Chapter 473: Return and Harvest, Meeting the Red Star Emperor

After Zhao Xing took out the Divine Statue of Azure Elm, he used it as a medium to transfer the mysterious cultivation method from the Ancestor of Nothingness’s Shedding Bone. Cracking sounds filled the air.

The divine statue quickly developed ten cracks. The originally lifelike statue was instantly disfigured.

Fortunately, no new cracks appeared after the tenth one. The Divine Statue of Azure Elm ultimately managed to contain this secret method.

‘Old Azure is truly useful! Incredible!’ Zhao Xing couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.

Once the inscription was complete, he didn't linger.

After all, the divine inscription had been copied, and the True Spirit Heavenly Poison had been cleared. His mission for entering had already been more than accomplished.

No one knew what other complications might arise from the Ancestor of Nothingness’s Shedding Bone. Zhao Xing didn't want to invite more trouble, so he immediately returned his soul to his body and went back the way he came.

Returning to the internal space of his clone's body, Zhao Xing sent a message to Emperor Wudu: ‘Master, I'm coming out. Are you ready on your end?’

His own Grand Void clone was still unable to escape, pinned firmly beneath the mountain.

He had no other thoughts. He recalled the fragment of his soul, intending to leave.

Since he only had one clone, he still needed to use Zuo Qiyu's clone as a medium to exit this time, completing the long-distance teleportation.

‘Don't worry, I've checked thoroughly. Zuo Qiyu's clone is virtually an empty shell now, you can use it without concern,’ Emperor Wudu said, looking at the motionless Grand Beginning clone beside him.

‘Alright, I'm coming.’

Zhao Xing took a deep breath. He then activated his ‘Control of the Dao’ ability first, locking onto Zuo Qiyu's clone outside the mountain.

Since Zuo Qiyu's Grand Beginning clone was merely an empty shell, Zhao Xing easily gained control, transforming it into his own form.

Immediately activating long-distance teleportation, Zhao Xing's main body instantly appeared within Old Zuo's Grand Beginning clone.

Whoosh!

No sooner had he emerged, Zhao Xing immediately flew out of the Grand Beginning clone's body.

He felt that even without a soul fragment of Zuo Qiyu present, the lingering Dao essence was repelling him, filled with killing intent.

‘Retrieve!’

As soon as Zhao Xing's main body was out, Emperor Wudu immediately retracted the empty shell clone to prevent any adverse effects on them. He let out a sigh of relief.

Emperor Wudu exhaled slowly. He had rarely been this serious in his life. Balancing the conflict between Zhao Xing and Zuo Qiyu was one such instance.

Fortunately, no major problems occurred.

‘Well?’

‘I gained something,’ Zhao Xing nodded.

‘Go back quickly,’ Emperor Wudu said, returning the Flower-Amidst-Space Chair to Zhao Xing. ‘Don't stay here any longer.’

‘Master, am I just leaving like this?’ Zhao Xing asked. ‘Now that my True Spirit Heavenly Poison has been completely eradicated, perhaps I can offer some help—.’

He couldn't help with the demon race emperors, but Zhao Xing was confident he could handle the demon race lords.

‘Go, go, go! What help can you be? Zuo Qiyu has already gone; you'd only get in the way.’

‘Once you're back, immediately return to the Primal Realm and report to Senior Gu Luohe.’

Emperor Wudu forcibly pressed Zhao Xing onto the Flower-Amidst-Space Chair, insistently urging him to leave.

‘Alright, Master, take care.’

Zhao Xing didn't insist on staying. After all, if Zuo Qiyu was there, a second person's help truly wouldn't be needed.

‘Flower-Amidst-Space Chair, activate!’

Holding the Divine Statue of Azure Elm, Zhao Xing, along with the chair, began to dematerialize.

The World-Transmitting Tower, Eighth Floor.

Behind Bowell, a mirror followed as he slowly flew through a space filled with orbs of light.

Compared to the seventh floor, Bowell had gained greater authority.

