My Present Rests Entirely on Many Powerful Backers: Nine Nether Imperial Shadow!

The middle-aged man had a gentle demeanor and no imposing presence. He wore a plain robe, which made him resemble the bamboo grove itself.

The only discordant element was a small hole in his palm, from which blood was still seeping.

The Golden Governor noticed Zhang Fusheng's gaze, casually raised his hand, and calmly spoke:

"That day, he overestimated his abilities and tried to intercept the Buddha's arrow of compassion; this was already an act of disrespect."

"Therefore, I deliberately did not allow the wound to heal, leaving it as a self-admonition, and also as a form of respect for the Buddha."

Zhang Fusheng plopped down on the wooden chair, and the young envoy politely took his leave.

"Zhang Fusheng greets the Governor." He bowed respectfully.

"My surname is Su, and my name is Su Qiansuan."

The Golden Governor smiled warmly, and with a gentle stroke, a chessboard and two cups of warm tea appeared on the stone table.

"Please have some tea." Su Qiansuan extended his hand slightly in invitation.

Zhang Fusheng picked up the jade teacup, silently took a sip. It was Calming Tea, but not an ordinary Calming Tea.

After drinking the tea, it transformed into a Pure Qi that instantly reached every part of the body, clearing the mind and making the whole body feel relaxed.

Zhang Fusheng put down his teacup, gazing at the strange sight of tiny, bubble-like worlds stacked and compressed together.

He quickly found the Waiting Area, right in the very center of dozens of bubble play areas.

Looking around, beyond the dozens of bubble worlds lay an indescribable abyss, impassable and untouchable.

Only to the west is there a special bubble world, where the Unique Dao leads to the outside world.

It is roughly the gateway to the Golden Province – Hangu City.

"By leaving Hangu City, one can reach the World Plateau."

Su Qiansuan said with a smile:

"You can think of it as another Waiting Area, a higher-level Waiting Area, where you can go from the World Plateau to any province or even the capital."

"The World Plateau is also the only transit hub on our Mother Star; no matter where you go, you have to go through there."

Zhang Fusheng withdrew his gaze. The governor wasn't in a hurry to get to the point, and neither was he. Curious, he pressed on with his question:

"What immense power could have distorted a planet into such a form, stacked together from countless independent bubbles?"

The Golden Governor placed a white piece on the chessboard and casually remarked:

"He is a very powerful deity. Furthermore, the original Mother Star was not a single planet, but a giant continent floating in space."

Zhang Fusheng was taken aback, and then placed a black piece in the corner of the chessboard:

"Why do this? Why split up the Mother Star?"

Su Qiansuan raised an eyebrow slightly. How did this guy move the black pieces so far?

He replied:

"Publicly, it's claimed to be to prevent cultists from running rampant and causing too much harm, but in reality, it's to prevent the premature arrival of Different Dimension."

Zhang Fusheng placed another black piece next to the one he had previously placed.

His eyes shone brightly, eager to learn:

"What does this mean? I hope Your Excellency can enlighten me."

Su Qiansuan frowned slightly. He didn't understand what Zhang Fusheng was doing. Did this guy not know how to play chess?

He continued patiently to explain:

"The divine realm is not entirely our spiritual world; it is more of a special soil that supports Different Dimension."

"Every cultivator who Becoming a God Realm needs to anchor themselves to at least one Different Dimension landscape within the Divine Realm."

"Given enough time, one day, objects from Different Dimension will be completely anchored."

Zhang Fusheng was startled. He had long suspected that there was something wrong with the Divine Realm, after all, the power of the Divine Realm was excessively strong.

Including the matter of refining the fake into the real, logically speaking, this should absolutely not be something that the sixth realm of humanity could accomplish.

Even ordinary immortals and Buddhas shouldn't be able to do this—yet, with the divine realm, even Great Grandmaster can Transforming the False into the True.

Su Qiansuan placed his third white stone:

"After the Mother Star was divided, everyone was essentially living in different small worlds."

"The Mother Star has forty-nine provinces, each with eighty-one cities, plus the capital and some scattered cities, making a total of four thousand small worlds."

