The gap between the Dao Domain Realm and an ordinary Reincarnation Realm wasn't impossible to overcome.
Among top-tier geniuses, there had been cases of defeating higher realms. For instance, when Zhao Xing picked Yu Tianqing, this Mechanist Martial Artist could take on an ordinary Reincarnation Realm foe alone.
A more recent case—they had just slain a freshly ascended Reincarnation Realm giant Lingxu Tortoise.
But once a Reincarnation Realm lifeform had endured the tempering of reincarnation, and its True Spirit grew to the Lord level, the gap became nearly impossible to cross.
Pure personal strength wasn't enough.
Among their current members, no one could survive a single strike from that Lord-level Lingxu Tortoise.
Zhao Xing's true body couldn't, neither could the Void Straw Puppet, and not even the entire group combined.
Just as Gu Ming and the artifact spirit's data showed—Life and Death Dao Domain cultivators could at best wield Source Divine Weapons, and even with Reincarnation-level Dao Soldiers, they couldn't fully unleash their power.
Unless someone held a divine artifact that required no cost, like the Xuanling Chronicles' Time Page Zhao Xing once possessed.
But such an unlikely scenario could be ignored according to the artifact spirit's calculations.
Yet Zhao Xing still gave the order to fight.
He told Tuosen, Wu Lanchuan, and Xu Youling's three battle squads to block the tunnels around the First Volcanic Crater.
He had the Realm Ship take the support crew to hide at the Forty-Sixth Volcanic Crater.
He himself led members from Primordial Hill's Earth Dao Division to the top of the First Volcanic Crater.
Before issuing the command, Zhao Xing had already taken the Fortune Golden Pill given to him by Great Zhou.
After taking it, he faced two choices: break through to the next realm or increase Fortune by three tiers!
His Origin Path still lacked the completion of Heavenly Timing, so he couldn't break through now. Besides, advancing to Dao Domain Realm wouldn't help.
So he chose to increase his Fortune by three tiers!
Everything happened fast.
When Zhao Xing brought Qiu Zishan, Gong Xiaoyuan, and four others from Primordial Hill to the First Volcanic Crater, the second battle command was given.
"All of you, use the Earth Vein Locking Method to seal all the volcanic fire veins into my Demon God Earth Palace."
"Qiu Zishan, Gong Xiaoyuan, you two will complete the casting faster than the others. Don't stop—immediately use the Primordial Earth Repository Method to activate five earth veins following the direction I left behind."
"Begin!"
Rumble—
The volcanic crater, spanning ten thousand li in radius, suddenly collapsed inward.
Others couldn't sense it, but in Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan's sight, an Earth Palace rapidly crashed into the volcano from above.
Inside it, a giant Demon God with only half its body intact roared toward the heavens.
This was one of Primordial Hill's top techniques—the Demon God Earth Palace.
Volcanic craters weren't ideal for Earth Palace techniques, much like building a house on unstable ground.
So the moment the Demon God Earth Palace appeared, a torrent of flames surged upward like a boulder smashing into water, triggering a chain reaction.
"Extreme Land Vein Locking!"
Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan, along with their four fellow disciples, immediately sealed the fire veins, locking the surging volcanic fire into the Earth Palace.
The volcanic fire veins here were too wild, with no physical form, making standard vein-sealing methods nearly useless. This was incredibly difficult.
But the members of Primordial Hill were all elites, each one at Life and Death Dao Domain Realm. Four of them met Zhao Xing's demands within eight breaths.
Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan were even faster, taking only half the time.
The volcano settled down, even the smoky haze thinned noticeably.
Then, Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan, having freed their hands first, once again used the Primordial Earth Repository Method.
Here, the gap in talent became clearer—only they among the six could use this technique.
It was a support-type method that could trigger earth changes and activate earth veins, revitalizing barren realm stars and star lands.
Boom—
A deep rumble echoed from beneath, but everything stayed calm above.
Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan successfully activated five fire veins. In this unique area, each one could incinerate an ordinary Reincarnation Realm cultivator.
At first, they didn't know where to guide these fire veins.
But they quickly figured it out, because beneath the Demon God Earth Palace, five massive fingers appeared.
"What an exquisite technique!" Gong Xiaoyuan exclaimed!
