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Translator: Fate
Proofreader: Silavin
*Zoom!* A divine beam shone across the sky, and as though it had pierced through universes and space, it landed on the ground.
After withdrawing the Domain Shattering Artifact, Gu Changge walked out of the blinding light. None could perceive his ambiguous face as it was concealed in a layer of mist. As his Celestial Bone was glowing, in his white garment with wide sleeves, he looked down at the extravagant rivers and cities with a calm face. Such mannerism of his made him appear extraordinary and celestial-like.
“This should be the right place.” Gu Changge nodded as he shut his eyes to detect the aura of Principles of the World in the air.
Heavenly Star Realm was a Lower Realm that was an immeasurable distance away from the Inner Domain of the Upper Realm. If Gu Changge has not planted something into Yue Mingkong and tracked her down with her aura, he wouldn’t have imagined the Mortal One’s reincarnation to reborn here.
Judging by the space barriers, the cultivators of this realm could only achieve Sacred Realm with their threshold at Sacred Lord Realm. Though, there might be a few Sacred King Realm beings that were born with unusual conditions that sealed their own blood and decided to lay low in the Lower Realm instead of ascending to the Upper Realm.
“But for someone to give birth to a Fortuitous One, the Mortal One himself, this realm might exceed my expectations, be it prosperity or luck.”
As Gu Changge was muttering a layer of mist surged around his body, making his appearance more ambiguous and mysterious, and no one would be able to recognise him except those who were closely acquainted with him. Therefore, in Heavenly Star Realm, no one would be able to recognise him except Yue Mingkong and her followers.
Nonetheless, for the sake of safety, Gu Changge decided not to reveal his true face for no good reason, or he might cause unnecessary disturbances. At the same time, that was also to prevent the experts of the realm to notice anything strange once Yue Mingkong discovered anything.
Essentially, those in Mortal Palace would eventually scour this area, and if they were to find him here, it would be trouble for him to explain himself. By then, the situation would be disastrous once his suspicious intention towards the Mortal One’s reincarnation was exposed, and that might even foil his plan to replace the Mortal One’s reincarnation.
[Well, my priority now is to gather information regarding this realm before my rendezvous with Yue Mingkong. Since she had the confidence to come over first, she must possess certain knowledge about it.] Gu Changge guessed in his heart. And swiftly, he formed a meticulous masterplan in his mind.
“That beam… It must not be human…”
“Perhaps an Immortal from the Upper Realm?”
At that moment, countless, whose attention was attracted by the beaconing light, appeared from all directions, peering at Gu Changge with stupefaction filling their eyes as they had yet to come to their senses. After all, the beaconing light almost tore the sky apart, and nearby forces and cultivators were shocked to see it.
“Greetings, Immortal!”
“Greetings, Immortal!”
All beings bowed before Gu Changge with utmost sincerity and respect, as though they encountered an Immortal who descended upon mortals as stated in legends. Given the heavenly light wafting around Gu Changge’s body, he appeared highly mysterious and mystical, and it was obvious that he was no ordinary being.
In the eyes of the residents, the event was as wondrous as the archives and rumours noted. Initially, they were all attracted by the godly light, thinking some sort of godly weapon occurred given the shocking phenomenon, only to find out it was a mysterious man in white. Furthermore, the man in white’s cultivation level was unfathomable, and just by standing still, their hearts trembled as if he was the core of the world.
As every Lower Realm kept track of who had ascended to the Upper Realm, they were naturally informed of the beings from the Upper Realm. Of course, they were also aware that ascending to the Upper Realm was more difficult than descending to the Lower Realm. Therefore, the young man in front of them was far mightier than the ancient beings that were about to ascend, so they instinctively perceive him as an unrivalled Immortal.
“To what do we owe the pleasure, Immortal?” Immediately, a few brave cultivators cupped their hands towards Gu Changge and asked. Their eyes were filled with immense admiration and respect with traces of caution as they feared upsetting their guest.
Then, Gu Changge scanned across the dazed faces of the living beings and cultivators, not at all surprised. Despite his usage of the Domain Shattering Artifact, his presence still terrified those people. At least, only those in the proximity could detect the disturbance, but thanks to his craftiness, he already thought of ways to deal with it, so he wasn’t exactly bothered by it.
“Is this Heavenly Star Realm?” Hearing that, Gu Changge blandly questioned as he slightly moved his eyes upon comprehending the language of this realm. Since he was already in the Sacred Realm, understanding the language of another realm was nothing difficult to him.
“Indeed, we are at Heavenly Star Realm, Immortal.”