He gazed at the young man before him and spoke calmly:

"In this way, everyone's divine realm will not resonate at the same time. As a result, the Different Dimension that would have fully descended after being anchored to 30% of the scenery will now need to be anchored to nearly 70%."

Zhang Fusheng then placed his third black stone, and suddenly realized what was going on.

The divine realm is fertile ground for Different Dimension, but when people reside in different microcosms, unconnected to each other...

This greatly increases the difficulty of Different Dimension arrival.

"How much is it anchored now?"

He asked, puzzled.

"Forty percent, approximately forty percent of the Different Dimension scenery was anchored."

As they were talking, Su Qiansuan placed his fourth piece, thus occupying all four corner star positions, while Zhang Fusheng also placed his fourth piece.

But his four pieces were piled together in a line.

Su Qiansuan was increasingly unable to understand his moves.

Judging a person by their chess skills, this person's actions are truly unconventional and imaginative.

Su Qiansuan placed his fifth piece, and with all four star positions occupied, his fifth piece landed squarely on the center of the Heavenly Origin, demonstrating extremely aggressive play.

He believed he had already secured the victory.

Even if my opponent were to be Old Master, I could still win this game.

"I won."

Zhang Fusheng placed his fifth piece, connecting the five pieces in a line, and a bright smile spread across his face:

"Now that I have won the game, Your Excellency, why don't we get down to business?"

Su Qiansuan's eyelids twitched, and after a long silence, she asked:

"You played Gomoku?"

Zhang Fusheng nodded as a matter of course:

"Otherwise what?"

He said regretfully:

"I had originally intended to demonstrate to the Governor my Three-in-Three Checkmate Chess Formation, which I had practiced diligently for many years."

Su Qiansuan gritted her teeth and fell into a deathly silence once more.

For a very long time.

He took another deep breath, swept his hand, and the chessboard vanished instantly.

Su Qiansuan chuckled:

"Director Zhang has certainly made a brilliant move."

He emphasized the words "good move," but then abruptly changed the subject:

"Venerable One, are you well?"

They've arrived.

Zhang Fusheng's heart skipped a beat. This Golden Governor, this Su Qiansuan, had indeed come to him with a purpose related to [the World Honored One]!

He pondered for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Acceptable."

Su Qiansuan narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke casually:

"I arrived here shortly after the God of Plague struck, and have been sitting here ever since, witnessing many things."

"For example, when you escaped from here, you used the name of the Ancestor of Land Immortals to thoroughly frighten the God of Plague."

Zhang Fusheng's expression remained unchanged.

Su Qiansuan continued:

"For example, there was once a strange skeleton that smuggled itself into Jiangzhou, spoke with the God of Plague, and finally received a divine gift, taking control of the plague and becoming the Head Plague Ghost."

"It's quite a coincidence, those remains seem to be yours too."

Zhang Fusheng took a sip of the exceptionally high-grade Calming Tea, its Pure Qi flowing through his body. He asked:

"What exactly is Lord Su trying to say?"

Su Qiansuan seemed not to hear, and smiled:

"And that Ten Thousand Zang Ox Demon, was that you too? With the World Honored One's blessing, you caused the heavens and earth of thirty-three cities to lose their color with a single arrow, displaying your immense power."

Zhang Fusheng put down his teacup:

"It's all my fault."

His tone was calm, as if he had some kind of confidence in him.

Su Qiansuan stared at the young man for a long time:

"Nowadays, all the religious sects within the Golden Province, except for the Tianli Faction, have more or less erected some statues of the World-Honored One and ordered some of their followers to worship them."

"East and West Cults refer to him as the Heavenly World-Honored One, while the Mandala religion calls him the Merciful World-Honored One."

"As for the Ancient Sage Faction and the Myriad Gods Cult?"

They addressed the World-Honored One as "Sage World-Honored One" and "High World-Honored One."

Zhang Fusheng chuckled:

"That's quite a confusing title."

"Yes."

Su Qiansuan nodded affirmatively:

"After all, he is a True God who does not belong to any sect, and most importantly, his True Body Descent to a certain place. Everyone wants to bring him into their own sect. I'm just very curious, what is the World Honored One's Orthodox God title?"

He stared intently at Zhang Fusheng.

Zhang Fusheng remained calm and casually replied:

"That is the World Honored One."