Because what Zhao Xing cast wasn't just the basic Demon God Earth Palace, but the Five-Finger Demon God Earth Palace!
This was the very move that Zuo Qiyu had unleashed back then!
After hundreds of years, Zhao Xing had mastered the simplest fusion method.
The five fire veins penetrated the Five-Finger Mountain, turning it crimson.
Zhao Xing focused with all his might, forcefully bending the Five-Finger Mountain into a hand forming a sword, pointing deep into the volcano.
This world was called the Volcano Realm because of its many volcanic realm mountains.
Everyone was familiar with realm mountains. The difference between volcanic realm mountains and stacked realm mountains lay in their nature—stacked realm mountains converted void energy into mountain forms.
Volcanic realm mountains, however, gathered only fire-elemental essence. The physical mountain seen at the manifest level was just the tip of the iceberg.
The underground space beneath a ten-thousand-li radius volcanic crater was larger than the inner world of a Reincarnation Emperor.
"Cast the Climbing Replication Method! Repeat the previous steps!" Zhao Xing's voice rang in the ears of the six Primordial Hill members.
The Climbing Replication Method was created by Zhao Xing specifically for stacked realm mountains, a forceful driving method that amplified the power of the four Earth Advantage Methods but came with heavy strain on the body, unsuitable for repeated use.
Everyone present had learned the Zhao Family's Eight Methods, and in their eyes, volcanic realm mountains weren't much different from stacked realm mountains. So the Climbing Replication Method was smoothly executed.
But after just one cycle of casting, four of them were drenched in sweat, heat steaming from their bodies as if they were about to ignite.
Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan were still at ease, even having the energy to exchange a few words.
"Senior Brother, so Uncle-Master plans to activate the volcanic realm mountain, making it erupt early to deal with that old turtle!"
"Exactly. Uncle-Master will likely use the Wall-Opening Method and the Fragmentation Method as the final step."
"The battle squads blocking the surrounding tunnels—it's to keep the power from leaking."
"Hiss... This is way too risky, can we even escape ourselves?"
"Uncle-Master's insane!"
Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan still guessed wrong.
Zhao Xing didn't plan to end it with the Fragmentation and Wall-Opening Methods—they were only part of the process.
The true finishing move was the Earth-Splitting Method—Earth Core!
Just like in the Xuanhuang Realm where Earth-Splitting Methods were boosted by Fortune, the Earth Core Earth-Splitting Method from Primordial Hill also enjoyed Fortune's favor.
Zhao Xing took the Fortune Golden Pill precisely for this.
With Fortune rising by three tiers, there would be a brief burst of "good luck."
The Earth-Splitting Method would definitely succeed, and he needed to use this wave of "good luck" to escape.
There was no way to fight a Lord-level Lingxu Tortoise with manpower alone.
He had to rely on Heavenly Timing and Earthly Advantage to take it down!
But the volcanic realm mountain was too fierce. Qiu Zishan and Gong Xiaoyuan both thought Uncle-Master was insane, playing with fire!
"My lord, it's coming!" Gu Ming's voice rang in Zhao Xing's mind.
Zhao Xing looked up ahead.
A ripple spread through the deep darkness, and a pair of green eyes slowly emerged from the twisted void.
The giant tortoise's head was covered in crystal-clear gemstones, like it had devoured too many Realm Stones, turning its head into a mountain.
As soon as Zhao Xing saw the Lingxu Tortoise's head, it launched a soul attack.
Because the Lord of the Tian Gui Clan instantly recognized him—the figure glimpsed by the Heavenly Eye was Zhao Xing!
"Evil human!"
"He carries immense sin—besides killing my child Gui'er, who knows how many more of my kin he has slaughtered!"
The Lord of Tian Gui Clan roared in instinctive rage. The man before him was pure evil. His True Spirit seemed to see countless of his kind struggling in mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Tears of blood flowed from his eyes.
"Die!"
A soul attack from a Lord-level Reincarnation Realm was too much, and Zhao Xing had to retreat for now.
The Void Straw Puppet swallowed Zhao Xing's true body and the other six, instantly hiding inside the Ultimate Soul Tree.
Whoosh~
The soul attack traveled through the void, entering the Void Straw Puppet, only to get trapped in endless void folds.
