Chapter 449: Great success with the land-dividing method infiltrates the upper three realms

The gap between the Dao Domain Realm and the ordinary Reincarnation Realm isn't excessively vast. Among top-tier prodigies, there have been instances of challenging opponents beyond their current realm.

To illustrate, long ago, Zhao Xing valued Yu Tianqing, a Mech-Warrior, precisely because he could single-handedly contend with a being in the ordinary Reincarnation Realm. A more recent example is the giant turtle that Zhao Xing and his team just killed, which had successfully passed its tribulation and was in the ordinary Reincarnation Realm.

However, when a Reincarnation Realm cultivator undergoes Reincarnation Tempering and their True Spirit grows to the Lord level, this chasm becomes almost insurmountable. Their individual strength alone would certainly not be enough. None of the existing team members could withstand a single attack from that Lord-level Spirit Void Turtle. Neither Zhao Xing's main body nor his Grand Void Straw Figure could, and even all team members combined would fall short. As Gu Ming's Artifact Spirit had calculated, a cultivator in the Life-Death Dao Domain Realm could at most activate a Primeval Divine Weapon, and even a Reincarnation Dao Weapon would be difficult to wield effectively. This would only be possible if they possessed a cost-free divine artifact, such as the Time Page from the Profound Spirit Annals that Zhao Xing once held. However, such a remote possibility was directly dismissed by the Artifact Spirit's statistical rules.

Nevertheless, Zhao Xing issued a command for battle. He ordered Tuosen, Wu Lanchuan, and Xu Youling's three combat teams to block the cave entrances around the first volcano. He instructed the Boundary Vessel to take auxiliary personnel and hide near the forty-sixth volcano. Zhao Xing himself, along with the Subterranean Division members from Primordial Hill, ascended to the area above the first volcano.

Before issuing the command, Zhao Xing had already consumed the Fortune Golden Elixir given to him by the Great Zhou. After consumption, Zhao Xing faced two choices: advancing to the next realm or increasing his fortune by three tiers. His Primeval Path was still incomplete in terms of "Heavenly Timing," so a breakthrough now was impossible, and even reaching the Dao Domain Realm would not help. Therefore, he chose to increase his fortune by three tiers!

Everything happened very quickly. When Zhao Xing, along with Qiu Zishan, Gong Xiaoyuan, and a total of six Primordial Hill members, arrived at the first volcano, the second combat command was issued.

"Everyone, activate the Vein Locking Technique to draw all the geothermal fire into my Demon God Underworld Palace."

"Qiu Zishan, Gong Xiaoyuan, you two will finish casting faster. Do not stop; immediately perform the Primeval Earth Treasury Technique, and following the directions I've left, activate the five earth veins."

"Rise!"

With a rumbling sound, the center of the volcano, with a radius of ten thousand li below, collapsed inwards. Others could barely perceive it, but in the vision of Qiu Zishan, Gong Xiaoyuan, and the others, an underworld palace swiftly plunged into the volcano from above. Inside, a half-bodied demon god, towering to the heavens, roared. This was one of Primordial Hill's ultimate techniques: the Demon God Underworld Palace!

A volcano is not suitable for performing the Underworld Palace technique, much like building a house requires a stable foundation. Therefore, the appearance of the Demon God Underworld Palace immediately stirred up a large amount of fiery currents, like a giant boulder crashing into water, creating waves and causing a chain reaction.

"Extreme Land Vein Locking!"

Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan immediately joined forces with their four fellow disciples to seal off the fiery veins, channeling the surging fire into the Underworld Palace. The fiery veins within the Boundary Volcano were too active and lacked physical form, making it extremely difficult to seal them using conventional earth vein locking techniques. This operation was highly challenging. However, the members of Primordial Hill were elites, all in the Life-Death Dao Domain Realm. Four of them accomplished Zhao Xing's request in just eight breaths. Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan were even faster, taking only half the time. The volcano returned to calm, and even the swirling mist dissipated significantly.

Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan, now free, once again performed the Primeval Earth Treasury Technique. The talent gap was further highlighted, as only these two out of the six knew the Primeval Earth Treasury Technique. This was an auxiliary technique, used to induce geological changes and activate earth veins, allowing barren planetary realms and star lands to regain vitality.

"Boom-buzz!" A dull rumbling sound emanated from deep underground, yet the surface remained calm. Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan successfully activated five fiery veins. In this special area, each one was powerful enough to incinerate an ordinary Reincarnation Realm cultivator. Initially, they didn't know where to direct these five fiery veins. However, they soon realized, as five fingers appeared beneath the Demon God Underworld Palace.

"What an exquisite technique!" Gong Xiaoyuan blurted out! What Zhao Xing performed was not merely the Demon God Underworld Palace, but the Five-Finger Demon God Underworld Palace! This move was first displayed when Zuo Qiyu possessed him! After several centuries, Zhao Xing had also mastered the simplest method of fusion.

Five fiery veins pierced through the interior of the Five-Finger Mountain, dyeing it fiery red. Zhao Xing concentrated fully, forcefully transforming the Five-Finger Mountain into a sword-like finger, pointing it towards the depths of the volcano. The reason this realm is called the Volcanic Realm is because of the abundance of boundary volcanoes here. Boundary Mountains are not unfamiliar to everyone. The difference between a boundary volcano and a stacked boundary mountain is that stacked boundary mountains convert void energy into a mountain body. A boundary volcano, on the other hand, only gathers fire-elemental primeval energy. Only a small portion of its physical peak is exposed in the Dao Manifestation Layer, like the tip of an iceberg. The space beneath the volcano, with a radius of ten thousand li, was even larger than a Reincarnation Emperor's inner world.

"Perform the Ascent Copying Technique! Repeat the previous steps!" Zhao Xing's voice once again echoed in the ears of the six Primordial Hill members. The Ascent Copying Technique was created by Zhao Xing for Stacked Boundary Mountains, a forceful driving method that amplifies the power of the four land advantage techniques mentioned earlier. However, its use places an immense burden on the body and cannot be used repeatedly. Everyone present had learned Zhao's Eight Techniques, and in their eyes, boundary volcanoes and stacked boundary mountains were not significantly different, so the Ascent Copying Technique was successfully deployed.

After just the first cycle of casting, four of the six were drenched in sweat, steaming as if they were about to ignite. Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan, however, remained quite relaxed. They even had the energy to transmit messages to each other.

"Senior Brother, so Uncle-Master wants to activate the boundary volcano, make it erupt prematurely, to deal with that old turtle!"

"Precisely. Uncle-Master probably intends to use the Wall Breaking Technique and Fragmentation Technique as the final steps."

"The combat teams blocking the surrounding cave entrances are just to prevent the power from dissipating."

"Hiss... This is too grand! Can we even escape ourselves?"

"Uncle-Master is truly insane!"

Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan were still mistaken. Zhao Xing did not intend to end with Fragmentation and Wall Breaking; they were merely part of the process. The true finishing spell was the Earth Splitting Technique - Earth's Core! Just as the Earth Splitting Technique was blessed by fortune during the Xuanhuang Realm era, Primordial Hill's Earth's Core Earth Splitting Technique also enjoyed fortune's blessing. Zhao Xing consumed the Fortune Golden Elixir precisely for this reason. A sudden increase of three tiers in fortune would trigger a brief burst of "auspicious luck." The Earth Splitting Technique was bound to succeed spectacularly, and he intended to use this wave of "auspicious luck" to escape with his life. Human strength alone could not contend with a Lord-level Spirit Void Turtle. They could only rely on heavenly timing and geographical advantage to deal with it! However, the boundary volcano was too ferocious. Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan both believed that Uncle-Master was truly insane, practically playing with fire!

"My lord, it's catching up!" Gu Ming's voice echoed in Zhao Xing's mind.

