Those Who Always Go Against the Grain

"The most important part of this Treasure Land is the 108 peaks. They generally contain supreme treasures. Forty-two peaks have appeared before, supposedly more than two hundred thousand epochs ago—"

As Chaman King droned on without pause, Chen Qing's head began to buzz. He was too embarrassed to say that he already knew all this. Besides, he had not cultivated the Beast God Path. He had only come to check the place out and, incidentally, watch these powerful beings poke at flowers and grass and pick up stones. He was fundamentally unsuited to the requirements here.

Still, he was somewhat interested in Chaman King. He was currently at the King-Rank limit, with roughly several hundred thousand times a World Lord's power. His genes and amplitude did not seem particularly high. However, both Chen Qing's Foundation and Jade Lotus had strict assessments. Who knew how long it would take before Chaman King qualified? The City Lord needed candidates for assessment, though, and Chen Qing could recommend him. After all, he had been Luo Feng's friend in the original work and was trustworthy. Chen Qing had also been quite satisfied with his performance when facing Venerable Beishan.

Before he knew it, Chen Qing had stepped onto the thirty-sixth mountain peak. The mountain suddenly shook, and someone quickly reacted. "It must be me! I just touched a strange stone egg."

"It's me! It has to be me!"

Chen Qing froze for a moment and looked up at the sky alongside Chaman King. Seriously? There was actually someone with this kind of terrible sense of humor?

The aurora over Five-Colored Lake began to gather. Suddenly, a beam of light enveloped the mountain peak, and figures were flung out one after another, including Chaman King beside him. "No! Let me stay!"

"It's mine!"

"Who else is inside? Who stole my supreme treasure?"

"It's Green Jade King of the Human Race! How is that possible?"

Unlike the others, who shouted and yelled, Chaman King smiled and waved to Chen Qing. He also sent him a message, telling him not to worry about him and to return directly to the palace to claim ownership. Chen Qing could only nod in acknowledgment and calmly await this surprise. Soon, a crack opened halfway up the mountain, and a metal box flew out, stopping before Chen Qing. Inside was a top-grade World Ring.

"Hahaha! Today, the Ancestral God Religion established this Treasure Land, and everyone cultivates the Beast God Path. I refuse to do that! I have only one requirement: a Beast God inheritor who does not cultivate the Beast God Path!"

There was no signature. The words were arrogant yet free-spirited, with a touch of childish bravado. After claiming ownership with his world power, Chen Qing looked up and found that Chaman King had already vanished. Now that the Treasure Land had opened, there was no need for him to remain here. Besides, he could no longer stand the others pointing and gossiping about him.

A few months after returning to the palace, Chen Qing watched the fine sand shifting in his hand. Having claimed ownership, he had gained a preliminary understanding of the ordinary domain-type supreme treasure, the Soul-Devouring Sand River. "Wind and earth attributes. That's a bit underwhelming, but treasures like this are generally naturally nurtured. The secret patterns inside may still be useful to me."

His genes had now reached perfection. With the Creation Domain combined with the Quake Seal secret technique, it could produce the effect of a pinnacle domain-type supreme treasure and was extremely convenient to use. Moreover, the race had provided the high-grade domain-type supreme treasure, Black Prison Sea. For palaces, he had Jade Smoke Pavilion and Water Cloud Boat. For defense, he had the high-grade supreme treasure Yuanlan Heavy Armor, as well as the top-grade soul supreme treasure Thousand-Face Crystal. Unfortunately, apart from the Cyan Jade Armor, which shared the same origin as him and could be partially used, he could not activate even the first layer of the other supreme treasures with his current strength. Still, with the Cyan Jade Armor, his will, and his special state of mind, even without any treasures, at worst he would be suppressed by a miniature universe. Weapons were the real problem now. The race had provided a top-grade supreme treasure, the Vast Sea Star Frost Sword. One look told him it was part of the Ice Lord's collection. Although he could use Heaven Born Water, it could not provide much enhancement. It seemed the matter of forging a weapon had to be moved forward.

After organizing his equipment, Chen Qing tapped his fingers against the table and considered his plans. "Venerable Beishan is not much of a threat to me, but he could have a considerable impact on Chaman King. Since he will take the initiative anyway, I might as well give him an opportunity."

His base strength was one million times that of a World Lord. With an ultimate secret technique, he could probably reach at most one hundred million times a World Lord's power. If Spirit Burning was included, the secret technique's power could rise by another level. However, a Venerable could burn divine power, leaving a considerable gap in attack strength. There was another problem as well: there would likely be more than one opponent. If things became deadlocked, they would be opponents at the same Venerable level. It would no longer count as bullying the weak, and being besieged over a treasure was entirely possible.

Just as Chen Qing finished organizing his things, Venerable Beishan opened his bloodshot eyes in a palace tens of thousands of kilometers away. "At least a top-grade heavy treasure. Hehehe, he actually dared humiliate a powerful being like this. Even if I kill him, the Human Race higher-ups will have nothing to say. Then the treasure will be mine. Once I obtain it, perhaps I can even contend with a high-grade Venerable. Letting you touch it once before you die will count as my greatest mercy!"

As for why the Demon Race had provided the information, there was no need to think about it. The methods of pinnacle races had always been this filthy. And there was Chaman King as well. Blame yourself for running into such a pig of a teammate. Once he dealt with Green Jade King, he would slowly deal with him too.

"Hah—"

Venerable Beishan exhaled deeply, then quickly calmed down and slowly closed his eyes. "It is good that I have Demon Race intelligence. At least I will not have to waste too much effort. Every one of these pinnacle races deserves to die!"

At Thunder Mountain in the Virtual Universe, Chaman King followed an envoy to the mountaintop. Though he had longed for this place, being summoned here so suddenly left him uneasy. "Chaman King, this is the palace where the great Chaos City Lord works. Go in by yourself. Mind your manners and be respectful."

Chaman King nodded to the envoy before him. This man's aura was no weaker than his own, so Chaman King naturally would not be so ignorant. Since when did Chaman King make people think he was some reckless brute?

After thanking the envoy, Chaman King adjusted his clothes and strode into the palace. The first thing he saw was a pair of majestic eyes, with space and time interweaving within them.

"I heard you cursed a Venerable?"

The abrupt voice jolted Chaman King awake. A trace of confusion flashed through his eyes before he quickly came to his senses. "City Lord, I did!"

"Mm. You are quite good."

"Ah—"

Chaman King was dumbfounded. Even between hostile factions, powerful beings generally maintained basic respect. Why was the City Lord actually smiling?

Chaos City Lord ignored Chaman King's surprise. This little fellow had his own principles and was one of the more decent members of the space-time lineage. Since Chen Qing had noticed him, there was certainly no problem. Even Chen Qing's master admired his spiritual state and will. This was a good opportunity to deepen the race's bonds with him. The only question was when he would break through his Origin Core. A World Lord was still ultimately lacking by a degree.

"The race possesses two great inheritances, both of which generally require strict assessments. Someone has now recommended you. Chaman King, are you willing to accept an inheritance?"

"Chaman is willing! So long as it benefits the race, I would not hesitate to die ten thousand deaths!"

Seeing Chaman King's expression, Chaos City Lord nodded in satisfaction. "Rest assured, this is a good thing for you. However, although you are already King-Rank, I must still emphasize this: you must never be enslaved by another race. If the matter of the inheritances is exposed, the race will suffer immeasurable losses."

"Yes. Chaman will certainly be cautious. Even if I die, I will not give another race the slightest opportunity."