By the time it reached the Ultimate Soul Tree, its power had already dropped to Dao Domain Realm level.
"Boom!"
Seeing the attack fail, the Lord of Tian Gui Clan charged forward.
Its massive body finally appeared, covering the sky, making everyone feel suffocated. Its presence even disrupted their senses toward the sun and moon origin.
From their spiritual perception, none of the fifty in the team could feel the Volcano Realm's origin anymore!
"Evil human, you won't escape!"
The tortoise shell was covered in shimmering stars and flowing nebulae. The stars gleamed like precious gems embedded in ancient stone, and the nebulae twisted like living ribbons, glowing with a mysterious allure.
At the shell's edges, strange gemstone peaks grew sharp and jagged.
Its legs were covered in thick, cold-scaled armor, and mist spewed from its snout, spreading quickly to cut off their retreat.
The Lingxu Tortoise took just three steps, and Gu Ming's Tianyuan Ship shut down. Even the artifact spirit lost contact with Gu Ming.
Everyone instinctively attacked, but nothing worked.
No matter how refined their techniques or how powerful their Source Divine Weapons, under absolute power, everything failed.
Despair filled everyone's hearts.
"Damn, I didn't even find a Dao companion, and I'm dying here, in the Barren Domain." Xu Youling lowered her arms. "What a loss."
"Dying in the Barren Domain, even resurrection is hard." Daoist Miaosong shook his head.
"No way, I clearly calculated our survival rate was higher this time—" Chu Lanxing's fingers smoked from too much divination. "Is this the fate of a Fate Officer, dying under my own prediction?"
"Damn, it's so hot!" Bi Gang yelled, "Tuosen, how long do I have to stay blocking this tunnel? I'm gonna die here…"
There were many ways to block tunnels, but Tuosen chose the simplest—stuffing a Qi School Martial Artist inside and making them grow big.
Bi Gang didn't know the old turtle had already caught up. All he felt was unbearable heat.
"Heat? It's getting hotter?" Tuosen's eyes shifted, immediately looking toward Zhao Xing's location.
Thump! Thump~
A strange tremor came from underground, quickly drowning out the heartbeat of the Lord of Tian Gui Clan.
The thrill of trapping the evil human didn't last even a second before turning into deep fear.
"What… what did you do?!"
The Lord of Tian Gui Clan looked down. His green eyes pierced the thick volcanic rock, seeing underground.
A blazing "light dragon" surged from the depths toward the sky!
"You lunatic—Four Pillars Tortoise Source! Suppress!"
The Lord roared, ignoring Zhao Xing and the others.
Because of this, it had to lift its suppression on them, focusing all its power to suppress this volcanic realm mountain.
Otherwise, the quake triggered by the First Volcanic Crater would cause a chain reaction, and most of the Volcano Realm would be wiped out.
The temple had already set this place up as a battlefield to resist the outer demonic invasion, deploying a massive force.
He couldn't just let it burn!
"Wu Lanchuan!!!"
Sensing the suppression vanish, Zhao Xing shouted.
Flaming red petals bloomed under his feet, trumpet-shaped, swallowing Zhao Xing whole.
A mutated Instant Bloom Flower!
The same species as the short-range teleport flowers planted on the western coast of the Primordial Sea!
Whoosh!
The moment Zhao Xing vanished, a pillar of light shot from the volcano straight into the sky.
Wu Lanchuan caught fire, the flowers beneath him burned, but he managed to bring back all the people stationed at the thirty-six tunnel entrances.
In such a critical moment, no words were needed.
Gu Ming's back sprouted eighteen mechanical arms, forcefully plunging into the Tianyuan Ship's control cabin.
Sparks flew, and with sheer force, he activated an overload jump for the Tianyuan Ship.
Whoosh~~
Next moment, the Tianyuan Ship hiding at the distant forty-sixth extinct volcano vanished in flames.
The last thing everyone saw was a light dragon smashing the Lord of Tian Gui Clan's left front leg, tearing through everything, piercing its upper and lower layers of the shell.
In the Volcano Realm, amidst a barren asteroid belt—
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!"
A broken, still burning flying ship wobbled through the asteroid field, bobbing up and down, left and right, like a drunken brute steering it.