Zhao Xing looked up ahead. A ripple spread across the deep, dark space, and a pair of green eyes slowly emerged from the distorted void. The giant turtle's head was adorned with translucent gemstones, as if it had consumed too many Treasure Realm Stones, forming a mountain-like structure. The moment Zhao Xing saw the Spirit Void Turtle's head, the creature launched a soul attack. Lord Tian Gui recognized at a glance that the figure glimpsed that day was precisely Zhao Xing!

"Evil human race!"

"He carries monstrous sin! Besides killing my Gui'er, who knows how many of my kin he has slaughtered!"

Lord Tian Gui instinctively flew into a rage. This person before him was too evil; his True Spirit seemed to witness countless of his kin struggling in a sea of corpses, shedding blood and tears.

"Die!"

The soul attack from a Reincarnation Realm Lord forced Zhao Xing to temporarily avoid its edge. The Grand Void Straw Figure swallowed Zhao Xing's main body and the other six individuals, immediately hiding within the Zenith Soul Tree.

"Buzz!"

The soul attack traveled through the void, entering the Grand Void Straw Figure's body and getting trapped in endless void folds. By the time it reached the Zenith Soul Tree, its power had been reduced to the Dao Domain Realm level.

"Moo-Om!"

Seeing its attack fail, Lord Tian Gui immediately accelerated its approach. Its colossal body finally emerged completely, filling everyone with a sense of dread that blotted out the sky. Its appearance even affected their perception of the sun and moon primeval energies. Spiritually, the entire fifty-person team could no longer sense the Volcanic Realm's primeval energy!

"Evil human, you cannot escape!"

Lord Tian Gui's shell was covered with shimmering stars and flowing nebulae. The stars resembled dazzling gems embedded in ancient stone tablets, while the nebulae were like nimble ribbons, intertwining and emitting a deep, captivating glow. Along the edge of its shell grew strange, sharp, and jagged gemstone peaks. Its legs were covered with thick, gleaming scales. From its mouth and nostrils, plumes of mist surged forth, rapidly spreading through the void, blocking the team's retreat.

After the Spirit Void Turtle took just three steps, the Heavenly Origin Vessel controlled by Gu Ming malfunctioned. Even the Artifact Spirit lost its mental link with Gu Ming. At that moment, everyone instinctively attacked the Spirit Void Turtle, but they couldn't even break its defense. No matter how exquisite their techniques or how miraculous their Primeval Divine Weapons were, everything lost its effect in the face of absolute power suppression. Despair enveloped everyone's hearts.

"Grandma hasn't even found a Dao companion, and she's about to die, and in the Barren Domain at that?" Xu Youling lowered her arm. "What a huge loss."

"Dying in the Barren Domain makes even resurrection difficult," Daoist Miaosong shook his head.

"That's not right, I clearly calculated that the survival rate increased this time..." Chu Lanxing's fingers were smoking from divination. "Is a Fate Master's ultimate destiny to die by their own predictions?"

"Damn, I'm burning up!" Bi Gang yelled. "Tuosen, how long do I have to block this cave entrance? I'm almost dead..."

There were many ways to block the cave, but Tuosen chose the most direct method: stuffing a Qi Sect warrior inside, then having them enlarge. At this moment, Bi Gang didn't know the old turtle had caught up; he only felt the unbearable heat.

"Hot? It's getting hotter." Tuosen's eyes twitched, and he immediately looked in Zhao Xing's direction.

"Thump! Thump!"

A strange tremor emanated from deep underground, quickly overshadowing Lord Tian Gui's own heartbeat. Its satisfaction from cornering the evil human lasted less than a second before turning into deep fear.

"You, what have you done?!"

Lord Tian Gui lowered its head, its green eyes piercing through the thick volcanic rock, seeing into the depths of the earth. A scorching 'light dragon' that made its heart tremble, swiftly shot up from underground!

"You lunatic... Four Pillars of Turtle Prime! Suppress!"

Lord Tian Gui roared, completely disregarding Zhao Xing and these "ants." Precisely because of this, it had to lift its suppression on those "ants" and immediately exert its full power to suppress this boundary volcano. Otherwise, the tremor initiated by the first boundary volcano would cause a chain reaction, devastating more than half of the Volcanic Realm. The Sacred Temple, however, had designated this as a battlefield to resist external demonic invasions and had already deployed a large number of troops. It couldn't just stand by!

