Everything Is Ready

Ironwood Manor covered an extremely vast area. Aside from the forest of ironwood trees at its center, most of the land consisted of primeval forests filled with unknown species of trees. Not only did spiritual herbs grow within them, but there was no shortage of demonic beasts at the Earthly Origin and Heavenly Origin Realms.

In less than half a day, Ironwood Manor—a prized territory that the many factions within a hundred-mile radius of Qingyang Town had long coveted—had completely changed hands.

Although Lei Bao was deeply reluctant after receiving the One Hundred Thousand Yang Yuan Pills, he did not have the Lei Family secretly pull any tricks, nor did he obstruct the people Lin Zhentian had brought from taking over Ironwood Manor.

That afternoon, within Ironwood Manor.

Lin Chen and Lin Zhentian's father and son walked through the scenic forest. Every so often, Lin Chen extended his Spiritual Power beneath the soil, continuously discerning the intensity of the Yang Gang Energy within the earth and leading Lin Zhentian's group in the right direction.

Originally, Lin Chen had intended to bring Lin Qingtian along. Due to her special constitution, she could quickly sense the differences in the strength of the Yang Gang Energy underground and find the spot with the highest temperature, most suitable for mining the Yang Yuan Stone Vein.

However, Lin Qingtian's internal cold energy happened to flare up today. Her body was weak, making her unfit to travel, so Lin Chen could only take the trouble to handle things himself.

By now, Lin Chen had been searching for nearly half an hour, and they were getting ever closer to their final destination.

"Young Master Lin Chen, Lei Bao was so sensible this time, handing over Ironwood Manor so readily. It really was beyond my expectations."

Noticing Lin Chen periodically using his Spiritual Power to probe the Yang Gang Energy beneath the soil, and seeing the increasingly delighted look on his face, Lin Zhentian could not help thinking of how Ironwood Manor would soon belong entirely to the Lin Family, along with the profits from mining the Yang Yuan Stone Vein beneath it...

At that thought, Lin Zhentian felt immensely gratified and could not resist striking up a conversation with Lin Chen.

Lin Chen had no interest in the ironwood trees within Ironwood Manor or the income from mining the Yang Yuan Stones beneath it. He did not lack Yang Yuan Pills for cultivation; in fact, he did not even need Yang Yuan Pills to cultivate.

In his hands, Yang Yuan Pills were merely the lowest-grade universal currency, holding little value. Much less the Yang Yuan Stones beneath Ironwood Manor, which had yet to be converted into Yang Yuan Pills.

All he cared about was the High-grade Yang Gang Energy contained within that Yang Yuan Stone Vein.

Once he absorbed it, Ironwood Manor would become a useless place to him. Yet to the Lin Family, it was a family asset capable of generating continuous profits.

For that reason, Lin Chen was happy to do them a favor and hand Ironwood Manor over to the Lin Family. After all, mining the Yang Yuan Stone Vein beneath Ironwood Manor would still require the Lin Family's manpower, and it was a good thing for the factions in Qingyang Town to maintain a balance.

Before he possessed absolute strength to deal with every uncertain factor in this world, Lin Chen did not want to lose the advantage of his foreknowledge.

At the very least, he had to broadly preserve this world's original course, so that it would benefit his growth and survival.

The Tianxuan Continent was a world that could be eroded and annihilated by the Outer Realm Evil Tribes at any time.

If Demon Emperor Yi Mo had not always wanted to refine the Tianxuan Continent's Plane Spirit alone and advance to the Nether Demon Emperor realm, the Spirit Grade Heavenly Sovereign realm, and had not kept this information from the other Outer Realm Evil Tribes, then the Tianxuan Continent would have been eroded and annihilated by the Outer Realm Evil Tribes ten thousand years ago.

Although the Alien Demon Race was merely a minor, lower-tier race among the Outer Realm Evil Tribes, if Demon Emperor Yi Mo, with his Half-Step Demon Emperor strength, wished to enlist Demon Emperor-level experts from the other races of the Outer Realm Evil Tribes to seize a lower plane possessing a Plane Spirit, quite a few Demon Emperor-level members of the Outer Realm Evil Tribes would likely rush to act.

Whether they were Quasi-Heavenly Sovereigns of the Great Thousand World or Outer Realm Evil Tribes like Demon Emperor Yi Mo, anyone who could refine and control a Plane Spirit would have a high chance of crossing the threshold into the Nether Demon Emperor realm, the Spirit Grade Heavenly Sovereign realm, and becoming a true peak expert of the Great Thousand World.

Greed brought disaster. It was precisely because Demon Emperor Yi Mo did not know how to adapt and was unwilling to relinquish the Tianxuan Continent's Plane Spirit—an opportunity that did not belong to him—that the Tianxuan Continent had survived until today.

One Symbol Ancestor and one Quasi-Heavenly Sovereign were not much different from ants before the many Demon Emperor-level experts among the Outer Realm Evil Tribes. Preserving the Tianxuan Continent would be nothing but a fantasy.

"Actually, it is not that strange... The One Hundred Thousand Yang Yuan Pills you gave him were also an invisible form of deterrence."

Faced with Lin Zhentian's initiative in starting a conversation, Lin Chen did not stint on his smile and replied with a grin.