One of the cultivators that approached Gu Changge was a bearded big man who was of True Enlightened Realm. He was also a respected and influential figure in the region.
Upon Gu Changge’s question, he gratifyingly answered, while more people appeared from all directions, silently observing as they were dared not to make a sound so as not to interfere the Immortal.
“Oh, so this is indeed the right place.” Gu Changge nodded with an emotionless face.
Instantly, the crowd was on edge. Needless to say, descending to the Lower Realm was a thousand times harder than ascending to the Upper Realm. And hearing how the Immortal before them said that he came to the right place, they realised how effortless it was for him to descend to the Lower Realm.
With that in mind, the crowd’s admiration towards Gu Changge grew as they lowered their heads even more, not daring to take one more glance at him, while his smug, disregarding expression was nothing out of the ordinary to them.
Although his voice certainly belonged to a young man, he just might be an almighty being that had cultivated for millenia; picking the stars and shattering the world were nothing difficult for him. And it was a blessing from the gods for the Immortal to even speak to insignificant bugs like them.
“Tell me all I have to know about this realm.” Accordingly, Gu Changge looked at the middle-aged cultivator before him and faintly stated.
“Certainly, Immortal…” The middle-aged cultivator dared not to question Gu Changge’s intentions or hide anything from him.
And so, in front of the crowd, the middle-aged cultivator then obediently told everything he knew to Gu Changge as he felt a sense of relief in his heart. After all, most powerful beings possessed unorthodox personalities, and none of them would waste the time to question him as Gu Changge did. Instead, those powerful beings would simply capture the cultivators and perform Soul Search on them. Therefore, the cultivator subconsciously assumed the Immortal before him was one of the good ones that wouldn’t simply kill the innocent.
“Heavenly Star Realm is divided into eight domains: Sky, Earth, Wonder, River, Galaxy, Universe, Water, and Barren. And right now, we are at the Wonder Domain. Blessed with limitless land, the Wonder Domain possesses infinite vastness and thousands of years of history as well as forces that stood for millions of years, including races, holy lands, and mystic mountains…”
“Currently, the most dominant force is Illusion Gates. Their Prime Ancestor ascended to the Upper Realm 800,000 years ago, leaving the daunting faction behind. Moreover, there are other three major forces that are equal to one another, but they are notably inferior to Illusion Gates.”
Swiftly, Gu Changge’s eyes glistened as he obtained information about the influence distribution among forces from the explanation of the middle-aged cultivator. It was as typical as he expected.
As for why he didn’t use Soul Search, it was mainly because the process was a hassle. Besides, with so many eyes on him right upon his descent to the Lower Realm, there were too many uncertainties to him, and not only could it save his time and effort, but his appearance also wouldn’t seem like that of an antagonist, which could gravely harm his upcoming plans.
Furthermore, he wouldn’t be able to discover the whereabouts of the Mortal One’s reincarnation by working alone. Although he was oblivious to Yue Mingkong’s methods, his priority now was to conquer the strongest force in the domain.
As for his excuse, instead of looking for a fallen force that was waiting to re-rise and slowly develop it like an idiot, it was obviously far more efficient to control a force that had fully grown, and failing such a task only indicated the attempter’s lack of competence.
Gu Changge was perplexed why any protagonist would ever want to start from the bottom, and that ground his gears.
“So this is the Wonder Domain. Very well.”
Retaining the unaffected look on his face, Gu Changge then nodded and asked, “Where is Illusion Gates? I am indebted to their Prime Ancestor and I wish to repay it on my detour here. Lead me there, and this shall be yours.”
As he was speaking, a terrifying mark surrounded by gleaming runes and golden beams occurred on his palm, emitting a spine-chilling aura. At the same time, his voice remained monotonous and calm, as though he was describing an unimportant item.
However, those words blew all those nearby away like an explosion as their mind went blank, overwhelmed by shock and confusion, especially when they stared at the golden mark on Gu Changge’s hand. Most of them even forcefully gasped as they widened their eyes that were filled with passion and zeal.
[*Gasp!* Did we hear that right? That’s a Sacred Grade weapon!? Rewarding a Sacred Grade weapon for a simple direction guide… Who exactly is he?]
As a matter of fact, the force behind these cultivators and living beings had stood for millenia, yet they merely possessed an Enlightened Noble Grade weapon and a Enlightened King Grade weapon. And for the mysterious Immortal to offer the Sacred Grade weapon without any hesitation, it was unimaginable how wealthy he was.