"Wu Chuanlan!!!"

Zhao Xing, who first sensed the disappearance of the suppression, immediately let out a low roar. Fiery red petals immediately appeared beneath his feet, like a trumpet, engulfing Zhao Xing. This was a Variant Instantaneous Flower! It was the same species as the short-distance teleportation flowers cultivated on the west coast of the Primordial Ocean!

"Whoosh!"

The moment Zhao Xing vanished, a pillar of light erupted from the volcano, shooting straight into the sky. Wu Chuanlan's body was aflame, and the flowers beneath his feet were burning, but he had retrieved everyone scattered at the thirty-six cave entrances. In a critical moment, no words were needed. Eighteen mechanical tentacles extended from Gu Ming's back, forcefully plugging into the control cabin of the Heavenly Origin Vessel. Sparks flew and lightning flashed as he forcefully initiated an overloaded jump for the Heavenly Origin Vessel.

"Buzz!"

The next moment, the Heavenly Origin Vessel, which had been hiding near the distant forty-sixth dormant volcano, vanished in a blaze of fire. The last scene the team witnessed was a light dragon shattering Lord Tian Gui's left foreleg, then devastatingly piercing through both its upper and lower shells.

In a desolate asteroid belt within the Volcanic Realm.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!"

A severely damaged flying vessel, still smoking with fire, swayed wildly through the asteroid field, bobbing up and down, left and right, as if piloted by a drunken brute.

"Boom!"

Finally, at a certain point, the flying vessel gave out with a wail, its barrier dissipating first. Afterwards, its speed sharply decreased, and after smashing through hundreds of asteroids, it lost power and embedded itself into one of them.

"Click, click, click, click."

The flying vessel slowly disintegrated, and from its rear, a hatch opened. An inner nested cabin ejected fifty figures.

"Hahahahahahaha! We're alive!"

"Zhao Xing, Tuosen, Wu Chuanlan... Do you all know how incredible I am?!"

"I just made history! I'm the first artificer to initiate spatial traversal with a chaos index exceeding 1000!"

"And I'm the first man to make the Heavenly Origin Vessel shed its outer layers three times instantly in its suspended state, preserving only the spatial traversal module and main control room, yet still successfully travers space!"

"Hahahaha, hahahaha, I truly am the best in the world!"

Gu Ming's hair was disheveled, twelve of his eighteen tentacles were broken, and smoke sizzled from his body. Only three intact tentacles remained, still flailing.

"Is he crazy? So agitated." Xu Youling came up to pull open Gu Ming's eyelids, but unexpectedly got burned, retracting her hand as if shocked.

"Get away, I'm not crazy!!" Gu Ming began to foam at the mouth.

Zhao Xing glanced at Gu Ming: "Lou Lanxiao, take Brother Gu to rest. He forced the Heavenly Origin Vessel to operate, and was thus subjected to a backlash from the Primeval Divine Weapon."

"Crazy about what? Don't touch me, you have no idea what I just... *muffled sounds*"

Gu Ming still wanted to say something, but eight needles flew out from Lou Lanxiao's battle cabinet, piercing Gu Ming, who instantly collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Why didn't you catch him?" Lou Lanxiao looked at Bi Gang behind Gu Ming in surprise.

Bi Gang opened his mouth to speak angrily, but large chunks of flesh began falling off him, turning into black lumps within a second, leaving only his skeletal frame. Zhao Xing glanced at him, and even this guy's golden bones were mostly charred black.

"How the hell was I supposed to catch him, how?!"

"Lord Zhao, that son of a bitch Tuosen, he stuffed me into that cave! I'm practically charcoal-grilled!" Bi Gang's upper and lower jawbones moved, protesting from his very soul!

After saying this, six golden-black skeletons collapsed. This was because almost all six Qi Sect warriors in the team were reduced to skeletons. Zhao Xing immediately gave them a surprised look. You were told to block the cave, and this is how you did it?

