On this day, across the vast expanse of the Snow Tribulation Continent, countless cultivators were stunned by the supreme power fluctuations emanating from the Thirty-First District.
Many assumed it was the emergence of a hundred-thousand-year-old ancient holy medicine, sparking a grand conflict.
As a result, powerhouses at the Saint King level rushed towards the source.
Soon after, a piece of news spread, causing a significant stir not only in the Snow Tribulation Continent but throughout the entire Eastern Domain Holy City.
“A Nine-Step Saint King was slain by a supreme saintly weapon, their body reduced to nothing, the supreme power enveloping a hundred-mile radius, lingering for a long time.”
“The Nine-Step Saint Kings killed were Feng Chengdao and Bai Yuejun of the Nether God Hall.”
…
The fall of a Nine-Step Saint King was no small matter. For a powerful realm like Ruiya, the impact might be lesser, but for weaker realms, the death of a Nine-Step Saint King was akin to an earthquake.
For a moment, panic gripped the people.
“Could it be a powerhouse from the Hell Realm who killed them?”
“The Eastern Domain Holy City is a gathering place for cultivators. If a Hell Realm cultivator wielding a supreme saintly weapon is hiding in the city and starts killing without restraint, rivers of blood will flow.”
The destructive power of a supreme saintly weapon was terrifying, capable of wiping out an entire district’s worth of cultivators in moments.
This fear made everyone wary.
“Rest assured, the Heavenly Palace has an array master leading a group of saintly masters to repair the ancient array inscriptions within the Holy City. Once completed, even if a Hell Realm cultivator wields a supreme saintly weapon, they won’t be able to cause too great a calamity.”
The Eastern Domain Holy City was a key stronghold in the Kunlun Realm’s merit battlefield, and the Heavenly Palace naturally prioritised its defence, unwilling to let the Hell Realm destroy it easily.
The city’s districts and streets were already protected by array inscriptions. Whenever a fight broke out on a street, the inscriptions would activate, containing the battle’s aftermath within a limited area.
Once the ancient inscriptions were fully restored, the defensive strength of each district in the Eastern Domain Holy City would increase dramatically.
“The Traveller,” one of the Nether God Hall’s Six Absolutes, stood in the Thirty-First District on the ruined snowy ground, his body crackling with lightning, his anger surging, “Whether you’re a cultivator from the Hell Realm or a being from the Heavenly Realm, if you dare strike at the Nether God Hall’s people, you must die.”
In less than a month since arriving in the Kunlun Realm, several Nine-Step Saint Kings had fallen, a grievous loss even for the deep-rooted Nether God Hall.
Despite its vast reserves and abundance of powerhouses, it had been wounded to its core.
On the battlefield, The Traveller had collected traces of the supreme saintly weapon’s residual energy. If that weapon were activated again, he could track down the culprit.
In the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion.
All the saints of the Chen Clan had emerged from seclusion, gathering together.
Everyone wore solemn expressions, the atmosphere in the grand hall heavy and stifling.
The Chen Clan saint rescued by Zhang Ruochen had returned to the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion and now stood at the hall’s centre, recounting the entire incident from beginning to end.
The Eastern Domain King, Chen Yin, sat atop a golden carved chair, his body wreathed in holy energy,ව, radiating an awe-inspiring saintly might.
The heir to the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion, Chen Wutian, stood up and said, “So, the scroll has already been destroyed by Hua Zangying of the Shengze Realm?”
The Chen Clan saint, pained, replied, “Yes, it’s my incompetence.”
The faces of all the Chen Clan saints changed, filled with shock and unease.
An elder of the Chen Clan said, “These saint-level cultivators are shameless. On the surface, they claim to be here to help the Kunlun Realm resist the Hell Realm’s invasion, but in reality, they’re here to plunder and seize. We should report this to the Heavenly Palace now.”
Chen Wutian, remaining calm, said, “The scroll is destroyed, so there’s no evidence to prove that those cultivators from other realms intend to attack the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion. What good would reporting to the Heavenly Palace do? Would they believe our one-sided account?”
“It’s all my fault,” the Chen Clan saint said, “The scroll contained evidence of their conspiracy. If I hadn’t been so careless, letting the Shengze Realm cultivator destroy it, the Heavenly Palace could have punished them based on the scroll’s images.”
“Now isn’t the time to assign blame, but to figure out how to deal with the impending disaster.”
Chen Wutian continued, “Their attack on the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion is undoubtedly for the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique. We need to find a way to send it away first. No matter what, it must not fall into the hands of another realm.”
The Four-Nine Mysterious Technique was the Chen Clan’s inherited technique, the upper half of the Eight-Nine Mysterious Technique, one of the eighty-one divine techniques listed in the Taiyi Divine Technique Ranking.
Even among the top hundred powerful realms, many lacked a single divine technique that could rank on the Taiyi Divine Technique Ranking.
Seizing the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique would drastically提升 a realm’s overall strength, propelling its ranking upward.
It was a strategic treasure, countless times more valuable than a hundred-thousand-year-old ancient holy medicine, capable of determining a great world’s future. For this reason, countless cultivators in the Eastern Domain Holy City coveted the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion, aiming to take the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique.
However, the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion was a key site overseen by patrol envoys, so no one dared act rashly.