Immediately, as though their eyes were about to pop out, they were filled with overwhelming envy, almost screaming out their willingness to lead Gu Changge to Illusion Gates.
“What? Immortal, you bear connection to Illusion Gates?” Hearing that, the middle-aged cultivator before Gu Changge was stunned for a second, still dwelling in the surprise. Soon, he was on cloud nine as joy and excitement were all over his face. Coincidentally, he was a man from Illusion Gates that was assigned to guard an ancient city, being the castellan of the city.
Previously, seeing the heavenly light being shot onto the vast land from the sky, he thought it was a godly artefact and hastily hurried over, only to encounter such an event. He never expected to be this lucky as the highly mysterious Immortal before his eyes was acquainted with the Prime Ancestor of his Sect. Given that their Prime Ancestor was a legendary figure 800,000 years back, it only made sense that the Immortal before him was of the same era.
With that in mind, the bearded middle-aged cultivator’s face was filled with respect. He suspected that Gu Changge might be a nemesis of Illusion Gates who descended from the Upper Realm to obliterate the faction left behind by their Prime Ancestor, but the probability was too small.
Moreover, Gu Changge’s ability to descend from the Upper Realm indicated how terrifying his true strength was. It was unquestionable that he could travel through realms at a lift of a finger, so there wouldn’t be a need for him to provide such a dazzling offering. Thus, the middle-aged cultivator was convinced that Gu Changge was an old acquaintance of the Prime Ancestor of Illusion Gates.
“A puny man like me does not deserve your Sacred Grade weapon, Immortal. Since you wish to visit Illusion Gates, then this puny one is obliged to lead you there. Coincidentally, this puny one is an external officer of Illusion Gates, and my son is also a known talent in Illusion Gates.”
The middle-aged cultivator’s name was Zhao Wu. At that moment, he looked at Gu Changge and introduced himself humbly and gratifyingly, referring to himself as ‘this puny one.’
It was extremely difficult for him to shift his line of sight away from the Sacred Grade weapon. Forget the other cultivators that were ogling at the weapon, even if he accepted it, he wouldn’t be able to secure it.
After all, a Sacred Grade weapon, although invaluable, would only be an obstacle as it would draw unwanted hostility upon himself. Moreover, many forces needed just one Sacred Grade Weapon to protect themselves, so if they were to know that he possessed it, they would surely do anything to seize it, and there was no way the Immortal before him would come to his defence. Most importantly, rather than possessing a Sacred Grade weapon he couldn’t handle, he found the respect from the Immortal more valuable.
In that instant, hearing Zhao Wu’s reply, cultivators and living beings were thoroughly dumbfounded. Within the region, Zhao Wu, as the castellan of Black Martial City, was known for his ruthlessness. They were not surprised by how he referred to himself as ‘this puny one,’ but by he voluntarily gave up the immensely rare Sacred Grade Weapon, and they couldn’t be more jealous of him.
“Oh, a True Enlightened Realm cultivator unmoved by a Sacred Grade Weapon?” A look of approval surged on Gu Changge’s emotionless face as he nodded.
“Very well. Do lead the way.”
[Well, exchanging a complimenting look for a loyal dog in the realm? What a deal.]
With that, Zhao Wu revealed a gleeful face upon seeing Gu Changge’s look of approval. To him, nothing could have been more important as he was aware that giving up a Sacred Grade weapon for the respect of the Immortal was definitely worth it. Perhaps this day might even pose an opportunity for him to prosper.
Bearing that in mind, Zhao Wu grew even more thrilled.
But of course, little did he expect, Gu Changge never once had the intention of letting go of the Sacred Grade weapon. Essentially, back when Gu Changge scanned across the cultivators before him, he noticed that the strongest among them was only True Enlightened Realm, so surely none of them would dare to accept the weapon. Furthermore, his ulterior motive was simply to let the crowd see the unwavering bond between him and the Prime Ancestor of Illusion Gates, and that he was willing to forgo a Sacred Grade Weapon for it.
Indubitably, he was clueless and uninterested as to the identity of the Prime Ancestor of Illusion Gates. All he wanted was an excuse to polish his identity in order to lower the guards of the people of Illusion Gates so that his plans would run much smoother.
[Perhaps they don’t even know since when their prime ancestor built a connection with me. All I need to do is prattle on about what happened in the Upper Realm, and they’d instantaneously buy it. Even if they don’t… Well, not that I care.]
