Ming Qi knew little about the powerful and mysterious group known as the Superiors. Perhaps because the Tianhuang World was located in the lower-middle order, encounters with them were virtually impossible. Within the Tianhuang World, there was no information about them, not even legends.
But now that Ming Qi was powerful, he had an instinctive sense of these transcendent beings. While he wasn't entirely sure what the Superiors were, he could clearly sense that this powerful aura must have come from them.
Superiors weren't necessarily human; Ming Qi had long known this. In other words, the Superiors were highly likely to have existed since the beginning of the world. While the possibility of humans at the beginning wasn't necessarily high, conversely, the possibility that the Superiors were an alien species was very high.
The powerful aura Ming Qi sensed now naturally reminded him of the Superiors.
Still a hundred miles away, Ming Qi had no intention of engaging this alien, possibly a superior being. He deviated from his route, intending to observe its true nature while avoiding a direct confrontation.
Unsure of its true strength, Ming Qi, for safety's sake, simply entered the Supreme Diagram, transforming the divine diagram into dust and soaring high into the sky.
He didn't want to clash with native creatures too soon; he was an outsider, after all.
A hundred miles wasn't far for a Martial God Realm cultivator. Ming Qi propelled the Supreme Diagram rapidly forward. After a dozen breaths, he spotted the source of the alien aura. To his surprise, it wasn't the behemoth he'd imagined, but a bizarre creature about the size of an ordinary hunting dog. He had never seen anything like it before, but its appearance bore some resemblance to the Eastern totem dragon from Ming Qi's previous life: serpentine, with claws and scales, but this creature had wings.
Ming Qi, within the Supreme Diagram, could clearly see the alien creature swiftly advancing through the air. From time to time, it would turn its head and spew out a cloud of black air. The cloud, swollen by the wind, expanded rapidly, covering an area several miles in an instant.
Ming Qi did not pursue it, but simply watched from the side. Soon, a dense crowd of figures appeared behind it. A quick glance revealed nearly a hundred people, and it was clear they were chasing the alien creature.
Ming Qi had no intention of engaging with the native creatures, nor did he pursue them, but after a brief observation, he had a general idea.
From the loud shouting and his own deductions, he concluded that the alien creature seemed to be a rare spiritual beast, and many were trying to capture it.
Originally, Ming Qi did not understand the local language, but this was no problem for a Martial God-level expert. After a brief analysis of the sound waves and mouth shapes, he had mastered the local language. For a Martial God, a language barrier was no insurmountable obstacle.
This group's cultivation wasn't high. The strongest among them was a Martial Saint, while the majority were Xiantian cultivators. This reassured Ming Qi. He had already flown over 100,000 miles, and it seemed there were no powerful forces within tens of thousands of miles. This was undoubtedly good news.
Ming Qi didn't linger, flying in the opposite direction of the pursuers. After flying for thousands of miles, he saw signs of human settlements. The deeper he went, the more he saw, until he finally saw cities and villages of various sizes.
Most of these villages were inhabited by ordinary people. Occasionally, he could sense the presence of cultivators in the larger cities, but their cultivation wasn't high, mostly at the Xiantian realm.
Ming Qi didn't intend to enter the cities, but continued toward the human settlements. With the Supreme Map in hand, he was virtually undetectable.
At night, nine moons appeared in the sky, scattered in a staggered pattern across the vast night sky. The earth shone brightly like silver, and under the bright moonlight, many nocturnal animals could be seen emerging from their hiding places.
Ming Qi didn't bother them, simply observing.
A few days later, he arrived above a massive city, covering nearly a hundred miles in radius. He could sense the presence of numerous cultivators, including many at the Martial Emperor level.
Upon reaching this point, Ming Qi didn't continue his journey, but paused briefly before returning. He had seen what he had come for. The entire Mingyue World was thriving, and the cultivators were generally quite powerful, indeed a notch higher than those in Tianhuang. However, this didn't matter. After all, the people he had brought here were already a formidable force. If the gods didn't intervene, they would be safe.
After traveling for over twenty days, Ming Qi returned to the valley.
After not seeing him for many days, he saw that many temporary structures had been erected in the valley, and tall, burly barbarian warriors were busy constructing sturdy stone houses. The scale of the structures appeared considerable, clearly indicating that these people had begun to integrate into this world.
Ming Qi didn't linger for long. After a brief survey, he left a divine barrier around the entire valley and then departed.
When Ming Qi returned to Tianhuang, the already shattered land was in even worse condition. It was clear that it was no longer suitable for any life.
Ming Qi had long anticipated this outcome. He chose not to walk on the earth, but instead journeyed directly into the void. He could sense where the real war lay, and his purpose in returning was war, nothing else.
Stepping into the endless void, the Tianhuang world rapidly shrank, eventually becoming a single point within the void.
Not long after, Ming Qi saw a vast blood-red divine city within the void. Blood aura swirled around it, and groups of red-armored divine soldiers patrolled and circulated it.
Ming Qi stood proudly in the air. From the other person's aura, he could tell he belonged to the Tianzui faction, possessing a violent and perverse nature and a strong murderous aura.
As Ming Qi approached the blood-red divine city, he suddenly felt one of the five remaining blood beads begin to pulse violently. This surprised him somewhat. He had never expected that this Tianzui deity he had stumbled upon was the very one who had besieged the Holy Flame Martial Emperor.
Just as Ming Qi was within a hundred miles of the Divine City, the red-armored divine soldiers surrounding it swiftly pounced upon him.
At the same time, a deep, powerful voice echoed from within the Divine City: "Mortal, halt your steps! You have entered the Blood God's realm. Leave immediately!"
Blood God?
Ming Qi sneered. This fellow was still so arrogant even at this point. Judging from the flickering light above the Divine City, he was clearly recuperating. This was a perfect opportunity to take advantage of him.
Ming Qi didn't retreat. With a casual wave of his hand, the two symbolic black and white energies condensed into a multi-foot-long blade of light, sweeping across the oncoming divine soldiers.
"You may leave me, but first I must take your life!"
Ming Qi's calm voice echoed through the air. A moment later, a roar echoed from within the Divine City: "You ignorant mortal, dare to challenge the majesty of the gods? Today, I will crush you to dust!"