"Damn it, I can't cut them all down!" Ancient Emperor Longzun stood with a longsword in her hand. Chen Beixun hadn't let the Demon Island Vine unleash its full power. If it had gone all out, there wouldn't have been so much as a scrap left after a few breaths.
A golden light shone from Ancient Emperor Longzun's body. She thrust her longsword forward, and a dazzling radiance burst from its tip.
"Light Domain?" Chen Beixun frowned.
The Demon Island Vine's tendrils whipped wildly at her, completely ignoring her domain.
Ancient Emperor Longzun's whole body trembled as she revealed her divine might. She turned into a streak of white light, and specks of light scattered around her, illuminating the surrounding space. She swept her longsword, sending several brilliant blue-green beams toward the Demon Island Vine. As the beams drew close, they split into countless slender needles, then exploded in an instant.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Demon Island Vine had already laid a deadly trap. It ignored the explosions and rushed toward Ancient Emperor Longzun, intent on strangling her. She turned into Flowing Light and dodged, but the Demon Island Vine pursued relentlessly. After changing direction several times, Ancient Emperor Longzun still couldn't escape. Several tendrils lunged straight at her.
They tore her apart limb from limb, ending her life.
"Demon Island Vine..." Chen Beixun looked at the plant life that had followed him for so long.
The Demon Island Vine was one of the few plant life-forms in the universe capable of both offense and defense, while also possessing the ability to devour. Its growth was brutally simple: it could consume anything, whether rock, metal, or liquid. A creature this exceptional was naturally rare.
At least 128 main vines were needed for a Demon Island Vine to be considered low-grade, while 999 made one top-grade. By the time Chen Beixun's Demon Island Vine had reached the World Lord level, it had 431 main vines.
Most people who used Demon Island Vines were Immortals. Their price was calculated by the vine, at 100 Hunyuan Units each. Like the Cloud-Touching Vine, a Demon Island Vine recognized only one master. If its master died, it died too.
In its early stages, the Demon Island Vine had simple thoughts and could communicate with its master in a rudimentary way. Once it reached Universe Level, it could communicate almost without difficulty. But this also made the conditions for making one recognize its master extremely strict.
Whoosh!
Chen Beixun recalled the Demon Island Vine.
"Let's collect the spoils." He turned to look at the ground...
"Not bad! This longsword is pretty good." Chen Beixun was busy collecting the spoils.
"No wonder she was able to find me. I've never even seen such a high-end detector," Chen Beixun said.
"Four maps, an unidentified token that's incredibly hard, a few pieces of E-grade metal... The rest is trash."
"With these maps, I have a much clearer picture of the forces on Tianwen Planet. This woman was the master of the Suanling Divine Palace, as well as the chief of the Longbai Race. Her clan has a Supreme Treasure called the All-Object Holy Water. I guess Ancient Emperor Longzun owes her breakthrough to Universe Level Sixth Order to this treasure."
"But why is this map so strange?" Chen Beixun studied a yellowed map in his hand.
"Center Island? What the hell is that?" He was confused.
"Forget it. I'll head back to the spaceship first!"
Inside the spaceship's control cabin...
Chen Beixun sat on the sofa, looking frustrated.
"I was too confident in my soul-searching ability back then and didn't get any important information. From the way things look now, it was only a matter of time before I was exposed," Chen Beixun said.
"Maybe I could have the Demon Island Vine devour this entire region, then use all my trump cards to help it break through to the Domain Lord level!"
"That ought to work, right?" Chen Beixun thought it over. Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Right, Tianwen Planet has extremely high radiation. The radiation at the core of the source is enough to kill someone at the Planetary Level! The Demon Island Vine can devour anything, can't it? I'll have it absorb the radiation!"
His eyes sharpened. Before that, I need to use some special methods to make the Suanling Divine Palace submit.
"I'll reason with them. If they won't listen, I'll have to use force."
"The Longbai Race has a huge population, and most of its top fighters are in the Suanling Divine Palace... Hmm... This should be easy."
The Suanling Divine Palace had one Universe Level expert, now dead; 254 Star Level experts, all at Star Level Nine; and 5,000 Planetary Level experts, all at the ninth rank.
The Longbai Race had a population of more than 80 million. Together with another 10 million people from other races, they made up the Longbai Empire. Its ruler was nothing but a puppet. Chen Beixun had investigated extensively, and he'd learned from the emissary last time that the number of powerful experts on Tianwen Planet had been recorded tens of thousands of years ago. The actual number could be considerably higher.
Controlling the Suanling Divine Palace was essentially the same as controlling the Longbai Empire.