Red orbs of light were everywhere. He could observe historical spacetime causal disturbances that had truly occurred, and he even saw Azure Elm!

‘Heavenly Leisure Kingdom Lord—’ Bowell extended his hand to manipulate, and about thirty glowing red orbs appeared side by side in front of him.

Each orb contained an Azure Elm, and though their forms varied, they were linked in a chain.

The last orb displayed the scene of Azure Elm achieving godhood at the Ancient Yuanhai Kingdom's Dharma Assembly.

‘So that's how it is, so that's how it is,’ Bowell realized with sudden clarity. ‘The seventh floor allowed me to absorb power, and the eighth floor allows me to observe the Divine Realm in its initial stages. This is how Azure Elm became a god.’

Bowell could see Azure Elm's current trajectory through spacetime. Using the World-Transmitting Tower, he could glimpse the past and present lives of divine beings, understanding their origins!

For instance, in the spacetime of the Barren Realm 22 epochs ago, there was also an ‘Azure Elm.’

Bowell looked over curiously, and saw Azure Elm angrily uttering words like ‘no’ and ‘bastard.’

‘What is he saying?’ Although Bowell could see him, there was still much he didn't understand.

However, seeing Azure Elm's profound indignation, even without knowing why, Bowell still smiled.

Because this indicated that divine beings were not omnipotent. They too could get angry, and there were things beyond their power.

‘It sounds like Zhao Xing did something to displease him,’ Bowell's lips curved into a slight smile. ‘Gotcha!’

Being able to see clues was a good start. In the future, he would surely be able to uncover more information, unveiling the secrets of the Divine Realm!

A tremor.

Suddenly, the entire eighth floor of the World-Transmitting Tower began to shake.

‘Master, what's happening?’ Bowell asked, looking at the Omniscience Mirror beside him. Inside the Omniscience Mirror, besides Zhixin, there was already a phantom image of the World-Transmitting Tower, which meant his master had also taken the first step.

The first step towards becoming the World-Transmitting Tower's artifact spirit.

‘Zhao Xing is returning via your Flower-Amidst-Space Chair,’ Zhixin quickly replied. ‘But it seems there's a problem.’

‘What kind of problem?’ Bowell asked.

‘You crafted the Flower-Amidst-Space Chair, which essentially replaced the original function of the World Jade. You stored three strands of power within the chair. Because of your endowment, the Flower-Amidst-Space Chair is like a World Jade with no upper limit on its quota.’

‘It's rapidly consuming the World Spirit quota of the World-Transmitting Tower, and has already exceeded 300 million.’

‘How much?!!!’ Bowell's smile instantly vanished.

He immediately took out a piece of ancient-looking World Jade. This was one of the World-Transmitting Tower's cores, and the mother-body of all World Jades.

After refining it, Bowell gained a function: Exchange.

This meant exchanging matter from the current spacetime for World Spirit quota, and then granting cultivators World Spirit quota to enter the World-Transmitting Tower. The higher the World Spirit value of the mother jade, the more entries Bowell could issue, and the greater his control over the World-Transmitting Tower would be.

Functions like the Six-Pillar Jade also depended on it.

In other words, Bowell accumulated World Spirit value through the mother jade to achieve his goal of becoming the master of the World-Transmitting Tower.

When Bowell first discovered the mother jade, it only had 100 million quota. After the first batch of entries was opened, Bowell earned approximately 2.5 billion World Spirit quota.

But now, the quota in his mother jade had suddenly decreased by 300 million, and it was still rapidly diminishing.

In the time it took to exchange a single sentence with Zhixin, it had already reached a staggering 500 million!

‘Oh my god—’ Bowell was completely dumbfounded.

He had just been mocking Azure Elm for falling into Zhao Xing's trap. Unexpectedly, he himself had become the victim in an instant.

The World Spirit value was being consumed like flowing water. The numbers displayed on the mirror rapidly dwindled.

Bowell subconsciously reached out to grab, as if trying to grasp something.

