The Nameless Domain.
Xie Feng had entered Xuanji Mountain with Sushang. The little girl walked lightly ahead, her clear eyes darting around, finding everything novel.
"Master, you're so amazing!"
"How am I amazing?"
"You own a whole mountain!"
Sushang marveled. As far as she knew, anyone who possessed a mountain was naturally very impressive.
Xie Feng smiled faintly. He was about to say something when the little girl suddenly cried out in excitement again. A mass of white light descended from the horizon, and vast Spiritual Qi gushed forth with it, refreshing the spirit.
It was the Heavenly Ranking's reward!
Xie Feng had expected this and calmly accepted the reward.
[First-place reward] Solar Zhuzhao
Illusory words of explanation appeared above the reward.
[Solar Zhuzhao: a sacred beast above the Ancestral Dragon and Primordial Phoenix, born alongside Innate Black and Yellow Qi. Zhuzhao brings all things into being!]
"Solar Zhuzhao is a sacred beast!
"The Innate Black and Yellow Qi born alongside it is, according to ancient records, the spirit of the Great Dao. Infuse it into a weapon, and a divine weapon emerges; infuse it into a human body, and a god is made!
"A god...
"In this world's cultivation system, those in the Mahayana Realm are the strongest aside from loose immortals, while those in the Ascension Realm can be called human gods.
"The mightiest beings in heaven and earth are gods, immortals, and saints. Saints are extinct, immortals are on the brink of extinction, and gods already stand at the pinnacle of the pyramid of power!"
Xie Feng pondered briefly. He was now in the Spirit Transformation Realm. Spirit Transformation meant "transforming the Nascent Soul into a Primordial Spirit" and allowed one to condense an external incarnation. He was still three realms away from the Ascension Realm.
He reached out to touch the white light, and a golden streak of light spiraled out. This was Innate Black and Yellow Qi!
This was the spirit of the Great Dao, and fully refining it would take some time. Xie Feng decided to store it away for now and leave refining it until after he had broken the sealing restriction inside Sushang.
As for Solar Zhuzhao...
Xie Feng looked over. The ball of light gave off a faint glow that gradually grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire mountain. Suddenly, those boundless rays turned into darkness!
Xie Feng stood with his hands behind his back. Slowly, his figure merged with the darkness. Suddenly, an overpowering presence erupted-another kind of utter darkness!
A gigantic shadow slowly appeared above Xie Feng's head.
Pitch-black.
The shadow exuded a presence that dominated the world, like an enormous beast awakening here after sleeping for endless ages!
It was a black sphere large enough to blot out the sky!
It brimmed with life, its providence surged to the heavens. Looking directly at it was like gazing upon the Ancient Path of Samsara, leaving one aghast at the immense pressure within.
Solar Zhuzhao!!
Born in the primordial era!
An existence even more terrifying than the Ancestral Dragon and Primordial Phoenix!
A sacred beast that stood above legends and had vanished into history!
At that moment, all of Xuanji Mountain was shrouded in endless darkness. Sushang was a little frightened. She lightly covered her small mouth, her round almond eyes wide. "M-Master..."
The Heavenly Ranking, too, was dark as though doomsday had descended, and all the Three Thousand Worlds fell into a state neither illuminated nor extinguished.
On Xuanji Mountain, surging spiritual resonance erupted, transforming into streaks of light that crisscrossed heaven and earth. Just as the spiritual resonance was about to shoot out of Xuanji Mountain...
Whoosh-
Sushang heard a faint sound, as though something enormous had emerged from the water. Suddenly, a towering mountain flew in from beyond the sky. It was smaller than Xuanji Mountain, but shimmered faintly with azure light. It circled Xuanji Mountain once, tracing out an illusory azure net.
The streaks of light struck the illusory azure net and bounced back, all entering Xie Feng's body and sending his cultivation soaring!
At a loss, Sushang blinked. Although these unfathomable changes left her a little dazed, she could sense that this mountain was protecting Xuanji Mountain! Protecting her master!
She could not help looking up. In the endless darkness, with the danger resolved, the illusory azure net disappeared, and the azure mountain slowly flew away. She rubbed her eyes. Why did that mountain look a little like a turtle...?
As spiritual resonance entered his body, Xie Feng's presence climbed higher and higher.
He was breaking through!
In moments, he went from the third stage of Spirit Transformation to the eighth!
A full five stages!
With Spiritual Qi depleted, raising their realms was by no means easy for this world's cultivators. Even with abundant Spiritual Qi, advancement would become slower and slower after the Nascent Soul Realm as the amount of energy required grew ever greater.
Rising five stages could be considered light-speed progress!
At that moment, Xie Feng felt clearheaded and refreshed. Solar Zhuzhao resided within his body, suppressed by his Chaos Sacred Body. Once they had adjusted to each other over time, it could become a trump-card weapon!
Moreover, the eruption of Solar Zhuzhao's energy had made Spiritual Qi within Xuanji Mountain incomparably dense. Looking across the wider world, it even surpassed certain sacred lands!
Zhuzhao brought all things into being!
Xie Feng recalled how countless streams of spiritual resonance had darted about when Solar Zhuzhao appeared. His mind had been immersed in his Divine Sense then, leaving him largely unaware of the outside world. He did not know whether any energy had leaked out.
After all, he ranked first on the Heavenly Ranking. Although he had not revealed his whereabouts, many eyes were surely watching like hungry tigers, both openly and in secret. The Great Dao's reward was no ordinary thing, either. Being targeted now would only bring needless trouble.
As he considered how to remedy the situation, Sushang ran over and told him about the mysterious events. Only after learning that a turtle-like mountain radiating azure light had stopped the spiritual resonance from flying out of Xuanji Mountain did Xie Feng relax.
"Little girl, come on. Let's find medicinal ingredients and refine pills."
"Okay! Hey, wait..."
"What is it?"
"Master, you still haven't said what that turtle mountain is."
"Oh, that's Mung Bean."
"M-Mung Bean? Master! A mung bean of yours is that powerful!"
"Hahaha, pick a few fruits along the way. You'll find out then."
Xie Feng laughed heartily and could not resist stroking the tuft of hair sticking up on Sushang's head. The little girl's plump, apple-round face was full of adorable bewilderment and innocence, but she obediently picked a few apples, then pattered after Xie Feng to the medicinal garden.
All the rewards had been distributed.
The darkness vanished from the Heavenly Ranking, which returned to its golden color, and light returned to the world.
Dong!
A lingering toll of a bell rang out.
That heaven-reaching voice once again resounded across the sky-
"The first ranking has been fully announced! Three rules shall now be made known to the world!
"First, three months from now, the second ranking shall be announced: the Dharma Artifact Ranking!
"Second, before the second ranking is announced, should any of the Heavenly Ranking's top ten fall, the next in line shall take their place.
"Third, should anyone new enter the ranking, or anyone on the ranking rise in position, their rewards shall be no lower than god grade!"
The heavenly voice faded.
Waves once again stirred among the masses!
There was a three-month gap before the second ranking would be announced, and the Heavenly Ranking's second and third rules were encouraging competition!
Even... encouraging slaughter!
Heaven and earth had opened a new epoch, and needed the strongest heaven's chosen to vie for supremacy!
Even more enticing was that the rewards would be no lower than god grade! God-grade rewards were already the highest pursuit in this world, and now, no lower than god grade...
Did that not mean immortal grade? Or even saint grade?!
That was the greatest temptation!
Many people stared at the ranking, already beginning to scheme in secret...