Tuosen: "Cough, cough."

Xu Youling: "Well..."

Clearly, Tuosen wasn't the only one who did this; Xu Youling's team did the same. Zhao Xing was exasperated. Qi Sect warriors are useful, but not like this; it's quite disheartening.

Lou Lanxiao said, dissatisfied: "Are you going to stand here talking, or are you going to help?"

"Gu Ming has integrated Azure Jade Realm components into his body, which deflect magic. We can only carry him physically."

"I can't lift these warriors either."

Without waiting for Zhao Xing's order, Xu Youling apologetically said, "I'll do it, I'll do it." Tuosen immediately extended a vine, threading it under the warrior's ribs, dragging the person along with Lou Lanxiao.

Zhao Xing tallied the numbers; most of the fifty people were injured. This was mainly due to severe fire poison entering their bodies and the forced spatial traversal. The old turtle, conversely, hadn't inflicted much damage. As for Yuan Qiusheng, Qiu Zishan, Ruan Shuheng, Chu Lanxing, and others, they were unharmed. These auxiliary personnel were in the first protection echelon.

"Since things are as they are, let's eat first." Zhao Xing waved his hand, instructing Yu Qing to arrange food. As the Heaven's Timing Faction's Sifu Nong, Yu Qing had some research into dietary therapy and also took charge of food supply.

"My lord, we don't have much food left," Yu Qing said, carrying a food box to Zhao Xing's side after preparing a meal.

At this moment, Zhao Xing was gnawing on a turtle leg on an asteroid. "How much is left?"

"We have enough vegetarian food, but only half a year's worth of meat supplies. Gu Ming's forced traversal destroyed many food cabins." Yu Qing set down the food box and brought out the food.

Zhao Xing asked in surprise, "Didn't we chop up a lot of turtles and store them in our world rings? They couldn't have been destroyed during spatial traversal too, could they?" The rules in the Barren Domain are different from the outside world, and the Spirit Void Primeval Realm is even more so. The anomalous repulsions of space-time prevent many items from being stored in cosmos bags or spatial rings. The inner worlds of the Self Faction's Sifu Nong are unaffected, but an inner world is only available to Reincarnation Realm cultivators; Dao Domain Realm cultivators still only possess "Primeval Spaces." In the exploration of the Barren Domain, material transport is an issue, which is why ancient star paths need to be opened and supply bases established along the way.

"Not at all," Yu Qing shook his head. "However, we are beings from the Myriad Phenomena era. Consuming meat supplies from within the Spirit Void Primeval Realm would cause problems. Fifteen years ago, Elder Bowie from the Academy City published the 'Treatise on Primeval Realm Dietary Supplementation.'"

"Therefore, for our journey to the Middle Three Realms, all the meat and vegetarian food I prepared originated from the 'Profound Spirit Star Domain'."

"Now that the food cabins are destroyed, from the perspective of the Heaven's Timing Faction's dietary therapy, even eating only vegetarian food will cause problems."

Yu Qing pointed to the turtle leg in Zhao Xing's hand: "Eating this for a short while is fine, but it will cause problems in the long run."

Yu Qing's words did indeed remind Zhao Xing of some past events. In his previous life, when he came here, the Spirit Void Primeval Realm had already undergone thousands of years of transformation. But when they consumed certain local specialties, they still experienced some negative side effects. One cannot simply eat anything. This was true even with the Gluttonous Consumption technique during the Xuanhuang Realm era, and the issue of toxin accumulation from dietary supplements also arose during exploration in the Moonfall Mausoleum. Compared to numerous other dangers, dietary poisoning was a minor issue. It was only now that they encountered it that the problem became prominent. The current situation was that everyone had many treasures, but very few food supplies without side effects.

Zhao Xing pointed to the food box and said, "Save the good ingredients for the injured. The rest of us and I can eat turtle meat for now; we won't be staying here long."

"Understood, I just fear that old turtle will still pursue us..."