"Boom!"
At last, the ship couldn't hold on anymore and let out a mournful groan as its barrier collapsed first.
Its speed dropped sharply, smashing through hundreds of asteroids, then losing all power and crashing into one of them.
"Ka ka ka ka~~~"
The ship slowly broke apart, and from the rear cabin, a nested pod opened, sending out fifty figures.
"Hahahahahaha—we're alive!"
"Zhao Xing, Tuosen, Wu Lanchuan, do you all know how awesome I am?!"
"I just made history! I'm the first Mechanist to activate spatial travel with a chaos index over 1000!"
"And the first man to let Tianyuan Ship shed its shell three times mid-flight, keeping only the spatial travel pod and main control room and still succeed in the jump!"
"Hahahaha, hahaha, I'm the best in the world!"
Gu Ming's hair was a mess, twelve of his eighteen mechanical arms were broken, smoke rose from his body, and only three intact arms were still flailing.
"Is he crazy? Why so hyped?" Xu Youling walked over, flipping Gu Ming's eyelids, but got burned, pulling her hand back like she got shocked.
"Get lost, I'm not crazy!!" Gu Ming started blowing bubbles from his mouth.
Zhao Xing glanced at Gu Ming. "Lou Lanxiao, take Brother Gu to rest, he forced Tianyuan Ship and got hit back by the Source Divine Weapon."
"I'm not crazy, don't touch me, you guys don't know what I just mmph—"
Gu Ming still wanted to talk, but eight needles shot from Lou Lanxiao's cabinet, piercing him, and he fell to the ground.
"Why didn't you catch him?" Lou Lanxiao gave Bi Gang behind Gu Ming a strange look.
Bi Gang opened his mouth in anger, but big chunks of flesh started falling off. In a second, he turned into a black lump, leaving only bones.
Zhao Xing looked over. This guy's golden bones were more than half charred black.
"How the hell was I supposed to catch him?! How?!"
"Lord Zhao, that bastard Tuosen stuffed me in a tunnel, I was almost roasted alive!" Bi Gang's jaw moved, a soulful protest!
Right after, six golden-black skeletons fell.
Because the six Qi School Martial Artists in the team were almost all down to bones.
Zhao Xing gave a weird look. This was how they blocked the tunnels?
Tuosen: "Ahem."
Xu Youling: "Well—"
Clearly, Tuosen wasn't the only one doing this. Xu Youling's team did the same.
Zhao Xing was fuming.
Qi School Martial Artists were useful, but not like this. This was just cruel.
Lou Lanxiao frowned, "You guys gonna stand here chatting or help?"
"Gu Ming's body has Qingyu Realm components fused in, they repel magic. We can only carry him by hand."
"These Martial Artists—I can't lift them either."
Before Zhao Xing could say anything, Xu Youling apologized, "I'll do it."
Tuosen quickly extended a vine, hooking under a Martial Artist's ribs, dragging the guy along with Lou Lanxiao.
Zhao Xing checked the headcount. Out of fifty people, most were injured.
Mainly from severe fire poison and the forced spatial jump.
The old turtle didn't cause much damage.
As for Yuan Qiusheng, Qiu Zishan, Ruan Shuheng, Chu Lanxing—they were unharmed. These support staff were the first to be protected.
"This is what it is, let's eat first." Zhao Xing waved his hand, signaling Yu Qing to arrange food.
As a Heavenly Timing Shennong, Yu Qing had some skill in food supplement methods and handled food supply.
"My lord, we're low on rations." Yu Qing brought a food box to Zhao Xing after prepping a meal.
Zhao Xing was gnawing on a turtle leg on an asteroid. "How much left?"
"Vegetarian food's enough, but meat rations only last half a year. Gu Ming wrecked a lot of food storage when he forced the jump." Yu Qing put down the box.
Opened it, and served the food.
Zhao Xing asked, "Didn't we chop up a bunch of turtles and store them in the world ring? They couldn't have been ruined during the jump, right?"
Rules in the Barren Domain are different from the outside world, especially in the Lingxu Source Realm.
The repulsion of time and space here made it so many things couldn't be kept in Qiankun Pouches or spatial rings.
