The Three Realms contained a mysterious world, also known to the Seamless Gate as the "Fifth World."
This was one of their strongholds, where many of the Seamless Gate's important forces were stationed.
At this moment, within a pavilion in the Fifth World, a figure clad in blood-red robes sat cross-legged.
True Immortal Blood Hand was the master of the Blood Cloud Tower responsible for invading the Great Xia World, Beishan Great World, and Qumeng Great World.
To invade a major world, one first had to divide its forces. And to divide those forces, besides temptation, methods such as threats and assassinations were also highly effective.
The Blood Cloud Tower was precisely such an assassin organization.
At this moment, True Immortal Blood Hand suddenly took out a talisman plaque, only to discover that it had already shattered into several pieces.
"Zhumu is dead? I sent him to persuade a Loose Immortal to surrender, yet he died?" True Immortal Blood Hand's gaze turned icy.
The loss of a Celestial Immortal pained him greatly. He had only a little over a thousand Celestial Immortals under his command in total.
Not to mention that Celestial Bamboo Wood was quite powerful and one of his capable subordinates.
"Xu Wu, conceal your identity and investigate Donghai Commandery."
True Immortal Blood Hand immediately gave the order to another subordinate.
Not long afterward, news arrived. The sight of Zhou Yu forming an array with the momentum of heaven and earth had indeed been astonishing. The entire Donghai Commandery could sense the disturbance, and with even a slight investigation, it was naturally easy to uncover.
Moreover, it was not difficult to discover that the source of the anomaly lay above the Zhou Clan Tribe.
True Immortal Blood Hand was extremely knowledgeable. Upon receiving the news, he immediately concluded that it was some sort of Heaven and Earth Great Array.
"To lay down such a great array with the force of heaven and earth, even I cannot do it. One must grasp the complete Array Dao to have any hope. Has a Loose Immortal grasped the complete Array Dao?" True Immortal Blood Hand shook his head inwardly.
How could that be possible?
Certain heaven-defying Return to Void Gods and Devils might be able to grasp a complete Great Dao. Their divine bodies nourished their souls powerfully enough that their souls were at most slightly inferior to those of Celestial Immortals, so they truly had hope of comprehending a Great Dao.
But a Loose Immortal? The gap was simply far too great.
Other than certain Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, or even great powers who had voluntarily reincarnated, he had never heard of anyone being so heaven-defying at the Loose Immortal stage.
"Could he be a reincarnated great power?" The thought merely flashed through True Immortal Blood Hand's mind before he stopped considering it.
How could a reincarnated Empyrean God or True Immortal lack friends or masters to guide him?
For an Empyrean God or True Immortal to reincarnate and then become a Loose Immortal again would be far too foolish. True Immortal Blood Hand did not even dare imagine how such a person could exist.
"Someone should be helping him. Could it be related to that vanished Ji Ning?" True Immortal Blood Hand formed a guess.
Naturally, that guess still needed verification.
"Zhumu's death cannot simply be left at that." True Immortal Blood Hand narrowed his eyes.
Under ordinary circumstances, he might choose to retreat when facing other Empyrean Gods or True Immortals. But the struggle had already begun. No matter who stood against the Seamless Gate, they had to pay the price.
He was not alone. Behind him stood the vast Seamless Gate!
On the other side—
Zhou Yu returned to the tribe. After soothing his clansmen, he returned to his usual place of cultivation.
Having gained another simulation opportunity, Zhou Yu naturally intended to simulate again.
However, before beginning, Zhou Yu calculated the number of powerful enemies he had killed after the previous simulation.
The one who had killed the most was naturally his clone in the Cangyuan Realm.
In the Cangyuan Realm, although one of his clones had banished himself to the Outer Realm and gained nothing, the other clone that remained in the Cangyuan Realm had slaughtered relentlessly, massacring vast numbers of lesser monsters every day, with the occasional Monster King mixed in.
The main reason was that the Monster Race's three Emperor Monarchs still did not know Zhou Yu's true strength. Thus, they still clung to the idea of massively depleting the Cangyuan Realm's living forces. Whenever a world passage appeared, they immediately dispatched huge numbers of troops into the Cangyuan Realm.
However, although he had killed many in the Cangyuan Realm, their quality was too low.
In terms of quality, the Swallowed Star World was still superior.