"Don't worry, it should be dead," Zhao Xing smiled. "The eruptive power of the first boundary volcano should have been enough to kill it."

Zhao Xing's prediction was mistaken; Lord Tian Gui was still alive. After being guided by a series of spells, the Earth's Core Earth Splitting Technique achieved great success, and the eruptive power had reached the peak of the Lord level; even a Reincarnation Emperor would have been injured. However, Lord Tian Gui was not completely dead. Thanks to multiple blessings from the Rain Immortal Festival, it stubbornly clung to life. Its lower shell was completely gone, and the lower half of its body and limbs had crystallized. Its entire body had fused with the volcano, but the gems and shell patterns on its form emitted a faint blue light, continuously healing its injuries. This power kept Lord Tian Gui barely alive, but it was immobilized. Without rescue, it would be killed by the continuous volcanic eruptions and deadly fire poison. At this moment, Lord Tian Gui deeply felt the terrifying nature of the evil human race. Despite being so weak, they could actually trigger a boundary volcano and inflict fatal damage upon it. Lord Tian Gui could have chosen a better way to preserve itself, but it chose to resist head-on. Firstly, this was due to its confidence in its own strength, and secondly, it did not want to disrupt the Sacred Temple's deployment.

"Moo-Om!" A mournful roar quickly attracted reinforcements. Three other Reincarnation Realm cultivators from dominant races appeared around the first volcano.

"Esteemed Lord Tian Gui, how did you come to be in such a state?!" A leader with a silver-white wolf's head, four hooves, and a scaled tail, was greatly astonished. The other two Reincarnation Realm beast leaders were also terrified. Lord Tian Gui, pursuing weak humans, had suffered such severe injuries? It was unbelievable.

"Save, save me..."

The silver-white wolf-headed leader immediately said, "You two return to Juxing Realm at once to report. I will guard Lord Tian Gui!"

"Yes." The two Reincarnation Realm beast-kin immediately vanished. The silver-white wolf-headed leader, meanwhile, lay perched on a distant hilltop, continually observing Lord Tian Gui. A dangerous glint flashed in her eyes, which even Lord Tian Gui eventually perceived.

"Lan'ao, what are you trying to do?"

The silver-white wolf-headed leader sniffed, her tail sweeping across the sky, and a path of ice crystals spread out from the void. She walked along the ice crystal path, carefully passing volcanic ejecta, arriving before the colossal Lord Tian Gui.

"Lan'ao, you want to devour me! You can't hide it from the Sacred Temple!!" Lord Tian Gui let out a low growl of warning.

"No, I won't hide it from the Sacred Temple," Lan'ao said, lightly leaping and immediately burrowing into Lord Tian Gui's wound. "I will tell the Sacred Temple that I received an oracle from the Rain Immortal, which is why I devoured your turtle essence and True Spirit."

"Lord Tian Gui, may you rest in peace!"

Before her words faded, a faint blue light blossomed within the dark wound. Lord Tian Gui roared in agony. Gradually, its cries grew fainter. Yet, an aura within its body grew stronger.

***

The thirty-seventh year since the Spirit Void Primeval Realm began its exploration. After the entrance coordinates to the Middle Three Realms were publicized, numerous teams entered, only to be ambushed and intercepted by indigenous forces. The casualty rate for the million Dao Domain Realm cultivators dispatched by the various major powers of the Profound Spirit Star Domain began to rise. By the sixty-fourth year of exploration, the casualty rate had exceeded thirty percent. However, the Profound Spirit Star Domain never lacked people, and the immense benefits of the Spirit Void Primeval Realm made it impossible to abandon. Therefore, the vacant spots left by casualties were quickly filled and replenished. The Spirit Void Primeval Realm still maintained a population of one million.

It was also from this year that the Primordial Council changed its strategy, no longer permitting small-scale team operations. Instead, they reorganized personnel and deployed a large number of heavy Primeval Divine Weapons. The Profound Spirit human race had powerful individuals performing divination, deduction, and command from outside, and also mobilized a large number of divine weapons and artifacts to enter. Consequently, in the seventy-second year of exploration, the Volcanic Realm was completely occupied by the human race.