A Self School Shennong's internal world wasn't affected, but you needed to be in Reincarnation Realm for that. Dao Domain Realm still had "source space."
Expanding into the Barren Domain, transporting supplies was a problem, which is why they had to open star paths and build supply bases.
"That didn't happen." Yu Qing shook his head, "But we're beings from the Ten Thousand Phenomena Era. Eating meat from the Lingxu Source Realm causes problems. Fifteen years ago, Elder Bowe from the Academy published the 'Source Realm Food Supplement Theory.'"
"So for our Middle Three Realms journey, all the meat and veg I prepared came from the 'Xuanling Star Domain.'"
"Now the food storage's gone, and according to the Heavenly Timing School's food supplement theories, just eating vegetables will cause issues too."
Yu Qing pointed at the turtle leg in Zhao Xing's hand. "Short term, this will do. Long term, there'll be problems."
What Yu Qing said reminded Zhao Xing of the past. In his last life, this place had been transformed for thousands of years.
But even then, eating some local specialties still brought negative buffs.
You can't eat just anything. Since the Xuanhuang Realm era, dietary rules have always been strict. Even while exploring the Moonfall Mausoleum, they'd encountered problems with food supplements causing toxic buildup.
Compared to many dangers, food poisoning was minor, but now that it's come up, it's turning into a real issue.
Right now, everyone had plenty of treasures on them, but food supplies without side effects were scarce.
Zhao Xing pointed at the food box, "Save the good stuff for the wounded. The rest of us can make do with turtle meat for now. We won't be here long."
"Got it, but what if that old turtle comes after us—"
"Relax, it's probably dead." Zhao Xing smiled, "The eruption from the First Boundary Volcano should have been enough to kill it."
But Zhao Xing's guess was off. The Lord of Tian Gui Clan was still alive.
Thanks to a series of guided spells, the Earth Core Earth Splitting Technique had succeeded, and the eruption's power had reached the peak of Lord-level. Even a Reincarnation Realm Emperor would've been hurt.
But the Lord of Tian Gui Clan hadn't died.
It was still clinging to life, thanks to multiple blessings from the Rain Immortal Festival.
The lower layer of its shell was completely gone, the lower half of its body and limbs crystallized.
Its whole body had fused with the volcano's mouth, but the gems and patterns on its shell glowed faint blue, constantly healing its wounds.
This power barely kept it alive, but it couldn't move. Without help, it would be killed by the ongoing eruption and deadly fire poison.
At this moment, the Lord of Tian Gui Clan truly felt how terrifying those evil humans were.
So weak, yet they triggered the boundary volcano and dealt it a fatal blow.
It could've chosen better ways to survive, but it insisted on holding out—partly due to confidence in its own strength, and partly to avoid ruining the Holy Temple's deployment.
"Mou~"
Its miserable roar quickly drew reinforcements.
Three other Reincarnation Realm beasts from the Overlord races appeared around the First Volcano.
"Honorable Lord of Tian Gui Clan, how did you end up like this?!" A silver-white wolf-headed leader with four hooves and a scaled tail was shocked.
The other two Reincarnation Realm beast leaders were stunned too. The Lord of Tian Gui Clan was hunting weak humans, yet ended up this badly? It was hard to believe.
"Help... help me—"
The silver-white wolf head immediately barked, "You two, return to Xiangxing Realm and report. I'll guard the Lord of Tian Gui Clan!"
"Yes." The two Reincarnation Realm beasts vanished.
The silver-white wolf leader crouched on a distant hill, watching the Lord of Tian Gui Clan closely.
A dangerous glint flashed in her eyes, even the Lord of Tian Gui Clan felt it.
"Lan Ao, what are you doing?"
The silver wolf sniffed, her tail slicing through the air, forming a path of ice crystals stretching into the void.
She stepped carefully over the volcanic rocks and reached the massive Lord of Tian Gui Clan.
"Lan Ao, you want to eat me? You won't fool the Holy Temple!!" the Lord of Tian Gui Clan growled low, warning her.
"No, I won't hide it from the Holy Temple." Lan Ao leapt lightly, diving into the wound on the Lord of Tian Gui Clan.