Su Qiansuan pressed on:

"May I pay my respects to the World-Honored One?"

"The World-Honored One does not wish to see you."

"And where is the World-Honored One?"

"Everywhere."

The two exchanged words, Zhang Fusheng's answers were casual, almost nonsensical, Su Qiansuan naturally noticed.

He didn't get angry, but sighed softly:

"Director Zhang doesn't believe me?"

Zhang Fusheng raised his head, looked at the Golden Governor, and then stretched out his hand, pointing to the Heaven and Earth of Jiangzhou below.

"Millions of innocent souls."

Su Qiansuan paused for a moment:

"In the face of the common people, some small sacrifices are necessary and worthwhile."

Zhang Fusheng chuckled but did not answer.

The laughter was particularly jarring.

Su Qiansuan lowered her eyelids and said calmly:

"The Golden Province must secede, the Federation must fall, and millions of lives will be sacrificed to overthrow the Federation."

"That's tens of billions, hundreds of billions."

"It's worth it."

Zhang Fusheng's face showed no emotion whatsoever.

"I saw with my own eyes one person after another, curled up on the ground, their bodies exploding, growing fleshy tumors—something even cults wouldn't normally do."

Su Qiansuan leaned back, closed his eyes, and repeated:

"Some sacrifices are worthwhile."

Zhang Fusheng remained silent.

For a long time.

He asked lightly:

"The Governor-General spoke to me like this: he wanted the Golden Province to become independent, to rebel, to instigate a rebellion, and to overthrow the Federation."

"Aren't you afraid I'll report you to the Federation?"

Su Qiansuan kept her eyes closed.

"That's why I want to see the World Honored One. I've seen Director Zhang's resume; his first eighteen years were unremarkable, but suddenly he made rapid progress."

"Is it because of the Gaotian Association?"

"Is it because of the Buddha's favor?"

Or perhaps both?

He was practically interrogating me.

This Golden Governor, despite his restrained aura and the complete absence of any outward display of power,

But Zhang Fusheng still felt immense pressure, a heavy weight pressing on his heart, and his entire body aching.

It wasn't that Su Qiansuan intentionally wanted to suppress him.

It's purely a matter of their life levels being vastly different. Theoretically, at their Innate Limit, a single strike could obliterate hundreds of miles.

However, the Heavenly Human Limit is already the ability to shatter planets with a single punch, and to tear apart thousands of miles of land with a single thought.

Gods?

Its power is unimaginable.

It was at this moment.

Su Qiansuan saw this young man, who was favored by the World Honored One and had many suspicious points about him, suddenly raise his head and look directly at him.

The young man said calmly:

"It's only been three months since I became a martial artist. Just over three months ago, I was an ordinary person, and now I'm already at the Innate Realm."

"Open, a Cave Heaven."

A Cave Heaven appeared behind them, emitting a booming sound.

"Gathering, the Mental Accumulation."

A vast, boundless Spiritual Power surged up and swirled behind him, slightly distorting the space around him and creating a vortex-like shape.

Su Qiansuan narrowed his eyes, but he wasn't surprised. He knew very well that if a deity were to provide full protection, coupled with the mysterious Gaotian Association...

It's not surprising that things have come to this.

Because, it is said, in the Gaotian Association, what can be traded is not only lifespan and objects, but also cultivation time.

But who exactly are the members of the Gaotian Association?

He wasn't sure.

As his thoughts raced, Su Qiansuan saw the young man's final sigh:

"Of course, everything I am is due to the Gaotian Association, to the World Honored One's protection, and also to the mercy of the [Central Extreme Cult Master]."

Central Extreme Cult Master?

Su Qiansuan was stunned for a moment, and in her confusion, she saw Zhang Fusheng stretch out his hand, his five fingers tapping out mysterious rhythms in the air, communicating with a mysterious being from an unknown place.

It was in that very instant.

A crack was opened in the void, seemingly leading to an infinitely deep place. Pure Death Qi poured down, while Profoundly Dark Qi flowed out quietly, cascading down like a waterfall.

He was in the crevice.

I glimpsed an imperial palace, and the Imperial Shadow sitting upright.

Imperial Shadow opened his eyes and looked into the distance.