Chapter 1138: The Heavenly Time Divine Realm

Jun Wuming walked ahead, with Jun Xilei following behind him. Jun Wuming remained silent throughout, and Jun Xilei kept her head down, also saying nothing.

This kind of atmosphere had never existed between the master and disciple.

They walked at a moderate pace, and without realizing it, they had already left the Snow Song Realm.

At that moment, Jun Wuming stopped. His white beard swayed, and he gazed straight ahead, unmoving.

Jun Xilei stopped behind him. She asked nothing, said nothing, merely kept her lips tightly bitten together, never loosening them. Such humiliation, such a fall from grace, might never leave her, especially when it was so recent. Training for "Sword Heart"? She didn't believe it.

"Alas," Jun Wuming sighed softly. "Outside the Snow Song Realm, the nearest star-realm with a profound formation for teleportation is the Azure Flame Realm, which we've visited before. Although it's remote, we have enough time."

Jun Xilei remained silent.

"Cough... cough, cough..." As Jun Wuming's voice faded, his body suddenly trembled, and he let out a slight cough, which then intensified rapidly, each cough heavier than the last.

"Cough... cough, cough... cough..." Eventually, the coughs became tinged with pain.

Startled, Jun Xilei quickly went to Jun Wuming's side. "Master, what... what's wrong?"

"Cough..." After a final painful cough, Jun Wuming's body finally stilled. The hand covering his mouth slowly lowered, and Jun Xilei immediately saw streaks of blood in his palm.

Jun Xilei's face paled with horror, and for a moment, she couldn't speak.

"Just now, I was about to use sword qi to intimidate Mu Xuanyin, but... before it could even be released, she instantly sealed it within my body. No matter how I tried to exert force, I couldn't break free, and the sword qi ended up harming me instead."

Jun Wuming spoke plainly, but every word, every syllable, struck Jun Xilei like a bolt from the blue. What kind of concept was the Sword Monarch's sword qi? It had reached the highest realm in the God Realm, a supreme sword qi unmatched in the entire chaotic space. Yet, it was... sealed within him, unable to be released?

"This... how is this possible?" Jun Xilei exclaimed.

"That is the reason," Jun Wuming said, closing his eyes.

"Then... then that simply means Master didn't use his full power and was momentarily suppressed. How could a mere Realm King of a middle-rank star-realm... how could she possibly be compared to Master?" Jun Xilei said anxiously.

"If that were truly the case, why would I have retreated so far?" Jun Wuming sighed. If he had turned around at that moment, Jun Xilei would have seen a flicker of profound apprehension on his face. "Mu Xuanyin, the Snow Song Realm King, gave me a... terrifying feeling that I could not possibly defeat her, no matter what."

In the entire Eastern Divine Region, there were only a handful of people who could make Jun Wuming utter the word "terrifying."

Jun Xilei stood frozen. After a long time, she finally murmured blankly, "That must have been... just an illusion, or... an artifice she created using some method."

"Heh heh," Jun Wuming chuckled. "I have lived for fifty thousand years and witnessed countless deceptions, false fronts, and illusory appearances. But this particular feeling, it is absolutely impossible to be feigned."

These words, spoken by Jun Wuming himself, finally made Jun Xilei understand why he had tolerated such a retreat. Although she had briefly considered this possibility before, she had immediately dismissed it. Even now, hearing it directly from Jun Wuming, she still couldn't believe or accept it.

"Master, you once said that in the entire Eastern Divine Region, including the King Realms, there are no more than ten people you absolutely cannot defeat. Has she... reached that level? She's... clearly just a Realm King of a middle-rank star-realm!?"

Jun Wuming remained silent, and his silence was, naturally, an affirmation.

"Even if... even if she's truly that powerful, in terms of seniority and prestige in the Eastern Divine Region, she's still far from comparable to Master. When I accompanied Master to visit the Eternal Heaven God Realm, even the Eternal Heaven God Emperor showed you immense respect. How dare a mere Realm King of a middle-rank star-realm... offend and humiliate Master like this!"

Jun Xilei's voice was full of resentment, but Jun Wuming slowly shook his head. "Lei'er, you must understand one thing: in this world, strength always reigns supreme. Lineage and seniority are all illusory before absolute power. Do you truly believe people revere me so much because of my seniority? If I didn't possess this profound cultivation and mastery of the sword, even if my seniority were ten times higher, no one would truly look at me with respect.

"No one was wrong about today's matter, neither you nor anyone else," Jun Wuming said resignedly. "If that had merely been an ordinary middle-rank star-realm, not only would your offense have been ignored, but even if you had trampled through it, they wouldn't have felt the slightest resentment; they would have been utterly terrified and would have respectfully seen you off. However, Mu Xuanyin's cultivation is superior to mine, and thus, this offense was a grave mistake. There is no hierarchy in the Great Dao; the capable are revered. It is not wrong to despise the weak, but to offend a revered one, one must bear the consequences... This is also why countless beings in this world spend their lives pursuing a higher profound way."

These words were not new to Jun Xilei, but this time, they resonated with her a hundred times more powerfully than before. Still, she found it hard to accept. She murmured, "Your disciple cannot reach Master's level of understanding. I still... cannot reconcile with this." What she truly couldn't reconcile with wasn't the slap Mu Xuanyin had given her, but... kneeling before someone she considered weak. The latter was, for her, an indelible and immense humiliation.

"Heh heh, Mu Xuanyin is indeed an anomaly. To reach such a supreme realm yet still possess such an extreme temperament, perhaps she is the only one in this world.