Chen Beixun used a little physical persuasion to make the Suanling Divine Palace submit, then held a banquet...
"Everyone here knows how to read the situation. Those who didn't like listening to reason are now resting very peacefully. From this day on, I proclaim myself Ancient Emperor Suanjiang." Chen Beixun stood in the hall with a wine cup in hand.
"I hope we can put our differences aside and develop together. Revive Suanling and strive for unity!"
Several hundred Star Level experts and more than three thousand Planetary Level experts knelt before the hall and spoke in unison. "Put our differences aside and develop together. Revive Suanling and strive for unity!"
Chen Beixun smiled faintly and let the banquet continue.
After the banquet ended, Chen Beixun strolled through the enormous palace, contemplating his next move.
"Let me sort out the situation. The Suanling Divine Palace is under my control now. Next, I'll go to the Longbai Race. Controlling them will mean controlling the Longbai Empire."
"And there's that high-end detector. Ancient Emperor Longzun had one, so maybe the other ancient emperors do too. The Demon Island Vine is absorbing radiation and all kinds of treasures right now. It should reach Universe Level Nine in five or six days, and reaching Domain Lord will only be a matter of time."
"There must be a Supreme Treasure on this planet! With radiation levels this high, the underground city couldn't possibly be unaffected."
"I have no intention of enslaving these two planets. I suffered enough as a slave myself, so of course I won't join those petty brutes. But that doesn't mean I'm kindhearted."
Meanwhile...
Bingling Temple, Danluo King Palace.
"High Priest, he said Her Highness the Goddess was attacked by an unknown force and killed on her way to the Sound-Direction Clan." The black-robed man spoke toward the tightly shut doors of the main hall.
"That's enough, emissary. I, Jing Feng, understand. The journey was long, and I've put you through a lot of trouble, Leng. I've already had a room prepared for you. Go and rest." A calm voice came from behind the closed doors.
"Thank you for your kindness, Emperor Jing." With that, the black-robed man quickly left.
Emperor Jing was calm—frighteningly calm.
"The path of cultivation has always been cruel. You know that too. Everything in this world is so elusive..." Emperor Jing sat on his throne.
That throne, the symbol of power, had always weighed on him until he could hardly breathe. Now he had received this terrible news as well. His clan depended on him, and so did the temple. He couldn't weep, much less give in to anger.
Loneliness had always been Emperor Jing's companion. When his clan was in danger, he had stepped forward and founded the temple, fighting his way to the top.
Emperor Jing had no heaven-defying opportunities. All he had was his determination to defy fate.
Time passed.
It was now the fifth month since he had arrived on Tianwen Planet...
Suanling Divine Palace.
"Ancient Emperor Suanjiang, I'm Emperor Mu. May I come in for a chat?" A deep voice echoed through the Suanling Divine Palace.
"Emperor Mu, I'm sorry I didn't come out to welcome you." Chen Beixun knew, of course, that Emperor Mu had arrived. Emperor Mu had first notified the elders of the Suanling Divine Palace, then come straight to the main hall. That made one thing clear: he meant no harm.
The two walked side by side through the temple, chatting pleasantly about everything from their approach to cultivation to their personal experiences.
"By the way, Ancient Emperor Suanjiang, will you come when the secret realm opens?" Emperor Mu asked with a smile.
"Of course. When I leave here, I'll be sure to bring you along, Brother Mu," Chen Beixun replied cheerfully.
"It's getting late. I'll be on my way," Emperor Mu said.
"Until next time," Chen Beixun replied.
After watching him leave, Chen Beixun's gaze gradually darkened.
"Terrifying. Emperor Mu is just one step away from becoming a Domain Lord. I need to plan ahead." Chen Beixun furrowed his brows, looking as if he were facing a formidable enemy.
"I have to get the Demon Island Vine to the Domain Lord level as soon as possible."
To help the Demon Island Vine evolve, Chen Beixun poured in a huge amount of resources. At last...
The Demon Island Vine grew at a furious pace. After absorbing all kinds of substances and treasures for several months, it finally reached the threshold for breaking through to the Domain Lord level.
The Demon Island Vine didn't need much space to evolve, because it would curl into a ball.
After the evolution was complete, however, it would need room to unfurl. Only then would it require a large area.
Naturally, the evolution had to take place inside Chen Beixun's World Ring.
He had two tools for storing things: a Space Ring and a World Ring.
He had gotten the World Ring by chance, and used it to store more precious items and living creatures.
Among those items were the treasures the Demon Island Vine needed to evolve.