Time flowed faster in the Swallowed Star World. Nearly fifty years had passed since the last simulation, and during that time, Zhou Yu had naturally killed a large number of Immortals in the Dark Continent, including quite a few Marquis-Sealing and King-Sealing figures.
In contrast, in the Desolate Era World, Zhou Yu had focused entirely on improving himself. Only a small number of people, such as Celestial Immortal Xuanji, Shaoyan Chou's clone, and Celestial Bamboo Wood, had died at his hands.
"It seems that through large-scale slaughter, I may have gained more Origin Energy than I expected." Zhou Yu understood. The reason he had gained another simulation opportunity so quickly this time was certainly due in no small part to his slaughter of countless lesser monsters in the Cangyuan Realm.
Without further thought, Zhou Yu quickly chose to begin the simulation.
[Drawing world.] [Draw successful. The world for this simulation is the Desolate Era World!]
"Desolate Era World?"
Zhou Yu froze for a moment. He had drawn it again?
"This time, I cannot fail again after failing last time." Zhou Yu became solemn.
[Drawing initial Talent—] [Draw successful. Please choose one of the following three talents.] [One, Heaven Rewards Diligence—effort will always bring rewards.] [Two, Child of Luck—possess extremely high destiny aura at birth.] [Three, Heaven-Sent Sage—when leading a clan to rise, gain various cultivation bonuses.]
"Child of Luck appeared again?"
Zhou Yu felt somewhat emotional. To be fair, this talent was quite good, but his previous failure had left a shadow over him, so he eliminated it first.
"Talent three sounds rather interesting from the description." Zhou Yu pondered it. However, this kind of talent would clearly make the early stages difficult to survive, and even after rising to prominence, it might not necessarily prove useful.
This time, he was aiming for simulation success.
"Besides, Heaven Rewards Diligence may seem unremarkable, but it is absolutely one of the most overpowered talents." Zhou Yu sighed inwardly. His past experience had made him understand that this talent was absolutely terrifying.
Effort would always bring rewards? Who knew how many ordinary cultivators would cry upon seeing this talent?
Without hesitation, Zhou Yu chose talent one: Heaven Rewards Diligence!
[Please choose one of the following simulation objectives.] [One, undergo tribulation and become an Empyrean God—upon completion, obtain an Empyrean God clone and the talent 'Heaven Rewards Diligence' at fifty percent effectiveness.] [Two, become a True God or Ancestor Immortal—upon completion, obtain a True God or Ancestor Immortal clone and the complete talent 'Heaven Rewards Diligence.'] [Three, become a World God or Chaos Immortal—upon completion, obtain a World God or Chaos Immortal clone and the talent 'Heaven Rewards Diligence' at three hundred percent effectiveness.]
"There is actually no option to become a Celestial Immortal or True Immortal? And there is no time limit!" Zhou Yu was puzzled. If there had been an option to become a Celestial Immortal or True Immortal, he would have chosen it directly. That would have been the easiest.
"Then I should choose objective two." Zhou Yu made his decision after some thought.
The difficulty of undergoing tribulation to become an Empyrean God was extremely high. His success in the previous simulation had seemed easy, but in truth, it was because his opportunities had been extraordinary and two Elder Gods had supported him from behind.
Under normal circumstances, the chance of becoming an Empyrean God through tribulation was extremely low. The Great Xia World could accumulate over ten thousand Celestial Immortals over endless years, yet not produce even a single newly ascended Empyrean God.
Most of the Empyrean Gods in the Three Realms were born as Empyrean Gods. Those who became Empyrean Gods through tribulation were instead the minority. Every person who succeeded in overcoming the Heavenly God Tribulation through their own efforts was a legendary figure.
"Those who can become Empyrean Gods by passing the tribulation on their own have a greater hope than ordinary Empyrean Gods of becoming True Gods or Dao Ancestors. Especially since this simulation has no time limit! In other words, if I complete objective one, there is hope for objective two as well. Conversely, if I die on the path to becoming an Empyrean God, then there is no difference between choosing one or two." Zhou Yu thought to himself.
Therefore, rather than choosing one, he might as well choose two and take a gamble.
As Zhou Yu made his choice, time around this clone of his froze once more. Lines of text began to appear, and the simulation began.
Before you continue