Three years later, when the human army attacked the Flying Star Realm and the Four Suns Realm, indigenous Reincarnation Realm combatants emerged. The Primordial Realm also unveiled its first major weapon. Experimental subjects, the Scarlet Star Heavenly Soldiers, fused from plant life and mechanical Dao Soldiers, were deployed in large numbers. They carried the deductive and computational capabilities of the Grand Evolution Divine Weapons, possessing terrifying combat instincts. Furthermore, they had almost the full series of secret techniques for their profession, able to act as individual entities or combine. After the Scarlet Star Heavenly Soldiers entered the fray, the Flying Star Realm and Four Suns Realm each saw the legendary mechanical legion techniques—the Great Wall of Despair and the Four Seasons Heavenly Gate—manifest. The Profound Spirit human race no longer feared the attacks from indigenous Reincarnation Realm cultivators and began rapidly establishing bases in the Middle Three Realms, advancing swiftly.

By the eightieth year of exploration, the Lower Three Realms and Middle Three Realms of the Spirit Void Primeval Realm were completely occupied. However, at this point, the Primordial Council ordered the Pioneer Legion to halt its advance. This was because there was only one narrow passage to the Upper Three Realms, making it difficult to deploy heavy Dao Soldiers. The Upper Three Realms could defend the entrance passage with just a small number of Reincarnation Realm cultivators. Unless the Profound Spirit human race was willing to destroy the primeval realm and forcefully send Reincarnation Realm cultivators inside, doing so would significantly reduce their gains. In the development of the Siyue Barren Domain, only one primeval realm had appeared so far, and no one was willing to destroy it like this. Thus, the battle reached a stalemate, and the Primordial Council began sending scholars who had learned the local language to negotiate with the indigenous power, the "Spirit Void Sacred Temple."

***

In Juxing Realm, mighty rivers cascaded from the Stacked Boundary Mountains, merging into nine rivers with lower void potential. Nine silver rivers rushed around an ancient city shaped like a turtle. Two mixed-blood turtle-kin, each holding a trident, were patrolling in the silver rivers.

"Gurgle, gurgle," a red-skinned turtle with three hairs on its head opened its mouth to its companion.

"Stuttering again?" Zhao Xing glanced at Ji Yuan. "If you can't say it, write it. If it's not important, you can hold off."

At this moment, he was in a humanoid form, primarily that of a demon ape, but with a yellow turtle shell on his back. Ji Yuan wrote on Zhao Xing's palm: "My lord, I can't hold it anymore. The pressure in this Northern Silver River is too great. The Marquis Transformation Technique, which originally lasted three months, can now only last seven days and nights. I urgently need a place to recuperate."

Zhao Xing sighed helplessly: "The patrol mission won't end for another month, and the Northern Silver River is full of foreign races. Where am I supposed to find you a place to recuperate?"

"If you truly can't bear it, just borrow my strength to sustain yourself."

Ji Yuan nodded gently. The Sacrificial Spirit Tablet within him quietly rotated. Being a polyhedron, when it subtly turned to a certain side, Zhao Xing's name appeared. The Spirit Void Turtle Transformation technique was created by Zhao Xing. He could use this method to borrow power from Zhao Xing to stabilize the Marquis Transformation Technique. The prerequisite was that he had to periodically pay respects to "Old Master Zhao." After successfully borrowing power, it meant Zhao Xing alone had to bear the burden of two people's Marquis Transformation. However, there was no alternative, as Ji Yuan, a priest, had even less power to utilize after entering the Upper Three Realms.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"You watch for now, I'll go inside to rest."

"Understood."

Zhao Xing returned to the cabin. Forty-three years had passed since he entered the Juxing Realm! After escaping from Lord Tian Gui, Zhao Xing's team hid in the Volcanic Realm until the Primordial Council merged small groups into the Pioneer Legion, which then attacked and subjugated the Volcanic Realm, finally leading to their rescue. That same year, the small teams were disbanded, and everyone was reorganized, placed under the command of "Emperor Zifang," an artifact spirit of the Grand Evolution Divine Weapon. Zhao Xing, after resting, left the primeval realm to exchange his treasures, then waited for four years before getting another opportunity.

