The burly youth, Senior Brother Ge Bai, spotted a luxurious starfield airship emerging from the void ahead, his eyes lighting up instantly. He laughed heartily, “This starfield airship looks extraordinary at first glance—must be worth hundreds of millions of divine crystals! Old Seven, even if we pooled all our treasures, we couldn’t afford one like this.”
The crimson-cloaked youth, He Feiyun, remained as cold as ever, curling his lip. “Junior Brother Dongbo is the Divine Emperor’s personal disciple, reaching the second-level Heaven God in just five thousand years. No use being envious.”
“Whoosh.”
Nearby, the white-robed Dongbo Xueying turned and left without a word.
Swish!
He vanished instantly, returning directly to the material realm.
Returning from the divine realm to the material realm was usually simple—at least for a material realm lord! With just a thought, he could connect to the Xia Clan World, which would then draw him back. Normally, it took no more than a blink to arrive. But this time, something unexpected happened.
“What’s this?” Dongbo Xueying, clad in white, found himself in a hazy spatial tunnel as an overwhelming force descended upon him.
“The will of the material realm!” he realized immediately.
Just like the Xia Clan World, a mere mortal world had its own rules and instincts—repelling outsiders while embracing its natives. The entire material realm, composed of countless mortal worlds, operated under even stricter laws and possessed a fundamental will of its own. Similarly, the Dark Abyss had its own abyssal will. Those who dwelled within the material realm had to abide by its will.
“Hum!”
The material realm’s power began probing into the Redstone Mountain he carried.
“Release the seal on Redstone Mountain…” The will of the material realm conveyed its demand. Dongbo Xueying understood—if he defied its rules, even he, as a lord, would be expelled. Without hesitation, he complied, allowing the material realm’s power to permeate the mountain. But then—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures were abruptly ejected from Redstone Mountain and expelled from the material realm.
“Beyond material realm lords, Heaven Gods are forbidden entry.” With that, the material realm’s power swiftly withdrew.
…
In the divine realm’s starry void.
Dongbo Yu, Dongbo Qingyao, Xi Wei, Ge Bai, and He Feiyun stood together when suddenly two more figures appeared—a disheveled He Feiyun and Ge Bai.
The starfield airship had come to a halt.
“Junior Brother Dongbo, why did you toss us out?”
“What’s going on? I was in the middle of secluded cultivation when I got thrown out.” Both He Feiyun and Ge Bai—each with their doppelgängers—glared at Dongbo Xueying and Yu Jingqiu as they descended from the airship. These two senior brothers had mastered the art of body-splitting.
“Father! Mother!”
Dongbo Yu and Dongbo Qingyao called out eagerly.
Dongbo Xueying smiled faintly before turning to Ge Bai and He Feiyun. “Senior Brothers, it wasn’t me who expelled you—it was the material realm’s rules. The material realm forbids Heaven Gods from being carried inside pocket realms brought in by lords. I only just learned this myself.”
“Ah.” Ge Bai, still in his thick robe, looked dumbfounded. “I thought keeping a clone inside would be perfectly safe.”
“When Master Hongchen expelled Redstone Mountain back then, it wasn’t being carried by anyone,” Dongbo Xueying explained. “The material realm’s power couldn’t forcibly enter it, which is why you could remain inside. But now that I’ve refined Redstone Mountain, the material realm’s will inspected it the moment I brought it in. I suspect any pocket realm entering the material realm would undergo the same scrutiny.”
“So what do we do now?” Ge Bai and He Feiyun exchanged glances.
“Redstone Mountain had time acceleration for cultivation, but the outside world doesn’t offer such luxuries,” Ge Bai sighed. “Ah well, nothing to be done. Can’t stay inside forever.”
Redstone Mountain was a self-contained pocket realm, complete with precious meditation chambers, time acceleration, and customizable experimental environments. Ge Bai and He Feiyun had cultivated there wholeheartedly, even dedicating both their true body and clone to the pursuit of becoming third-level Heaven Gods.
“What are your plans now, Senior Brothers?” Dongbo Xueying asked with a smile. “Since both your bodies are out, why not accompany me to East Domain City?”
“Fine by me,” He Feiyun nodded.
“Now that both my bodies are out, one will return to my clan, and the other will follow you, Junior Brother,” Ge Bai stroked his chin playfully. “Though I might need your help gathering materials for my array research.”
“Consider it done,” Dongbo Xueying chuckled. “Come on, let’s board the airship and head to East Domain City.”
With his personal guard of four thousand and the Bloodblade Divine Court’s generous annual stipend, supporting Ge Bai and He Feiyun’s cultivation needs was trivial.
…
East Domain City of Anhai Prefecture was a colossal sight—its grandeur dwarfed even the surrounding stars. A winding river stretched across the void, spanning trillions of miles as it encircled the entire city.
In terms of scale, East Domain City was second only to the prefectural capital within Anhai Prefecture, rivaling the other three domain cities.
Today, however, the city gates were lined with rows of soldiers. At the forefront stood numerous Heaven Gods—eight third-level Heaven Gods and over a hundred second-level ones.
“Today, nearly every faction in Anhai Prefecture’s East Domain has gathered,” remarked a white-robed middle-aged man at the lead, smiling. “Our Inspector’s reputation truly precedes him. When I took office, only half this many showed up to greet me. Haha—not that I mind. Inspector Dongbo is the Divine Emperor’s personal disciple, holding the third rank. In Anhai Prefecture, only the Prefect outranks him—even I stand a step below.”
“Commander Mo, there are only eight third-level Heaven Gods here. We’re missing one,” a burly minotaur-like man pointed out with a grin.
“Indeed, we are. That one’s pride is something else—she refused to come,” a bewitching woman twirling a feather fan added lightly.
“She and Inspector Dongbo have a feud. I thought she’d show up to mend ties, but it seems not.”
“How amusing.”
“I wonder what expression Sister Du Ying had when she learned Inspector Dongbo became the Divine Emperor’s disciple and reached second-level Heaven God in just five millennia.”
The third-level Heaven Gods chatted idly.
Indeed, every third-level Heaven God in Anhai Prefecture’s East Domain—whether in seclusion or adventuring abroad—had rushed here to welcome the Inspector. All except one: Du Ying, the Venomous Heaven God. Her past conflict with Dongbo Xueying had the entire East Domain whispering. Would she show up? Would Inspector Dongbo spare her dignity? Most assumed not—after all, Du Ying had once tried to abduct Dongbo’s wife for her nephew’s pleasure. Such humiliation wouldn’t be forgiven by someone of his stature.
In the end, Du Ying didn’t even bother to appear.
“The Inspector has arrived.”
The crowd of Heaven Gods turned their gaze toward the distance, where a deep-blue vessel emerged from a spatial rift, crushing the surrounding currents as it approached. On its deck stood several figures.
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