But in the blink of an eye, the teleportation was complete. Even if he had wanted to cut off the Flower-Amidst-Space Chair's teleportation function and leave Zhao Xing stranded in historical spacetime, it would have been too late.

100 million!

The number finally stopped.

Bowell was utterly speechless.

‘W-what in the world just happened—’

He originally had 2.5 billion World Spirit value, but now only 100 million remained!

Zhao Xing's single return journey had actually consumed 2.4 billion of his World Spirit quota!

The 2.5 billion World Spirit value accumulated by diligently collecting fees from cultivators and converting them into quota, now only a fraction remained! Back to square one overnight!

Bowell was completely numb. How was this any different from robbery?

‘Why, why on earth—’ Bowell muttered to himself, unable to comprehend it at all.

Zhixin was also too shocked to speak. After a long pause, he offered comfort: ‘Bowell, I think you should stop plotting against him in the future.’

Even a divine being like Azure Elm could be tricked. Zhixin suspected that it would be extremely dangerous if Bowell continued to include Zhao Xing as part of the God-Creation Plan.

Unlike returning via the World Jade's teleportation, returning via the Flower-Amidst-Space Chair felt incredibly long to Zhao Xing.

A bizarre and kaleidoscopic world appeared before him, filled with red light. Innumerable lines intertwined above a long river, and these red lines also passed through his body, but he felt no abnormality. Only occasional glimpses of scenes and figures flashed by, sending shivers down his spine.

It felt as long as an entire epoch before Zhao Xing noticed these phenomena dissipating, and he, along with the chair, appeared in the main hall of the World-Transmitting Tower's sixth floor.

‘Am I back?’ Zhao Xing looked left and right. He seemed to have returned, but the process felt different from usual, making him uncertain.

It wasn't until Bowell's figure appeared that he finally relaxed.

‘Greetings, Great Elder!’

‘I'm glad I didn't fail my mission; I've returned alive!’

Zhao Xing was completely unaware that he had consumed 2.4 billion of Bowell's World Spirit value. Being able to return to the Barren Realm of the 2nd Epoch, he would have felt familiar even seeing a dog. Moreover, Bowell had truly cured his ailment. At this moment, his attitude towards Bowell was much friendlier.

Bowell, however, was expressionless.

‘Glad you didn't fail your mission?’ *Why didn't you just die there?*

Taking a deep breath, Bowell forced a slight smile. ‘Zhao Xing, I'm glad you're alive.’

‘Elder, my True Spirit Heavenly Poison has been completely cleared, and the World-Transmitting Tower's spacetime has completed its loop. I wonder if I can... next time?’

*Next time? He wants a next time?!*

‘Zhao Xing, you should return first. Entering the World-Transmitting Tower can be discussed later,’ Bowell said, waving his hand. He immediately retracted the Flower-Amidst-Space Chair, and then a surge of power enveloped Zhao Xing, casting him out.

‘Wait? Great Elder—’

After being thrown out, Zhao Xing spun hundreds of times before finally stopping. While spinning, he seemed to hear people whispering.

‘Oh, who's that person? They're flying in such a peculiar way.’

‘Isn't that Manager Zhao, who wrote 'Earth Epoch's Changes'?’

‘In the hallowed grounds of the Scholarly City, such behavior is utterly undignified!’

‘Get lost, you old pedant! Why do you care how our Manager Zhao flies?’

‘Senior, quickly leave! Those surrounding us are managers from the Primordial Hill. If you keep speaking ill of the Saint Son, you'll get beaten, huh? Why do I feel like I've heard this before...’ Zhao Xing stabilized himself and looked up, only to find no one around him at all. There were only some fleeting, illusory figures, as if they were spacetime phantoms.

‘Could it be that Bowell kicking me out is the true loop completion? But I haven't exchanged anything yet, have I?’

He sensed a change in Bowell's mood, a hint of disdain towards him.

However, he didn't dwell on it, simply assuming Bowell was helping him complete the loop.

Yet he hadn't made any exchanges. Was he returning empty-handed again this time?