"Lei Bao, whom you have dealt with for many years, also understands that if the Lin Family had One Hundred Thousand Yang Yuan Pills, you would certainly use them first to strengthen the family rather than exchange them for an unmined Ironwood Manor that currently holds no value whatsoever."

"You should know that One Hundred Thousand Yang Yuan Pills could be exchanged for several thousand Pure Yuan Pills. It would be easy for the Lin Family to gain several more Lesser Core Formation Realm experts. At that point, even if the Lin Family seized Ironwood Manor by force, it would be effortless."

"Lei Bao understood this, which was why he handed over Ironwood Manor so cleanly. However, once Lei Bao's strength improves, whether he will still obediently follow the rules as he did today is hard to say."

As he spoke, Lin Chen withdrew his Spiritual Power from the soil and once again pointed out the direction for Lin Zhentian's group.

Lin Chen was not particularly surprised by Lei Bao's obedient and sensible conduct today. He had anticipated this outcome. Lei Bao might be greedy, but he was not an idiot.

After all, the identity of someone from the Inner Clan of the Lin Clan carried considerable deterrence within the Great Yan Dynasty. It was an entirely different matter from someone like Lin Zhentian, who came from a Branch Family.

Seeing Lin Zhentian's expression suddenly turn much more solemn, Lin Chen understood at once and reassured him with a smile. "You need not worry about raising a tiger that will bring disaster. With me here, Lei Bao cannot stir up much trouble. Besides, Lin Xiao is on the verge of breaking through to the Lesser Core Formation Realm. After today, the Lin Family will also have this Yang Yuan Stone Vein. In the future, the family's strength certainly will not be inferior to the Lei Family."

"The Lin Family can rest easy."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhentian's expression eased, and his face was once again filled with smiles.

Thus, amid the fairly pleasant conversation among the group, about an hour later, Lin Chen led Lin Zhentian and his sons to the place most suitable for mining the Yang Yuan Stone Vein: a sunken valley.

After casually dealing with the two Black Iron Demonic Leopards there, both possessing Heavenly Origin Realm strength, Lin Chen took the carriage arranged by Lin Zhentian back to the Lin Family. He left the remaining matters to Lin Zhentian, telling him to notify him if anything unusual occurred during the mining of the Yang Yuan Stone Vein.

In just two days, everything he needed in Qingyang Town had been prepared. All that remained was the final push.

The Lesser Core Formation Realm was within reach, and becoming a Spirit Talisman Master was not far off either.

(A brief aside...

Xiao Yan was much older than Lin Dong. Even after becoming a Dou Emperor, he continued cultivating for many years. Only after the Five Emperors shattered the void, while traveling through the planar passage, did his realm become equal to Lin Dong's. Dou Emperors varied in strength, so saying that a Dou Emperor was equivalent to the Ancestor Realm was only a rough comparison. Xiao Yan was a Dou Emperor, but not an ordinary Dou Emperor. The difference between them was enormous.

The Blood Demon Emperor's strength was equivalent to that of a Nether Demon Emperor, but he was not equivalent to Demon Emperor Yi Mo. The former was formed from the fusion of the three great Blood Demon Kings, while Demon Emperor Yi Mo was the patriarch of the Alien Demon Race. Their titles of Demon Emperor arose for entirely different reasons, so their strength cannot be compared merely because both are called Demon Emperors.

Among the Outer Realm Evil Tribes, only Nether Demon Emperors were valued. Only upon reaching the Nether Demon Emperor realm could one activate the demon-summoning talismans that summoned Heaven and Mysterious Demon Emperors. Demon Emperor Yi Mo did not possess such a thing; if he had, he would not have died in the end. Yet the Blood Demon Emperor did possess it. This was one of the clearest distinctions in strength between the two.

An Ancestor Realm expert without a Plane Embryo was equivalent to Demon Emperor Yi Mo and to a Quasi-Heavenly Sovereign. This was the original setting of The Great Ruler itself. There is no explanation for this point, nor will I accept rebuttals from certain argumentative people. There are simply too many inconsistencies, and there is nothing to be done about people who love to nitpick.

Anyone who has seriously finished all three novels would not believe that an ordinary Dou Emperor was equivalent to a First through Ninth Grade Sovereign of the Great Thousand World, much less that an ordinary Dou Emperor could compare to the Ancestor Realm. The dangers encountered after crossing the planar passage, the method of spiritual energy assimilation, the period of weakness, and so on—the original novel explained these reasons very clearly.

To briefly mention another difference between arriving from a lower plane to a higher plane without having one's spiritual energy assimilated: a Spirit Grade Heavenly Sovereign with no spiritual energy whatsoever in their body and no familiarity with the spatial structure of the Great Thousand World would naturally have a harder time killing a Sovereign who had already mastered Space Power. Those who have read The Great Ruler should understand who this refers to.

There are other examples that I will not list and explain one by one. In short, everything is based on this novel's settings. I hope no one will continue dwelling on this issue in the future. Those who have not read The Great Ruler, as well as those who do not care about these matters, may simply ignore these words. They will not affect your reading experience.

Also... I will reply to comments after two hundred thousand words. And I would like to thank everyone who supports this novel.)