Chapter 448: The Truth of the Eight Realms

Shi Hao’s eyes narrowed as he sat cross-legged behind the sandalwood table, watching her intently. What kind of secret was she about to reveal? Lunar Grace Goddess’s flawless face carried an indescribable charm, her skin glowing with a crystalline sheen. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and said, “You might be shocked by what you hear.”

“I’ve been through everything. Speak your mind,” Shi Hao replied coolly.

“You may have heard that the Desolate Wasteland is a land of exile, but that’s not the whole truth—just the tip of the iceberg,” Lunar Grace murmured, her gaze drifting toward the window, her eyes unfocused.

“Go on,” Shi Hao said indifferently.

“You believe the Eight Domains are vast, boundless, an immeasurable world, don’t you?” She turned back to him, her serene eyes locking onto his.

“Isn’t it?” Shi Hao countered.

Lunar Grace shook her head, her expression tranquil. “What if I told you that the Eight Domains are nothing but eight prisons? Would you believe me?”

Shi Hao remained motionless, but his eyes blazed with an intense light, illuminating the entire chamber. The revelation was staggering, almost impossible to accept.

“Hard to swallow, isn’t it? But it’s the truth,” Lunar Grace whispered before draining her luminous wine cup and setting it down with a soft *clink*.

Shi Hao fell silent. If true, this revelation would shake the world. The Eight Domains—so vast, so endless—were merely prisons? Who could wield such power? His mind raced, piecing together fragments of knowledge, yet he still struggled to believe it.

“You doubt me?” Lunar Grace asked, watching his silence. When he didn’t respond, she continued, “A world so immense, yet just eight cages—it’s natural to question.”

Shi Hao said nothing, weighing her words. He had heard fragments of secrets before, from the likes of the Witch, but never anything this earth-shattering. Though shaken, he found himself reluctantly considering the possibility. Even if Lunar Grace had ulterior motives, she had no reason to deceive him with something so monumental.

“You still don’t believe me?” she pressed.

Shi Hao’s gaze turned piercing, the air around him humming with latent power. Runes flickered in the void, a manifestation of his unrestrained aura, ready to descend like a storm.

“Anyone hearing this for the first time would struggle to accept it. But do you really think you can strike me down in one move?” Lunar Grace smiled faintly, utterly composed, sensing his rising aggression.

“Even if they are prisons, I was born here. Who dares call me a prisoner?!” Shi Hao’s voice dripped with killing intent.

“Beyond these eight prisons lies a world far greater, infinitely more wondrous. Would you truly be content to spend your life in a cage?” Lunar Grace countered.

For most, such news would be devastating. The Eight Domains, vast as divine realms, where countless heroes could spend lifetimes without traversing even one—only to learn they were mere cages. It was a cruel irony, enough to drive men to madness. Even a revered elder would rage at the heavens, demanding answers.

From birth, the denizens of the Eight Domains had unknowingly carried the mark of prisoners—descendants of sinners, shackled by an ancient judgment.

“By your logic, you’re also a prisoner—a female convict,” Shi Hao said coldly, his voice sharpening. “Yet as a child of the Eight Domains, you willingly aid the Upper Realm. You’re nothing but a traitor!”

“Brother Shi, that’s quite the accusation. I can’t bear such a label,” Lunar Grace replied, unruffled, her smile unwavering.

“Every being in a cage has the right to seek freedom, to escape. Is that shameful?” she asked.

“So you justify betraying the Lower Realm for the Upper?” Shi Hao’s voice was icy.

“Those called sinners were once great evils, sealed away for their crimes. The Upper Realm governs light and justice. If the Lower Realm’s beings repent and earn recognition, they can be freed. What’s wrong with that? Must they bear ancestral sins forever, rotting in their cages?” Lunar Grace countered.

“Have *I* sinned? Even if these eight prisons are real, it was my ancestors who erred—if they even did. The truth is long buried. Why should I be shackled for their deeds?” Shi Hao’s face darkened, fury simmering within him.

To learn that his homeland was a land of sin, that he bore the mark of a sinner’s bloodline—it was intolerable. He wanted to tear through the heavens, storm the Upper Realm, and overturn everything!

Lunar Grace sighed. “I see your rage, your refusal to listen. But indignation changes nothing. If you wish to uncover the truth, you must break free. And to do that, you must recognize the greater tide.”