Just as he was about to reason with Bowell, a look of confusion appeared on Zhao Xing's face.

‘What's going on? My—’

Opening his Origin Space to check, Zhao Xing was instantly stunned.

Inside his Origin Space, three items had appeared: First, the Black Sky Moon Tree. Second, the Soul Devouring Grass. Third, the Divine Statue of Azure Elm.

However, all three items had dramatically changed in appearance!

Firstly, the Black Sky Moon Tree. It was originally only human height, but now it exceeded ten thousand zhang in height. Its status panel indicated it had entered its peak stage.

Black Sky Moon TreeQuality: Emperor-gradeStatus: Peak StageInnate Secret Arts: Lunar Radiance, Dark DomainDescription: A mutated Moon Tree originating from the Black Sky Barren Realm, having absorbed fragments of Lunar Radiance. Upon reaching its peak stage, it is equivalent to a Human Race Reincarnation Emperor-level auxiliary combat unit.

Soul Devouring GrassQuality: LegendaryStatus: Mature StageInnate Secret Art: Nine Abyss Devouring WorldDescription: Soul Devouring Grass originating from the Li Star River Domain. It survives by devouring the Void Six. Upon reaching its mature stage, it is equivalent to a Human Race Reincarnation Emperor-level combat unit.

‘The Black Sky Moon Tree and Soul Devouring Grass were both in their seedling stage. How are they suddenly one in its peak stage and one in its mature stage?’ Zhao Xing was completely bewildered.

He felt he was experiencing hallucinations, because by all accounts, his Hunyuan Realm cultivation was only at the second layer.

The Origin Space was not an inner world. For two Emperor-level plant combat units to appear here now, his Origin Space should have collapsed.

It wasn't until Zhao Xing saw the third item that he finally understood.

‘The statue, it's restored!’

The Divine Statue of Azure Elm was originally full of cracks, but now it shone with golden light, and a divine inscription circled it. There were no cracks left at all!

It was precisely this divine inscription that suppressed the two plant combat units, preventing them from destroying his Origin Space.

‘Is this rational? I clearly didn't exchange anything, yet they—’ Everything before him transcended Zhao Xing's understanding.

He looked at the two plant combat units with trepidation. Had Old Azure's divine statue not been suppressing them, he probably would have burst.

‘First, as Master instructed, I must return to the Primal Realm and report to Gu Luohe!’

Zhao Xing transformed into a rainbow light, entered the Dao Manifestation Layer, and departed from the Scholarly City.

In the bizarre and kaleidoscopic Dao Manifestation Layer, a flying boat shaped like a lynx was traversing the void river.

Being in the Profound Spirit Starfield, the void river was very stable. Even though Zhao Xing's Lynx-class vessel was merely a Sun-level Dao Soldier, it still flew swiftly.

‘For some unknown reason, my two seedlings have grown significantly.’

‘The originally ordinary Divine Statue of Azure Elm has also become extraordinary and mysterious. Could it be due to the transcription of the Ancestor of Nothingness's mysterious cultivation method? That doesn't make sense.’

After the initial panic, Zhao Xing quickly accepted the facts.

The Divine Statue of Azure Elm was originally an ordinary wood carving. Now, having contained the Ancestor of Nothingness's method, it had become miraculous.

He couldn't figure this out, but he could examine the two combat units.

‘The Seven-Domain True Spirit Bamboo is also Emperor-grade, yet it's still in its growth stage and hasn't undergone a transformation. Only the Black Sky Moon Tree and Soul Devouring Grass have changed. It seems something I don't know about happened inside the World-Transmitting Tower,’ Zhao Xing mused inwardly.

‘In any case, these two combat units are not something I can control right now. I can't even sustain them, let alone control them. However, I can check their status panel.’

‘The Black Sky Moon Tree has two innate abilities: Lunar Radiance and Dark Domain, both with auxiliary functions. They should be able to provide convenience in the Black Sky Barren Realm.’