"I'll tell the Holy Temple I received guidance from the Rain Immortal, so I must devour your turtle core and true spirit."
"Lord of Tian Gui Clan, rest in peace!"
Before she finished, faint blue light burst from the charred wound.
The Lord of Tian Gui Clan let out a painful roar.
Gradually, its voice weakened.
But a new aura inside it grew stronger.
In the thirty-seventh year since exploration of the Lingxu Source Realm began—
After the coordinates of the Middle Three Realms' entrance were revealed, many teams entered, only to be ambushed and killed by local forces.
Among the million Dao Domain cultivators sent by the various powers of the Xuanling Star Domain, casualty rates started rising.
By the sixty-fourth year, casualties had passed thirty percent.
But if there was one thing the Xuanling Star Domain never lacked, it was people. The enormous benefits of the Lingxu Source Realm weren't something they'd give up.
So the empty spots left by the dead were quickly refilled.
Inside the Lingxu Source Realm, their forces still held at a million strong.
Starting that year, the Primordial Assembly changed tactics, no longer allowing small teams to act alone. They regrouped and brought in large amounts of heavy Source Divine Weapons.
The Xuanling humans had strong cultivators outside to occupy, deduce, and command, and they mobilized vast numbers of divine weapons into the realm.
By the seventy-second year of exploration, the Volcano Realm was fully occupied by humans.
Three years later, when human armies attacked Feixing Realm and Siyang Realm, native Reincarnation Realm powerhouses appeared.
The Primordial Realm unveiled its first major weapon.
A fusion of plant life and mechanist Dao soldiers—[Red Star Heavenly Soldiers]—were deployed in large numbers.
They carried the computational power of Grand Derivation Divine Weapons, with terrifying [combat instincts]. They practically mastered every secret art of their profession, functioning both as individuals and in combination.
After Red Star Heavenly Soldiers joined, Feixing Realm and Siyang Realm saw the rise of legendary mechanist army techniques—[Desperate Great Wall] and [Four Seasons Heavenly Barrier].
The Xuanling humans no longer feared native Reincarnation Realm attacks, rapidly building bases across the Middle Three Realms and advancing fast.
By the eightieth year of exploration, both the Lower and Middle Three Realms of the Lingxu Source Realm were fully occupied.
But the Primordial Assembly then ordered the Frontier Corps to halt.
Because there was only one entrance to the Upper Three Realms, and it was extremely narrow, heavy Dao soldiers couldn't spread out.
Just a small number of Reincarnation Realm natives could hold that entrance.
Unless the Xuanling humans were willing to destroy the Source Realm, forcing their way in with Reincarnation Realm cultivators.
But if they did that, the gains would shrink greatly.
In the development of the Siyue Barren Domain, only one Source Realm had been found so far, and no one wanted to destroy it.
So, the battle reached a stalemate, and the Primordial Assembly started sending scholars who had learned the language to negotiate with the local force—the Lingxu Holy Temple.
Xiangxing Realm, the great river surged endlessly, falling from the Layered Boundary Mountains and flowing into nine rivers in the lower void.
Nine silver rivers roared around an ancient city shaped like a turtle.
Two hybrid turtle clan members were patrolling the rivers, each holding a trident.
"Gulu gulu~" A red-skinned turtle with three hairs on its head opened its mouth toward its companion.
"You're slurring again?" Zhao Xing glanced at Ji Yuan. "If you can't talk, write. If it's not important, don't say anything."
Right now, he looked like a humanoid demon ape, but with a yellow turtle shell on his back.
Ji Yuan wrote in Zhao Xing's palm: [My lord, I can't hold on. The pressure of the Northern Silver River is too much. The Hou Transformation method used to last three months, but now it only lasts seven days and nights. I need a place to rest.]
Zhao Xing sighed, "There's still over a month left on this patrol mission. The Northern Silver River is full of foreign races. Where do you expect me to find a place for you to rest?"
"If you really can't bear it, borrow my strength to maintain it."
Ji Yuan nodded slightly. Inside his body, the [Sacrificial Spirit Corruption] began to spin silently. It was a polyhedron, and when it turned to a certain side, Zhao Xing's name appeared.
[Lingxu Turtle Transformation] was created by Zhao Xing, allowing Ji Yuan to borrow his power to stabilize the Hou Transformation.