Chen Beixun stroked the Demon Island Vine and took a gemstone that looked like agate from his World Ring. Pure life force radiated from it, all the way from its core to its surface.
He placed the gemstone on one of the Demon Island Vine's tendrils, then immediately put the Demon Island Vine into the World Ring.
That would make the evolution more convenient.
The longer the Demon Island Vine took to evolve, the more powerful it would naturally become.
The gemstone was called River-Reversing Ore. It greatly aided plant- and rock-type life-forms in breaking through.
This brought them back to the World Lord World, which was filled with countless treasures. The World Lord was truly pitiable. According to the rumors, that World Lord had stayed there for more than nine million years. His foundations were too solid, and his bottleneck too difficult to break through. In the end, he died full of regret.
In total, Chen Beixun had obtained treasures worth 48 Hunyuan Units in the World Lord World, not counting universe crystals. That was only a tiny fraction of what it contained.
Some of those treasures had even drawn Immortals into a fierce struggle.
This World Lord was known as the Ghostly World Lord. Before his death, his mastery of the Laws of Space had reached a level that made many Immortals hesitate to approach. Even with his countless treasures, no one dared touch them.
It was strange that such a powerful expert hadn't reached King Rank or Marquis and taken on disciples.
Things had been easy these past few days.
With Chen Beixun's help, Luoduo had reached Star Level One. Once he reached the Star Level, Luoduo began to show his talent. His terrifying comprehension had allowed him to grasp the Wood Origin Law. Now he was close to the threshold of the Law.
Chen Beixun hadn't slacked off either. He was cultivating in a place called Qinggan Palace inside the Suanling Divine Palace.
Qinggan Palace had been built for the ancient emperors of the Suanling Divine Palace to cultivate.
Inside Qinggan Palace.
"Universe Level Third Order, eight crystals in my sea of consciousness, and a Mental Power Amplitude of forty." Chen Beixun sat cross-legged on a stone bed and frowned.
"This is the best I can do for now. I seem to have reached the limit of my potential. Looks like I'll be stuck at this bottleneck for a long time."
Universe Level Third Order was the limit of his body. Eight crystal stones were the limit of his will, and a Mental Power Amplitude of forty was the limit of his mind. His Mental Power Amplitude had been stuck there for nearly a hundred years.
"More treasures won't help. My comprehension just isn't good enough. I can't accept this!" Chen Beixun had wandered for so long, endured countless taunts, and grown indifferent to fame and fortune.
He couldn't help falling into memories... More than 280 years ago...
On a yellow planet...
"It's all fleeting. My goal is to become stronger than those slave traders," Chen Beixun said.
"Haha, you've got ambition, young man. I have a ring here. Take a good look at it with your mental power," an old, white-haired man said.
The old man was gaunt, and his tail was covered in scars. Wrinkles covered his blue face. Beneath the sun's radiation, the cracked ground bore his shadow. Anyone looking at it could imagine the bold, heroic figure he must once have been.
The wind, heated by the waves of heat, kicked up clouds of fine dust that brushed against the old man's face, as if urging him to be on his way.
Chen Beixun took the ring. When he looked up, the old man was already hovering in the air, holding a long spear and radiating divine might. He made the sun and moon turn and caused day to give way to night. The world seemed as small as a speck of dust, and even a single sweep of his spear made space ripple.
"Watch closely, young man!" The old man seemed to turn into a meteor, streaking across the night sky. Then he became dazzling streams of seven-colored light, threaded with flashes of Law power. The light withered away as quickly as a fleeting blossom and vanished into the tranquil night sky.
"Listen carefully. You must become stronger than those lofty Universe Country Lords! You must dream big!" The old man's voice echoed in Chen Beixun's ears.
The memory ended...
"A Universe Country Lord? Heh." Chen Beixun held the Gold Soul Stone. "This is all I can do for now. I'll form a ninth crystal and see if it can improve my comprehension! If nine crystals aren't enough, then I'll make ten, eleven—however many it takes!"
The Gold Soul Stone shone with golden light. After Chen Beixun studied and used it night and day, the light it emitted had grown strong enough to engulf his entire body.
Chen Beixun sat on the ground and forcibly tore away a piece of his own soul. His face contorted in agony, and blood ran from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The pain was so intense that he could no longer control himself. His mental power surged outward, leaving cracks in the surrounding stone walls.
In his sea of consciousness, a white orb was being carved by a blade formed from his will. His whole body trembled uncontrollably, and blood seeped from the pores of his skin.
A strange, indescribable mist hovered around Chen Beixun. At that moment, something seemed to be changing within him.
His soul was undergoing a transformation, and the benefits it would bring were immense.