“Silence!” Shi Hao roared. Brilliant radiance descended from the void like a treasure-laden cloud, swirling with auspicious light as it pressed down toward Lunar Grace.

Unfazed, she summoned dazzling sigils from her flawless form, intercepting the attack before drifting backward, putting distance between them.

*BOOM!*

Ten heavenly apertures materialized around Shi Hao, poised to seal the space and freeze all within.

“I, too, possess my own Dao. You cannot detain me so easily. A battle here would be pointless,” Lunar Grace said calmly.

“As a child of the Eight Domains, you call yourself a sinner’s descendant, yet you side with the Upper Realm, aiding them against your own. Does that bring you pride?” Shi Hao sneered.

“I never said the descendants of sinners inherit their guilt. That was an ancient decree. I offer you a chance to escape this cage—out of admiration for your talent,” Lunar Grace replied, her tone serene, devoid of shame.

“Moreover, I was not born in the Eight Domains. I will return to the Upper Realm in time.”

Shi Hao’s pupils constricted. *She’s from the Upper Realm?* This was the first he’d heard of it—the first time he realized he was dealing with a being not of this world.

His gaze sharpened, golden light flickering like shattered stars, as if he could pierce through all illusions to scrutinize the flawless woman before him.

If so, many things made sense. Could it be that entire sects—like the Heaven Mending Sect and the Everlasting Mountain—were also from the Upper Realm? The implications sent a tremor through his heart.

What were the Upper Realm’s true intentions? What could be so important that they would linger here for so long?

“You must have guessed by now. Some lineages were left behind by the Upper Realm—not all are descendants of sinners,” Lunar Grace said.

*No!* Shi Hao swiftly reconsidered. Descending from the Upper Realm was no easy feat. Disciples of the Heaven Mending Sect and the Everlasting Mountain couldn’t all be from above—they must have been recruited from the Eight Domains.

Lunar Grace was likely an exception—a hidden envoy from the Upper Realm.

“I came here as a child, only recently awakening to my origins. This was my trial, my tempering before my eventual return,” she stated calmly.

“So I’m facing an Upper Realm goddess. How honored this sinner must be,” Shi Hao mocked, though his mind was anything but calm.

If the Eight Domains were prisons, what did that make the legendary figures of the past? The ancient Kun Peng, the fallen True Phoenix—the Ten Fiends. Were they Upper Realm beings who perished here by chance, or was there more to their fate?

Were the Upper Realm’s envoys searching for something—treasures, techniques—related to them?

The implications were staggering. If the Eight Domains were cages, the roles of the Ten Fiends and other legends had to be reexamined.

Shi Hao’s aura surged like a tempestuous sea, his eyes flickering with unreadable intensity.

“After all I’ve said, do you still not wish to break free? To step into the true world beyond this prison?” Lunar Grace pressed.

“I am unworthy—a sinner, tainted by ancestral blood. But if I ever ascend to the Upper Realm, it will be by my own blade!” Shi Hao’s gaze was terrifying.

Lunar Grace retreated in a flash, divine light erupting around her.

*BOOM!*

The chamber shattered. The entire Misty Rain Tower, woven with countless formations, crumbled as runic light surged skyward.

Shi Hao and Lunar Grace shot into the heavens, clashing in a storm of mystic symbols, their battle radiating profound Dao resonance.

The fight was brief but earth-shaking. Lunar Grace brandished a jade sword, slicing through the frozen space to escape.

At the same time, Shi Hao’s attention snapped toward the imperial palace, where draconic energy churned like a resurrected true dragon.

“Imperial aura—something left behind by the Stone Emperor!” Shi Hao muttered before abandoning the fight and streaking toward the palace.

“Let me delay him!” a purple-robed youth behind Lunar Grace declared.

“No need. As of now, only I and two or three others can match him. The rest of you would be in grave danger,” Lunar Grace cautioned.

“But I’ve yet to prove myself to the Heaven Mending Sect. How can I cower now?” the youth retorted, hurling a treasure artifact at Shi Hao’s retreating form.

Pride drove him—he was a genius of his domain, personally recruited by Lunar Grace. How could he admit inferiority?

Shi Hao glanced back, his eyes unleashing violet-gold lightning that struck the artifact, sending it crashing to the ground. Without pause, he continued toward the palace.

*What did the Stone Emperor leave behind?!*

He was determined to find out.