Dong here?
When a Cosmic Venerable teleported, it caused no spatial fluctuations.
"Your Highness, my name is Gao Li," the golden-robed Immortal God said with a smile. "From now on, I'll be responsible for your safety."
Gao Li could never have imagined that Zhang Dong was currently weaker than him. The next time they met, Zhang Dong would already be far beyond his reach.
"Good. I'll be counting on you from now on," Zhang Dong said politely. "I'm going into seclusion to cultivate. Don't disturb me unless it's something important."
"Yes!"
The thousand warriors and Gao Li all shouted in unison.
"I've heard this young lord is nearly invincible among those at the Cosmic Level. He'll probably break through to Domain Lord before long."
Gao Li speculated to himself, "Maybe he'll head to the Ganwu Universe Kingdom after staying here for a few more days. I should do my best to make a good impression on him."
He had heard a few bits of gossip, too, and knew that Zhang Dong was an extraordinary genius.
Of course, Gao Li didn't know the full story. He would never have guessed that Zhang Dong's Law Comprehension was already at the twelfth level of the Heavenly Bridge.
Zhang Dong gave a slight nod and said no more. He turned and walked into a quiet room deep within the manor. The door closed silently behind him, cutting off the outside world.
The quiet room was spacious and well suited for cultivation, with a sturdy structure. Its interior was exactly like the manor he had occupied in the Ganwu Secret Realm.
Zhang Dong swept the room with his soul power to inspect it. Only then did he direct his power into the Jade Green Bubble.
Boom!
Time and space shifted. In an instant, Zhang Dong had left the Primordial Universe and arrived on the Boundary Heart Continent.
He heard the din of conversation, and the familiar city came into view.
A hundred years could bring tremendous changes to ordinary mortals, but the Boundary Heart Continent had hardly changed at all. The city's layout was exactly as he remembered it.
During his previous trips, Zhang Dong had not only figured out what the bubble did; he had also picked up a few languages along the way.
In the cultivation world, the words of the strong naturally carried fluctuations of divine will. Even if people spoke different languages, communication was no obstacle.
Otherwise, with the Boundary Heart Continent's vast territory, countless nations and factions, and the huge variety of written and spoken languages, unifying them would have been impossible.
That was how Zhang Dong had learned a language simply by listening to the conversations of the strong.
Now that he had returned to the Boundary Heart Continent, Zhang Dong was far stronger than before.
He walked much faster now, listening to the conversations of passersby as he went.
"Have you heard? The Fan Clan had a monster born in recent years who was already at the Unity Realm at birth. I caught a glimpse of him from afar when he emerged from Demon Mountain."
"I was only a World God when I was born. I'm so jealous of those monsters who were born True Deities or Void Gods."
"There's nothing to be done. I was born even lower than you, just a deity. It took me thousands of years of bitter cultivation to become a World God. It's hard even to join a sect."
These conversations made Zhang Dong increasingly certain that he was in Xiafeng Capital.
But then came another problem: Xiafeng Capital was enormous.
The population of Xiafeng Capital alone exceeded that of the Southern Cloud Nation, and its urban area was the largest on the Boundary Heart Continent. At Zhang Dong's current walking speed, he might not make it out of a single corner before the end of his lifespan.
After walking for nearly three more hours, Zhang Dong finally heard something useful.
"There's a sect on this street founded by a disciple of the Xia Clan?!" Zhang Dong was delighted. As long as he could join a sect, he didn't care how large or small it was.
Though it was only one street, it stretched nearly a million miles from north to south. Fortunately, the sect wasn't far away. After a short while, a towering cave estate came into view.
The estate stood in the middle of the street and rose hundreds of miles into the sky. Even in bustling Xiafeng Capital, it was an impressive sight.
Several puppets shaped like exotic beasts guarded the entrance.
The Beast Puppets kept their auras completely concealed, so Zhang Dong couldn't tell what level they were. Still, they were probably at least at the Chaos Realm.
Four large characters were inscribed on the plaque above the estate: Heavenly Mystery Qi Sect.
"Hm?" A six-hooved, two-headed Beast Puppet suddenly opened its eyes and looked at Zhang Dong. "You're a Transcendent. What business do you have at the Heavenly Mystery Qi Sect?"
"Senior, I'd like to join your sect," Zhang Dong said, feeling extremely nervous.
A small sect in a remote capital or an out-of-the-way city would probably accept Transcendents, deities, and even World Gods.
But this was a sect in Xiafeng Capital.
To establish a sect here, one would need to be at least at the tenth level of the Chaos Realm. Would an expert of that caliber accept a Transcendent into the sect?
The Beast Puppet spoke in a deep, rough voice. "Let me see. Your soul is fairly young, and you've mastered a First-Class True Intent. Go inside and give it a try."
Zhang Dong's soul was his own, unrelated to the body's former owner.
For cultivators, the physical body didn't matter. Plenty of them took over other people's bodies; the soul was what truly mattered.
Though a Transcendent with First-Class True Intent wasn't as valuable on the Boundary Heart Continent as in the Tianyu Universe, with proper cultivation, there was still a good chance of becoming a True God.
Sects founded by experts at the tenth level of the Chaos Realm had different admission standards.
Some only accepted Void Gods, though exceptionally talented True God Sovereigns could qualify too. Dongbo Xueying, for example, had comprehended the second sword of destruction.
Others accepted World Gods and True Gods. And some, like the Heavenly Mystery Qi Sect, even accepted Transcendents with First-Class True Intent.
"Yes, Senior," Zhang Dong replied respectfully before stepping into the estate.
These sects might occupy little space on the outside, but their interiors were another matter. As soon as Zhang Dong crossed the threshold, time and space began to shift.
Whoosh!
It was a spatial technique far more sophisticated than Dark Marquis Lord's teleportation. Zhang Dong didn't sense the slightest disturbance before he found himself in a courtyard several dozen yards across.
A purple-robed man stood in the courtyard. He looked middle-aged, and his aura was completely concealed, making his strength impossible to discern.
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