Excluding the Shenluo Barren Realm, the Black Sky Barren Realm is likely the most special and mysterious forbidden land among all barren realms.

It is infinitely close to the legendary Land of Death, with very little spiritual energy generated, and even primordial energy is scarce.

Furthermore, there are no ‘void rivers’ in the Black Sky Barren Realm. This means the void in the Black Sky Barren Realm exists only as a single layer: the ‘Manifestation Layer’ of the real world.

Unlike the Shenluo Barren Realm, which has void turbulence, the Black Sky Barren Realm simply lacks it. It's as if a link in the cosmic laws is missing there.

‘Historically, the Black Sky Barren Realm wasn't as extreme as it is now. People could still see the Lunar Star and find plants like the Moon Tree. But later, these things became invisible.’ Zhao Xing believed this mutated Black Sky Moon Tree could be of great help.

The Black Sky Barren Realm involves two theories.

One is Mount Nether Ancient, rumored to be the largest mountain in the universe. It is precisely this mountain that blocks the existence of the Polaris Star, and its shadow cast across the cosmic domain formed the Black Sky Barren Realm.

The second is the Polaris Star. Assuming the first theory is true, then finding Mount Nether Ancient would very likely lead to the discovery of the Polaris Star.

‘Compared to the Black Sky Moon Tree, the Soul Devouring Grass only has one innate ability,’ Zhao Xing thought, looking at the other plant life.

It had nine leaves. The leaves were immensely broad and dark green, with profound black patterns on them. They were dynamically spiraled, resembling bottomless black whirlpools.

When Zhao Xing looked at them, it felt as if his gaze was about to be sucked in.

The nine whirlpools on its nine leaves continuously pulled at the Origin Space. However, the presence of Azure Elm's divine statue prevented it from pulling further.

Although the Soul Devouring Grass had only one innate ability, Zhao Xing felt it was a billion times more dangerous than the Black Sky Moon Tree.

‘I used to want high-level combat units, but these are so high-level it's not entirely good either,’ Zhao Xing thought, feeling both excited and worried.

After a careful inventory, Zhao Xing realized this journey had yielded significant gains.

The True Spirit Heavenly Poison was eliminated, and he had cultivated the Grand Beginning Straw Man Method.

He obtained two powerful plant combat units, and brought back a fragmented god-level method, suspected to be created by the Ancestor of Nothingness.

‘However, if I don't open up an inner world, I absolutely won't be able to withstand these two Emperor-level plants. Moreover, if the Soul Devouring Grass reaches its peak stage, it could even rival a demigod.’

‘The mysterious cultivation method from the Ancestor of Nothingness's Shedding Bone will definitely need to be handed over. Once the suppression is gone, will they also transfer these two plant combat units away with it? I wonder how the Empire will arrange things for me.’

Zhao Xing felt a bit anxious. The gains were too immense; he might not be able to keep them. He even felt that the journey back to the Empire would not be safe.

The Ancestor of Nothingness’s Shedding Bone was a secret of the Origin Heavenly Palace. The demon race emperor had fallen into a karmic trap because of him. Puyan also knew that he had cultivated the Grand Beginning clone. He had obtained two powerful plants inside the World-Transmitting Tower. Now that the True Spirit Heavenly Poison was gone, would Wei Tianchen know?

As Azure Elm had said, after the karmic battle, he was a ‘sweet treat.’ On his way back, would anyone try to assassinate him? Even within the Profound Spirit Starfield, it wasn't absolutely safe!

Zhao Xing tried to call out to Azure Elm, but there was no response.

As previously mentioned, Azure Elm would no longer respond to him. The Heavenly Leisure Kingdom Lord from 22 epochs before the Barren Realm was merely a pre-arranged measure.

Just then, the Lynx-class vessel suddenly decelerated on its own. A triple-spired tower building appeared in the void river ahead.

‘What?!’

His fears had materialized. Zhao Xing focused his gaze and saw that they were the ‘Que Palace,’ ‘Formless Palace,’ and ‘Pure Void Palace’ of the Origin Heavenly Palace, respectively.