But he had to worship Master Zhao every now and then to keep it going.
Once borrowed, Zhao Xing had to carry the burden of maintaining two people's Hou Transformations. There was no other way, though—Ji Yuan, as a priest, could barely use any power after entering the Upper Three Realms.
"Are you done?"
"Done."
"You keep watch. I'm going to rest."
"Yes."
Zhao Xing returned to the cabin.
It had been forty-three years since he entered Xiangxing Realm!
Back when they escaped the Lord of Tian Gui Clan, Zhao Xing's team had hidden and fled across the Volcano Realm until the Primordial Assembly merged all the small groups into the Frontier Corps, conquered the Volcano Realm, and rescued them.
That same year, the small groups were disbanded, and everyone was reassigned, under the command of a spirit of a Grand Derivation Divine Weapon, "Emperor Zifang."
After resting, Zhao Xing left the Source Realm to exchange his treasures. He waited four years before getting another chance.
As the war continued, the Xuanling Star Domain understood more about the Lingxu Source Realm and discovered a powerful cultivation civilization existed within.
When the offensive stalled in Siyang Realm, the Sparks Unit initiated a plan called "Anti-Void Plan."
In short, it was about infiltrating the Upper Three Realms as spies.
Zhao Xing and Ji Yuan took part then. Those who could use Hou Transformation were perfect for the job.
When the remaining demon races of Siyang Realm retreated to Xiangxing Realm, Zhao Xing and Ji Yuan slipped in with them.
In these forty-three years, Zhao Xing had gained a position—now titled as Xiangxing Realm, Sacred Gui Royal City, Northern Silver River Corps, Guard River General No. 739.
Ji Yuan was just a soldier under his command.
"Being just a Guard Spirit General won't get me anywhere near the Rain Immortal Realm and Cloud Immortal Realm border to complete the sacrifice."
"And I don't have enough Seven-Pattern Four-Realm Stones yet. I need ten thousand of each type, and I've got barely a third. The types are uneven."
"Grain Rain Stones are the most, Cold Rain Stones are the least, and Storm Rain and Plum Rain Stones are just over two thousand each."
"I need to wait for a chance, at least to become an official in the royal city. Otherwise, one day I'll be sent to the frontlines as cannon fodder to fight the humans." Zhao Xing thought.
"Only two choices now—wait for the right chance, or improve the Hou Transformation, elevate my bloodline, or I'll be stuck as a Guard River General forever. Damn this racial discrimination."
Master Zhao was frustrated too. His current form—a demon ape and turtle hybrid—was based on the situation when he fled from Siyang Realm.
Pure and noble bloodlines were rare in the Lower Three Realms. Zhao Xing was strong, but such beings always had names and titles; he couldn't impersonate one.
After reaching Xiangxing Realm, he found hybrids were discriminated against. Neither the Demon Ape Clan nor the Lingxu Turtle Clan accepted him.
"Gather! Gather!"
"Move aside, filthy mixed blood—don't block the noble ones—"
Suddenly, voices rang out from afar.
Zhao Xing asked immediately.
"Ji Yuan, what's happening outside?"
Ji Yuan replied, "River General, seems some big shot has arrived, calling for all Northern Silver River River Generals."
"That guy's title, if translated, is like our empire's 'Marquis of Haiyang'?"
Zhao Xing thought for a bit, then stepped out of the cabin. Ahead, a giant turtle carried a gemstone throne on its back.
On the throne sat an ape-man, his chest and face clean and smooth, his temples, head, legs, back, and tail covered in sleek red fur.
Someone beside him chattered away. Zhao Xing listened carefully and quickly understood.
This was a prince of the Demon Ape Clan, recruiting turtle clan members skilled in water to serve as guards. No word on what for, but being chosen meant entering the royal city.
The long-awaited chance had finally come. Hope lit up in Zhao Xing's eyes.
Who cared what this prince wanted? As long as he got into the royal city, he could act as he pleased.
The Demon Ape Clan prince was just at Life and Death Dao Domain Realm! Maybe he couldn't even resist Zhao Xing's Heart Divine Ability!
"Ji Yuan, this guy's picking people. Our chance is here. Get ready now."