Moreover, the Chen Clan controlled the Zhou Tian Grand Array covering the entire Holy City. Taking down the Chen Clan unnoticed would require the cooperation of multiple forces.
Chen Wutian added, “The Heavenly Palace isn’t absolutely fair and just. It’s composed of various great worlds, and the stronger a world, the greater its voice in the Palace. So, don’t expect the Heavenly Palace to side with us. If it doesn’t become an accomplice, we should count ourselves lucky.”
“Now, we might only be able to seek help from the imperial court, though… the court is currently overwhelmed. It’s said the conflicts in the Central Imperial City are even fiercer than those in the Eastern Domain Holy City.”
Someone said, “Regardless, we have to try.”
Chen Wutian’s gaze fixed on Chen Yin above.
Chen Yin nodded, then channelled his holy energy into the domain king’s official seal on the golden table, establishing contact with the Central Imperial City.
In the Central Imperial City, Grand Tutor Wang Shiqi held the fort, joined by the Six Heavenly Kings of the Six Ministries and the Saintly Book Talent, all prominent figures standing in the Ziwei Palace, conversing with Chen Yin.
Indeed, the Central Imperial City was in a tense state, with countless powerhouses gathered, on the verge of a massive upheaval.
After all, the treasury of the First Central Emperor held the world’s greatest collection of techniques, secrets, wealth, and treasures, coveted by numerous great realms.
The light on the domain king’s seal faded, and silence fell over the Chen Clan saints in the hall.
The court couldn’t help them now, leaving them to face the looming catastrophe alone. But with only the Chen Clan’s strength, how could they withstand an assault from the top powerhouses of multiple great worlds?
After a long pause, Chen Yin made a difficult decision, “Wutian is right. We must send the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique away first. As long as it remains in Chen hands, there’s still hope for our clan’s revival. We cannot let them sever our path.”
A Chen Clan saint said, “The entire Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion is surely under tight surveillance. Sending the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique out is simply impossible.”
“Don’t despair just yet. Our Chen Clan has ruled the Eastern Domain Holy City for tens of thousands of years, deeply entrenched. We won’t fall so easily. We still have some cards to play. If they want to destroy the Chen Clan, half of them will die first.”
With that, Eastern Domain King Chen Yin led Chen Wutian out of the hall, heading towards the depths of the Saint King Mansion.
“Does the Domain King want me to take the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique and leave?” Chen Wutian asked.
Chen Yin, walking ahead, said, “Your talent is the greatest among the Chen Clan’s younger generation since the Middle Ages. If the Chen Clan falls, only you can revive it.”
Chen Wutian’s resolve was firm, “The Domain King should understand that I’ll stand or fall with the Chen Clan. I won’t flee alone.”
Chen Yin stopped abruptly, patted Chen Wutian’s shoulder, and said earnestly, “The Chen Clan must not perish, and the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique must not fall into another realm’s hands.”
Chen Wutian fell silent for a long while before saying, “Even if I wanted to leave, I doubt I could. The Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion is likely a place one can enter but not exit right now.”
Chen Yin resumed walking, reaching the base of a holy mountain deep within the mansion. On the cliff wall was a stone door.
“Beneath the Saint King Mansion lies an ancient spatial teleportation array, crafted by Master Fangcun, the chief disciple of Saint Monk Xumi, at our ancestors’ request. It can transport you to the Chen Clan’s ancestral land. The ancestral land has awakened, and there may be supreme opportunities awaiting you. Go now, select a group of outstanding Chen Clan youths, and take them with you. Once you leave, I’ll destroy the array.”
…
Meanwhile, Zhang Ruochen, accompanied by Murong Yue and Xie Chengzi, arrived at the Golden Rainbow Continent in the Eastern Domain Holy City. Before them stood towering peaks, swirling with holy energy, resembling an immortal realm.
Nearby was a stone tablet inscribed with four ancient characters: “Divine Sword Holy Land.”
The Divine Sword Holy Land’s former master was Lu Yuanzhi, the sixth disciple of Emperor Ming and Zhang Ruochen’s sixth senior brother.
However, his sixth senior brother had died centuries ago.
Now, the master of the Divine Sword Holy Land was likely Lu Huaiyu, the grandson of his sixth senior brother, known as the “Jade Saint.”
Though the Divine Sword Holy Land’s strength paled in comparison to the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion or the Three Paths and Seven Sects, its prowess in artefact forging ranked among the top three in the Kunlun Realm.
The broken Shen Yuan Ancient Sword had been reforged there.
Zhang Ruochen had come to the Divine Sword Holy Land to help the sword spirit of the Shen Yuan Ancient Sword condense a physical form and, if possible, to relocate all its artefact forgers to Wang Mountain.
Commanding a group of artefact forgers would greatly aid his efforts to rebuild the Saint Ming Central Empire.
But as he reached the sword tablet, Zhang Ruochen sensed an eerie aura, a foreboding feeling rising within him.
Murong Yue stood behind him, clad in a moon-white robe that hugged her slender waist and accentuated her long legs. She wore the robe’s hood, concealing much of her beautiful face, and said, “Your Highness, someone has used talismans to mask this space. The Divine Sword Holy Land… something major may have happened…”