"As of now, I can already see the end of my lifespan. Yet, she is still so young, her lifespan less than twenty percent of mine, with endless possibilities ahead. My remaining years are destined to be spent beneath her." At this point, Jun Wuming didn't sigh; instead, he smiled. "But there's one thing she will never surpass me in. Lei'er, that is you." Jun Wuming looked at his only successor, whom he had spent half his life searching for, his gaze filled with affection and contentment. "I may not surpass her, but limited by her bloodline, cultivation method, and destiny, her successor will never be able to compare to mine. So, why should I be discontent?

"Today's humiliation, I cannot reclaim for you. But in the future, in your era, even if Mu Xuanyin has countless successors, they will only be able to kneel before your sword... Why then should you feel discontent?"

Thinking of the Ice Phoenix Sect's "top disciples," all only at the Divine Tribulation Realm, especially Yun Che, her direct disciple, who was only at Divine Tribulation Realm Level One, Jun Xilei felt a heavy weight lift from her heart. She seemed to have suddenly found some kind of balance. She said earnestly, "Master, rest assured, your disciple will never disgrace the name of the 'Sword Monarch's successor' in this lifetime. One day, I will reclaim today's humiliation ten thousandfold!"

"Heh heh, by that time, when you take my place as the 'Sword Monarch,' today's events and people will likely be as insignificant as dust, not even worth noticing," Jun Wuming said with a faint smile.

"Seven hundred years ago, although Mu Xuanyin's cultivation was impressive, it was far inferior to mine. To reach such a realm in just a few hundred years is certainly not achievable through ordinary means. The reason she didn't go to the Eternal Heaven God Realm must be because she didn't want to attract attention," Jun Wuming mused.

"Lei'er, do not speak of today's events to anyone, especially regarding Mu Xuanyin. She just now saved my face by not humiliating me in public, but that was also a form of warning."

"Yes, disciple will remember."

Entering the profound teleportation formation, they underwent a long spatial traverse. As their vision suddenly brightened, a new world gradually appeared before them. The moment the space shifted, Yun Che's heartbeat uncontrollably accelerated. Three years. He was finally... truly a significant step closer to Jasmine. The red-clad figure that always appeared in his dreams had never faded from his memory and soul for a moment.

But the world before them stunned him and all the Ice Phoenix disciples. Completely different from all their various expectations, the world before them was merely a vast expanse of empty paleness. They could not see the grandeur and might of a King Realm, nor even the existence of land. Their surroundings were a boundless white, and even their feet... were surprisingly stepping on a flat light screen. The light within the screen was still slowly flowing.

However, Mu Bingyun, Mu Huanzhi, and others showed no surprise. Mu Huanzhi turned around and said, "This place is an outer world temporarily created by the Eternal Heaven God Realm for this Profound God Convention. Although it's not the true Eternal Heaven God Realm, it's very close." He added sternly, "Stay close behind me. This is not the Snow Song Realm; no one is allowed to wander off freely."

Behind them, Huo Rulie also emerged from the profound formation with Huo Poyun, walking alongside the Ice Phoenix group.

The name "Eternal Heaven God Realm" alone evoked a tremendous sense of pressure. The Ice Phoenix disciples who arrived here were the top existences among the younger generation in the entire Snow Song Realm, capable of walking wherever they pleased, but upon reaching this place, even without entering the true Eternal Heaven God Realm, a feeling of insignificance began to grow within all the disciples' hearts. With almost every step forward, this feeling intensified. Not only the disciples but also the auras of the various elders and palace masters were noticeably restrained.

On the seemingly endless light-screen ground, besides themselves, figures of other profound practitioners could faintly be seen in the distance, some in groups, some in scattered pairs, or even alone.

"The Eternal Heaven God Realm is the last of the four King Realms in the Eastern Divine Region to attain King Realm status," Mu Bingyun whispered to Yun Che. "It was originally just a high-rank star-realm, but about six hundred thousand years ago, an ancestor with an extremely special physique appeared in the Eternal Heaven God Realm. It was a heaven-bestowed physique, said in ancient legends to be protected by the Heavenly Dao, and everything since has proven that it was more than just a legend. That ancestor, possessing the Heaven-Bestowed Body, found and became the master of the Eternal Heaven Pearl. Afterward, that star-realm became protected by the Eternal Heaven Pearl, changing its name to the 'Eternal Heaven Realm.' From then on, it soared, not only becoming a King Realm but also surpassing the Star God Realm and Moon God Realm in overall strength, becoming the King Realm most revered by all realms in the Eastern Divine Region. Even after that Eternal Heaven ancestor ascended, the Eternal Heaven Pearl continued to protect the Eternal Heaven God Realm day and night. There are even frequent absurd rumors—that the Eternal Heaven ancestor from six hundred thousand years ago didn't truly ascend but survived to this day by using the power of the Eternal Heaven Pearl, hidden within it, which is why the Eternal Heaven Pearl has continuously protected the Eternal Heaven God Realm."

"Hahahaha," Mu Huanzhi, listening to Mu Bingyun's narration, laughed beside them. "Just the wild ramblings invented by idlers. Only the Dragon God Race can achieve lifespans of hundreds of thousands of years in this world. No matter what, humans cannot live that long."

"Grand Elder is right," Yun Che responded. However, Mu Bingyun's description of "a heaven-bestowed physique said in ancient legends to be protected by the Heavenly Dao" suddenly reminded him of someone... But the thought merely flashed through his mind, and he didn't dwell on it.