With that, a heavenly light beaconed through the sky, whichafter Zhao Wu led Gu Changge to the ancient city he was based in. Within the city, there was a teleportation array that could transport them to Illusion Gates, and he could take the chance to return to the gates as he predicted that he would earn the genuine respect of the Immortal, leading to the remarkable promotion of his identity in Illusion Gates.
Thereupon, Zhao Wu grew more exhilarated and delighted.
To Gu Changge, a castellan that oversaw an ancient city that contained a million residents was nothing but a sycophantic lapdog. Only the ignorant would think that they were seeing hallucinations, yet countless cultivators were deeply jealous of Zhao Wu, blaming themselves for being timid to approach Gu Changge. Otherwise, it would have been them who became Gu Changge’s lapdog.
[Ah, the remorse that haunts my heart!] Many were devastated as they missed the opportunity to ingratiate the Immortal. As such, the event that took place in the barren land, like wings, speedily spread across numerous ancient cities and forces, causing great turmoil.
Having descended from the Upper Realm, a mysterious Immortal, who possessed unfathomable strength, was said to share a bond with the Prime Ancestor of Illusions Gates and was indebted to the latter. And now he was heading towards Illusion Gates. Like a meteor plummeting into the ocean, causing a violent tsunami that trembled the vast land, the news left every cultivator absolutely stunned as they widened their eyes and began to stutter.
As of now, Illusion Gates was perceived as the most dominant force in the Wonder Domain, given that they possessed unparalleled power and peerless strength, earning their title as ‘the Top Sect.’ If it weren’t for the other three holy lands’ equal distribution of power, the entire Wonder Realm would have fallen under the rulership of Illusion Gates.
And now, hearing about how an Immortal came over and claimed that he was an ally of the Prime Ancestor of Illusion Gates, the other three holy lands immediately felt hopeless as the days of their rivalry with Illusion Gates were coming to an end.
After all, Gu Changge’s descent was witnessed by innumerable people, so it couldn’t have been a lie. As he wore a swaying white garment with his face concealed by heavenly mist, everything about him spoke extraordinariness, as though he could actually destroy the world with one palm.
Upon the shocking news, huge disturbances erupted across the entire Wonder Domain.
On the other hand, in the Water Domain an infinite distance away from the Wonder Domain, Yue Mingkong, dressed in plain white with a scarf on her face, was in a peaceful, isolated tavern in a massive ancient city.
Revealing a frown, she erased the names of certain forces on her palm as she muttered, “Judging by the timeline, it is about time the Mortal One’s reincarnation appeared and made a name for himself. I’ve investigated so many of these forces, yet I have never encountered a talent that goes by this name.”
Truthfully, she wasn’t certain about the precise location of the Mortal One’s reincarnation. Therefore, what she could do now was to erase names from the list she made. Right now, she had two pieces of information.
Firstly, the Mortal One’s reincarnation was named Jiang Yang. Secondly, the Mortal One’s reincarnation possessed a daunting physique, which was classified as a Sacred Physique according to the rumours, though she wasn’t sure which kind of Sacred Physique it was.
Therefore, she instinctively assumed the Mortal One’s reincarnation to be a renowned talent, but despite having scoured the forces of the entire Water Domain, she never heard such a name. Perturbed, she then decided to look for Jiang Yang in the other domains.
“Princess Mingkong, there has been news from the Wonder Domain. A powerful being from the Upper Realm was said to bear a deep connection with the Prime Ancestor of Illusion Gates of the Wonder Domain…”
All of a sudden, a vague disturbance occurred outside the tavern, followed by a reporting voice.
“The Wonder Domain?” Yue Mingkong said with a frown.
Since the position of Heavenly Star Realm was rather isolated, no faction from the Upper Realm would ever notice it. Thus, her sneaky journey to the Lower Realm attracted no attention, and even Gu Changge was not informed about it.
Hence, Yue Mingkong wasn’t bothered by the news, thinking it was simply a coincidence. Besides, the Prime Ancestor of Illusion Gates was a being of deca-millennia ago, so she was in no way related to him.
At that moment, seeing as no one from Mortal Palace came to search in the Water Domain, Yue Mingkong felt relieved.
“Extreme Sun Land is also pretty famous in Heavenly Star Realm, so I should take note of it. According to the rumours, growing amid the World Purifying Green Lotus there seems to be crucial to the Mortal One’s reincarnation as it could help him evolve his physique.”
Followingly, Yue Mingkong began planning out her strategy. Worse comes to worst, she would then scour all eight domains of Heavenly Star Realm. After all, she brought enough experts as her followers on her discreet travel to the Lower Realm, so eliminating any threats should be of no issue.
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