As the war progressed, the Profound Spirit Star Domain gained a deeper understanding of the Spirit Void Primeval Realm and gradually discovered the existence of a formidable cultivation civilization within it. Later, their momentum was hindered when attacking upwards from the Four Suns Realm. Thus, the Starlight Organization took the lead, gathering a group of talented individuals to draft an operation named "Anti-Void Project." In essence, it was about infiltrating the Upper Three Realms as undercover agents. Zhao Xing and Ji Yuan were among those who participated in that operation. Individuals skilled in the Marquis Transformation Technique were undoubtedly the best candidates. When the remaining demon race forces from the Four Suns Realm retreated to Juxing Realm, Zhao Xing and Ji Yuan infiltrated along with them.

Over forty-three years, Zhao Xing had obtained a position. His current title was Guard River General No. 739 of the Northern Silver River Army, Sacred Gui Royal City, Juxing Realm. As for Ji Yuan, he was a mere soldier under Zhao Xing.

"With just the position of Guard Spirit General, it's impossible to enter the border between the Rain Immortal Realm and Cloud Immortal Realm to complete the sacrifice."

"Furthermore, I don't have enough Seven-Pattern Four-Realm Stones. Each type of Four-Realm Stone requires ten thousand, and I currently have less than a third, with an uneven distribution of types."

"Grain Rain Stones are the most abundant, Cold Rain Stones are the fewest, and Torrential Rain Stones and Plum Rain Stones are just over two thousand each."

"I need to wait for an opportunity; at least I have to become an official within the Royal City. Otherwise, I might be sent to the front lines as cannon fodder to fight humans someday," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

"Now there are only two choices: first, continue waiting for an opportunity, relying on luck for the right moment."

"Second, continue improving the Marquis Transformation Technique to make my bloodline more noble. Otherwise, this Guard River General position is as high as I can get. Ugh, this damned racial discrimination."

Old Master Zhao was exasperated. His transformation was into a mixed-blood of Demon Ape and Turtle Clan, determined by the circumstances when he fled from the Four Suns Realm. Pure, noble bloodline races were rare in the Lower Three Realms, and Zhao Xing's combat power was very strong. Such beings almost always had known names, so he couldn't impersonate them. Only upon arriving at Juxing Realm did he discover that mixed-blood races were discriminated against here, not accepted by either the Demon Ape Clan or the Spirit Void Turtle Clan.

"Assemble! Assemble!"

"Clear the way, filthy bloodlines... don't obstruct the noble ones..."

Suddenly, voices echoed from afar. Zhao Xing immediately inquired.

"Ji Yuan, what's happening outside?"

Ji Yuan said, "River General, it seems some important figure has arrived and is summoning the River Generals of the Northern Silver River."

"That fellow's title, translated, should be equivalent to our empire's 'Marquis Haiyang'?"

Zhao Xing thought for a moment, then stepped out of the cabin. Ahead, a large turtle appeared, bearing a gemstone throne on its back. On the throne sat an ape-man. Its chest muscles and face were clean and smooth, while its temples, head, legs, back, and tail were covered in pure, soft red fur. Someone next to him was chattering, and Zhao Xing listened carefully, immediately understanding. This was a prince of the Demon Ape Clan, recruiting water-adept turtle-kin as guards. The purpose wasn't stated, but being selected meant entry into the Royal City.

The long-awaited opportunity had finally arrived; a light of hope shone in Zhao Xing's eyes. It didn't matter what the prince intended to do. As long as he could enter the Royal City, his actions would be his own to decide. The Demon Ape Prince was merely a Life-Death Dao Domain Realm cultivator! Perhaps he wouldn't even withstand Zhao Xing's great psychic abilities!

"Ji Yuan, this fellow is selecting people. Our opportunity has arrived. Prepare quickly."