The Origin Heavenly Palace usually dealt with external affairs. The Que Palace was the most common one to be dispatched, and it was rare for all three palaces to act together.

But now, they had appeared together! And they had blocked his path.

‘That's right, the Origin Heavenly Palace possesses the Ancestor of Nothingness's Shedding Bone. If I obtained information about another piece of shedding bone, the Origin Heavenly Palace would naturally be the first to react,’ Zhao Xing immediately had a bad feeling.

Since Gu Luohe did not manage affairs of the Primal Realm, which were primarily handled by Emperor Wudu and Zuo Qiyu, Zhao Xing couldn't contact Gu Luohe immediately after leaving the Scholarly City. It was normal for the Origin Heavenly Palace to be a step ahead.

Boom-crack!

Amidst flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder, the Lynx-class vessel's realm gate automatically opened.

Above the three palaces, misty stairs extended downward, reaching Zhao Xing's feet.

Zhao Xing looked up, and saw three magnificent, golden, phantom figures at the top of the stairs. A pervasive pressure spread, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Although he knew their intentions were not good, Zhao Xing still bowed respectfully: ‘Zhao Xing of the Primal Realm greets the three Palace Lords!’

‘Zhao Xing, hand over the secret method accompanying the Ancestor of Nothingness's Shedding Bone,’ a voice descended from the top of the stairs. The voice was ethereal and indifferent, devoid of any emotion.

As expected, they were here for that!

Zhao Xing knew he couldn't hide it, but he still wanted to buy some time.

He bowed, speaking with difficulty: ‘Three Palace Lords, this junior knows nothing of the Ancestor of Nothingness's Shedding Bone.’

‘Even if I did, I... I wouldn't want to hand it over.’

‘Are you not afraid of death? If we kill you, we can still obtain what's on you. It's simply out of respect for the Empire that we don't wish to resort to force.’

Zhao Xing remained silent, merely shaking his head. If he handed it over, would the Empire truly spare him?

When choosing a side, the worst thing is indecision. If he were killed by the three Palace Lords, the Empire might even resurrect him.

After all, now that he was free of the True Spirit Heavenly Poison, the cost of his resurrection was not as high as before.

Provided the three Palace Lords didn't go to extremes.

After a long wait, the imagined death did not arrive. Instead, Zhao Xing heard a gentle voice.

‘Very good, Zhao Xing, you may rise.’

Feeling the pressure vanish, Zhao Xing looked up, somewhat surprised.

Above his head, there were no palaces or misty stairs.

Instead, two figures appeared at the former location of the palaces: one was Gu Luohe, clad in white robes embroidered with a divine tree.

Beside him was a burly man, wearing a strange set of battle armor. The armor's surface blended with the colors of the void, as if inlaid with stars, sun, and moon. At first glance, it looked as though the entire map of the Profound Spirit Starfield had been embedded onto the armor.

Gu Luohe and Emperor Crimson Star?!

Zhao Xing frowned. Was what he just experienced an illusion, or was this current sight the illusion?

However, it was easy to tell.

The three Palace Lords from before had not appeared within his line of sight. His detection panel couldn't even display their names.

But now, when he looked directly up, the names of both Gu Luohe and Emperor Crimson Star were displayed.

So that was it. It seemed this was truly a test.

Thinking about it, since the incident at the Ancient Yuanhai Kingdom, he had encountered too many events and too many abnormalities. It would be abnormal if there weren't any tests! Previously, he hadn't faced any major issues; with Azure Elm's influence, it hadn't mattered. But now, things were different.

Only by having tests could it be shown that he wouldn't be abandoned, and truly be accepted by the Empire!

Fortunately, he had made the right choice, and had not surrendered to the Origin Heavenly Palace. Otherwise, he would have been doomed.

Understanding everything in an instant, Zhao Xing straightened his attire, and respectfully saluted in a calm manner: ‘Your subject, Maritime Envoy Zhao Xing, greets Your Majesty!’